crime

All of the following calls were reported by the City of Batavia Police Department. Listed offenses do not imply that charges were filed. Calls may result in no official action.

Monday:

• 1:15am, 166 Vine St., trespass
• 7:56am, Oak Street, accident
• 9:22am, 278 Bank St., criminal mischief
• 10:38am, 16 Woodland Dr., larceny
• 12:50pm, 249 East Ave., criminal mischief
• 3:26pm, 577 E. Main St., harassment
• 4:25pm, 29 Liberty St., aggravated harassment
• 6:39pm, 13 Thorpe St., larceny
• 9:21pm, 8 S. Main St., harassment
• 9:40pm, 117 North St., accident
• 11:32pm, 238 Liberty St., trespass

Tuesday:

• 1:29am, Law Street, accident
• 4:20am, 20 Main St., larceny
• 10:13am, 260 State St., criminal mischief
• 12:50pm, 136 W. Main St., accident
• 1:35pm, 10 Olyn Ave., harassment
• 1:56pm, 217 North St., harassment
• 4:47pm, W. Main Street, accident
• 5:11pm, 107 Elm St., fraud
• 6:36pm, 416 E. Main St., harassment
• 7:33pm, Jefferson Avenue, harassment
• 7:53pm, 114 Liberty St., larceny
• 9:23pm, 7 Central Ave., robbery

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

All of the following calls were reported by the City of Batavia Police Department. Listed offenses do not imply that charges were filed. Calls may result in no official action.

Friday:

• 12:15am, 112 East Ave., assault
• 2:20am, 208 Swan St., aggravated harassment
• 12:29pm, Richmond Avenue, accident
• 12:33pm, E. Main Street, accident
• 2:44pm, Washington Avenue, accident
• 5:20pm, 216 Ellicott St. (Apt: Rear), harassment
• 7:46pm, 8 Manhattan Ave., fraud
• 10:37pm, 39 Ellicott St., fire

Saturday:

• 1:42am, Ellicott Street, accident
• 5:40am, 419 W. Main St., menacing
• 9:10am, 1 Mill St., accident (auto + pedestrian)
• 9:57am, 5 Thomas Ave., larceny
• 10:26am, 1 State St. (Apt: 107), larceny
• 2:05pm, 60 Roosevelt Ave., fraud
• 6:17pm, 8315 Park Road, larceny
• 8:16pm, 8351 Lewiston Road, child abuse
• 9:28pm, 2 Goade Park, harassment
• 11:37pm, 413 W. Main St., criminal mischief

Sunday:

• 3:45am, 505 E. Main St., criminal mischief
• 10:49am, 127 North St., trespass
• 1:17pm, 119 1/2 State St., criminal contempt
• 5:25pm, Watson Street, accident

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

Batavia city police report two arrests over the weekend.

Justine D. McWethy, 21, of 4011 Pearl St., Batavia, was charged with driving while intoxicated early Saturday morning. McWethy was stopped by police after she allegedly drove through the police barricades set up at the fire at Cristina's Restaurant.

That same morning, 19-year-old Jushua D. Quaintance, of Byron, was pursued by police following a complaint of menacing. He was pulled over on W. Main Street in Batavia and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Batavia city police report one arrest for Thursday: Andrea M. Gray, 30, of 19 Porter Ave., Batavia, was charged with second-degree criminal trespass. Police were told that Gray entered a residence on Vine Street and refused to leave.

