You wouldn't want to be called a "scalawag," but if you were a Batavia resident in the early 19th Century and didn't pay your debts, that's exactly how a local merchant might label you, and the local newspaper would print the charge, no less.

An amateur word sleuth uncovered the origins of "scalawag" recently, and according to a piece in the Boston Globe, the rather uncomplimentary word was likely invented right here in Batavia.

Nathaniel Sharpe, a 22-year-old genealogist from Bathgate, ND, was researching one of his ancestors, one John W. Putman.

He found a reference to Putnam in the March 8, 1836, issue of Batavia’s Republican Advocate.

Putnam was called a "skallewagg" for leaving town without paying his debts.

The spelling was curious and Sharpe wondered if "skallewagg" might mean the same as current spelling "scalawag."

It does, and prior to Sharpe's discovery, the earliest known print reference to the word was in 1848.

The Oxford English Dictionary said the word had Western New York origins.

With more research, Sharpe was able to determine that the possible originator of the word was James Brisbane (a famous surname in Batavia and journalism history).

The entire story is fascinating. Click here to read it.

A Batavia teenager caught on New Year's Day burglarizing a Washington Avenue residence is facing up to 14 years in prison after entering guilty pleas today to two second-degree attempted burglary charges.

Shortly after his arrest by Batavia PD on Jan. 1, Francis S. Smith, 19, formerly of 20 S. Main St., Batavia, became a suspect in a string of robberies in the South Pearl Street area.

He was charged in two separate indictments for the Washington Avenue burglary and the burglaries prior to his arrest.

His guilty pleas are to one charge on each of the indictments.

Each Class D felony carries a maximum possible sentence of seven years each, though Judge Robert C. Noonan has the option of confining him for fewer years or having the sentences on each count run concurrently rather than consecutively.

For previous coverage of Smith, click here.

The attorney for Nicholas Antonucci, accused of multiple counts of burglary, would like a little more information from the prosecution on one burglary charge.

In November, Antonucci allegedly entered the home of a person he was ordered not to contact. The fact that he entered the house and stayed earned him a charges of burglary, 2nd, and criminal contempt, 2nd.

Defense attorney Thomas Burns requested a "bill of particulars" from the District Attorney's Office -- a document outlining exactly what Antonucci did to get saddled with a burglary charge.

To be charged with burglary, you must enter a dwelling unlawfully with the intent to commit a crime.

Burns said in court that recent case law would indicate the criminal contempt allegation alone wouldn't sustain the burglary charge.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl told Judge Robert C. Noonan that the people had turned over to Burns everything they had on the charges.

Noonan is considering that and other motions filed in the multiple cases pending against the 25-year-old fromer Alexander resident, who is currently in state prison on felony convictions in Wyoming County.

Earlier this year, Antonucci was indicted on charges stemming from the alleged attempted theft two snowmobiles. He entered a not guilty plea to counts of attempted grand larceny, 3rd, petit larceny and two counts of criminal mischief, 4th.

Antonucci is scheduled to appear in Genesee County Court again on April 22.

For 17 years, Tom Rivers soldiered on in small-town, print journalism, honing his craft writing about pinewood derbies, high-school graduations and new varieties of cucumbers.

All that changed over the past 30 days. After 15 years at the Batavia Daily News, he quit. He quit to become an online news journalist in Orleans County.  OrleansHub.com officially launched today.

Rivers did it, in part, because, "it seemed like the county would benefit from having a locally owned, locally run news site."

It's a big step and an unusual one, to go from a steady job at a daily newspaper to a locally owned, online-only news start-up. (There are nearly 100 successful locally owned online community news sites in the nation, and perhaps without exception, all founded by out-of-work journalists who started their ventures as much out of necessity as passion).

Rivers has the passion, but he also has the financial backing many locally owned start-ups lack.

Karen Sawicz, owner of the Lake County PennySaver, is providing the resources necessary to get OrleansHub off the ground.

While Rivers is the editor, reporter, photographer and public face of OrleansHub, the PennySaver is supplying technical, advertising and back-office support and Sawicz is paying his salary until online advertising revenue can carry the site on its own.

The 38-year-old journalist, who is married with four children, said he couldn't have carried out the vision for OrleansHub without Sawicz's support.

It's clear Rivers admires Sawicz. They're both Rotary Club members and have known each other for years. 

