Press release:

The Batavia City School District is dedicated to providing all students with the educational foundation necessary to succeed in school and in life. To ensure your child's success, we have set high standards that are reflected in what is taught in our classrooms.

We would like to get your feedback about our district. We will use the information provided by all stakeholders in future plans and are asking you to complete the Family Engagement Survey by November 30, 2014. We want to hear your voice regarding Batavia's educational program. Please complete the survey at the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8XV7LLC

Your input is valued and we thank you for taking time to share your thoughts, ideas and aspirations for the Batavia City School District.

Press release:

Effective immediately, the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office is lifting the Travel Advisory for the towns of Darien, Alexander, Bethany and Pavilion.

At this time, there are no travel advisories or travel bans in Genesee County.

A segment from The Batavian's news partner 13WHAM focuses on the high call volume to the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center over the past couple of days.

On average the dispatch center receives 575 calls in a 24-hour period. Those numbers nearly tripled during Tuesday's snow storm to 1,550 calls.

On Thursday, they received nearly a day's worth of calls in half the time. Senior Emergency Services Dispatcher Jason Holman said:

"We dealt with a lot of vehicles off the road, vehicles that were stuck, motorists who were stranded in their vehicles. So the snow has caused a hazard to the folks out there.

"...The increase in mental stress, mental fatigue is something that we're working with and through, and like I said, we're more than capable of doing that and happy to do our part."

From the National Weather Service:

...FLOODING POSSIBLE EARLY NEXT WEEK... TWO SIGNIFICANT LAKE EFFECT SNOW EVENTS THIS WEEK HAVE BROUGHT A VERY DEEP SNOWPACK ACROSS PORTIONS OF WESTERN NEW YORK. THIS SNOWPACK NOW STORES A LARGE QUANTITY OF WATER. AFTER THE LAKE EFFECT SNOW ENDS...A WARMING TREND IS EXPECTED TO START EARLY THIS WEEKEND. BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON AIR TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. DAYTIME HIGHS WILL RISE TO NEAR 50 F DEGREES ON SUNDAY...AND NEAR 60 F DEGREES ON MONDAY. IN ADDITION TO THE WARMING AIR TEMPERATURES...A SOUTHERLY BREEZE AND RISING DEW POINTS WILL MAKE FOR A MORE EFFICIENT MELTING OF THE SNOWPACK.

AT FIRST THE SNOWPACK WILL ABSORB MUCH OF THE WATER FROM THE SNOW MELT. HOWEVER AS THE SNOWPACK RIPENS...AND WITH THE ADDITION OF A HALF INCH OR SO OF RAINFALL SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING WILL RAPIDLY INCREASE.

PEOPLE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING...AND WHERE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW FELL SHOULD TAKE TIME IN ADVANCE OF THE WARMING TO PREPARE FOR THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT FLOODING EARLY NEXT WEEK. IN ADDITION TO CREEKS AND SMALL STREAMS FLOODING THEIR BANKS...WIDESPREAD FLOODING IS POSSIBLE ACROSS TOWNS WHERE SEVERAL FEET OF SNOW FELL.

...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS ISSUED A

* FLOOD WATCH FOR A PORTION OF WESTERN NEW YORK...INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...GENESEE...NORTHERN ERIE...SOUTHERN ERIE AND WYOMING. THIS ESPECIALLY INCLUDES THE BUFFALO METRO AREA.

* FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING.

* SNOW MELT FROM THE RECENT SIGNIFICANT LAKE EFFECT SNOW EVENTS COMBINED WITH RAINFALL EARLY NEXT WEEK WILL BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING.

* SMALLER STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL BE PRONE TO FLOODING FROM SNOW MELT. THIS WILL INCLUDE THE CREEKS THAT FLOW THROUGH THE BUFFALO METRO AREA. TOWNS THAT RECEIVED SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW WILL ALSO HAVE POTENTIAL FOR URBAN FLOODING FROM THE SNOW MELT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON CURRENT FORECASTS. YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE FLOOD WARNINGS. THOSE LIVING IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLOODING DEVELOP. STAY TUNED TO WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER RADIO AND TV STATIONS FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.

