Press release:

After a report stating nearly 1,100 bridges in New York State were deemed "fracture-critical," a high percentage of which exist in New York’s 26th Congressional District, Congresswoman Kathy Hochul today called on Congress to immediately pass the American Jobs Act.

"Let's finally pass a comprehensive jobs bill that will not only get Americans back to work, but fix the bridges millions of commuters rely on each year," Congresswoman Hochul said. "These 'fracture-critical' bridges are a threat to the safety of New York residents, especially the residents of New York's 26th District, which had scores of bridges on the list. This report only underscores the need for quick passage of the Job Act.”

New York State currently has double the number of fracture-critical bridges on the list than reported nationwide, while Orleans County, in the center of the 26th District, was reported to have nearly seven times the national average. Over 20 percent of Orleans County's 138 bridges were found to be fracture-critical. Bridges from all other six counties in the 26th District – Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, and Wyoming counties – were also on the list.

Fracture-critical bridges lack redundant supporting elements, which means if one key support function of the bridge fails, the safety and use of the entire bridge could fail, potentially causing a collapse.

Hochul added, "While structurally sound under normal circumstances, there is no reason why these bridges cannot get the necessary repairs to ensure the safety of the driving public. As the former county clerk responsible for putting vehicles on the road, I feel compelled to fight for the money we need from Washington to bring our bridges and roads up to par. Once again, I call for the House leadership to bring forward the American Jobs Act and allow us to vote on infrastructure funding for our districts, while creating much needed job opportunities for our workers."

All seven of the counties Representative Hochul represents have vulnerable bridges that could benefit from passage of the American Jobs Act.

Buffalo News: Surcharge debate reignites in New York

Thelma and Rick Hall are getting their annual Halloween Haunt on Watson Avenue ready for the trick-or-treaters they're hoping will visit them Oct. 31. The Halls are expanding the haunt again this year. It will wrap all around their house and feature new displays and more frights.

A man has fallen approximately 25 feet from a tree at 106 South Main St., Oakfield.

He may have a broken hip.

As a precaution, Mercy Flight on in-air standby.

Oakfield Fire Department and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 2:35 p.m.: Mercy Flight requested to the scene. ETA five minutes.

The John Gardner Society gathered Saturday at the Pok-A-Dot for the annual reading of the author's works.

Readers were Lucine, Bill and Gretel Kauffman, Erica Caldwell, Terry McCormack, Tracy Ford, Maureen Maas-Feary, Brian Paris, Helen Maier, Terry Abrams and John Maier.

WNED's Jay Moran recorded the readings and will air a segment later in the week, possibly on Wednesday.

If you can't view the slide show, click here.

A third-quarter interception by Matt Ramsey helped spark the Elba/Byron-Bergen Lancers both offensively and defensively, turning a 0-7 deficit into a 21-7 victory in Saturday's Class B quarter-final playoff game against Pal-Mac.

Zack DuBois came up big again on offense carrying the ball 25 times for 262 yards and two TDs, including an 88-yard, fourth-quarter sprint that sealed the deal for the Lancers.

Ramsey had two interceptions on the day, to go along with seven tackles, and DuBois added another pick.

Cody Naylor, who carried the ball for 14 yards, also scored a TD.

Naylor had 13 tackles, including three for a loss.

Brandon Naylor had 14 tackles, including four for a loss, and two sacks.

Tom Fowler had 12 tackles, including three for a loss, and Emiliano Acosta had 13 tackles, including four for a loss.

Pal-Mac's offense: Stephen Morrell, 14 for 35, 147 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions; Derek Wager, three receptions for 44 yards and one TD; Sean Nolan, 20 carries for 80 yards.

In other weekend football action:

In Class C quarter finals, Wellsville beat Le Roy 42-14 and Attica beat Pembroke 21-6.

In the Connors Ferris Bowl games, Alexander beat Warsaw 21-6. Batavia plays ER/Granada at 3 p.m. today. 

Also this weekend, Oakfield-Alabama lost to Perry 34-28.

In JV Action, the Batavia Blue Devils finished out its season undefeated, 8-0, with a 22-16 win over Greece Olympia. Down 16-14 with 3:11 left in the game, Tyler Pratt returned a kick 92 yard for a go-ahead TD.  Also scoring were QBs Brandon Stevenson and Dakota Swimline.

PHoto of Elba's Zack DuBois by Destin Danser.

With 1:09 left in the game, Clyde-Savannah needed just one point to tie the game, but in high school football, PATs are not automatic.

