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Charles Thigpen Gus "Gusto" Williams, 31, of 4213 Cookson Road, Alexander, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. The Local Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at 4213 Cookson Road, Alexander, on Wednesday afternoon. Williams was allegedly found in possession of crack cocaine, powder cocaine, Hydrocodone, Suboxone and $770 in U.S. currency. Williams was jailed on $15,000 bail.

Dyllon E. Soccio, 20, of 134 Tracy Ave., Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 4th, criminal possession of marijuana, 2nd, and three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. The Local Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at 134 Tracy Ave., Batavia, on Wednesday afternoon. Soccio was allegedly found in possession of 3/4 of a pound of Psilocybin (mushrooms), about 2 1/2 pounds of marijuana, a quantity of powder cocaine, Hydrocodone, Valium and $2,096 in U.S. Currency.  Soccio was jailed without bail.  Additional charges may be pending.

A 17-year-old resident of Prospect Avenue, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. The youth is accused of placing items in her purse while at Tops Market and attempting to leave without paying.

A skip loader being removed from a flatbed truck has reportedly rolled over in the area of 8669 North Road, Le Roy.

No reports on injuries, though a medic is on scene.

The loader reportedly rolled into the woods.

Le Roy Fire and law enforcement is en route.

The county highway department is also requested to the scene because the roadway is "tore up pretty good."

Dispatch describes it as an eight-inch gouge in the roadway.

UPDATE 9:06 a.m.: Clarification: A truck was hauling a trailer with equipment on it. It apparently went around a curve too fast and the trailer rolled over. When the truck stopped, the parking brake either wasn't on or malfunctioned and the truck rolled into the woods.

UPDATE 9:39 a.m.: A wrecker is on scene and the road will be closed so the truck can be moved.

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City Fire responded quickly this morning to a reported house fire at 4 Morton St., Batavia.

Lt. Jay Steinbrenner said when crews arrived, they could see smoke rising out of the chimney, which usually indicates a basement fire.

What firefighters found was a dehumidifier that malfunctioned, and quickly doused the small fire.

There was no structural damage.

Reader Chad Hilchey sent in this picture at 11:14 p.m. of a funnel cloud spotted in Oakfield. 

A dispatcher who worked overnight had heard nothing of a possible funnel cloud and said there wasn't a single report of storm damage over night. "Not even a tree limb down," he said.

There was a severe thunderstorm watch overnight, which was lifted at 6 a.m.

UPDATE: Chad clarifies that he took the picture around 6:30 p.m.

This afternoon while waiting for a business in the Harvester Center to open, I killed time by walking along the south side of the building looking for objects to photograph.

If you've ever looked closely at the building, there are stars bolted into the walls between the first and second stories. These, I'm sure, are not decorative, but part of the building's support structure, bolting thick wires that run from wall to wall. That's just a guess, but I've seen this kind of construction before.

Below, a "weed" (I can't identify the flower) set against a red door, and three more pictures after the jump.

Kimberly Lynn Blue, 21, of 7 Wood St., Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Blue was reportedly a passenger in a vehicle stopped for alleged traffic offenses 5:53 p.m., Tuesday. During the stop, she was allegedly found in possession of a quantity of marijuana and Ritalin. The stop was made by Deputy Brian Thompson.

General G. Sanders, 38, of Haxton Lane, Oakfield, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Local law enforcement made contact with Sanders when a van was stopped in order to execute a bench warrant out of the Town of Batavia for a passenger in the van, Jeremy Lyons. The stop was made at 2:33 p.m., Tuesday, by Deputy Brian Thompson and a unit from the State Police. During the stop on Angling Road in Pembroke, Sanders was allegedly found in possession of marijuana.

Luke M. Tarnacki, 19, of Sandridge Road, Alden, is charged with driving while impaired by drugs, failure to keep right, unlawful use of an electronic device (texting) and aggravated unlicensed operation. Sheriff's deputies Ron Meides and Chris Parker were dispatched at 7:47 a.m., Wednesday, to the scene of an alleged accident on Route 33 near Read Road in the Town of Batavia. A vehicle had driven through a ditch and left the scene. Tarnacki was located later and reportedly admitted to texting while driving. Tarnacki reportedly crossed two lanes of traffic and drove off the roadway on the opposite shoulder. Upon further investigation, deputies determined that Tarnacki was allegedly driving while impaired by drugs. Tarnacki was jailed on $3,000 bail.

