Yokohama Tire took over a portion of the Batavia Downs parking lot today so tire dealers from throughout Western New York could come to town and test drive Mini Coopers equipped with Yakohama's high performance tires. Dealers and their employees were able to drive a course and see how different tires performed. They also tried to beat the best times.
There's a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for Genesee County, but there's also only a 40 percent chance of participation in Batavia.
What looks like, from the radar, a big storm cell just passed to the north of us (possibly dumping rain on the north parts of the county), and there are more cells moving west to east.
The watch is in effect until 8 p.m.
UPDATE 4:51 p.m.: A flood warning as been issued for the norther parts of Genesee County:
AT 432 PM EDT RADAR ESTIMATED GREATER THAN 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN NORTHERN PORTIONS OF GENESEE AND SOUTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF MONROE COUNTY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO RIDE ALONG A LAKE BREEZE BOUNDARY...WITH ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF UP TO AN INCH POSSIBLE BETWEEN 430 AND 600 PM. THE HEAVIEST RAIN IS EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY SLIDE SOUTH AND WEAKEN THROUGH THIS EVENING.
* EXPECT SOME AREA ROADS TO BE CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER. SOME STREAMS AND DRAINAGE DITCHES WILL ALSO RUN HIGH THROUGH THIS EVENING. WHILE RAPID RISES ON STREAMS AND CREEKS ARE NOT EXPECTED...HIGH WATER WILL LIKELY RESULT IN ROAD CLOSURES. THOSE COMMUTING IN NORTHERN GENESEE COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR HIGH WATER AND ROAD CLOSURES
Andrew S. Novak is indicted on a felony count of DWI and a felony count of driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Novak is accused of driving drunk on March 14 on Linwood Road in the Town of Le Roy.
Ronald Carney received a "no bill" from the Grand Jury on charges of burglary, 2nd, and criminal trespass, 2nd. The charged stemmed from an incident in Le Roy on Jan. 23. A "no bill" means the Grand Jury found insufficient evidence to sustain the charges.
(Updated 12:57 p.m.)
A 20-year-old Batavia man is accused of selling cocaine to an undercover agent from the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force in 2009.
Dyllon E. Soccio, of 124 Tracy Ave., was taken into custody yesterday.
He is charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree.
Soccio's arrest was part of an investigation into trafficking cocaine in the Batavia area.
Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said Soccio, who grew up in Batavia, has been a person of interest to the Sheriff's Office for about three years.
On June 23, the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force raided Soccio's home and reportedly seized a quantity of drugs, including what Brewster characterized as a substantial amount of mushrooms.
"He was quite diversified," Brewster said.
Charges stemming from the June 23 arrest include criminal possession of a controlled substance, 4th, criminal possession of marijuana, 2nd, and three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th.
He was arraigned in City Court and released under supervision of Genesee County Justice.
Jacob E. Lambertson, 21, homeless, is charged with multiple counts of rape, 3rd. Lambertson is accused of having sex with two girls from the Village of Le Roy who are under 17 years old. The alleged incidents occurred between April and June. Lambertson was jailed on $10,000 bail.
The Genesee County Fair opened Tuesday.
All of the typical county fair goodness is available this year -- carnival rides, food, games, big farm equipment, a chance to get up close to farm animals, livestock competitions, crafts and contests, music, dancing and live entertainment.
There will be a meat auction on Thursday.
The fair runs through Saturday.
More photos after the jump.
Another strong pitching effort from starter Justin Edwards, but the Batavia bullpen was unable to protect a 2-1 lead and the Muckdogs (16-15) lost to Williamsport Tuesday, 8-3.
Edwards went six innings and allowed only one unearned run. Travis Lawler was charged with a blown save, giving up two hits and one run, but the Muckdogs were really buried when David Kington came on and gave up three hits, walked three and surrended six runs.
The only Muckdog to post a multi-hit game was Nick Longmire, who went 2-4, scored two runs and smacked his fourth triple of the season.
The Muckdogs return home Sunday to face Williamsport.
