Oakfield

A structure fire, believed to have begun in a bedroom, is reported at 7154 Pine St. in Oakfield. It's off of Maple Avenue, the last street coming out of the village.

Oakfield, Alabama and Elba fire units are called to respond.

UPDATE 12:56 a.m.: Firefighters are working on extricating people from the building.

UPDATE 12:58 a.m.: An investigator requested to the scene. At least one person is out of the building and requires medical attention.

UPDATE 1:06 a.m.: National Grid notified. No ETA.

UPDATE 1:24 a.m.: Fire's been knocked out.

UPDATE: Further updates on this fire will be available in the morning.

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Submitted by Cheryl Chaddock:

Brad Chaddock of Oakfield bagged his very own monster 9pt. buck last Saturday morning with his bow. Brad is a dedicated bow hunter during the season. He and his dad, Rob Chaddock, of Elba, spend many hours throughout the year practicing archery and it has paid off. He has had very successful hunts in the past, but this is his biggest to date. Congratulations to Brad.

Darrell Smith, 43, of Queens Drive, West Seneca, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, aggravated unlicensed operation and improper stopping on a highway in the Town of Alexander. Smith was arrested following a report of a one-car accident at 3:32 a.m. on Oak Street in the City of Batavia. Smith allegedly fled the scene of the accident in his car. Smith also faces charges in the city for allegedly leaving the scene of a property damage accident, moving from lane unsafely and aggravated unlicensed operation.

A 17-year-old from Attica Road, Attica, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property, 5th. The youth was allegedly found in possession of a stolen a black Diamond Back BMX-style bicycle. The bicycle had been reported stolen from a person in the Village of Attica on July 3.

Peter J. Gravante Jr., 21, of Townline Road, Byron, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd, no license plate lamp and operating without brake lights. Gravante was stopped at 4:08 a.m., Friday, on Route 5, Town of Batavia, by Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

Alexander Kae Zorich, 18, of Batavia-Stafford Townline Road, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Zorich is accused of shoplifting from Kmart.

A 16-year-old from Route 20, Alexander, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property. The youth was arrested following an investigation into car break-ins in the Village of Alexander during the night hours of Aug. 6-7. A younger defendant was also arrested, and considered the prime suspect. That case was handed over to family court.

Wesley Herrick Marean, 20, of Bronson Avenue, Avon, is charged with petit larceny. Marean is accused of shoplifting from Kmart.

Tiffany Monea Gaulden, 19, of Taft Avenue, Rochester, is charged with criminal trespass. Gaulden was allegedly found in a controlled access building at College Village. Gaulden was reportedly barred from the property. On Nov. 4, Gaulden was also arrested for alleged trespass and issued an appearance ticket. For the alleged trespass on Friday, Gaulden was jailed on $500 bail.

Gina Lee Schmidt, 21, of Elm Street, Le Roy, is charged with petit larceny. Schmidt is accused of using a fraudulent check at Walmart.

Peter S. Brigzna, 21, of Townline Road, Bergen, is charged with felony DWI and stopping on a highway. Brigzna was arrested following a report of a car stopped in the middle of the road on Bank Street Road, Batavia, at 6:52 p.m., Friday. Brigzna was allegedly found passed out in the car with the car running and the lights on. He was jailed on $1,500 bail.

Travis J. Schultz, 22, of 3620 Maltby Road, Oakfield, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th. Schultz is accused of recklessly damaging the entry door of Sport of Kings restaurant during a fight with another person.

Clinton A. Anderson, 25, of 8 Walden Creek Drive, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Anderson was allegedly involved in a domestic incident with a woman he was ordered to stay away from. He was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Brandon T.C. Johnson, 20, of Culver Road, Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and uninspected motor vehicle. Johnson was stopped at 5:14 p.m., Nov. 3, on Main Road, Corfu, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

A 16-year-old from Oakfield is charged with harassment, 2nd, and aggravated harassment, 2nd. The youth is accused of sending threatening text messages to another student and then issuing a threat in-person to the other student.

Richard Dean McKague, 20, of Colorado Avenue, is charged with petit larceny. McKague is accused of attempting to leave Kmart with merchandise he did not purchase.

Janet L. Grossman, 43, of Clipnock Road, Stafford, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. The marijuana was allegedly found during a probation search of her home.

Last week the attorney for Justin Amend, who previously admitted to a sex act in Farrall Park, said the former Oakfield resident was too embarrassed by his notoriety to even walk into Tops Market.

