notify

Dispatchers are receiving multiple reports of power outages in the City. 

National Grid has not yet reported the extent of the power outage. 

There’s a report of a transformer explosion and fire by Dan’s Tire at City Centre. 

There is also a power line down at Watson and Evans. 

City Fire’s second platoon requested to the station. 

UPDATE 1:06 p.m.: National Grid is reporting at least 13 power outages in the City effecting more than 2,000 customers. The largest area is along Route 5 to the east out past East Pembroke and along Route 98 to the south. ETA for restoration is 3 p.m.

UPDATE (By Billie) 1:25 p.m.: The fourth platoon is called to city fire headquarters. National Grid is on scene at City Centre to repair the transformer.

UPDATE (By Howard) 1:49 p.m.: City PD would like to remind everybody that intersections where signal lights are out should be treated like a four-way stop. The Richmond Memorial Library is closed because of the power outage. It will reopen at 5 p.m. if power is restored.

UPDATE (By Billie) 3:08: Currently no power outages are reported in the city, according to National Grid. There are still two small outages in Alexander, and one in Pavilion.

UPDATE from National Grid 3:16 p.m.:

National Grid spokesman David Bertola replied to The Batavian's email asking what cause the outage: "At around 1:50 p.m. today, an animal came into contact with a feeder line at one of our stations, which caused around 5,000 customers to be without power. Once the site was cleared and repairs made, customers’ power was restored in stages. I was told that everyone’s power (in the city) was restored at around 2:35 p.m."

Beth Kemp, executive director of the Batavia Improvement District, has decided the business she co-owns with her husband Brian, T-Shirts Etc. needs more of her time and attention so she's resigned her position.

"It was an extremely hard decision for me because I love working as director of BID but T-Shirts Etc. continues to grow and I felt it was shortsighted of me to allow my own small business to struggle and continue my role here," Kemp said.

"I was only able to maintain a few hours at T-Shirts Etc. while working for BID, which was definitely not enough to support what we need to do over there."

Kemp has given notice to the board but she didn't share her final work day.

The Batavian reached out to Jennifer Gray, president of the BID Board of Directors, for comment and information about finding a replacement for Kemp but we have not yet received a response.

Kemp became director in November 2016.

"This opportunity has been amazing and I am so thankful to have been able to work with so many amazing people in our community," Kemp said. "In the past two years we have put in a lot of work in.

"We are in a great place with our finances, events, sponsorships, business relationships, community relationships, and mission. I look forward to still volunteering for events and community projects as the BID needs."

File photo.

For the third time in 13 months, Batavia is losing a big box store -- Office Max; Bed, Bath & Beyond; and now Kmart -- and given the nation's retail trends, it's by no means certain any of these vacant buildings will be filled any time soon.

The last time a big box closed prior to this spate of going-out-of-business sales, it took the landlord only a year to replace Lowe's with Dick's Sporting Goods and Kohl's Department Store but since then e-commerce sales have grown to represent 8 percent of all retail sales (Lowe's announced its closure seven years ago today).

It's also become harder for Industrial Development Agencies in New York, such as Genesee County Economic Development Center, to offer incentives for retail development.

Still, Tom Turnbull, president of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, is optimistic none of these big buildings will sit vacant long. He's a Batavia native and has seen a lot of businesses come and go.

"I call it the business circle of life," Turnbull said.

Turnbull remembers when Kmart was located where Aldi is now, and he remembers Twin Fair where the Department of Social Services is now and Valu Home Store in what is now County Building #2. He remembers W.T. Grant at the corner of Harvester and East Main and when Eli Fish Co. was Newberry's.

"It's the ebb and flow of business," Turnbull said. "You never know what is going to happen, especially with these big national retailers. It will fill up again and then it may be empty again."

There have been rumors, which Turnbull has heard, too, that Batavia Downs is interested in the Kmart property.

"It makes a lot of sense for them to have that property," Turnbull said. "It would be good for them and it would be good for us -- it's not unusual for big box stores to sit empty for a long time and become a real eyesore so it would be great for Batavia Downs to come in and swoop it up. It would be good for everybody."

Ryan Hasenauer, director of marketing for Batavia Downs, said in a statement this morning that, "While we do not currently have any timeline information on the store’s closing, we would not rule out an interest in this or any adjacent property to Batavia Downs if it were to become available. Regardless of what happens with the property, we will reach out to Kmart management for some job placement opportunities at Batavia Downs for Kmart employees that will be impacted with a layoff."

The Kmart store is 115,554 square feet and sits on 10.3 acres. The total assessment is $4.1 million, according to county records. The store was built in 1994. The listed owner is Wilmington Trust Company.

Wilmington Trust is affiliated with M&T Bank and specializes in, among other things, acting as administrator for properties held in trust. A trust is a legal entity that holds title to a property for the benefit of another person or group of people, such as heirs to an estate.

While Wilmington Trust is listed as the property owner, Wilmington is strictly and administrator of the property for the beneficiary of the trust, said spokesman Kent Wissinger. The beneficiary is the actual owner and has sole discretion on whether to sell or retain the property.

There is no information available on who is the beneficiary of the trust.

How any potential sale of the property might be handled, Wissinger said, is subject to the terms of the trust and he said he didn't have access to that information.

County records seem to indicate the trust has held title to the property since at least 1994.

Kmart, a subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corp., which declared bankruptcy after years of financial struggles, has not announced a closing date for the store.

A 40-year-old Batavia woman accused of supplying* cocaine to an agent of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force on two separate occasions was sentenced on reduced charges this afternoon in Genesee County Court.

Denielle Mancuso, who lives on West Main Street Road, will serve three years probation, to run concurrently, on two misdemeanor counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.

Before sentencing, Mancuso's lawyer, public defender Lisa Kroemer, asked to read the judge's copy of the presentencing report, which she apparently had not seen yet.

She then synopsized the document by saying it states that Mancuso successfully completed a yearlong "judicial diversion program" and "did everything that was expected of her" during the interim probationary period.

So much so in fact that Kroemer said her client was a "nonsubject of discussion" during staff updates. When her name came up, it was "next" -- let's move on -- because Mancuso's reports were "stellar."

Before sentencing, Judge Charles Zambito said he'd read the presentencing report with its laudable notations and said Mancuso had earned the benefit of her good behavior with a judicial diversion contract that, with its successful completion, reduced four felonies to the pair of misdemeanors cited above.

In addition, she would get one year shaved off probation immediately for time already served in the diversion program. And if she continues on the positive path she's on and comes back in a year and asks the judge to terminate her probation, he will most likely grant her wish, Zambito said. Thus, supervision by the Probation Department could potentially end a year from now. Otherwise, Mancuso's probation is set to expire Oct. 16, 2020.

Kroemer asked for a waiver of a six-month suspension of Mancuso's driver's license, per the presentencing recommendations. The attorney said her client doesn't have anyone to chauffeur her around, and she's self-employed and needs to help her husband with his business, which requires her to buy vehicles and go to the DMV Office regularly. Also, she has a son to shuttle to various sports and activities.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Finnell offered no resistance to the request for a waiver, and Judge Zambito agreed to it.

