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A two-car accident has been reported at the intersection of Randall and Buckley roads, Le Roy, with injuries.

Stafford Fire is responding.

One vehicle is blocking traffic.

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A two-car accident with injuries has been reported at the intersection of Ellicott Street Road and Shepard Road, Batavia.

Two ambulances have been requested to the scene.

One woman reportedly has her leg trapped.

Town of Batavia Fire is also responding.

UPDATE 1:55 p.m.: Report now, woman trapped only by a door. Her body is not entrapped. City PD being dispatched to close Route 63 at Cedar Street.

UPDATE 2:16 p.m.: Southbound Route 63 is now open.

 

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Today was Alexander's annual parade, part of its annual carnival and tractor pull.

The Stafford Fire Color Guard, above, along with volunteer fire departments from throughout the region as well as businesses and community groups participated in the parade.

More pictures after the jump:

While on Lewiston Road late Friday afternoon, I spotted these kites flying over the Batavia Downs' parking lot and so I swung down Park Road to investigate.

I should have known, it was Eric Olson, Batavia's Kite Man, out with his kite trailer looking to lure customers to his location.

Olson, whose day job is with the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, runs a sideline business selling kites at community events, and such.

You know, if I'm driving out in Genesee County somewhere, I'm looking for barns and other interesting photographic opportunities.

The barn above is on Randall Road in Morgansville.

This flower (Anybody know what it's called?) was in the field across from the barn.

More pictures after the jump:

Another flower in need of identification.

A rusting Pontiac off Selden Road, Le Roy.

It's views like these, I think, that help you appreciate just how sublimely beautiful Genesee County really is. This was taken on Selden Road, Le Roy.

A truck has hit a utility pole in the area of 1550 Indian Falls Road, Corfu.

Power has been knocked out to several homes in the area.

It's in East Pembroke's district, but Indian Falls and Pembroke fire departments were initially dispatched.

No injuries are reported.

The pole was completely sheared off.

"The truck is pretty much demolished," a chief reports.

A portion of the pole is on top of the truck.

The road is not blocked.

UPDATE: The alleged driver, Jason Edward Schanley, 33, of Indian Falls Road, Corfu, was arrested and charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater and moving from the lane unsafely.

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Note: Reminder, innocent until proven guilty. While we use "allegedly" throughout this report, the nature of recounting the events as alleged by the FBI could leave an impression that the events occurred exactly as reported. That has not yet been proven in court.

For a little over two months, Donald G. Vanelli was a man being closely watched by the FBI.

Agents obtained a court order authorizing a wiretap on his phone on April 22. The FBI mounted a camera on a pole near his home at 8394 Lake Street Road., Le Roy, allowing them to observe who was coming and who was going, and all the trips Vanelli made to his white-washed, two-door garage, where he allegedly stored the methamphetamine he was selling.

By May 7, agents even had two confidential sources allegedly buying -- with federal dollars -- at least one, and sometimes four, "eight-balls" of meth on each visit to the house of the 47-year-old president of the Road Agents Motorcycle Club.

An eight-ball is approximately 1/8 of an ounce of meth.

The details of the surveillance and investigation into the alleged drug-dealing activities of Vanelli are contained in a 99-page affidavit written by FBI agent Mark R. Schirching.

The affidavit, unsealed at the time of Vanelli's arrest, was the basis for warrants for David H. Cohen, 49, of 918 Goodman St., Rochester; Andrew W. Chapman, 40, of 5 Cedar St., Batavia; and Kerry A. Ball, 51, of 7202 Meadville Road, Basom, as well as search warrants for the homes of Vanelli and Donna L. Boon (aka Donna Mcauly), 44, of 3658 Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road, Batavia.

All five suspects were arrested early Friday morning and arraigned in the U.S. District Court in Rochester on a federal charge of conspiracy with intent to distribute narcotics.

Vanelli is reportedly being held without bail, while the other four suspects were released on their own recognizance.