Bernie Thompson and Steve Ognibene face off in a Southside snow blower battle. (Submitted by Steve Ognibene)

Below are some pictures from Le Roy from Rob Radley.

Finally, with perhaps too much time on his hands while snowed in, Bob Trombley rewrote the lyrics to Simon and Garfunkel's "America."

Let us be Eskimos, we'll build our igloos together/ I've got some hand warmers here in my bag.

So we bought pack of rock salt and tops store made pies and walked off to look for Batavia. "Snovember" I said, as we snowboarded along the way in Oakfield, Corfu seems like a dream to me now.

It took me 4 days to clear off my windshield "I've come to look for Batavia."

Laughing in our igloos, playing games with the muckdogs, she said the man in the snow suit was a good guy.

I said "be careful, his snow plow is really buried."

"Toss me a shovel, I think there's one on my front step." We broke the last one an hour ago."

So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine; and the snow fell over an open field. "Kathy, they're lost" I said as the news trucks were live streaming. "Facebook and Twitter are hashtagging silly snow names and I don't know why."

Counting the cars on the New York State Thruway, they've all come to look for Batavia, all come to look for Batavia, all come to look for Batavia.

Local photographer Steve Ognibene shared these pictures with of some snow scenes in Batavia today.

The Batavian's news partner, 13WHAM reports on the Le Roy Airport and a $300,000 grant the facility received for upgrades and improvements:

Airport owner and manager Ray Detour took us onto the runway to show us the blue runway lights that have been replaced for the first time in 15 years. He showed us other improvements -- including new visual guidance systems to help small planes land safely.

"You don't have a light that's 15 years old in your car, do you?" said Detour. "Well here at the airport we do and that's why we're replacing them."

It is part of a $300,000 upgrade to the airport that was once a farmer's field. "We're held to the same standards as Rochester's (airport), safe passage, plowed runways, lights that are working," said Detour.

In this case, public money is funding repairs at a private airport which houses 22 small planes. The grant application to get the money says there are -- on average -- 40 takeoffs or landings at the Le Roy airport per day.

A 24-year-old Oakfield woman is being held on $25,000 bail after being accused of robbing a pharmacy this afternoon.

Elizabeth Marie Hamby, 24, of Forest Avenue, is charged with first-degree robbery as well as second-degree robbery.

Hamby is the person initially taken into custody this afternoon after local law enforcement was notified of the robbery.

She reportedly fled from the pharmacy on Main Street in Oakfield to a house less than a block away on Forest Avenue.

A witness saw her leave and go to that location.

A clerk at the pharmacy reportedly suffered minor fingernail cuts in a scuffle with the suspect.

Hamby allegedly made off with $400.

Investigators say Hamby entered the pharmacy and appeared to be shopping for a while and then approached the clerk, displaying what appeared to be a pistol and a knife. She allegedly demanded money.

Deputies and troopers quickly responded to the scene and surrounded the house where the suspect was believed to be hiding.

She's scheduled to appear in Town of Oakfield Court again at 2 p.m., Nov. 26.

Three men in Elba are accused of forcibly raping a young woman at their home on Oak Orchard Road on Saturday night.

The men are charged with rape in the first degree and were jailed on $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond.

All three men were out of federal custody on bail after previously being charged with being in the country illegally, said Investigator Kris Kautz.

Kautz said the victim was a young woman with ties to the migrant labor community in the Elba area. She didn't know the three men, but had seen them around. She had gone to their home because an acquaintance was visiting there and called and asked for a ride home.

When the alleged victim arrived, she tried to get her friend to come out of the house, Kautz said, both by yelling inside and trying to reach her on her phone.

When the friend didn't come out, she went in and that's when things went bad, Kautz said.

Only one of the men spoke a little English, so agents from Immigration and Custom Enforcement were called in to assist in the investigation and translate.

Arrested were Santiago Hernandez-Ruiz, 19, Darwin Zuniga-Rocha, 29, and Eliseo Mateo-Perez, 20.

Deputy Dana Richardson assisted in the investigation.

Also arrested at the same location as a result of the investigation was Catalino Lopez-Leiba, 43, who was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument, 2nd. Lopez-Leiba allegedly possessed a forged Social Security card.

