A rollover accident is reported on Route 238 near Bowen Road, Alexander.

No word on injuries.

Alexander fire and ambulance dispatched.

UPDATE 11:55 p.m.: Minor injuries.

After stopping to see somebody about a possible story on South Main Street Road, I noticed several trees hanging over the Tonawanda Creek dripping with icicles.

Police are responding to a residence on Ellicott Street, Batavia, for a report of someone trying to break down the back door.

A man is unconcious in the parking lot of Sacred Heart Church after being struck in the face during an altercation. The assailant left the scene. City police and Mercy medics are en route. The church is on Sumner Street.

UPDATE 3:03 p.m.: Police and medics are on scene. An officer reports to dispatchers that somebody picked up the unconsious man and took him away in a vehicle. "No discription of where he went; I'll be checking the area."

Raymond EJ Smith Jr., 43, of Lockport Road, Oakfield, is charged with operating a snowmobile while impaired by alcohol, operating a snowmobile on a street or highway, operating a snowmobile without liability insurance, operating an unregistered snowmobile, and refusal to take a breath test. Smith and his snowmobile were found by a passerby overturned in a ditch at 10:19 p.m. Saturday on Lockport Road, Oakfield. He was not injured. The accident was investigated by Deputy Jeremy McClellan. (Initial Report)

Katherine Marie Wilkinson, 21, of Buffalo Street Road, Alexander, is charged with falsely reporting an incident. Wilkinson is accused of falsely reporting that a person hit her in the face. When deputies arrived to investigate the complaint, Wilkinson allegedly told the deputies the incident did not happen.

Jeffrey D. Freeman, 37, of South Spruce Street, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Freeman allegedly threw a plate at another person while at Denny's on West Main Street, Batavia.

Winston Ashton Lockhart Sr., 22, of Holland Avenue, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd, and acting in a manner injurious to a child. Lockhart was charged following a report of a domestic incident on Holland Avenue at 11:55 a.m. Jan. 7.

Douglas A. Curry, 66, of Grand Avenue, Rochester, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Curry was arrested on a warrant for allegedly violating an order of protection.

Franciso Martinez, 44, of Bridgeman Street, Buffalo, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, harassment, 2nd, endangering the welfare of a child, and robbery, 3rd. Martinez was allegedly in a fight with another person at a residence on Bank Street at 8:36 p.m. Thursday. During the domestic incident, he allegedly stole an item from the victim. He was jailed without bail.

Matthew J. Vickers, 38, of Court Road, Pavilion, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, speed not reasonable and prudent, and failure to keep right. Vickers was reportedly involved in a motor-vehicle accident at 8:28 p.m Jan. 6 on West Main Street, Batavia.

Vox: The Supreme Court is about to decide how your online purchases are taxed

Rich Wagner's 300 game and Scott Kern's 299 were among the highlights in Genesee Region league bowling action for the week of Jan. 8-14.

Wagner, a 35-year-old left-hander from Batavia, finished with a perfect game to post a 761 series in The North Pole league on Thursday night at Mancuso Bowling Center.

Kern, 62, of Basom, started with a 299 (leaving a 5-pin on the last ball) en route to a 652 series in the Wednesday County Line Stone league at Scopano's Lanes in Oakfield.

Other highlights ilncluded 700 series by two women in the G&W Vending League at Rose Garden Bowl in Bergen -- Caycee Landers' 706 and Laurie Morgante's 703. The 700 series is the first USBC-certified 700 series for Morgante.

Kim Williams posted a 647 series in the Monday Night Ladies league at Mancuso's.

For a list of high scores from the area, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

A caller reports finding an overturned snowmobile in a ditch off Lockport Road near Bliss Road in Oakfield.

Oakfield fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 10:31 p.m.: Snowmobile driver is conscious and alert.

UPDATE 10:54 p.m.: The driver is not injured but is being transported to UMMC for evaluation. 

