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Much of Genesee County could see from 8 to 12 inches of snow from a storm expected to hit the region by Monday morning, according to WIVB meteorologist Bryan Shaw (who created the weather map above).

Shaw reports that areas closer to the lakes are more likely to see rain as the air will stay warmer at lower elevations. Further inland and at higher elevations, snow fall will be heavier.

It will take only a few inches of heavy, wet snow to cause damage and possible power outages, Shaw said, because the warm spring has many trees already growing foilage.

A winter storm watch is in effect through Monday evening.

UPDATED 12:03 p.m.

The drivers of both cars that collided head on at 6:44 a.m. on Lewiston Road, just south of Galloway Road, Batavia, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators said the cars appeared to hit squarely, though the speeds of either vehicle have not yet been determined.

It's unknown what caused a northbound white sedan to cross the double-yellow line.

The sedan hit a minivan.

The sedan, a 1997 Buick, was driven by Quayeshawn D. Smith, 25, of 4590 Mill St., Medina.

The minivan, a 2002 Mazda, was driven by Rosemary Calla, 74, of 34 S. Main St., Oakfield.

Sgt. James Meier said he doesn't believe weather conditions, light wind and a light drizzle, contributed to the accident.

No other passengers were in either vehicle.

Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy EMS responded to the scene, though Mercy medics went back in service shortly after arriving at the accident.

Lewiston Road was closed in both directions between Galloway Road and Veterans Memorial Drive from shortly after 7 a.m. until 9:36 a.m.

Oakfield Fire provided traffic control at Galloway and Route 63.

The accident is being investigated by the Crash Management Team of the Sheriff's Office, which includes Sgt. Meier, Sgt. Bill Scott, Deputy Brad Mazur and Investigator William Ferrando.

A serious injury accident is reported in the area of 7936 Lewiston Road, Batavia.

Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy EMS requested to the scene.

Mercy Flight unable to fly due to weather.

Route 63 closed in both directions

UPDATE 7:40 a.m.: This is a double fatal accident.

UPDATE 9:36 a.m.: Lewiston Road is reopened. Town of Batavia is back in service.

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The Batavia High School Girls Softball Team was at Clor's Meat Market today selling chicken BBQ dinners as a fundraiser for the team.

A couple dozen firefighting trainees spent much of the day at the Fire Training Center on State Street Road, Batavia, learning a few things about fire fighting, including the techniques for putting out car fires.

If you are ready to do cool things like this, become a volunteer firefighter in your community. Visit Ready Genesee for more information.

More than 20 fencers were at Batavia High School today for a tournament sponsored by En Garde. The event was part of the USFA WNY Epee Circuit division and winners scored points toward a division championship. Fencers came from as far away as Syracuse, Binghamton, Albany, Rochester and Buffalo. Fencers ranged in age from 15 to 57.

When I was at DeWitt Park this morning I got to drive out to the far side of the park and found that Paul Osborn is getting new paths installed, new trees planted at this lookout platform installed.

Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts were in DeWitt Park today for Earth Day to do a little clean up. The girls found a whole area of old auto parts that had been dumped, no doubt, decades ago, and dutifully picked up every scrap.

Dozens of families brought their cars to the Batavia fire station today for inspections of their child safety seats or to get them properly installed.

Recently, another seven Batavia firefighters went through training in child safety seats, giving the department the capability to provide year-'round-service to local families looking to ensure the safety of their children when riding in a car.

State troopers and Sheriff's deputies assisted with the inspections today.

Despite the unrelenting rain, it was a busy day for Clor's Meat Market today -- with several groups needing Clor's one-of-a-kind BBQ chicken. So Chuck Gugel had a couple of employees set up BBQ pits in a vacant-lot area behind Faletti Ice Arena near the skate park off Evans Street. Pictured are Troy Colton, left, and William Griffin.

A persistent drizzle didn't dampen the green spirits of some Batavia residents who turned out for the city's Earth Day park clean-up effort today at Austin Park (with clean-up crews dispersing to other parks after a meeting).

Above, Kaitlin Logsdon at Austin Park, and below, Batavia City Council President Tim Buckley with Katie Buckley, and wearing the trash bag is Dave Russell.

Flowers are blooming, birds are singing ... it was blue skies and nearly 80 degrees yesterday.

But this is Western New York, so we shouldn't be surprised that the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Sunday evening through Monday evening.

From four to eight inches of heavy wet snow is possible with winds of up to 40 mph.

Visibility at times will be less than half a mile.

The weather service warns of downed trees and power lines with power outages and hazardous driving conditions.

A child playing with fire is the most likely cause of a blaze that gutted the second floor of an apartment building at 26 Maple St., Batavia, on Friday.

According to Lt. Jay Steinbrenner of the Batavia City Fire Department, the physical evidence and the version of events given by the mother are consistent and the fire will officially be deemed accidental.

It's unknown if the child was playing with matches or a lighter.

The names of the occupants of the three unit complex are not yet available.

The mother burned her hand trying to grab a pillow that had been set on fire so she could throw it out of the apartment.

When she couldn't successfully deal with the fire herself, she evacuated her children from the apartment and then called 9-1-1.

Heavy smoke and some flames were already billowing out of the second-floor windows by the time the first firefighters arrived on scene at about 1:30 p.m.

Steinbrenner said that one firefighter observed upon entering the building, "It's a big fire real quick."

