Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) recently announced the recipients of this year’s Public Library Construction Grants. More than $327,000 has been committed for projects at the Byron-Bergen, Lee-Wheldon Memorial and Swan libraries, serving as sorely needed support for facility improvements. 

“In a time of staggering unemployment and fiscal crisis that is crippling our educational institutions, these library construction grants will be a boon for the community,” Hawley said.

“Our local libraries deserve the support necessary to provide up-to-date tools and services to the public, and that’s exactly what these grants will do. I know these libraries will put this funding to great use and become an even more integral part of our community.”

In Genesee County, the Byron-Bergen Public Library will receive $7,325 to open the wall via a French door to provide easy and secure access to an additional programming and educational resource space, thereby increasing the effectiveness of library service.

Detectives are looking for a 5' 9",  young white male with a teardrop tattoo by his right eye who is suspected of slashing the cheek of another young man Saturday evening in a parking lot off of Center Street.

There is no known motive for the attack, Det. Todd Crossett said.

Crossett says it appears that the victim pulled into the parking lot behind the Masonic Temple building, got out of the car and started talking with another person. While they were talking, the suspect approached and attacked the victim.

Crossett said the victim told investigators that he didn't know his attacker.

There is no clear indication on what may have precipitated the attack, Crossett said.

Also, Crossett said, there was no connection between the attack and the location, which was originally called in to emergency dispatch as 15 Center St. -- the location of the City Church conference center. Neither the victim nor the attacker had been involved in anything going on at that location.

Photo: By Dan Fischer, WBTA

A 39-year-old Maple Street resident will need to make $11,341.18 in restitution following a plea deal on welfare fraud charges filed against her.

Kerry Ackley entered a guilty plea to day to a single felony count of attempted grand larceny, 3rd.

The plea also satisfied four counts of offering a false instrument for filing, 1st.

Ackley was arrested following an investigation that found she had failed to report worker's compensation benefits.

As part of the plea deal, Ackley will be disqualified from receiving food stamps and temporary assistance benefits.

She will be sentenced at 9:15 a.m., Aug. 2.

Lonnie A. Fairbanks, 45, of 6227 Skyview Lane, Mt. Morris, is charged with felony DWI and refusal to take a breath test. Fairbanks was arrested after Le Roy PD responded to a report of a rolling domestic Saturday on Lake Street. Fairbanks was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Robert G. Whitehead, 21, of 28 Clay Street, Le Roy, is charged unlawful dealing with a child, 1st. Whitehead is accused of hosting an underage drinking party.

Roger K. Williams, 55, of 19 Exchange St., in Le Roy, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and unlawful possession of marijuana. Williams was arrested after Le Roy PD responded to a report of a domestic disturbance on Church Street in the early morning hours Sunday. Williams was jailed on $500 bail.

Raymond J. Radley, 46, of 10661 Cook Road, Pavilion, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st. Radley is accused of violating an order of protection by calling the protected person several times and driving past the person's place of work. Radley was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Zayis Rooper King, 19, of Oatka Trail Road, Le Roy, is charged with unlawful dealing with a child, 1st. King is accused of hosting an underage drinking party.

Shawn David Bowman, 40, of Oakta Circle Road, Le Roy, is charged with trespass. Bowman is accused of driving his vehicle on a nature trail behind Pembroke Town Park that is marked "pedestrian use only."

Tyanna Desiree Green, 17, of Lewis Place, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant related to a petit larceny charge. The petit larceny allegedly occurred in December. Green was jailed on $200 bail.

Joseph George Sumeriski, 20, of Blackhouse Road, Warsaw, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Sumeriski was arrested at 6:15 a.m., Saturday, on Park Road, Batavia, by Deputy Dana Richardson.

Travis A. Weatherbee, 25, of 25 Swan St., Batavia, is charged with crminal use of drgu paraphernalia, 2nd. Weatherbee is accused of possessing a needle and a spoon. The spoon was allegedly used to liquify a prescribed medication.

Three people were injured at 7:13 p.m., Sunday, when a pickup truck backed into oncoming traffic on Harper Road in Darien.

All three people were taken to Erie County Medical Center by Mercy Flight following the accident.

Shannon C. Bates, 29, of Broadway Road, Darien, reportedly backed a 2003 Dodge pickup onto the roadway in the area of 9796 Harper Road. She was issued a traffic citation.