"One of the things I liked about her is she's in charge of the hot dog stand at the strawberry festival," Rivers said. "In terms of the thankless job that no one wants, she goes and deals with the health department, gets all the stuff, cleans it up, puts it away. I just thought that showed something. She's also willing to do the heavy lifting. When I first came out here, there were two chambers (of commerce), Albion and Medina, and she was willing to be kind of the leader to bring those two together."

Sawicz's parents purchased the PennySaver in 1960 and she bought it from them in 1989.

Rivers said locally owned businesses in Orleans County have never had a bigger cheerleader than Sawicz.

Sawicz chaffs at the idea of county governments giving out government contracts to non-local businesses and Rivers opposes tax subsidies for national retailers.

They have a mutual passion for Orleans County that brings them together as a publishing team.

They both think existing media outlets weren't giving Orleans County the coverage it deserved.

"There's more that happens in Orleans County than just the bad stuff," Sawicz said. "We want good stuff to be told, too."

Rivers thinks the Daily News does a better job than other news outlets of getting beyond the murders and the weird crimes, but there just wasn't enough news getting published about his home community, he said.

In a way, Rivers is now competing with his former employer, but he is not about to say anything negative about the Daily News. While he acknowledges the newspaper industry as a whole is struggling -- part the reason he wanted to give online-only news a try -- he also thinks small-town papers will survive.

For the Daily News, however, the launch of OrleansHub puts the Johnson family, owners of The Batavia Daily News, the Livingston County News and the Watertown Daily Times, in a unique position.

Where the vast majority of online-only news sites are in urban or suburban settings, the Johnson's rural newspapers are likely the only ones in the nation facing competition from multiple start-ups in rural communities.

Besides OrleansHub and The Batavian squaring off against the Batavia Daily News, there is the Genesee Sun in Livingston County and the aggregation site NewzJunky.com in Watertown.

Only time will tell how all that shakes out, but for Rivers, he's just focused on making his new venture a success, and he knows that will take hard work.

And he's OK with that.

"(Being a journalist) is actually a fun job and I wanted to do more, to work more than just 35 hours a week," Rivers said. (Daily News staffers are limited to 35-hour work weeks these days, according to Rivers.)

In his time with the Daily News, Rivers won several statewide writing and reporting awards. He also published a regionally successful book based on his series of articles about working in GLOW-area farm fields called "Farm Hands."

Rivers has a new book out, a collection of his columns written for the Daily News, called "All Ears." Rivers said the book is "a love letter to the Daily News." (For more on Tom's books, click here.)

It also served to close one chapter on the professional career of Tom Rivers and now he's excited about the unlimited possibilities of being online news site owner.

The efficiencies of online publishing means Rivers will be able to produce more news than a print news staff produces and he'll get it published quicker, with more real-time news reports than Orleans County readers will be able to get from any other source.

Rivers is also an avid photographer and is looking forward to publishing more photos with his stories than he could publish in print.

And he's passionate about Orleans County and plans to be an advocate for growth and community pride in the area.

He hopes OrleansHub will energize younger readers to get involved in their community.

"They're not newspaper readers," Rivers said. "They might realize they can get plugged into the community with the history society or youth baseball. As you show them more of the community, they will see more ways to get plugged in, and I think that's what we need to be a viable, vibrant community."

One of the things that gave Rivers the courage to make the leap from being a print employee to an online journalist was covering the ag beat for so many years.

He would see farmers, many in their 50s or 60s, hit hard times or a changing market place and they would totally reinvent their businesses.

He mentioned LynOaken Farms in Lyndonville, which had a thriving Empire apple business that was a century old when storms nearly destroyed the farm. The owners came back from those difficulties to move into heirloom apples and open a winery and become one of Orleans County's agricultural success stories.

"You have to be able to change," Rivers said. "Even though you might be growing the best Empire apples, if they're not paying the bills or if long term that's not the way to do it, you have to switch."

Rivers made the switch and Orleans County is likely to be better off because of it.

Chelsea Darnley Emondt-Fauel, a Batavia Middle School student missing since Thursday, is still missing, according to Batavia PD.

Chelsea is considered a runaway, but Det. Rich Schauff said police are looking at all possible aspects related to her disappearance.

She may still be in the local area or may have gone to Buffalo or Niagara Falls.

The 13-year-old has brown eyes and brown hair and is 5' 6" and 145 lbs.

Anybody with information that might help police locate Chelsea is asked to call Batavia PD at (585) 345-6350.

A rollover accident is reported in the area of 3341 Stroh Road, Alexander.

No word on injuries. Alexander fire and Mercy EMS being dispatched "as a precaution."

UPDATE 7:31 a.m.: A chief on scene reports no or very minor injuries.

