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Angela L. Flowers, 47, of Watson Street, Batavia, is charged with attempted assault, 3rd, and riot, 2nd. Flowers was allegedly involved in a fight with multiple individuals on Watson Street at 8:07 p.m. June 12. Also charged with riot, 2nd, is Patricia A. Gibson, 28, of East Main Street, Batavia. Katrina L. Drake, 28, of Wood Street, Batavia, and Lakeisha A. Gibson, 31, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, and Tanisha N. Gibson, 33, of Wood Street, Batavia, were also charged with riot, 2nd, and attempted assault, 3rd.

Nikkia M. Smith-Neal, 32, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Smith-Neal is accused of shoplifting from Tops Friendly Market at 11:08 a.m. Friday.

Robert C. Frank, 39, of Kensington Avenue, Buffalo, is charged with DWI and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Frank is accused of trying to steal a vehicle at 9:08 p.m. Sunday.

Alexis R. Chavez, 19, of Transit Road, Elba, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Chavez was charged following a traffic stopped by Officer Christopher Lindsay on Law Street, Batavia, at 9:42 p.m. Wednesday. Also charged, Noah J. Freeman, 20, of Lewiston Road, Basom. Freeman was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, a headlight violation, and uninspected motor vehicle.

Brooks Logan Brumber, 18, of Washington Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Brumber is accused of violating a stay away order of protection.

Adam Michael Brennan Sabadasz, 33, of an undisclosed street, Buffalo, is charged with criminal mischief. Sabadasz allegedly damaged property at Darien Lake Theme Park at 11:20 p.m. Sunday.

Stanley D. Wilson, 58, of Lockport, is charged with DWI and crossing hazard road markings. Wilson was arrested by State Police after his vehicle was found crashed in a ditch on Lewiston Road, Alabama, at 4:41 a.m. Sunday. Wilson reportedly failed a field sobriety test.

Samantha J. Wade, 19, address not disclosed, is charged with leaving the scene of a property damage accident, unsafe tire, and unsafe lane change. Other charges are pending. Wade was reportedly involved in a property damage accident on Route 20, Alexander, where two street signs and a utility pole were struck by a four-door sedan Sunday.

Richard Dean Mckague, 28, of Main Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st, aggravated family offense, attempted assault, 2nd, and acting in a manner injurious to a child. At 3:19 p.m., Saturday, Mckague allegedly violated an order of protection. He allegedly threw a beer bottle causing physical injury to a victim. He was jailed on $25,000 bail.

The following people were arrested by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office during the Zac Brown Band Concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Sunday:

Anna L. Demeter, 20, of 35th Court SW, Vero Beach, Fla., arrested for criminal trespass, 3rd, after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return. Demeter was arraigned in Darien Town Court and jailed in lieu of $250 bail.

Catherine M. Mulligan, 20, of Everett Street, Kensington, Md., arrested for criminal trespass, 3rd, after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return. Mulligan was arraigned in Darien Town Court and jailed in lieu of $250 bail.

Christopher E. Berger, 20, of Farmington Road, Williamsville, arrested for criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, after allegedly being found in possession of cocaine.

Noah M. Wheeler, 18, of Bean Hill Road, Honeoye Falls, arrested for criminal trespass, 3rd, and trespass after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return multiple times.

Ethan S. Kaiser, 20, of Portage Circle, Fairport, arrested for criminal trespass, 3rd, after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return. 

Kelsey L. Fkermedal, 20, of Landmark Drive, Rochester, arrested for trespass after allegedly attempting to enter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Rachel E. Nanna, 19, of Burbank Drive, Orchard Park, arrested for trespass after allegedly attempting to enter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Julia N. Gaglio, 20, of Ashford Court, East Amherst, arrested for trespass after allegedly attempting to enter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Miranda R. Lawley, 20, of High Park Boulevard, Amherst, arrested for trespass after allegedly attempting to enter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Joel M. Rudnick, 26 of Mount Hope Boulevard, Rochester, arrested for criminal trespass, 3rd, after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return. 

Lucas F. Zelasko, 20, of Beregford Court, Williamsville, arrested for criminal trespass, 3rd, after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Samuel C. Aebli, 22 of Oatsfield Circle, Penfield, arrested for criminal trespass, 3rd, and trespass after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return multiple times. 

Olivia I. Flink, 20, of Marlbank Drive, Rochester, arrested for trespass after allegedly attempting to enter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Edmund R. Zimmerman, 19 of Helmsford Way, Penfield, arrested for trespass after allegedly attempting to enter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Daniel J. Schultz, 20, of Rockledge Drive, Clarence, arrested for trespass after allegedly attempting to enter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

John B. Collins, 19, of Rollin Drive, Boston, arrested for trespass after allegedly attempting to enter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return. 

Adam M. B. Sabadasz, 33, of Van Ressealaer Street, Buffalo, arrested for criminal mischief, 4th, after allegedly damaging a Darien Lake camp gate.

Alyssa R. Dibiase, 22, of Sharon Court, Webster, arrested for DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 percent or more after allegedly operating a motor vehicle in the parking lot while intoxicated. 

Camryn R. Vogt, 19, of Pine View, Walworth, arrested for criminal trespass, 3rd, and criminal Impersonation, 2nd, after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return and then providing her sister’s name as identification. Additional charges are pending.

Jerod M. Baltz is indicated for the crime of criminal sexual act in the first degree, a Class B violent felony. It is alleged that on March 18 on Sparks Road in the Town of Pavilion that Baltz engaged in oral sexual conduct with another person by forcible compulsion. In count two, he is accused of criminal sexual act in the third degree, a Class E felony. It is alleged in count two that he engaged in oral sexual conduct with another person without the person's consent and this lack of consent was by reason of some other factor than incapacity to consent -- physically helpless (NYS Penal Law 130.05(2)(d). In count three, the defendant is accused of first-degree rape, a Class B violent felony, for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with another person by forcible compulsion. In count four, Baltz is accused of third-degree rape, a Class E felony, for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with another person without the person's concent and this lack of consent was by reason of some other factor than incapacity to consent -- physically helpless. In count five, Baltz is again accused of criminal sexual act in the first degree. It is alleged in count five that he engaged in a second act of oral sexual conduct with another person by forcible compulsion. In count six, the defendant is again accused of criminal sexual act in the third degree. In count six, he allegedly engaged in a second act of oral sexual contact with another person without the person's consent and this lack of consent was by reason of some other factor than incapacity to consent -- physically helpless. In count seven, Baltz is again accused of first-degree rape for allegedly engaging in a second act of sexual intecourse with another person who incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless. In count eight, Baltz is accused of criminal obstruction of breathing or circulation, a Class A misdemeanor, for allegedly intending to impede the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of another person by applying pressure on the throat or neck of a person. The allegations in counts two through eight also allegedly took place on Sparks Road, Pavilion, on March 18.

Qumane J. Santiago and Jaequele M. Tomlin are indicted for the crime of fourth-degree conspiracy, a Class E felony. It is alleged that on Jan. 18 in the City of Batavia that the defendants' intentional conduct constituted a Class C felony to be performed: second-degree robbery. In count two, Tomlin is accused of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, a Class D felony. It is alleged in count two that Tomlin possessed a dangerous instrument -- a sock with a rock or piece of concrete in it, with the intent to use it unlawfully against another person.

Steven D. Fronczak is indicted for the crime of driving while intoxicated, as a Class E felony. It is alleged that one Feb. 24 in the Town of Le Roy that the defendant drove a 2012 Chevrolet on Route 19 while in an intoxicated condition. In count two, he is accused of aggravated DWI, per se, as a Class E felony, for allegedly have a BAC of .18 or more at the time. In count three, he is accused of aggravated unlicensed operation in the first degree, a Class E felony, for driving while his driver's license was suspended, revoked or otherwise withdrawn by authorities, and he did so allegedly while under the influence of alcohol or a drug. In count four, Fronczak is accused of circumventing an interlock ignition device, a Class A misdemeanor. It is alleged in count four that the 2012 Chevrolet was not equipped with an interlock ignition device, which he is required to have by court order. In count five, he is accused of the offense of use of a mobile telephone while operating a vehicle, a violation. In Special Information filed by the District Attorney, Fronczak is accused of having been convicted of DWI, as a misdemeanor, on March 6, 2017, in Town of Le Roy Court and this conviction was within 10 years of the crimes alleged in the current indictment.

Eddie Lee "Pops" Miles Jr. will serve a minimum of five years in state prison, Judge Charles Zambito ruled this afternoon in Genesee County Court.

Last month, the native of Batavia with a long criminal history -- 20 arrest dates and 50 charges -- accepted a "global plea agreement" and made a factual admission of guilt to three felonies that were among multiple charges brought in three grand jury indictments.

