Scott Richardson, 19, of Rochester, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon with intent to use and unlawful possession of marijuana Wedensday following a traffic stop on Route 262 in Elba, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said.

Ericka M. Sprague, 23, of 307 Washington Ave., Batavia, was charged with petit larceny, and Christopher Say, 17, of no permanent address, was charged with criminal possession of stolen property Wedensday, city police said. Sprague is accused of stealing DVDs from a family member that Say then allegedly took to a local store in an attempt to sell them.

Dustin Say, 17, of Alexander, was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana Thursday, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said.

Don't forget! The Candlelight Cemetery Ghost Walk that was originally planned for this past Saturday at the Batavia Cemetery was rescheduled to tomorrow, so you still have one last chance to get out and meet the ghost of William Morgan, among others.

For those who missed it a couple weeks back, here's the video with all the info:

Security crews at Ralph Wilson Stadium will now respond to your text message in case of an emergency. Buffalo Bills fans have only to text the word 'BILLS' along with their seat number to 78247 to summon security. This way, if that annoying Brett Favre fan sitting next to you this Sunday gets too rowdy, all you have to do is whip out the cell phone.

This is a huge weekend for area high school football as five teams are still alive. The Batavian will have coverage at every game featured this weekend.

All of the previews are done, and all have video. Check them out.

Letchworth vs. Le Roy  

Dundee vs. Notre Dame

Attica vs. Bath

Pembroke vs. Oakfield-Alabama

Here it is, our penultimate video in the countdown to Halloween:

 Pembroke (7-1) vs. Oakfield-Alabama (8-0)

4 p.m. Saturday, at Aquinas

Here we go again.

Oakfield-Alabama and Pembroke is the best Genesee Region League rivalry and the buildup for the regular season game was huge, the game was even better than could be imagined and now the two powerhouse squads are matching up in the Section 5 Class C semifinals.

Tim Smith scored a late touchdown and Brad Riner ran in a two-point conversion as the Hornets won the regular season contest 25-24 in Week 6, giving fans the best show in the rivalry game's history.

O-A went on to beat Holley in the final week of the regular season and won the league title outright, going undefeated for the first time since 1986. Pembroke beat Attica in the final week of the season and finished one point away from the title and a perfect season.

The Hornets thumped Dansville 63-34 in the opening round of the playoffs and the Dragons had a big second half to beat Bishop Kearney 32-12. Now the scene shifts to Rochester, as the game will be played on the turf at Aquinas High School.

Smith and Riner were the stars in the first game and will be the focal point of the O-A offense yet again as the two GR all-stars are having monster seasons.

Smith has 112 rushing attempts for 971 yards and 15 touchdowns while Riner has tallied 817 yards and 12 scores on 108 rushes. Joe Natalizia, Jason Stanley and Josh Athoe will also see the ball.

The Hornets didn't have to throw the ball much in the regular season game, but if Pembroke is successful in stuffing the run, look for A.J. Kehlenbeck to put the ball in the air. The quarterback has a great arm but has had not had to use it much this year because of O-A's run-first approach.

Kehlenbeck has thrown to seven different receivers while completing 18-of-41 attempts for 271 yards and six touchdowns.

Some people might give Pembroke's offense the advantage because of the playing surface with speedster Andrew Wright and cutting-runner Mike Dibble.

Wright can do it all and has excelled on special teams, running the ball and catching it. He is looking forward to running on turf and adding to his 896 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns and 340-plus receiving yards with three scores.

Dibble is over 800 yards rushing with 10 touchdowns.

Quarterback David Kleckler and tight end Ken Babcock are a great passing duo, with Kleckler completing 33-of-62 attempts for 733 yards and 11 scores.

The Dragons are dealing with some injury issues, most notably starting center Josh Hanel, who is out for the game. O-A has some minor injury issues, but comes in mostly healthy.

Oakfield-Alabama is ranked eighth in the state while Pembroke comes in at No. 17.

One of our readers this morning turned our attention to an article from the Washington Post, which claims that nationwide "struggles" faced by Sen. John McCain are causing problems for Republicans in Congressional races around the country.

