"We're losing a hundred jobs -- and that's difficult in any day and age," said Chris Suozzi, senior vice president of business development at Genesee County Economic Development Center. "We're very discouraged.

"We offered to do what we could to change their minds. But there are not a lot of tools at our disposal. It's a leased facility (Pioneer's Mill Street Offices). The good news is that Pioneer invested $2 million in it and it's now Class A grade space.

"We're very hopeful we can back fill this space. We've reached out to our marketing partners, who give us tips about companies who might be interested in a space this size."

It's set up as "back office" space and is equipped as a call center. It has 13,500 square feet of renovated space on the ground floor and another 8,500 square feet of unfinished space on the second floor.

GCEDC sold the building to Scott Harris late last year. He's the owner of a door company called Millworks Solutions and, Suozzi said, Harris knew Pioneer was leasing the building on a year-to-year basis. Later this year, Pioneer's lease would have been up for renewal.

Even though Harris will have lots of empty space for awhile, Suozzi said it's prime space, thanks to Pioneer.

Pioneer Credit Recovery's spokesman Rick Castellano wrote us email clarifying the taxpayers' money it got.

It says "...Pioneer only received economic incentives for the commitments that we met in Batavia. No incentives were received for the project to construct a permanent site for the company’s work on the IRS Private Debt Collection Program.

"...The $350,000 loan Pioneer received was repaid. We did not receive any of the grant money for (a) new facility."

The repaid loan was used to upgrade Pioneer's Mill Street offices.

Furthermore, although Pioneer was awarded a great deal more money as part of its contract, the company never got it. That's because the plan to expand and build a new facility was not viable after the government cut the program in which private firms could collect some IRS debts.

A teenager from Oakfield was arrested last night on a felony charge of burglary for allegedly breaking into the Yellow Goose store in town at about 2:16 a.m.

A 14-year-old companion was also taken into custody.

An anonymous caller tipped the Genesee County Sheriff's Office to the alleged crime in progress. When officers arrived on scene they allegedly found the two youths exiting the store.

The investigation is ongoing as to whether another young male was involved in the incident.

The investigation was conducted by Deputy Howard Carlson with assistance from Sgt. Brian Frieday, Deputy Kevin McCarthy, Deputy Ron Medes, Investigator Timothy Weis, Juvenile Officer John Dehm and members of the State Police. 

We just received this press release from Chris Souzzi, senior VP for business development at GCEDC. It reads like something he is passing on from Pioneer Credit Recovery.

The wind down of the IRS Private Debt Collection Program has caused Pioneer  to restructure and consolidate our business operations in Western New York. Batavia was not only the disaster recovery site for the IRS Private Debt Collection Program but was also intended to be a permanent home for  Pioneer’s work on that contract once it grew to its full potential. Unfortunately, Congress and the Administration halted the program.

While it is always a difficult decision to close a facility, our 100  employees in Batavia will all have the opportunity to retain their positions at our nearby Perry facility.

The press release is not yet on Pioneer's own Web site.

We're continuing to work on this story and get more information related to the closure of Pioneer Credit Recovery in Batavia.

UPDATE: Rick Castellano, spokesperson for Pioneer Credit Recovery, just e-mailed us to confirm this statement came from him.

Previously:

• Pioneer Recovery tells employees its closing Batavia office
• Pioneer benefited from gold-standard treatment when it expanded, but now skulks from town

By the end of the summer, city residents will no longer hear the wap-wap-wap of Mercy Flight helicopter blades flying in and out of UMMC, the hospital's spokeswoman Colleen Flynn told WBTA.

Flynn said the heli-pad at the hospital will provide new parking spaces.

She said patients requiring air transport from UMMC to Buffalo or Rochester would first be taken via ground ambulance to the Mercy Flight facility at the Genesee County Airport.

Anne Barone sent in this photo of a deer and her fawn that Anne says has been spending a lot of time at the back of the campus of Northgate Free Methodist Church near Bank and Vine streets.

A 19-year-old Corfu man is accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Kenneth W. Neuer, of 8990 Boyce Road is in Genesee County Jail on $10,000 after being charged with statutory rape, endangering the welfare of a child and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

When Genesee County Sheriff's deputies tried to confront Neuer at his residence, he allegedly tried to flee in a car he didn't own.

