Local News

A military helicopter makes an emergency landing in Java, Wyoming County.
The chopper made what the Army has called a precautionary landing just before 11 this morning near Pleasant Valley and Pee Dee Roads in Java.
The Army said the UH-60 Blackhawk was on a training flight from Rochester when it developed unspecified difficulties and landed.
North java volunteer firemen were sent to the scene. There were no serious injuries.

A Chautauqua County man pleads guilty to one count of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide in connection with a fatal crash last summer in Wyoming County.
29 year old Joshua Huntress of Mayville admitted he drove his car from a motel in Warsaw while doing a combination of drugs. He crashed into a pair of motorcycles, killing the driver of one of them. He could be sentenced to 5 to 15 years.

There is a water main break on Richmond Ave in front of Van Detta Stadium. Crews are on site to make repairs which will take several hours. Richmond Ave will be closed to traffic between Union St and Verona Ave until repairs are complete.

An employee of the Arc of Genesee Orleans has been arrested for sexual abuse of a client.
39 year old Rome Santiago was arrested by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office on a charge of Sexual Abuse in the 3rd degree.
Santiago worked with disabled individuals served by the ARC.
Authorities said Santiago allegedly had inappropriate and unwanted contact with an client during outings in both Orleans and Genesee Counties.

A Lake Effect snow band is expected to intensify early this evening and move southward across the Niagara Frontier.
Snowfall rates of one to two inches per hour could reach parts of Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming Counties.

The New Star Wars movie “The Last Jedi was shot on Kodak film made in Rochester. The movie opens this weekend.
Three major Hollywood studios have signed multi-year contracts to buy film from Kodak.

A Military Helicopter reportedly crashed into trees in the area of Pleasant Valley and Pee Dee Roads in Java drawing emergency crews to the scene.

The crash occurred at around 10:45 this morning.

Minor injuries were reported and an initial request for Mercy Flight was cancelled.

21 year old Zachary Kersch has been indicted by a Wyoming County Grand Jury on charges of first and third degree Rape along with Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

Kersch was arrested in October following an investigation that found he allegedly forcibly raped a teenage girl at a party in August.

He plead not guilty to the charges and was remanded to jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

He is expected back in Wyoming County Court in February.

29 year old Joshua Huntress of Mayville in Chautauqua County pleaded guilty to a count of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide a Class B non-violent felony for a crash that occurred in July in Orangeville.

Huntress admitted to driving his vehicle form a motel in Warsaw while impaired by a combination of drugs and causing the fatal crash on Route 20A near Boxler’s Farm.

A caller reported Huntress driving recklessly all over the road way and witnessed him crash into two oncoming motorcycles killing Tomasa Marinez and injuring three others.

He accepted the plea agreement on the condition that he be sentenced to an indeterminate term of 5 to 15 years in state prison or a possible 7 and a half to 15 if he is convicted as a second felony offender.

Huntress has a prior felony out of Pennsylvania.

He is scheduled for sentencing on January 18th.

L to R: Physical Education (PE) Teacher Rodney Allen, AjaLe Harvey (2nd Place) and Tycen Deaton (3rd Place), GCC Director of Health and PE Rebecca Dziekan, and Principal Steve Haynes. (Missing: Reagan Moroz who took 1st Place).

Press Release:

Congratulations to Perry Central School for winning GCC’s 2017 Play to Get Fit Challenge! The Health and Physical Education department at Genesee Community College has been rewarding schools and students for their Get Fit Challenge efforts since 2011.

The Play to Get Fit Program was created for third, fourth and fifth graders in the GLOW (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties) region to effectively illustrate how many minutes young people spend engaged in physical activity outside of school. Children record their active minutes on a five-week calendar log specially designed for the “Play to Get Fit” challenge. Walking, biking, running, skating, swimming, playing a sport, playing tag, playing on a swing set and other active, creative games are all eligible for active “credit” minutes. However, video fitness games utilizing Wii or Xbox Kinect are not eligible.

This year, the Perry Central School recorded a whopping 3,021 average active minutes based on the number of students enrolled in third, fourth and fifth grades. Last week, the school was awarded the 2017 winning plaque and each student received a certificate recognizing their participation and effort.

