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A family's Sunday drive through Darien turned fatal today after a driver swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid a car making a left-hand turn from Route 20 onto Warner Road.

Audrey Gleason, 55, of Baldwinsville, was pronounced dead ECMC after being transported there by Mercy Flight following the 3:08 p.m. accident.

Gleason was in the passenger seat of a white Toyota Rav 4, driven by her husband, Dennis Gleason, 58.

Their 16-year-old dauther, Kelly, was in the back seat and was also seriously injured. A second Mercy Flight helicopter transported her to Women's and Children's Hospital in Buffalo.

Their vehicle was hit head on by a red Chrysler 300 driven by Gerald Kania.

Kania was westbound after getting off work.

At Warner Road, a black 2007 Chevy Trail Blazer driven by Darlene Clark had stopped to make a left-hand turn.

Kania said he was distracted for a moment and did not see Clark stopping to turn. He swerved left to avoid rear-ending her vehicle. He sideswiped the Chevy, damaging a taillight and the driver's side mirror.

A fraction of a second later, the Rav 4 and the Chrysler slammed head-on.

The accident location was directly in front of 1081 Broadway, the location of a house fire in January 2011. The owner of the property has numerous stored items she has been selling in her front yard recently, including today. She said she did not see the accident.

Dennis Gleason was transported by Mercy EMS to ECMC.

Kania suffered a leg injury and was transported to ECMC by ground ambulance.

Darien Fire Department responded to the scene and Corfu fire and Alden fire provided traffic control on Route 20.

Route 20 was closed from 3 p.m. until 6:40 p.m.

This afternoon I stopped by the Duyssen Family Farm in Le Roy and found John refurbishing a 1950s-era honey extractor. He mentioned some calves had been born recently, including the little guy above just this morning.

Shortly before noon today, some people showed up at the Mt. Rest Cemetery in Bergen and visited a gravesite.

Work crews didn't think much about it -- a pretty normal occurrence in a cemetery -- until they saw shovels.

By the time they could notify their supervisor, the group had left and there was a freshly covered hole in front of one of the graves.

Apparently, the people buried an urn of ashes at a family plot.

Under appropriate circumstances, that's perfectly acceptable, said cemetery supervisor Joe MacConnell. However in this case, Deputy Brad Mazur was dispatched to the scene.

"We just need some documentation," MacConnell said. "Every cemetery is willing to work with families, but the state has regulations."

As of this afternoon, Mazur was trying to contact the family -- The Batavian agreed not to release the family name on the headstone -- in order to clear up the matter. He didn't anticipate any criminal charges.

If Mazur hasn't located the family yet, the family can contact him through the Sheriff's Office at (585) 345-3000.

A tree is reportedly smoking at 120 State St., Batavia.

City fire is responding non-emergency.

Law enforcement is on scene.

UPDATE 6:48 p.m.: Officer there is unable to determine the cause of the smoldering. It's inside a hollow part of the tree. It does not appear to be related to electrical wire.

UPDATE 6:55 p.m.: Fire crews on scene report that some kids put some leaves and paper in the tree and set it afire. A little water, and the fire will be out.

UPDATE 7:26 p.m.: Tree is extinguished. City firefighters picking up.

Notre Dame has faced Dundee in four of the past five seasons of sectional play, losing in overtime on a questionable no-call penalty, falling in a blow-out where some thought Dundee ran up the score, and then failing to hold a late fourth-quarter lead.

The tables were turned on Dundee today as the Fighting Irish notched a first-round victory 28-6.

ND went after Dundee with a well-distributed offense. Touchdowns were scored by Nick Taylor, Tim Culley and Anthony Paladino. McCulley also connected with Taylor on a TD pass.

McCulley was 7-15 on the day for 128 yards, the TD, plus two interceptions.

Taylor gained 128 yards on 17 carries. He also had four receptions for 65 yards. Andrew Mullen rushed 13 times for 91 yards.

Charlie Bebert caught the ball three times for 63 yards.

Defensively, Taylor had six tackles, Brian VonKramer, five, Herbert, 5.5 and Mullen 4.5. Mullen added an interception, as did Josh Johnson. Joe Ryan notched a sack.

For Dundee, Aksel Jensen scored their lone TD and rushed five times for 27 yards.

Photos by Bare Antolos.

More photos by Bare after the jump (click on the headline):

Bath put together two long drives in the first and second quarter, grinding out yards down after down, three and four yards at a time with runs up the gut, chewing up the clock.

On the first drive, a fumble on the two-yard line put the ball into the hands of the Elba/Byron-Bergen offense, but the Lancers were forced to punt four downs later.

On the second drive, the Rams punched through the right side of the Lancers line, and those six points stood the test of the remaining time.