There was a bizarre incident in August wherein he allegedly grabbed a 17-year-old girl from behind who has walking "Zeus," a dog he had owned then let a neighbor family adopt. He was charged with choking her; she dropped to the ground and he then allegedly injected the hapless dog with an unknown purple liquid. He ran off, saying he would be back, according to witnesses.

Chaos ensued. The dog became unresponsive and started twitching, the choking victim sobbed and was extremely distraught. An animal control officer and emergency first responders arrived.

"The dog is still skittish. It refused to go outside, would curl up," Assistant DA Kevin Finnell told the judge. "It's depressed. Afterward, some man called and said (to a victim) 'Pops is going to kill you, bitch.' "

Finnell added, "If that's not bad enough, that's the misdemeanors." The cases -- for obstructing a person's breathing or blood flow and animal torture were pending in city court but dismissed under the plea agreement carried out today.

Finnell continued: "This man is selling drugs in this community to make money, supplement his income...his lengthy criminal history has run the gamut from menacing and second-degree assault to criminal mischief and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree; DWI..one officer says he has had numerous contacts with him over the course of two decades. He's violent."

Last fall, he was arrested for selling crack cocaine to drug task force agents so he could make some extra spending money.

On Sunday, Jan. 7, he admitted he drank two bottles of booze. He got in a big fight with his girlfriend and set fire to a couch in his apartment in a multi-family dwelling on Washington Avenue. He threatened the life of his girlfriend, threatened to shoot police who responded, and caused other families to be displaced when he started a fire where they lived.

But in statements contained in the presentencing report, Miles, who's in his late 40s, had some alternative facts to share.

He claimed his girlfriend became angry that day because he was "blaring the radio"; he claimed that she was the aggressor -- "she caused all this" -- punching out a window and arguing and that when police arrived, he didn't want to go outside because he was still in his bathrobe.

A fire broke out. "Fire just started," was how Miles put it in the report, subsequently hypothesizing that under the attic door a gas can be found and his girlfriend smoking a cigarette somehow ignited the gas can and started the fire. Arson investigators said there was not sufficient heat in the cigarette to cause the damage.

The judge disputed Mile's version of events by noting that Miles put a couch in front of the door, creating a blockade against his girlfriend's attempt to leave. When he went to the back of the apartment, she seized her chance to escape by breaking out a window, climbing onto the second-story eave and jumping off; not the actions of an aggressor.

In the presentencing investigation (PSI) report, he was asked why the police responded to his residence on Jan. 7.

"I don't know why the police were there," Miles responded, according to Finnell, adding that the girlfriend told officers Miles blocked the door, punched her, held her hostage and had a gun.

The convicted felon denied having a gun that day. He was taken to UMMC for evaluation. But when Batavia Police Det. Richard Schauf went there to interview Miles afterward, Miles asked him "Did you find the gun?" 

Finnell argued that Miles deserved the maximum penalty for terrorizing his girlfriend, his landlord, and his neighbors.

"He needs to be segregated from the community as long as possible," Finnell said.

Public defense attorney Jamie Welch said the PSI indicates Miles did not take responsibility for his actions. Welch argued that while that point is debatable, his client's expression of regret is not.

Welch acknowledged the sparsity of leeway granted to the judge in sentencing for arson. But said his client deserved "to be commended" going forward if he continues to maintain the sobriety that incarceration has brought.

Finnell attempted to read a victim statement in open court and Miles' attorneys called for a sidebar. Afterward, the judge determined the letter could not be read aloud by Finnell in court. Only a letter from the victim of a violent felony can have a statement read, it clearly says so in the statute, Zambito said. This letter writer, although a victim, was not directly a victim of a violent felony in the Miles' case.

*Nonetheless the judge allowed the statement to be attached to the PSI for the court record and a copy was given to Miles' attorneys (the other one being Marty Anderson).

The woman who wrote the letter said Miles was polite when they first met, but his behavior changed; Welch said that was because Miles has had lifelong addiction problems and his behavior took a turn for the worse last year after he became "reinvolved" with his addictions.

Before sentencing, Miles spoke to the court.

"I'd like to ask the court to forgive me for all my actions," Miles said, standing in his orange outfit, hands shackled, wearing orange Crocs on his feet. "If I could take back January 7th, I would."

He said he felt ashamed of his behavior and the bad publicity it has generated for himself and his family. He said he drank two bottles of liquor and his world fell apart; he lost the woman he has loved for 15 years, displaced his neighbors, frightened the homeowner and now faces a long stint in prison.

Zambito told Miles not to ask his forgiveness, but that of those he has harmed. He said he is particularly concerned about domestic violence perpetrated by Miles going back many years and noted the arson itself was an act of domestic violence, one that threatened the girlfriend's life and affected many others -- the neighbors, the firefighters, law enforcement, first responders.

The Swat Team was called in.

"It goes to show the level of professionalism of the law enforcement community here," Zambito said, adding that he can't fathom how Miles didn't get shot by police. "You see it every day, somebody gets the wrong end of a gun every day.

"You are unwilling or incapable of obeying the law," Zambito said. "You have no respect for human life, for animal life, for property, for your neighbors, for the law."

Having read the presentencing report he ordered for this case and reviewing Miles' extensive criminal history, Genesee County Court Judge Charles Zambito said he was disinclined to cut him any slack for his terrifying behavior on Jan. 7.

Next Miles was sentenced on: one count of third-degree arson, a Class C felony, for which prison is mandated. He will serve the maximum -- five to 15 years, indeterminate; one count of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, a Class B felony, and will serve the minimum -- five and a half years with two years of post-release supervision (the max was nine years with three years post-release supervision).

The two sentences will run concurrently.

Sentencing on the third count -- second-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle, a Class E felony, is delayed until Aug. 13, pending submission of blood-test results to the court. It could garner one and a third to four years of prison time, which would run concurrently.

Failure to submit to the test or provide the test results to the court would void the plea agreement and subject Miles to maximum sentencing guidelines.

Four orders of protection were put in place until June 22, 2041. Miles had a check for $425 ready pay for his fees and surcharges.

*Here is a victim statement that was provided to The Batavian by Rebecca Eldridge (née LaRock), who says her family is no longer remaining silent about what they have endured. She gave us permission to publish it and use her name. It is not the same statement put in the court record today.

"After 1 year my voice, my family's voice, my daughter's voice and my four-legged son Zeus's voice were finally heard today. Although our case was dismissed as part of Miles' plea deal, our voices were heard by judge Zambito today. 

This past February, members of the Alexander Central School District Board of Directors traveled outside of the district, driving to East Aurora, for a retreat where, according to the school district's attorney, the board members learned about how to work together better.

If that's all the retreat was, it's perfectly legal.

However, in a May 15 interview with The Batavian, Superintendent Catherine Huber said that at the retreat the board developed a policy called the "Norms."

If that's true, and if you interpret the "Norms" as a work product unique to the Alexander CSD, the retreat may have violated the state's Open Meetings Law, according to Robert Freeman, executive director of the NYS Committee on Open Government.

It would take a citizen filing a legal challenge to the meeting/retreat to determine if it really were a violation of the law. Freeman's statements to a reporter is not a legal determination.

"If they came back with a policy that is clear, then the purpose of the retreat was not general in nature," Freeman said. "Policy can only be established and discussed in a meeting in accordance with the Open Meetings Law. The facts, in this case, differ from the analysis offered by the school district attorney."

The "Norms" for the school board, as published in a district newsletter earlier this year, are:

• We represent all students and District residents;
• We speak with one voice;
• We consider all matters brought to the Board as confidential;
• We are active listeners;
• We agree to the practice of tell one, tell all;
• We are visible in our schools and at school functions;
• We are respectful to all.

It is the "one voice" policy that brought the retreat and the "Norms" to the attention of The Batavian. As reported earlier, Huber, school members, and a school board candidate have used this policy as a reason that board members cannot answer questions from reporters.

After the May 15 interview, The Batavian filed a request under Freedom of Information Law for all documents, including emails, related to the retreat including an agenda, minutes, meeting notices, notes, memos, and emails created in the planning of the retreat, and any documents produced after the retreat.

The Batavian received back two documents, receipts from the Roycroft Inn for a meeting room rental and food totaling $496.80.

In response to receiving only the receipts, The Batavian emailed the school district's attorney, who responded to the FOIL request, and asked: "No agendas? Minutes? Meeting notices? Dr. Huber went into this meeting with no preparation? There was no prior planning? The board members didn't have hotel rooms? No travel expenses?"

Schwartzott responded, "Yes, that is correct – the District did not prepare agendas or take minutes. Additionally, there were no hotel expenses because no one stayed at a hotel. There were no travel expenses because there wasn’t any travel involved – the Roycroft Inn is in East Aurora."