While Vanelli was the central figure in the investigation, and described by one investigator Friday as the center of the ring, Vanelli was not the person dealing with the higher level suppliers.

That job allegedly fell to Boon initially, but when Boon could either no longer allegedly supply Vanelli, or when Boon and Vanelli had some sort of falling out, Vanelli reportedly turned to Cohen, who had a contact -- a man who comes across in the affidavit as unreliable and arrogant -- named Igor. Cohen tagged Igor "The King," according to the affidavit, but the nickname doesn't have the ring of a compliment.

Igor's unreliability leaves the impression that he was buying from another source, not he himself manufacturing meth. It's also unclear from the affidavit whether Vanelli's other alleged supplier, Boon, was allegedly buying from a meth lab or dealt with another middle man.

There's no indication one way or another whether Boon or Cohen were themselves subject to a separate surveillance effort.

It's important to note that the affidavit itself is not the whole of the federal case against the suspects, only that portion which has been made publicly available.

The surveillance reveals an alleged attempt by the suspects to be coy about their activities, never discussing deals directly but using -- in the repeated phrase of agent Schirching -- "cryptic and coded" language to arrange meetings and alleged buys.

The alleged "cryptic and coded" language, in it's simplest explanation, usually involved an alleged customer calling Vanelli and asking if it was OK to stop by. If Vanelli had an alleged supply of meth, he would reportedly say, "yes," if not, "no," or perhaps, "it's pretty quiet."

In one conversation, Vanelli reportedly even joked about the Feds listening in.

The key break in the case came when agents asked a State Trooper to make a traffic stop on two people who had been observed -- via the pole camera -- leaving Vanelli's residence.

The alleged buy that led to the traffic stop came on May 7. It was the second time the man and woman were reportedly heard via wiretap making arrangements to meet Vanelli and later showing up at his residence, disappearing with Vanelli into the garage and leaving 10 minutes or so later.

The first alleged buy came on April 29, when a woman, identified as CS-1, allegedly called Vanelli at 4:14 p.m. She asked, "Are you going to be around later on? You want some company or?" Vanelli reportedly responded, "Yeah, sure."

The pole camera recorded the woman arriving at Vanelli's house with a man who would become the second confidential source.

They arrived at 5:19 p.m. and entered the garage with Vanelli and departed at 5:29 p.m.

The couple would later admit to buying methamphetamine from Vanelli. The pair reportedly confirmed the use of "cryptic and coded" language to arrange deals.

At 12:46 p.m., May 7, Vanelli reportedly received a phone call from CS-1, who said, "Yeah, I was wondering if you wanted some company later?" Vanelli reportedly responded, "Yeah, what time?"

CS-1 reportedly said, "Ah, well, I could ... I just gotta .... I get out probably about 3:30, quarter-to-four, and then, ah, run home, grab some money and, ah, head over. So 4:30?" Vanelli reportedly responded, "Sounds good ... OK, I'll see you then."

Schirching reports that via the pole camera, CS-1 and CS-2 were shown arriving at 4:35 p.m. and entering the garage with Vanelli. They departed at 4:43 p.m.

At 5:05 p.m., under the direction of FBI agents, NYSP Trooper Christopher Neidert stopped the soon-to-be-informant's car on Randall Road.

Neidert reportedly smelled a strong odor of marijuana when he approached the driver's side door of the car. Neidert reportedly recovered a small amount of marijuana and a pipe from CS-1's purse.

When CS-2 exited the vehicle, Neidert reportedly observed a yellow envelope sticking out under his arm, which was in a sling.

"Trooper Neidert then asked CS-2 what was in the envelope and CS-2 admitted that it contained four eight-balls of methamphetamine," Schirching writes.

Later that evening, CS-1 and CS-2 agreed to cooperate in the investigation. They admitted to buying four eight-balls of meth, allegedly from Vanelli, for $1,200.

The description of the buying process for CS-1 fits the pattern of other alleged buys -- from the non-specific phone conversations, to people arriving a short time later, going into the garage, allegedly with Vanelli, and leaving minutes later.

