news

Press release:

The Batavia Police Department is looking for help in identifying a person of interest in a larceny at Kwik Fill which occurred on March 27, 2022, at approximately 11:30 p.m. During the larceny, a bucket of small liquor bottles was taken off the front counter. Anyone with information on the identity of the person in the photos is asked to contact Officer William Yung at (585) 345-6350, the confidential tip line at 585-345-6370.

Take 8,000 posters from 130 countries and in 76 languages ranging from shockingly graphic, instructional and scary to tender and compassionate, and select a sampling for an exhibit. The late Edward C. Atwater, a former Batavia resident, physician and medical historian, donated the massive 30-year collection to the University of Rochester in 2007.

Donated to the University by Dr. Atwater in 2007 and housed in the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, the collection is one of the largest of its kind in the world, said Jessica Lacher-Feldman, whose related roles are co-editor of the book and curator of AIDS Education Posters Collection.

“I actually had a different role when I came, but I have literally been working on this project since I arrived. One of the first things that I did after coming here was going with our then dean to Ruth and Edward Atwater's home to meet them,” she said. “It’s actually very interesting, he was not an immunologist, he was not anybody who focused on HIV AIDS as a medical doctor. And what he discovered, in being a very curious-minded human being, led him in a lot of different directions.”

The collection became a six-plus years project as staff from the University of Rochester and Memorial Art Gallery chronicled it in a book and orchestrated an exhibit, Up Against the Wall: Art, Activism, and the AIDS Poster. Promising 165 of “the most visually arresting and thought-provoking posters,” it runs through June 19 at Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester and is the first major exhibition devoted to the University of Rochester’s vast collection of HIV/AIDS-related posters.

“The oldest poster is from 1982, which is really at the dawn of the crisis before, really before AIDS was really widely understood or named before the 1986 Surgeon General's report that actually spelled things out,” Lacher-Feldman said during an interview with The Batavian. “I work with the collection all the time, and I'm continuously amazed by the messages that are used in the posters and the different tactics that have been deployed in order to get that information out there. It really feels like a by-any-means-necessary thing.”

How it all began ...
Ever since she began at U of R in 2016, Lacher-Feldman, who holds many titles including rare books editor, and exhibits and special projects manager, has immersed herself into the posters, the project and the man who amassed a special history of the who, what and where of HIV and AIDS. Dr. Edward C. Atwater was a physician and medical historian as well as an avid collector of medical artifacts.

Those in the Atwater circle know the tale well of how he spotted the first collection piece while on a subway car; it was a poster promoting AIDS prevention. At a time when sex and conception weren’t even widely discussed in public, he was awestruck by how the topic was depicted on a wall hanging in such a public venue. 

His interest grew from there, and Atwater scoured various sources, wrote to or visited health departments and related officials, and requested copies of their AIDS awareness materials. From 1991 to 2019, the year he died, Atwater’s collection went from one to 8,000 pieces. One of them is from Canada, done in several different languages, and others are from Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Lachman-Feldman had just been editing a poster translated into Moroccan, she said. 
 
”And we've done a ton of really interesting projects with the classes, that you can actually talk with them in so many other different disciplines, including working with medical students or medical humanities classes, but also linguistics and foreign language, translation, anthropology … and graphic design,” she said. “It's amazing how incredibly multifaceted they are.” 

Show organizers said that the posters inspire people to protect themselves, protect others, and change their own behaviors through a broad range of creative expression.  The posters widely range in content, she said, from those geared toward night clubs and bars to others for prisons by instructing corrections officers how to search a prison cell and avoid contact with possible sharps. Spanning from 1982 to present day, the materials show how social, religious, civic, activist, and medical organizations have addressed this controversial subject in all ways, from mild to aggressive. 

“Sometimes there is a need for shock value. But there's an intentionality in every single poster. They're demonstrating how to do something or not do something, or, you know, trying to evoke something emotional or sentimental or instructive, or whatever it happens to be,” Lacher-Feldman said. “And I think the biggest takeaway for me also is that hammering home the notion that it affects everyone, and it's often seen in the United States as a, quote, gay disease.” 

“We've lost a lot of people, and a lot of incredibly talented people very, very young. There's a lot that's very treatable in the United States, and we're seeing a lot of progress in other parts of the world,” Lacher-Feldman said. “So it's important to know that and remember it, and that this is recent history.”

Some of the celebrities who died from AIDS and demonstrated that it attacks all social circles include Rock Hudson, Freddy Mercury, Arthur Ashe, Liberace, Gia Carangi, Perry Ellis, Halston and Eazy-E. 

The doctor ...
Edward Congdon Atwater grew up in Batavia, attended Batavia Public Schools, followed by boarding school at Ridley College in St. Catharines, Ontario. During World War II, he served in Europe as a combat infantryman in the Third Army, 101st Infantry. In 1950, the history major graduated from the University of Rochester. During his fifth year, he fulfilled the requirements for medical school, and in 1955, he received a medical doctorate from Harvard Medical School. He served as an intern, assistant resident, and chief resident in medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital. He eventually became an associate professor of medicine and of the history of medicine, teaching medical students and residents and practicing internal medicine, specializing in rheumatology. In the early 1970s, he had a sabbatical year at the Institute for the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins.