She didn't address the question about missing meeting preparation documents.

In subsequent emails, Schwartzott denied the board held a meeting. We asked her to explain how the retreat didn't violate the OML.

Her response:

District policy was not discussed or created at the Board retreat. As Dr. Huber explained and your publication clearly states (“Recently we did a board retreat and the board established norms, which you also probably saw on our website, and one of the norms that the board established was that they would speak with one voice”), the discussion centered around communication strategies (i.e., “norms”), which the State’s Committee on Open Government (COOG) has determined is a permissible topic for Boards of Education to discuss privately in a retreat setting (see OML-AO-3709).

Moreover, COOG has also long held that a meeting of members of a Board of Education at which “public business” is not being discussed is not a Board meeting, and, therefore, is not a public event and does not follow the requirements in the Open Meetings Law (see Open Meetings Law Section 102(1); see also OML-AO-4762).

While Schwartzott did not explicitly quote from OML-AO-3709, which was written by Freeman, for example, does state:

... if there is no intent that a majority of public body will gather for purpose of conducting public business, but rather for the purpose of gaining education, training, to develop or improve team building or communication skills, or to consider interpersonal relations, I do not believe that the Open Meetings Law would be applicable.

In that event, if the gathering is to be held solely for those purposes, and not to conduct or discuss matters of public business, and if the members in fact do not conduct or intend to conduct public business collectively as a body, the activities occurring during that event would not in my view constitute a meeting of a public body subject to the Open Meetings Law.

In other words, school boards can have retreats for the sole purpose of education and training without violating the Open Meetings Law.

However, the next paragraph states:

"...if indeed the retreat involved 'District goals' and consideration of the policies and procedures referenced earlier, I believe that it constituted a 'meeting' that fell within the requirements of the Open Meetings Law."

In The Batavian's discussion with Freeman about these official, written opinions, he expressed the opinion that a retreat that produces "Norms" would mean that discussions were held and decisions made that were unique to the district, sets policy for the board, and is not general in nature, then the gathering is covered by the Open Meeting Law.

"This clearly involves school district business that is unique to the school district and is not general in nature," Freeman said.

We provided these Freeman's quotes to Schwartzott and she called Freeman and then sent The Batavian an email that began, "It turns out he and I don’t disagree about these issues at all. Mr. Freeman said you didn’t provide him with all of the relevant information when you spoke."

She added, "To confirm, now for the third time, the District’s position remains that a discussion about how to develop strong communication skills at the Board retreat did not violate the Open Meetings Law. In closing, this is my last comment about this; I will not engage with you on this issue anymore."

We asked Schwartzott to provide the "relevant" information The Batavian did not provide to Freeman. She did not respond. When we spoke to Freeman today, he mentioned no missing relevant information and confirmed his prior opinion the "Norms" look like something that is unique to the district, sets policy, and should have been handled in a public meeting.

By this time, we had provided Freeman with the full May 15 quote from Huber and a copy of the "Norms."

"Again," Freeman said, "it seems to me what is described here would essentially be a policy of the board of education and the school district, which, again, should have been discussed in an open meeting."

See also: Analysis: It's still not clear what Alexander attorney and superintendent believe about free speech for board members

Since April, The Batavian has been trying to understand the Alexander Central School District's policy related to free speech for members of the Board of Education.

After all this time, the district's attorney, Jennifer Schwartzott, told Robert Freeman yesterday, that the "one voice" policy or "Norm" does not prohibit school board members from expressing their personal views on matters of public interest. He is the executive director of the NYS Committee on Open Government.

How a policy that says board members must speak with one voice doesn't inhibit free speech for board members still isn't clear to us. We do know the policy has been used to shut down board members from answering questions from a reporter (see April 25 story) and that is has had a speech-chilling effect on school board candidates (see May 4 story).

Whatever fuller statement Schwartzott made to Freeman, she has never been willing to articulate clearly to The Batavian what her position is and how it differs from how "one voice" is being interpreted by Huber, the board, board candidates, and reporters. She wouldn't even make such a clear statement after being asked to do so in light of what Freeman shared with The Batavian.

When asked about it, she said, "Mr. Freeman correctly conveyed to you my opinion and the District’s opinion regarding speaking with 'one voice.' As for why you didn’t know that before having a conversation with him, I can’t speak for you or your understanding of my or Dr. Huber’s previous statements."

Here is Huber's May 15 statement:

The board should speak with one voice for several different reasons. The board by policy designates a spokesperson for the school district. We have that policy for you and I know that you've gathered those policies from other school districts as well and the board by policy has designated the superintendent as the spokesperson.

Our board has also gone a step further. Recently we did a board retreat and the board established norms, which you also probably saw on our website, and one of the norms that the board established was that they would speak with one voice. They would speak with one voice on matters related to the school district. Board members individually don't have power on their own. They have power and they come together around the board table.

That is not the same as their inability to express an opinion. Anybody has the ability to express an opinion. But in terms of commenting on district business, the board members only can speak with that same one voice as a board and not as individuals and they've designated the superintendent, as they probably have in most school districts, as the spokesperson for the district.

So Huber states that district has a designated spokesperson but the board has "gone a step further," explaining the board agreed it would speak with "one voice." In fact, she states, "They would speak with one voice on matters related to the school district." Then she said that's not the same as the inability to express an opinion, but immediately walks back that statement by stating, "But in terms of commenting on district business, the board members only can speak with that same one voice as a board and not as individuals."

As with Schwartzott, we have repeatedly asked Huber to make a plain, clear statement about individual board speech. She hasn't even acknowledged the emails.

We started asking Schwartzott to make a clear, unambiguous statement after she objected to our May 14 story, "Five school districts in Genesee County restrict speech for board members," stating that The Batavian misrepresented her views. Even in the comment she left on the story, however, she doesn't state clearly what her views are on the topic.

In emails about that article, she said it wasn't clear to her that the story we were working on was about the rights of individual members to express their personal views, yet in the response to our initial set of questions, she said, "Community members who are interested in what the local board members have to say can attend board meetings where the members discuss issues, share their opinions, and make decisions."

In other words, the only place the public can count on to find out what board members think is at meetings.

So, we're still waiting for a clear statement from Huber and Schwartzott about the ability of school board members to not "speak with one voice" but to speak individually as they see fit.

      Donald Stahl

Donald W. Stahl Jr., 37, of North Street, Batavia, is charged with grand larceny, 3rd, grand larceny, 4th, petit larceny and three counts of conspiracy. Stahl was arrested by the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office and is being held in the Wyoming County Jail on $5,000 bail. Stahl is accused of participating with others to steal electronic and computer items from the Walmart in Warsaw. The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are pending. The investigation was conducted by Sgt. Colin Reagan, Deputy Aaron Chase and with the cooperation of the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, including Investigator Chris Parker, Deputy Erik Andre, and Sgt. Jason Saile, along with Walmart Asset Protection employees.

William G. Schultz Sr., 44, of Ross Street, Batavia, is charged with criminally using drug paraphernalia and unlawful possession of marijuana. Schultz was spotted by members of the Local Drug Task Force on Jackson Street on Wednesday evening. He was wanted on a family court warrant. While being taken into custody, he was allegedly found in possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana. He was ordered held in jail on $1,000 bail.

Malik Austin Hambrick, 21, of Aswego Avenue, Fort Drum, is charged with criminal trespass. Hambrick allegedly entered the Darien Lake Theme Park at 12:20 a.m. Monday following previously being removed from the property by Darien Lake security.

Jeffrey P. Klyczek, 49, of Amherst, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Klyczek was stopped by State Police in the Village of Corfu at 11:39 p.m. Tuesday.

Joseph F. Chiodo, 35, of North Tonawanda, is charged with DWAI (combined drugs and alcohol), DWI with a child in the car, and endangering the welfare of a child. Chiodo was stopped by State Police on Route 33, Town of Pembroke, at 12:23 p.m. Wednesday.

The Alexander Central School District is planning on instituting a fee structure for use of school facilities by community groups and that has a number of parents, especially parents of children who participate in sports, upset, according to Lisa Lyons, president of the Tri-Town Youth Athletics Association.

Lyons raised those concerns with the Board of Education on Tuesday night. School board meetings are generally sparsely attended and Tuesday dozens of district residents were in the auditorium for the meeting, though there's no way to say how many were there because of the fee issue.

The fees, at least as announced, would cost the association about $8,000 for football and basketball, according to Lyons (CLARIFICATION: Lyons provided a revised calculation of anticipated association costs after publication of this story) and she asked a number of questions, none of which were answered by board members after she spoke.

"As residents, we pay taxes that are among the highest in the state for a community our size," Lyons said. "Adding in $6,000 in fees, how is this not double dipping? As a nonprofit organization, these fees will close programs for us. The district parents of these children have stated this is unacceptable."