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Cost-saving measures at the Genesee County Nursing Home could mean that spending at the facility in 2013 will be as much as $896,700 below budget.

Changes include such measures as converting the little cafe at the facility to vending machines, greater use of nurse practitioners and reductions in non-direct care staffing.

"In what really is an increasingly very regulated and scrutinized environment, we're still offering a very good quality of care, but we're also being more circumspect in controlling our expenses," said County Manager Jay Gsell. "That's the only way you survive in the nursing home business, whether you're private, nonprofit, whatever, particularly in the State of New York."

The nursing home is also facing cuts in Medicaid and Medicare. But in moving therapy from independent contractors to a single contractor -- Freedom Therapy -- the county is not only saving money, but also getting a greater rate of reimbursement from the federal government.

The single-vendor system has allowed the home to increase its care rating, which means a greater reimbursement rate from the feds.

The effort to lower expenses has been led by Nursing Home Administrator Chris Schaller and Director of Finance David Lockwood.

Schaller was hired by the contractor that runs the nursing home and Lockwood came down from Orleans County about a year ago, Gsell said, and "has brought a lot of new ideas."

Technological upgrades have also allowed nursing home management to provide monthly reports to department managers about expenses.

That means, Gsell said, managers get real-time information to compare spending against the previous month or previous year on everything from supplies to overtime.

"We now have information that if it tells us (we're spending more) we can say, 'what are we going to do about that,' " Gsell said.

Meanwhile, the county has continued to invest in the nursing home, making sure the facility is in good repair and up to date.

To keep the quality of the facility at "four out of five stars," Gsell said, it's important to maintain the number of patients in the skilled nursing floor at a high level.

"When the occupancy goes down, we lose way more money than we're already losing," Gsell said.

The focus on expense reduction is important not just because state and federal revenue is shrinking, but because there may still come a day when the County Legislature decides to put the nursing home up for sale.

"When the Legislature does want to look and see what an outside group could do, we think we're putting our best foot forward," Gsell said.

UPDATE: A little information I didn't have last night: The nursing home is still projected to run at a gross deficit of $2.5 million for 2013.

There've always been two great reasons to join The Batavian Club:

• You're helping to support local journalism that serves your local community;
• You'll receive more than $300 in money-saving gift certificates to help you support local businesses.

For a limited time, there's another good reason: You will receive a free, limited edition T-shirt from your favorite local news site. The shirt was custom designed exclusively for The Batavian by Brian and Beth Kemp of T-Shirts Etc., 111 Main St., Batavia.

We're going to offer these shirts in two stages: a free T-shirt for new members who join before 5 p.m., April 3; and, later, at a discounted rate for existing members.

Why the delay for existing members? Because technically, we need a "certificate of authority" to collect sales tax on the shirts, and it will be at least 20 days before we receive that from NYS. When The Batavian has the certificate, members will be able to buy shirts (as many as they like) for $9 each (plus tax and $5 for shipping (or avoid the shipping cost and pick up your shirts at T-Shirts Etc.). Non-members will be able to buy the shirts at that time for $20 each (plus tax and shipping).

For new members, shirts will be available for pick up (pick up only, no shipping) on or about April 17.

Once all members have had a chance to buy shirts, the offer will be discontinued and this particular shirt will no longer be available for purchase.

Use the PayPal buttons below.

Or, you can phone in your credit card number and details to (585) 250-4118 during normal business hours, Monday thru Thursday.

Or, you can mail your name, address, phone and T-shirt(s) sizes to The Batavian, 200 E. Main St., Batavia, NY 14020.

To join the club and get a T-shirt and pay by check or credit card, download this form and mail it to us. Be sure to write your shirt-size information on the form.

To learn about the club, visit the club's new Web site.

Annual membership, no recurring payment, $60

Annual membership with automatic recurring payment of $50 per year

We recevied the following message from across the pond ... Brian Slater is looking to reconnect with family members separated by time, generations and immigration.

In the summer of 1967 I stayed in Batavia at the home of my great aunt and uncle, Beatrice and Hernbt Jermy, a photo of which I took of all their family.

I am very keen to make reestablish contact with any members of the family across the ocean from their original country of England where they all came in 1913/1914 from a village called Horning in Norfolk.

Their four children were Charles, Arthur, Alice and Vera all in the photograph with their children. The girl in the brown dress was Donna and her brother in the white shirt Jimmy, children of Harry and Vera, rear left, who lived not far from Watkins Glen.