GCC would also like to congratulate the three most active (based on the total number of minutes recorded) participants in the GLOW region this year were:

Grant Grahagan of Batavia with 11,876 minutes

Sam Pies of Batavia with 9,895 minutes

Madison Needham of Batavia with 9,600 minutes

In addition, the program recognizes the three most active students from each participating school district:

LeRoy – 1st Isaac Stella; 2nd Cameron Riggi; 3rd Adam Woodworth

Batavia – 1st Grant Grahagan, 2nd Sam Pies; 3rd Madison Needham

Warsaw – 1st Parker Cartwright; 2nd Jacob McCormick; 3rd Jakob Cornell

York – 1st Brody Pangrazio; 2nd Connor Boyd; 3rd Havyan Wetmore

Pavilion – 1st Nicholas Deland; 2nd Kiara Gonzalez; 3rd Ella Tillotson

Perry – 1st Reagan Moroz; 2nd Aja Le Harvey; 3rd Tysen Deaton

Elba – 1st Noah Calarco-Smith; 2nd Tristan Snell; 3rd Ty Reilly

Oakfield-Alabama – 1st David Schichler; 2nd Alexis Roggen; 3rd Avery Watterson

“Play to Get Fit is a powerful way to expose kids to an active lifestyle and encourage them to have fun while being active,” said Becky Dziekan, GCC’s director of Health and Physical Education. “The participation from various school districts is proof that the program works! Congratulations to Perry and all of the students who participated.”

L to R front row: John Kennedy students Madison Needham (3rd place), Middle School students Grant Gahagan (1st Place) and Sam Pies (2nd Place). Back row: John Kennedy Principal Paul Kesler, Middle School PE Teacher James Patric, GCC Director of Health and PE Rebecca Dziekan, and John Kennedy PE Teacher Carmen Del Plato.

The Health and Physical Education program at Genesee Community College offers several areas of study. The Sports Management Studies transfer degree programs or associate of science (A.S.) program includes foundations in accounting, marketing, sports facility management and more. The Fitness and Recreation Management applied associate of science degree (A.A.S.) program offers a Personal Trainer concentration and the opportunity to earn the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) accredited credentials through the American Council on Exercise (ACE) as a certified personal trainer. In addition, GCC offers both an A.S. and an A.A.S in Physical Education Studies in which students have the opportunity to earn a coaching certificate for NYS non-Certified Physical Education Teachers.

For more information, contact Becky Dziekan, GCC’s director of Health and Physical Education at (585) 343-0055 ext. 6424, or via email: rldziekan@genesee.edu.

Press Release:

Notice is hereby given that the following Local Law Introductory No. Five Year 2017 was adopted by the Genesee County Legislature on December 13, 2017 and is subject to permissive referendum. In the event no valid petition requesting such referendum is received prior to January 26, 2018, said Local Law shall be filed with the Secretary of State in accordance with the applicable provisions of Law.

A LOCAL LAW IN RELATION TO THE SALARIES OF COUNTY OFFICERS OF THE COUNTY OF GENESEE, ELECTED OR APPOINTED FOR A FIXED TERM BE IT ENACTED by the Genesee County Legislature as follows:

Section I. The salary of the County Officers set forth below shall be as follows

a. Commissioner of Elections (2) $ 47,165
b. Highway Superintendent $109,051
c. Director of Real Property Tax Services $ 82,164
d. Director of Human Resources $ 75,638
e. Public Defender $ 98,283
f. County Clerk $ 92,674
g. Sheriff $ 102,423
h. Treasurer $ 95,375

Section 2. The above salary shall take effect January 1, 2018
Section 3. This Local Law is subject to referendum on petition pursuant to the provisions of Section 24 of the Municipal Home Rule Law.
Section 4. This Local Law shall take effect upon proper filing with the Office of the Secretary of State.

Pamela LaGrou, Clerk
Genesee County Legislature
DATED: December 14, 2017

Genesee County Baseball Club hands control of Muckdogs Franchise to the New York Penn League.
Owners of the Batavia Muckdogs, The Genesee County Baseball Club has transferred control of the franchise to the New York-Penn League.
The announcement was made yesterday that the GCBC’s 23-person volunteer board officially approved the transfer.
GCBC President Brian Paris said,

“The New York Penn League will be organizing and developing a direction as to how they’ll be operating the team moving forward. At this point in time there isn’t any further information with this regard.”

The league is seeking a buyer for the franchise.
If it is sold the Rochester Red Wings will receive 50 percent of the profits, and the GCBC will receive the other half, minus legal fees and another 10 percent share of sale proceeds that will be kept by the league.
The “Muckdogs” name will remain property of the local ball club and GCBC President Paris said he hopes that a team called the Batavia Muckdogs will take the field at Dwyer Stadium in 2018.