Particularly difficult for Republican prospects is that McCain appears to be trailing badly in several moderate suburban districts across the Midwest and New England, while he is doing worse than President Bush did in rural conservative districts.

[...] 

Democrats hold a 51 to 49 edge in the Senate when the two independents who caucus with them are factored in, and a 236 to 199 House majority. Rothenberg predicted that Democrats will pick up 27 to 33 House seats, and make gains of six to nine seats in the Senate. The Cook Political Report, another independent political forecaster, suggests that Democrats will net 23 to 28 House seats, and pick up seven to nine Republican-held Senate seats.

Normally, this would be a topic for our Nation & World section, but this article calls out our very own 26th District as a potential upset in a region that many would have considered a GOP stronghold.

In New York's 26th District, internal GOP polls show McCain trailing (Sen. Barack) Obama by a narrow margin, sources said. Bush won the Buffalo-based district by 12 percentage points in 2004. The race to replace retiring Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.) is considered a tossup.

In that race, Democrat Alice Kryzan will square off against Republican Chris Lee, who himself has been criticized for a lack of visibility since getting the Republican nod with little effort earlier this year.

A post on the Albany Project today takes up this same issue. It turns out the Democratic Congressional Compaign Committee recently pumped $475,340 into the race for the 26th, compared with the $27,918 put up by the National Republican Congressional Committee. That same post claims that the race has now been predicted to swing to the Democrats.

What do you think? Could the GOP lose their grip on the 26th District come Tuesday? Does a lead by Obama equate to an advantage for Kryzan? What are the factors that will decide this vote one way or another Tuesday?

Renovations are about finished on the Warsaw Cinema, which has been brought back to life over the past several months, according to the Daily News. Parts of the original have been preserved, including the "orginal, Roman-style murals," writes Matt Surtel.

The theater will mark its rebirth with an open house (November 15) from 1 to 5 p.m. That will be followed by a 7 p.m. reception, along with performances by a yet-to-be-announced Western Swing band, and the Jim Tudini Big Band from Buffalo.

Not really too much in the way of Genesee County news in today's paper: a couple feature stories about happenings in Oakfield and a couple other small blurbs of topical interest.

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

A home on Route 5 near Keeney Road in Le Roy suffered extensive fire damage last night, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. The blaze broke out shortly after 7:00pm, and although fire crews were able to get it under control soon after they arrived, the fire "had a good start" and caused considerable damage. No injuries have been reported, and no cause has yet been determined. Investigation will continue today.

Four former Batavia Muckdogs just earned World Series rings.

The Philadelphia Phillies just beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 to win the World Series 4 games to 1, claiming the first team title in 28 years.

Philadelphia used to be the parent club of the Muckdogs before St. Louis took over two years ago and some players on the team got their professional baseball start in Batavia.

First baseman Ryan Howard hit six homers in Batavia, playing 48 games in 2001. Second baseman Chase Utley batted .307 while playing 40 games in 2000.

Starting pitcher J.A. Happ went 1-2 in 11 starts for Batavia in 2004 and reliever Ryan Madson had a 5-5 record in 15 starts in 1999.

If you follow football in Livingston County, or are paying attention to the Section 5 Class B playoffs, the name Dillen McCormick might have been one you would have seen.

The senior is on the Hornell roster where he is listed as a 5-foot-10, 180-pound tight end and linebacker. He wasn't a starting player, but he was a member of the Red Raiders.

McCormick registered two tackles as a junior, but had not played much this year as he was forced to miss time with a serious knee injury.

As his team prepares for its 3 p.m. Class B semifinal battle with Geneva this Sunday at PAETEC Park, it has been handed some of the most difficult news a team could ever expect.

The young man passed away Monday afternoon The reasons are unclear, and nothing has been announced to the press, but it is a sad time for the Hornell community, the football team and all of Section 5.

Here is the lone report coming out in the Hornell Tribune about the situation.

As fans settle in to watch the great semifinal and finals action this weekend on the field, many will be putting these games into proper perspective as the tragic death of a young athlete will cast a shadow over the Class B tournament.

Hornell coach Gene Mastin asked his team if they wanted to forfeit the game this week or play, and all of his players decided to keep going and honor his memory playing the game they played with McCormick since they were probably children.