Next, Kroemer asked for new language in the defendant's sentencing paperwork that states she is to stay away from places where alcohol is served; language should be added to that stipulation "unless otherwise approved by the Probation Officer." That's because, Kroemer said, Mancuso sometimes goes to places like a racetrack for her son's sporting events and alcohol is served there.

Again, the judge agreed to accommodate Mancuso's attorney's request and add the language.

The judge imposed standard fees: $50 for the DNA database; $175 for the misdemeanor convictions; and $25 for the crime victims' assistance fund.

Zambito asked the chestnut-haired Mancuso, dressed in black slacks and a fitted black blazer over a maroon knit top, if she would like to say anything to the court and she quietly declined.

A Grand Jury indictment was originally issued in this case in June 2017. Mancuso faced four felony counts: two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, 3rd; one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd; and one count of first-degree criminal nuisance. She was jailed on $25,000 bail or $50,000 bond. 

In September of last year, the people offered a plea deal for one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance, fifth, with "shock-cap" probation -- six months in jail or four months of intermittent incarceration, followed by five years of probation.

Mancuso's attorney countered by asking that the defendant be evaluated for judicial diversion, which Judge Zambito granted.

Now with Mancuso's judicial diversion contract completed triumphantly, Zambito said he agreed she had done well and he congratulated her for it.

* "Supplying" not necessarily selling.

A poll released today by Siena gives Rep. Chris Collins a mere 3-percentage-point lead over challenger Nate McMurray in the NY-27 congressional race.

Three percentage points are within the margin of error -- plus or minus 4.7 percent -- making the race a statistical dead heat. 

This matches the results of an internal poll released by McMurray's campaign last week that showed the race tracking as a tie with three weeks left until Election Day.

In response to the release of the poll, McMurray issued the following statement:

“This poll tells us what we already know, that voters are choosing country over party. They’re motivated based on who will help families like theirs rather than simply voting along partisan lines. We always knew this would be a close race, and this poll shows that it’s neck and neck. But our TV ads went on the air yesterday, after this poll was conducted; our grassroots support is strong, and as more voters tune in to the race and learn that they have a real choice, we’re more and more confident.”

The Batavian emailed Natalie Baldassarre, campaign manager for Collins, and asked for a statement from Collins -- not her -- about the poll, his third-quarter fundraising report, which includes a campaign expenditure for the use of a private jet. We have not received a response.

Political reporter Ryan Whalan with Capitol Tonight in Albany said in a tweet this morning that he has made several requests to Collins for an interview and has been rebuffed. Since his arrest on federal charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and lying to the FBI, Collins has largely avoided contact with the media or answering tough questions.

His only campaign appearances have been at invite-only Republican events. After The Batavian was unable to secure an interview with Collins, we announced we would stop publishing his campaign press releases until he sits down for an interview with The Batavian. The deadline for the interview is this Friday and Collins has yet to agree to an interview.

The Siena Poll results released doesn't break out how Collins is doing vs. McMurray in Genesee County, but it does say McMurray is leading in Erie County 46 to 45 percent. Collins is leading in the rest of the 27th District 46 to 42 percent.

Reform Party Candidate Larry Piegza is favored by 1 percent of the voters.

While Collins has a narrow lead in the race, the indicted congressman has a much higher unfavorable rating than McMurray, 49 to 21 percent. 

In most congressional races throughout the country, women are trending toward supporting the Democratic candidate but not in the NY-27. Collins is supported by 46 percent of the women polled compared to 42 percent for McMurray.

McMurray also seems to be bucking the trend of Democrats picking up younger voters. In the under 55 demographic, Collins leads 49 to 42 percent. McMurray is fairing better with older voters, where Collins' margin is a mere 2 percentage points,  45 to 43.

McMurray leads the race among nonpartisan voters 46-45 percent.

Siena surveyed 490 likely voters in the district between Oct. 6 and 11.

President Donald Trump's approval rating is 56 percent among voters in the district, much higher than his 42 percent approval rating nationally.

Fifty-six percent of those polled want to see the Republicans maintain control of the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, since his arrest, Collins has seen donations to his campaign fall off a cliff, according to the Buffalo News.

Collins, who reportedly had more than $1 million in his war chest before his arrest, raised $32,755.74 in the third quarter, and only $2,955 was donated to his campaign after his arrest.

All but $80 of the money donated to Collins in the last round came from residents of the 27th District.

In the quarter, Collins spent $233,369 on advertising, $40,147.33 in legal fees and a $7,895 on a charter flight.

Members of Congress must justify travel expenses as a legitimate campaign activity to spend campaign funds on travel, according to House Rules.

Baldassarre told the Buffalo News that the chartered plane was used to return Collins to Buffalo after his arrest in New York City on Aug. 8. Collins was hours late to a press conference he scheduled and congressional staff at the time (the event was staffed by government employees, not campaign employees) told members of the media that his flight had been delayed. Though Collins called a press conference, he refused to take questions after issuing a statement.

In the middle of the 650-foot main corridor of the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, along a 50-yard section of white concrete block wall, are hand-painted images of flags from all over the world, dozens and dozens of them, one to represent each country for every detainee who has ever been held at the facility.

It's one of the first things a new detainee will see after going through the processing center and being led to the unit where the detainee will be held for the next several weeks, maybe months.

Some visitors who see the wall, said Thomas Feeley, field office director for Immigration and Custom Enforcement, think the flags represent "everybody who has been captured" by ICE, sending a negative message to detainees. But that's not at all how detainees take it, Feeley said. "There's an odd sense of pride" when they see the flag of their home country, knowing a fellow resident had been through the facility before.

"It makes them feel like they're not alone," Feeley said. "They realize nobody hates them because they are here illegally. It's just a process for them to go through."

A multicultural population

On any given day, there are 636 detainees in the facililty from as many as 80 different countries, said Jeff Searls, the facility's officer in charge.

Searls, Feeley, and Public Information Officer Khaalid Walls provided The Batavian with a tour of the facility Monday morning. It's the first time a reporter from a local media outlet toured the facility.

"The only two countries that have never been represented here are North Korea and the Vatican," Searls  said, and he doesn't expect the Pope to enter the country illegally any time soon.

The average stay for detainees -- "detainees" are not "inmates" because the Buffalo Detention Facility is not a place for punitive confinment -- is 65 days. Searls explained that sometimes a detainee might be admitted who won't challenge deportion and they can be sent to their country of origin within days, while others might fight deportation, and depending on the court proceedings, can be held for a year or two.

"We don't want anybody here longer than they need to be," Searls said. "My goal is the shorter the stay the better."

The Bufffalo Detention Facility is one of the county's more significant employers, with 360 staff members in administration, maintenance, detainee supervision, medical and other services. Almost all of the employees come from Genesee County or one of the adjacent counties. Searls is from Genesee County and Feeley lives here as well and volunteers with his local fire department.

It's also the Federal government's most significant presence in Genesee County.

