Press release:

Tompkins Insurance has expanded staff on duty today  from 8 a.m. to noon to assist our customers with claims due to the storm.  In addition we are available 24 hours per day 365 days a year. Thank you for allowing us to be your trusted insurance advisor.

Tompkins can be reached at (888) 261-2688.

Take the six hours between noon and 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Genesee County dispatchers handled more calls for service, 428, than any other full day in the known history of emergency dispatch for the county. 

And that's just six hours.

For the full day, dispatchers received 620 calls for service. There were 706 dispatch events, 507 9-1-1 calls, 597 seven-digit emergency calls, 12,350 monitored radio transmissions, 38,953 total radio transmissions and the on-air time for dispatchers was 36 hours and three minutes. (Calls for service does not include canceled calls or consolidated calls. Monitored radio transmissions do not include transmissions to highway departments, public works and other talk groups not normally monitored by dispatch.)

Wednesday, of course, was the day Genesee County got hit with a windstorm that may have included gusts up to 80 mph. As a result, more than 12,000 National Grid customers locally were left without electricity, trees were downed, trucks were overturned and homes were damaged.

There was also a four-unit apartment fire in Batavia, a pellet stove fire in Pavilion, and a train derailment east of Donahue Road.

"It was definitely the busiest day in the entire history of emergency dispatch," said Steven Sharpe, director of emergency communications. "It was definitely a hectic room, but we have some extraordinary people so we're not running around with heads cut off. We have our heads down, plowing ahead and taking care of business as each call came in. It was very business-like but we worked our way through it."

A normal shift of three or four people swelled quickly to 11 dispatchers in the communications center on Park Road as the calls came flooding in for reports of power lines down, arcing and sparking wires, accidents and the normal medical emergencies.

"It started off like any other day, then one thing leads to another and it starts adding up," said Sgt. Jason Holman, that day's dispatch center supervisor.

One of the more experienced dispatchers in the center as winds started to kick up was Nate Fix.

"I personally worked the ice storm of 2006 and the tornado in 2009 and we've had some tough, large storms, but I've never seen that many calls and dispatches," Fix said.

Sharp, who working with Russ Lang as kind of floater support in dispatch, Holman and Fix all described a nonstop call volume that didn't let up from minute-to-minute for the duration of the storm.

The storm combined intensity and duration to make for a very busy day for dispatchers.

Sheriff William Sheron said he was really proud of the job dispatchers did during the storm.

The fire at 404 S. Jackson at 10:30 a.m. struck just as winds started to pick up, but before their full force hit the county.

"When that came in, there wasn't a real relation for us to the wind," Holman said. "The process was more day-to-day operations and you get through it and you make sure everyone responding has the information they need to know."

Winds didn't get strong until after the fire was pretty much out.

Then came the train derailment.

Russ Lang took the call, but Nate Fix was working Sheriff's dispatch so he was the first to notify patrols.

He put the word out in a single sentence, calm and in control, but knowing an incident like that could be bad.

"My dad was the Corfu chief in '94," Fix said, recalling the most recent train derailment in the county. "I remember the tones going off and it was still dark outside. I was 12 or 13 and I probably shouldn't have gone on the call, but I rode along with him and I remember people walking out of the woods in the fog. My first instinct (on this call) was to make sure there were no people involved. There wasn't, so that changed my thinking. We don't need ambulances. We just need people there to check if anything is leaking."

With the wind, Fix said, we're fortunate there was nothing toxic on the train, because the wind would have carried it right into the city.

"A lot of things go through your mind when a call like that comes in," Holman said.

Fortunately, the train derailment was nothing more than a property-damage accident, but that was still near the start of a multi-hour effort to field all the calls coming in.

Holman said, though, for all the work and all the stress on dispatchers, the real burden of the day was on the deputies, troopers, firefighters, medics, and highway personnel who actually had to respond to all those calls for service.

"We do our part, but we've got some protection," Holman said. "We're not dealing with the hazards. We try to get the information out to them as fast as we can, so my hat goes off to those guys out in the field. When it comes down to it, we've got the easy job."

