batavia

Two of the three suspects in the June 18 robbery of the M & T Bank in Elba will be in court tomorrow to answer charges related to the alleged crime.

Appearing at the 10 a.m. arraignment at the county court house will be Dennis M. Abrams, Jr, 26, of 202 Merrimac St., Buffalo and Demone D. Dillon, 25, 128 LaSalle Ave., Buffalo.

Both men, along with Michael J. Wells, 24, 69 Camp St., Buffalo, were indicted by the county grand jury on June 23 on a charge of robbery in the first degree.

Dillon is represented by Gary Horton and Abrams is represented by Robert Convissar.

Previous coverage:

• Manhunt in progress near Townline and 63
• Elba robbery suspects identified, arraigned and held without bail
• Suspects didn't know what they were getting into when they chose Genesee County
• Alleged Elba bank robbers indicted by grand jury

Five men from Rochester apparently thought they were pretty clever last night when they showed up to the CSX railroad tracks on Route 98 in the Town of Batavia with a plan to use a logging truck to steal scrap metal.

Not clever enough, though, to avoid observation by Sheriff's Deputies.

Deputy Chief Jerry Brewster told WBTA this morning that lawmen watched the alleged would-be thieves load the scrap metal onto the the logging truck and then tailed the vehicle into Batavia where the truck was stopped in a well-lit area.

The scrap metal was owned by Ed Arnold Scrap Processors of Corfu.

The five men arrested in connection with the case are:

Christopher H. Monfort, 37, of 113 Pine Street, East Rochester, charged with two counts of grand larceny. Monfort allegedly stole scrap valued in excess of $12,000 during the weekend of June 19-21. In last night's case, he's accused of trying to steal scrap worth more than $4,000. He is held without bail.

Anthony Toscano, 44, 918 S. Goodman St., Rochester, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is held without bail.

Richard E. Riedman, 35, 542 Klem Road, Webster, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is being held on $15,000 bail.

Anthony J. Russell, 35, of 75 Snug Harbor Court, Rochester, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Timothy M. Stone, 29, 3735 Chili Ave., Rochester, is charged with one count of grand larceny. He is being held on $10,000 bail.

Assisting the Sheriff's Office were the State Police and the Batavia Police Department.

The Batavia Muckdogs remain a mere percentage point ahead of Mahoning Valley in the Pinckney division after splitting a double header with the Williamsport Crosscutters on Monday.

Batavia took the first game 5-1 as Matt Carpenter and Ryde Rodriquez continued to swing hot bats, each picking up a pair of RBIs.

Devin Goodwin also had two hits from the lead off spot while Xavier Scruggs continues putting together a good start to the season with a double and an RBI.

San Diego native Deryk Hooker pitched five innings giving up four hits and no runs to pick up his first win of the season.

In the second game, Crosscutters' pitching held the Muckdogs to only five hits, with only D'Marcus Ingram notching a multi-hit game. The Muckdogs dropped the nightcap 4-3, with Joshua Squatrito taking the loss -- his first of the season.

Squatrito pitched one and a third inning giving up two runs, but only one of those was earned. 

San Diego State grad Tyler Lavigne pitched the first three and two-thirds innings, giving up two earned runs.

The Muckdogs battle the Crosscutters again tonight in Williamsport at 7:05. Batavia returns home tomorrow for a 7:05 p.m. game against Jamestown and then are home again Friday night against the Jammers.

Where do you stand on consolidation?

If you still have things to say, questions to ask and points to ponder -- you should attend the second of two community meetings on the consolidation question at Batavia High School tonight at 7.

The consolidation study committee will be there to explain the consolidation proposal as it stands now (it's subject to change based on community feedback) and answer questions.

A car reportedly struck a deer at 2629 Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road.  A passenger reportedly suffered facial lacerations and the white Ford Blazer is in a ditch at the side of the road.

UPDATE: We received an accident report on this accident late this afternoon from the Sheriff's Office.

Seven-year-old MiKayla McLain was reportedly injured in this accident when he was partially ejected from the vehicle. MiKayla reportedly suffered head injuries with severe bleeding and was transport via ambulance to UMMC. He was semi-conscious at the time of transport, according to the accident report.

The vehicle was reportedly driven by Jason McLain, 33, of 31 Walnut St., upper, Batavia.  McLain complained of head pain.

McLain was issued three citation. One for reportedly not wearing a safety belt, one for not properly restraining a child age 7 to 15, and one for reportedly driving without a license.

The accident was investigated by Deputy L.A. Nati.

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Patrick Wolff, 18, 34 Vine St., Batavia, is charged with trespass. He is accused of entering College Village after being banned from the area.