Eagles Head Coach Nick Dercola decided to roll the dice on a running play. A two-point conversion would all but guarantee a win for the Eagles in the Class D semi-final playoff game.

Derrick Wright took the hand-off and sprinted to the far side corner of the end zone, but Andrew Mullen and Nick Taylor beat Wright to the goal line.

Final score, Notre Dame 27, Clyde-Savannah 26.

Through nearly three quarters of football, the Fighting Irish appeared dominant, using a ball-control running game and a well-executed defense to keep the Eagles on the ropes.

But defensive lapses in the fourth quarter by Notre Dame and a key fumble with less than three minutes to go turned a 27-13 lead into a nail-biter for the Irish.

"They’re a good team," said Coach Rick Mancuso. "When you make mistakes in a big game, good teams are going to capitalize and that’s what they did."

Mistakes by the Eagles -- particularly interceptions -- helped Notre Dame's cause.

Nate Woods helped set up ND's first TD when he picked off a pass early in the first quarter.

Tim McCulley added two more interceptions, including one with less than a minute in the first half and Clyde-Savannah threatening to tie the game at 14. McCulley pulled down a Tom Molisani pass on the three-yard line.

On offense, Nick Taylor led the way with 120 yards on 30 carries. He crossed the goal line three times.

Andrew Mullen added another TD on a 15-yard reception. Mullen also carried the ball 12 times for 68 yards and had six tackles and half a sack on defense.

McCulley was 5-7 for 33 yards and no interceptions.

Notre Dame turned by ball over twice on fumbles, including the key fourth-quarter fumble on the 43 yard line that allowed Clyde-Savannah to pull into a point.

Taylor also had six tackles and half a sack. Also with half-sack credits were Doane McCulley and Aaron McDonald.

Nate Woods returned three punts for 107 yards.

Eagle's QB Molisani was 15-30 for 249 yards.

"They throw ball over yard," said Mancuso. "But that works to our advantage to get a team like that because one of the teams that’s playing now (in the other Class D semi-final game) is also going to be a team that’s going to throw the ball, so this was good experience for our young kids."

Those other teams were Geneseo and Dundee. Geneseo won 64-16.

Notre Dame will face Geneseo on Friday in Rochester.

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

This is a view of the Moose River as seen from the Route 28 bridge in McKeever, NY. Bill Moon and I arrived in Old Forge on a Thursday to do a bit of sightseeing and picture taking before canoeing the north branch of the Moose the following day. 

We drove further north to Inlet where Bill had bow hunted in the past. Old logging roads offered access well off the beaten path, with numerous campsites along the way. Here the late afternoon sun illumines towering spruce trees.      

Dead timber, colorful maples and spruce frame the shoreline of a placid pond.

A totally calm surface on Nick's Lake provides a mirror image along the shoreline. 

These canoes no doubt saw a good deal of use this year, but on this day not a soul around. 

Winterberry -- we would see plenty of this stuff growing along the north branch of the Moose River. There we would find it in huge clusters and already minus much of its leafy growth. Stay tuned -- the canoe trip was quite breathtaking.

We hadn't traveled very far when, from the stern of the canoe, I heard Bill Moon say, "Listen to that." Except for the sound of his voice, there was absolute silence. He was referring to the solitude of the Adirondack wilderness. At the time we were paddling the north branch of the Moose River where it winds through brushy banks lined with winterberry and distant hills in the background

Downstream a ways, we would enter green corridors of spruce and pine, and finally stretches of river where the evergreens and maples mingle, splattering a predominantly green shoreline with red and yellow.

"Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiul to values as yet uncaptured by language." 

                                     Aldo Leopold, "A Sand County Almanac"

With the hardwoods already having lost much of their foliage, the evergreens had lost a bit of their backdrop...

yet they towered above the river bank, as aesthetically pleasing as ever.

Except for small birds flitting and rustling in the winterberry, these mallards provided one of our few glimpses of wildlife. Occasionally, the sound of geese could be heard, though they were nowhere in sight. Once or twice we heard the guttural squawk of a raven - it too was heard and not seen. 

The day was sun-filled and warm, the setting serene. The  leaning sycamore pictured above seems to be whispering to the trees on the opposite bank.

Clusters of winterberry  

The sound of water rushing over rocks and around and under sizeable boulders indicated it was time for our lone portage of the trip, a canoe-tote of approximately 200 yards. The portage trail was well-defined, though there were numerous tree roots spanning the path which tested our agility -- and patience.

Bill has made this trip a number of times - here's  "ol' man river" and his understudy!

