Opening night of "Sally Cotter and the Censored Stone" SOLD OUT its first performance at Batavia High School last evening. Students from the Drama Club performed their 16th annual show and had the crowd laughing and on their toes throughout the performance.

Director Caryn Leigh Wood has worked with many students but this was challenging, especially toward the finale. Sorrow was still resonating for the cast, who lost a former BHS student, Tori Nigro, in a sudden accident last week. 

The Drama Club ended the performance with a tribute honoring the memory of Tori.

There are two remaining shows, tonight at 7:30 and a matinee tomorrow at 2 o'clock. Tickets are $8, and $6 for students and seniors.

For more photos go to: http://steveognibenephotography.zenfolio.com/p419033762

Thank you to everybody who stopped by the WBTA/The Batavian Christmas Party at the WBTA Studios at Main and Center this evening during Christmas in the City. We had a great time.

Thank you for Dibble Family Center for the fantastic chili and grilled cheese sandwiches we served our guests.

As we announced beforehand, anybody who stopped by and showed us that they had downloaded The Batavian's app on their smartphone or tablet could enter a drawing to win $100.

Many people tonight downloaded it right on the spot.

In all, we had 60 entries.

The winner is: Amy Swanson, of Stafford.

If you haven't downloaded the app yet, please do so:

• For Android, click here
• For iOS, click here

Crews from Latham Tree Service were busy this afternoon getting the giant Christmas tree the company erects every year in the Village of Le Roy ready for Winterfest this Saturday.

John Jakubowski, workforce development consultant for the Genesee County Economic Development Center, and Chris Suozzi, VP of business development for GCEDC, visited Le Roy High School today as guests of the Business Education Alliance's Career Lunch-N-Learn Series.

Jakubowski and Suozzi talked about career opportunities in STEM (Science, Tehcnology, Engineering and Math) fields, advanced manufacturing and nanotechnologies, and what it takes for a student to enter those career paths.

"The BEA Career Lunch-N-Learn Series is a tremendous opportunity for our students to interact with professionals in different fields, and we can't thank Karyn Winters enough for her organizing efforts and partnering with us," said Principal Tim McArdle. "It is these experiences that allow our students to focus on their future and learn about the many options they have.

"Today's speakers from GCEDC gave our students a chance to learn about amazing opportunities right here in our backyard so that we can retain the talent we are developing. I really commend Mr. Suozzi and Mr. Jakubowski for their efforts in promoting the WNY STAMP and also educating our students on career advice."

The purpose of the series, McArdle said, is to expand beyond the traditional career day and expose students to information about various careers throughout the year.

"We have taken the traditional one day 'career day' and infused it in and throughout the school year," McArdle said. "Each of our teachers are tasked to host one professional to speak to their classes in an experience we call Career Chats.

"Each Career Chat speaker also stays for an after-school session in the library open to all students. Our students also participate in off-campus field trip opportunities visiting local business/industries through our Student Success Center and staff initiated opportunities."

Another resource available to students and parents is Naviance, in which counselors work with students on career and self-exploration throughout the school year both at school and at home. 

To prepare the local workforce for jobs like what is anticipated at WNY STAMP -- Western New York Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park -- the district has partnered with Byron-Bergen Central School in a Soft Skills Training program.

The program is being funded through a grant from an America’s Best Communities Award that the Towns of Le Roy and Bergen won in 2015 and is coordinated with Jakubowski and Loren Penman. Seniors in both districts are exposed to four different lessons from local professionals this spring.  

"Our goal is to not have one week go by without our students having a chance to hear from a professional in the field. It is vital we maintain this important commitment for the development of our graduates."

Downtown Batavia will be filled with holiday cheer and family fun tonight as local merchants host Christmas in the City.

Main Street, from Ellicott Street to Liberty Street, will be closed to vehicle traffic starting at 7 p.m. in preparation for the Christmas in the City parade at 8:15 p.m.

The festivities start at 5 p.m. and include horse and buggy rides, music, crafts, food, and other family-oriented activities.

Stop by the WBTA studios at Main and Center for a Christmas Party co-hosted by WBTA and The Batavian. Bring your smartphone or tablet, show the staff of The Batavian our mobile app installed on your device and you can enter a drawing for a $100 prize (no purchase necessary). We’re serving chili and grilled cheese catered by Dibble Family Center. 

