If you happened to scroll to the bottom of the home page within the past few days, you might noticed the little emblem to the left showing up there.

A couple of months ago, myself and a couple of other local site owners started a Facebook group where we could discuss business and content issues among ourselves -- an industry group, if you will. Up until then, there really was no central location for independent local site owners to gather.

One of the members, Debbie Galant, co-owner of Baristanet, based in New Jersey, and one of very first local, online-only news sites, mentioned she owned this domain name: authenticallylocal.com and shouldn't we use it to promote not only local ownership of news sites, but local ownership of businesses in general.

For launch, 30 local news sites, including The Batavian, signed on to the Authentically Local campaign.

Regular readers know how heartily we push the idea of shopping first at locally owned businesses. When you shop local, more of your money stays in your local community were it can do the most good, and you're helping your friends and relatives enjoy a better quality of life.

Well, it turns out, I'm not the only local news site owner who thinks that way.

The difference for The Batavian is that so far we haven't faced the intense competition some of my colleagues are dealing with from well-funded national chains. For them, Authentically Local is a chance to remind readers and advertisers that with their sites, advertising dollars stay in the community, and that the owners are partners as well as neighbors.

These are values Billie and I share, but it's a critical message for the sites facing competition from the "Walmarts of the news industry," as Galant has put it.

Locally owned businesses in Genesee County are welcome to add the badge to their own Web sites.

A power pole is reportedly sparking in the area of 266 Bank St., Batavia.

City fire responding.

UPDATE 8:21 p.m.: National Grid being notified. Pole #40 is arcing intermittently.

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A power line is reportedly down and in the roadway in the area of 1167 Gabbey Road, Pembroke.

The line is reportedly arcing and sparking and possibily on fire.

Pembroke and Indian Falls fire dispatched.

UPDATE 9:07 p.m.: National Grid notified. No ETA.

UPDATE 9:15 p.m.: National Grid reports 75 customers without power from this spot north to the reservation.

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Thermory® Solid Hardwood Flooring is now available in Western New York, in fact, nationwide.

Europeans developed a “thermal modification process” ideal for upgrading in the solid hardwood flooring industry.

Milled from “thermally modified” hardwoods, Thermory® flooring features superior stability, beauty, durability, functionality and is environmentally sound. Thermory® fills a void in the marketplace -- it's the only solid hardwood flooring product line warranted for use over radiant heat and concrete applications.

The “thermal modification process,” developed and refined over the past 20 years in Europe, is a highly technical computer-controlled process carried out in specially designed high-temperature kilns. Only heat and steam (no chemicals) are used, making the process entirely green. The process produces hardwood with outstanding dimensional stability and durability and also brings out the natural beauty of the wood, making it an environmentally friendly alternative to engineered (veneered or layered) flooring and tropical hardwoods from endangered forests.

Thermory® products have been widely used for more than 10 years in Germany, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Japan and Italy for interior and exterior use as flooring, siding and decking. Now, NWFA (National Wood Flooring Association) member, Attica Millwork, Inc., is importing Thermory® for use in the U.S. market. Company President, Kevin DeMars states, “We have received our two container shipments and it is beautiful beyond our expectations.”

Mr. DeMars says the flooring is “straight and true, finely machined and sanded with beautiful full thickness color tones.” He states that as a dealer base is established across the U.S., “more and more homeowners, builders, architects and designers will sleep better knowing they’ve used Thermory® Solid Hardwood Flooring. It’s just more stable, it’s just more beautiful.”

Another benefit of the “thermal process” is that the color of the wood is transformed to beautiful, full thickness color tones which highlight the natural beauty of the wood. The color of the “medium-treated” wood, Salsa, varies from light to golden brown, while the “ intense-treated” wood, Tango, is a luxurious dark brown. Current inventories include both Salsa and Tango in domestic Ash, a hardwood comparable to oak in grain and hardness characteristics. Both are available in widths up to 7 ½” in a finely sanded or a brushed finish.