A resident in Byron noticed a cat carrier on her porch on Friday. The door was open and when she took a quick look inside, there was no cat.

She left the tan carrier, with a black handle, on the porch not thinking much of it until today when she looked inside and found a male black and white cat.

The unneutered cat is about 9 months old, said Animal Control Officer Agie Jaroszewski.

The cat has apparently been going in and out of the carrier since being abandoned.

Jaroszewski said there was a blanket in the carrier but this morning it was covered with snow.

The cat is now warm and safe at the shelter.

If anybody knows who abandoned the cat, call the Sheriff's Office at (585) 343-5000.

A lot of Batavia residents were busy this morning clearing snow from their driveways and walkways, including Nate Baker on Ellicott Place, above, after a storm dropped about a foot of snow on the city.

Eric Haile on Summit Street.

Cliff Vagg on Ellicott Avenue.

The National Weather Service has warned of possible flooding as the Tonawanda Creek through Batavia nears the 9-foot level.

Currently, the water level, as measured at the bend behind the County Courthouse, is 8.64 feet.

It's been on a steep climb since 7 a.m.

It's expected to crest at 9.1 feet.

The minor flood stage is 9 feet.

Kibbe Park is expected to flood, and possibly Walnut Street and Law Street.  

There is flooding in Alexander and the Town of Batavia along the creek.

There is a flood warning in effect until 1 p.m.

Information provided by the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Florida:

A man who was shot -- twice in the head, once in the arm, and once in the shoulder -- at the home of a former Alexander resident who was murdered Jan. 3 in Florida died today.

Kenneth Maier, of 7462 Berkley Road, Polk City, Fla., succumbed to injuries around 1 p.m. (Jan. 12).

William Reiss, 68, formerly of Alexander, died at the scene after a man he had sold guns to previously, came to his home, was allowed in, and allegedly shot the two men before stealing guns and a pickup truck with the aid of two accomplices.

"We are heartbroken to hear that Kenneth passed away today. We are sending our thoughts and prayers to Kenneth's family and friends. This act of vicious murder should have never happened," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

"The three suspects from Mobile, Ala., will be pending additional murder charges in relation to Kenneth Maier's death. We will send another update when additional charges are placed. We appreciate the assistance of the Mobile Police Department in this investigation."

Some of the firearms were recovered, along with the victim’s stolen truck, which was torched. All three suspects will be extradited back to Polk County to face first-degree murder and other charges.

On Jan. 6, three suspects were arrested in the case: 22-year-old Kenley Campbell, 22-year-old Darril Lamar Rankin Jr., and 18-year-old Gerjuan Demarcus Jackson all of Mobile.

Thus far, they have all been charged with:

• First-degree murder (FC)
• Attempted first-degree murder (F1)
• Armed burglary with assault/battery (F1)
• 13 counts of grand theft of a firearm (F3)
• Robbery with a firearm/deadly weapon (FL)
• Conveyance burglary (F3)
• Grand theft of a motor vehicle (F3)

For previous coverage click here and here.

A caller reported he's stuck in his vehicle, which is in the water on a flooded old Creek Creek Road, south of Peaviner.

Now he says he's out of the vehicle but has a shoulder injury.

Old Creek Road is closed due to flooding.

Alexander fire and ambulance dispatched.

UPDATE 5:53 p.m.: The road is washed out. Responders will need to come in from Hunn Road and should exercise caution.

UPDATE 7:10 p.m.: The assignment went back in service about 45 minutes ago. Fire personnel brought the victim to the medics, who were staged nearby. The truck's rear wheels were on dirt; the front wheels were submerged in floodwater. A tow company winched out the vehicle and removed it.

Heather Adams of Pembroke lived in this tiny house on wheels for a year and a half before buying a bit of land that already had a house on it so now she would like to rent it out as a bed and breakfast room during the summer.

To do that, Adams had to request a temporary use permit.

