A picture of the marquee under the Oliver's Candies sign has been making the rounds on Facebook. Is "Molly Pops" a mistake, people want to know.

It is not.

A molly pop, according to general manager Jeremy Liles, is a "peppermint molasses sucker covered with chocolate." And he adds, "Very good stuff!"

That's a nominee for understatement of the year.

I stopped by late today to get a picture and as I left, an Oliver's employee offered to let me take a sample sucker.

I took my first bite as I walked through the parking lot toward my truck. I immediately turned on my heel and headed back into the store. I bought a package of eight. Tonight, I shared one with Billie. She insisted that I share the rest.

"It's terribly delicious," she said.

Batavia Motor Speedway on Harloff Road is hosting a national ATV race that has brought racers to the track from all over the United States, including world record holders.

Racing started Friday and continues on Saturday, with the first race at 11 a.m. and main races starting about 4 p.m. and the professionals expected to take to the track for pro-only races at about 9 p.m.

If you saw Lt. David Morales walking down Main Street in Downtown Batavia this afternoon you might have wondered why a man in uniform with a badge and a gun was walking to-and-fro with a television antenna in his hand.

If you happened to be walking behind him as he searched for an elusive "beep, beep, beep," your mind might have flashed on an image of an old-time dowser plying a divining rod over sun-parched desert sands.

If you were David Morales, you might have felt like you were searching for a needle in a haystack.

Morales is a cop with the Veteran's Administration. At the VA hospital, Alzheimer's patients wear ankle bracelets that emit an AM-band radio signal so that if the patient wanders off, it might be easier for VA police to location the patient.

Each bracelet is coded with its own frequency. The device used by Morales today can be programmed to listen for the beeps on that specific frequency.

One difficulty is, other systems can emit tones on the same frequency.

"This device, as far as on the VA campus, is very useful," Morales said. "It's a big area and it's mostly wooded. Outside the base, in a city environment like this, we get a lot of interference. It can be from vehicles wtih powerful radios emanating strong signals. The police station, for example, that can have a strong signal for us, and as you know from walking with us, we hit on the Verizon building and we hit on one other location for whatever reason. Those are the handicaps we can run into."

Morales was called to the city today because a 78-year-old man from Livonia with advanced Alzheimer's Disease had gone missing. His wife told police the man was wearing an ankle bracelet that emitted the very kind of radio signal Morales is trained to track.

Because Det. Pat Corona had been in a training class on law enforcement response to events involving Alzheimer's patients with the local VA Police Chief Mike Messina, Corona knew the local VA had a receiver for AM-frequency tracking signals. It would have taken the Sheriff's Office in Livingston County an hour to get a receiver to Batavia PD, which Corona, from his training, knew could be a critical amount of time to wait.

"Finding people affected by Alzheimer's or dementia quickly is critical," Corona said. "It's not like a typical missing person. You have to bring all of your resources together quickly because history has shown that very quickly they get into a situation of distress. Typically they don't go very far. They try to get into a secluded area and secrete themselves so they can't be found. A lot of times they don't respond. If you call to them, they don't respond, so you have to act quickly."

The search for Robert Tutt started about 1:45 p.m. when his wife came into the police station and said her husband had gotten out of the car while she was stopped on Jackson Street at Main Street.

Tutt crossed Main Street and headed north, which is when his wife lost track of him.

Nearly all of Batavia's patrol units were dispatched to help search for Tutt along with troopers for the State Police and deputies from the Sheriff's Office. The State Police dispatched a helicopter to assist in the search.

Corona learned from Tutt's wife about the ankle bracelet and was able to find out the frequency set on the bracelet, so he called Messina at the VA to see if the VA could help.

Morales responded and the search started at Main and Jackson.

Almost immediately, Morales picked up some sort of signal, but it was indistinct and hard to pinpoint.

He let Corona listen through his headphones. They then entered City Centre, but the signal faded.

The two men then headed east on Main Street, with Morales making periodic stops to point the antenna this way or that and listen for the beep-beeps he hoped to hear.