Yesterday, he was apparently too embarrassed to even show up in city court.

Today, Amend is a wanted man. (Source: Buffalo News)

Amend reportedly failed to appear in court Wednesday and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Last week, Judge Robert Balbick informed Amend that because the 29-year-old former Oakfield resident moved to Florida, the option of a no-jail sentence had been eliminated.

As part of a plea bargain, Amend pled guilty to public lewdness, a Class B misdemeanor, in exchange for a promise of no jail time.

But Florida is unlikely to accept supervision of a probation case, attorneys said, for a misdemeanor violation.

Balbick gave Amend's attorney, Tom Williams, a week to explore weekend jail options and make his own inquiries with Florida about probation.

Two men who reportedly ran from Walmart yesterday afternoon allegedly carrying hundreds of dollars of stolen merchandise were quickly tracked down by law enforcement.

The first suspect was taken into custody in the Kmart parking lot by Batavia Police Officer Chris Camp, who spotted the second suspect running across Lewiston Road and in between the Town of Batavia Fire Hall and Baker's Frontier Kitchens.

Deputies Chad Minuto and Timothy Wescott jumped a fence behind Baker's and pursued the suspect down Colonial Boulevard.

A citizen was able to help locate the suspect after seeing him run into the back yard of a residence on Colonial.

Wescott suffered some minor cuts going over the fence, was checked at UMMC later, and is fine, according to Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble.

Taken into custody were Phillip William Czaja, 27, of Drake Street, Oakfield, and Jarell JT Jones, 22, of Lewis Place, Batavia. Both were charged with petit larceny.

Jones was also wanted on an arrest warrant out of Genesee County Family Court. Following an arraignment in front of Judge Adams, he was committed to Genesee County Jail for six months.

Jones allegedly stole $179.88 in merchandise from Walmart. Czaja was allegedly found in possession of $256.76 in stolen merchandise.

Czaja was jailed on $200 bail.

(initial report)

We don't usually think of bed-sheet-robed and pointy-hatted white men burning crosses as a New York kind of thing.

That only happened in the deep, racist South, right?

Several years ago a client delivered a set of pictures to Oakfield attorney Ray Cianfrini that were clearly shot decades before in his hometown, showing men dressed exactly like Ku Klux Klan members.

While Cianfrini knew his parents had faced prejudice because of their Italian heritage -- his mother was denied a job in an insurance agency and his father was barred from the volunteer fire department -- nobody had ever told him that the Klan was once quite popular in Genesee County.

"I was shocked," Cianfrini said. "I had never seen that depicted in a picture before. I never knew that the Klan was here."

The set of pictures -- which were taken to document the funeral of a top Klan official in Oakfield in 1922, including a cross burning -- started Cianfrini on a effort to completely research the history of the Klan locally.

But not because he wanted to show anybody up, embarrass the families of former Klan members, revenge the prejudice shown against his parents or otherwise seek some sort of retribution.

He just thought it was an interesting bit of Genesee County history that should be preserved.

"I don't hold any grudges," said Cianfrini, a former mayor of the Village of Oakfield and currently a county legislator.

From about the turn of the century until the Great Depression, large portions of the American population were gripped by anti-immigrant prejudice (see The Gangs of New York).

In the 1920s, the Klan -- originally founded in 1865 -- was resurgent and recruiting millions of members in all parts of the nation. Genesee County was no exception.

At its height of popularity, there were an estimated 3,500 to 4,500 Klan members in Batavia, Oakfield, Pembroke, Bergen, Byron, Le Roy and Alabama.

Cianfrini said the members were community leaders -- the bankers, shop owners, politicians and farmers. So long as you were native born, descended from Northern European stock and Protestant, you could join the Klan.

The primary thrust of the Northern Klan's hatred was not African-Americans, although its members certainly did hate them. It was the most recent immigrants -- primarily Italians, Poles and Jews -- who concerned them the most.

Cianfrini charted how Genesee County's populations changed in the early part of the 20th Century, when the percentage of foreign-born residents went from primarily Irish, English and German to the Irish and Polish.

The change in population corresponds to the rise of the Klan.

By 1915, for example, 55 percent of all foreign-born residents were Italian.

They were drawn here by factory work, and even though they had been farmers in their native countries, agriculture opportunities were closed to them here, so they took unskilled labor jobs.

Two events helped both kill the Klan locally and allow Italians and Poles to join the mainstream of the community, Cianfrini said.

