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Accident reported on Route 77, Alabama

By Howard B. Owens

A car into tree accident is reported in the area of 7681 Alleghany Road, Alabama.

The initial call was for possible entrapment and possible serious injury, but units have just been told they can respond non-emergency.

Traffic is shut down at MacAlpine Road and at Ledge Road and Route 77.

Alabama fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

Fire police from Pembroke and Indian Falls requested to assist with traffic.

UPDATE 5:22 p.m.: Indian Falls is back in service.

Reader Photos: Barn fire on Oak Orchard Road

By Howard B. Owens

Here are a few photos from the fire this afternoon on Oak Orchard Road, Batavia.

The first two are by Frank Capuano. The others are reader submitted.

I was at the fire and will have photos posted later.

Planned DePaul complex on East Main draws speakers, pro and con

By Howard B. Owens

A plan to build apartment complexes on East Main Street drew a full house to Monday's City Council meeting, but the project, aimed at people in vulnerable populations, got mixed reviews from the 23 speakers.

The City Council was being asked to move forward a resolution to rezone the properties at 661, 665 and 679 E. Main St. Most of the location is a former State Police barracks.

The area is currently part of an industrial zone. The council is being asked to consider rezoning it to Commercial, or C2.

This would allow the project from DePaul, known as Batavia Square Apartments, to move forward, but it would not mean the project is approved.

City Attorney George Van Nest reminded council members they were being asked to consider a rezoning proposal, not the actual project that inspires the consideration.

“You really need to center on the question, does this zoning change make sense, notwithstanding some of the considerations that may have been out there or questions about other uses or other studies that are not specifically germane to the question of zoning itself," Van Nest said. "The petition is for rezoning that is at the behest of the City Council legislatively.”

There was a public hearing on the rezoning issue, but comments during to hearing had to be just about the rezoning issue. Since many of the 23 speakers at the meeting wanted to talk about more than just zoning, they took to the podium during the public comments section of the council meeting.

About half of the speakers favored the project, and of those, about half worked, have worked for DePaul or were families that have benefitted from DePaul's services.

Opposition came from people concerned about adding more rental apartment units to the city and how that would impact the current population and private-property landlords. They also raised the issue the amount of taxes DePaul would be paying while the new apartments would lead to the use of city services, such as police and fire.

The council voted by a narrow 5-4 margin to move the resolution for the zoning change to its next business meeting.

"If it's to be believed that 50 percent of the residences in the City of Batavia are rentals, then the question is, why do we need more rentals?" Chuck Ruffino said.

He referenced a study being done on the county's housing stock, designed to help planners understand local housing needs. Ruffino said the council shouldn't move forward without more information.

"We really don’t have good information on which to make this decision, because once you make that decision, the agenda is set," he said. "You can’t take it away. It’s done. Thirty years, tax exempt."

Russ Romano raised concerns about the number of rentals already in the community, the need for the housing study to be completed, and the seeming shortage of housing for people in the workforce. He also questioned the wisdom of changing the zoning.

"I question the fact that you can make this change in zoning when it goes against the current zoning law of being zoned industrial," Romano said. "I think it's dangerous and in your comprehensive plan it has not changed."

John Gerace said he doesn't believe anybody in the community is against housing for people on disability or against veterans or seniors, but he did question the need for it now, especially housing that is tax-break subsidized.

He calculated that at $25 million for construction, each of the 80 units would be worth more than $300,000.

"I would like to live in a $325,000 apartment," Gerace said.

Since subsidized rents are available to many potential tenants, Gerace said he's concerned that current landlords will lose out.

"It will be a drain on the local economy, on local landlords who bought property and have been paying property taxes right along and have vacancies right now," Gerace said.

George Galliford said it would be unfair to local landlords to allow this project to move forward.

“It seems to me that it’s very unfair competition for landlords who have been conscientious, paid their taxes, done what they needed to do and are never ever given any kind of favor," Galliford said. "Thirty years is a long time. Those payments in lieu of taxes are to me are a joke. They should be much, much more than what they are. It’s unfair competition."

