Assemblyman Steve Hawley announced this week the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has limited the impact of new regulations on existing outdoor wood boilers (OWBs).

The DEC cited the numerous comments received during the public outreach process that eventually led to the new proposal provisions. The provision to phase out the use of older OWBs in an earlier stage of the proposal was eliminated from the final text of the rule.

“Due to residents grassroots efforts through attending and participating in hearings hosted by the DEC, unnecessary regulations and costs were avoided for people who are already meeting current DEC regulations concerning OWBs," Hawley said in a news release.

"I applaud the effort of the DEC for recognizing the burden of forcing roughly 14,000 households statewide to replace their OWBs at a total cost of anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 for a new unit.”

Hawley also added that he will now continue to push DEC to listen to citizens regarding the strict open burning regulations implemented last year.

He is currently a co-sponsor on NYS Assembly Bill 7414 which prohibits the DEC from restricting the burning of garbage, refuse or rubbish in an open fire on land owned by a single family, or any part of a farm, under certain circumstances.

A piece of farm equipment being driven on Quaker Hill Road is reported to be sparking, causing several small brushfires along the roadside as it heads down the roadway. The driver, apparently, is oblivious.

Several calls came in reporting the incident in the vicinity of 6054 Quaker Hill Road. The equipment is still traveling along. Orleans County is being notified.

Elba Fire Department is called to respond.

UPDATE (2:25 p.m.): In the 5000 block of Quaker Hill Road there is reportedly a large brushfire now, heading into the woods.

UPDATE (2:30 p.m.): All Elba manpower and equipment is ordered to Route 19 and the Genesee-Orleans county line to fight the brushfires.

UPDATE (2:52 p.m.): The brushfires were pronounced out a few minutes ago. Fire police are holding traffic until the fire trucks and their equipment can be packed up and leave the scene.

UPDATE (3:06 p.m.): The road is open, the units are back in service, and the volunteers firefighters are en route to the Pizza Pantry in Corfu.

A small brushfire is reported at the softball field behind the Byron Fire Station. A crew is requested from the Byron Volunteer Fire Department to go to the station and deploy its brush truck to put out the blaze.

UPDATE (12:33 p.m.): The fire is out and the Byron Fire Department is ready for service.

Carlson's Studio, 39 Jackson St., Batavia, NY: Christmas is coming! Now is the time to get your holiday portraits. We have a $150 gift card for $75 (+$2 PayPal Service fee).

Stafford Trading Post, 6173 Main Road, Stafford, NY: Lunch or dinner, Stafford Trading Post offers a variety of fresh, homemade meals, as well as snacks and drinks. Now in a new, expanded location. We have a $25 gift card for $12.50.

Pudgie's Lawn and Garden Center, 3646 W. Main St. Road, Batavia, NY: Fall decorations are in as well as a big selection of spring bulbs. 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.

The Enchanted Florist, 202 E. Main St., Batavia, NY: Fall colors. Fall flowers. Brighten your home or office. We have a $20 gift certificate for $9.50.

Blue Pearl Yoga, 200 E. Main St., Batavia, NY: Exercise your soul as well as your body in a friendly and relaxing atmosphere. We have a gift certificate for three weeks of yoga, 13 classes, a $36 value, for $18.

Settler's Restaurant, 353 W. Main St., Batavia, NY: Settler's has a 25-year history of serving great, affordable breakfasts, lunches and dinners to Batavians. 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.

A caller has reported finding a car that hit a tree and is now on its side in the area of 470 Council House Road.

The caller reports finding blood, but can't see any person around, at least not in the dark.

Alabama Fire and Mercy EMS being dispatched.

UPDATE 12:13 a.m.: Alabama chief reports no victim at the scene. He confirms, the car is on its side.

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Here's a news release from The Jerome Foundation and the United Memorial Medical Center Foundation.

The 27th annual Health and Humanitarian Award of Genesee County will be presented to Ronald Burroughs on Friday, Dec. 3 at an awards luncheon at Terry Hills Restaurant.

The award is presented by The Jerome Foundation and United Memorial Medical Center Foundation and recognizes volunteer men and women of Genesee County who have helped promote emotional, physical and spiritual well-being of the area’s residents.

In naming Ronald Burroughs for this year’s award, the foundations recognize his volunteer efforts and leadership with Genesee County Habitat for Humanity. He has served as a board member of the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate, and has been a tireless volunteer -- building and rehabilitating houses so local families can live in clean, decent and stable housing.

Michael Seyfried and Nancy Platt, members of the local Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors, nominated Burroughs for the award, citing his zeal and skill in all phases of the building projects.

“Ron has provided leadership, equipment, professional contacts and 'sweat equity time' for a number of houses in our community, and his vision for such projects has enabled families to acquire affordable housing on their own," Seyfried noted in his nomination.

