The #3-ranked Genesee Community College Men's Soccer Team won the Region III title on Saturday, defeating Tompkins-Cortland Community College 3-1. In doing so, the Cougars also advance to the NJCAA National Tournament.

GCC started the game off at a high pace and was rewarded with its first goal after 13 minutes when Brady Smith (Brisbane, Australia) played a low ball across the box for Sean Brettel (Welwyn Garden City, London) to apply the finishing touch.

The Cougars increased their lead four minutes later when Dom Francis (Huddersfield, England) scored with the assist going to Josh Gray (Norwich, England). Tompkins-Cortland drew within one with an early second-half goal off of a corner kick. Genesee netted an insurance goal In the 71st minute when Brettel scored his second goal of the game, sealing the victory and the regional title for GCC.

Barry Kinsella (Dublin, Ireland) and Dom Francis were named to the All-Tournament Team. Sean Brettel was named Player of the Tournament.

David Miner and his sister, Jan, at David's photography exhibit at the NYSARC Convention in Albany.

David Miner signing his work following a recent trip to Letchworth State Park.

Albany -- David Miner was a featured artist last week (October 21) during the 62^nd Annual NYSARC Convention at the Crown Plaza Hotel. A resident of Batavia, David’s home is a Genesee ARC-operated residence on Ellicott Street Road.

According to family members, David has loved having a camera in his hands since he was very young. His father, Ken Miner, owned a small newspaper, the Country Post, and in the 1970s, David accompanied him all over Western New York and the Southern Tier as his dad covered local news in small towns.

His photo exhibit featured scenes from the many places he has visited with his oldest sister, Jan, over the years including New York City, Washington, D.C., the Great Smoky Mountains and Mount Rushmore. This past summer, they went to Yellowstone National Park.

David is an award-winning artist and has had his work featured in Exceptional Artworks traveling shows.

The NYSARC Convention exhibit helped showcase the many talented artists served by NYSARC’s 55 chapters throughout New York.

Pictured at the groundbreaking from left: Lester Mullen -- Stafford zoning and code enforcement officer, Dave Vicary -- Stafford Town Board, Scott Adams -- owner, Tim Adams -- owner, Steven Foster -- landscaper, Julie Scheverlein -- Stafford Court Clerk, and Andy McElheny.

For years, the parcel of land at 5782 Main Road, Stafford, wasn't being put to any sort of productive use.

It was just a weed-filled vacant lot.

Soon, however, it will be the new location of Adams' Welding & Fabrication and Scott Adams Trucking.

The longtime Genesee County business is moving from a location on Little Canada Road, Bethany. Owners Scott and Tim Adams are constructing a new 5,616-square-foot facility and truck terminal.

Adams' Welding & Fabrication serves the welding needs of local agriculture as well as homeowners and Scott Adams Trucking provides transportation for agriculture.

Finger Lakes Construction will build the new facility.

Friends and family also joined in. From left: Steven Foster, Debbie Kerr, Dave Vicary, Scott Adams, Tim Adams, Lester Mullen, Julie Scheverlein, Andy McElheny, Val Falco and Mary Adams.

Before heading to Rochester for the Elba/Byron-Bergen playoff game, I was able to take advantage of a beautiful morning sky and what's left of fall colors.

The photo above actually began with an idea yesterday. Not satisfied with the shots from yesterday (which I didn't publish), I went back this morning with a different idea of how to get the shot I originally imagined. That involved standing across the street and using a telephoto lens. The funny part was the group of youths who walked by clearly puzzled by what I might be photographing.

The back of the old fire house on Main Street.

This is on Clinton Street Road in Bergen, taken on my way to Rochester. I've driven by this tree many times thinking it could make a great shot in the right circumstances. This is almost it.

It was a great run for Elba/Byron-Bergen in 2011, but in Rochester on Sunday, a good season came to an end at the hands of the Livonia Bulldogs.

It was a close game, but the Bulldogs were just that much better.

"Livonia made the most out of their opportunities," Coach Mike Cintorino said. "We had some opportunities that we didn’t cash in on."

Final score: Livonia 26, Elba 18.

The Lancers fought hard and while opportunities may have been missed, no major mistakes assisted Livonia.

Livonia gained more yards (297 to 244) and held the ball longer (28:51 to 19:09), but Elba/BB was able to move the ball on many of its drives, yet on a couple of drives weren't able to put the ball in the end zone.

Zack DuBois scored two TDs, gaining 161 yards on 21 carries. Matt Ramsey made two catches for 32 yards. 