With that many calls coming in, coordination and professionally handling priorities are essential to staying on top of the call volume, both Holman and Fix said. Every call is logged in the dispatch computer and all things being equal, calls are handled in the order received, but anything that involves the potential for loss of life -- a fire, an accident with entrapment, wires trapping somebody in a car or a house, gets a priority dispatch.

Dispatchers know, Fix said, that their first priority is to take care of the people in the field and the people calling in for help. Dispatchers have to stay calm in the midst of chaos and assure callers that help will arrive as soon as possible, then calmly pass the information on to responders.

But while dispatchers are taking care of everybody else, they also have their own concerns, Fix said, as does every other emergency responder.

"...the hardest thing for any emergency worker, especially for the volunteer firefighters, is they don't know what's going on with their own families because they’re going nonstop with no time to think of their family," Fix said. "I’m not sure people understand that or appreciate it."

Fix noted that Genesee County was fortunate in another way -- a storm in March isn't that unusual, but one without snow or rain is. Snow or rain could have made things so much worse.

"It still just blows my mind that we got a windstorm in March and no snow or rain with it," Fix said. That’s just remarkable this time of year."

It helps that 73 Main St. in Batavia has been a liquor store since the first day after the end of Prohibition, but Chris Crocker thinks she's found a special niche in Batavia that's helped her business survive and grow in its first five years.

"People in Batavia were asking for higher-end products and a whole different mindset on different wines," Crocker said. "And we have fun here."

As soon as Crocker took over the location and renamed it YNGodess in 2012, she started bringing in a broader selection of fine wines and over the five years she's become known among her customers not only as a place for great wine, but also for having one of the finest selections around of whisky, bourbon and scotch, as well as other top-shelf liquors.

"It comes from a passion for the business," she said, "but I'm doing it all for my 13-year-old son."

Press release from Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat:

“Our Founding Fathers warned us this day would come. Partisan politics would overtake good government for the people. The Medicaid changes being proposed in Washington would cut taxes for wealthy special interests while devastating New York State’s finances and all but eliminating health care for the most vulnerable New Yorkers.

“What’s worse, a New York Republican Congressman, Chris Collins, is offering an amendment that would wreak havoc on the state. While I understand that the Democrats in Washington are attacking Collins on ethics issues and are having a heated political fight, they shouldn’t be played out at the expense of everyday New Yorkers.

“Here are the facts: The overall Medicaid plan would cost the state billions of dollars of lost federal funds and jeopardize hospital stability. As if that were not enough, Rep. Collins would have the state assume the counties’ share of Medicaid expenses outside of New York City. The current breakdown is 13 percent county, 36 percent state, and 51 percent federal. This ill-conceived plan would cost his home state approximately $2.3 billion. Unbelievably, that’s on top of the cost of the Republican Affordable Care Act repeal plan – another $2.4 billion.

“Translation: Rep. Collins is proposing a tax increase on New Yorkers to the tune of $4.7 billion. This one-two punch would destroy all the hard work the Governor and Legislature have accomplished in the last six years to lower taxes across the board and achieve the lowest spending increases in recorded history. New Yorkers will be at risk of losing their healthcare, hospitals will be forced to lay off workers, and our vulnerable elderly will find it much harder to afford nursing home care.

“On the merits, the counties have no right to claim this is an undue burden. They paid a percentage of health care costs even before Medicaid – and in fact, currently have a more favorable agreement than in decades.

“In 1960 – well before New York State and most counties had any sales tax revenue to pay for it – Congress passed the Kerr-Mills Act, which created a national role in funding health care for the elderly. Under this program, the counties in New York paid approximately 44 percent of the cost of care, the state paid about 38 percent, and the federal government paid around 18 percent. 

“In 1965, Medicaid replaced that program and the counties paid 25 percent. That same year, the state began giving counties the option of collecting sales tax on their behalf. Every county in New York has subsequently agreed to this option. Many counties in the nation don’t get sales tax, and most of those receive less than our counties. Moreover, the state recently agreed to give the counties additional help – after hearing the counties’ complaints of the growing Medicaid costs, the state has held them harmless for any increases since 2011. 

