According to workers at the 7-Eleven store at 505 E. Main St. in Batavia, there was a one million dollar winner in the October 29, 2014 Powerball drawing. The winner is a regular player at the mini mart.

The NYS Lottery says the winner used "Quick Pick" and won the second-place prize of $1,000,000.00.

They had 5 of 5 numbers, but no Powerball number. There was no first-place winner that day. The Jackpot was for $142,000,000.00.

A store employee says the winner is still in shock and will be receiving the second-place prize soon.

The State of New York Office of General Services held a surplus vehicle auction at State Police Troop "A" headquarters this morning on West Saile Drive in Batavia.

The auction was open to the public and Scott Perry and Company Auctioneers from Niagara Falls ran the auction that started at 9:30 this morning. The company has been contracted out by NYS to run the vehicle surplus auction for the past six years.

According to a seasoned auction goer, the crowd was light this morning. Vehicles that normally go for $2,000-$3,000 were going for $200-$300.

The inventory list contained about 23 vehicles, mostly Ford Crown Victoria and Chevy Impala models.

The next scheduled State Vehicle Surplus Auction will take place later today at 1:30 at State Police Headquarters Troop "E"  on Rochester Road in Canandaigua.

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants again today, Thursday Nov. 5, from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area south of East Main Street and east of Jackson Street. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected.

These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored.

A tractor-trailer struck a pole, tore down wires and landed on its side in the front yard at 258 Main Road, Pembroke. Unknown injuries. Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments are responding along with Mercy medics, non-emergency. Eastbound traffic will be shut down at Crittenden Road.

UPDATE 6:40 a.m.: National Grid has dispatched a repair crew, which has an ETA of about 30 minutes. Law enforcement is at the scene, too.

UPDATE 6:49 a.m.: An engine from Akron Fire Department is called in to provide mutual aid.

Press release:

In an effort to enhance awareness of critical issues across the Rochester/Finger Lakes Region, WHAM-TV and WUHF-TV announce the formation of a new partnership with The Batavian and Wyoming County Free Press.

13WHAM News, Rochester’s broadcast news ratings leader, is joining forces with the online news sites The Batavian and Wyoming County Free Press to provide enhanced coverage of Genesee and Wyoming County news. The partnership involves an exchange of news content and other informational resources to better serve the needs of families and businesses in those counties.

“The impact of community coverage is best relayed by the professionals who cover these beats every day,” says Matt Malyn, WHAM and WUHF news director. “It is for that reason we are excited to welcome The Batavian and Wyoming County Free Press to the 13WHAM News team.”

"Since the earliest days of The Batavian, we've enjoyed a strong cooperative relationship with the news team at 13WHAM," said Howard Owens, publisher of The Batavian and the Wyoming County Free Press. "We've shared news tips, exchanged leads and cooperated on stories in a way that has helped both news organizations serve their audiences better. The news team at 13WHAM is one of the best in the WNY region. We're excited to join forces in a more formal arrangement to help improve news coverage for the communities we serve."

Malyn added: “Over the years Howard Owens and his team have proven their commitment to the good people of Genesee County and we’re excited to join his recent efforts to expand his news operation into Wyoming County. Those are both communities that the 13WHAM News team has served for more than five decades.”

The Batavian continues to enjoy a solid news partnership with WBTA AM 1490 radio, which it officially joined forces with more than five years ago.

The Batavian was founded by Howard Owens in 2008 as an experimental project for a national news chain and eight months later, Howard and his wife Billie became sole owners of The Batavian. In six years, Howard and Billie have taken the audience of The Batavian from a few hundred daily readers, to between 10,000 and 14,000 daily readers, and 120,000 monthly, making it the most widely read news source in Genesee County.

The Wyoming County Free Press was launched two months ago and its audience continues to grow. Julia Ferrini is the site's editor.

I've boarded a plane in Buffalo. I'm heading to San Diego to attend to family matters. 

Billie will be running the site the next few days. As usual our news partner WBTA will help us with news coverage as will Alecia Kaus from Video News Service. 

I'm most disappointed that I'll miss Batavia and Le Roy play for Section V titles. The pursuit by both teams is a great story. I wish I could be there to tell it. But we have made arrangements for coverage. Good luck to both teams. 

Le Roy Fire Department's ability to upgrade its rescue vehicle has given City fire the opportunity upgrade its own capabilities.

The Batavia department purchased Le Roy's retired rescue truck for $55,000, which is $12,000 below what the city had budgeted for a new pickup truck and trailer to handle the same duties.

New, the truck goes for about $200,000.

