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Police Blotter: Friday, June 6 to Sunday, June 8

By Philip Anselmo

Friday:

  • 1:08am, 2 Fisher Park (Apt: Upper), trespass
  • 8:12am, 301 North St., criminal tampering
  • 8:27am, West Main Street, accident
  • 1:36pm, 1 Kingsbury Ave., harassment
  • 10:21pm, 10 W. Main St., harassment

Saturday:

  • 4:20am, 131 Summit St., criminal mischief
  • 11:51am, 577 E. Main St., larceny
  • 12:07pm, West Main Street, accident
  • 2:07pm, 419 W. Main St., larceny
  • 4:08pm, Washington Avenue, accident
  • 5:25pm, 6 Lewis Place, trespass
  • 8:50pm, 10 Fisher Park, assault

Sunday:

  • 3:35am, East Main Street, accident
  • 9:36am, East Avenue, accident
  • 9:59am, 23 Holland Ave., larceny
  • 12:51pm, 278 Bank St., trespass
  • 3:50pm, 50 Chandler Ave., larceny
  • 7:36pm, 27 Central Ave., harassment

(Received in a fax from the police department): Cynthia S. Hopkins, 25, of Silver Lake, was charged with driving while intoxicated early Sunday, city police said. Hopkins allegedly hit another vehicle at East Main and Swan streets and left the scene. She was also ticketed with failure to yield right of way and leaving the scene.

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

County Legislature will meet Wednesday

By Philip Anselmo

The Genesee County Legislature will meet at 7:00pm Wednesday at the Old County Courthouse, 7 Main St. On the agenda:

  • Granting property tax exemption to Cold War Veterans.
  • Amendments to Health Department grants.
  • Routine contract renewals and budget transfers.

The regular meeting will be preceded by a public hearing on the redesignation of some Empire Zone areas in Genesee County. Prior to both sessions, the legislature will discuss the proposed County Health and Wellness Plan at 6:00pm.

News roundup: Richmond promotes literacy

By Philip Anselmo

From the Daily News (Monday):

  • Richmond Memorial Library has about finished mounting eleven banners on schools, shops and organizations around Batavia. The 9-by-12-foot posters depict blown-up illustrations intended to promote preschool literacy as part of the library's Giving Reading Opportunities program. Check out the article on page A-3 for a full list of sites.
  • Seventy-three years after the Cornell Women's Club of Batavia held its first meeting, it held its last this past weekend. Part social club, part unofficial recruiters for Cornell University, the Women's Club was established on December 15, 1934. Member MaryAnne Sovocool told reporter Joanne Beck: "We may not be meeting together, but we'll never end. We'll be in the meeting room in heaven."
  • Beck also attended the Notre Dame High School graduation ceremony Saturday. Her coverage can be found on the front page.
  • Byron-Bergen student Trent Jeffords got a perfect score and first place at the third annual Dancing Under the Stars at Stuart Steiner Theatre Saturday. His partner was Millie Tomidy, executive director of the Genesee County Mental Health Association. (If anyone got a video recording of the dance, please let us know, and we will post it here on the site for all to see.)
  • A story on page A-7 about Genesee Community College's summer forensic science camps was featured on The Batavian a few weeks ago. Follow the link for more information.
  • Notre Dame's Fighting Irish baseball pulled a come-from-behind victory over Northstar Christian Academy Saturday to advance to the Class D regionals. They will play "Section 6 champion Pine Valley in the Far West Regionals tonight in Jamestown," writes reporter Brian Hillabush.

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

Batavia has a new police chief

By Philip Anselmo

Longtime veteran of the city police force, Randy Baker, has been named the new chief of police. City Manager Jason Molino announced the appointment this morning.

Chief Baker is a 27 year veteran of the Batavia Police Department.  During his 27 year career with Batavia Police Department, he is credited as serving as a patrol officer (1981-1992), K-9 officer, youth detective (1992-2008) and patrol sergeant (2008) as well as being a member of the Emergency Response Team.