The winner of the Hornell/Geneva game will be playing the winner of the Bath/Attica game (Sunday, 6 p.m. at PAETEC Park) the following weekend.

The Wheatland-Chili boys soccer team dominated the Genesee Region League, going 9-1, and also finished 16-3 overall and captured the league title.

For that, the Wildcats were rewarded with the Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and three first-team Genesee Region League all-star selections.

Coach of the Year Mike Skivington's squad finished three games ahead of Byron-Bergen in the GR standings.

Senior Garhett Varin easily won the league scoring title with 24 goals, he was tied for tops in assists with 10 and had a combined 58 points. He was an easy choice for the all-star team and Player of the Year.

Keeper Tony Pipitone had a goals against average of just .744 and gave up just 14 goals in 1,525 minutes played

Defender Steve Abbey also is an all-star from Wheatland-Chili.

Byron-Bergen also had three all-stars, led by senior Jordan Kiessling. Kiessling had a goal and an assist as a midfielder.

Junior Casey Longhini led the Bees in scoring with 10 goals and seven helpers for 27 total points.

Junior Dakota Longhini was recognized after scoring twice and dishing out eight assists.

Senior Jason Gaylord had five goals with two assists, for 12 points to lead the contingent of three Kendall players on the all-star squad.

Sophomore Brandon Moore had an assist and makes the team as well as junior Paul Brightly, who scored three goals and dished out three assists.

Lyndonville junior Joe Ianni was fourth in the league in scoring with 12 goals, four assists and 28 points and leads the group of three Tiger all-stars.

Aaron O'Connor had five goals and three helpers with Tyler Silversmith handing out two assists as a defender.

Four Holley players are all-stars.

Sophomore Nick Troup is going to have a great career as he already finished third in the GR in scoring with 11 goals, nine helpers and 31 total points.

Fellow sophomore Brandon Comden had 12 goals, three assists and 27 points with seniors Colton Orbaker scoring four goals with four assists and defender Eric Spychalski scoring once while passing off for three assists.

Senior forward Andy Hagen wound up second in the league in scoring with 16 goals, seven assists and 39 points to lead a pair of Attica players on the squad.

Brandon Reiner - a junior - had eight goals and four assists and is the other Blue Devil.

The second-team selections are:

Lyndonville - Jesse Follman, Aaron O'Connor.

Attica - Joe Wolak, Brandon Storch.

Kendall - Colt Tooley, Joel Mendoza.

Wheatland-Chili - Vince Rubert, Schuyler Johnston, Alex Stryker.

Byron-Bergen - Kody Weinert, Justin Barrett, Tyler Sass, Kevin Rickard.

Holley - Greg Knapp, Eddie Bower, Tim Pratt, Caleb Orbaker.

Earlier today I sat down with the president of the Genesee Radio Amateurs, Alice Tyler, to talk about their upcoming "pumpkin patrol." I was also hoping to put together a video on how to use a HAM radio, what you can do with it and why, but there was some trouble with the footage, so we'll try that again later. In the meantime, here's Alice on the pumpkin patrol:

This is a little bit outside of our area, but spreading the word near and far never hurts when looking for a missing person, especially this early in the search.

From the state police:

The New York State Police is currently investigating the disappearance of Corrie L. Anderson of Ashville, NY.  Ms. Anderson was last seen yesterday, October 28th at 1:10 p.m. leaving Lake County Dodge in the City of Jamestown, NY.  She failed to pick up her child from school which is very unusual.  She was last seen driving a blue, 2005 Dodge Caravan, NY registration number CX404.  The vehicle has not been located at this time.  Corrie Anderson is 36 years old, 5’11”, 170 lbs, with green eyes and blonde hair.  She was last seen wearing black corduroy pants, a black leather jacket and small wire rimmed glasses.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the State Police in Jamestown at (716) 665-3113.  To view a photo of Ms. Anderson and the vehicle she was driving view our website at www.troopers.state.ny.us.

(UPDATE Friday at 12:12pm): The following information was released by the state police Thursday afternoon:

Earlier this afternoon State Police recovered the 2005 Dodge Caravan belonging to Corrie L. Anderson. The vehicle was located in a field south of the City of Jamestown.  The State Police have secured the vehicle and continue to search for Ms. Anderson.  Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact SP Jamestown at 716-665-3113.