Mike Caroll, of MP Caroll Hardwoods in Buffalo, says “Thermory® is the perfect remedy over radiant heat and to control the movement of wide plank solid wood flooring. Traditionally, consumers have had to settle for swelling in the summer and gaping during the heating season. Now they can enjoy a flat floor in the summer and a tightly fitted floor all winter.” He states that Thermory® installs easily, can even be glued to concrete, and finishes beautifully with little or no sanding required. He also says that the Salsa can be stained to match any color preference and the Tango can be used instead of some of the exotic species at a fraction of the cost.

As radiant floor heating becomes even more popular with today’s homeowners and specifiers, Thermory® offers a much needed alternative. Peter Harman, owner of Harman Hardwood Flooring Co. in Rochester, says that it’s always been a “crap shoot” knowing what to use over radiant. Peter states “You are offering the best product since sliced bread and I’m a skeptic, but if this flooring does what it says it will, we just revolutionized the solid hardwood flooring industry.”

Charles Peterson, well-known award-winning hardwood flooring Master Craftsman -- featured in "Fine Homebuilding," "This Old House" and author of the bestselling book “The Art of Wood Flooring” -- says the timing is perfect for Thermory® to hit the U.S. market. “In this billion-dollar-plus flooring market, with multimillions spent each year to remedy hardwood flooring problems, mostly attributable to moisture, imagine the positive impact Thermory® Solid Hardwood Flooring, with its stability and beauty, will have on this industry.”

The reason the Erie County GOP won't release the possible second tape of the confrontation in Greece on Wednesday is because it will show Jane Corwin's staffer disrespecting a veteran, says a spokesman for Tea Party-line candidate Jack Davis.

Curtis Ellis said a person who witnessed the incident claims that Michael Mallia, chief of staff for Jane Corwin's assembly office, jumped out of a car as Jack Davis was walking toward his car and called Davis a coward.

Mallia, he said, repeatedly called Davis a coward for not participating in last Thursday's debate.

"Here's a U.S. military veteran coming from this very somber veterans' event and some young kid is calling him a coward," Ellis said.

The event at a fire hall in Greece, sponsored by Republican David Bellavia, who endorsed Davis at the event, included a recitation of the names of all the military members killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Coming to an event like this and yelling 'coward' at a veteran as he's leaving is an insult to every veteran, every man or woman who has ever served in the military," Ellis said. "Jane Corwin needs to apologize."

If Corwin doesn't apologize for her staffer's conduct, Ellis said, "she's no better than Jane Fonda."

When we asked to speak with the volunteer who was with Davis at the time of the incident, Ellis said, "If they dispute my account, they can release the tape. They won't do that because it will show that she's really Jane 'Fonda' Corwin. That's what it will show."

Ellis made these comments in response to our earlier post requesting that Erie County GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy either release the tape or explain how somebody could operate a video camera without knowing the battery was dead. (Langworthy has claimed he can't release the second tape because the camera battery was dead.)

At 4:30 p.m., after talking with Ellis, we e-mailed Corwin's spokesman, Matthew Harakal, and asked for a response. So far, we haven't received it.

Stafford's Jason DiSalvo is racing this weekend at the West Coast Moto Jam in Sonoma, Calif.

This is a sport I don't understand at all, but based on this chart (which features live results, so it could be different when you view it), it looks like he is doing very well. I think he's in first place, 22 laps into the race.

The multiple day event is airing on SpeedTV. The next, and final, telecast is tonight at midnight.

DiSalvo won the first race of the season, the Daytona 200.

Jason returns to New York after this race and begins preparation for the Miller Motorsports Race in Salt Lake City.

There is currently a flood watch in effect for Genesee County and it is scheduled to remain in effect through Monday morning.

Heavy rain combined with already saturated ground and creeks running high creates a greater danger of localized flooding, the National Weather Service has warned.

Press release:

Jack Davis, independent candidate for Congress, set out a plan to replace Obamacare and give states power to address out of control health care costs. States would have greater flexibility to devise model health care programs and spend money allocated under federal programs by joining interstate compacts.