John Roach said he thought it was premature for the City to move forward with project approval. 

He said the current vacancy rate in the city is 7 percent and that 5 percent is considered ideal. He said the county is projected to lose 9 percent of its population in coming years.

Adding more apartment units will just put more financial pressure on existing landlords, he suggested, and if those properties move off the tax roles, "it will just put more pressure on the rest of us."

The DePaul project also had its defenders.

Stacy Falkowski (top photo), a Batavia resident, said life is getting harder for her elderly parents, especially now that her father has Parkinson's disease. She described the difficulties she and her mother have caring for her father in her parent's current commercial apartment.

She said her father has fallen more than once in the bathroom and they're lucky he hasn't been seriously hurt; no broken bones, but there has been blood to clean up.

“It’s pretty tough to deal with every single day of the month,” she said.

The planned DePaul housing complex, with its amenities for the elderly, the disabled and other vulnerable adults, along with greater social opportunities, would be great for her parents.

Most of the people who would move there, she said, are already local residents and to counter the argument against the lower taxes paid by DePaul, she said our local older residents had earned this sort of amenity.

"These people are paying taxes, and they’ve lived in the City ofBataviaa for many years and paid a lot of taxes, school taxes, property taxes," Falkowski said.

Colleen Gillam, from Waterport, said her 25-year-old son currently lives in a DePaul apartment in Batavia and for the first time in his life, he's living on his own and doing very well. She said for people like her son, the kind of housing DePaul provides is hard to come by.

"I think with this coming into your community it will only benefit you and the families who live here and in the surrounding areas," she said.

Chris Syracuse, a longtime employee of DePaul said when DePaul comes into a community, they do so humbly and with an eye toward building a beautiful facility that the community will be proud to see.

"Never in 27 years have I ever had somebody say to me, ‘I regret DePaul coming into my community,' " Syracuse said.

After the council discussion and before the vote, City Manager Jason Molino addressed some of the issues raised during the meeting.

He said the area had been zoned industrial for 50 years. Before that, it was considered a business district, which is similar to today's commercial zone. Over the past half century, there has been no industrial activity in the area. The train tracks that would have supported industrial activity, and supported the Trojan tractor factory in the area, were removed in the 1960s or 1970s. Over the past 50 years it's been mixed commercial and residential with some light manufacturing.  

During that period, industrial growth in the city has taken place around Graham, Treadeasy, and O-AT-KA, and future industrial growth is more likely to take place in the greenfield developments outside of the city. The East Main Street area of the city isn't likely to attract any industrial development.

"It hasn’t happened in the past 50 years, and it’s not likely to occur in that specific area," he said.

Mark Fuller, project developer.

Working barn fire reported on Oak Orchard Road, Batavia

By Billie Owens

A working barn fire is reported at 7736 Oak Orchard Road, Batavia. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding, along with mutual aid from Oakfield, Stafford, East Pembroke and the Alexander Fast Team. Mercy medics are also called. This has gone to a second alarm.

UPDATE 2:49 p.m.: The bulk of the fire is knocked down. Flames are no longer visible, but the area is quite smoky and firefighters are still at work. The fire burned through the roof and it destroyed nearby auxiliary structures.

VA honors volunteers who log many hours to assist veterans

By Howard B. Owens

The VA Hospital honored its volunteers today with a luncheon at the Quality Inn & Suites in Batavia.

The volunteers with the most hours, more than 1,750 were Phyllis Scharader, Robert J. Shepard, Douglas Titus and James Yoder. Pictured with three of the top volunteers above is Danielle Bergman, assistant medical director, on the right.

The volunteers with at least 20 years of service were also honored, though not all could make it to the luncheon. The volunteers with at least 20 years are Helen Batchelor, center of the photo, with 31 years, Emerson Campbell, Joshua T. Dickens, Joseph Flynn, Joseph Guppenberger, 31 years, Robert Jurewicz, Lee Kauffman, Robert Mellody, Anthony Palmer, 32 years, Robert Radley, and John Scott, with 31 years.