An ARC employee accused of sexually abusing a client.
Following investigation by the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, 39 year old Rome Santiago of East State Street Albion was arrested and charged with Sexual Abuse in the third degree.
Santiago works with the disabled at the ARC of Genesee Orleans.
He allegedly had inappropriate and unwanted contact with an adult client during outings in both counties.
Santiago was released with an appearance ticket returnable to Albion Town Court on December 20th.

Jail without bail for an Alabama resident accused of threatening with a knife.
Genesee County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 47 year old Kevin Weber of Judge Road yesterday afternoon following an incident at a Judge Road address in Alabama.
Weber was accused of threatening another person with a knife and a full stay away order of protection was put in place against him.
He was charged with second degree Menacing and was remanded to the Genesee County Jail without bail.
Weber is scheduled for January 4th in Alabama Town Court.

Troopers in Warsaw arrest a Wyoming man following a violent domestic dispute.
25 year old Aaron Cory of Wyoming is facing charges of Aggravated Harassment for communicating a threat, Criminal Mischief with intent to damage property, Harassment with Physical Contact and Menacing.
Cory was arrested by State Police after the domestic dispute last Thursday.
An order of protection was issued for the victim and Cory was ordered to be held in lieu of $2,500 bail in the Wyoming County Jail.
He is slated for Perry Town Court on January 10th.

Another winter storm watch is called for much of Western New York.
Forecasters say Buffalo could be in for up to five more inches of lake effect snow tonight.
Wyoming, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties are also in line for some serious snow.
The storm watch starts at four o’clock this afternoon and ends at one o’clock tomorrow afternoon.

Call came in shortly after 9 a.m. for a semi into a utility pole accident at 5902 Ellicott Street Road in East Bethany between Transit and East Road.

Bethany Fire, Stafford Rescue and Mercy Medic One were called to the scene for reported injuries.

There was a power outage reported in the area and crews were shutting down Route 63 around the scene.

Press Release:

By Tim Bojarski, for UNY USHWA

The Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) will present performance awards to the top dash winning trainer and driver of the meet during the 10th annual “Night of Distinction” ceremony in the winner’s circle at Batavia Downs on Saturday (Dec. 16) and whereas the top conditioner has been well identified, the driver’s race will likely go down to the final races of the weekend.

Kim Asher is currently the top percentage trainer in North America with a UTR of .427 and $1.1 million in earnings. She is also ranked eighth in North America for wins, currently with 208.

So it’s no surprise that Asher is also the trainer of the meet at Batavia Downs for 2017.

Asher has started 351 horses during the session winning 88 races, finishing second 55 times and third another 55 times and saw her horses hit the board 56% of the time. Those efforts gave her a stellar UTR of .390 and $479,491 in purses. Her win total more than doubled her closest competitor.

Competing for only the second year at Batavia, Asher’s training career spans 19 years and during that time she has won multiple training titles including most recently, the 2017 Buffalo Raceway meet. This year Asher has sent out 208 winners and that mark was a personal best. Her stable boast horses with gaudy win totals like Quicksilvercandy A (20), Saint William A (16), Itsonlyrocknroll A (13) and Kaitlyn Rae (11).

During her career Asher has 1,934 wins, 1,456 seconds and 1,222 thirds out of 9,196 starts for a lifetime UTR of .342 and earnings of over $15 million.

The driving accolades for this meet are still up in the air.

Larry Stalbaum is the current dash win leader with 127 wins while Ray Fisher Jr. is second with 122 and Drew Monti is third with 117. With only two cards of racing left and probably 20 starts apiece remaining for all three drivers, Stalbaum looks fairly solid with a five-race lead.

If Stalbaum does win the title it would be his first at Batavia Downs. However the long-tenured horseman is no stranger to being the best set of hands on any circuit. Over his 32-year career he has won dash honors at Northville Downs, Hazel Park, Sports Creek Park, Jackson Harness Raceway, Monticello Raceway, Raceway Park, Cal Expo and most recently, Buffalo Raceway earlier this year.

During his career, Stalbaum has driven 5,732 winners and earned just under $39 million in purses.

Ray Fisher Jr. has won two driving titles at Buffalo Raceway and four at Northfield Park. But since arriving at the Genesee County oval in 2007 has never taken the top spot there although he did finish second and third three times each. So winning it this year would definitely be a notch in his belt.

Since his career began in 1987, Fisher has won 4,200 races lifetime and just shy of $18 million in purses.

Drew Monti is the defending dash driving winner at Batavia Downs, taking his first-ever driving title last year with 116 wins. He had a substantial lead this year earlier in the meet, but the competition stiffened and now he has a lot of work to do in order to repeat.

