Dozens of children found treats, prizes and candy today at the Pembroke Volunteer Fire Department Easter Egg Hunt at the department's facility. The sun was out and everybody seemed to have a good time.
More pictures after the jump:
On my way to and from the Pembroke Easter egg hunt, I took a few pictures. Up top are some sheep in a field off Route 5, a mile or so east of Route 77. This looks like it will be a picture worth going out to take again when the trees fill out and maybe again in autumn.
Below, an old one-way sign outside the Pembroke Fire Hall, and below that, an old commercial building in Pembroke.
Alexander Fire is responding to another grass fire now. This one is at 10512 Brookville Road.
Units from the Silver Lake Road fire, which have doused the fire there, on en route to the latest blaze.
Alexander Fire Department is responding to a large brush fire in the woods off of Spring and Sandpit roads. A tanker is requested from Attica.
Two Bethany tankers which had been at the scene of a fire in Covington 20 minutes ago, are heading to Alexander now.
Darien Fire is filling in at Alexander Fire Hall.
Pavilion Fire is responding to a shed fire at 1252 Silver Lake Road in Covington, Wyoming County. The location is between Love Lake and Dodson roads.
A brush truck and engine from Wyoming County is requested. A full-manpower response is requested. The fire is reported to be about 50 feet from the house on the property.
A tanker is requested from Bethany and from Perry Center.
UPDATE (1:46 p.m.): The shed fire is contained and the firemen are working to put out the grass fire. Tankers en route are told to continue, non-emergency.
A pair of Batavia men are in jail, held on $10,000 bail each, charged with burglary and assault for allegedly refusing to leave an apartment and beating up the occupant.
The two men were apparently friends with the victim.
The alleged incident happened yesterday at 4:47 a.m. The apartment is located on East Avenue.
Taken into custody were Daniel J. Gilbert, 18, of 10 Tracy Ave., and Dustin N. Garrett, 20, of 24 Tracy Ave..
Arresting officers were Frank Klimjack and Daniel Coffey.
A large grass fire has been reported in the area of 545 Bloomingdale Road, on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation.
It is reportedly moving toward a structure.
Alabama Fire has been dispatched.
Blue Pearl Yoga, 200 E. Main St., Batavia, NY: Exercise your soul as well as your body in a friendly and relaxing atm.osphere. We have a gift certificate for five weeks of yoga, a $50 value, for $25.
O'Lacy's Irish Pub, 5 School St. Batavia, NY: In Irish pubs, it doesn't get more authentic than O'Lacy's. Be sure to try the homemade chips. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.
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.
Oliver's Candies, 211 W. Main St., Batavia, NY. Oliver's, a Batavia landmark, offers the finest chocolate and confections in the area. We have a $20 gift card for $10.
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.
South Main Country Gifts, 3356 Main St. Road, Batavia, NY: Handcrafted items, gifts with a regional flair, candles, teas and spices -- South Main has a wide selection to please most any interest. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.
Adam Miller Toy & Bicycles, 8 Center St., Batavia, NY: Feel like a kid in a toy store again, or treat your kids to the greatest toy store they will ever see. 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.
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SOLD OUT
A bicyclist has been struck by a car at Ellicott Street Road and Swan Street.
The victim is still down and reportedly bleeding from his head.
Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS have been dispatched.
UPDATE: Patient transported by ground ambulance to UMMC. Fire and police clear scene.
A large field is reportedly on fire in Texaco Town and Pavilion Fire Department is responding, as is Town of Batavia.
The location is Route 20 west of Route 63, or Route 63 south of Route 20, into Bethany's fire district.
The responders say the area is the same one wherein the property owner has been notified not to conduct open burning.
A possible brush fire has been reported in the area of Route 5 and Lovers Lane Road, near the Thruway overpass, Pembroke.
East Pembroke and Indian Falls fire have been dispatched.
UPDATE 4:46 p.m.: Address now given as 717 Route 5, across from Pembroke Bait and Tackle.
UPDATE 4:56 p.m.: Alabama is being dispatched for additional manpower. The Akron brush truck has been requested. The fire is reportedly not near a structure, but moving toward a structure.
Overlooking the lake plain from Mudrzynski's Hill in Oakfield
On Oak Orchard Creek at this time of year it is nearly impossible to distinguish the main channel from flooded backwaters
Placid-looking surface belies a strong current
Conifer swamp beyond the power line
At first glance this seems to be nothing more than a reflective image, but a closer look reveals...
beavers constructed their lodge around the trunk of a black willow
Here the beaver has girdled cottonwoods
Apparently the beavers have a taste for wild cherry as well
Tuesday morning, 6 a.m., March 30th, if the pic's a bit blurry....so was the photographer, he hadn't had his coffee yet, but thought you might like to see the "cinnamon moon"
The Union Hotel in Corfu was built in 1828 and was once a stagecoach stop for travelers. It looms near the main junction in the village and was recently painted charcoal.
