Oakfield

The following indictments have been handed down by a Genesee County Grand Jury:

Jeffery M. Wisinski, 38, of 7484 Lake St., Vienna, seven counts: Burglary, 2nd; petit larceny; burglary, 3rd; grand larceny 3rd; criminal mischief, 2nd; criminal mischief, 3rd; and, grand larceny, 4th. Wisinski is accused of breaking into a garage at 510 Bloomingdale Road, Alabama, on or about Sept. 10 or 11 and stealing a 2007 Dodge Charger and a credit card. For more on Wisinski's arrest on Nov. 6, click here.

Jason John Reed, 33, of 33 Sunset Parkway, Oakfield, four counts: driving while intoxicated as a class E felony; driving while intoxicated with a BAC of .08 or greater; aggravated unlicensed operation; and endangering the welfare of a child. Reed is accused of driving drunk on Nov. 26 on Pearl Street in Oakfield. Original report, click here.

Submitted by Tammy Cassidy:

Oakfield-Alabama Elementary School employees, pictured in their “Fight Like a Girl” T-shirts, show support for Mrs. Esther Goodrich, who is battling breast cancer. Mrs. Goodrich is the wife of the school district’s Director of Special Education, Mike Goodrich. Thanks to elementary school Principal Mark Alexander, teachers and staff enjoyed a dress down day. All proceeds will benefit Genesee Cancer Assistance.

The Batavia area was blanketed by about an inch of snow over night, and snow will continue through the day, with very little accumulation.

But accumulation tonight should be another one or two inches. By Monday snow showers will turn to flurries.

Temperatures will be in the mid-20s range, with overnight lows dropping below 20 degrees.

Picture: A barn behind a graveyard on Judge Road in Oakfield.

Corey J. Hemmer, 23, of 91 S. Main Apt. B, Elba, is charged with petit larceny. Hemmer reportedly tried to return an empty box to Walmart at 6:41 p.m. Friday in exchange for a gift card. Hemmer reportedly received a gift card and after he left the customer service counter, employees reportedly discovered the box had no merchandise inside. Hemmer was located at a cash register attempting to purchase merchandise from the store.  When confronted by a loss prevention officer from the store, Hemmer allegedly ran from the store. When he was caught outside, Hemmer allegedly resisted detention. The loss prevention officer also reportedly spotted merchandise inside of Hemmer's jacket. Hemmer was eventually found hiding behind trees off Route 63.

Alice E. Coover, 34, of 112 Lake St., Apt. 1, Le Roy, is charged with three counts of unlawful dealing with a child 1st. Coover was arrested by Sgt. Michael J. Hare of the Le Roy Police Department for allegedly providing alcohol to three teenagers on Friday and Saturday nights.

Amy E. Loranty, 27, of 215 Bank St., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Loranty is accused of being in Target at 12:15 p.m. yesterday with her boyfriend and her two children when she allegedly stole articles of clothing.

Thomas C. Couse, 45, of 2728 Buffalo Road, Rochester, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, failure to stop at stop sign and moving from lane unsafely. Couse was allegedly involved in a car accident at 3:20 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Route 33 and 33A, Bergen. Couse allegedly left the scene of the accident and then was identified when he returned to the scene. The accident was investigated by Deputy John Weis.

Jason Norman Haacke, 32, of 47 Farnsworth Ave., Oakfield, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Haacke was stopped by at 8:59 p.m. Saturday by Deputy Jason Saile in Oakfield for allegedly speeding. He was then arrested on the alleged DWI charges.

Robert Alan Steavens, 41, of 3478 Spring Road, Alexander, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, improper right turn, failure to dim headlights.  Steavens was stopped at 2:13 a.m. Friday in Darien by Deputy Jason Saile.

Ryan M. Bobzin, 21, of Bergen, is charged with harassment 2nd. Bobzin was arrested by State Police at 11:17 p.m. Sunday. No further details were released.

Accidents from the State Police blotter:

2:37 p.m., Feb. 6, Judge Road, Alabama, two vehicles; Driver 1: Wendi L. Kavenagh, 34, of Le Roy; Driver 1: Daniel J. Davis, 43, of Middleport. No injuries reported.