Only four other facilities like it nationwide

There are only four other similar facilities in the nation -- in Miami, Phoenix, and two in Texas -- Port Isabel and El Paso.

The facility's annual budget is somewhere between $30 million and $35 million, excluding medical expenses for detainees (which operates on a separate budget from what Searls administers).

Its two federal immigration courts are technically open to the public like any other courtroom, but the court calendar isn't easy to obtain. There is not a regular flow of information about detainee admissions or deportations.

And, of course, immigration and immigration enforcement is a hot political topic.

Yet, unless there's a protest outside its gates, its operations are nearly opaque to local residents. When it comes to immigration enforcement, even with this big federal presence, we rarely hear about what's going on right in our own backyard.

That is unlikely to change but it's also why The Batavian requested a tour.

We have no pictures from our tour because photography is prohibited inside the facility.

Most of the detainees at the facility have some prior criminal record before they're admitted, anywhere from 65 to 80 percent, with the balance being held purely on an immigration law violation, Searls said.

The process upon arrival

When a detainee arrives, they are held for up to 12 hours in a processing center. They are interviewed and given a medical exam. The process helps determine where best to place them in the population and whether they have any immediate medical concerns that would require them to be segregated or hospitalized.

Detainees being held on just an immigration violation are given a two pairs of blue pants and a blue shirt. Those with a non-violent criminal record (petit larceny, DWI, etc.) are dressed in orange. Those with violent felony convictions wear red.

Orange detainees can intermingle with blue or red detainees but blue and red are never placed in the same unit.

Besides criminal threat level, staff processing detinees must also consider country of origin and religious belief when deciding where to house a detainee. Typically, people from the same country enjoy sharing the same detainee unit but two people from the same country might belong to opposing tribes and two people who share a common religion might come from competing traditions (shch as Shia and Sunni Muslims), so it might be best to keep those individuals segregated from each other.

It can get complicated.

"We have somebody who has been doing that job for a long time," Searls said. "He's very professional."

The detention facility was built in 1998 and originally housed 425 detainees and prisonors for the U.S. Marshall's Office. It was expanded in 2013 and is now strictly an ICE facility.

Inside the walls

There are three diamond-shaped units on the west side of the facility, each with two wings. One wing is almost exclusively detainees in red uniforms with a common area ringed by locking cells with two beds each (except for the handicapped cells, which each contain one bed). Detainees are generally given unlimited access during the day to the common area for socializing and exercise. They are locked in their cells by 11:20 p.m.

In the other wing, there are two bays with common areas on the first floor and then bunk beds with lockers, no cells, on the first and second floors.

Both wings have TVs and a bank of phones that are accessible to detainees any time they want to make a phone call. Searls said there is one phone per six or seven detainees.

The detainees can also play ping-pong.

During designated hours, they can go outside where they can play soccer (the facilities most popular sport by far, Searls said), basketball or handball.

There is also an indoor basketball court, an entertainment library, where detainees can also take art classes, and across the hall from that library is a law library where detainess can research laws and legal cases. Some detainees choose to represent themselves. Others just want to double check their own attorneys.

There are also computers available in their holding areas available for legal research.

Detainees also have access to tablet computers that they can use to rent movies, TV shows, or books, through a private service, or make video calls to loved ones.

For female detainees, there is now a knitting class available.

Detainees can also study for the GED while held at the facility.

"These accomodations keeps them busy and keeps them happy," Searls said, noting that detainees who are busy and happy cause fewer problems.

Handling complaints and suggested improvements

But there are complaints, Searls said. If there is a complaint, it is fully investigated, even complaints against guards.

And staff is open to suggestions for improvements from detainees.

"A lot of the changes we've made over the past 20 years have come from suggestions by detainees," Searls said.

All communications, except for communications with attorneys are monitored.

The facility also has a medical facility that might best be described as an urgent care clinic. Detainees with any medical complaint have instant access. They can even report a medical problem from the tablets available to them in their cells.

Commander Charles McGee, an Air Force veteran, is in charge of the medical staff.

The staff includes a doctor, physician's assistance, nurses, a dentist and two psychologists. 

Anything that requires hospitalization means the patient is transported, with guards, to UMMC or ECMC. If the detainee has surgery or needs other post-medical care, there are rooms in the unit available for recovery.

There are also isolation rooms for detainees with communicable diseases. While this might include flus and diseases like Ebola, the biggest concern is tuberculosis. Detainees are not transferred to their holding area until they've been cleared for TB. If the detainee won't allow a blood test, they are held in the processing area until a chest X-ray can be completed, which can take up to another 24 hours.

Receiving visitors and preparing meals

Once officially a detainee, detainees can receive vistors. There is a visitor area with a dozen private booths (the ones for detainees and their attorenys are slightly larger). In general, detainees can visit with family members for up to an hour, but when family members have made a long, special trip to visit a detainee, they might be able to visit for the full two hours in the morning, and the full two hours in the afternoon, and then again in the evening.

"They've come a long way, so we try to accommodate that as much as possible," Searls said.  

As you might imagine, with a population of several hundred men and women from 80 different countries, some with medical conditions and a variety of religious beliefs or dietary habits, keeping them all properly fed can be a challenge.

The kitchen staff -- which includes trusted detainees -- prepares three meals a day -- for a total of 2,500 to 2,800 calories per day -- that are delivered to cells and dorms that accommodate those detainees' concerns. Though no meal ever contains any pork so that those with religious prohibitions against eating pork need not worry that their meals were prepared in a kitchen that also prepared pork.

"We do have turkey bacon," Searls said.

There is a religious advisor on staff and the facility does its best to accommodate every religious faith.

When trouble crops up

No facility with more than 600 people of various backgrounds, beliefs, and life experiences will always be peaceful. There are no gangs in the facility, Searls said, but that doesn't mean there are not gang members in the population. For the most part, the detainees are focused on dealing with their immigration cases and aren't house there long enough to form affiliations.

But when there are fights, the individuals are separated and taken to a section of the facility with isolation cells. The incident is investigated, which could lead to one participant or the other being held in isolation longer than the other. Searls said it's really just a cooling-off period. It's not like, he said, Attica or Pelican Bay, where inmates might be kept in solitary confinement for 60 days or longer. At most, a detainee is held in isolation for 10 days. While in isolation, they get one hour a day for outside their cell for exercise (Searls is only required to provide one hour every five days) and receive a daily visit from a staff psychologist.

Detainees can also request protective custody. That request is always granted without question, Searls said. Even if staff might suspect paranoia, the request for protective custody in an isolation cell is always granted.

"If someone has an issue, even if it's just in their own mind, if they feel it's necessary, I don't tell them they don't," Searls said.

By no means a vacation spot, but scores high on accreditation

If anything about our story makes it sound like the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility is a country club, it's not. With nearly uniformly white walls and gray doors, thick, concrete block, windowless walls, constant monitoring, hours of confinement to a limited space, meals and snacks only on schedule, some limits on contact with the outside world, being locked up with people you didn't choose to hang out with, and very few opportunities to see the sun, this is no Miami Beach vacation. It's serious business.

