With a spacious open concept and large rooms makes this home feel large but super cozy. Located in the Elba School system, this home is perfect for the people who want their piece of country.

Surrounded by fields on a quiet road -- definitely one to take a ride for!

Call Lynn Bezon today at Reliant Reliant Estate to see 5774 Shelt Road – call 344-HOME! Click here to view the full listing.

Photo credit: Jim Burns.

NOTE: This was originally posted at 1:15 p.m. We've updated the time stamp to move it back up to the top of the home page. The suspect is in custody.

Minutes ago about a dozen State Police cars swarmed onto the Thruway at the Batavia exit after a vehicle stopped there briefly following a high-speed chase that began in Canandaigua for unknown reasons. Now the pursuit has begun anew.

The suspect vehicle is traversing the median of the Thruway, going eastbound and westbound intermittently.

Troopers were told to be on the lookout for the vehicle driven by a possibly suicidal male.

Spike strips were set up at the Batavia exit, but it is unclear if they were deployed.

There are currently three police cars parked near the Batavia Thruway exit 48; the male subject's latest location is near the Le Roy exit.

UPDATE 1:23 p.m.: The suspect vehicle is stopped at the Le Roy exit Stafford overpass.

UPDATE 1:44 p.m.: The vehicle is stopped on I-90 eastbound about one mile from the Route 237 overpass. A trooper is blocking westbound I-90; and eastbound a number of emergency vehicles are on scene and a helicopter is hovering overhead.

UPDATE 1:48 p.m.: The subject is alert in the vehicle but not responding to officers' commands. The Thruway is closed westbound at the Le Roy exit and eastbound at the Batavia exit.

UPDATE 3:13 p.m.: Now the eastbound Thruway is closed at the Pembroke exit. The continuing standoff has resulted in heavy traffic congestion on Route 98 (Oak Street) in Batavia. The subject is reportedly armed.

UPDATE 5:49 p.m.: Jim Burns, reporting for us with a position that has a good view of the scene, says the subject is in custody. We have no information yet on when the Thruway might reopen.

UPDATE 6:26 p.m.: The Thruway has been reopened in both directions.

There is an oil spill on the Thruway in the eastbound lane in the area of mile marker 404 because of a truck accident.

It's unclear if a truck was carrying oil or if the oil comes from the engine. 

Two trucks may have been involved and there is heavy damage. There's no word yet on how large of an oil spill.

Pembroke fire and Indian Falls fire dispatched.

UPDATE 5 p.m.: There is oil leaking from "the last two tractor-trailers involved," a chief reports.

UPDATE 5:03 p.m.: The spill is 50 to 60 feet from a waterway. Department of Environmental Conservation being notified.

UPDATE 6:02 p.m.: Reader-submitted photos added. Apparently, only one truck involved. It was carrying 44,000 pounds of flour for a pizza shop.

The Fine Arts program at Genesee Community College is proud to welcome the entire community to the Roz Steiner Art Gallery at the Batavia Campus to experience this year's student exhibit, "Master Peace," on display from March 1 - April 6.

The "Master Peace" exhibit will begin with artist receptions from 12:30 to 2 p.m. and again from 5 - 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 1; the public is invited to meet the artists and explore the exhibit's debut.

Entitled "Master Peace," this exhibition showcases artwork recently produced by students enrolled in Fine Arts courses at Genesee Community College. Each piece is crafted for a specific class project reflecting a range of the course's learning objectives challenging students to use their fundamental learning and refined technical skills to create pieces that communicate and express their concepts and messages.

The exhibit includes artwork produced in GCC's Two and Three-Dimensional Design, Drawing I & II, Painting I & II, and Ceramics I & II courses.

"The student exhibits are a time for students to celebrate their achievements and show off their accomplishments," says Art Gallery Coordinator Mary Jo Whitman. "This year's exhibit features a range of diverse and exceptional artwork. I am looking forward to the exhibit's opening and for our community to have the opportunity to view the artwork created by our talented students at GCC."

Roz Steiner Art Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information on all upcoming events at the Roz Steiner Art Gallery visit www.genesee/edu/gallery.

Madalyn R. Muntz, 32, of Evans Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, criminally using drug paraphernalia, 2nd, criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument, and unlawful possession of marijuana. While conducting an investigation on Liberty Street, members of the Local Drug Task Force located Muntz. She was taken into custody on a City Court warrant and at the time of her arrest allegedly found in possession of cocaine, a needle, drug paraphernalia, and a device for smoking marijuana. She was also arrested by Batavia PD on the warrant alleged failure to meet requirements of sentencing on a prior conviction. Muntz was released after posting bail.

