A City of Batavia sidewalk plow has rolled over on Walnut Street near Law.

A car is reportedly on its side in the area of 5860 Clinton St. Road, Batavia.

There are reportedly injuries.

UPDATE 10:40 p.m.: Stafford Fire is responding.  One older woman is trapped in the car. It's unknown if she's injured.

UPDATE 11:05 p.m.: "Victim extricated." Previously, Mercy Flight was dispatched and then cancelled.

UPDATE 11:21 p.m.: The driver is being transported to Strong Memorial Hospital by Mercy EMS. 

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A car has hit a pole and wires are down in the area of 7797 Oak Orchard Road (Route 98).

Minor injuries are reported.

Mercy EMS and Town of Batavia Fire have been dispatched.

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Meet Anne Lithiluxa, your local reporter for the television station  YNN ( Your News Now) of Rochester.

Anne is the new local reporter for YNN. Anne is seen above interviewing Paul and Bridget Ohlson, Founders of Care-A-Van Ministries after the morning out in the cold. Anne heard about Care-A-Van Ministries and came out this morning to do a live special on the great things that  Care-A-Van, the Lord and the folks here in Batavia are doing.  She traveled along with the bus over to Central Avenue where 30 famlies received groceries.

Anne's special story on Care-A-Van will be shown live on YNN News this evening, Saturday, January 9th. Time Warner Cable Subcribers can view the story on YNN. The stations will vary depending on your geographical area.  My understanding is that the story will be shown for 24 hours on YNN.

Please give Anne a warm hearty welcome to the city.

A special thanks to  Anne  and YNN for coming out this morning and showing how the people in Batavia go forth to make a difference to help others in need.

The 24 Hour Hotline for YNN is 1-888-278-9889

Last night, the Lady Irish took the Batavia Rotary Club Basketball Tournament Championship over Pavilion, 48-29.

Notre Dame is now 7-1.

MVP Nichole Hart scored 19 points. Liz Geandreau scored 8 and Hannah Scott-McGrail netted 11.

For Pavilion, Amie Brooks, 8 and Erin Cleveland scored 6.

The All Tournament team: Geandreau, Scott-McGrail, Brooks, Chelsea Turcer from Alexander and Hart.

More pictures after the jump:

During the half time of last nights finals in the Batavia Rotary Girls Basketball Tournament, 6th graders from St. Joseph School and Pavilion matched up in a game of their own.

More pictures after the jump:

An Erie County man has been accused of selling narcotics to a Genesee County undercover agent.

John L. Tillman, 34, of 87 Phyllis Ave., Buffalo, was picked up by the Erie County Warrants Office and turned over to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office today.

Tillman is charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance 3rd and criminal possession of a controlled substance 3rd.

The Genesee County Local Drug Enforcement Task Force received a sealed indictment against Tillman after he allegedly sold crack cocaine in the City of Batavia to an undercover agent.

Tillman was arraigned in Genesee County Court and jailed without bail.

A two-vehicle accident with injuries is snarling rush-hour traffic on Main Street. The accident occurred in front of Denny's on West Main and one of the vehicles is said to have heavy front-end damage.

No word yet on injuries. Medics and tow trucks have been called to the scene.

A 20-year-old Stafford man has been arrested following an investigation into the theft of more than $7,000 worth of construction tools in 2008.

John R. Testa, of 6005 Bartof Road, was arrested Wednesday by the Genesee County Sheriff's Office and charged with one count of criminal possession of stolen property in the 3rd degree, a class D felony.

He is accused of allegedly taking about $7,331 in tools reported stolen from trailers at the Lowe's construction site on Veteran's Memorial Drive in Batavia. The goods were believed to have been taken during the night hours June 25 - 26, 2008.

The tools were allegedly found in Testa's possession on July 1, 2008 at a location in the Town of Stafford. They were recovered by the Sheriff's Office, with the exception of two saw-alls and a cordless drill, which are still missing.

Testa was arraigned before Stafford Town Justice Call and released under the supervision of Genesee Justice. His next court date is set for 1 p.m. on Feb. 2.

Investigator Timothy Weis handled the case, with assistance from Deputy Daniel Vanvalkenburg and Deputy Ronald Meides.

 One of our Facebook Fans sent us a picture of the building on the corner of Ellicott St. and Otis St.

Below is a picture of the building according to Google Street view from 2008, and next to it the 1932 snap shot.

Marie Pappalardo McMullen says "If you drive by, look up top, Grandfather even put our name there 'Pappalardo'."

Batavia-based Graham Corporation is bouncing back from the economic downturn, CEO James R. Lines told the Buffalo News.

The company has recently booked $37 million in orders and that revenue should start hitting the books by the fall.