The possible signal Morales thought might be lurking in the neighborhood led him and Corona down Center Street. It grew stronger, but it wasn't the clear beep-beep Morales wanted to hear.

At Jackson and School streets, Morales learned that Verizon has a building that straddles the block between Center and Jackson.

That explained the interference he was getting, he said.

After checking Jackson Square, which is a logical place where an Alzheimer's patient might try to hide, Corona and Morales headed north on Center over to Bank Street and down to Washington Avenue, where they turned left.

As they headed down Bank, a reporter asked Morales if the ankle bracelet has a battery and if it needs to be periodically charged.

It does.

Corona radioed to the police station and learned that Tutt's braclet was last charged on Monday, but without knowing the brand and make of the bracelet, Morales had no way of knowing if the battery could already be dead.

The battery's in the bracelets at the VA can keep a charge for two or three months -- they are serviced every 30 days.

After getting to State Street, Morales explained to Corona that they needed to head back in the other direction.

Because the radio signal carries only two miles, a search needs to be conducted in a grid fashion -- the search goes so far in one direction and then tries the opposite direction and then will head to the next grid space if no signal is found.

About this time, a reader of The Batavian -- which had posted information about the missing man at the request of Batavia PD -- reported seeing somebody who might have matched the description on Elmwood Avenue (near Kibbe Park). It didn't take long for Corona to learn it wasn't Robert Tutt.

When Morales and Corona reached Ross Street, Morales turned south. About halfway down the block he picked up a faint signal. He turned the antenna toward a large white house across the street. Corona noted that there was plenty of area behind St. Joe's that might attract an Alzheimer's patient looking for someplace to hide.

The men crossed the street.

In a side yard, Morales let Corona listen to the signal. The signal strength was 80 percent, Morales said, and was clearly coming from the house. He said it was probably a false signal.

Corona knocked on the door and a man answered and said he hasn't seen anybody matching Tutt's description. He checked a side door that could possibly be unlocked and leads to a vacant room and he also checked the garage door and a travel trailer that was unlocked, but Tutt wasn't there.

As Morales and Corona left the house, dispatchers informed Corona that Tutt had apparently been located at the Department of Social of Services office.

Without confirmation, the search for that all important beep-beep continued. Morales and Corona crossed Main Street and once they did, Corona was informed the man at DSS was indeed Tutt.

Tutt would be transported to the Batavia PD station. Corona learned, and Morales wanted to go there and confirm, that if they had gotten within a close enough distance to Tutt, the receiver would have worked.

At the station, Morales showed a reporter the signal he was picking up from Tutt's ankle bracelet. The signal was at 99-percent strength. If Tutt had stayed in the downtown area, he would have been located.

How Tutt made it all the way out to the DSS office on East Main Street isn't clear. Logically, it doesn't make much sense that he got there on his own without being spotted along the way.

"He can't help us with that," Corona said. "He has no idea how he arrived there. All security at the county building knows is he walked through the front doors.

It seems to be a long distance for him to have traveled on foot and not be seen, especially with everybody we had looking for him," Corona added. "It seems to me like logical place if somebody had contact with a disoriented person that it might be where they would take that person, but we don't know and he can't help us."

The only thing we know is that Tutt was reunited with his wife and after a brief discussion with police they continued on their way.

Top photo: Morales and Corona at Main and Jackson.

On Center Street

Between buildings on School Street, heading toward the Verizon building.

Checking an area that would be potentially attractive to an Alzheimer's patient.

In Jackson Square

Heading north on Bank Street

In front of a house on Ross Street that was emitting a matching signal.

Morales let's Corona listen to the signal he was hearing.

Near the end of the search -- Tutt was already potentially located at DSS -- Morales and Corona prepare to cross Main Street. If Tutt hadn't been located by this point, Corona was going to set up a command center at the police station and Morales would widen the area of the grid search by vehicle.

A car versus motorcycle accident is reported in front of Scooter's restaurant on West Main Street in the Town of Batavia. An officer on scene reports everyone involved is "up and walking around." There is one minor hand injury on the motorcyclist. The officer says there's no need for Town of Batavia Fire Department. Mercy medics are responding non-emergency, to get a sign off.