After his client entered a not guilty plea to an aggravated harassment charge, attorney Dan Killelea read the letter for the first time that Dawn Doll allegedly wrote a Sheriff's Office employee and shook his head.

After court, Killelea said, "I can't see a single threat in the entire letter."

He said he will need to research the case further before deciding on a defense, but he indicted he isn't sure there was even a crime committed when Doll, sister of convicted murderer Scott F. Doll, allegedly mailed the letter in a Father's Day card to one of the officers involved in the murder investigation.

The Sheriff's Office employee wrote in an affidavit that he felt threatened by the letter.

"The content of the letter was disturbing to me," he wrote. "The fact that a Father's Day card was sent along with the letter and receiving the envelop on Father's Day was very threatening to me and my family members."

Scott Doll was convicted by a jury last month of killing Joseph Benaquist outside Benaquist's Pembroke home.

Dawn Doll appeared in City Court at 1 p.m. accompanied by friends and family to answer to the Class A misdemeanor charge.

In a statement Doll reportedly made to a State trooper at the time of her arrest Saturday, Doll said she had come to understand writing the letter was the wrong thing to do.

"I should never have done it," Doll reportedly said. "If I could take it back, I would."

Judge Michael DelPlato issued an order barring Doll from having contact of any kind through any means with the Sheriff's Office member she allegedly wrote the letter to.

Killelea assisted Paul Cambria in the defense of Scott Doll.

A 5.5 earthquake 33 miles north of Ottawa, Ontario was felt at least as far south as Attica in Genesee County.

The quake was reported at 1:41 p.m.

Reports of the temblor flowed in from just about all parts of Genesee County, but many people also did not feel it.

Here are the messages we received from readers:

Please check out the tremor that was just felt in batavia.  3 of us here at work felt it and people at a doctors office felt it too.

Around 145pm we felt our house shake on the Maltby Road in Oakfield.  Questioning if there was a earthquake.  It was also felt in amherst.

I just felt an earthquake on genesee st in attica and my husband felt in in  Batavia as did my co-workers at Cooperative Extension

I'm pretty sure we just had an earthquake! Our office building was shaking!

Has anyone reported an earthquake in Batavia?  We felt a slight movement at  our job (GCC) and was wondering if you heard anything.

about 5 minutes ago our building here in oakfield was shaking and my girl friend who lives 2 miles away emailed me to ask if i felt the shaking

Can u confirm if we had an earthquake in Alexander today? It happened about  10 min ago and seemed to last about 5 - 7 seconds or more! It was bigger than  the quake last year.

Did you feel your building shake in the past 5 minutes? I work in Oakfield &  our building shook. Someone said it was an earthquake.

We just felt our whole building shake in the city of Batavia

just felt a earthquake by many on north pembroke rd.  wow.  shook the whole  house and rattled stuff on the walls.

Small earthquake felt at Attica High School

Local law enforcement is looking for individuals who allegedly used stolen credit cards to make purchases at a retail store in Batavia.

The credit cards were allegedly stolen from a vehicle parked on Gateway Drive on June 14.

Credit cards were also stolen from a car on Park Road on June 4.

Batavia PD is investigating the Gateway Drive theft and the Sheriff's Office is investigating the Park Road incident.

The individuals in the picture above are wanted for questioning in the case. They may be driving the car in the picture below.

Police are asking persons who may have information on the identity of the suspects to contact the Batavia Police Department’s Detective Bureau at (585) 345-6444 or the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department at (585) 345-3000 x-3570. Persons can also leave information on the Batavia Police Department’s Confidential Tip Line at (585) 345-6370.

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Reliever Jose Rada was handed a one-run lead in the eighth inning Tuesday and let it slip away, surrendering two runs to State College and giving the Batavia Muckdogs their second straight loss.

Batavia (2-3) lost 5-4 to the Spikes (2-3).

The only Muckdogs with two or more hits Tuesday were catcher Audris Joel Perez, with three, and DH Adam Melker, with two. Perez had 2 RBIs and a stolen base.

No Muckdog managed an extra base hit.

Starter Ron Russell went four innings and gave up two earned runs. Reliever Travis Lawlor gave up one run in three frames.

