***EDITOR'S NOTE (8/6/15): The phone number originally provided and published for Hope Speechley was incorrect. We have corrected the error and her true number is found below.

Submitted by Marianne Witkowski, Phys. Education Dept., Pavilion Central School:

The “Pavilion Clothing Closet” has been around for several years now at the high school. It's a place where any Pavilion Central School student and their family can go to acquire gently used and sometimes “new” clothing, shoes and outerwear for FREE.

Very generous community members have donated, and continue to donate, to the Closet and it is very much appreciated. 

However, due to lack of space and renovations we have had to relocate. We've found a new home and we would like to tell you all about it. The Pavilion Clothing Closet has moved from the Pavilion High School to the Pavilion First Baptist Church, 10956 Lake Road (Route 19), Pavilion. 

The Clothing Closet will be open Saturday Aug. 29 and Saturday Sept. 5 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and also by appointment. For an appointment call Hope Speechley at 585-483-1858.

To donate clothes, you can drop them off at the Pavilion High School in care of Charity Gayhart, or call Hope Speechley (585-483-1858) to drop them off at the church.

Additionally, we will continue to coordinate opening the Clothing Closet with the High School's Thanksgiving and Christmas Food Basket programs. And we will try to advertise any other information regarding the Closet through newsletters and the media.

If you have any questions, please call Hope Speechley at 585-483-1858. If she is not available call Marianne Witkowski at 409-5819, or Stacey Tallon at the High School Guidance Office, 584-3115.

If county funding of the local library system had kept pace with inflation, the Legislature would be looking at a budget expenditure of about $80,000 annually, instead of the $45,000 used to help support the service this year.

With that in mind, Robert Conrad, director of the Richmond Memorial Library, made the case to the Human Service Committee on Monday that in the upcoming budget, the Legislature should consider a modest increase in funding of about $4,500.

Chairman Frank Ferrando indicated he thought that was a reasonable request.

"I can't speak for the entire Legislature, but for myself absolutely, I think it's really important that we have good, updated libraries available for our citizens with all the modern technology we now have available to garner information," Ferrando said.

He's interested in hearing what other members of the Legislature have to say about it.

"We're probably going to have some interesting discussion come budget time, but they're asking for $4,500 above last time, which would be the total up to around $50,000, which is still less than $1 per citizen in the county," Ferrando said.

The county funding for the library system flows through the Richmond Memorial Library and Conrad said a few years ago the county provided the library with a little more than $63,000.

While based in Batavia, the Richmond serves the entire county, especially those towns and villages in the county, such as Elba, Alexander, Bethany and Darien, without their own libraries.

Primary funding for Richmond comes from its own district, which is contiguous with the Batavia City Schools' district.

"About one-third of our cardholders live outside of the district," Conrad said. "The same is true for the other libraries in the county. We're the defacto public library of the county because we have the most available in our local history collection. We receive the grant for homebound services for senior citizens throughout the county, along with other services we provide to the entire county."

The local library service area is unique, Conrad said, in that it ensures even those people who live outside of the district receive library services. That isn't always true in other parts of the nation. For example, in Chicago, where Conrad worked for many years, citizens who didn't live in a library district received no library services.

Conrad is optimistic the funding request will be approved.

He characterized the reception he received from the committee as warm, with a discussion full of penetrating questions.

"I think the legislators generally look favorably upon libraries," he said.

The GLOW Region Solid Waste Management Committee is pleased to announce that it will hold a single Household Hazardous Waste Collection. It will be on Saturday Sept. 19 in Rock Glen, Wyoming County. Residents from Genesee, Livingston and Wyoming counties are eligible to participate.

Appointments are required on a first come, first serve basis. A total of 600 spots are available. Details and additional information can be obtained by calling the GLOW office at 585/815-7906 or 800/836-1154 or 585/344-2580, ext. 5463.

Funding is provided by GLOW’s County contributions and a grant from the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation with assistance from the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department and Covanta Niagara.

Materials accepted include household cleaning products, pesticides/insecticides, oil base paint/stains, vehicle batteries and fluids (except motor oil), oil filters, pool chemicals, driveway sealer and home computers, TVs and microwaves FREE OF CHARGE. Passenger/light truck tires will be accepted for $4 each and truck tires for $10. For the sixth year, pharmaceutical waste -- outdated, unwanted or unusable medicines -- will be accepted.