Blotter

Thursday:

• 9:14am, 110 Summit St., criminal contempt
• 9:39am, 100 Ross St., criminal mischief
• 12:08pm, Genesee County Mall, accident
• 1:36pm, 390 W. Main St., accident
• 2:50pm, 341 W. Main St., fraud
• 5:02pm, 12 Ellicott St., harassment
• 8:31pm, 4152 W. Main St., accident

Friday:

• 12:21pm, 166 Vine St., criminal mischief
• 12:23pm, 215 Summit St., accident
• 12:29pm, W. Main Street, accident (car + bike)
• 12:53pm, W. Main Street, accident (car + pedestrian)
• 1:53pm, 6 Ellicott Place, larceny
• 4:02pm, 412 E. Main St., larceny
• 5:03pm, 135 Hutchins St., larceny
• 5:30pm, Porter Avenue, larceny
• 6:08pm, 510 Ellicott St., larceny
• 6:55pm, 10 W. Main St., harassment
• 9:11pm, 5 Porter Ave., trespass
• 9:38pm, 419 E. Main St., harassment

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

• Nineteen-year-old Anthony S. Molaro, of Alabama, faces several felony charges following an investigation into an incident that occurred on June 28, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Deputies were told that Molaro violated an order of protection by allegedly locking a person in a car and forcing conversation by threats. Molaro was charged with first-degree criminal contempt, first-degree unlawful imprisonment and first-degree coercion.
• Genesee County sheriff's deputies reported several arrests made at the Motley Crew concert at Darien Lake last night. Three men were charged with second-degree harassment, and all three were accused of punching or otherwise attacking security officers at the concert. They were: Andrew D. Bolya, 26, of Franklinville; Joseph J. Manners, 23, of Kenmore; and Brian M. Slater, 35, of Syracuse. Bolya, 26, of Franklinville, was also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.
• Amber L. Knapp, 22, of Oakfield was charged with second-degree criminal contempt, second-degree criminal trespass and petit larceny yesterday afternoon, city police said. Knapp was accused of entering and taking something from a Summit Street residence in Batavia that she had been barred from entering per a court order.

Note: All of the above arrests were reported in published releases from the departments.

What's going on in today's Daily News? Let's take a look...

A former Orleans County resident, who is considered a "person of interest" in the shooting death of Oakfield man William Fickel in 2005, was jailed in West Virginia a couple weeks ago. James M. Nichols, 55, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for possessing firearms that he should not have had since he's a convicted felon. While the charges do not relate to the murder, they were discovered as a result of its investigation. Read the article by Scott DeSmit for the full details of Fickel's unsolved homicide and the $100,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

Reporter Tom Rivers takes a look at some changes in store for the poorly attended Genesee County Fair. Fair organizers hope the changes will bring in more bodies. Genesee has had the second poorest attendance out of eight upstate counties over the past several years, second only to Livingston. Changes this year will include:

• Charging admission by the carload rather than per person: $5.
• Offering an "Everything Pass" for $12 that gets you admission, rides and events.

In addition to the typical fair events, folks should expect live music daily and fireworks Friday and Saturday. The fair opens Tuesday and runs through Sunday.

A public hearing in Oakfield tonight will be the first to get input into a potential merger of the courts in Oakfield, Elba and Batavia.

A story in today's local section about a Genesee Community College $4 million capital project was featured in the WBTA news roundup on The Batavian this morning.

God's Helping Hands and Project Hope are looking for more volunteers for another neighborhood cleanup that runs from 10:00am to 1:00pm Saturday on South Spruce, Prune and Jerome Streets. Call (585) 344-2997 to join up.

Nothing local in sports news today.

Monday:

• 2:40am, Oak Street, accident
• 11:51am, 7 Lewis Place, criminal mischief
• 3:51pm, 8351 Lewiston Road, accident
• 5:21pm, 38 Columbia Ave., trespass
• 5:33pm, Vine Street, accident
• 6:54pm, 114 Liberty St., trespass

Tuesday:

• 8:54am, 18 Sumner St., larceny
• 2:14pm, 10 W. Main St., rape
• 3:32pm, 679 E. Main St. (Apt: 4B), burglary
• 3:21pm, 10 Jefferson Square, forgery
• 3:37pm, 16 River St., accident
• 7:23pm, 210 E. Main St., accident
• 8:25pm, Oak Street, accident
• 8:32pm, Clinton Street, accident

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

Wednesday:

