In Genesee County, if you follow local sports, you know the name Brian Hillabush.

Brian has been covering sports, mostly high school sports, for the Batavia Daily News for eight years.  In that time, he has developed a solid reputation and built quite a popular following.

Today, he joins the staff of The Batavian.

Brian will be the full-time sports editor for The Batavian (you may have noticed we added a sports tab to the top of the home page the other day).  He’ll cover local sports and help anybody who wants to post their own team or league information on the site.  Besides being able to blog about sports (something he wasn’t allowed to do for the Daily News), he’s also excited about shooting video for the site – so looks for more local sports video on The Batavian.

A native of Oakfield, Brian has spent his entire life in Genesee County. He attended Genesee Community College where he studied broadcasting and managed WGCC.  He even spent a couple of months working for WBTA before embarking on his print career.

In hiring Brian, we fulfill one of our earlier promises – that as we grow, we will hire local staff, people who live in and love Genesee County.

We’re also excited to bring Brian onto our team because he’s just so dang good – a good writer who really knows local sports, has a wealth of contacts and is highly regarded by the people he deals with. We’re confident that with Brian covering sports for The Batavian, we’ll have the most timely and comprehensive Genesee County sports coverage you’re going to get anywhere.
 

The Arts Council for Wyoming County presents the 33rd Annual Letchworth Arts & Crafts Show and Sale on Columbus Day Weekend, featuring handcrafts of 300+ artisans from all over the US. Enjoy the peak fall foliage at Letchworth State Park along with the best in pottery, paintings, quilts and fiber arts, handcrafted jewelry, photography, furniture, decorative painting, dried floral pieces and more. Food vendors and live entertainment. Handicap parking available. Curbside pickup of heavy purchases. Free with park admission. Shuttle bus service is also available from American Outfitters, Rte. 39, Perry.

Oct. 11,12 &13 from 10 am to 5 pm at the Highbanks Recreation Area of Letchworth State Park.

Info: 
www.artswyco.org/letchworthcrafts.htm
info@artswyco.org or call (585) 237-3517

State police are investigating a crash that claimed the life of a Depew man yesterday. Twenty-nine-year-old Thomas Delong was riding on his motorcycle along Bloomingdale Road in the town of Alabama when he lost control of the bike on a curve and crossed into the path of an oncoming vehicle, driven by Donald Jelonek, of Cheektowaga. Delong fell from his bike and was struck by the vehicle in the road. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Genesee County Coroner Robert Yungfleisch. Jelonek was not injured and faces no charges.

Angela K. Williamson, 36, of 106 Ellsworth Ave., Batavia, was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and promoting prison contraband Sunday, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Williamson was allegedly found with a bag of marijuana in her purse while she was being processed for a previous charge by the Batavia city police.

All above reports were issued in published releases from the various departments.

Joe Mesi got us his thoughts late last night on the impending victory in the Democratic run for endorsement in the 61st Senate District. Here's what he had to say:

"I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I've never been afraid of hard work. Tonight is about the future of Western New Yorkers, and I'm looking forward to continuing to run a campaign that is about the issues and my ideas. I know we've got a huge fight ahead of us, but the team of grassroots supporters has already been incredible, and I'm looking forward to focusing on the challenges that face our families. That's what this next election in November should be about."

The St. Louis Cardinals seem to like what they see about Batavia so far as far as player development goes. The team announced yesterday that it renewed its contract with the Muckdogs for two more seasons, according to Scout.com.

“We’ve enjoyed our two years in Batavia,” stated Cardinals Vice President and General Manager John Mozeliak. “We are grateful for Naomi Silver and Dan Mason as they look to build a successful franchise in Batavia. We look forward to the next two years there.”

UPDATE (Philip): We received comments from Naomi Silver, Muckdogs Manager Mark DeJohn and the Cardinals VP of Scouting, John Luhnow on the contract extension.

Naomi Silver:

“We are very pleased to be able to extend our agreement with the Cardinals. When you are fortunate enough to affiliate with such an outstanding organization, you certainly hope to see it continue. We are gratified that they are eager to remain in Batavia. We have been very lucky to be with an organization which has provided us with extremely talented young players. There’s nothing better than playing in the post-season, and this year has been extremely exciting for all of us and the Batavia community.

“The Cardinals are a class organization, and we couldn’t ask for a better partner. They know how important their role has been here and they deserve a lot of credit for the great team they’ve fielded for us. They have been great to work with and we’re looking forward to continuing this relationship.”

Mark DeJohn:

“I’ve really enjoyed my time here the last two seasons and I enjoy working with the front office and stadium staff. I appreciate the improvements made to the ballpark and operation prior to this season and I look forward to working here with our young players for another two seasons.”

