Stories from

A minor-injury, two-car accident is reported at Richmond Avenue and Oak Street, Batavia.

City fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

With rainfall anticipated of 1.5 to 2 inches anticipated, and the ground already saturated, the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for Genesee County starting Thursday afternoon and continuing through Friday afternoon.

The NWS stated:

Excessive runoff from heavy rainfall may result in minor flooding of poor drainage areas and small creeks from late Thursday afternoon through early Friday morning. Minor flooding is also possible on some of the larger creeks and rivers on Friday, including the upper Genesee River, upper Allegheny River, and Buffalo area creeks.

Crews have been working on removing a large tree from the front of 113 Jackson St. for a couple of days. Today, they had a crane out to help as the tree was cut into sections and lowered to the ground.

The K-Kids were on hand at St. Joe's today to help the Batavia Kiwanis Club promote its annual Pancake Day, which will be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, at the school.

Tickets are $6 for an adult and $4 for children and seniors.

No injuries are reported in an accident in the area of 1506 Broadway, Darien, but a utility pole and wires are down.

Darien fire and ambulance dispatched.

Press release:

For the second time in the past year, indicted incumbent Chris Collins has ducked high school student who want to hear from their representative. Nate McMurray, Democrat and Working Families Party candidate who is challenging Collins in NY-27, condemned Collins for his refusal to engage with high school students and failure to participate in any debates with less than a week before the election.

"It says a lot about a guy if he’s too scared to talk to high school students, and it makes it even worse when it’s his job to listen to the people he represents,” McMurray said. “In the spring, it was Clarence students wanting to talk about gun violence in schools.

Today, it was St. Joe’s students who have proudly hosted debates for the last 30 years. These aren’t political operatives or insiders, they’re young people who will be the future of our country and who just want to have a voice in the discussion.”

In April, Collins declined an invitation to a “Town Hall for Our Lives” hosted by Clarence High School students, calling the students “radical partisans.”

Today, St. Joe’s learned that Collins planned to skip the debate from a local radio broadcast. McMurray attended both events and plans to meet with Clarence High School students on Friday. He will also be at the forum hosted by the League of Women Voters.

"It’s typical of millionaires like Collins to look down on voters like us, and he just doesn’t have the backbone or character to talk with students or debate. Eleven felony counts, out on bail and a flight risk, and he just makes himself more of an embarrassment to our community with his cowardice. He’s got one more chance today, and then it’s three strikes and he’s out -- of office!”

East Pembroke fire has been dispatched to the Apple Grove Mobile Home Park on Pratt Road, Batavia, to assist a man whose leg has become stuck in a sinkhole.

Press release:

The Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation (GGLDC) will consider approving a revised and consolidated loan as well as two purchase and sale agreements for parcels in the Gateway II Corporate Park at the agency’s board meeting Thursday, Nov. 1st.

Yancey’s Fancy has requested the revision and consolidation of a January 2017 loan for an expansion project at the company’s town of Pembroke facility. A $233,449 loan from the corporation’s Revolving Loan Fund #2 will close out the fund in its entirety. It would be consolidated with two outstanding GGLDC loans for a total of $340,000.

Mega Properties, Inc. is seeking to purchase a 22.2-acre parcel of land at the Gateway II Corporate Park in the town of Batavia in order to construct a 60,000-square-foot facility. The company owns Mega Properties Inc., which also is located at Gateway.

Wellsville Carpet Town Inc. also is seeking to purchase a parcel of land at the Gateway II Corporate Park. Wellsville Carpet Town plans to construct a 15,000- to 20,000-square-foot facility for an outlet center at the site on approximately 2.9 acres. A purchase and sale agreement set the land price at $45,000 per acre. The company owns Ashley HomeStore, a business also located in the Gateway II Corporate Park.

Both Mega Properties Inc. and Wellsville Carpet Town Inc. may seek incentives from the Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) in the future.

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) will consider approving incentives for two projects at the agency’s Nov. 1st board meeting.

The Ellicott Station Project in the City of Batavia is a mixed-use brownfield redevelopment project including adaptive re-use and new construction of a blighted property in a key gateway to downtown Batavia.

Savarino Companies, the project’s developer, has requested a PILOT agreement for the $22.5 million project be expanded to meet the financing needed for the project’s expanded scope and scale. A revised incentives package is valued at an estimated $3.25 million, including a property tax abatements and sales and mortgage tax exemptions.