If any of your readers can cast a light I shall be most grateful as I am the last generation who can bridge the family divide across the Atlantic Ocean.

Brian Slater
brian@inter-culture.com

Joshua A. Stantos, 18, of 4585 Lake Ave., Rochester; Tyree A. Bradley, 20, of 1270 North St., Rochester; and, Skylynn D. Johnson, 16, of 110 Walnut St., Batavia, are charged with burglary, 2nd, and robbery, 2nd. The suspects are accused of entering a residence without permission and using force to steal a bracelet. The alleged incident was reported at 3:34 p.m., Thursday. All three were jailed without bail.

Darrin Todd Moreland, 47, of Telegraph Road, Medina, is charged with petit larceny. Moreland is accused of stealing snow fences and posts.The fences were rolled up and laying along the side of Lewiston Road waiting for the Town of Oakfield Highway Department to pick up.

Charles Rashad Foster, 26, of Carter Street, Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Foster was a passenger in a vehicle stopped at 3:33 p.m. Sunday on Oak Street, Batavia, by Deputy Kevin McCarthy and found during the traffic stop to allegedly possess marijauna.

Brianna Elise McGrady, 24, of Campbell Street, Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, driver's view obstructed and unlicensed operator. McGrady's vehicle was stopped at 3:33 p.m. Sunday on Oak Street, Batavia, by Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

Edward Thomas Zaremski, 62, of Lockport Road, Oakfield, is charged with DWI, failure to keep right, refused pre-screen device. Zaremski's vehicle was stopped by Sgt. Thomas Sanfratello at 11:56 p.m. Saturday on Lockport Road, Oakfield, after a report of a vehicle in Elba being driven erratically. Zaremski was jailed on $100 bail.

Lauren Kay Pellegrino, 31, of Jackson Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI, speeding, possession of an open container, unlicensed operator. Pellegrino's vehicle was stopped at 12:07 a.m. Saturday on Main Street, Batavia, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

Jessica Katherine Forrester, 21, of Erie Street, Albion, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Forrester was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by Deputy Patrick Reeves on Route 77 in Pembroke.

Christopher Arron Saddler, 29, of West State Street, Albion, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd. Saddler was stopped at 6:17 p.m. Friday on Route 77, Pembroke, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

Emma Jean Brinkman, 57, of Sunset Parkway, Oakfield, is charged with petit larceny. Brinkman is accused of stealing $84.93 in merchandise from Kmart.

Lisa Sue Metcalf, 33, of Batavia Oakfield Townline Road, Oakfield, was arrested on a bench warrant for alleged criminal possession of stolen property, 3rd. Metcalf is accused of failure to comply with Genesee Justice conditions. Metcalf was jailed on $250 bail.

Raymond Amaro, 26, of Washington Avenue, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged violation of probation. Bail was set at $50,000.

Melanie Patricia Heidt, 21, of Elmgrove Road, Rochester, is charged with possession of more than 400 untaxed cigarettes. Heidt was stopped at 9:23 p.m. Thursday on Route 77, Pembroke, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

Francis J. Sheehan, 61, of 400 E. Main St., Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd, and criminal contempt, 1st. Sheehan is accused of punching a woman. There was allegedly an order of protection in place.

Ryan C. Riggi, 18, no permanent address, is charged with failure to appear. Riggi was turned over to Batavia PD on a warrant out of City Court and jailed on $5,000 bail.

Summer Ogden, 37, of 29 Central Ave., Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd, and burglary, 2nd. Ogden was allegedly found in the apartment of a person she is barred from contacting after police were summoned to a Liberty Street location for a reported disturbance. Ogden allegedly entered the residence without permission. The criminal contempt charge is a felony because Ogden has a similar conviction in the past five years.

Kelvin B. Murphy, 40, of 319 Ellicott St., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny and grand larceny, 4th. Murphy allegedly stole a wallet while at a business on East Main Street, Batavia. The wallet contained credit cards and cash.

Daniel L. Dioguardi, 31, of 4993 Upper Holley Road, Holley, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property and two counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument and two counts of petit larceny. Dioguardi turned himself in on warrants for the charges.

Rachael A. Baeher, 26, of 40 Church St., Le Roy, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, appearance in public under influence of a drug other than alcohol, unlawful possession of marijuana and criminal possession of a controlled substance 7th. Baeher was arrested after police were summoned to the Days Inn at 11:16 p.m., Wednesday, for the report of a woman requesting assistance after ingesting drugs. Baeher allegedly had two small children with her. She was jailed on $1,500 cash bail.