The affidavit lists more than a dozen alleged customers of Vanelli. They are generally identified as Customer 1, Customer 2, and so on, as well as listing the phone numbers used in calling Vanelli.

CS-1 and CS-2 would be used to make controlled purchases -- wired for video and audio each time, using federal money -- on May 14, June 11 and June 25.

The Feds also intercepted calls to and from Vanelli involving Boon, Cohen, Chapman and Ball. Schirching states that he believes these phone calls were made in order to arrange either the transfer of money or meth among the five alleged dealers.

On May 24, Vanelli reportedly received a call from Ball. It's the first time Vanelli turns down a meeting with an alleged associate or customer. Schirching took this to mean that Vanelli was tapped out of meth.

The next several pages of the affidavit detail a number of calls in which Vanelli is allegedly unable to supply his customers and having difficulty obtaining a new supply of meth.

He repeatedly told customers, according to the report, that he might have time to meet the following week.

On May 25, Vanelli reportedly received a call from Cohen.

"I guess I am gonna have to go to your schedule. Tell -- tell me a time to show up there after 3:30 and I will be there. I don't care if it's midnight or whatever I just got appointments and all this shit 'til then."  

Vanelli reportedly replied, "Yeah, nah, I don't know if I'm going to be around." 

Cohen: "Ah, .... all right so, f--k it today. When -- when, next week, stop by or?"

Vanelli: "Next week I think."

Later that day, Customer 4 reportedly called Vanelli, who said, "Well, I just wanted to run into ya for about 15, 20 minutes. I know you're busy. I know you're tryin' to get your shit together, but I gotta stay home by myself so I might as well do somethin', I might as well clean."

Vanelli reportedly responded, "Yeah. I can't help you though, I don't got... "

Customer 4, "No."

Vanelli: "No, next week."

Customer 4: "This sucks."

Vanelli: "Yes it does. Yes it does. Never when I need it, you know."

On May 27, at 6:11 p.m., CS-1, at the direction of the FBI, reportedly called Vanelli, but Vanelli declined to set up a meeting and said he would call CS-1 the following week.

Cohen isn't recorded calling Vanelli until June 1, when he says, "I called, I just haven't had the chance to go f--king take off to see if they got the shit." 

Cohen later added, according to Schirching, "Whatever, but I will try to do the best I can and I will call you if I can't, because I got a call into about three different places."

Schirching interpreted this conversation to mean that Vanelli was unable to obtain meth from Boon and Cohen was trying to find another supplier.

Later that day, Cohen reportedly told Vanelli, "I don't know man, later on. I got, I got, I mean, I, I got, I'm not a shining star, but I guess I could help you better than nothing if you could bring like a buck, buck-fifty, something like that."

Vanelli and Cohen reportedly agreed to meet later that night. Later, they allegedly set up a meeting near Irondeqouit Bay, across from Bazil's Restaurant in Webster.

At 8:30 p.m., Vanelli was alleged observed entering a gated boat-repair facility (entering a code to get in) and leaving about 9 p.m.

Schirching concluded, he writes, that Vanelli was able to obtain a small amount of meth from Cohen, but not enough to service his customers.

CS-1 attempted to set up a buy on June 2, but Vanelli allegedly declined a meeting.

At 1:1 p.m., June 3, Vanelli reportedly received a phone call from Cohen in which Cohen says, "I don't, I don't mind taking a drive man just cause, ah, like actually that motherf--cking Igor got an attitude on me ... I call him last night he said, 'I can't make it' and ah, it's cool man, I'll catch ya, you know, Thursday or whatever today is ... yeah, and I call him, hey, so 'well I'm working,' so I didn't know how things are going out there?"

Vanelli: "Pretty quiet."

Cohen: "Yeah, all right. Well, whatever, give me a holler cause I, I, I mean it comes down to it, I'd rather spend more time and have ya know, professionalism than, than, than f--cking, these f--cking guys are a joke, man."

