High winds are expected to hit the area tomorrow so the National Weather Service has issued a wind warning starting at 9 a.m. and lasting through 10 p.m.
Winds of 25 to 35 mph expected with gusts of 60 mph.
Strong winds can lead to downed trees, property damage and scattered power outages. Travel for high-profile vehicles could be difficult.
Jackson School kicked off its winter reading program today; this year it's called "Camp Read-A-Lot."
The program is intended to encourage students to read at least 15 minutes per day.
Today, faculty and staff performed a play for the students called Camp Read-A-Lot, which tells the story of the campers who will get lost if the students don't read every day.
Thursday is family reading night at the school. There is a book fair from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. and 7:15 to 7:30 p.m. Reading rotations, which includes community guest readers, begins at 5:30 p.m. The Hill Brothers perform a reading-themed concert in the gym at 6:30 p.m.
McCormick Family Dairy in Alexander has been named the 2016 Conservation Farm of the Year by Genesee County Soil & Water Conservation District.
About the award from Soil & Water:
This is a large family farm CAFO in the upper Tonawanda Creek watershed south of Alexander. Most of their land drains directly into Tonawanda Creek and the dairy farm itself is less than a mile from the Creek. Most of the drainage channels flowing from the steep hillsides above their lands are directly draining into the Creek.
With about 950 dairy cows, manure management has been a large part of their program for many years. They have tried several types of manure treatment and silage leachate collection systems. A large manure storage pit is located above the farm and manure is pumped to or hauled over land to it. It is over 50 feet higher and about 4,000 feet away. Some other practices they have employed include tile drainage, rotational grazing, zone building and rotational graze about 85 acres using more than three miles of fencing.
The McCormicks have been excellent stewards of the land and were chosen as this past year’s recipients for their continued efforts at environmental conservation and sustainability.
Photo: Aaron Reichert, Jen Reichert, Tim Pohl, Michelle Pohl and Dan McCormick.
A 56-year-old woman from Batavia was killed in a single-vehicle accident in Alabama after the minivan she was riding in went off the east shoulder of Route 77, into a gully and struck a tree.
The driver of the 2003 Dodge Caravan reportedly suffered a medical event before the car left the roadway.
Coroner Karen Lang pronounced Karen Mann dead at the scene.
As a result of the accident, one person was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital by Mercy Flight and the other two people in the vehicle were transported by Mercy EMS to Strong.
Mann was a backseat passenger.
State Police say this is still an ongoing investigation and released no further information at this time.
State Police opened an investigation Saturday into a report of racist graffiti being left on the side of a building in Pembroke that is owned by a church based in Cheektowaga.
Trooper James O'Callahan, spokesman for Troop A in Batavia, said it is against State Police policy to provide details on an ongoing investigation, but he did confirm such an investigation is taking place.
The property is on Marble Road and is owned by New Creation Fellowship.
A 26-year-old man wanted in connection with a shooting on Jackson Street on Dec. 2 has been located in East Hartford, Conn., and taken into custody.
Jeremy R. Armstrong is being held in Connecticut pending extradition following his arrest Feb. 28.
He is wanted on charges of second-degree attempted murder and criminal use of a firearm, 1st.
Police say Armstrong fired several shots at close range.
He allegedly shot a person while on Jackson Street and the two men reportedly knew each other.
According to sources, the victim suffered shoulder and chest wounds. He was treated first at UMMC and then transferred to ECMC.
Armstrong was located in East Hartford outside the residence of a family member, according to police. He was taken into custody without incident.
"City detectives have been working closely with the East Hartford, Connecticut, Police Department after learning Armstrong may have been in that area," the police said in a statement.
Also assisting in the investigation and attempt to locate Armstrong were Connecticut police in South Windsor, Hartford, and New Britain, as well as the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Police.
Batavia PD said no further information would be released since this is a pending investigation.
Individuals with information that may assist in the investigation are asked to call Det. Eric Hill (585) 345-6373, Det. Thad Mart at (585) 345- 6372, or the confidential tip line at (585) 345-6370.
The Elba Volunteer Fire Department held its 2017 installation banquet on Saturday night and Don "Rat" Reinhard was honored for this 23 years of service as assistant chief. He was presented a handmade trophy by all the officers (trophy made by John Mudrzynski).
Michael Pfendler and Nathan Tabor were recognized for achieving the most training hours and Mike Schad Jr. responded to the most calls.
Photos and info submitted by Carrie Mudrzynski.
Elba's fire police officers for 2017: Mark Wiatrowski, Mike Banks, Leonard Peterson Sr. , Kenny Miller and Kevin Dart.
