Last night we reported word of a fire at Main St. Pizza Company, 200 E. Main Street, Batavia, but information at the time made it sound relatively minor.

It turns out there the fire caused $30,000 in damage -- $25,000 to the structure and $5,000 to contents of the building, according a report released by the Batavia Fire Department late last night.

The fire was contained mostly to a exhaust duct at the rear of the building, with a "minor extension into the building."

The report states that owner Victor Marchese became aware of the fire when he smelled smoke. He immediately evacuated the customers and called 911.

When city fire crews arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from the duct and quickly dosed the fire with the use of chemical extinquishers and water hoses.

Thank You To All The Veterans.From Dan and Boys

A reader sent an e-mail and said she heard an Main Street business in Batavia is on fire and Main Street is shut down.

I tried calling the dispatch center and the conversation went like this:

"I'm Howard Owens with The Batavian."

"I'm sorry, sir, we're really busy."

"I hear there is a fire on Main Street."

"I'm sorry, sir, we don't have time to talk."

Click.

I spoke to somebody at T.F. Brown's who said he heard something about a fire but didn't really know.

If you know anything, please fill us in.

Brian Hillabush is on his way to the scene, but won't be there for 40 minutes or so (he was out of town, too).

UPDATE:  Dan Jones went to the scene and confirmed there were fire trucks on the scene. The business that we had been tipped to was Main St. Pizza Company. I just called Main St. Pizza and it turned out to be a real minor fire. It was extinquished quickly and no real damage was done.

Today's deal: We have one give certificate for each, T.F. Brown's and Herbly Wonderful, valued at $25 each, and we're offering them for $12.50 (Half off) each (plus a $1 service fee).

Herbly Wonderful. Located at 3701 Pearl Street Road, Herbly Wonderful features a fine variety of teas, herbs, blends, spices and seasoning, plus a range of other items for home and garden.  See the ad on the left side of the page and click on it for more information.

T.F. Browns, at 214 E. Main St., T.F. Brown's is a great place for a good meal, good friends and to catch up on what's going on in the sports world. The patio is now open. It's also a great place to host group events.  See the ad on the left side of the page for contact information.

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value.  People who have won a certificate in the past 30 days are not eligible to win a certificate from the same business as before.  By state law, gift certificates cannot be used for alcohol purchase.

How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. (today or tomorrow) to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

Herbly Wonderful

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T.F. Brown's

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Michael Hamilton makes candles.  He makes quite a few of them in a variety of shapes, fragrances and colors.  Then he makes them available to you in his store at 201 Liberty St.

Today's Deal: A $25 gift certificate for Essence of Candles at HALF OFF -- $12.50 (plus a $1 service fee).

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value.  People who have won a certificate in the past 30 days are not eligible to win a certificate from the same business as before.  By state law, gift certificates cannot be used for alcohol purchase.

How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. (today or tomorrow) to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

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Apparently, a quality organization like Mercy Flight taking over the ambulance service in the county and expressing a desire to hire all of the city ambulance employees isn't enough for union president Greg Ireland. He wants his pound of flesh, too.

The union has filed a "improper practices claim" against the city for an alleged Taylor Law violation in deciding to discontinue the city-backed ambulance service.

The claim is, the city has taken steps to "subcontract" the ambulance jobs by discontinuing the city service.

"Our stance hasn't changed," Ireland said Friday. "The city can't do what they're doing because of the Taylor Law. The city took the steps to change (ambulance service) without negotiating" with the union, he said.

Ireland said a change in ambulance service can't be made legally.

"And it's not going to be if we can help it," he said. "This could have been avoided but the city never approached us. It's too bad it's come to this."

Charlie Mallow said he doesn't believe there is a Taylor Law violation.

But are we to understand from Mallow that the city doesn't intend to sign a contract with Mercy Flight:

"It's something we've discontinued. We are not signing an agreement with whomever the county has selected," he said. "Unions file grievances. This makes it difficult to do what is fiscally prudent." (emphasis added)

So who will provide city ambulance service? Is the union tactic forcing the city into a position where it can't contract with Mercy Flight?

It looks like the fight isn't over. It's just move from one ring to another.

On Wednesday we ran this same poll question, but it was clear from all of the "Other" answers that I left out quite a few places that should have been included.  So I thought for a weekend bonus poll, I would re-do it with those places added into the answer options.

As The Batavian reported two months ago, Genesee County's dairy farmers have been squeezed by falling prices and higher production costs -- with prices being driven from excess milk supplies during the recession.

The New York Farm Bureau, lead by local dairyman Dean Norton, has convinced the federal government to increase dairy exports, which should help tighten supply and bring prices back in line with production costs.

The move comes after months of advocating from Farm Bureau's farmer/members who directly lobbied USDA with Congressional visits in Washington, sent e-mail messages and called or wrote hundreds of letters to Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack.