Paul Dennis Barth Jr., 21, of Cohocton Road, Corfu, was northbound on Harper Road in a 1997 Dodge pickup.

Barth was cited for allegedly speeding.

Bates and Barth, along with a passenger in Bate's truck, Alexander J. Bates, 25, were conscious and alert when flown to ECMC.

The accident was investigated by Deputy Chad Mower.

Assisting at the scene were Darien Fire Department and Mercy EMS.

(Initial report)

Press release:

Officials at Western Regional Off-Track (WROTB), owner of Batavia Downs Casino, announced today record handle on the 2012 Kentucky Derby and at the casino.

Through its 32 branches and 18 EZ-Bet locations, WROTB handled $1,913,108 on the Run for the Roses, a 16-percent increase over 2011, which was a record year. In addition, WROTB paid out $1.6 million in winning wagers, its most ever.

“We are very pleased with the results of the derby,” said William White, vice president of administration said. “We look forward to serving our customers' needs for the Preakness.”

“We are thrilled with the turnout for the derby,” said Todd Haight, OTB’s handicapper and the GM of Batavia Downs Racetrack. “It seems that the people of Western New York did their handicapping homework, too, as we paid out more winners than ever before.

"At the downs, people enjoyed meeting and greeting our Ambassador Thurman Thomas inside Grandstands Bar and Grille.”

Batavia Downs Casino recorded its biggest week ever with record revenues. New York State Lottery and the state education fund benefited by receiving over $520,000 when more than $12 Million in credits played were wagered through 640 slot machines.

Western OTB expects the excitement to continue with the Preakness Stakes on May 19 when "I’ll Have Another" tries to etch his name in the record books in the second jewel of the Triple Crown. All OTB branches will open at 10 a.m. on Preakness Day.

Batavia Downs in owned and operated by Western Regional Off-Track Betting, a public benefit corporation. Municipalities that own Batavia Downs Casino include: the cities of Buffalo, Batavia and Rochester, and these counties: Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne and Wyoming.

The track is also home to Batavia Downs Casino, featuring more than 600 video slot machines. Batavia Downs Casino is located less than one mile from Thruway Exit 48 and is open daily from 8 to 4 a.m.

The Sheriff's Office is looking for help in locating Veshaun D. "Shortie" Thompson.

Thompson is wanted on a warrant related to a pair of petit larceny charges.

Anybody with information on the whereabouts of Thompson is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 343-0911.

A rollover accident is reported in the Village of Oakfield in the area of the M&T Bank with possible entrapment.

Oakfield Fire Department and ambulance responding.

UPDATE 9:15 a.m.: The person is out. No entrapment. Mercy EMS response is cancelled.

Batavian Jeff Gillard paid me a visit a week ago, telling me about a red fox den nearby his home. Hoping to get photos of kits Jeff had been seeing, that same evening Claudia and I set up in said location during the last hour of daylight as Jeff had suggested but saw only one of the adults.

The next evening proved futile as nothing entered the meadow. Jeff then came to the rescue, providing the photos seen here. Above is one of the adults with a kit at her side while far to the right and somewhat difficult to see is another one of her young.

One of the adults appears to be investigating a kill.  

A quick scan of its surroundings prior to digging in.

Time to chow down.

Despite the undergrowth, Jeff caught one of the young near the den entrance.

It pauses to scratch an itch...

...before moving onward.

Whitetail doe still in her winter coat.

It won't be too long before they'll be sporting their "summer reds." Good job, Jeff, and thanks very much for sharing these photos with us!

In an afternoon-long celebration, highlighted by the raising of flags of 20 nations, the Peace Garden in Batavia was dedicated today.

A car accident is reported at Harper and Richley roads in Darien. The car is on fire. There is entrapment. Injuries are reported. Mercy Flight is called. The helicopter is now in Buffalo and refueling. Darien Fire Department is responding along with Mercy EMS. The bird will land at the scene. It has a seven-minute ETA. One patient will be transported via Mercy Flight, two others via ambulance.

UPDATE 7:34 p.m.: Mercy Flight has a three-minute ETA and will land in a "wide open field" west of the roadway. Harper Road is shut down.

UPDATE 7:38 p.m.: Mercy Flight is on the ground.

UPDATE 7:47 p.m.: One patient has been transported to Erie County Medical Center.

UPDATE 7:55 p.m.: All patients are being taken to ECMC.

