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Citation issued following accident on Griswold Road, Stafford

By Howard B. Owens

A driver has been cited for alleged failure to yield the right of way leading to an injury accident at 5:04 p.m. Monday on Griswold Road in Stafford.

Cited was Thomas J. Scheuerlein, 78, of Griswold Road, Byron. Griswold along with passenger Patricia Scheuerlein, 78, were transported to Strong Memorial Hospital by Mercy EMS.

The other driver, Danielle Rozell, 35, of Elm Street, Batavia, was not injured.

According to the report by Deputy Robert Henning, Scheuerlein pulled onto Griswold Road from Godfrey's Pond Road without yielding the right of way to traffic on Griswold.

Rozell's car struck Scheuerlein's car on the driver's side.

Photos: A bit of snow hits Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

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Crews were out and working in Batavia this morning dealing with the few inches of snow that fell overnight and this morning.

The winter storm warning remains in effect through 8 p.m. tomorrow with a prediction of steady snowfall and a storm total in the area of about 18 inches.

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Closings and cancellations for Tuesday, March 14

By Howard B. Owens

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has declared a statewide state of emergency starting at midnight.

We've received notifications of the following closing and cancellations:

  • Batavia City Schools
  • Oakfield-Alabama Central Schools
  • Pembroke Central Schools
  • Alexander Central School
  • Byron-Bergen Central School
  • Elba Central School
  • GCC, all locations
  • Le Roy Central School
  • Pavilion Central School
  • St. Joseph's
  • Notre Dame
  • Mental Health Association of Genesee and Orleans Counties
  • Pembroke Town Court
  • Elba Fire Bingo canceled tonight
  • Art Ah la Carte is closed
  • 4-H Green Thumbs Club meeting
  • Alabama Town Court
  • Blue Pearl Yoga
  • Oliver's Candies - Closing at 5 p.m.

Send closings to howard@thebatavian.com

Officials say they're ready, and encourage residents to be ready, for coming storm

By Howard B. Owens

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There are going to be some unique features to the winter storm predicted to hit our county this evening and local officials are both preparing for unusual conditions and warning residents to prepare themselves.

First, there is the duration of the storm -- more than 48 hours of steady snowfall, about four inches every two hours. Second, there is the direction of the wind, coming from the north at the start of the storm rather than the usual west-southwest winds.

There is a winter storm watch in effect from tonight through 8 p.m. Wednesday with anticipated stiff winds and storm totals for snowfall of up to 20 inches in some parts of the county.

The winds won't be strong, but blowing in from the north changes the dynamic of the storm.

'It's going to be an almost three-day storm," said Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator. "I think highway crews are going to be able to keep up with it easily enough. The wind may cause a problem with visibility. Just the sheer temperatures will be difficult to deal with itself."

Yaeger said people need to be prepared for the idea that the storm will last for a while and travel conditions will naturally slow down emergency responses if there is a problem.

"The mantra that we always carry with emergency services is to be ready for 72 hours," Yaeger said. "Obviously, the past week proved that everyone needs to be prepared."

County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens said he's already reminded his crews that the wind is going to be coming from the north.

"The lake effect will enhance the snowfall rates for the nor'easter, but the odd thing is for the highway department is it affects roads different for us than we’re used to," Hens said. "Normally, we get west to southwest winds, so the north to south roads, you get a lot of blowing and drifting. We’ve had it before, so the guys are used to it, but it is a little bit different. You’ll  have the east and west roads that are getting the whiteouts and the drifting."

Hens noted that snow fences along roadways are set up on north-south roads, not east-west, so blowing and drifting snow could be worse than a typical storm.

"Take a little time to think about where you’re going and realize that you’re going to get whiteouts on roads you don’t normally get whiteouts on," Hens said.

Sheriff William Sheron said drivers need to allow themselves enough time to get where they're going.

"Be prepared for slippery roads and whiteout conditions," Sheron said. "Reduce speeds and allow extra stopping distance."

Driver safety was also on the mind of Yaeger and Hens.