“For those like myself that want to replace Obamacare, the interstate Healthcare Compact is a realistic and viable strategy. States, not Congress, the White House, or federal bureaucrats, should set the rules for healthcare from top to bottom. In addition, individuals should be able to deduct the cost of health insurance from their federal income taxes just as corporations can,” Davis said.

“Healthcare is simply too large and complex to manage at the federal level. Our federal healthcare system impacts 300+ million people and healthcare spending exceeds 2.3 trillion dollars annually. Centralized planning of an industry that is this large and complex is not possible and has never been successful,” said Jack Davis.

The Healthcare Compact would make it possible for Americans to exercise greater control over their healthcare options. It would relieve the federal government of the responsibility for healthcare policy and return it to the states. As decision-making is transferred from the federal government to the states, so would control over federal healthcare dollars.

The Healthcare Compact does not impose one model of healthcare reform on an immense and diverse country. It does not presume that there is one Band-Aid solution to solve the healthcare crisis. Exactly how specific compacts would work - how they would function - would be determined by the states that enter into them. 

New York state taxpayers send more dollars to Washington than they receive in return from the federal government. Overall, government checks flow from affluent states, generally in the Northeast and West, to less affluent states, especially in the South.

We now have answers from all four candidates in the NY-26 to our questions on personal liberties, with Jack Davis being the last to respond (answers had been due on Friday).

We posted the questions Friday, so won't repeat them here, except in context of the answers. The answers are after the jump in the order received.

Ian Murphy

What is your position on the 2nd Amendment – what controls, if any, should be placed on the right of a private citizen to own guns?

The right to bear arms is guaranteed by the Constitution. We're really good at killing each other with guns, and I'd hate to see that American tradition come to an end, but it's probably a good idea to outlaw automatics, semi-automatics, RPGs, Scud missiles and nuclear arms. Anything beyond personal protection and hunting is not necessary, nor should we allow crazies, murderers, people convicted of gun violence, etc. to continue to carry guns.

In February, the House voted to extend the Patriot Act. If you had represented the NY-26 at that time, how would you have voted?

I would have voted against the Patriot Act. It's an idiotic piece of legislation pushed through in the fearful wake of 9/11, which violates the Fourth Amendment on many levels, doesn't keep us safe, and hands an ideological victory to the enemies of freedom.

Should marijuana be decriminalized at the Federal level?

Yes. Incoherent puritanism aside, there's no reason Joe Sixpack shouldn't be able to smoke a joint in his own home. Tax it like we do booze and cigarettes, which kill about a half million people each year combined.

What is your position on the controversy surrounding TSA scanners and enhanced pat downs?

Well, that's a  complicated situation. It's real easy to get bent out of shape about some dude touching your “junk,” but some very credible reporters have claimed that the whole “Opt Out” movement was a carefully orchestrated PR campaign aimed at demonizing the TSA, which has been involved in a decade-long struggle to gain the same collective bargaining rights enjoyed by employees of all other federal agencies. And lo they have been demonized.

Astroturf aside, I have no problem with being scanned. And if you do “opt out” prepare to be frisked. I don't feel like I'm giving up any rights in this case, and I'd like to know that everyone on that plane was checked for explosives and other weapons too.

There's a  very big difference between something like this and something like the warrentless wiretapping in the Patriot Act. Our Constitution provides us protection against unwarranted search and seizure. It doesn't, however, give us the right to enter a potential flying bomb with weapons. To me, this seems by definition warranted.

Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank is trying to push through legislation to make playing online poker legal and to legalize online poker sites within the United States. Will you support such legislation?

If rampant speculation and grift is legal on Wall Street, why not on my lap top? But Frank being in Wall Street's pocket is not the issue at hand. According to the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, Americans spend $100 billion annually gambling online with offshore providers, which don't answer to U.S. regulators. It's better to make it legal, regulate it and tax it, because like most vices, people will do it anyway. 

Kathy Hochul

What is your position on the 2nd Amendment – what controls, if any, should be placed on the right of a private citizen to own guns?

My record on gun issues is clear.  I am a strong advocate of the 2nd Amendment and the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns.  As Erie County Clerk, I streamlined the pistol permit process, allowing Erie County residents to more easily navigate the bureaucracy of purchasing a firearm.

