batavia

Justin Fay, who was an Eagle Scout, honor roll student and honor society scholar in college, pleaded guilty today to one count of misdemeanor criminal trespass for breaking into the Harvester Center one rainy Saturday night in late July.

Now a Rochester resident, Fay told Judge Robert Balbick in City Court that he did enter the Harvester Center without permission.

He had been facing a burglary charge.

Fay will be sentenced after the Monroe County Probation Department completes a pre-sentencing review.

We have no information at this time on his co-defendants, William F. Wernert III and Cory C. Pickering.

It looks like work has finally begun on the Ellicott Street railroad crossing. 

Center Street is closed at Ellicott. There is two-way traffic this morning on Ellicott, but guided by cones.

And they are off!  2009 Batavia Area Jaycees Labor Day 5k Run/Walk

23rd Annual Batavia Area Jaycees Labor Day 5k Run/Walk                 First Name Last Name Town Age Time   1 Jon Valente Pavilion 18 18'01:80   2 Kevin Pawlak Albion 17 18'24:63   3 Eric Kowalik Akron 18 18"31:46   4 Kevin Sheehan Victor 47 18'37:00   5 Kevin Tillery Batavia 16 18'42:31   6 Guy Pirdy Castile 50 19'19:25   7 Max Lord Wyoming 16 19'22:52   8 Justin Cotter Batavia 17 19'27:50   9 Liz Valente Pavilion 16 19'31:07   10 Paul Jones Batavia 47 19'51:49   11 Jason Bibler   35 20'04:17   12 Aaron Sherman Batavia 27 20'04:95   13 Bill McMullen Batavia 56 20'12:50   14 Collin Mulcahy Batavia 15 20'19:87   15 Kenneth Scott   47 20'23:76   16 Paul Persia Batavia 58 20'35:00   17 Angela Jarvela Batavia 17 20'35:86   18 Rich Boyce Batavia 32 20'38:57   19 Luke Caila Oakfield 15 20'44:01   20 Eric Leffel Corfu 17 20'55:22   21 Bernie Valento Pavilion 43 21'08:29   22 Mark Heberger Rochester 54 21'23:80   23 Brian Hilburger Batavia 39 21'40:78   24 Jim  Lane Batavia 44 21'54:26   25 David Chua Batavia 42 22'06:75   26 Dennis Rettke Oakfield 50 22'08:27   27 Cody Mulcahy Batavia 17 22'23:60   28 Alan Seaner Akron 15 22'28:81   29 Guy Clark Batavia 49 22'35:35   30 Greg  Sharp Batavia 44 22'39:63   31 Jeffrey Scott Batavia 53 22'46:47   32 Zachary Shine Batavia 11 22'57:15   33 Ryan Fuller Batavia 13 22'57:93   34 Susan Francis Batavia 43 23'19:60   35 Lauren Ciurzynski Attica 17 23'23:14   36 Pam Johnson Canandaigua 47 23'29:31   37 Rick Erb Rushville 61 23'29:90   38 Cory Berardi Brockport 30 23'45:99   39 Matt Surtell Batavia 35 23'51:95   40 Edward Jones Batavia 48 23'56:60   41 Nancy Jo Rademateur Alexander 38 23'57:89   42 Bill White Hilton 67 24'12:96   43 Kervin Jonathan Basom 15 24'24:51   44 Vernon Howard Elba 35 24'26:12   45 Jorden Prescott E. Bethany 15 24'35:07   46 Todd Masters Batavia 28 24'45:20   47 Tom Mancuso Batavia 53 24'46:48   48 Tom Hawkins Williamson 51 24'53:98   49 Deegah Lotz Akron 13 24'58:25   50 Bob Kowalik Akron 55 24'59:14   51 Matt Britt Batavia 55 25'00:11   52 Peter  Coughlin Elba 54 25'06:23   53 Jane Geer Batavia 46 25'25:22   54 Irwin Crosby South Byron 65 25'29:67   55 Mark Cutcliffe Pavilion 50 25'33:28   56 Kevin Clary Pavilion 52 25'45:16   57 James McGee Asheville, NC 63 26'14:42   58 David Ciurzynski Attica 43 26'15:92   59 Sid Bolton Albion 67 26'33:80   60 Jessica Maurer Corfu 22 27'14:69   61 Carolyn Kriesen Webster 66 27'19:72   62 Bailee Welker Batavia 13 27'30:08   63 Mitzie Lenandawski Rochester 62 28'24:27   64 Jerry Godfrey Batavia 33 28'24:75   65 Joe Nicosia Corfu 25 28'26:59   66 John Albone Medina 48 28'34:59   67 Stephen Priber Batavia 56 28'54:60   68 Kevin Nickerson Byron 14 28'56:77   69 Janice Spiotta Batavia 52 29'02:54   70 Laurinda Liszewski Batavia 45 29'24:45   71 Jenna Mancuso Batavia 14 29'28:19   72 Jinny Mancuso Batavia 45 29'29:52   73 Debra Gisleson Canandaigua 31 29'55:30   74 Brenda Hoffman-Case Batavia 37 30'06:03   75 Al  Smith Rochester 71 30'23:41   76 Taylor Soule Albion 14 31'33:79   77 Norm Greiner Rochester 69 31'42:04   78 Loren Jones Basom 58 31'43:61   79 Gregory Vleck Rochester 60 31'55:11   80 William  Carrigan Pavilion 56 32'01:63   81 Colleen Morrissey Amhesrt  31 32'05:68   82 Jame Haggett Batavia 41 32'14:57   83 Andrew Kiebala LeRoy 28 32'33:48   84 Christine Nickerson Byron 45 32'44:64   85 Brad Nickerson Byron 47 32'44:98   86 Samantha Hilburger Batavia 14 33'15:12   87 Christian Valento Pavilion 10 35'40:36   88 Missy Valento Pavilion 45 35'42:71   89 Dick Lewandowski Rochester 65 35'44:46   90 Dot Carrigan Pavilion 51 36'23:88   91 Edye Radice Tonawanda 72 36'27:69   92 Margaret Peri Batavia 55 37'00:68   93 Brytney Orbaker Batavia 15 37'37:03   94 Lynn Pierce Stafford 56 51'34:24   95 Jodi Wolcott Oakfield 48 52'44:81   96 Don Cyprys Amhesrt  74 54'08:43  