The firematic officers for 2017 who were able to attend the dinner: Caitlin Zipfel, Nick Esten, Mandy Esten, Jennifer Cardinali, George Underhill, Mike Schad Jr., Ryan Hart, and John Mudrzynski. Unable to attend: Mike Heale and Chris Lane.
Corporate officers: Mark Wiatrowski, Kenny Miller, Don Gavenda, Linda Loder, Bob Zipfel, Sue Dart, Donna Hynes, Leonard Peterson Sr., and Glenn Bloom.
The officers of the Ladies Auxiliary: Linda Loder, Lynette Gregori, Joyce Zipfel, Bobette Hyatt, Irene Griffith-Pierce and Marylou Andrews.
Members of the Batavia Blue Devils indoor track team performed well at the NYS champions Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island.
Anthony Ray placed ninth in the shot put with an overall throw of 50' 10". In the weight throw, an event he holds the record in for Section V, he earned all-state honors by placing sixth in the NY Federation and fourth among state competitors with a throw of 62' 7". That is his second-best throw ever and led all WNY competitors. He will compete in the shot put and weight throw next weekend at the Indoor National Championships at the Armory in Manhattan.
The girls 4x400 relay team finished ninth with a time of 4:04.11, which broke an existing school record. They also qualified for nationals next week. The team is Claire Zickl, Regan Henrici, Brianna Bromley and Kiaya Franklin.
Nate Crane is a team of one for Letchworth, so he trained with Batavia this season. In the pole vault he placed sixth in the NY Federation and fourth among state competitors. He cleared 14' 6" and will also compete next week at nationals.
Photos and info submitted by Coach Nick Burk.
There are unknown injuries after a car hit a utility pole in the area of 7332 Quinlan Road.
Lines are down.
Le Roy fire and Le Roy ambulance dispatched.
A possible fire in a wall is reported at 6900 Cockram Road, Byron.
Byron and South Byron fire departments are dispatched.
UPDATE 6:01 p.m.: Chief on scene requests all units respond non-emergency.
A 32-year-old Depew woman is in custody today after allegedly leading police on a high-speed chase through Corfu, the Town of Batavia and into the City of Batavia where the reportedly stolen car she was driving hit a spike strip before crashing into a tree.
Kimberly A. Genson, of Lancer Court, Depew, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property, 4th, unlawful fleeing a police officer and reckless driving.
The chase started after Deputy Rachel Diehl was dispatched to the Corfu area to investigate a complaint of erractic driving.
Diehl spotted a vehicle fitting the description, a black SUV, heading eastbound at a high rate of speed on Route 33. Diehl activated her emergency lights, but rather than stop, the vehicle sped up, according to the Sheriff's Office report. Diehl initiated a pursuit and backup units responded.
Spike strips were deployed on Pearl Street in the City of Batavia. The strips caused the vehicle to slow down, but it continued and tried to negotiate a turn onto South Main Street where the driver lost control and the vehicle struck a tree.
The Sheriff's report includes no mention of any possible injuries.
The vehicle had been reported as stolen earlier in the day in Buffalo.
The investigation is ongoing and being conducted by Diehl, Deputy Ryan Long, Deputy Rich Schildwaster and Sgt. Jason Saile. Assisting at the scene were Batavia PD, State Police, City fire and Mercy EMS.
Genson was arraigned this afternoon in Town of Batavia Court and jailed on $25,000 bail or $50,000 bond.
Photo submitted by Samantha Schoener.
At the Quality Inn & Suites last night, the Chamber of Commerce presented its annual local business and leadership awards. Here are photos and links to our stories from the past week about the winners.
Above, Charlie Cook, CEO of Liberty Pumps.
Chamber Awards: Business of the Year -- Liberty Pumps
Bill and Joy Hume, owners of Foxprowl Collectables.
Chamber Awards: Foxprowl Collectables -- Entrepreneurial Business of the Year
Owners of Stein Farms. Natasha Sutherland speaking, then on left, Jerrod Stein, Ray Stein, and Nathan Stein (Dale Stein was out of town and unable to attend).
Chamber Awards: Agricultural Business of the Year, Stein Farms
Steve Foster and Tim Adams, owners of Red Osier Restaurant.
Chamber Awards: Special Service Recognition, Red Osier Restaurant
Steve and Lisa Grice.
Chamber Awards: Geneseeans of the Year, Batavians Steve and Lisa Grice
Tom Turnbull, present of the Chamber of Commerce, during his opening remarks.
