Local News

Rochester Redwings Baseball has severed all ties with the Batavia Muckdogs after talks to renew their management contract with the local team broke down.

The management office at Dwyer Stadium has been vacated. Travis Sick, former General Manager of the Muschdogs, has been re-assigned to the Red Wings offices in Rochester.

The Red Wings had a 10 year management contract with the Muckdogs. The contract expired on October 31 of this year. Redwings President Naomi Silver said an effort to reach a one-year deal to continue the contract was rejected by the New York Penn League.

Photo Courtesy: The Batavian

Volunteer firefighters credited with making a fast stop of flames that damaged an apartment building in Pembroke.
Fire broke out in the four unit building on Gabbey Road just after 9 p.m. last night.
Pembroke Chief Jamie Waff directed firefighting operations:

Firemen rescued three cats from the building. Four famailies were displaced and required temporary housing.
Authorities said an area around an electrical panel sustained the most fire damage, but a specific cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Batavia City Council seems typically split, again.

This time the issue is over how to re-develop the Old Engine House on Main Street.
A Byron based developer, Thompson Builds, wants to turn the building into commercial and residential space.
The building was originally a fire station, later a restaurant and most recently owned and used by county government.
Council President Gene Jankowski says there is an opportunity for the county, city and a private developer to cooperate:

Some council members opposed the project, others had more questions. In the end they agreed on holding a public hearing into an application for a one-million dollar state development grant. That hearing set for December 5th

Batavia City Council discusses possible repairs to pillars at the Redfield Parkway Entrance and how to pay for them.
A few months ago  Council was made aware of the deteriorating condition of the pillars, which consist of two inner gateway-monument style pillars and two outer posts.
Some of the structure sits on public property and some on private.
Redfield Parkway resident Jim Owen, known as “the Mayor of Redfield Parkway,”  has offered to sell the part of his pillar property to aid in repairs.

“Because of my generosity, I would sell it to the City for a dollar so the pillars could be restored, and I would also give the dollar so they can pay me for that amount. That, as they would say, it’s now public notice.”

Owen along with several other residents stressed the importance of keeping the historical structure in good shape.
City Manager Jason Molino said he would have detailed information about possible repairs by the January Conference meeting.
He said a decision could be reached by spring and put out for bid.

A Go-fund-me account is building to help defray funeral expenses for Tori Nigro of Alexander.
The 19 year old was killed on Saturday when in a collision with a tractor trailer truck on Route 33.
The fund has a goal of 10-thoasuand dollars. Already, more than 85-hundred has been raised.
Here is the link to the Go Fund Me page

A string of alleged burglaries land a Batavia man in lock up.
19 year old Davon St. John of Oak Street was arrested for allegedly committing five residential burglaries at three separate addresses in the city.
According to Police the burglaries occurred between September and November 21st with one residence targeted three times.
St John is facing five felony counts of Burglary and was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail

A UMMC staffer is accused of stealing controlled medications.
48 year old Janet Gatley of North Tonawanda was arrested and charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, Falsifying Business Records, violation of Public Health Laws and Petit Larceny.
Authorities said the thefts occurred while Gately was working at the hospital.
She was arraigned on the charges and released with an appearance ticket.

A Florida teen is being held as a person of interest in his grandmother’s murder after being arrested near the Canadian border.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol spokesman Aaron Bowker confirmed that 15-year-old Logan Mott is in custody in Buffalo on a grand theft auto charge.
Bowker said border agents arrested Mott Friday night at the Peace Bridge
Officers were alerted that Mott is a person of interest in a murder investigation involving his grandmother. He was driving a 2015 Dodge Dart reported stolen from Neptune Beach, Florida.

The Bills will be without Kelvin Benjamin for today’s matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs due to a knee injury.
Benjamin did not practice at all this week after getting hurt during last week’s loss to the Chargers.
Since being acquired from the Panthers on Halloween, Benjamin has four catches for 62 yards in two games.
Tyrod Taylor will return as starting quarterback for Buffalo after getting benched last week for rookie Nathan Peterman.

The Batavia City Council holds a Conference Meeting and a brief business meeting tomorrow night.
The meetings begin at 7 tomorrow night in City Hall.

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a two vehicle, fatal motor vehicle crash that occurred at approximately 11:30 am this date.
The crash occurred at the intersection of Wilkinson Road and State Route 33 in the Town of Batavia. Nineteen year old Tori Nigro was northbound on Wilkinson Road in a 2004 Dodge Neon when she failed to stop for a stop sign and continued into the intersection where she struck an eastbound tractor-trailer in the tractor’s passenger side drive wheels. The Nigro vehicle came to a stop in the eastbound lane while the tractor-trailer came to a controlled stop just east of the intersection.

