Batavia resident Lisa Barrett is now one of six finalists to have advanced to round five in the international contest, "Best Original Song."

If she makes it through this round, she will be one of three finalists to make it to the last one. One of these three finalists will win the contest.

Voting for Lisa's song, "When You Look at Me," will start at 8 p.m. on Monday, and will continue through June 13. To vote:

1. Go to www.bestoriginalsong.com

2. Click on "Click Here to Listen"

3. Select June 6 through 13 Show Date

4. Vote for and/or download "When You Look at Me."

For previous coverage, see: 

Batavia singer/songwriter has high hopes for very personal song

Singer/songwriter Lisa Barrett advances to next round in world competition

To see a story YNN did on Barrett recently, click here.

LIFT is accepting enrollees. It's a summer program for children ages 5-10 with special needs such as sensory processing disorders, Asperger's, OCD, ODD, pediatric bipolar disorder and ADD/ADHD.

The camp is drop in but registration is required prior to the first day a child attends. The camp runs from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, June 28 to Aug. 11. The recommended donation is $3.50/hour.

Children will participate in activities that will work on sensory processing, fine and gross motor coordination as well as social and life skills. Additional classes include art, theatre, music, math, reading and writing. Camp takes place at the East Pembroke Grange Hall.

There will be an open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, June 10. This is designed for children to attend with a parent/guardian. During the open house, children will participate in activities designed to strengthen their sensory processing skills, social and life skills as well as fine and gross motor coordination.

For more information on the camp or the open house, please call Laura Kauppi at 233-6155 or email <liftschoolofmusic@gmail.com>.

The annual Community Yard Sale is set for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 11 in the City of Batavia. (Rain date is June 18.) Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian is the contact person for this event <Christia@BataviaNewYork.com>. Phone is 344-0276. Call if you'd like to be included in this event.

These are the addresses of the participating households so far:

• 32 Clifton St.
• 39 Otis St.
• 29 Williams St
• 468 Ellicott St.
• 121 Hutchins St.
• 10 South Spruce St.
• 36 Vernon Ave.
• 38 Vernon Ave.
• 19 Richmond Ave.
• 12 Tracy Ave
• 8 North Lyon St.
• 30 Washington Ave.
• 6 Douglas St.
• 13 Edgewood Drive
• 25 Burke Drive
• 315 Bank St.
• 390 Garden Drive
• 54 Walnut St.
• 16 South Main St.

Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding to a call in Covington after a car overturned and landed in a ravine. A 17-year-old is complaining of back pain.

The injury is said to be minor. The location is Silver Lake and Old State roads.

Linden resident Dick Harris bought is first Triumph motorcycle in 1955, and once he got that feeling of the open road and the wind in his hair, he hasn't spent a lot of time looking in the rear view mirror.

Harris, the son of a preacher, owns several versions of the legendary motorcycle now, including six that run and one he's restoring.  

In the room of his home where he stores the bikes, are pictures of Triumphs and places he's been, a shelf full of trophies he's won and a map of the United States. It traces the route to and from California he took during one of his three cross-country trips on a Triumph.

Just yesterday, the 78-year-old Harris went for a 150-mile ride.

"Every day that's nice, I try to get out," said the Linden native.

He left home at 17 and set out for Arizona, where he lived for a year. When he was 21 and discovered he liked riding motorcycles, he didn't exactly consult his preacher father.

"I didn't get on a bike until I was older, so my father didn't have much to say about it," Harris said.

He did get his dad to take a ride on a Triumph much later, when he was 80 years old.

While Harris didn't follow his father into the ministry, three of his four sons inherited his love for motor bikes. The picture below is of his son Dan's house, also in Linden.

Asked why he's enjoyed riding his bikes all these years, Harris kind of shrugged and said, "I don't know. Freedom, I guess. I like to get out on the road."

Rachel Ingutti, a member of the educational staff at the Seneca Zoo brought a collection of snakes, lizards, salamanders and a tortoise to the Interpretive Nature Center at the Genesee County Park in Bethany today.

The turtle below is a new addition to the Interpretive Nature Center, giving visitors a live animal to view (rather than just the interesting collection of stuffed species on display at the center).

Driving down Bethany Center Road, Bethany, this morning, I thought this clump of Queen Anne's Lace with the view behind it looked interesting.