Thre's no zoning regulation locally that handles tiny houses on wheels.

"Tiny houses are their own unique thing," Adams said. "They're not an RV; they're not a mobile home. They don't really fit any codes existing at this time."

If her experiment using it for a bed and breakfast unit is successful, the Town of Pembroke may need to come up with the appropriate zoning regulation to allow its use.

Last night, the County Planning Board recommended approval of the temporary permit.

Adams said she wants to set it up as a B&B on her South Lake Road lot so more people can experience tiny house living. 

"The plan is to rent this out as little B&B so people can learn about tiny houses and try it out for themselves," Adams said. "A lot of people see is such a small space and think 'I could never live in that,' but when you see how they're set up, they are there really nice.They make a great use of space and they're really liveable."

This tiny house (pictured) is actually split level. It's 8 foot by 24 foot with 200 square feet of livable space. Adams said she liked it because the bed was on the first floor so her dogs could sleep with her.

"I lived in another tiny house previously when I lived in Alaska and only had a bed upstairs and I had a ladder," Adams said. "And so I couldn't sleep with my dogs."

The tiny house movement began years ago, Adams said, when people wanted small, unencumbered, uncluttered spaces to live in but the places where they tried to build them would run into building code issues because they were so small. So people came up with the idea of putting them on wheels and then they were unregulated.

She thinks they really meet a need for people who want to live a simpler life.

"It's simple living," Adams said, "just really simple living. You don't have a lot of stuff so you don't have to spend a lot of time cleaning, your expenses are a lot less, and you can just spend much more time enjoying life."

Press release:

On Friday Jan. 12, City of Batavia Manager Jason Molino delivered to the City Council a 2018/2019 Recommended City Budget. The budget supports quality City services; sustained investment in infrastructure; reasonable and reliable employee wages and benefits; and a budget that proposes a 3 percent tax rate decrease to $8.99 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The Proposed Budget supports total expenditures of $24.3 million (an increase of 1.9 percent). It meets the City Council’s budget goal of staying below the City’s tax cap. Due to a substantial 4.1 percent increase in the City’s tax base, half of which is due to the Genesee County nursing home becoming privately owned and taxable, the budget contains a property tax rate that will go down, to $8.99 per $1,000 -- a reduction of 3 percent.

This is the lowest City tax rate since 2006. Under the Proposed Budget, the City property tax bill for the owner of a home valued at $90,000 would decrease by $25.20.

“The Proposed Budget is a result of growth in our tax base,” said City Manager Molino. In his budget message to City Council he said, “We are committed to our focus to an unabashed “all in” approach to growth.”

Last year the City set a path to achieve $100 million of new investment through the efforts of four distinct priorities: FOCUS on growth, operational excellence, neighborhood investment and BIG Collaborative projects. While the City has made significant gains with all priorities, none are more noticeable than the City winning the Governor’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

“Through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the City of Batavia will accelerate the redevelopment of existing buildings, and create additional business and residential opportunities downtown,” the manager states.

“By investing in the entrepreneurial climate and downtown environmental qualities, and by encouraging ethnic diversity and active lifestyles, Batavia hopes to foster a creative class of workers who will spur continued job growth.”

Currently, the City has made significant movement towards our goal of $100 million. As of Dec. 31, the City’s “I’m All In!” Scoreboard revealed over $8.8 million in completed investments, $15.8 million in-progress for completion in the next two years and another $58.8 million planned by 2022. In total, after just one year of commitment, we have over $83.5 million on our horizon for completion by 2022, and more still to come.

The Recommended Budget includes:

  Completion of Healthy Schools Corridor sidewalk project, a $1 million federal grant for the construction of over 12,000 linear feet of new sidewalk;

  Completion of Highway PM grant, $2.55 million federal grant for the resurfacing of six streets;

  $256,000 of additional annual street resurfacing;

  $285,720 of additional annual sidewalk replacement;

  Resurfacing of the East Parking Lot at the City Centre;

  Supporting the Town of Batavia in the construction of the Ellicott Trail;

Sales Tax: The budget projects that sales tax collections will increase slightly, .4 percent for next year, a somewhat improvement from the past two years of decline.

