Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) is set to host a public forum on New York’s new gun laws. The event, taking place on Thursday, April 25 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at Genesee Community College (GCC) in Batavia, has been moved to the Stuart Steiner Theatre in order to facilitate the expected turnout.

Residents will have the chance to ask questions and learn about what the passage of the NY SAFE Act means to their rights as law-abiding gun owners. Hawley will be joined at the event by New York State Rifle and Pistol Association (NYSRPA) President Tom King, Shooters Committee on Political Education (S.C.O.P.E) President Steve Aldstadt and a number of local law enforcement and government officials.

“Our local law-abiding gun owners have expressed overwhelming interest in the upcoming SAFE Act forum, and I am happy to move the event to a larger venue in an effort to accommodate all of our civically engaged, concerned citizens,” Hawley said. “This forum will give residents a chance to ask questions and voice their concerns over the NY SAFE Act, helping ensure that we can all protect our privacy and civil liberties to the fullest extent possible.”

Details on the event are as follows:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley Presents: An Educational Forum on the NY SAFE Act.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

6:30-8:00 p.m.
Genesee Community College
Stuart Steiner Theatre

Thieves made off with laptops, GPS devices, cash, backpacks and book bags during a series of break-ins to cars in the East Pembroke area this past weekend.

During the spree an ATV was stolen from a home on Read Road, East Pembroke.

Deputies are investigating the thefts but have no leads at this point, according to Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster.

There are about 20 known larcenies from Saturday and Sunday, Brewster said.

"Often times, we get a call of four or five larcenies and it turns out there may have been 15 or 20 more people who just don't report it," Brewster said.

The ATV stolen was left outside, but did not have its keys in its ignition. It was pushed down the road a ways and then apparently hotwired, Brewster says.

It's a 2009 Yamaha Raptor, white with red rims.

Brewster said another ATV was stolen in Darien about three weeks ago and later recovered in Lancaster.

It was apparently driven down a railroad bed and then abandoned.

"A lot of times these kids try to hide it in the weeds thinking it won't be found and they can come back and ride it again later," Brewster said. "They don't dare take it home."

Anyone with information that may assist in the investigation can call the Sheriff's Office at (585) 343-5000.

Genesee County's unemployment rate for March hit 8.0, the lowest it's been for any March since 2008, when the county's rate stood at 6.3 percent.

The number is a one-point decrease from February and lower than the 8.7-percent rate of March 2012.

There are 28,600 people with jobs in the county, according to Department of Labor statistics, up from 28,400 in February. The total employed matches the March 2012 number.

The U.S. unemployment rate for March is 7.8 percent and NYS's rate is 8.1.

In Livingston County, the rate is 9.1. It's 10.4 in Orleans County and 9.7 in Wyoming.

Press release:

The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council (aka GO ART!) is honored to be working together with local author Bill Kauffman to host a preview screening of "Copperhead," the third film in director Ron Maxwell’s ("Gettysburg," "Gods & Generals") American Civil War anthology. Kauffman wrote the screenplay.

The film, starring Billy Campbell and Peter Fonda, will be released in theaters on June 28. This special preview screening takes place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 13, at the Stuart Steiner Theatre, Genesee Community College, Batavia. Following the screening is a short presentation by Screenwriter Kauffman along with a Q&A with Kauffman and Director Maxwell, who will be in attendance.

Maurice G. Leach, 36, of State Street, Batavia, is charged with felony DWI, felony aggravated unlicensed operation, driving with out interlock device, operating out of ignition interlock restrictions, speeding, unlicensed operator and refusal to take breath test. Leach was stopped at 12:53 a.m., Tuesday, on Route 33, Stafford, by Deputy James Diehl.

Kevin P. Heinman, 30, of 8290 W. Bergen Road, Le Roy, is charged with DWI, moving from lane unsafely and refusal to take breath test. Heinman was stopped Friday by Le Roy PD after allegedly being observed making a wide left turn from Route 19 to Route 5 and weaving between two westbound lanes, then striking a curb. Heinman was jailed on an unspecified amount of bail.

Ted E. Kingsley, 40, no permanent address, is charged with petit larceny. Kingsley is accused of shoplifting from a store on West Main Street, Le Roy, taking several items, including beer. Kingsley was jailed on $1,500 bail.

Earl F. Pickard, 52, of 57 W. Main St., Le Roy, is charged with petit larceny. Pickard is accused of stealing beer from a store on West Main Street, Le Roy.

Patrick Scott Rumble, 26, of Main Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for allegedly not paying a fine in Town of Byron Court stemming from a conviction on criminal possession of a controlled substance. Rumble paid the fine and was released.

Melissa Marie Morton, 27, of West Middlebury Road, East Bethany, is charged with two counts of trespass. Morton allegedly entered the Target store in Batavia on April 9 and April 12 after being previously banned from the store.

