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There are still patches left of fall color, such as along the Tonawanda Creek behind the County Courthouse.

A Level 3 sex offender facing a possible life sentence on his latest charges alleged sexual conduct with a child won't get a chance to make bail, Interim Judge Micheal Pietruszka ruled in Genesee County Court this morning.

Pietruszka cited the five felony convictions, including two violent felonies, and five prior violations of terms of probation when ordering Marlek E. Holmes, 42, of Batavia, held without bail.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman requested a no-bail status because if convicted of the two Class A felonies in the last indictment -- predatory sexual assault and predatory sexual assault against a child -- Holmes could be sent to prison for the rest of his life.

In all, Holmes is charged with 11 counts related to alleged sex crimes between 2010 and 2015, plus there are also charges still pending stemming from two prior incidents where Holmes allegedly failed to register his correct street address as a registered sex offender.

His attorney will have until Dec 16 to file any motions in the case, and a hearing on any motions was scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Jan. 11.

The Batavia Rampart's Squirt III travel team traveled to Cleveland to play in the Rock'n'Roll Cup Tournament, where they beat the Michigan Sting, 5-0, the Lake Erie Panthers, 10-1, and the Erie Lions twice, 4-1 and 5-2, to win the championship.

In the first game, goals were scored by Chase Cummings, who had three, Anna Stevens and Jameson Motyka.

In the second game, scoring: Brady Johnson, three goals, Anna Stevens, two, Jameson Motyka, two, and with one each, Chase Cummings, Drew Jursted and Noah Whitcombe.

In the third game, Evan Schwerthoffer, Anna Stevens, Sammy Pies and Jake Hutchins scored.

In the final, Chase Cummings had two goals, Anna Stevens, Sammy Pies and Jake Hutchins each had one.

Frankie Falleti was tournament MVP.

A chemical fire is reported at Summit Lubricants, 4080 Pearl Street Road, Batavia.

The caller reports he is the only employee working and he is out of the building.

Town of Batavia fire dispatched.

UPDATE 2:35 a.m.: A chief reports a working fire at the rear of the building. Another chief asks, "what is it?" "Charcoal, he's telling me," the second chief replies.

UPDATE 2:37 a.m.: All available manpower requested to the scene.

UPDATE 2:47 a.m.: The fire is in a silo on the outside of the building. The chief is unsure if it's made its way into the interior of the building. Oakfield requested to fill in at Station 1, Stafford to fill in at Station 2.

UPDATE 3:20 a.m.: A firefighter needs treated for smoke inhalation. On scene, firefighters say fire contained to silo detached from the building, but it was popping pretty good. There is quite a bit of charcoal in the silo. Firefighters will attempt to remove it to get the fire out. 

UPDATE 3:27 a.m.: Firefighters have open the top and are putting water on the fire from the top. The firefighter treated by Mercy should be fine.

UPDATE 3:49 a.m.: Employees in nearby facilities should shelter in place and turn off HVAC systems.

UPDATE 4:18 a.m.: Fire is out. Chief informs dispatchers, "It was not a chemical fire." It was just a charcoal fire. If there are complaints of odor in the area, "that's all it is," says the chief.

UPDATE 7:45 a.m.: Town of Batavia fire cleared this scene just before 6 a.m. Now they're called back for another alarm. A chief on scene reports, "nothing showing."

UPDATE 7:51 a.m.: Investigating, all units can remain in quarters at this time.

UPDATE 7:55 a.m.: Alarm is unfounded.

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center Board of Directors voted at its Oct. 27 meeting to accept Empire State Development’s $28 million Grant Disbursement Agreement (GDA) to start infrastructure work at the STAMP campus in order to achieve shovel-ready status.

The funding will be used to acquire some remaining acreage at the site and construction and inspection services for water lines, wastewater pump stations and sewer lines, road infrastructure and gas and electric connectivity. It is anticipated that the first bid for infrastructure work will be for the construction of a water system from Oakfield to the STAMP site.

“Based on the release of the funds, we expect that bids will be going out in the next couple of months,” said Mark Masse, CPA, Sr. VP of Operations for the GCEDC. “The other projects that the agency will be putting out to bid over the next few months include onsite construction of the roadway and associated stormwater management.”

Among other things, GCEDC staff is working with its engineering consultants and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as officials in Orleans County on the permitting for the sewer line to extend from the STAMP campus to the Medina wastewater treatment plant.

STAMP is New York State’s second mega-site designed to attract high-tech companies like semiconductor, solar, photonics, bio-pharmaceuticals, energy storage companies and other advanced manufacturing operations. The campus consists of 1,250 acres and planned development of more than 6 million square feet of manufacturing space.

Overall economic studies estimate that 10,000 employees could work directly on campus with up to 50,000 supply-type jobs created across Western New York and the Finger Lakes regions. The campus will also bring significant construction work to the region.

“STAMP has been validated by site selection community as a highly attractive greenfield site for large advanced manufacturers, and we continue to work with interested companies that are looking for a mega campus with the right infrastructure that includes large electric, gas, water and sewer capacity combined with our amazing workforce here in the Finger Lakes and Western New York regions,” said Steve Hyde, president and CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

“This is evidenced by securing the commitment of 1366 Technologies, a solar wafer manufacturing company which plans to locate its operations on the campus.”

More than 100 children turned out last night for "Baggerween," a free trick-or-treat event in the parking lot behind City Slickers, sponsored by ABATE (American Bikers Aimed Toward Education).

Participating bikers loaded up their saddle bags with candy for children in costume.

Photos provided by Jason Franklin.

Usually, offensive performance in football grabs the headlines, but yesterday, in the Trojans' 34-13 win over Bolivar-Richburg to advance in the Section V Class D tournament, Alexander's Dustin Schmieder had 8.5 sacks.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Head Coach Tim Sawyer.

Schmieder also had five tackles and Erik Scharlau had 2.5 sacks and seven tackles.

And while we're talking about defense, Derrick Busch and Chris McClinic each had an interception.

The previous Section V playoff record for sacks in a game was five by Dan Liseno, for Clyde-Savannah in 2002.

On offense, Dane Heberlien scored two TDs and P.J. Brennan was 3-11 for 91 yards and TD, with one interception. Busch caught the 11-yard pass for the TD. Mitch Gordon scored on a one-yard run.

Schmieder also had a 68-yard reception on the first play of the game.

Hannah Paolucci kicked two extra points on the day.

The Trojans had 309 total yards on offense, but Sawyer still noted, "Penalties held us back today. We need to clean up the penalties and some missed tackles."

Next week, Alexander will face Clyde-Savannah, who beat the Red Jackets 40-14, for the Class D championship.

Photos by Rick Franclemont. For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.

Things seemed to be going Livonia's way in the first half of the Class B Section V semifinal game in Rochester yesterday afternoon.

The Bulldogs controlled the ball for much of the first two quarters while the Batavia offense sputtered, with the team getting its only points in the half on a 71-yard kickoff return by Chandler Baker.

Livonia led the Blue Devils 14-8, but this is Batavia on the field. Head Coach Brennan Briggs preaches "relentless football." Toughness is a given, and when the Blue Devils took possession to open the first half the determination to play tough was apparent.

Batavia scored on their opening drive, followed by a fumble recovery on Livonia's first possession, and the Bulldogs never got back in the game.

It's almost as if you could watch Livonia's fight fade with each passing down.

"Livingston County is great football and they’re tough kids, but I do believe at the end of the day, we’ve got one of the toughest football teams going and these guys pride themselves on it," Briggs said. "When we sniff a little bit of weakness, we’re going to go after it and we’re going to keep going and we’re not going to stop."

The Bulldogs seemed to game plan well to counter the ground threat of sophomore Ray Leach, who was held to only 28 yards on 15 carries for the game, so in the second half, Briggs switched things up a bit, letting QB Jerry Reinhart use his arms and legs more.

Reinhart finished with 73 rushing yards on 13 carries. He was also 7-14 passing for 121 yards and a TD.

His favorite target was Leach, who had four catches for 73 yards, including a 23-yarder for a TD.

“You get number 34 in space and he’s deadly," Briggs said. "Our quarterback can get the ball to him and get him in space where they can’t bottle everything up and then somebody has to make a play on Ray Leach in space and that’s pretty difficult to do.”

Leach was also a factor on defense coming up with big play after big play, including snuffing out a Livonia drive with an interception in the end zone.

"He likes to hit," Briggs said. "He likes to bring the stick. He gets fired up. He did a good job doing his 1/11th and he was locked down to defend one of their best receivers. I’m proud of him and I’m proud of this football team."

The defensive dominance by the Blue Devils in the second half was a team effort, with contributions from Reinhart, Chandler Baker, J'Zon Richardson and Anthony Ray.

The defensive line stiffened in the second half, doing a better job of bottling up Brody Metcalf, Matt Hyde and John Smith on the ground, pushing back the O-line and harassing Metcalf more consistently when he dropped back to pass.

“To be honest, that’s not scheme," Briggs said while discussing some of the second-half defensive adjustments. "That’s our guys deciding that they’re really going to start to take over."

It's almost as if Batavia could smell blood in the water after that first fumble (there were two in the second half (three actually, but the refs gave the ball to Livonia)).

Briggs said his team knows how to sniff out another team's weakness and exploit it. Reinhart agreed.

"If you keep pounding somebody’s weakness, they’re going to slow down, no matter who it is," Reinhart said.

Batavia won 31-20 after Livonia scored a TD in the final second of play (see last picture in slideshow).

The Blue Devils now have a chance to three-peat as sectional champions. This is a very different team from the one that took home the trophy each of the past two seasons and Briggs said this year's squad has had a bit of a chip on its shoulder because of comparisons.

"These guys have their identity now," Briggs said. "A lot of people talk about that we graduated 16, 17 players and Batavia wasn’t going to be there, but here we are and we’re still going to keep that chip on our shoulders."

Reinhart said that identity is built around the team's motto, "relentless."

"That’s what is says on the back of al our T-shirts: relentless, and that’s how we play football," Reinhart said. "We hit these guys and we don’t stop until the game’s over."

Next Saturday at 3 p.m., Batavia will be back in Rochester to face Hornell for the Section V Class B championship. Hornell has been out of the post-season picture the past couple of years but comes into the final, like Batavia, undefeated for 2016. Yesterday, the Red Raiders beat Palmyra-Macedon 49-29.

Top photo: Codie Dioguardi scores on Batavia's opening second-half drive.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Batavia Police have been dispatched to the McDonald's on East Main Street for a report of a vehicle that struck the building sometime between 4:30 and 4:45 a.m.

No indication how the caller came up with that time.

Part of a taillight was left at the scene.

A pedestrian has been struck by a vehicle on North Bennett Heights Road, Town of Batavia. That's off State Street Road.

The patient is conscious and talking, according to the caller.

Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 7:51 a.m.: Town of Batavia fire back in service.

Via our news partner, 13WHAM. (Note: this is an edit from the broadcast version to replace video we can't use on The Batavian with our own photos.)

Press release:

The Board of Directors of the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) voted to accept an application for assistance from T.J. Sheehan, a Massachusetts-based beverage wholesaler with various operations in New York State.

T.J. Sheehan is proposing to convert a former 37,500-square-foot Cargill facility in Alexander to a refrigerated beverage distribution center.  The company intends to invest approximately $1.6 million into the conversion and the project will create nine new jobs. Since the incentives total more than $100,000 a public hearing will be scheduled in the very near future.  

Press release:

The Board of Directors of the Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation (GGLDC) passed a budget for Fiscal Year 2017 at its board meeting on Oct. 27 adopting a budget with anticipated cash outflows of $1.36 million.

“The mission of the GGLDC is to foster local economic development by making real estate development investments that prepare sites in Genesee County for new corporate tenants. The GGLDC also provides strategic investment funding to support the GCEDC’s ongoing economic development programming,” said Tom Felton, chairman of the GGLDC.

The anticipated 2017 expenditures of the GGLDC include operations and maintenance for the MedTech Centre building, site/corporate park maintenance, an economic development program support grant to the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC), and professional services. Major expenditures include debt service payments of $655,816 on bonds and loans that enabled MedTech Centre building construction and infrastructure development at the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park (Ag-Park).

The budget includes a line item of $100,000 to conduct a study to determine the feasibility and cost of expanding the Village of Corfu’s wastewater treatment plant. The expansion would directly benefit the Buffalo East Tech Park and allow for future growth and development.

