Care-A-Van Ministries held their weekly Thursday night cookout at Central Avenue tonight. It was an awesome night. The rain did not keep anyone away. We had approximately 82 people come out. Now that is alot of hotdogs and hamburgs to grill!  How about all those ice cream cones that were served.

During the summer Care-A-Van goes out to a different neighborhood on Thursday nights. On Sunday afternoon we return to the same neighborhood for street church. This Sunday Pastor Eric Shepard of the

Church of the Rock in Attica will be delivering the message and Paul Beitz from the same church will be providing the music.  Our own  Care-A-Van provides music every Thursday night. This Saturday we will be at Central Avenue for grocery and clothing distribution from 10:30 until 12:00. if you know of anyone that needs a little help.

Now I just love this little gal. She is enjoying delicious chocolate chip cookies that were donated by Creative Foods.

These picnics and all of Care-A-Van's events are free. We thank all of you in the community who help make this possible. If you ever want to enjoy a fun time, come on out and join in the fun.

Robin Walters
Public Relations Director
Care-A-Van Ministriies.

Bill Moon is a man with varied interests.  Since his retirement from the Genesee County Health Department, Bill divides his time between photography - he takes group photos of sports teams as well as nature pics – canoeing, camping and a bit of fly-rodding.  Through the years he has participated in at least thirty stage productions with Batavia Players, Batavia Rotary and the Forum Players.  But first and foremost among Bill’s endeavors is a lifelong interest in the sport of archery.

Bill was given his first bow by his Uncle John. Not long afterward, at the tender age of four, he scored his first bull’s-eye.  There was one minor problem – at the time he was standing inside a relative’s home.   With bow in hand and looking for a suitable target, he spotted a window. Taking aim at one of the small panes of glass between the mullions, Bill let fly and scored a direct hit. Despite having his bow taken away for a spell, Bill’s fascination with archery continued. A few years later his interest in the sport rapidly accelerated.

Bill was twelve when an uncle took him to see “Tembo” a movie featuring famed archer Howard Hill on safari in Africa. The footage made quite an impression, as Bill came out of the theatre with an infatuation for the sport of archery which has lasted to this day.  “Even if you had no fascination with archery or Howard Hill,” he said in reference to the film, “you will come away with an appreciation of the photography from the film,” said Bill in regards to the cinema work. He went on to explain, saying, “With no zoom lens available, they used an eighty pound camera mounted on a turret lens – 3 lenses in one.” 

Growing up in Hamilton, in New York’s Leatherstocking region, Bill made his first bow while still in high school. “It was a stick bow made from a hickory plank,” he stated. A forerunner of the bows he turns out today, that prototype proved to be a capable weapon afield. And it wasn’t far from home where he honed his shooting skills. ” There was a small woods down the street with rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, snakes, tin cans, anything that presented a target,” he said.

Presently Bill enjoys attending various bow shoots, including the Great Lakes Long Bow Rendezvous and the Traditional Bowmen’s Rendezvous. Closer to home, he shoots with the Hawkeye Bowmen in Alden.  Needless to say, Bill also spends time shooting at targets in his backyard. Come autumn, it’s time to take to the woods.   

In addition to the longbows, Bill has crafted a number of recurves, and he also turns out wooden arrows, complete with turkey quill fletching.  Each piece of his equipment is – no pun intended - naturally good shooting. Conscientious and meticulous in his work, he’s been known to scrap a nearly completed bow and start from scratch.  The finished product speaks for itself. Well crafted and sweet shooting, Bill’s longbows are presently used by archers in five states – soon to be six as a Californian has one on order. Bill emphasized the making of bows is in no way a business. “Besides the desire to hunt, there was a longing to craft my own bow,” he said.  When friends and fellow archers saw the results, requests for a Bill Moon custom longbow began piling up. 

If you see a green pickup/ camper with a canoe loaded on top and a license plate reading “ARCHERY,”  its Bill enroute to a favorite getaway. And don’t let the canoe fool you – he probably has one or two bows along just in case.  