Platt credited Burroughs with inspiration and leadership in establishing Habitat’s ReStore resale outlet that sells reusable and surplus building materials to the public. Proceeds help the local affiliate fund construction of Habitat homes within Genesee County.

The Health and Humanitarian Award luncheon is open to the public. Reservations can be made by contacting United Memorial Medical Center Foundation at 344-5300. Seating will be limited so early reservations are encouraged.

Jackson Street Grill/Belladessa's, one of Batavia's more popular dining establishments, is shutting its doors.

Owner Jim Kujawski said this afternoon that the restaurant's last day will be tomorrow.

In a statement, Kujawski said:

I have decided that the sacrifices of running a restaurant are not worth it anymore. The first thought through everyone's mind is that the business is doing bad. That's not true. Of course the economy has had a negative effect on sales over the past 2 years but this was not the deciding factor. Working 7 days a week, 10-12 hr days, year round gets old after awhile. I want to go back to having some semblance of a life again and spending time with my wife and family. We did have a party interested in continuing the business but backed out at the last minute last week.

Kujawski opened Jackson Street Grill in 2006. It is known for big juicy hamburgers, including a huge cheese burger that patrons were challenged to eat. In 2008, Kujawski acquired Belladessa's and moved the pizzeria from Main Street to Jackson Street. Belladessa's had been around since 1997.

An electrical fire is reported in the basement of a house at 13 Walnut St. in the City of Batavia. The occupants have been evacuated and there is smoke coming from the building.

City Fire Department is on scene.

UPDATE (2:33 p.m.): The fire is knocked down. National Grid has been notified about the problem inside the electrical fuse box. Firefighters are "checking the extensions upstairs."

UPDATE (by Howard): Julie Worthington and Mary Kay Mayeu were sitting at the dining room table talking when they heard some loud buzzing pops and the lights flickered. Mayeu told Worthington she better get the kids out of the house.

"I think there's something going on downstairs," Mayeu said she told Worthington. "I looked downstairs and I could see flames. You couldn't see past the water heater, but you could see a yellow presence."

At that point, Worthington said, the smoke detectors hadn't even started beeping.

"We were actually out of the house before the alarms started going off," Worthington said.

A Batavia man with an apparently lengthy criminal record, who was arrested at least three times in the past few months, will need to come up with $50,000 if he wants to get out of jail while his newest felony charges are pending.

Michael J. Piasta, 30, of 415 E. Main St., Batavia, was arrested earlier this week on a charge of burglary, 3rd, and criminal possession of a forged instrument. He is accused of breaking into a business office on Harvester Avenue, stealing credit cards and checks, using the credit cards and attempting to cash the checks.

When arrested, he was arraigned in Batavia City Court, but because Piasta has two prior felony convictions, the lower court could set bail and the justice ordered him held without bail. His attorney, William Teford, requested a bail review hearing in Genesee County Court.

At the hearing, Teford argued that despite his client's lengthy criminal record, all of his immediate family lives in Batavia, he's never left Batavia and he has a job. Teford asked for bail of $5,000 to $10,000.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman argued that Piasta has a history of violating probation and parole and, though neither of the prior felony convictions were for violent crimes, Piasta is facing possible "persistent felony offender status," which means a longer prison term.

In the pre-bail review report, Friedman noted that Piasta's employer, a local contractor, says he "doesn’t know if he’d have job if released due to trouble he’s been in recently."

Friedman asked that Piasta continued to be held without bail.

Previously:

• Man with previous thievery charges accused of burglary on Harvester Avenue
• Store owner helps catch man who allegedly tried to steal adult DVDs

Gary L. Bonk, 34, Gillette Road, Albion, is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, 2nd, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, speeding, driving left of pavement markings, and failure to yield to emergency vehicles. Bonk was reportedly seen speeding on Route 98 and passing a car in a no-passing zone on Route 98 at 3:01 a.m. When a patrol car attempted to stop Bonk's car, Bonk reportedly drove it into a ditch and then fled the scene. When Bonk allegedly drove the car into a ditch, his passenger was injured (though the passenger did not seek medical treatment). Bonk was reportedly found later walking on Route 98.

A 17-year-old from Albion was charged with making a punishable false written statement. The youth is accused of signing a false statement regarding an incident involving Gary L. Bonk.

Bryan D. Wright, 50, of Telephone Road, Pavilion, is charged with harassment. Wright was allegedly involved in an incident at 4:25 p.m., Oct.12, at a location on St. Mary's Street, Pavilion. He is accused of grabbing and choking another man during an argument.

Brett Blair, 26, of Batavia, is charged with three counts of criminal possession of stolen property, 4th, and three counts of forgery, 2nd. Blair was arrested by State Police on Wednesday in regards to an alleged incident Aug. 10 in Greece. It appears to involve credit cards and tokens. No further details were released.