• 1:44am, 5 School St., trespass
• 12:09pm, 151 W. Main St., accident
• 3:17pm, 117 1/2 Liberty St., larceny
• 3:24pm, 20 Main St., accident
• 3:35pm, Ellicott Street, accident
• 3:44pm, S. Main Street, accident
• 4:55pm, 37 Walnut St. (Apt: Lower), assault
• 7:13pm, 522 E. Main St., accident
• 8:17pm, 17 Pickthorn Dr., harassment
• 9:17pm, 102 State St., larceny

Thursday:

• 8:20am, 127 North St., accident
• 9:29am, Ellicott Street, fraud
• 1:19pm, 209 Liberty St., larceny
• 1:59pm, 408 E. Main St., forgery
• 2:11pm, 55 Tracy Ave., endangering the welfare of a child
• 4:13pm, 408 E. Main St., fraud
• 5:53pm, 307 Washington Ave. (Apt: Upper), larceny
• 8:51pm, 115 Bank St., trespass
• 9:02pm, 670 E. Main St., accident
• 9:21pm, 69 Oak St., larceny

Friday:

• 1:53am, 162 Walnut St., trespass
• 11:08am, 11 Ross St., accident
• 11:43pm, 17 Holland Ave. (Apt: Lower), harassment

Saturday:

• 12:23pm, 121 Liberty St., criminal contempt
• 1:03pm, 5 Spencer Court, accident
• 5:28pm, 300 Ellicott St., accident
• 6:38pm, 38 Columbia Ave., harassment

Sunday:

• 11:51am, 201 Ross St., larcent
• 3:07pm, 10 Columbia Ave., burglary
• 3:24pm, 413 W. Main St., harassment
• 11:06pm, 5 Thomas Ave. (Apt: 2), larceny

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

• Timothy E. Talmon, 48, of Darien Center, was charged with driving while intoxicated following a traffic stop on Route 77 in Corfu Wednesday, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said.
• George Lee Williams, 28, was charged with failure to register as a sex offender, a class-D felony, sheriff's deputies said. Williams, who is listed as a transient with no known home address, was picked up by deputies Wednesday on Upton Road following reports that Williams had been trespassing. He was also charged with second-degree criminal trespass and false personation. Williams was sent to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.
• Alfred C. Gray, 22, of Batavia, was charged with a felony count of first-degree criminal contempt, second-degree unlawful imprisonment and two counts second-degree harassment following reports that he was in an alleged physical confrontation Thursday with a female acquaintance who had an order of protection, city police said.
• Eighteen-year-old Brittany Y. Myers, of Rochester, was charged with a felony count of second-degree assault Thursday, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. An investigation into an incident on June 15 led to deputies to suspect that Myers struck another female in the head with a glass liquor bottle during a fight at a party in Alexander that night. The victim had to be taken to the hospital where she received "numerous" stitches.
• Mitchell K. Milroy, 22, of Pavilion, was charged with a felony count of first-degree attempted sexual abuse Thursday, sheriff's deputies said. Milroy was accused of allegedly attempting to touch a female while she was sleeping.
• Charles E. Dodson Jr., 53, of Byron, was charged with driving while intoxicated in addition to a felony count of first-degree aggravated unlicensed operator Friday, city police said. Dodson Jr. had previously had his license suspended due to a DWI conviction.
• Rebecca J. Sando, 43, of Byron, was charged with a felony count of second-degree identity theft Friday, sheriff's deputies said. Sando was accused of using her sister-in-law's bank card in April to make online purchases that exceeded $550.
• Twenty-five-year-old Renee K. Wapniewski, of 17 Pringle Ave., Batavia, was charged with second-degree criminal contempt Friday, city police said. Wapniewski had allegedly violted a stay away order of protection.
• Twelve youths were found at the Kelsey Road Pits early Sunday morning and charged with possession of alcohol with intent to consume, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Deputies responded to the scene of the "underage drinking party" following reports that a 15-year-old boy had fell into the fire burning his hands.
• Michelle F. Wimble, 26, of Corfu, was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and endangering the welfare of a child Sunday following a traffic stop on Route 5 in Batavia, sheriff's deputies said. A motorist told deputies that Wimble was driving erratically with her three-year-old child in the vehicle.
• Timothy J. Slotta, 31, of South Carolina, was charged with driving while intoxicated in addition to a felony county of first-degree aggravated unlicensed operator early Sunday morning following a traffic stop in the village of Corfu, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Deputies found that Slotta had three other suspensions on his state driving privileges, one of which pertained to an alcohol-related charge. Slotta was sent to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Note: All of rhe above arrests were reported in published releases from the departments.