Press release: 

“President Obama’s executive action demonstrates there is a critical need to act on immigration reform, but it is not the long-term solution that New York’s farmers have called for to deal with the existing labor shortage. That action must come from Congress. Our farms must have both a flexible visa program to address the seasonal workforce needs that are required to pick fruits and vegetables, along with provisions that allow skilled workers already here to earn an adjustment in their status and remain working in New York.

This is a food security issue for our country. Without a legal, stable workforce willing to work in agriculture, our farms will continue to face a growing problem of being unable to provide enough healthy, safe food to our people. The alternative will be a greater reliance on foreign imports to feed ourselves,” said Dean Norton, New York Farm Bureau president.

NOTE: Jurors are instructed by Judge Robert C. Noonan not to read media accounts of the trial. This story contains information not available to jurors. Certainly, no jurors should read the story nor should the case be discussed with jurors.

There's no physical evidence putting a gun in the hand of Dashawn Butler the night shots rang out on State Street 14 months ago, defense attorney Thomas Burns told jurors during opening arguments today in a criminal trial in Genesee County Court.

Three witnesses testified before jurors were sent home for the day, but the most unusual moment of the case came when one of the witnesses scheduled to take the stand refused to testify.

In his opening statement, Burns told jurors that there were no shell casings, no bullet holes in any building or car, no victim shot, nothing to demonstrate clearly that Butler either possessed or fired a gun the night of Sept. 27, 2013.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman kept his opening remarks brief -- to match the briefness of the incident that allegedly took place on State Street in Batavia.

"When all is said and done, through the use of common sense and the collective experience you have in the world to evaluate evidence, you will find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of these crimes," Friedman said.

Butler is charged with attempted assault, attempt to cause serious physical injury, and criminal possession of a weapon.

The charges stem from an incident near 117 State St. when gunshots were reportedly fired at a person standing on the sidewalk.

Butler was named as a suspect not long after the shooting and a warrant was issued for his arrest. It took several months to locate him before he was arrested.

Called to the stand today were Julie Ann Carasone, a resident of State Street, Lisa Strong, a former State Street resident now living in Oakfield, Tracy Leubner, a former girlfriend of Butler's, and Kelly Rhim, the purported target of the alleged gun fire.

The case was moving along briskly, after a late start because of a juror's mistaken belief that court was closed today, until it came time to call Leubner, the third witness of the day, to the stand.

When Friedman went into the hall to retrieve the witness, he wasn't heard from for a minute or two, and then he stuck his head in the door and told Judge Robert C. Noonan that it would be another minute.

As the minutes ticked by, a woman could be heard sobbing outside the courtroom.

After at least 10 minutes of waiting, Noonan sent the jury into recess and Friedman entered and said that his witness, Tracy Leubner, was refusing to testify. Friedman held a document that he said was a police report detailing how Leubner had been threatened by a man whom he believed is an associate of Butler's.

Leubner is reportedly an ex-girlfriend of Butler's and has knowledge of both the incident Sept. 27 and Butler's purported gang ties.

In lieu of Leubner's testimony, Friedman requested using the transcript of her grand jury testimony.

Burns objected on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to make his client culpable in the alleged threats, and at the least, there should be a hearing on the matter to establish such evidence. The case in point, Burns said, was People vs. Smart.

That case (and previous cases) establishes that a criminal defendant surrenders his right to confront witnesses against him if the defendant threatens the witness.

With the jury out of the room, Friedman called Det. Thad Mart, with Batavia PD. Mart was involved in the criminal investigation against Butler, did the initial interview with Leubner, served a subpoena on her Nov. 7, and retrieved her from her home this morning.

Leubner had to be coaxed out of her house and to the court building, Mart testified.

He claimed that Leubner had told him that when she lived with Butler, Butler used to beat her. The detective said that she told him previously she had been tricked into attending a party hosted by Butler at a residence on Holland Avenue. At the party, according to Mart, Butler confronted Leubner and said he would have "kicked the sh--" out of her if he had known about her grand jury testimony, and that he would "kick the sh--" out of her if she testified at trial.

Mart testified that a third party also contacted Leubner and threatened her.