Items that will not be accepted include latex paint, used motor oil, empty containers, asbestos and household batteries.

“Collections such as this provide residents with an excellent opportunity to safely dispose of materials they no longer want or need and that have the potential to harm the human and environmental health," said Peggy Grayson, GLOW’s recycling administrator.

"The addition of medicines helps not only the environment but other sectors of the community such as law enforcement and the public. The GLOW Committee is happy to offer the collection of medicines to the program and hopes that residents will take full advantage of the opportunity to rid their homes of these hazards."

Coming into Monday night’s game against the State College Spikes (20-21), the Batavia Muckdogs (15-25) found themselves in the midst of a hot streak. Winners of five of the last six games and only six games out of the wildcard, Batavia looked to continue its recently found success.

Travis Neubeck got the emergency start on the mound after Gabriel Castellanos was called up. The Spikes were able to jump on Neubeck early, as the young righty was making his first professional start.

Craig Aikin reached base in the first inning after hitting a routine ground ball to Anfernee Seymour at shortstop, Seymour’s legs got tangled up and he was unable to make the throw to first, resulting in his 12th error of the season.

Leobaldo Pina then doubled home Aikin to make it 1-0. Seymour was able to make up for his mistake in the bottom half of the inning.

Seymour led off the inning with a single and just like he has all season, stole second. He then moved to third on a failed pick-off attempt at second that saw the ball dribble into the outfield. Taylor Munden plated Seymour with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, tying the game at 1-1.

“He’s going to go out there and help because he can play the game and he has the tools to make things happen for us,” Manager Angel Espada said about Seymour’s impact on the team.

Neubeck settled down after the first inning until he seemed to run out of gas in the fifth inning.

“There was a lot of things going on for him, a lot of firsts,” Espada said. “He went out there and I think he did a good job for the most part and that last inning happens.”

Neubeck walked Ronnierd Garcia to start the fifth inning and quickly came around to score on a Josh Swirchak RBI triple. Neubeck was able to retire the next two batters, but Pina stepped into the box and launched a two-run home run to make it 4-1, ending Nuebeck’s night.

“We played so well on the road and that just comes to show you why these kids are at this level,” Espada said.

Ayron Adames came in relief of Neubeck and also pitched well until he, too, ran out of gas in the eighth inning.

The Spikes were able to muster three runs, on five hits behind an Orlando Olivera home run to take an 8-1 lead.

“There is a fine line between developing and winning -- that’s the way it’s going to be,” Espada said.  

Kyle Keller pitched the ninth inning and allowed one run, making the final 9-1.

Roy Morales finished the game 2-for-4 while Seymour was 1-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Seymour now has 17 stolen bases on the year, good for second in the league and just one behind league leader, Johnny Sewald of the Tri-City ValleyCats.

“Once you fall back, young hitters tend to press a little bit instead of trying to take good at-bats,” Espada said. “The youth showed up today and hopefully we can put this one behind us and come back ready to play tomorrow.”

Batavia continues its series against the Spikes Tuesday night at 7:05 at Dwyer Stadium. 

Photos by Howard Owens.

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be holding a ceremony to remember Capt. Loren J. Michel, who died after helping fight a house fire 50 years ago.

The memorial ceremony will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5 at the City of Batavia Fire Headquarters on Evans Street. A new station plaque donated by the firefighters' association will be dedicated. Members of Firefighters Local 896 organized the ceremony to honor Capt. Michel's sacrifice.

Capt. Michel was the only city of Batavia firefighter to die in the line of duty.

Marty Phelps, firefighter, remembers getting the call for a house fire at 402 Bank St. around 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 5, 1965. Phelps was in the truck going down Ellicott Street on his way to the scene and saw Capt. Michel pointing to the sky.  

"It looked like Pearl Harbor," Phelps said. "The whole sky was black from black smoke and we knew we had a real serious fire."

When they arrived at the scene, a lady almost knocked Phelps down and screamed that her two boys were trapped inside the house. No one knew the boys were watching firefighters battle the blaze from the backyard.

Firefighters started fighting the fire and cut a hole in the roof. According to Phelps, an explosion occured and a "massive fireball" came from the first floor of the house and down the stairway over two firefighters. They couldn't get into the house.