The first occurred in 1924. 

The Klan announced a march down Main Street in Batavia, and a judge issued an order against the march. A regional daily newspaper had obtained a list of all of the Klan members in Western New York and threatened to publish the list if the march took place.

More than 20,000 Klansman showed up in Batavia on Labor Day, 1924.

The newspaper published the list.

"It drove the Klan underground," Cianfrini said.

Nobody wanted to be associated publicly with the Klan.

The second significant event was World War II.

"They always say there are not atheists in foxholes," Cianfrini said. "I say, there is no prejudice in foxholes."

When veterans returned from the war, they were much more willing to accept each other as neighbors. It wasn't long after the war that Oakfield had its first Italian board member and its first Italian firefighter.

"We can talk about how prevalent it was, but I'm impressed by how in this era, we've gone from a time when a father was subject to prejudice, (to when) his son became mayor of the village where he couldn't become a firefighter."

All of the rumors you heard on Facebook are true -- a man in Oakfield bought a $1 million scratch-off ticket at Wilson's Farms.

Randy Bennett, 64, plans a trip to Alaska and some new landscaping in his back yard, but he will also take care of the people he said helped him in tough times.

He's also going to keep working at Mizkan's in Lyndonville. He said he loves his job and the people he works with.

"I'm used to working 10 hours a day, six days a week," he said. "I plan to continue working, but my retirement date just moved up a few years."

Bennett seems to be the lucky one with scratchers. Previously he's won $5,000 and $25,000.

There's no secret to his success, he said.

"When I'm feeling lucky and I stop and buy some tickets with the money in pocket," Bennett said. "If I win, I play with that."

He said playing scratches is just something fun to do.

The scratcher he played this time was a $20 ticket for the "$500,000,000 Extravaganza" game.

His pay out will be $33,015, after taxes, per year for the next 20 years.

Andrei P. Sliker, 19, of 15 Thorpe St., Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd, and criminal contempt. Sliker alleged grabbed and pushed a woman who had a court order of protection against Sliker. Sliker was jailed without bail.

Matthew R. Hinze, 19, of Batavia, is charged with driving while impaired by drugs, loud/inadequate muffler, a license plate violation and unlawful possession of marijuana. Hinze was stopped at 11:09 p.m., Friday, on Route 63 in the Town of Batavia, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

Jennifer Pearl Hepp, 28, of Walker Avenue, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or higher, aggravated unlicensed operation and driving left of the pavement markings. Hepp was stopped at 2:42 a.m. on Route 238 in Alexander by Deputy Jason Saile.

A 17-year-old from Walker Road, Pavilion, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Walker was charged after a drug-sniffing K-9 reportedly alerted on his vehicle.

A 17-year-old from Big Tree Road, Pavilion, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Walker was charged after a drug-sniffing K-9 reportedly alerted on his vehicle.

Michele Marie Davis, 27, of Wyoming Road, Pavilion, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Davis was stopped at 1:48 a.m., Sunday, on Perry Road in Pavilion by Sgt. Brian Frieday.

Charles William Wilder, 27, of Crane Raod, Oakfield, is charged with felony DWI, aggravated DWI with a BAC of .18 or greater and improper left turn. Wilder was stopped at 2:29 a.m., Sunday, on South Main Street, Oakfield, by Deputy Jason Saile.

Angela A. Snyder, 32, of 432 E. Main St., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Snyder is accused of shoplifting from the Dollar General.

Cain Catino, 39, who tried to steal oxycodone from the Oakfield Family Pharmacy last month pled guilty this morning to attempted robbery, 3rd, in Genesee County Court.

The Seven Spring Roads resident had a knife in his pocket at the time of the attempted robbery, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman revealed this morning.

Friedman said Catino's case was scheduled to go before the grand jury next week and Catino was facing a possible charge of robbery, 1st, and criminal possession of a weapon.

Witnesses would testify, according to Friedman, that Catino was attempting to retrieve the knife when the pharmacy owner and his son were wrestling Catino to the floor.

Under terms of the agreement, Catino receives second felony offender status and will serve from one-and-half years to three years in prison.

Without the plea agreement, the attempted robbery charge could carry a maximum sentence of two to four years.

Catino's prior felony convictions are a grand larceny charge in 2008 and attempted robbery in 2009.

Sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 22.

Catino's mother is accused of trying to smuggle drugs to him in Genesee County Jail earlier this month. Charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance and promoting prison contraband are still pending.