Timothy A. Shay, 48, of Waterport, is charged with issuing a bad check. Shay was arrested by State Police in connection with an alleged incident in the City of Batavia reported at 1 p.m., March 19. No further details released.

Cory J. Trybushyn, 25, of Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Trybushyn is accused of stealing from Target at 9:56 p.m., Thursday. Trybushyn was arrested by State Police.

Ramel J. Askew, 19, of Bronx, is charged with petit larceny. Askew is accused of stealing from Target at 4:36 p.m., Friday. Askew was arrested by State Police.

In a match-up between two of the top men's lacrosse programs in the NJCAA, Onondaga Community College proved why they are the number one team in the country on Saturday afternoon, defeating No. 3 Genesee Community College, 23-9.

A rematch of last year's NJCAA national semifinals, the Lazers wasted little time and scored only 23 seconds into the first quarter to grab a 1-0 lead. They upped their lead to 2-0 just two minutes later before Chris Rabung got Genesee on the board at the 3:55 mark. Onondaga then scored four straight goals before Christian Reiller scored his first of two goals in the game at the 12:16 mark to draw GCC to within four at 6-2. The Lazers responded and scored the final three goals of the quarter to take a 9-2 lead into the second.

Four more OCC goals to start the second quarter had Genesee trailing by 11 until Nick Gray scored a man-up goal to make it 13-3. Seth Oakes and Tim Barber scored for Onondaga at the 9:35 and 10:34 marks, respectively, but the Cougars scored the final two goals of the half when Pete DiLaura scored an unassisted goal and Blake Hurt took advantage of a two-man-up situation with a goal of his own. GCC trailed 15-5 at the half.

In the second half, Tyler Skowronski answered an early OCC goal with his first of two goals on the afternoon, but the Lazers offense was too much and never allowed Genesee to cut their lead into single digits. Skowronski scored his second goal following a Charlie Evans goal and Reiller added his second goal late in quarter, but OCC led 19-9 going into the fourth.

The Lazers scored the only four goals of the final period and with the win improve to 7-0 on the season.

Brady Lawrence made 15 saves in net for Genesee. DiLaura ended with a goal, an assist and five takeaways. Evans was 14 of 23 on face-offs and led the team with 14 ground balls.

Genesee is now 7-1 on the season and will travel to Niagara County Community College on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. start.

PHOTOS by Howard Owens. Top, Mike Chambers takes a shot late in the second quarter. Below, Nick Susko, Wayne Hill and Chambers.

Today, Arlene Leach checked an item off her bucket list. She took her first fly-fishing class.

"I love nature," the Rochester resident said. "I love water and I love fish and it just brings me closer to a peace I don't have in my professional life."

Leach was among 30 people who turned out at Godfrey's Pond this morning for a free fly-fishing class with instructors Ron Wickings (with Leach, top photo) and Jim Southall (with Leach, second photo).

While Leach had never held a fly rod before, some of the class members have been fly-fishing for years.

"The thing I try to teach is don't ever think you've arrived," said the 54-year-old Wickings, who started fly-fishing the Oatka Creek when he was 12. "Everybody can learn something. That's the fun part of fly-fishing."

The patience and knowledge of her teachers impressed Leach, who picked up the basics of a roll cast quickly.

Asked if she studied fly-fishing at all before coming out today, Leach (who is friends with the Southall family) said she felt intimidated, so she avoided it.

"But I listened and watched and people's love for it was a bit infectious, and people are encouraging me through the learning curve," she said.

Wickings said he was living his dream today -- teaching fly-fishing. He wishes he could find a job where all he did was teach people how to fly-fish.

"I've always enjoyed teaching the most," Wickings said. "I think it's because you get to see someone discover something for the first time and it almost rubs off on you. You can live a little bit vicariously through them."

Jeff Southall, with his sons Harrison and Dominic, hauls in a trout. Southall, son of Tim, learned to fly-fish at Godfrey's 30 years ago.

Jeff Southall

Ed Burton, from Gates, hooks a trout.

Burton with his catch.

Catch and release.

Harrison and Dominic

Below, the slideshow is all the same photos used in the post, but you can view the photos at full screen. Participants can purchase prints by clicking here.

A motor-vehicle accident is reported in the area of 7556 Reuben Road. There are no injuries. It's at a sharp curve, west of the Totem Pole store. Reportedly, a female driver was forced off the road and her car struck a pole to avoid another vehicle that was driving directly in her path. The road is going to be closed by the Totem Pole and at Bloomingdale Road. There are vehicles on both sides of the roadway and traffic is blocked. Alabama Fire Department, with a medic on board, is responding along with law enforcement.