John Luhnow:

“The Cardinals are excited about staying in Batavia. We believe in small town minor league baseball; for our players and staff as well as the community."

Batavia (1-1) stormed back from a 8-2 deficit to take down Lowell (1-1) 13-9.  Arquimedes Nieto (1-0) earned himself the win, pitching two and two thirds innings with five hits, one run, one walk and two strikeouts.  Jason Buursma got his first save of the post-season, retiring the last Spinner of the night.  Lowell's Wang-Yi Lin (0-1) blew the save and got the loss in his one inning with three hits, four runs and one walk.

The Muckdogs took the lead early in the bottom of the 1st as they scored two runs.  Colt Sedbrook was hit by a pitch, then Charlie Cutler and Jermine Curtis both singled to plate one.  After Shane Peterson walked to load the bases, Edwin Gomez had a sacrifice fly for the other RBI.  However, the Spinners answered right back with three runs of their own.  Ricardo Burgos doubled, Will Middlebrooks tripled and Kade Keowen and Casey Kelly had back-to-back base hits in the rally.  Keowen came home on a wild pitch for the third run.  They added one more in the 3rd on a walk, stolen base and a single, and another in the 5th in the same fashion.

Lowell scored three more runs in the 6th to make it a 8-2 game. Keowen singled and Kelly and Ryan Dent doubled to score two; Ryan Lavarnway hit a sacrifice fly for the other run.  But it was Batavia's night of winning, as a big six run 6th inning tied things up.  Frederick Parejo and Xavier Scruggs both walked to start the rally.  Both advanced on a wild pitch, enabling Parejo to come home when Sedbrook reached on a fielding error.  RBI singles by Cutler and Peterson continued the onslaught.  Gomez doubled to plate two before coming home himself on a Chris Swauger double.

And the Muckdogs were not done there.  They scored five more runs in the next inning to put the game out of reach.  Sedbrook was hit by a pitch, moved around the bases on a Cutler single and came home on a wild pitch.  Peterson then came up with another RBI single.  Gomez walked to load the bases for Swauger to come up with a bases-clearing double to left.

Cutler was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a RBI and three runs scored.  Peterson went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, and Swauger went 2-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI.  The rubber match to decide who will continue on the playoff quest will be Wednesday at 7:05 at Dwyer Stadium.

*I may not have a write-up for tomorrow's game right away; I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon to go to Pennsylvania to cover the events in Shanksville, PA (the site of the crash of Flight 93) for our campus TV station, and I won't be back until late Thursday.  I'll try to get something done after the game, but I can't promise anything!

We just received the full vote results for Genesee County for the primary elections. Click here to download the file.

UPDATE (by Howard): Here's the D&C story on Kryzan's win, which characterizes her as "surprised" by the victory.

We just now received this statement from Alice Kryzan:

“I am honored that the Democrats of this District have chosen me to represent them in the upcoming general election to be their next representative in Congress. From day one this campaign has been about you and the serious issues facing the 26th District and the country. Today, you sent a clear message: You want an independent voice in Washington, one that will focus on the issues, one that will put you before the Washington special interests and tired old-establishment politics.

As we look towards November, I am excited by the promise in our District. We have so many wonderful assets in our community, the most important being our hardworking men and women who have persevered through good times and bad, never losing sight of the core values we share.

As I’ve said many times in the past, I pledge that as your Congresswoman, every morning I will look at my schedule and ask, “Is what I’m doing today going to benefit the people of the 26th District?” If the answer is no, then it’s coming off my agenda. I look forward to ensuring in November that the men and women of this District finally have a representative they can be proud of.”

Alice also congratulated her opponents, Jon Powers and Jack Davis on a hard fought race and is looking forward to working with them to ensure this District has the representation it deserves.

Alice Kryzan is an environmental attorney and lifelong Democrat who has lived and worked in Amherst for more than 30 years. She has been in the forefront of change for her entire career, becoming the first woman partner at what was then Buffalo’s largest law firm. She is a long-time community volunteer who has been involved in environmental, energy and women’s issues. She currently lives with her husband of thirty-five years, Bob Berger. They have one son Sam, who is a law student.

It's still unofficial, but it looks like Alice Kryzan will take home the party nod for the Democrats in the 26th Congressional District and face off against Republican Chris Lee in the general election this November. We have not received notice from the Genesee County Board of Elections, but culling the numbers from Niagara and Monroe counties, we show Kryzan with between a four and six percentage point lead over Jon Powers. Jack Davis trails in a distant third.