Schirching writes that he believes Cohen was indicating that he was having difficulty acquiring meth from Igor and that Vanelli indicated he had not yet found a supply of meth.

On June 4, Cohen reportedly speaks with Vanelli and says, "I would have to see when it would be convenient for the king ... being Igor, Igor being the king."

Vanelli reportedly said, "Yeah, I called him and left him a message. He didn't, he didn't return my call yet."

Cohen: "You know, that's f--cked up. You know, it's like, whatever. He, he, he's the king, you know cause ... I'll do my best when I see him, but he doesn't return my calls either."

It isn't until June 11 that Schirching believes Vanelli was able to drive to the boat-repair yard at Irondequoit Bay and obtain a supply of meth from Cohen.

Later that day, Vanelli reportedly called Boon. At this point, it had been a couple of weeks, based on the transcripts in the affidavit, since Boon and Vanelli spoke.

Schirching believes this conversation was intended to set up a meeting at Vanelli's house where Vanelli could hand over a quanity of meth to Boon and discuss business.

On June 11, Vanelli reportedly contacted four of his alleged customers, including CS-1. CS-1 allegedly arranged a meeting with Vanelli where she reportedly purchased -- according to a taped transaction -- three eight-balls for $760 (because CS-1 apparently didn't have the correct denominations to pay the reported asking price of $775).

By June 14, Vanelli was reportedly running low on meth again and arranged another meeting with Cohen. When Customer 15 called, Vanelli indicted, according to the affidivate, that he couldn't meet immediately with the alleged customer, but perhaps later. Customer 15 reportedly responded, "As long as you give me a Scoobie."

Schirching believes that Vanelli obtained some quantity of meth on June 14 during a meeting at a Thruway gas station with Cohen, and later supplied Ball. Further, Schirching believes that Vanelli later arranged a second meeting at his residence with Cohen for the next day in order to procure additional supplies. Schirching states that he doesn't believe Vanelli obtained a large supply from Cohen.

On June 17, Cohen and Vanelli are allegedly hoping for more meth from Cohen's supplier, but the supplier reportedly showed up to a meeting with Cohen empty-handed.

Cohen and Vanelli reportedly talk twice on June 18, and in the second conversation, Cohen reportedly says, "you know, I can't hurry the king."

By June 22, neither Cohen nor Vanelli have allegedly found a supply of meth, and Cohen bemoans the apparent disappearance of Igor. He hadn't heard a word from him. 

At 3:41 p.m., Vanelli reportedly receives a call from his girlfriend.

Vanelli reportedly says, "Fat ass [Donna Boon] called me this morning."

Vanelli reportedly says he didn't talk with her.

Girlfriend: "Are you going to call her?"

Vanelli: "F--k no."

Later he reportedly said, "I ain't got nothin' to say to her [unintelligible] no more. Make sure you tell her."

The next day, however, Vanelli does reportedly call Boon.

Boon: "I, um, what did I want last night, oh geez, I don't know, oh my friggin', I, can you stop by today and check my lawn mower? This mornin'?"

Vanelli reportedly departed his house at 11:19 p.m. Sheriff's investigator Pete Welker reportedly spotted Vanelli's truck at Boon's place at 11:57 a.m. and he reportedly returned home at 12:25 p.m.

Four minutes later, Vanelli reportedly made his first outbound call to an alleged customer, Customer 9, and set up a meeting at Vanelli's house.

Immediately after that call, Vanelli reportedly called Ball and set up a meeting.

Ten minutes later, Vanelli's girlfriend called.

Girlfriend: "You went back on your word, your word, huh?"

Vanelli: "What are you doing?"

Girlfriend: "Just got to her house ... thought you weren't coming here."

Vanelli: "What, you want to talk about it on the phone?"

Later in the conversation, Vanelli's girlfriend reportedly says, "I knew you were talking shit."

That phone call terminated abruptly, but the girlfriend reportedly calls back a minute or two later.

Girlfriend: "I just wanted to, you just went back on what you said, that's all."

