Residents on Trumbull Parkway between Farwell Street and North Street are asked not to park on the street at any point on Friday before 7 p.m.
City crews will spend the day repairing a pipeline.
Residents and businesses in the area may experience limited and delayed access to their property during the hours of operations, which start at 8 a.m.
Motorists are asked to seek alternative routes.
Sarah Della Penna takes walks with her Great Danes out on a piece of property off Creek Road, Batavia, and always takes her camera. She sent in some of her recent pictures.
County legislators got their first look today at the proposed 2013-2014 for Genesee Community College, which asks the county for another $100,000 in local share and includes a $75-per-semester fee increase for full-time students.
While other community colleges in the region are suffering declining enrollment rates of 5 to 8 percent, those trends aren't hitting GCC quite as hard, College President Jim Sunser said.
Next year, the college could even see a slight bump in enrollment, thanks to more programs and students looking for mid-career training.
"Some of that (anticipated increase) has to do with our effort to reach out to the non-traditional population," Sunser said. "We can help them retool their skills. I thnk that's an area where we can look at providing new services and move enrollment."
Examples include a supply chain management and food processing -- programs that were created in response to construction of two big yogurt plants at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.
The college's veterinarian tech program has also proven to be popular, Sunser said.
GCC is not exempt from the decline of enrollments of high school graduates. Throughout the state, Sunser said, population declines mean fewer high school students, but GCC has done better at attracting those students, Sunser said, because GCC has a solid reputation for preparing students for four-year programs.
The total budget is $38 million, a 2.7-percent increase over this year's budget.
The county share is proposed to jump over $2 million for the first time, with an increase of $100,000, but the share remains at 5.3 percent of the school's total budget.
There was no push back from legislators during today's Ways and Means Committee meeting, where Sunser presented the budget.
Sunser said the college expects to neither lay off employees nor create new positions.
The committee set a public hearing on the budget proposal for 7 p.m., June 12.
Local governments, including Genesee County, that participate in pooling a workers compensation insurance program have a chance to get help reducing workplace injuries using consultants for essentially no cost.
Bill Fritts, president of Lawley Genesee, explained what his company is prepared to do for local governments if Lawley becomes the worker compensation insurance broker.
The possibility came to Fritts's attention, he said, after receiving a request for proposal from the county for a new workers comp plan.
As a broker, Lawley can apply its commissions to provide a variety of services to members of the pool.
Genesee County, along with all of the local school districts and most towns and villages (but not the City of Batavia) are part of a self-insurance pool for workers compensation.
If a worker is injured on the job, the pool will pay the first $500,000 of coverage.
What the county has been shopping for is a new carrier for "excess coverage" -- an insurance company that pays any claims in excess of $500,000.
There are only three such carriers in the nation.
Under the plan presented by Fritts, Lawley will accept bids from the carriers, select one and manage the relationship.
With its commissions, Lawley will then use its own experts to identify areas where worker safety can be improved and look for other cost-saving opportunities.
Lawley's consultants will study claim history, look for departments that have safety records that can improve and then study work that's going on in those workplaces to see what safety improvements can be made.
"We'll look at what members are hurting and helping you," Fritt said. "We send in loss-prevention consultants to those areas first that hare hurting you and see what safety programs are needed. We might create incentive programs if they need to change their culture and help them change their culture."
There is no additional fee for the pool members for the extra services.
"I've seen the results and it's pretty amazing," Fritts said. "It makes you feel pretty good because you're preventing injuries."
At the next Ways and Means Committee meeting, legislators will have a chance to vote on the offer.
When I showed up at the park between County Building #1 and the Old Courthouse, I spotted a new directional sign near the main county administration building.
Our friend Sean Carroll from WHAM 13 was in Oakfield today to talk with Scott McKenzie, the 26-year-old accused of driving a lawn mower while intoxicated late at night. It's a good story by Sean.
Yesterday, for the first time -- believe it or not -- I visited the mucklands. I was back out there today (yes, there's a related story coming). The mucklands are an impressive sight, to say the least, and entirely fascinating, as I have learned over the past 48 hours or so. There are several of these type of old, low-slung barns out there.