“I am very pleased with the selection process and the appointment of Randy Baker as Batavia’s new Police Chief, [said Molino]. We had a field of exceptional candidates for the position which made the final selection a very difficult decision. Chief Baker is an outstanding choice for the leader of our department. I have every confidence that Randy will quickly acclimate himself to his new responsibilities within the organization and continue his strong standing reputation for serving the needs of the community. He brings 27 years of Batavia history and community leadership, a characteristic that is invaluable. He will be a great addition to the management team, and I look forward to working with him in the future."

Molino went on to thank Lt. Eugene Jankowski who has served as acting chief since the retirement of former police chief Daryl Sehm in March.

Chief Baker lives in Oakfield with his wife, Kyle, and they have two children: Joshua, age 26 and Katie, age 23. His starting annual salary will be $75,192.

Baker will assume the position tomorrow, Tuesday. He could not be reached for comment today.

News roundup: Power outage over the weekend

By Philip Anselmo

Check out WBTA for this and other stories:

  • Parts of Alexander and Dodgeson roads in the town were without power during the morning hours Saturday. Genesee County sheriff's deputies told WBTA that National Grid was working on Route 98 at the city line at the time. There is no mention in the brief about whether National Grid expected delays or if the company had notified anyone of potential outages. Nor do we know how long residents were without power.

25 things that made Genesee County famous

By Howard B. Owens

The Holland Land Office Museum announced on its blog yesterday that on June 13, it will begin an "online exhibit" series of 25 things that made Genesee County famous.

For this online exhibit, a panel of 15 people spent six months sifting through 100s of things know world wide. It was the panel's job to come up with a list of 25 things that made Genesee County famous. Every week, until November 28, 2008 the Holland Land Office Museum will release another item.

Cool idea, and it's interesting that this physical museum has chosen the digital world to highlight such a potentially fascinating list of events, people and items.

Anybody want to guess what some of these 25 things might be?  Leave a comment.  (I'm guessing #1 is anti-masonry and the Morgan Affair. Joseph Mancuso and the business incubator have to be pretty high up there, too.)

Thom Beers says he grew up in 'blue collar world'

By Howard B. Owens

Quote from Thom Beers about growing up in Batavia:

"Somebody taught me a long time ago, be true to who you are," Beers said by phone this week from Long Beach, Calif., where he and a crew filmed a bridge painter for NBC's "America's Toughest Jobs," another Beers production. "I grew up in a blue-collar world."

In his hometown of Batavia, N.Y., just east of Buffalo, his heroes were his uncles, Nick, a pizza maker, and Rocky, a mechanic, "salt-of-the-earth guys. Guys who told the truth, went to work every day and took care of their families. It's not that I saw an opening for a grand experiment. This is what I know."

UPDATE: Here's another story about Beers -- Life is never borig.

Detective goes undercover to catch two sexual predators online

By Philip Anselmo

When Batavia police found out that a 15-year-old boy was meeting men online, then in person to have sex, Det. Todd Crossett went undercover, posing as a 14-year-old to catch two of the suspects. The second of those men, Rochester resident Anthony Sloan, pleaded guilty earlier this week. He faces a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Det. Crossett sat down with us earlier today to talk about his undercover experience and give some advice for parents of younger children.

(Note: Det. Crosset couldn't talk in too much detail about the chat sessions with the men for fear of alerting other potential suspects to his and other investigators' methods.)

Police Blotter: Thursday, June 5

By Philip Anselmo

Police Blotter for Thursday, June 5:

  • 9:01am, 208 Elm St., aggravated harassment
  • 12:04pm, 10 Jefferson Square, counterfeiting

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

News roundup: Candidate for police chief named by Daily News

By Philip Anselmo

From the Daily News (Friday):