"Capt. Michels was standing in the doorway when the fire came down over the top of two of the firefighters," Phelps said. "The fire was so intense it flipped him and he inhaled the fire, burning his lungs."

Michels was not wearing an air pack and staggered out of the house to get some oxygen. Wilbur Hinz, president of the Western New York Volunteer Firemen's Association, helped Michels walk to the truck.

Phelps recalls the last thing he heard Capt. Michel say before Hinz drove him to Genesee Memorial Hospital.

"He flipped his face back and you could see his face was burned and his eyes were red," Phelps said. "He was gurgling and said, 'I want to see my wife and daughter.' "

Thirty minutes later Capt. Michel collapsed in the emergency room and died due to smoke inhalation. Hinz had gone to tell Michel's wife, Carol, that he was receiving oxygen at the hospital but would be home soon. Hinz returned to find Michel's dead. An autopsy confirmed his cause of death as pulmonary edema.

Capt. Michels served the department for 24 years. In March 1965, he was awarded "Fireman of the Year" for his role as a Genesee County mutual aid instructor for 17 years. 

Currently, a plaque honoring him is outside the fire department. The plaque will be moved inside when the new one is dedicated Wednesday morning.

From the city's Bureau of Maintenance:

Gateway Drive will be closed on Tuesday, Aug. 4, between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. for cold milling operations.

Residents and businesses are not to park on the roadway during cold milling operations.

Residents and businesses of Gateway Drive will have limited access to their properties and should expect delays when milling operations are ongoing. If work is postponed by weather, work will be rescheduled for the next calendar day.

Read more http://www.batavianewyork.com/home/news/gateway-drive-closed-on-tuesday-84

A steam locomotive built in 1944 cut through a corner of Genesee County, in Darien, yesterday, and a reader captured a few images with his drone.

For more on the train and its journey, read the Buffalo News.

Suzanne Corona, infamous because of her 2010 arrest on an adultery charge, and who's been in and out of trouble with the law ever since, admitted this morning to her first felony conviction.

In Genesee County Court, as part of a plea deal, Corona entered a guilty plea to a single count of attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance, 5th, a Class E felony.

As a result, she faces up to one-and-a-half years in jail, but as a first-time felony offender, and no limitation on her sentence as part of the deal, Judge Robert C. Noonan will have latitude to give her a shorter jail term or even probation.

She is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m., Sept. 29.

Corona admitted to selling an amount of suboxone to an agent of the Local Drug Task Force in May 2014.

As part of the plea deal, she agreed to restitution to the county of $60.

The story of Suzanne Corona made international tabloids in June 2010 after a Batavia police officer responded to a complaint in Farrall Park of a couple engaged in sexual activity. The officer, knowing Corona and knowing the man she was with wasn't her husband, charged her with adultery, a seldom used criminal charge in the State of New York. In the following months and years, Corona was arrested on a series of petty theft charges, and then didn't make the news for a long time prior to this arrest.

She was initially charged with fourth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Photo: file photo.

Jenea M. Macleod, 31, of Genesee Street, Corfu, is charged with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, possession of a hypodermic instrument, criminal use of drug paraphernalia, 2nd, aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, and operation of a motor vehicle by an unlicensed driver. Richard T. Garlock, 33, of Newstead, is also charged with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, possession of a hypodermic instrument and criminal use of drug paraphernalia, 2nd. The subjects were pulled over by Deputy Joseph Corona for a traffic stop on Clinton Street Road in Bergen when they were allegedly found to be in possession of heroin, crack cocaine, hypodermic needles and items associated with the use of the controlled substances. Macleod was released under the supervision of Genesee Justice. Garlock was put in the Genesee County Jail on $1,000 bail. 

Herbert C. Smith, 52, of Rochester, is charged with burglary, 3rd, and petit larceny. Smith is accused of stealing merchandise from Walmart in Batavia and was allegedly banned from the store due to a previous incident. He was put in the Genesee County Jail without bail.

Tacalla N. White, 42, from Rochester, is charged with petit larceny and criminal trespass, 3rd. Linda M. Floyd, 48, and Tamara Rouse, 22, both from Rochester, are also charged with petit larceny. The subjects are accused of stealing merchandise from Walmart in Batavia. White was allegedly previously banned from Walmart.