Press release:
Outraged over recent revelations that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) singled out and targeted conservative political groups, Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) has signed a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew voicing concern and demanding answers.
Drafted by Congressman Jim Bridenstine (OK-1), the letter calls for an explanation regarding reports that Lois Lerner, the IRS head for tax-exempt groups, admitted that the IRS treated conservative political groups unfairly by screening organizations with “tea party” or “patriot” in tax-exempt status applications, and violated IRS policy by asking these groups for donor lists.
“The actions of the IRS are inexcusable. The American people have questions and Secretary Lew, with the ultimate authority over the IRS, must provide answers,” said Congressman Collins. “I am one of many members of Congress, on either side of the aisle, who continues to seek more information.”
This letter is a first step in calling for the responsible individuals to be held accountable, and requests assurance from Secretary Lew that the targeted groups are notified, among other actions.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
An Alabama resident this morning watched his car go up in flames following a one-car accident on Lewiston Road, then he was hauled off to Town Court on a DWI charge.
Joseph Bennett Clark, 20, of Reuben Road, Alabama, reported the accident at about 6 a.m. in the area of 383 Lewiston Road.
By the time the first deputy arrived, his car was on fire. By the time the first Alabama fire chief arrived, it was fully engulfed in flames.
A deputy had a hard time getting identifying numbers off the car once the fire was out, it was so badly burned.
Clark was taken into custody by Deputy Jason Saile and charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or higher, speed not reasonable and prudent, moving from a lane unsafely and driving left of pavement markings.
Clark reportedly suffered a minor injury as a result of the accident.
The junior and senior classes at Byron-Bergen saw today a bit of what it's like at a fatal DWI accident. Their prom is this weekend and officials, like at many local high schools, want to emphasize the message: don't drink and drive.
The Bergen and Byron fire departments participated in the drill along with Coroner Karen Lang, H.E. Turner Funeral Home and Deputy Chris Parker.
The DOA accident victim was played by Sara Donovan. Andrew Magin was the seriously injured victim and the alleged drunken driver was Lucas DeValder.
HS Principal Aaron Johnson
Deputy Chief Doug Van Slyke
Batavia's Business Improvement District kicked off its promotional campaign, "More Feet Downtown," today.
Banners were hung at light poles downtown to help spread the word.
Pictured are Amy Worthington, left, Jeff Gillard, Don Burkel, Paul Marchese, Mary Valle, Beth Kemp and Lusanne Simard.
More than 600 National Grid customers in Genesee County are with out power this afternoon, including 590 in Batavia, as high winds play havoc with trees and power lines.
A tree came down on Clinton Street, which is what knocked out power around East Main and Clinton, including the intersection lights.
About 90 customers in Pembroke are also without power and there are a couple of small outages elsewhere in the county.
Power should be restored in Batavia by 4:45 p.m. and in Pembroke by 3:45 p.m.
There is a hazardous weather outlook in place because of strong winds into tonight. Winds are hitting 20 to 25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.
Scott Edwin Mckenzie, 26, of South Main Street, Oakfield, was reportedly driving a 2011 Troy-Bilt Lawn Mower on North Main Street, Oakfield, last night when he was stopped by a Sheriff's deputy and found to allegedly be under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
Mckenzie was charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, DWI, unlawful possession of marijuana and failure to display slow moving vehicle emblem.
Deputy Joseph Corona stopped Mckenzie at 11:16 p.m. in the area of 107 Main St., Oakfield.
Pavilion Fire Department is being requested to Route 63 to shutdown all southeast traffic into Livingston County due to a serious injury accident on Route 63 near the York Central School.
A one-car MVA is reported at Lewiston and Salt roads, Alabama, with a minor injury.
The driver has been on the phone with dispatchers. A passerby reports seeing blood on the driver.
Alabama Fire Department and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 6:01 a.m.: Call back. The car is now on fire.
UPDATE 6:03 a.m.: Deputy on scene reports the vehicle is fully involved.
UPDATE 6:20 a.m.: Sounds like the car was completely destroyed. It's been difficult for law enforcment to get identifying information, such as the license plate number, from it.