Austin D. Zauner, 17, of Darien Center, is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs. Zauner is accused of driving while under the influence of marijuana. Zauner's vehicle was stopped by State Police in the Town of Bennington on Sunday for an alleged traffic violation. A trooper trained in drug recognition evaluated Zauner and a urine sample was collected for analysis at the crime lab in Albany. His passengers, Matthew P. Tambe, 18, and Tyler M. Tambe, 18, were charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Following a 7-4 Batavia victory over Pembroke, both coaches for the girls softball teams said they see things to build on that could carry them into sectional play.

"We need to be more consistent," said Pembroke's Ron Funke. "We're a good hitting team, but we to do the little things. The mental mistakes are hurting us right now."

The Lady Dragons are 3-4 so far this year and Funke said that now that the weather should improve and the girls play together more, those little mistakes will get ironed out.

"The more games we get in, the more consistent we'll become," Funke said.

For Burt Howell, head coach for Batavia, he saw a pitcher today, and his hitters who are starting to put things together.

"When you see them go from practice to game and get some of the skills in it makes you think they're going to get better fast," Howell said.

Kim Walsh threw hard today and Howell thinks that was the big difference in the game.

"She controlled the game from the circle," Howell said. "If she she pitches like that on a daily basis, there isn't anybody we don't think we can't beat. We need the youngsters to make plays behind her, but when she throws like that the girls are in the game and we start to actually make plays."

Among the younger players who stepped up their performance today was Hannah Bowen, who went 2-4 and his hitting .667 so far this season. She's in eighth grade. She also had three RBI on two doubles.

Walsh also went 2-4, including a monster double that would have cleared any fence in a typical softball field if there was one at the Batavia field.

Pembroke had 10 hits, led by Deanna Perry, who went 2-3, and Danni Dellapenta, who was 2-4 with two doubles, and Bre Johnson, who had a triple.

Howell praised Perry saying that she proved she could turn on Walsh's fastball, so they had to change speeds on her.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

For the past several days we've been battling against a hacker (or more likely "hackers") who managed to compromise our ad server. The attack is part of a sophisticated series of attacks that have compromised Web sites all over the world.

What we know about the attack on our server: The hacker inserts code that piggybacks on ads being delivered through the site that asks some users to install Java.

We've received several complaints from people who either avoided installing the virus or clicked the wrong button and had the virus installed on their system.

Nearly every day since last Thursday, we've been deleting malicious code from the ad server only to have it reappear overnight, until today, when it would reappear as soon as we removed it. It was at that point we shut down the ad server.

We expect to have a new ad server up and running by this time tomorrow (knock on wood).

The only computer systems at risk were those running Internet Explorer on Windows. Mac users have not been attacked. Windows users running Chrome or Firefox for their Web browser have not been affected. People using mobile devices -- iPhones, iPads, Droid phones and tablets -- were not at risk from this exploit.

And even then, not all Internet Explorer users on Windows have been attacked. I've been to one office where only one out of six machines have been seen the Java install pop-up. I've been to another office where more than half of the computer users saw the install popup and either clicked the "OK" or "Cancel" button and were infected (if you see any kind of pop-up while visiting any Web site, do not click any buttons. Click the little red X in the upper right corner). (NOTE:  The process I describe here is how I've closed the pop up on a Windows laptop I own. It has not been infected. A local IT person suggests this is bad advice and said it's better to use Task Manager to kill the process rather, as TP Hunt describes in comments.)

I spoke with one person today who hadn't visited The Batavian but still was infected by a malicious virus.

This is a very sophisticated attack on ad servers that has affected as many as 20,000 Web sites, including the Los Angeles Times, according to this article. 

The article above says experts have been unable to determine how servers are being compromised. We've patched at least four discovered vulnerabilities but none have proven to be the ultimate solution.

For a couple of months, we've been planning to change ad servers anyway. There's a company that offers great ad hosting service with additional functionality for advertisers and I've wanted to make the switch. The events of the past several days are forcing us to do it now rather than later and in a less orderly fashion than I would like, but hopefully by this time tomorrow, we will have the ads back on the site in a safe environment.

Some advice for your Web surfing:

• Never click on a pop-up button on a Web site that you are not 100 percent sure is a legitimate pop-up from that Web site.
• All browsers and operating systems are subject potential viruses, but if you must use Windows, download, install and regularly use Chrome or Firefox. These browsers are less likely to be targeted and are not as directly linked to your operating system as Internet Explorer.
• On Windows especially, keep your anti-virus software up to date (some cynics believe it's the anti-virus companies who write viruses so that people will buy their software).
• Keep your system software up to date with the latest patches.
• If you believe your computer has been compromised, visit a local computer shop and have your system checked. 
• Regarding e-mail: never click a link that looks suspicious. Often times people get e-mails from somebody they know that says something like, "check this out," but that person you're getting the e-mail from has been hacked and that link in that e-mail will deliver a virus to your computer.