Genesee County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble described what happened:

Miss Nigro was pronounced at the scene by Coroner Karen Lang. The tractor-trailer driver was not injured. The crash is being investigated by the Sheriff’s Crash Reconstruction Team, Deputies, McCarthy, Andre, Hale and Investigator Parker. Assisting at the scene were members of the East Pembroke, Corfu and Town of Batavia Volunteer Fire Departments along with the Genesee County Fire Coordinator’s Office. No charges have been filed. The investigation is continuing.

On November 22, 2017 from 9:00pm until 3:30am on November 23, 2017 the Albion Police Department hosted and supervised a multi-agency Orleans County Wide DWI Saturation Patrol.

This detail combined the Law Enforcement efforts from every Law Enforcement agency in the County along with New York State Parole, the Orleans County Probation Department and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The agencies involved consisted of the Albion Police, Medina Police, Holley Police, Orleans County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, Orleans County Probation, New York State Parole and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The detail results are as follows:

DWI Arrests: 7 5 in the Village of Albion (Albion PD), 1 in the Town of Albion (State Police). 1 in the T/Murray (State Police)
Traffic Stops: 132
Tickets Issued: 45

Agency Break Down:

• Albion PD – 52 stops, 1 Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 2nd, 5 DWI Arrests – 18 Total Tickets Issued
• Medina PD – 17 stops, 1 Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 2nd, 1 Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 3rd, 1 Unlicensed Operator, 1 Unlawful Possession of Marijuana Arrest, 1 Suspended Registration – 9 Total Tickets Issued
• Holley PD – 29 stops, 2 Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 2nd – 5 Total Tickets Issued
• NY State Police – 15 stops, 2 Driving While Intoxicated Arrest, 4 Total Tickets Issued
• Orleans County Sheriffs Office – 19 stops – 9 Total Tickets Issued

The Albion Police Department and the other Law Enforcement agencies are committed to making the roadways safe for all those who travel upon them.

This is the fourth year a Saturation Patrol was conducted. Compared to previous years, this year’s detail had an increase in vehicle stops but the percentage of intoxicated drivers remained comparably the same. The data from this year’s detail indicates that approximately 5% of the motorists stopped were intoxicated, whereas in previous years we have seen data as high as 20% of the motorists stopped were intoxicated.

Buffalo Bills fans can give thanks today because Quarterback Tyrod Taylor is starting on Sunday
Head coach Sean McDermott announced the decision after just one game starting rookie quarterback Nathan Peterman.
Taylor is putting the situation behind him and remains confident that with some tweaks, the Bills can make the playoffs.
The Bills play the Chiefs next, followed by the Patriots.

Police have identified 30 year old Kenneth Wilson Jr of Burke Hill Road Perry as the driver in the one car crash in Bethany and had him transported via ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital.
Deputies responded to the accident on Ellicott Street Road near Fargo Road at around 1:30 yesterday morning.
Wilson was arrested and charged with DWI, and numerous traffic violations.

Police in Canandaigua are working to determine if a body they found belongs to a missing woman. Monica Zello has been missing since Saturday. Yesterday afternoon police fished a car belonging to her from the Erie Canal in Waterloo and also found a body nearby. Police say they believe the body to be Zello’s but can’t say for sure yet.

Parents in Brockport are still reeling after a teacher was arrested for allegedly sharing child pornography.
Roland Yockel was put on administrative leave this week from Ginther elementary after his arrest.
Law enforcement officials say, so far, they do not believe Yockel touched any of the students inappropriately.
A meeting is scheduled for parents on Monday to help teach parents how to talk to their kids about Yockel’s arrest.

David Sweat made national headlines as an escaped murderer from the Clinton Correctional Facility over two years ago.
Sweat has now been moved to Wyoming County and is behind bars in Attica Correctional.
Sweat along with Richard Matt used power tools to escape from the prison in June of 2015 with the help of a prison employee. A TV movie was made of the story.
Matt was killed while on the run and Sweat was shot and captured two days afterward while trying to evade a State Police Sergeant near the Canadian Border.
Sweat will continue his life sentence for murder.

PHOTO: David Sweat

A Brockport kindergarten teacher is facing child pornography charges.
30-year-old Roland Yockel of Hilton was arrested for allegedly receiving and distributing child pornography online.
The sexually explicit images included pre-pubescent children.

Gas prices in Western New York are at a three-year high for this time of year. The average gallon of gas in Batavia costs two-dollars and 63-cents, and that’s 30-cents more than this time last year.
The lowest price we found on the Indian reservation was 2-dollars 30-cents a gallon.

New York drivers are getting a break from construction-related lane closures.
Governor Cuomo has suspended repair work on roads and bridges for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Except for emergency repairs, no work will be allowed from today through 6 a.m. on Monday.

Governor Cuomo is announcing a new campaign to warn New Yorkers about the deadly opioid fentanyl. The opioid can be 100 times stronger than heroin and is being found in cocaine, heroin and phony prescription pills. Officials say people can die from fentanyl they didn’t even know they took.