Besides Lyons, there were two other parents who signed up to speak but with the intention of ceding their allotted three-minutes to Lyons, a request Board President Reed Pettys would not allow. One parent, Mary Shepard, tried to read from notes prepared by Lyons once her three minutes were up but Lyons said after the meeting she really didn't get to express all of the concerns that have been raised to her by the parents.

Before the public comments section on the agenda, during what the board calls "roundtable," where each board member can speak on any issue they care to raise, Superintendent Catherine Huber took a few minutes to explain her view on why and how the fees are being initiated.

She said in the fall, the board appointed a committee to review and potentially rewrite the school district's facilities use policy. She said the committee was comprised of board members and school staff who are past and present parents and coaches involved with Tri-Town.

The board minutes for Oct. 18 list board members Rich Guarino, Molly Grimes, Lisa Atkinson, Shannon Whitcombe, Matt Stroud, Tim Batzel, Rob Adam, and Ben Whitmore as members of the committee. The minutes also list Board Member Brian Paris as a member of the committee but he said he declined the appointment because of other business commitments and never attended a meeting.

The policy was adopted by the board in December.

Huber said the prior policy also allowed for a use fee but no fees were ever charged.

"We believed that it was time to start charging a nominal fee to outside organizations, to community organizations to use our facilities," she said.

Huber said she has tried to communicate clearly and work collaboratively with Tri-Town, inviting Lyons in for a meeting, not only to inform them on the need for the new fee but letting them know that the district could be flexible.

"Our goal is all the same," Huber said. "Our goal is to provide a great experience for all the children of Alexander."

She called the fee nominal and said that Lyons continued the conversation in emails back and forth.

"This is the first year for fee structure, so I suggested that if what we were suggesting is not something Tri-Town could bear, I asked Tri-Town to bring to me what could be a manageable solution in terms of a facilities fee."

One issue raised by Lyons is the district's projections for the Tri-Town fees are much lower than Tri-Town's estimation of the fees, based on the documentation they've received.

Huber presented slides showing the fee structure.

The association, she said, would be charged $25 an hour for football, for example, and with four games, that would come to about $300 per game day with an annual cost of $1,200.

The district's costs, she said, is $56 an hour or $650 per game day, with a total of about $2,700 annual. That would still leave the district short its expenses by $1,520.

The cost for basketball, by Huber's numbers, would be $1,920 annually with the district's annual cost at $3,523, for a two-sport charge to the sports association of $3,120, which is less than half of what Lyons estimates it would cost the association. The association uses school facilities only for football and basketball. (CLARIFICATION: This paragraph added after initial publication).

Those numbers, she said, don't include all of the district's costs.

"I think it’s really important that we have those numbers in front of us because as a community, we all want the experience for our students but we also have to understand that it is the responsibility of the board and the administration of the school district to make sure that there are facilities for people to use," Huber said.

"This community has come to expect a certain level of facility maintenance and certain expectations of around our facilities. It would be irresponsible of the board to not have a certain cost-recovery measure in place in order to maintain those facilities long-term."

Lyons said Tri-Town is a 40-year-old organization. She doesn't know how long the association has been using school facilities but it has been many, many years, so it doesn't make sense to her why now, all the sudden, the district needs fees to maintain the facilities.

While Huber is saying the fees are in that $1,500 range (they change some, depending on the sport and facility), Lyons said based on the use application she's been provided and the belief that the two chaperones required for each event, at $18 per hour each, increase the cost, the range is closer to $6,000 per sport annually.

If that is true, use fees for parents per sport will likely double, which will lower participation and mean the end to some sports. The disparity is so great, Lyons said a counteroffer, which Huber said is welcome, is hard to even formulate.

"I understand a nominal fee," Lyons said after the meeting. "I get it. But for us to even try to offer them something at this point, the fees are so astronomical I don’t even know where to start."

One thing that bewilders Lyons and other parents who joined a conversation outside the auditorium after the meeting is the requirement for two chaperones at each event.

"If something is broken, we’ve always paid for it," Lyons said during the hallway conversation. "If something happens, we try to take care of it. If they have a complaint, they’ve come to us and said there were kids running around the school, what can we do, OK we rope it off, we have volunteers wandering the school, making sure kids are in place, so again it’s not that we’re not trying to work with them, we are to the best of our ability."

In the parking lot after the conversation with parents, Huber said the chaperones were necessary because "we want to make sure our facilities are taken care of."

Asked if there were problems in the past that made chaperones necessary, Huber would only say, "We just want to make sure our facilities are taken care of.”

We relayed those comments to Lyons in an email and she said, "I would hope that if there were any issues that came up that I would’ve been informed. To my knowledge, I don’t recall there being anything that wasn't taken care of. Most issues that had come up were 'kid issues' and handled where both parties were satisfied. Issues with any property -- I only know of two and those were taken care of at the expense of Tri-Town and its insurance."

She said one property issue was recent and the other occurred many years ago.

The fees also don't make any sense, Lyons said, because Tri-Town volunteers take care of the facilities before, during and after events.

"The school puts on varsity games on Friday night," Lyons said. "When we get here on Saturday, that field is disgusting. It was lined but we set it up. We have to empty all the garbage cans. We have to get ready. We have our game. We clean up to the best of our ability. So you’re telling me as a school they have to ingest more fees when staff would have to do it on Monday?"

She added, "It’s not fair. When you really look at it, it’s not fair."

Students going through Tri-Town athletics makes the school district better, Lyons said. She said studies show that students who learn teamwork, discipline, and other life skills through sports do better academically.

The association also prepares young athletes to compete eventually at the varsity level -- a point Shepard also made during public comments after picking up the notes from Lyons.

"We have fed your school student-athletes for years," Shepard said. "We have helped put Alexander on the map with many individual wins, sectional wins, regional wins and many patches. How many athletic scholarships have been awarded compared to academic ones?"

Debbie Green said her daughter started with Tri-Town as a cheerleader when she was 5. After four years of cheer in high school, she earned a college scholarship. That is how Tri-Town benefits the school, the kids, and the parents, she said.

Green also noted that under the new fee structure, Girl Scouts, which she is involved with, will wind up paying $100 per meeting to continue meeting at the school.

The Batavian attempted to interview school board members after the meeting to get their indivdual takes on the association's feedback on the policy but we were only able to talk with two before the rest quickly left the building.

"When I’m outside the board and I’m not in session, I’m just an individual but I don’t give interviews," said Vice President Rich Guarino.

Asked if that was because of the district's "One Voice" policy, Guarino said, "Outside of the board, we’re just individuals and I don’t give interviews for anything. I don’t answer surveys on the telephone. I don’t give interviews."

Board Member Brian Paris did answer questions.

Paris said he believes the facilities policy is a work-in-progress, that it's really still in draft form and that the board is working on it.

"I’m not on the committee to develop it, so I don’t have tremendous insight but I do know that a lot of people put a lot of time behind it," Paris said. "I know this board. It’s a very reasonable board. Our goal is not to put any student in a position where they are not able to participate in any of these activities."

Lyons, Green, and Donna McArthur, who has been with Tri-Town for 42 years, said it's expensive enough being a parent of a student-athlete. Besides fees, there's equipment, training, travel, and other expenses that add up.

For the association, there are also expenses the district may not be considering, from insurance to recertifying football helmets every three years. And, McArthur said, the association has always made sure every kid who wants to play gets to play.

“We never have a child that does not play," McArthur said. "If they can’t pay as parents, we all kick in. We find them shoes, we find them a glove, no kid has ever been turned away.”

And community members help the school district in other ways. It was community members who did the fundraising in the 2000s for Chris Martin Memorial Field of Dreams, which is used by the district's football, softball, baseball and soccer teams.

For all these reasons, Lyons said, district parents aren't happy with what they see as astronomically high use fees.

"There has to come a point where, yes, there is that collaborative conversation," Lyons said. "But as a district, these parents are pushing back because they know that this organization cannot afford those fees. As parents, with that 99.6 percent of kids who are playing who are district kids, they’re already paying for this school. They don’t want to pay any more for it."

Cynthia L. Gardner, 33, of 1/2 Swan St., Batavia, was arrested after she allegedly left her 3-year-old daughter in the care and custody of a defendant at 14 1/2 Swan St., Batavia, at 8 a.m. on June 18. The defendant is named in a court order with a directive to specifically stay away from Lardner's 3-year-old daughter. Lardner was issued an appearance ticket and released, and is due in City Court at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26. Batavia Police Officer Marc Lawrence handled the case.

Adam D. Smart, 35, of Buell Street, Batavia, is charged with first-degree aggravated criminal contempt, with a previous conviction. He was located at 8 a.m. on June 18 on Swan Street at the address of a protected party, whom he has an active court order to stay away from. He was jailed without bail and is due in City Court at a later date. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Marc Lawrence, assisted by Officer Christopher Camp.