"Our members should be proud of their hard work in lobbying for USDA to activate the Dairy Export Incentive Program to help alleviate our dairy crisis," said Dean Norton, president of New York Farm Bureau and a dairy farmer from Batavia.

Memorial Day in Byron, Monday May 25th.

9:00 AM - Plant Sale at the Byron Presbyterian Church on Rt. 262. 

All Day - Food concession

All Day - Vendor tables with crafts and rummage

11:00 AM - Town Parade (begins on Terry Street and proceeds east on Rt. 262, concluding with a ceremony at the Byron Cemetery).

Noon - Free games for children in the park next to the Presbyterian Church on Rt. 262, also featuring "Mr. Squiggles" (Mr. Squiggles is sponsored by the Byron-Bergen Library through a grant from the NYS Council on the Arts Decentralization Program).

1:00 PM - Big Auction on the lawn of the Presbyterian Church, Rt. 262.  Antiques and furniture are included. 

3:00 PM - Duck Race, sponsored by the Byron Town park Committtee - purchase your chances throughout the day at the park next to the church.  Watch the thrilling finish on the Trestle park Bridge, a short walk from the Presbyterian Church.

For more information, please call the Presbyterian Church, 548-2800.  For vendor table space, please call Laura at 548-2245.

Dispatcher: "Another one at the Cedar Street Bridge didn't make."

Need we say more?

UPDATE: The driver is identified as Aziz A. Razikov, with a Washinton State drivers license.

I happened by this small accident on Main Street in Batavia just a minute or so after it happened. It occurred about 20 minutes ago.  The street is already clear.

It seemed like a good idea at the time: Le Roy resident John Garner happened to own an old DOT variable message sign, so he offered it as a promotional device to the organizations and businesses of the village.

We reported on the sign in January. The sign was placed on Route 19 and promoted local businesses and community events.

Just as spring started to get sprung, the sign disappeared.

Yesterday, Ann Walters, owner of the Hobby Horse on Main Street, told me the Department of Transportation asked that it be removed.
 

"What a marketing technique," said, Walters, who regrets seeing the sign disappear. "I wish I could say I thought of it."

She said it did help bring business into the village.

Walters impression was that the DOT didn't like one of their signs being used to advertise businesses, and there were concerns about it being a distraction, that the sign should be used only for its intended purpose, which is providing traffic information for drivers.

"How can you control use of a sign when you sell it?" Walters asked. "If you want to control it, you don't sell it."

Garner couldn't be reached for comment (Walters identified Garner as the owner of the sign).

DOT regional spokesman Lori Maher said there's an explanation -- not necessarily simple, but an explanation nonetheless -- for the DOT's position.

The state controls the right-of-way on state routes, which is 66 33 feet (66 total) on either side of the center line (though there are numerous exceptions and variables, so that measurement may not apply on this section of Route 19). There are also strict regulations dealing with commercial sites in visual range of a state road.

Even if the sign was outside of the right-of-way, Maher said, it would still violate sign advertising rules.

"The whole purpose (of these regulations) is to restrict the proliferation of signs containing all kinds of messages, which becomes clutter and a safety issue," Maher said. 

The rules are both state and federal and have their roots in the 1965 Highway Beautification Act, she said.

For more information on the NYS sign policy, click here.

Students from St. Joseph School planted flags on the graves of veterans at St. Joseph's Cemetery yesterday. Nora O'Neill submitted this photo and the one below.

Here is a schedule of Monday's Memorial Day events sponsored by Genesee County Veteran's Services.

7:00 a.m. - Genesee County Park - (Vietnam Veterans of America)

8:00 a.m. - Williams Park

8:30 a.m. - Batavia VA MedicalCenter

8:40 a.m.- New York State Veterans’ Nursing Home

9:00 a.m.- United Memorial Medical Center

9:30 a.m.- Upton Monument

10:15 a.m.- Parade -- forms at Aldi’s market at 9:15 a.m. – travels west on Main Street, left onto Harvester to Veterans’ Plot

11:00 a.m - Veterans’ Plot (Harvester Avenue)

Take some time out for a meal and entertainment at Batavia Downs.

We have a $25 gift certificate available for $12.50 -- HALF OFF! -- to Batavia Downs Grandstands Bar & Grille ($1 service fee applies).

To find out more about what's going on at Batavia Downs this Memorial Day weekend or next week, visit BataviaDownsCasino.com

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value.  People who have won a certificate in the past 30 days are not eligible to win a certificate from the same business as before.  By state law, gift certificates cannot be used for alcohol purchase.

How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. (today or tomorrow) to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

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The title of an anticipated report on consolidation of the City and Town of Batavia seems to indicate the committee studying the issue sees it as a positive move.

"First Report to the Community -- A Vision for One Batavia."

The Consolidation Study Committee will discuss the report at a public meeting at 7 p.m. June 1 in Batavia Town Hall, 3833 W. Main St.