Tuesday:

• 7:59am, Ellicott Avenue, accident
• 8:52am, 20 Main St., accident
• 1:43pm, Cedar Street, trespass
• 2:55pm, Ellicot Street, accident
• 4:01pm, 45 Ellicott St., accident
• 4:20pm, W. Main Street, accident
• 11:57pm, 105 Washington Ave., harassment

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

Michael J. Robbins, 49, of 20 Thorpe St., Batavia, was charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs or alcohol late last night following a traffic stop on Stegmann Road in the town, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Robbins was also ticketed with consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle and unlicensed operator.

Batvia City Police reported today that Michael J. Fitch, 21, of Wyoming, was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument early Monday morning. Fitch was found in a vehicle reported stolen by the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, parked on Seneca Avenue, and he was allegedly in possession of cocaine and syringes. He was turned over to sheriff's deputies.

Monday:

• 11:26am, 30 Buell St., criminal mischief
• 12:33pm, 34 Swan St., accident
• 2:33pm, 8351 Lewiston Road, larceny
• 3:11pm, 3 McKinley Ave., criminal contempt
• 8:39pm, 700 Ellicott St., harassment

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

Every morning I get online and go mining for news, mostly Batavia news, because thats why I'm here: to inform Batavians. I plug in keywords in search fields. I read through the news briefs at WBTA's timely-kept Web site. I scan the digital newspapers in the area for anything (geographically) of interest to our readers here in Batavia and, more and more, around other parts of Genesee County as well. Nevertheless, some days, no matter how many information wells I plumb, no news comes up.

That being said, Monday's are almost always a guarantee for news. Something had to happen over the weekend. Someone must have done something worthy of that half-inch bold font headline. A party somewhere must have gone wrong, and now someone — or a few someones are cooling it in the clink.

Today, that wasn't the case. We heard from the county sheriff's deputies and the city police, but they were all about alcohol busts over the weekend. Whether that meant selling it to people who shouldn't have it or driving after drinking too much of it, that was all they reported about the weekend — to us, anyway.

So it got me thinking. What makes the news?

Well, without turning this into a debate about how we the media need to focus more on positive, happy, make-you-feel-good news — because there really is plenty of that; it just doesn't make the front pages all the time and more often than not isn't written well so isn't worth reading — the news I find in my morning searches will fall pretty cleanly into one of a few categories: bad news (car crashes, crime, high profile death), news released by Genesee Community College, finance or sports. But there wasn't much of any of it this morning.

So when Batavia's downtown business director Don Burkel walked into Main Street Coffee this morning and asked me what the scoop was, I told him: no scoop. I told him I searched and searched and couldn't come up with anything. What happened over the weekend, I asked him. Didn't stuff happen? Wasn't there news?

For sure, he said. Good news.

Batavia's Public Market opened for the season Saturday morning. Despite the weather threats of hail storms and the like, the market was a raving success. Folks came out to buy from vendors who were eager to sell their wares. And I can understand his elation. Public markets make me feel the same way, and it isn't even my job to get excited about downtown business. Public markets have seen a real resurgence in the past decade or so. For good reason. They're an intersection of culture and finance that harken back to the Greek agora, the public gathering place where everything happened. Whenever I get the chance to visit the market in Rochester, I get giddy. They've got good cheap eats. Fresh produce. You can typically hear at least three languages spoken. And somehow the otherwise avaricious act of purchasing for a small moment in time turns cultural. Unlike, say, big box retail shops, that mostly smell of plastic and make me feel more neurotic than usual and sometimes even hostile towards my people.