Vanelli: "You know what? I'm not going to talk about this on the phone."

At 4:05 p.m., the girlfriend reportedly calls Vanelli again and launches into, "you motherf--ked her yesterday ... f--kin' f--k that fat bitch. I don't f--king need her, but you do."

Vanelli: "How many times have I heard you say that?"

Girlfriend: "But you do need her."

On June 25, Schirching, working with investigators from the Sheriff's Office, set up CS-1 for another alleged buy from Vanelli.

On June 26, Cohen allegedly arranges for his girlfriend, Nancy, to drive to Le Roy to pick up a supply of meth from Vanelli.

The affidavit ends with Schirching stating that he believes he has probable cause to arrest Vanelli, Boon, Cohen, Ball and Chapman.

Top photo, the residence at 8394 Lake Street Road, Le Roy.

Insets, from top, Vanelli, Cohen, Boon.

Law enforcement in Orleans County  notified Genesee County that they were in pursuit of a vehicle southbound on Route 98, passing through Barre.

The Silverado truck, which is registered to a Batavia resident, was exceeding 100 mph, according to the dispatcher.

Minutes after the call went out, the truck reportedly stopped, the driver got out. A dispatcher indicated a Taser was used on the suspect.

The Genesee County response was canceled with the report of the Orleans County traffic stop.

An alleged meth distribution ring with a hub in Le Roy and alleged dealers in Batavia and Rochester was broken up by a region-wide law enforcement effort early this morning.

Five individuals were arrested and now face a federal charge of conspiracy with intent to distribute narcotics.

None of the individuals are suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine.

U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. said at a press conference this afternoon that 75 grams of meth were recovered following the months long investigation that included wiretaps and the use of informants.

Sheriff Gary Maha would only say that the suspected meth was being manufactured "somewhere in the states."

"We're not concerned about there being a major lab out there in Genesee County," Maha said.

Donald G. Vanelli, 47, of 8394 Lake St., Le Roy, is suspected of playing a central role in acquisition and distribution of meth.

Vanelli, according to a press release put out late Friday by Hochul's office, is president of the Road Agents Motorcycle Club.

Much of the meth allegedly distributed by the ring was being sold in Batavia and throughout Genesee County, but one suspected dealer lived in Rochester. He is David H. Cohen, 49, of 918 Goodman St.

Also taken into custody were Donna L. Boon (aka Donna Mcauly), 44, of 3658 Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road; Andrew W. Chapman, 40, of 5 Cedar St., Batavia; and Kerry A. Ball, 51, of 7202 Meadville Road, Basom.

“We’ve made a number of significant drug arrests here in Genesee County, but this is pretty significant as far as the distribution of methamphetamine,” Maha said. “We think these people are major, major suppliers here in Genesee County.”

Cohen, Boon, Chapman and Ball were arraigned in U.S. District Court in Rochester this afternoon and released. Federal prosecutors were going to ask that Vanelli be held without bail.

Cohen is accused of obtaining meth in Genesee County and distributing it in Monroe County, as well as sometimes being a conduit to resupply Vanelli.

Search warrants were executed at the homes of Boon and Vanelli. K-9 units from Orleans and Monore counties were used in the searches.

A 9mm semi-automatic gun, loaded with 10 rounds, was reportedly seized at Vanelli's home.

Authorities believe that Boon would sometimes supply meth to Vanelli for redistribution.

The federal charge carries a minimum five-year prison sentence, with a maximum available sentence of 40 years and a $2 million fine.

The street value of the 75 grams of meth, according to Hochul is about $7,000.

The stiffer federal penalties are exactly why the FBI and U.S. District Attorney's Office were brought into the investigation, according to Maha.

"We said in the beginning (a little less than a year ago when the first alleged meth lab was found in Alabama), we’re not going to tolerate methamphetamine here in Genesee County," Maha said. "So when it’s brought to our attention that people are manufacturing, or that people are distributing, methamphetamine we’re going to go after them as hard as we can."

The investigation is continuing and there may be additional arrests.

