This afternoon, I took a drive down Gulf Road in Le Roy. As usual, the old quarry visible from the road was interesting to see.

I also stopped by the entrance to the Lehigh Valley Railway derailment site. When I arrived, an employee of the company hired by the EPA to manage the site was standing roadside chatting with a reporter from New York City and an independent researcher. The employee couldn't talk, but gave me a phone number of somebody who might talk. Hopefully, in a day or two -- depending who calls me back and when -- I'll have a follow up on the situation at the site.

There is a new sign on the entrance gate at the site. It was posted today. The new sign says, "No Trespassing." (photo below)

The following statement was shared with The Batavian by the office of Rep. Kathy Hochul. Hochul issued the statement initially in response to a request for a statement from CNN.

The last several months have been challenging for the community of Le Roy. While we are all are anxious for answers, it’s important that we allow medical and environmental experts to collect the facts and accurately identify the source of this unusual and unfortunate situation.

Our top priority must be to protect the health and safety of the community of Le Roy and to this end, my office has been in contact with various federal agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency.

As a Representative of this community, I’m committed to ensuring that the residents of Le Roy have access to the resources needed to fully understand this situation.

Press release:

Kim Cox, the superintendent of the Le Roy Central School District, is referring media inquiries on medical and environmental questions to the experts from the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Environmental Protection Agency. They are best equipped to answer your technical questions, as they have ours. 

As has been communicated, the District has been working closely for months with numerous medical professionals, the State Department of Health, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Environmental Protection Agency. All of these agencies and dozens of professionals from these agencies have assured the District that the school is safe.

There is no evidence of an environmental situation or infectious cause. In addition, to help assist the District with assessing all aspects of this situation, it hired its own independent environmental expert to conduct a review of the findings and offer alternative approaches, if needed. This was done not because the District questioned the state medical professionals or federal agencies, but to help reassure the community.

There are also some who are attempting to marry the 1970 derailment to the school when in fact the plume has been shown as moving in the opposite direction some three miles away.   

The Le Roy community should take assurance that the Department of Health concluded extensive reviews of both the epidemiology and the clinical evaluations and found no evidence of environmental or infection as the cause of the students’ illness. An environmental exposure would affect many people.

The treating physicians ruled out PANDAS. The school was tested for Volatile Organic Compounds (including TCE) by an independent firm. The school is served by a public water system. The Gardasil vaccine was ruled out because many of the girls did not receive the vaccine. The Department of Environmental Conservation reaffirmed the evaluation that there is no evidence of environmental factors.

The District will certainly welcome input from outside experts if they choose to offer it in a professional and constructive manner. It will rely on its own expert as well as counsel from the Department of Health, DEC and EPA as to whether any further testing is deemed appropriate.  However, in the event that it is recommended, it will be done with a specific plan based upon all available information and accepted scientific protocols.

The District wants to be clear that it has confidence with respect to the conclusions of the Department of Health based upon its comprehensive review of this situation as well as the assessment of the physicians at the DENT Neurologic Institute. 

The Le Roy Central School District and the Le Roy community want what is best for the children in the schools. Unfortunately, the endless speculation without factual basis is creating an extreme level of anxiety and concern. Students are unable to focus on learning. The constant attention has had a negative impact on the recovery of some of the students who are directly affected, many who were improving and whose symptoms have now become exacerbated.

The District knows this has been an emotionally hard situation on the community and everyone hopes for the speedy recovery of its students.

(Shown from left are: Owner Tim Tucker, project manager Jimi Soccio, administrative assistant Leanne Moore, sales rep Mike Kelly, sales manager Chris Ball, and head technician Geoff Harloff.)

The dispute between Time-Warner Cable and the Buffalo Sabres has left many local hockey fans out in the cold, but it's not like Sabres fans are without an option to watch their favorite team.

According to Tim Tucker, owner of IR Systems, a local DirecTV distributor, Sabres fans have been calling DirecTV in droves in order to switch service.