The case was investigated by Deputy Patrick J. Reeves and Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

New Today: Settler's Restaurant, 353 W. Main St., Batavia, N.Y.: Settler's has a 25-year history in Batavia of serving great, affordable breakfasts, lunches and dinners to Batavians. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

Batavia Downs Grandstand Bar & Grille: Enjoy lunch or dinner at one of the region's most popular entertainment venues. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

Carlson's Studio, 39 Jackson Street, Batavia, N.Y.  Family photos are more than just photographs. When you need photos for that special occasion, Carlson's is a great choice in Genesee County. We have a $100 gift card for $50 (with $2 PayPal fee).

Adam Miller Toy & Bicycle, 8 Center St., Batavia, N.Y.: Here's a toy store suitable for your own fun, or your children's. From models to bikes, from board games to outdoor games, Adam Miller is just a fun place to shop. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

A $1 PayPal service fee applies on items more than $10. The fee is 50 cents on items below $10.

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value. People who have won a certificate in the past 30 days are not eligible to win a certificate from the same business as before. Gift certificates cannot be combined with other offers without prior approval of the merchant. Gift certificates bought separately cannot be combined for a single purchase. By state law, gift certificates cannot be used for alcohol purchase.

How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. The winner has up to 48 hours to make arrangements to pick up the gift certificate at The Batavian office in Downtown Batavia, or, unless other arrangements are made, the gift certificate will be mailed to the address associated with the PayPal account.

Carlson's Studio

SOLD

Settler's Restaurant

SOLD

Adam Miller

SOLD

Batavia Downs

SOLD

Well, this PR director of Care-A-Van can truly say she enjoyed the parade tonight. Reports have it that she did much better passing out candy, than she did videotaping their last parade event here in Batavia. Just a few pics to share of tonight's parade.

The Parking lot was a very busy place

CARE-A-VAN'S REMOTE CONTROL VEHICLE ALL READY FOR THE ROUTE

Kelly Cook, one of our teen volunteers joined us tonite to pass out candy

LARRY HICKS OUR DONATIONS DIRECTOR LEADS THE WAY

HERE THEY GO, OUR RESCUE VAN AND BUS ..

Got to love the Horses

Our Friends from Freedom village doing a few last minute things to their float.

I hope someone here got a picture of the whole complete presentation. I just saw it from a distance and do not have a great zoom lens!

The before picture.. man what this pile transformed into was amazing. Keep your fingers crossed that someone will share!

Ryan Gugel may still be looking for his first professional hit, but he's still making a contribution to his new team, the Williamsport Crosscutters:

In the bottom of the 5th the Crosscutters rallied to plate two runs and take the lead as Cutter DH Ryan Gugel, in his first game for Williamsport, got things started with a walk. 3B Alan Schoenberger hit his second double of the season to left, allowing Gugel to advance to third. With CF Carl Uhl batting, Hudson Valley RHP Jordi Amargos uncorked a wild pitch that scored Gugel and tied the game at one. Schoenberger, who advanced to third on the wild pitch, scored the go-ahead run on a Uhl sacrifice fly to center.

Gugel made three plate appearances in the game, drawing the decisive walk and striking out.

Gugel, a BHS and GCC standout, will likely be with the team when Williamsport visits Batavia Aug. 2 and 3.

Meanwhile, the Muckdogs eeked out a 7-6 victory in Oneonta. 

Alan Ahamdy, playing first base, collected two hits and two RBI, as did Neko Vasquez.

The Muckdogs are now 17-16, three games out of first, trailing Mohoning Valley and Williamsport.

The female half of a domestic dispute in Batavia this afternoon is in jail on $15,000 bail and the male she allegedly fought with is in Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester after being stabbed in the neck.

Dorothy Tuller, 48, of 511 Ellicott St., is charged with felony assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Her alleged victim was initially transported to UMMC but later transferred to Strong.

The alleged fight occurred at 3 p.m. today (July 22).

UPDATE: It's now clear a lot of promises were made on both sides: Pioneer promised to build a new facility and create jobs. Pioneer was promised about $1.3 million in grant money to help with that project, but since the project wasn't completed, Pioneer never received any of the money.

Original post:

When Pioneer Credit Recovery decided to expand into Batavia in 2004, federal, state and county officials rolled out the red carpet -- or should we say the gold carpet -- for a company characterized as a great WNY job-growth story.

The praise for Pioneer was so intense, you'd think Joseph Ellicott was on the cusp of a Second Coming.

"By investing and growing in Western New York, Sallie Mae and Pioneer are creating good new jobs in our area - just the kind of shot in the arm our region needs to keep growing our economy," said then-Congressman Thomas M. Reynolds according to a Pioneer press release from 2004. "This is great news not only for Batavia and Genesee County, but for the entire community. It just the kind of success we need to ensure our continued economic recovery."