In the second quarter, the Lancers' defense turned back Bath possession after possession, forcing multiple three-and-outs and claiming a couple of turn overs.

But tit-for-tat, the Rams' defense remained just as stout, bottling up the Lancers' big back, Zack DuBois, whose only long run from scrimmage was canceled by a penalty.

"They did a nice job of taking away cutback lanes and that’s where Zack has his success, cut back or get to the outside," said Lancers Head Coach Michael Cintorino.

This was a game fought in the trenches.

"We knew we had to come out and play physical football and I think they did," Cintorino said. "It was a little bit of an awakening in the first half. In the second half, I think we came out and did exactly what we needed to do."

As the clock wore down in the fourth quarter, QB Zac Gillard was forced to look for open receivers down field and with less than three minutes to go he thought he found Kyle Dougherty. But Dougherty lost his footing when he tried to cut on the soggy turf. That left Bath's Matt Nevius alone to play centerfield and haul in Gillard's pass with a basket catch.

Another interception on the Lancers' next possession pretty much sealed Elba/BB's fate and sent the Rams to the next round of sectional play. Next Saturday, they play Le Roy.

"This is a team that can definitely make a run, but at the same time I’m proud of our boys, who came out and had an opportunity to win the football game on multiple occasions," Cintorino said.

Bath had lost this year to Batavia and Le Roy, but coming into sectionals, the Rams have two starters returning from injuries, including one, Cintorino said, who otherwise missed the entire season.

"We knew coming in they were a good team," Cintorino said. "We’re the third-seeded team and we’re playing a team that probably should have been somewhere in the top four. If you could squeeze five teams into the top four, Bath definitely belongs there."

Most of this year's Lancers have been playing together since eighth grade and they've come a long way as a team, as players and as men, Cintorino said.

"I am extremely proud of them," Cintorino said. "I wish we could have gotten a couple of more weeks of play together, but I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in the time we’ve had."

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here. To purchase prints of these photos, click here.

If you want to go east or west on Griswold Road between Caswell and Route 237 in Stafford, you're going to have to wait a year.

An aging bridge has just become too unstable to handle heavy traffic and the county won't be able to replace it until next June.

"At least the detour around it is not that long," said County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens. "It's not a huge inconvenience. All bridge closures are an inconvenience, but this is not as bad as some are."

The steel multigirder bridge was built in 1941 and widened in 1976. The girders have rusted through to the point that they can't even support two tons.

A few years ago, the bridge was rated for seven tons, then downgraded to four, then two, now 1.8.

"That's about the size of a small SUV," Hens said.

The county looked at reducing the bridge, which crosses over Black Creek, to one lane, but that would require installing Jersey barriers, which are heavy themselves.

"We probably would have overloaded it just to reduce it to one lane, so that wasn't viable either," Hens said.

About five years ago, the county applied for a federal grant to replace the bridge and the process has been moving forward since, but the bridge has become unusable a year earlier than anticipated.

The new bridge is in the design phase now.

Construction should be completed by this time next year, Hens said.

He also said the Griswold bridge is just the tip of the iceberg.

About half of the county's bridges are in nearly as critical condition. Some of those bridges, if closed, will mean seven- and eight-mile detours for residents, farmers and emergency responders.

"We don't have any local money to replace them and it looks like the federal pot is going to get smaller and smaller," Hens said. "The county is going to have some tough decisions, either closing bridges or funding them locally."

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There are no known plans to open a hydrofracked gas well within the town limits of Stafford, but Jim Southall thought it a good idea to purchase an "insurance policy" so to speak.

At his suggest, the town board has passed a one-year moratorium on hydrofracking within Stafford.

A committee has been appointed to study the issue, according to Supervisor Robert Clement and that report will help the town determine what, if anything, it might do next related to hydrofracking.

The moritorium is part of a statewide trend over the summer of local officials throughout New York rising up against hydrofracking, even though the state already has a four-year moratorium against new wells in place now.

Fracking involves injecting water, saline and other chemicals into shale to break loose natural gas deposits that can then be extracted from the ground.

It's controversial because opponents believe the chemicals used can be carcinogenic and toxic.

Southall said he's read of cows in West Virginia being born with deformities and a whole town in Wyoming had to be closed because of hydrofracking pollutants ruining the groundwater.

As a representative of the Genesee County Fish and Game Association, owners and operators of Godfrey's Pond in Stafford, Southall thought it important to get out in front of the issue, before hydrofracking came to the area.

"With the kind of chemicals they're using, once the water is polluted, it's gone, and being a conservation club, we want to be sure that doesn't happen," Southall said.

At a public hearing on the topic a month or so ago, Clement said, there were no speakers in favor or against the moratorium.