UPDATE 2:13 p.m.: Both vehicles are being towed. Alabama is back in service. The roadway is being reopened.

Press release:

The Genesee County Democratic Committee is seeking and accepting candidate letters of intent for the following offices to be voted on in November 2013; All Genesee County Legislature seats, County District Attorney and County Clerk. Please send your letters to Genesee County Democratic Committee C/O Lorie Longhany 8535 E. Main Road, Le Roy, NY 14482 or e-mail geneseedems@gmail.com.

There are also offices in each town to be voted on. Please check the Genesee County Board of Elections Web site http://www.co.genesee.ny.us/departments/elections/ to see a list of all seats in each town and the City of Batavia that will be voted on in November. E-mail geneseedems@gmail.com and town contact information will be provided. Note, balloting is time sensitive so please make intentions (known) as quickly as possible.

We welcome and encourage the participation in our local government and believe that giving citizens a choice at the ballot box strengthens our democracy at the local level where decisions effect us the most.

With the sound of a police siren, hundreds of children were off and running at Centennial Park, Batavia, this morning, as part of the annual Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt.

Within 120 seconds or less, all of the eggs were snugly secured in some child's basket.

Press release:

Mostert, Manzanero & Scott, LLP, presented a summary of the audit process undertaken, the scope of their engagement, the findings, and various observations related to GCEDC’s financial position to an open meeting of the Genesse County Economic Development Center Board on March 28th.

The GCEDC Board engaged Mostert, Manzanero, & Scott, LLP, a certified public accounting firm, to perform the audit of 2012 financial statements.  The audit was designed to issue an opinion on the financial statements of the GCEDC for the year ended December 31, 2012; issue a management letter to the Board of Directors and management; and issue a report on internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Government Auditing Standards. 

Included in the management letter is a statement from Mostert, Manzanero, & Scott, LL,P affirming that no material deficiencies in internal controls were identified during their audit. They also affirmed that, in their opinion, the audited financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the GCEDC as of December 31, 2012 in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

“We are confident that the GCEDC internal control policies are functioning correctly and that our finance team monitors the GCEDC finances within the highest accounting principles,” said Shelley Stein, member of the GCEDC Finance Committee. “After reviewing the fiscal standing of the agency and the full audit results, I recommend approval of the 2012 audit and related material.”

The financial statements of the GCEDC are reported using the accrual basis of accounting. Revenues are recorded when earned and expenses are recorded at the time liabilities are incurred, regardless of when the related cash transaction takes place. For example, expenditures are recorded in the period that services are provided, even though corresponding payment for those services may not be made until a later date.

The GCEDC finished 2012 with $590,659 in net operating income. Total operating revenue was up 87 percent over 2011, which was mostly attributable to several noteworthy projects that closed in 2012, including Muller Quaker Dairy, LLC, Perry Vet and Lassister Properties/University Eye.

GCEDC’s year-end net non-operating income, which consists mostly of grant activity, totaled $508,892, up from $4,358 in 2011. Included here is the recognition of grant income from Empire State Development that supports a land purchase at the WNY Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) site. The corresponding expenditure has been capitalized as land held for development and resale on the GCEDC’s balance sheet.

A motor-vehicle accident with injuries is reported in the area of 3396 Maltby Road. Oakfield Fire Department and Mercy Medic #2 are responding. The location is between Fox and North Pearl roads. Fire police are also en route.

UPDATE 9:03 p.m.: There is one vehicle, which is at the side of the road, and one victim. The location is just west of Fox Road.

UPDATE 9:21 p.m.: The female driver is conscious and alert. Her vehicle struck a power pole but did not cause serious damage to it. National Grid is notified. A flatbed tow truck is called to the scene.

UPDATE 9:25 p.m.: The patient is being taken by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center.

UPDATE 9:30 p.m.: The Oakfield assignment is back in service.

When I stopped by the Peace Garden today, I found a TV crew there looking over an old book.

The book was found in an old house in East Pembroke that is being renovated, stuck under floorboards in the attic along with some coins from the 1830s and paperwork from the 1930s, according to Larry Abarie.

The book is well known to historians, but editions with all the pages are reportedly hard to find. This copy appears to have all of its pages.

Interestingly, you can read the book -- which was an anti-slavery tract, but advocated returning former slaves to Africa -- online.

Dave McKinley's report for WGRZ is online here.