The Ellicott Station project is anticipated to create 68 full-time equivalent jobs, the construction of a 99,000-square-foot brewery, including a restaurant and beer garden, and the construction of a five-story apartment building with 55 apartments and class-A office space.

Gateway GS LLC is seeking an $18,000 mortgage tax exemption for the first of five planned 27,000-square-foot spec buildings to be constructed at the Gateway II Corporate Park in the town of Batavia.

The $2.6 million project, which is being done by Gallina Development Corporation, has previously received approval for property and sales tax abatements.

We get a lot of questions about the construction project off of State Street next to the Thruway in Batavia.

The project is a new 30,000-square-foot warehouse and service center for Freightliner & Western Star of Batavia, LLC. The company is expanding beyond its current West Seneca location.

The company wanted a location close to the BOCES campus and plans to create at least 30 new jobs.

The Genesee County Economic Development Center approved $437,652 in sales, mortgage and property tax exemptions for the $4.35 million project.

The project also received a $465,000 state grant because of the educational component of the facility.

Construction finally began just over a week ago on a new four-story, 64-room hotel on Federal Drive in the Gateway II project.

The hotel will be operated by Oakfield Hospitality LLC, a company headed by Ash Patel, and branded as a Fairfield Inn.

While Oakfield Hospitality acquired the property from Genesee County Economic Development Center, the project has not received any incentives from the IDA.

Tom Turnbull, president of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, said the new hotel will help bring more visitors to Batavia.

"The addition of the Fairfield Inn to Genesee County’s inventory of hotel properties adds one of the only large flagship chains – Marriott – not represented in our county," Turnbull said. "The familiarity of the Marriott name and the loyalty to its brand by its customers means even more people will be staying in Genesee County hotels.

"That means not only more revenue for the hotels but also from restaurants, retail shops and other ancillary businesses in our area. More tourism revenue also means more sales tax revenue from sources outside of the county, which should help reduce the burden on county taxpayers."

Students at Notre Dame walked through the school's neighborhood today in support of their effort to raise funds so a school in Uganda can have clean, safe drinking water.

The students raised $4,635.30 through donations from friends and family. Mary Vandenbosch, a senior, raised the most money, $955. Sophomore MacKenzy Nenni raised $312.

Fifth Ward City Council Representative Kathy Briggs was with John Roach this afternoon walking the area around Thorpe Street to better see for herself, she said, what a proposal to make Thorpe one-way would mean for the neighborhood.

Briggs said she stopped to talk with local residents, especially those living on Thorpe, about the idea.

The plan is to make Thorpe one-way for southbound traffic and allow parking on one side of the street. Thorpe was apparently one-way many years ago and nobody knows how or when it changed, Briggs said.

There will be a public hearing on the proposal Nov. 26 and Briggs hopes for a City Council vote on the change at its Dec. 10 meeting.

"The folks on Thorpe (she spoke to today) like it a lot," Briggs said. "At my ward meetings they've been complaining about traffic that zooms down Thorpe Street and it’s so narrow and kids are out playing so they’re excited about this."

Press release:

On Monday, Oct. 29, Le Roy Jr.-Sr. High School hosted a Senior Citizen Knight. Seniors were treated to a pasta dinner and dessert prepared and cooked by our students, and enjoyed live student music entertainment, games, and companionship!

This event was organized by a committee of students from our Emerging Knights Leadership Team.

Students reached out for donations, advertised the event, and organized the student volunteers and entertainment.

More than 70 senior citizens attended the evening, which was hosted in the Le Roy Jr.-Sr. High School Cafe. More than 30 student volunteers prepared the dinner, cooked, greeted, served, washed the dishes, performed live music, led bingo, played games, and, most importantly, interacted with the guests.

We would like to thank the following people/businesses who graciously donated their time or goods for this event: Laurie Locke, Barilla, Jeff Condidorio, Wegmans, CH Wright, Le Roy Rotary, and Netsins Ice Cream!

From two of the guests:

"Thank you so much for all your hard work on the Senior Knight Dinner. My family and I really enjoyed ourselves -- great food, great service, great music, you covered it all, thanks again for a wonderful evening!"

"The meal was delicious. The conversations wonderful. And your students were very polite, courteous, personable, and considerate. What a pleasant experience for us and hopefully for them also."

