This morning, 3-year-old Kaylee took her rottweiler Koda for a walk on Chase Park, along with her mother Debbie. 

A small mulch fire is reported on the south side of the ESL Federal Credit Union by the ATM. It's located at 4214 Veterans Memorial Drive. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding.

William Delose Hirsch, 25, of Buchman Road, Bethany, is charged with menacing, 2nd, reckless endangerment, 2nd, and unlawful imprisonment, 2nd. Hirsch is accused of driving a motor vehicle at 8:49 p.m., Monday, from Batavia to Pavilion in a manner that was reckless and menacing to his female passenger. Hirsch is accused of not letting that woman exit the vehicle while on Ellicott Street in the City of Batavia. Hirsch was arraigned in Pavilion on the first two counts and in city court on the third. He was released on his own recognizance.

Neil Patrick Jacobs, 48, of Creek Road, Batavia, is charged with two counts of criminal contempt, 2nd. Jacobs is accused of possessing a firearm after being ordered to surrender all firearms to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office. The alleged failure to surrender the firearm was in violation of two orders of protection issued by Family Court on April 23. Following arraignment, Jacobs was placed under the supervision of Genesee Justice.

A 16-year-old resident of of Railroad Avenue, Alexander, is charged with unlawful dealing with a child. The youth is accused of hosting an underage drinking party.

Daniel E. Plath, 62, of Old Creek Road, Alexander, is charged with felony DWI, felony driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, aggravated unlicensed operation, 1st, unlicensed operation, operating a motor vehicle with an open container of alcohol and driver's view obstructed. Plath was reportedly on his way home from his girlfriend's house in Batavia at 2:44 a.m., May 12, when deputies were called for a report of a possibly drunk person trying to buy beer at a store.

Press release:

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind motorists of the importance of using seat belts and child safety seats. The Sheriff’s Office will participate in the statewide seat belt enforcement mobilization, which will run from May 21st through June 3rd which is designed to further improve highway safety.

This 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 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 belt; 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.

It's now official -- local author, historian and localist advocate Bill Kauffman is now a screenwriter, too.

Kauffman wrote a script based on a novel by Harold Frederic, a 19th Century resident of Utica.

The movie, titled "Cooperhead" and set in the Civil War, recently started production in King’s Landing, New Brunswick, Canada.

Actors Jason Patric and Angus MacFadyen are take starring roles and the movie is being directed by Ron Maxwell.

The story centers around a family torn apart by the war between the states.

Kauffman is a native Batavian and currently resides in Elba. No word on when his book about Batavia, "Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette," will be turned into a major Hollywood production.

More than 300 local residents showed up at Dwyer Stadium bright and early this morning to kick off United Way's Day of Caring.

It's the largest number of volunteers yet for the annual event.

Volunteers perform a variety of tasks for local agencies, from painting to weed pulling and other tasks. 

This year, among the volunteer efforts, Lions Club members showed up at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycles to recondition 25 bikes into rideable machines for Genesee ARC clients.

Though not part of the event at Dwyer, 40 students at Batavia High School participated in Day of Caring by doing volunteer work on campus.

In all, 40 businesses and organizations sent volunteers and tasks were performed at more than two dozen locations throught the county.

Joe Sacco, below, sang the National Anthem and "America the Beautiful" to kick off the event.

Top group photo by Kevin Carlson, of Carlson's Studio.

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

An accident with injuries has been reported in the area of 8607 Lake St. Road, Le Roy.

Le Roy Fire Department and ambulance responding.

The victim is out of the car and walking. There's only one vehicle involved. It's off the road.

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A total of 1,179 people turned out to vote in the Batavia City Schools election today, approving a $40 million budget with nearly 61 percent of the vote and electing one new school board member.

Gretchen DiFante, one of two candidates not currently on the board, was the top vote getter in the election with 736 votes. Incumbent Gail Stevens garnered 623 votes and Phil Ricci, an appointee running for school board for the first time, got 616 votes.

Incumbent Gary Stich lost with 490 votes and newcomer Dennis Warner came up short with 472 votes.

The budget passed 690 votes to 446. 

Creation of a student ex-officio board member passed 852 to 214 votes and changing transportation mileage for students passed 808 to 240.

These are unofficial results.

The husband of a woman previously charged in a welfare fraud cause has been arrested on similar charges and is accused of stealing more than $17,000 in unwarranted public assistance.

Taken into custody following a DSS investigation is Michael Schramm, 36, formerly of Hutchins Place, Batavia.

Schramm is married to Deborah Schramm, who was previously charged.

Michael Schramm is charged with felony counts of grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing.

He is accused of filing falisified documents from February through August last year in order to receive medical assistance and food stamps.

The total aid allegedly provided to the Schramm's above what  they were entitled to was $17,026.39.

The suspect was located in Butler County, Ohio, by Warrant Officer Eric Olsen and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The warrant also covered a failure to appear in Batavia Town Court on April 25 on an unrelated case.

Olsen and Deputy John Baicco retrieved Schramm from Ohio.

Following arraignment, Schramm was jailed without bail.

