An oxygen tank is reportedly on fire inside a residence at 4 Olyn Ave. City firefighters are responding. A neighbor called dispatch after the occupants ran out of the house screaming. "I don't know what you're going to find," said the dispatcher.

UPDATE 1:31 p.m.: Engine 11 on location and crew reports nothing showing.

The previous winter storm watch is now a winter storm warning.

The National Weather Service is forecasting an inch or two of snow in the morning, another four to six inches Sunday night, two to four inches Monday, with storm totals of seven to 12 inches.

The most intense period of snow is predicted for Sunday night into Monday morning. 

Winds could be 15 to 20 mph, causing areas of blowing and drifting snow. 

Visibility could be down to a quarter of a mile at times. 

Hazardous travel conditions are expected.

CORRECTION: We initially transposed the words. The watch became a warning. 

City fire is dispatched to 189 Pearl St. for water coming out of a vacant building.

Law enforcement is on scene and requested the fire department respond.

Up to seven inches of snow is possible tomorrow afternoon through Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

A winter storm watch has been issued from Sunday afternoon through Monday afternoon.

Blowing snow is possible. Travel could be difficult.

Forecast confidence is medium.

A motor-vehicle accident with minor injuries is reported at the intersection of Ellicott Street Road and East Bethany--Le Roy Road. Bethany and Stafford fire departments are responding.

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Reacht is a fun, interactive way for people to share their opinions on a variety of topics, from politics to baseball, world events to music, hot-button controversies to the amusing topics of society. Participants will also receive unique and special offers from local merchants -- and some national merchants -- tailored to their interests.

We promise you won't get bombarded with a string of daily notifications, but the app uses your smartphone's notification service to ask you poll questions and send you offers.

We will use this app in conjunction with our current daily poll, but we'll also fashion special, mobile-only polls.

There will also be prizes you can win for participating.

The app is free.

Our kick-off next week is being sponsored by Southside Deli. Those who download the app and respond to the second poll question of the day on the app will be eligible to win a $5 gift certificate (we'll give away at least 80 of them over the first two weeks) to Southside Deli.

We're working on obtaining other prizes. (Local businesses, want to participate? Contact me or Lisa Ace at (585) 250-4118.)

Daniel J. Saeva Sr., is indicted on one count of second-degree strangulation and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Saeva is accused of intentionally impeding the normal breathing or blood circulation of another person by applying pressure to the throat or neck, causing stupor or loss of consciousness. Saeva allegedly choked a 10-year-old child Dec. 12 in the City of Batavia.

Joseph R. Kress is indicted on counts of felony DWI and felony driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Kress was allegedly driving drunk Sep. 1 in the Village of Corfu. He's accused of having a prior DWI conviction in January, 2011.

Eric L. Jamalkowski is indicted on counts of aggravated unlicensed operation, 1st degree, and bail jumping. Jamalkowski is accused of driving March 22 in the Town of Le Roy while knowing his driving privileges were suspended or revoked. He allegedly had 10 suspensions on his license at the time going back to 2007. Upon his arrest March 22, Jamalkowski was released from custody and allegedly failed to appear for a subsequent court date.

Rion J. Pawlak is indicted on four counts of falsifying business records, 1st, and two counts of petit larceny. Pawlak is accused of submitting false claims for reimbursement on business-related purchase to his employer in the Town of Le Roy on four separate occasions in the amounts of $78.30, $57.30, $102 and $98.76. He's also accused of stealing an umbrella.

Former players, such as Laurie Call, above, and his son, Dave Pero Jr., paid tribute Friday night to Notre Dame girls head basketball Coach Dave Pero Sr. prior to the team's game against Holly.

Pero hasn't announced his retirement, but there's a suspicion that this will be his final season, so Pero Jr., wanted to have a ceremony to honor his father, whose teams have won four sectional titles and a state championship.

Pero said he hasn't decided whether to return next season. Right now, he's focused on getting his team through another postseason, which starts in a couple of weeks. "Whatever I decide, it will be best for everybody involved," he said.

A 10-2 team, a 9-1 team, expectations were high going into Friday night's matchup of Batavia and Irondequoit for an exciting game.

But fans got a different kind of thrill as the Blue Devil's leading scorer topped all of his previous bests and set a new school record with 51 points in the game as Batavia dusted Irondequoit 71-49.

The previous single-game scoring record for Batavia was set by Tom Hoitink at 45 in 1965.

Batavia led wire-to-wire, making the game a bit of a snoozer but for Redband's heroics.

Redband recorded a double-double, pulling down 14 rebounds to go with his 51 points. He was an astonishing 15-15 from the foul line and made six of his 12 three-point attempts. On field goals, he was 15-16. He also blocked a shot, had three steals and three assists.