Atwater was author of a number of papers, both in clinical medicine and in the history of medicine, and belonged to several professional medical, historical, and community organizations. Locally, he served on the board of the Landmark Society, plus several other boards including the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries, the Rochester Academy of Medicine, the Harvard Medical Alumni Association and the American Association of the History of Medicine.

The historian and collector ...
Lacher-Feldman met the Atwater couple and continued working with Dr. Atwater after Ruth died in 2017. Over time she grew to know him as so very “curious, smart and engaged."

“The last time I saw him, I went to palliative care at Strong, and he died within the next day, later that day, so I was very close to him and worked with him really closely. He would say that what he witnessed there was social history and a show of a major shift in the way that information about sexually transmitted diseases, and protection in a very intimate way, was being shared with the world. That crisis, that's what drew him to begin collecting these posters.”

She saw in him a deep commitment to document the issue, and how its prominence shifted, for posterity.  And that's what he did, she said. Far from over, the collection will continue to grow and be used for educational purposes, she said. There are QR codes in the gallery for posters with “deep captions” from others sharing their own thoughts and stories. Once the exhibit reaches its deadline in June, the plan is to take it on the road to share with other locales. 

“And the fact that we've actually digitized every single poster and made them available, searchable online, has made it really accessible. And that was something that Dr. Atwater wanted to make sure that we did. And we committed to doing that, as part of the agreement for accepting the gift,” she said. “So now, people all over the world can view them, compare them, think about and reflect on how the AIDS crisis has been addressed in different cultures and in different means, and how different messages resonate with different populations.”

Organized by New York-based curator and historian Donald Albrecht, Up Against the Wall will fill Memorial Art Gallery's 5,000- square-foot Docent Gallery and explore the messages and methods used to educate, inform, and provoke audiences worldwide, organizers said.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and select Fridays. Admission is $20; $17 for senior citizens, $11 college students with ID and children 6 to 18; free to members, University of Rochester faculty/staff and students, children 5 and under. 

For more information, call (585) 276-8900 or visit mag.rochester.edu

Photos/images from the University of Rochester

Dr. Edward C. and Ruth Atwater. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Briccetti

Edward C. Atwater’s home — initially in Batavia and later in Rochester — was a dead giveaway of his passions.

The late doctor and medical historian kept collections, from thousands of books and print materials to thousands of architectural slides and posters, throughout his and wife Ruth’s home from top to bottom.

Ned Atwater knows the posters well. Collected by his dad on the topic of AIDS for decades, Ned at one point counted out 6,500 duplicates while the artifacts were being organized.

“He never boasted about it at all … it’s the largest collection in the world, and he could have cared less. It was about the messages and content, and he was the messenger,” Ned said from his home in Canandaigua during an interview with The Batavian. “It was important that he collected it and got it out to the public.”

Attending the debut of a six-years-long project that, at last, puts the senior Atwater’s efforts on proper display at Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery, was “super emotional,” Ned said.

The exhibit, Up Against the Wall: Art, Activism, and the AIDS Poster, is a collaboration between Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) and the River Campus Libraries at the University of Rochester. It runs through June 19 at the Gallery. (See related article, "Former Batavia resident's collections ..." )

Exhibit curators and editors chose 165 samples out of the 8,000-poster collection. Ned had seen “all of those,” he said, and remembers Christopher Hoolihan’s frequent visits to their home. Hoolihan was rare books and manuscripts librarian at the Edward G. Miner Library at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry.

“And he'd come over every Monday night for 20 years to my parents house, and my mom would cook them dinner, and then they’d go down to the basement, which is where the book collection was, and they'd work on the books,” Ned said. “And the AIDS poster collection was in the attic, and so Jessica (Lachman, co-editor of the collection’s book) would come over. Jessica was there every Tuesday, so I got to know her quite well. Those were a couple of important people in the same collecting sphere that he was in.”

Collections, Donations ...
Atwater’s collections have gradually made their way to the University of Rochester as prized relics of medical history. AIDS took hold in the 1980s, and Ned clearly remembers how little the government was doing to prevent or raise awareness about it. Organizations across the globe, including municipal health departments, began to create posters as visual reminders of the life-threatening AIDS epidemic.

Dr. Atwater didn't start collecting posters until 1991, and was in his mid-60s by then, Ned said. Three decades later he was still collecting, shortly before he died in 2019 at 93. Posters are from many countries in multiple languages, and they stray from one another by colors, images, wording, message and target audience. Ned attended the debut with his sister, Rebecca Briccetti, of New Hampshire. 

“Rebecca and I went into the show, we were, I think, both astounded at the show itself, the professionalism in which the Memorial Art Gallery had done it. And, you know, just the messages that it all conveyed. It was really a very good overview of the AIDS posters over history. I thought it was just so well done,” he said. “And the people at the Memorial Art Gallery even told us that in a visual sense, they think it's the best show they've ever had. ‘Wow,’ we thought, and we were pretty surprised and humbled by that. My father would be absolutely thrilled.”