A driver allegedly failed to yield the right-of-way, leading to a minor injury accident at the intersection of Bank Street Road and South Bennett Heights yesterday morning.

The 7:57 a.m. accident sent Tonya L. Passamonte, 45, of Washington Avenue, Batavia, to UMMC, but neither the driver nor the passenger of the other car were injured.

According to a report prepared by Deputy Chris Parker, a 2003 Dodge pickup driven by Elizabeth A. Bruns, 42, of South Bennett Heights, Batavia, was westbound from South Bennett Heights when she "failed to yield the right-of-way" at the intersection, rolling past the stop sign.

The report does not list any citations issued.

Passamonte was driving a 2008 Chevy SUV.

Bruns' passenger was 16-year-old Mary C. Boerschlein.

(Initial Report)

Some months ago, people started asking me about buying photos on The Batavian, and the number of requests have even increased in the past few weeks.

Awhile back, I got in contact with a company I've worked with before in previous jobs -- it provides a service to newspaper websites allowing readers to buy photos that the newspaper publishes.

It's taken me a lot longer to get things set up than I anticipated, but we are now, finally, able to sell pictures that we publish.

I've already set up galleries of several things we've covered in the past few months, such as Notre Dame's sectional playoff game against Dundee, Town of Batavia Fire Department's Harley Raffle and the Alexander Parade.

There's also a section for barn photos and another of Genesee County shots.

Most of the photo requests, though, have come from parents and grandparents wanting prints of their kids involved in sports. All of the sports photos that are available can be found here. 

All of the galleries can be found here.

Of course, as we cover more events, we'll make more pictures available.

It's gratifying that so many people enjoy the pictures we publish. I hope this new reader service will be of value to the community.

A two-vehicle accident is reported at the roundabout in Batavia. There are injuries and Mercy EMS and the Batavia Fire Department are responding. Batavia police are on scene, at South Main and Walnut streets.

UPDATE (6:45 p.m.): Personnel there say extrication is needed.

UPDATE (7:05 p.m.): The "extrication" consisted of prying back a dented door to allow the passenger inside to get out. Injuries are minor. This accident involved a minivan and a four-door sedan.

An Elmira stepmother was found guilty of manslaughter today in the death of a 21-month-old toddler from Batavia.

Melissa Engelhardt, 24, was convicted in a non-jury trial. Chemung County Judge Peter C. Buckley found Engelhardt not guilty of second-degree murder.

Andrew Cianfrini, of Batavia, died Nov. 10, while in the care of Engelhardt.

An autopsy found methanol in the child's body. Methanol lowers the temperature of water to prevent it from freezing. It can be fatal if ingested. Methanol was also found in the toddler's sippy cup.

(Read the full story from the D&C).

An accident involving a minivan and a pickup truck is reported at routes 63 and 19. The truck is blocking southbound traffic.

One person is said to have a broken arm, another facial injuries.

Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding. An ambulance from Le Roy is also called to respond.

Jessica Wassink's first-grade class at John Kennedy School got a visit from their assemblyman today.

Steve Hawley walked into the class at 2 p.m. and was eagerly greeted by the young students -- some of the boys even wore ties for the occasion.

They immediately began fielding their suggestions for legislation. Hawley talked some about what goes on in Albany and answered their questions, keeping everything in terms they could understand.

An arsonist who tried to kill his ex-girlfriend's father will spend 20 years in prison, Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled today.

The sentencing of Andre L. Scott came near the close of a bizarre hearing in which Scott let it be known that he thought a juror in his trial behaved improperly, that his constitutional rights were violated in a previous conviction out of Monroe County, and that his ex-girlfriend perjured herself under pressure from Batavia Police detectives.

He also accused the detectives of tampering with evidence.

"Everybody in this courtroom knows what happened," Scott said. "They took my DNA and put it on there, on the evidence."

Since Scott's conviction on Aug. 31 following a jury trial, the 31-year-old former Rochester resident fired his trial attorney, Thomas Burns, and was assigned local defense attorney Fred Rarick.

Today, Scott let it be known that he plans to appeal his conviction.

A jury found that Scott attempted to kill his ex-girlfriend's father by pouring gasoline on the stairs of the man's Batavia residence at 12 Elm St. and setting it afire in February 2009. 

He was convicted of attempted murder, arson and burglary.

"The defendant started a fire in the stairwell where, if he had been successful, it could have resulted in the death of four people in that residence," District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said. "Only through the prompt response of the fire department did it become a situation where nobody was harmed.

"His continued attitude, and what he said to probation during the presentence investigation, communicates loud and clear that, unless I've missed something, I see no mitigating factors to suggest this defendant should get any less than the maximum, 25 years."

