batavia

Fire units are responding to a report of a brush fire or mulch fire burning close to a garage at 142 Tracy Avenue, between Hart and North.

UPDATE 9:06 p.m.: All units returning to station. Small mulch fire with minor extension into garage.

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If it seems like there are fewer helping hands at Wal-Mart in Batavia these days, it's because there are.

A corporate spokeswoman confirmed rumors that the local site recently let go an undisclosed number of temporary workers.

Michelle Bradford, who works at the mega-chain's Bentonville, Arkansas offices, said: "We adjusted staffing at that store. We reduced the number of temporary workers. They are hired knowing their positions are temporary and subject to elimination at any time."

She would not divulge the number of downwardly adjusted staffing, but offered that Wal-Mart has several valid reasons for fluctuating the numbers of its employees. These include, but obviously are not limited to, being busier or slower, job performance or the lack thereof, training and scheduling requirements and "the needs of our employees."

Furthermore, stores are staffed "on a case-by-case basis" and these adjustments are, to be clear, made "from time to time."

A fully involved dumpster fire has been reported at 8351 Lewiston Road, Batavia.

Shortly after the initial call went out, a police officer on scene reported the fire was knocked down substantially using fire extinguishers, but flames were still present.
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Godfrey's Pond celebrated its 100th anniversary Sunday and more than 200 people showed up to celebrate during the open house and BBQ.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley presented a state Assembly proclamation commemorating the event.

"For the past 100 years, Godfrey's Pond has expanded to become one of the leading sports clubs in Western New York, if not our entire state," Hawley said.  "I am very proud to join my fellow outdoors sports enthusiasts here for this wonderful occasion and would like to thank the members of Godfrey's Pond for their dedication and leadership in responsible environmental stewardship."

Pictured with Hawley is SCOPE representative Jack Taylor.

Robert J. Propst, 29, of 45 Central Ave., Batavia, was charged with charged with harassment in the 2nd degree and endangering the welfare of a child following an alleged dispute at his home address. Propst reportedly hit a woman and the act was allegedly witnessed by a child. He is being held on $2,500 bail. The alleged incident occurred at 1:10 p.m. yesterday.

Jonathon Kent, 21, of 59 Mill St., Apt. A, Batavia, was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Deputies came into contact with Kent following a suspicious vehicle complaint at Batavia Mobile Home Park.

Donald A. Bouse, 37, of 36 Dellinger Ave., Batavia, and Jason T. Helles, 35, of 419 E. Main St. Batavia, were arrested yesterday following a traffic stop.  Members of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force report they observed Bouse driving without a license.  Upon investigation, deputies determined that two bench warrants for Bouse had been issued in Monroe County.  The warrants were for petty larceny and criminal possession of a controlled substance. Helles was reportedly found in possession of a suspected crack cocaine pipe and prescription pills.  Bouse was issued a ticket and released to Monroe County officials. Helles was issued an appearance ticket. UPDATE: I was curious how the Sheriff's deputies knew Bouse was driving without a license. Chief Brewster replied with this statement: "We were aware that there were outstanding warrants for Bouse as well as the fact that his driving privileges had been taken away. It was just a matter of finding him and when we did, he happened to be driving. "

Conor M. Kobis, 18, of 81 Pound Road, Elma; Shawn M. Riccio, 18, 24 Cardinal Lane, West Seneca; and, Michael J. Walsh, 18, 315 Eden St., Buffalo were charged with unlawful possession of alcohol by persons under 21 yesterday. The trio were reportedly observed drinking in the parking lot at Darien Lake, where New Kids on the Block were playing. All three were issued appearance tickets.

UPDATE: Just received from Le Roy Police:

William Parker, 36, no permanent address, is charged with criminal contempt for having contact with a person who had an order of protection against Parker. Parker was found inside the home of the protected person. He is held on $750 bail.

Our friends from Ride to Recovery stopped by our pickup truck to get some sweets before the parade started.

