Regarding wine in the grocery store:

Who in their right mind would think that this was a good idea? Are the Powers That Be just not going to be happy until they put EVERY last Mom and Pop out of business? This proposal will KILL the small liquor retailer, more people will be unemployed, and there will be even MORE empty commercial real estate! Just what NYS needs.

Currently, liquor stores are only allowed to sell two things....wine and liquor. Why not pass a law that permits the liquor stores to sell food items instead?? That solution would most likely (gasp!) CREATE a few jobs for some folks (a fun job even), and maybe even crank up some much needed tax revenue. Imagine being able to pick up wine AND cheese AND fruit in one stop! Or even a fabulous gift basket for your wine enthusiast friend at holiday or birthday time!

I hope that the Powers That Be sit down with a cheese trolley and a robust red wine and think about the ramifications of what they are proposing!

The Batavia City School district knows the importance of staying updated with technology. In November the district received the Torchlight Award from Promethean Inc, an international award-winning company which creates interactive learning technology to help teachers develop lessons that engage, educate, assess, and motivate learners.

Now the district has formed a committee to go wireless. Pamela Schunk, Director of Learning for Batavia City School District, said this will hopefully save money.

Schunk said the thing about technology is its expensive and  always changing, but the district is doing its best to meet the state’s standards.

New York State standards look at ways schools are developing their mission statements, and are constantly revising the standards.

Schunk said Batavia City School district develops their technology mission statement from the state’s standards and use it to guide everything they do.

The Technology Mission Statement
The Batavia City School District’s technology mission is to provide students with the technology, on-line resources, and bandwidth necessary to acquire the knowledge, develop the attitudes, and master the skills needed to meet the New York State Standards.

Just over a year teachers have been using a software program called Tech Paths. The program uses curriculum mapping which enables teachers to stay organized and communicate with other teachers and administrators.

All classrooms in the district have at least one computer and most have at least four student computers along with an inkjet or last printer. If the school needs new technology it is up to the teachers to apply for it.

Six technology classes are offered at Batavia High School that include, Desktop Publishing 1 and 2, Communications in the 21st Century, Media Production in the 21st Century, Fundamentals of Web Design, and Fundamentals of Java Programming.

“All students have to be engaged,” said Schunk about the goals of a learner centered classroom, “The information has to be relevant, and have meaning.” She continued saying it must be challenging, and teachers really have to know their students background ability, and interests.

Wanda Frank, who started with WBTA in 1967, and graduated from GCC in 1997 with a degree in Theater Arts, has been named to the Alumni Hall of Fame, WBTA reports this morning.

Frank is still on the Air with WBTA, hosting Wednesday's with Wanda.

She will be honored at GCC on Wednesday afternoon.

Here's a video Philip made about Wanda several months ago:

Hard-hitting piece this morning from Donn Esmonde of the Buffalo News about a planned NYPA rate hike following a budget deal to shift $500 million to the state budget.

The rate hike was predictable, Esmonde says, and several WNY legislators went right along with the plan in order to assist down-state interests.

Power Authority officials contend that the spike is not connected to the $500 million it let Albany use to caulk its budget gap. But common sense tells you that when $500 million disappears, there is—one way or another—a price to pay.

“That $500 million was going to come out of somewhere,” said Assemblyman Jim Hayes, an Amherst Republican. “Don’t these people understand how much the average family is hurting?”

The double drilling—the $500 million siphoning, followed by the rate hike —started when state legislators last month OK’d the budget deal. Most of the supposedly “surplus” dollars—which could have been used to cut rates or help businesses—came from the Power Authority’s cash cow, the hydropower plant in Niagara Falls.

On Saturday, we also posted a piece about NYPA blocked Google from opening a 200-job facility in Medina.

Thanks, NYPA.

Andrew J. Ashley, 22, of Le Roy, was arrested in connection with an alleged altercation on March 15 in which Ashley reported punched another person in the face. The victim suffered a broken nose and a cut cornea. Ashley is charged with assault in the third degree.

Neil H. Farley III, 18, of Elba and his 17-year-old brother were arrested at their Ridge Road home Friday evening for allegedly throwing an under-age drinking party. The 17-year-old was allegedly found in possession of marijuana and several marijuana pipes were reportedly found in his room. Both are charged with unlawfully dealing with children in the first degree.

Kevin E. Moscicki, 21, of Oakfield, was arrested Saturday morning in Batavia and charged with DWI. The Sheriff's office reports that Moscicki's vehicle was observed making an unsafe lane change and an improper right turn, which led to a traffic stop.  Further investigation revealed Moscicki was allegedly operating the vehicle while intoxicated. He was charged with driving with at BAT .08 or more.

Gregory L. Brennan, 40, of Batavia was charged with DWI following a traffic stop on Slusser Road in Pembroke. He is accused of driving with a BAT .08 or greater and operating a motor vehicle without a license. Brennan was arrested early Sunday morning.