That's great, Tucker said, but because many of these customers are calling DirecTV directly, they're spending more than the would if they called the locally owned and operated IR Systems.

"We can help local customers save money," Tucker said. "We also have 12 dedicated local employees whom customers tell me all the time provide great, personal customer service."

Among the advantages IR System offers:

• Lower monthly prices;
• Face-to-face customer service;
• Flexibility to offer lower monthly price plans with in-house service plans and a lifetime warranty on equipment;
• Experienced professional installation team;
• Free in-home analysis of your best entertainment system set up;
• Installation service within 48 hours, sometimes within 24 hours.

"Most DirecTV customers love the service, but when I've come across customers who've had a bad experience, it's either because of billing issues or a faulty installation," Tucker said. "With our face-to-face customer service and guaranteed, lifetime warranty on our installation, these issues cease to be a problem."

IR System's superior customer service record has enabled the locally owned company to earn a "Preferred Partner" designation from DirecTV.

The DirecTV service provided by IR Systems is the full package of programming from the nation's #1 satellite company, including all of the sports channels (Sabres and the full lineup of available NHL games, NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB baseball, NBA and college basketball, college football, national and international soccer, among other sports offerings), as well as all the movie, news and information channels that come with DirecTV service, along with premimum services and pay-per-view (various fee options exist for the different packages available).

"We're really eager to show local customers what we provide," Tucker said. "Wind, rain or snow won't stop us from giving customers the best possible service."

To contact IR Systems, call (800) 319-2129.

NOTE: This is a Sponsored Post, paid for by IR Systems.

An accident involving a tractor-trailer and pickup truck is reported at routes 19 and 20 in Pavilion. There are no injuries, but it is blocking the roadway. Pavilion Fire Department is responding and traffic police are called to the scene.

UPDATE 3:27 p.m.: The crippled tractor-trailer has finally been removed from the roadway and is awaiting a tow truck.

Submitted by Debbie Reed.

Robert J. Eppolito, 29, of 61 Church St., Apt. #2, Le Roy, admitted in Genesee County Court today that he punched and kicked another person during a confrontation in Le Roy last September.

By pleading guilty to assault in the second degree, Eppolito faces a possible prison term of up to five years, with time being served concurrently on his sentence from a guilty plea for violation of probation.

As a second felony offender, Eppolito will serve at least three years in prison.

Sentencing was set for 9 a.m., April 23.

Eppolito admitted in court that he kicked the victim and broke the victim's nose and bruised his left eye.

While awaiting sentencing, Eppolito will be released under supervision of the probation department.

We have a new Shop Batavia contest: Like Shop Batavia on Facebook and complete the registration and you will be entered to win a set of handmade Valentine's Day Wine Glasses from Bruggie's. For more amazing handmade items created by Bruggie's, all available for purchase from Shop Batavia, click here.

Click here to enter the contest.

A third-party caller has reported a motor-vehicle accident at Route 63 and Roanoke Road, Pavilion.

There are reportedly injuries.

Dispatch has received no other calls.

Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS are being dispatched.

UPDATE 6:28 a.m.: Fire police dispatched to the scene for traffic control. A deputy on scene reports dangerous road conditions.

UPDATE 6:48 a.m.: We missed any further transmission about the nature of injuries, if any.  The Pavilion assignment is back in service and the roadway is reopened.

It's been a beautiful snowy night so I stopped by Austin Park and took this picture of two trees under one of the lights in the park.

A two-car accident with injuries is reported at 6808 Ellicott Street Road. Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding. The accident is blocking the roadway.

A slippery highway is to blame for a one-car accident at 6:53 p.m., Saturday, that sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries.

Adam F. Helmer, 28, of Chestnut Ridge, Middleport, was reportedly driving west on Route 5 in the area of the former Batavia Party House, Stafford, when he lost control of a 2005 Ford pickup truck.

The truck slid off the south shoulder of Route 5 and into a ditch, turning onto its passenger side.