The Elks from Brockport made a $1,500 donation to the VA Center.

Photos: The Circus is in town, and it's a great show

By Howard B. Owens

Garden Brothers Circus have brought to town clowns, jugglers, magicians, acrobats, stunt riders and everything else that goes with a professional, touring circus.

Including elephants.

This is the last tour that elephants will be included in the Garden Brothers Circus, so miss the show at 7:30 p.m. at Falleti Ice Arena and maybe you miss your last chance to see a circus with elephants.

These pictures are from the 4:30 p.m. performance today (no elephant pictures because I couldn't stick around until the end of the 90-minute show, but from what I saw, this is a circus well worth seeing).

Camp Invention to be held at Wolcott Street School in Le Roy July 17-21

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Camp Invention, a nationally recognized, nonprofit summer enrichment camp program, is coming to Wolcott Street School in Le Roy the week of July 17 - 21.

Camp Invention is a program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame® — a nonprofit organization dedicated to recognizing inventors and invention, promoting creativity, and advancing the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship — and supported by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

What makes this camp truly unique is that the curriculum is inspired by some of our nation’s most brilliant minds — the Inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

For students entering kindergarten through sixth grade, Camp Invention is a weeklong adventure that turns the summer from ordinary to extraordinary through hands-on problem solving, collaboration, and the use of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Inventive young minds can exercise their creativity and use their imagination, all while learning and developing new skills they typically don’t get to use in the classroom. Children are empowered to have big ideas while they take on challenges that inspire them to question, brainstorm, work as a team and build amazing invention prototypes.

This year’s fresh, action-packed Camp Invention curriculum features several hands-on modules:

* Duct Tape Billionaire™: Campers design duct tape products they can market and sell to mock investors;
* Have a Blast™: Children build high-tech Bubble Blasters and compete as a team in friendly air battles that use physics to boost their advantage;
* Mission Space Makers™: Teams hatch eggs, sprout living plants and grow crystal trees, all while on a mission to locate and prepare a new planet
for human habitation; and
* Operation Keep Out™: Campers learn to reverse engineer old machines and devices, and use their parts to create the ultimate Spy Gadget Alarm Box.

More about this year’s all-new curriculum:

All local Camp Invention programs are facilitated and taught by certified educators who reside and teach in the community. Camp Invention serves more than 130,000 students every year and partners with more than 1,400 schools and districts across the nation. For additional information or to find the camp nearest you, visit campinvention.org.

About Camp Invention:

Camp Invention is the only nationally recognized summer program focused oncreativity, innovation, real-world problem solving and the spirit of invention. Through hands-on programming, Camp Invention encourages children entering kindergarten through sixth grade to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum inspired by some of the world's great inventors. Camp Invention is a program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Subway robber sent to state prison

By Howard B. Owens

A Batavia resident who robbed a Subway restaurant on East Main Street in January and was tracked down by K-9 Destro will spend at least two years in state prison.

Ricky Miller II had previously entered a guilty plea to third-degree robbery.

Defense Attorney Jamie Welch sought an adjournment of the sentencing in Genesee County Court this afternoon to give Miller more time to complete $254 in restitution in order to avoid fees and surcharges.

Miller is expecting a tax-refund check the first week of May, so Welch asked for sentencing on May 8.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said it would cost the county more than $250 to house him in the local jail those additional days.

Judge Charles Zambito denied the request.

Miller can avoid some additional fees if he makes restitution before May 8. If he doesn't, then he must pay $25 per month until restitution is paid (Welch asked for $10 a month and Friedman countered $50 per month and Zambito went to with $25).

When asked to make a pre-sentence statement, Miller declined.

He was given two to four years in prison.

News partner WBTA contributed to this report.

Garden Brothers Circus performances -- with elephants -- this afternoon and evening at Falleti Arena

By Billie Owens

A family tradition for more than 100 years comes to Batavia today -- the Garden Brothers Circus. This is your last chance to see this circus in Batavia with live elephants!