And it's a business Searls and Feeley are clearly proud to lead. Of the five ICE detention facilities in the United States, they think the best one is in Batavia. The facility scored a 99.4, out of a possible score of 100, in a recent accreditation by the American Correctional Association.

The facility has in fact scored well in every accreditation and review it has received. It was important to Searls and Feeley that readers know how well it does on its audits and inspections, which Searls said is a credit to the staff and Feeley said the facility has good staff because of the strong, blue-collar work ethic of Western New Yorkers.

The facility has always drawn its staff from the region and in its 20th year it boasts of having little turnover; many of the new staff members are relatives, even sons and daughters, of current or former staff members.

"You're usually not going to have family seek employment at some place that isn't a good place to work," Searls said.

Screen capture from the Genesee County GIS Mapping Service.

John M. Grabowski is indicted for the crime of predatory sexual assault against a child, a Class A-II felony. It is alleged that on Feb. 16, 2016, in the Town of Oakfield that Grabowski commited first-degree rape -- he being age 18 or older and the victim with whom he is accused of engaging in sexual intercourse was less than 13 years old. In counts two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and 10, the defendant is accused of second-degree rape, a Class D violent felony. It is alleged in those counts that the adult defendant engaged in sexual intercourse with a person less that 15 in the Town of Oakfield, respectively, on: May 22, 2016; July 4, 2016; Feb. 27, 2017; May 22, 2017; July 4, 2017; Thanksgiving Day (November) 2017; Christmas Day (December) 2017; and Feb. 27, 2018. In counts 10, 11 and 12, Grabowski is accused of third-degree rape, a Class E felony, for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse as an adult male with three other persons less than 17 on these respective dates in the Town of Oakfield: May 22, 2018; July 4, 2018; and July 23, 2018. In count 13, he is accused of criminal sexual act in the third degree, a Class E felony, for allegedly engaging in oral sexual conduct without the person's consent, and that was due to some reason other than incapacity to consent. In count 14, Grabowski is accused of endangering the welfare of a child, a Class A misdemeanor. It is alleged in count 14 that the defendant knowingly acted in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a child less than 17 and did so between Oct. 1, 2016 and July 24, 2018, in the Town of Oakfield.

Trametrias L. Scott is indicted for the crime of driving while intoxicated, as a Class E felony. It is alleged that on May 27, 2018 in the Town of Bergen, that she drove a 2005 GMC on Route 33 in the Town of Bergen while in an intoxicated condition. In count two, Scott is accused of aggravated DWI, per se, as a Class E felony. It is alleged in count two, that she had a BAC of .18 percent or more at the time. In count three, the defendant is accused of aggravated unlicensed operation in the first degree, a Class E felony. It is alleged in count three that Scott knew, or had reason to know, that her driver's license was suspended, revoked or otherwise withdrawn by authorities at the time and that she was under the influence of alcohol or a drug at the time. In count four, she is accused of circumventing an ignition interlock device, a Class A misdemeanor, for driving the GMC which was not equipped with this device she was required to have. In Special Information filed by the District Attorney's Office, Scott is accused of having been convicted of DWI, as a misdemeanor, on Aug. 5, 2016, in the City of Rochester Court, and that conviction was within 10 years of the crimes alleged in the current indictment.

Thomas Dale Young, 38, of Ellicott Street, Batavia, is charged with: criminal sex act in the third degree -- being age 21 or more with a victim less than 17; criminal sexual act in the first degree -- by forcible compulsion; and sex abuse in the first degree -- contact by forcible compulsion. Young was arrested at 4:58 a.m. on Oct. 9 after allegedly committing the crimes for which he is charged. Batavia police were called to a residence on Ellicott Street for an incident that had recently occurred. After an investigation, Young was arrested, arraigned and put in jail in lieu of $50,000 bail or $100,000 bond. He was due in City Court on Wednesday. The case was investigated by Batavia Police Officer Felicity DeGroot, assisted by Officer Nicole McGinnis.

Susan Ann Samanka, 55, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with a sex offender registry violation. She was arrested at 10 a.m. on Oct. 10 at 4054 W. Main Street Road, Room #7, in Batavia following an investigation for allegedly failing to register her change of address. The registered sex offender was issued an appearance ticket for Town of Batavia Court and is scheduled to appear there on Nov. 1. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan DeLong.

Jamie L. Edenholm, 31, of Gabbey Road, Corfu. She was arrested at 4:13 p.m. on Oct. 5 on Richmond Avenue in Batavia and charged with: driving while ability impaired by drugs; criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree; possession of a hypodermic needle; criminal use of drug paraphernalia; and failure to keep right. The arrest was made after a car vs. telephone pole accident. She was issued appearance tickets and is due in City Court on Nov. 7. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Christopher Lindsay, assisted by Officer Frank Klimjack.

Katty L. Jackson, 22, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with second-degree criminal trespass. She was arrested at 6:45 a.m. on Oct. 8 on Central Avenue in Batavia after previously being told she was not welcome at her ex-boyfriend's residence. She allegedly entered the residence and knocked at the interior door for an extended period of time. She was released on an appearance ticket. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Stephen Quider, assisted by Officer Marc Lawrence.

Elena E. Vega-Vazquez, 36, of Washington Avenue, Batavia, is charged with: aggravated DWI -- with a BAC of .18 percent or more; common law DWI; and failure to keep right. She was arrested at 12:17 a.m. Oct. 5 on Harvester Avenue after a traffic stop for allegedly failing to keep right. She is due in City Court again on Oct. 17. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Mitchell Cowen, assisted by Officer Stephen Cronmiller.

Joshua D. Sumeriski, 33, of Buffalo Road, Alexander, is charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He was arrested after allegedly operating a motor vehicle at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 5 on West Main Street in Batavia without the owner's consent. He was arraigned on Oct. 8 in City Court and put in jail in lieu of $1,000 bail. He was due back in City Court on Oct. 9. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Jamie Givens.

Janeen A. Young, 21, of William Street, East Randolph, is charged with petit larceny in connection with an incident which occurred at 11:20 a.m. on Jan. 3 at an apartment on Jackson Street in Batavia. Young was arrested on Oct. 5 on an outstanding City Court warrant. She was arraigned and released on her own recognizance. She is due in City Court again on Nov. 20. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Catherine Mucha.

Christopher J. Wiegman, 30, no permanent address, Batavia, is charged with failure to appear. He was arrested on a warrant out of City Court for failure to appear on Sept. 27 in court. He was due in City Court on Oct. 9. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Mitchell Cowen, assisted by Officer Chad Richards.

Brian P. Suttell, 41, of Lake Street Road, Le Roy, is charged with criminal possession of marijuana in the fifth degree. He was arrested at 9:20 p.m. on Oct. 6 on East Main Street in Batavia after police allegedly witnessed him smoking marijuana in a public parking lot in the city. He was issued an appearance ticket for City Court and is due there Oct. 23. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Mitchell Cowen, assisted by Officer Nicole McGinnis.