So there was that. But also...

Jackson Square hosted its second Friday night concert of the season. The Ghostriders played, the square filled, people danced. And the whole evening seemed a foreshadowing of the weekend to come — Ramble Music and Arts Fest.

Downtown was good cheer, straight up and down, this weekend. And Don told me all about it with a beaming smile. Because it really was a good weekend for Batavia. And that was the news. Summer arrived, and Batavians got out and took advantage. They stayed close to home, and close to home proved worthy of sticking around for.

All this to say, sometimes good news is exactly that and deserves its place in the cycle of crime, death, finance, sports. Not that all good news is real news. I bought a pair of sneakers recently, and they're comfortable, and that's good news for me. But I doubt anyone else would care, and they shouldn't.

There are so many ways a community gets out and acts like one, and when it does it so blatantly and in a way that blots out the bad that gets the front page most every other day, it's worthy of shining a light on.

So, if you've got a keyboard and an Internet connection, and you know that your town, village, city, neighborhood, hamlet got out and manufactured some good news that just doesn't seem to get the credit it deserves — blog about it. Write a post. Write it in a way that you think is interesting. Put yourself in the story. We're not journalism teachers. We won't call you out for that. Just tell the story. Because sometimes the news cycle lets us down, and we could all do with a good story told well of folks doing good things.

Friday:

• 4:44am, 500 E. Main St., criminal mischief
• 3:25pm, 565 E. Main St., accident
• 4:46pm, 627 E. Main St., criminal mischief
• 5:46pm, 413 W. Main St., larceny
• 6:48pm, Walnut Street, harassment

Saturday:

• 3:55am, 11 Wood St., larceny
• 10:11am, 200 Oak St., larceny
• 12:54pm, 125 Liberty St., criminal mischief
• 2:37pm, W. Main Street, accident
• 6:34pm, 21 Holland Ave., harassment
• 6:49pm, 2 Olyn Ave., harassmemt

Sunday:

• 8:32am, 639 E. Main St., larceny
• 10:01am, Ellicott Street, accident
• 10:53am, Cedar Street, criminal mischief
• 12:42pm, 23 Birchwood Dr., accident
• 3:32pm, Ellicott and Liberty streets, accident
• 9:28pm, 17 Holland Ave., criminal mischief

Note: We don't include noise complaints, domestic disputes and routine police business.

Batavia police conducted what they call "a compliance check" Friday night in the city to see if alcohol was being sold to minors. Seventeen stores were visited by underage youths working with the police. Three were in violation.

• Laura A. Smith, 49, at CVS on West Main Street.
• Rachel Chaddock, 19, at Southside Deli on Ellicott Street.
• Tsige Tamirat, 46, at the M & T Express on West Main Street.

Summons were issued to the individuals for violating the Alcohol and Beverage Control Act that addresses the prohibited sale of alcohol to persons under 21 years of age. The compliance check was funded by the Genesee Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse.

Genesee County sheriff's deputies were kept busy on the roads this past weekend.

• Thomas J. Foster III, 20, of Clarendon, was charged with driving while intoxicated Friday night after he was stopped for speeding on Route 19 in LeRoy, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said.
• Deputies joined with Corfu police to set up a DWI checkpoint in the village Friday. Six motorists were charged with driving while intoxicated: Kelly A. Honsberger, 39, of Clarence Center; John E. Mielko, 51, of Lancaster; Jeremy L. Snover, 31, of North Collins; Dwight A. Clark, 25, of Cheektowaga; Corey R. Blair, 28, of Rochester; Marcella M. Kaminski, 55, of Depew.
• Chantal M. Labelle, 42, of Rochester, was charged with driving while intoxicated early Saturday morning after she was stopped on Route 33 for making an unsafe lane change, sheriff's deputies said.
• Dennis J. Mills, 45, of Varysburg, was charged with a felony count of first-degree aggravated operation of a motor vehicle Saturday morning following a traffic stop on County Line Road in Darien, sheriff's deputies said. The charge was a felony because Mills was driving with a license that had been revoked due to prevous DWI convictions. He was also ticketed with drivig while ability impaired by alcohol, moving from the lane unsafely, failure to submit to a breath screening device, consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle and speeding.