Helmer's passenger, 27-year-old Cheryl Cary, of Chestnut Ridge, Middleport, who owns the truck, was transported to UMMC by Mercy EMS.

The infant with Helmer and Cary was not injured.

No citations were issued.

The accident was investigated by Sgt. Greg Walker.

(Initial report)

A two-car accident with unknown injuries is reported at 3990 Drake Street Road in Elba. The location is between Weatherwax and Pekin roads. Elba Fire Department is responding along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 7:15 p.m.: A responder at the scene reports one person has a back injury.

UPDATE: Also, the ambulance that responded to this scene was rear-ended as it was leaving the scene. Another ambulance had to respond and transport the paitent. The accident was a minor property damage accident.

Sarah Veazey sent this picture over from today's snowstorm, which dumped two or three inches of snow on the Veazey property on Lockport Road, Oakfield.

"Perfect sledding whether," Veazey said.

Unfortunately, the Veazeys' annual snow box derby has already been canceled for 2012 because of lack of snow.

Steven Rebert, the former Oakfield resident convicted of killing a married couple in Pennsylvania and a suspect in the murder of Bill Fickel in 2005, will spend the rest of his life in prison, a Jefferson County jury decided after four hours of deliberation.

The jury could have sentenced Rebert to death -- which in Pennsylvannia currently would be 23 hours a day in solitary confinement for the rest of his life -- but instead said Rebert should receive four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Rebert was convicted of two counts each of first- and second-degree murder and aggravated assault, theft, burglary and robbery.

Rebert reportedly told a Jefferson County television news reporter that he plans to appeal his conviction.

Genesee County DA Lawrence Friedman is expected to make a decision soon on whether to prosecute Rebert for Fickel's murder.

Rebert is also a person of interest in the unsolved murder of an Orleans County man, Kevin Smith.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster has long sought the identity of a witness who may have been at the scene the night Fickel was murdered, but even with a $100,000 reward, no such witness has yet come forward.

Brewster said last week, however, that there is sufficient evidence, even without the witness, for the DA's office to consider a murder charge against Rebert.

More than 100 brides visited Terry Hills today for a bridal show that featured 33 local vendors, such as Valle Jewelers, Stella's Bridal Boutique, Charle's Men Shop and Sweet Ecstasy Bakery.

It's the second year for the show and Lisa Fickel, marketing manager for Terry Hills, said the number of vendors is three more than a year ago, but the show can't get much bigger (maybe one or two more vendors next year) and she thinks that's a good thing.

"Rochester and Buffalo already had their shows and brides say lines are 12, 14 people deep and a lot of times they can't even get a business card from a vendor," Fickel said.

The show is helping expose local brides to the advantages of shopping locally for their gowns, cakes and accessories, Fickel said.

"People are very surprised to find we have all of this locally," Fickel said. "A lot of brides automatically think they need to go to Buffalo or Rochester for a quality wedding dress or a quality photographer," Fickel said. "They have been amazed to find they can find it all right here."

For a complete list of vendors who participated this year, click here.

As snow fell on Batavia Sunday afternoon, Evan went for a walk on East Main Street sporting a unique mohawk-style winter hat. Evan said it was a gift from his mother.

While the snowfall today was interesting, not much stuck and roadways remained pretty clear.

That may change tonight.

The National Weather Service is predicting two to four inches of snow overnight and drivers are warned that visibility may be reduced to a quarter of a mile. During the heaviest periods of snowfall, the rate could be as much as an inch an hour.

When I was in ninth grade, science teacher Ron Warren, having posed a question to the class, said, "Mr. Nigro, would you please stand up and give us the wrong answer." 

I didn't do too bad scholastically during my junior high school years -- but I should have done better. The reason being, I seldom paid attention. A good deal of my classroom time was spent daydreaming about catching fish. Later, as my high school years were drawing to a close, instructor and fellow angler Don Andrews told me that, if I were ever to fall down and crack my head open, northern pike would spill out all over the floor. 