The upstairs rooms were filled with thick black smoke when firefighters entered through northside door.

The wind was from the south, so smoke and flames were being blown in the opposite direction. Firefighters needed to push the blaze -- they wanted to push it toward the southside windows, which would give them the best chance to save as much of the structure as possible.

In all, Steinbrenner said, he thought the city crews did a good job of accomplishing their goal.

Though the building was razed, the first floor remained structurally sound and the two downstairs occupants were able to recover almost all of their personal belongings.

"The fire was contained to the second floor," Steinbrenner said. "I thought we did a good job. The tenants downstairs were able to salvage their possessions. There was very little damage downstairs, just water damage."

Ramon Ortiz of the Empire Yankees delivered the first pitch -- a called ball -- to Norfolk's Xavier Avery and history was made at Dwyer Stadium: the first Triple A ball game ever played in Batavia.

There were 1,319 fans on hand to witness the history-making game.

Two pitches later, the Yankees were down 1-0 as Avery rocketed a pitch from Ortiz over the right field wall.

While Ortiz got hit pretty hard in the first inning, he settled down to last seven innings and the Yankees came back with a three-run eighth inning to salvage a 6-4 victory.

The two teams go at it again today at 1:05 p.m., tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. and Monday at 12:05 p.m.

Double play sequence:

Below, Rep. Kathy Hochul throws out the first pitch (photo provided by Kevin Manne).

More game pictures after the jump (click on the headline to view):

It was the Ugly Purse and Tie Luncheon today to raise money for the Child Advocacy Center. The second annual event is a chance for local residents to show off their most gaudy ties and purses.

The luncheon was held at Terry Hills.

Top photo, Susan Privitera, of Le Roy, with a fur-and-bug-covered handbag of her own making.

Sheriff Gary Maha.

Mike Flannery, left, Edgar Lougheed, both from Byron, and Det. Pat Corona.

On the way out of Bergen this morning I spotted this horse eating dandelions in front of one our area's more attractive barns, so stopped and made this picture.

Dealing with the DMV just got a little bit easier in the Village of Bergen. At the urging of Trustee Anne Marie Barclay, the county (through the efforts of the County Clerk's Office, and the highway department) installed a DMV drop box outside the village hall.

"One of the things we always work to improve is the quality of life in Bergen and to bring more people into the village and we think this will do that," Barclay said.

Mayor Ralph Marsocci praised the effort and thanked county staff for making it possible.

Leslie Krajewski, deputy county clerk, said the clerk's office projects that the drop box will pay for itself by September.

The drop box will make it more convenient for people in the northeast part of the county, as well as areas neighboring that part of the county, to take care of their DMV business.

By using the drop box, DMV customers will cut two or three days off the time it takes to complete a transaction.

Pictured are Barclay, Marsocci, Deputy Mayor Paul Cooper, Krajewski, senior DMV representative Nancy Elmore and Trustee Ginny Adams.

Though it ways more than 2,600 pounds, a new Celtic-style cross was placed with loving care atop the tower at St. James Episcopal Church in Batavia this morning.

The cross raising caps a $500,000 restoration project at St. James that should be completely finished some time in July.

Bill Farmer, chairman of Catenary Construction, said his crews have repaired mortar, replaced 278 pieces of stone and put a new roof on the tower. In a few weeks, the white wrapping around the scaffolding will come off, the scaffolding lowered and the giant stained glass window repaired. When that's done, the project is done.

As the cross was raised this morning, Farmer and Rev. Steve Metcalf looked on with obvious joy.

"This is without a doubt the best part (of the job)," Farmer said. "It’s a pretty noble service to set a cross and it’s a once-in-a-professional-career moment."

The cross is a highly compacted concrete, and where the previous cross lasted only about 100 years, this cross will last hundreds of years, Farmer said.

"We're very pleased with it," Metcalf said. "(As I watched the cross go up) I began to think about people being able to see a new cross as a sign of renovation, not only of the building, but of this congregation."

When Metcalf arrived at the church a couple of years ago, he said, the facade was crumbling and it was hard for anybody to even approach the building. The front doors couldn't even be opened.

"There was this sense that we weren't open to the community," Metcalf said.

Donations from the congregation and members of the community along with state charitable grants helped pay for the restoration.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here.

A three-unit apartment building at 26 Maple St., Batavia, was destroyed today by a raging inferno that consumed the upper floor of the building shortly after 1:30 p.m.

The tenants of all three units -- a mother with three children, a mother with two children and a single male -- were home when the fire erupted and all residents, including children, escaped the blaze.

One woman suffered burns on her hands.

The cause of the fire is still undetermined.

What remains of the structure will be demolished this evening.

The mothers with children are being assisted by Red Cross.

The property is owned by Thomas Snyder and was assessed at $80,000.

Retired firefighter Frank Capuano said he remembers that when he was a child the building was a grocery store / corner market.

All city fire platoons were called to the scene, with mutual aid from Town of Batavia and Elba fire departments, and Oakfield filling in at the city station. Mercy EMS provided medical and rehab support.

No firefighters were injured.

UPDATE 6:16 p.m.: Chief Jim Maxwell said the fire has been ruled accidental. No further information is being released at this time.

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here.

Should cyberbullying be a crime?

Democrat & Chronicle: Cyberbullying law is proposed in Monroe County, and related in Erie County: Poloncarz signs ban on cyberbullying