As I was finishing with the pictures, a man in a pickup pulled up, giving me the impression he was the property owner, wanting to know what I was doing. I told him I thought these flowers might make for an interesting picture. He said, "You can call them flowers. To me, they're weeds." And drove off.

Right in the same area, I took the picture of the tree below.

Sam Ferris of Judge Road in South Alabama called me this morning and said there were a pair of large butterflies hanging out in his yard and he thought it might make an interesting picture.

A butterfly with a six-inch wing span? Sounds pretty interesting and I had a little time this morning, so I drove out there.

After getting a picture, I drove out to the Interpretive Center at Genesee County Park to cover an event there. When talking with volunteers there, I mentioned the large butterfly and pulled the picture up on my camera.

A volunteer said, "That's not a butterfly. That's a moth."

It turns out it's a Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora Cecropia). I learned that the moth has no digestive system. Tonight, it will probably fly off, find a mate and then die. Typically, once they molt, they live about three days.

Pictured are John White and Ben Zhao, both of Clarence, who were two of many youngsters who came to Darien Lake Theme Park yesterday to get free tickets.

Why do they get such special treatment? Well, the short answer is that they could be helping bring a fortune into Genesee County.

John and Ben are two of almost 1,600 kids, ages 12 to 18, who are competing in the Darien Lake Baseball Tournament, which starts today and involves youth from all over the Northeast and part of Canada.

According to Kelly Rapone, who works for the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, there are a total of 106 teams, with 15 kids on each team. Kids from outside of Genesee County will, of course, be accompanied by their families.

This is likely to be a major boon not only for Darien Lake Theme Park -- which is sponsoring the tournament -- but also for the county in general. In addition to Darien Lake tickets for the kids, all visiting families receive welcome packets with visitors' and dining guides.

But what exactly is this tournament, and how did it come about?

According to Rapone, this is a "public-private venture to grow our economy through sports."

It all started a couple years ago with a conversation between Chris Suozzi of Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC), Neil Turvey of A-Turf (a Cheektowaga-based company that specializes in synthetic grass surfacing for sports fields), and former Senator Mary Lou Rath. They met to discuss possible opportunities for Genesee County.

"There are a lot of synergies right here (in Genesee County)," Suozzi said. "Our location is real prime -- right on the New York State Thruway, between Buffalo and Rochester."

Suozzi and Turvey then got involved with Tom Lichtenthal, the Town of Batavia engineer, and Craig Yunker, who owns the Batavia Turf Farm on Bank Street Road.

Up until now, the Turf Farm has mainly been used for youth soccer games. Turvey would like to develop a baseball training center there, as well as space for baseball and softball games next to the soccer field.

Turvey, of Lockport, said this "is just phase one."

"We hope to eventually have 11 fields for baseball and softball."

Before taking on the ambitious task of "taking baseball (in Genesee County) to the next level," as Suozzi put it, he and Turvey wanted to have a baseball tournament  here to see if it would be successful.

Suozzi said this idea came from an observation of how well local soccer teams have done with their tournaments.

With this in mind, and having connections with Darien Lake, he set up a meeting between himself, the theme park's general manager and Turvey. It was agreed that Darien Lake would sponsor the tournament.

"Our hope is that this will be economically impactful," Suozzi said. "When people and families come in, it brings sales tax dollars to our community. That's something people don't realize -- events like this are a real draw for that."

"We're expecting to see somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 people this weekend," Turvey said, "and around 7,500 people total."

The teams are divided into three groups: 10- to 12-year-olds, 13- to 15-year-olds and 16- to 18-year-olds. The 10- to 12-year-olds are playing today and tomorrow at Pembroke High School, at 8750 Alleghany Road in Corfu, and at the Pembroke town park, which is right behind the high school.

Next weekend (June 11-12), the 13- to 15-year-olds will play at three Batavia sites -- Batavia High School at 260 State St., John Kennedy Elementary School at 166 Vine St., and GCC at 1 College Road -- and Barrie Park, just outside of Albion.

Finally, the 16- to 18-year-olds will play Saturday, June 18, and Sunday, June 19 at these same four locations and at Pembroke High School.

Four games are played at each location every day of the tournament. Start times for each game are 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. They are free and open to the public, and food is available.

As difficult and time-consuming as it has been to coordinate this whole thing, Turvey is grateful for the amount of support the tournament has gotten from the Genesee County community.

"Everybody's been fantastic," he said. "The government agencies, the hotels, the chamber...the schools have also been very supportive."