"He dumped his motorcycle and there's some small laceration to his hand," says the officer on scene.

Batavia PD is asking for the public's help in locating a man with advanced Alzheimer's who is missing in Downtown Batavia.

He went missing on Jackson Street, but may have wandered over to City Centre.

The subject is described as a black male with white hair about 5' 8" tall wearing blue jeans and a sleaved shirt with a blue stripe.

The man is not from the area. He is wearing a tracking braclet on his ankle, but the equipment needed to work with it is not in Genesee County. It is being transported here at this time.

Multiple law enforcement units from the city and county are searching the area. A helicopter may be dispatched.

If you see this individual contact Batavia PD at 345-6350 or 9-1-1.

UPDATE (By Billie) 2:58 p.m.: He was last seen on the north side of Main Street by the Showtime Movie Theater sign.

UPDATE 3:06 p.m.: A faint signal from his tracking device can be heard by authorities in the area of the mall. They are checking inside.

UPDATE 3:13 p.m.: A City Police officer is going to the State Police hangar to join helicopter personnel to scour the center of the city from the air.

UPDATE 3:26 p.m.: A light-skinned black male matching the description was located by a citizen on Elmwood Avenue. Officers are en route.

UPDATE 3:28 p.m.: Meanwhile, officers are told to check shrubs and hedges. A tracker from Livingston County just arrived at the Police Station to join in the search.

UPDATE 3:36 p.m.: It was confirmed that the guy on Elmwood Avenue is NOT the person they are searching for. The Alzheimer's patient is a dark-skinned black male.

UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: The missing man's ankle tracking device is not GPS-related. Rather it is an A.M. radio signal. Batavia PD obtained the signal for the device and a receiver operated by Lt. David Morales of the VA was deployed.

UPDATE 3:37 p.m.: It is confirmed that the subject has been located at the Department of Social Services on East Main Street.

UPDATE 3:55 p.m.: The subject is being taken to the police station to join his family.

Here at The Yngodess Shop we are celebrating 1 1/2 years of business already! Thank you to all of our new friends and many old ones, too! Cheers!
The Yngodess is located at 73 Main St., in Batavia. 585-343-3170.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) is encouraging local homeowners using the Basic STAR Exemption for property tax assistance to register with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to continue their exemption for 2014 and beyond.

In compliance with new guidelines meant to prevent fraud and abuse of STAR benefits, participants must sign up by telephone or online by Dec. 31. The new guidelines do not affect homeowners age 65 or above enrolled in Enhanced STAR.

"Property taxes continue to be a primary source of financial stress for local homeowners, and the STAR exemption is a critical way to reduce the cost of living,” Hawley said. “It is essential that anyone who has relied on this program to combat the excessive cost of property taxes, signs up to ensure that they receive the help they deserve.”

To register, visit www.tax.ny.gov <http://www.tax.ny.gov/>  or call (518) 457-2036.

Press release:

The Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming County health departments are encouraging residents to “Choose Health” -- taking small steps in our day-to-day living and making positive health choices will lead to healthier outcomes.  Learning something new every day is one of those small steps…

August is National Immunization Awareness Month. If you think you outgrew the need for vaccines when you graduated high school and/or moved out of your parents’ house -- think again. Every year, thousands of adults in the United States suffer serious health problems, are hospitalized, or even die from diseases that could have been prevented by vaccinations.

Most people do not realize that adults need immunizations, too. While many know that a flu vaccine is recommended every year, few adults are aware of the need for other vaccines to help protect their health.

Protection from some childhood immunizations wears off over time, leaving you at risk to disease. For example, there has been a rise in cases of whooping cough (pertussis) in the last few years with more than 41,000 cases being reported in 2012. We have learned that protection from DTaP whooping cough vaccine given to children doesn’t last into adulthood, so all adults are now recommended to get one dose of Tdap whooping cough vaccine.