Republicans in New York have been totally ineffective in protecting the Second Amendment rights of the state's citizens, Larry Sharpe, Libertarian candidate for governor, told members of Genesee County SCOPE at the regular monthly meeting at Calvary Baptist Church in Batavia on Tuesday night.

He is the only candidate on the ballot, he said, who can and will get the SAFE Act repealed, and he laid out a plan for getting it done even though he would be the only elected Libertarian in the state.

First, Sharpe said, within 90 days of taking office he would pardon every person in the state who has been convicted of a SAFE Act felony. Next, he would encourage local law enforcement to stop enforcing the SAFE Act.

At that point, Sharpe said, he will be attacked by the media. But rather than cowering, he would use the attacks to educate the public about how bad the SAFE Act is for all New Yorkers.

"When I talk with people who support the SAFE Act, they say the SAFE Act is great and that is as far as they think about it," Sharpe said. "They say the SAFE Act has the word 'safe' in it so it must be good. 'We haven't had a school shooting since 2013, therefore the SAFE Act works.' "

He said the problem with the Republican argument against this shallow line of thinking has been, "but it's unconstitutional," which is totally unpersuasive to a supporter of the SAFE Act.

His line of argument gets their attention, he said.

"The SAFE Act has made millions of New Yorkers overnight criminals," Sharpe said. "They purchased a firearm legally and then the next day they were violent felons in the eye of the law. And they go, 'oh, really? I thought the SAFE Act just outlawed machine guns.'

"That's not what it did. No, literally, it made millions of New Yorkers violent felons overnight. It made all medical personnel part of the the state secret police. They must now literally report on people (who they might suspect of mental illness)."

Sharpe used an example of a person seriously injured who tells a doctor, "I'm in so much pain I want to die." That person, Sharpe said, gets labeled "suicidal" and now can't possess a firearm.

He also said the SAFE Act also disapportinately affects veterans, who are both more likely to own a firearm and more like to suffer from PTSD.

"When you tell people this, watch all the people who were pro SAFE Act start to say, 'oh, that's bad,' " Sharpe said.

Once he's pardoned those convicted under the SAFE Act, and once it's not routinely enforced, and once he's made the public case why the SAFE Act is an unfair law, then he can go to the Legislature and tell them, "repeal it."

He thinks that by then the political pressure will be on the Democrats in the Assembly to repeal it and he will be able to get the votes in the Senate because at least five members will have decided it's politically expedient to be on the side of the governor and will have switched their party registration to Libertarian.

He promised to have the SAFE Act repealed in 2020.

Sharpe said he will win the governor's race because he has a movement going. He compared it to Donald Trump's campaign. People didn't see Trump coming because he used Twitter to build support.

"I use Facebook and video," Sharpe said.

He said his campaign appeals not just to Republicans but also Democrats and independents.

"I am the most pro Second Amendment candidate ever and I draw Democrats all the time," Sharpe said. "You want to win the election? You want to make this a pro Second Amendment state? You've got to get Democrats. You've got to get independents. Republicans are not enough."

Joseph Michael Dispenza Sr., 45, of Maple Street, Batavia, is charged with second-degree menacing with a dangerous instrument. At 7:09 p.m. on Oct. 5 on Oak Orchard Road in Elba, Dispenza was arrested following a report and police investigation of a person threatening people in the woods with a knife. He was issued an appearance ticket and is due in Elba Town Court at 5 p.m. on Oct. 15. The case was investigated by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Andrew Mullen, assisted by Deputy Austin Heberlein.

David Michael Pierleoni, 32, of Whittier Road, Rochester, is charged with fourth-degree grand larceny. At 5:34 p.m. on Sept. 24, Genesee County Sheriff's deputies responded to Kohl's department store for a larceny complaint. Pierleoni was arrested for allegedly stealing $1,097 in merchandise from the store. He was issued an appearance ticket for 1 p.m. on Oct. 15 in Town of Batavia Court. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Erik Andre, assisted by Deputy Christopher Parker.

Jon T. Magliocco, 41, of Liberty Street, Batavia, is a registered Level 3 sex offender charged with failure to report a change, in this case, to register an Internet account; first offense. He is required by law to register any change in Internet accounts with the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Service. He was jailed without bail and is due in City Court on Nov. 1. He is currently an inmate of the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision -- Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora -- and will remain in their custody. The case was investigated by Batavia Police Investigator Eric Hill.

Gary L. Williams, 26, and Matthew Reed, no age provided, of Hutchins Place, Batavia, are charged with disorderly conduct / using obscene language in public. They were arrested at 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 2 on Hutchins Place after allegedly repeatedly screaming obscenities, racial slurs and threats to harm / murder another person -- all while outside in a public place in the presence of neighbors and a gathering of young children. The men continued screaming obscenities despite being warned by police to stop, according to the police report. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Jason Ivison, assisted by Officer Jamie Givens.

Kyle-Jacob T. Fitzpatrick, 29, of Smyrna, was arrested on Oct. 5 by the Le Roy Police Department and charged with: one count of driving a commercial vehicle while intoxicated, a Class A misdemeanor; one count of driving a commercial vehicle while ability impaired by drugs, a Class A misdemeanor; one count of failure to maintain lane, a violation; and one count of failure to keep right, a violation. At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 5, patrols received a complaint of erratic operation of a tractor-trailer in the Village of Le Roy. Patrols were able to locate the vehicle and while observing it, the vehicle allegedly failed to maintain its designated lane; this caused oncoming traffic to leave their lane to avoid a collision. After a brief investigation, it is believed that Fitzpatrick was operating the vehicle in an intoxicated state. Fitzpatrick was taken into custody without incident evaluated by a drug recognizant expert. He was arraigned in Le Roy Town Court and put in Genesee County Jail in lieu of $500 bail. Fitzpatrick's driver’s license is suspended pending outcome of the charges. Fitzpatrick is to return to the Le Roy Town Court on Nov. 5.

Alecia K. Urban, 32, of Hutchins Street, Batavia, is charged with falsely reporting an incident. She allegedly reported a motor-vehicle accident to a police officer, alleging it occurred at a particular location, time and under different circumstances than what actually occurred. She was arrested at 12:20 p.m. on Oct. 1 and was issued an appearance ticket. Urban is due in city court on Oct. 9. The case was investigated by Batavia Police Officer Jamie Givens.

Dylan M. Conte, 25, of Bacon Street, Le Roy, was arrested on Oct. 5 by the Le Roy Police Department and charged with: one count of burglary in the third degree, a Class D felony; one count of criminal mischief in the fourth degree, a Class A misdemeanor; and one count of petit larceny, also a Class A misdemeanor. In the early morning of Oct. 5, the Le Roy Police Department responded to a complaint of a subject breaking windows on a building located in the Village of Le Roy. Upon arrival, patrols located Conte in the area. After a brief investigation, it is believed Conte allegedly entered the building and took an item that was located inside. Conte also damaged a window located on the building. He was arraigned in the Le Roy Town Court and put in Genesee County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail. Conte is to return to the Le Roy Town Court on Nov. 5.