He's not aware of any fracked wells in Stafford or any requests to open up such a well.

"For most people, I think it's a non-issue," Clement said. "I think the state will step in before anybody else does. But it's a conservation issue and I think most of them (Genesee County Fish and Game) are against it."

Charges were dismissed in Federal Court in August against the one person arrested on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation as the result of a raid related to alleged synthetic drug sales at smoke shops.

Tiffany E. Greiner, 22, of Akron, was arrested in July on a single count of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance analog intended for human consumption.

Joseph LaTona, her attorney, said this morning that the charges were dismissed because a witness was out of town and not available for a scheduled court appearance. The prosecution didn't want to adjourn the case, so LaTona moved to dismiss the charges and the judge granted the request.

Federal prosecutors still have the option to take the case to a grand jury and seek an indictment.

Barbara Burns, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Western New York, declined comment on the dismissal, but said authorities continue to investigate the case related to the Tonawanda raids. She said authorities continue to seek witnesses or other people with information and encouraged members of the public to come forward with any information they might have related to the alleged sale of synthetic drugs at the reservation.

Damon Bradford, 18, of Scottsvile Mumford Road, Scottsville, is charged with criminal impersonation, 2nd. Bradford is accused of impersonating a parent and defrauding Elba High School.

Jeremy D. Lyons, 27, of Oakfield, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Lyons is accused of violating an order of protection. Lyons was arrested by State Police and jailed on cash bail. No further details released.

Josue Garcia-Basilio, 28, of no permanent address, was arrested by State Police on an unspecified federal felony. Garcia-Basilio was jailed on a bail bond. No further details released.

Returning to Batavia from the Genesee County Park this morning, I came across this scene on West Bethany Road. The building across the street says "West Bethany Baptist Church" on it. There's a cemetery behind it and a cemetery to the south. This building and the park-like area around it strikes me as some sort of fellowship hall for the church, but I'm not sure. Interestingly, it appears the church is in the Town of Bethany and this building is in the Town of Alexander.

This morning, bright and early, I arrived at Genesee County Park, in Bethany, for a walk in the woods, with my camera of course.

If you've never been to the park, I highly recommend it. It's another one of Genesee County's gems.

Workers repair the facade at I.R. Systems, a DirecTV dealership, on West Main Street, Batavia, after a car had slammed into the front of the building.

The driver apparently stepped on the gas by mistake while pulling into a parking spot. Nobody was hurt in the accident, but judging from the video below, it's possible somebody could have been hurt. The car suffered only very minor damage, according to I.R. Systems staff.

The accident occurred about 1 p.m.

Every year in Genesee County, 350 people are diagnosed with cancer and 100 people die from cancer, which is why, according to a group of the American Cancer Society who were in Batavia today, cancer should be an important election issue.

Americans need research and treatment for the disease and the assurance of funding for both, according to Hillary Clarke, director of federal government relations, so this is an issue voters should take up with candidates for office.

At www.cancervotes.org is a voter's guide for the presidential election with responses from the two major party candidates, but Clarke said neither of the candidates for the NY-27 Congressional District responded to the Cancer Action Network's survey.

Contacted today, a spokesman for Kathy Hochul's campaign said Hochul did respond and her answers are posted on the Web site. We've not been able to find those answers and requested a direct link to the appropriate page.

The spokesman for Chris Collins, Micheal Kracker, sent the following statement in response to a simple question of what would Collins do to support the fight against cancer.

"As the brother of a cancer survivor, Chris Collins knows how important it is to support cancer research. Chris also recognizes how important it is to make sure no government bureaucracy stops doctors from giving patients like Chris' sister the treatment they need to stay healthy. We need to be sure that doctors, not government bureaucrats determine how best to care for patients. We must also promise to protect Medicare for our seniors so they continue to receive the access to affordable care they paid for their entire lives."

We'll update this post if any additional information comes in.

UPDATE: Statement from Angela Pause-Smith, communications director, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc.: "Neither candidate responded to our questionnaire so there actually isn't a Voter Guide for this race. I'm sorry if someone told you that there was one."

UPDATE II: As soon as I posted the update above, Pause-Smith emailed the following: "So I learned literally a moment ago that late this afternoon Hochul returned our questionnaire. There is a process we need to follow to post it on our Web site and we've asked for that process to be expedited so you can see the responses, but I can't provide a time that they will be available."

UPDATE III: Pause-Smith clarifies: "It may not have been late this afternoon that she returned it, I just learned of it late this afternoon. We received it sometime today."

UPDATE IV: Hochul's answers are now available, click here.

Photo: Julie Kumiega, Hillary Clarke and Karen Hall.