“As a result, the counties’ share for Medicaid is down from 25 percent to 13 percent, and the state assumed this cost while still living within the 2 percent spending cap, and all while cutting taxes. The state is not asking the counties to do anything more than we have done ourselves. In fact, the state has done far more. If the Collins amendment passed, the state would need to raise income taxes or the counties would have to forego their share of sales tax in exchange for the state picking up the additional Medicaid costs.

“In short, Rep. Collins’ amendment and the Affordable Care Act repeal would transfer $4.7 billion in costs to the state which would translate into a new tax for New Yorkers. I know firsthand that the people of the 27th Congressional District face enough challenges in their lives – they don’t need to worry about increasing health care costs or new taxes. 

“Rep. Collins should stop prioritizing his wealthy friends and start helping his home state by protecting the most vulnerable from losing their healthcare and not putting the state budget at risk. Remember, as my mentor Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan used to always point out, New York is a donor state – we pay more in federal taxes than we receive back.

“Mr. Collins, try practicing good government rather than partisan politics.” 

Through a spokesman, Collins responded in a story in the Buffalo News.

Elba had plenty of chances to beat C.J. Finney in the Section V Class D consolidation game. They had second and third and fourth chances -- the kind of chances you get by snagging offensive rebounds and putting them back for baskets.

But in the third and fourth quarters, those balls weren't rolling in.

"We stressed crashing the offensive rebounds," said Head Coach Ciaci Zambito. "We felt we would have an advantage on the glass tonight. The first half, we capitalized on some those and in the second half, we didn't. That's just how the game is. The ball didn't roll our way and that's the unfortunate part of the story of the night."

Putting in more of those shots would have helped the Lancers overcome the sharpshooting of Finney's guards, who netted 13 three-point shots helping Finney advance to the Far West Regional Championship with a 52-48 win.

Max Harris hit six three-pointers for Finney and Dylan Occur hit four, all in the first quarter.

All those swishes put Elba in a mood to try a little outside shooting to start the second half and that got them in a little trouble.

"We haven't been a great shooting team all year," Zambito said. "Our thing is we need to attack the basket. Sometimes when other teams do things well you try to match them. They shot the ball well tonight and we tried to match them doing that and we came up short."

Finney's guards can also handle the ball well, so the Lancer's attempt to trap and press wasn't as effective as Zambito would have liked, so Elba dropped back into a half-court offense.

"They're just such good shooters," Zambito said. "There isn't much you could do about that."

Zambito praised his seniors, who came up in a program that a few years ago only got five or six wins, but starting last year, when Zambito became coach, they bought into the new scheme of things and worked hard to come together as a team and help Elba get its first Section V title in boys basketball since 2005.

"To end their career with a sectional championship just goes to show you how hard they've worked," Zambito said. "It's incredible."

For Elba, Tucker Bezon scored 20 points. He hit three threes. Shane O'Hallaran scored 10. Jon Boyce scored nine.

Press release:

 A western New York field force of nearly 1,200 workers made significant progress over the last 24 hours and has restored power to more than 88 percent of the 171,000 upstate New York homes and businesses impacted by Wednesday’s damaging wind storm. Crews have been focused on the time-consuming, labor-intensive work of removing downed trees and thousands of tree limbs, repairing substations, replacing hundreds of broken poles and damaged transformers, and replacing miles of feeder lines and circuits. 

While the storm affected many areas of upstate, the most severe damage and highest wind speeds – in excess of 70 mph – were recorded in western New York. About 130,000 National Grid customers in that region were impacted and, by this afternoon, more than 110,000 have been restored. Today, the company’s full contingent of crews remains focused on restoring power to approximately 19,000 customers still out, especially in the areas where the damage was most severe, including portions of Monroe, Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming counties. 

National Grid anticipates restoring power to 90 percent of upstate New York customers affected by late tonight. Restoration in a few isolated locations and for some individual customers in the hardest-hit areas likely will continue into late Saturday evening because of the severity of the damage. Specific local restoration times, updated every 15 minutes, are available on the Outage Central page of National Grid’s website. 

“Our crews have made significant progress last night and through today and we have received outstanding support from state, county and local first-responders and emergency coordinators,” said Melanie Littlejohn, National Grid’s New York vice president. “However there is challenging work ahead and our job is not done until we have connected every customer.” 