Brian Griffin, 24, 14 Orchard St, Oakfield, is charged with criminal contempt. Griffin allegedly violated an order of protection by visiting the protected person at home.

Daniel J. Berhow, 23, 1640 Carmen Road, Barker, is accused of criminal mischief, harassment and DWI following an incident Friday night on Route 33 in the Town of Batavia. Berhow allegedly choked another person and punched out the window to her car. Further investigation revealed that he apparently drove while intoxicated. An order of protection was issued following the incident.

Michael J. Hoffman, 40, 5106 Parker Road, Hamburg, was charged with DWI following a traffic stop on Colby Road in Darien for allegedly driving without tail lamps. Hamburg is accused of having a BAC of .08 or greater.

Phillip Ehnot, 30,  23 Harvester Ave., Batavia, is in jail on $2,000 bail. According to Batavia police, Ehnot reportedly grabbed his wife and threw her to the ground, pulling her hair. He also allegedly pushed his son into some stairs. He is charged with harassment and endangering the welfare of a child. The alleged incident occurred Saturday night just after 10 p.m.

Jackson Square concert series kicked off with the Ghostriders.There were quite a few people out last night.I thought i'd add the seagull picture too.They've taken over downtown.I did a short video but the sound is bad cause i was by the speaker.And used auto mic setting.When i should have set the mic manually.

The VA Medical Center opened in Batavia on April 30, 1934. Today, with a parade and a formal program at the facility, the center will celebrate 75 years of service to area veterans.

The parade begins at the gate property, 222 Richmond Ave., at 1:30 p.m. with the formal program will follow, emceed by Assemblyman Steve Hawley and  with a keynote address by William F. Feeley, director of the VA for WNY.

The celebration will include a fly-over, military displays on the lawn, band concerts and historical displays in the Building 4 recreation hall and patio area.  Free parking will be available at Batavia Downs on Park Road with shuttles beginning at noon.  Redfield Parkway and Richmond Avenue will be closed during the parade. 

A fire alarm is sounding at 28 Cedar St., Batavia. A caller reports no smoke or flames are visible.

UPDATE: The alarm is apparently in an unoccupied apartment. No signs of smoke.

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On the way home for lunch, I noticed two DOT employees standing by the train tracks at Ellicott Street and Jackson Street, so I stopped and asked if they were planning on improving the intersection.

Anybody who has driven over or walked past the train tracks knows the road is in bad shape there.

Troy Sampson, a civil engineer with the DOT, said the state will rip out the asphalt along the rail line and replace it with concrete panels, just like the railroad crossing on Route 98 now.

The work was supposed to start next week, but there has been a delay. The state hopes now to start work in August. The project will take 6 weeks to complete.

"It's 100 percent going to happen," Sampson said. "It's just a matter of how it's going to happen. There's lots of logistics here."

UPDATE: Well, not so fast.  The project that looked so certain this morning is now on hold. I just received this e-mail from Troy Sampson:

We spoke, in brief, earlier today at the rr crossing on Ellicott St.  The  proposed work will be done by the Railroad's contractor, not DOT forces.  Myself and a RR representitve were onsite to investigate some issues that have come up that need to be resolved in order for that project to progress.   Because of those changes, the project is currently on hold until all the  necessary parties can meet to evalute the new scope of work.  The orginal  plan that was all set to go is now on hold.  We intend to do a project, but  are not "100%" as noted.

I shot the video this morning and just happened to catch a single lightning bolt and a little thunder.

The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for this afternoon at 12:10 p.m. and then canceled the warning at 12:35 p.m.  A thunderstorm watch remains in place. The watch extends until 7 p.m. (meaning, the bad weather, we hope, will pass in time for Muckdogs baseball at Dwyer and the Ghost Riders at Jackson St. Square.)

Victorian Manor in Batavia, which has been facing financial difficulty (just last fall, there were $1.54 million in liens against the property), has a new owner and a new name.

It's now The Manor House, owned and operated by Manor House, LLC.  The financially troubled Sunwest Management transferred the facility to a group of 10 individual investors.

Full press release after the jump:

It’s official—Victorian Manor is now The Manor House.  On Friday, June 
26, 2009, ownership was transferred from Sunwest Management to Manor House, 
LLC.

The new owners are the 10 individual investors who were originally brought in 
by Sunwest when it purchased the facility in 2006.  When Sunwest began to 
struggle financially in 2008, the investors undertook an effort to take 
control of the facility and have now been able to conclude the transfer of 
control and ownership.

“We loved this facility when we first invested in 2006 and love it even 
more today as we have been able to really get to know the staff and 
residents,” said Gordon Davis, the Managing Partner for the new ownership.  
“This is more than a physical facility.  It is home for our residents, but 
also, a community itself and an integral part of Batavia and all of Genesee 
County.”