Jonathan Edward Stanton, 35, of Vine Street, Batavia, is charged petit larceny, criminal use of drug paraphernalia, 2nd, criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Police received a report of a suspicious male at the Rite Aid on West Main Street, Batavia. Upon investigation, Deputy Ryan DeLong and Deputy Brad Mazur determined Stanton allegedly stole $119.97 in merchandise from the store and was in possession of drug paraphernalia, a needle and marijuana.

Daniel E. Gubnitsky, 23, of Sheron Road, Greece, and Jennifer A. Schreiber, 18, of Batavia Stafford Townline Road, Batavia, are charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Gubnitsky and Schreiber were charged after police were called to investigate a suspicious vehicle parked at the VFW Hall at 25 Edwards St., Batavia, at 9:22 a.m. Thursday. 

Joseph M. Tornabene, 26, of Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Tornabene allegedly struck another person in the face during an argument reported at 2:30 p.m. Friday at a location on Dellinger Avenue, Batavia. Tornabene left the scene. The victim signed a complaint and Tornabene later turned himself in at Batavia PD headquarters. 

Cale Daniel Rice, 41, of Drake Street Road, Elba, is charged with felony DWI, felony driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, speeding and failure to notify DMV of a change of address. Rice was stopped at 1:06 a.m. Saturday on Route 98 in Elba by Deputy Eric Meyer.

Shamique D. Hubbard, 28, of Hamlet, North Carolina, is charged with DWI, driving while impaired by drugs, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Hubbard was stopped at 10:51 p.m. Sunday in the Town of Batavia by State Police.

Matthew J. Gaudio, 29, of Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and aggravated unlicensed operation. Gaudio was stopped by State Police in Darien at 10:14 a.m. Thursday. Following arraignment, Gaudio was ordered held on bail.

Ervin Finkley, 50, of Rochester, is charged with grand larceny, 4th, criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and fleeing from an officer in a motor vehicle. Desiree Ghee, 31, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property. Norman C. Ghee, 53, of Rochester, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. The trio was arrested by State Police in connection with an incident reported at 1:27 p.m. Thursday in the City of Batavia. All three were ordered held on bail. No further details released.

There will be a primary, and I plan on being your next Congressman. The people of this district deserve the freedom to choose their candidate.

You deserve the freedom of a primary, and you deserve a rural candidate who lives in the district. I’ve shown you, my neighbors, that I have a plan to beat Chris Collins come November, and it starts with you.

Throughout this campaign, I’ve promised you honesty and accountability, and that’s why I am staying in the race. I’ve committed to you not to divide us on partisan politics, but to unite on the values that make us all Americans.

I encourage you to listen to all candidates, to learn about who we are and what we stand for, and choose the candidate that you want to be your next Congressman.

You’ll learn that I believe in family, in accountability, and in you. Imagine a Congressman who does not hide in Washington or does not believe that this is the next step in a political career. I’m running because we can do better.

I came back to Western New York to take care of my family and my family’s business. I’ve taken what I learned from business school and experiences throughout my career in business to invest in new technology and grow my family’s small business. Our small businesses can do better. They deserve the chance to grow and to thrive.

Imagine a Congressman who does not worry about your political party, how much money you make, or what you look like. A Congressman who only cares about ensuring every single person in Western New York is doing better than they were before, and a Congressman who ensures our children can do better than we ever believed.

I’m looking forward to meeting you on the campaign trail and learning how to make Western New York a better place. Remember, this is about your values, your voice, and your vote.

A vehicle reportedly struck a tree and rolled over in the area of 1677 Main Road, East Pembroke.

There is heavy damage to the vehicle, according to a first responder, but the occupant is reported out and walking around.

East Pembroke fire and Mercy EMS responding.

Bowlers in the Sunday Roll-Offs League at Medina Lanes were in the groove this morning as nine members posted 600 series, led by Scott Allis, with a sparkling 824 set.

For the second time in four weeks, Allis, a 37-year-oid right-hander from Medina, hit the 800 mark. This time it was punctuated by a closing 300 game.

Ken Evans of Medina also had a 300 game in the league, and finished with a 736 series -- 11 pins less than Batavia's Gregg Wolff.

For all the rest of the scores and for highlights of other league bowling action around the Genesee Region, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of this page.

Local leaders in law enforcement, fire services, mental health and other crisis intervention professionals met at the Fire Training Center on Friday to help map out what services and resources the county has available to people with mental health issues.

The goal is to find ways to get people in the midst of a mental health crisis help before it becomes a law enforcement issue, and when a mental health issue does involve police officers, those officers have the training and resources to deal with it effectively.

Don Kamin, director of the Institute for Police, Mental Health & Community Collaboration in Rochester, along with Martin Giuliano, led the discussion.

Kamin's program is four years old and was created and funded by the State Senate. Both Monroe County and Erie County already have such programs in place, and it's now Genesee County's turn for organizing the program and providing training. 