Pioneer supposedly committed to a $7.3 expansion project in Batavia (according to a Batavia Daily News story from Sept. 17, 2004 -- the Pioneer press release pegged the cost at $3.8 million), which included hiring up to 450 people locally and building a new facility in the Gateway II project on Route 98.

Five years later, Pioneer is shutting its doors in Batavia, having never left it's "temporary" facility on Mill Street and scant evidence that it ever employed 450 people at one time. (We are basing the news of Pioneer's closure (You read it here first) on the word of multiple current employees who sat in a meeting today to hear the stunning news, but we have no official response from Pioneer executives after several attempts to obtain a comment).

One wonders what happened to the $1.3 million in taxpayer subsidies the company received to help expand into Genesee County (plus another $350,000 loan to help improve its "temporary" Mill Street facility according to a Batavia Daily News story from May 11, 2006).

When Pioneer's expansion was announced, then-Gov. George Pataki held a press conference at City Centre (considering the location, not an auspicious beginning) to hail the job-growth opportunity.

"Pioneer Credit Recovery is one of Western New York's largest and fastest growing employers, and the new facility being planned for Batavia will further expand the company's growing presence and provide hundreds of good-paying job opportunities for hardworking families in the region," Gov. Pataki said. "The company's decision to open a third facility in Western New York is a clear example that our pro-growth, pro-job policies are succeeding in attracting new business investments and jobs for New Yorkers.

In a Feb. 19, 2005 story, Roger Muehlig wrote for the Daily about Pioneer's "historic" job growth:

Pioneer Credit Recovery's expansion into Genesee County looms as the biggest business development for the county in decades.

The company has already created about 100 jobs at its temporary location on Mill Street in the city of Batavia and intends to generate up to 350 more at a new facility eyed for a planned industrial park off Route 98 north of the city.

Those kind of new job numbers haven't been seen for quite some time.

"You have to go back to the '30s and '40s when some of the industrial businesses were thriving," said Steven Hyde, chief executive officer of the county Economic Development Center.

The Daily was equally enthusiastic about Pioneer when the Arcade-based company hired Jarid Olsowski, Pioneer's 1,100 employee:

Company and area leaders including U.S. Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-Clarence, gathered Monday to celebrate the company's ongoing and dynamic expansion.

"This growth at Pioneer has really been amazing, but really not surprising, considering the quality work force we have in Western New York," said Chief Executive Officer Joan Ludwick.

Apparently, the dynamic expansion is over and now taxpayers are left to wonder, whatever happened to all the money that was supposed to bring a brand new office building to Batavia with 450 good paying jobs?

You would think, too, that Pioneer (which proclaims on its home page "Proud Past. Unlimited Future."), after benefiting so lavishly from taxpayer largesse, would be a little more forthcoming in discussing its change of plans with the community, but executives remain mum.

It's not every day that you drive down Main Street and see somebody playing full-on heavy metal air guitar, but that's what I saw today in front of T-Shirt's Etc. on Main Street.

It was Dancing Derrick, whom I've never heard of before, but apparently he is well known in the region. Several people honked their horns and shouted out, "Hey, Derrick" as they drove past.

Derrick, a Holly resident, said he's trying to make a career of dancing in front of businesses as a promotional attraction. T-Shirts Etc. owner Brian Kemp confirmed he hired Dancing Derrick to draw attention to his store.

UPDATE: Here's a video from YouTube of Dancing Derrick.

A Wyoming County man has been awarded more than $200,000 in a lawsuit filed against a Genesee County-based orthopedic surgeon, according to a press release from the law firm of HoganWillig out of Amherst.

According to the press release, the suit alleged that the Dr. Matthew Landfried "deviated from the standard of care by failing to put in the proper size hip prosthetic, which necessitated multiple revision surgeries."

The statement said the award was the largest granted in a civil suit in Genesee County in the past 10 years.

The jury found in favor of the plaintiff 5-1.

Full press release:

BATAVIA: A New York State Supreme Court jury awarded Wyoming County resident,   Douglas Stedman, $223,000 for past pain and suffering in a medical  malpractice case against a Genesee County orthopedic surgeon. The verdict is the largest to be awarded in a medical malpractice suit in Genesee County in  the past ten years.

After three and a half hours of deliberation that followed a trial that  lasted, on and off, for three weeks, the jury in the courtroom of Justice  Rose H. Sconiers returned the verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, represented  by the law firm of HoganWillig. The jury voted 5-1 that the defendant  physician was negligent and ascribed 100 percent of the liability to the physician.

