I will be leaving shortly for Buffalo to catch a plane to Chicago. I'm attending a conference called "Block by Block: Community News Summit 2010."

The one-day event is perhaps the first time all of the publishers of the top local online-only news sites in the U.S. have gathered in one location. In all, about 40 independent publishers will be attending, plus some editors from larger companies.

I'll be leading one session on advertising sales.

In the meantime, Tim Walton is helping with Ron Wendt trial coverage and Ethan Thompson will cover Attica at Pembroke football for us on Friday night. Of course, Billie will be around to monitor the scanner and handle anything breaking that comes up, and WBTA is available to pitch in as needed, as well -- so there should still be news coverage while I'm gone.

Not to mention, of course, I'll have my laptop with me and stay on top of things as much as possible.

Contractors began milling Ellicott Street this morning in preparation for repaving next week.

Over the next three days, the milling tractors -- which cost $750,000 each -- will remove 750,000 tons of top asphalt.

The milling begins down the center of Ellicott today, with traffic being diverted to the outside lanes from Main to Cedar. Once the center of the roadway is milled, traffic will be routed to the center and workers will mill to the curbs.

A test strip of paving will be laid on Wednesday, with actual paving scheduled to begin on Friday.

Two bus loads of area residents departed from the Batavia Downs parking lot this morning for "Patriot Trip III," the annual trek to Washington, D.C., organized by Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

The trip includes tours of the WWII, Vietnam, Korean and FDR Memorials as well as the Nation’s Capitol, Arlington Cemetery, and Udvar Hazy Aerospace
Museum. Each traveler paid $325 to join the group and they will stay at Fort Belvior Army Base in Virginia.

For many of the people joining the tour this year, it is their third time making the trip to D.C., and some first-timers said they were excited to be going in this year.

David Timothy Neuhaus, 23, of North Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Neuhaus is accused of stealing property from another person in Bergen. The time of the alleged incident was 5:20 a.m., Tuesday.

Randy Lawrence Sanfratello, 40, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Sanfratello allegedly remained on the property of another person whom he was ordered not to be near.

William J. Christner, 55, of Batavia, is charged with DWI and aggravated DWI. Christner was stopped by State Police at 9:07 p.m., Tuesday, on Route 5 in the Town of Batavia.

A fire is reported at an apartment building at 42 Spencer Court in the City of Batavia. The possible structure fire is reported to be in an end building and there is some traffic congestion due to people trying to leave the scene or move their cars.

Firefighters on scene report smoke showing.

UPDATE (9:58 p.m.): The smoke is said to be coming from a BBQ grill and fire units are back in service.

A three-car accident with injuries has been reported at Daws Corners.

UPDATE 6 p.m.: Northbound traffic at Saile Drive is being closed.

UPDATE 6:32 p.m.: The Elba fire chief has told fire police to reopen the road.

A two-car accident, that is not blocking, has been reported in the area of 6177 Main Road, Stafford.

Stafford Fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

View Larger Map

An accident with a head injury has been reported on Route 490, just past the Bergen exit.

The accident is actually in Monroe County, but still part of the Bergen Fire District.

Bergin Fire and Le Roy Ambulance have been dispatched.

UPDATE: This apparently was not an accident. There was a parent taking a child to the hospital after the child was hurt in a playground accident. Bergen back in service.

Batavia Police are on scene of an accident at Park and Richmond. No word on injuries.

A second accident at Park and Oak has just been called in. It's reportedly a rear-end accident. No word on injuries.

A one-car accident with injuries has been reported in the area of 3126 Stegman Road, Batavia.

A third advanced life-support ambulance is requested.

East Pembroke Fire is on scene.

View Larger Map

In the three or four hours before the accident in Darien that took the life of a Dansville girl, Ronald J. Wendt may have drank as many as six beers, a longtime friend of his testified today.

Thirty-five-year-old William D. Marchisin, who says he's known Wendt for a number of years, was called by District Attorney Lawrence Friedman to testify about what he and Wendt did in the hours leading up to the Aug. 14, 2009 accident.

The day started at 11 a.m. at Marchisin's house and included a pizza lunch at about 1 p.m. The two men then went to a neighbor's barn to remove a grain bin and then spent the next several hours baling hay.

According to Marchisin, Wendt brought along a cooler that contained six Arizona Ice Teas and six beers. The two men drank three beers apiece before leaving the field, then at two more at the VFW Hall in Alexander, and then one more in Attica while waiting for their wings to be cooked at a pizza shop  there.