Purple will not become the official Genesee County color any time soon. Yahoo! has taken a pass on our fine county and instead chosen Lockport as the location of its planned WNY data center, reports the Buffalo News.

Town officials announced this afternoon that Yahoo! will present a site plan to the Town Planning Board at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. A public hearing will be held June 30.

Yahoo! also has applied for a property tax break from the town Industrial Development Agency, Town Attorney Daniel E. Seaman said.

Supervisor Marc R. Smith said the 190,000-square-foot computer center will take about 13 months to build, and Yahoo! would like to break ground in August.

Brian "Elvis" Dengler, a Rochester resident, takes a practice swing off the 10th tee at Stafford Country Club where a three-day invitational tournament got underway at 12:30 p.m. today.

It's the 58th Annual Jon Lynn Invitational, which allows members of the private club to bring in non-members for the big tournament.

Jon Lynn was pro at the club for 25 years, according to current pro Eric Haille, who has been with the club for 12 years.

Eric will be sending us results for the tournament over the next three days, so look for them in the sports section.

Local deputies will soon be equipped with Tasers courtesy a federal grant to help law enforcement agencies buy the non-lethal weapons.

The County Legislature approved an application for a $23,000 grant last night than will enable the Sheriff's Office to purchase 28 guns.

Under-Sheriff Bill Sheron spoke with WBTA about the taser purchase (audio).

The department currently owns no tasers.

Former Batavia baseball standout Chris Page is going to get his shot at pro ball.

The Genesee Community College pitcher/first baseman was drafted in the 50th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Cincinnati Reds. He was the 1499th overall player selected.

"I was supposed to be working but I was watching the draft," said Page, who was picked at about 3 p.m. today. "It was the 49th round and I decided to watch one more. When they called my name, I was speechless."

The Reds have been scouting Page since high school, where the big 6-foot-4 lefty set two Batavia records in his senior season with a .534 batting average and 11 doubles. He also had 31 hits, three triples, two home runs, 19 RBIs and 15 walks in his senior season.

He was also 5-2 on the mound, earning him a chance to play at GCC, where Cincinnati continued to monitor his progress.

The Cougars went 25-13-1 this spring with Page leading the squad at the plate. He had a .456 batting average with 18 doubles, five home runs, 34 RBIs, 52 hits and 33 walks.  He did not pitch due to elbow problems.

He is expected to start his professional career in the Florida Gulf Coast League.

"I am honored to have been followed and drafted by a great organization like the Reds," Page said.

We haven't been able to confirm it, but a reader reports that bears may have been spotted in the area of Platt Road and Kelsey Road in the Town of Batavia.

Mike Wasilco, regional wildlife manager for the Department of Environmental Control, said if there are bears in the area, nobody has called the DEC.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Wasilco said. "Bears have been seen recently in Wyoming County, which isn't that far away. What happens is young male bears strike out looking to find their own territory. This time of year you see bears in areas where you haven't seen them before."

His advice: Don't leave out food, no bird feeders, garbage, BBQ grills or pet food.

"Bears will behave themselves until they figure out that people are a nice and easy source of food," he said.

Meanwhile, while speaking with Wasilco, I asked him about the beavers building a dam near Creek Road in Bethany, which we covered Monday.  He said the local property owners can apply for a permit to relocate the beavers, which they can then either do themselves or higher a specialist.  Of course, one problem: The property owners with the problem don't own the land where the beavers are building, and that property owner is happy with the dam.

Today is Fun Day at Oakfield-Alabama, but unfortunately for two students, it was a little more painful than fun.

One student suffered a reported facial cut and another a broken collar bone, resulting in ambulance calls to the school.

Principle Lynn Muscarella said the accidents were unfortunate, but unusual. This is the sixth year of the event, which comes right before finals.

"We've had minor cuts and scrapes before, but nothing like this," said Muscarella.

The day starts with an awards program, is followed by lunch and then fun and games in the field.

Muscarella praised the quick response and professionalism of the ambulance personnel who responded to the calls for the minor injuries.

She also praised the student council which organized the event and said the students have done a great job each year of putting it together.

