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This afternoon, Batavia Downs hosted a ribbon-cutting and grand reopening of its casino room expansion on the first floor of the historic facility.

The new gaming area has been open for a week and that first week of revenue exceeded by 20 percent the previous record week for Batavia Downs, said Ryan Hasenauer, marketing director for Batavia Downs.

The expanded casino area also includes a new sports bar called Rush 34, officially hosted by former Bills great Thurman Thomas.

Ribbon cutton: Assemblyman Steve Hawley, State Sen. Patrick Gallivan, State Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer and Maurice Gardner, representing the City of Buffalo.

Speaking is State Sen. Patrick Patrick Gallivan, who represents Erie and Wyoming counties, which are counties that also benefit from revenue generated by Batavia Downs.

Speaking, Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

Among the amenities in the expansion is a water fountain that drops water in sculpted form, be it letters spelling out Batavia Downs, symbols from slot machines or geometic patterns. Here's a video of the fountain:

A driver's alleged attempt to avoid a traffic control device at Route 33 and Batavia Stafford Townline Road drew the attention of a trooper this morning and led to a short pursuit that ended when the car struck a mobile home.

The driver of the car and her passenger where both arrested.

Cailee A. Neiss, 19, of Byron, was charged with several traffic violations including reckless driving and avoiding a traffic control device.

Nickolas Sutherland, 23, of Byron, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Neiss allegedly drove through the Arrowmart parking lot in an effort to avoid the stoplight at the intersection.

According to State Police, "the operator, upon seeing the flashing lights of the patrol car, attempted to avoid being stopped, drove recklessly turned onto Gaslite Lane and subsequently struck a mobile home causing minor damage."

Nobody was home at the time and there were no injuries reported in the accident.

Neiss was issued a summons; Sutherland was issued an appearance ticket.

With the basketball season only six weeks out, some of the regions top hoops players have been heading over to the Batavia High School gym two days a week to drill on the game's fundamentals -- shooting and ball handling.

"It's a lot of skill work and a chance to get a ball in their hands," said Buddy Brasky, Batavia's boys varsity head coach and leader of the mini-camp, which he's been running for about six years.

Jeff Redband, a junior with Batavia, has been coming to the camp for five years, said his participation has definitely improved his game.

"This camp is based on the basics, so you don't learn new stuff, but it makes you better at the things you really need to know," Redband said.

Each session includes ball-handling exercises and shooting drills, but Brasky noted drilling just two days a week isn't going to cut it. The 45 players participating -- which range in age from eighth grade to high school seniors -- need to practice and play every day if they're going to improve.

"We tell them you can only do so much here," Brasky said. "You've got to take what we do here -- we're only here two days a week -- and go home and do it on your own at home."

One of the drills involves shooting 100 baskets from at least 12 feet out, but that's just a drop in the bucket for the amount of practice necessary to become a competent shooter.

"The games give them the opportunity transfer what they're learning in skills in a game situation," Brasky said.

"You've got to get a couple hundred shots in a day," Brasky said.

Following drills, the players break off into four-on-four games, which give the kids a chance to play against players from all over the region, not just Genesee County and not just their own schools.

All that drilling on fundamentals has really paid off for Elba's Haley Brown.

"It helps a lot," Brown said. "It's made me a lot better shooter and ball handler and it shows during the season."

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Press release:

 

A vehicle has reportedly hit a trial in a trailer park on Gaslite Lane, Batavia.

Two people were in the vehicle and both have been detained.

No injuries are reported.

UPDATE 10:43 a.m.: Reporter Alecia Kaus is on scene and reports that a State Trooper was attempting to perform a traffic stop on the vehicle and the vehicle didn't stop and the driver allegedly attempted to ditch the vehicle in the trailer park. Two people are being taken into custody. A trooper told dispatchers that at least one person faces a possible criminal possession of a controlled substance charge.

UPDATE 11:05 a.m.: The car struck the trailer in Lot #11. Nobody was home at the time.

Heather E. Schramm, 33, of 110 Bank St., Batavia, is charged with failure to pay fine imposed by court. Schramm is accused of not paying a fine related to a second-degree harassment charge. Batavia PD Officer James DeFreze observed Schramm walking near Save-A-Lot and took her into custody on a City Court warrant.

Alicia M. Lyons, 33, of 120 State St., lower, was arrested on a bench warrant. Lyons is accused of not appearing on an alleged theft of services charge. Lyons is accused of not paying for food at a local restaurant.