Littlejohn noted that the equipment damage, particularly in rural areas, is severe and progress will be slow and steady. “The final hours of our restoration process are always the most labor and time intensive,” she said. “The number of customers restored by each repair job typically is smaller because the remaining damage affects very small pockets of customers, sometimes even a single customer.” 

National Grid is offering customers dry ice and bottled water at the following locations through 5 p.m. today. 

Wrights Corners Fire Company 

4043 Lake Ave., Lockport, NY 

City of Batavia Fire Department 

18 Evans Street, Batavia, NY 

Village Fire Station 

80 Owens Rd., Brockport, NY 

The company will continue dry ice and bottled water distribution again tomorrow from noon until 4 p.m. at the Batavia and Brockport locations only. 

Company Advises Caution 

The company also reminds customers to stay safe as they continue to recover from the storm’s damage. “Given the storm’s impact, there may be unsafe conditions in the region,” Littlejohn said. “We’re asking customers to remain aware of potential safety hazards such as damaged trees, particularly broken limbs that haven’t yet fallen to the ground. We also ask that drivers use extreme caution as they approach work areas, to ensure the safety of utility and other storm-response personnel who have been in the field around the clock restoring service.” 

The company also urges the public to exercise safety around electricity wires and other equipment. Downed lines should be immediately reported to your local emergency response organization or by calling National Grid at 1-800-867-5222. 

Additionally, if you use a generator to supply power during an outage, be sure to only operate it outdoors. Regardless of ventilation, never operate a generator indoors. Before operating a generator, be sure to disconnect from National Grid’s system by shutting off the main breaker, located in the electric service panel. Failure to do this could endanger our crews and your neighbors. 

For detailed information on post-storm safety, visit the Outage Central section at www.nationalgridus.com. 

When a power outage occurs in a neighborhood, it may in fact affect thousands of customers. How does National Grid restore service? 

National Grid emergency crews follow a time-tested plan to begin restoring service as safely and quickly as conditions allow. Accurate damage surveys, resource assessments and restoration estimates are critical in the preliminary stages of any major weather event. National Grid crews perform damage surveys as soon as possible during and after the weather-related incidents following established safety guidelines. Credible and consistent communication with local public officials and the media is maintained throughout the duration of the restoration effort by in-person updates between National Grid personnel and state and local officials, regular media updates, and updates to Outage Central. 

As damage assessments are underway, our crews clear away hazards such as live, downed lines. The clean-up of storm-damaged trees and branches removed from our electric facilities remains the responsibility of the customer or property owner, whether private or municipal. 

Next come repairs to main transmission facilities, including towers, poles and high-tension wires that deliver power from generating plants. Recovery work at local 

substations is also a high priority, because power flows from transmission lines through substations on its way to you. 

Circuits and transformers in neighborhoods and the wires that connect them to your home come next – starting with areas that involve the most customers. While waiting for your power to return, please know that we’re doing everything we can to restore electric service as quickly as possible. 

Here with you, here for you 

National Grid offers several ways to stay informed and safe – before, during and after a storm: 

 For real-time power outage information, online outage reporting, and in-depth storm safety information, visit the Outage Central section of our website, www.nationalgridus.com. Customers who create an online profile on our website can also sign up for email alerts. 

 To receive text message alerts and updates from National Grid, text the word STORM to NGRID (64743). 

 Online and text alert services can be started and stopped at the customer’s request. 

 Other ways to stay in touch: 

- Visit our website: www.nationalgridus.com 

- Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nationalgridus 

- Friend us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/nationalgrid 

Click here for a video on how National Grid restores power after a major storm. 

Jason E. Carpenter, 38, Central Avenue, Batavia, is charged with second-degree assault. Carpenter was arrested following an investigation into a fight involving multiple persons at the corner of Liberty and Sumner streets in the city at 12:10 a.m. on Feb. 26. Carpenter is accused of punching another person in the eye causing multiple facial fractures. He was jailed without bail and due in City Court on March 7. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Jason Ivison.