Joseph D. Becerril, 21, of 320 Polebride Road, Avon, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny. Becerril was arrested at Darien Lake Theme Park for allegedly stealing items from cars in the parking lot. Becerril was jailed on $1,500 bail. The case was investigated by Deputy Jason Saile with assistance from deputies Frank Bordonaro and Howard Carlson as well as the State Police and Darien Lake security.

Joseph M. Hamm, 32, of 580 Glide Road, Rochester, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 and unlicensed operation. Hamm was arrested after the Sheriff's Office received a report early Saturday morning of a car in a ditch off Sumner Road in Darien.

Eric P. North, 29, of 152 Linwood Ave., Amherst, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 and failure to keep right. North was arrested following a traffic stop on Route 33 in Pembroke by Deputy Bradley D. Mazur.

Karen A. Dusky, 37, of 7158 Wright Road, Basom, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08, failure to keep right and endangering the welfare of a child. Dusky was stopped just after midnight Saturday morning by Deputy Patrick J. Reeves on Route 77 in Pembroke. She reportedly had a child under 17 in the vehicle with her.

Carrie M. Capizzi, 28, of 3300 Broadway, Alexander, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 and failure to dim headlights. Capizzi was stopped for allegedly failing to dim headlights at 2:39 a.m. on Route 20 in Alexander by Deputy Howard Carlson.

Heather L. Leith, 30, of 3938  Risher Road, Youngstown, Ohio, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 and inadequate headlights. Leith is also accused of with driving an unregistered vehicle, improper license plates and operating without insurance. Leith was stopped by Deputy Mazur just after midnight on Sunday morning. She was jailed on $500 bail.

A 17-year-old is charged with trespass. The youth is reportedly a former employee of Darien Lake Theme Park who had been banned from the property, yet was found in the park Sunday about 4 p.m..

Mitchell J. Atwell, 24, of 308 Mcintyre Road, Le Roy, is charged with harassment. Atwell is accused of making verbal threats during a dispute with a neighbor.

Christopher T. Herman, 30, of 39 Citation Drive, Henrietta, is charged with DWI, operating with a BAC of .08 and endangering the welfare of a child. Herman was stopped Sunday at 1:05 a.m. at a police checkpoint on Law Street. Herman reportedly had his 4-year-old son in the car.