"He told her he heard that she had snitched on Butler," Mart said. "She denied this and he went on and said that he found out she had snitched on him. He said that if Butler wanted her dead, he would be willing to take care of it himself."

During cross examination, Burns asked Mart questions about any follow-up investigation and Mart said he didn't talk with the third party and never confirmed that Butler and this other person even knew each other.

After a lunch break, Burns called witness Gina Bell to the stand.

Bell testified that she was friends with both Leubner and Butler. She was at this trial, in fact, in support of Butler. She said she was also friends with the alleged intended victim of the reported shooting, Kelly Rhim.

Contrary to Mart's testimony, Bell said that it was Leubner's idea to go to the party on Holland Avenue. Bell didn't even know about the party, she said, until Leubner invited her.

She testified that there was no apparent conflict between Leubner and Butler at the party, though she admitted she wasn't with either of them throughout the evening, and that Leubner didn't seem distressed or bothered after coming by Butler's house once she left the party.

"She seemed fine," Bell said. "She seemed like she had a good night. She was happy. She said nothing about any problems at the party."

Bell also said that in all the time she's known Leubner, Leubner never gave any indication that Butler ever harmed her.

Noonan ruled that there was sufficient evidence that Butler was involved in threats against Leubner and the grand jury transcript could be read to the jury. He said the only thing Bell's testimony established was whose idea it was to go to the party, which wasn't material to the substance of establishing why Leubner was unwilling to testify. He said nothing in her testimony directly refuted the alleged threats against Leubner.

To read Leubner's testimony, Friedman read the questions he asked in front of the grand jury and the Assistant District Attorney sat in the witness stand and read Leubner's answers.

She testified before the grand jury that somebody supplied Butler with a small, black handgun prior to the shooting. It was a revolver, she said (which wouldn't leave behind shell casings).

She said that Butler heard some people arguing near 117 State St., and then he heard his name mentioned. She said that a person was calling Butler a fake, a phony.

"'You want to see fake,'" she said Butler said. "He pulled out a gun and proceeded to shoot the man."

She later clarified that she meant to say that Butler shot at the man.

She said she heard four or five shots and then the gun jammed.

Later, at a residence in the city, Butler told a friend, she said, to flush the spent shells down the toilet.

"Dashawn was talking with friends about the gun jamming," she reportedly told the grand jury. "He was upset because he thought the bullets might be too big or something."

It was then that the subject came up that perhaps the bullets were blanks.

It was the only explanation Butler could think of, she said, for why Butler missed the person standing in front of him.

"He didn't understand why he missed," she reportedly said. "He said he was aiming right at him and if it was actual ammunition he wouldn't have missed."

Testifying in the afternoon was Kelly Rhim, the person Butler is accused of intending to shoot.

He said he's known Butler since about 2001 or 2002 and they're nearly the same age.

The night of the alleged shooting, Rhim said he went to his aunt's house at 117 State St. to pick up some CDs. He said he had recently moved to Buffalo and that he worked as a DJ and needed the CDs for a gig later that night.

He arrived on State at about 10:30 p.m. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law.

There were two people on the porch and Rhim and the other two people had words.

The group had a confrontation the night before, Rhim said.

Rhim was upset because one of the men, he said, had been going around telling people that Rhim had been in town the night before with a group of gang members from Buffalo.

"They're not even close to gang members," Rhim said.

He then saw Butler run up from behind the house with a youth.

He said Butler accused him of saying that he, Butler, was fake.

"We fake now. We fake now," he said Butler screamed.

Rhim said, he replied, "Yes, you're fake. You're recruiting a bunch of teenagers to be part of all that B.S."

He said Butler then pulled out a gun and told him to back up.

"I just stood there," Rhim said. "I never moved. He shot three times. I started feeling myself, because I watch a lot of crime shows on TV, to make sure if I was hit or not. I wasn't sure if I was struck or not."

He was talking fast and the court reporter couldn't keep up.

He repeated, "I watch a lot of crime shows. You're not supposed to move if you think you've been hit by a bullet."

He said he couldn't believe what just happened.

"I was shocked because I've been living in Batavia since '85," Rhim said. "That kind of violence doesn't go on here, period."