The Elba Lancers didn't dominate Prattsburg in the Section V Class D1 match at Alfred State yesterday, but there was never a time when it didn't seem like the squad was anything but in control of the game.
That comes from experience, said Ciaci Zambito, in his second year as head coach of Elba.
The Lancers started four seniors.
"They’ve played in a lot of big games," Zambito said. "They don’t get rattled by this kind of environment. Obviously, this is the biggest game they’ve ever played in up to this point, but it’s hard work. If you work hard and prepare yourself for moments like this, when you get to it it’s going to be a little bit easier."
Four seniors and a freshman, Collin O'Halloran, a point guard who scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists and four steals to make him the most valuable player of the tournament.
The low score on both sides -- Elba won 50-38 -- really shows the game was really a defensive battle, Zambito said.
"When you hold a team that good to 38 that just speaks volumes to the effort and the defensive attitude that we have as a program," Zambito said.
The other top scorer for Elba was Tucker Bezon, who had 12 points to go with 13 rebounds. Shane O'Halloran had seven points and six rebounds, and Jon Boyce had seven points and seven rebounds.
This is the fourth sectional title for Elba and the first since 2005, when Zambito was a junior on the team. That year both the boys and the the girls won Section V titles, a feat repeated this year.
Zambito said he wanted to acknowledge last year's seniors because they really helped make this year's championship possible, he said, by embracing a young coach and setting the example of hard work and leadership for the younger players.
"They kind of created the blueprint to our program and these guys just took it and put up the building, if that’s the way you want to look at it," Zambito said.
Next up for Elba, a Class D consolidation game to be played Wednesday. The time and location is not yet available.
Dom Valle, who with his wife, Mary, owned and operated Valle Jewelers after taking over the 66-year-old business from his father, passed away Friday.
He was 63 years old.
Dom's good nature and ease around people were always apparent to customers of Valle Jewelers and in 2011 when reflecting on the store's 60th anniversary, he said he loved what he did.
"I've always been happy to be in the business," Dom said.
And he was raised in the business, so were his children. Stephen Valle and Carrie Lawrence operate the store now.
For his full obituary, click here.
There was a police chase that ended last night around 10:30 p.m. on South Main Street, Batavia, when the suspect vehicle hit a tree.
We've been waiting for a press release from the Sheriff's Office, but the suspect apparently hasn't been arraigned yet so it hasn't been released. We won't have further information until that's released.
Reader-submitted photo.
Man, the last 12 minutes of basketball played in Letchworth last night were tense.
With about four minutes left in regulation, the Lady Irish of Notre Dame looked like they had the game well in hand. A double-digit lead and good command of the game over the previous three-and-a-half quarters. Then the wheels sort of came off.
Turnovers, mental errors, penalties -- York managed to tie the game by the end of the fourth quarter.
That meant overtime.
And at the end of overtime, the two teams fighting for the Class D1 Section V championship were tied again.
"I'm proud of the heart that they showed, not just tonight, but along this whole run," said Head Coach Tom McCulley said. "I’m amazed at the effort they put out."
Finally, at the end of the second OT, there was a final score. Notre Dame beat York 64-59.
McCulley is in his first season as head coach of the Lady Irish, replacing Dave Pero, who led Notre Dame to Section V titles and a state championship. McCulley said getting this far in his first season has been "surreal," but gave all the credit to the girls.
"These girls have been motivated and worked hard in practice and we had a tough schedule that really challenged us," McCulley said. "These girls have been battle tested since the middle of December. That’s why they were able to keep their cool and pull out the victory."
During regulation play, you could sort of watch things unravel slowly. Not only did Notre Dame lose the lead, in the second overtime, Notre Dame found themselves down by a point with less than two minutes to play.
"That can demoralize some teams," McCulley said. "Our team, we’re not built that way. They showed character and they fought through.
"We were gassed," McCulley added. "Both teams were gassed. It was a full-court, man-to-man the whole way. It was like a prize fight. At some point, somebody’s going to give. They got into foul trouble. A couple of girls fouled out. I knew it was wearing them down, so I knew once we wore them down we could get the ball to the spots so we could score relatively easily."
The win sets up what promises to be a classic confrontation -- Notre Dame, the Class D1 champs, vs. Elba, who won the Class D2 championship earlier in the evening at Letchworth. These are two powerhouse girls basketball programs with a long history of winning (both have won state championships this decade) and a long history of wanting to beat each other more than any other team -- other than the one right in front of them. Notre Dame and Elba will play at 7 p.m., Tuesday, at Cal-Mum to consolidate the Class D championship so one of the teams can go on to represent Section V in the Far West Regionals, the next step toward a possible berth in the state championship Final Four.