In February, the House voted to extend the Patriot Act. If you had represented the NY-26 at that time, how would you have voted?

As a Member of Congress, I would have voted to extend the expiring provisions. While we must continue to ensure that we are protecting basic civil liberties, we must also continue to take a proactive approach in our fight against terrorism both here and abroad. 

Should marijuana be decriminalized at the Federal level?

I oppose the legalization of marijuana.

What is your position on the controversy surrounding TSA scanners and enhanced pat downs?

I understand the importance of airport safety and support the use of full-body scanners. However, we must take every step necessary to ensure that we are balancing the privacy of airline passengers with airport security.  That is why I support efforts to make it illegal to distribute or record images produced by TSA scanners.

Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank is trying to push through legislation to make playing online poker legal and to legalize online poker sites within the United States. Will you support such legislation?

As a Member of Congress, I would support legislation that implements strict regulations on online gambling to protect consumers and prevents underage gambling. 

Jane Corwin:

What is your position on the 2nd Amendment – what controls, if any, should be placed on the right of a private citizen to own guns? 

I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and am the only NRA-endorsed candidate in the race. I am a member of the NRA and SCOPE.

In February, the House voted to extend the Patriot Act. If you had represented the NY-26 at that time, how would you have voted? 

I would have voted to extend the Patriot Act because I believe it affords our intelligence community necessary tools to keep our country safe. However, I believe that Congress must constantly review the Act to ensure that the components in the legislation are still needed and effective and do not infringe on individual freedoms.

Should marijuana be decriminalized at the Federal level?

No.  

What is your position on the controversy surrounding TSA scanners and enhanced pat downs?

The TSA has a mission of keeping our airlines safe, however it seems clear – at least from some of the reports I’ve seen – that in some cases they have gone too far with their pat down policy.

Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank is trying to push through legislation to make playing online poker legal and to legalize online poker sites within the United States. Will you support such legislation?

It would depend on what specifically the legislation that would be voted on would say, and it hasn’t been finalized yet. Generally speaking, I believe that if an individual would like to play poker online they should be able to, so long as they abide by gambling regulations already in place.

Jack Davis

What is your position on the 2nd Amendment – what controls, if any, should be placed on the right of a private citizen to own guns?

I am a life member of the NRA and support the Second Amendment which gives individuals the right to keep and bear arms. It says this right “shall not be infringed”, and I agree. "Shall not be infringed" means don’t mess with my stuff. 

In February, the House voted to extend the Patriot Act.  If you had represented the NY-26 at that time, how would you have voted?

We saw a great uprising of principled conservatives opposing the Patriot Act’s abrogation of the rights the founders wrote into the constitution and the bill of rights. I would have joined them. We must protect our civil liberties as well our economic liberties.

Should marijuana be decriminalized at the Federal level?

This can be regulated at the state level.  

What is your position on the controversy surrounding TSA scanners and enhanced pat downs?

We need to start concentrating our resources on real potential threats and not squander them hassling average citizens.

Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank is trying to push through legislation to make playing online poker legal and to legalize online poker sites within the United States.  Will you support such legislation?

Yes, the Commerce Clause was designed to allow Congress to create a free market within the fifty states.

Richard Nixon has his 18 1/2 minute gap. Nick Langworthy has his dead battery.

As the screen shot above shows, there was a second camcorder at the scene of Wednesday's confrontation between Jane Corwin's Assembly chief of staff and Tea Party-line congressional candidate Jack Davis.

The question is, where's the tape from that second camera?

Langworthy, the Erie County GOP chairman, told the Buffalo News there is no tape. The young woman with the camera was operating a device with a dead battery.

Our question, didn't she know the battery was dead? How could she not know the battery was dead? (See our video posted below.)

Our public question to Langworthy: Please explain how the woman could be operating the camera without knowing the battery was dead, and, presuming that's impossible to explain, where's the full, unedited copy of that tape? 