Virginia E. Glazier, 29, of Caswell Road, Byron, and Teryl A. Havel, 55, from Tennessee, are charged with petit larceny after they allegedly stole corn from a roadside crop stand on Batavia Elba Townline Road. Glazier and Havel are accused of taking corn without paying from an unattended farmer's produce stand, which uses the honor system for depositing payments. 

Christina R. Keels, 29, of Judge Road, Alabama, is charged with criminal mischief, 3rd, following an investigation into a domestic incident that happened on Judge Road. Keels allegedly hit a motor vehicle several times with a metal garden rake causing damage to the windshield and hood.

James P. Belliveau, 53, of Lockport, is charged with aggravated DWI with a BAC of .18 percent or greater, DWI, and failure to keep right following a traffic stop by Deputy Chad Cummings on Alleghany Road in Alabama.

Michael R. McNamara, 34, of Cheektowaga, is charged with DWI and failure to keep right. State police pulled over McNarmara for a traffic stop on Sumner Road in Darien.

Demetrius A. Gibson, 38, of Rochester, is charged with driving while ability impaired by alcohol, aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, unlicensed operation and tinted windows. State police pulled over Gibson for a traffic stop on Main Street in Batavia.

Robert L. Williams Jr., 24, of State Street, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant issued by the City of Batavia Police Department. Williams allegedly failed to appear for a scheduled court date. 

Anthony M. Rodriguez, 22, of Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Rodriguez was allegedly found to be in possession of a quantity of marijuana in a parking lot during the Incubus concert at Darien Lake.

Finally, we have an e-mail newsletter we can send you.

We will deliver the newsletter every day at 5 p.m. It will contain the top stories of the previous 24 hours or so, plus the latest marketplace posts from Batavia's List.

To sign up, click here.

Don't forget: Post your ad on Batavia's List for a chance to win an iPad Mini. No purchase necessary; e-mail howard@thebatavian.com for a coupon code for a free post.

There's plenty to be said for rising early. In the above photo, rays of sunlight permeate our yard as the sun begins its ascent.

The calm of early morning provides a mirror image on a placid surface.

Mist rises from a stretch of Tonawanda Creek. Regardless the time of day, this is always a nice spot to take photos as little light penetrates the treetop canopy.

Gathering clouds have a filtering effect and cast a pale-orange glow on the horizon.

The full moon looms large immediately after rising...........

but not until the full moon climbs high in the night sky are we bathed in soft lunar light and moon shadows.

A hazardous weather outlook was issued this afternoon by the National Weather Serivce in Buffalo for Western and North Central New York.

It says that starting Monday, a cold front will cross the region and showers and thundershowers will be likely along and ahead of the front, with a few of these becoming strong to severe with strong to damaging wind gusts.

A large field fire that is heading toward a house is reported at 620 Wyoming Road, Town of Covington.

That's part of the Pavilion Fire District and Pavilion fire is responding.

There is also a vehicle in the fire's path.

UPDATE 3 p.m.: Pavilion command reports being set with two engines that are responding.

A car has reportedly hit a bicyclist on South Swan Street, Batavia.

A minor injury is reported.

City fire and Mercy EMS responding.

Adams Welding & Fabrication hosted a customer appreciate/grand opening/sign unveiling party today at its location in Stafford. Standing with the glistening stainless steel sign are Tim Adams and Steve Foster.

Below, the celebration cake designed to look like a welding machine.

Paul Trowbridge with his 1969 Brockway truck at the annual antique truck show at the Stafford Fire Hall.

Trowbridge, a somewhat-retired farmer from Corfu, purchased the truck new for his farm in Corfu in 1969 and has owned it ever since. Brockway was a Cortland-based truck company. It's now out of business. Trowbridge said he bought it specifically because he wanted a truck built in New York.

The show continues on Sunday.

Nancy Burke (left) shows off a firefighting-themed quilt she made during a fundraising event at Frostridge Campground for the Le Roy Volunteer Fire Department. The event included the waterslide (later in the afternoon) and appearance by the department's trucks, a chance auction and food. David and Greg Luetticke-Archbell have hosted an event honoring the fire department volunteers annually for the past several years. Also holding the quilt is Michelle Dries.

Mike Gringer, of Spencerport, hits his tee shot on hole #1 at Terry Hills this afternoon during the Ricky Palermo's Spinal Injury Research Golf & Dinner Extravaganza.

Ricky Palermo

Gavin Prout, Richard Furlong and Gee Nash with Palermo.