  • Reporter Joanne Beck identified one of the two candidates in the running for the position of police chief as the force's 27-year veteran Sgt. Randy Baker. Beck said two sources named Baker as one of the candidates, but both requested to remain anonymous. Baker told her: "I can't comment on it." City Manager Jason Molino said he will "probably" make his choice by the end of next week, contrary to repeated news stories on WBTA that said Molino would "probably" decide by the end of this week.
  • Australian filmmaker Rohan Spong is in town to interview Batavia residents for a documentary on transgenderism, "specifically teachers who transition from male to female within the American school system." Batavia was vaulted into the national news spotlight in 2006, when a Batavia High School teacher announced that he was going have a sex change. School Superintendent Richard Stutzman declined an interview with Spong. Anyone else interested in being interviewed should call Spong at (310) 382-4807. He will be here for the day.
  • Genesee Speedway will host a benefit Saturday for racer Don Marsceill who was critically injured at the track last Friday. Gates open at 4:00pm, and drivers will pass their helmets through the stands to collect for Marsceill. Check out the article by Matt Surtel for more about Marsceill.
  • Genesee County Farmers Market opens for the season Tuesday in the parking lot at Batavia Downs Gaming on Park Road. The market will be open from 8:00am to 5:00pm Tuesdays and Fridays through to October 24.
  • Genesee County's YWCA will host more Women & Issues Luncheons. The next two will be October 1 and November 5 and cost $7 per session, and that includes lunch. Call (585) 343-5808. The article does not mention a location for the luncheons.
  • Head to the Old County Courthouse on Main Street from 5:30 to 6:30pm June 17 for the Genesee County Youth Court Open House. The organization is looking to recruit new members — between 8th and 11th grade. From the article: "Youth Court is a voluntary alternative for young people who face disciplinary action through school or law enforcement." Call Jocelyn Sikorski at the Youth Bureau at (585) 344-3960 for more information.
  • More than 600 people came out June 1 for an open house at Victorian Manor, the senior living community that is currently undergoing renovations that include the addition of 50 more apartments. The project should be finished by mid-July.

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

Batavia man in critical condition after his motorcycle collided with a car

By Philip Anselmo

One Batavia man is in the hospital with serious injuries, another in the custody of Genesee County sheriff's deputies, following an accident between a car and a motorcycle last night in the town of Batavia.

54-year-old William Herrington III, of 7926 Slusser Road, was taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital after his motorcycle collided with a car at the intersection of Route 5 and Powers Road, according to deputies. Herrington is being treated for a cervical spine fracture, a laceration to his spine and multiple facial fractures.

Deputies believe that the driver of the car, 37-year-old Kenneth G. Scinta Jr., of 3207 Pratt Road Lot #70, had tried to make a left turn onto Powers Road without yielding the right of way to Herrington. Scinta was charged with felony first-degree vehicular assault and two misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and aggraveted DWI. He was also ticketed with failing to yield the right of way.

Scinta is in sehriff's custody without bail. He is scheduled to reappear in court today at 10:30am.

Herrington was reported in "guarded" condition this morning at 9:00am.

The accident is still under investigation.

Video: Putumayo World Music

By Philip Anselmo

Have you ever seen those cardboard stands full of CDs made by Putumayo World Music at the coffee shop or the bookstore or the grocery store? As it turns out, those CDs — millions of them — are distributed here in Batavia, out of a huge warehouse space on the second and third floors at the Harvester Center, the old Batavia business incubator.

We got an inside pass today to check them out. Here's what we found:

Police Blotter: Wednesday, June 4

By Philip Anselmo

Police blotter for Wednesday, June 4:

  • 10:47am, 105 Washington Ave. (Apt: Side), larceny
  • 12:47pm, 381 Bank St., accident
  • 9:56pm, 419 W. Main St., larceny

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

GCC looks for more from the county

By Philip Anselmo

WBTA reported this morning that Genesee Community College is asking the county for an additional $50,000 in support. Also in store for the next academic year is a tution increase of about $50 per full-time student per semester.

We asked the college why they needed the extra funds and just what would be funded and found a brief, slightly more detailed explanation of the increase on the college's Web site (published May 13):

A proposed $50,000 increase in support, from $1,836,374 to $1,886,374 from Genesee County, sponsor of the College. Genesee County support would be 6.1% of the total operating budget, the lowest percentage of support in the history of the College. Genesee County’s sponsor support during 2006-2007 was $966 per full-time-equivalent student, the lowest sponsor support ratio of any of SUNY’s 30 community colleges.