Adults may be recommended for certain vaccines due to their age, job, hobbies, travel, or health condition. Other vaccines may be recommended if they didn’t get certain vaccines as children.

Check your immunization records to be sure you have had the HPV vaccine, measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, and varicella (chicken pox) vaccine and are up to date on them, as some vaccines are administered less often than others.

Vaccines not only help protect you from disease, but they also help prevent you from spreading diseases to those who are most at risk of complications -- infants, older adults and those that have chronic health conditions, including asthma and diabetes.

For example, because older age increases the chance of getting shingles, CDC recommends that adults get the shingles vaccine once they turn 60 years old. People with diabetes, heart disease, COPD or asthma, even if well managed, are more likely than those without these conditions to have complications from the flu. To prevent possible difficulties like pneumonia, people with these chronic conditions should get the pneumonia vaccine along with their yearly flu vaccine.

Check with your doctor, local pharmacy, school health center, workplace, community health center or local health department for more information about vaccines and what is best for you.

For information about health department services:

• The Genesee County Health Department currently has FREE DTap and Tdap vaccine, simply call to learn if you are eligible! Contact us at 344-2580, ext. 5000, or visit our Web site at www.co.genesee.ny.us/departments/health/index.html.  Find us on Facebook at Genesee County Health Department and Twitter @GeneseeCoHealthDept.
• Orleans County Health Department call: 589-3278 or check out our Web site at:  www.orleansny.com/publichealth. Visit Facebook and Twitter: the user name for both is OrleansCoHealth. 
• Wyoming County Health Department call: 786-8890 or visit their Web site at www.wyomingco.net/health/main.html.

Dana Bowen and his dog Jake were out for exercise on Bank Street this morning on another beautiful day in Batavia. The seven-day forecast indicates we should expect more of the same, though slightly warmer.

The YWCA is sponsoring a Stiletto Walk on Tuesday, Oct. 1, in the City of Batavia, and to help promote the event, some local community leaders showed up this morning at the Y for a photo.

Men need not wear high heels (though local photographers encourage it) for the walk. Women are encouraged to wear any kind of women's footwear, even pink tennis shoes.

The event is aimed at raising awareness about domestic violence and costs $28 for the walk and supper afterward (or $20 just for the walk, or $8 just for the dinner).

To register visit ywcagenesee.org or call (585) 343-5808.

Pictured from left, David Boyce, Linsey Vallett, Det. Rich Schauf, Chief Shawn Heubusch, Sgt. Greg Walker, Jim Fulmer, Sgt. Dan Coffey and Cindy Earl.

Once again this week, polldaddy.com is off line, so no poll today.

A car versus motorcycle accident with serious injuries is reported in the area of 7959 North Road, near Conlon Road, in the Town of Le Roy. The motorcycle rider is unconscious in the middle of the roadway. Mercy Flight was heading to the scene and is now cancelled by Le Roy medics. Le Roy Fire Department is responding. Fire Police have shut down Route 19 at North Road. Law enforcement is on scene.

UPDATE 7:07 a.m.: Le Roy medics are leaving the scene; back in service.

UPDATE 7:10 a.m.: Pavilion fire is requested to fill in at Le Roy's fire hall.

UPDATE 7:57 a.m.: This is a fatal accident and the coroner is on scene.

UPDATE 8:54 a.m.: Here's a statement from Sheriff's Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble at the scene:

"Looks like the small blue car and the motorcycle were westbound on North Road. From what we understand, the driver of the small car wanted to turn around and go back the direction they were going. Looks like they slowed, maybe pulled off to the right some; motorcycle coming up behind them; looks like (the motorcyclist) saw (the car) slowing and pulling into the right; (the motorcycle was) slowing...to start to go around the vehicle.

"Small vehicle didn't see the motorcycle coming; did a U-turn and the collision took place somewhere in the center of the lane, maybe even some into the eastbound lane. Motorcycle driver, by the marks in road, looks like they started into their pass and then motorcycle layed down and motorcycle and driver slid into the side of the car -- to the left side of the car. That's about it."