The collection of posters fills in the story, from graphic pictures of men and condoms to more generalized messages that no one is immune to the disease. It was such a heavy and insidious topic and disease that took hold in a public that was ignorant of its causes, symptoms, and life-threatening nature of it. 

“The AIDS epidemic really hit hard. My father was in touch with Dr. Fauci about it,” Ned said. “I had a lot of friends in the gay community in Oregon. One of the biggest turning points was that it wasn’t just in the gay community.”

While Edward C. Atwater was a renowned medical historian and collector, he was also “such a humble guy,” Ned said, someone who took the time to listen during a conversation, take an interest and ask thoughtful questions. Those traits fed his desire for knowledge and details, and he often acquired them in the forms of various rare books, patented medicine bottles, organ pipes, architecture slides and AIDS posters.

“It was important that he collected it and got it out to the public,” Ned said, addressing the poster varieties. “It was a visual thing; some are really funny, and scary, compassionate. Some of the most graphic ones are from Germany and France.”

Those displays may have been more explicit, he said, but the messaging was effective.

Recalling Batavia and the farm ...
Although Ned’s father and mother moved from Batavia before Ned’s childhood, he recalls the fun times he and his sister Rebecca had visiting the small city and Genesee County. The siblings also visited their mother’s homestead farm in Stafford. There were horses, sheep and “the smell of the barn,” Ned fondly recalled. He and his sister would take the bus from Rochester to Batavia and visit both sides of the family.

“I used to love to go there, we’d go on a whim on the weekend … hanging out in that big old house, and we’d sneak over to the RCA factory to see the color TVs,” he said. “You really can't mention my father without mentioning my mother; they were married 67 years, and she was really my father's wing woman.”

One thing his father didn’t do was to push Ned into a similar career path. There was no cajoling or needling on the topic, and Ned’s career took him down a more artistic path as a furniture maker. He and his sister fondly remember taking the bus from Rochester to visit their grandparents, Edward P. and Rowena Atwater, who lived in the well-known Atwater House on East Main Street, a rambling structure that accommodated extended family and the constant presence of dogs, Rebecca said. 

Ned often preferred the country life in Stafford, where his mom Ruth grew up. She and Edward C. married in 1951 and lived in Batavia, where Edward grew up and attended school. The couple later moved to Rochester closer to his workplace, the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Briccetti was looking at a screenshot she had taken of her father’s childhood diary, with notations about current events and the $5 his grandmother gifted him. He noted when the Hindenburg crashed in New Jersey while carrying 99 passengers. 

“What a thing for a little boy to write,” she said. “I’m just completely going down memory lane here.” 

The Renaissance man, The Godfather ...
A part of that memory bank includes how much his parents embraced people, from children to adults, with their generosity and care for humanity. So much care, in fact, that Dr. and Mrs. Atwater were asked to be godparents to at least a dozen children, including Kathleen Harleman, Director Emerita of Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois. Her parents became good friends with the Atwaters and thought there would be no couple better for the symbolic guardian role than Edward and Ruth. 

“I always thought of Edward as a Renaissance man or polymath, a person with wide-ranging knowledge and interests in many fields and deep expertise in several areas,” she said. “He epitomized the characterization, being highly educated, a gentleman, cultivated in the arts, and immensely charismatic. Edward’s professional and personal practice, teachings, writings, and collections extended beyond internal medicine (specifically rheumatology), to embrace the history of medicine, as well as major health reforms and global activism.”

Later in life, Edward wrote Women Medical Doctors in the United States Before the Civil War: a Biographical Dictionary. Harleman loved that his efforts “highlighted these female pioneers,” she said. She came from Illinois to see the exhibit, and rated it as “superbly conceived and presented.”

“They explore multiple aspects of the subject with a truly impressive range and depth of voices and expertise. The individual contributions of writers in the publication and for the QR codes in the exhibition are very powerful, as is the exhibition design of the installation and the book's graphic design,” she said. “Edward would have been happy and impressed with the levels of thought, care, and execution that have gone into the exhibition, publication, and programming. My hope, shared by many others, is that this exhibition will travel globally.”

Given his proclivity for research and detail, it may come as no surprise that dinners at the Atwater home included open conversation “about pretty much everything,” Rebecca said. However, she learned more about HIV and AIDS by reading about it for herself.

“The crisis became apparent for what it was … so I didn't have to hear about the AIDS epidemic and HIV from my father, I was reading about it myself. I was living in New York City, a horticultural and culinary editor at the time. And I was reading about it. Rolling Stone Magazine did a very important job in communicating the urgency of this emerging crisis and a lack of national attention, and political attention,” she said. "I know there are a lot of people still out there that really associate this as being a gay disease. And there's still an enormous amount of people there that just don't understand it. And my hope is, this is going to provide good information and change those misconceptions if it's possible. Still, the poster has as much power as anything, you know, to change people's minds, or just to make them realize basic things about AIDS.”

Her father loved to play piano and organ, and sang as a youngster in choir, she said. His collection began then, with organ pipes, and later one of his first collections was of patent medicine bottles, which he researched, and then wrote papers on the patented medicine purveyors, she said. 