No other Batavia player was in double digits in any other offensive or defensive category.

Jared Laskett hit three three-pointers to finish with nine points on the night. 

The win makes the Blue Devils 11-2 on the season.

The best way to describe John Duyssen's decision to retire after 21 years as a deputy sheriff is, it's just time.

That's what he said in an interview Friday, his last day of duty, "It's time."

In law enforcement, you're always on the edge, more so in today's environment. The death of his friend and fellow Le Royan Frank Bordonaro weighed on Duyssen, a father to five adopted children. As a member of the crash management team, he's seen enough mangled and battered bodies. The son and brother of farmers, he has his own spread on Bater Road to run. The Le Roy School District can use him as a bus driver and that seems like a good route to take at this juncture in his life.

It's just time.

"I've had a great career," Duyssen said. "I'm leaving happy. I'm not disgruntled. I'm at the top of my game. The Sheriff just gave me an awesome award here the other day. That was kind of cool because it was almost like a career wrapper. "

The best part of the job, Duyssen said, was seeing justice work. He takes a lot of satisfaction in the confessions he's obtained and the convictions of people who did bad things to his friends and neighbors.

Mostly working the east side of the county, he gave his personal cell phone number out to hundreds of people. They called him with their complaints and when appropriate he opened cases.

One such case was a series of thefts of timber from several property owners in the Le Roy area in 2010.

The investigation took more than a year. It involved several victims, including older residents and farmers and landowners who simply enjoyed the park-like settings of their property.  

Duyssen made arrests and defendants eventually entered guilty pleas.

"When you work a case hard and you see it to the end, and see the people who were stolen from, defrauded, to see them get justice, is my biggest thing," Duyssen said.

Law enforcement, however, isn't without its dangers. Living on the edge takes its toll, even physically, Duyssen said.

"You don't know what you're pulling up on," Duyssen said. "Last year when that one guy attacked us in Pavilion, we didn't know what to expect. He was huge. I had a recruit with me, brand new, out of the academy, and he came right at us. We won, but when you've got a guy that has arms that big around and he's way bigger than me and you're not prepared for it, the door comes open and he comes flying at you, yeah, you're adrenaline goes through an adrenaline rush."

One of Duyssen's duties the past several years was leading the investigations on many fatal accidents. It's a matter of science and mathematics to reconstruct a scene, but you're also dealing with the human costs, the dead bodies and their friends and relatives. 

"I can remember, as I drive around the county and see the crosses, the memorials from fatal accidents," Duyssen said. "All the guys who have to work these cases, the community doesn't know the carnage that a deputy, trooper, police officer sees throughout 20 some years. You can remember smells, sights, sounds, and you can relive that.

"So I know what PTSD is all about. In the crash world, to use the science and the evidence and translate that to reconstruct a scene, to see that those who are physically wrong, if it's a DWI manslaughter case, and justice serves, there's nothing better."

Never, Duyssen said, are these accidents really accidents.

They're collisions.

"An accident is if you or I spill our coffee or milk," Duyssen said. "A car crash is either reckless, careless or negligent."

Drugs, drink, not enough sleep, speed, distracted driving, are all choices.

"I've seen some of these little kids tear me up," Duyssen said. "You just say, 'why?' and that's why it's time. I've seen enough. I've done enough. It's time for another, younger guy to take over."

A decade ago, Duyssen received the Carl Drexler Award, one of the highest honors in the state for a deputy sheriff for exceptional career achievements and conscientious devotion to duty. Both Duyssen and Sheriff Gary Maha mentioned at the awards ceremony memorable moments in the deputy's career.

One of the things that made Duyssen an exception deputy, Maha said, was his ability to relate to people. He was so good at getting suspects to talk and even confess, that Maha said he would have made a great detective.

"He had a lot of common sense and sometimes that makes a big difference in an officer," Maha said.

Yup, Duyssen, said, he could always talk with people.

"Law enforcement doesn't mean you have to be the biggest Hulk Hogan guy to enforce the law," Duyssen said. "I'm definitely not the biggest guy. My biggest asset is talking with people and solving things that way. If you treat people nice, they reciprocate I think, and they'll tell you want they did wrong. How do we get confessions? By treating people the right way. You know that hard-ass cop stuff just doesn't work."

More than once, Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster would remind him, "Just go out and talk, John," Duyssen said. "Talk to them."

"So, you head back out, things start rolling and next thing you know, you hand them a pen and a piece of paper and tell them, 'why don't you just tell me what happened?' " Duyssen said. He smiled, mimicked writing on a piece of paper, and added, "Five pages was the last one."