Attorneys John Licata, John DeFazio, MD and Jennifer Fay represented the plaintiffs and argued that the doctor deviated from the standard of care by  failing to put in the proper size hip prosthetic, which necessitated multiple revision surgeries.

We've heard from one city ambulance employee and have confirmed with Batavia City Manager Jason Molino that 17 medics and 4 firefighters have been notified of their termination from the city's fire department.

We have no further details at this time.

The city is shutting down its ambulance service as of Aug. 31 and Mercy Flight is starting a new ground ambulance service in Genesee County at 12:00 a.m., Sept. 1.

You'd think a debt-collection agency would be in high cotton these days, what with the economic downturn and all.

Not so, apparently with a Batavia business that duns people for money. Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc., located at 1 Mills St., suite 200, is shutting its doors, according to workers there.

We are told by sources that employees were called into a meeting at noon and informed that the Batavia office was being shut down but that employees would be given an opportunity to transfer to Pioneer's Perry or Arcade office.

So far, we haven't heard from the bosses (we've placed four calls to the corporate headquarters) on details of the announced shutdown or how many employees will be affected. Ditto the reason behind the move.

Dan Fischer at WBTA has also tried calling Pioneer's headquarters and he spoke to a PR person who said she couldn't confirm nor deny the shutdown.

Batavia is just one branch of Pioneer offices located in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. According to its Web site, it's the largest private employer in Wyoming County and is based in Arcade. Pioneer was established in 1980 and has about 1,400 employees in Western New York.

Pioneer is a subsidiary of Sallie Mae's Asset Performance Group Division. Its growth over the past few years stems in no small part from legislation passed a few years ago which allowed private companies to contract with the Internal Revenue Service to collect debts.

The company expanded into Genesee County in 2004, with much fanfare from local business leaders and politicos. It was widely regarded as a "shot in the arm" for job growth here.

Christine Fix, then-president of the Batavia City Council, said at the time, according to an old Pioneer press release:

"Pioneer Credit Recovery's selection of the Greater Batavia Area for its expansion represents a tremendous boost to the local economy and spotlights the collaborative efforts in economic development that are taking place in Genesee County and the City of Batavia. The City of Batavia is appreciative of Pioneer Credit Recovery's confidence in our future and welcomes them to our community."

The Batavia project was tagged at $3.8 million, with $550,000 coming from Empire State Development Funds and $750,000 from the governor's Office for Small Cities program. Pioneer pledged to create 200 jobs initially and a couple hundred more regionally in the not-too-distant future.

Howard Owens contributed to this post.

Faced with increasing competition from independent coffee shops across the country, Starbucks is embarking on an experiment to distance itself from its nationally known corporate brand and open coffee shops that give the appearance of being locally owned.

Over the past year, Starbucks has been forced to close 600 corporate-owned outlets, so its opened a new store in Seattle that looks nothing like the classic green and black Starbucks, doesn't use the Starbucks logo, store design or name anywhere in the coffee shop.

In the most obvious rip-off of an independent business, the décor of the new 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, which the Seattle Times describes as a "rustic, eco-friendly style," is virtually identical to that of Smith, a successful bar next door. Owner Linda Derschang says Starbucks copied everything, from her vintage industrial light fixtures to her wooden seats, and even asked one of her managers where the bar's awnings came from. In an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, she noted:

"It's got a lot of salvaged wood, it's the same paint color inside as Smith and some of the wood-framed chalkboards look very, very similar… Where's the independent spirit in knocking someone off?"

There's two points worth noting from what's happening with Starbucks. One is, independents can compete with national giants, and customers are increasingly tired of generic corporate brands. The two trends, however, are mutually dependent. There must be locally owned businesses willing to be competitive and there must be customers who who will make supporting local business a priority.

On an evening when the people coming into the Darien Town Court are a week removed from their initial arrest -- to be re-arraigned on the charges that got them locked up in the first place -- the tone is very different. Cases are handled quickly, there's few verbal challenges to the law or the court, and there's a lot less crying.

Quite and subdued would be an adequate description.

I returned to Darien Tuesday evening to follow up on the three defendants we encountered last week in Justice Gary Graber's court the night of the Kid Rock concert.

All three defendants -- Kenneth Koban, Peter H. Scrooby and Jamie E. Otto-Trott -- arrived in court at their appointed hour, well groomed and neatly dressed.

Graber wasn't on the bench Tuesday, being called away for a work-related emergency (he's a dispatcher for a trucking company in Buffalo), so Justice Michael Davis, newly elected last November, was sitting in.