Plus there will be elephant rides, camel rides and pony rides and a Kids' Fun Zone one hour before each show.

Performances are at 4:30 and again at 7:30 p.m. at Falleti Arena, located at 22 Evans St. in the City of Batavia.

The Garden Brothers has everything you’d expect to see at a Circus.

"We are bringing an all new, fast paced; totally exciting show to town!”

See "Motorcycle Madness" with motorcycle daredevils somersaulting and spinning in a big "Globe of Doom"; Chinese acrobats; "The Human Slingshot," watch camels, llamas, horses-and a buffalo perform together for the first time; crazy comedy with Circus Clowns; daring aerialists; cirque artists.

It's 90 minutes of excitement and fun!

Girl Scouts set up Little Free Library in East Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

Members of Girl Scout Troop 42025, from Corfu, set up a Little Free Library outside Seaman's Hardware in East Pembroke as part of their Earth Day project on Saturday. They stocked it with a large collection of children's and adult books they collected.

"We wanted to put a free library in our neighborhood with hopes that it will be used greatly!" said member Lilly Senko.

"Reading is so important to being a good learner, and when everyone can get free books to read, it will help them read more," said Hannah Beach.

Photos and info submitted by Julie Beach.

Sea Cadets help spiff up VFW Post 1602

By Howard B. Owens

A contingent of Navy Sea Cadets volunteered their time Saturday to help clean the grounds of the VFW Hall on Edwards Street, Batavia. The exterior work comes after members recently completed interior renovations.

German shepherd puppy, 'Roamer,' missing in area of sandwash, DeWitt

By Howard B. Owens

Yesterday, as Don Mengs was leaving the Country Max store on East Main Street, Batavia, an English bulldog pushed open the door of a van and charged his two German shepherd puppies.

One of the puppies, Roamer, slipped from his splitter and collar and ran south into the woods and area of the quarry behind the store. 

Batavia PD officers helped search the area for a length of time, including the area of the park on the other side of the lake. Mengs returned from 6 to 9 p.m. and searched the area with one of his older dogs but they could not find him.

Batavia PD is resuming the search this morning. 

Roamer is just over three months old, a black and tan German shepherd. He weighs 30 pounds and is 18 inches high. He responds to his name and sits and shakes quickly on command. He has a distinguishing Roman-helmet-looking mark on his snout with light-colored eyebrows.

If found, call Batavia PD at (585) 345-6350.

Car hits pedestrian on South Street Road, Le Roy

By Howard B. Owens

A car has reportedly hit a pedestrian in the area of 9429 South Street Road, Le Roy.

Le Roy fire and Le Roy ambulance dispatched.

UPDATE 11:19 a.m.: Mercy Flight 5 is on ground standby.

UPDATE 11:21 a.m.: Mercy Flight requested for in-air standby.

UPDATES (By Billie) 11:24 p.m.: Mercy Flight is canceled. Traffic is to be shut down at Harris Road and South Street Road.

UPDATE 11:50 a.m.: A female bicyclist was struck by a vehicle and is being transported to Strong Memorial Hospital. The accident is under investigation. Fire personnel have cleared the scene.

One-car accident reported on Lockport Road, Oakfield

By Howard B. Owens

A one-car accident, unknown injuries, is reported in the area of 2776 Lockport Road, Oakfield.

A single caller reports hearing a noise and now hears a car horn.

Oakfield fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 11:15 p.m.: Traffic being shut down at Lewiston and Lockport roads.

UPDATE 11:17 p.m.: Mercy EMS can continue non-emergency. "It seems like we might have a sign off," reports a chief.

UPDATE Sunday, 8:03 a.m.: Dispatchers informed Alabama and Oakfield fire departments that residents west of this location are without water due to this accident.

UPDATE Sunday, 2:01 p.m.: It is reported that the water main has been fixed on Lockport Road and water service is restored.