From Maria Cacho, Emerging Knights Leadership Team member:

"I thought the Senior Citizen Knight helped the students reconnect with the community. It made us realize that our community cares about us and they're always driving us into finding more opportunities in leadership and kindness."

From Tim McArdle, Le Roy Jr.-Sr. High School Principal:

"It was a true pleasure to host this event and welcome so many seniors from our community. Many of them were alums who have supported our school for many years. We are so proud of our students and how well they represented themselves and our school. It is in these type of events that all of their skills are put to the test and we cannot be more thankful for their leadership and efforts. We never underestimate our students and these events continue to be a reminder that when given the chance, our young people do not disappoint. The compassion and respect that was on display was nothing short of impressive. We look forward to continuing these types of events moving forward!"

The Balance: Trump and the National Debt

Let's talk about French fries.

The lowly fry. Can you really kick it up a notch?

Cooking a gourmet fry is actually no secret. Any competent chef can do it. But it's a lot of work.

The new chef at Terry Hills, John Steward, is ready to do the work.

It's a four-day process that consists of blanching, drying, blanching again, more drying, freezing and then frying.

The result is a fry that has a veneer of crunch and a soft, fluffy center, like a perfectly cooked baked potato or a mouthful of savory clouds.

We told Steward we were going to write about his fries and that some people might find that odd. He agreed.

"People will be like 'oh, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about, talking about good French fries,' " Steward said. "A fry is a fry, you know. But at the same time, people feel like, 'oh, why is this fry so good? What's so different?' And that's what we need right now. We need people talking about Terry Hills. So many times I hear that people forget that Terry Hills is a restaurant."

A native of Rochester, Steward, is a new father, current resident of Le Roy and the former sous chef at Farmer's Creekside Tavern & Inn.

Terry Hills isn't his first head chef's job, but it may be his most important. It's a chance, he said, not only to take Terry Hills to the next level but also to better establish his name and provide his staff with the training necessary to help advance their careers. Those are his goals.

They're ambitious for a guy who a little over six years ago started in the restaurant business as a dishwasher and quickly moved through his first kitchen, entirely self taught, to be ready to run a kitchen himself a few years later -- La Luna, in Rochester.

"Yeah, I never went to a culinary college or school," Steward said. "Everything I've learned, I've learned on the job. I've done a lot of research on my own, watched a lot of shows, read a lot. When I first started, I would go to the public market and buy a bag full of potatoes and  sit in my apartment working on knife cuts."

Danielle Rotondo, VP, and co-owner of Terry Hills, said Steward was just what management was looking for -- young and ambitious and eager to take the dining experience for lunch, dinners, and banquets to the next level. He came out on top after three rounds of interviews and several reference checks.

"We want to grow; we want to do more; we want to show Batavia that we're not just a golf course," Rotondo said. "You know we have our golf course, our restaurant, our banquet facility, we have all of that here, and, yes, we want to show that there are some different things out here and there are different ways to do it. Yes, it's Batavia, but we can also go on the edge a little bit and try something else."

To show off how Terry Hills will take it to the next level, a couple of weeks ago the restaurant hosted a chef's menu night for a few dozens guests both to introduce some new dishes and as a kind of soft opening on how things are changing.

It was at that chef's menu night that we tried those crisp, fluffy fries. But Steward also introduced diners to his gnocchi carbonara, like everything that night, made from scratch, consisting of hand-rolled, house-made ricotta in a rich and thick carbonara sauce with diced ham and peas.

Steward also served a dry-aged strip steak, a pan-seared salmon, chicken roulade, to go along with a wedge salad, a Caesar salad, and a grain medley.

Many of these dishes -- particularly, say, the fries and the gnocchi -- take substantial prep time but Steward said there's no reason he and his line staff aren't up to the demands of the extra effort.

"As you're organized, you always have lists going; then it should be executable," Steward said. "There's no reason why it shouldn't be executable."

Steward said what makes a good dining experience is fresh ingredients, scratch cooking, and service. It's his job to oversee all aspects of a guest's experience at Terry Hills now, and he plans to pay attention to those details.

"Even if I go to a diner, or if I go to a finer place, you can see if the food is taken care of, if people care about quality," Steward said. "I think that is what makes a good meal -- making sure you use fresh ingredients, you use the proper techniques, execute the proper techniques. Your execution is what makes a good meal."

He said he expects the care of the kitchen staff to be carried out into the dining room by the servers.