Glossary:

Hacker: The common layperson's term for somebody who breaks into computers and Web servers. The more precise term is "cracker," because the correct definition of hacker is anybody who writes computer code.

Java: A computer programming language used on all computers to help some pieces of software run. If you run your regular system updates on Windows or Mac, you will receive these updates from Microsoft or Apple and any other request for updates should be viewed as malicious.

Web browser: What you used to look at a Web page. Common ones are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Opera. We recommend either Chrome or Firefox.

Server: A computer sitting at a remote location that contains all of the data and files that make up Web site.

Ad server: A server with the specific task of managing ad inventory and ensuring the correct ads are delivered to the proper location on a Web page.

Advertisers who have questions can contact me at (585) 250-4118.

UPDATE: Upon further examination by the IT department of the new ad server company, it appears we will be without ad serving capability until Friday morning.

Mayor Ralph Peterson is taking over supervision of the Corfu Police Department with the resignation today of Police Administrator Jim Meier.

In a resignation letter read to the village board this evening, Meier cited what he called "numerous attacks" leveled at him by Peterson and Officer Gene Nati as the reason for his resignation.

He said the attacks began with a claim, later found to be unsubstantiated by a State Police investigation, that the department was filing for DWI grant money it didn't deserve. The recent complaints -- and potential lawsuit -- about how part-time officers are scheduled for work are a continuation of those attacks, Meier wrote in his letter.

As soon as Trustee Ken Lauer finished reading the letter, Peterson quickly said, "resignation accepted."

Trustee Art Ianni asked whether the board should vote to accept the resignation and Peterson agreed to a vote.

Peterson, along with trustees Keith Busch and David Bielec voted yes. Lauer and Ianni voted no.

Through the course of the meeting, it was determined that Peterson would not only oversee scheduling of officers, but other supervisor duties, at least until the village figures out what to do with the police department.

Former mayor Todd Skeet said he hired Meier because he figured out he couldn't do the things the village needed to maintain a police department, such as ensuring officers are properly certified with their weapons and process tickets.

"I didn't know about any of that stuff," Skeet said. "I don't think the current mayor is trained in law enforcement. It opens the whole village up to a possible lawsuit. The things the police administrator does is more than just scheduling, which is only about 10 percent of his job."

The board agreed to form a committee to study what should happen with the police department -- whether to continue with the current system of a part-time administrator and several part-time officers, hire a full-time officer with fewer part-time officers or contract with the Sheriff's Office.

Two residents along with Peterson and Ianni will serve on the committee. The first action, Peterson said, will be to set up a meeting with Gordon Dibble, chief deputy in charge of road patrol for the Sheriff's Office.

At the start of the meeting, Peterson announced the meeting would be run according to standard open meeting rules -- sticking to the agenda and allowing public comment only during a prescribed portion of the meeting.

Public comments were held until after village business was completed.

Village resident Greg Lang spoke first and complained about all of the negative scrutiny the village has received recently, and without naming Peterson, said there was only one person responsible.

Lang rattled off several incidents that Peterson has been implicated in recently, from reportedly calling Lauer saying a meeting was canceled, to allegedly firing the village clerks, to today's controversy over an anonymous letter sent to the owner of Camden Group trying to silence former trustee Al Graham.

While nobody directly accused Peterson of being behind the letter, Graham said the letter was turned over to the special prosecutor looking into the village court's missing money case and that it would be tested for fingerprints.

Lang asked that Peterson resign his office. Peterson shook his head, "no."

Another resident pointed out that the letter threatens to get Camden's contract pulled for operation of the sewer plant, but only somebody on the village board would have the power for such action.

The second speaker was Justice David O'Connor.

On April 10, O'Connor spoke to the board about the village court budget and questioned some of what has happened in the court over the past couple of years and brought it under the scrutiny of the Judicial Review Commission.

Following the meeting, O'Connor claimed that former village justice Robert Alexander sent him a nasty e-mail saying that somebody had played a tape for him of his comments at the April 10 meeting.

Alexander's daughter, Jenny Warner, left a comment on The Batavian challenging O'Connor's claim that Alexander wrote a "vile" e-mail.

She wrote:

The allegations that were made by Justice O"Connor about a "vile" and "threatening" email from my father Robert Alexander bothered me since it was so out of character for my Dad. Howard I think this email should be posted so the public can decide if they think it is vile and threatening.

Tonight, O'Connor read the e-mail he said came from Alexander at the meeting.

Dave please do not email me ever again. I want no communications or interaction with you in any form. I heard the tape from the meeting and read the comments of you trowing (sic) me under the buss (sic) and making those comments about me. You are not a friend and obviously all that bull about thanking me for dropping out of the Corfu race and asking support of you was a big lie. I guess I should have had your arrested after you flipped out and physically attacked me with those body blocks when I came to do the arraignment, but I gave you grace and forgiveness.