Jamie L. Soto, 42, of Bank Street, Batavia, is charged with sex offender failure to mail verification form in 10 days -- prior offense, and sex offender failure to notify of address change in 10 days -- prior offense. This female was arrested and arraigned on March 9 in City Court. She had reported that she was living at a residence on East Main Street in "Apt. 4." Through an investigation, it was learned that there is no Apt. 4 and Soto had never resided in an apartment at that address. She was released under supervision of Genesee Justice and is due in City Court on April 6. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Eric Hill.

Daniel Thomas Henning, 36, of Buffalo Street, Attica, is charged with: DWI; DWI with a BAC of .08 percent or higher; inadequate exhaust; improper right turn; driving on sidewalk; and unlicensed operator. At 10:09 p.m. on March 8, Henning was arrested on Cedar Street in Batavia following the investigation of a motor-vehcile accident on Route 5 in Batavia. He was issued an appearance ticket and is due in City Court April 19. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Jenna Ferrando, assisted by Deputy Michael Lute.

Otto C. Reinhardt III, 50, of Clarence Center Road, Clarence, is charged with second-degree criminal contempt following an incident at the Genesee County Courts Facility at 4 p.m. on March 7. It is alleged that Reinhardt had contact with an individual for whom a complete stay-away order of protection had been issued, thus barring him from any contact with that person. He was jailed on $1,000 cash bail or bond. He was due in City Court March 8. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Chad Richards, assisted by Officer Mitchell Cowen.

Russell R. Miles Jr., 48, of South Main Street, Batavia, is charged with first-degree criminal contempt. He was arrested at a Batavia eatery on Main Street in Batavia at 4:32 p.m. on March 8 after he was found with a protected female. He was put in jail and was due in City Court March 9. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Mitchell Cowen, assisted by Officer Chad Richards.

Debbie M. Simmons-Keller, 58, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with second-degree harassment. She was arrested at 4:25 a.m. on March 7 following a domestic dispute. She was issued an appearance ticket for March 21 in City Court. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Peter Flanigan, assisted by Officer Jason Ivison.

Melissa A. Wetmore, 44, of Main Street Road, Corfu, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. She was arrested at 4:20 p.m. on March 6 on Pearl Street, Batavia, following a traffic stop of a vehicle in which was a passenger. It is alleged that marijuana was found underneath her seat. She was issued an appearance ticket for March 14 in City Court. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Chad Richards.

(name redacted upon request), 23, of Boyce Road, Pembroke, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and running a red light. She was arrested at 12:17 a.m. today (March 10) on Alleghany Road in Pembroke following a traffic stop. She is due in Town of Pembroke Court on March 28. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Meyer.

On March 7, the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office arrested local contractor Dennis N. Rawleigh Jr., who is 46 and lives in Batavia, on one count of second-degree scheme to defraud, a Class A misdemeanor, after an investigation into complaints that he did not complete work he received payments for.

In November, Rawleigh, doing business as Rawleigh’s Tear Down, allegedly received over $15,000 in payments from a Town of Gainesville woman to perform work on two houses she owns, one in the Village of Perry and one in the Town of Gainesville. Very little work was completed on the Perry home and none on the Gainesville residence.

The second victim, a male subject from the Town of Sheldon, reported paying Rawleigh a $3,200 down payment to tear down a barn. Rawleigh, a former resident of Perry, attempted to pull the large barn down with a chain and his pickup with negative results. No further attempt to tear the barn down was made since June, 2015.

Rawleigh was issued an appearance ticket and is to appear in Gainesville Town Court later this month. The arrest report was prepared by Wyoming County Sheriff's Captain Erik Tamol.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today (March 10) proudly announced that the Village of Elba in Genesee County has received $3.5 million for a water improvement project, $2.1 million of which is a New York State Water Grant.

The project involves connecting to the Genesee County Water Supply by installing a new pressure-reducing valve, decommissioning the Chapel Street Well, and rehabilitating the Village’s finished water storage tank. More than 21,000 feet of aged water main will also be replaced.

“Water quality is a major issue across the state,” Hawley said. “This affects not only the water our residents use to drink and cook with, but also the water in our schools and businesses.

"Old lead and cast iron pipes were reliable technology 50 years ago, but they now need to be replaced, and I applaud state leaders for taking a proactive approach to mitigate costs. The more we invest upfront to swap out old pipes and water infrastructure, the more we will save in the long run and families will have peace of mind knowing the water they drink is safe and clean.”