Donna M. Kroft, 60, of 120 State St., lower, was arrested on a bench warrant. Kroft is accused of not appearing on a alleged theft of services charge. Kroft is accused of not paying for food at a local restaurant.

Travis L. Bartz, 18, of 11 Trumbull Parkway, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant. Bartz is accused of failure to appear on a criminal mischief, 4th, charge. Bartz was located by Batavia PD Officer James DeFreze at Batavia HS and taken into custody. Bartz was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Nathan David Martina, 18, of Lisa Lane, East Amherst, and Christopher Mario Ossa, 18, of Harris Hill Road, Williamsville, are charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Martina and Ossa were found at 9:47 p.m., Wednesday, in a parked vehicle on Batavia Stafford Townline Road allegedly in possession of marijuana.

Clarence W. Odell, 45, of Liberty Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th. Odell was arrested on a warrant out of Town of Pembroke Court. Odell allegedly damaged the wall of an office building in the Town of Pembroke on July 17.

Nearly 40 National Grid customers are without power along Phelps Road, Indian Falls, after a power line was knocked down.

A fire chief who responded reports it appears that a semi-truck knocked the line down.

The area includes a trailer park that is without power.

National Grid estimates power will be restored by 11:45 a.m.

Press release:

Batavia Downs Gaming will be celebrating it Grand Reopening Celebration with a ribbon cutting and reception beginning at 3 p.m. this afternoon.

Attending will be members of the Western New York legislative delegation including State Senators George Maziarz, Patrick Gallivan, Michael Ranzenhofer as well as other local dignitaries including Assemblyman Steven Hawley. Former Buffalo Bill Ruben Brown will also be in attendance.

Following the ribbon cutting at 3 p.m. in the lobby, attendees are invited for tours of the facility and of Thurman Thomas’ new Sports Bar; 34 Rush. Drawings for Free Play and other Grand Reopening giveaways will occur on the gaming floor.

As a public benefit corporation, all profits from Western OTB and Batavia Downs Gaming net expenses are contributed back to the 15 counties and two cities of Western New York.

Press release:

“Tonight (last night), the House voted to increase our national debt by over $300 billion without achieving a single spending cut. I could not, in good faith, vote in favor of this legislation which only adds billions to the credit card bill our children will be left to pay.

America has a significant and dangerous spending problem that most of Washington is content to ignore. On behalf of my constituents, I will not ignore this fact. Kicking the can down the road is what caused this problem and Washington has to muster the political courage to deal with it for the future of our country.”

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Dispatchers report several callers say they heard the sound of a gunshot, possibly a shotgun, somewhere on the Southside of Batavia.

Calls have come in from Watson, Maple, Thorpe, Liberty and Otis streets.

Police officers are converging on the area.

UPDATE 12:05 a.m.: There's been nothing new to report on this. 

Some time prior to 2010, a family in Darien decided to build a new house on land outside of the county's defined development area.

Since then, they've had to pay a water district tax of about $400 a year even though they've twice been denied an application to hook up to the water system.

Yesterday at the Public Service Committee meeting, David Hagelberger, Town of Darien supervisor, appealed to the Legislature on the resident's behalf to allow a water hook-up for the home.

Rather than take action immediately, the committee asked County Planning Director Felipe Oltramari to find the minutes for the meetings where first the county's water committee and then the county's planning board denied the water hook-up applications.

In 2001, when the county's current water system was being developed, the state required the county to develop a plan to protect farmland, ensure development took place in already developed areas and encourage revitalization of existing industrial areas, business districts and residential neighborhoods in the City of Batavia and developed village areas.

So the county adopted a "Smart Growth Plan" that defines development areas and establishes procedures for revising the plan.

The subject of the house in Darien came up now, again, because the county is wrapping up an every-three-year review of the plan and revising it to allow for development of the WNY STAMP project in Alabama.

Part of Hagelberger's argument on behalf of his local resident is that if the county can revise the plan for STAMP, why not revise it for this family as well?

After the meeting, Oltramari explained a little further why the Smart Growth Plan exists.

It's very easy for new development to follow infrastructure. By putting in the water system, without a plan, the county could lose a lot of farmland along the paths of water mains.

The concern has never really been about big developments, but about farmland disappearing in a piecemeal fashion -- a house here, a new business there, a little strip shopping mall on this or that lot. The goal of the Smart Growth Plan is to try and prevent that sort of development.

Since it was adopted, there have been 40 applications for development outside of a designated development area, Oltramari said, and all but three have been approved.