Gerald A. Mattison, 25, of Cary Avenue, Oakfield, is charged with: DWI -- common law; speeding; aggravated unlicensed operation; unlicensed operation; and open alcohol container in a motor vehicle. He was arrested at 1:16 a.m. June 16 on North Street in Batavia following a traffic stop. He was allegedly speeding on Richmond Avenue and found to be intoxicated at the time of the stop. He was arraigned and jailed and was due in City Court on June 18. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Mitchell Cowen.

Jeremy C. Goodell, 44, of Washington Avenue, Batavia, is chraged with fourth-degree criminal mischief. He was arrested following an investigation into an allegation that he damaged the side of a vehicle that was driving past him in the Batavia Commons parking lot (444 W. Main St., Batavia) by striking it at 4:56 p.m. on June 3. Goodell was transported to GC Jail and processed and released with an appearance ticket for June 19 in City Court. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Kevin DeFelice, assisted by Officer Christopher Lindsay.

Carlton L. Beardsley, 23, of Pearl Street, Batavia, is charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief. He was arrested after a domestic incident shortly after midnight on June 21, wherein he allegedly damaged a vehicle. Beardsley initially fled the scene prior to Batavia PD's arrival but was located at the residence a couple hours later and was arrested. He is jailed on $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 bond and was due in City Court this morning (June 21). The incident was handles by Batavia Police Officer Felicia DeGroot, assisted by Officer Arick Perkins.

Donald Wills Stahl Jr., 37, of Knowlesville Road, Alabama, is charged with petit larceny and sixth-degree conspiracy. At 3:50 p.m. on June 1, Genesee County Sheriff's deputies responded to a larceny complaint at Walmart in Batavia. Following an investigation, the defendant was arrested on June 17. He allegedly stole a pair of headphones and assisted a female suspect with stealing additional property at the store. He was issued an appearance ticket for Town of Batavia Court on July 9, then he was turned over to the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office for a pending larceny case in Warsaw. GC Sheriff's Deputy Erik Andre handed the case.

Leon W. Johnson, 34, of South Main Street, Albion, is charged with second-degree criminal trespass -- dwelling. He was arrested June 19. The domestic incident related to his arrest allegedly occurred at 6 a.m. on March 4 on Edward Street in Batavia. He is due in City Court at a later date. Batavia Police Officer Marc Lawrence handled the case.

Janet L. Grossman, 51, of Ellsworth Avenue, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny following a shoplifting investigation a local business. The incident occurred at 9:13 a.m. June 15 at Tops Market, 390 Main St., Batavia. She was processed at the Genesee County Jail, then released. She was issued a computer-generated appearance ticket and is due in court on June 26. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Kevin DeFelice.

Nancy L. Lawrence, 66, of Washington Avenue, Batavia, was arrested at 9:44 a.m. on June 14 and charged with trespass. Following an investigation, she was found on property she was previously banned from. She was released and due in City Court on June 19. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Frank Klimjack, assisted by Officer Kevin DeFelice.

Alexis R. Chavez, 19, of Transit Road, Elba, is charged with failure to appear. Chavez was arrested June 20 on a warrant out of Batavia City Court. He faile to appear in court after being issued an appearance ticker for driving while impaired by drugs. He was jailed in lieu of $2,500 cash or bond and was due back in court today (June 21). The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Christopher Lindsay, assisted by Officer James DeFreze.

Ian J. Blake, 31, of Liberty Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. He was arrested at 4:15 p.m. on June 19 on Liberty Street after allegedly being found in possession of marijuana at a residence. He was issued an appearance ticket and is due in City Court on June 26. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Stephen Cronmiller.

Timothy J. Corke II, 31, of Liberty Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. He was arrested at 4:15 p.m. on June 19 on Liberty Street after allegedly being found in possession of marijuana at a residence. He was issued an appearance ticket and is due in City Court on June 26. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Stephen Cronmiller.

Oscar Lee Brewer, 18, of St. Paul Street, Rochester, was arrested on a bench warrant June 18 for failure to appear in court as directed on April 19. He pled guilty to fourth-degree criminal mischief and was released on his own recognizance. He is due in court on Sept. 20. Batavia Police Officer Jason Ivison handled the case.

Brooke L. Brumber was arrested at 5:49 p.m. on June 14 on West Main Street, Batavia, on a bench warrant issued for failure to appear in court as ordered. The defendant was released and ordered to return to court on June 19. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Jamie Givens.

This afternoon, The Batavian contacted the office of Congressman Chris Collins and asked for a statement on the current controversy over reports of children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Statement from Rep. Chris Collins:

“Last night, House Republicans had a very productive meeting with President Trump. I am pleased to hear he signed an executive order and is supportive of also fixing this crisis legislatively by closing the loopholes in our immigration laws and significantly increasing our border security.

It is very sad to see children without their parents at our borders, and as a compassionate country we are taking action to keep families together while making sure we won’t be faced with a similar crisis in the future.”

As technology changes, as society changes, the workload for individual assistant district attorneys in Genesee County continues to grow, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman told members of the County Legislature on Monday during the Public Service Committee meeting.

Friedman was joined by First Assistant DA Melissa Cianfrini to make the case for adding a new ADA position to their staff in 2019.

In 21 years as DA, Friedman said he's never asked for additional DA staff, but it's starting to become impossible for ADAs to juggle town courts, county court, case preparation, and specialty courts.

"Assistant district attorneys have been coming to me and saying there is too much going on and I acknowledge there is," Friedman said. "We’ve held off as long as we can but we need help."

On the technology front, evidence to review now includes police body-worn cameras, video surveillance -- not just from the city but from private homeowners and business owners, recorded inmate calls from the jail, and recorded stationhouse felony-case interviews.

That substantially increases the amount of time an ADA works on many cases.

"The thing is, it's time-consuming," Friedman said, speaking specifically about body-worn camera video. "We have to review all that video. When we’re lucky it can be a matter of minutes, but it’s not unusual to have literally hours of video because the police officers are doing their job and they’re running the cameras."

All the video related to a particular incident may include the hours that an officer is just working on his paperwork but every minute must be reviewed.

"The thing is, we can’t take the chance," Friedman said. "We’re turning this over to the defense. We need to know what’s on there. It’s a huge time drain."

Even the most seemingly mundane video minutes though can turn out to be valuable, Cianfrini said.

"We’ve saved statements because the police didn’t recognize, maybe, that was a statement that should have been noticed or it was a statement that was not made because of questioning, so reviewing body-worn cameras are fruitful and something that we can’t just skip doing," Cianfrini said.

Both Friedman and Cianfrini noted they are not complaining about new avenues for evidence, just noting how they change the nature of the job.

"All of these technological advances are positive things overall but they’re very time consuming," Friedman said.

The caseload for ADAs is also no longer limited to just town and county courts, what Friedman and Cianfrini referred to as justice courts. Many cases are now often referred to specialty courts, such as drug court, veterans court, mental health court, family court, and integrated domestic violence court.

Cases referred to those courts often last longer and involve more dedicated time.

For example, a specialty court case might include regular meetings with the ADA, defense, the judge, counselors, and others to discuss progress on each individual case and how the court should proceed that the defendant's next appearance. 

The time spent on specialty courts also means there are fewer ADAs available to cover a town court when another ADA is tied up on a felony trial in County Court.

"It's getting to point where don’t have enough bodies to cover the courts we have," Cianfrini said "If I’m trying a felony case, we have a hard time finding the bodies to cover form me in my other courts while I’m trying a felony case in County Court and vise versa for everybody in the office."

The way laws and crime both have changed also takes up more time for ADAs.

Take DWI for example -- stricter punishments, whether it's losing a license through a criminal proceeding for life or getting a five-year suspension through the DMV on a DWI conviction, encourage more defendants to take cases to trial rather than settle for a plea agreement.

“So we’re having a lot more DWI trials, across the board, misdemeanors and felonies," Cianfrini said.

Even shoplifting ain't what it used to be. Crime rings make shoplifting cases, usually at the big-box stores on Veterans Memorial Drive, are more complex and more time-consuming.

“It’s not just the shoplifters who go in and swipe a mascara or a T-shirt," Cianfrini said. "These are organized shoplifting rings that come in and take thousands of dollars at one time. They have complex teams that they use to try and avoid detection. I just had a trial plead out today where three people stole over $3,000 worth of merchandise. They stole 12 Sonic Care toothbrushes and a ton of Nike apparel because that has a high retail value in the pawnshops and in the black market."

There's also been a lot of turnover the past three years in both the Sheriff's Office and Batavia PD. Friedman stressed all the new officers are outstanding individuals but they still, like anybody in a new, complex job, have things to learn. That means more time working with officers in the field for ADAs, such as Cianfrini.