Press release:

On March 31, residents in the Byron-Bergen Central School District will be able to vote on a capital improvement project designed to keep the schools safe, energy efficient, and ready to offer exceptional educational opportunities to its students well into the future. The primary focus of the project will be on the Elementary School, which has not seen major updates or renovations to its classrooms since opening in 1969.

Voters are invited to attend one of the informational meetings scheduled for March 14 and March 23. Both meetings will be held at 7 p.m. in the Jr./Sr. High School Auditorium. The capital improvement project vote is March 31 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Jr./Sr. High School Wrestling Room.

The BBCSD Board of Education and Facilities Committee recently worked with the architecture firm Clark Patterson Lee to complete a NYS Education Department-required Five-Year Building Condition Survey. The survey provided an independent and thorough analysis of safety, infrastructure, technology, and strengths and weaknesses of school facilities. The recommendations included:

• Capital improvements, mainly to the Elementary School and other areas in the district needing renovation in order to meet NYS Education Department codes and regulations.
• Energy efficiencies enabling long-term cost savings which will be achieved through an Energy Performance Contract (EPC).

The capital improvement project is anticipated to cost $20,452,902. Approximately 82 percent of the cost will be funded by a combination of State Aid, District Capital Reserve Fund, and projected energy savings. This will result in a net local share of 6 percent to be paid over a 15-year period.

The Capital Improvement Project involves district-wide energy savings, which include installing energy-efficient lighting and improving/replacing heat, boiler, HVAC, and dehumidification systems. Other planned improvements include:

• At the Elementary School
  • Renovate and expand classrooms to meet minimum classroom size requirements as specified by NYSED;
  • Update ADA-noncompliant bathrooms and hydration stations; 
  • Update kitchen equipment and serving lines;
  • Renovate gymnasium floor and stage lighting;
  • Replace aging windows;
  • Improve safety of driveway, bus loop, and parent drop-off areas;
  • Upgrade doors and hardware.
• At the Jr./Sr. High School, bus garage, and Natatorium (pool) building
  • Roof replacement;
  • Build new tennis court to meet regulations;
  • Improve stage lighting;
  • Upgrade fire alarm system;
  • Replace dehumidification system;
  • Replace bus wash system;
  • Improve lighting in parking lots.

The school is presenting two propositions to be voted on:

Proposition #1 authorizes the district to make capital improvements to its facilities in the amount of $20,452,902, and to use $2,000,000 from the district’s Capital Reserve Fund to help offset the amount of money to be borrowed.

Proposition #2 seeks voter approval to receive a 10 percent enhancement in building aid from the NYS Education Department (NYSED).  NYSED would aid the district at a rate of 86.5 percent versus 76.5 percent, with voter approval, to offset the cost of the Board of Education approved Energy Performance Contract.

For more information, visit www.bbschools.org.

City crews were on Morton Avenue this morning as part of their rounds through the city to clean up downed trees and tree limbs.

There is dry ice and water available at the fire hall on Evans Street.

The National Grid workers handing out the dry ice advise that you should bring a cooler with you. If you don't have a cooler, bring blankets to wrap the ice in. If you don't have a cooler, you need to be prepared to drive home with your windows open because of the CO2 the dry ice emits. When you get the block, you need good winter gloves to handle the ice.

The crew was also told they should expect to be back at the fire hall tomorrow, which sounds like a sign that National Grid expects a lot of people to still be without power through tonight.

There are still nearly 100 locations in Genesee County with reported power outages affecting thousands of National Grid customers, but several outages should be repaired by this afternoon, including much of Stafford and Bethany and the west side of the Town of Batavia.

National Grid reports that power has been restored to the Village of Le Roy, though a couple of small outages remain in the area of the village.

The major outages in the City of Batavia, including Morton and Central avenues, and State Street as of yet have not ETA for repair.

There are still 615 outages reported in National Grid's service area in WNY, leaving 26,790 customers without power. Immediately after Wednesday's windstorm, there were nearly 100,000 customers without power.

To help residents without power, National Grid is supplying bottled water by the case and dry ice at City Fire on Evans Street. Dry ice was just delivered to the station, twice the amount delivered yesterday, which was all scooped by within an hour.