John and his wife, Jessica, decided to go the adoption route to start a family, and one adopted son encouraged them to try a second, then a third and finally a fourth and fifth.

They are Jonah, 17, Colt, 17, Julian, 13, Miranda, 6, and Jaden, 5.

All are homeschooled, though Jonah and Colt started at Le Roy High School this year, their senior year. Jonah is playing his first year of varsity basketball and will attend Bible Baptist College in Scranton, Pa., next year, where he plans to continue pursuing his hoop dreams. Colt is a wrestler and soccer player.

With more time for the farm, Jonah might get that second hog barn he wants and John will add some beef cattle. They'll continue to grow and sell their famous strawberries and raspberries.

And John will drive a school bus, working a morning shift, coming home to do chores and then heading back to the bus garage to start a round of afternoon drop-offs.

That's how John Duyssen will spend his time.

At shift change Friday afternoon, Sheriff Gary Maha presented John Duyssen with a Certificate of Appreciation and a keepsake retired deputy badge and ID.

Deputy John Duyssen signs off as GS-33 for the last time.

The Holland Land Office Museum opens a new exhibit at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, to commemorate 200th anniversary of the building it calls home.

The building was the third location built by Joseph Ellicott for the Holland Land Office, where Ellicott and his agents sold property to Western New York's first settlers.

That's why they call it the "Birthplace of Western New York."

Some of those first deeds, called indentures, will be on display in the new exhibit, along with surveying material as well as other items that made the land office a land office.

The exhibit will cover the entire period of land office history, including the War of 1812 and the impact of the Erie Canel on WNY trade.

Some of the exhibits will be affixed to panels covered with carpet (the better to hold Velcro) donated by Max Pies Furniture.

There's also information on how John Kennedy, the local educator and education reformer, saved the building for Batavia when Henry Ford tried to buy it and move it to his property in Michigan.

The exhibit kicks off a series of bicentennial events, including in May the burying of a time capsule. 

Fifth-graders from throughout Genesee County are being invited to write letters to their future selves to be buried in the time capsule.  

Any local resident can include a letter or other small item in the time capsule. Call the museum at (585) 343-4727 for more information.

The museum was first dedicated Oct. 13, 1894, and it will be rededicated Oct. 13 of this year.

Photo: Jeff Donahue, museum director, Jim Owen, museum board member, Phil Pies and Steve Pies of Max Pies Furniture.

A motor-vehicle accident, unknown injuries, is reported in the area of 4746 Barrville Road. Elba fire and Mercy medics are responding.

The Elba Volunteer Fire Department got two dings in a recent comptroller's audit: The board of directors needs to be sure the treasurer's work is audited, and expenditures need to be properly approved and recorded.

There is no evidence of missing or misappropriated funds, though there are a few expenditures that aren't properly documented.

Although there's no evidence of missing money, the department's lax oversight, auditors said, could cause problems.

"The Board’s inadequate oversight and weak controls increase the risk that Department disbursements may not be for appropriate purposes and that all money due the Department may not be received and deposited," the audit report states.

There is a lack of supporting documents for expenditures, auditors said, for $40,566 in spending. There are no documents to show that the board approved these expenditures.

Receipts from the department's largest fundraiser, the Onion Festival, were not properly recorded in 2013, the report states, affecting the department's ability to properly track revenue.

The festival generated $87,210 in revenue, with $78,886 in expenses, for a profit of $8,324.

While raffle tickets printed and sold are properly tracked, the same can't be said, according to the report, of food and beverage tickets.

The treasurer wrote a check to cash for $7,500 before the last festival, so there would be cash on hand for miscellaneous expenses. While she had receipts for $3,250 of the money spent from that fund, the rest of the expenditures had no supporting documentation.

Some of the cash is recorded in the fund-raising report, but there is no documentation for the balance of $1,365.

"The Board’s failure to properly oversee fund-raising activities substantially increases the risk that fund-raising money could be lost or stolen without detection," the report states.

Robert Ziphel, acting president of the Elba Volunteer Fire Department Board of Directors, responded to the audit and stated, "In response to our audit, we agree with your findings. We have implemented changes in 2014 and will continue to do so in the future as needed."

The defense challenged the confessions of 44-year-old Mark Maltese to a series of robberies and a burglary in 2013; a jury yesterday found the Batavia resident guilty on all but one count on the indictment against him.

The jury went into deliberations shortly after noon Thursday, returned to the courtroom a couple of times to review video evidence and have transcripts read back, and then returned the verdict at about 4 p.m.

"Obviously, the key to the case is the defendant's confessions," said District Attorney Lawrence Friedman. "That's obviously the most powerful evidence we can have."

