Rep. Chris Collins stopped in Oliver's Candies today, but it wasn't for the famed Molly Pops. He was making one of his regular visits to small local businesses in his district.

Oliver's is also famed for -- among other things -- sponge candy, which Collins discussed at some length with Deborah Palmer, left, and Jeremy Liles. Sponge candy is another of WNY's unique foods that is little known in other parts of the country. Liles said it's probably a candy that was brought to WNY by Polish immigrants.

Anita Strollo submitted this photo of Collins at the lunch at the Senior Center today. Her mother, Serena Strollo, celebrated her 91st birthday today and Collins presented her with a Congressional certificate.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand stopped for a tour of Liberty Pumps in Bergen today to promote Genesee County's "Foreign Trade Zone" designation.

Liberty is the first company in Genesee County to apply for the benefits of an FTZ.

Charlie Cook, president and CEO of Liberty Pumps, said the designation will help his company grow and create more jobs.

"It's certainly going to help reduce our costs," Cook said. "We are initially limited to three companies because it's crucial to monitor everything and control the inventory on the floor, so our most expensive components are duty free and there's an advantage there. It's our intent to flow the savings to the bottom line and generate more profits, which fuels future growth."

Profits, Cook, explained, means more research and development and more funds to bring new products to market, which means expansion.

Liberty Pumps is surrounded by three parcels of land that are suitable for expansion and Cook mentioned that the company is considering it options and will almost certainly expand in the next couple of years.

The FTZ allows Liberty Pumps to buy some of the parts it needs to build products without paying tariffs, but then it can also avoid tariffs on its exports.

Cook wanted to note, however, that not every component it could buy overseas is imported.

"We really try to limit our foreign purchases of components," Cook said. "If we can buy it domestically, we always prefer domestic components, but the fact is, these particular motors you can't get from a U.S. manufacturer anymore. They've all closed down these lines. Other components, like castings, we could do that, but we're trying to contain that business, a lot of it, to domestic sources rather than foreign."

Gillibrand said FTZs are important to help New York's economy grow.

"I encourage all manufacturers who can benefit to apply," Gillibrand said. "We make some of the most amazing things in the world right here in New York. We produce some of the greatest agricultural products of anywhere in the world. We want to be able to increase the world markets for our goods and services. We want to keep local busineses in a position of strength."

Robert Hinett apparently picked the wrong time and the wrong place for some flirting Friday night in Le Roy.

A passing police officer reports that at 11:30 p.m. he observed Hinett inside a convenience store on Lake Street staggering around and then go behind the counter toward the female clerk.

The officer entered the store and the clerk informed him that the man in the store seemed to be intoxicated and had tried to kiss her even as she tried to thwart his advances.

Upon further investigation, the officer determined that that 25-year-old resident of Montclair Avenue, Batavia, allegedly drove to Le Roy intoxicated.

Hinett was charged with one count of felony drunken driving and refusal to take a breath test. He was arraigned and released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) released the following statement today on potential military action in Syria:

“Today I signed a letter from Representative Scott Rigell (VA-2) to President Obama urging the President to consult and receive authorization from Congress before ordering the use of U.S. military force in Syria.

The images coming out of Syria are deeply troubling. There is also no question that the circumstances on the ground are complex and any military response by the United States will not only impact the ongoing civil war within Syria but possibly have ramifications throughout the region. For those reasons alone, I believe the President has an obligation to consult Congress and communicate with the American people about what our response should be.

President Obama himself wrote that 'the President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation' in a 2007 response to a Boston Globe questionnaire.

It is my hope that President Obama will remember these words and call for Congress to reconvene for discussion should he deem military action in Syria necessary.”

Press release:

The Le Roy Democratic Committee held its nominating caucus on Monday Aug. 26 at the Le Roy Town Hall for the Nov. 5 general election.

The Party is proud to announce a diverse and dynamic ticket leading into the November elections.

Michael Welsh is the Party's choice for Le Roy Town Justice. Mike is married to Gail Rudgers and is a local attorney and community activist, who most recently has devoted his time and talent to the Le Roy Community Pool. He served the people of Le Roy  for 21 years on the Genesee County Legislature.

Incumbent Town Councilman Tom Stella was nominated for his second full term. Tom has served the community well on the board for six years. In addition to being the past Deputy Town Supervisor, he serves as the liaison for the Fire Commission and the liaison for the Farmland Protection Commission. He is married to wife, Deborah, and is a proud father and grandfather.

The caucus also nominated newcomer Kelly Carlie who is running for the second Town Board seat. Kelly, married to George and mother of three grown children with one grandchild and another on the way, is employed as a counselor at Elba Central School. She is also a small business owner and has served on the Holy Family School Board, was a former 4-H Leader and former Girl Scout leader.

