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Weather: We've had our one sunny day, now, more snow

By Howard B. Owens

Did you enjoy the sun today? Good. Because you're not likely to see it for at least four or five days.

Snow returns tonight, with less of an inch of accumulation, and then another inch expected in the morning, with some bit of snow predicted for each of the next three days.

Temperatures will range from the low 20s at night to the low to mid 30s during the days.

Above: I wanted to play around with some low-light photography. Even so, I got a late start. I drove out toward Alexander on Route 98, turned right on Dodson and found this cemetery with a barn in the distance.

Kids hit the slopes on sunny day in Centennial Park

By Howard B. Owens

Gigi Dombrowski pushes son Dane, 3, down the snow covered slope of Centennial Park this afternoon. With the sun out and temperatures in the 30s, it was a great day to snowboard in the park.

Below, Devon, 6, and Angelique, 5, who were in the park with their grandfather Wayne Hintz (not pictured), take their own ride.

The future of the shuttered Batavia Elks Lodge undecided

By Howard B. Owens

The future of the Batavia Elks Lodge, #950, hangs in the balance, but could be decided as soon as tomorrow, according to Ruler of the Elks, Timothy Garlock.

"We need to reorganize and shape up," Garlock said. "Some folks will not be in the same positions. We can't do the same things we did prior to closing and that's the bottom line."

As The Batavian first reported Saturday, the local Elks Lodge had its charter revoked for a reported problem with complying with Grand Lodge requirements.

Kenneth Burns, one of the three trustees appointed to oversee the lodge, said he wanted to stress that there is no allegation of misappropriation of funds or anything similar.

"I don't want any rumors started against these guys," Burns said.

He characterized the Grand Lodge revoking the local charters as merely an administrative matter.

Like Garlock, he doesn't know what's ahead for Lodge #950.

"I"m not really in a position to say much," Burns said. "It (the closing) could be temporary. It could be long term. It could never (open again)."

Garlock said the lodge has been operating in sound financial shape, paying all of its bills and it has money in the bank. He said it has 210 members.

"We continue to have an impact on the local community," Garlock said. "Like a lot of volunteer organizations these days, we could stand for a few more bodies, but times are what they are."

Among the Elks' charitable activities is a recently completed free-throw basketball tournament and there are local students currently having essays judged in a national Elks scholarship contest.

Garlock also confirmed that the Elks building at 213 E. Main St. is owned by the Grand Lodge and not the local lodge.

Garlock said he could know Lodge #950's fate as soon as tomorrow.

Police Beat: Man accused of causing disturbance at Batavia Downs

By Howard B. Owens

Charles M. Blatt, III, 47, of 317 E. Main St., upper, Batavia, is charged with harassment 2nd and disorderly conduct. Blatt is accused of becoming disruptive at 9:15 p.m. on Saturday inside Batavia Downs Casino. When he was approached by security personnel, he allegedly attempted to strike a security officer. He also allegedly became verbally abusive. He's also accused of flipping over a security desk. Blatt was jailed on $1,500 bail.

James A. Hancock, 40, of 8289 Lewiston Road, Batavia, is charged with harassment 2nd and criminal contempt 1st. Hancock is accused of going to his ex-girlfriend's house on Elm Street on Feb. 4 and hitting her in the head. In doing so, Hancock allegedly violated an order of protection that prohibited contact with the ex-girlfriend and to engage in no offensive conduct. Hancock was jailed without bail.

Sidney M. Jonathan, 44, of 6988 Meadville Road, Basom, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, improper left turn, failure to yield half the roadway, operating with a cell phone, unregistered motor vehicle, uninspected motor vehicle and aggravated unlicensed operation. Jonathan was reportedly involved in a property damage accident at 12:14 a.m., Saturday, at the intersection of Judge and Poodry roads.

Timothy J. Stephens, 28, of 3 Norris Ave., Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and moving from lane unsafely. Stephens was reportedly stopped by Officer Kevin DeFelice at 1:47 a.m., Saturday.

Kernardo R. Fields, 19, of 67 Walden Creek Drive, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Fields was cited by Officer Dan Coffey at 2:10 a.m., Saturday.