Julian J. Matla, Jr., 45, of 35 Church St., Le Roy, is charged with DWI and operating with a BAC of .08. Malta was stopped at a police checkpoint at 11:58 p.m. Saturday.

Michael T. Ellis, 21, of 2781 School St., North Collins, is charged with DWI. Ellis was arrested by Batavia Police after allegedly failing to abide by rules set down in a conditional discharge for a previous DWI guilty plea.

Karen Grzybowski, 38, of 24 Audabon Terrance, is charged with harassment. The charge stems from an incident at 10:05 p.m. Saturday on Allegany Road in Darien. No details were provided.

Jacob R. Hennard, 20, of Bergen, is charged with DWI and operating with a BAC of .08. Hennard was stopped by State Police on Colby Road in Darien at 10 p.m. on Friday.

Police are responding to the 100 block of Elm Street, where a lost 6-year-old was found walking down the street crying.

UPDATE: It sounds like the child was reunited with her family.

De-fense. De-fense. De-fense.

A crushing Notre Dame defense led the Fighting Irish to a 21-0 victory over Pembroke.

Pembroke managed only 15 yards of total offense in the first half, while Mike Pratt lead Notre Dame on offense all game, ripping some big runs while Nick Bochicchio connected with Gianni Zambito on two touchdown passes.

The Irish scored on their first possession after Pratt marched the team down the field before Bochicchio hit Zambito on a 35-yard bomb.

A missed field goal by Matt Thompson deprived Notre Dame of the chance to score a second time in the first quarter.

Thompson would redeem himself later in the came when he recovered from a bad snap to get off a great punt.

After two long runs in the second quarter, Pratt dove in from the three-yard line to put the Fighting Irish up 14-0.

In the second half, Pembroke continued to struggle on offense, putting up only a couple of first downs, and finished the game with less than 100 yards total offense.

Notre Dame's final score came in the third quarter when Bochicchio found Zambito again for a 31-yard strike.

Thanks to a reader for the info.

John Pontillo says he has tried doing everything he can to save Pontillo's on East Main Street in Batavia.

So far, all of his offers to buy the building and the business have been rejected. He doesn't know why.

"I offered a solution that gave the family business a chance to reopen and keep it in the family," John Pontillo said this afternoon. "It could be open right now. I made an offer that would have allowed us to take care of all our creditors. Bankers looked at it and real estate people looked at it and business people looked at it and all said, 'John, this is a good offer.'

"It's very frustrating. I don't know why it was rejected."

The landmark Pontillo's, which Sam Pontillo founded in 1947, shut down in November, with a sign appearing in the parking lot saying it was closed for remodeling. It turned out, however, that the business owed more than $112,000 in back taxes.

The brothers were soon in court trying to settle estate and debt issues and who would run the business.

And the fate of Pontillo's has been tied up in court since.

"We all grew up in this business," John said. "I would like to keep it in the family."

A for-sale sign appeared on Pontillo's yesterday about 4 p.m., but John is skeptical that the business and building can be sold before creditors foreclose on the property. He fears if his offer isn't accepted before foreclosure, there will be no more Pontillo's in Batavia -- not the family business his parents nutured into a regionally renowned destination for pizza and pasta.

As local restaurateur Sean Valdes noted in a comment yesterday, "This will be a hard building to sell as a restaurant. The overhead will be a challenge."

We have a call into Sam Pontillo seeking his comment on the situation.

Once in a while, a reader stumbles across a morning post by Joesph Langen which he titles "Conversations with Calliope" and asks us what they're about.

Langen is a writer and he uses The Batavian as a morning writing exercise to connect with his muse.

We've never put these posts on the home page. They're just a writer's journal about his writing.

But Langen has been doing it daily since almost the first day The Batavian started publishing. Now he's made a collection of his writings available for free in PDF form. Click here for home info.

He lists these 10 reasons to download the book:

1. Find out where writers get their ideas.
2. Hear what a writer does all day.
3. Listen to what writers say about being a writer.
4. I want my muse to be more helpful.
5. See how to get unstuck when you write.
6. Learn how to talk with a muse.
7. Explore what else writers need to know besides how to write.
8. Discover what keeps a writer going page after page.
9. Determine who supports a writer’s efforts.
10. Unearth the sources of writers’ inspiration.