Fellow bloggers WNYMedia in Buffalo are hosting a live blog tonight with real-time video feed and chat. Until we hear back from the campaigns about their thoughts on the race turnout, the bloggers may be a good source for info and perspective.

Erie County's Board of Elections is showing Joe Mesi with a commanding lead and a likely vitory in the race for the 61st Senate. mesi is holding strong with 52 percent of the vote. Michele Iannello is in second place with 35 percent. Dan Ward is in third with 13 percent.

Locally, the Republican primary for Batavia town justice was not much of a contest, according to figures posted on WBTA by Dan Fischer (no source cited). The final results are in and Thomas Williams is the winner with a total of 318 votes. Dennis Rider pulled in 62 votes.

Dan Fischer also posted the results specific to Genesee County in the races for the 26th Congress and the 61st Senate. Powers led with 621 to Kryzan's 524 votes in the 26th. Mesi commanded with 1,042 votes.

Other races...

61st Senate (Independent):

• Michael Ranzenhofer: 70 percent
• William Walters: 30 percent

We're still waiting on messages to the campaigns. Some we have just had no luck in reaching. We'll do our best to post more perspectives, reactions and statements as they come in. For more in the meantime check out some of our other area blogs: the Fighting 29th, Buffalo Pundit, WNYMedia and the Albany Project.

Alice Kryzan is leading right now in the Democratic primary race for the 26th Congressional District with just shy of 40 percent of the vote. That's according to the Niagara County Board of Elections which shows 67 of 80 machines reporting. Jon Powers is in a not too distant second place with just over 32 percent. Davis trails in last lace with nearly 28 percent, dropping further from contention than only an hour ago, when he was not even two percentage points behind Powers.

Area bloggers have converged at the WNYMedia site for a round of live blogging, led by a real-time video feed coming out of Buffalo (I believe). It's a must for political junkies looking to get in on the immediate conversation. We hope to hear some substantial commentary once the results solidify in the hour or so—right now it's more about the price of beer and the dysfunction of portable hardware.

As for the Democratic primary for the 61st Senate, Joe Mesi is commanding a comfortable lead with about 52 percent of the vote and more than 80 percent of the districts reporting. Those numbers are coming from the Erie County Board of Elections, where you can track other races, as well. Michele Iannello is in second with 35 percent, followed by Dan Ward who has about 13 percent of the vote.

Please note that all of these figures are unofficial and incomplete. We will report later with the more complete yet still unofficial results, which should be coming in from the Genesee County Board of Elections. We also hope to get some commentary from the Democrats, and hopefully a statement from the projected winners.

Be sure to visit The Batavian tonight for election results and news from the campaigns.

Stacey Kratz got us this info about the Champmobile that's set up right now at Washington Towers on State Street in Batavia until 3:00pm this afternoon.

What’s big and purple and coming to Batavia?

Find out when AARP and Divided We Fail unveil the “Champmobile,” a sprawling 56-foot-long interactive educational vehicle designed to engage voters in the 2008 Election.  Wrapped in purple glazed photos of Washington, D.C. monuments and pulled by a muscular F-350 Ford Super Duty pick-up, the Champmobile will stop in Syracuse as it makes it way through upstate New York and the rest of the country.

Media and the general public are invited for a hands-on tour of the Champmobile, which features wireless internet and satellite feeds allowing voters to e-mail a candidate, a camera station to record a YouTube message for the next president, and a podium where they can give their own mock presidential address.

“New Yorkers want our lawmakers in Washington to know that they are tired of partisan gridlock and they want substantial changes on the issues of health and lifetime financial security,” said Lois Aronstein, AARP New York State Director.  “We’re excited about the opportunity to engage voters of all ages in the election process and give them a chance
to let their voices be heard.”

Background:  The Champmobile is named after Divided We Fail’s mascot, Champ, who represents the bipartisan effort of the nationwide effort (www.dividedwefail.org) designed to engage the American people, elected officials and the business community to find broad-based, bi-partisan solutions to the most compelling domestic issues facing the nation – health care and the long-term financial security of Americans.

Today's Daily News features two more reports from Matt Surtel who is on a trip to Washington D.C. with a group of area veterans led by Assemblyman Steve Hawley. Surtel steps out of the spotlight for the front page piece which includes reflections of some of the vets as they observe the National World War II Memorial. A fantastic article, worth reading in full. In another article inside the paper, Surtel thrusts himself back into the fore in a quirky tale about his first-ever trip to the mess hall. My only critique of this short and punchy piece is that we only know that Surtel is in a cafeteria, but we don't know where. Where are you, Matt?