Sath P. Dhanda, 29, of 5458 Clapsaddle Road, Bethany, is charged with disorderly conduct. At 10:48 p.m., Thursday, Dhanda was reportedly at Larry's Steakhouse, 60 Main St., Batavia, when he allegedly caused a disturbance by shouting obscenities in a public place. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Joseph C. Barone, 30, of 317 E. Main St., Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and unsafe backing. Barone was reportedly involved in a minor accident at 1:10 a.m., Saturday, on Route 33 in Bergen.

William R. Crosby, Jr., 29, of 2717 Marshall Road, Medina, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and inadequate tail lamp. Crosby was stopped by Deputy Chris Parker at 11:14 p.m., Saturday on Route 77 in Alabama. Crosby was allegedly found in possession of a pipe and a grinder and both allegedly had marijuana in them.

Teresa Ka Yan Tam, 26, of 416 Lafayette Ave., Buffalo, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Ka Yan Tam was stopped at 1:35 a.m., Saturday, by Deputy James Diehl on Route 5 in Pembroke for allegedly speeding.

Michael W. Smith, 31, of Batavia, is charged with assault 3rd. Smith was arrested by State Police at 11:32 a.m., Saturday, in the Town of Batavia. No further details were released.

Andrew L. Kosiorek, 38, of Batavia, is charged with DWI, unlawful possession of marijuana and aggravated unlicensed operation. Kosiorek was apparently involved in a  traffic accident (no details provided) and was arrested by state police at 12:19 a.m., Sunday.

Matthew C. Cardinale, 30, of 18 Miller St., Seneca Falls, is charged with disorderly conduct. Cardinale allegedly caused a disturbance in the bar of the Holiday Inn at 2:10 a.m., Monday. Cardinale was allegedly swearing in public and refused to listen to hotel staff. After deputies arrived, they told Cardinale to leave the bar and he reportedly would not comply, and continued to swear in public, "causing alarm and annoyance." Cardinale was jailed on $500 bail.

Nocole Kate Hagadorn, 31, of 18 Miller St. Seneca Falls, is charged with disorderly conduct. Hagadorn was arrested at 2:39 a.m., Monday, in the lobby of the Holiday Inn for allegedly causing a disturbance. Hagadorn was jailed on $500 bail.

Anthony Christopher Sistrunk, 19, of 309 E. Glen Ave., Syracuse, is charged with menacing 3rd and harassment 2nd. At 11:52 p.m., Sunday, deputies responded to an alleged physical domestic fight at College Village. Sistrunk was arrested and charged with the listed offenses.

Accidents from the state police blotter:

2:20 p.m., Feb. 13, Bloomingdale Road, Alabama, two vehicles; Driver 1: Jacob J. Everett, 29, of Williamsville; Driver 2: Laura L. Vosburgh, 30, of Lancaster. No injuries reported.

12:58 p.m., Feb. 11, Asbury Road, Town of Le Roy, one vehicle; Driver 1: Jordan D. Boyd, 17, of Le Roy. No injuries reported.

Council's auction vote got the attention of landlords, but not necessarily in a good way

By Howard B. Owens

A number of local landlords are deeply concerned over the Batavia City Council's decision a week ago to deny Michael Pullinzi the chance to buy a piece of property he won at city auction.

The 5-4 vote punctuates a growing frustration with the code-inspection process, which they say puts an unfair burden on the landlords without holding tenants accountable.

Jeremy Yasses (pictured), an Oakfield resident who owns eight properties in the city, as well as several other tenant-occupied buildings outside of Batavia, describes himself as a budding entrepreneur who is trying to build a real estate business.

The 13 citations mentioned by the council against Pullinzi as the reason for denying him the chance to purchase 9 Willow St., is piddling compared to other landlords, according to Yasses. Other landlords, both on and off the record, say much the same thing.

Yasses, for his part, readily admits to getting between 40 and 50 citations a year from city inspectors.

Almost all of them, if not all of them, are for things tenants have done.