The vehicle is described as possibly a tiny Smart car.

UPDATE 9:08 a.m.: Pavilion's standby is released and they are back in service.

UPDATE 9:22 a.m.: The Le Roy assignment is back in service.

UPDATE 9:57 a.m.: The family has been notified, but the name of the victim has not yet been released.

UPDATE Noon (by Howard): The motorcycle driver is identified as Joshua J. Lowery, 26, of Brockport. The Smart car was driven by Jeffrey J. Simek, 55, of New Smyrna, Fla. The preliminary investigation indicates that Simek slowed, moving to his right and then began to initiate a U-turn. Lowery's 1998 Suzuki struck the Smart car. Lowery was pronounced dead at the scene. Simek was not injured.

The accident was reported at 6:40 a.m. Le Roy Fire Department and Le Roy Ambulance Service responded. The investigation is being conduct by Deputy Brad Mazur, Investigator William Ferrando, Sgt. Jim Meier and Deputy Eric Seppala.

One additional comment Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble made at the scene was that when Simek made his turn, if he looked down North Road, he would have been looking east directly into the sun.

Earlier today, the motorcade of President Barack Obama passed through Genesee County. These photos, submitted by Jordan Difilippo, show the motorcade passing through Genesee County on the Thruway. The photos were taken from Keiffer Road in Pembroke.

A helicopter was first to pass by, followed by New York State Troopers, Genesee County Sheriffs, several law enforcement motorcycles, then more State Troopers, Secret Service SUVs, the President's bus, more Secret Service SUVs, two other buses, more State Troopers, more motorcycles and then more State Troopers in the back. 

As I was at the Pembroke Dragons football practice Air Force One flew overhead. 

Today I visited the Pembroke Dragons football practice and they are really motivated for the upcoming 2013 season. 

Pembroke seniors on the football team. 

A total of $450,000 from the state's NY Main Street Grant Program is starting to show results in Downtown Batavia.

The bulk of the funding -- $400,000 -- is being used to assist downtown property owners with interior and exterior renovations, including facades.

“You can see some of the facade renovations already being made to Alberty Drugs, YNGodess and Del Plato Law Firm and Williams Law Firm," Economic Development Coordinator Julie Pacatte said. "They are all part of the Main Street Grant Program, in which the owners of the three properties are spending about $160,000 and they’re receiving about $57,000 in grants for the renovations."

Some of the projects that have been done involve new apartments and building improvements.

Two apartments were recently completed on Jackson Street, as well as one above Valle Jewelers.

Four new apartments will be built at the former Carr’s Warehouse on Jackson Square. Owner Ken Mistler has also committed to developing two apartments at 97 Main St. The Batavia Development Corporation recently approved sprinklers and HVAC units for them.

Of the remaining $50,000, the dumpster project on Center Street was given half for streetscape improvements, which would include rebuilding the trash bin enclosures and repaving the parking lot.

But the City Council has not voted on whether to proceed with the dumpster project, and since $25,000 of the grant money is already earmarked for it, Public Works will have to find another way to move it forward.

The remaining $25,000 is committed to splitting the administration office space of Stuart Brown Associates and Batavia Development Corp.

The Village Board of Oakfield has proposed rezoning the Water Street area in an effort to provide more parking space and longtime resident David Boyle is a vocal opponent of it.

His Forest Avenue home is parallel to Water Street and the area would go from residential to commercial. He and at least a dozen neighbors are upset about it, he said.

“This affects 14 different properties,” Boyle said. “Who wants to buy a house in a commercial zone? Would a bank even give you a mortgage? There could be insurance issues and property values would fall as the homes are devalued.”

Mayor Jeremy Yasses said that there is a need for more parking space and the board is discussing it and performing due diligence.

Last week the board agreed to put out a request for proposals to get a parking lot study done. Yasses would not commit to any timeline, since the request was published.

“We’re going through the process and taking the necessary steps and there will eventually be a public hearing on the matter,” Yasses said.