Maltese was found guilty of three counts of robbery, one count of third-degree burglary and second-degree criminal mischief and one count of grand larceny, 3rd.

A not guilty verdict was returned on one count of burglary.

The participation of Maltese in a burglary Nov. 27, 2013, of the Rent-A-Center in Batavia led to his arrest and helped investigators crack the case of three hotel robberies in Genesee County in the week prior to the burglary.

In confessions at the time of his arrest, Maltese told police he robbed the hotels because he needed money to buy crack cocaine. 

"I have been struggling with a major addiction to crack cocaine for about the past six or eight months," Maltese said. "This addiction has consumed me and the majority of my money goes to buy crack to feed by addiction. My crack use got way out of control and I didn't know how to stop or slow down with smoking it. I became desperate for money so that I could get more crack cocaine, so I turned to robbing places to get the money I needed for crack. Every bit of the proceeds from the three robberies went to buy crack for me to smoke. I was out of control with my addiction and didn't know where to turn."

Friedman said the defense challenged whether the confession was truly voluntary as well as some of the facts contained in the confession.

Maltese was also convicted of stealing a safe from a local residence, but he was not convicted of the burglary charge in that case.

Maltese faces up to 15 years in prison on each robbery count. Sentencing is set for March 4.

Our latest Flip Ad contest winner is Bud Prevost.

Bud was the 5th person to send in the correct secret code, which this time was William Morgan.

Bud wins $25.

NOTE: The contest ad is still up and will likely be up throughout the day, but we do have a winner.

Press release:

The New York State Police will join local law enforcement agencies across the state in an effort to crack down on impaired driving during Super Bowl weekend. The STOP-DWI campaign will include increased patrols on the roadways and sobriety checkpoints to deter, identify and arrest impaired drivers.

While STOP-DWI efforts across New York have led to significant reductions in the number of drinking and driving fatalities, still too many lives are being lost because of crashes caused by impaired drivers. During the 2014 campaign, State Police made nearly 100 impaired driving arrests. The campaign will be promoted on variable message boards on highways across the state, including the New York State Thruway, and runs from noon through midnight on Super Bowl Sunday. The enforcement crackdown is funded by the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee.

Troop A Troop Commander Major Michael Cerretto said “We want everyone to enjoy the Super Bowl game and parties, however we would also like to ask them to be responsible, have designated drivers or plans to get home safely. We will be out patrolling the roadways and highways ensuring that they are safe for everyone to use."

An impaired driving conviction carries a maximum fine of $10,000, up to seven years in prison and license revocation.

In 2012, there were 10,322 people killed in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes in the United States — 31 percent of all crash fatalities in the nation.

A two-car accident with injuries is reported at Route 98 and Edgerton Road, Elba. One vehicle is blocking the roadway. Elba fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 10:17 a.m.: Two patients refused treatment. The Elba assignment is back in service.

Press release:

Congressmen Chris Collins (NY-27) and Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) today issued the following statement after reintroducing the bipartisan Cider Industry Deserves Equal Regulation (CIDER) Act. The Act, HR 600, would amend the section of the tax code that deals with wine and related beverages, 26 USC § 5041, to support the growing number of craft and entrepreneurial cider makers, and tailor IRS rules to reflect variations in craft ciders across the country.

“I am proud to introduce legislation that will support our nation’s apple growers and cider makers,” Congressman Collins said. “The CIDER Act will help spur growth in these industries by restructuring taxes to fairer rates that take into account the natural variations in the cider-making process. I thank Representative Blumenauer for joining me in this goal to reduce burdens on small businesses and simplify our tax code.”

“Cider making is sometimes closer to an art than a science,” Congressman Blumenauer said. “As the American apple and pear hard cider industry becomes more prominent on the world stage, and cider becomes a beverage choice for more Americans’ developing palettes, we need to ensure that cideries have every opportunity to expand and meet the needs of this growing market without an unfair tax burden.”

During the fermentation process, a variety of factors can lead to small changes in the composition of a cider’s alcohol content and carbonation. Because of the narrow way that hard cider is currently defined in the tax code, these small variations can lead to cider being taxed at a rate 15 times higher than what the statute clearly intended. The Collins-Blumenauer bill would update the tax definitions to greatly reduce the chance that improper taxation could occur. The bill would also broaden the definition to include both pear and apple ciders.

The changes proposed by congressmen Blumenauer and Collins will update the existing federal definition of cider to better reflect the industry and keep American cider competitive in the international marketplace. Production nationally has been robust, more than tripling from 9.4 million gallons in 2011 to 32 million gallons in 2013. Cider revenues in the U.S. have been just as impressive, tripling from $178 million in 2007 to $601 million in 2012.