Now dubbed Truck 14 and assigned to special operations, the new vehicle will be used for hazmat, rope rescue, water rescue, swift water rescue, cold water rescue and confined space rescue.

"They're all operations that we don't do very often, but there is always potential for a large need in the city," said Lt. Bob Fix.

Truck 14 will also respond to fire scenes with crew and equipment and serve as a rehab vehicle. It has an awning to provide shelter in heat and will carry water and fans to assist firefighters who need a break during a fight.

Up until now, the city had no vehicle to meet the needs of these operations. Equipment was stored in the fire hall and pulled out as necessary.

Now, everything is ready to roll with little time wasted.

Besides cost savings -- though some of that $12,000 was used to refit the truck to some of the city's needs -- the advantage over a storage trailer is that the trailer would need to be heated in the winter to help maintain the equipment. The new truck fits inside the fire station behind the current ladder truck.

Photos and story by Bare Antolos.

The Notre Dame Girls Volleyball Team, powered by the support of their fans, came out and proved to be too much for previously undefeated Hammondsport, 3-1 (25-15, 25-12, 18-25 and 25-13) to move onto play against Honeoye Falls-Lima on Thursday at Cal-Mum in the regional finals.

The Lady Irish are the Class DDD champions for Section V.

Throughout the match, the Hammondsport girls seemed to be overwhelmed by the Notre Dame attack and unnerved by the vocal Notre Dame student body cheering section.

Despite not having a strong service match, the Notre Dame girls used a balance attack to mix up their sets and win rather easily. Notre Dame Coach Rhonda DiCasolo said that her team "played really, really well and is very proud" of the effort and is "really excited about Thursday at Cal-Mum."

Shea Norton led the way for the Lady Irish with 19 kills. Lindsay Bender had a strong match, finishing with 30 assists and 10 service points, including finishing out the match on a run of five serves to send Hammondsport home.

The Lady Irish received strong contributions from Mary Bernadette Bochicchio who set the tone early in the first game, running out a string of five service points (nine total for the match) to open up a lead that Hammondsport could not recover from. Rebecca Krenzer lead the way with 15 service points with Olivia Marchese contributing 12 digs and Emma Francis, who seemed to be involved in all parts of the match, finished with 10 digs and 12 service points in the all around team effort.

Thursday's match against Honeoye Falls-Lima should be another difficult match for the Lady Irish and provide the Notre Dame students another opportunity to be help lift their team to victory!

More photos after the jump:

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins tonight released the following statement announcing his successful reelection as New York’s 27th District Congressional Representative.

“I am honored and humbled to again be elected by the hardworking people of New York’s 27th District,” Congressman Collins said.

“Voters across America made a clear choice today about the direction in which they want our country to move. Here in the 27th District of New York, like many places across our country, people have chosen to be represented by individuals who believe that job creation and economic growth should be spurred by the private sector, that big government is not good government, and that elected leaders should stand behind the principles they campaign on.

“I look forward to building on this nationwide momentum. My focus will remain on the issues that my constituents care about such as ensuring our veterans have the resources they deserve, fighting to reduce burdensome government regulations that negatively impact our farmers and small business owners, protecting Medicare benefits for our seniors, and reducing taxes to keep more money in individual’s pockets.

“I want to thank our hundreds of volunteers, our donors and most of all the voters. I would not be here without their strong support. Additionally, I want to thank my opponent, Jim O’Donnell for his service to our community and wish him the best going forward.”

Incumbent Andrew Cuomo won the statewide race for governor, but was trounced in anti-SAFE-Act Genesee County by Rob Astorino, 11,016 to 4,040, according to unofficial election results.

The governor's win propels Kathy Hochul, once Genesee County's representative in Congress, into the lieutenant governor's office.

Howie Hawkins, from the Green Party, was the top vote getter among third party candidates both locally and statewide. With 55 percent of the precincts reporting, Hawkins has 107,000 votes. He had 369 votes locally.

Libertarian hopeful Michael McDermott, who needed 50,000 votes to improve ballot access for Libertarians, will fall well short of the mark. So far, only 8,800 ballots are marked for McDermott. He received 150 votes in Genesee County.

In the local Congressional race, Chris Collins had 11,722 votes to 3,324 for James D. O'Donnell. The districtwide results posted by 13WHAM indicate Collins will win the race easily. 

In the state Senate race, Micheal Ranzenhofer has 11,949 votes to 3,157 for Elaine B. Altman. Ranzenhofer is the projected winner of the race.

In the Assembly race, Steve Hawley had 13,580 votes to 532 for Mark E. Glogowski, running as a Libertarian.

