"A couple of girls just ran out of Main Street Pizza without paying for their order," says a dispatcher. "The owner chased them down and now they're in front of Valle Jewelers on Jackson." City police are responding.

UPDATE 1:24 p.m.: This was a foursome of 14-year-old girls who allegedly "dined & dashed." At least one was taken away in a police cruiser. The cases will be referred to Family Court.

Press release:

The Board of Directors of the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) approved final resolutions for applications for assistance from the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce and Reinhart Enterprises, Inc., at its Oct. 1 board meeting.

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce is planning to purchase and renovate an existing building at 8276 Park Road in the Town of Batavia for its new offices, as well as to house Genesee County’s tourism office. The project will involve the construction of a two-story glass structure for a visitors' center, which will be located off the Batavia 48a exit of the New York State Thruway. The Chamber was approved for $71,535 in sales tax, mortgage tax and property tax exemptions. The planned capital investment will total $930,000.

“Tourism is an important revenue generator for our community and having a visitor’s center strategically located at the Thruway exit will only enhance the Chamber’s efforts to continue to grow this industry,” said GCEDC Chairman Paul Battaglia.

“The Park Road location will allow us to take tourism marketing to the next level in Genesee County,” said Tom Turnbull, president of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce. “With 800 hotel rooms, Batavia Downs, shopping plazas and popular restaurants all within a one-half mile of this location, we believe an attractive, welcoming visitors' center will allow the Chamber to market our many assets and attractions, and stimulate tourism spending throughout Genesee County.”

Reinhart Enterprises, Inc., a property holding company, will expand its facility located 36 Swan St. in the City of Batavia by adding 16,000 square feet of additional warehousing space to accommodate a tenant’s growing distribution center. The company was approved for sales tax, mortgage tax and property tax exemptions totaling approximately $182,460 in estimated incentives. The project’s capital investment will total approximately $600,000.

“It’s good to see continued investment being made in the City of Batavia by existing companies like Reinhart Enterprises,” said Battaglia. "Our agency will continue to work hand-in-hand with all businesses in our community that are expanding and adding employment.”

It was a full house at Batavia Middle School on Thursday night for the school's open house.

Above, the Houseknecht family, Mike, Jen and Ella, share a laugh with Ella's sixth-grade math teacher, Andy Reagan.

More than 300 people were at Batavia Downs last night for UMMC's annual Pink Hat dinner, which honors cancer survivors. 

Former Buffalo Bills Special Teams star Steve Tasker kicked off yesterday's Stiletto & Sneaker Walk, a fundraiser and community event aimed at raising awareness about domestic violence. A number of GCC students and athletes, along with some high school athletes, joined in the walk this year.

YWCA Executive Director Jeanne Walton

Andre Gliwski Jr. has moved his retail store, AJ's Crafts, from its original East Main Street location to 240 Ellicott St. The move into the slightly smaller space will reduce his overhead, Gliwski said, and with a city-plowed lot next door, parking will be easier for his customers. With the move, a couple of new vendors added their wares, increasing the store's inventory.

City fire is on scene at the YMCA on East Main Street in Batavia after a report of the smell of smoke in the building. The facility has been evacuated. Fire command reports the smell of something electrical burning. Investigating.

A big fight is reported in the parking lot at Leisure Timers Apartments, 364 Bloomingdale Road, Basom. Some suspects left in a gray pickup truck. Sheriff's deputies are responding.

A two-car accident is blocking traffic at Main and Banks streets in Downtown Batavia. City fire and Mercy medics are on scene. No injuries reported.

Shortly before noon, Bergen fire and an ambulance were called to The Firing Pin for an accidental gunshot to the head. The incident is a fatality. Sheriff's investigators are on scene.

The Bergen facility is a public indoor shooting range, retail gun shop and firearms training center located at 8240 Buffalo Road, between Parkview Drive and Route 33.

UPDATE 12:40 p.m.: The Sheriff's Office has confirmed this is a suicide and there will be no additional information released.

John W. Walsh, 32, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with open container, public lewdness and acting in a manner injurious to a child less than 17. Walsh allegedly urinated in Pringle Park, Batavia, at 1:25 p.m. Sunday while children were present.

George G. Johnson, 62, of Scotland Road, Akron, is charged with petit larceny. Johnson is accused of shoplifting at Tops Market.

James E. Wroten, 48, no permanent address, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Wroten allegedly violated a stay away order of protect. He was jailed on $1,500 bail.