Ryan David Shumway, 39, of Jackson Street, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. He was arrested at 2:10 a.m. on Oct. 2 on Jackson Street and issued an appearance ticket for city court on Oct. 9. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Kyle Krtanik.

Kevin W. Howard, 18, of Chili Avenue, Chili, is charged with failure to appear. On the afternoon of Oct. 2, Howard turned himself in on an active bench warrant for failing to appear in court. He was arraigned in city court and released under the supervision of Genesee Justice. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Kyle Krtanik, assisted by Officer Frank Klimjack.

     Amanda  Havens    Thomas Williamee

Two Le Roy residents were arrested early Friday morning after police received a complaint that two children had been given them medication to make them sleep and then left alone at a residence in the village.

Amanda E. Havens, 36, and Thomas C. Williamee, 48, both of Munson Street, Le Roy, were charged with counts of endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th.

The couple is accused of leaving the two children unsupervised.

After receiving the complaint early Friday morning, Le Roy PD responded to the residence and tried to contact anybody who might be inside the residence. After their was no response and considering the nature of the complaint, police officers made forced entry into the residence.

Both children were located alone inside but otherwise unharmed.

The age of the children was not released.

After further investigation, Havens and Williamee were located at another location and taken into custody.

Havens was jailed on $3,000 bail and Williamee was jailed on $2,500 bail.

State officials are looking for a more robust commitment from the community before signing off on a low-interest loan to help finance the Ellicott Station project in Batavia; developer Sam Savarino told members of the GCEDC board at their Thursday meeting.

As a result, the GCEDC board will consider an expanded PILOT for the project to match the 30-year loan from Homes and Community Renewal and also take into account the increased cost of the project, from $17.6 million to $21.75 million, as well as the expanded size from 73,100 square feet to 99,111 square feet, and the increase in apartment units from 51 to 55.

The loan is the last piece of the financing puzzle for the project, which has already been delayed by a year because of the complex financing, that includes a $3.5 million investment from Savarino, tax incentives by GCEDC of at least $1.5 million, state grants, and more than $10 million in private investment through a program called the New Market Tax Credits, which allows investors to purchase federal tax credits to help finance projects in distressed urban areas.

As the cost of the project has gone up, so has the cost of financing and transaction costs, which could top $2.5 million.

This is the first project to combine New Market Tax Credits and HCR financing, according to Savarino Companies CFO Milissa Acquard.

The incentives already approved include $897,293 in sales tax savings, $128,232 mortgage tax savings and GCEDC will consider increasing the and $537,398 in property tax savings for the project.

Half of the PILOT payments will be returned to the developer through the “Batavia Pathway to Prosperity” (BP2) program with half going to the relevant taxing jurisdictions (typically, half of the PILOT in a BP2 project area goes into a pool to provide future assistance to to other projects).

Savarino said he thinks their proposal with HCR has gotten past a concern about the planned rental rates for the apartments.

HCR wants to ensure the apartments will be occupied and setting rents plus utilities at 90 percent of the city's median income seemed high to HCR officials, even though that formula is typically acceptable under HCR regulations. Officials asked Savarino to consider setting rents based on 80 or 85 percent of the median income.

Changing the rental rate creates a domino effect for the rest of the financial package, Savarino said, that makes the project much harder to pull off.

Savarino and Acquard said they both think they've reached an agreement with HRC on rents and the financing package but that includes an expanded PILOT approved by the GCEDC board.

"One of the issues that have kept coming up, in some cases with the New Market investors, but also with HCR, is the local buy-in," Savarino said. "It's been deemed not to have enough investment from the community for the benefit the community is getting. We've effectively checked that box by discussing a possible change to the PILOT."

A public hearing will be scheduled on a revised PILOT once the details are worked out.

To deal with the opioid crisis in New York, the state needs to an embrace an "all of the above" approach to find a way to keep people alive, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a visit to Batavia on Thursday.

Hochul was in town for a ribbon cutting at the new methodone clinic at GCASA. During her remarks Hochul talked about how the opioid crisis has led to tragedy in her own family, with a dose of heroin laced with fentanyl claiming the life of her nephew.

In an short interview after her remarks, Hochul said an "all of the above" approach could include consideration of safe injection sites. She was a little more vague about whether the state would consider following Portugal's lead, which decriminalized drug possession 18 years ago and established a program to help addicts find meaningful work, and as a result cut addiction rates in half and reduced overdose deaths to 30 to 50 a year, about 1/50th the rate of the United States. Prior to 2001, Portugal was known as the heroin capital of Europe.

"I don’t know we’re prepared to say anything about following a particular model," Hochul said. "We are considering all options is all I can say. If people have ideas, please bring them forward."

During her remarks, Hochul talked about her role, along with other state officials, of crisscrossing the state, meeting with residents and people on the frontlines of the opioid crisis. The result was legislation that not only led to the $850,000 grant to build the methodone clinic at GCASA but was recently amended to allow for medical marijuana to treat chronic pain. The legislation also attempts to eliminate the waiting time for an addict to get into treatment.

"We’re trying to figure out how do we stop people from dying literally in the streets and in their homes," Hochul told The Batavian.

Besides the methadone clinic, guests at the ribbon cutting were able to tour a new mobile treatement clinic that will allow GCASA staff to travel throughout the region and meet with addicts where they live, eliminating the need for them to travel to Batavia. It is important to note, the mobile clinic will not include a methadone dispensary, which by law must be at the approved facility in Batavia.

"That is why this is such a hopeful day for me," Hochul said while discussing the changes at GCASA. "To see what we can bring here, a new facility, an expansion, a mobile unit, which may look like an RV, recreational vehicle, but to me that’s a recovery vehicle."

Thursday, the governor's office also announced $900,000 in funding for 17 detox beds at GCASA. Director John Bennett showed off floor plans for a new detox facility on the East Main Street property.

"We often talk about going to treatment but we forget that before you can go into treatment, you have to go through detox," said Arlene González-Sánchez, commissioner of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. "Detox is really critical. Detrox is not treatment. It is the beginning of treatment and we’re so happy that we’re able to say that we will be able to have some detox beds in this whole region."

Brian Paris, president of the GCASA board, praised Bennett and the rest of the GCASA staff for their hard work in helping to establish the methadone clinic, the mobile unit, and soon the detox facility.

"We live in a changing world and GCASA is changing to support that changing world," Paris said.

Hochul's nephew, she said, started on his path to addiction after being prescribed painkillers when he cut his hand on a meat slicing machine in a delicatessen where he was working.

"That led to addiction, led to the streets, led to a decade of putting his mother and our family through hell as he tried to find a path forward," Hochul said.

The family thought he was past his addiction and on the right path. He was a graduate student at University of Buffalo  and a mentor to others trying to kick the habit. After he broke up with a girlfriend he slipped and tried one dose and died as a result.

"Be proud that your state has not run from this problem," Hochul said. "We have leaned into this problem."