Robbie J. Stanton, 31, of Batavia, is charged with a felony DWI and operating a vehicle with a revoked license following a traffic stop in Pembroke Saturday morning.

Joseph M. Menas, 30, of Elba, was arrested and charged with DWI Thursday night after the Sheriff's office received a report of a car of the road on Route 98. When deputies arrived, the driver was not with the vehicle. Menas was subsequently found at a nearby residence. He is charged with DWI and aggravated DWI.

 The Batavia boys basketball team prides itself on its defense. And it is because of defense that the Blue Devils nearly shocked Jamesville-Dewitt Saturday morning in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A semifinals.

J-D has been the top ranked team in the state all season long and has a senior guard that is heading to Syracuse next year on a basketball scholarship, but Batavia's game plan was perfect and they forced the Red Rams to play at Batavia's pace.  Batavia only gave up 40 points, but lost the game 40-32.

The Blue Devils came out and surprised J-D with an early run, taking an early 8-3 lead. Batavia led 10-5 after one period of play, with Andrew Hoy hitting a pair of 3-pointers.

Batavia held J-D star Brandon Triche to just two points in the opening frame.

But the Red Rams went on a 14-0 run to open the second quarter and took a seven point lead. Batavia's defense kept them in the game though and the Blue Devils only trailed 20-13 at the break.

Andrew and Robert Hoy each had 3-pointers in the third quarter and J-D's lead was cut to 24-23.

The Red Rams went on a run after that and opened up a five point lead. Robert hit another 3-pointer and Batavia was only down 32-30 with just two minutes left in the game. Triche answered right back with a bucket and J-D hit some free throws down the stretch, ending an amazing season for the Batavia basketball team.

Triche ended up with 17 points but Batavia did a good job fighting the size disadvantage again. Coleman only scored two points in the contest.

Andrew Hoy led the Blue Devils with 15 points.

Batavia ends the season with a 22-4 record and has the honor of being just the second team in the program's history to make the state final four. Jamesville-Dewitt is now 25-1 and will be playing Peekskill in the finals tomorrow afternoon.

I spent a good portion of the morning reading about Barber Conable. What a good man.

No wonder he made number two on the list of 25 Things that Made Genesee County Famous.

Not only did Conable give us the term "smoking gun" (during the Watergate Scandal), but he was regarded by his peers as the most respected member of Congress (he never accepted an individual campaign contribution for more than $50); he also "put the 'K' in 401(k)" when he helped rewrite the tax code to help protect pensions at Eastman Kodak; and. as president of the World Bank, he transformed the organization into an institution that assisted women and children in poor nations.

Throughout his career, Conable maintained his connection to Batavia, returning home every weekend to meet with his friends and constituents.

My favorite passage in articles I read about Conable came from historian Yanek Mieczkowski:

I noticed framed, meticulous pencil sketches on some walls, and he explained that they were just doodles that he had made while a congressman.

Just doodles? They looked beautiful, and they had been enough to impress Ronald Reagan. The president had heard about the congressman's drawings, and asked to have some. Conable sent a few samples to the White House. In return, the president sent a page of his own sketches, on White House stationery, to the congressman. "Barber," the president wrote. "These are just doodles. Yours are art."

Mieczkowski's piece on Conable is outstanding, I recommend reading the entire piece.

I also found these two notable quotes from Conable:

"He (the first President Bush) thought I should be supporting an American agenda (as World Bank president). I thought I was there to help the poor people. So I got the reputation of not being a team player, and that was the one thing George wouldn't stand for."

"I could have stayed in Washington at six figures if I had wanted to. I considered it. But they wanted a stuffed exhibit and not a lawyer, and I didn't want to be a stuffed exhibit. They wanted to use my name and put me in the firm and give me a special 'of counsel' status. At the appropriate time the senior partner would push a button and I would come into the consultation he was having with his client and he'd say, 'You remember former Congressman Barber Conable, don't you? Remember the great role he played in Ways and Means?' That image frightened me."

Not only did Conable help make Genesee County famous, he should be at the top of any list of things to make Genesee County proud.

OK, Medina is outside of our coverage area, but the Daily News has a story this morning that concerns all of us, because any chance to create 200 good paying jobs in Western New York is an issue that impacts the entire region's economy.

Google wanted to build a server facility Medina, but the New York Power Authority would not help Google get low-cost power to the plant, which is a prerequisite for any of Google's hosting facilities.

The Daily's story fully captures the frustration over the situation.

State Sen. George Maziarz blasted NYPA for denying Google and other companies that have wanted to build in Western New York. Maziarz lambasted NYPA officials Thursday in Albany during a public hearing to raise electric rates by 12 percent.