And that's the problem, according to Yasses. Tenants are not held accountable, so there's no motivation for them to change. If a tenant puts his garbage out on Wednesday, Yasses gets a notice, so he goes and picks it up on Thursday to correct the violation. Then the same thing happens the next week, and the next.

"Did we get to the root of the problem?" Yasses asks.

"I own the property. I’m held accountable," said Yasses. "I’m not passing the buck, but have the tenant standing right there next to me (in court). That’s how you hold them accountable."

Terry Platt, who operates one of the largest residential rental businesses in the city, said he's no stranger to receiving violation notices for things tenants have done, and he's concerned, also, that the current system isn't really helping to address the problem.

"There's no tenant responsibility," said Platt, who also serves on the city's Neighborhood Improvement Committee (NIC). "We can kick them out, but if they move out, they just move to someplace else in the city and do the same thing over again. How is the city going to clean up the city if there is no tenant accountability?"

(Point of disclosure: Platt is my landlord.)

From the city's perspective, the only option is to hold the landlords accountable. They're the ones who own the property and the only recourse for the city is to cite property owners for any problems outside a house or apartment.

City Council President Marianne Clattenburg said residents want to live in a cleaner city and the citations landlords receive is, at least in part, just the cost of doing business.

"We really don't have a lot of recourse as far as the tenant goes," Clattenburg said. "The only person responsible is the property owner. That's just the way the system is."

Clattenburg is no stranger to getting cited for violations she didn't cause. Two years ago, then-City Inspector Mike Smith wrote her up because her garbage can was next to her house, rather than behind it. The notice came, said Clattenburg, on a day the staff was conducting a citywide sweep on code enforcement. Her trash had been picked up that morning and she was at work, when her father-in-law, who lives next door and has health problems, moved her trash can from the street just to help out.

Still, Clattenburg, a school teacher, thinks landlords need to do a better job of policing the conduct of their tenants, perhaps offering incentives, such as rent breaks, for not getting citations.

"The landlords are in business," Clattenburg said. "If it wasn't a business, if they weren't making money, they wouldn't be doing it. Every business has obstacles and faces difficulties. That's just part of owning your own business. You figure out ways to deal with that."

Yes, it is a business, landlords will tell you, and because it is a business, solutions don't come as easily as city officials seem to think they should.

As we spoke while standing in the front room/kitchen of a house the 33-year-old Yasses is rehabilitating on Thorpe, Yasses said the best he could hope for from that piece of property was $250 per month net profit. That's after mortgage, flood insurance and taxes are paid, and only if the tenant paid the water bill and pays rent on time and there was no maintenance on the 100-year-old building.

“That’s not a lot, especially when you look at the fact that I’ve got four vacancies and I just spent five grand here," Yasses said. "If you take all that into account, that’s two years income all right here in one house.”

Meanwhile, he's grappling with the city over a tenant's car that has no license plate. The tenant, Yasses said, is a essentially a single mom (her husband doesn't work) who works part-time at a fast-food place. She can only use her mobile phone for text messages because all she can afford is a $10-per-month plan. She couldn't afford insurance on her car, so she had to remove the license plates. The city cited Yasses and said it needed to be covered with a tarp.

"So I hounded her, 'put a tarp on it, put a tarp on it' because Ron (Panek, city inspector) hounded me, 'put a tarp on it,'" said Yasses. "She went and bought a blue tarp, covered it. It’s not good enough. You need to have a tarp that’s fitted to the car. I didn’t even know that. So Ron goes, 'we’re going to have to go to court then.' I said, ‘fine. We’ll go to court.’

"Now wait a minute," Yasses added. "We paid a guy to make three visits and make two phone calls, and now we’re going to pay the city attorney to take me to court for a tenant’s car? And we’re hurting for money in the city? Maybe we need to tighten up our belts and our shoelaces a little bit and figure out what’s going on. That’s my point – I think we’re wasting some money and we’re just masking the problem"

Yasses thinks city officials and some NIC members don't have enough experience dealing with low-income people to really understand what many landlords are up against.