Major sources of revenue include rent of $454,647 from the MedTech Centre facility and common area maintenance fees from the Buffalo East Tech Park and Ag-Park. In addition, $205,780 will be received through the Empire Pipeline PILOT Increment Financing (PIF). Additional cash receipts will include $247,481 in principal and interest payments from several companies repaying loans made in previous years.

In 2016 the GGLDC completed several projects including the widening of Route 63 to support commerce in the Ag-Park as well as completing the secondary access road into the Ag-Park from Route 63. Also completed was the widening of Route 5 in the Town of Pembroke by the entrance of the Buffalo East Tech Park.

“The GGLDC will be working to close major deals at our shovel-ready parks in 2017. We have been investing and working to make these parks ready for the last decade and believe that 2017 will be a productive year with new company attractions and more job creation in our parks,” Felton said.

A resident in the Village of Bergen caught somebody trying to steal his Trump sign from his front yard this morning.

The South Main Street resident confronted the would-be sign thief and the thief returned the sign, then got in his vehicle and drove off.

The incident was reported to the Sheriff's Office at 9:30 a.,m., according to Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble.

The license plate number provided did not match a valid plate and the suspect was not caught.

Yesterday, the Sheriff's Office received a complaint of political sign thefts in Elba.

UPDATE: A reader reports that he confronted people stealing his Trump sign at his residence on South Lake Street, Bergen. "I ran in front of the car and forced it to stop," he said. He said two women were in the car and he said they had at least one other Trump sign in the car.  "I got my sign back and called the Sheriff, who came out and took info." The women were in a black Jeep. The reader said he's heard of several Trump signs being stolen in the area.

Pavilion Central School was on lockdown for a period of time this morning after a threatening post was spotted on social media.

Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble said the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office is handling the investigation. We've reached out to the WCSO for more information.

"We understand they have addressed the threat and have things under control," Dibble said. " We only have patrols in the area of the school as a precaution."

We'll update this post if more information becomes available.

UPDATE 10:43 a.m.: Pavilion Superintendent Ken Ellison said the school was never on an official lockdown. There were deputies in the area as an extra precaution, but an actual lockdown was never initiated. Ellison said the district became aware of a threatening statement posted on social media last night and he worked most of the night with the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office and the Genesee County Sheriff's Office on the investigation. A spokesman for WCSO said that office will likely have a statement on the situation this afternoon, but the investigation is ongoing.

As County Manager Jay Gsell and the Legislature work on finalizing the 2017 budget, it's been a bit of a nail-biter for county officials wondering if they would be able to close on the sale of the Nursing Home before Dec. 31.

Without the close, the county would need to include nearly $16 million in expenses and offsetting revenue in the budget.

Back in May, the NYS Health Department approved the certificate of need ("CoN" -- a kind of license) 160-bed care facility, but officials had gotten no word on the other CoN for the 80-bed adult home.

All along, Gsell felt the sale would be finalized before the end of the year, but without final approval, there was no way to count on it.

Yesterday, an executive with the prospective Nursing Home buyer, Premier Health LLC, got a phone call from a state official saying the certificate of need was approved and an official letter should be dropped in the mail today.

"At least now we have a very good sense that this is actually going to happen in the calendar year 2016," Gsell said.

Once the letter is in hand, both sides can start working on the details of closing the sale, including transferring employees and contractors, completing paperwork, and finalizing how to handle accounts receivable, among other details.

That will be a three- or four-week process, Gsell said.

The county will get about $15 million for the nursing home, but after expenses, only about 25 percent of those proceeds will be available for either the general fund or the capital fund.

Gsell was able to share the good news with legislators yesterday during a budget work session.

There were no decisions that came out of yesterday's budget discussion. The legislators have a 292-page, $141 million budget to pore through as they grapple with their options for the tax rate, deficit spending or any big spending cuts that they might make.

Gsell's budget is balanced, but it requires pulling $1 million from reserve funds and reallocating sales tax revenue from future road and bridge repairs to the 2017 general fund.

A $15 million increase in assessed value, of which about $7 million is taxable, for properties in the county, makes the break-even tax rate for the 2016 vs. 2017 tax levy at $9.66 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.