"If you don’t  have to drive, delay that trip, delay that shopping trip if you can," Yaeger said. "Stay off the roads. Stay home. Stay safe. Stay warm."

It's been a light winter, Hens noted, so there hasn't been much demand on drivers this year to practice their snow-and-ice driving skills.

"People have probably gotten a little bit lazy in terms of winter driving skills, so just a reminder to give yourself extra time, give yourself a lot of room, respect the snowplows, try not to get up behind them too close and pass them," Hens said.

It's hard to say if we'll have power outages. The winds will not be that strong, but they are coming just days after a heavy windstorm that may have weakened some root systems or moorings for utility pools, but more importantly, the winds are coming from the north and tree root systems are set up to handle west-southwest winds.

Yaeger expressed a little concern, but Hens said he isn't anticipating an issue unless the winds come on stronger than expected.

"I think most of the trees are pretty good at handling 30 to 35 mph winds," Hens said. "It’s just if we get a repeat of what we had last Wednesdayy and Thursday, it will be a whole other story."

In anticipation of higher call volume, there are already extra dispatchers scheduled for the storm period, Sheron said. Extra patrols will be called in if needed.

The prolonged storm won't be too much of a stress on his road crews, Hens said, but it might be harder on town highway departments.

"We have enough people that we can run two shifts of drivers, but the towns (have) three- to four-men departments, so they run as long as they can run," Hens said. "They’ve got to take a break and sleep at some point. It affects them more when you get a long duration storm. It beats them up pretty good, but they fight through it and make it work most of the time."

Yeager said he's confident all of the men and women trained to handle emergencies in the county are ready for what's coming. They proved that Wednesday and Thursday, he said.

"Our hats from our office go off to those folks, the guys and girls of all the emergency services, from the dispatchers to law enforcement out there working hand-in-hand, from the career guys to the volunteers," Yaeger said. "They put their foot forward and I don’t think there was any time that we were worried that something wasn’t going to be addressed, whether it be a fire, to the lines down and arcing, to motor-vehicle accidents. They came out and did their jobs."

Special effects artist opens studio in Harvester Center

By Howard B. Owens

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Special effects artist Rashaad Santiago has set up a studio on the third floor of the Harvester Center where he can do work for his clients from all over the world as well as teach aspiring artists.

Santiago won the reality TV series "Face-Off" in 2014 for his monster-making prowess.

The studio gives Santiago a place where he can make costumes, masks, and props for clients, whether molded, sculpted or welded.

He said he's been getting work for movies, television and commercials.

He's also traveled on personal appearances to conventions and special events. He returned recently from Nashville where he was invited to provide a demo in monster-making.

He said he enjoys teaching.

"I love talking about this stuff," Santiago said. "I love being part of the process of watching somebody learn something new and then watch them work at it until they get it."

Currently, Santiago is running a four-week Wednesday night course. He will start a new course when he returns from his business trip. For more information or to sign up, visit his Facebook page or email him at rashaadsantiago1@gmail.com

With snow coming, city's yard waste station going back into hibernation

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

The Yard Waste Station on Law Street will be closed this week, Tuesday, March 14th and Wednesday, March 15th due to the forecasted snow event. We plan to resume operations on Thursday, March 16th with regular hours (noon-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday) for the season. If there are any questions or concerns about this matter, contact the Bureau of Maintenance at (585) 345-6400, option 1.

Car drives into new doors at Pavilion HS, causing more than $3K in damages

By Howard B. Owens

A vehicle rammed into the doors of a new annex being built on Pavilion High School over the weekend causing more than $3,000 in damage.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said investigators have solid leads and they think there will be an arrest in the next couple of days.

There's no description of the vehicle available.

The potential charges against any eventual suspect would be second-degree criminal mischief and trespass.

O-A teacher finds right chemistry for flipping learning process

By Howard B. Owens

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Mixing different kinds of chemicals and compounds together isn't the only kind of experiment going on in David Porter's classroom at Oakfield-Alabama High School.