Shayne Poodry bought the hotel at an auction last fall and has been busy sprucing it up. It already had a popular bar and bowling alley inside. Now it has a restaurant and a banquet room, too.
Upstairs there’s a dance hall and the owner’s quarters. He’s had workers helping him with renovations and at least one unseen “guest,” maybe more.
People say it’s haunted. It certainly looks like it could be. Poodry just knows weird things happen at his place.
He remembers hearing stories about it growing up, but that was neither here nor there when the opportunity came along to buy it.
He soon found out his TV could turn on by itself. Once he got out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and when he came back to bed, the television in the corner of his office was on.
“I never leave the TV on,” he said. “I was taught that -- you know when you’re growing up and the ol’ man says ‘turn off the lights, you’re wasting money.’ So I always make sure it’s turned off.”
Maybe even he could leave the TV on once -- but twice, no way.
“I was watching TV in bed one night, and just as soon as the lady says ‘Jay Leno is next,' and they start playing the music, when he does his monologue, the TV in the office turns on,” he recalled.
It was unsettling, made him think “What’s going on here?”
Another time, he was doing renovation work with a young helper and both of them heard a door slam mighty hard.
“Like the guy was mad at his ol’ lady and got up and slammed the door shut,” Poodry said.
Through a friend, he found out about a group of paranormal researchers in Buffalo who team up with a guy named John Crocitto to scout out strange phenomena. Crocitto has a radio program “Beyond Ghosts,” which is described as an “interactive paranormal radio show."
A Web production of paranormal happenings at the Union Hotel is in production. It will be unveiled Saturday, April 10, during a paranormal exploration event at the hotel with Beyond Ghosts. All are welcome.
Not long ago, Crocitto was invited to the Union Hotel with a couple of his colleagues to explain what he does at places like the Union and why. As for Poodry, he’s ambivalent about the whole ghost thing, but does see some marketing opportunities!
Crocitto’s cool with that, but he’s more interested in seeing “if there’s really an afterlife.” He thinks the universe to so complex, that anything is possible, including inexplicable fluctuations of electromagnetic fields and happenings that transcend or defy our limited understanding.
On a tour of the hotel, we climbed the creaky staircase and peered into all the little rooms and then went into the huge ballroom. That’s where they keep remodeling hardware for the time being. It was poorly lit and none too welcoming, but there were no odd occurrences. And least not upstairs.
A whoosh, BLAM is heard downstairs. The bartender rushes to close the front door, which is seldom used because most people enter at the side door, where the bar is.
“The door just opened and slammed by itself!” she exclaims, shaking her head. “I’m telling you, strange things happen here.”
Crocitto proceeds to educate us about the paranormal, which simply means “outside of normal.” He says:
Things don’t have to be old or dead to be haunted; objects can contain the spiritual energy of the person who owned it.
Some ghosts are “residual,” they are like a “looped tape” that keeps playing over and over whether you are there to see it or not. Like a woman who walks across the room, she just keeps repeating the same action nonstop.
Some instances are known as "intelligent haunting," like a TV turning itself on, in which a paranormal occurrence seems to be specifically aimed at someone.
There is no set of rules or scientific proof in researching the paranormal. Most people who take it seriously don’t claim to know what’s it all about or why strange things happen, nor do they necessarily care.
They simply enjoy the hunt and the process of capturing clues with infrared cameras and high-tech tape recorders, etc., afforded nowadays.
Ghost hunters, for lack of a better term, don’t try to “convince” people that such things are paranormal. They are sincere and serious about checking out reports of paranormal activity. It wouldn’t be fun or interesting to fake this stuff, they said. Just like deep-sea exploring for sunken treasure, they do it for the thrill of the hunt and, just maybe, the find.
“We were in the Buffalo train station, which is definitely haunted,” Crocitto said. “I was sitting down and all of a sudden my lap got cold and I heard a child’s voice say ‘hello.’ It gives me chills just thinking about it.”
He played the audio recording. It sounded cavernous, tinny, picking up the sounds of nothing but fidgeting. Then a breathy, whispery child’s voice utters “hello.”
Later we sat at a table in the banquet room, described as “ground zero” for odd occurrences at the Union Hotel. With only the glow of computer screens for light Crocitto, his cohort, Ryan Willard, and techie Brandon Bristow show a video.
It was shot in complete darkness with a stationary infrared camera focused on of the end of a hallway near a staircase. If you look very carefully, you see a shapeless, shadowy mass dart across from right to left.
In a still picture, shot at a mansion in WNY, Willard shows the transparent image of a young boy with a Dutch Boy haircut dressed in old-fashioned clothes standing in front of a tall window.
“It isn’t voodoo,” Crocitto said, in answer to a question about dabbling in the occult. “And I don’t see it conflicting with my spiritual beliefs. I’m Roman Catholic. I don’t think the paranormal is occult, of the Devil. But I’m not afraid of the Devil anyway … bring it on. The Lord protects me.”
This from a man who is a trained scientist, a biologist (who’s seen his share of ghoulish sights in the laboratory and the morgue).
“Most scientists I know believe in God,” Crocitto said.
Willard agrees.
“It would be really depressing if they didn’t,” Willard said.
Kristen Anderson catches a Frisbee tossed by her friend Steve Martino (below) while they were out enjoying the sun at Centennial Park this afternoon with their friends Lauren Rohan and Katie Porter (not pictured) and dogs Tucker and Milo.
Above, Ian Fuchs, 7, helps with the family car wash on State Street.
An unidentified bicyclist tooling down Washington Avenue.
The law is on the lookout for a white male wanted on a warrant. Batavia City Police and Sheriff's Deputies have set up a parameter search in the area of State and North streets and Fairmont Avenue.
No further information is available at this time.
UPDATE (12:35 p.m.): The subject of the manhunt is wanted for allegedly violating his probation following his conviction for burglary in the second degree. A helicopter is requested to help in the search.
UPDATE 12:48 p.m. (by Howard): The Sheriff's Office has identified the suspect as Christopher A. Laird, who has been on the county's very short wanted list since Feb. 2. He's been spotted in the city a couple of times recently, including today. Laird is not considered dangerous. If spotted, witnesses should call 345-3000.
UPDATE 1:17 p.m.: A witness informed law enforcement a short time ago that an 18- to19-year-old wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt ran through his yard "looking scared" about 45 minutes ago. That was on State Street. The search is moving southeast.
UPDATE 1:32 p.m.: Police and Sheriff's units are calling off the search, going back in service.
John P. Vanderzell, 62, of 9732 Summit Street Road, Le Roy, is charged with DWI and aggravated DWI (driving with a BAC of .08 or greater). Vanderzell was reportedly observed at a store in Le Roy by Sgt. Michael J. Hare in an intoxicated condition. Sgt. Hare then reportedly observed Vanderzell get into his car and drive away. Sgt. Hare stopped Vanderzell and arrested him for alleged DWI.
Kyle B. Bacon, 19, of 679 E. Main St., Apt. 4C and Ryan T. Nugent, 19, same address, are charged with unlawful possession of alcohol by a person under 21. Batavia Police were dispatched to 679 E. Main St., Apt. 4C to check a report of underage drinking. Upon arriving, police allegedly found Bacon and Nugent in possession of alcohol.
Robert L. Drozdowski, 28, of 15 Washington St., Castile, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Drozdowski was reportedly issued a stay away order out of City Court, which he allegedly violated by contacting the subject person by leaving voicemails on the person's mobile phone.
Accidents reported on the State Police blotter:
2:04 p.m., March 31, Boyce Road, Pembroke, one vehicle; Driver 1: Daniel M. Johnston, 58, of Corfu. No injuries reported.
There are possible injuries in a car accident at Main in Liberty in Batavia.
The driver is reportedly pregnant and there are children in the car.
City Fire and Mercy EMS responding.
UPDATE: Only minor injuries reported.
The Batavian set new records in the three key Web traffic stats we watch.
Unique visitors doesn't necessarily translate into X number of people. The tools that measure Web traffic can only count computers. One person may use two different computers to visit the site in a month, or two people may share the same computer. But it is a close approximation of number of people who visited the site.
Visits accounts for all the times that people visited the site in the month. One unique visitor can account for several visits.
Page Views are the number of times a page of the site is downloaded into a Web browser window.
The previous records:
Thank you all for your support.
Here's the most viewed posts for March:
A truck hit a utility pole in the area of 1254 Bloomingdale Road, Alabama.
A transformer may have been knocked down. There are wires on the roadway and Bloomingdale is now closed.
There is also fluid on the ground.
Alabama Fire is responding.
UPDATE: Reportedly, a semi-truck with trailer hit the pole. It reportedly also hit a structure, possibly a house. It then reportedly left the scene.
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