A teenage girl suffered minor injuries in a one-car accident on Maltby Road last night.

Natalie N. Buczek, 14, a passenger in a car driven by a 19-year-old Oakfield resident, was taken to UMMC for treatment of minor facial cuts and bleeding.

The driver, Raymond J. Litteer Jr., of 28 S. Main St., Oakfield, received a citation for allegedly speeding.

Neither Litteer nor another passenger, Justin D. Smith, 15, were injured in the crash.

According to investigator Deputy Chad Minuto, Litteer was driving too fast, heading east, on Maltby Road at 8:28 p.m. The driver reported hitting a dip and then losing control of a 2000 Chevy sedan owned by Danielle Buczek, of 26 S. Main St., Oakfield. 

The car hit an embankment and then a utility pole, which was damaged.

A car has struck a utility pole at 3260 Maltby Road in Oakfield. Wires are at the side of the road. The car is still stuck in the pole.

Oakfield Fire Department responded. Fire police are going to block off Maltby Road at North Pearl Street and Fox Road.

UPDATE (8:39 p.m.): The pole is cracked and leaning and National Grid has been informed. Law enforcement is called to the scene.

A group of residents on Fox Road, Oakfield, got their wish tonight when the Genesee County Planning Board voted against a proposed RV campground in their neighborhood.

It's the second time this year about a dozen residents of the quite Oakfield neighborhood had asked the countywide planning body to reject proposed 30-acre campground on land owned by Mike Dilcher, and it's the second time the board voted unanimously against the plan.

Dilcher's attorney Brian Lewandowski tried to convince the board to vote for recommendation, saying that none of the issues being discussed by residents -- such as zoning use and environmental impact -- were appropriate for the county board to decide. Lewandowski maintains that the Town of Oakfield planning board retains appropriate authority on those issues.

The board rejected the proposal for the 267-site campground unanimously (with Michael Cianfrini abstaining) and without discussion.

It's the same results dealt to Dilcher last January.

The rejection returns the proposal to the Town of Oakfield Planning Board, which can veto the county's recommendation with a majority-plus-one vote.

About six residents spoke Thursday night, raising issues about traffic congestion, safety, noise, odor, water and property values.

"I'm sorry to tell you, John, if this project goes through you won't be able to sell your house," said resident Bob Chamberlin. "Nobody on Fox Road will be able to sell their house."

Chamberlin was referring to John Walther, a school teacher -- as is his wife -- who bought a large parcel south of the proposed campground just more than a year ago. 

His property has a pond which won't be fenced off from the campground and is adjacent to a proposed recreation area. Walther said he's worried that children will be able to easily wander over to his pond.

"A berm or hill isn't going to keep children away," Walther said. "What's that going to do to my liability, to my insurance?"

But his biggest concern, he said, is all the strangers the campground will bring into the neighborhood. He said he bought his property specifically because he thought it would be a good place to raise the children he and his wife are planning. If the campground is built, he said, he would have to sell his property and move.

Among the many concerns raised by Diane Oaksford was the density of the proposed campground, which will have 15 sites per acre, she said. She compared that to other campgrounds in Genesee County, listing off the number of sites and acreage for each.

"The point is," she said, "the applicant has proposed the most amount of camp sites on the fewest acres in the most populated residential neighborhood in the county."

Lewandowski didn't take issue with any of the complaints raised by residents, but said none of the issues could correctly be addressed by the county board. He asked the board to refer the matter back to the Oakfield board to handle.

Photos: Top, Diane Oaksford; inset, Brian Lewandowski

There was an accident on Albion Road, Oakfield, at about 3 p.m. today. One person was taken by Mercy EMS to UMMC. 

We missed the initial scanner call and no police report has been issued yet, so no further information is available at this time.

Reader submitted photo.

A drug investigation that began five months ago in Orleans County led to a search of three Genesee County dwellings Tuesday and the arrest of a Batavia man.

Taken into custody was Edgar Perez, 25, of 110 Jackson St., upper. Perez was arraigned in the Town of Barre Court and jailed in Orleans County on $100,000 bail.

In all, four search warrants were executed by law enforcement Tuesday, including one on a car stopped in Barre where investigators reportedly uncovered eight pounds of marijuana.

Perez was reportedly driving the car.

Search warrants were also executed at 110 Jackson St., Batavia and 32 and 33 Sunset Parkway, Oakfield.

Additional suspects from Genesee County are still being sought according to Orleans County investigator Joe Sacco.