"An investigation into any crime isn’t complete until everybody who is responsible for either the trafficking, procurement of any of the substances and finally the financing are identified and prosecuted," Hochul said.

The culmination of "Operation Deep Freeze" began at 3 a.m. with members of the Batavia Police Department rapid response team (SWAT) meeting at the Sheriff's Office before heading out to serve search warrants and arrest the suspects. By 5:30 a.m., investigators from the Sheriff's Office and the FBI were heading into the field to conduct searches on the suspects' residences.

The investigation began, according to Maha, with informants. He shied away from characterizing them as "citizens" or people involved in criminal activity. He said there was no connection between this alleged distribution ring and the five previous alleged meth labs found in the county.

Also participating in the investigation were the Drug Enforcement Administration, State Police and the Le Roy Police Department as well as the Genesee County District Attorney's Office.

    David Cohen  Kerry Ball  Andrew Chapman

Inset photos: top, Vanelli; bottom, Boon.

City officials are ramping up the enforcement action against LKLWL Properties, owners of the Latina's Foodland location on Ellicott Street.

Today, a condemnation notice appeared on the building's doors and a criminal complaint was filed in City Court.

Representatives of LKLWL Properties are being ordered to appear in court on July 23 at 10 a.m. to answer to a charge of creating unsanitary conditions, in violation of city code.

The condemnation notice prevents anybody from entering the building.

Also, based on the feces and feathers on the floor inside of the building, it seems pretty clear that gulls now have access to the interior of the building as well, not just the roof.

City Manager Jason Molino has not been available for comment this afternoon.

UPDATE 4:36 p.m.: City Manager Jason Molino said the court action and the condemnation are two seperate tracks that are part of the same effort to get the property owner to take the condition of the building seriously.

If the gull problem isn't remedied in 30 days, because of the condemnation notification, the city will be able to send crews in to deal with the gulls and clean up the property and then bill the property owner for the work.

"At this point we have to do what we can to try and remedy the situation," Molino said.

Asked about cleaning up the parking lot, which is increasingly covered with feces, Molino said it would be reasonable to consider billing the property owner for any clean up work there.

For previous coverage, click here.

The crew at Top Line T-shirts made up patriotic shirts to sell at the Picnic in the Park on July 5. When there were some left over, owner Tim Walton was trying to think about what to do with them.

He struck up a conversation with longtime friend Jody Lutley of Hometown Hugs. Hometown Hugs is a local organization that has been sending care packages to soldiers in Afghanistan since the war started.

Walton and Leitey hit on the idea of sending the shirts to troops in Afghanistan, and Walton even printed up another batch to send over.

Pictured are Leitey, Walton, Rob Credi, Walton's business partner, and Andrew Maxwell.

Adrian Michael Alexander, 29, of Meadow Drive, Geneseo, is charged with petit larceny. Alexander is accused of consuming a slushy at 8204 Park Road in Batavia and not paying for it.

Christine Leigh Thomas, 21, of W. Park Street, Albion, was picked up on a bench warrant. Thomas was arrested by Albion Police and turned over to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office. Thomas was jailed without bail. No information was released on the reason for the warrant.

A car that reportedly failed to stop for a stoplight allegedly caused an accident yesterday on Clinton Street Road that sent one person to the hospital.

Suffering non-life threatening injuries was a passenger in one of the cars, Kathleen L. Alianell, 81, address unknown.

No other injuries were reported.

Cited was Richard J. Satkowski, 75, of Blair Road in Medina.

The driver of the other car was Robert W. Frye, 59, of Lucinda Avenue, Rochester.

Satkowski was reportedly driving southbound on Batavia-Stafford Townline Road. Fry was driving west on Route 33. Satkowski reportedly failed to stop for the red light.

The accident was reported at 1:23 p.m.

(initial report)

Richard Stevens, left, runs through a giant rain puddle on Tracy Avenue, with his dog, some neighbor dogs and a neighbor's boy.

The flooded street is now reportedly drained.