Porter is also introducing a concept that is only about a decade old called "flipped learning." Basically, students watch videos of typical lecture material at home or otherwise away from the classroom and then classroom time is used for worksheets, labs or individual instruction. 

Proponents say it's a style of teaching more suitable to students raised in the Digital Age. Porter says it empowers kids to more easily master the subject.

"With flipped learning, more lecture and note-taking takes place at home and typical homework now takes place in class," Porter said. "The whole idea behind it is that it’s almost brainless work to do note-taking. I fill in the blanks. I just copy what’s on the board. It’s not high-level thinking skills being used. Then students go home and get stuck on question number four and then they give up. By flipping that order, students can do the lower level thinking skills at home. They just watch a video, fill in their notes and there’s no question. Then when they come into the class, do the work and they have a question on question number four, I’m right there; they have a teacher who can jump in and say, ‘ok, now we’re stuck, here’s how we get past there.’ "

Porter started trying flipped learning in the middle of the semester last year so this year's chemistry class is the first one getting the instruction through the whole course.

Students say they like it.

"It helps because if you don’t understand something, you just watch that part over until, ‘oh, yeah, I get it,’ ” said Jonathan Mateos.

Ryan Douglas said he thinks it's more interesting than a whole class just watching a teacher lecture. He thinks he's learning the material faster.

So far this year, students have gotten through 28 labs in 25 weeks. Last year's class did 35 labs in 40 weeks.

"So I'm almost to where I was last year and I’ve still got another 15 weeks to utilize for that hands-on working material," Porter said.

Porter is a graduate of Batavia High School. He got his degree in Chemistry Education from Roberts Wesleyan College and is working on his master's at SUNY Brockport. He's writing his thesis on flipped learning.

He said as he works on his paper, he's continually studying all the literature on the subject and learning new things himself about the process. He brings new ideas into his own instructional approach, he said.

His interest in teaching was sparked by his mother, a teacher herself. He said he was always more of a math and science guy.

"I was never very strong in history and English, but I loved numbers and doing something to get numbers," Porter said. "It was always math or science, but I loved science because it's more hands-on. You get to do more than just put letters and numbers on a page."

To excel at chemistry in a flipped classroom, a student need not be strong in science. He or she just needs to follow through on assignments. Everybody works at their own pace, but they are expected to master the material before moving on. 

“Chemistry is a tough subject, where if you don’t understand day one you’re never going to get day two," Porter said." If you don’t get day two, you’re never going to get day three and that just sets up a whole year of hardship that’s not needed. So I’d rather take the time, dive in and really understand day one before we get to day two."

That's the approach Jonathan said he likes.

"If you go home and don't understand something, you can watch the video over and over again until you have a complete understanding," Jonathan said. "Then, when you come into class, it's really nice to have the teacher there while you're doing your homework."

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Two barns destroyed in fires on Saturday

By Howard B. Owens

Two barns were destroyed in fires on Saturday.

The first was reported about 2:45 p.m. at 7014 Townline Road, Bryon. Responding were Byron, South Byron, Elba, Bergen and Emergency Services. The fire is believed to have started when the owner was burning a small debris pile near the barn causing extension to the barn. The barn was a total loss. (Note: We didn't have prior coverage because I was in Buffalo covering basketball and Billie was at our house without any electrical power at that time.)

The second fire was reported about 10:30 p.m. at 9829 Simonds Road, Darien. Darien Fire, Town of Batavia, Alexander, East Pembroke, Corfu and Pembroke along with the City's Fast Team and Mercy EMS were dispatched. The barn was already fully involved by the time the first firefighters arrived, so the city's response was canceled and Mercy EMS soon went back in service. Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator, said the cause of the fire has yet to be determined. For photos and additional coverage, click here.

Law and Order: Man accused of breaking into Yellow Goose in Pavilion

By Howard B. Owens

David Lane Handley Jr., 54, of Ontario Avenue, Niagara Falls, is charged with burglary, 3rd, and criminal mischief, 3rd. Handley allegedly broke into the Yellow Goose Store in Pavilion at 2 a.m. Feb. 12. The investigation was conducted by Deputy James Diehl.