If you have any questions or would like more information, call Turvey at (716) 462-8155. I spoke with him a minute ago, and he said that today's games are still on; they're just waiting for the weather to clear up a bit.

SUPPLEMENTAL PHOTOS:

A rather "impressive" wooden bear guards the entrance to the Darien Lake lodge (right near where the kids came to pick up their tickets). Here he is a bit more close up.

Wires on a pole are on fire at 637 Route 19, behind a building near the railroad tracks, in Pavilion. It's about 50 to 60 feet from the roadway, posing "no immediate danger."

Pavilion Fire Department is responding. National Grid is being notified.

Also, the traffic light is out at the junction of routes 63 and 19. And a fire chief says traffic is "blowing by" without stopping at the intersection.

UPDATE 1:25 p.m.: Pavilion Fire Department has cleared the scene. National Grid's ETA is at least an hour. But all businesses in the area have electricity. State Troopers are handling the traffic situation at the lightless intersection of routes 19 and 63. The Department of Transportation's traffic detail will be responding to the intersection.

A house basement reportedly caught fire after being struck by lightning at 9977 Seward Road in Alexander.

Alexander and Town of Batavia fire departments are responding.

UPDATE 12:42 p.m.: Darien and East Pembroke fire departments are called to the scene.

UPDATE 12:50 p.m.: The Alexander fire chief says other units can respond in non-emergency mode.

UPDATE 1:27 p.m.: Darien is clearing the scene. Apparently, the fire is out.

UPDATE 1:28 p.m.: All units back in service.

A Batavia Nursing Home employee who earlier today was reportedly the subject of a police response to the facility is in jail tonight, accused of threatening to shoot a supervisor.

Parris L. Bryant, 50, of 218 State St., Batavia, was charged with aggravated harassment, 2nd, and jailed on $1,000 bail.

According to Sgt. John Peck, Bryant was the suspect in a case earlier today involving an employee who showed up at the facility drunk and angry over not getting paid, as scheduled.

Police officers who responded to that call convinced Bryant to leave and go home.

According to Peck, Bryant didn't bother any of his coworkers again until about 5:30 p.m., at which time he allegedly initiated a series of calls to a nursing supervisor threatening to shoot her over the non-pay issue.

When police responded to his house, Peck said, there were no guns visible and it's not clear that Bryant actually has access to a gun.

However, because Bryant is still an employee of the nursing home, has access to the building, and was allegedly in a violent frame of mind, police officers were concerned for the safety of the staff, Peck said.

"He must have been stewing about it all day," Peck said.

Peck said nursing home staff told officers that Bryant made five or six calls this evening.

Additional previous articles:

• Owner of Batavia Nursing Home facing federal charges; employees complain of payroll problems
• State dealing with 'issues' at Batavia Nursing Home, but won't release details
• Employees of Batavia Nursing Home tell TV news they can't cash payroll checks

Burglars went to some effort overnight to remove a safe from Neptune's Gardens, 33 Liberty St., Batavia, getting away with more than $2,000 cash.

According to owners Nick and Kathy LaFarnara, the safe was apparently too heavy for the thieves to carry, so they used her office chair to wheel it to a back window.

Nick said it probably took two people to get it out a window and drop it into a pickup truck.

It's the first time during their 25 years in business that it's been burglarized, Nick said.

He's eager to see the perpetrators caught and prosecuted, so LaFarnaras are offering a $250 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the criminals.

Batavia Police Det. Pat Corona said tips can be phoned in confidentially to 345-6370.

Kathy LaFarnara said she was baffled to come into work this morning to find her chair missing from the office and a desk drawer opened with stamps on the floor.

"I'm thinking, 'that's just not right,'" Kathy said.

As she and Nick started to look around, they found a few other things out of place and then spotted her chair near a back window, which was open.

The first thing they checked for were missing pets, but all of the animals were accounted for.  

When Nick went back into is office and sat down, that's when he noticed the safe was missing.

Photo courtesy The Batavian's news partner, WBTA. WBTA also has a story available here.

A three-car accident is reported at Broadway (Route 20) and Warner roads in Darien. Injuries are believed to be minor.

Darien Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding.

Tyler Thomas Aldinger, 17, of Townline Road, Attica, is charged with criminal mischief, 3rd (more than $250 in damages), petit larceny and trespass. Tyler is accused on trespassing on property on Attica Road in Alexander and cutting up farm property and taking it for scrap. The alleged incident was reported at 12:24 p.m., Thursday. Arrested with Tyler was Daniel Joseph Ognibene, 17, of Alexander Road, Alexander. Daniel was charged with petit larceny and trespass.