Pastor Eric Sheppard of Church on the Rock in Attica joined us for street church on Central Avenue. We had 16 folks attend.  We helped 37 families with Groceries with a total of 98 family members. We had 82 people attend the weekly picnic.

There would have been some really cool video of the parade, but this PR director needs a few more lessons in running the video camera!

Have a super week!

A man on Central Avenue in Batavia stabbed himself in the groin with a knife during a domestic dispute with his girlfriend.

The original call had the woman claiming the man had hit her and then went in the house to grab a knife. She later reportedly changed her story and said she was not hit.

When police arrived, they found the man with the knife sticking out of his groin area.

Emergency workers were concerned about pulling the knife out on the scene and Mercy Flight was called.

Since this is a domestic dispute and the man did it to himself, we're withholding the exact location and names of the individuals involved. No chargers are planned.

City fire crews are responded to 400 Towers, 400 E. Main St., Batavia, for a general fire alarm.

The fire alarm was activated. No word yet on whether there is an actual fire.

Here is the entire content of an e-mail from Batavia Councilman Bill Cox, Ward 1, on consolidation:

Here are my initial thoughts.

It took a lot of time and in-depth discussion for the consolidation committee to identify the major elements of a consolidation. That work had to be done to be able to go on from there. They did a good job putting their arms around issues. I believe the committee accomplished 50% of what ultimately needs to be done.

This committee or a new committee needs to address the other 50% which is to identify where you can consolidate operations to cut personnel, share existing equipment, share the cost of new equipment, share maintenance expense, share overhead to eliminate some management, etc.

Consolidation is all about cost savings through permanent cuts in operating costs, it is not about new revenue. Its about getting more done with less cost. Consolidating for the sole purpose of getting $923,000. in new revenue sharing from NYS is not a sufficient reason to consolidate. There is no guarantee how long it will be given. The State is in dire economic condition, and it cannot be relied on for the long term.

The report did not deal with the most significant areas that could represent real savings which is the cost to the city for police and fire protection. This represents about $6,000,000 annually. This is the area we  have to address first. We are choking in the cost to continue these services under the existing collective bargaining agreements. This appears to be taboo.

There was no mention of any real specifics how to cut anything except one or two small cost reduction references. All the debt stays the same, all the taxes are still separated, all the main cost items remain in place. The other area which dwarfs all costs is consolidation of school districts. This alone would be tremendous and it would not even require the town and city to consolidate governments.

Until real cost reduction is identified in specific amounts and departments with a solid plan of action of how and when to implement the cuts, I could not vote for consolidation as it was presented. There is insufficient information to determine if a consolidation makes sense for the tax payers.

I am strongly in favor of reducing the cost of government and one good way to do this is through consolidation, but specifics of how, what, when, where, and how much, has to be identified and agreed upon prior to proposing anything for our taxpayers to decide. We have to reduce the tremendous burden of taxes in multiple categories our taxpayers are saddled with and this report did not address how we get there.

Public meetings on consolidation will be held Thursday and again June 30 at Batavia High School. Both meetings are at 7 p.m.

A 53-year-old man is Genesee County's first confirmed case of H1N1 flu, inaccurately referred to as Swine Flu.

UPDATE: WBTA interviewed Randy Garney, interim health director.

The Genesee County Health Department announced this morning that the man was diagnosed in an Erie County emergency room.

He was not hospitalized and is now recovering at home.

Officials are working to determine who may have been exposed during the man's contagious phase. Officials will notify close contacts and family caregivers for signs of illness.

H1N1 is prevalent in the state, according to the health department, and it has been found in numerous counties.

Symptoms are similar to seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chill and fatigue. Some victims have reported diarrhea and vomiting, as well.

The health department warns that anyone with these symptoms should stay home. If medical attention seems needed, people should contact a doctor to determine if emergency care is necessary.

Take these precautionary measures to stay healthy:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleansers are also effective.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.  If you don’t have a tissue, cough into your upper sleeve, not your hands. Place your used tissue in the waste basket.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth as germs spread that way.
• Try to avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Stay home if you are sick to keep from infecting others and spreading the virus further.