“I personally worked over two years with a small company headquartered in San Francisco called Google that wanted desperately to locate in Western New York and were told there was no power available to them,” Maziarz said during Thursday’s hearing.

He blamed NYPA “for killing the deals and the jobs that go along with them.”

Maziarz went on to call NYPA officials liars and thieves.

If Niagara power can potentially  be acquired cheaply, as Tom Rivers points out in the story, to spur business growth, how does it possibly make sense for NYPA to thwart business expansion in a region that desperately needs that job growth?

Property taxes in New York are outrageously high. In that context, it's kind of amazing that Gov. Paterson would suggest the STAR rebate checks be discontinued.

Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer held a press conference in LeRoy yesterday to call on Paterson to rescind his plan elimination of the checks. It's not surprising that I was the only reporter to show up, but as a property owner (for now) in New York, I think those checks are kind of important.

Further, when you consider, as Ranzhofer points out, that the checks return $8 million a year in cash flow to Genesee County, the rebate program is exceptionally important to the local economy.  It is ironic that at a time when the Federal government is spending trillions of dollars under what the president and Congress label a "stimulus" program, Gov. Paterson would take money out of the economy as fast as he can.

However, I think weakest among Ranzenhofer's arguments against elimination of the checks is the notion that elimination of the checks could cause people to lose their homes.  This sounds more like a play on emotion rather than reason. According to Ranzenhofer's own press release, the average check is for $335 and $420.  At $420, that's $35 per month. I just wonder how many property owners are gazing at the precipice over $35 per month? Yes, I can imagine a retired person on fixed income finding $35 very hard to muster, but when the alternative is losing your life-long home, you're probably going to find some way to make sure that tax is paid.

That said, the effort shouldn't even be necessary. Property taxes in New York or too high and the last thing Gov. Paterson should be doing is essentially increasing those taxes.

Have you ever knocked on a door only to find out no one was home? Well that was the way it was Thursday night on our night out with Care-A-Van. We headed out the local college GCC to visit the door rooms. We knew ahead of time that it was spring break but we still wanted to be able to go out and brighten the evening for those students that may have not been able to head home for spring break.

Each time we go there, one of the security guards goes around with us. On this particular evening it was a plus to have her with us. She knew what rooms were occupied. Even though a lot of the  94 rooms were empty we still left them a brochure about the ministry, a gospel track, a big bag of cookies and a personal invitation to the Easter Dinner that Care-Van is hosting on Easter Day, April 12^th . This dinner will be held at the Assembly of God church beginning at 2:00 PM. If you have nowhere to go, come join us for Easter Dinner. Paul and Bridget will personally be doing the cooking! I have even heard that there will be a chocolate fountain, now how could one resist that?

Bridget was kind enough to send along Goulash on the bus to feed the hungry workers.

This was a big plus as a few of the students came out to the bus to have dinner with us.

Elder Ron got to spend some quality time feeding them not only physically but spiritually as well. PJ was busy getting bags of groceries to send back to the doom room with these young folks.  Dave and I were busy hitting up the candy bowls that adorn the booths. Dave told me that he calls it the “Calorie Van”. Goodies are readily available for anyone who climbs on board.  Paul kept busy with synching his IPOD into the new stereo system to provide the music entertainment of the evening.

Do you remember the story about how Jesus fed thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread? God did that tonight with the goulash. Just as we were getting ready to leave, three young men came out to get something to eat. Now mind you, I swear that crockpot was empty. There was not much left when I got a chance to eat.  The one young man had eaten 4 bowls! But Elder Ron said sure we have food, come on board! I watched from the back of the bus as he filled 3 bowls to the rim full of Goulash! I truly witnessed how God provides just enough. It still boggles my mind where those last 3 bowls of goulash came from.

When the students arrive back home from spring break, they will find a surprise treat waiting for them. For the students that were home, they got a special extra treat. It truly was a special evening spent at the college. We got to meet some young men from Spain and England. Typically, we do not get to spend this much quality one on one time with the students. God blessed us just as much as he blessed these young students.

So next time you knock on a door and no one is home, I encourage you to think of how you could brighten the occupant’s arrival home. Maybe you could leave a special treat, or maybe a welcome home note, or maybe just a note to let them know that you do truly care and if they ever need anything they can give you a call. This is what Care-Van does. We go forth and let them know we are there because we care! Have a great week-end!

For months we've offered the "Announcements" section as a place for civic groups to share information about their events and news, but the section isn't as useful if you're wondering what's happening on a specific date.

Today, we added an actual calendar to the site.

To add an item to the calendar go to "Create Content" and then click on the "Event" link.

If you tag your event "announcements" it will also show up in Announcements.

To view the calendar, you'll find it on the right side of the page.

The Batavia basketball team is favored on the court more often than not. Saturday morning will be different.

The Blue Devils will be taking on a team that has been the top ranked team in the state all season long, has a player getting a full ride to Syracuse and is the defending state champion.