"They do a tremendous job of putting together a structured program," she said. "This year we had lots of students participate, which I was happy about."

This year’s legislative session began with a lot of talk about the need to put in place property tax relieving measures, such as a property tax cap or circuit breaker.  Despite calling for a cap, Governor Paterson did not include this measure in his budget proposal, nor did either house in the final 2009-10 State Budget.

As the end of the regularly scheduled legislative session draws to a close, no property tax relief has been enacted.  In fact, the “three New York City men in a room” have actually added to the burden homeowners, businesses and farmers are facing already.  With no regard for the current dismal fiscal climate, these three men set records when it came to budgetary spending and earmarks.  On top of that, they reduced STAR benefits and brought to the floor cumbersome legislation which passes more job-killing mandates onto businesses and agriculture, such as Assembly Bill 1867, the “Farm Death Bill.”

All of these measures have come from New York City state legislators who know little to nothing about the rural communities or agricultural industry that these bills will truly affect.  In their skyline apartments, issues like property tax reform are not pressing concerns, but as a collective body they have an obligation to help make the entire state a better, more affordable and safer place to live and work.  That obligation is not currently being met.

Clearly, the current partisan turmoil in the State Senate is a distraction for all lawmakers, lobbyists and the media.  However, it is incumbent upon lawmakers to put partisanship aside and keep our promise to the people.  We must enact meaningful property tax relief before the end of the month.

BATAVIA - Corinne Phelps of Basom received the Self- Advocate Achievement Award at the 2009 Western Region Self-Advocacy Conference held June 4 – 5, at the Batavia Holiday Inn. She was joined at the awards luncheon by her parents, Dana and Bryan Phelps.

The following achievements were outlined in Corinne’s awards nomination form: Corinne has been a member of Friends for the Future Self-Advocacy Group for three years and is in her second term as Secretary; she is encouraging to her peers, empowers others and has taken part in many presentations and public speaking opportunities.

Along with self-advocacy, Corinne is active in her church choir and Sunday School and is a volunteer for the Down Syndrome Parent Support Group of Genesee County, Inc. As a member of Genesee ARC’s PREP for life program, she volunteers at the Genesee County Animal Shelter, Nursing Home and the Richmond Memorial Library. 

“Following Your Dreams” was the theme of this year’s conference. Workshop topics included empowered living, transportation, employment, disability awareness and legislative advocacy.

The Western New York Self-Advocacy Conference has been held in Batavia for the past several years due to its central location between Buffalo and Rochester. An impressive 430 people registered for the two-day conference.

With all this talk about Lamb Farm, I went hunting and found their website.

It is well worth the time to look through it all.  Make sure you click on the videos of the clipper and the milking merry go round.

Fascinating.

http://lambfarmsinc.net/index.html

Stanley Parker, 23, of 6480 Buffalo Road, Riga (pictured), is accused of selling cocaine to an undercover agent with the Local Drug Task Force. He is charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance. He is being held in Genesee County Jail on $20,000 bail. Assisting in the investigation were uniformed deputies of the Genesee County Sheriff's Office and the Monroe County Sheriff and the District Attorney's Office.

Joshua Kitchen, 20, of 174 Hagadom Road, Broadalin, is accused of stealing a t-shirt from the Flying-J. He is charged with petty larceny.

A reader found a dog and wants to help reunite it with its owner.  Her's what he says:

A dog just wandered down my street (Montclair Ave.) in Batavia, and walked right up on my porch where me and my dog were sitting. I had never seen this dog in my neighborhood before so Ii put a leash on him and walked around the surrounding block asking everyone i saw if they had ever seen the dog and nobody recognized her. So I called the shelter and they said nobody called about that one yet but to bring it in. The dog is a female looks somewhat like a jack russel white with black and tan patches, I was just wondering if you could post that this dog is safe at the shelter so if the owner or someone who knows  the owner might have a good lead for a happy reunion.

UPDATE: The owner saw this post and recovered his dog, according the the reader who sent this in.

County Legislators received a memo from County Manager Jay Gsell this evening suggesting that the legislature appoint a volunteer committee to review the idea of changing legislative terms from two years to four and to stagger the terms of the nine members.