We're waiting to hear from the college about how long the increase would last. GCC's Web site implies that the increase is only included in the 2008-2009 budget.

By way of an explanation for the increase:

The budget ensures that Genesee will maintain program excellence and affordability, President Stuart Steiner told trustees. “Our commitment is to provide extraordinary education to our students, and to do so as cost-effectively as possible,” Dr. Steiner said. “For well over a quarter-century, we have maintained operating costs lower than those of our peers, yet we have developed a reputation across New York State and beyond for excellence and innovation.”

Overall, the total budget for GCC for the next year is up about 4.5 percent, from $29.5 million to $30.8 million.

Video channel: The Batavian on YouTube

By Philip Anselmo

The Batavian has polished up its YouTube channel a bit. You can check it out anytime to see all of our videos, past and present, leave comments, become a fan or recommend your own ideas for what we should get out and point our camera at. Once we have a few more videos in our vault, look for us to do a 'Best Of' video recap with some of our favorite moments from what we have done so far.

City Council: On the agenda for Monday

By Philip Anselmo

A public hearing on a change to parking violation fines will start off Monday's City Council meeting at 6:30pm. If the change passes — the vote will come at a subsequent meeting — the fine for a parking violation will increase from $25 to $50 if it is not paid within ten days of the violation.

Other than that, there are two more significant items up for discussion and vote by the Council at the business meeting. They are:

  • In the hopes of recovering costs to the city for engineering services and permits, a charge of $500 will be applied to all residential homes, $2,500 for commercial and industrial properties (per structure). Not exactly a fee, explained Council President Charlie Mallow, the charges would cover the cost to the city if an outside firm was needed for the engineering services, so that the cost would not come from city funds. The charge is also flexible and could be partially refunded if the cost to the city is less, he said.
  • A $4 million contract for the reconstruction of Walnut Street. The project would be handled by CATCO of Alden, N.Y. Before that project begins, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation will remove some light poles from the street and replace or fix others.

Councilman Bob Bialkowski has requested permission to speak about "surplus properties" at the conference meeting that will immediately follow. City Council will then hold an executive session to discuss a personnel matter.

Both meetings will be held on the second floor of City Hall on Main Street.

The complete agenda materials can be downloaded from WBTA's Web site.

Message to Genesee County Democrats

By Charlie Mallow

Your County Democratic Committee meets and organizes for one reason only, to make sure that we can field a candidate to carry our line that represents your beliefs. It’s safe to say that as a whole Genesee County Democrats are a little more conservative in our beliefs than most state wide Democrats. We also don’t treat our county Republicans as the enemy or feel that we need to eliminate them from office at all costs either.  

The politics from Erie and Monroe County are complex and sometimes the selection of candidates from those committees seems without reason. We in this county rely on doing things the old fashion way, by meeting people face to face and weighing their personal traits. We look for a candidate that won’t overlook our county because of its small size and genuinely takes and interest in us, before they are elected. Our feeling is if they don’t know there are two area codes in their election district or where exactly our county is before they get elected, why support them? We have the opportunity to select the best possible people and that’s what we attempt to do every time without “outside” interference.
Democrat Jon Powers is an Iraq war veteran and has been endorsed by all of the county committees and has our full support in his run for Congress. Genesee County was the first County to back Jon, for all the right reasons. With our selection of Jon we influenced the other counties to just do the right thing and not go with the guy who had enough cash to win for the sake of winning. Jon is being challenged by Jack Davis who has lost the two previous elections. Jack has a ton of money and intends to spend as much as it takes to buy a seat in Congress. We don’t dislike Jack, he has worked hard for this seat in the past but, he isn’t the right guy and his time has past. Kathy Konst and Alice Kryzan are also running in the primary but, have virtually no support.  
The field might look crowded on the Democrat side but, if you’re a Democrat your choice is really pretty clear, vote for Jon Powers. Go to his website and read his plan http://www.powersforcongress.com. He’s not going to be able to send you three or four color flyers a week like Jack Davis but, what he has been doing is going door to door visiting Democrats in this county, EARNING your vote in the primary. Jon has a huge volunteer staff, who believes in him as a person. They are motivated and truly believe they are supporting the right person. A persons character, stand on issues and work ethic have to still account for something in this world. Those characteristics should at least count in our County Democratic Party.  
County Democrat Chair