The last time the two teams met in post-season was 2013 when Notre Dame upset Elba in a semifinals game on its way to an eventual state championship. Elba hadn't won a Section V title since 2012 when they went on to become state champs.
Callie McCulley, tournament MVP, scored 20 points. Margaret Sutherland scored 16, Natalie Thornton 13, Hannah Bowen got nine and Morgan Rhodes, six.
To purchase prints, click here.
There's nothing like getting your star player back from injury right before the championship game to give your team a boost of confidence and that's exactly what happened for the Elba Lady Lancers, who captured the Class D2 Section V championship Friday night with a 49-39 win over Romulus.
Emily Reynolds, who missed the previous six games with a knee injury, was named the tournament MVP after the win.
"Having the best player in the class back helped a lot," said Head Coach Tom Redband. "Just the morale boost alone, but she's also definitely a dominate force inside."
Reynolds scored 19 points and pulled down five rebounds.
"She worked really hard to strengthen her knee and she loves the game," Redband said. "I was just so happy for her that she was able to come back and play full strength."
Romulus opened the game with a full-court press and while Elba was successful at breaking the press, it did slow the Lancers down and helped keep Romulus within a basket or two of the lead through the first half. When Romulus dropped the press, Elba fell into an offensive rhythm and was able to pull away.
"It helped us a little bit get into our half-court offense and relax a little bit," Redband said.
Tatiana Draper scored eight points for Elba and handled 12 rebounds. Maddie Muehlig scored seven points and had three assists.
Redband replaced the legendary Tom Nowak, who coached teams to 10 sectional titles, for the 2014 season. Redband is now one for one in Section V title games.
The Lady Lancers will next face archrival Notre Dame in a Class D consolidation game at Cal-Mum on Tuesday. Game time is 7 p.m. The last time the two teams met in post-season was 2013 when Notre Dame upset Elba in a semifinals game on its way to an eventual state championship. Elba hadn't won a Section V title since 2012 when they went on to become state champs.
To purchase prints, click here.
Press release:
On February 20, 2017 twenty 4-H Dairy Club members and their families were given a private tour of the new processing facility at Yancey’s Fancy.
The young dairy enthusiasts were given a behind the scenes look at the commercial dairy processing industry and left the tour with a visual understanding of how artisan cheese is produced.
To learn more about the Genesee County 4-H Youth Development Program visit our website: http://genesee.cce.cornell.edu/4-h-youth-development
Press release:
Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer today called for local student entries for the New York State Senate’s Earth Day Poster Contest, a statewide competition that raises awareness of environmental issues.
“Earth Day celebrates the great strides made in improving our environment, and this poster contest is an opportunity to share that commitment with students. By educating our young minds about protecting the Earth, they can be a part of the many New Yorkers who are already helping to make a difference,” said Ranzenhofer.
The Earth Day poster competition is for children in grades K–6. The theme of the contest is “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” Students are encouraged to be creative and convey a real commitment to making the environment a better place. The focus is to emphasize the importance and encourage the exchange of ideas about recycling and waste reduction, as well as stimulate creative thinking about solutions concerning these issues.
Students wishing to participate in this year’s event must submit their entry by March 24, 2017 via Senator Ranzenhofer’s website. Entries should be photographed and submitted electronically, preferably in a jpeg format viaranzenhofer.nysenate.gov.
The winning posters will be displayed at Senator Ranzenhofer’s website. All participants will receive a certificate acknowledging their participation.
Since the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, over 20 million Americans have participated, helping to improve the quality of our air and water. In addition, landmark legislation has been passed to help support this effort, such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act.
A Corfu resident charged under Leandra's Law will get a chance at rehabilitation after appearing in County Court yesterday on charges stemming from his arrest in May.
Cody Bedard was initially charged with felony DWI, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and endangering the welfare of a child.
His 4-year-old son was allegedly in the car with him.
Bedard has been through treatment with the Horizon Health Treatment program following good reports on Bedard becoming employed and abstaining from drugs and alcohol.
The one nick on Bedard's record was leaving the county without permission to attend his son's hockey game in Monroe County.
Judge Charles Zambito adjourned Bedard's sentencing pending treatment for 60 days at Oxford House in Erie County.
"I’m giving you the opportunity to prove to me that you don’t deserve to go to prison," Zambito said.
His next court date is scheduled for May 8th.
Our news partner WBTA contributed to this story.
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