Download our app.

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Smoke and flames are showing in a crawl space to the attic of 1772 Genesee St., Corfu.

Corfu fire along with Darien, East Pembroke, Pembroke and the City's Fast Team dispatched.

UPDATE(S) (By Billie) 1:17 p.m.: Second platoon called to city fire headquarters. A thermal imaging camera is requested.

UPDATE 1:21 p.m.: This is a one-story wood-frame structure.

UPDATE 1:33 p.m.: Responding units on the road told to come in non-emergency mode; staging area is on the south side of the address. All available interior manpower on scene called to fight the fire.

UPDATE 1:52 p.m.: Fire is under control; doing extensive overhaul.

UPDATE 1:53 p.m.: The fire appears to have been started by a hot water heater. Flames went up the walls into the attic. Firefighters are dousing hot spots now.

This home is super spacious with a very open floor plan downstairs and upstairs features plenty of closets and good size bedrooms. The kitchen is sunny and bright and has homey back breakfast nook out looking the fenced in back yard. There is an extra deep garage plenty big enough for a car and work space!

The basement of the home with a little work could be great extra living space -- it is already partially finished and has a wet bar! The home does have central air and a new 200-amp electrical service and the roof on home and garage is 7 years young. With very little elbow grease this home can be up and running for the New Year!

Very easy to see!! Call Lynn Bezon at Reliant Real Estate today or click here for more information on this lisitng.

A third-generation carwash operator is breathing new life into a car wash on West Main Street Road, Batavia, that has sat empty and unused for years.

Bobby Marchenese, whose family has long operated a car wash in Canandaigua, said he and his crew are replacing all of the equipment in the car wash with the latest high-tech car-washing machines.

This is the fifth location for Marchenese. Besides Canandaigua, he has locations in Tonawanda and Geneva and will soon open a location in Auburn.

"We had our eye on the market for a while," Marchenese said. "We tried to contact the previous owner several times, no response, then we noticed the for sale sign one day so we called and we were able to put a deal together."

The location operates under the brand name Auto Wash and Marchenese believes he and his team will have the facility ready for its first wash within three weeks.

The car wash will be fully automated. When vehicles pull in, a computer will profile the vehicle's height so the wash area can be adjusted. This eliminates the need to hand-prep the car for the wash. The machines themselves are variable speed with soft starts. All of the lighting is LED.

"We will have the most energy-efficient car wash out there," Marchenese said. 

The end of the wash is fully automated, too.

"With the advanced technology we’ll be using we won’t actually towel dry cars,"  Marchenese said. "We have an automated drying system at the end of the car wash after the blowers, so that will dry the vehicle as it goes through."

Photo: Greg Farkas, Ryan Schmeer, Bobby Marchenese, and Zach Letta. Letta will manage the Batavia location.

The Richmond Memorial Library hosted a Local Author Book Fair on Thursday evening with about two dozen local authors participating.

The evening included a panel discussion about writing and publishing featuring Steven Huff, JoNelle Toriseva and Bill Kauffman.

The library also hosts a monthly Writer's Group, which meets the second Wednesday of each month, 6:30 p.m.

Sean A. Semprie Jr., 25, no permanent address, is charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, 3rd, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd.

Semprie allegedly sold crack cocaine to an agent of the Local Drug Task Force.

He was charged under a Grand Jury indictment and extradited back to Genesee County from Augusta, Maine, where was being held on unrelated charges. 

He was jailed on $10,000 bail.

You can now get instant access to news from The Batavian on your smartphone or tablet.

Download our app.

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Come to Christmas in the City tomorrow, stop by our partners at WBTA's studios at Main and Center between 5 and 9 p.m., show us the app on your device and you will be eligible to enter a drawing for a $100 prize.

A reader provided this photo of a garbage truck the somehow got stuck in a ditch off of Route 5 near Route 77 about 2:30 p.m. A tow operator managed to pull the truck out of the ditch.

A number of asylum seekers being held by federal authorities in Batavia must be granted bail hearings and the chance to be released on parole while their asylum petitions are pending, a Western New York District Court has ruled.