Eviction, of course, is an option, but it can also be difficult and expensive, especially if a tenant has been paying his rent on time. It begins with $500 in legal fees and ends with cleaning up the apartment (which can be especially costly if the tenant took vengeance on the evicting landlord) and then searching for a new tenant. The process can take months, especially if a good-paying tenant fights the eviction.

And in the end, a landlord may not even have improved his tenant situation.

"The new tenant is going to be the same pool of tenants," Yasses said. "The next tenant is going to be the same quality – and I don’t mean it that way, because they’re good people, just down on their luck – the next tenant isn’t going to be any better than what I had. We need to train them and teach them and hold them accountable, along with us."

City officials, NIC members and his Fifth Ward Representative Kathy Briggs need to come down on Thorpe and meet some of his tenants and see what he's doing to rehabilitate his buildings, Yasses said. He repeated several times that his tenants are good people just having a hard time, and that he's doing everything possible to improve the quality of his holdings as fast as he can in order to attract, hopefully, better tenants. But it takes time and money, he said.

“I’m doing the best I can," Yasses said. "You can’t get anybody decent to come down on Thorpe Street. When I bought this about four years ago, there was a ton of drug activity right here and right next door, bad, bad, bad. I got fed up, thought I could be the hero and forced these landlords to sell me these houses to get rid of the garbage. I can say right now, I have no drugs down here."

The property Yasses owns on Watson, Thorpe and Maple were probably bad investments, Yasses readily admits. He's losing money on them and gets by only because his investments in other jurisdictions are doing well.

And that's part of the problem -- Yasses said he doesn't have issues with municipal officials in other jurisdictions that he has in Batavia.

“I rehabilitated a four-unit in Middleport and they absolutely love it," Yasses said. "I’m putting my money where people appreciate it. ‘Wow, Jeremy, you put a new roof on, you painted, new windows – this looks great.’”

If he could walk away from his Thorpe area properties and take a $10,000 loss on he each, he said he would, but he doesn't have that kind of money. So he's committed to doing the best he can with them. He has no choice.

“I don’t want this to be a negative thing on the city," Yasses said. "The main problem is, you’ve got to have tenant accountability. I’m not the one putting the trash out. I’m not the one with the vehicles. If you really want to change, that’s what we need to do. Not by fining me. You can fine me. I can go before the next judge next Friday (on the car/tarp case)  – I hope he doesn’t take offense if this gets out there – but he could fine me five grand. He could put me in jail. But at the end of the day, the car still isn’t covered or taken care of because we didn't go to the source."

School employees proud to 'fight like girls' for breast cancer victim

By Howard B. Owens

Submitted by Tammy Cassidy:

Oakfield-Alabama Elementary School employees, pictured in their “Fight Like a Girl” T-shirts, show support for Mrs. Esther Goodrich, who is battling breast cancer. Mrs. Goodrich is the wife of the school district’s Director of Special Education, Mike Goodrich. Thanks to elementary school Principal Mark Alexander, teachers and staff enjoyed a dress down day. All proceeds will benefit Genesee Cancer Assistance.

Masons begin effort to contribute to local charities

By Howard B. Owens

Last week, the Batavia Masons presented Paul and Bridget Ohlson with a $500 check to support their Cara-A-Van Ministries.

"We were proud to be able to make a small contribution to such a worthy cause," said Jim Rosenbeck (handing the check to Paul), Master of Lodge #475 of the Free and Accepted Masons. 

"Our lodge has decided to begin regularly identifying worthy causes within the community to financially support," Rosenbeck added. "With membership in all community service organizations dwindling, we feel that this is one way that we can help make a difference in Batavia."

O-A punter getting serious attention from Division I recruiters

By Howard B. Owens

Five years of training and practice are starting to pay off for Jonathan Fisher, a punter for Oakfield-Alabama Central School.

According to his father, Kurt Fisher, he's been invited to Senior Camps at Division I schools, such as Syracuse, Rutgers, Louisville, W. Virginia and Illinois.

Currently, Fisher is ranked the #1 punter in New York on MaxPreps.com.

"He's put in a lot of time and effort," said Kurt Fisher. "It's nice to see it paying off for him."