In July, both Deborah and Michael Schramm were accused of shoplifting from Walmart.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) recently joined a number of his Assembly colleagues, requesting that the governor petition the federal government to make a federal disaster declaration for much of New York’s farming community. Due to the unanticipated early thaw in March and April that was followed by an extended frost period, many fruit crops in Western New York have been irreparably damaged. Statewide data collected by the Federal Farm Agency indicates that losses already meet the threshold for disaster assistance in many areas.

“Fruit crops in Western New York, and throughout the state, have been decimated by this year’s bizarre and destructive weather,” Hawley said. “Farmers who rely on the sale of grapes, apples, sour cherries, peaches, apricots and strawberries now have their livelihood hanging in the balance. Helping our farmers in this time of need is precisely what federal disaster funding was created for, and I sincerely hope the governor will petition the federal government to do right by New York’s agricultural industry.”

During some of the darkest days of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln wondered why agriculture, such a vital industry to the well being of the nation, was represented in the federal government by only a clerk.

At his prompting, Congress created the U.S. Department of Agriculture and 150 years ago today, the USDA was born.

The USDA now handles a wide variety of rural issues and is the primary conduit for a rural voice in the federal government. The USDA has a significant presence in Genesee County through its office on Liberty Street.

Local USDA staff celebrated the anniversary -- as USDA offices all over the nation did -- with cake, cookies and punch.

Photo submitted by David M. Klafehn.

An out-of-town auto dealer, or possibly BJ's Wholesale Club, where a "blowout event" was held in Batavia last week, is under investigation by the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, according to a spokeswoman for the DMV.

Jackie McGinnis said she can't discuss the details of an "active case."

A spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office said there are certainly laws governing how such sales are conducted, but referred further inquiries to the DMV, saying she couldn't comment on an active case.

More than a week ago, some 50,000 mail pieces were sent to homes in the GLOW region advertising a "Blowout Event at BJ's Wholesale Club."

The mailer potentially violated NYS law on dealership advertising, since the name of the dealer is not apparently printed on the mailer.

The dealer conducting the sale was reportedly Ideal Nissan out of Rochester.

Ideal has not responded to a request for an interview and a spokeswoman for BJ's referred questions to Ideal.

The eight-page mailer is covered on every page with BJ's logo and mentions BJ's directly or indirectly more than 30 times, but there's no mention we could find of Ideal Nissan or any other dealer.

The DMV would not confirm BJ's dealership status, if any.

Without further information from the DMV, the exact nature of the investigation is unclear, but state law clearly states that dealers must include their dealership name or identification number on advertising pieces.

The promotional piece promises customers the chance to win numerous prizes, including BJ's gift cards. The promoted grand prize was two vehicles or $100,000 cash. The odds of winning the prize are listed at 1 in 5 million.

The contest rules do reference a "dealer or event coordinator," saying the companies are not responsible for any "lost, late, copied or misdirected prize piece" but doesn't say who the dealer or event coordinator is.

Interestingly, the companies behind the promotion have an easy out for awarding any prizes with the rule, "Typos void all prizes," without defining where those typos might or might not appear.

Local dealers said they found the mailer deceptive and noted customers don't usually save any money going through these "gypsy" dealerships.

Temporary dealers have tremendous overhead, local dealers noted, from spending a dollar or more for each of the mailers sent out -- meaning, Ideal Nissan, or its agent, may have spent more than $50,000 promoting its sale -- plus the cost of bringing in commissioned sales reps from all over the country to conduct the sale.

Those kinds of expenses means the gypsy dealer needs to sell a lot of cars or have very high margins on each vehicle sold just to break even.

 "I don't think local dealers are selling vehicles for any more, and probably for less, than what's being sold on a transient or gypsy basis," said Ken Barrett, owner of Barrett Chevrolet and Cadillac. "We want to take care of our customers and our neighbors. It's our responsibility to provide the best price and best value."

Dealers we spoke with were uniformly bothered by the gypsy lot popping up in the Town of Batavia, with some questioning how Ideal Nissan could have received approval for the temporary dealership and all expressing concern that local customers will be buying cars without local sales and service standing behind the products.

"These are traveling sales reps," said Guy Pellegrino of Pellegrino Auto Sales. "They hit you hard to make the deal and say, 'see you later.' You'll never see these guys again."

Greg Strauss, co-owner of Castilone Chrystler Dodge and Jeep said some customers coming into his store, including ones who made a purchase at BJ's, were confused after talking with sales reps at the sale. He said some customers walked away with the impression that Castilone and other local dealers were involved in the sale.

"The sales reps aren't even from New York in most cases," Strauss said. "What concerns me is that people are getting taken advantage of and then they're gone."

Steve Castilone said that while local dealers all believe in free enterprise and don't begrudge fair competition, they are naturally concerned about losing business to gypsy dealers who not only don't provide the same level of service as a local dealer, but also aren't paying local property taxes or otherwise supporting the local community.

"Local dealers benefit the community," Castilone said. "They donate to baseball, to football, to hockey and community events. (The gypsy dealers) don't do anything for the community."