 

News roundup: Assemblyman criticizes governor

By Philip Anselmo

Check out WBTA for these and other stories:

  • State Assemblyman Steve Hawley all but likens Governor David Paterson to a "dictator" and says the state is being run like a "monarchy" — listen to the audio clip from WBTA. Dan Fischer writes that Hawley criticized the governor for not doing more about property tax relief and "likened Paterson's directive on same sex marriage to Eliot Spitzer's failed policy on driver's licenses for illegal aliens." Hawley is paraphrased by Fischer as saying both moves were made without the input of the state legislature. I would be interested to hear more about how the two issues are related.
  • City Hall released the agenda for the next meeting of the City Council to be held June 9. WBTA says the meeting is at 7:00pm, but the meeting actually begins at 6:30pm, according to the agenda. WBTA provides a link to download the information.
  • Erie County legislator Kathy Konst will join the race for the Democratic nomination to run against Republican Christopher Lee for the 26th Disctrict Congressional Seat, soon to be vacated by the departure of Tom Reynolds. Democrats already have three other candidates looking for the party nod: Jack Davis, Alice Kryzan and Jon Powers.

Police Chief by the end of the week?

By Philip Anselmo

Dan Fischer of WBTA reported today at noon that City Manager Jason Molino "expects" to have a police chief chosen by the end of the week. Molino declined to name either of the candidates — the search is narrowed to two — though he did say that one hailed from Genesee County, the other from somewhere else in the state, but nothing more specific. He apparently did not, for example, say in which part of the state the out-of-county candidate resides.

Lt. Eugene Jankowski has been acting as chief since the retirement in March of former chief Daryl Sehm. Jankowski was not included in the shortlist of candidates.

In an article about the city's vacancies, Buffalo News reporter Bill Brown wrote yesterday:

Complicating the issue is the idea of combining three departments — police, fire and public works — under one director.

A nine-member commission to review the city’s 50-year-old charter form of government began meeting in April. It could recommend restoring the mayor-council system replaced in 1956 with an administrator-council. It is also expected to review municipal operations and conceivably could suggest an overall director of the three departments.

UPDATE: City Council President Charlie Mallow said that the Buffalo News article is not quite accurate. The city would not consolidate all three departments. Rather, the two chief positions could be merged into a single "public safety officer" position, while the public works director would be merged with the assistant city manager post, which has already happened, for the most part. (See comment below)

Previous related posts:

"Stagecoach Days" in Le Roy & musings on community

By Lorie Longhany

 

Genesee County is a unique patchwork of small towns and villages surrounded by farms and rural countryside. Le Roy is one of the thirteen towns that make up this patchwork and it’s where I have lived most of my life.   While our towns and villages across Genesee have been in transition the past couple of decades due to globalization and the advent of retail strip malls and Wal-Mart’s our Main Streets have suffered immeasurably.  However, this past Sunday with the help of some pretty smart planning by some innovative people, Main Street in Le Roy came alive with a sea of activity.
From 1:00 – 5:00 P.M. Main Street closed to the bustle of Rte 5 traffic and a good old fashion street party commenced. The event was called Stagecoach Days – named for the horse drawn Stagecoach rides that were provided by the Eagle Hotel, a historic landmark and local watering hole.   This in itself was unique and appeared to be great fun. The planners of this event -- The Leader Group  (a group made up of merchants and civic leaders) along with the great people from the Eagle, thought of some other wonderful attractions to delight the senses. A classic car show and a DJ provided just the right entertainment and attraction value to keep people on the street enjoying the festivities for hours. Local restaurants and gift shops got in on the action and set up on the sidewalk offering their wares and tasty treats.
With the soaring gas prices and lifestyle change that will follow, one silver lining may turn out to be a new sense of community similar to what I remember growing up with in the 60’s and early 70’s. Our Main Street in Le Roy was a flurry of activity back then. Any need or want could and was found on Main Street. What I remember most was the camaraderie and sense that we were all connected in the fabric called community.   The shop owners knew and greeted all of us by name as we frequented their establishments. This was the true sense of a village and while we may never go back, maybe a new Main Street will emerge in the shadows of the end of cheap oil. This is what the first annual Stagecoach Days reminded me of. People will look for entertainment options closer to home and these community events give all of us an option to save gas money, get reacquainted with our friends and neighbors,  and have a great time in our own backyards. It also spurs more success for our shop keepers on Main Street.
A friend of mine and I participated as vendors, displaying our artwork in the alley, and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  I commend the Le Roy Leader Group and the Eagle Hotel for organizing such a great event and look forward to the 2nd annual Stagecoach Days. 