"I get more calls because they want to do the right thing," Cianfrini said. "Those calls now take longer. Calls that were under five minutes now take longer. Sometimes I have to get up and do research in the middle of the night make sure they're accurate in what they’re telling me and that I’m getting them the best advice because it’s their first time dealing with a situation."

One of Friedman's ADAs is retiring at the end of the summer, which means replacing an experienced attorney with a new attorney who will also take time to train. He's warned the candidates that being an ADA isn't just a 9-to-5, weekends-free type of job.

"We were just explaining to a job candidate on Saturday, during an interview, you are expected to be in the office or in court between regular business hours, 8:30 to 5," Friedman said. "Then you’re going to be in justice courts in the evening, and you’re on call 24-7. That’s what these jobs are.  Nobody in our office only works 37.5 hours a week. Not even close."

The following people were arrested by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office during the Dead & Company Concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Tuesday:

Mark L. Olson, 48, of Kansas Street, San Diego, was arrested for sale of hazardous inhalants after allegedly selling balloons filled with nitrous oxide. Olson was arraigned in Darien Court and jailed in lieu of $250 bail.

Joshua A. Thompson, 23, of Jackson Street, Woodbury, N.J., was arrested for sale of hazardous inhalants after allegedly selling balloons filled with nitrous oxide. Thompson was arraigned in Darien Court and jailed in lieu of $250 bail.

Michael D. Kopyscianski, 33, of Woodycrest Avenue, Bronx, was arrested for criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, after allegedly found to be in possession of heroin. Kopyscianski was arraigned in Darien Court and jailed in lieu of $1,000 bail.

Roger J. Furman, 54, of Shaker Hill Road, Enfield, was arrested for criminal trespass, 3rd, after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return. Roger was arraigned in Darien Town Court and jailed in lieu of $250 bail.

Alicia M Trace-Stephenson, 42, of Concession 5, West Tiny Township, Ontario, Canada, arrested for criminal trespass,3rd, after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return. Alicia was arraigned in Darien Town Court and jailed in lieu of $150 bail.

Charles A. Restivo, 46, of Otto Park Place, Lockport, arrested for trespass after allegedly attempting to reenter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return.

Matthew T. Gillespy, 30, of Essex Street, New York City, arrested for disorderly conduct after allegedly engaging in a fight in the parking lot.

The Batavia Development Corp. Board of Directors agreed this morning to hire Rachael Tabelski as the new economic development director, replacing Julie Pacatte, who left a couple of months ago to pursue a new job opportunity.

Tabelski is a Batavia resident and has been marketing and communications director for the Genesee Economic Development Center for more than seven years.

Board President Pierluigi Cipollone, who served on the search committee, praised Tabelski as clearly the most qualified among a field of five candidates, that included two from Buffalo, one from Texas, and a native New Yorker from the Finger Lakes region who currently works in Massachusetts.

"She came to the interview very well prepared," Cipollone said. 

He said she had a spreadsheet of all BDC's projects, worked side-by-side with Pacatte on preparing the city's successful bid for the state's Downtown Revitalization Initiative project, and clearly understands economic development.

The job offer to Tabelski, with a salary of $67,000 annually, which is $2,000 more than the BDC paid Pacatte, was approved unanimously.

"It's a no-brainer," said Board Member Steve Pies. "She is well versed in our projects and she is passionate about it.

The fact that Tabelski has been working with Pacatte on city projects as part of her job with GCEDC makes her a perfect fit for the job.

"There will be no hiccup," Valle said. "She is knowledgeable about everything. She has a great vision and goals, and she's fantastic."

Tabelski is married to City Council Member Adam Tabelski. Cipollone said the only conflict of interest will be for Adam Tabelski will be on votes related to his wife's compensation. He will need to recuse himself on those issues when they came before the council.

In the discussion, board members questioned whether the compensation was appropriate. Cipollone said that based on his research the salary range in similar-sized cities in the region is $70,000 to $90,000, so the BDC is on the low-end of the scale, he said.  

That prompted Steve Casey to ask if, notwithstanding her ties to the community, a low salary might encourage her to move on to another job sooner rather than later. Cipollone noted the BDC has limited funds to work with and anything paid in salary would mean less available for projects.

Rachael Tabelski will start her new job July 6.

Jayson M. Connolly, 43, of Le Roy, has been charged with grand larceny, 4th, identity theft, 2nd, unlawful possession of personal identification, 3rd, and a parole violation. Connolly was arrested by State Police in Warsaw following an investigation into the theft and use of a stolen credit card. He allegedly completed three transactions at three different locations with a total value of $987. He was ordered held in the Wyoming County Jail and is scheduled for a felony hearing in Wyoming County tomorrow.

Jeffery Thomas Dutton, 27, of Buell Street, Batavia, is charged with trespass. Dutton is accused of trespassing on property on Macomber Road, Oakfield.

Mindy Lee Stanley, 39, of Lewiston Road, Batavia, is charged with: DWI; driving with a BAC of .08 or greater; aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd; DWAI combined influence of drugs and alcohol; and driving while ability impaired by drugs. Stanley was stopped at 7:23 p.m. Saturday on Lewiston Road, Batavia, by Deputy Mathew Clor.

Steven Michael Carpino, 56, of Thompson Trail Drive, Dexter, is charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, 3rd, and criminal mischief, 3rd. Carpino is accused of smashing another person's phone with a hammer during an argument at 9 p.m. Saturday on Conlon Road, Le Roy, and then taking that person's vehicle without permission.

Brett J. Beverly, 35, of Bergen, is charged with petit larceny. Beverly was arrested by State Police in connection with an incident reported at 2:20 p.m. June 12 in the Town of Batavia. No further details released.

Tajman A. Ball, 19, of Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Ball was stopped at 8:29 p.m. Wednesday at Route 33 and Route 237 by State Police.

Darik R. Orbaker, 26, of Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st. Orbaker was arrested by State Police in connection with an incident reported at 7:55 p.m. Wednesday in the Town of Batavia. He was ordered held in jail. No further details released.

Rep. Chris Collins and dairy farmer Dale Stein.

Americans should be encouraged to buy more milk, Rep. Chris Collins told a group of dairy farmers gathered at Stein Farms in Le Roy yesterday to hear about the congressman's plan to encourage the USDA to promote milk consumption, along with his thoughts on immigration and trade policy.

"Whether it's health or otherwise, just think 'drink milk' because right now our biggest issue in Western New York is a supply-and-demand issue," Collins said. "You know we had some of the yogurt plants shut down. We've all faced issues within the school lunch program and certainly, we'd love to be selling milk up into Canada. Their recent move on ultra-filtered milk and Class 6 milk just made it even worse."

Collins is among a dozen members of Congress who signed a letter to Agriculture Secretary George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III asking the USDA to implement a marketing program similar to the "Got Milk" campaign of the 1990s and 2000s.

“Years ago, messages that resonated with all Americans included ‘Got Milk?’ and ‘Drink Milk, Love Life,’ and we saw some of our favorite celebrities with milk mustaches,” Collins said in a press release the coincided with yesterday's event. “The fact is, this type of marketing works.

"In recent years, we’ve seen an overall decline in milk consumption, which has created tough economic times for our dairy farmers and we are hoping Secretary Perdue can provide some additional help.”

Whether the "Got Milk" campaign was successful is disputed by marketing experts. The campaign, created in 1993 at the behest of California Milk Processor Board, an agency created by the State of California to assist dairy farmers, reportedly increased milk consumption in California during its first year but that data was based on consumer surveys. 

In 1995, Milk Processor Education Program, a dairy-industry-funded nonprofit, licensed the "Got Milk" campaign and rolled it out nationally.

While consumer surveys indicated similar results as reported in California, actual milk consumption data gathered by the USDA tells a different story. Per-capita consumption of fluid milk has declined across the nation from 210 pounds in 1993 to 159 pounds in 2014, when the campaign was discontinued.

Dale Stein said he supports any effort to get more Americans buying more milk or that expands the market for milk.

"I'm hoping that we can increase consumer usage of dairy, and it is increasing, but increase it more so that it brings the supply closer to being in balance," Stein said. "It doesn't have to be in balance with demand. If gets closer, the price comes up."

At the beginning of the year, milk was selling at $14 per hundred pounds. That's not a sustainable price, Stein said. At that price, Stein Farms can't stay in business and pass the multigeneration farm onto the next generation. Right now, the price is $17. That is sustainable.

"If we can get the $17 milk we can do well here," Stein said. "I don't need $20 milk. I'm not asking for high milk prices, I just need the consumer to use a little more dairy and if everybody did that, that would make the difference."