"For the most part, people understand -- keep out of farm fields," Oltramari said. "Keep it in the woods or where there's already a lot of housing, but not in the middle of a field, not in good productive farmland."

Oltramari noted that farming and residential development sometimes don't mix well.

"Farmers will tell you when you have a neighbor who doesn't really like your operations, they can make your life a nightmare," Oltramari said.

The county has no idea how the homeowners are getting water now. The is no known well on the property.

One reason the homeowners still must pay the tax for the water district is that particular district isn't bill on a per-hook-up basis, but rather is taxed based on land assessment for each parcel.

Land that is in an agricultural district is exempt from the tax, but for some reason that isn't clear, the house in Darien is outside the nearest ag district. Oltramari said it will take more research to figure out what happened in that particular case.

"Somebody can make the point that they do benefit from the water district because there is a fire hydrant available," Oltramari said. "Somebody could make that case."

DOWNLOAD: Smart Growth Plan (pdf)

A Niagara County police officer who was involved in an altercation at Darien Lake in 2012 admitted in county court today that her reckless conduct while intoxicated caused injuries to another concert goer.

Kelly L. Alcorn, 48, entered a guilty plea to third-degree assault, a Class A misdemeanor, with no condition on sentencing.

The Grand Island resident was originally arrested Aug. 25 and charged with harassment, 2nd, but after the victim in the case went to the media claiming serious injuries and drawing attention to Alcorn's law enforcement status, the District Attorney's Office took a closer look at the case.

In February, Alcorn was indicted on a single count of assault, 2nd.

As part of her plea today, Judge Robert C. Noonan asked Alcorn a series of questions, starting with whether she was at the concert and whether she was intoxicated, which Alcorn admitted.

When Noonan asked Alcorn if her body came into contact with the body of the victim, causing her to hit a cinder block wall, Alcorn conferred with her attorney.

Alcorn admitted to wrestling with the victim on the floor and hitting her and that those swings recklessly caused injury to the victim.

Section 120(7) of the NYS penal code defines one type of third-degree assault as recklessly causing injury to another person.

At time of sentencing, Alcorn will be seeking a relief from civil disabilities, which is a form Noonan can sign that would enable Alcorn to continue her law enforcement career, or take other government employment, or seek employment in certain state-licensed fields.

Sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Jan. 9.

A Batavia woman whose name is well known to regular readers of local police blotters is going to prison for five and a half years after being sentenced in County Court on her first felony conviction.

Latoya D. Jackson, 27, who has a long list of arrests for alleged misdemeanors ranging from disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment, harassment, weapon possession, resisting arrest and petit larceny, was sentenced on two counts of assault, 2nd.

On Sept. 16, Jackson entered conditional guilty pleas to the assault charges in exchange for a guaranteed concurrent sentence on both counts. Jackson pled guilty, but did not admit to committing the crime, only that a jury would likely find her guilty (known as a Alford Plea).

One of Jackson's victims, a cousin, said she was glad to see that Jackson would receive justice today.

"When I tell people my cousin cut me (explaining a scar on her face), they look at me like I'm crazy," the young woman said.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman asked Noonan to consider the maximum sentence available under the plea agreement, which would have been seven years in prison.

Larry Ader, Public Defender's Office, argued that Noonan's best option was to give Jackson a probation-based sentence. If Jackson has finally learned she needs to go in a different direction with her life, that would be best, Ader argued, but if Jackson hasn't learned her lesson and violates probation, Noonan would be able to send Jackson away for up to 14 years.

"I'm not going to stand up her and say my client is a stranger to the criminal justice system," Ader said. "She's not. But this is her first felony.

"I think that as you well know, we don't know what it will take to finally change somebody's behavior and Ms. Jackson is quite aware that she's been given chances in the past to change her behavior and it hasn't work," Ader added. "If she doesn't change at this point with two felonies hanging over her head, you could punish her with a longer sentence than is available today."

Noonan said he agreed with the recommendation of the DA and the Probation Department that Jackson be sent straight to prison.

"It appears you've had many an opportunity to wake up and see that your life is going in the wrong direction," Noonan said. "Now you stand here convicted of two serious crimes and you negotiated for yourself concurrent sentences, which was probably a wise thing for you to do."

In their first competition of the year, the Batavia HS varsity cheerleading team took second place at the Brockport Spirit Fest over the weekend. Kayle Corp placed third in the individual competition. The sectional competition is Oct. 26. (Photo and information submitted by Justine Bonarigo.)