This summer Fisher will be attending Senior Camps to showcase his talents in front of college coaching staffs.

He finished the 2009 season with 19 punts for 888 yards and a 46.7-yard punting average.

So far his invites for Junior Days include one on Feb. 20 at the University of Pennsylvania and on Feb. 27 at Syracuse. He'll also be participating in an upcoming session with college coaching staffs in Buffalo.

Fisher is on the verge of striking the big time in college football a season after another O-A product, Matt Waldron, put together a big year as the #1 kicker at Virginia Tech. Waldron made all 58 of his point-after attempts and 20 of his 23 field-goal attempts, with only one of his misses coming within 40 yards. He scored 108 points for the year.

At about 3:40 minutes into this video, you can watch Fisher practice his kicking during half-time of O-A's playoff game at Cal-Mum.

Today's Deals: Mane Attraction, Carlson's Studio, Main St. Pizza, Center Street and more

By Howard B. Owens

The Mane Attraction, 99 E. Main St., Batavia, NY: The Mane Attraction is a spa and salon offering pedicures, manicures, hair styling and massage. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

Main St. Pizza Company, 206 E. Main St., Batavia, NY: Pizza, wings, subs and even hamburgers and hot dogs, Main St. Pizza makes everything deliciously. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

Carlson's Studio, 39 Jackson St., Batavia, NY: Now is the time to start planning your spring portraits. We have a $100 gift card for $50 (+$2 PayPal Service fee). The card expires at the end of April.

Center Street Smoke House, 20 Center St., Batavia, NY: Authentic Southern BBQ, from ribs to brisket with all the fixin's. We have a $25 gift card for $12.50.

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.

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.

Matty's Pizzeria, 4152 W. Main St., Batavia, NY: Matty's is another Batavia favorite for pizza and wings. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

The Color Salon, 35 Center St., Batavia, NY: Susan Francis, the owner and stylist at The Color Salon reminds women, "your hair is your greatest accessory." Francis has more than 20 years of experience helping women get the best hair color. We have a $50 gift certificate for $25.

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

D&R Depot in Le Roy switches to New York-exclusive wine list

By Howard B. Owens

A couple of years ago the wine distributor for D&R Depot Restaurant in Le Roy convinced Sean Valdes that he should drop his dream of serving only New York-produced wines.

New York wines are too seasonal, he said. They would be too hard to keep in stock.The wine list would always be changing.

Then about six months ago, another distributor, one based in Batavia, came by and Valdes mentioned his desire to stock only New York wines. This distributor listened and agreed to work with Valdes on coming up a suitable wine list.

"We figured out that we could do year-around reds and year-around whites from New York," Valdes said. "New York wines are seasonal, so we choose larger vineyards and different choices that we could get all year around, but ones that wouldn't be so different -- not the peaches and the apricots -- not my crowd. Pretty much the standards."

And as of Wednesday, D&R Depot is the only restaurant, according to Valdes, outside of the Finger Lakes or Albany, to serve only New York wines.

"Champagne only comes from a certain region of France, otherwise it's sparkling wine, so even our sparking wine is from New York State. It's Goose Watch," Valdes said.

So why go to an all New York wine list? Valdes' answer:

"First, New York has some great wines. We focus on Finger Lakes, but there's a winery in this area. Long Island has a lot of wineries. There's even some in the Adirondacks. I think it's a neat thing. It's a niche market. It's always good to be local and it's what we strive for anyway, so this is a neat thing to fit in with that. And they're different. Even the riesling that you get from New York has a little bit different flavor than you would get from California or France or Australia. It's something different to offer our customers and it's been a big hit so far."

Some of the wines on the list include Fox Run Chardonnay from Penn Yan, Glenora Riesling from Dundee, Thirsty Owl Diamond from Ovid, Brotherhood Pinot Noir from Washingtonville, Heron Hill Game Bird Red from Hammondsport and Knapp Superstition from Romulus.

Pictured above with a selection of their wines are Valdes and Nancy Nickerson.

