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Tenney introduces legislation to withhold funding from states granting drivers' licenses to 'illegal immigrants'

By Press Release

Press Release:

File photo of 
Claudia Tenney.

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) introduced the Red Light Act to withhold federal transportation funding from states that enact laws to provide driver's licenses or identification cards to illegal immigrants in the United States.

This bill directs the Department of Transportation to withhold a state's entire share of

Former Batavia resident who survived Katrina forced from home in LA by major wildfire

By Howard B. Owens
Danielle Lovell, Scot Walsh, Aidan Walsh
Danielle Lovell, Aidan Walsh, and Scot Walsh, 
Submitted photo

When the Sunset Fire started to bear down on her Hollywood neighborhood on Wednesday evening, and the order to evacuate came, Danielle Lovell reminded herself to breathe.

She'd been through this before. In 2005, she and her family evacuated their home as Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans.

"I think the biggest takeaway (from Katrina) was -- and even last night -- just reminding myself to breathe and to stay calm," Lovell said to The Batavian on Thursday. "You do not want to panic because you are in such a hurry, but breathe and stay calm. Getting out is the most important thing. Everything else is replaceable, and it'll be okay. As long as you're alive, it'll be okay."

Young Afghan shoemaker learns skills from Batavia business

By Billie Owens

A young female entrepreneur from Afghanistan recently spent time in Batavia as part of a tour of U.S. businesses. The visit was sponsored by Bpeace and hosted by p.w. minor, the Batavia-based shoe manufacturer located on Treadeasy Avenue.

Shahla Akbari is a 19-year-old shoemaker from Kabul. She started her company

The Genesee Justice Story

By Howard B. Owens

In the late 1970s, the big issue in Genesee County was, should taxpayers fund the construction of a new jail.

According to former Sheriff Doug Call, now a Stafford town justice, the family court judge of the time, Charles Graney, wrote a letter to the editor that said something like

BHS educators are counting on '26 Shirts' fundraiser to help out colleague after cancer surgery

By Joanne Beck
Leah Wroten with Kassandra
Batavia High School special education teacher's aide Leah Wroten gets and gives a hug to student Kassandra.
Submitted Photo

 At 21, Leah Wroten was diagnosed with cancer, and life as she knew it changed for the foreseeable future, special education teacher Natalie Keller says.

“She had life-changing surgery," Keller said to The Batavian about her fellow Batavia City Schools colleague. "She had not been working for six months.” 

Wroten, a BHS 2020 graduate, had major surgery, chemotherapy and related treatments since her diagnosis in 2024. School staff members have had football square and Dress Down Day fundraisers, and one coming up in February is expected to be the biggest so far, Keller said. It will be a 26 Shirts for Leah.

Council continues discusson on whether to sell Falleti Ice Arena

By Howard B. Owens

The Batavia City Council continued to haggle over whether to sell Falleti Ice Arena at its Monday meeting.

At least four members are clearly in the "sell" camp -- Rose Mary Christian, Bill Cox, Bob Bialkowski and Sam Barone.

The others are more leary of surrendering an asset to a

Batavia seeks second Downtown Revitalization grant to help continued economic growth

By Press Release
dri-2.0-boundry-map.jpg
Submitted photo.

Press Release:

The City of Batavia is working with the Batavia Development Corporation (BDC) to apply to New York State for a second Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grant.

Governor Hochul and State Legislative leaders have ensured that New York Cities can continue to grow their tax base and business

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