In a couple of months, Kamin and his team and his team will return to start training a group of officers in local law enforcement who will be part of a Crisis Intervention Team. They will undergo 40 hours of training, on top of the 15 they've already received in their law enforcement academy, in dealing with subjects suffering from mental health issues.

"Number one, we want to train them on how to recognize mental illness and other disorders and then how to de-escalate that," Kamin said. "Also, just as important, give them more knowledge of the local system."

There are a number of mental resources available in Genesee County that could assist officers in the field but knowledge about those resources isn't evenly distributed through local law enforcement. One of the program's goals is to map out all of those resources and provide officers with the information.

"It's a good opportunity for us to take a step back and see what other communities are doing so that when we bring the report back to the Genesee County we can say 'hey, over here in Monroe County, over in Westchester, or over in Albany County, they're looking at these practices. Have you considered moving in that direction?' " Giuliano said. "We can try to integrate the best practices throughout New York State and get them spread to all the different communities."

New York's program is part of a national trend toward providing police officers with additional mental issue crisis intervention training -- this year the state's law enforcement academies will require 20 hours of training -- and creating crisis intervention teams.

"The goal here is to divert people from the criminal justice system when at all possible and get them the support they need," Kamin said. "This isn't a get out of jail free card. If folks, regardless of the level of mental illness, commit a serious crime they're going to be arrested; they're going to 14 West Street, but many times they don't need to be sent there and we want to intervene."

A caller reports that he wasn't in an accident, but his car is on fire and it's in a cornfield off of Lake Street Road and Selden Road, Le Roy.

Le Roy fire dispatched. A chief request the first engine out be the brush truck.

UPDATE 7:07 p.m.: Because of the distance off the road, more brush trucks requested to the scene. It is a working fire. Pavilion, Bergen and Stafford all requested to the scene.

It's the vision of Rev. Henry Moore and the team at the Hope Center of Le Roy that the new ministry 42 Main St. will provide the community with a place of hope and help.

"We just want to show God's love through all of us and everything that we're doing," Moore said. "That's a lot of what we're based on, the fact of God's love and things will take shape from there."

The Hope Center, which is still just barely furnished, offers several programs for the community already.

There is L.I.F.T., which stands for Ladies in Faith Together. It's a program for single moms, where single moms can meet and support each other, share a meal, and grow in faith together.

The King's Table provides support for caregivers of children with special needs. 

"A couple of ladies who have special needs children took it upon themselves to start the program," Moore said. "Since then they've begun to bring families in and it gives them an opportunity to just meet together."

Fresh Start Literacy is a program for children to get extra help with reading.

"We really feel like this is going to be a powerful one because so many families have children who struggle to read," Moore said. "It's tough in a school atmosphere to get one-on-one help. We're willing to offer that."

Moms United in Prayer is a chance for women to pray together on a regular basis for children and schools.

Annually, the center offers Go Pro Spa Day and the Prom Dress Give Away.

Planned programs include Celebrate Recovery, a disaster relief program, children and teens programs and a New Life Clothing Center.

Much of Moore's ministry is based on the work, including the Prom Dress Give Away, he was doing with the Living Waters Church.

The Hope Center is now a separate nonprofit, and Moore is seeking donation and community support. The Hope Center has also started a building fund with the hope of eventually owning its own building.

"What we really want to do is get the community involved get all the churches to come together," Moore said. "I mean, no one person has a vision to make everything happen. One of the things we found was that someone has a vision and they don't know how to make it happen. We want to help that."

The rest of the leadership team includes Donna Friedman, Pat Bedford and Amy Bolton.

The motto of the Hope Center is that "hope is more than a wish. It is a confident expectation."

Moore said it's his goal to see the new ministry provide that kind of confident expectation to the Le Roy community.

Notre Dame lost its home game Class D1 semifinal playoff game to Naples on Saturday, 72-59.

Nico Zambito scored 15 points for the Fighting Irish. Gabe Macdonald scored 14, and Ryan Moffat scored 11.  

For Naples, Evan Bay scored 20 and Cole Rathbon scored 18. Bay hit five three-pointers.

The #3 seed in Class A2, the Batavia Blue Devils, was up Saturday in a Section V playoff game played in Batavia, by the #6 seed, Honeoye Falls-Lima, 48-41.

While Batavia jumped out to a 17-7 first quarter lead, behind the hot hand of Tee Sean Ayala, who scored 13 of his 20 points in the first eight minutes, HFL seemed to have figured out how to slow Ayala down. HFL held Ayala to seven points the rest of the way.

Worse, the Blue Devils didn't score at all in the second quarter and were held to 10 points in the fourth quarter -- a quarter in which HFL seemed to find it impossible to miss a shot, scoring 17 points.

Naz Pratt scored nine points for the Blue Devils and Antwan Odom scored six.

Top scorer for HFL was Garret Ruff with 13.

Notre Dame beat Addison in a Saturday afternoon Section V girls basketball playoff game at Notre Dame.