Batavia Elks told charter revoked for local lodge

By Howard B. Owens

The Batavia Elks Lodge, #950, has been closed by order of the Grand Trustees of the National Order, according to a letter posted on the door.

A sign in a window says "closed until further notice" and carries a date from yesterday.

The lodge is located at 213 E. Main St., Batavia.

The shut-down notice accuses the local Elks of failing to make required reports and failure to comply with the Elks' auditing and accounting manual.

The letter states that the charter for Lodge #950 has been revoked.

Appointed as trustees of the lodge are Patrick Burns, of Ransomeville, John Ziezeiula, of Lockport, and Kenneth Perry, of Niagara Falls.

The notice informs the local Elks that they are to turn over all items used in ceremonies as well as books, papers and emblems to the trustees.

Local members, according to the notice, can apply to have their membership transferred to other lodges.

(Thank you to a reader for the news tip.)

STAMP Project meeting gives residents chance for input before report written

By Howard B. Owens

Hunting. Somebody wanted to know today how the proposed STAMP project in Alabama will impact hunting in the area.

Lonra Klotzbach raised the question and noted, "I'm not sure that in most communities' experience that hunting and the impact of such development makes would be as big as a concern as it is in this area."

"That's a good suggestion," said Roger Person, the consultant heading up the environmental review process for the project. "We are doing a threatened and endangered species assessment, but that's not what you're suggesting, so why don't we add that to our scoping document to consider the impacts on hunting grounds."

Earlier, Klotzbach started a discussion about how today's informational meeting -- and one like it on Thursday -- is not required by the environmental review process.

The purpose of today's meeting, as Person noted, was to better define the scope of what the environmental review will cover, and the hunting question illustrated how such an informational meeting can help the consultants better understand unique local issues.

Legally, the only time public input is required is during a public hearing after the draft environmental impact report is written.

For the STAMP project, the Genesee County Economic Development Center is holding four meetings during the review process -- the one today, one this past Thursday and two while the environmental report is being drafted.

Besides hunting, today's meeting uncovered concerns about storm drainage, the impact on the volunteer fire department, traffic and agriculture, as well as what additional impact further housing development might have.

"I think it's exactly what we expect," said Chad Zambito, spokesman for GCEDC. "Take the first meetings we had here and add these, and I think we've seen an evolution of understanding and a growing trust between residents here, and this is what we want -- we want good, honest, open dialogue."

About 30 people attended today's meeting, and Zambito said about 80 people were at Thursday's meeting.

Genesee County residents who wish provide comments to the environmental review process can write to the WNY STAMP Project c/o GCEDC, One Mill St., Batavia, NY 14020. Comments must be received by March 5.

Previously:

Weather: Light snow to continue through tomorrow

By Howard B. Owens

The Batavia area was blanketed by about an inch of snow over night, and snow will continue through the day, with very little accumulation.

But accumulation tonight should be another one or two inches. By Monday snow showers will turn to flurries.

Temperatures will be in the mid-20s range, with overnight lows dropping below 20 degrees.

Picture: A barn behind a graveyard on Judge Road in Oakfield.

Enthusiasm, optimisim abound for 2010 season at Muckdog's hot stove dinner

By Howard B. Owens

Easily more than 200 people gathered at the Batavia Party House last night for the Batavia Muckdogs Booster Club's annual hot stove dinner and auction. There were plenty of laughs and people expressed a lot of excitement about the coming season, which could be a critical year for drawing enough community support to keep the team in Batavia.

At the podium, Brian Paris honors "The Voice of the Muckdogs," Wayne Fuller, for his many years of service to the team as the public address announcer and official score keeper. Fuller stepped aside from those roles after the 2009 season. But his voice won't be far from a microphone during the upcoming season; he'll serve as color man on WBTA's broadcast of games.

More pictures after the jump:

Todd Jantzi, left, and Patrick Weissand chat during the silent auction.

Brian Paris, left, and Ryan Gugel chat with a fan who drove to the dinner from Greece.

Board member Bill Kauffman gets a gift from the board honoring his service to baseball in Batavia.