UPDATE 6:46 a.m.: Alabama is in service.
Press release:
The City of Batavia Annual Water Quality Report for 2012 has been completed and may be viewed online at: http://www.batavianewyork.com/documents/2012WaterReport.pdf. This report contains information as to how your drinking water is produced, testing results, and other general information relating to the public water supply. Paper copies of this report are also available at City Hall.
Press release:
The Sheriff’s Office will participate in the statewide seat belt enforcement mobilization, which will run from May 20 through June 1, which is designed to further improve highway safety. The initiative will urge motorists to buckle their safety belts or face receiving a ticket. The message is simple: “Click It or Ticket." The Buckle Up New York “Click It or Ticket” enforcement and education initiative sends a clear message that seat belts and child safety seats save lives. New York State has been a leader in passenger safety restraint since enacting the very first seat belt law in the country in 1984 by utilizing efforts that combines public education with increased police enforcement of New York’s seat belt law.
Under New York State law, safety restraint use is required for: all front seat occupants regardless of age; all rear seat passengers under 16 years of age; children under age 4 who must be restrained in a federally approved child safety seat. New York’s zero-tolerance policy for seat belt violations means that violators will receive a ticket if stopped for not using a safety restraint. The fine for such violations is up to $100 if a motorist is stopped for having a person less than 16 years old unrestrained, plus 3 points on their license.
According to state law, motorists can be stopped in New York by a police officer for not wearing their seat belts; another violation is not necessary to initiate the stop. Properly secured children will be a priority for the Sheriff’s Office during this enforcement effort. If there is any question as to the proper installation of your child’s safety seat, call the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office at 585-343-5000 to set up an appointment to have your safety seat and its installation inspected by a certified technician. Please help us make the highways of Genesee County the safest they can be.
Like a bad dream that keeps recurring, New York farmers are once again fighting legislation that could put many of them out of business, or radically change the way they do business.
Assembly Democrats yesterday pushed through a farm labor bill similar to one defeated two years ago that would require overtime pay, require at least 24 consecutive hours off each week and allow for collective bargaining.
The bill passed the Assembly 82-53 and moves to the GOP-controlled Senate, where it was defeated two years ago, but the fight isn't over, said Dean Norton, president of the NY Farm Bureau.
"Anytime a law this bad for us is passed in one house with the closeness of the leadership in the Senate, we're concerned," Norton said. "We still need our farmers to contact their senators and let them know how they feel about it."
Many of the arguments being made in support of the bill are disingenuous, Norton said. Farmers already pay minimum wage or higher, provide housing and are covered by workers compensation.
"What we have now is Downstate legislators who have no experience with farms telling us how to run our farms and trying to put in protections that are already in place," Norton said.
New York is ranked 27th in farm production in the nation, but number two in labor costs. New York's labor costs are 56 percent higher than the national average.
New York farmers pay an average of $26 per acre in property taxes compared to a national average of $6 per acre.
Supporters of the bill like to compare New York to California, Norton noted, but California is the number one agriculture state in the nation and has a 10-month growing season. New York's season is five months at best.
As Assemblyman Steve Hawley said during yesterday's floor debate, "There's an old adage -- when sun shines you have to make the hay."
In New York, crops don't wait for the next eight-hour shift to ripen; Harvest time is harvest time.
But neither do workers work all year long. There's a short period of time for them to make the most money they can.
If New York institutes a 40-hour work week for farm labor, Norton said, many labors won't work fewer hours, they'll just get a second job because they know harvest time is the time to make money.
Hawley also argued that if working conditions are bad on a farm, a farmer will have a hard time finding and retaining workers.
Below is a five-minute video produced by the Farm Bureau about the legislation.
Two years ago it was the work of North Country Democrat Darrel J. Aubertine, who used his power as chair of the agriculture committee to keep the bill from a floor vote. Aubertine was repaid by the GOP with a campaign to win his Senate seat.
Without Aubertine, Norton still believes farmers have enough powerful friends in the Senate to defeat the bill, but it won't go down without a fight.
UPDATE: Here's Hawley's floor speech.
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