In the now widely discussed incident -- perhaps the most bizarre incident in the NY-26 since Shirtless Chris Lee sent a half-nude photo of himself to a woman he met on Craigslist, leading to this special election -- Michael Mallia, an Assembly staffer by day, a Corwin campaign volunteer at night, confronted Davis after a campaign event in Greece.

In the video shot by Mallia, you hear Mallia repeatedly and aggressively asking Davis why he dropped out of a planned debate scheduled for the following day.

Davis is seen saying, “You want to be punched out?”  The 76-year-old Davis then takes a swipe at the camera -- it's unclear if Davis hit the 50-years-younger Mallia, or merely slapped the camera, or if Davis connected with nothing but air. After the swipe, Mallia falls away, wailing like a damsel in distress.

Buffalo's WGRZ-TV caught the tail end of the incident on tape and what the footage reveals is that a second person, who seems to clearly be part of the GOP crew, is standing behind Mallia taping the incident.

The tape from that second camera could answer a lot of questions about what really happened.

Besides saying the battery in the second camcorder was dead, Langworthy has steadfastly refused to release the unedited version of the tape from Mallia's camera, saying of the 15-second tape: “It’s the whole story, right there.” (Source, Buffalo News, linked above).

A spokesman for Davis, a registered Republican, has called the incident a "set-up job."

As the Buffalo News story indicates, even many Republicans are critical of Jane Corwin, Langworthy and Mallia over the incident.

Popular conservative talk show host Bob Lonsberry, a lifelong Republican, posted a strongly worded denouncement of the ECGOP tactics on his Web site. 

Afraid that Jack Davis was polling too high, apparently unable to argue against his platform, the Corwin campaign and the Republican Party decided to use character assassination, and they got a state employee to do it.

This isn’t the Republican Party that took control of the House of Representatives last fall. This isn’t the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan. This is the Republican Party of Richard Nixon. This is the dirty tricks party.

Of course, the second tape would inform us all better whether this was a "set-up job" or whether Davis acted as irrationally as Langworthy would like us all to believe.

So, Mr. Langworthy, where's the tape?

A two-car accident with injuries is reported at Allegany and Ledge roads. Alabama Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding along with Sheriff's deputies.

UPDATE 2:38 p.m. Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments are requested to stand by in their halls.

UPDATE 2:41 p.m.: A responder on scene reports there is one injury. Two flatbed tow trucks are requested.

UPDATE 2:58 p.m.: Pembroke and Indians Falls are back in service.

UPDATE 3:05 p.m.: Mercy medics are transporting the victim to UMMC.

UPDATE 3:17 p.m.: Alabama is back in service.

Popular local teacher Jim Owen, who has been turning students into fans for more than four decades, has an interest in the NY-26 special election race that's a bit different from a lot of other Genesee County residents.

One of his former students is on the ballot.

Back in the mid-1970s, Kathy Courtney took a typing class from Owen.

Eventually, she would marry Bill Hochul, become a member of the Hamburg Town Board, then clerk of Erie County and now, she's the Democratic nominee for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"As a teacher, you have students in a classroom as juniors or seniors and you have no idea where they might go," Owen said. "Then when you read the paper that they've been very successfully -- obviously, I had nothing to do with it -- but it's nice to say, 'hey, I had her as a student.'"

Kathy Hochul isn't the only famous name that Owen can list as a typing student during his 35 years of teaching at Hamburg High School. 

Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Tom Toles was also a student.

"I wish I'd gotten one of his cartoons back then," Owen said.

Owen, who also coached her brothers and cousins in track and field, remembers Hochul as a diligent student.

"Now, in typing, we don't communicate too much because you're supposed to be typing, and she was," said Owen. "She did her work."

Owen wasn't sure Kathy would even remember him.

On the campaign trail today, Hochul had time for a brief conversation and said Jim Owen is certainly "somebody stuck in my memory bank" as an important person in her young life.

"The students loved him," Hochul said. "He had a real way to take something as mundane as typing and make it real fun. He was very popular with all of the students."

A staunch Republican, Owen won't reveal who he's voting for, but admitted he can't help but root for Kathy.

"It's kind of neat to say, 'Here's a young lady I had in class and now she's running for Congress,'" Owen said. "I wish her a lot of luck. I hope things work out for her."

He added that he thinks "all three" candidates, especially the "two young ladies," would represent the community well, and he's expecting close results -- so close that a recount may be necessary.

Now a substitute teacher for Batavia City Schools, Owen doesn't know if he'll be required to work Tuesday. If he's off, he plans to attended the candidates' forum at 11 a.m. at the YWCA on North Street. If he makes it, it will be the first time teacher and student have seen each other in more than 20 years.

The Genesee Jaguars took a 12-0 record into a championship game in Hamburg Friday against Newfane and at the end of the match were celebrating a 15-10 victory.

The team received a nice big trophy to go with the win.

The Jaguars are a high school varsity-level lacrosse team comprised of players from throughout Genesee County -- with the exception of Batavia High, which has the Blue Devils lacrosse team.

Photo by Kim Argenta.

Every once in a while somebody asks me if I know when Verizon is going to install FiOS in Batavia.

FiOS is supposedly the fastest broadband internet service available.

When speaking with John Bonomo, a spokesman for Verizon out of New York City, about manhole covers, I asked him, "what about FiOS?"

He said it would be at least five years before FiOS is installed in Batavia.

Right now, Verizon has its hands full, he said, upgrading networks in cities where Verizon has the cable franchise.

"We have to get the work done where we have agreements," Bonomo said. "We've got to complete these upgrades first."

Batavia's cable franchisee is Time-Warner.

A former captain in the Batavia Fire Department who has worked the past four years as fire chief in Auburn is retiring and returning to Batavia.

Mike Hammon is returning to run Godfrey's Pond, according to the Post-Standard in Syracuse.

A one-time Auburn firefighter before moving to Batavia to become an officer, the 55-year-old Hammon told the newspaper: “This is the end of my fire career. I’m getting out of the politics (of the chief’s job) and this is good for me.’’ 

When Hammon was named chief in Auburn four years ago, it was a controversial appointment, according to the Post-Standard. He was the first chief in the 113-year history of the department not promoted from within.

The article includes praise from officials in Auburn for Hammon's work.

A one-car accident is reported at the intersection of Indian Falls and North Pembroke roads. The driver is said to have hit a culvert and suffered a minor knee injury.

East Pembroke Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 5:39 p.m.: The driver declined medical treatment. Mercy medics are back in service.

Today, the Elba Historical Society held its 14th annual antiques and collectibles sales at the Elba Fire Hall and The Mill, Route 98 and Route 262.

Above, Jean Price, of Byron, demonstrates some old-fashioned loom weaving, while her daughter, Margy Hayes, in the background, spins yarn.

Below, Barb Toal, left, with Cheryl Kowalik, at the booth promoting the International Peace Garden.

More than a dozen singers turned up on a rainy Saturday afternoon to audition for a chance to sing the National Anthem at the Muckdogs' July 4th game.

Despite a cloudburst -- the contest had to be moved into the grandstands, and then after wireless mic problems, into the media booth -- the singers wanted to show off their chops and perform the "Star Spangled Banner" a cappella.

Above, Hailey Natalizia and below Ayisha Callahan -- both girls did a real good job with a tough song.

The name of the winner has not been released yet.

Press release:

The following is a statement from Fabien Levy, Director of Communications for Kathy Hochul for Congress:

“Last night, Representative Paul Ryan sent out a fundraising plea in support of Jane Corwin and her endorsement of the Republican-endorsed budget that would decimate Medicare. 

“This just shows how out of touch Assemblymember Corwin is with the people of the 26th District. Voters are undoubtedly rejecting her support of a budget that would throw our seniors under the bus, while giving massive tax breaks to the multi-millionaires and billionaires, yet she and Congressman Ryan continue to push it down our throats.

“Jane Corwin and the Republicans in Washington are out of touch with the voters of this district, including the thousands of Republicans. And on May 24th, voters will not only reject Jane Corwin’s plan to decimate Medicare, but they will reject her.”

Not too many people in California grow tulips. In Western New York, they're everywhere, and one of my favorite parts of spring. These are tulips in my own garden. Happy gardening!