It's not like Americans aren't buying more milk products, as Stein said. When accounting for all milk products, including the categories with the most growth -- cheese and butter (it used to be yogurt, but that has receded a bit) -- then Americans are consuming more milk. Through 2016, per-capita dairy product consumption increased from 613 pounds in 2006 to 646 pounds.

One reason for the current oversupply of milk, Stein said, is that a few years ago, for a few short months, milk did hit $20, and even $25. Dairy farmers across the country thought they struck gold and invested in increased production. Now they're stuck with that production.

Stein said he can't reduce production. Low prices means he has to increase it -- makeup on volume what is being lost per unit -- so he can meet his high fixed costs. He pointed to a couple of giant tractors that he bought used. 

"You're looking at $650,000 standing there," Stein said.

"I have to have cash flow," Stein added.  "If the price isn't there, the only thing I can do to is sell more milk. That means readjust what I'm feeding the cows to make more milk. We do a lot of cost cutting, too, but there's only so far we can cut costs. So you, as an individual farmer -- if everybody agreed to make a cut -- we could do it, but you can't get an agreement across the country."

Collins also said he is looking to help dairy farmers through the new five-year Farm Bill, which is expected to come up for a vote in the coming week.

The Market Protection Program, part of the previous Farm Bill, hasn't worked for dairy farmers, Collins acknowledged. 

"Most dairies have not signed onto the basic insurance program," Collins said. "On the crop side, the insurance program, the margin programs have worked. When we get into a supply and demand where there is oversupply, it just does not work. The formulas don't work. I've been told, and I think some folks here who have looked at it would say, the dairy margin program in the new farm bill will provide an option, an insurance option, that in a day like today could provide economic support on the downside."

Another long-standing problem for dairy farmers is labor and Collins said he understands that in order to address dairy's labor shortage, there needs to be immigration reform.

Collins is a member of a Republican group in the House called the Freedom Caucus. The members refused to vote on the Farm Bill unless they could get a bill on the floor dealing with immigrant labor. He also acknowledged that while the bill would fix many of the problems faced by dairy farmers, it also isn't likely to pass.

"We are putting up a compromise immigration bill," Collins said. "The bad news is, there's no dairy in it."

However, he said the Freedom Caucus has been promised a vote in July that would address the year-round visa issue that has made it so hard for dairy farmers to hire and retain qualified dairy employees.

"We've talked about the undocumented workers having a three-year visa that would be continued and renewable on a two-year basis," Collins said.

This is all good news, said Dale Stein after the event was over. He's grateful to Collins going to bat for dairy farmers. Even if the immigration bill expected to go to the floor for a vote next week doesn't pass, just getting the bill to the floor is an accomplishment after years of a congressional stalemate on immigration.

"What he has done has forced votes on immigration," Stein said. "He's working with other Republicans and working bipartisan with Democrats. Now he's forced votes on immigration so that we can maybe get immigration settled and fix for farmers and everybody else.

"It's been left in limbo for too long. Congressman Collins, working with others, including the Democrats, is pushing to get this settled. I support him 100 percent on that."

The issue making farmers across the nation nervous is the talk of trade wars.

In his remarks to local farmers yesterday, Collins didn't back down on the tough talk and praised Trump for taking on allies and rivals alike on trade policy.

"Trump rightfully has called out Trudeau in Canada for their long-standing, non-free-market protection of their (dairy industry)," Collins said. "We can't get any dairy into Canada where we were selling ultra-filtered milk. They shut down about a year ago, Class Six. Now they're dumping powdered milk around the world. I mean it's just awful. My comment to the press was, 'we caught Canada and we caught Trudeau cheating.' It's not fair trade; it's not free trade."

He said nobody can win a trade war with the United States.

"I'm not sure what Canada will ultimately do, but I think Trudeau should realize he doesn't win a trade war with the United States," Collins said. "China doesn't win a trade war with the United States. Europe does not win a trade war with the United States. Trump is the first president to stand up and say we've been in a trade war 20 years and we're losing.

He said China's plan to retaliate against Trump's planned 25-percent tariff won't work.

"The problem is we don't export that much to China," Collins said. "They're talking about putting tariffs on goods that don't even get sold in China. Well, have a nice day. It's simply rhetoric on their part."

Many of the tariffs China is planning, however, will hit agriculture directly.

U.S. dairy farmers exported $577 million in dairy products to China last year, up 49 percent from the year before. Though Collins said "we can't get any dairy into Canada," but in 2017, Canada imported $636 million in dairy from the United States. And while Trump and his trade representatives continue to threaten to pull out of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the largest international market for U.S. dairy is Mexico, which imported $1.3 billion in dairy from the United States, up 9 percent from the year before.

As a percentage of U.S. dairy production, the percentage of dairy going overseas has grown from 8 percent in 2010 to more than 14 percent today.

Soybeans, another important crop in Genesee County, is a product targeted for retaliation by China but rather than answer merely with tariffs, China is planning to buy from Brazil, which has the capacity to grow soybean production. Some U.S. trade experts fear the United States won't get that market back even if tariffs are lifted.

The USDA considers China a potentially huge market for U.S. farmers. Last year, China imported $26 billion in U.S. farm products. 

The ultra-filtered milk dispute with Canada is a fairly recent issue. The class of product, called Class Six, was created a couple of years ago, and it's not governed by NAFTA. The price of the product is set by global supply and demand and isn't regulated. This has depressed the price below what Canada considers acceptable for its highly regulated dairy market. It won't allow Class Six imports from the United States. Meanwhile, U.S. dairy farmers are looking to expand the market for its oversupply of milk.

After Collins finished his speech, Collins and the other visitors were invited to a table filled with WNY dairy products, including Perry's Ice Cream. After Shelly Stein finished filling bowls and cones for everyone, Collins talked with Dale and Shelly Stein and other farmers.

Shelly Stein brought up the trade issue. She said she's concerned about commodities being used in a trade war.

"That's us," she said.

At this point, The Batavian jumped in with some questions for Collins about trade.

We asked about his statement that the United States could win a trade war with China when it's a large market for dairy, soybeans, sorghum, beef, and other agriculture products.

We asked, "Is this really the right approach, to get into a trade war with trading partners that agriculture depends on?"

Collins said, "We've been in a trade war 20 years. This isn't new. We've been losing the trade war for 20 years. There's just never been a president to acknowledge it. It's been death by a thousand cuts. Look at the manufacturing that's not done here and here we have been in a war for 20 years. This isn't a new war. But Trump is addressing the war that we've been losing, battle after battle after battle. The rest of the world's been taking advantage of us, all but laughing at us behind our back, as they have taken advantage of us. Trump was elected to say, 'it's done.' They are going to attempt to flex their muscles. The retaliation tends to be on the ag side, unfortunately."

Later in his reply, he said, "Right now it's noisy and there are consequences and others are gonna flex their muscles in hopes of getting Trump to cave in and say, 'No, no, no, it's OK that you cheat.' He's saying, it's not OK that they cheat. But I will tell you, as I said, they depend on us at the end of the day, whether it's Europe, whether it's Mexico, whether it's China, or whether it's Canada, if they don't trade with the U.S., they suffer. We can make any products made in China. We have huge deficits there. We may pay a little more. You know, whether it's your dinnerware or your underwear, you may pay a little more if it's made here."

Trump often Tweets about the state of the economy, how well it is doing. Low unemployment, rising wages, and if you look over the past 20 years, the Gross Domestic Product has increased every year except for 2008 and 2009. In the past 20 years, U.S. goods and services exports have grown from $500 billion to $1.4 trillion.

So if the economy is doing well and growing, we asked Collins for evidence that we're losing a trade war.

"Well, we're losing the trade war because we're not making the products here," Collins said. "We have 6.3 million people that are unemployed that don't have the skills to be a software engineer or a welder or a machinist. The assembly line jobs have disappeared."

(NOTE: Some economists blame manufacturing job loss on automation. A Federal Reserve report says 800,000 jobs were lost to China but were replaced by jobs in other sectors, primarily service, construction, wholesale and retail.)

Collins said, "There's a whole lot of folks who have given up even looking for work." He added, "Our labor participation in the adult workforce is at an all time low."

(NOTE: The Trump Administration says workforce participation has grown during his term.)

For our next question, we pointed out the iPhone recording the conversation includes inputs from U.S. companies, including the glass face, which is made in New York. Some economists estimate a trade war will cost 400,000 Americans their jobs because they make things used in products manufactured overseas or rely on inputs, such as steel, that Trump plans to tax.

The Batavian asked, "We depend greatly on trade with China. China, rightly or wrongly, is part of the WTO (World Trade Organization). Isn't using the rules that have been created a better approach to deal with these trade issues than starting trade wars?"