NOTE: I took pictures of the ribbon cutting. I thought I imported those pictures in PhotoShop (Lightroom). I reformatted the card for another assignment and discovered later I hadn't imported the pictures. They are lost. My apologies to those involved.

Investigators have yet to determine why a 2015 BMW driven by 61-year-old Syed L. Rahman, of Williamsville, crossed the center line and crashed into an ambulance from the Bethany Fire Department on Route 63 just before midnight Saturday.

Rahman was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Don Coleman.

A heavy rainstorm was passing through the area at the time of the crash. There's a slight curve in the road near the area of the crash scene.

Rahman was northbound on Ellicott Street Road. The ambulance, driven by volunteer medic James L. Duval, 65, of Bethany, was southbound. The ambulance and three-person crew were returning to the Bethany station after handling an earlier EMS call. Since the crew wasn't on a call, the ambulance was not in emergency mode, no lights or siren, and was not carrying a patient.

Duval and crew members Christopher Page and Melody Davis, all volunteers, were not seriously injured but were transported to UMMC for evaluation and treatment.

Duval, is the former Genesee County planning director. He retired in 2012 after 36 years as a county employee.

The accident investigation is being handled by Deputy Andrew Mullen. Assisting at the scene were Chief Deputy Joseph Graff, Investigator Chad Minuto, Sgt. John Baiocco, Sgt. Jason Saile, the Bethany Fire Department, Stafford Fire Department, Town of Batavia Fire Department, and Mercy EMS.

(Initial Report)

K-9 "Destro," who joined the Sheriff's Office in 2013, has died after being diagnosed with cancer recently.

Sheriff William Sheron confirmed Destro's passing this morning. He is planning to release a statement later this morning.

Destro's partner was Deputy Chris Erion.

Since joining the force, Destro has been instrumental in helping police capture bad guys, find lost people, and serving as an ambassador for local law enforcement.

Photo: File photo, Destro and Deputy Chris Erion at the Corfu Winterfest in 2014.

UPDATE -- noon: The following press release is from Genesee County Sheriff William A. Sheron Jr.

Sheriff William A. Sheron Jr. announced the untimely death of K-9 “Destro” following a very short battle with cancer. Destro developed heath concerns earlier this past week and passed away yesterday, Friday Oct. 5, 2018 at the Cornell University Companion Hospital with his handler, Deputy Christopher Erion, by his side.

Destro, an 8-year old German Shepherd, joined the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office in August 2013.

Destro will continue his service in death, as his body will be made available to Cornell University Veterinary Students to learn and study from for a brief period of time. His remains will then be returned to his family home in Byron where he will be laid to final rest alongside two other family dogs.

“Destro was a true asset to all law enforcement agencies across Western New York," Sheriff Sheron said. "He has been instrumental in tracking suspects, missing persons, and locating narcotics, just to name a few skills he brought to the job. He will be truly missed and our sympathies are with his handler, Deputy Christopher Erion and family."

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office is truly appreciative for the tremendous care and comfort afforded to Destro and Deputy Christopher Erion by the Hilton Veterinary Clinic and the Cornell University Companion Hospital.

It's almost like saying, "build it and they will come," but that is exactly what WNY real estate expert Bob Richardson, of Buffalo, told staff and board members of the Genesee County Economic Development Center during a presentation at the Med-Tech Center on Thursday.

"It's a hard pill for us real estate people to take," Richardson said. "We've always been real estate centric -- location, location,location -- but now we have to be workforce centric. It's primarily about having highways and access points.

"The question businesses ask is 'can I fill the jobs I need to fill?' The balance of this generation, the Millennials, make decisions differently than previous generations. Their decision-making process is about where can they find the lifestyle they want to determine where they want to live. They chose to live where they want to live and then figure out where they're going to work."

For a community like Batavia, Richardson suggest, the city's downtown needs to be come more vibrant, more active, and that comes from density.

He flashed a map of downtown on the screen and said Batavia has too much surface parking. There needs to be more buildings, more busineses, more apartments, and with that Batavia will become a more attractive place to live, work and play.

Today's young adults, he said, are more interested in renting than buying a home, and they're looking to do that in a place with density and a lifestyle conducive to social activities.

For that to work, though, rental prices can't approach double what a purchase price of a single-family home might be because then renters are more likely to become buyers. Without renters, it's harder to build the kind of vibrant urban core that will attract a young workforce.

Building new is more expensive than adaptive reuse and Batavia still has spaces available that could be converted to apartments.

A dense downtown would bring more people into the center of the city, Richardson said, and as e-commerce destroys the big box business model, it's a chance for small retailers, who can provide a great shopping experience, combined with an online experience, to reassert themselves and fill up those downtown storefronts.

As an example of Millennials picking lifestyle over career, he pointed to Northern Colorado, where universities graduate 9,500 people a year in STEM -- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math -- fields. Those graduates could move anywhere in the country but they choose to stay in Northern Colorado because they love the lifestyle.

There are 37,000 people in Northern Colorado with degrees in STEM careers who don't have STEM jobs.

"They're waiters, waitresses, bartenders and dishwashers," Richardson said. "They want the lifestyle and don't care because they want to live there and it's a cool place."

To be a community that attracts STEM companies, you need a higher supply of STEM workers than available jobs, he said.

"In the City of Batavia, you can't really wait for the private sector to lead on this," Richardson said. "You have to have a vision. You have to have an urban plan that starts to address the issue. You've got to pave the way."

The dairy industry needs exports to really thrive, according to an Elba dairy farmer who, like a lot of dairy farmers these days, is happy there is a potential new trade agreement between the United States and its largest agricultural trade partners, Canada and Mexico.

"The name of the game in dairy now is exports," Jeff Post said. "Years ago it was all about national consumption, but if we're going to survive as the dairy industry in this country, we need to export as much product as possible and we have to rely on our government to help us with trade deals."

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump knocked the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as "a really bad deal" and promised a better deal if elected. For the most part, local farmers think they got that with the new deal with a new acronym, USMCA.

The deal must be ratified by the legislative bodies of all three countries before going into effect.

For dairy farmers in New York, the big hang-up with NAFTA was its lack of provisions for Class 6 and Class 7 milk, also known as ultrafiltered milk, which has become a big part of cheese production. Those classes didn't exist when NAFTA was approved in 1994 and nearly two years ago, Canada blocked imports of those classes.

Once elected, Trump took up the cause of dairy farmers and used the increased difficulty in exporting U.S. dairy products to Canada to push for a new deal and threatened to withdraw from NAFTA.

Craig Yunker, CEO of CY Farms, approves of the new deal but thought the heated rhetoric from the president, such as accusing Canada of cheating the United States,was unneccessary.

"Generally, it's a positive for dairy and for wheat, specifically, but I'm not sure that it's going to completely undo the hard feelings north of the border," Yunker said. "That's going to take some time, but it's going in the right direction. I think it'll take some time to repair the hard feelings."

Le Roy dairy farmer Dale Stein sides a little more with the president on his view that the United States hasn't been treated well by its trading partners, and while he welcomes the new provisions related to dairy, he thinks overall the new deal will help out the country as a whole.