Earlier in the summer Earl Funderburk garnered the Democratic endorsement for County Legislature through the petition process.

Press release:

Club Championships were held on Saturday, Aug. 24 and Sunday, Aug. 25. The Championship Flight winner was Bob Chmielowiec. Runner-up was Matt Lee, who made a dramatic charge on Sunday to shoot a 76, but fell one shot short. “B” Flight winner was Jim Dommer, followed by Ray Valtin. Congratulations to all the golfers.

The Ladies Championship was also held. This year’s Club Champion is Danielle Rotondo.  This is a repeat Championship for Danielle. Runner-up is Jean Berry, followed by Nancy Bachulak and Terry Starowitz. Congratulations to all the golfers who took part in this year’s Club Championship. Thank you for a great season.

The Fall Golf League begins Wednesday, Sept. 4.

This weekend, MMA fighters from Hands Up Gym on Harvester Avenue had a strong showing at a tournament in Jamestown.

Josh McCarthy won his first bout.

From left are, William Rupp, who also won his first kickboxing bout, and fifth from the left on the top row is Shariff Vascianne who won his first boxing bout.

Gym owner Joe Bailey is holding up the Hands Up shirt.

This tournament was an exhibition so it does not count toward their record.

Also pictured, on the right, Alexander Colon Colon, who won a traditional boxing bout. Also pictured is Colon Colon's instructor, Mr. Platt. At the far right is Gaffar Adams who is the owner of the gym in Jamestown.

Press release:

Representatives from the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, City of Batavia Fire Department and Le Roy Police Department assisted with Senator Mike Ranzenhofer's safety check for child car seats on Saturday morning. More than 20 car seats were inspected during the two-hour event.

Pictured from right: Deputy John Baiocco of Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, Thomas Douglas of City of Batavia Fire Department, Ranzenhofer, Detective John Condidorio of Le Roy Police Department, Nathan Kinne of City of Batavia Fire Department, Chuck Hammon of City of Batavia Fire Department, Sergeant Michael Hare of Le Roy Police Department, and Mark Sacheli of City of Batavia Fire Department.

Press release:

Students in grades six through eight, who are new to Batavia Middle School, or transferring from a private or parochial school, are invited to attend an Orientation program on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 9 a.m. in the Middle School Auditorium. The program will include an overview of our Middle School and will be followed by a building tour. School counselors will be available for students and parents.

There's also this:

On Thursday, Sept. 5, Batavia Middle School will be holding their Orientation Day for fifth-grade students. Students will be participating in the “Connect Day” program throughout the day.

Fifth graders will spend the morning participating in team building activities, finding their lockers and meeting their teachers. During the afternoon, students will be experiencing traveling to their classes and meeting their counselors.

Fifth-grade students need to arrive to school by 8 a.m. and will report to homeroom by 8:07. All students will be dismissed at 2:45 pm.  

Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students will not report on Sept. 5. The first day of school for all Middle School students (grades five through eight) will be Friday, Sept. 6.

The BMS “Connect Day’s” purpose is to help fifth-graders feel more comfortable as well as help them achieve success in their first year at the Middle School. The program is designed to both welcome and support the fifth-graders by assigning them a Mentor (an eighth-grade student who has met the qualifications of being a good role model and a positive leader). Along with supporting House students, the “Connect Day” program helps Mentors develop leadership skills, responsibility and team work as they begin their transition process to the High School.

Anyone with questions is asked to contact Miss Rogers, fifth- and sixth-grade House Administrator, 343-2480, ext. 3001, or Mr. Eric Knapp, Interventions Counselor, 343-2480, ext. 3002.

Peter McQuillen can keep his barn.

That's the upshot of a decision by the Town of Le Roy Zoning Appeals Board, which met Tuesday night to consider whether construction of the barn violated the Village of Le Roy building code.

The question was rendered moot by McQuillen's decision this week to pull a permit to build a single-family residence on his 13-acre lot off Robbins Road.

"I was prepared to debate the interpretation of the code regarding accessory structures," McQuillen said. "I was also prepared to show precedent from around town of different areas were accessory structures were allowed ... but my wife and I have been thinking about this for a better part of a year ... This was something we were going to do in the future, but we decided a few days ago to go ahead now, so I pulled an application for a permit to start building a house."

Village code says you can't build an accessory structure prior to building a primary structure.

McQuillen was initially granted a permit in July to build the barn even though he did not request a permit to build a house.

That permit, all officials agree, was issued in error. A stop-work order was issued, but McQuillen could keep building while the stop-work order was appealed.

Since McQuillen has now filed the necessary paperwork to build a house, the board found that the barn is no longer out of compliance with the code.

There's nothing in the code, said Dan Lang, who is helping with Le Roy code enforcement issues while training a new code enforcement officer, that requires construction of the primary structure start before an accessory structure.

