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Parents, do your back-to-school shopping now.

Starting in October, under the 123-day-late budget passed by the Senate last night, clothing priced at under $110 will once again be assessed a 4-percent sales tax.

That's one of the provisions to increase revenue.

Even so, Associated Press reports that budget isn't balanced and Republicans complain that it both raises taxes and increases spending (Gothamist).

The revenue package is expected to generate $1.5 billion dollars and was approved by the Senate on a 32-28 vote.

A soda tax was not included in the bill.

The total budget: $136 billion.

Buffalo News: New financing provision for UB not included in budget.

New York Times: With Connecticut trying to woo hedge funds, the budget doesn't include a change in state law that would have taxed bonuses as ordinary income.

Albany Times-Union: Statement from Gov. Paterson's office.

LoHud.com: Senate is planning property tax cap.

Eric D. Johnston, 32, no permanent address, and Lisa M. Rugh, 37, no permanent address, are charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Johnston and Rugh were charged in connection with a search warrant executed on March 11 at 13 Hutchins St., Batavia. Charges were pending while awaiting lab results from Monroe County. Johnston and Rugh were issued appearance tickets. (Also, Johnston was reportedly a resident at 13 Ross St. in February where a suspected small meth lab was found.)

Joseph Arthur Ababurko, 35, of Military Road, Niagara Falls, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Ababurko was allegedly found in possession of marijuana while at Darien Lake Theme Park.

A 17-year-old Batavia resident is charged with sexual misconduct. He is accused of having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl.

The Muckdogs continue to rip through the NY Penn League, shredding Mahoning Valley yesterday 8-1 for the team's 12th win in its last 14 contests.

The victory put Batavia back in first place, a half game ahead of Williamsville.

Jon Rodriguez homered in his third straight game, giving him six on the year. He had three hits, two RBIs and scored twice.

Infielder Joey Bergman brought his season average back up over .300 with another multi-hit game, going 2-4 and scoring three runs.

Starter Chris Corrigan picked up his third win, going five innings and giving up one run on three hits.

The Muckdogs are in Brooklyn tonight for the start of a three-game series. After three games in Vermont, they return to Dwyer on Tuesday to face Aberdeen.

Community members young and old came to Austin Park tonight for Batavia's "National Night Out," a chance for residents to mingle together, see old friends, make new ones, learn about public safety issues, have their children receive ID cards and play a few games and enjoy some local music.

More pictures after the jump:

An interesting situation arose tonight that's just kind of worth noting for the record: Mercy EMS ran out of ambulances.

When a girl fell from a scooter on Summit Street at about 10:45 p.m., just a block from UMMC, a dispatcher asked Batavia City Fire who should respond. The city asked for Oakfield.

Seconds later, a Mercy EMS ambulance noted they were in service (meaning free to take a call). The dispatcher asked city fire if Mercy EMS should respond. City fire responded that it was only a "BLS call" (basic life support).

Dispatch informed the Mercy EMS unit that Oakfield was responding. The unit, with a siren blaring in the background, informed dispatch it was only three minutes out. The dispatcher responded that the agency with jurisdiction had already requested Oakfield.

Oakfield's ambulance was on scene within minutes and had the patient quickly transported to UMMC.

I can't think of another time in which I've personally heard a volunteer ambulance service responding to a call in the city since Mercy took over ambulance service.

At National Night Out in Austin Park this evening, Batavia City Fire Department was on hand with Ladder 15. My joke, pointing to the top, "What's the price of the ride?"

That evolved into permission to get an actual ride high over Batavia aboard the platform of Ladder 15.

Thank you to city fire for letting me get a view of Batavia from such a great vantage point.

Firefighter Bob Fix drove the rig up and back down, and I know he was laughing under his breath when he said, "You know you can let go of the railing. You're wearing a harness."

The wind and any movement causing the bucket to sway wasn't frightful so much as it was disconcerting. I politely declined his offer to not keep one hand on the railing to steady myself.

More pictures after the jump (and more pictures from National Night Out T/K):

A Batavia woman is accused of making her 13-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old friend ride in the trunk of her car going to and coming from a bonfire at a friend's house on Old Creek Road this past Friday.