Senior Brandon Triche scored 28 points in Jamesville-DeWitt's 90-61 win over Scotia-Glenville in the regional game and is the biggest name on the roster because he will be playing for 'Cuse next season. But he isn't the only big-time player on the roster.

The biggest challenge Batavia faces is a youngster. Dajuan Coleman is a 6-foot-8 freshman that is going to cause serious matchup problems. The Blue Devils have been undersized all year and have done well against big players for the most part. But there have been times that players with this kind of height have dominated. 

Batavia forward Joe Schlossel has had a tremendous season and has played much bigger than his listed size of 6-2. But he's going to need a lot of help with Coleman.

Jamesville-DeWitt is extremely athletic and will attempt to run the floor. If Batavia can get rebounds, they should be able to slow things down. The Blue Devils need to get into a half court game to have a shot in this matchup.

Batavia has won games this season because of a strong perimeter game, led by sophomore Andrew Hoy. The Blue Devils will have to put up some impressive shooting numbers from beyond the arc to win this game.

The game is at 10:45 Saturday morning and the winner will battle either Peekskill or East Hampton at 1 p.m. Sunday. 

Batavia Police are looking for a hero who broke up an attempted robbery by two young thugs on Ellicott Street near Jackson on March 5 at about 1:30 p.m.

The victim was a 90-year-old woman.

She was accosted by two young men in their late teens, but an unknown passerby chased the suspects away.

Police want to talk to the hero as well as any other witnesses.

The BPD's press release does not indicate whether investigators have yet identified the suspects.

The hero or other witnesses are asked to call Det. Kevin Czora at 585-345-6311 or the BPD at 585-345-6350.

An unidentified woman was taken to UMMC after driving her vehicle into Wal-Mart late this morning, according to WBTA.

The woman was apparently the only person injured, after her car smashed into the vestibule.

WBTA posted an audio interview with an eyewitness.

Sheriff's deputies told WBTA that the woman may have become confused the gas pedal and brake pedal of her car.

WBTA has posted a picture from the scene.

Looking back, winter arrived somewhat early and made its presence felt in many ways. Early on it was pleasant enough, with calm, windless days and the countryside coated white for Christmas.

A few days we had that Winter Wonderland effect - Nice to look at – for a while.

This is our backyard, filled courtesy of Tonawanda Creek. On three separate occasions the Tonawanda spilled its banks this winter.  

Finally, signs of spring! These snow geese signal more favorable weather is on the way. They found a neighbor's farm a suitable stopover enroute to their breeding grounds in the far north. 

Soon it will be time to break out the spinning rod and head for Lakeside Beach State Park and hopefully, catch that narrow window – occurring some between late March and early May - when the Lake Ontario shoreline offers a mixed bag. For a short while brown trout, cohos and even a few lake trout will inhabit the shallows      

For years I’ve been told the catfish and walleye fishing really heats up after dark on the Genesee River – maybe this is the year I’ll find the time to give it a whirl.     

I know this is Western New York and weather-wise we may not be entirely out of the woods, but at the very least, we’ve got to somewhere near the edge.

Every year for the last 5 or 6 years, I have a little ritual that I do on the first day of Spring. I heard that on this day, you can take a raw egg and stand it up on end and it will stay. I tried it and every year since it has worked!!! It has something to do with the position of the Earth at this time of year, I really can't remember the details. All I know is with a little bit of patience, you can make an egg stand up on its bottom !!

Try it for yourself !!     Happy First Day of Spring !!

State officials announced in Albany yesterday the arrest of 23 people -- including an unidentified Genesee County man -- for allegedly dealing illegally in New York native species.

The group of people were allegedly capturing and selling native rattlesnakes, salamanders and turtles.

"We were addressing what was becoming a mammoth industry in New York, and that was the illegal trade in New York reptiles," said Thomas, a law enforcement lieutenant at DEC's regional headquarters in Avon, Livingston County.

Thomas said that reptiles and amphibians should be valued and protected as bedrock species in their ecosystems that consume insects and small mammals perceived as pests, and in turn being consumed by larger animals.

UPDATE: The D&C's version of the story includes this information:

Among those charged with misdemeanor counts were Kenneth R. Howard Jr., 53, of Oakfield, Genesee County, and Michael J. Loveless, 58, of Machias, Cattaraugus County. Both men are accused of illegally trapping snapping turtles and selling them in Maryland for meat.

Emmanuel Williams, 33, of Batavia was arrested Thursday night for allegedly having "physical contact with a child less than 17 years old," according to the police report. He is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Williams is being held on $7,500 bail.

We discovered a new local blogger this week: Tyler Barrett. He's a young, aspiring fiction writer. In an e-mail, he told me he's looking for other younger writers in the area who want to work on growing and learning together.