The suggestion comes from the imposingly-long titled "Genesee County Comprehensive Plan Government Administration Focus Group," a committee of 11 administrators and community leaders.

The group met May 19.

The consensus was a larger group of volunteers who fairly represent the community should study the idea further and seek broad community input before fashioning a ballot proposal for the 2010 election.

"It is suggested that this volunteer focus/study group be carefully constructed to represent all aspects of the county; i.e., geographical, agriculture, business, construction, municipalities, political, health care, etc., and perhaps each Legislator could propose one group member with the Chair then submitting additional members to represent the various constituencies that should be involved" the memo reads. "There should be careful consideration of selecting a chair for the focus/study group who would provide, as far as possible, an impartial administrative-oriented position to the process."

A 2010 election is preferable, the memo states, to give the proposal a more deliberative process and ensure no changes are made prior to the 2010 census.

Participating in the May 19 meeting were Gsell, Frank Ciaccia, Lorie Cleveland, Susan Conklin, Scott German, Chester Kaleta, Lucine Kauffman, Ester Leadley, Karen Marchese, Don Read and John Rizzo.

The $3.26 million Genesee Community College budget received unanimous County Legislature support tonight.

The spending plan includes a commitment from the county for an additional $50,000 in spending in 2010, even though the county has not yet begun work on the 2010 budget.

"Higher education, with the way the economy is, is very important to people who need help in getting a job or keeping a job," said Ed DeJaneiro.

Both County Manager Jay Gsell and Legislator Charles Zambito noted that the county's contribution to GCC is among the lowest of any county in the state to a community college, as a percentage of the college budget.  Gsell also said after the meeting that GCC's students get one of the more affordable college educations in the state because GCC's coverage area is bigger than just one county.

The county's contribution to the spending plan will be $1,936,374.

Zambito spoke highly of GCC's efforts.

"Enrollment is the highest it's ever been and it's expected to be higher next year," Zambito said. "At a time when every other college is raising tuition, GCC is making a concerted effort not to increase tuition."

Students will pay $1,700 per semester in the coming academic year, or $140 per credit hour for part-time students.

County Legislator Charles Zambito, Elba, presents a proclamation in honor of dairy month to Dairy Princes Mackenzie Reynolds and Eric Zuber.  Following the proclamation, ice cream sandwiches, an annual tradition, were handed out to every person in the chamber. Um, good.

More than 220 National Grid customers along Route 98 south of the city are without power.

The National Grid web site says the power outage effects the town and village of Alexander as well as part of the Town of Batavia. 

National Grid estimates power will be restored about 5:30 p.m.

UPDATE 4:14 p.m.: Power has been restored. Steve Brady at National Grid said it was a short outage that was necessary to replace a failing lightning arrester.  It's safer to take power offline to make a quick, but much needed repair. "It was an unplanned, planned outage," Brady said. Normally, National Grid likes to notify customers of planned outages, but when this particular faulty arrester was found, engineers decided it should be replaced right away to avoid a bigger problem later. (Lightning arrester pictured)

Genesee County units assisted in an emergency response to an accident yesterday in Wyomning County that led to one injured person being taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital.

The afternoon accident on Route 63 in the Town of Covington, according to a State Police, occurred when a car on Peoria Road pulled out on the highway in front of an oncoming car.

Eric Maggio, 49, of Leicester, driving a Pontiac Grand Am, reportedly pulled in front of a Oldsmobile Bravado driven by Esequiel H. Olan, 32, of Arkport.

Maggio was flown to Strong with head and chest injuries.

Maria Ortiz, 24, Arkport and Imelda Ruiz-Gomez, 27, also of Arkport were taken by ambulance to Dansville Hospital for chest pain. Olan and a young child in the Bravado were not injured.

Doris Bogner, 78, of Leicester, a passenger in the Grand Am, was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital by ambulance for chest pain.

Pavilion Fire and Ambulance and Leroy Ambulance assisted with the accident.

The investigation is ongoing and no tickets have been issued at this time.