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UPDATE 10:54 a.m.: The fire is at 8127 Lewiston Rd. in Batavia.  A large plume of black smoke can be seen drifting over the city of Batavia.

UPDATE: 11:17 a.m.  We're at the scene (after a long walk because State Troopers wouldn't let us drive in). 

Owner of the property Pat Riner says they noticed a small flame coming from one of the barns and the fire spread quickly.  A silo appears to have fallen. UPDATE: After the flames and smoke cleared, I decided what looked like the ribs of a silo were just part of the barn that had been fully engulfed.

The facility is My-T acres.

Witnesses said they heard explosions. Riner said the explosions where mostly truck engines. The barn that caught fire was full of harvester equipment, "because the harvest is over." She said. Also, a truck was full of ferilizer for next year.

The structure is adjacent ot a barn that Riner described as a sports facility used by many athletes in Batavia.  As we post now, the fire is spreading to that structures while crews battle the flames from atop two ladder trucks, spraying water down onto the flames.

We should have a quick video posted in 30 to 60 minutes.

Philip Anselmo will follow up with more reports once he's on scene.

UPDATE: 11:29 a.m.:  Crews put additonal hoses on the sprots-structure fire. The fire seems well tapped down at that end of the building now. I'd estimate about 15 to 20 percent of the structure was lost.

UPDATE 11:52 a.m. : Here's a quick video from the scene.

UPDATE 12:08 p.m.: Spoke with Genesee County Emergency Management Coordinator Timothy Yaeger briefly. No loss of life. No injuries. No animals known to be involved. About 12 companies responded.  Flames can still be seen in an around the structure, but the fire appears to be under control.

UPDATE 2:31 p.m.:  The fire is under control and nearly extinquished. Some of the companies that responded are now back in service.

Below is one of the pictures from the scene.  More can be viewed here.

UPDATE:  If you were at the scene and took pictures, or took pictures of the plume over Batavia, please upload them in a blog post or send us a link to where ever you posted your shots.

Here's a camera phone shot taken from the Thruway.

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FIRST POST 10:40 a.m.: We've received reports of a large barn fire in Pembroke Batavia.  Multiple units responding, from as far away and LeRoy.

We'll head out to the scene now.

We're testing an other poll provider.  Here's today's poll:

We're experimenting with poll software, and we have a timely poll:

I thought it was kind of odd that since creating the "Housing" section on the web site, no listings had been posted yet, but I just figured I needed to get out and talk to some real estate agents.

A little while ago while I stopped into a local real estate office and the agents there were very happy to see me -- they had been having trouble getting their listings published.

It turns out, there was a misconfiguration I couldn't see with my superuser login.  It's fixed now.

So for any agents or landlords who have tried to post listings in the past, please try again. Click here to add a listing.

WBKW broadcast a follow up report last night about a bloody t-shirt found in a Batavia church dumpster last March.

Det. Sgt. Patrick Corona of the Batavia Police department said a DNA test of the blood revealed the victim was male, and because of the style of the shirt they believe the owner was either a teen-ager or a young man.

He believes the male could now be dead or a victim of a serious assault. Police have not found a connection to any assaults or missing people in the area. They also found no connection with the state's DNA bank. But he says the National Center For Missing And Exploited Children will conduct further DNA tests to create a better profile of the potential victim.

The police are asking anybody with information about this situation are encouraged to call Batavia Police at (585) 345-6444 or confidential tips can be left at (585) 345-6370. The police can also be contacted confidential via this web form.

The web site Missing Kids has more information.

A Canadian restaurant chain is planning to expand into Western New York, and Batavia is part of the firm's plans, according to the Buffalo News.

Mississauga-based Coffee Culture Cafe & Eatery Is beginning its expansion in Buffalo. The article offers no specifics on the company's plans for Batavia, such as location or timing.

Coffee Culture President Peter Karamountzos said his company has been eyeing a U. S. launch for about 18 months and picked New York over Michigan and Illinois for a cross-border expansion.

“We’d like to open 10 to 12 location in and around Buffalo,” Karamountzos said. “We like to be in village settings or downtowns, where there’s strong neighborhood foot traffic. We also like being on corners where we can have a physical presence.”

...

The European-style eateries offer a range of fresh-baked goods, panini sandwiches, breakfast and lunch/dinner crepes and coffees. Coffee Culture eschews drive-up windows in favor of more personal walk-in and sit-down service.

“Our theme is ‘Come for a taste, Stay for a visit,’” Karamountzos said. “We know people are in a hurry, but that doesn’t mean they have to settle for a sterile fast-food experience.”

The state Legislature is consider new regulation that would allow Batavia Downs to expand its hours and increase the types of games it offers.

Currently the Downs is limited to 116 hours per week. Under the proposal, the casino could stay open for 128 hours per week.

Among the new games being considered are electronic roulette and electronic blackjack. Right now, the Downs is limited to slot machines and video poker.

The moves are being eyed as a way to give the state a boost in revenue when it's struggling to close massive budget gaps over the next four years.

"We will consider them all if it will help us raise some revenue," Paterson said in an interview today with Gannett News Service.

Apparently, the legislature cannot expand the race tracks into full-blown casino's without a constitutional amendment.

I'm guessing that's why the facilities don't offer -- and the Legislature is not considering -- poker?

Poker remains popular throughout the U.S. It seems logical that it would be as successful at Batavia Downs as any place else.

Poker is one of the few games that gives the player a chance to consistently win money, since there is no house advantage (the house takes what's called a rake, a small portion of the opening bets) from each pot, and some pots can be won on the pure skill of an individual player (of course, there's luck involved, too).

Whereas slot machines, video poker and similar electronic games have a house advantage built right in. For example, even if a slot machine offers the nearly unheard of, outrageously high pay out of 98 percent, a player cannot beat it in the long run. Eventually, he is going to lose all of his money (it might take millions and millions of pulls, but the odds are against the player).  Of course, short-term variance means most players either lose big or win big on any given day, which is the thrill that hooks in so many problem gamblers.

Blackjack offers a similar house advantage, which can be defeated by a skilled card counter -- but casinos will ban card counters when caught.

So why does the state sanction games that offer the player no real advantage while banning the one wager game that a skilled player can actually beat?

As a libertarian, I have nothing against these facilities offering these games, or the state legalizing them, or people playing them.  People are free to make their own choices in these matters. I just don't get why poker isn't legal.

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