Sacco said Tuesday's arrest and searches were unrelated to another recent drug investigation in Orleans County that grabbed regional media attention.

In the raids, investigators reportedly seized some quantity of marijuana, scales, packaging material and other drug paraphenalia at each search location.

Assisting Orleans County's Major Felony Crime Task Force was the Genesee County Local Drug Task Force and the City of Batavia's Emergency Response Team.

For the record, while we expected to receive a copy of a press release from Orleans County on this matter, we have not. This report combines our interview with Joe Sacco this afternoon and the press release published on WIVB's web site (click through for a picture, apparently, of the marijuana seized).

From the files of unsolved murders and mysterious deaths:

Bill Fickel, 2005: Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster believes he has a suspect, but needs more evidence to make a case. Brewster is looking for a second person he believes was outside Fickel's Oakfield home when Fickel was shot to death. Brewster's potential suspect is Steven Patrick Rebert, a former Oakfield resident who is a suspect in a double homicide in Pennsylvania. Brewster is hoping the second person will come forward and provide the additional information investigators may need to make the case.

"If we're going to get a conviction, we need more than a belief that this is the person who did it," Brewster said.

Kisha Sullivan, 2002: We spoke with Brewster about the Sullivan case in July, and Brewster said the eight-year-old cold case had recently become active He said there was a person identified who could be Sullivan's killer. Not much has changed since July. There is a man in Rochester that Brewster suspects killed Sullivan. He has reportedly told associates he did it, but nobody will come forward and help investigators put together a solid case. "Everybody is afraid of him," Brewster said. The Rochester police are aware of the suspect and the investigation and doing what they can to help.

Deborah Maniace, August 2010: Maniace's body was found next to the train tracks under the Route 33 bridge in Stafford. We asked Brewster about rumors that Maniace had information about meth dealing in Batavia and that this may be tied to her death. He laughed and said, "(Rumors) are just that." The rumors were checked out, Brewster said, and came to nothing. As recently as last week, investigators questioned Maniace's boyfriend, whom Brewster described as cooperative and somebody investigators are still looking at.

Four outstanding grads of Oakfield-Alabama High School are being honored this week through induction into the Alumni Hall of Fame.

The honorees include a military hero, a wildlife biologist, a fingerprint expert and an infant cardiology specialist.

The Alumni Association will host a reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Caryville Inn in Oakfield. The honorees will also be recognized Friday night during O-A's Homecoming football game against Pembroke.

More information about the honorees after the jump:

Oakfield-Alabama Alumni Hall of Fame 2010

Colonel Ernest B. Shepard, 1934
Ernest B. Shepard was born in Presque Isle, Maine, but moved to the Town of Alabama at an early age. He graduated from Oakfield High School in 1934. After graduating from college and a short teaching career, Ernest decided to serve his country and enlisted in the Air Force where he served in active duty from Nov. 3, 1941 until his retirement on Aug. 1, 1968.

Shortly after his enlistment, the United States entered World War II where Ernest served with distinction as a fighter pilot with the 316th Fighter Squadron. As WWII progressed, Ernest was attached to the 384th Fighter Squadron. Here he served as a fighter pilot and fighter squadron leader on 35 combat missions. Because of his leadership skills, Captain Shepard was selected to serve as squadron operations officer and was promoted to the rank of Major by February 1945.

Col. Shepard went on to become a P-51 Mustang pilot and squadron operation officer, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross "for extraordinary achievement while on bomber escort missions over Germany and German-occupied countries from September 9, 1944 to January 3, 1945." He was recognized for demonstrating an unfailing initiative and exemplary devotion to duty. Ernest B. Shepard served with distinction as lead pilot of a fighter group and fighter squadron on 14 missions. His outstanding leadership and outstanding airmanship resulted in the successful completion of these operations without loss of personel.

During his career, Ernest also received the: Air Medal with 11 Oak Leaf Clusters; Distinguished Unit Citation; European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with seven Bronze Stars: Air Force Longevity Service Award with one Silver Oak Leaf Cluster; National Defense Service Medal with one Bronze Star; Viet Nam Service Medal; and the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon.

David Odell, 1965
David Odell is a retired NYS Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife biologist. Early in his life, David decided he would devote his career and energy to protecting our natural resources. His love of the outdoors began with his earliest childhood experiences exploring the fields and forests around the Town of Alabama, studying and collecting everything from fossils to live animals.