UPDATE 9:31: Darien is just now back in service and the roadway is being reopened.

Doug Yeomans took these pictures last night during the "supermoon." As Doug notes, the moon should be pretty spectacular again this evening.

Below, Doug caught a reflection of the moon off the roof of a couple of barns.

A controlled burn is apparently out of control at 873 Johnson Road in Bergen.

Bergen Fire Department is responding.

Mutual aid requested from South Byron, Le Roy and Churchville.

Approximately one-half acre is burning.

UPDATE 12:05 p.m.: Grass truck from Chili requested to the scene. A chief says the fire is going pretty good, but current response should be sufficient.

UPDATE 12:16 p.m.: Chili response cancelled.

UPDATE 12:20 p.m.: Stafford requested to standby in the Stafford Hall as a fill-in for Le Roy while Le Roy is on scene in Bergen.

UPDATE 12:35 p.m.: Stafford back in service. Le Roy returning shortly.

UPDATE: Bergen was back in service at 1:06 p.m.

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Multiple callers report to dispatch that a car has hit a deer on Route 20 in Pavilion and a person is injured.

Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 11:31 a.m.: The deer apparently went through a side window. The patient was not breathing, but is now breathing with difficulty. The patient suffered facial injuries. Mercy Flight put on in-air standby.

UPDATE 11:33 a.m.: Mercy Flight will not be needed at the scene.

UPDATE 11:50 a.m.: Patient being transported to Strong.

UPDATE 11:52 a.m.: Pavilion back in service.

Batavia baseball fans may have been denied a chance to see Andy Pettitte pitch in Dwyer Stadium, but on Saturday, two other pitchers with major league experience graced the mound.

Nelson Figueroa, 38 years old, with nine seasons of MLB experience and a career record of 20-35 to go along with his 4.55 ERA, was the Empire Yankees starter.

Figueroa, whose nine seasons were spent with seven different teams, surrendered seven earned runs over 3 2/3 innings, which made the Red Sox fans at the game happy.

Boston's farm club from Pawtucket won the game 9-3 behind the pitching of Brandon Duckworth, a 34-year-old right-hander who has been out of the majors since 2008.

To Duckworth's credit, his 2012 record is now 4-0 to go with a 3.34 ERA.

Attendance for the game was 1,838.

The Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation held its annual Kentucky Derby Party at Terry Hills on Saturday afternoon.

The party is a major fundraiser and supports research for curing childhood cancer and provides assistance to victms' families.

A big tradition with the Kentucky Derby is women wearing fancy hats, and that's also part of the tradition of the foundation's party.

Above, Christen Napoleone, Andrea Suttell and Ashley Napoleone.

Jennifer Houseknecht and Lori Reinhardt

Jody McCulley

Peggy Sacheli

Trish Pero and Peg Pietzykowski-Gorecki (Peg created both hats)

If the moon seemed especially big and bright Saturday night -- that's because it was.

The moon was at the point on its elliptical path called perigee, the point where passes closest to Earth. At this point, it is 31,000 miles to closer than the opposite side of its orbit, or apogee.

While the full moon appears largest just after it rises, it officially reached its closest point to Earth at 11:34 pm. Exactly one minute later, the moon, Earth and sun line up and this allows the moon to achieve its full brilliance -- 30-percent brighter and 14-percent larger than any other full moon this year. 

Here framed by spruce boughs, the brilliance of the full moon will have drowned out all but the brightest fireballs of the Aquarid meteor shower, also on tap Saturday night, according to NASA.

Officially, this year's supermoon was "eclipsed" by the supermoon of March 2011, which passed by Earth some 250 miles closer than this year's.

There is reportedly a fight among three or four people at 15 Center St., the City Church Youth Center. Law enforcement is responding as are medics. One person was stabbed.

UPDATE 8:16 p.m.: A male, age 22 or 23, is being taken to UMMC with a cut on his left cheek that is "longer than it is deep." Also, police call for firefighters to respond to wash away blood on the sidewalk. City Engine 12 is responding.

UPDATE 8:25 p.m.: Engine 12 has accomplished its mission and is back in service.

UPDATE 10:20 p.m. (by Howard): Officer Dan Coffey, tonight's shift commander, said at about 9:30 p.m. that officers were still conducting interviews and "sorting things out." No arrests, and there's no description of a suspect available.