The Muckdogs are in State College again tonight. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

Genesee County's unemployment rate dropped to 6.6 percent in May, four points lower than May 2009, and five points lower than April.

Batavia's unemployment rate is the best its been since November, 2008, when the rate was 6.0.

The official numbers confirm anecdotal evidence of an improving employment picture provided last week by Scott Gage, director of the Genesee County Career Center.

The positive trend is ahead of the curve for New York State, which saw only a one point improvement in the job picture, with the state going from 8.4 to 8.3 year-over-year.

Genesee County is also faring better than all of the surrounding counties, which continue to have unemployment rates of at least 7 percent, with Wyoming and Orleans counties above 8 percent.

The Buffalo area's 7.6 percent unemployment rate is the best it's been since December 2008, when the rate was 6.8 percent. Rochester's rate of 7.3 percent is also a big improvement over the previous 16 months.

Tonya L. Buzzell, 27, of 26 Rochester St., Bergen, is charged with aggravated harassment. Le Roy Police report that officers responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in the village allegedly involving Buzzell.  Some time later, Buzzell allegedly sent a series of harassing text messages to a resident of the village. The alleged incidents occurred Saturday.

There are five cats that have the basement of the old Carr's building pretty much to themselves.

The cats wound up in the basement after owner Ken Mistler sold his pet store on East Main Street and the new owners wanted to get out of the cat sale business. Mistler's wife, Andrea, set up the cozy basement apartment and she ensures all of their needs are met.

They have plenty of places to climb and lounge. There's even a ramp to a cat gate that allows them outdoor time in a fenced-off area behind the Carr's building.

Andrea takes care of the cats and besides feeding them and keeping the litter boxes clean, she gives them plenty of affection.

For the cats, the living arrangement is probably more like a penthouse than a basement.

A Warsaw man accused of grand larceny in a complicated scheme to steal money and building materials was in City Court today asking that an order of protection for two alleged victims be lifted.

The attorney for Dustin Hurlburt, 32, said Hurlburt could complete work if the order was lifted.

The District Attorney did not object to the request.

The orders were lifted.

Hurlburt is due back in court Aug. 10.

(Dan Fisher at WBTA contributed to this report.)

Reached on his mobile phone, Tom Lewin, reportedly manager of LKLWL Properties out of Amherst, the listed owner of the former Latina's Market building at 45-47 Ellicott Street just hung up on The Batavian.

Asked what he plans to do about the sea gulls roosting on top of the apparently deteriorating former grocery store, Lewin said, "I have no comment" and terminated the call.

Lewin reportedly took the same tact when reach by Geoff Redick of WBTA earlier today.

Lewin reportedly said there are no plans to sell or develop the building. Redick reports that Lewin refused to comment on the issue.  Redick said he asked if he had a reason to disregard the public health in Batavia, Lewin reportedly called it a "loaded question" and discontinued the interview.

WBTA reports that the Business Improvement District has requested LKLWL clean up the problem, and USDA Wildlife Services have been contacted, and that the County Health Department regards the growing number of gulls as a possible public health concern.

WBTA reported that LKLWL has refused to let anybody on the roof to investigate the situation.

Ken Mislter, who owns 10 properties downtown and has in previous years helped organize the classic car show in the Court and Ellicott parking lot said the reason there is no classic car show this year is the car owners don't want to subject their rides to gull droppings.

The property is listed on the BID's website as for sale or lease. The current assessed value is $700,000.

Reginald Wilson, convicted for his role in a burglary on State Street in September, must make restitution of $1,400 Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled today.

Already sentenced to 15 years in prison, Wilson was escorted into Genesee County Court by state prison guards for his 2 p.m. restitution hearing.

The elderly lady who was sleeping in her bedroom at the time of the burglary testified that she had to have the locks changed on her house, her car and replace a number of missing items.

A state victims' fund paid her $195 to help some of the costs associated with the crime, and she received more than $500 from her insurance company, but she still out about $700.

Noonan ordered that Wilson begin paying restitution immediately from his inmate fund to the victim. When she is paid off, he is to pay the state's victim fund, followed by the insurance company.

If the sum isn't paid off by the time of his term is up, Wilson is to begin making $100 monthly payments 60 days after his release.

If the other defendants -- Joseph Dash and Dillon Brito -- are ordered to pay restitution, they will share the expense until the $1,400, plus a 5-percent fee, is paid off.