"The only issue is that there needs to be a single-family home with a driveway from Robbins Road to the accessory structure," Lang said. "If there is, the lot is in 100-percent compliance.

The barn in question sits just feet behind a house in Presidential Acres owned by Town of Le Roy Supervisor Steve Barbeau.

Barbeau and some of his neighbors believe McQuillen decided to build the barn out of spite because Barbeau, along with his neighbor, David Boyce, opposed a patio-home development McQuillen wanted to build on his 13 acres.

Barbeau and Boyce filed a lawsuit that eventually led to McQuillen abandoning the project.

The feuding between McQuillen and Barbeau came to a head earlier this month when a tree -- Barbeau said it's the third such tree -- fell from McQuillen's property onto Barbeau's property. Words were exchanged and Barbeau allegedly pushed McQuillen down and was subsequently arrested on a harassment, 2nd, charge.

Boyce and two neighbors filed an appeal of the building permit for the barn and Attorney Alan Knauf spoke at Tuesday's meeting, even though the appeal wasn't officially considered.

"The question here is there was a permit issued in July and was it a valid permit?" Knauf said. "It was not."

Knauf said the other issue with the barn is that he believes it's a commercial structure, and therefore out of compliance with the zoning of the neighborhood. Citing an article in The Batavian, Knauf said McQuillen gave a description of his planned use for the barn that makes it a commercial structure.

McQuillen said he was misquoted.

"It is in no way a commercial structure," McQuillen said. "I live on Robbins Road. I have a barn. This is a similar situation. I will have a home and a barn on the parcel that I bought. I don't understand why I'm being grilled under such a microscope here when I'm the applicant. I don't think I'm doing anything other than apply for a permit and now I've had lawyers coming after me for 18 months."

Besides the lawsuit filed by Barbeau and Boyce, McQuillen is being sued by Carol Durney, the woman who sold McQuillen the 13-acre parcel for $13,000.

Durney claims McQuillen misrepresented some aspects of the property to convince her to lower the price, and he didn't reveal his intention to subdivide the property.

Between the lawsuits and the lost money on engineering studies for the subdivision, McQuillen said he is out tens of thousands of dollars.

Ask how much, and McQuillan said, "Honestly, I've never sat down to add it up. It would be too depressing."

NOTE: This story would have been published this morning, but just as I was finishing writing it, my computer ate it. At that point, I had to leave to cover something so I couldn't rewrite it then. I've been running around all day since then (hence no posts until now, but they're coming ... )

A 52-year-old man is fighting for his life after being punched in the head Sunday night during an apparent fight outside The Harvester, a bar on Harvester Avenue.

Scott Baker suffered a fractured skull from a single punch, according to a police report filed at City Court.

He's listed in critical condition at Erie County Medical Center.

Taken into custody and held without bail on a second-degree assault charge is 47-year-old Shane M. Bell (in photo), of 161 Jackson St., Batavia.

Police were called to the scene at 8:50 p.m. 

The Harvester was hosting its annual pig roast.

Bell made a sworn statement to police saying, "Scott followed me out to the car. Scott came up to me and chest bumped me. Scott grabbed my shoulder and I turned and punched him in the head."

Police officers also reported hearing Bell make several statements about hitting Baker, such as:

• "I bitch slapped him."
• "I hit him so f--- softly it's not even funny."
• "He went down quickly."
• "I hit him half medium."
• "I'm registered, man. I kick boxed for like seven years."
• "I hit him right in the f--- eye."
• "I used to f-- people up."
• "He was with me for more than three hours."
• "I dragged him from the curb to the grass."

A witness said she heard Bell say, "He pulled my hair so I punched him."

The same witness tried to give aide to Baker until EMTs arrived and told police there was a lot of blood.

Mercy medics told police on scene that Baker was seriously injured and Det. Pat Corona was called to the scene.

"We were told right away it was very serious," Corona said. "We proceeded (with the investigation at the scene) as if it was as serious as it could be, as if it were a homicide."

Corona said investigators are interested in talking with additional witnesses. He's asking that people with any information to call Batavia PD at (585) 345-6350.

Reason: What Scientific America has to say about labeling GMO food.

Coming off a 5-4 record, a young Oakfield-Alabama Hornets team is hoping to show some improvement in 2013, but already the injury bug is starting to pinch, said Head Coach Brian Palone.

Three players will miss this Saturday's scrimmage, but it will also be a time for some players at key positions to show whether they're ready to step into starting roles.

"I'm pretty confident in two or three kids at each position now, but I just want to evaluate further as we go along in the week here and as this scrimmage rolls," Palone said.

The Hornets will lean heavily on captains Chris Nanni, linebacker, Chase Manzella, running back, and Hogen Mejia, a lineman.