O'Connor said the accusation of a physical attack was complete fiction.

Graham also addressed a comment left by Warner saying the disagreements with Peterson are over his race.

"There is not one person here or in this village who has ever heard me ever say anything racist," Graham said. "I don't even tell racist jokes, but Bob's daughter wants to make this about race. This is not about the color of the man's skin. This is about a man's integrity and the truthfulness of the man. It's about me letting you as residents of the village know when he's lying to you."

During the meeting, Peterson did not address any of the comments made about him, except to deny any involvement in either the civil service complaint or the potential lawsuit over scheduling of police officers.

Tom Rivers is publishing a series of stories for OrleansHub.com about grand buildings in Western New York that were built with Medina sandstone.

Today: The beautiful building at 14 West Main Street that was once the Sheriff's Office and is now home to Genesee Justice and connected to the jail.

A farmer rolls a field just off Lewiston Road, Batavia, in preperation for spring planting.

A shed fire, possibly started by a controlled burn, is reported at 6492 Main Road. Stafford Fire Department is responding. Open burning is prohibited under state law at this time of year.

UPDATE 3:49 p.m.: Fire is out. Stafford is back in service.

Join us for the Our Lady of Mercy Parish - 2013 Ten Trip Dinner Raffle on Saturday, April 27th from 6 to 10 p.m.!

This year's trips include: 

• Cancun
• Toronto
• Thunderhart Golf Resort
• Florida
• Splash Lagoon
• & more!

Tickets to this event are $25, which includes 10 chances to win, buffet dinner, dessert, beer, wine and soda. For more information about this event or to purchase tickets, please call (585) 768-6543. Our Lady of Mercy Parish is located at 44 Lake St., Le Roy, NY. Come out and help support Catholic education!

Press release:

On April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Genesee County law enforcement agencies and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its sixth opportunity in three years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

The Genesee County Sheriff's Office will be manning a collection site at the Pembroke Town Highway Barns, located routes 5 and 77, East Pembroke.

There will be no collection site at the Sheriff's Office on Park Road.

Last September, Americans turned in 244 tons of prescription drugs at over 5,200 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners. In its five previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 2 million pounds — over a thousand tons — of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines — flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash — both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Four days after the first event, Congress passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow an “ultimate user” of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long-term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA is drafting regulations to implement the Act. Until new regulations are in place, local law enforcement agencies and the DEA will continue to hold prescription drug take-back events every few months.

More controversy in Corfu today has put the owner of a sewer facility management company in the unusual position of defending his employee's free speech rights.

Kenneth G. Scherrieble, president of the Camden Group, received an unsigned letter that threatened to seek a termination of his company's contract with the Village of Corfu unless one of his employees stops speaking at public meetings.

Camden manages Corfu's wastewater treatment facility and former trustee Al Graham is a Camden manager.

"While Al Grahm (sic) attends board meetings and railroads village business and spews negativity about certain board members," the letter says, "I will consider this brash situation of a huge conflict of business between your company and I will look to generate interest to replace your company. I don't believe that is good business for you or your company!"

In response, Scherrieble fired off a letter today to the trustees that defends Graham's right to participate as a village resident in village discussions.

"I will not be threatened by anyone," Scherrieble writes. "If I lose the Village of Corfu contract because one of my employees exercised their CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT, then so be it. But that will be a truly sad day for the Village and for America."

In his letter, Scherrieble notes that Graham's son served in Iraq and Afghanistan and his own son is entering the Marines.

"Why do these young men put their lives at risk?" he writes. "Because they believe in the rights guaranteed to them as a Citizen of this Country. They believe that United States Constitution is a sacred document, and that the tenants within, those Rights given to all Citizens of this Country are worth laying their lives down for. "

There is a regular village board meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

A grass fire is reported off Route 490, westbound, near mile marker 2.7. Bergen firefighters are responding.

UPDATE 1:39 p.m.: A grass truck from Le Roy, mutual aid, is called.

UPDATE 1:43 p.m.: The fire is out. Le Roy's response is cancelled.

UPDATE 1:50 p.m.: Bergen is back in service.

Tiffany Vanderworth, curator with the Buffalo Zoo, leads a group of children at Jackson School this morning in a discussion about polar bears. Vanderworth covered the nature, habits and habitat of polar bears.

Crime Victims' Rights Week kicked off in Genesee County today with the raising of a ceremonial flag by a local law enforcement color guard at Genesee Community College, followed by a daylong seminar for students, police and others who work with crime victims on human trafficking.

Theresa Asmus delivered opening remarks. U.S. Attorney for WNY William Hochul was the morning's keynote speaker.