Jeffrey Allan Youngs, 56, of Montclair Avenue, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, inadequate headlamps, driver's view obstructed, and open container. Youngs was stopped at 1:20 a.m. Sunday on Route 20 in Alexander by Deputy Eric Meyer.

Timothy K. Smith, 23, of South Street Road, Le Roy, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, driving without insurance, inadequate headlamp, aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd, and unregistered vehicle. Smith was stopped at 9:56 p.m. Saturday on West Main Street, Le Roy, by Deputy Kyle Krzemien.

Chad Allen Cooper, 21, of Emily Court, Bergen, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. During a "check the welfare" request, Cooper was allegedly found in possession of heroin.

Ghislaine Pena, 25, of Highland Park, Batavia, is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, and failure to stop. Pena was arrested on a warrant during a traffic stop at 2:07 a.m. Saturday on Clinton Street Road, Stafford, by Deputy Andrew Hale.

Shamir Kamran Aslam, 29, of Landstone Terrace, Rochester, is charged with menacing, 2nd, and two counts of criminal contempt, 1st. Aslam allegedly drove his vehicle at a high rate of speed and swerved by a person covered by a protective order when leaving the Genesee County Courts facility at 11:05 a.m., March 1.

Mark Joseph Amico Jr., 29, of Route 237, Le Roy, is charged with aggravated harassment, 2nd. Amico allegedly called another person and made several threatening statements at 6:07 a.m., March 7.

Photo: Morning sky

By Howard B. Owens

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Frank Capuano sent in this picture of this morning's sky over Batavia.

48 hours of snow predicted for region

By Howard B. Owens

A winter storm warning is in effect from 8 p.m. Monday to 8 p.m. Wednesday.

During the two-day period, as much as 12 inches of snow is possible in some areas.

Winds from the north at 15 to 25 mph are expected, with gusts up to 35 mph.

This will create blowing and driving snow conditions making traffic difficult and create periods of very low visibility.

Video: Wednesday's wind storm

By Howard B. Owens

Rachel Doktor created this short documentary video about Wednesday's windstorm.

Stafford Fire holds annual dinner, installs 2017 officers

By Howard B. Owens

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Randall Henning left the Stafford Fire Department's annual installation dinner at Batavia Downs with a handful of hardware, having logged the most training hours for both firematic training and EMS training. Each of those categories have their own awards, and there's also an award for most combined training hours, which Henning won, with 191 total training hours in 2016.

The department responded to 271 calls on the year. Of those 22 were fire calls, 166 medical, 11 hazardous conditions, 15 service, 54 good intent and three false alarms.

With 165 answered alarms, Timothy E. Eckdahl had the most responses for the year.

Firematic officers installs: Brian Pocock -- chief, Stephanie Call -- 1st assistant chief, Christopher Bobo -- 2nd assistant chief, Timothy Eckdahl -- 3rd assistant chief, Michael Dorgam -- 4th assistant chief, Matt Hendershott -- rescue squad captain, Michael Dorgan -- rescue squad lieutenant, Ben Fox -- fire police captain, Stephen Johnson -- fire police lieutenant, and Mark Dougherty -- master mechanic.

Administrative officers: James Call -- president, Stephen Johnson -- vice president, Ashley Swartzenberg -- secretary, Stephanie Call -- treasurer. Trustees: James Call, Ron DeMena III, Timothy Eckdahl, Stan Gere and Matt Hendershott. Auditors: Dean Brooks and Randall Henning.

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Notre Dame's season comes to an end with lost in Far West Regionals

By Howard B. Owens

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Too many missed shots and too many turnovers made it hard for Notre Dame to keep up with Panama yesterday at Buffalo State College in the Far West Regional championship for Class D girls basketball.

Notre Dame lost 49-40.

Callie McCulley scored 13 points, Margaret Sutherland, eight; Morgan Rhodes and Natalie Thornton had six each.