"Our trading partners have been abusing us and that's been a fact," Stein said. "All the previous presidents have allowed it. There are other things in this trade agreement that I think will help with everything and have nothing to do with farming."

In 2017, the United States had a $63.6 billion trade deficit with Mexico on a total of $615.9 billion in trade. While the United States imported more goods than it exported, it still exported $276.2 billion in goods to Mexico, up from $52 billion in 1993. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that some six million jobs in the United States depend on trade with Canada and Mexico.

Besides agriculture, much of what's new deals with auto production. New provisions require at least 45 percent of an automobile to be built by people earning at least $16 an hour, and that at least 75 percent of the auto's content be made in North America.

Whether these provisions will result in more car production jobs in the United States in unclear, according to economists, but it is likely to make cars more expensive.

Yunker thinks the new deal is much like the old deal with many provisions that had been part of the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, which Trump scraped as soon as he took office.

"I don't see it as a major accomplishment," Yunker said. "We had NAFTA in place and while it needed some tweaking, this is a big improvement over it throwing Canada out of the deal altogether. Well, I don't see that as a major accomplishment of the Trump Administration. The major accomplishment is that it was negotiated after the rhetoric insulting Canada."

One of the big issues besetting the dairy industry is oversupply and Yunker noted that Cornell ag economist Andy Novakovic doesn't anticipate the new agreement doing much to increase milk prices anytime soon.

"He hasn't really changed his price projects for 2019 based on this," Yunker said. "It is good it opens up the market for ultrafilteration milk; that's a positive. But we still have an oversupply of milk, so I'm not sure that this cures the low price for producers but it's certainly the right direction."

Yunker remains dissapointed that TPP didn't go through.

"A lot of work went into (TPP)," Yunker said. "We lost the initiative to be the lead in Asia trade and then replaced by China taking the lead in that. I'm still disappointed over pulling out of the TPP but I'm a free-trade guy."

Post is less enthused about TPP but believes U.S. dairy farmers need Asian markets and hopes now that the NAFTA makeover is done there's a chance to open up Japan and other Asian nations.

"I look forward to hopefully getting some of these Asian markets opened up, too," Post said. "I wasn't a big fan of the TPP agreement -- only for what it did for ag. Hopefully, he government is negotiating with Japan and negotiationing to South Korea and we're going to get more more access to export to markets there."

Stein is also looking forward to getting past the trade conflicts and open up more export markets.

"We were looking at very high prices this fall or the end of the year until all this (trade conflict) started because of the exports and now we will get the exports back," Stein said. "We should be able to compete against against anybody. We haven't really sold a lot to China to begin with. We've exported dairy to Mexico primarily and a fair amount in Canada. By reopening them up again, hopefully, they will get back trading so we can use up some of our milk supply."

(Submitted photos) The condition of the abused puppy at the time she was found last night in Stafford.

The public is asked to help law enforcement find the owner of this emaciated puppy found last night on Route 33 and Prole Road Extension in Stafford.

The fawn-and-white colored female weighs only 9.2 pounds. The dog is not able to stand on its own. It was covered in urine and feces. It is severely dehydrated and malnourished.

The puppy was picked up by a Good Samaritan and turned over to the Batavia City PD and the case is now being investigated by the Genesee County Sheriff's Office.

Due to the nature of the wounds present on the puppy, this is being investigated as animal cruelty.

The puppy was immediately examined and treated by a local veterinarian and was being cared for at the Genesee County Animal Shelter with the assistance of the Volunteers for Animals. They have named her "Opal" and she is now in a foster home until she is well enough to be adopted.

If you any ANY information about the owner of this puppy, please contact Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Forsyth at (585) 345-3000, ext. 3233.

Below, "Opal" today, clean and wrapped snuggly in fleece at the vet's office.

At 10 a.m. today (Oct. 5) Batavia's oldest continuously operating company, shoemaker P.W. Minor, ceased operations. Forty-two workers were laid off last week; 40 people lost their jobs today.

Local businessman Pete Zeliff, who, in partnership with Andrew Young, acquired P.W. Minor in 2014, still owns the company's headquarters and factory building at 3 Treadeasy Ave., as well as the production equipment. He was leasing the building to Tidewater + Associates. Zeliff carried the paper on the loan for Tidewater's purchase of the company earlier this year.

This afternoon, Zeliff said he foreclosed on the company last week.

Last week, P.W. Minor CEO Hundley Elliotte announced the company would eliminate 45 jobs, ending production of its welt boot line, but would continue with orthopedic shoe production.

This morning's decision to shut down the company completely came as a surprise to everybody.

Zeliff said he has no plans to reenter the shoe business, but he said there is some hope that investors can be found to resurrect at least the orthopedic line of shoes, and perhaps the boot line, and he believes Tidewater is working on finding new investors. We were referred to Elliotte for any questions about the future of the company.

We have an email out to Elliotte requesting comment.

This afternoon a customer of P.W. Minor's forwarded an email to The Batavian from Brian Benedict, VP of sales for P.W. Minor, that read, "I regret to inform you that as of 10AM this morning, PW Minor has ceased operation. There will be a formal announcement via email, but since you are drop ship customers who rely on us, I wanted you to know as soon as possible so you can modify your sites accordingly."

UPDATE -- Press release:

P.W. Minor LLC, a Batavia, NY footwear manufacturer, has ceased operations as of today and laid off all employees.

All assets of P.W. Minor LLC, have been transferred to our senior creditor Batavia Shoes LLC, per an agreement signed today. 

“Our focus through this entire process has been on our employees' well-being. We want to thank them for their dedication, loyalty and hard work.” said P.W. Minor CEO Hundley Elliotte. “We would also like to thank the NYS Dept. of Labor, the Genesee County Workforce Development Board and the local business community for their responsiveness and offers to help get our affected employees back to work as soon as possible..”

P.W. Minor, founded in 1867 and located in Batavia, New York, is the second oldest footwear manufacturer in the United States and the maker of orthopedic and diabetic athletic, dress and casual shoes.

A residential fire is reported at 6612 Warboys, Byron.

Byron fire and South Byron fire dispatched.

UPDATE(S) (By Billie) 8 p.m: This is a working house fire. It has gone to a second alarm. The city's Fast Team is called, along with Mercy medics. Flames are showing.

UPDATE 8:08 p.m.: Bethany's tanker is requested to the scene.

UPDATE 8:09 p.m.: A crew from Town of Batavia is asked to stand by in Town of Batavia's Fire Hall.

UPDATE 8:22 p.m.: A crew from Alexander is asked to stand by in Alexander Fire Hall in case needed as a backup for Bethany, which has its tanker deployed at the Warboys fire.

UPDATE 8:26 p.m.: The property is a total loss. The roof is gone; the house is gutted and the garage is completely destroyed.

UPDATE 8:37 p.m.: Elba Fire Police are requested to the intersection of North Byron Road and Route 237.

UPDATE 8:45 p.m.: No one was home when the fire broke out. It was called in by a passerby. No word yet if any pets lived there, and if so, their fate.