A two-car accident is reported at East Main Street and Masse Place in the City of Batavia. It is blocking traffic. Unknown injuries. City firefighters are responding.

UPDATE 1:02 p.m.: City fire back in service.

This spring, I drove by this old quarry on Golf Road in Le Roy for the first time. It was filled with green water that day and I thought, "I bet in the fall, that green water topped by autumn-colored trees looks pretty awesome." So this afternoon, driving back from Rochester, I thought of the quarry and the picture possibility. It was a bit of a let down to find the water evaporated over the summer. But with the dramatic storm clouds above, I still thought it could make a nice picture.

David Michael Johns, 46, of East Street, Gainsville, is charged with grand larceny, 4th, falsifying business records, 1st, and petit larceny. While employed at Kistner Concrete Products, 10056 East Road, Bethany, Johns allegedly loaded merchandise valued at more than $1,100 into a customer's vehicle and failed to turn in funds to the business from the transaction. Johns is accused of falsifying a packing slip and turning it over to his supervisor in an attempt to account for reportedly missing merchandise. In a separate incident, Johns is accused of loading merchandise into a customer's vehicle with a value of $150 and failing to turn funds over to the business.

Joseph James Lloyd, 40, of 100th Street, Niagara Falls, NY, is charged with grand larceny, 3rd. Lloyd, operating as M. Franklin Home Improvement, Inc., is accused of accepting a payment of $15,000 from a Town of Pembroke resident in October 2010 to build a garage on her property, but Lloyd allegedly failed to use any of the money towards the project.

Matthew C. Higgins, 29, of 2823 Graney Road, Caledonia, is charged with felony DWI. Higgins was taken into custody by Le Roy Police after a concerned citizen initially reported an occupied vehicle parked in the driving lane of Perry Road just south of Route 20. When the citizen approached the vehicle, the driver took off north on Perry and continued into the village. A car reportedly driven by Higgins was stopped on East Main Street in the village after allegedly failing to keep right. Higgins was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Seokjoon Suh, 25, of Batavia Stafford Townline Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 4th. Suh is accused of possessing a collapsible baton while at College Village.

Cody James Sundown, 21, of Skye Road, Tonawanda, was turned over to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office by the Niagara County Sheriff's Office on a bench warrant out of the Town of Pembroke for criminal mischief, 3rd. Bail was set at $750 or $5,000 bond.

Robert Lee Williams, 21, of State Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Williams is accused of violating an order of protection by going to the place of employment of the protected party. The order specifically barred Williams from going to that business location.

The driver of a sedan that smashed into a tree on Route 262 in Elba shortly after 5:30 a.m. may face a DWI charge.

Corey Hemmer, 25, of Elba, was taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said a blood sample was taken from Hemmer and additional charges may be pending.

Hemmer is in intensive care.

Also injured where Megan Ann Gregg, 18. She is listed in guarded condition at Strong Memorial Hospital. Strong's policy is to list anybody in intensive care as "guarded."

The third victim in the crash is Aaron Pahuta, 19. He underwent emergency surgery at ECMC this morning.

Hemmer was reportedly driving westbound on Route 262 just east of Route 98 when his Pontiac drifted off the north side of the roadway. The car struck a tree head on.

Sgt. Brian Frieday said at the scene that a passerby found the wreckage some time after the accident. Investigators were unsure at that time how much earlier the accident had occurred.

All three occupants had to be extricated and transported to hospitals by Mercy Flight.

The accident is under investigation by the Crash Management Team of the Sheriff's Office.

Elba Fire Department and Mercy EMS responded to the scene and Town of Batavia Fire Department was dispatched to provide additional extrication tools and manpower.

Note: Upon request of the Sheriff's Office, publication of photos withheld until victim notifications completed.

A one-vehicle rollover accident is reported at 7855 Fotch Road. It is blocking traffic. Unknown injuries. Mercy medics and Stafford Fire Department are responding.

UPDATE 7:06 a.m.: Injuries are reportedly minor.

A car has hit a tree on Route 262, just east of Route 98 in Elba.

Three people were in the car and one person is entrapped.

Mercy Flight is on in-air standby.

Three Mercy EMS ambulances have been dispatched.

Elba Fire Department is on scene.

UPDATE 5:52 a.m.: Two Mercy Flight helicopters requested to the scene. A landing zone will be set up at the fire department rec hall.

UPDATE 5:54 a.m.:  Third Mercy Flight helicopter requested to the scene.

UPDATE 5:57 a.m.: All three occupants are trapped in the vehicle.