Gretel Kauffman is in the foreground. Immediately behind her is local artist John Hodgins, watching the bidding progress for his winter landscape painting. It fetched $255, well above any other auction item.

Auctioneer Todd Jantzi makes a sale.

Daily News photographer Mark Gutman goofs when the camera gets turned on him for a change. Writer Alanna Stage gets a good laugh.

Police Beat: Man accused of trespass in Bergen

By Howard B. Owens

Jason Robert Baker, 28, of 18 N. Main St., Churchville, is charged with trespass. Baker is accused of being in the yard of a residence in Bergen on Jan. 25 and refusing to leave while trying to engage a person there in a fight.

Accidents from the State Police blotter:

1:52 p.m., Feb. 10, Bloomingdale Road, Alabama, two vehicles; Driver 1: Michael Jay Dietz, 31, of Lockport; Driver 2: Nicole L. Dioguardi, 32, of Mt. Morris. No injuries.

Today's Deals: Center Street, Alex's, Sallome's, Delavans and Matty's

By Howard B. Owens

Center Street Smoke House, 20 Center St., Batavia, NY: Authentic Southern BBQ, from ribs to brisket with all the fixin's. We have a $25 gift card for $12.50.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Matty's Pizzeria, 4152 W. Main St., Batavia, NY: Matty's is another Batavia favorite for pizza and wings. We have a $20 gift certificate 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

Garage fire reported in Alexander

By Howard B. Owens

A garage is reportedly on fire in the Village of Alexander at 10635 Main St.

Alexander Fire and Town of Batavia have been dispatched.

The original alarm reported both house and garage on fire, but now dispatch says it's just the garage and the house has been evacuated.

The Alexander chief has requested a second alarm.

UPDATE 11:11 p.m.: Darien is requested to send a tanker to the scene and an engine to stand by at the Alexander Fire Hall. Bethany has also been dispatched. 

UPDATE 11:14 p.m.: Route 98 is being shut down.

UPDATE 11:15 p.m.: There is a report of pesticides in the garage.

UPDATE 11:16 p.m.: "103 to 104, we've got exposure to both houses. We need to protect them."

UPDATE 11:28 p.m.: Personnel on scene report that there is heat damage to a house. He reports that the resident was working on a car in the garage with a space heater going. He went inside, came back outside and found the garage on fire.

UPDATE 11:32 p.m.: Reader Jon Dayton just sent in the picture now at the top of this post. He reports, "I was closing up my shop to go inside and saw flames rising above the  buildings on the East side of the Village of Alexander at about 10 minutes after 11. By 11:15 Alexander firemen had responded to a fully involved garage fire on Main Street."

UPDATE: Sheriff's Office reports the garage was owned by Paul Thomas Pilc, III. Pilc had been working in the garage, cleaning up his truck, because he had a meeting at work on Friday morning. He took a break and went in the house to use the bathroom and grab a bite to eat. At 11:03 p.m., his son told him the garage was on fire. When Pilc looked, there were flames coming from the back of the garage. Pile got his family safely out of the house and moved his car away from the garage. Pilc said he was using a kerosene heater that belonged to his brother's friend. He said it had seemed to be working fine. An investigation by Alexander Fire found nothing suspicious about the origins of the fire and concluded the likely cause was the heater. New York DEC was notified because Pilc's work truck contained pesticides.


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Man accused of stealing pot from alleged dealer officially charged

By Howard B. Owens

James J. Santiago Jr. was formally charged yesterday with stealing pot from an alleged drug dealer. After a sealed Grand Jury indictment was opened, Santiago was arranged on three felony counts and he entered a non-guilty plea to each count.

Count one of the indictment alleges that Santiago "forcibly stole property from Eric Merritt."

Merritt has been accused of bringing in friends from Batavia and Corfu and heading to Santiago's residence at 31 Myrtle St. in Le Roy and attempting to recover the marijuana. That attempt on Jan. 22 led to a fight that put three people in the hospital with apparent knife wounds.

The three counts against Santiago are: robbery 3rd, criminal possession of a weapon, 3rd, and assault 2nd.

Previously:

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