Oakfield’s request for zoning amendments went to Genesee County's Planning Board. That application was to rezone the north side of Water Street from residential to commercial use. The county board took no action after the request, so the application will go back to the Village Board, which has the final vote.

Water Street has five homes on it across the street from Crazy Cheap Cars, a used vehicle dealership that operates in a commercial zone. There is a vacant lot in the middle of Water Street. While neither the dealership nor its owner, Mike Ognibene, own the vacant lot, the dealer's employees do park their own cars on the lot.

The lot is owned by Bonnie Ognibene.

Boyle believes that the village wants more parking spaces simply for Crazy Cheap Cars to park its vehicles.

“The car dealership is the only one who stands to gain anything,” Boyle said.

Three years ago, an attempt was made to get a zoning variance for the vacant lot and the request was denied.

This past April, the dealership asked Genesee County Planning Board for the right to use a vacant lot next to them to park unlicensed, unregistered vehicles until they are shipped out to auction and that permit was rejected. 

“Moving the entire area to a commercial zone with the ability to park cars would disturb the quality of life there,” Boyle said. “The bottom line is that residents are having the rug pulled out from under them in order to create parking that would devalue their homes and disrupt our quality of life – it’s just not right.”

UPDATE: The story was updated to clarify ownership of the vacant lot on Water Street.

The Turk's Cap is one of the most colorful and spectacular of the lily family.

While it lends color to the countryside, Spotted Knapweed, pictured above, is often considered an invasive and pesky plant, particularly when it shows up in a pasture.

Live Forever is a member of the sedum family, and derives its name from an ability to regenerate from the smallest fragment.

In recent decades purple loosestrife has inundated our wetlands.

Though highly colorful, loosestrife is also considered an invasive species that has taken over entire tracts of wetland, in the process crowding out more beneficial species.

Black-eyed Susans and Joe Pye weed along the bank of Tonawanda Creek.

As the legend goes, Joe Pye weed got its name from a legendary healer of the same name who lived up New England way in the 17th Century and used this colorful wildflower in the treatment of fevers.

Staghorn sumac seems to like the climate here in Western New York. 

Not to be confused with poison sumac, the drupes of staghorn sumac are utilized by man and nature alike. High in vitamin C, the drupes make a tasty tea or "sumacade." From mid to late July through early August is a good time to collect the drupes, soaking them in room temperature water for an hour or two before straining.

Here's a closeup of the drupe.....from December thru March, as available food sources are dwindling, wintering songbirds will utilize the drupes.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) organized a meeting on Aug. 20 between State Deputy Secretary for Education De’Shawn Wright and more than 20 local school superintendents and Board of Education members. The gathering provided local education leaders with an opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions on the challenges facing schools and teachers in Western New York, as well as what the state must do to improve local education.

“The fact that the governor sent such a high-ranking education official to our community shows that our calls for fair aid allocation and greater control of our schools are being heard,” Hawley said. “Issues such as Common Core, mandate relief, special education programs, and eliminating the Triborough Amendment, Gap Elimination Adjustment and frivolous lawsuits were examined.

"The local education leaders in attendance did a terrific job of illustrating to Deputy Secretary Wright the need for equitable school aid regardless of geographic location or socio-economic status. The meeting helped make the point to the highest levels of the State Education Department that children in low-wealth school districts deserve the same opportunities as kids in wealthier areas.

"I thank Deputy Secretary Wright for taking the time to travel to our community as well as all of the local education leaders who did such a tremendous job showing how much Western New York cares for its students.”

The First Presbyterian Church, 300 E. Main St., Batavia, is hosting a community clothing and household item giveaway Sunday and Monday.

Donations are still be accepted today. Organizers are looking for clean, gently used clothing and household items such as towels, bedding, curtains, tablecloths and throw rugs.

There's always a need for donations of clothing for infants, boys and girls, and for men and women, shoes, sneakers, purses and hats, plus winter clothing for children and adults.

Donations can be brought to the church today from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m.

Items that cannot be left include large items, furniture, appliances and similar items.

For those who need to receive such donations, the giveaway is from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday and from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday.