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Leaving the Sheriff's Office after 20 years and six months of service is bittersweet, said K-9 Officer Chris Erion as he finished out his final shift before retiring yesterday.

He not only leaves behind a job he said matured him, he leaves behind his partner "Frankie," who will be paired with a new partner in the coming weeks.

"I've had a lot of great experiences. I've met a lot of wonderful people," Erion said. "I've seen a side of humanity, both good and bad, that I never would have seen had I not worked this job and been through experiences that have matured me. It's overwhelming to think of everything and trying to take it all in and think back over 20 years."

Erion joined the Sheriff's Office in March 2000.

He hasn't decided yet what comes next.

"I'm going to take a week or two and I'm going to kind of decompress and try to get the weight of the profession off of my heart and off my shoulders a little bit and reconnect with my family," Erion said. "They've been tremendous in just keeping things together over the years and the stresses that you go through. And they've earned it, too. It's not my retirement. It's something that they've earned as well."

Erion has four children, all under the age of 16.

Being a K-9 officer is a tough job on anyone, especially a family man.

"You have to be available," Erion said. "When that phone rings at two, three, or four in the morning, you have to be ready to go and go quickly. That takes a toll on everybody at home as well. I'm not getting any younger and you strap yourself to a 70-pound animal and go off into the darkness to wherever they take you. So it is a very physical job and it wears on you, but it's been very rewarding."

He's retiring at the age of 45. He looks back at himself as a 24-year-old rookie as somebody really didn't know much about life when he started.

"I was 24 and I was just a kid," Erion said. "I'm looking back now and I wasn't even an adult when I started. This job grows you up quickly."

His advice to young officers today: Do things right and do them the right way.

"Check your ego, because that will get you in trouble faster than anything else," Erion said. "Listen to the people around you that have been through the experiences that you're trying to learn. Take their advice. That's the easiest way to learn."

The tough job has been made a lot easier by the support of the people in the community, Erion said. He praised community members for the way they stand behind local law enforcement.

"I love this community," he said. "They back us and we know it and we try to be worthy of it."

Photo by Alecia Kaus/Video News Service. Article based on a recorded interview by Alecia Kaus.

Previously:

The train overpass on Route 5 in Le Roy is flooded. A fire chief requests a traffic detail.

Traffic is being stopped at Gilbert Street and Route 5.

UPDATE 3:53 p.m.: The roadway will reopen shortly.  

Genesee County's unemployment rate is back over 10 percent for July after a small dip to 9.5 percent in June.

The 2020 rate of 10.6 percent is 7 percentage points higher than it was a year ago.

Genesee County's unemployment rate had mostly stay between 6 percent and 3 percent, depending on the time of year, going back to 2015, and then the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic hit and many people started to shelter in place at the same time the government severely restricted business activity.  

In March, the month the first lockdown orders were issued, the county's unemployment rate was 4.9 percent. In April, it jumped to 14.4 percent, then fell to 10.1 percent in May.

A year ago in July, it was 3.5 percent.

One big factor in the local unemployment numbers is the county's largest seasonal employer, Darien Lake Theme Park, has not been allowed to reopen. The park employs more than 1,000 people every summer.

Another significant local employer that remains closed is Batavia Downs, which this time of year would have at least 450 people on the workforce.

There are currently 3,200 work-eligible people living in Genesee County who do not have jobs. A year ago, there were 1,100 people looking for work who reported they couldn't find a job that suited their qualifications.

At the hight of the previous recession. the high July number for unemployed people was 2,400.

Nancy Wee's Tai Chi class at DeWitt Recreation Area. The classes are at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday and Sunday. They are free and open to everybody. Masks and social distancing required.

Pat Crowe, an English teacher at Le Roy High School has retired after 49 years of lecturing kids on Shakespeare and grading their essays on To Kill a Mockingbird.

Photo submitted by Principal Tim McArdle.

When it came time for the Toronto Blue Jays to build a new nest for the 2020 season, a local company was called on to make Sahlen Field in Buffalo look like home.

Unitech Applications opened in Le Roy in 1989 and owner Guy Laesser focused on the bigging on landing big-business clients. The company specializing in large-scale vinyl design applications, like car wraps but on large vehicles -- trucks, buses -- and buildings.

The effort paid off in a big way in 1996 when he was hired to wrap all buses for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Since then, Unitech has been Laesser's full-time occupation.

He calls himself a perfectionist and that has helped the company grow. Other clients include the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign, Dick's Sporting Goods, Old Navy, Ice Road Truckers, the NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans, and Scooby-Doo's "The Mystery Machine" movie tour.

It's no wonder, then, when the Blue Jays called 3M looking for a company to work within the Buffalo region to get Sahlen MLB-ready, 3M recommended Unitech.

"Our job is to provide whatever the client needs," Laesser said.

When the Blue Jays wanted a wrap on the scoreboard, Laesser, who doesn't like getting up higher than 12 feet himself, had a friend who did just that kind of work, so he called him to complete that part of the project all in the name of taking care of the client.

For the Blue Jays, Unitech provided signage and wraps for the concourse, the dugouts, the stands, and the outfield walls. The company even used vinyl to tint the windows on the tents being used as the visiting team's locker room.

That wasn't as big of a frosted vinyl project as Unitech did for a company in NYC, which involved wrapping a 40,000-square-foot building.

Not every project Laesser and his lone full-time employee Fred Crimes take on is all that big. The company also wraps the covers of medical equipment used to treat children going through cancer treatment.

Unitech also supports the charity Special Spaces, which provides unique and specially designed bedrooms for children going through cancer treatment.

"That (the vinyl wall covering) was the biggest bill they had, it cost the most, so when we got involved, we volunteered all of the time and material so it didn't cost them anything and they could put their money elsewhere," Laesser said.

A Corfu police officer reports a train in the city is stopped and blocking the roadway.

"It appears to be at a standstill," he said.

He didn't provide a location.

He asked dispatch to call the rail company and find out if there's an issue.

UPDATE AND CORRECTION 12:31 p.m.: I heard the call sign of "14" but didn't hear the "CP" part. On the update from dispatch, the call went to "CP-14," so this train was actually in Corfu. The train is a CSX train. CSX dispatch is not aware of an issue with a train but is contacting the engineer to inform him that the train is blocking an intersection.

Ten months ago, the Civil War-era cannons that have sat as sentinels outside the Holland Land Office Museum since at least 1905, were sent to Altoona, Pa., for restoration by Seed Artillery and today, they returned to Batavia looking almost certainly much like they did when they were shipped to Batavia in the 1860s.

Residents on Trumbull Parkway has not only created a Little Free Library they also installed a bench, a planter, and a solar-powered light.

A four-vehicle accident, unknown injuries, is reported at West Main Street and River Street in the City of Batavia.

City fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 7:11 p.m.: A car heading east on West Main Street slowed to make a left-hand turn onto Bogue Avenue, according to Sgt. Mitch Cowen, and while the next two cars in line came to a stop behind the turning a vehicle, a fourth vehicle did not stop, causing a chain-reaction accident. One vehicle was not damaged and left the scene after police arrived. One person sustained a minor injury and was transported by Mercy EMS to UMMC for evaluation. The driver of the fourth vehicle will likely be cited for following too closely, Cowen said.

More than 2,300 National Grid customers are without power in the City and the Town of Batavia.

The outage area is north of East Main Street to about Clinton Street and goes as far north as Starowitz Road.

A crew has been assigned but there is no ETA for power restoration.

The trouble may have started at about 10 p.m. with a utility pole on State Street Road.

Billie and I are taking a little vacation -- some might call it a "staycation" since we're going to the Batavia Downs Hotel.

It's race night tonight and we'll have a good view.

But we'll also be without a scanner. That's the vacation part.

Ed Rath, candidate for the 61st State Senate District, up for election in November, visited Genesee County this week and met with local farmers to find out more about what issues they face in New York.

Demolition on a group of homes and businesses on East Main Street in Batavia began on this way to make a 55-unit, four-story apartment building to be known as Liberty Square.

The construction is being led by Home Leasing LLC, of Rochester, which specializes in providing low-income housing in the Finger Lakes region.

Twenty-eight of the apartments will be set aside for homeless veterans with the remainder designated as affordable for lower-income residents.

The properties are at 552, 554 and 556 E. Main St.

The total cost of the development is expected to exceed $12 million.

There will be 39 one-bedroom apartments, eight two-bedrooms targeting people with a household income of 60 percent of the area's median income.

Eagle Star Homes, a group serving veterans, is partnering with Home Leasing. 

Amenities include a community room, fitness center, on-site laundry, raised garden beds, laptops for residents' use, and private outdoor space with every apartment. Rent will include all utilities. There will be an on-site "community leader" 24/7.

NYS Homes and Community Renewal is assisting with the project but attempts this afternoon to find out from various sources the amount of that assistance were unsuccessful. We were told there would be a press release with more information about the project next week.

Rendering of what the complex is expected to look like when completed.

A pair of large fields of sunflowers are in full bloom off of Wortendyke Road, at South Pearl Street Road, in the Town of Batavia.

A sign on a driveway between the two fields says that stems can be purchased for $1 each and payment can be made at a business at 9 Apollo Drive. The other side of the sign provides information for making an online payment. 

We stopped by the business on Apollo Drive late today to try and find out more about the sunflower fields but nobody was in.

After some sprucing up and a few upgrades, the legendary Pok-A-Dot is ready to reopen after its long coronavirus-induced hibernation.

There are new tables inside that are more socially distanced, no seating at the counter, a dining counter outside, and soon, a walk-up window for takeout orders.

But the biggest upgrade, perhaps, isn't visible inside the favorite eatery of famous authors, visiting dignitaries, and TV show producers: you can now order your beef-on-weck or eggs-and-peppers-on-toast online.

The new website is pokadotbatavia.com.

The famously cash-only diner will now also take credit cards. There's fancy new computer equipment to handle all of these modern transactions.

The Pok-A-Dot has come a long way since friends Joe Marone and Phil Pastore decided 67 years ago to open a hot-dog stand hard against Route 63.

You can once again meet at the Dot starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow (Friday).

For all of our previous Pok-A-Dot coverage, click here.

Owners Phyllis Pastore-Beers and Leona Pastore.

Online ordering and curbside pickup are strongly encouraged.

Tim Beers

A 21-year-old Alden resident has identified himself to Sheriff's Office investigators as the driver of a car that struck a motorcyclist who was down in the roadway following a collision just before 9 p.m. on Friday in Corfu.

Alexander J. Wuerch has been charged with leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in serious physical injury.

Investigators believe Wuerch was the driver of a 2012 Hyundai Tucson that struck Travis R. Hartloff, 26, of Attica.

Hartloff was driving a motorcycle southbound on Route 77 when a car ahead of him slowed to turn into an ice cream shop. Hartloff's bike reportedly struck the vehicle and Hartloff was thrown from the bike into the middle of the roadway.

Another southbound vehicle then struck Harloff causing serious physical injuries. He was flown by Mercy Flight to ECMC where he is in critical condition.

Wuerch turned himself in at about 5 p.m. today.

The charge he's facing is a Class E felony. He was issued an appearance ticket and released.

The incident remains under investigation.

Previously:

• Motorist fails to stop after striking motorcyclist down in the roadway on Route 77
• Deputies looking for 2012 Hyundai Tucson involved in hit-and-run accident in Corfu

It's turned out to take more than four years but restoration work on the Thomas Rocket Car is nearly complete. To finish the restoration work, the volunteers handling the project -- with Dick McClurg of Old World Collision leading restoration -- need to raise another $4,000.

They're asking the community to pitch in. Here is a link to a GoFundMe page where you can make a contribution.

The Thomas Rocket Car was designed by former Batavia resident Charles D. Thomas. He and Norman Richardson, a talented welder and body man just out of high school, built the car in a rented garage near Main Street and Ellicott Avenue in 1938.

The design, and several innovations in the car, such as a rearview periscope and independent suspension, were dreamed up by Thomas while working on his 1935 thesis for the General Motors Institute of Technology in Flint, Mich.

Once the car was built, Thomas tried to interest any one of the Big Three in Detroit to move the car into production. But whether the automakers felt threatened, or because of the prospect of the World War, or it would have been too expensive to retool, all three companies took a pass. One Detroit executive reportedly told Thomas that his car was 10 years ahead of its time.

Thomas went onto a successful career in Buffalo with the maker of the Playboy automobile, and he apparently kept the Thomas car and drove it for some time. He eventually sold it. Local car buffs searched for it a few years ago and found it stored in a barn in Lockport.

They bought the car and returned it to it's rightful home, Batavia, with the intention it become a display piece of history in the city.

Photo submitted by Jaime Tuchek of a double rainbow over Vision Parkway in Pembroke.