Below, a reader submitted the photo showing the flood waters outside Aldi's on East Main Street.

Dig the '80s style lettering on this old truck.

When I was poking around on Cedar Street this morning looking for some reported law enforcement effort going on, and finding nothing, I noticed Wade Avenue. I've never been down Wade Avenue before, so I drove to the end of the short street.

And the end was parked this old school delivery device for news, apparently put out to pasture. Shouldn't it be in a museum?

Delavan's Restaurant and Tavern, 107 Evans St., Batavia, NY: To me, Delavan's is one of those restaurants where you want to eat frequently until you try everything on the menu. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

Clor's Meat Market, 4169 W. Main St. Road, Batavia, NY: For the best, most flavorful, juiciest chicken or hamburger in town, hands down, stop by Clor's. Oh, and the steaks are great, too. And the sausage. Clor's also serves lunch and dinners from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. We have a $20 gift card for $10.

Sallome's Italian Deli, 40 Oak St., Batavia, NY: Wraps, subs, paninis and pasta as well as pizzas -- Sallome's offers a tasty variety of Italian deli items for eat-in or take-out. We have $10 gift certificates for $5 each.

T.F. Brown's, at 214 E. Main St., Batavia, NY: 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. "If it happens in sports, it happens at Brown's." We have a $20 gift card for $10.

Alex's Place, 8322 Park Road, Batavia, NY: People come from all over the region for a fine dining experience at Alex's. It's best known for its ribs, of course, but Alex's seafood is also a favorite of the restaurant's diners. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

Center Street Smoke House, 20 Center St., Batavia, NY: Authentic Southern BBQ, from ribs to brisket with all the fixin's. We have a $20 gift card for $10.

NOTE: If you've never bought Deal of the Day before, or are otherwise unfamiliar with the rules and process, click here.

SOLD OUT

Sheriff Gary Maha arrived at 3658 Townline Road a short time ago where, within the hour, law enforcement had arrived on scene and conducted a raid.

Maha also confirmed there had been a raid earlier on Cedar Street in Batavia. He said there were "three or four" locations raided this morning. He said it's related to an investigation into methamphetamine distribution. When asked where the meth was being manufactured he said he couldn't say.

The Sheriff's Office, State Police and an Orleans County K-9 unit are on scene.

Maha said his office would release a statement later this afternoon.

Tonight was the 6th Annual "Taste of Stafford," which brought together Stafford's finest food and an event to honor the community's veterans (gathered above for a group picture).

Local businesses and community groups participated -- all to raise money to maintain the Stafford museum.

More pictures after the jump:

When I stopped into South Beach, 59 E. Main St., Batavia, this afternoon to see what was up with the re-opening plans, the first thing Ken Mistler did was give me a cup of ice water.

Man, was it good. And not just because it was 96 degrees outside.

Mistler has a whole new filtration system that all the water -- for cooking, ice and table service -- goes through. It's as pure and clear as a pristine mountain stream.

And it's also evidence of the first-rate job Mistler has done in putting together the new South Beach. He's not calling it "Ken Mistler's South Beach," but that's how we might start thinking about it. It's both that different and yet still South Beach.

Inside are the same bamboo and beachy themes, but Mistler has also made a lot of changes, from adding a side-door entrance and doing away with the Main Street entrance, to enclosing the kitchen. The latter change helps keep heat in the kitchen instead of the dining room. He's also added new, larger, more private booths.

There's also more seating overall and a bigger bar.

And Mistler isn't done. He's got expansion plans for downstairs once the main restaurant is running smoothly.

The new South Beach officially opens Tuesday.

As for the food, Mistler said it will be "South Beach with a flair." There will be steaks and seafood and pineapple dishes, but one unique feature is that diners will have the option of ordering -- and paying less -- for smaller portions.

"We thought, when we go out to eat the plates are just too big, too much food on the plate, and you feel obligated to eat it," Mistler said. "We’ll do away with that by offering the same dish, but a smaller portion at a lower price."