Every dealer we spoke with expressed concern for how customers are treated after the sale from a gypsy dealer.

While a manager at the BJ's lot on Thursday said customers are provided an 800 number to call if they're are problems, and that Ideal has service centers in Buffalo and Rochester, the local dealers questioned whether that's really providing ideal customer service.

"Normally, when a vehicle breaks down, it's never in a situation where a customer says, 'I've got an extra couple of hours to take in the vehicle to have it fixed, if it's drivable at all," Barrett said.

"There's a reason," he added, "there are local dealers -- not so much for the sales aspect of it, but to stand behind the customer and the sale. That's the real value for the customer and the consumer."

Several dealers wondered how the Town of Batavia could have approved the dealership at BJs, but Town Supervisor Greg Post said the hands of the town are pretty much tied in such situations.

Post acknowledged that there was a breakdown in communication in the approval process that led to a temporary use permit not being reviewed by the town planning board, but even if the review had taken place, the permit probably would have been issued.

"I don't have any authority, any way or means not to allow it to happen," Post said.

Post noted that the town's master plan is up for review in six weeks and how to deal with such temporary use permits in the future will be a subject for discussion. He invited any local business owners who want to provide input on such regulations to get involved in the planning process.

A two-car accident, believed to be with injuries, is reported at Transit and Bridge roads. Elba Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 11:30 a.m.: A responder on scene reports injuries are minor.

UPDATE 11:36 a.m.: A second ambulance is requested to the scene, non-emergency mode.

UPDATE 11:51 a.m.: A third ambulance is called in, also in non-emergency mode.

UPDATE 11:54 a.m.: The address is determined be "right at the intersection" -- 6050 Transit Road.

UPDATE 12:07 p.m.: All Elba units are back in service. The northbound lane will reopen after a tow and third ambulance leave the scene. So far, two patients are being transported to UMMC.

UPDATE 12:12 p.m.: The roadway is reopened. One patient is a 16-year-old female driver who was ambulatory at the scene and is being taken to the hospital for evaluation. The driver of the other car is a 38-year-old woman, who, along with a 4-year-old boy passenger, are being taken to the hospital with minor aches and pains.

A large grass fire is reported in the area of 7921 E. Main Road, Le Roy, behind the old Le Roy Machine location.

Le Roy Fire Department and ambulance responding.

UPDATE 11:20 a.m.: It's a rubbish fire on the west side of the building. A chief notes the no open burn regulation is in effect for one more day.

UPDATE 11:26 a.m.: The fire is not near a field nor a building. The owner is tending to it and the burn is on a concrete surface. Le Roy fIre is back in service.

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It was a beautiful morning and on the spur of the moment, I decided to drop in on the Batavia Wastewater Treatment Plant and take some pictures of birds at the facility. Here are six shots from this morning.

Previously: Batavia Wastewater Treatment Plant, one of city's hidden treasures

A 24-year-old Corfu resident was charged with drunken driving following an accident on Indian Falls Road, Pembroke, this afternoon that sent both himself and the other driver to the hospital.

Timothy D. Largey, of Phelps Road, Corfu, was reportedly on Cleveland Road when he stopped his 2000 Dodge SUV at the intersection of Cleveland and Indian Falls roads.

Largey then allegedly proceeded into the intersection and his car was struck by a 2002 pickup driven by Jeffrey C. McGiveron, 49, of Phelps Road, Basom.

Both drivers were transported to UMMC by Mercy EMS.

Largey was also cited for alleged failure to yield.

The accident was investigated by Sgt. Greg Walker. Deputy Howard Carlson made the DWI arrest.

(Intial report)

The Batavia City Council will take up the issue of downtown parking, especially overnight parking, at its next conference meeting, probably May 29.

Downtown business owner Jerry Condello spoke Monday night during the public comments section of the council meeting and spoke out against overnight parking enforcement.

That prompted Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian to ask for the issue to be brought to the council for a full discussion.

Condello brought up issues about employees parking after the closing of businesses at 2 a.m. or before they open at 6 a.m., and the issue of responsible drivers electing not to drive after drinking and hence leaving their cars in a city parking lot.

City Manager Jason Molino said the Batavia PD isn't simply writing a ticket for every car found in a city lot between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., but they're using discretion, looking for repeat offenders who haven't gotten an overnight parking pass.

He said keeping the parking lots clear wasn't just about snow removal, or even keeping RV and truck traffic out -- which can easily go to Walmart -- but also parking lot cleanup by sweepers overnight.

He said if somebody who has been drinking at a downtown bar and decides not to drive home but still gets a ticket has ample opportunity to appeal the ticket.

Condello said he hopes there's a big turn out at the May 29 council meeting in order to bring more pressure on the council to change the rules.

A C-41 aircraft will fly directly over Main Street, Batavia, on Memorial Day, May 28, Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian told the city council on Monday night.

The flight to kickoff the Memorial Day parade was arranged by former council member Bob Bialkowski, Christian said.

The grand marshall for the parade, she said will be former NYS Assembly member, and father of Batavia's current Assembly representative, Stephen Hawley.

The parade will start at 10 a.m. in the Eastown Plaza.