The Manor House is an independent living facility for seniors with 40 
apartments and a full dining room in the original 15 year old building on 
East Main Street.  The new owners will now complete the construction of two 
new wings which will bring the total number of studio, one and two bedroom 
apartments to 90.

Despite its financial and management troubles, Sunwest, as the fourth largest 
operator of senior living facilities in the nation, understood how to design 
a senior living facility that was more than just an apartment.  The new wings 
were designed to complement the existing building with additional common 
community spaces, an exercise room; a games and recreation room, a hair salon 
and a large “ice cream parlor.”  “I think the ice cream parlor will be 
where everyone meets during the day” said Davis.  “Living at The Manor 
House is about being with friends and people you enjoy.  Staff is there to 
support our residents with high quality meals, organized activities and 
service that meets the different needs that our residents have.”

“We have finalized our agreements with the contractors and they will be 
back to work to finish the new wings beginning next week” said Davis.  
“We expect to have our first apartments ready for occupancy within about 
four weeks.”

Local contractors who had stopped work last summer and filed liens on the 
property are pleased to be back to finish their work.  “We are proud of the 
work that we do and it was hard to see this so close to completion yet no way 
to finish” said Brian Wormley of Wormley Construction, a contractor doing a 
walk through today. “This is a great facility and it will be nice to see 
people moving in soon.”

The Manor House was originally built by St. Jerome Hospital in conjunction 
with the Sisters of Mercy in 1994.  It has been a prominent feature on East 
Main ever since, and during the summer months, always with residents enjoying 
the daily movement of Batavia from its expansive porch.

If you've driven past Zigrossi Motors on Route 5 in Batavia last night or this morning and took note of a seemingly empty parking lot, don't jump to the conclusion that Zigrossi is out of business.

While you will be seeing less inventory on the lot over the next few months, that isn't why the lot was emptied last night -- that had more to do with hail than the fact that the business is being sold.

Harry Zigrossi has been in the car business for 30 years, he said, and he's ready to retire.

A buyer has been found, but because of the General Motors bankruptcy, the deal cannot close until early 2010, unless GM emerges from bankruptcy sooner.

"Because we were fortunate enough to be on good asset side of the General Motors list and not the bad asset side, we can be sold," Zigrossi said. "If we were on the bad asset list, there would be no new dealer and we would be shutting down."

Meanwhile, Zigrossi is still open for business. The new cars on the lot are all for sale and the service department remains open.  Zigrossi said all operations will continue until the new dealer assumes control.

This afternoon, I popped over to the first day of the Downtown Public Market on Ellicott and Center. First stop: Alston's Bone-Suckin Bar-B-Que sauce stand. The sample alone was worth the trip.  Then I had a couple of red hots from the Jackson St. Grill said.

The market closed early today after the National Weather Service sent out a severe thunderstorm warning.

It will open again next Thursday in the same location at 8:30 a.m.

Since I complained about it, I should note the clean up: When I was driving to the office this morning, I noticed this man out in front of the Salvation Army Thrift Store on Jackson cutting the grass strips in front of the parking lot.  When I drove home, the whole area looked much nicer.

A case of H1N1, often misidentified as "swine flu," has been reportedly contracted by a member of the United Memorial Medical Center staff, according to Randy Garney, interim director of the health department for Genesee County.

Citing privacy concerns, UMMC spokeswoman Colleen Flynn said she could not share any information about the reported case. Flynn did confirm that a memo was sent to employees on Tuesday.

Garney indicated people should not dwell too much on where a case might be found, but realize H1N1 is prevalent throughout the state.

"The general public should realize it's here," Garney said.

People, he said, are largely unaware of how  widespread H1N1 is at this point because most cases are never severe enough to lead to the person seeking medical attention.

But if you have flu-like symptoms, you have H1N1.

"It's considered H1N1 right now because we're beyond the flu season," Garney said. "If anybody has those symptoms, they should consider it H1N1."

Flu symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, chills and extreme tiredness.

While H1N1 is pervasive throughout New York, the fatality rate is very low, less than .1 percent.

"The more troubling part of H1N1 is that it's being more aggressive with five- to 21-year-olds," Garney said. "Flu is usually more aggressive with people over 65, but H1N1 is not bearing this out."

Because H1N1 is such a new strain, Garney said, there is still much scientists are trying to learn about the strain. It's possible that older people at one time contracted a variant of the strain in their younger years and now have some level of immunity.

Garney reiterated that people with flu-like symptoms should stay home and avoid as much as possible and avoid unnecessary contact with other people.  Also, wash your hands and maintain other sanitary practices.