I have been getting at least two, sometimes three, telephone calls every day soliciting votes for one particular candidate for State Senate.  Last night I actually begged them to please stop calling me.  It would be nice if the Do Not Call lists also pertained to political candidates and their parties. 

On the subject of unsolicited telephone calls, some of the calls we get now from charitable organizations are amusing to me;  we have had three requests from organizations that, when we advised we would give a certain amount ($10.00), we were told that this was below their MINUMUM CONTRIBUTION AMOUNT!! 

Oh, my.

A few weeks ago, we put together six questions to ask each of the two candidates running for the 61st State Senate District, Republican Mike Ranzenhofer and Democrat Joe Mesi. Our plan was to ask both candidates the same questions and run the video interviews together in the same post to give our readers a side-by-side comparison, as it were.

Last week, Ranzenhofer stopped by our office on East Main Street to answer those questions. That same day, we had an appointment with Mesi, but he called to cancel. We tried to reschedule and eventually secured another appointment with Mesi that was supposed to be this morning. That one, too, was cancelled.

Here is Mike Ranzenhofer:

Recently convicted killer Robert Kirkup has got the attention of Dateline NBC, which plans to devote segment of its news magazine show this spring or summer retracing the path Kirkup took leading up the murder of his wife at a Genesee County campground, according to the Daily News.

Scott DeSmit spoke with County District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, who is being interviewed for the show. Friedman had this to say about the interest in the case:

"I think it's the elements of a cold case. ... You have a 16-year-old murder, an infirm, older defendant, a body that was never found and the fact that he was interviewed (by police) in the same motor home that he killed her in 16 years ago."

DeSmit was unable to connect with the show's producer. No one yet knows if the crews will be filming in Genesee County.

In other news, a mix-up Monday afternoon led to a 7-year-old Batavia city school student getting on the wrong bus and dropped off a few miles from her home. The girl, Emily DiSanto, did eventually make it back home safely. School Superintendent Margaret Puzio said that the schools will now require each child to carry a bus pass "with his/her name, address, drop-off point and bus number on it" so that this mishap is not repeated.

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

The political newsletter Cook Report now lists the NY-26 race between Republican Chris Lee and Democrat Alice Kryzan as a toss up. The blog of the College Democrats of NY has a quote purportedly from the report, but no link to the source document.

The Buffalo News has a story up about the misleading campaign ads from both sides. It's mostly stuff we've covered before, but you get some new quotes from the candidates. The new bits would be that attorney's from the other side of the Love Canal law suit have come out in support of Kryzan defending her against Lee's attack ads, and the employee's of Lee's company are defending Chris Lee against charges that the company has outsourced jobs to China.

The 26th District Blog has the text of the full letter from Enidine employees.

Jill Terreri of the Democrat & Chronicle runs down area House races. She suggests that Kryzan is doing well in the district by riding Barack Obama's coattails. While that may be a part of it, I think it misses the fact that there are significant differences in campaign styles, which we discussed previously. Terreri's report runs through the candidates stands on various issues and some of the mudslinging.  If you haven't been following the race, it's a good primer.

Three young parents have been accused of trying to steal "numerous" items from Kmart in Batavia Tuesday morning by stuffing them into their children's diaper bags, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Natalie M. MacArthur, 25, of Rochester; Melissa J. Ricigliano, 28, and Nicholas M. Ricigliano, 24, both of 132 State St. (Lower), Batavia, were charged with petit larceny. Three children were with the parents at the time: a 3-year-old, a 10-month-old and a 4-week-old.

Robert Sanfilippo, 49, of Depew, was charged with aggravated harassment Tuesday for an incident that occurred on October 1, deputies said. Sanfilippo is accused of making threatening phone calls to another individual's cell phone.

Derek G. Thomas, 32, of no permanent address, was charged with aggravated harassment Tuesday, city police said. Thomas is accused of grabbing a female acquaintance by the neck and slamming her into a wall during a dispute at a residence on South Main Street Sunday evening.