Under cross examination by Wendt's defense attorney, Thomas Burns, it came out that Marchisin has given different versions of the events that day.

In one interview with investigators, he even lied under oath -- he admitted this in court today -- about even being at the accident scene. 

In his first interview with investigator William Ferrando, Marchisin said that Wendt dropped him off at home before Wendt drove to My Saloon (the accident occurred in front of the bar on Broadway Road in Darien). A few minutes later, Marchisin gave a new sworn statement saying that he was in the truck when it was struck by a car driven by Rachel Enderle.

Marchisin said he was scared during the Aug. 18 meeting with Ferrando, which is why he lied.

As for when he and Wendt had their first beer, Marchisin has given different time lines. In Grand Jury testimony, he said 7 p.m. Today, he said under direct examination that it was 8 p.m., but later testified that it might have been 15 or 20 minutes after 7 p.m.

Marchisin also admitted that he left the scene of the accident as soon as ambulances arrived.

He described the post-accident scene as chaos, with people yelling and screaming, and bar patrons mobbing the scene, bringing out drinks, including beer bottles, and setting them on the car and truck.

"I stood there on the curb," Marchisin said. "I stood there and I don’t want to say 'awed,' but dazzled, and I considered the scene secured, I guess, and I told Ron, 'I can’t handle it anymore,' and I walked home."

Marchisin lives about a mile from where the accident occurred.

Wendt's friend did not testify about the accident itself and may be called back to the stand on another day to testify about what he saw and heard.

First on the stand today was Ferrando, who photographed the accident scene and authenticated the pictures as evidence.

Among the pictures, are two that show a LaBatt's Blue beer box in Wendt's pickup bed and what appeared to be a Blue beer can on the ground next to the truck.

Also on the stand for a brief time was Gabby Mahus, who was a passenger, sitting behind the driver, in the car that hit Wendt's truck.

She broke down when describing the accident scene and Katie Stanley being taken from the car, apparently not breathing. Judge Robert Noonan authorized a short recess so she compose herself, but Friedman had only two more questions for her when she came back.

We'll have coverage of the afternoon testimony later.

An Alabama man whose home was raided early Tuesday morning and had 12 guns seized is suspected of modifying weapons for sale, according to Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster.

"I think he was trying to expand his business a little bit," Brewster said. "He's been rather active in turning legal weapons into allegedly illegal weapons, which is why we sent the guns to the crime lab for further evaluation."

One clearly modified gun was found, according to a Sheriff's Office press release, along with a silencer and a large capacity magazine. The other weapons will be examined and additional charges may be filed.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) participated in the raid and it's possible that Christopher Jon Bombard, 31, of 7133 Maple St. Road, will also face federal charges, which carry substantially stiffer penalties than state felonies.

Bombard was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, 2nd, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, 3rd.

Brewster said the weapons seized included .22 long rifles and assault-style rifles.

"We do not get the impression that he had been doing this for a very long period of time," Brewster said.

The $300 seized in the raid is believed to be the fruit of an alleged illegal gun sale, Brewster said.

The weapons were being sold locally, Brewster said, and it was that local activity that led to a tip being funneled to the Sheriff's Office through the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force. The task force conducted the investigation and raid, along with the ATF and other local agencies.

The Local Drug Enforcement Task Force handles much more than drug investigations, Brewster noted. It is also charged with vice and organized crime investigation, for example, so "this was right up their alley which is why I authorized them to handle the case."

A power line has been reported down on Cedar Street.

It has reportedly fallen on an occupied car.

City Fire is responding.

UPDATE 7:45 a.m.: National Grid requested to the scene.

There is a report that power is out in the area of Ross and East Main streets. 

The power outage may only go as far as Washington on the north, Ellicott on the South.

UPDATE: It sounds like power is out on the south side of East Main all the way down to Cedar Street.

UPDATE 6:58 a.m.: National Grid is showing sporadic power outages south down Ellicott as far as Little Canada.

UPDATE 7:13 a.m.: According to National Grid, more than 1,200 customers are without power. One section of power loss covers the wedge from Ross to Cedar between East main and Ellicott, with some outages on the north side of East Main. Another section of outages are at Old Creek Road, north of Ellicott almost to Route 5, to just past Transit Road on the east, and down to the south to West Bethany and Brookville, and on the west side to Dorman and Cookson roads.