A ballot measure to change redistricting procedures got 6,752 yes votes locally and 6,168 no votes. The measure appears to be passing statewide.

A proposal to allow e-filing of proposed legislation in Albany had 9,389 yes votes and 3,840 no votes locally. The measure appears to be passing statewide.

The Smart Schools Bond Act had 6,668 yes votes and 6,778 no votes locally. The measure appears to be passing statewide.

In the City of Batavia, a measure to realign wards to keep up with population shifts passed 1,818 to 885.

Press release:

The Batavia Muckdogs, Class A affiliate of the Miami Marlins, have announced their schedule for the 2015 season. Batavia will open the 2015 season at home on Friday, June 19th, when the Auburn Doubledays visit Dwyer Stadium.

The Muckdogs will host their annual Independence Day celebration on July 3rd this year, as they are not home on July 4th. The Muckdogs also have a home game scheduled for Father's Day (June 21) this season. In addition to their Pinckney Division rivals, the Muckdogs will welcome the Boston Red Sox (Lowell), Detroit Tigers (Connecticut), Houston Astros (Tri-City) and Oakland A’s (Vermont) farm teams to Dwyer Stadium in 2015.

Here is a month-by-month and day-by-day breakdown of Batavia’s 2015 home schedule:

Month    Home Games    Day         Home Games
June                6               Sunday            5
July                13              Monday           4
Aug.               17              Tuesday          5
Sept.                2              Wednesday    7
                                        Thursday         5
                                         Friday             7
                                         Saturday       5

Season tickets, coupon books and ticket packages for the 2015 season are all on sale now. They can be purchased by calling 585-343-5454 or in person at Dwyer Stadium, Monday thru Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For a complete schedule, visit www.muckdogs.com.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants on Wednesday, Nov. 5, from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area south of East Main Street and east of Jackson Street. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected.

These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored.

A pair of disturbances in the city early this afternoon has resulted in at least one person in custody with police still trying to sort out events.

There was an initial disturbance call, a possible assault involving multiple people in the area of Tracy and Washington, but when police arrive there were no victims nor assailants in the area, said Sgt. Dan Coffey.

An officer then responded to a call on Holland Avenue and shortly after arriving, radioed that he needed backup because two car loads of people just arrived. That brought at least a half-dozen officers and deputies as well as city detectives.

There was a lot of screaming and yelling and pushing and shoving on Holland.

The two incidents appear to be related, Coffey said.

One person was taken into custody and Coffey said the man impeded the investigation when officers arrived. He will likely be charged with obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, Coffey said.

His name has not yet been released.

Several people then went to police headquarters for interviews. Coffey said they were potential victims of the Tracy and Washington assault. Officers were still trying to put the pieces together.

The investigation is ongoing.

DUE TO AN OVERHELMING RESPONSE, WE'RE EXTENDING THE TIRE SALE THROUGH NOVEMBER 15TH! PLAIN AND SIMPLE TIRE SALE!

We won’t be undersold. We will BEAT anybody’s price on comparable tires, plain and simple.

• No Charge to Mount
• No Charge to Balance
• No Charge for Valve Stems
• No Charge to Reset Your Tire Pressure Monitoring System
• No Charge 4-WHEEL ALIGNMENT (Not Alignment Check)
• FREE Road Hazard/ Flat Repairs
• FREE Rotations for Life of the Tires

We want your tire business, plain and simple. After 35 years there’s one thing we’ve learned, keep it plain and simple and everybody wins. Stop in, call or e-mail to get a quote and set up your appointment.

Dan’s Tire & Auto Service Center, 48 Batavia City Centre, Batavia, NY 14020 • (585) 343-7210. Saturday hours are available by appointment only.

Visit us online at: www.danstire.com or e-mail: dan@danstire.com

Offer expires November 15, 2014. Must mention posting on the The Batavian at time of service. Offer applies to four new tire purchase. For aspect ratios below 50 and rim diameters 19” and higher additional mounting and balancing charges apply. Alignment includes toe-in adjustments only. Most vehicles. Cannot be combined with any other promotional offers, discounts or coupons.

A leaf fire that is moving toward a wooded area is reported at 5482 Jerico Road. Bethany Fire Department is responding. Light smoke is showing in the vicinity.

UPDATE 2:25 p.m.: Fire is under control and firefighters are working to douse hot spots.

UPDATE 3:01 p.m.: Fire is out. Bethany is back in service.

Remember to vote today.

Los Angeles Times: Scientists sound the alarm in climate change report