Water & Sewer Rates: The proposed rate adjustment for FY18/19 includes a water rate increase of $.18 or 3.5 percent. In addition, the plan includes a capital improvement fee increase for all meter sizes. The impact to a typical residential customer with a 5/8-inch meter will be $.54 per quarter. The proposed water rate for a typical residential user is $5.30 per 1,000 gallons and the capital fee per typical residential user is $5.99 per quarter. The total impact to a typical residential customer (approximately 95 percent of customers) from the proposed rate and fee adjustments is approximately $4.49/quarter. There is no rate increase proposed for the sewer rate this year.

“I wish to thank City Department Heads and Bureau Chiefs, and their staff, for their professional approach to the challenges that mark every budget,” Molino said. “They continue to serve the community with highest standards, and it has been an absolute pleasure to work with them.”

The 2018/19 proposed Budget is posted on the City website at http://www.batavianewyork.com/office-of-the-city-manager/pages/city-budget.

Public copies of the Proposed Budget are available for review at the City Clerk’s office, One Batavia City Centre (1st Floor).

Press release from the Batavia Police Department:

The Batavia Police Department is investigating a car/pedestrian accident which occurred on West Main Street today.

The accident happened at approximately 2:10 p.m. on the area of Settler's.

The pedestrian was walking eastbound on the sidewalk on the north side of West Main Street. While crossing the street, a black Honda sedan struck the pedestrian and continued westbound on West Main Street.

The driver was described as a white female with curly hair.

The pedestrian is currently being treated at UMMC.

Anyone with information in reference to this case is asked to contact Officer Prusak or the Batavia Police Department at 585-345-6350, the confidential tip line at 585-345-6370 or online here.

UPDATE 5:14 p.m.: A caller reports seeing a vehicle that matches the description with front-end damage driving on Willow Street. No information on when the car was seen.

(Initial report)

Here's the latest update on Gleba Farms in Batavia and its Community Supported Agriculture opportunities, provided by Tim and Amanda Gleba:

Gleba Farms will offer two CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) options for the 2018 season. We will continue with the Summer Veggie CSA and new for the year is the Meat/ Veggie CSA.

Both CSA options will run for 16 weeks, tentatively starting June 12th and concluding Sept. 27th.

The veggie pickup will be weekly, Tuesday and Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. Pork and turkey will be included in the Meat/ Veggie CSA. Members who sign up for the Meat/ Veggie CSA will receive turkey and pork in addition to their veggie share. The turkey will be ready for pick up just before Thanksgiving and the pork will be ready for pick up at the end of November.

The pork meat is a gourmet meat pig, American Guinea Hog. The AGH were imported by Thomas Jefferson and other Virginia farmers as early as 1804. Also known as the Pineywoods Guinea, Guinea Forest Hog, Acorn Eater, and Yard Pig, the breed was once the most numerous pig breed found on homesteads in the Southeast.

The Guinea Hog is a gourmet meat pig raised on pasture. Chefs and charcuterie artists prefer to cook with this breed. The marbling, and intramuscular fat hasn't been bred out of these special hogs. However, the taste comes largely from the way they are raised.

Members will receive 1/2 a pig which equates to 50 to 60 pounds of meat. From the butcher you will receive a ham, pork chops, tenderloin, bacon, pork shoulder, breakfast sausage, neck bone and hocks (which make great tomato sauce) and lard (optional). The butcher will smoke the ham and bacon.

For the 2018 growing season we have scaled back on the amount of varieties and concentrate on growing what did well for a larger yield. The list of 30-plus veggies is available to view on our website.

