Local man tazered after fleeing traffic stop

[Ralph]

Good old George Bathke!!!!! Driving that old run down Water Board truck.
Nawwwww......I won't go there either!!!

Truly a scary thought if there ever was one!

[bobbbiez]

Clipper, I knew Gussie and Ike extremely well. Just as I know Ike's son, Tony and his wife, Gloria. Ike use to sponsor my sons little league teams. Was there just last week for my favorite dish, hot dog and their chili with a side dish of their macaroni salad. The best besides Voss's. By the way, Voss's is open for the season now.

Back in the 70's and early 80's the Patio was open all night and day. When I worked for the Vista Lounge after closing the whole work crew use to go there for our breakfast almost every night.
My cousin, Gary, whose parents use to own the Anchor Inn on Erie Street use to join us with his crew.

Great place and great memories and still going there to make more.

[Clipper]

When I was in college, Tony was living with his mother on Dudley Ave. He was going to Proctor and was a senior in High School. He went with the cousin of a friend of mine, and we double dated many times. Drank a lot of beer with Tony. I still love the chili dogs at the patio, but they are always closed when I come up for Christmas.

I treated and transported Gussie's son when he turned in front of a van in front of the Kernan School, on his motorcycle and took the door post out with his head. Both his legs were broken, his eye was hanging down his cheek, and he had some really serious head injuries with cerebral fluid seeping from his ears. His femur was fractured so badly that his foot lie beside his head. It drew on EVERY aspect of my training to keep this kid alive long enough to get him to the hospital. One of the worst accidents I ever responded to. He survived and was blind in one eye. It was a miracle, because he literally took the driverside window post out with his body and head.

Anchor Inn brings back many many memories. I used to go there for fish fry on Fridays. I know Gary vaguely as having talked to him when he was tending bar for his dad and mom. His wife used to work there too, on Fridays and was our favorite waitress. Can't remember Gary's dads nickname, but I will always remember Gary's mom's slaw with the elbow macaroni in it. and they had to best mushroom stew and galumpki in the city.

Do ya remember the little long haired dachsund that they used to have running around there? A cute little shit, but I imagine the health department would not like a dog running in and out of the kitchen and around the dining room at a restaurant. Haha.

[Clipper]

As for my re-arrival. My dad is still doing well, and is hanging in there. I will not be moving back as long as he is alive. I need to stay here to care for his needs, and to make sure his wishes as well as my mom's are carried out when he does pass away.

I do hope to get up there this summer, but I am not even sure of that with the price of gasoline. I put $85 at a time in the damn truck, so I don't use it any more than I have to.

I hope I get there before you and Betty move, but if not, I may catch up with ya someday in Indiana. I have friends in Fort Wayne, and my oldest son from Ohio is going with a woman from that area. After driving a truck for so long, a hundred or so miles one way or the other is no big thing, when I want to see a friend, or eat at a famous restaurant. We went from Dayton Ohio to Indianapolis once to eat at a "mom and pop" that I ate at while in that area buying the equipment for my cleaning business years ago. It's called a "side trip" haha.

[bobbbiez]

Sure remember because they're my cousins. Freddie B., another cousin worked the bar most of the time and his wife Jeanie was another waitess in the back room. Cookie, their daughter still lives across the street from the rest. building on Erie Street. Sad to say, but almost all of them have passed on. My Dad use to bartend there also but mostly on weekends. The best Polish homemade food in the area. Their famous mushroom stew made one of the national women's magazine years ago.

The Patio in the winter months has much shorter hours and open less days now. Tony and Gloria spend their winters in Florida and their son, Anthony, runs the place in their absence. He doesn't want the long hours his parents usually have. Actually, they were thinking of closing for this past winter and just reopening back up in the spring but Anthony decided to keep it open.
Tony and Gloria returned from Florida a little earlier this year so I got to see them on my trips recently and naturally fed my face while I visited with them all. ;D

[Disgusted-Daily]

I remember a guy that worked for the Auxiliary PD. He drove a van with the lights and was at all the accidents. I remember one night a car did not see him and hit him. I remember stopping because his face was all bloody and tried to assist but he told me that help was on the way. I don't remember him looking like Ralph, he was allot heavier.

Does anybody remember him? Clipper maybe as a EMT you responded to help him.

[frankcor]

I'm here late. I was expecting a discussion about a taser incident. But wow!

Ralph, your "rant" was one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever read. I didn't see any bitterness in it. Rather, I saw incredible strength, pride of accomplishment and frustration with failure. It can not be easy to realize that no one could be strong enough to stop an unstoppable object. You deserve better. I believe you will find it.

[Ralph]

Todd, I believe the person you are referring to is "Doc". Don't remember his real name, he's been in the Aux. PD for years though.
Still driving a van with more lights than a Christmas tree and as arrogant as ever.

A number of years ago I was going down into a fire scene that was next to where my the wife and my kids were living. The PD car backed up to let me in but he refused to let me pass. My buddies in the PD car told him the best thing he could do whenever he saw me coming was to get the hell out of the way and leave me alone.
Hasn't bothered me since!!!

Frank, I don't "toot my own horn" very often, very loud or very long.
But I truly believe that for those of my generation, the last great hope they could ever have had for Cornhill will be gone when I leave.....already gone as far as anyone knows.

As the great Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said; "It makes no difference if you drive the Emperors cart or pick-up after the horse that pulls it, you should do so with enthusiasm and the utmost virtue of heart"

I believe I did, so do my wife and my children. That is all that matters to me.

Those that worked with me knew my dedication. A few I worked closely with on the PD actually forked out their own money and had a gold badge made for me when I was Coordinator.
I carry that with me all the time, it is a reminder of what one can lose when they are invested to fully into one thing.
And a reminder of those that thought I might be able to pull off what others could not.

I always tend to think of Robert Kennedy's quote: There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why......... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?

You did strike on a point I have tried to make with many people though; failure.

Though I have debated this issue with a lot of folks, very few are willing to point that out......I did fail. And that means more to me than it would have if I almost did something.
Few people understand that, but the fact remains that in "the game" I lost. Granted that I tried and all that stuff, but you never hear about the person that was almost a great politician, almost a great leader, etc.

I would rather be known for someone that tried and failed at the attempt, than someone that almost did something.

There is virtue in success and virtue in failure........it shows a lesson taught or a lesson learned.

The middle of the road leads nowhere.


For the next generation............look at Larry Tanoury Jr. He has a good head on his shoulders and his heart is in the right place.
I truly believe he will make his mark here and surprise a lot of people.
Mostly himself!

[frankcor]

Ralph, in my first job out of college, I worked as a mechanical engineer for Revere in Rome developing and designing new products for solar energy systems. One of my first ideas was a way to make solar air heaters more efficient. On paper it looked great and I was told to go ahead and build a prototype. It took me several weeks, during which I working ridiculous hours and even skipped meals.

I was sheering and bending and soldering sheet copper: all things I had to learn how to do at the start. I also inflicted cuts and burns and bruises to my fingers -- it was like arts and crafts on steroids. When the model was finished, I put it on the test bed (oh, I had to design and build a test bed too) and began running my tests.

At first, I doubted my instrumentation but soon it became evident, the results were a complete failure. My improvements used more energy than they produced. I was really bummed. When I reported the results to my boss, he recognized my disappointment and my fear of losing my job. He told me "Frank, you only get one good idea in every ten. That means that every time you have a bad idea, that just puts you one closer to the good idea. Now get your ass back to work."

Looking back at it now, my failed experiment taught me a great deal about metal working; skills that I still possess today. My task, however, was minuscule compared to what you endeavored. Paradigm shifts are epic tasks, tantamount to Hercules cleaning the Augean stables in one day. I'd wager they have a higher ratio of failures to successes than 10:1.

That also means you must have gained a tremendous amount from the attempt. It doesn't make sense to consider a positive experience as a negative one. I think it's plain to see you gave it one heck of a good shot. Walk tall, Ralph.

[Clipper]

Yep Todd, that was doc. He was even a bigger pain in the ass than Goerge was. Doc thought he was one step above the police chief, and a 1/2 step below God himself. His van needed no horn, because his mouth announced his coming, everywhere he went.

If I remember correctly, Goerge didn't drive a van. He had a pickup loaded with city barricades and all sorts of miscellaneous crap. It was a long time ago, and I am not sure anymore. Hell, I thought I knew Ralph from the Patio, and he says he never hung out there, haha. (Boy, he don't know what he is missing with the chili dogs)

Ralph, you are simply a salmon swimming into the current, and becoming tired of swimming. One can only maintain enthusiasm for just so long, before they realize that they are fighting a battle that they can't win alone. The sad thing is that whenever you began to make forward progress, someone simply opened the flood gates a little farther and washed you back downstream.

You speak of your failures? We all fail at one time or another in our lives. You should concentrate you thoughts on your successes. You accomplished much for the community, even though you failed to be elected to city office.

Don't focus on the things "you almost accomplished, but failed", focus on the things you DID accomplish and the respect and gratitude of the people that were positively affected. No sense in focusing on the failure to climb the "political ladder". Utica politics is the only place where "climbing" the political ladder, equates to descending into corruption, rather than "ascent" or upward movement.

For those of us that know you, and care about you, you will always be thought of with respect and love, and remembered for your victories, not your defeats. The GOOD people of Cornhill, will always remember you fondly.

When you do move, we will miss you, and it will be a sad day, and the end of an era for Utica.

[Disgusted-Daily]

I don't know if "Doc" was his name but Ralph's description "Still driving a van with more lights than a Christmas tree and as arrogant as ever" or Clipper's description "he was one step above the police chief, and a 1/2 step below God himself". Yep that sounds like him, we eventually used to laugh at him because he really thought he was something. Did he even have any authority?

[Ralph]

Doc is part of the higher echelon of the Aux PD......which is as useless as can be. They use them for traffic control during parades because they're cheaper than buying more barricades.

Doc doesn't have any "real" authority that I am aware of.

Other than being a PIA!!!