“He just loved that. And then finally he and mother realized, you know, this is just too many bottles, this is too big a collection to keep. And they gave it to the university,” she said. “And from there, he moved on to a different kind of collection. And that was medical trade cards. I mean, my goodness, I remember coming home from school and, instead of picking up a comic book, or you know, a favorite young adult fiction book, or maybe working on your math homework, I would eat an afternoon snack while leafing through these enormous bound books of plastic pages into which father was keeping his medical trade card collections. And he was constantly adding to them for years until my mother realized this is just too much to keep at home … and they gave those to the University of Rochester. I think during all of this time, as an historian, he was interested in collecting ephemera in the realm of popular medicine. And that became a thread through his entire historical collecting life.”

It was a passion he was devoted to until he died at age 93. Shortly before that, Rebecca’s husband Fred took him out on a snowy day in New York City and Greenwich to scour collector’s shops. Atwater talked to fellow antiquarians, and they would step out from behind their display tables to say “Dr. Atwater, it’s so good to see you.”

“Obviously surprised that this ancient gentleman would be still out looking for more material," she said. "It was very moving.” 

Job and employment data released recently by the NYS Labor Department indicate a strong labor market for Genesee County.

There are 21,500 non-farm jobs in Genesee County, up from 21,000 a year ago.

The total number of private-sector jobs grew from 15,900 to 16,300.

The county's unemployment rate for February 2022 was 4.1 percent, down from 6.2 a year ago and the lowest rate for any February since at least 1990.

The total labor force (the number of people working or seeking work) grew from 29,000 to 29,200.

The total number of local residents employed in February was 28,200, up from 27,200.  The number of employed in February 2020 was higher at 28,600, which was the highest level since 2009 when it was 29,600.

The total unemployed -- people still in the market for jobs -- was 1,200, down from 1,800 a year earlier and lower than in 2020, just before the start of the pandemic, when it was 1,600.  The February total for Genesee County was the lowest since at least 1990.

The state's unemployment rate is 5.1 percent and the nation's is 3.8 percent.

In a recent report, however, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (a Federal agency), New York has a higher labor under-utilization rate than the rest of the nation. 

Labor under-utilization is a measure of the number of people who are unemployed, employed part-time for economic reasons, and those marginally attached to the labor force.

For New York, the rate is 12.2.  Nationally it is 9.4 percent.

New York City's under-utilization rate appears to be pushing up the state average.  In NYC it is 15.5.  For the rest of the state, the data is not broken down by county so the statistic isn't available specifically for Genesee County.

Press release:

Carl Ribbeck, Jr. of Batavia has claimed his $1,000,000 prize on the New York Lottery’s 25X The Cash scratch-off game.

The winning ticket was purchased at Harry’s Niagara located at 563 East Main St. in Batavia.

Ribbeck, Jr. received his $1,000,000 prize as a single lump-sum payment totaling $579,390 after required withholdings.

All top prizes on the 25X The Cash game have been claimed. Players may continue to cash lower-tier prizes through 2/16/23. New York Lottery players can check the status of any scratch-off game by downloading the Game Report at nylottery.ny.gov.

New York scratch-off games generated $4,231,742,980 in total sales during the fiscal year 2020-2021. School districts in Genesee County $13,961,635 in Lottery Aid to Education funds during the same time period.

Mercy Flight is landing at the Pembroke Fire Hall, responding to a burn-victim call in the area of 8600 South lake Road.

The victim is described as a man in his mid-50s with first and second-degree burns to his face, hands, and check from a fuel fire.

The fire is out.

The patient is conscious and breathing.

UPDATE 1:04 p.m.: Mercy Flight is airborne in route to ECMC. Pembroke Fire is back in service.

Angela “Angie” Dickson remembers vividly what went through her mind as the plane carrying her and family members from their native Republic of Ghana approached New York City in 1999.

“I thought, this is the American Dream. That’s what we all wanted; to be able to go to school and for all the opportunities that are here,” said Dickson, recalling that September flight when she, then 16 years old, began a new life for herself.

Today, Dickson (photo above) is the confidential secretary to City Manager Rachael Tabelski, serving in that capacity since December when she was hired to replace Lisa Casey, who became the clerk of the Genesee County Legislature.

While her early days in the Big Apple were filled with wonder and awe – “It was much more established than Ghana (a West African country), which had so little,” she said – Dickson was able to carve out her place as an excellent student – graduating eighth out of 263 students at a high school in the Bronx.

Then, it was on to Buffalo State College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Health, Education and Wellness Promotion in 2007. Eight years later, she had obtained her master’s degree in Health and Wellness with a concentration in Human Resources.

“I was determined to make a better life for myself and my child,” Dickson said during a Wednesday afternoon interview with The Batavian at her office at City Hall. “My oldest daughter, Annabelle, was born in 2003 and she and I came to Buffalo.”

Dickson, who speaks several languages, including Spanish, French and multiple Ghanaian dialects, was recognized at Buffalo State for her advocacy for single mothers seeking an education. She was the recipient of a humanitarian award and also was included in an edition of the Who’s Who in College publication.