"We started bring guys a couple of years ago when they were young and now I feel like we have some guys with years of varsity experience, especially at our skills positions, so I'm happy with what I'm seeing right now and how they're developing," Palone said.

Manzella is in line for a QB slot, but Allen Chatt, who finished out last season as QB, has the inside track as the starter.

"He's been working hard this summer and so far working hard in camp," Palone said. "We'd like to keep him at quarterback and Chase at running back.

Jacob and Steven Weber, father and son, were sentenced in Pavilion Town Court today to fines and community service for their violations of the state's property maintenance code.

Jacob Weber -- who entered a guilty plea July 9 to 46 violations for storing unregistered and uninspected vehicles on his property at 11256 Perry Road -- was fined $22,000 and given a one-year conditional release from jail time.

Steven Weber -- who entered a guilty plea the same day as his father to 16 violations for storing unregistered and uninspected vehicles on his property at 11076 Lake Road (the former firehouse) -- received $4,500 fine, 50 hours of community service and one-year conditional release.

A failure to abide by release conditions could result in a new charge for violating a court order and a resentencing on the original charges.

Dan Lang, code enforcement officer for Pavilion, said the violations on both properties have been corrected.

A tree is on fire at Frost Ridge Campground, 8101 Conlon Road, Le Roy.

Le Roy fire is responding.

Cedar Street reconstruction has begun. First up, removing all the asphalt from driveway for the county maintenance building north to Edwards. The road is closed in that location. The rest of Cedar Street remains open.

About 150 barbershop singers were at the YWCA on Monday night to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Barbershop Harmony Society.

The singers came from five area chapters -- Rochester, Buffalo, East Aurora, Geneva, Warsaw, Batavia.  The chapters are part of the Seneca Land District of the society, and Batavia resident Eric Saile, who acted as host for last night's event, is president of the district.

The event included lots of signing, of course, but also pauses to watch videos of barbershop singers in TV shows and movies from over the decades.

Our photos include the chorus, the Friends of Harmony Singers, singing "Singin' in the Rain."

The two young men in the bottom pictures are Rocco, 12, and Blaise, 10, Lucciano, of Clarence. Blaise became the youngest member of the society and was given a membership proclamation and a label pin. Rocco became the youngest member ever to be awarded the "Man of Note" pin. The "Man of Note" is a person who recruits a new member. The awards were presented by Mac Sabol, choir director for the Friends of Harmony Singers.

For more on the society, visit the Seneca Land District's home page. The Batavia chapter always welcomes new members, Sabol said.

Tina M. Martin, 33, of 96 Carlyle Ave., Buffalo, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Martin was stopped at 11:47 p.m. Saturday on Pearl Street in Batavia by Officer Arick Perkins.

Eric L. Barnes, 22, of Valiant Drive, Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, aggravated unlicensed operation, operating on suspended registration and unlicensed operator. Barnes was stopped for an alleged suspended registration at 4:57 p.m. Friday on Route 77, Pembroke, by Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

William John Dale, 40, of Lattice Bridge Road, Fillmore, is charged with petit larceny. Dale is accused of shoplifting at Kmart.

Reason: Chemical weapons as a 'red line'

The trustees of the Village of Corfu voted 4-0 on Monday to delay filing a petition with 4th Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court for the removal of Mayor Ralph Peterson from office.

Peterson is reportedly hospitalized and under observation by doctors. Peterson has reportedly told trustees and others that his undisclosed condition is related to stress.

After a closed session, Deputy Mayor David Bielec announced the board's decision to delay sending in the petition. The delay is intended to give Peterson time for his health to improve. The trustees want him to meet with Village Attorney Mark Boylan so Boylan can ascertain how Peterson intends to respond to the trustees' demand that he resign.

There was no response from Peterson to the board's demand for a resignation letter by 5 p.m. last Friday.

"We don't want to take any action until he's out of the hospital," Bielec said. "We want to discuss it within and get a firm decision before we go through the court procedure. It's a very expensive process and you can't know the outcome until you get there."

Trustee Art Ianni also asked the board to reconsider its aggressive approach to trying and recover more than $10,000 in missing court funds.

The trustees believe that regardless of how the funds went missing -- former court clerk Brandi Watts is accused of stealing it -- former village justice Robert Alexander is legally responsible to reimburse the village for the shortage.

Watts is the daughter of Alexander.

"Based on our budget, based on our court budget, this (the $10,000) is a small percentage of dollars," Ianni said. "I don't mind trying to recover it, but it's the kill zone we're looking at when it comes to the families and actions that might come out. I would like to ask the board to take another look at what potentially could happen from our actions. ... We could recover $10,000 and find out we destroyed two families. Is this something we could have some compassion about and say, 'Look, they've lost their jobs and their reputations?' "

When asked, though, Ianni said he would still vote yes on any motion trying to recover the funds.