UPDATE 8:37 a.m.: National Grid reports that power is back on for the two outage areas mentioned above, however there is now a power outage for about 900 customers in Pavilion and down into Wyoming County.

A dozen weapons, including one that was altered in an allegedly illegal manner, were recovered from an Alabama residence in an early morning raid by local law enforcement.

A silencer and large capacity magazine designed to fit the altered gun were also allegedly found at the residence of Christopher Jon Bombard, 31, of 7133 Maple St. Road.

Bombard was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, 2nd, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, 3rd.

The other weapons are being sent to the Monroe County Public Safety Lab for further examination.

Additional charges may be filed.

The 7:15 a.m. raid was carried out the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force, which also recovered $300 cash.

Bombard was jailed on $100,000 bail.

Also participating in the investigation and raid were the District Attorney's Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Genesee County Office of Emergency Management and Mercy EMS.

Today Batavia baseball fans learned that they're not without hope that some St. Louis Cardinals prospect will be hurling an opening day pitch at Dwyer Stadium in June, 2011.

At a press conference where Cardinals officials were on hand to sign a new affiliation agreement with the Genesee County Baseball Club, Naomi Silver, president of Rochester Community Baseball said the Red Wings are prepared to support baseball in Batavia for at least one more season.

There are details to be settled before the current agreement expires on Oct. 31, but Silver said the Red Wings "will not leave GCBC in the lurch."

Without financial backing, and if a new owner is not found in time, GCBC could lose its New York-Penn League franchise and the $4 to $6 million that could be garnered in a sale.

"If the details of a sale have not been worked out, we would be willing to come in and help out Batavia and continue to run the ball club," Silver said. "I think the chances of baseball being in Batavia in 2011 are extremely strong. What role we play in that has yet to be determined."

Even so, Silver said, the club needs to be sold. The ideal buyer would be somebody committed to the community, with sufficient financial backing to keep the team in Batavia.

"We won’t walk away while we’re waiting for a buyer to come along," Silver said. "Somebody has got to be able to run this team because the St. Louis Cardinals are going to come here and expect to field a team. That is our obligation and that is the league's obligation."

For the Cardinals part, the storied major league franchise sent Assistant Manager John Abbamondi and John Vuch, director of Minor League operations, to Batavia to sign a new two-year agreement with GCBC.

GCBC President Brian Paris said the new agreement and the presense of Abarmondi and Vuch signal how committed the Cardinals are to working with GCBC, the Red Wings and baseball in Batavia.

"They could have done this through the mail," Paris said. "They could have done this through a fax machine, but they told me they wanted to come out here and and show their support."

The Cardinals show of support for baseball in Batavia comes just a couple of weeks after NY-Penn League President Ben Hayes criticized the Dwyer field, saying it was unfit for professional baseball.

"Always, there are things that could be better, but some of the concerns may have been overblown," said Vuch. "The facility is a safe facility. There are not glaring problems. We understand the situation here and we have no concerns."

Vuch praised the community for its support of the players, from giving prospects places to live, to providing a positive environment to support their development.

"The community has always been a good host for our players," Vuch said.

(Initial Post)

On a clear night, on a straight road, at a time when none of the four people in her car were talking, cell phones weren't being used and the radio wasn't on, Rachel L. Enderle, with her hands on the wheel and her eyes straight ahead, didn't see Ronald J. Wendt's truck until a second before her Toyota Camry hit it.

Wendt, on trial for manslaughter and reckless driving, is accused of turning left on Route 20 at the location of My Saloon in Darien Center, right in front of 27-year-old Enderle's car.

Enderle's Camry plowed into the side of the Dodge Ram truck, and Enderle apparently neither hit her brakes nor swerved to avoid the accident.

Katie Stanley, 18, died as a result of the accident. She was a passenger in Enderle's car.

Alexander resident Wendt, 25, could serve up to 25 years in prison if convicted by the 12-person jury of aggravated reckless driving.

Enderle testified today that she wasn't distracted in any way prior to the accident, though she was probably going 55 mph in the 40 mph zone. The Dansville resident testified that she didn't see the lower speed limit signs when driving into the hamlet.

The only thing she remembers is seeing the maroon passenger side door of Wendt's truck just before hitting it.

"I didn't know where it came from," Enderle said.

She said she had no time to react.

"In my head and my heart, I do feel like I got my foot on the brake," Enderle said."I don’t know if pushed down on it."