“I have dedicated my life to mothers looking to better themselves,” she said, “as I had to do it on my own.”

In 2008, Dickson entered the workforce, taking a case manager position with Schiller Park Community Services on the East Side of Buffalo, and in 2013, she was hired as a provider relations specialist with Fidelis Care at the insurance company’s regional office in Getzville.

During her tenure with Fidelis Care, she said she worked with hospitals and doctors on insurance coverage, often traveling to Akron and Batavia, which were part of her territory.

She also met the man she will be marrying on June 22, contractor Ed Griffin of Akron, and the couple and family moved to Corfu. (Incidentally, Angie and Ed were winners of GO Art!'s recent Wedding Giveaway contest, which features the ceremony at Seymour Place plus catering and numerous gifts from local businesses).

“When COVID hit, I was working from home, which was nice, but afterwards, we transitioned back to the office,” she said. “And I didn’t really want to make that drive to Getzville every day.”

Dickson also said the Akron, Pembroke and Batavia area appealed to her, with its rural setting and friendly people.

“With Batavia being one of my groups (at Fidelis), I came to love it,” she said. “I got to know people in the community and I just fell in love with it.”

She found out about the job opening with the City of Batavia, applied and was hired.

When asked how things are going so far, Dickson acknowledged that the work is “totally different from what I’ve done most of my adult life … working for a government, but I was looking for something that would be challenging and yet meaningful.”

Each day on the full-time job brings something new, she said, whether it be working on the budget books, coordinating meeting schedules, steering correspondence and residents’ inquiries to the right departments, assisting with City Council agendas and documents, or setting up meeting rooms “to make sure everything is in order.”

“I’m learning so much and, again, the community is just amazing. I hadn’t met people like this. Just to say ‘Hi’ to someone and they say ‘Hi’ back. It’s not like that in the city,” she said. “I had to get used to the fact that it was OK for people to say hello to me.”

Dickson said she appreciates that Tabelski affords her the leeway to work on a project without micromanaging it.

“Rachael trusts me and believes in me,” she said. “She gives me a responsibility and lets me do it.”

Tabelski said she is pleased with Dickson’s performance and cheerful outlook.

“Angie is a great addition to the city staff. She has an amazing positive attitude and approaches her job with a team-oriented spirit,” she said.

Outside of the office, Dickson enjoys gardening – something she picked up since moving to Corfu -- and traveling.  The couple has five children -- Corey, Maya, Annabelle, Alexander and Angelina.

Dickson said she is assisting with the city’s presentation at the Genesee County Home Show, which is scheduled for April 8-10 at the David M. McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena on Evans St. She said she will be there at different times and is looking forward to interacting with the public.

She said her feelings of gratitude run deep.

“I’d really like to say ‘thank you’ from the bottom of my heart to each and every person who has made me feel welcome,” she said. “It’s overwhelming, the amount of support that I have received.”

Photo of Angela Dickson by Mike Pettinella.

Genesee County leaders, knowing that they wouldn't be able to avoid building a state-mandated new county jail forever, say the financial plan they have put in place will shield taxpayers form having to bear any of the $70 million cost.

“We’ve been planning for this through our sales tax negotiations that have been going on previously, four or five years ago, with the idea that the growth in sales tax and then sales tax proceeds in general will help fund this operation,” County Manager Matt Landers said following today’s special Committee of the Whole meeting.

-----------------------

County jail project bids come in under budget; legislators approve all six contractors

-----------------------

“For us at the county, we're glad to say that we have the resources to not have to have a property tax increase to pay for this jail, because we'll be able to use a good chunk of our reserves that we've set aside along with sales tax proceeds that have come to us. So, we feel confident that no county property tax increase will be needed for this jail.”

The county has set the wheels in motion to bond the expense over 30 years. When asked about the yearly payment, Landers acknowledged that it’s “pretty daunting.”

“Yeah, it's considerable but, again, we've been planning for this for years and making sure that the growth in sales tax -- and we're being smart with how we spend our money -- and basically set aside and earmark in our mind how much we need to grow in sales tax,” he replied. “We feel confident at this point that sales tax proceeds in the near future are going to be enough to cover debt service payments, along with some potential reserves that we set aside in prior years as well.”

County Legislature Chair Rochelle Stein, who called the approval of the bidding and funding resolutions as “a hallmark day for the county,” pointed out that the county’s recent 40-year sales tax agreement with its municipalities set the stage for the jail funding.

“I want to mention the very sometimes unpopular 40-year sales tax agreement and the cap of the $10 million for the villages and towns outside the city. That's what affords this debt service payment on that 30 years schedule,” she said. “And the jail is a county responsibility. It’s one that we can't push off to a different level of government.

“So, taking the steps to assure that this responsibility is well funded and it is carefully planned is part of a lot of the work that Matt's office has done. And the legislators have been very involved in asking the good questions like what was asked here today.”

Stein addressed comments from residents that the county should have built a shared jail with Orleans County to save money.