Police responding to reports of youths throwing bricks at cars on Lehigh Avenue

By Howard B. Owens

Police received reports of possible youths dropping bricks or throwing bricks from the train track overpass on Lehigh Avenue, Batavia.

Units responded and two individuals have been spotted and police are trying to catch them as they move along the train tracks.

Both are described as white males, one wearing a black sweatshirt and black pants and the other is wearing a red sweatshirt.

UPDATE 10:51 p.m.: There is debris in the roadway that needs to be cleaned up. Police are still searching for the two individuals.

Photos: St. Joe's Mammoth Sale

By Howard B. Owens

The crowd at St. Joe's annual Mammoth Sale today was huge before I could there, I'm told, but even later in the afternoon, there were still a lot of great deals for shoppers.

Photos: Earth Day at DeWitt Recreation Area

By Howard B. Owens

Volunteers of all ages came out to DeWitt Recreation Area in Batavia today -- Earth Day -- to help clean the park and participate in various learning activities.

One of the activities was an "emerald ash borer game," where several children were emerald ash borers, two were volunteers and one was a park ranger. The emerald ash borers had 10 seconds to lay their eggs in as many ash trees in a wooded area (represented by small, green disks). Then volunteers would identify infected trees and the park ranger would come along and replace the ash trees with another kind of tree. The game illustrated how much faster an infestation can spread than forest rangers can act to do anything about it.

Girls fastpitch softball is back in Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

After running teams for a couple of years in Byron-Bergen, Stan Kaus and Matt Landers got to talking last year about getting more girls involved in fastpitch softball and bringing the teams back to Batavia.

"After last year we decided there are more girls in Batavia who want to play softball, so we kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Are you sure you want to go bigger?’ and we said, ‘as long as the parents step up and help,' " Kaus said.

The response, Kaus said, "has been phenomenal."

The new Batavia Girls Fastpitch is incorporating as a nonprofit with an eight-person board. There are eight new coaches, 17 sponsors and so far 35 girls signed up.

There are two 12-and-under teams and for the first time a 10-U team. Next Tuesday, they will host a meeting to form at least one, and maybe two, 15-U teams, which will add another 12 to maybe more than 20 more girls participating.

"I think the word will get out," Kaus said. "I think a lot of girls felt their only choice for playing ball was Little League. I think if they can come out and watch softball and see fastpitch, I think it will be great."

The Stingers, as the teams are known, also have new uniforms.

"The fact that it's back and we're breathing new life into fastpitch softball is kind of exciting," Kaus said.

Collins a no-show for town hall in Alexander with a decidedly leftward tilt

By Howard B. Owens

The event last night was billed as a "town hall," a chance for all constituents in New York's 27th Congressional District to come to the Alexander Fire Hall and voice their issues, raise their concerns and ask questions of Rep. Chris Collins.

If Collins bothered to show up.

Of course, he didn't.

In his place on the dais was an empty chair.

If he had filled that chair, he would have found himself on a panel of people billed as experts in various topic areas who, rather than represent the range of political ideology in the 27th District, seemed to largely hold liberal and progressive viewpoints.

The more than 400 people who attended were all given 8 1/2 x 11 colored pieces of paper -- raise green when you agreed with a speaker's point and red when you disagreed. Rather than showcase a diversity of opinions, green cards tended to go up in unison for points favored by the audience and red cards raised altogether when audience members wished to jeer a negative point made about Collins or the current presidential administration.

This, though Michelle Schoeneman in her opening remarks, suggested the audience might represent a range of political views and party affiliations.

"Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, whether you are conservative or liberal, whether you voted for Collins or not, you are all here because you care enough about democracy to take time out of your busy lives to make your voices heard," Schoeneman said.

The town hall took on the feel of a partisan political rally when Schoeneman concluded her remarks and said Collins might have a rough go of it in the next election.

"Mr. Collins, if you’re watching this right now, I’m here to tell you that this is your last term," Schoeneman said. "Come 2018, we will have a new representative. It may be a Republican. It may be a Democrat, but it will not be you. We will vote into office a person who does not consider it unreasonable to want to talk with you. We will listen and weigh every decision that is made."