“We believe that sales over the next few quarters will continue to reflect the sporadic nature of order receipt that began over a year ago,” Lines said. “We also believe this should be the bottom of the cycle for us.”

Graham still expects its sales during the fiscal year that ends in March to be between $60 million and $65 million, down from its record sales of $101 million the year before.

The Old Care-A-Van

Next came the Rescue van, then the bus

Happy New Year to all! It is time to get back in the writing business for the Lord. I had a great Christmas holiday, as I hope all of you did.

It is a new year, a new year for new beginnings. 2009 was an awesome year for Care-A-Van Ministries! Do you know that all of you helped feed groceries to 1,648 families with a total of family members of... are you ready……. drum roll please…………………

4,327 people! Now, I don’t know about you but that blows my socks off!

You are all so awesome! In this past year, we also were blessed to have the Care-A-Van band formed.  It is hard to believe that in 2010, Care-A-Van will be celebrating its 10^th year anniversary of serving the Lord!

This past Saturday, we were at Batavia Gardens. It was just like the olden days, as the bus would not start, so the Rescue van had to be used for grocery distribution.

I was running a bit late and well, I did not quite dress the for occasion thinking we would have the bus... wrong... it was a bit windy and chilly. I think like the temperature was 10 degrees out! It just blows my mind, to think for years that Paul and Bridget and the volunteers stood out in the cold winters with the van! The Lord fed 21 families with 33 family members on that brisk morning.

There were many miracles and blessings in 2009. We hope you have enjoyed reading about them through the newsletter. Oh yes, that was another start for the ministry was the blessing of the newsletter and that we are starting to get a little more technically blessed. We have joined face book as well. If you have not become a fan yet please do so at http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard/#/pages/Care-A-Van-Ministries/127777628998?ref=mf

The Lord has 96 fans so far! We share a lot of photos and stories there as well.

We continue to pray and seek the Lord as to what he shall have the ministry do in 2010.  Our mission from day one has been to take the good news of the gospel to the streets. 

We are very thankful for all of you, the churches, pastors, families, friends and volunteers that have helped do the Lord’s work in seeking the lost and serving those in need.

Batavia is a big city. Now mind you, remember I have shared that I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, amongst the mountains. There are many people here that do not know who the Lord is. There are many that are still struggling to do life on their own and continuing to live in the muck and mire of life.

I will leave you with this thought. Have you thought about and prayed about how the Lord may want to use you in this New Year? Why not have 2010 be the year that you step out and come to the streets with Care-A-Van Ministries. There is place here waiting for you, no matter what talent or special gift God has blessed you with. I  have found when we step out in faith, take the focus off of ourselves, God will open doors and blessings for us that one could never imagine!

Ok, with being the PR director, I think it will be ok for me to write this thought.

May the Lord bless Paul and Bridget Ohlson during this coming year. May the Lord continue to bless Care-A-Van Ministries in 2010. May the Lord expand and show his 2010 vision to all. 

May we all celebrate in the 10^th year anniversary of the ministry. (The official month is May... but hey, I don’t know about you, but I like to get an early start on celebrations! hmm does that include cake each month. I sure hope not! Instead of the Care-A-Van, a few of us call it the Calorie van! There is always good treats and snacks to be found on the bus. But most importantly, our Lord and Savior Jesus is there waiting for each and every soul.

God Bless and Keep the Light On!

Wanted by the Genesee County Sheriff's Office: Gene S. Schmidt. The Sheriff's Office has two warrants for Schmidt: Alleged violation of probation and alleged harassment 2nd. Any information on his whereabouts can be provided to the Sheriff's Office at (585) 343-5000.

Jeffery Owen Coats, 45, of 10553 Bethany Center Road, Bethany, is charged with stalking 4th. Coats is accused to sending text messages to his ex-wife after State Police ordered him to stop texting her.

A 16-year-old from Batavia has been charged with menacing 2nd. The boy is accused of brandishing a large kitchen knife during a domestic dispute.

Pavilion beat Batavia 52-25 in game two of the Batavia Rotary Girls Basketball Tournament last night at GCC.  Pavilion moves to 6-0.

For Pavilion, Amie Brooks scored 21 points. Danielle Tallo added 9.

For Batavia, Michelle Jordan scored 6 points and Lashonna Mims added 5.

More pictures after the jump:

Notre Dame (7-1) beat Alexander 56-43 in game one of the Batavia Rotary Girls Basketball Tournament.

Liz Geandreau scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds for Notre Dame. Trish Pike had 12 points, five rebounds and three steals.

For Alexander, Anna Dominick scored 17 points and Chelsea Turcer added 11.