Note: All of rhe above arrests were reported in published releases from the sheriff's office.

From the Daily News (Friday):

• Genesee County "officials" told reporter Paul Mrozek that the investigation into the murder of Janet Kirkup will focus on Darien or Pembroke. Robert Kirkup recently confessed to the murder of his wife, Janet, during a cross-country trip in 1992, and it is believed that her body is buried somewhere near a campsite in Darien. Genesee County District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said that the cause of death "may be strangulation." The search for the body has not yet begun.
• Batavia Downs celebrated the grand opening of its new restaurant, Grandstands, on Thursday. Reporter Tom Rivers was there to get some color and chat with the officials about the Downs' continued success. In a sidebar to the story, it's reported that the Downs recently warranted a check from the state for $286,274, "money that will be used to offset some proerty taxes." It sounds as if the money goes to the communities: to the county, the city and the town. The city is supposed to get nearly $500,000, and the town should receive a little more than $175,000. I wonder how that works. Where does that money come from? Tom Rivers and Paul Mrozek write that the state gives money to "host communities with video gaming centers." Doesn't that sound strange? Hey, community, good job promoting gambling, here's some cash to do with what you please. Am I being too cynical or misunderstanding this?
• "Officials" from Genesee and Orleans counties had "the beginning of a discussion" about potentially creating a regional jail. It seems people are interested in talking about it, but little else is really decided at this point.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

Forty-two-year-old Raymond J. Radley, of Pavilion, was arrested and sent to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail late last night, sheriff's deputies said. Radley was charged with first-degree coercion, a felony charge, and second-degree harassment. Deputies were told that Radley kicked a woman in the head, then took her cell phone so that she could not call for help. The attack happened during a domestic dispute at Radley's home on Cook Road in Pavilion.

Note: The above arrest was reported in a published release from the sheriff's office.

The Batavian picked up a story from the Daily News earlier about Robert Kirkup, a 68-year-old man from Big River, California, who was extradited to Genesee County Jail following Kirkup's recent confession to the murder of his wife during a camping trip back in 1992.

We thought to poke around a bit more online to see if we could dig up some more details on Kirkup, why the 16-year-old cold case was reopened and how detectives got a confession out of a man who admitted nothing for so long.

WHEC News-10 NBC in Rochester had the story posted on its Web site.

The Michigan State Police opened an investigation into the disappearance of Janet Kirkup because at the time, the Kirkup’s were living in Jackson, Michigan. Eventually Robert Kirkup moved to Big River, California, which is located in San Bernardino County. Until this June, Janet Kirkup’s whereabouts and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance were unknown.

After Robert Kirkup relocated to Big River, California, the Kirkup’s daughter, Susan Waller persuaded the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department to interview her father into the disappearance of her mother.

While being interviewed by officers from the Sheriff’s Department, Kirkup revealed that he was responsible for Janet Kirkup’s death. Members from the New York State Police Troop A Violent Crimes Investigative Team flew out to California and interviewed him. The investigation revealed that in August of 1992 while camping in Genesee County, Mr. Kirkup killed his wife, Janet Kirkup. 

The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, California, explained that the murder of Janet Kirkup may have been solved thanks to the renewed efforts of cold-case homicide detectives in San Bernardino County's sheriff's department. Ontario, California's Inland Valley Daily Bulletin profiled the detectives and their two most recent successes earlier this week.