batavia

For the past two days, young ball players from all over Western New York converged on the ball fields at MacArthur Park for the annual Michael Napoleone Memorial Baseball Tournament.

The tournament is named after a Batavia boy who succumbed to a form of leukemia and raises funds for a foundation in his name that assists families of children with cancer.

Ten teams in the 9-10 year old range and 10 teams in the 11-12 year old range competed. There was also a tournament for T-ball-age players.

More pictures after the jump:

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Overheard on the scanner:

"Clear CAD, no report, blotter item only. They were arguing over who gets to ride shotgun in the car."

Dispatch: "The important things in life."

Terry Ross affixes brand new flags to the Upton Monument in preparation for Memorial Day.

Scot Geoffrey Judd, 27, of Caroline Street, Albion, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Judd was stopped for an alleged traffic violation by Sgt. Brian Frieday on West Main Street Road in Batavia.

Lee J. Zawicki, 22, of Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Zawicki was cited by State Police at 1:05 a.m., Thursday, in Pembroke.

An apparent fight broke out in UMMC's emergency room Thursday evening, and two men were jailed as a result on $7,500 bail each.

The incident started around 7:35 p.m. while a Batavia Police officer and a State Police officer where at the ER on unrelated and separate investigations. The officers observed a commotion in the waiting room and moved to intervene and separate the parties.

One of the men in the waiting room struggled with officers and a woman who was in the ER for treatment of an earlier head injury jumped on the back of the Trooper.

She was Tasered by police.

Another man apparently involved in the altercation is accused of threatening to kill hospital staff.

Backup was called in from Batavia Police and State Police to help get the situation under control.

Charged with disorderly conduct and menacing, 3rd, was Ryan M. Norton, 35, of 45 Summit St., Le Roy. Norton is accused of threatening hospital staff.

Kyle W. Nash, 22, of 38 Church St., Le Roy, is charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Alexandria M. Zarty, 18, of 38 Church St., Le Roy, is charged with obstructing governmental administration.

Norton and Nash were jailed. Zarty was released on her own recognizance so she could receive treatment in ER for her earlier head injury.

No he's not high on drugs, he is high in the air! Richard Ohlson, Founder  and the kids from the Ride to Recovery  were invited to the neighborhood cookout held at St. Paul Lutheran Church Wednesday evening. Ride to Recovery is a non  profit mountain biking  organization. Their mission is to share the love of Jesus Christ, promote physical activity, and help keep todays youth on the right track and off of drugs.

They take the kids out and show them that they can have fun without the use of drugs and alcohol. They do weekly rides, go on trips and even have an annual camp held in Varysburg. Extreme Faith Fridays is held the third Friday of the month at the Assembly of God church from 7PM until 9 PM where they do devotions, games eat pizza and fellowship. If you know of a youth that would like to get involved, give Rich a call at 585-993-2180

Just so you know, girls can do it too!

Opthamalic surgeon Alan Siegel made a difference in the lives of countless patients over the course of his career and when he stopped performing surgery, it was because he had their best interests at heart.

After being diagnosed a year and a half ago of pancreatic cancer, he worked as long as he could using 100 percent of his skills. But when he grew weaker, he decided the delicate microsurgery he performed was no longer something he ought to do -- the last thing he wanted was to harm a patient.

"He loved his job, he really did," said Rosemary Siegel this afternoon, his wife of 28 years. "He had a wonderful practice with very fair and supportive people."

Dr. Siegel was with University Eye Specialists, on Summit Street in Batavia, for 15 years. He was known to be honest, intelligent and caring -- the rare kind of doctor who typically called patients after surgery to ask how they were doing.

Born in Brooklyn, raised in New Jersey, his first practice after medical school was on Long Island. Before that, he had been a physician's assistant, which is what he was when he met a certain registered nurse named Rosemary at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx.

They fell in love, got married and he went to medical school.

"He went into opthamology because he liked microsurgery, he enjoyed that," Rosemary said. "And he had big hands, too, it's amazing."

The couple have two children, 26-year-old Jacqueline, and 22-year-old William. Both are residents of Millport, NY, and have taken leaves of absence to stay with their mother awhile. For nearly seven years, Rosemary has contended with ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's disease."

"Everyday when he'd come home from work, he'd pick me up off the couch and put me in my wheelchair. He took care of me. He never, ever once complained. That's the kind of man he was."

She said at times she felt like she was a burden, and told him so.

"He said 'I never want to hear you say that again. Ro, this is what we've been dealt in life and we just have to deal with it.'"

Like every couple, they occasionally had their differences but they never had a fight. At some point it dawned on William as a boy that his parents didn't fight like a lot of other parents.

"Mom, you and Daddy never fight. Why?" he asked.

I don't know, she told him, "maybe because we're best friends."

You've got to love a guy whose wife is so proud of the way he always loved and cared for his own mother, who lives in Florida. And who never missed his children's school plays or dance recitals or hockey games.

"Al loved hockey and he would scream so at the high school hockey games that he'd come home hoarse."