As soon as the ground thaws we will start the construction of the deer fence to help protect the veggie crop. Deer was one of our biggest obstacles last year. There are other tactics we will employ to better protect this year's crop; ie. coyote decoy, scarecrows and a motion-sensor water sprinkler.

Our livestock are pastured during the spring, summer and fall months, so they grow at their own pace. We do not use antibiotics or growth hormones. We feel it's a healthier lifestyle for the animals, which in return, produces a healthier, higher quality meat.

The chickens are weathering the cold quite well. They are staying warm in the coop and currently molting. We have had a few members inquiring about eggs this winter. Between the cold and the molting, chickens are not currently laying. We will send an emailing advising when they do.

We will be adding a "guard geese" to the flock to hopefully mitigate any loss to predators. A farmer in the Southern Tier has had luck with geese protecting the chickens, so we thought we would give it a try.

We are adding two beehives to the farm this year. A local apiarist is helping us by providing some guidance on getting started. There are so many health benefits to local raw honey. We will keep everyone posted with the progress.

In a portion of the front field we will be planting 150 Christmas trees (Douglas fir, Fraser fir, concolor fir and blue spruce). As we were planning for the 2018 growing season we concluded we would not be utilizing the whole front field. So, instead of letting the field go to waste, we decided to plant coniferous trees with the intent of cutting them for Christmas trees in several years.

Since we started the farm, we have found if you work hard enough, sometimes you get lucky. There are no short cuts, it takes time and it takes money and it takes reflection to properly care for the land and livestock. We’ve had a few great farmers and members from the community help us along the way.

In closing, we valued the feedback we received from our members. We are in this for the long haul, so we want to ensure we fulfill the expectations of our members. Amanda and I have an appreciation for the relationships we have cultivated with everyone last year!

Lastly, I would like to give a big thank you to Tom Ryan, Ryan's Rose Organic Farm, John Riley, Riley's Family Farm and John Eisenhard, Eisenhard Forestry.

Cheers to a successful and prosperous 2018!

Eddie "Pops" Miles Jr., is also charged with criminal contempt and aggravated criminal contempt.

The incident began Sunday morning just before 9 a.m. when police were dispatched to a report of a domestic at 207 Washington Ave., Batavia. 

When patrols arrived, Miles allegedly threatened to shoot police. That caused police to establish a perimeter, evacuate neighboring homes, and initiate a reverse 9-1-1 call to other residents with a shelter in place notice.

Then Miles allegedly started a fire inside the apartment where he was staying with his girlfriend.

His girlfriend managed to climb out on the roof of the front porch and escape with the assistance of police officers.

While the apartment burned, city firefighters could only shelter behind their trucks.

Eventually, Miles surrendered and climbed down a ladder at the back of the building.

There was also a warrant out for his arrest. He is charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, 3rd, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd. 

He also still has charges pending from 2017. 

Miles was arrested in August for allegedly putting his arm around the neck of another person and injecting a dog with an unknown purple liquid.

In July, he allegedly took a car belonging to another person without permission.

He is being held in the Genesee County Jail without bail.

A proposed new Dollar General store for East Pembroke should meet the goal of making the hamlet more walkable, according to county planners.

That would mean removing parking from the front of the building and bringing the structure closer to the sidewalk.

Last night, the County Planning Board approved the site review with that recommendation. It will be up to the Town of Batavia's Planning Board to decide whether to implement the recommendation.

Planning Director Felipe A. Oltramari explained that the Town of Batavia is adopting form-based planning as part of its comprehensive plan and has already adopted a policy that should help the town, which includes East Pembroke, become a walkable community. 

East Pembroke currently scores a 15 at WalkScore.com and is considered car-dependent.

Since the policy is not yet part of the town's codes, the Planning Board could only make a recommendation and not take a stronger stand.

There are already six Dollar General stores in Genesee County.

This location will be on Main Road at Barrett Drive.

The developer is Zarembra Group Inc., based in Cleveland, Ohio.

The single-story building will be 9,100 square feet.