He said Butler ran off after firing the three shots. He then left with his brother-in-law and drove to Ri-Dans, a bar on West Main Street Road, where they had some drinks.

During cross, Rhim said he never saw a gun, just "flashes of light" coming from Butler's sleeve.

He admitted later that he was arrested for DWI that night and later convicted in Town of Batavia Court of the charge.

He said he didn't have anything to drink prior to driving to State Street in his brother-in-law's white Cadillac and having the alleged confrontation.

After Ri-Dans, he and his brother-in-law sat in the Caddy and lit up a blunt, he testified.

“After I got shot at I smoked some weed,” he said, rolling his eyes and looking as if any reasonable person would have done the same thing.

His previous convictions over the past decade include disorderly conduct (twice), criminal sale of a controlled substance and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

During cross examination, Rhim also conceded that he was driving that evening without a license, which was suspended because of late child support payments.

After leaving the bar, sometime after 2 a.m., he was pulled over so Sheriff’s deputies could asked him about the State Street incident. He said nine deputies with nine guns drawn descended on him and his brother-in-law and had them lie down on the ground. He said one of them asked him who he shot.

He said he didn’t shoot anyone and there was no gun on the two men or in the vehicle. He was found, however, to be intoxicated and was arrested for DWI. Officers found one “dime bag” of weed on him (enough to roll three blunts he says) and nine more “in the console” of the vehicle.

Continuing with questions possibly intended to cast the prosecution's witness as having less than sterling character, Burns then asked Rhim if had been arrested for allegedly stealing meat from Top’s Market. The case is still pending.

“It was not no meat. It was $240 worth of stuff,” the witness said. “Roses for my mom’s tombstone, paper goods and stuff. I thought I lost my money. I backtracked out the store and before you know it I was outside the store at my car.”

He claims his clarity of mind had been affected by medication he had been given for an abscess, which made him “disoriented and delusional.”

But going back to the matter on trial -- whether Dashawn Butler used a gun to try and shoot Rhim on Sept. 27, 2013 -- the witness stood by his testimony, even though it varied from what he had signed in a sworn statement to Batavia PD.

“They switched the words on me,” he told the jurors.

Burns asked if he remembered telling police that the incident with Butler was related to something posted on Facebook.

He replied that he never said the derogatory remarks about him on Facebook came from Butler. He said he doesn’t know who posted them.

Lastly, Burns asked him if he remembers telling officers when they pulled him over after he left the bar, “You don’t know what the f--k you’re getting into.”

No, the witness said, “They were making things up.”

State Street resident Julie Ann Carasone testified that she was in her daughter's room watching "Law & Order" while her daughter and a friend played a game on the Xbox hooked up to the living room TV when she heard the possible gunshots.

"I heard somebody say, 'get down mother f--ker, get down mother f--ker' and then I heard, pop-pop-pop, and I thought 'oh, my God, it's gunshots,' " Carasone said. "I turned down the TV to make sure it wasn't on TV and then I heard a female saying, 'I can't believe you shot him.' "

She said she ushered the children into the bathtub, thinking they would be safer there if there were any more shots fired, and called 9-1-1.

Asked how she recognized the sound of gunshots, she said her father was a military veteran and the family spent a lot of time on military bases, near firing ranges, and that her father had taught her about guns.

Lisa Strong testified that she was sitting on her porch smoking a cigarette five doors down from 117 State St. when she heard what sounded like people arguing. She heard the gunshots and then saw a white car, possibly a Cadillac, speed away. She said from two to six people then ran in various directions.

She did not call police. She went in her house and locked the door.

The trial resumes tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Billie Owens contributed to this report.

Investigators have a suspect in custody from an armed robbery at the pharmacy on Main Street in Oakfield today, but haven't ruled out the possibility of a different person being involved, said Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble.

At about 12:30 a woman entered the pharmacy and displayed what appeared to be a handgun and demanded cash, according to Dibble.

After the robbery, she was seen fleeing down Forest Avenue, where she entered a residence.

Deputies and troopers surrounded the house, K-9 Destro responded, and a short time later, a woman was taken into custody.

She is being questioned by investigators, but Dibble said this afternoon that they hadn't ruled out the possibility that she's not the woman who robbed the pharmacy.

The house was being searched and the woman and other people were being questioned, Dibble said.

There was a tussle during the robbery and a female employee sustained fingernail scratches on the back of her neck, Dibble said.

The woman who robbed the pharmacy was wearing a hoodie and had what appeared to be an ace bandage covering a portion of her face.

A travel advisory has been issued for Darien, Alexander, Bethany and Pavilion.

The Sheriff's Office advises against unnecessary travel in those areas of the county due to poor driving conditions

There is heavy snow, poor visibility and poor driving conditions.

Also, Route 63 into Pavilion is closed.

Wyoming County is also being hit hard by snow. Trucks are off the road in a couple of locations. The plows haven't been able to keep up in the Village of Attica.  

So, if you were thinking of traveling south, think again.

UPDATE 5:33 p.m.: Route 19 southbound is closed in Le Roy at Robbins Road. Routes 19, 63 and 20 are described as "a parking lot" with cars and trucks unable to move.

UPDATE: Both Route 63 and Route 19 have reopened. The travel advisory is still in effect, however.

Southbound Route 77 is being shut down at Darien Center (Route 20) because of a motor-vehicle accident in Bennington, Wyoming County.

Press release:

Genesee County STOP-DWI Coordinator Matt Landers announced that the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, City of Batavia Police Department and the Village of Le Roy Police Department will participate in a special enforcement effort to crackdown on impaired driving during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Landers says while we spend Thanksgiving with friends and family giving praise and thanks for our good fortune and blessings, law enforcement officers across New York State will take to the roads in an effort to stop impaired driving, prevent injuries and save lives. The statewide STOP-DWI Crackdown efforts start on Nov. 26 and end on Nov. 30.

New York State Police, county sheriffs and municipal law enforcement agencies across the state will be out in force. Research shows that high-visibility enforcement can reduce drunk-driving fatalities by as much as 20 percent. Sobriety checkpoints play a key part in raising awareness about the problem.

Sheriff Gary T. Maha says, “Driving is the most dangerous thing you routinely do and holidays put additional vehicles on our highways increasing the risk. Remember to put aside your phone and all other distractions and concentrate on driving; a task that demands your full attention.”

The STOP-DWI Thanksgiving Weekend Crackdown is one of many statewide enforcement initiatives promoted by the New York State STOP-DWI Association with additional funding from the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee and implemented by the STOP-DWI Foundation. Throughout the remainder of the year the statewide STOP-DWI Crackdown Campaign will also target the national Holiday Season in December.

While STOP-DWI efforts across New York have led to significant reductions in the numbers of alcohol- and drug-related fatalities, still too many lives are being lost because of crashes caused by drunk or impaired drivers. It is significant to note that in 2012, 416 motorists died in traffic crashes during the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend, the highest toll of deaths for any holiday weekend period. According to NHTSA data, 60 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants killed were not wearing their seat belts and 42 percent were killed in crashes that involved a drunk driver who had a blood-alcohol content of .08 BAC or higher.

Highly visible, highly publicized efforts like the STOP-DWI Crackdown Campaign aim to further reduce the incidence of drunk and impaired driving. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

The suspect of an armed robbery that just occurred at a pharmacy in Oakfield is reportedly hiding inside a residence at Forest Ave.

The suspect is a female dressed in a blue sweatshirt with a scarf around her face. She allegedly drew a weapon inside the business at 40 Main St. and demanded money. She was seen running into the Forest Avenue residence and is believed to be armed with a knife and a gun.

The Sheriff's K9 unit is called to the scene and law enforcement is there and is setting up a perimeter.

UPDATE 1:44 p.m.: Deputies are speaking with a person of interest in the case.

A two-car accident is reported at 148 Bank St. by Washington Avenue. The drive of one vehicle is complaining of back pain. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

Press release from the Sheriff's Office:

Some news agencies are still reporting travel bans/advisories in Genesee County. At this time there are NO travel bans or advisories in Genesee County.

The previous bans in the Town of Pembroke, Village of Corfu and the towns of Darien, Alexander, Bethany, Pavilion and Le Roy have all been lifted as per the previous releases from the Sheriff.