That was the loudest applause line of her opening remarks and the room was filled with green cards held high.

The expert panel included a 22-year-old organic farmer from East Aurora who runs a 24-member CSA (Community Supported Agriculture group) and an educator who runs I Am Syria and is the founder of the Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide, even though a couple of the nation's top experts on agriculture and immigration live right in Genesee County.

Dean Norton, former president of the New York Farm Bureau who helped draft comprehensive immigration reform in 2013 (it didn't pass, though Collins supported the bill), said he got an invitation through Instant Messanger that he didn't see until after the event was over, though he didn't specify if the invite was to speak or just attend.

Maureen Torrey, who runs with her family one of the largest produce farms in the region, and has been to Washington, D.C., and traveled the nation in support of immigration reform, said she was invited to attend but was not invited to be on the panel.

Even though economics and trade, as well as foreign policy and criminal justice, were all big topics in the recent presidential campaign, there were no experts on the panel in those subject areas, even though in the county and in the region there are available experts.

Comprising the expert panel were:

  • Healthcare: Gary A. Giovino, professor, and chair, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior at UB;
  • Great Lakes and Rivers: Barry Boyer, who taught environmental law and administrative law at UB;
  • Small business: Ginine Capozzi, owner of KnowledgeForce Consulting LLC in East Amherst;
  • Local environment, fish, and wildlife: Dick Thomas, retired from a 33-year career with NY Department of Environmental Conservation;
  • Education: Chris Cerrone, cofounder of WNY for Public Education;
  • Diversity and social justice: Jeremy Besch, head of Upper School at the Park School in Buffalo;
  • Immigration: Andrew Beiter, director of I Am Syria and is founder of the Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide;
  • Climate change: Sandra Chelnov, who is "deeply concerned" about climate change and has attended several conferences;
  • Laura Colligan, owner of Dirt Rich Farm in East Aurora.

The town hall was sponsored by several progressive organizations: GLOW Progressives, WNY Peace Center, Buffalo Resists, Sister District of WNY, Invisible NY 27th, Turning Emotion into Action, ACTion Buffalo, and Citizens Against Collins.

As part of each expert's introduction, the speakers were invited to say a word about why they were there. Some speakers gave just a brief introduction, others used the time to share stronger opinions.

Giovino said the current healthcare system is not designed to help you get well, rather it's designed to ensure you keep coming back.

"My concern about healthcare is that it’s for profit," Giovino said. "In every other country, every other rich country, it’s not for profit. I think capitalism is a great thing, but when it comes to health, we need a catalytic converter on that engine."

Thomas said the environment is his passion.

"I think it’s everybody’s passion whether we know it or not," Thomas said. "Elections are guided by politics and not so much guided by science. Environmental protection suffers from the ebb and flow of global leadership changes and at the same time, that environment is generally not working in many cases. Under our current federal government leadership, the divide between economic interests and the environment is wider than it ever has been."

Besch got a laugh with his introduction.

"I’m a white guy who does diversity work," Besch said.

He added later, "For a long time this country has had a political environment that has sort of secretly and quietly marginalized already-marginalized groups to drive a culture of fear to push its agenda. What I’ve seen in recent years is that action is no longer quiet and secret. Preservation of wealth and privilege is coming at the expense of those who don’t have either of them.

"If we don’t find ways stand up and stop that then a situation that is already pretty precarious and getting worse is going to get a heck of a lot worse and a heck of a lot more quickly than I think any of us care for."

Capozzi said she's tried to talk with Collins many times about a range of issues that affect small business owners, from healthcare to immigration to tax policy to education to workforce readiness and manufacturing.

"There isn’t a part of our communities that is not impacted by the small business community and he doesn’t have anything to say," Capozzi said. "Literally, nothing to say, since May of 2014. I’m really concerned about our opportunities, or lack thereof, to talk to the congressman across all spectrums and all areas of business and all the impacts that affect us."