Marcos A. Torres, 28, of Jackson Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd. Torres was arrested following a traffic stop at 3 p.m. Tuesday on Route 98, Town of Batavia. Torres was jailed on $800 bail.

Press release:

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Kathy Hochul (D-NY26) announced that she will serve on the House Committee on Homeland Security in the 112th Congress.

“I look forward to working hard for the people of the 26th District as a Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security,” said Congresswoman Hochul. “As a Representative of a district right by the border, issues of homeland security greatly impact the people of my district and I will work tirelessly to ensure their safety.”

Congresswoman Hochul began her work immediately, meeting with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, where the two discussed national security issues facing our nation and discussed international trade and travel across the Peace Bridge in Buffalo.

Congresswoman Hochul has already voted on issues of vital importance to our homeland security. She voted against H.R. 2017, FY 2012 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill, which makes more than a billion dollars in cuts to critical local and national security programs.

Instead of cutting funding to programs that protect Western New Yorkers, Congresswoman Hochul supported the Clarke-Higgins-Reichert-Tonko Amendment to reform the Urban Area Security Initiative so that Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse would continue to be eligible for funds that prevent, protect and safeguard these cities against terrorist attacks.  Prior to the passage of this amendment, the bill would have restricted funding to only 10 cities.

Congresswoman Hochul recognizes that we must be vigilant in our efforts to protect our communities and borders against terrorists.

Batavia Police released further information on the people arrested during the May 19 neighborhood enforcement sweep we reported on yesterday.

Jacqueline R. Garrett, 32, 9850 Old Creek Road., Alexander. Arrest on a charge of criminal sale of marijuana, 5th, after Local Drug Task Force members reportedly witnessed a transaction at 99 Jackson St.

Edgar Perez, 26, 110 Jackson St., Batavia. Arrested on a superior court arrest warrant out of Orleans County.

Joseph C. Wind, 41, 5469 Horseshoe Lake Road., Batavia. Arrested on charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, criminal use of drug paraphernalia, 2nd, and aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd. All as the result of a traffic stop for driving without headlights. A passenger in the car was a subject being supervised by, and of interest to, NYS Parole.

Thomas J. Mitchell, 21, 6 Oak St., Batavia. Arrested on charges of  criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, unlawful possession of marijuana and aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd. Mitchell was reportedly picked up as the result of a traffic stop in connection with the car allegedly attempting to avoid police by entering BOCES property after leaving an address of interest to NYS Parole.

A Spring Ghost Tour is planned at the historic Batavia Cemetery tommorow.

It will highlight "some of the finest ladies who ever graced the community."

The guided ghost walk costs $10 and includes iced tea and cookies. Tickets are available at the cemetery gate, located on Harvester Avenue, on the day of the event -- June 4.

Tours begin at 2 p.m. and run every 15 minutes. The last tour begins at 4.

All proceeds benefit the cemetery.

For more information, call the history department at 344-2550, ext. 2613.

Three Batavia Nursing home employees have contacted The Batavian today to report that once again, they're not getting their paychecks as scheduled.

A fourth, unidentified employee, showed up at the facility around 12:30 p.m. and was allegedly drunk and disorderly. Batavia police were called, but did not make an arrest, telling the obviously drunk older gentleman to move along.

A police officer confirmed the man was upset about not getting paid today.  

Meanwhile, the home's owner, Marc Korn, was in a Buffalo Federal Court yesterday to answer to fraud charges, but his case was continued because he did not have an attorney. The judge gave him until June 14 to hire an attorney.

Korn, who owns two nursing homes and a house in East Amherst, according to WIVB, may not be able to afford an attorney and may require court-appointed counsel. 

Two weeks ago, employees received checks, according to sources, but were told not to cash them until the following Thursday. This past Friday, employees were not paid, according to sources, but received their checks on Wednesday.

State health officials have been unwilling to confirm with The Batavian that the nursing home may be taken over by the state, but WIVB reports that they've been told that is the case.

A spokesman for the health department said the state is dealing with several issues at the facility.

Inset photo, Mark Korn, courtesy WIVB.

A new group of international students from GCC were getting the grand tour of Batavia today, and I happened across them at Main and Center streets.