Gsell's budget proposal increases the tax levy by $645,000, the maximum increase under the state's tax cap law.

That would set the 2017 property tax rate from the county at $9.76 per thousand of assessed value, or 10 cents lower than 2016.

The Legislature will consider whether to pass a resolution authorizing them to override the tax cap limit to raise taxes. Because of timing and budget deadline issues, the resolution will need to be passed before they even get to the point of deciding what the tax rate should be.

It's a policy decision for the legislature whether to accept Gsell's budget as proposed, raise taxes to reduce deficit spending, or make significant cuts in non-mandated services, such as parks and law enforcement.

A convicted sexual predator has been arrested and accused of sexual contact with a child.

Marlek E. Holmes, 42, of Batavia, is being held without bail after being arraigned in County Court on an 11-count grand jury indictment.

The assaults allegedly occurred in the City of Batavia and Village of Le Roy from 2010 to 2015.

He is charged with two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of predatory sexual assault against a child, two counts of incest in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, rape in the third degree, criminal sexual abuse in the third degree and two counts of incest in the third degree.

Holmes has previously been arrested locally on charges of failure to register a change of address as a Level 3 sexual offender and of sending indecent texts to a child.

Watch for slick roads and sidewalks early this morning because of a bit of snow that may fall over the area, according to the National Weather Service.

The surfaces of bridges and overpasses are more likely to acquire temperatures closer to freezing, so are more likely to be slick.

The snow will change to sleet and then rain over the course of the morning.

Heather Ace was hanging out at a friend's house drinking Four Loko* the night of May 20 when her mother tried to call her and tell her that her house on Bank Street Road was on fire, according to a statement Ace gave to investigators.

When Ace didn't answer the phone, her mother sent her a text message, according to a statement by Tracy Ace, that read, "Answer your f---ing phone."

Heather answered on the next ring.

According to Heather's friend, Ashki Zajaczkowski, Heather dropped the phone and started screaming.

Zajaczkowski drove Heather to 8157 State Street Road, Batavia, where she lived with her three boys, including two fraternal twins, Micah and Michael Gard, and before Zajaczkowski would even stop the car, Heather was running from the car hysterically. 

The evening wasn't supposed to go as it did, according to the statements. Heather Ace was planning to go to the movies with Zajaczkowski and other friends, but as afternoon turned to evening, nobody really felt like heading out of town.

Ace put her two children to bed sometime between 8 and 8:30 p.m. and then headed over to a friend's house. She smoked some weed and then went to the Speedway and bought a can of Four Loko and some water before heading over to Zajaczkowski's house.

The two boys were locked in their room, with a lock on the kitchen side of the door put in place after the boys wandered out of the house over to the neighboring house, the residence of their grandparents.

When firefighters arrived that night, they also found the door leading into the apartment kitchen locked. Heather Ace said in her statement, she didn't know how the door became locked. She said she didn't lock it before leaving the house. Tracy Ace said it wasn't Heather's practice to lock the door because her husband needed access to the basement, where he stored his tools.

The cause of the fire has never been determined.

Micah and Michael died in the fire and Heather Ace has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

She appeared in Town of Batavia Court yesterday and entered a not guilty plea.

She is represented by public defender Jerry Ader, who said yesterday he had not yet had a chance to discuss the case with his client.

Photo: Previously unpublished, officers dealing with distraught people at the scene of the fire.

*Four Loko is a flavored, malted alcoholic beverage.

A woman who has previously run afoul of the law in Genesee County has new legal troubles in Ontario County after allegedly selling a rescue animal from the kennel where she started working six weeks ago to a Canandaigua woman.

Cassandra Blake was jailed today on $250 bail or $500 bond for her alleged role in taking a labradoodle from the kennel where she worked, posting an ad for it on Craigslist under the alias Amy Fairview and then selling the dog, which was actually a family pet belonging to somebody else.

Sources told our news partner 13WHAM that Blake has been known to sell pets on Craigslist recently.

In 2014, Blake was indicted in Genesee County on a grand larceny charge. Blake was accused of stealing 245 lottery tickets with a face value of $1,028, along with payouts from those tickets and other cash, from the Yellow Goose store in Pavilion.

That charge led to Blake being placed on probation, and that probation was later transferred to Monroe County.