While another witness testified that Wendt had his headlights on, Enderle said she didn't see the headlights of his truck approaching from the east. 

Two of the three witnesses who testified today could not recall with certainty whether Wendt used his turn signal.

Another witness, Amanda McClellan, who was standing on the recessed porch of My Saloon, and couldn't possibly have had a clear view of Wendt's truck as it approached the spot of the accident, said Wendt didn't have his turn signal on.

While Enderle said she had no time to react, another driver, Brian C. Fox, of Portageville, said he was two or three seconds behind Enderle's Toyota, managed to slam on the brakes of his pickup truck and stop five feet short of the collision.

Fox said he saw Wendt's truck -- with headlights on -- down the road before Wendt started his turn, but said Wendt turned quickly right in front of Enderle's car.

Asked by District Attorney Lawrence Friedman his opinion on whether the driver of the Toyota could possibly have had time to react, Fox said,  "There was nothing they could do."

Speed, of course, is an important factor in reaction time. 

Both Fox and Enderle testified that they couldn't say for sure how fast they were going, but there were driving with the flow of traffic.

Evidence indicates that Fox told investigators after the accident that he was going 55 mph. Today, Fox testified that he said he was going 55 because he thought that was the speed limit on that stretch of Broadway Road.

Today, he initially testified that he must have been going between 45 mph and 55 mph.

At a DMV hearing some months ago, Fox testified that he may have been going as fast as 60 mph.

McClellan testified that she thought Enderle was traveling at about the speed limit, or 40 mph. She estimated Wendt's speed to be between 30 and 40 mph as he went into the turn into the parking lot, though she admitted she didn't hear his tires squeal or see his truck fishtail.

Both Enderle and McClellan testified that beer cans and bottles flew from the bed of Wendt's truck at the time of impact. McClellan said there were as many as 20 beer containers on the ground near the accident scene. 

"A man had said let’s get these cans and bottles out of here before the cops get here," Enderle said.

Testimony in the Wendt trial resumes in the morning.

Although the Red Wings have not firmly committed to having community baseball remain in Batavia next year, they will maintain a financial interest in ownership of the Muckdogs and in providing the team with an affiliate in the NY Penn League -- the St. Louis Cardinals.

"The chances of there being baseball in Batavia in 2011 are extremely strong," said Maomi Silver, president and CEO of Red Wings Management, LLC, the company which has managed the Muckdogs since 2008.

She commented on the issue at Dwyer Stadium this afternoon, when it was announced that the Muckdogs and St. Louis Cardinals will extend their working relationship through the 2012 season.

The existing Muckdogs-Cardinals Player-Development Contract expires Sept. 30.

Silver made it clear that the Red Wings are not going to abandon the Muckdogs and that if it takes longer than this off-season to find a buyer, so be it. The search for a buyer continues and there has been interest shown, but no deal is imminent, she said.

A joint announcment about the continued affiliation between the Muckdogs and St. Louis Cardinals was made by Cardinals Assistant Manager John Abbamondi, Cardinals Director of Minor League Operations John Vuch, and Brian Paris, president of Genesee County Community Baseball, the nonprofit that owns the Batavia Muckdogs franchise.

Paris said: "The Genesee County Baseball Club is pleased to announce that will we be extending our working relationship with the St. Louis Cardinals for two more years. This is a great day for the Batavia community as we continue our partnership with one of the greatest teams in the history of Batavia baseball, including the unforgettable 2008 New York-Penn League Championship season.

"They've been a first-class organization to work with and we're fortunate to have them at our affiliate in Batavia."

Silver said: "We're very pleased to see the working relationship between Batavia and the St. Louis Cardinals extended. The Cardinals have done everything a Minor League franchise could hope for in an affiliation.

"They also understand how important small town Minor League Baseball is to the Batavia Community and they deserve a lot of credit for providing the baseball fans of Batavia with extremely talented young players."

Abbamondi said: "We have had a good experience working with the ownership and management team in Batavia and I want to thank Naomi Silver, Gary Larder and Brian Paris for their support.

"We reached the playoffs this season and won the Championship in 2008 and we look forward to building on this recent success."

In four seasons as a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate (2007 to present), the Batavia Muckdogs have made the New York-Penn League playoffs twice, with the Muckdogs winning their first New York-Penn League Championship in 45 years in 2008.

"The St. Louis Cardinals are a first-class organization and we couldn't ask for more," Silver added.