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A season's worth of preserves along with 10 bushels of apples bought just today for canning were destroyed tonight at the Swendsen home on Akron Road, Pembroke, when a Mercury Mountaineer came roaring up the driveway of the farm and plowed through the family's dining room.

The son of Peter and Lynette Swendsen was just feet away frying up some eggs.

Lynette thanked God over and over as she talked  about the accident.

She was thankful that nobody was hurt or killed in the accident -- not her son who was minutes away from sitting at the dining room table turned into splinters by the SUV, not herself who was in the house on the phone with her mother-in-law, not her husband who was standing feet from the gravel driveway when the vehicle went rushing by, and not her younger son, who was helping bring in cows that were panicked by the loud boom of the car smashing into the house.

Even the driver, reported to be Jason M. Purdy, 34, of Tesnow Road, Alabama, suffered only minor injuries.

"I do all of my own canning and preserves," Lynette said. "We have six children, so I do all of that myself. All of our jelly was done for the year.

"It sounds crazy to be upset about it," she added, "but that kid hit that stove in our kitchen and it must weigh 1,500 pounds -- you just can't imagine  -- that alone could have killed him. It's just unbelievable he didn't die."

Everybody was lucky, said Sgt. John Szumigala, of the Sheriff's Office.

"There was nobody in the room that was completely demolished by the car," Szumigala said. "There were people close to it, but nobody in it. And nobody was in his path coming down the driveway, so everybody was very lucky."

Peter Swendsen said it looked like the SUV was doing 100 mph down his driveway.

Both Peter and Lynette described the car hitting the house as an explosion.

"It was like something you never heard in your life," Lynette said.

The vehicle came to rest on a tree stump in the back yard, with the front wheels off the ground.

"He was still trying to go," Peter said. "He still had his foot on the gas pedal."

Peter helped him get out of the Mountaineer and when the driver, according to Peter, tried to run, Peter said he "grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him to the ground."

When Lynette came out of the house, Peter was yelling at her to call 9-1-1.

"I still had the phone in my hand from my mother-in-law," Lynette said. "I was just frantic with the lady on the phone because I didn't know if anybody was hurt. I didn't even know what happened."

The red preserves splattered against the outside wall of the house gave some of the first responders quite a start when they arrived on the scene, but they soon realized it was just jelly.

Purdy was transported to ECMC by Mercy EMS with minor injuries.

He's believed to be the same person who was reported as a possibly intoxicated driver on Akron Road prior to the accident. When a patrol arrived, the vehicle couldn't be located. A short time later, a vehicle reportedly hit a road sign on Akron Road, and then minutes later, at 7:07 p.m., the call came into emergency dispatch for a car hitting a house at 721 Akron Road.

Purdy was not the owner of the SUV. About an hour after the accident, a young woman showed up at the scene in tears. She said it was her vehicle that hit the house.

The initial investigation indicates, Szumigala said, that Purdy had permission to drive the vehicle, but he did not necessarily have permission to have taken the vehicle for as long as he appears to have taken it. 

The Swendsen's home on their organic dairy farm is situated down a long driveway -- well more than 100 yards long -- off Akron Road at a T-intersection with Marble Road. Szumigala said it appears Purdy was heading north on Marble Road and just continued straight across Akron Road into the driveway.

Peter said Purdy kept asking if he was on Akron Road after he was out of the SUV.

The incident remains under investigation and Purdy has not yet been charged with any crimes.

Lynette said Purdy said he was sorry, before he was taken away by Mercy EMS, for hitting her house. She said she was just glad he wasn't seriously hurt.

Responding to the scene were volunteer firefighters from Pembroke, East Pembroke Corfu and Darien. The accident is being investigated by deputies Kevin McCarthy and Patrick Reeves and Sgt. Szumigala and Investigator Roger Stone.

A car is on its roof in a ditch off Pike Road, Batavia, but the driver is out, walking around and not injured.

Town of Batavia fire is on scene along with law enforcement.

The accident is in the area of 3711 Pike Road.

UPDATE 9:42 p.m.: Town of Batavia fire back in service.

Taikoza, a group of musicians playing traditional Japanese music, with an emphasis on large drums, performed in GCC's Forum today as part of an "Experience Japan" program this quarter at the college.

Besides the music today, students and faculty could enjoy a lunch of sushi.

GCC attracts international students every year and this year, like previous years, there are a number of Japanese attending the college.