When the local team went to the state competition, the distinguished surgeon went wearing war paint on his face, toting a specially designed hockey stick.

"Oh God, they were a riot."

At the pro level, he was a die-hard fan of the Buffalo Sabres and in baseball, the Yankees.

His daughter has an extra-special memory of the time she spent with her dad on The Great White Way.

"My dad took me all over for auditions when I was applying for undergraduate (studies)," Jacqueline said. "We had to fly all around to private schools. One time we got off the plane, got on the subway, got a hotel and then went to see a couple of shows -- "The Producers" and "Chicago."

"My audition was the next day. I didn't get in, but we didn't care because we had a great vacation together, just the two of us."

Another great vacation took place three years ago at Christmas, when the whole extended family went on a cruise to the Mexican resort of Cozumel and Belize, in Central America.

The last vacation they would take as a family was last summer, after Alan had already been diagnosed with cancer. They rented a house in Hilton Head, S.C., were William was working as a lifeguard. They stayed a week, went parasailing, had a ball.

Great times were also had when Dr. Siegel and his friends jumped in their cars and went on a "road rally," a sort of mystery game.

"They'd get a clue, and blast off to the next clue," Rosemary said. "It took weeks to figure out the clues. People got lost, went to the wrong place. When they got all the clues, then they'd go back over the route.

"One year Al and Dr. (Gary) May put on masks and wigs on the road rally. They went into an old church. Then Dr. May didn't see or hear Al. Al had dropped through the floor. The next day he couldn't move his arm and Dr. (Matthew) Landfried had to give him a shot."

Whether it was electronics or snow skiing or any of the above, Dr. Siegel was a "take charge kinda guy" who enjoyed the camaraderie of friends. He didn't talk about doing things, he did them.

But this take-charge man also made a mean meatloaf, a tradition which began when Rosemary used to work nights on Mondays back in Long Island. Monday was meatloaf night.

Anytime was cookie time, however.

"He was a Cookie Monster," Rosemary said. "I made the chocolate chip cookies and he ate them."

This activity, more often than not, may have occurred while Dr. Siegel was in the company of his three-pound "terror." A rescued chihuahua named "Oji," who was his best pal and fiercely guarded him in his final days.

"When my husband was dying, 'Oji' never got off the bed," Rosemary said. "And if anybody tried to touch him, he went crazy. He protected him so much."

It's safe to say "Oji" is grieving for his master. Dr. Alan Siegel was only 57. He will be missed by many.

Dr. Siegel's obituary is available here.

Late this afternoon, Chris Hamel and his friend James Bonning were on the Tonawanda at the falls fishing.

Batavia Polcie are looking for a man allegedly involved in an altercation on Wood Street around 5:30 p.m.

The man allegedly stuck another person in the face with an unknown object.

According to Det. Kevin Czora, the suspect and the victim were involved in a verbal argument. The assailant went to his car, grabbed some sort of object, came back and struck the victim in the face.

The victim suffered facial cuts and was transported by ambulance to UMMC.

The suspect is described as a black male in his late 20s. He fled the scene in a red Chevy Monte Carlo. The Monte Carlo may already have had a busted passenger window.

It's unknown, Czora said, whether the suspect was also injured.

A former corrections officer admitted in Genesee County Court this afternoon that he filed false workers compensation claims and stole thousands of dollars from the state.

James S. Gibbs, 34, faced a 24-count indictment, but reached a plea agreement to admit to one count of grand larceny and one count of filing false instruments.

As part of the plea, Gibbs will be required to pay back to the state $40,000, with a $20,000 payment due before he is sentenced. 

The maximum sentence under the plea agreement is four months of intermittent incarceration and five years probation and a $5,000 fine.

Gibbs was also required to resign from New York State Corrections.

Gibbs was arrested in October for receiving disability benefits while operating a company plowing snow and sealing driveways.

Dr. Alan L. Siegel died Wednesday evening, according to an obituary posted by Michael Tomaszewski this morning.

The 57-year-old Siegel was a partner in University Eye Specialists, located on Summit Street in Batavia.

The obituary notes that Siegel had been under the care of hospice.

According to the company website, Dr. Siegel received his BA from Colgate University, an MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and performed his residency at Boston University Medical Center. Dr. Siegel specialized in cataract, eye muscle and laser surgeries.

No further details are available at this time.

Grace Anne Stewart, 50, of Pratt Road, Batavia, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Stewart is accused of stealing more than $2,000 in cash over a seven-month period while working at Home Depot.

James Matthew Rodriguez, 30, of Spring Road, Brockport is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation. Rodriguez was stopped by Town of Ogden Police and turned over to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office on a warrant.

Michael John Coffta, 18, of Burns Road, Medina, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of alcohol by a person under 21. During a school-requested K-9 sniff search of school grounds at Oakfield-Alabama High School, the K-9 reportedly alerted on Coffta's vehicle.

Micheal J. Hodgins, 50, of Batavia, is charged with DWI and aggravated DWI with no prior offense. Hodgins was arrested by State Police at 11:40 p.m., Tuesday, on Pearl Street in Batavia.