Although the 23-year-old Monti has only been driving for five years, he is already closing in on his 1,000th win (currently with 979) and has made $5.5 million in purses during that time.

The competition for the driving title will resume on Friday night (Dec. 15) and will be decided on Saturday (Dec. 16). Post time for both nights is 6 p.m.

Press Release:

Lady Cougars Improve Win Streak to Three with 31-Point Fourth Quarter Rally

The Genesee Community College women’s basketball team improved its winning streak to three games after a season –high, 31-point fourth quarter in a come-from-behind Western New York Athletic Conference win over Mercyhurst North East 81-76.

The 81 total points were also a season high after the Cougars entered the final quarter trailing 54-50. Genesee opened the fourth quarter with a 10-1 run led by Estella Anderson, who scored seven of the team’s first dozen points of the fourth including the basket that put the Cougars ahead to stay at 55-54. Anderson just missed a double-double with nine points, but her 11 rebounds led the team.

The Saints came within one score in the final minute, but current National Junior College Athletic Association Region III Player of the Week TaLia Burgess sank a pair of free throws in the final seconds to make it a two-score game and seal the win. Burgess registered 18 of her team-high 23 points from three-land and shot above 50 percent from beyond the arc. In addition, her nine rebounds were only second to Anderson and it was the third-consecutive game she either led or co-led the team in scoring.

Rosalyn Sealey was also instrumental in the win, especially her free-throw shooting where she hit 14-of-16 at 88 percent and finished with 21 points.

Men’s Basketball Team Registers Third-Consecutive 100-Plus Point Win

The Genesee Community College men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 101-67 road win over Mercyhurst North East Dec. 13. It was the third-consecutive time the team reached triple digits, while the win improved Genesee’s Western New York Athletic Conference record to 4-1. Over the Cougars current four-game win streak, Genesee has averaged 104 points.

Genesee scored the game’s first basket for their first lead and never trailed. After building a 14-point first-half lead at 44-30, the Cougars opened the second half with a 10-run before out-scoring the Saints by 20 in the second half.

Three Cougars accounted for 75 points with each having 20-point-plus performances. Rahmel Thompson led the team in scoring with 27 points, but Jaheem Page and current National Junior College Athletic Association Region III Player of the Week Brian Fobbs both registered double-doubles. The latter pair each scored 24 points with Page leading the team in rebounds with 15 and Fobbs not far behind with 13 boards.

Coach Gavin Garners Recognition for GCC as USC National Staff of the Year

The United Soccer Coaches announced its staffs of the year for each level of competition associated with the prestigious organization that includes the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), National Association of Interscholastic Athletics (NAIA) and Junior College at Division-I and Division-III for both men’s and women’s teams.

Genesee Community College was recognized as the Junior College D-III Staff of the Year for the men’s division Dec. 13. USC will honor GCC at its annual convention and awards banquet Jan. 19, 2018 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Genesee Community College men’s soccer staff of head coach Ken Gavin and assistant coach Josh Carpenter led the 2017 GCC men’s soccer team to its first national title in Herkimer, N.Y. in November. An often overlooked, but vital part to Genesee’s staff is athletic trainers Amber Nichols and Jeff Engels, who assisted the coaches and players throughout their championship run. The Cougars finished their magical season on a 10-game winning streak and a 20-game unbeaten streak.

The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America / NSCAA) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coach’s organization in the world, with more than 30,000 members. The NSCAA was rebranded as United Soccer Coaches about four months ago in early August and is based out of Kansas City, Mo.

Cougar Athletes of the Week Announced

The Genesee Community College’s athletes of the week for the period ending Dec. 10 are TaLia Burgess (Philadelphia, Pa.) from the women’s basketball team and Brian Fobbs (Rochetser, NY) from the men’s basketball team. Both were also announced as the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Region III Players of the Week Dec. 12.

Brian led Genesee to its first three-game win streak of the season with a pair of weekend tournament victories by accumulating 49 points, 19 rebounds and six assists. Even more impressive than his totals was his shooting percentage, where he shot 74 percent from the field that included 75 percent from beyond the arc with 18 points, and 100 percent from the free-throw line with nine points. He also helped the team to its first 100-plus point game twice.

TaLia led Genesee CC in scoring in a pair of tournament wins where the Cougars emerged as the only undefeated team in the women’s bracket. TaLia scored 40 points with 11 rebounds and four assists that included 30 points from beyond the arc at a 53 percent shooting percentage. Her point totals of 25 and 15 were team-highs in each contest.