Given a chance to speak in his own defense, Scott immediately launched into a rambling complaint about wanting to file a 330 motion (a motion contesting his conviction), but the jail didn't send it over in a timely manner, the court didn't get it, and something about a juror who is related to somebody who works in corrections.

Noonan tried to get Scott back on track, at which point Scott started to complain about evidence being tampered with and asking that the evidence in his case be taken out of Batavia Police custody.

Noonan cut him off.

"One thing I've noticed about you, Mr. Scott, from the very first time you came before me, is that you focus on entirely different matters than what everybody else is focused on," Noonan said. "You make allegations that have no basis in fact and bring up issues not being discussed, and anyone -- including your own counsel -- who tries to  get you to focus (is ignored).

"When I give you every opportunity to tell me what sentence should be imposed, you go off on where evidence is stored and 'what everybody knows,' whatever that means."

After telling Scott that he "committed one of the most serious crimes in our law," Noonan pronounced sentence and then asked if the district attorney's office had any requests for orders of protection.

Friedman requested orders of protection for Scott's ex-girlfriend, her father and one of the witnesses in the case.

"Any objections?" Noonan asked in what is normally a very routine matter at criminal sentencing.

"No, your honor," said Rarick.

"Yes," said Scott loudly, going on to say that his ex-girlfriend had spoken with his mother after she testified and said that police had threatened her if she didn't lie on the witness stand.

After some consultation with his client, Rarick offered up Scott's objection.

Noonan ruled that, if in the circumstance that Scott winds up representing himself and needs to interview her, the order can be modified, otherwise he was issuing the order of protection.

A 55-year-old Batavia woman is accused of forging her boss's signature on company checks and depositing the funds in her personal bank account.

Deborah Dutton faces a federal charge of making and possessing forged checks. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison or a $250,000 fine or both.

Dutton is accused of stealing in the neighborhood of $77,000 from her employer, A1 Sheet Metal Company.

The arrest is the result of an investigation by Special Agents of the U.S. Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge Tracy Gast.

Biking, canoeing, kayaking, cross-country skiing and mountaineering. To one extent or another, all the Marchese brothers -- Dave, Tom, Russ and Bob -- partook of these activities. It was 1995, after brother Dave invited his three siblings on a backpacking trip, when they first had a go at hiking up a mountain. 

"We hiked into Johns Brook Valley and camped at Bushnell Falls," said Bob Marchese. "The next day we climbed Mount Haystack in the rain and fog. At times you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Mt. Haystack (elev. 4960 ft.) was the first high peak for Russ, Tom and me."

Left to right are Tom, Bob, Russ and Dave.

Despite the weather on their first climb back in 1995, the Marchese brothers began frequenting the high peaks when time permitted.

"Nearly 10 years passed before it entered our minds to climb the "trailess" peaks," said Bob, "and go for the '46.'"

Bob informed me there are basically two types of trails on the "46er" mountains -- those maintained with marked trails and those that are "trailess." The latter term at times implies nothing less than a pure bushwhack. The above photo shows the group preparing to scale a cleft in the rocky mountainside.

This photo was taken while descending Whiteface Mountain In the center of the pic and off in the distance is Mount Esther. Weeks later, upon reaching the summit of Esther, the Marchese brothers would have fulfilled their quest, thereby attaining membership in the AKD 46er's. 

Fifteen years after climbing Mt. Haystack, Dave, Tom, Russ and Bob Marchese stand atop Mt. Esther......46er's at last.

"It was a combination of jubilation and relief," said Bob. At their feet, atop Mt. Esther, is a plaque set in the rock by the Adirondack forty-sixers. In a bit of irony, just before the above and below photos were taken, friend and frequent hiking companion Eric Wohlers called their attention to the time -- the Marchese brothers had become 46er's at exactly 4:46 pm.

The plaque was set in place in honor of Esther McComb who in 1839, at the age of 15,  attempted to climb Whiteface Mountain from the north. In the process she became lost and thus made the first recorded ascent of the mountain so named for her.  

That's Eric Wohlers behind the Marchese brothers. Though he had climbed Mt. Esther a month earlier, he joined his friends for their celebratory climb.  

Bob Marchese, pictured above, has climbed many a high peak with his own family. Said Bob,  "My wife, Terri, and I climbed some peaks with our kids when they were little. When they were 2 and 3 years old we put them in kiddie carriers, backpacks made to carry small children. Today my daughter Olivia wants to be a "46er."  

Bob with Olivia. An aspiring 46er, Olivia accompanied her dad on numerous high peak climbs this summer.

Only 13 years old, and already an even dozen high peaks to her credit, Olivia seems certain to keep the family tradition alive -- not only sharing in the common bond of those who have climbed the Adirondack high peaks, but helping promote safe hiking and the preservation of the wilderness for future generations. And to Bob, Russ, Tom and Dave...congratulations!