In a legal proceeding brought by the attorneys for two asylum seekers who were held for a time at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, the plaintiffs argued that the facility was violating a directive from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to review parole applications.

The attorneys also said their clients were being denied their legal right to a bail hearing within six months of detention.

Both procedures, the plaintiffs contend, changed in January, after President Donald Trump took office.

United States District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford wrote the court's opinion that stated even though the ICE directive was an internal department document, it addressed specifically the rights of individuals and so, therefore, the detention facility was obligated to abide by the directive.

She also wrote that the asylum seekers retained their Constitutional rights, in accordance with prior court rulings, to a bail review hearing within six months.

Federal authorities argued that the asylum seekers should be considered as if they had been stopped at the border, and therefore not subject to Constitutional guarantees of due process, even though they were being held in Batavia, more than 3,000 miles from where they originally allowed into the country as asylum seekers.

Wolford noted "this decision does nothing to erode the Attorney General's discretionary authority to grant or deny parole. However, if Respondents follow the ICE Directive, individuals who are not likely to be a flight risk or a danger to the community will have been released on parole before six months has passed. Where an individual is detained for six months, Respondents should, under the ICE Directive, have a good reason for the continued detention and should, therefore, be able to readily meet the clear and convincing evidence of the standard of proof with respect to the denial of bond."

The primary plaintiffs in the case were Hanad Abdi and Johan Barrios Ramos. 

Abdi is a 26-year-old native of Somalia. He and his family were members of a minority tribe. Members of a rival tribe killed his father and captured Abdi and beat him. He managed to escape and fled his home country in June 2016. He arrived at the U.S. southern border Oct. 12, 2016, seeking asylum. Officials who interviewed him found there were credible reasons to believe he would be at risk if returned to Somalia so he was transferred to Batavia. Once in Batavia, his repeated requests for parole were denied. He was only released in August after he commenced litigation.

Ramos is a 40-year-old citizen of Cuba where he was involved with political opposition to the current regime. He was imprisoned for 11 months for his political activities. He fled Cuba in December 2016 and arrived in Mexico by raft. He traveled to the U.S. border and requested asylum on Jan. 14, 2017. He passed what is called a "credible fear" review, a finding that granted him preliminary asylum seeker status. Once transferred to Batavia, his repeated requests for parole were denied until litigation began. He was released Sept. 14.

The legal claim by the plaintiffs also sought class-action status so that any ruling might also apply to other asylum seekers being held in Batavia without being granted bail and parole hearings. Court documents list at least 20 such individuals.

The Attorney General's Office argued that with their release, Adbi and Ramos no longer had standing to pursue their legal claims nor to act as stand-ins for the class of asylum seekers being denied a chance at release.

Wolford disagreed, noting that the Attorney General's office could withdraw parole from Adbi and Ramos at any time. In fact, Adbi's parole already has been revoked. ICE, however, has no intention "at this time" of taking Adbi into custody.

The phrase "at this time," Wolford noted, is further evidence of the arbitrary nature of the government's handling of these cases, as is the fact that Thomas Brophy, acting director of the Buffalo ICE Field Office, did not articulate a reason for revoking Adbi's parole. Wolford also wrote that the ability of the AG's office to release individuals who bring suit shouldn't be a tactic for avoiding a class action ruling dealing with all the asylum seekers' cases.

A 38-year-old Brockport woman was seriously injured this morning when her 2012 Toyota Camry left the roadway on Route 262, Byron, and struck a tree.

The accident was reported at 7:11 a.m. at the intersection of Route 262 and Transit Road.

Dawn Dunlap was driving eastbound on Route 262 when her car drifted off the roadway onto the south shoulder, struck a road sign and large wooden sign and then a tree.

She was conscious and alert when emergency personnel arrived on scene. 

It's believed the accident occurred a considerable amount of time before it was reported by passersby.

Byron and South Byron fire departments responded and Elba fire responded with extrication equipment. 

Mercy EMS assisted at the scene.

Dunlap was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital by Mercy Flight. She is listed in guarded condition.

The accident is under investigation by Deputy Erik Andre, Deputy Kevin McCarthy, Sgt. Ron Meides, and Investigator James Diehl.

Charges are pending.

(initial report)

A motor-vehicle accident with injuries is reported at 8667 Gulf Road, Le Roy.