Alexander High School has never had a hockey team, but starting this season, players there will get to play varsity level hockey for the first time.

Batavia HS is facing a shortage of varsity level players this year, so Alexander and Batavia will come together to form the Batavia/Alexander Ice Devils.

Batavia Athletic Director Mike Bromley said when school officials realized there would be a shortage of players this year, the school held a meeting with the parents of hockey players and the parents took the initiative to get the puck rolling on a possible merger with Alexander.

Once the idea was raised, things came together pretty quickly, Bromley said.

"Several students (in Alexander) expressed an interest," Bromley said. "We expect that anywhere from five to 10 students may try out."

The problem the Ice Devils faced, Bromley said, is that several seniors graduated after last season and then three varsity players elected to play in another, more advanced, hockey league.

That left Batavia not only with fewer players but also with a team of mostly ninth- and 10th-graders.

"There's a lot of hitting in hockey," Bromley said. "Hockey can be just as tough physically as football, but where you play only one game a week in football, with hockey sometimes you play two or three games a week, and trying to play ninth- and 10th-graders out there could be tough."

For Alexander, the opportunity is welcome by administrators, parents and players alike, said Athletic Director Ben Whitmore.

"All of these kids play together in youth leagues and they always dreamed of playing high school hockey, so to be able to give them that chance is very exciting," Whitmore said.

Suzanne Dizak is indicted on counts of criminal possession of stolen property, 4th, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. Dizak is accused of possessing jewelry stolen from Target on April 1 when she allegedly knew the property was stolen. The total value of the jewelry was reportedly $1,171.58. On that same date, Dizak is accused of possessing heroin.

Brian P. Griffen is indicted on counts of burglary, 3rd, and grand larceny, 4th. Griffen is accused of breaking into a building on Fisher Road, Oakfield, sometime between June 12 and June 26 and stealing a dune buggy, Yamaha Kodiak 4-wheeler and a Honda dirt bike.

Luis Ramos Perez is indicted on felony counts of aggravated DWI and aggravated driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Perez is accused of driving drunk May 6 on Route 262, Byron, with a child under age 15 in the car.

Sheri Lee Flint, 30, of Selden Road, Le Roy, is charged with identity theft, 3rd. Flint is accused of applying for a credit line in the name of another person and after receiving the credit card, making a purchase on credit.

Emily J. Walker, 19, of Sherman-Stedman Road, Sherman, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Walker is accused of sending text messages to a person in violation of a court order.

There simply isn't enough cost savings to justify merging the county planning gepartment with the highway department, legislators concluded in a discussion at Wednesday's Ways and Means Committee meeting.

The cost of expanding office space at the highway department's facility on Cedar Street offsets any possible cost saving by sharing clerical staff.

Tim Hens, highway superintendent, said that while the planning department is understaffed, the merger wouldn't necessarily address their biggest staffing need -- help with the GIS map system.

"It's easy to get bogged down in GIS," Hens said. "If you lighten the load on the GIS side of things, we would probably all be better served in the future."

One recommendation from Hens was to move GIS support to the IT department.

Legislators uniformly said they valued the planning department's reputation for being unbiased in its assessment of land use issues.

While moving the planning department into the highway department wouldn't necessarily jeopardize that independence, it could damage the perception for the public and for the various planning boards around the county.

Senior Planner Felipe Oltramari said he shared that concern.

"Any sort of perceived bias could sour that relationship (with the municipalities) that we built over decades. With Jim (Duval, former planning director) being there for 35 years, we really have built a level of trust between the planning department and the municipalities."

As a former town supervisor in Le Roy, Legislator Shelly Stein said the department's reputation for independence is real and necessary to maintain.

"Without that -- our planning department being independent -- we lose, we all lose as a county," Stein said.

The perception could be lost because the highway department sometimes has its own projects that need to be reviewed by planning and the department also occasionally does work for Genesee County Economic Development Center.

With the possibility of STAMP in Alabama, the growing ag park in Batavia and other economic development growth opportunities, the planning department could get super busy in future years. A staff of two planners won't cut it, but for now two is all they get.

Duval retired early this year, and while Oltramari will likely be promoted to director, County Manager Jay Gsell said, his senior planner position won't be filled as the county continues to look for ways to save money.

Your opportunity to sound off about the proposed 2013 Genesee County Budget will be 7 p.m., Nov. 8, at the Office of the Aging, 2 Bank St., Batavia.

The proposed $100.9 million spending plan will be supported in part by a 10-cents per $1,000 property tax rate increase, making the rate $9.99.

The total levy is $26,428,478.

While the budget may include cuts to nursing home staff, no other significant changes in county government are planned, though legislators have warned that in the near future drastic cuts may be necessary if Albany doesn't deliver on mandate relief.