Serving on the study committee: Lynn Freeman, Sally Kuzon, Steven Lockwood, Beverly Mancuso, Jason Molino, Steven Mountain and Jeffery Scott.

Mercy Flight, which won the nod of the Genesee County Ambulance Task Force, intends to buy the existing city ambulances, according to Vice President and CFO Margie Ferrentino.

City ambulance staff will also be given an opportunity to work for the new service. They will have to go through a pre-employment screening process, but Ferrentino indicated it's Mercy Flight's preference to retain existing staff when possible.

Ferrentino also said this morning that even though the not-for-profit Mercy Flight has not operated street ambulance services before, the leadership and staff of Mercy Flight has hundreds of years of cumulative experience in the ambulance business.

The organization is planning to base two ambulances on North Street and one at the airport.

Here is a four-minute audio interview with Ferrentino.

Ferrentino also supplied two documents outlining the experience of CEO Douglas H. Baker and the rest of the senior staff.

UPDATE: Here's a three-minute audio interview with CEO Doug Baker. Baker says how excited Mercy Flight is to get the opportunity to serve Genesee County with ground ambulance service and notes that there will be local residents on the board of directors. Current Batavia ambulance personnel are their first choice to join the new service. "We hope that all of them will come on board," Baker said.

UPDATE II: Tim Yaeger, coordinator for Emergency Management Services, and head of the task force discusses the Mercy Flight selection in this audio interview. He said he's happy the long process has come to an end. He said Mercy Flight came out on top because the organization clearly understands Genesee County, with its unique needs due to having an urban area and very rural areas.

Officials will announce today that Mercy Flight -- which currently is not in the ground ambulance business -- is the preferred choice of the Genesee County Ambulance Task Force to take over ambulance service for the county.

In a press released obtained by The Batavian prior to its official release to the media, officials state:

The Task Force recommends to local governments and fire districts Mercy Flight, Inc. as the preferred vendor for ambulance services in Genesee County. Mercy Flight, Inc. will operate three Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, one Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance and a Paramedic Fly Car 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They will maintain two additional ambulances in reserve status. Their operation will be based in Batavia and will provide services to all municipal jurisdictions and fire districts in Genesee County.
 
The Task Force will continue to assist all parties involved with the conversion process to assure a relatively seamless transition when the city of Batavia ends ambulance service on Aug. 31.

A person associated with the Batavia ambulance service also e-mailed us about the Mercy Flight selection and said, "Hopefully it will be a good fit. We just have to wait for the fine details before we throw a party."

Other companies considered in the request-for-proposal process were Monroe Ambulance, Rural Metro Medical Services and TLC Emergency Medical Services, Inc..

UPDATE: From Mercy Flight's "About Us" page:

Mercy Flight WNY is an independent, not-for-profit provider of emergency air medical transport. We ensure rapid, safe and cost effective delivery of expert emergency response teams. Established in 1981, Mercy Flight has flown more than 17,000 patient missions over the last 27 years. We currently own 5 helicopters and have crews ready to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week out of bases in Buffalo, Batavia and Olean.

UPDATE 10:25 a.m.: Four-hours later, the Daily has its story up, but has an important clarification:

“This is not going to be a county service,” he said (Assistant County Manager Frank Ciaccia). “This will be up to each of the individual towns, and the city of Batavia, to contract separately with Mercy Flight for their ambulance services.”

Mercy Flight will still need to acquire a certificate of need from the State Health Department, he said. That’s a certificate of approval granted by a state agency to a health care provider, deeming that a service or facility is warranted.

Bradley R. Jordan, 16, of Bethany, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property. Jordan is allegedly involved with the theft of a 2004 Polaris Sportsman Pro H.O. Four-Wheel ATV from a residence in Stafford. Deputy P.J. Reeves reported he found Jordan in possession of the ATV, which went missing March 11. Previously, we reported Steven Peckenpaugh, 17, of Attica, had been arrested and charged with the theft of the vehicle. Jordan is held on $10,000 bail. The value of the ATV was placed at $3,700.

Abdullah H. Shareef, 27, of Rochester, is accused of damaging a door to City Centre on May 4. He was taken into custody by Batavia PD at 8:05 p.m last night. He is being held in Genesee County Jail on $1,000 bail.

Jarred Brannan, 24, of Churchville, was taken into custody based on a bench warrant. No details are provided on the nature of the warrant. He is held in Genesee County Jail on $1,000 bail.

About 25 people attending a seminar this evening at City Hall on how the new roundabout on Oak Street will work.

Because of another event I attended, I only arrived near the end of the meeting.  Reporter Joanne Beck was there and I'm sure she'll have a full report for the Daily.

The information seemed well received by those who attended. Council member Kathy Briggs said it was very imformative.

Below are two videos. One of Howard McCulloch, roundabout design specialist for the state, discussing how best to navigate a roundabout, and then I shot a few sections of an animation of the Oak Street roundabout with cars going through it. The full, clearer, version of this video will appear on the City's web site within a couple of weeks.