“We did try to go down that path with our neighboring county. The will was there from the legislators but it wasn’t so much supported through the rest of the rank and file,” she said. “We also would have need 47 different bills (pieces of legislation) at the state level in order to enable it to be a shared facility.”

Landers said there was the issue of the state legislation to allow the county to do a shared jail plus timing entered the equation.

“But the nice that about the jail being built is that it allows for expansion,” he added. “It has been built (designed) with all the right size mechanicals and everything is built so that if Orleans wants to in the future, and the state allows for it, we certainly would be receptive to adding a pod or two and to allow for Orleans County to share this Genesee County Jail.”

Sheriff William Sheron said a facility to replace the county’s original jail, built in 1902, has been a long time coming.

“When I started in 1977, there were plans on the table to build a new jail on land that was purchased (on the site of the former State Police barracks on East Main Street) in recognition that the jail was obsolete,” he said. “For whatever reason, that didn’t come to fruition and in the mid-1980s, we put the addition onto this jail (in the city).”

Sheron said the county has put together “a great team” dedicated to fiscal responsibility.

“We’re not going to build a Taj Mahal; we're going build a facility that's up to standards and … be able to offer more programs for those that are involved, those that are incarcerated, and hopefully make some improvements in their lives and better working conditions for officers.”

Stein thanked key players on the team, specifically Assistant Engineer Laura Wadams, Deputy Highway Superintendent Paul Osborn and Purchasing Director Chet Kaleta, and her colleagues on the legislature.

“Genesee County is not waiting for things to happen. The legislature that is serving this county is getting the job done,” she said. “Thank each and every one of you for your hard work that brought us to this day -- your commitment, your creativity, your patience, and most of all your courage during this time in our society where everything is in flux and changing. All stood fast, tall and committed to this project for this county.”

Don Burns did something recently he probably never imagined when he graduated from Batavia High School in 1992 -- dress up as Darth Vader and recite one of Shakespeare's famous monologues in the Richmond Mausoleum. 

Burns, now a teacher in Rochester, was both Darth Vader and executive producer of a Star Wars fan film, Tomorrow & Tomorrow.

The production was a project of 501st Legion's Garrison Excelsior, a worldwide not-for-profit costuming group that raises awareness and money for charities while spreading its members' love for Star Wars.

So far, the film has raised $1,200 for Make-A-Wish.

Burns and another Garrison conceived of the film.

"While researching for upcoming lessons, I happened upon a short film about a Stormtrooper reciting Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech," Burns said. "As an English teacher, and Darth Vader, I've mused with Vader as the title character in Macbeth and was disappointed that I was beaten to the punch. My friend, who is a mask-maker by profession, encouraged me  to look further into it and together we mapped out a way to get it done."

Half the movie was shot at Rochester's Sunken Garden and half at the mausoleum in Batavia.

The film was directed by Joseph Palluconi. The editor was Mark Lukenbill. 

"When all was said and done, it turned out better than I ever had a right to imagine," Burns said.

Here's a behind-the-scenes video about the making of the film.

The Marshalls store on Veterans Memorial Drive in Batavia Town Center is being evacuated because of sparks and smoke coming from a light fixture in the building.

Town of Batavia Fire responding.

Downtown Batavia will be booming with live music once again this summer, organizer Paul Draper says.

After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the annual Ramble event will resume on July 2 at Jackson Square.

“We’ve partnered with GO ART! this year to help us not only grow the entire event but also bring more of a presence to the ‘arts’ side of the festival,” Draper said to The Batavian Wednesday. “We are very excited about the partnership and are looking forward to bringing them into the fold.”

The event’s name has been tweaked to The Batavia Ramble Explore Art & Music Festival. Downtown Batavia is to be filled with art displays, family-friendly activities and, of course, a line-up of hometown bands for a Saturday full of live music.

There are sparse details on the GO ART! and Batavia Ramble Facebook pages, but both promise updates as they become available. Executive Director Gregory Hallock was not available for comment. GO ART! staff posted about the long-awaited return:

“It’s going to be an incredible festival with a ton of great bands, artists, vendors and food. Applications for vendors/bands/artists will be available soon!”

Batavia Ramble has posted an application for bands, with the fair warning that slots are filling up fast for this year.

For more information, go to: facebook.com/thebataviaramble

Press release:

The Town of Byron's Clean Energy Resources Information Committee (CERIC) is a group of residents engaged in finding funding sources and programs to help the Town of Byron and its residents to access clean energy.  Thanks to their hard work, Byron is almost ready to be designated a Clean Energy Community (CEC) from NYSERDA which makes Byron eligible for clean energy project grants.

Interested in lowering your energy bills along with reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions? Our Community Clean Energy Campaign may be just what you are looking for! We were recently approved by NYSERDA to begin our Clean Energy Community Campaign in which we can help you learn about opportunities to install clean heating and cooling systems. 

Meetings are on the third Monday of every month, at the Byron Hotel, at 6:30 p.m. Find out more on our Facebook page (Town of Byron Clean Energy Resources Information Committee) or contact us at ceric.byron@gmail.com. Check out our joint booth with Pathstone at the 7th Annual Genesee County Chamber of Commerce Home Show at the David McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena (formerly Falleti Ice Arena). Stop by for more information on our clean energy campaigns and the HeatSmart Program! 