The final, 45-31. 

Margaret Sutherland scored 20 points for the Lady Irish. Callie McCulley scored 13 and Morgan Rhodes scored seven.

Also, in girls basketball Saturday:

• Byron-Bergen lost to Red Creek, 69-65. Emily Kaczmarek scored 17 points for the Lady Bees. Dana VanValkenburg scored 14, Kelsey Fuller, 12, and Julianna Amesbury, 8. For Red Creek, Katie Smith scored 19;
• Elba beat Whitesville, 56-21;
• Letchworth beat Pembroke, 56-40;
• Oakfield-Alabama beat Cal-Mum, 56-31.

A one-car accident is reported in the area of 246 Main Road, Pembroke. 

The vehicle is in a ditch and is smoking.

Unknown injuries.

Pembroke fire and Indian Falls fire along with Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 12:22 p.m.: Subjects are out of the vehicle. The vehicle is no longer smoking.

The City of Batavia's search committee that has been formed to fill the vacant city manager position is recommending that The Novak Consulting Group conduct the professional search at an approximate cost of $26,200.

The commitee, consisting of Council members Eugene Jankowski, Adam Tabelski and Robert Bialkowski along with HR Specialist Dawn Fairbanks, will be asking Council to consider the Cincinnati, Ohio, firm during Monday night's Conference Meeting at the City Centre's Council Board Room with the goal of the board casting a positive vote at a Special Business Meeting immediately afterward.

According to a memo from Fairbanks dated Feb. 21, the search commitee received seven responses from executive search services for the recruitment of a manager to replace Jason Molino, who resigned effective Jan. 29.

Fairbanks wrote that the committee narrowed the field down to three finalists, and each of those companies were interviewed via a conference call.

"After careful review, the Search Committee recommends The Novak Consulting Group for the search services ...," Fairbanks wrote.

The proposed contract calls for the City to pay $23,500 for Novak to "complete the city manager recruitment," with additional costs as follows: $1,000-$1,500 for advertising, $175-$300 per top finalist for background checks, and travel costs for finalists to attend interviews in the City.

The Novak Consulting Group was founded in 2009 by Julia D. Novak, whose resume lists 30 years of experience working with and for local governments. A consultant, trainer and facilitator, Novak's local government career includes positions in Fort Collins, Colo.; Lexington, Mass.; Rockville, Md,; and Rye, N.Y. (where she was the city manager).

She is a noted author and speaker on a variety of public administration management topics. Her staff includes consultants with decades of collective experience.

Details of the executive search contract's work plan for the City of Batavia, as provided by Novak, are as follows:

-- Develop candidate profile. Tasks include speaking with each member of City Council to learn individual expectations of each elected offical, in addition to discovering the shared goals for a new city manager -- utilizing focus groups and/or online surveys. From those meetings, etc., Novak promises to develop a tailored marketing and recruitment plan that includes New York, the region and the nation, preparing a position profile that is unique to Batavia. Also, the firm says it will develop first-year organizational goals for the successful candidate so he or she knows what will be expected.

-- Conduct active recruitment and screening. Tasks include conducting an advertising campaign -- using social media, phone and email contacts -- to identify and solicit potential candidates. After that is completed, the firm will market the position and identify qualified candidates for assessment, utilizing networks such as the International City/County Management Association, New York State City County Managers Association and other state and regional organizations pertinent to the recruiting process. The recruitment plan includes seeking candidates who are minorities, women and those who have worked in similar communities.

-- Support interviews and selection. Tasks include facilitating a customized, multistep interview process, which could consist of writing and role play exercises and/or a community reception. Novak will help arrange travel logistics for each candidate, and review candidates' strengths and backgrounds. The firm also is able to assist in salary negotiations.

The contract would be good for two years, with the guarantee that if the new hire leaves the position within two years time, Novak would conduct a new search for no professional fee. The City would then be responsible for billed direct expenses only.

Novak has assigned Catherine Tuck Parrish, who has conducted more than 100 searches for city manager/administrator jobs, and Jenn Reichelt, who has 16 years of experience in local government management, as the executive search practice leader and associate, respectively.

Other items on the Conference Meeting agenda include:

-- Public hearings for the budget ordinance; water rates, meter fees and capital improvement fees; establishing a user fee for the City Centre Mall, and amending the Business Improvement District Plan.

-- Creation of a full-time building maintenance worker and four part-time custodians as part of the City's Public Works Department to cover the operation and maintenance of the Mall concourse as a result of the City's agreement with the mall merchants association.

-- A resolution for an inter-municipal agreement with Genesee County for the City to pay 20 percent of the Genesee County Youth Bureau director's time spent providing administrative services for the City Youth Bureau.

There's a report of wires down and a tree on fire in the area of 6283 Fisher Road, Oakfield.

Oakfield fire dispatched.