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Truck hits tree on Starowitz Road, Elba

By Howard B. Owens

A truck vs. tree accident with possible injuries is reported in the area of 7382 Starowitz Road, near Bank Street Road, Elba.

Elba Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

Just about everybody in the county has power now

By Howard B. Owens

There are only about 11 power outages left in Genesee County, the lingering effect of Wednesday's windstorm, and all of those affect fewer than five customers each.

Three of them are in the city.

Here's a press release from National Grid (sent out at 3 p.m.):

National Grid crews have restored power to more than 174,000, or 97 percent of the nearly 180,000 Upstate New York customers who lost electricity after a damaging windstorm hit the region on Wednesday. The company expects the vast majority of the remaining 4,800 customers still without service (as of 3 p.m.) to be restored by late this evening, and continues to commit extensive resources until the last outage is repaired.

A field force of more than 1,100 has been at work around the clock in Western New York, which was the most severely impacted portion of the company’s Upstate service area. While services have been restored in most areas, intensive work continues in the particularly hard hit Genesee region, including Genesee, Orleans, Monroe and Wyoming counties.

Wind gusts in some areas exceeding 70 mph did extensive damage to trees and utility equipment. National Grid has had to replace more than 300 broken poles and 80 damaged transformers, including more than 200 poles in the Genesee region alone. Miles of distribution circuits have been repaired or replaced, along with service lines to individual homes and businesses.

“We deeply appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding as we continue to work around the clock to restore service as quickly and safely as possible,” said Melanie Littlejohn, National Grid’s New York vice president.

“This was an extremely damaging storm and we are grateful that our Western New York crews were assisted by their Upstate counterparts, as well as National Grid crews from New England and from other utilities in New York and Canada. We also are grateful for the many police, fire, public works, municipal officials, Red Cross workers and other volunteers who did so much to support our customers and our communities.”

Littlejohn also recognized the support and generosity of the company’s Upstate New York customers during this hardship.

“Reports from the field poured in of customers offering thanks, coffee, gratitude and a ‘thumbs up’ as power was restored,” she said. “No one likes to be without electricity – even for a little while -- yet the spirit of cooperation and understanding demonstrated by our customers has been remarkable."

Once restoration is completed, National Grid crews will remain in the field for the next few days as storm cleanup continues. In some areas, customers will continue to see significant utility activity as any temporary repairs are made permanent. National Grid urges drivers to use extreme caution as they approach work areas, to ensure the safety of utility and other storm-response personnel.

Additionally, customers are reminded to avoid downed wires. All wires should be considered live and should be immediately reported to National Grid at 1-800-867-5222.

While National Grid expects power to be restored to all impacted circuits tonight, there may be instances of damage to individual customer’s electricity service. Any customer who remains without power should call National Grid at 1-800-867-5222 for assistance.

National Grid making progress on repairs, but there's still a lot of people without power

By Howard B. Owens

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There are still nearly 1,000 National Grid customers in Genesee County without power as crews from throughout the Northeast have come to WNY to help the utility recover from Wednesday's windstorm.

There are still more than a dozen outages in the city affecting 400 customers.

Crews are on Central Avenue, above, but there is as yet no ETA for power restoration on that street. There's also no estimate yet for Morton Avenue and Redfield Parkway around Richmond Avenue as well as other city outages.

Several of the outages around the county have restoration time frames of this afternoon, but not all of them.

A National Grid supervisor said this morning that there are 300 workers in our area today. A firefighter says city fire has been notified that of the remaining customers without power today, about 90 percent of them should have power restored by midnight.

There is bottled water and dry ice available at the fire headquarters on Evans Street until 5 p.m.

There were more than 800 outages caused by the storm affecting nearly 100,000 National Grid customers in WNY.

There are currently 245 outages reported within National Grid's service area in WNY affecting 6,870 customers.

Car hits tree on Clifton Avenue, Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

A car has hit a tree on Clifton Avenue, Batavia.

A person is reported to be disoriented.

City fire and Mercy EMS responding.

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