UPDATE 6:01 a.m.: First Mercy Flight bird on the ground. A second has been dispatched. Dispatchers are checking on availability of a third helicopter.

UPDATE 6:06 a.m.: Town of Batavia Fire's extrication equipment requested to the scene. Oakfield Fire requested to standby at Elba Fire Hall.

UPDATE 6:08 a.m.: Third helicopter in route with a 20 to 25 minute ETA.

UPDATE 6:27 a.m.: Second helicopter on the ground.

UPDATE 7:02 a.m.: All three victims have been extricated. The third helicopter is at the scene.

Greg Post, supervisor for the Town of Batavia, which currently has no town property tax, is tempted to announce a 50-percent increase in the tax levy.

For those who haven't done that kind of ciphering in a few years, 0 x 50 percent = 0.

But Post is rather irritated with Albany and the state legislature's passage of a 2-percent cap on property taxes without corresponding mandate relief.

Mandates include increases in health care costs for employees, an increase in power rates without local input, and an increase in pension benefits.

Meanwhile, many local governments are facing problems with aging infrastructure -- infrastructure that needs to be in good repair to attract jobs and retain businesses and help emergency responders get to where they need to go.

Albany, Post, said, should just butt out of local government.

"I’m perfectly capable, as is my board, of making decisions," Post said. "Whether they’re good decisions or not can be judged by the community. The community can show up here at public hearings and voice their concerns and if they don't like our decisions they can vote us out of office."

For the most part, Post said, the small towns and villages of Upstate New York are fiscally conservative and do a good job of holding down expenses. Albany, he said, has no idea how to run a town in Western New York and shouldn't even try.

But some towns have put off infrastructure repairs and their needs are getting critical.

He said he knew of one town that wanted to raise its tax levy 20 percent, which would have meant only a $20 increase in the average property tax bill.

But because of the tax cap, the board is faced with a tough decision -- take a special vote to override the cap, or not go out and get the revenue it needs for the town to survive.

Post sees the levy as a trap laid by Democrats in Albany to force conservatives in small towns in Upstate New York out of office. 

Uninformed voters, he said, will likely vote out of office any official who votes to override the cap, and they will be replaced by less fiscally responsible, less experienced officials.

That's why, he said, he introduced a local law for the Town of Batavia to override the cap. Even though Post has no intention of allowing a tax increase to go through, passage of an override measure is a protest against the heavy-handedness of Albany.

He hopes it will provide cover for those jurisdictions that really do need to override the cap.

He said he plans to introduce the same measure every year that he's in office so long as Albany refuses to pass meaningful mandate relief.

On Wednesday, the town board unanimously approved a public hearing on the proposed local law. The hearing is set for Nov. 9.

Western New Yorkers should prepare for a wetter and colder than average winter.

That could mean some dramatic storms, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Erie County, especially, should see colder and wetter whether, but the harsh winter could reach into Genesee County.

If the prediction is true, Genesee County will be wetter than usual. Whether that means more snow is uncertain.

For the second year in a row, a La Niña atmospheric condition will impact weather throughout the United States, according to NOAA.

That means the Southwest will be drier than normal and northern parts of the United States will be wetter than usual.

The wild card in the winter weather predictions is "Arctic oscillation."

The oscillation will effect whether parts of the country, including WNY, will be cooler or warmer than average, or just average.

NOAA says that Arctic oscillation is hard to predict and its impact on weather can't be read more than two weeks ahead of time.

Arctic oscillation, which pushes colder air into the United States, can have dramatic impacts on winter weather.

From the NOAA site:

• Northeast and Mid-Atlantic: equal chances for above-, near-, or below-normal temperatures and precipitation. Winter weather for these regions is often driven not by La Niña but by the arctic oscillation. If enough cold air and moisture are in place, areas north of the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast could see above-average snow;
• Great Lakes: tilt toward colder and wetter than average.

A three-car accident with minor injuries has been reported on East Main Street at Vine Street, Batavia.

City Fire Department and Mercy EMS on scene.

When I left the office late this afternoon, the clouds and shafts of light cutting through them looked pretty awesome and I started thinking about what sort of picture I could make on limited time. I remembered a barn on Pearl Street Road that I've never gotten a good shot of and thought of the clouds and light behind it. So I drove out there, and I was right. It could have been a great photo. Unfortunately, the owners had parked a high lift right in front of it. That just wouldn't do. So I kept going and circled back to the city by way of Upton Road and Rose Road. On Rose, a potential advertiser called me, so I pulled over to chat -- with this flag right in front of me. "There's a possible picture," I thought.