While displaying the same sense of helpfulness -- wanting defendants to clearly understand their rights and legal options -- he takes a fairly matter-of-fact approach to getting a plea from the defendants and determining the date of their next court appearance.

Court started at 5:30 and I arrived at 5:35.  By that time, Koban had pleaded guilty to trespass and was making arrangements with Court Clerk Marcia Bontrager to pay his fine.

After Koban hurried out of the court, Davis and I chatted a bit and then another defendant arrived -- a young man charged with a DWI unrelated to last Tuesday's concert. He was dressed in a suit and a tie as was his attorney. His appearance was perfunctory and then we were back to waiting for Scrooby and Otto-Trott.

Scrooby arrived soon after in pressed pants and a white, long-sleve shirt, accompanied by a slightly older gentleman.

After hearing again the charges against him -- disorderly conduct  for allegedly fighting with Darien Lake security personnel -- Scrooby entered a not-guilty plea and said he would likely retain his own attorney.

He did complain about getting separated from the cash in his pocket the night of his arrest and wondered why it was not returned with the rest of his personnel effects after he made bail. Instead,it was offered to him in a phone call 15 minutes after he was heading home on the Thruway.

Davis explained that he didn't know anything about how Scrooby's property was handled and that was really a matter to take up with the Genesee County Jail.

Once Scrooby's next court appearance was set for July 28 at 6 p.m., Scrooby started to leave, but then remembered another question for Davis: Since Scrooby now had proof of identity, could his bail money be returned? Davis said that wasn't possible until the final dispostion of his case.

While Scrooby finished up his case, Anthony F. Perno, also arrested the night of the Kid Rock concert, stepped before Justice Davis.

Perno didn't take long to let it be unknown that he didn't understand why he was in court. 

"I was hauled in here and accused of something I didn't do," Perno said.

The 39-year-old Rochester resident is charged with harassment, accused of fighting with a security guard in the VIP area of the concert venue.

His frustration was heightened because he thought he had been arraigned Tuesday night and expected this week's appearance to afford him an opportunity to talk with a district attorney about his charges.

He told Davis he intended to bring his own attorney for his next court appearance, and Davis told him that would be July 28. Perno wanted to put it off for a month because he works two jobs and thought only one-week's notice for taking time off for a court appearance wasn't satisfactory his bosses.

Davis held firm on the July 28 date, but set his appearance time for 7 p.m.. Perno said the later time did help.

As Perno's case wrapped up, Otto-Trott checked in with the clerk. She appeared in slacks and a white blouse, looking far less disheveled than she did last week. A young woman accompanied her and sat in a folding chair the back row of the court room.

Otto-Trott, facing two counts of harassment, told Justice Davis that she had decided to seek the help of a public defender, so Davis entered a plea of not guilty for her and set her next court appearance for July 30 at 6 p.m..

With the Otto-Trott case handled, the court room once again fell silent. I walked up to the bench to ask Davis a few questions.

That's when I learned he was only recently elected to his first term, but that his father served as town justice three decades earlier, and in fact, served for a time with Graber.

"I sometimes get lawyers who come in and say, 'I remember when your dad was a judge,' and I say, 'that must have been 30 or 35 years ago,' and they go, 'thanks for putting a date on it.'"

Like Graber, Davis also works in the trucking industry. He dispatches and drives for Walton Milk Hauling in Alexander. He credits both Graber and the state for providing him valuable training on being a town justice.

Above, local volunteer firefighters practice evacuating a smoke-filled building on Main in LeRoy. The haziness provides some idea of what visibility might be like during an actual rescue operation. In this case, the smoke is only simulated.

More than 40 firefighters from LeRoy, Stafford and Pavilion participated in Monday night's drill. First Assistant Fire Chief Michael T. Sheflin submitted the pictures.

The building is an old house on the site of the proposed Wal-Mart in LeRoy. The structure was donated to the LeRoy fire department by the chain for use as a training facility. In previous training exercises, Bergen and Caledonia have used the building.

Sheflin writes:

Monday nights drill was search and rescue, teams entered the structure through the side door and through a second story window using a 35' extension ladder. As you can see in the photos, smoke condition and visabilty were limited. Using search and rescue techniques teams located victims ( training dummies that weight 145 lbs ) and removed them from the building using both the entrance way and the ladder. As the photos show, the Le Roy Fire Dept as well as the rest of the fire departments in the area are trained in search and resuce as well as building evacuations.

Shefin added:

If anyone one is interested in joining there local fire department, most departments hold training or meeting on Monday nights in Genesee County. Stop by and the members will be glad to talk to you.