Cold enough for you today?  When I arrived at the scene of the Merrill Road fire this morning, my truck thermometer told me it was 13 degrees. It was so cold that even normally stoic firefighters made comments about it.

Well, it should be a little warmer tomorrow -- all the way up to 20 degrees.

There's a 50-percent chance of more snow tonight and a 40 percent chance of light snow tomorrow afternoon.

By Monday, we get into some "partly sunny" weather with a high of 23 degrees.

The next real prediction for snow comes on Thursday, and a high of 27 that day.

Stay warm. Only six more weeks of winter.

Above, a picture from this morning of the vacant Sunny Brook Acres building on Drake Avenue in Oakfield.

It's ready to go and a club member told me this morning that Sno-Packers are feeling pretty confident that the Town of Alabama Board is going to approve the agreement with Genesee County this week that will enable the club to reinstall its bridge on Sour Springs Road.

Members of Genesee ARC's Challenger program had a chance to ride snowmobiles and all-terrain winter vehicles today, courtesy the Genesee Sno-Packers snowmobile club.  The annual event was held at the Sno-Packers facility on Pearl Street Road in Oakfield.

More pictures after the jump:

Five people were injured Friday morning in an accident at the intersection of Route 63 and Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road when the driver of one car reportedly "forgot the stop sign was there."

Charles F. Monnen III, 24, of 1720 Hyde Park Blvd., lower, was reportedly driving westbound on Batavia-Oakefield when he allegedly failed to yield the right of way at Route 63.

His 2005 Ford sedan struck a car driven by Carmela A. Cling, 56, of 4528 Mack Road, Gasport.

The accident occurred at 7:13 a.m.

The drivers and all occupants of both cars were injured.

Susan M. Rozanski, 19, was transported by ground ambulance to Erie County Medical Center.

The other four patients were taken to UMMC.

Also reportedly injured were Kelsey McGill, 18, and Celena M. Grossman, 18.

Rozanski, McGill and Grossman were all passengers in Monnen's car.

The accident was investigated by Deputy Brad Mazur.

Todd James Pangrazio, 34, of 8032 E. Main Road, Le Roy, is charged with coercion 1st, criminal mischief 4th, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment 2nd. Pangrazio allegedly got into a fight with his girlfriend and "instilled fear in her," and damaged her mobile phone, preventing her from calling for help. He also allegedly had physical contact with her and two children under age 17. The case was investigated by Deputy Frank Bordonaro.

Eslie James Worthington III, 20, of 2609 Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road, is charged with harassment 2nd. Worthington is accused of striking another person in the face at about 2 a.m. on Dec. 20. (Worthington was also involved in a one-vehicle accident Dec. 27 in which he suffered a head injury.)

A 17-year-old boy from Oakfield has been charged with forcible touch. The alleged incident occurred in December. He is accused of inappropriately touching a female who was at his residence. The case was investigated by Kristopher Kautz.

Last night in Oakfield, the Oakfield-Alabama boys basketball team beat Elba 65-43.

A.J. Kehlenbeck had 27 points and 15 rebounds for O-A and Sam McCracken scored 18 points.

Zack Beechler scored 16 points for Elba. Matthew Ramsey, 11.

Both teams are now 6-5

More pictures after the jump:

An 85-year-old driver damaged several mailboxes and other property Wednesday when he apparently lost control of his car in the area of 7575 Pearl St. Road, Oakfield.

Earl S. Smith Jr., of 15 Sunrise Parkway in Oakfield, was not seriously injured in the 4:20 p.m. accident.

Property damage was reported to mailboxes, trees and the yards of five different homes.

After reportedly driving off the right shoulder, striking a mailbox, a bush and a tree, Smith reportedly tried to drive back onto the roadway before his car became stuck on the opposite shoulder.

Smith was cited for failure to stay in his lane of travel.

It should be no surprise to anyone -- putting together Oakfield's annual Labor Daze celebration is a lot of work.

Too much work for only five people to handle, according Donna Dwyer, last year's co-chair for the event.

That's why there will be no Labor Daze in 2010.

"We considered lots of options and people suggested ideas, but we've been at this long enough to know it was going to be just too tough for a small group of people," Dwyer said.