According to the state's health department site, 1,356 cases have been reported in the New York, including 493 outside of NYC.

Gary De Wind, 66, of 1341 Little Falls Road, Pembroke, is accused of illegally possessing fireworks. He is charged with unlawful dealing with fireworks and dangerous fireworks.

Michael R. Cowham, 24, of 6571 W. Sweden Road, Bergen, is charged with assault in the third degree. He is accused of getting into a confrontation with another person. That person suffered a cut on the face. The alleged incident occurred at a residence on Wood Street. Cowham was issued an appearance ticket.

Michael A. Butler, 36, of Egerton Road, Elba, is charged with DWI. Butler also received tickets for having an unsafe tire and driving an uninspected vehicle. Butler was reportedly a witness to an incident on Whitney Mill Road involving a person with cuts on his head. During the investigation, deputies determined that Butler apparently drove past the scene while intoxicated.

Lynn R. Baker, 47, of Bank Street, was reportedly spotted on Harvester Avenue driving his 1997 Ford Explorer on the wrong side of the road. After a traffic stop, a Sheriff's deputy determined Baker was apparently drunk. Baker was charged with felony DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, and failure to keep right. Baker was issued an appearance ticket.

Paul Andrews, 35, of 2029 Route 238, Warsaw, and currently a resident of Genesee County Jail, is charged with criminal tampering in the third degree. Andrews reportedly urinated in another inmate's shampoo bottle.

Tera Williams, 36, of 147 Ross St., is charged with petty larceny. Williams reported stole merchandise from Kmart while employed there.

Kisuki Pagan, 20, of E. 166th St. #5H, Bronx, is charged with disorderly conduct. Pagan was allegedly involved in an altercation with another person inside 48 Deli Express, 8204 Park Road.

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If you look there is candy in the air in the right of the image.My boys had pockets full after the parade.

The parade was just what we needed to kick off the summer. 

If I were to judge, I'd give Byron Bergen the prize for best high school band.  They were sharp tonight.

Alexander Firemen's Band performed with their usual professionalism.  Great job.

The Prime Time Brass, from Rochester, concluded the band with an amazing drum corps style even though there are only 12 members on the field.

Alexander came to the Towers after the parade and performed a concert that last almost 2 hours.   Very impressive and well appreciated.

Ryan Gugel may have gone undrafted, but he is now a professional baseball player, becoming the second former Batavia baseball player to sign a deal this week after Chris Page was drafted in the 50th round of the Major League Baseball draft.

Gugel signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies - former parent club of the Batavia Muckdogs - this weekend.

The catcher had a .425 career batting average at Batavia with 22 doubles, seven triples, three home runs and 50 RBIs.

He then went to Genesee Community College where he hit .440 with 26 doubles, six triples, eight homers, 19 stolen bases and 82 RBIs for the Cougars in two years. He then continued his baseball career and education and the University of Albany.

At Albany, he started all 55 games as a junior and hit .297 with 12 doubles, a triple and four home runs. He also had an incredible .972 fielding percentage behind the plate.

He batted .303 with nine home runs and 49 RBIs as a senior. Gugel had a .953 fielding percentage as well as hitting 11 doubles and two triples.

We've covered the resignation of Chief Tom Dillon pretty thoroughly, but just to put an exclamation point on the explanations given by Jason Molino and Karen Marchese on the reason for the 211 waiver denial, we draw your attention to this story from the Buffalo News.

A new attitude in the governor’s office toward double dipping is likely to cost former Niagara County Sheriff Thomas A. Beilein—the current head of the State Commission on Corrections — about $110,000.

Five months after Beilein was named head of the state panel, the commission requested that he be allowed to collect his full $101,600 state salary as well as his full $66,148 annual pension — retroactive to the day he got the job in mid- August.

But four months later, before the waiver request was acted upon, and with the governor’s office discouraging double dipping among top-level employees, the request was withdrawn.

“It was withdrawn when it was clear it would not be granted,” commission spokesman John M. Caher said.

Beilein will likely be required to pay back some of his pension.