"Nothing frustrates me more when I go to a place, and I ask a server a question about the menu, and the server is like, 'I don't know,' Steward said. "You should, you should. To me, I feel like it's your job to know the menu to know what the chef is trying to cook.

"There's going to be time and money invested to ensure our staff is trained properly."

The one thing Steward didn't change for the night was Terry Hill's famous seafood bisque.

"The only thing I might change is the garnish and change the saltines to oyster crackers," Steward said. "I think a seafood bisque should have oyster crackers."

While upgrading the sit-down lunch and dinner menus for Terry Hills is high on the agenda, Steward said he also plans to revamp the banquet service.

"I'm not knocking the former chefs here, but some of these recipes are outdated," Steward said, "by like 25 years."

That doesn't necessarily mean there will be big changes in menu choices. He already considers Terry Hills the premier banquet facility in Batavia. He thinks a few changes to how things are done will make it even better.

"I understand that like I can completely get everything off the menu," Steward said. "But, again, some of the techniques we're using here again are outdated. No one uses them anymore so. Therefore, we need to update our techniques to make a better product. The quality of the product will improve but still essentially be the same, they will have the same ingredients, but it's just going to be a better product overall because it's done better."

Steward said the chef's that inspire him include: Massimo Bottura, owner of Osteria Francescana in Italy, now ranked the #1 restaurant in the world (Bottura was the subject of the first episode of Chef's Table on Netflix); Thomas Keller, a chef and restauranteur in California; and, Wylie Dufresne, a chef in Manhattan.

"I pride myself working hard, putting in the hours," Steward said. "I think anyone who does that is going to do well in any field."

Steward thinks he can take what he's learned on his own and use that knowledge to help make his line cooks better. He would like to be known as a chef who helps his staff advance their careers.

"I really want to make really good food," Steward said. "In that process, I want to teach the guys that are here, too. As I said from day one, my goal is for you guys, whenever your time is up here, is to walk into any kitchen (and) be the best cook that walks in that kitchen because you've got trained by me."

A kitchen fire is reported at 627 E. Main St., Batavia.

City fire is arriving on scene reporting light black smoke coming out of Apt. 3.

UPDATE 3:33 p.m.: Scene commander reports, "sounds like food on the stove. Making entry now."

UPDATE 3:35 p.m.: Fire is out. Ventilating. 

Press release:

Nate McMurray, Democrat and Working Families Party candidate, today released a new poll showing that he is ahead by 4 points, with 47 percent of the respondents saying they will support McMurray against indicted incumbent Chris Collins.

Since the indictment in early August, McMurray has surged in the polls, earned endorsements from both the Buffalo News and conservative New York Post, and the race has been added to the DCCC’s “Red to Blue” list.

"The people of Western New York are done with the embarrassment Chris Collins has brought on our region," McMurray said. "Republicans, Democrats and independents know that it’s time to put country before party and reject a Congressman who’s out on bail. There is no stopping this movement, and we are ready to win on Election Day."

The poll also showed that Collins has a 51 percent unfavorability, while McMurray’s name recognition has surged -- 74 percent of respondents know about McMurray.

The poll was conducted by Tulchin Research from Oct. 25th to Oct. 28th and had a sample size of 400 people. The results showed that 47 percent supporting McMurray, 43 percent for Collins, and 4 percent for Reform Party candidate Larry Piegza. The margin of error is ±4 percent.

The polling memo can be viewed here.

NOTE: The FiveThirtyEight poll, with results through Oct. 26, shows Collins with a slim margin. The New York Times poll also gives Collins a small edge. It also carries this disclaimer (true of all polling): "It’s just one poll, and we’ve talked to only 486 people. Each candidate’s total could easily be five points different if we polled everyone in the district. And having a small sample is only one possible source of error."

Batavia Ramparts Squirt III travel team traveled to Jamestown yesterday and picked up a 7-2 win.

• #15 Will Stevens, assisted by #26 Luke Staley
• #26 Luke Staley, assisted by #15 Will Stevens
• #16 Preston Viele, unassisted
• #15 Will Stevens, assisted by #88 Coleman Hiczewski
• #16 Preston Viele, unassisted
• #15 Will Stevens, unassisted (Hat Trick)
• #88 Coleman Hiczewski, assisted by #15 Will Stevens

Photos and info submitted by Teresa Pfendler.