The event has been a 25-year tradition in Oakfield and is an important part of the fundraising calendar for many local charities, but Dwyer said with some key people stepping away for either health reasons or other personal commitments and the lack of new volunteers stepping forward, putting on the event for 2010 just wasn't realistic.

The Oakfield Betterment Committee will continue to try and recruit volunteers for 2011, but even if several people stepped forward now, it's just too late for 2010, Dwyer said. There is just too much work that has not been completed yet that should be done by this point.

"We would already be behind the eight ball," Dwyer said. "For example, we have to have all of the entertainment booked by the beginning of February."

Mark Colopy, another organizer who oversees the food booths said he was out of town Monday when the committee met and made its decision, but that it makes sense. The group just needs more help.

"We're looking forward with optimism," Colopy said. "This is an important event for the community. It's an important fundraiser for a lot of non-profit groups in the community and it's a great time to get out and see your friends and neighbors. We just didn't have the necessary support to carry it through for 2010."

Six Oakfield residents found out recently that they have a sister in Bowling Green, Ky., whom they never knew anything about until the woman's daughter connected the siblings through Facebook.

The Bowling Green Daily News has a story.

Philip Semar, Sandy Berrios and Cindy Kline all made the drive this week from Oakfield to Bowling Green to meet 61-year-old Linda Richardson.

Richardson never knew her real father, William Semar, and didn't find out about him until she was 15. She then spent the following decades searching for him and hoping she would find out she had brothers and sisters.

On the day her mother died, her daughter told her about finding the Semar family in Oakfield.

Her other three half brothers are John, David and Willy Semar, all of Oakfield, but they couldn't make the trip to Bowling Green.

“It’s pretty neat,” said Richardson’s son, Teddy Freeman, of Bowling Green, “I had two aunts and now I have four.”

After warm embraces all around, the new family stood misty-eyed and chatting together for the first time in Walker’s front yard, the resemblance unmistakable.

“You all look so much alike, each in a different way,” Walker said, “the eyes especially.”

About a dozen Fox Road residents showed up to the Genesee County Planning Board meeting last night to express opposition to a proposed RV campground in their neighborhood.

The board listened and went against the original recommendation to OK the project and voted to recommend disapproval of the application.

That means the Oakfield Town Board will need a majority-plus-1 vote to approve a special-use permit for the project to go forward.

Mike Dilcher wants to build a campground that will eventually hold 268 sites on 30 acres.

Opponents said such a dense campground will spoil their idyllic neighborhood, as well as run the risk of causing wells to run dry, potentially polluting the area creek and groundwater as well as greatly increase traffic on Fox Road.

"I think our main concern is the water because on Fox Road, we're all on wells, obviously," Fred Oaksford said. "Even though the town has applied for a water district, that's at least three years away."

After expressing concern about potential dramatic increase in traffic and decrease in property values, Bob Chamberlain said the development would totally change the character of the neighborhood.

"This will destroy a residential neighborhood that is really a very beautiful neighborhood," Chamberlain said.

Dilcher presented the board with letters from five Oakfield businesses that support the campground, saying the RV resort would be a much needed boost to the local economy.

Before the vote, Board Member Berney Staats said the board should take no action on the application.

"I wouldn't feel comfortable voting for it and I wouldn't feel comfortable not voting for it," Staats said. "I believe people have a right to do what they want with their property. I think people have property rights, but I don't feel comfortable with it."

County Planner Jim Duval pointed out, however, that if the board didn't take action, the Town of Oakfield board could approve the permit with no modifications.

At that point, Bob Bennett made a motion for disapproval, which passed 8-0.

The attorney for an Oakfield man accused of burglary and larceny at Holland High Lift in Bethany withdrew a series of motions today and set his client's case for trial.

Unless a plea agreement is reached before Feb. 26, the case of Michael L. Jackson will go to trial April 19.

Jackson is accused of burglary 3rd, two counts of grand larceny 3rd, and two counts criminal mischief 2nd.

The case was set for a hearing today on Public Defender Gary Horton's motions to suppress Jackson's post arrest statements, but Horton withdrew those motions, according to Assistant District Attorney Will Zickl, and instead asked that a trial be scheduled.

For previous coverage, click here.