The dry ice at city station is available now (as of 10:50 a.m.)

Batavia High School's performance of "Hairspray" has been canceled for tonight. A 7:30 p.m. show has been added for Sunday.

Top photo: submitted by a reader. Bottom two photos, I took on State Street while out trying to find a National Grid repair crew working in the city (I didn't find one.)

Both Batavia City Schools and Le Roy Central Schools have announced they will be closed Friday due to weather-related issues.

Press release:

Batavia City School District’s Jackson Primary School staff looks forward to welcoming its new kindergarten students for 2017-2018!

Registration for children eligible to begin kindergarten in the 2017-2018 school year starts Monday, March 13.

Parents/guardians are asked to register their eligible child(ren) by May 25 in order to assure a screening appointment in early June and a placement letter by early August.

Children who will be 5 years old on or before Dec. 1, 2017, are eligible.

Registration is at the District’s Business Office, located in the administration wing of Batavia High School (260 State St.), on school days between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

To register a child, parents must bring:

-- Proof of Residency as evidence of physical address, which must be two (2) of the following: (We will make copies for our records.)

• Mortgage statement/lease
• Electric or gas or bill
• Water bill
• Cable bill
• Letter from attorney/realtor on their letterhead with confirmation of address and anticipated moving/closing date.
• School tax bill
• Current payroll check

--  the child’s birth certificate,

--  the child’s Social Security card, and

--  the child’s complete immunization records.

 Kindergarten screening appointments will be scheduled for June 6-8, and placement letters will be mailed the first week of August. In addition, parents/guardians will be notified of an evening orientation for themselves.

Parents of all new students to the District are also asked to register their child in the Business Office with the same documentation.

Current 2016-2017 UPK students will be provided with information to complete for registration into kindergarten by mail.

If you have questions, please call the Business Office at 343-2480, ext. 1002.

David J. Mylar IV is indicted for the crime of third-degree burglary, a Class D felony. It is alleged that on Oct. 3, 2013, that Mylar knowingly entered or remained unlawfully inside a building on Main Road in the Town of Pembroke, with the intent to commit a crime.

Gregory J. Rodak is indicted for the crime of driving while intoxicated as a Class E felony. It is alleged that on Nov. 17 in the Town of Bergen that Rodak drove a 2007 Volkswagon on Townline Road while in an intoxicated condition. In count two, he is accused of DWI, per se, also a Class E felony, for allegedly having a BAC of .08 percent or more at the time.

Beverly B. Meadows is indicted for the crime of driving while intoxicated as a misdemeanor. It is alleged that on Dec. 6 in the Village of Le Roy that Meadows drove a 2003 Chevrolet on North Street while in an intoxicated condition. In count two, she is accused of DWI, per se, as a misdemeanor, for allegedly having a BAC of .08 percent or more at the time. In count three, Meadows is accused of the crime of aggravated unlicensed operation in the first degree, a Class E felony. It is alleged that at the time of the crimes alleged in counts one and two, that she knew or had reason to know that her driver's license was suspended or otherwise withdrawn by authorities.

Press release from the Genesee County Office of Emergency Management Services:

To address concerns regarding non-emergency storm needs, call the Genesee County Office of Emergency Management Services at 585-344-0078, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

At this time, there is no confirmed time for restoration of power to various areas. National Grid estimates 90 percent of restoration by midnight tomorrow (March 10) and 99 percent by midnight on Saturday.

An Emergency Shelter was established starting at 5 o'clock tonight at the Batavia Veterans Hospital, 222 Richmond Ave., Building #4, Batavia.

Two warming shelters will be open in Batavia at 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Friday: the Salvation Army, located at 529 E. Main St.; and the Genesee County Office of the Aging, 2 Bank St.

If you're trying to read the tea leaves on whether JCPenney's in Batavia will be among the 130 to 140 stores the company will close this year, this list of underperforming locations might be of interest.

Batavia is not on it.

But that means nothing. There are only 39 stores listed.

The list was created and released by Morningstar Credit Ratings.

The Batavia VA, 222 Richmond Avenue, will open an emergency shelter for county residents for tonight starting at 5 p.m.