The Batavian

  As he waxed a bit of nostalgia while standing before Genesee Community College’s Class of 2022 Saturday, Daniel Ireland recalled a moment when he walked the very same steps to accept his diploma.

Brayden Smith (top photo) of Elba grinded his way to his first sectional title in Class C in golf on Saturday with a round of  82 at Clifton Springs Country Club.

At 3:41 p.m. on May 21, 2022, Genesee County dispatchers received a call of a motorcycle off the road in the area of 6191 North Byron Road with the subject not breathing. 

Batavia City Schools' recent budget and board vote put candidates Chezeray Rolle, John Marucci and Korinne Anderson in place for a seat on the Board of Education, however Marucci and Anderson had a tied vote count of 346. Anderson has conceded the three-year term to Marucci and she will take the two-year term, Superintendent Jason Smith said Rolle, with a top vote of 368, with take his seat with a three-year term.

State Police Troop A held its 41st Memorial Day for fallen troopers at the Batavia Barracks on Thursday. Photos by Alecia Kaus/Video News Service.

More than 300 community volunteers turned out today for United Way's annual Day of Caring to perform a variety of tasks for local organizations. Photos are from Crossroads House and Justice for Children. At Crossroads, a family paid for a new cement walkway and patio and volunteers are planting a garden so that those staying at Crossroads can be taken outside and enjoy a bit of nature. The groups receiving assistance: 

There are signs on two doors at Genesee County Job Development Bureau that caught the attention of Genese County Legislator Rochelle Stein. One sign had a locked door with the message “we are not open,” issued by the New York State Department of Labor, while the other sign stated that the development bureau was open for business. Given that kids are in school and people have returned to work, it was surprising for Stein to see the state closed to customers, she said. “I was shocked,” Stein said during Wednesday’s Ways & Means Committee meeting.

After presenting bid requests for election-related equipment Wednesday, Genesee County Board of Elections Commissioner Dick Siebert put on his personal hat. 

Stephen S. Bogle, 35, of Batavia, is charged with grand larceny 3rd and falsifying business records 1st. Bogle is accused of going to his place of employment on Bank Street, Batavia, and punching in, then leaving for eight to 12 hours, then punching out, without ever physically being present at work. He is accused of stealing $13,148.63 as a result of this scheme.  He was arraigned in City Court and released on his own recognizance. 

File photo of a Memorial Day parade. Photo by Howard Owens. City Councilman Bob Bialkowski, on behalf of the city, invites all community members, including groups, organizations and, especially, veterans to participate in this year's annual Memorial Day parade.  "The city of Batavia is sponorsing the parade and looking forward to community support," he says. 

Pembroke High School held a special "assembly game" of its United Basketball team against the Pioneer Panthers, of Section VI, on Wednesday afternoon. Unified Basketball, sanctioned by the NYS High School Athletics Association and Special Olympics, brings together teams of students with disabilities and those without to compete regionally.

After Town of Batavia Planning Board members gave the final approvals to Benderson Development for two new commercial buildings in the former Kmart parking lot on Lewiston Road, they had but one question: "who is it?" The rep from Benderson wouldn't say. He said he couldn't release the names until leases are signed. He said that lease signing could come soon for at least one potential tenant, with construction to begin on that building in July.

Mega Properties is planning another massive warehouse for the Gateway II industrial park east of Route 98 in the Town of Batavia. This time it will be a 200,000 square-foot warehouse available for area retailers to store inventory overstock. Lucas Bushen, with Marathon Engineering, presented initial plans to the town planning board on Tuesday.  

Applications have been coming in for the vacant assistant city manager position as Batavia City Manager Rachael Tabelski formulates the role’s top priorities. The interview process is set to begin in the next few weeks, she said. “I’m looking at neighborhood revitalization. It's a very long-term look, but I'm trying to coalesce all the information I've gathered in the different years of working with the county and in the city, and bring this project forward,” Tabelski told The Batavian on Monday. "We'd like to have someone in place by the end of July."

Post-Covid conditions, higher wages, a smaller pool of candidates and veteran worker retirements makes being an employer all the more difficult, Rachael Tabelski says.

Benito Gay Batavia PD responded to Subway, 412 E. Main St., at 5:56 p.m. after receiving a report of a robbery in progress, and upon arrival learned the suspect had fled in an easterly direction.

Though votes were reported as unofficial this evening, it’s apparent that Batavia City Schools’ $54.8 million budget and a related 1 percent tax levy increase passed with a vote of 301 to 108. It was one of eight districts to report a passed 2022-23 budget.  The other proposition on Batavia’s ballot was the election of board members for three vacant seats. Chezeray Rolle came out on top with 368 votes, followed by John Marucci and Korinne Anderson, each with 346 votes.

A decision by the Alabama Town Board in April 2019 to oppose the installation of a roundabout at the intersection of Ledge Road and Route 77 has led to a lawsuit filed by an Oakfield woman who sustained severe injuries in an accident at that intersection on Oct. 2, 2020. Marianne Molaro sustained permanent injures, "including but not limited to, a fracture of the cervical spine at the C-2 level," according to the suit filed in November by attorney Bradley D. Marble of Lockport on her behalf.

Aside from the brick-and-mortar details of constructing a new, 184-bed Genesee County jail facility, Senior Project Superintendent Randy Babbitt offered a reminder Monday about what’s most important.

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