Latoya Yalanda Stanley, 27, of Holland Avenue, Batavia, was arrested on warrants for alleged aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, and, 3rd. Stanley allegedly failed to appear on the charges. Bail was set at $100.

A cleaner, brighter Aldi's reopened this morning, right on schedule, after being closed for nearly a month for remodeling. A couple of dozen people lined up to be the first in the upgraded store. The biggest visible upgrade, an expanded produce section.

Pictured above are Store Manager Eric Murphy and District Manager Jenna Bruning.

Christopher Cameron‎ shared this on Facebook and gave us permission to republish it on The Batavian.

Here's what he wrote:

My son was home sick today. He was on our porch with his mother when the funeral procession for Barry Miller passed. Like any 4-year-old he was amazed by it and asked a hundred questions. Later when his mom took him to Dunkin' Donuts he saw "a sad firefighter drinking coffee." When I got home from work he was playing with his Legos on the floor. He told me he made a memorial for the ambulance guy and all of the rescue guys were sad. So I promised him I would take this picture so that the Lego men could say goodbye. His memorial is in the center.

We're ending this little experiment we called The Batavian Club. It's a lot of work that we're always behind on for too little return. That's the bad news.

The good news is, we're still going to offer the same fantastic deals with local businesses in special gift certificate packages.

Essentially, it's The Batavian Club without calling it a club. The big difference on our end is we save the work on tracking members and printing membership cards, which always seemed to bog us down and create a lot of unnecessary expense. We will be able to send out money-saving gift certificates much sooner after an order is placed when we don't have to make batches of individual membership cards. 

For local businesses, it's the same great promotion as before. There's no additional expense beyond honoring the gift cards when customers come in. If your business is not already participating, call me at (585) 250-4118.

For those who had recurring payments set up in PayPal, I just canceled all of those so there will be no future payments from your account. There are three people who have joined since we last sent out membership packages. They will get a refund. For all other members, they should be up-to-date with membership cards and gift certificates and the stated expiration dates still apply.

Long and lean, this silver streak of a machine practically still has that new car smell with only 28,000 miles on it.

And it could be yours, if you're the highest bidder in an online auction that will open Oct. 6.

The 1999 Corvette was surrendered by its former owner, Anthony A. Leone, a 47-year-old former Jackson Street resident who is currently in prison. Leone signed over the car to the county under forfeiture laws pertaining to drug possession. Leone was stopped by a Le Roy police officer while driving the car and a subsequent investigation, which included the Local Drug Task Force, found a quantity of crack cocaine and pills in the vehicle. 

Since the Sheriff's Office has no legitimate law enforcement use for the Corvette, the county is putting it up for sale. The proceeds will be shared by the agencies that comprise the local Drug Task Force -- Sheriff's Office, Batavia PD, and Le Roy PD. The money can only be used for law enforcement purposes and only for expeditures beyond normal annual budget spending. For example, if the county wanted to buy new surveillance cameras for the task force, but those cameras aren't an otherwise anticipated purchase, the money could be used for that purpose.

Pictured with the car are Undersheriff William Sheron and Sheriff Gary Maha.

The auction site is www.teitsworth.com Bidding opens Oct. 6 and closes Oct. 13. The minimum bid is $15,500.

The car can be viewed by potential bidders at the Sheriff's Office, 165 Park Road, Batavia. For an appointment, contact Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster at (585) 345-3000, ext. 3503.

Chrisjon M. Canty, 20, of Rochester, is charged with felony forgery, felony criminal possession of stolen property, identity theft and petit larceny. Canty is accused of making unauthorized purchases totalling $350 with another person's bank debit card. Canty was identified through the use of video surveillance. He was jailed on $10,000 bail.

McKenzie D. Stevens, 21, residence not disclosed, is charged with petit larceny. Stevens is accused of placing three DVDs, burritos and laundry soap, worth approximately $21, in her baby stroller and exiting Walmart without paying for the items.

Joshua Jake Macklem, 23, of Jackson Street, Attica, is charged with driving while impaired by drugs, unlawful possession of marijuana, driving with a broken windshield, side windows non-transparent. Macklem was stopped at 8:16 p.m. Monday on East Main Street Road, Batavia, by Deputy Joseph Corona.

A general contractor on the grounds of Pavilion Central School on Big Tree Road has struck a gas tracer line. Pavilion Fire is responding. The caller is RG&E, which has a one hour ETA to the scene.

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For those who missed the final call for Barry Miller, broadcast by Genesee County Emergency Dispatch, at 1:30 p.m., yesterday.