Julie C. Stevens, 57, of 18 Harvester Ave., is charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

She appeared in Batavia City Court this morning and Judge Michael Delplato required her to take her daughter to the girl's father's house in Perry before imposing an order of protection barring her from contact with the girl while the case is pending.

She was also given time to arrange for representation through the Public Defender's Office.

Stevens is scheduled to appear in city court on Wednesday and enter a plea and receive the order of protection.

In a statement to police, Steven said she had six children riding in her car after they had spent some time playing at the spray park. She said the back seat of her car folds down and there were children sitting on the folded down seats and her daughter and another child in the trunk.

She said they spent two hours at the bonfire.

A mother from Varysburg filed a complaint with city police after one of her children -- who had been left at Steven's house to be babysat -- told her a couple of days later what allegedly happened.

The city court file contains statements from the mother and two of her children, including the 11-year-old boy who was allegedly told to ride in the trunk.

The make and model of Steven's car were not listed in the court file and the information is not available through city police.

The case was investigated by Officer James DeFreze and Officer Jason Davis.

An aggravated harassment charged filed against the sister of convicted murderer Scott F. Doll is on the verge of being dismissed.

Dawn Doll, 53, a Sunday school teacher, need only avoid trouble with the law and initiate no contact with a Sheriff's deputy who felt threatened by a card and letter she sent to him on Father's Day.

In six months, if Doll abides by the terms of agreement, the misdemeanor charge will be dismissed.

Several factors figured in the decision by the District Attorney's Office to dismiss the charges, including Dawn Doll's character, the likelihood she will not engage in any future criminal behavior and some possible difficulties in getting a conviction.

"You can certainly make the argument that this is a letter written by a person who was very upset and somebody who is just venting," said Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl. "You can certainly anticipate a defense attorney making that argument and see her gaining some sympathy."

Zickl said that under the circumstances it was still appropriate to bring the charge against Doll.

"This disposition doesn't signify any dissatisfaction in our office that the charge should not have been made," Zickl said.

A lifelong Batavia resident admitted in Genesee County Court this morning that on July 17, 2009 in the parking lot at the corner of North and Bank streets, he sold a quantity of cocaine to an undercover agent.

Dyllon E. Soccio, 20, of 134 Tracy Ave., pled guilty to a single count of criminal sale of a controlled substance, 4th.

Last month Soccio pled guilty to criminal possession of marijuana.

Both felonies carry a maximum sentence of two and a half years in prison. As part of a plea deal, Soccio is eligible to serve the sentences concurrently.

He will be sentenced on Sept. 21.

Dressed nicely in faded light-colored pants and a white shirt, Soccio said little in court today except to answer Judge Robert Noonan's questions.

Soccio was charged in the 2009 sale on July 20, the same day he admitted to possessing marijuana.

The marijuana was found in his residence when it was raided June 23 by the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force. During that raid, agents also found several grams of hallucinagenic mushrooms. Charges related to the mushrooms were waived in exchange for the plea on the marijuana possession charge.

A smell of natural gas has been reported inside of Tops Market in Le Roy.

Le Roy Fire is being dispatched.

A customer reported the odor.

Here are the most viewed posts for July:

• Photo Essay: An alleged DWI arrest
• The 25 highest paid public employees in Genesee County
• Motorcycle hits deer on West Main Street, Batavia, two injured
• Five suspected meth dealers busted in early morning raids
• Multiple raids this morning on suspected meth distribution ring
• Today's Poll: Should Batavia have a public pool?
• Bike-riding fundraiser arrested on sexual abuse charges
• Today's Poll: Should the U.S. continue the war in Afghanistan?
• Dispute over ducks, other complaints, has Oak Street man headed to court
• Multiple sexual abuse charges filed against Batavia man

Here are the audience stats for July:

Unique visitors: 48,130
Visits: 206,603
Page views: 354,273

Today, I came upon this barn -- though I'd seen it before -- on Old Creek Road, Batavia. Today seemed like the right day to take a shot of getting it on film (so to speak).

While Pavilion's water tower is being repainted, the town's bulk water filling station will be closed, according to Town Supervisor Gary Knepshield.

It will be closed until November.

A town employee told me residents use the station for supplemental water, such as filing their pool, extra water for livestock and extra water when wells start to produce less water during the summer.

Knepshield said town residents can go to 2712 Short St., York, for water until the station re-opens (map below).

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Alice Buckel places lettering on a sign on the property of the former Beehive Diner, 4974 Ellicott Street Road, Batavia, to let the world know it will soon be the Fedora Diner.

The Beehive closed years ago and the building near the corner of Ellicott and Shepard was most recently a location for the St. Nick's Club Ladies Auxiliary.

Buckel has crews inside painting, cleaning and installing restaurant equipment. The outside is also being repainted. She expects it will be six to eight weeks before the Fedora Diner opens.

The name was suggested by her son, who will play piano in the diner once a week. The interior theme will suggest the 1940s era.

"I wanted to do something on my own," Buckel said.

She has previously run her own cake-decorating business from her home.

The diner will be open for breakfast and lunch, closing at 2 p.m.

Among the specialities planned, Buckel said, are mini-donuts and special pancakes.

Just about any driver who has been charged with DWI in the past eight months, but hasn't been sentenced yet, should plan on a future of blowing into a tube to start his car.

On Aug. 15, a provision of Leandra's Law goes into effect that will require drivers convicted of DWI to have installed an "interlock" device, which is a piece of equipment that can measure the blood alcohol content of a driver and prevent the car from starting if the BAC is over certain limit.

County officials say, no matter how imperfectly the law was drafted, they're ready for the new regime.

"The way the law was written, it does cause some chaos," said Ed Minardo, director of Genesee Justice. "We'll try to do as we always do in the county and implement it in a way that does not impact the business flow. We'll manage it."

The Probation Department will oversee many of the drivers who will be required to have the devices installed on all personal vehicles, but not all people convicted of DWI are put on probation. Some people are given a "conditional release," which means they get a degree of supervision by Genesee Justice.

Julie Smith, head of probation, said six manufacturers of interlock devices were approved by New York, but the Probation Department was able to set its own criteria for approved devices.

For Genesee County Probation, devices must have a camera to confirm who is blowing into the tube and issue real-time reports to the probation department.

Only two manufacturers currently offer such a device, Consumer Safety Technology, the manufacturer of Intoxalock, and Interceptor Ignition Interlocks.

The Intoxalock is represented in Genesee County by Bill's Auto on Evans Street, Batavia. Interceptor does not yet have a known installer in Genesee County.

Another manufacturer, Smart Start, recently contracted with The Detail Shop, 3875 W. Main St. Road, Batavia, to install its device.

While the Smart Start device lacks real-time reporting, it does have an infrared camera.

Assistant County Manager Frank Ciaccia, who is in charge of the DWI fund (money collected from DWI fines used for anti-drinking-and-driving measures), visited The Detail Shop on Thursday to get a demonstration of the Smart Start Machine.

He said he wanted to fully understand its capabilities and to see whether it will meet county needs.

The Detail Shop owner James Gayton said adding the Smart Start installation to his business's offerings just made sense. The Detail Shop already offers custom installation of sound systems, GPS systems and other similar in-car electronics. He's hopeful his company will soon be added to the approved list for Genesee Justice and possibly County Probation.

Pictured are Ciaccia, front, Gayton to his left, then Nelson Baker and Michael Surujballi, both with Smart Start.

An electricity line is reportedly down in the area of 68 Chandler Ave., Batavia.

It is down across the roadway and blocking.

City police on scene, and city fire is responding.

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A gas line break caused by construction work has led to East Bethany-Le Roy Townline Road being shut down.

Le Roy Fire responded and now reports the road will be shut down for at least another hour.

National Fuel is on scene and is now checking area residences for leaks or pilot light problems.

A Corfu woman is being held in Genesee County Jail without bail after allegedly firing a .22 caliber rifle several times at her husband Sunday night, striking him once in the knee.

Patricia A. Hardesty, 52, of 3483 County Line Road, Corfu, is charged with one count of assault, 1st, and one count of criminal use of a firearm, 1st.

Her husband, Robert Hardesty, was transported to ECMC where he is listed in stable condition.

UPDATE: The State Police have released more information regarding this incident. Hardesty and her husband reportedly argued all weekend. After the last argument, Hardesty allegedly grabbed a gun from inside the house and went out to the patio where her husband was cooking on the grill and fired several shots at him.

(Initial Report)