We have an exciting new offer for people who join The Batavian's voluntary subscription program -- a free T-shirt from Top Line Shirt Company.
The T-shirt is printed with The Batavian logo on front and back.
All members -- including those who have already joined -- can receive the free T-shirt.
To receive your T-shirt, once you join (and current members have already gotten this e-mail), you will receive an e-mail with a PDF attachment that you can print out and take to Top Line T-shirt Company at 212 E. Main St., Batavia. The voucher must be redeemed in person. T-shirts will not be mailed out.
And of course, as a voluntary subscriber, you will still get vouchers at local businesses for up to $600 in savings, all for less than $60 per year. For a list of savings offers, click here.
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The horses are returning to Batavia Downs for another season of harness racing. The first dozen or so horses arrived today -- by Monday, officials expect the stables to be full and bustling once again.
Live harness racing makes its 2010 debut Monday. First post time is 6:40 p.m.
A straw fire has been reported on Britt Road near Keeney Road in Le Roy.
There's a small fire by the road and a "pretty good sized one" out in the field.
Le Roy Fire is responding with mutual aid from Bergen.
UPDATE 11:59 a.m.: Fires are out. Crews wetting down the fields for precaution.
Latoya D. Jackson, 24, of 120 State St., Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration; Dashawn A. Butler, 30, of 4016 W. Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. At 9:45 p.m., Monday, Batavia PD responded to a report of loud yelling on State Street. When police arrived on scene, they heard yelling coming from an apartment. Jackson and Butler then reportedly came out of the apartment and continued yelling and using profane and obscene language. There were reportedly children nearby. Jackson was jailed on $2,500 bail. Jackson has at least three prior disorderly conduct arrests.
Virginia L. Martinez, 24, and Amanda Andres-Lopez, 30, both of Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, are charged with petit larceny. Martinez and Andres-Lopez are accused of stealing undergarments and makeup from Kmart.
William Delose Hirsch, 23, of Buckman Road, Pavilion, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Hirsch is accused of having verbal contact with a person he was ordered to stay away from while at the Stafford Carnival on June 18.
Wayne Marcel Diaz, 52, of Highway 50 Road, McClave, Colo., is charged with three counts of aggravated harassment, 2nd. Diaz is accused of making harassing phone calls to another person. He was jailed on $500 bail.
Robert Oliver Taft, 36, of W. Bergen Road, Le Roy, was picked up on a bench warrant for a prior DWI charge.
Bonnie Lynn Tracy, 43, of North Street, Attica, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Tracy allegedly made a phone call to a person she was ordered not to contact.
Mitchell R. Freeman, 21, address not released, is charged with unlawful imprisonment, 2nd, and assault, 3rd. Freeman allegedly restrained another person and the victim suffered an injury during a domestic incident. Freeman was jailed on $3,000 bail.
One run on an RBI single by hot-hitting catcher Audry Perez in the first inning was all the scoring the Batavia Muckdogs needed at Dwyer Stadium on Monday to notch the team's 16th win of the season.
The Muckdogs (16-14) rode nine innings of scoreless ball by four pitchers to move within two games of the visiting team, first-place Jamestown Jammers (18-12).
Venezuelan Jose Rada, four years in the Cardinals, but in his first season with the Muckdogs, walked one but didn't surrender a hit in the ninth to pick up his sixth save and lower his ERA to 0.98.
The biggest noise of the night came from a group of Jamestown Jammer fans sitting high up in the first-base-side bleachers, cheering on their team in the top and bottom half of every inning -- for eight-and-half innings (pictured below).
Folks, everyone of you reading this who hasn't been to a game yet this season needs to go to at least two. Or we're going to lose our team. Not only is it a lot of fun, and shows great community spirit, but it's also a chance to see future major leaguers up close. This past All-Star Game included 22 players who came through the NY-Penn League.
More pictures after the jump:
While out in Alabama today I spotted these two cars for sale at the corner of Bloomingdale Road and Route 77 and thought they looked pretty interesting together.