"No, not when they pay $3 an hour (for labor) in China," Collins said. "If they're paying $3 an hour, we'll never get our manufacturing jobs back. And what you just said is some of the raw materials are made here. Why don't we make the whole phone here?"

Adam Smith and David Ricardo addressed that question 200 years ago. Countries benefit by trade because each can specialize and therefore create the best possible products at the lowest possible costs, raising everybody's standard of living. Ricardo called it "comparative advantage."

That's a little more detail than we provided Collins (we just mentioned Smith and Ricardo in broad terms), but Collins responded, "There's some 40 percent of the world's population, 2.8 billion people, living in China and living in India. We've got 320 million, and they're paying $2 and $3 an hour. If we're going to make something in the United States, we've got to deal with that unfair, untenable differential."

We pointed out, Chinese wages, as happens in all developing countries, have been rising, creating a bigger middle class, creating a bigger market for U.S. products, particularly farm products.

"Yeah, they go from $3 to $4, from $4 to $5," Collins said. "We still lose that piece of it. We've got to level the playing field or there is no future for our children and grandchildren and we need inflation."

At which point, Collins began to discuss why we need inflation to help retire the national debt.

"Inflation is something we desperately need in this country," Collins said. "The $20 trillion of debt against a $20 trillion economy that our children and grandchildren and the 10th generation that is with us here (referring to the Stein family) deserve better. What they deserve is paying off this $20 trillion of debt in cheaper dollars, which means inflation.

"We need 4 percent per-year inflation for the next 18 years. Compound it annually so that the $20 trillion of debt is the equivalent of $10 trillion. In 18 years, and as our economy grows and doubles in 18 years from $20 trillion to $40 trillion, our debt can actually go from $20 trillion to $30 trillion. So we have a green light of 75-percent debt to GDP. We have to have inflation at 4 percent a year or our kids don't have a future."

So we asked, "So you're arguing for a hidden tax on consumers instead of reducing spending?"

"We can't ever reduce spending to cut our debt," Collins said. "Anyone who thinks so is living in la-la land. We have to grow our way to success. We have to grow our economy and inflation is part of it.

"Anyone who thinks that with our deficits today that we can pay down our $20 trillion of debt is in la-la land," Collins added. "It can never happen. We have to grow to success, grow for our kids to have a future.

"Part of that growth is inflation, and what you saw under eight years of Obama with a fake economy of no inflation, the $20 trillion of debt is truly troubling. It's $20 trillion and it's growing and without inflation, our kids are going to be living in cardboard boxes under the bridge."

A one-vehicle rollover accident with possibly one person ejected and unconscious is reported in the eastbound lane of the Thruway in the area of mile marker 387.9.

Serious injuries are reported.

Mercy Flight is on a ground standby.

Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

The location is next to the Genesee Community College Batavia Campus.

UPDATE(S) 3:31 (By Billie): A vehicle is on its roof, off the roadway. A second and third ambulance are dispatched.

UPDATE 3:34 p.m.: "Be advised traffic is backed up to west of Bank Street."

UPDATE 4:06 p.m.: Mercy Flight was cancelled. At least two of the ambulances transported patients to Strong Memorial Hospital. The accident site is about a quarter mile west of GCC.

Press release:

On Friday, June 15, at or about 12:42 a.m., the Batavia Police Department and City of Batavia Fire Department responded to the report of an active house fire at 35 Maple St.

A female located on scene believed her children were still in the residence. Officers from the Batavia Police Department and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office attempted to make entry into the residence but were unsuccessful. City of Batavia Fire Fighters made entry and attempted to locate the children.

By approximately 12:56 a.m. all children from the residence were located safely and accounted for at a neighbor’s residence. The Genesee County Department of Social Services was contacted to aid with the children.

During the fire investigation it was learned that the fire stemmed from a domestic incident between the female that lived in the lower apartment and her boyfriend. The male, identified as Plush Dozier (DOB: 11/21/1995), had become upset with his girlfriend and an argument ensued.

Dozier set her and the apartment on fire. During the initial stages of the incident all of the children were able to leave the apartment. The female was transported to an area hospital, where she is listed in stable condition. We will not be releasing the female’s name or location for the safety of her and her family.

Dozier was located at the scene and taken into custody without incident. Dozier was arrested for two Class A felonies: arson in the first degree (PL 150.20-01), and attempted murder in the second degree (PL 125.25-01).

Dozier was arraigned in Batavia City Court and put in Genesee County Jail without bail. Dozier is scheduled to appear in Genesee County Court at a later date.

During the course of the active house fire, and subsequent investigation a City of Batavia police officer, and a City of Batavia firefighter were both injured. The officer and the firefighter were treated and released from UMMC with non-life-threatening injuries.

Previously:

• Arrest made in midnight fire on Maple Street
• House fire reported on Maple Street in City of Batavia

An arrest has been made in connection with a fire reported at about 12:30 a.m. at 35 Maple St. that endangered the life of a woman sleeping in an apartment on the first floor, The Batavian has learned.

Batavia PD will put out a press release with more details shortly.

In the initial call for the fire, it was reported that two children were inside the residence while the frantic mother was outside when police arrived. The children were later located at a neighbor's house.

In all, four children lived in the apartment and all four were accounted for by 1 a.m.

The woman was transported to UMMC for a medical evaluation. There's no further word at this time on her condition.

The suspect was reportedly arraigned in City Court this morning and ordered held without bail.

DEVELOPING ... 

Sheriff William Sheron today introduced the three deputies who will become the new School Resource Officers in Pembroke, Pavilion and Alexander school districts.

Those district's past budgets in May commitment to pay for the SRO positions on their school campuses in 2018-19.

Deputy Patrick Reeves, a 21-year veteran of the force, is the new SRO in Pembroke. He's pictured above with Sheron, Pembroke Superintendent Matthew Calderon, and in the back row, Legislator Gordon Dibble and Legislator Shelly Stein.

Reeves is a lifelong Pembroke resident who has children in the district and is a youth sports coach.

"I think this is just the next step for me," Reeves said, "make that connection with the kids, keep them focused, get them to the end of their goals, get a good career, and while I’m in school, try to help every kid that you possibly can."

He said he hopes he can be a positive influence on some of the students he deals with over the course of the school year.

"Most kids need some guidance, and if I can connect with one or two who might need it, that’s my fuel," Reeves said. "I win and the district wins."

Deputy Cory Mower, also a 21-year veteran of the department, is the new SRO in Pavilion.

Mower said he wanted to work with the Pavilion district because throughout much of his career on road patrol he's covered the southeast part of the county. He knows a lot of the students and their families already.

He also worked six years in the jail and came into contact with a lot of young people and believes that experience has given him some insight on how to help teenagers today.

"Now with the schools opening up (these positions), I just think it’s a natural progression where I can use my experience to help some kids, maybe keep some kids out of trouble, maybe help them before they get addicted to drugs or make the wrong choice, the wrong move," Mower said.

Above photo: Sheron, Mower, Pavilion Superintendent Ken Ellison, Stein, and Legislator Gregg Torrey.

Deputy Eric Meyer, who attended Alexander Central Schools all the way through high school and still lives in Alexander has been assigned to his home school district. He is the new SRO in Alexander.

"I like the idea of keeping the children safe in my own district, in my own community," Meyer said. "I also live in the community so I thought it would be a great opportunity for me and for the school to be a positive role model for these kids."

He's already visited the elementary school and many of the students recognized him, said Meyer, who joined the Sheriff's Office three years ago.

"I already see the kids looking up to me and giving me high-fives and a hand clap," Meyer said.

Above photo: Sheron, Stein, Meyer, Alexander Superintendent Catherine Huber, Torrey.

Below, a press release from the Sheriff's Office:

Genesee County Sheriff William A. Sheron Jr. announces the newest School Resource Officer assignments in three local school districts.

Pembroke Central School District has chosen Deputy Patrick J. Reeves as its School Resource Officer. He graduated from Pembroke in 1992 and is a 22-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Reeves will start in this position on Sept. 1.

Alexander Central School District has chosen Deputy Eric J. Meyer as its School Resource Officer. He graduated from Alexander in 2006 and is a three-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Meyer will start in this position on Sept. 1.

Pavilion Central School District has chosen Deputy Cory W. Mower as its School Resource Officer. He is a 22-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Mower will start in this position on July 1.

Additionally, the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership (BOCES) and the Byron-Bergen Central School District also renewed their commitments for next year’s School Resource Officers on campus.

Sheriff Sheron stated that it his goal to establish a School Resource Officer in all county school districts to ensure the safety and protection of the students and faculty.

“Although the cost associated with placing a School Resource Officer in the schools is significant, I believe the safety and security of our children should be of the utmost precedence," Sheron said. "I applaud the tremendous support received from the school administrators, school boards, and the Genesee County Legislature, which ultimately made this possible.”