 

Top Items on Batavia's List

Town Court Clerk Below are two lists: one details the myriad responsibilities that fall within the purview of the court clerk; the other summarizes the knowledge and abilities that court clerks possess or acquire through training. These lists are provided so that a judge and municipality can intelligently discuss the benefits that a court clerk can provide. The items below can also form the basis for a list of job duties should a municipality need to fill a vacancy in a court clerk position. Primary Responsibilities A. Maintain confidentiality of records and information when required to do so B. Prepare court calendar C. Collect monies, reconcile daily receipts, deposit receipts, prepare reports for monthly disbursements, reconcile bank accounts, and prepare administrative reports D. Enter convictions on drivers' licenses and prepare conviction reports electronically transmitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles E. Enter criminal conviction on NCIC reports and electronically send same to Division of Criminal Justice Services F. Respond to inquiries-in person, by phone, by e-mail and by mail-and provide assistance to lawyers, litigants, media, and members of the public G. Prepare monthly reports that are electronically sent to the Office of the State Comptroller H. Prepare orders, summonses, warrants and other court forms i. Communicate with outside agencies in order to coordinate the Court's activities and provide services to litigants. Such agencies include: ii. Law enforcement agencies, such as local police departments, New York State Police, Sheriffs office, FBI and CIA, US Armed Forces, and the Office of the District Attorney; I. Other courts, including superior courts and other local town and village courts; and i. Miscellaneous county agencies, such as Community Service, Community Dispute Resolution Center, Pre-trial Release, Probation, Stop DWI program, Victim Impact Panel, and Youth Court. ii. State agencies that require periodic reporting, including the New York State Unified Court System, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Office of the State Comptroller, the Division of Criminal Justice Services, and the Office of Court Record Retention. J. Examine court documents to ensure their accuracy and completeness K. Receive and file summonses, traffic tickets and other documents for court proceedings i. Assist the Justice at the bench during all Court proceedings Knowledge of: 1. The functions and organization of the Unified Court System ii. Basic legal terminology, codes and abbreviations iii. Court forms, practices and procedures, including those set forth in the Uniform Justice Court Act and the Uniform Civil Rules for the Justice Courts (22 NYCRR Part 214) 2. Ability to: i. Prepare judicial orders and decisions ii. Effectively communicate information orally and in writing iii. File and retrieve materials, extract data from various sources for entry onto court form iv. Research and interpret laws outlined in court documents and litigants' motions and other papers v. Perform mathematical tasks in order to compile court activity reports, total receipts, accept payments, and verify bills vi. Refer to appropriate documents, statutes, citations or other sources in order to respond to specific questions from attorneys, litigants and members of the general public vii. Interpret policies, statutes, rules and regulations and apply them in specific contexts viii. Establish work priorities ix. Constructively manage conflict with court users Qualifications: Highschool diploma recognized by the NYS Dept of Education or appropriate equivalent. Along with 4 years of college, specialization in criminal justice, law, business administration or related field. -OR- 2 years college with specialization in Business Administration or related field. Please email your resume to abrownell@townofbatavia.com no later than 12/16/2024. Pay is based on experience.
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