Le Roy fire with mutual aid from Pavilion dispatched.

Le Roy ambulance dispatched.

The accident may be in Monroe County.

UPDATE 2:16 p.m.: Le Roy chief on scene. It's in Mumford's district, Monroe County. Apparently minor injuries. Responding units "can back it down."

When was the last time you were at GO ART!? Well the Genesee Orleans Regional Art Council has been very busy over the last year. You may have noticed the Picnic In the Park on July 4^th was a little larger and had more activities. 

GO ART! has been busy behind the scenes, too. At Seymour Place, where GO ART! is located in Batavia (201 E. Main St.), they have increased the galleries from one to four, tripling the amount of art on display at any given time. Currently all four galleries are filled. 

For Christmas in the City, and throughout the month of December, GO ART! has assembled more than 150 pieces of classic and contemporary art, including sculpture and jewelry that are offered for sale.

“GO ART! has been very lucky to have had many great works donated to us through the years," Director Gregory Hallock said. “So much so that we don't have room to store it all and for the first time we are offering those without stipulations and owned by GO ART! up for sale to the public."

They have not just been busy with art. GO ART! has reworked the kitchen, complete with four new Viking ranges, for culinary classes. The ovens received a bit of a workout yesterday as they made cookies for Christmas in the City.

Starting at 5 p.m. on Friday GO ART! will be hosting a Slavic Christmas complete with Santa Claus and an accordion band; sandwiches from Red Osier Landmark Restaurant will also be sold at Seymour Place for the event.  

The New York-Penn League has blocked a proposal for the Rochester Red Wings to return to Batavia in 2018 as the operators of the Batavia Muckdogs.

This past season was the end of a 10-year agreement and sources say the league said it would not approve an extension.

What that means for the future of the Batavia Muckdogs is unclear. The 2018 NYPL schedule has already been released and it includes the Muckdogs.

Brian Paris, president of the Genesee County Baseball Club, the community group that owns the team, wasn't immediately available for comment.

Naomi Silver, president, and CEO of the Red Wings confirmed this morning that the Red Wings would not operate the team in 2018. She said he had no idea what the league or the owners planned for 2018.

"We offered to stay but the league could have prevented us from operating the team 10 years ago and they allowed us to operate it for 10 years, so I can't really fault them," Silver said. 

The agreement between the Red Wings and Genesee County Baseball includes a provision that if the team is sold, the Red Wings would receive 5 percent of the proceeds for each year the organization ran the team. That agreement, Silver said, survives this decision by the league.

Silver said it was a pleasure for the Red Wings to operate the team this past decade.

"I hope things work out," Silver said. "It's a wonderful community. It's just not as well-populated a community that it has to be, to be able to support a team and so you can't fault the community."

UPDATE 10:32 a.m.: The office of the New York-Penn League is in St. Petersburg, Fla. A call to the league's phone number this morning went to voice mail for league president Ben Hayes. No messages can be left because the mailbox is full.

UPDATE 10:50 a.m.: Brian Paris said it's unclear who will operate the team in 2018, perhaps the league, but there is nothing settled. 

"We're currently working with the league to determine the outcome for the Muckdogs," Paris said. "The hope is that we'll be playing and we will have a season in 2018."

He said he has a good working relationship with the league and Ben Hayes.

"We're working with the league and we're excited about hopefully making an announcement in the near future as to the outcome," Paris said.

Asked if the league could just shut down the team, he said he doesn't know.

"I think the league is in the business of promoting baseball and they're going to do what is best for promoting baseball in the New York-Penn League," Paris said.

UPDATE:  Don Rock, the Muckdog's groundskeeper, left the following comment below:

I would like to start out by saying THANK YOU to Naomi Silver and the Rochester Redwings organization for being there for all of us the past 10 years. I have worked as the groundskeeper for the past 16 years with my 1st year in the office, for a total of 17 years and all this is a major heartbreak to me. I AM DEVASTATED, to say the least. I hope things work out because I LOVE MY JOB very much. After hearing the news, I went and sat in the grandstands and cried. I was and still am very upset. The stadium has been my life.

We've made repeated calls to the NYPL office in St. Petersburg, Fla., and have not been able to reach anybody.