David received his B.A. in Zoology from Houghton College in 1969 and then went on to SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, where his major was Zoology. He received his Master of Science, with an emphasis in Wildlife Management, in 1974.

After high school and college, some interesting employment opportunities came his way, but David was convinced that he could make the greatest difference in the field of natural resource conservation. When offered a job with the DEC, David gladly accepted and became a career employee.

As project coordinator of the Montezuma Wetlands, David played a significant role in the expansion of land protection, restoration, enhancement and management of the Montezuma Wetland Complex. In his role as program director of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, David has worked with a variety of partners, including Ducks Unlimited, DEC, The Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, the Friends of Montezuma, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others. His lifelong commitment to and passion for waterfowl conservation has made a difference for all New Yorkers who enjoy wildlife.

In addition to his work with the DEC, David has also served as an assistant professor (adjunct) with the Houghton College Department of Biology. In this role, he taught courses including Wildlife Biology, Field Ornithology, Ecology of Alaska (two trips) and Animal Ecology Lab. David has also authored numerous conservation-related materials. Outside the workplace, Dave is active in his church, and (together with his wife) has taken part in two short-term missions trips to Honduras. Dave is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, having served as local club president and literacy chairman.

Valerie Palone McDonald, 1974
After graduating from OA with the Class of '74 Valerie Palone went to work for GTE Sylvania where she remained until August 1978. During that time, she attended night classes at Genesee Community College where she studied Business Administration and Accounting. A move to Washington, D.C., later that year would prove to be a major turning point in her life; she has several decades of experience with the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice, and Federal Bureau of Prisons since that time.

Val began her career in Washington as a fingerprint examiner with the FBI. By February 1981, she was an FBI Space Management Specialist managing over 300 FBI offices located west of the Mississippi, including Hawaii and Alaska. In May 1986, she was assigned as a facilities planning specialist for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In 1987 Valerie was selected as the first female construction project administrator for the Department of Justice (DOJ), Justice Management Division, Facilities and Administrative Services Staff.

Beginning in July 1992, Val served as a facilities management officer at the Federal Bureau of Prisons. One of her responsibilities in that capacity was to direct the development and implementation of a nationwide Long Range Master Plan to address federal prison facilities' physical plants and infrastructure of older institutions.

In 1999, Val was promoted to the chief of Facilities Programs, becoming the first female ever to hold this high position. One national program that she managed was the energy and water conservation program. In May 2006, Val was selected as the chief of Facilities Management for the Drug Enforcement Administration. In this position she was responsible for acquisition, design, construction and operation of 379 DEA domestic offices nationwide. On Dec. 6, 2009, Val was again promoted and selected as the first female ever to serve in her current capacity as DEA Chief Facilities Operations Section, for DEA Real Property worldwide, including DEA presence in 86 countries. Over the course of her federal career, Valerie has written many policies, manuals, reports, budgets and project papers. From February 2005 to October 2005, Val authored the FBOP Real Property Assessment Plan to comply with a Presidential Executive order. This Asset Management Plan became the model for the Department of Justice and was ultimately submitted to and approved by the Office of Management and Budget, Congress and the President.

Dr. Gul Dadlani, 1990
After graduating from OACS, Gul went on to the State University of New York at Buffalo where he earned his bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1994. Four years later, Dr. Dadlani received his medical degree from the University of Buffalo. From 1998 to 2001, he completed a residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital, Buffalo, where he received the Resident Teaching Award for three consecutive years as well as the University of Buffalo Medical School Siegal Teaching Award in Pediatrics.

Between 2001 and 2004, Dr. Dadlani completed a fellowship in pediatric cardiology at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester and twice received a Fellow Teaching Award from Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong.

Dr. Dadlani is board certified in pediatric cardiology. His special interests include heart failure, cardiomyopathies, pulmonary hypertension, fetal echocardiography and Kawasaki disease.

Dr. Dadlani is the medical director of Pediatric Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiology Echocardiography laboratory director at All Children's Hospital located in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Safebeat Initiative, a current research project directed by Dr. Dadlani, involves All Children's Hospital community outreach program partnering with the Cardiac Arrhythmias Syndromes Foundation. The initiative provides cardiovascular education and free screening EKG's to high school students along the west coast of Florida with the goal of preventing sudden cardiac death.

Since February 2005, Dr. Dadlani has been the clinical assistant professor of Pediatrics at the University of South Florida. He has also presented numerous lectures relating to infant cardiology, authored a chapter in a medical textbook, and is credited as author of several medical publications.