At least three companies from Genesee County are responding to a barn fire in Albion at 13823 W. Barre Road.
Dispatched are units from Elba, Oakfield and Alabama.
UPDATE 4:53 p.m.: Additional Genesee County units are being activated. Town of Batavia may already have an engine at the scene, an additional unit has been dispatched to the Albion Fire Hall to fill in. An East Pembroke engine is requested to Elba to fill in. Byron has also been dispatched. Orleans County firefighters are reportedly dealing with multiple incidents right now.
The gull problem at Latina's is "hand-able, but a large-scale problem," according to a manager for Pest RX, a company out of Clarence hired by LKLWL Properties to assess the situation and recommend a solution.
"It's not like it's a one-shot deal," said Jeff Waiter. "It's not like we're going to come in here for however long and we'll never see a seagull again. We're going to have to work with the property owner and work on a long-term solution."
Both Waiter and Pest RX owner Jeff Phelps said they still need to put together a plan, but the preliminary solution includes fixing the drainage on the roof, getting rid of standing water, and coming up with an "exclusion" system, something to make it harder or scarier for the gulls to land on the roof.
Just ensuring it's a clean, dry roof will do a lot to deter the gulls.
"The first thing is, the standing water has to go," Phelps said. "Once that's gone, we'll do a power wash and clean off the roof, but to keep them off permanently, there's a lot of obstructions there.
"We're trying to put our heads together and come up with a plan," he added.
It shouldn't be necessary to get the DEC involved at this point, Waiter said. He said the team spoke with the DEC this morning, they have a copy of the DEC manual and so long as they're not disturbing eggs or active nests, no DEC permit is required.
He said they found no eggs and only old nests on the roof today.
"We can definitely make the place tidy without a DEC permit," Waiter said, "so long as we don't harass the young or the eggs."
Photo: From left, Phelps, Waiter and another Pest RX employee.
If you're wondering about City Fire going code 3 down Main Street -- it's just another "automatic alarm of fire" at the Jerome Center construction site on Bank Street.
There are reportedly only minor injuries following a car and motorcycle accident on Route 98 at West Saile Drive, Batavia.
Town of Batavia Fire is responding along with Mercy EMS.
(Update II at 2:19 p.m.)
A late night fire at a Presbyterian Church on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation may have been deliberately set, according to Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator for Genesee County.
The fire is under investigation by the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, the Alabama Fire Department and Yaeger's office.
Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said the fire was spotted by a person driving by the church who saw an orange glow through the windows. He turned around, confirmed the fire and called dispatch at 11:05 p.m..
"It's on the further recesses of the reservation," Brewster said. "I'm surprised somebody was out driving by that church that late. Not a lot of people drive through there at 11 o'clock at night. It's very remote."
Quick action by three Alabama Fire chiefs who arrived on scene at the same time kept the fire from causing more serious damage.
Chief Bill Schutt said he and assistant chiefs Andy Merkel and Gary Patnode realized shortly after arriving on scene at 6978 Meadville Road that the biggest fire was confined to a piano, so they used extinguishers to put it out. They dealt with some additional flames using water in an ice cooler that had been left in the church. A fire hose was needed only to deal with some minor extension into a wall.
"Minimal water was used," Schutt said.
Brewster said whoever set the fire, set several small fires inside the building. No accelerant was used and because it was extinguished quickly, there was no structural damage.
The most serious damage was to the piano.
There are no suspects yet, though several church members and the original caller were interviewed. Because it's a church fire, and therefore a potential hate crime, ATF and the FBI were notified, per protocol.
Brewster described the church congregation as small and they meet only once a month with an out-of-town pastor conducting services. The church did meet yesterday.
"Our crew along with Indian Falls, who responded, too, did a good job," Schutt said. "It could have been much worse."
NOTE: I went to the scene to get a picture of the church, which is now boarded up, and when I spoke to a Tribal Council member, he said I couldn't publish the picture without council approval, and the earliest approval could be granted would be tomorrow. So, no picture.
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