This morning's sky was stunning, and Frank Capuano, Batavia (top photo), and Jodi Carmichael, Alabama, shared these two photos.

Kerwin Eric Ransom, 58, of Genesee Street, Pembroke, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and harassment 2nd. Ransom is accused of pushing a pre-teen child. He was arraigned in Town of Pembroke Court, issued an order of protection, and released.

Tina Marie Baase, 59, of Hamlin, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, and moving from lane unsafely. Baase was stopped at 9:34 p.m., March 26, on Route 98 in Batavia, by Deputy Jeremiah Gechell. Baase allegedly failed a field sobriety test. She was issued an appearance ticket.

Jessica Jean Easton, 38, of Easton Road, Esperance, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of.18 or greater. Easton was stopped at 8:50 p.m., March 26, on Gillate Road, Alexander, by Deputy Morgan Ewart. Easton was released on an appearance ticket.

Sierra Nicole Biegasiewicz, 31, of Ross Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Biegasiewicz is accused of shoplifting at Walmart. She was released on an appearance ticket.

The Genesee County Legislature, at a Committee of the Whole meeting scheduled for 4:30 this afternoon, is expected to accept a bid of nearly $35 million from LeChase Construction Services, LLC, of Rochester, as the general contractor for the $70 million Jail Construction Project near County Building 2 on West Main Street Road.

Resolutions released moments ago by the legislative office reveals six low bids up for consideration, topped by the LeChase bid of $34,980,000.

Other bids are as follows:

• Site Work - Bayside Paving Contractors Inc., Shortsville, at a stipulated sum of $3,792,000;

• Food Services Equipment Work - Joseph Flihan Company, Utica, at a stipulated sum of $826,800;

• Plumbing and Fire Protection Work - Thurston Dudeck LLC, Ontario, at a stipulated sum of $4,362,000;

• Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Work - Bell Mechanical Contractor, Inc., East Rochester, at a stipulated sum of $5,112,000;

• Electrical and Security Electronics Work - Kaplan-Schmidt, Inc., Rochester, at a stipulated sum of $8,200,000.

With more than $57 million likely going to these contractors, the remaining balance of the project as of the March 23 audit is $10,398,462.93.

The legislature is set to amend the Jail Construction Capital Project budget by adding $66,271,467 in long-term bond funds to the $3,728,533 that currently is in a Building and Equipment Reserve (Infrastructure) fund.

A driver told a deputy he was distracted by his CB radio prior to an accident on Sandpit Road in Alexander at 4:40 p.m., Monday.

The driver of the second vehicle sustained minor injuries. 

Phillip J. Gorny, 53, of Creek Road, Batavia, driving a 2004 Dodge pickup, struck a 2007 Chevrolet SUV driven by 64-year-old Linda Hulshoff, of Broadway Road, Alexander.

Gorny was reportedly northbound on Sandpit Road and allegedly failed to yield to Hulshoff, who was eastbound on Route 20.  His pickup struck the SUV in the area of the passenger side front fender.

Deputy Jeremy McClellan, who investigated the accident, issued Gorny a traffic citation for alleged failure to yield. 

Press release:

Congressman Chris Jacobs (NY-27) released the following statement after being awarded the Family Research Council’s True Blue Award for his strong pro-life voting record in Congress.

“As the father of two young children, I understand the sanctity of life and the need to protect the most vulnerable in our nation. I am honored to receive this award, and I am proud to be a strong advocate for pro-life policies in Congress. Whether working to protect the Hyde Amendment or fighting radical ‘abortion on demand’ policies being pushed by Democrats in Congress, I will always fight to defend the right of unborn Americans to reach their full potential in life.”

Press release:

To coincide with National Library Week, April 3-9, 2022, the Richmond Memorial Library is offering a selection of new library cards featuring classic and contemporary images.  The cards also feature a new library logo, in use since earlier this year.  The new cards will be available beginning Monday, April 4.

Images on the new library cards include a striking photograph of the historic 1889 building in winter, taken by local photographer Jim Burns, and a certified “reading therapy” dog named Tillie reading a very unlikely selection.

 “We are so pleased to officially reveal the logo,” Library Director Bob Conrad said.  “It captures many facets of who we are and how we serve the community.” The logo was the culmination of a brand marketing initiative that solicited stakeholder input and community feedback, according to Conrad. The library worked with Causewave Community Partners in Rochester, an organization that assists non-profits and libraries with marketing, workplace development, board training, and more. A group of employees, trustees, and community members met for several workshops to learn about brand marketing, and then to articulate the library’s many roles and purposes in the community. After a “brand platform” was developed, graphic designer Andrew Soucier of Soucier Design created a bold new logo based on the results.

According to a “logo rationale” provided by Soucier , the “logo mark” represents several ideas. “The essence of a trusted community hub is represented by the ‘hub and spokes’ design. The mark can also been seen as an abstract book spine, with pages radiating around it, or a nod to the prominent architectural feature of the library itself: an arch. It is meant to not explicitly depict any of these, but is left open to the viewer’s interpretation.”