This was the first appearance for Alexander in the annual tournament.

More pictures after the jump:

It's a big question that figures into any conversation people have about business in Downtown Batavia -- what's the future of Latina's Market?

The empty hulk on Jackson and Ellicott sits like a concrete elephant that obscures any notion of increasing Downtown's business vibrancy.

And conventional wisdom around town is that a trio of lawyers in Buffalo owns it and has no intention of doing anything with it -- they're happy to just let it sit.

"That's (bunk)," said co-owner Vito Gautieri during an interview today. 

Local business man Gautieri is a co-owner and broker of the building that has served as a location for Montgomery Ward, Super Duper and Jubilee as well as Latina's over the past 20 years.

Gautieri said he's trying to lease or sell the 40,000 square foot building (which also has 11,000 square feet of office space above the retail floor).

"We've been spending tons of money trying to find a buyer," Gautieri said. "We've showed it 10 or 12 times in the past year. "

Gautieri's partners are indeed a group of lawyers in Buffalo, but he said they are just as anxious as anybody else to see the building sold or leased.

Don Burkle, director of the Batavia Improvement District, said it's good news if the owners are indeed trying to sell the building, but he's been unaware of any effort to sell or lease the building and that there's never been any response from the current ownership whenever the BID has referred potential buyers.

The BID is very interested in seeing a grocery store go into the location, or maybe it could serve as a retail business incubator, or perhaps a hotel and convention center could be built on the location -- anything that would help downtown would interest the BID, Burkle said.

"(The building) has a lot of potential and any grocery store in that location would certainly enhance downtown," Burkle said.

Gauiteri said the asking price on the location is $1.8 million.

In 2008, the property was assessed at $700,000.

One obvious potential buyer is Ken Mistler, who just opened a new gym and a coffee shop at the corner of Main and Jackson and has a history of buying downtown buildings -- he owns 10 now -- and renovating them.

Both Gauiteri and Mistler confirmed they've talked about the building, but it doesn't sound like there are any ongoing negotiations.

Mistler said he's both concerned about the vacant building and, now that his gym is open, wonders what will happen to parking if anything is opened in that location.

"That's a big vacancy and any possible business that might want to come Downtown looks at that big vacant building and starts asking why?" Mislter said in between signing up new gym memberships this afternoon. "We know it has a negative impact on Downtown when it's such a massive location and it's empty. But I also think, what if it is filled? What is the city going to do about parking? Did you see the parking lot last night -- people were parking down by South Beach and we (the gym) opened only four days ago."

Several weeks ago, I ran into local musician Bill McDonald in the parking lot at Tops, and as it usually does, our conversation ranged from music to all things local. He asked me if I had ever seen the paintings of old Downtown Batavia in the Genesee County Nursing Home. I didn't even know about them.

So yesterday, since I needed to stop by the nursing home anyway, I decided to make a special point of seeking out the paintings and taking a couple of pictures.

The paintings are truly stunning and great art. I'm sure they would be especially appreciated by anybody who remembers Batavia as it once was.

They are the work Patricia Burr, an artist from Elba.

I believe there are eight panels total (forgot to take an exact count). Above is a detail of one panel and two more panels below. 

I'm not sure how the staff at the home would feel about a bunch of people showing up to gaze at the paintings, but they are worth the trip.

The Genesee County Department of Social Services reports that a former Batavia resident, Alexis Oberlander, now residing in Buffalo, was sentenced in Genesee County Court on Monday on welfare fraud charges.

She bilked the Genesee County Department of Social Services out of $60,523.50 and was sentenced as a second-felony offender and will serve one-and-a-half to 3 years in prison.

The case has a long history.

Oberlander was originally arrested on March 23, 2006 and charged and convicted in December 2006 on 12 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 1st Degree and one count of Grand Larceny in the 2nd Degree.

She filed an appeal and was given a stay on her sentence. In March 2009 the Appellate Division overturned 12 of the 13 counts and granted her a new trial on the remaining count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 1st Degree.

After a jury trial, she was convicted last August of one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 1st Degree.

Anyone wishing to report suspected cases of Welfare Fraud in Genesee County can contact the Genesee County Department of Social Services at (585) 344-2580 ext 6417 or 6416. All calls are confidential.

Patti Pacino said she showed up to City Hall 10 minutes early this morning ... just to make sure.

Pacino, who said she thought last night's Council meeting was at the usual 7 p.m., missed the 6 p.m. meeting where she was slated to take the oath of office.

So Pacino was sworn in at 9 a.m. by Deputy Clerk Aimslee Cassidy.

The long-time community activist replaces Marianne Clattenburg, who was elected to an at-large seat in November.