Joanne Beck must have been a busy writer yesterday. She has three pieces featured on the front page. One is about the City Council—Council President Charlie Mallow says they are "moving forward very, very quickly." Another is about Mallow stepping down as chair of the county Democratic party, news that was featured on WBTA and The Batavian this morning. The third article by Beck—which does not feature Charlie Mallow in a prominent role—is about the quartet of Chinese students who have settled at the campus of Genesee Community College for the year. It's a fun article.

Cregg Paul, co-owner of Center Street Smokehouse, was convicted of repeated failure to file corporate tax returns for his company, Employee Leasing Network, in county court Monday. He was acquitted of four other felony charges and four misdemeanors related to the returns. Paul could face up to four years in prison or "a lesser term in local jail or probation." He will be sentenced on December 10.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your nearest local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

In their first playoff game, Batavia (0-1) lost to Lowell (1-0) in extra innings by a score of 4-3.  Hector Cardenas was brilliant in the start for the Muckdogs.  He went six innings with one hit, one run, four walks and ten strikeouts.  Zach Pitts (0-1) got the loss in his one inning of work with one hit, one run, three walks and one strikeout.  Spinner Robert McClain (1-0) picked up the win in his two and a third innings with three strikeouts.

Lowell got up early, scoring one in the first on two walks and two ground outs.  It remained a 1-0 game until Batavia scored three runs in the 6th.  Edwin Gomez double and Colt Sedbrook had a RBI single to start things off.  The bases then became loaded as Charlie Cutler reached on a force attempt and Jermaine Curtis was hit by a pitch.  Shane Peterson then walked to send Sedbrook home.  Chris Swauger then grounded out for the Muckdogs' third and final run.

The Spinners started their comeback in the 8th as they scored one on two doubles by Peter Hissey and Mitch Dening.  They tied things up and sent the game into extras in the bottom of the 9th on a solo homerun by Will Middlebrooks.  And finally, in the bottom of the 12th, Lowell plated one more to get the win.  Bases became loaded before Ryan Dent was served up a walk that plated the deciding run.

Batavia's Edwin Gomez went 3-for-5 in the game with a double and run scored.  The two teams play their second contest tonight at 7:05 in Batavia.  If Batavia wins, the rubber-match will again be at Dwyer Stadium on Wednesday.  Remember, home field advantage only counts when we have a stadium full of fans, so get out to the ballpark this week!

My children go to Elba and  I would just like to say that I think its great how the community of Elba and Byron-Bergen all came out to support the newly combined Football team . My sons both play 1 on the modified and the older on the JV which i might add won against OA Saturday morning.But then we attended the Varsity game and it was just great to see how many were their just to support them; some didnt have kids on the team it was just nice to see.

Batavia's City Council met for a brief session last ight in City Hall and in that time unofficially decided to nix the city's ethics board and rely on the county's one if needed—though I imagine any formal vote on it would come at the next meeting, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. Council also decided to switch the meeting schedule so that council will only meet once a month on alternating Mondays. Council will continue to meet twice a month, but its meetings will be split. That means one Monday will be a business meeting and another will be the conference meeting.

In other news, City Council President Charlie Mallow has decided to step down as chairman of the Genesee County Democratic Party. Mallow will give up the post on September 17, though he plans to remain active in the group. He was chairman for a year and a half.

The Batavia Muckdogs let a two-run, eigth-inning lead slip away Monday night, sending its first-of-three playoff game against Lowell into extra innings.

The Muckdogs lost in the 12th inning 4-3.

Box Score.

This is the fifth post in our series about the two heated Democrat primary battles that will be decided at the polls Tuesday. Read our earlier post for the full details.

In anticipation of these races, we sent out the same question to all six candidates and asked each to please respond by the end of the day today. We've heard from three so far. We'll publish those and add the others as they come in. We asked the candidates a pretty open-ended two-part question: What are your final thoughts heading into the primary? What would you want the voter to have in mind about you as he or she heads to the polls?

We will publish each one in the order that we received it.

Fifth is Michele Iannello, candidate for the 61st Senate District. Iannello had this to say:

Unfortunately this primary has been plagued by outsiders slinging mud and trying to tell real Western New Yorkers who to vote for. I am proud to have stayed out of the muck despite the barrage of slime slung at me. Through out this campaign I am the only candidate who has been talking about real ideas to get Western New York back on the right track. With my 40 ideas in 40 days blog on my website, I have talked about specific, real proposals to change Albany. I would like voters to remember when they vote that actions speak louder than words. While some candidates talk about change I have been on the front lines fighting for it. I have a proven record of change that voters can trust to send to Albany.

We have not yet received a response from Jack Davis. He is the only candidate yet to respond.

Be sure to check with The Batavian Tuesday night. We will be posting election results as they are announced.