My early pike fishing fantasies were limited to the Tonawanda Creek, occurring anywhere from Parker Grinnell's pasture to the entire stretch of creek downstream from Whiskey Run.

Sometime in my 20s the wilderness waters of the Far North beckoned, and those imagined scenarios began to take place in a land of muskeg and jack pines, places only accessible by float plane. But regardless of the location, those daydreams never involved catching a lot of pike, just one big tackle-smashing brawler that would inhale a wobbling spoon and peel line from my reel like a runaway freight train.

Before those dreams became reality, there was a short stint where I tried my hand at ice fishing. Back then I wasn't so bothered by the cold and pulling pike through the ice helped the winter months pass quickly.

Whether fishing in remote locations or close to home, the pursuit of northern pike provides a volume of memories. Yet after float-plane rides into the wilderness of Manitoba, the far north of Ontario, the barrens of the Northwest Territories, and along the way discovering the tenacity of wilderness lake trout, by the late '80s my zeal for pursuing the toothy northern had diminished a great deal. Thus, the stage was set for a most unexpected and exciting encounter with old esox lucious................stay tuned!

At 2:35 p.m., Bill Albert, representing the Le Roy Central School District, issued the following press release. It came more than two hours after a sometimes confrontational impromptu press conference with national and regional media (and one local news reporter), Albert and Superintendent Kim Cox (both pictured above).

This morning, without any prior notice to the District, camera crews from a number of media sources, including both national and local outlets, entered District property for the purpose of filming an unidentified individual taking soil samples.

It is appalling that whatever group or entity employing this individual, as well as the media outlets participating in this effort, chose to conduct themselves in this way -- which can only be characterized as grandstanding. Not only was this criminal activity which forced the District to call in local law enforcement to maintain the security of its property, it disrupted the District’s preparations for a weekend music event involving students from over twenty-two schools as well as other student activities.  No legitimate organization would function in this manner.

As previously indicated, the District is working in conjunction with local and state agencies relative to this matter. Based upon the results from testing already conducted at the District as well as review of other information from multiple sources, environmental factors have not been identified as a cause of the symptoms that have manifested in some students. Testing conducted with rogue samples is of no scientific value, as it is not conducted in accordance with scientific methodologies and safety protocols utilized by reputable environmental experts in all testing situations. In fact, such actions could hamper the coordinated effort already underway by the District in conjunction with environmental, health, and safety experts to address this matter. The District will continue to provide information with respect to these efforts as it becomes available. 

Local law enforcement will continue to monitor the security of the District’s property. 

Here's the background:

I arrived at district propety at 11:15 a.m. At the time, there were not even a dozen cars in the parking lot of the school. There were no students to be seen.

I could see a group of people, and recognize a boom mic, clear across the athletic fields, so I drove around to that side, which is a public park. Several members of national and regional media were at the location. 

The media and members of the Erin Brockovich team left the location and drove to a location on Route 5. Bob Bowcock wanted to gather well water samples from that location. When he was finished there, he wanted to drive back to the school because he was told an attorney would be there to let him know whether he could have access to the school grounds.

Shortly after the caravan arrived at the park, Albert and Cox arrived.

While the questioning was at times pointed and aggressive, it wasn't unprofessional.

Bowcock was told by Albert that he could walk the grounds, just like any other citizen in Le Roy, but could not take soil samples, and the media would not be allowed on the grounds. Albert said that while members of the media were citizens, they could not go on the property while acting in capacity as media, even though numerous Supreme Court cases have not drawn a distinction between a "person" and a "corporate entity" (most recently Citizens United) for the purpose of First Amendment rights.

School property is public property and public access cannot be denied so long as it does not disrupt the educational purpose of the campus.

The media was on site during non-school hours and there was no evidence of educational activity. To label the media presence as "criminal activity" is beyond ludicrous.

One additional note: The additional law enforcement was two overtime patrols from the Genesee County Sheriff's Office. The school district paid for the extra enforcement. The patrols will be in the area throughout Sunday.