Cerrone slammed support for school choice.

"Chris Collins supports the Trump-Betsy DeVos privatization schemes that will devastate our local, public schools," Cerrone said. "If this raised achievement, I would be all behind it, but studies show that school choice sounds good, but choice does not work. It does not raise achievement, which is our number one concern, but also it’s a boon to those who want to privatize and profit off our tax dollars with no accountability." (Fact Check: the studies are not as one-sided as Cerrone states, but decidedly more mixed.)

Beiter said he came to the event to talk about the refugee ban and the "war on immigrants." He was critical of the Trump Administration's position on immigration.

"His policies are wrong and xenophobic," Beiter said. "They also hurt the economy, our agricultural development and who we are as a people."

Walter Eckert, of Mendon, asked the first question and it was on immigration, so it went to Beiter.

"It's the businesses that employ illegal immigrants who are breaking the law," Eckert said. "Why do we not charge the employers of illegal immigrants?"

Beiter said that was a good question and he blamed greed.

He said agriculture in New York is a $3.5 billion industry and farmers fear with a clamp down in illegal immigration they will not be able to fill vital positions. He said in Niagara County, there are 1,200 migrant workers between May and November. He said these workers are exploited by farm owners.

"On one level this is a human tragedy," Beiter said. "It's slave labor that lowers the prices of our groceries, so the answer to this is comprehensive immigration reform. I think what you’re going to see as to why these businesses and corporations are not prosecuted is because they’re profiting from it." (Fact Check: The average migrant farm worker makes $12 an hour in the United States, with some earning as much as $15 an hour, and migrants are also provided housing at no cost on many New York farms.)

He said during the George W. Bush administration and the first part of Barack Obama's two terms, there were attempts at immigration reform, but that greed prevented these reforms.

"These issues tried to get on the table, but they were put down because corporate America makes too much money from our brown-skinned brothers and sisters who are here in our communities," he said.

Actually, there was comprehensive immigration reform bill considered in 2013. Dean Norton helped draft it and Collins supported it. It didn't pass.

Collins has said many times that never in his political career does he participate in town hall meetings because he doesn't find them productive. He would rather meet with small groups of people around specific topics. He has said he will talk with any constituents who ask for a meeting.

Maureen Torrey, for example, has said she and other farmers have had a productive relationship with Collins. 

"Since the election, Congressman Collins and his staff have been working with the agriculture community in his district with all the family farms and agribusinesses in his district weekly," Torrey said. "He has held bipartisan meetings on trade, immigration, and the economy of agriculture. He has been working hard to arrange meetings and educate people on what our needs are.

"He knows our issues and hasn't been afraid to speak them. He talked about our needs on national TV. He has opened doors for us. For the first time in many years, I feel we are making progress on issues."

There were also people at the event who let reporters know that they've requested meetings with Collins, but they haven't gotten a response.

The Batavian has been trying to arrange an in-person, hour-long, multi-topic interview with the congressman since late January. We've made at least a dozen requests and despite assurances that such an interview will take place -- and statements by Collins himself that he will sit down for an interview and that he enjoys being interviewed by The Batavian and would be happy to talk -- we have yet been able to secure a date for such an interview.

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION & DISCLOSURE: One of the organizers, Jane Cameron, has said I was invited to be a speaker at the town hall. I honestly didn't remember the invitation. I found the email from March 30 where she said she wanted to talk with me about "your possible participation in a Town Hall ..." I wasn't sure what she meant by this, but I said I would cover the event but that I don't participate in partisan politics. She also said there were two conservatives on the panel without specifying who those individuals are.

Michelle Schoeneman

Jeremy Besch

Laura Colligan

Andrew Beiter

Walter Eckert, of Mendon

Accident reported on Clay Street, Le Roy

By Howard B. Owens

An accident is reported at Clay Street and Myrtle Street, Le Roy.

A subject has a complaint of chest pain.

Le Roy fire and Le Roy ambulance dispatched.

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