Viewers’ interpretations of the abstract logo have run the gamut, according to Community Outreach Librarian Samantha Basile. One patron interpreted it as “Friends, sitting together at a table.” A library volunteer found the circles reminiscent of a motif in the library Reading Room’s leaded-glass windows.  Still another saw a sunrise.

“The earthy colors of red, yellow, blue, and green … present as a grown-up version of a primary palette,” the logo rationale continues. “This retains an element of playful youth, but keeps the logo in a more usable and sophisticated color space.”  Conrad translates: “It’s kid-friendly.  It’s family-friendly.  But it still has grown-up appeal.”

Just as much consideration was given to the “word mark” portion of the logo.  “The word ‘Richmond’ is set large, based on our experience that ‘Richmond’ is what people actually call us,” Basile explains.  “Like, ‘Mom, I’m going to the Richmond.’ But ‘Batavia, NY’ is included, too, because we’re not known or recognized very far beyond Genesee County – and sometimes, we want to be, for example with our vendors, or within the library industry.”

“The logo communicates a lot, very quickly,” Conrad agrees.  “It tells you exactly who, what, and where we are, and some indication of how we try to be.  Many of the world’s most famous logos don’t do that much.”

To celebrate the new logo, the library will waive the usual $1.00 replacement fee during the month of April 2022. But be careful.  “A new card will have a new number,” Conrad warns, “So if you already have your account number memorized, or if it’s saved in all of your eBook and audio apps, then you might be better off just sticking with what you’ve got, at least until you lose it.”

How to get a library card
A first library card is free for most area residents. To qualify, be a resident of Genesee, Orleans or Niagara County OR work, own property or attend school within the borders of the Batavia City School District and provide proof thereof.  Provide a current, valid form of photo identification with your current address.  If your ID does not have your current address, bring an alternate proof of address like a recently postmarked piece of mail, a utility bill, or car insurance.

For people under 18 years of age, the patron must be able to sign their own name and have photo ID with proof of current address OR their parent or legal guardian must provide the same to establish proof of residency.

Non-residents can also obtain a card for an annual fee of $40.00 (for 12 months), or a quarterly fee of $12.00 (for 3 months).

Press release:

Set the date aside for a fun night on April 12 from 7 to 9 PM at the GoArt-Seymour Art Center at 201 E.Main St.  Batavia Society of Artists is proud to be able to present the opportunity for its members as well as guests to experience the intuitive painting process. This process is a tool to allow artists the experience to be inside color, paint, and process. Reference has been made to being spontaneous and to not over-think your painting. Taking away all expectations for your art may free your mind from the normal constraints of “getting it perfect”.

Batavia Society of Artists will have a program in collaboration with the Genesee Wind Ensemble, led by Conductor Philip Briatico, who has been in the music education field for 15 years. His background includes music education at  Buffalo State College and the University of Buffalo. He has extensive experience in conducting and holds the GIML Level 1 certificate. Mr. Briatico has been a member of Genesee Chorale and the Eastman Community School Music Educator’s Wind Ensemble and is also co-manager of the Batavia Swing Band. He currently works at Niagara Falls City School District and has worked at Elba and Warsaw Central Schools. 

As the ensemble plays in various parts of the facility, artists and guests are invited to “let the music take you” and practice this free-form, loose style of painting. This promises to be a new experience for many painters and may even inspire a new category at local art shows.  No over-thinking or evaluating your work….. after all, it’s ART!
All members are welcome, the non-member fee is $5.00

Press release:

Congressman Chris Jacobs (NY-27) and New York State Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy called for the President to unleash the American energy industry and reverse his destructive policies that have killed American energy independence and caused prices to skyrocket for American families. 

“Long before Russia invaded Ukraine, President Biden made the conscious decision to destroy our energy independence and drive costs at the pump up for American families. From canceling the Keystone XL pipeline to making new production incredibly punitive, the President’s actions had caused prices at the pump to skyrocket for the past year,” Jacobs said. “The Biden blame game needs to come to an end and the President needs to get out of the way of the American energy industry and allow affordable, domestically-produced energy to flow to the American people and our allies. No issue better underscores the need to take back the House in November.”

“From high gas prices to inflation, Democrat policies are crushing New Yorkers’ wallets. Voters know exactly who is causing them pain at the pump and they are going to hold them accountable this November. If you want a return to common sense that respects taxpayers, we are going to make sure you know the Republican Party is your home,” Langworthy said.

Jacobs and Langworthy held a press conference at a gas station this morning calling for actions that would bring prices down for Americans and allow the restoration of American energy independence. Additionally, they had volunteers on site conducting a voter registration drive. 

Additional Reading:

• Yahoo Finance: The myth of U.S. "energy independence"
• CBS News: Could the Keystone XL pipeline help lower U.S. gas prices?
• Time Magazine: The Real Reason Big Oil Won't Save the U.S. from High Gas Prices
• Bloomberg: Fed Study Points Finger at Fiscal Boost for High U.S. Inflation