Langen says he's now a full-time writer after 35 years as a psychologist. He recently published his first novel, "The Pastor's Inferno." His other books include on one life's lessons, "Commonsense Wisdom for Everyday Life," and a memoir about his nine years in a seminary, "Young Man of the Cloth."

C.M. Barons is a frequent commenter on The Batavian. Baron's published a novel last year, "In the Midst of."

Last month, Penguin Multimedia, a joint venture of Loren Penman of Batavia and her son, Brant, as well as Brian Gardner, shot a video promo for the novel at vintage clothing store Calista Miakoda on Ellicott Street.

The novel is available at Present Tense Books.

Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding to a reported stove fire at 4071 W. Main St. Road.

The fire is contained to the stove. There is smoke in the residence.

UPDATE: 12:17 p.m.: Fire out, but ventilation needed.

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This is a reader-submitted photo of a for-sale sign on the Pontillo's building on E. Main Street in Batavia. A caller informs us the sign was placed on the building at 4 p.m. We're working on getting more information.

There are apparently no injuries in an accident at 196 Oak St., just in front of Bob Evans Restaurant.

Batavia Fire Department and Mercy EMS have responded.

No word on if traffic is blocked.

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The inaugural choice for Pet of the Week, by all accounts a prestigous distinction, was definately a tough one to make. There were several worthy prospects, and I thank all for participating, but the heart-melting eyes of Barclay and his overall mien made him a standout. He submitted this bio:

My name is Barclay James Newton and I am writing to be considered for your new Pet of the Week feature. I feel I deserve this dignified distinction because my parents say that I am the most loyal, loving, gentle and humble dog they know. My mom says I am the dog of all dogs, the Gold Standard. My dad says there never has been a dog like me and there never will be again. I guess they would know since they have four dogs here and one in heaven (Hey Maisie!).

I'm not so sure what all the fuss is about- I'm just doing my job as a dog, man's best friend and all that. I would like to say that I have a particularly special place in my heart for my human cousins- hey Kort & Ken, love ya! Whenever they come to play, I can't even contain my excitement -- I HAVE to get out to the car to meet them and walk them into the house! They're my girlie girls and I love them to pieces!  Well, I guess that's all for now. Can't wait to see all the upcoming Pet of the Week articles.

Your Friend,
Barclay

If your pet is worthy of pet of the week, have him or her e-mail me at pets (at) the batavian dot com.  Please have your pet send a handsome picture and his or her story. Click here for more information. Your pet could win a $10 gift certificate from Genesee Feeds.

Danielle L. Young, of Orchard Park, is charged  with DWI and DWI with a BAC of .08. Young was stopped by State Police on Sumner Road in Darien.

Kaylie N. Rumon, 23, of Elmira, is charged with  DWI and DWI with a BAC of .08. Rumon was stopped by State Police in the City of Batavia.

Joey Somsy, 21, of Buffalo, is charged with DWI and DWI with a BAC of .08. Somsy was stopped by State Police on Colby Road in Darien.

Brian P. Verney, 25, of Attica, is charged with petit larceny and possession of a hypodermic instrument. Verney is accused of shoplifting from Wal-Mart. He was arrested by State Police and jailed without bail.

Amy L. Showler, 34, of Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Showler is accused of shoplifting from Wal-Mart. She was arrested by State Police.

A 15-year-old from Batavia is charged with petit larceny and trespass. The alleged crime occurred on West Saile Drive on Aug. 23 in Batavia and was investigated by State Police.

Erica Michelle Raphael, 24, of 335 Bank St., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny.  Raphael is accused of shoplifting from Target.

One car is on its side following a two-vehicle accident on Saile Drive in front of the Genesee County Airport in Batavia.

There is no entrapment in either car. There are two people injured. No fire.

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At a press conference this morning, Tom Mancuso, president of Mancuso Development, said he was "delighted" the state approved a $1.5 million grant to help advance the Masse Gateway Project.

Even though the grant was $1 million less than originally requested by the city, Mancuso said the project should still be able to move forward.

It will cost at least $3.1 million and create an entrance off Masse Place into the Harvester industrial complex. The plan is to turn the old buildings into space suitable or light industrial and commercial uses for small businesses.

Mancuso said the the funding "really entitles us to spend a lot more money." In addition to the planned private investment from Mancuso Development, Mancuso implied his company will also need to come up with an additional $1 million to complete the project.

Audio: Tom Mancuso talks about the project.

The Batavian's news partner, WBTA, covered the press conference.