Cody Taylor also scored a touchdown.

For Livonia, QB Wyatt Struble completed nine passes for 120 yards. Derek Bishop scored two touchdowns and Dustin Ayers and Josh Wester each scored a TD.

The loss clearly upset the Elba/BB players and Cintorino said the emotional reaction demonstrates how hard the players worked and how close they had grown as a team.

"We didn’t want the season to end," Cintorino said. "There’s a lot of teams that break it down in terms of family. When we broke it down to family, it meant something. We worked hard together and we just didn’t want the season to end."

If you're unable to view the slide show below, click here.

To purchase photos from this game, click here.

Spearheaded by a capable trio in the backfield and a stalwart line on both sides of the ball, the Batavia Youth Football League Bills finished the 2011 season undefeated, besting the Packers in the title game. In photo above, Cody Dioguardi prepares to take a handoff from QB Connor Logsdon.

Connor Logsdon on a keeper.

That's Anthony Gallo blocking for his backfield mates.

Yeomen work in the trenches.

Coach Zickl firing up the troops - he and Head Coach Brent Dioguardi did a fine job with the Bills. 

Linebacker Jake Kasmarek sizing up the Packer offense.

Penetrate and pursue...it worked for the Bills the entire game.

An ATV rider is reportedly injured and on the ground at mile marker 376.1 on the westbound Thruway. The rider is conscious but injuries, if any, are not yet known. Le Roy Fire and Ambulance Service are responding. The caller told dispatch that there were two ATVs traveling and they somehow collided. The other driver "took off" -- possibly to get help. Mercy medics are on scene.

UPDATE 4:44 p.m.: Mercy Flight is on an in-air standby.

UPDATE 4:46 p.m.: Mercy Flight is cancelled.

UPDATE 5:06 p.m.: Le Roy Ambulance left a few minutes ago, headed to Strong Memorial Hospital with one patient. All other units back in service.

For each Elba/Byron-Bergen score, the Livonia Bulldogs have had an answer, though neither team has had much success with extra point tries. The score is 12-12 in this Section V Class B semifinal game.

UPDATE 3:54 p.m.: Elba/BB loses 26-18.

A house fire is reported at 23 Harvester Ave. in the City of Batavia. Everyone has been evacuated. A State Trooper on scene reports smoke and flames are showing. City Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 1:53 p.m.: Everyone who was inside has been accounted for. The second and fourth platoons are called in. The fire began in the back bedroom of the wood-framed house. City firefighters have a convenient water hydrant nearby.

UPDATE 2:04 p.m.: There is "heavy fire" inside the structure says the chief.

UPDATE 2:10 p.m.: A responder (but not the chief) asks dispatch if a police officer can come to the scene and he's told that two are already there. But they're handling traffic, he says, and he needs someone to talk with the family. The family has information that "this is arson." An officer is responding to speak with the family.

UPDATE 2:39 p.m.: National Grid is called to the scene. No ETA given. Firefighters are continuing to battle the blaze. The American Red Cross is being contacted and will need to provide assistance to two adults and six children who have been rendered homeless by the fire.

UPDATE 2:44 p.m.: The Red Cross estimates it will be at the scene in about a half hour.

UPDATE 2:52 p.m.: National Grid is on location.

UPDATE 3:43 p.m.: The home is a total loss, according to a statement made by city fire Chief James Maxwell to WTBA's Dan Fischer, who was at the scene. Although the investigation is continuing, the initial indication is that the fire was started in a rear bedroom by a child playing with a lighter, Maxwell told Fischer.

UPDATE 4:25 p.m.: City firefighters are back in service.

UPDATE 4:55 p.m.: Harvester Avenue is open to traffic now.

Photos by Dan Fischer, WBTA.

Walnut Street residents Jeremy and Cassie decided to rake up their fall leaves Saturday, and got some extra "help" from their sons Ethan, 7, and Matthew, 4, who found it was great fun to play in the big pile of leaves.

Farmers and farm equipment buyers from throughout the area were at the old Empire Tractor location on East Main Road (the business moved at the beginning of the month to a new location on East Main Road) to get bargains on used farm implements, from combines to tractors and even riding mowers. Empire Tractor was selling off used equipment from the longtime East Main Road location, but brought in used equipment from its other locations as well. President Tim Call said it was a chance to clear out some unsold inventory. 

Saturday was the first day of 30-percent off prices at Lowe's for its close-out sale and it probably seemed like all of Genesee County turned out. The parking lot was full and the aisles around the checkout counters were wall-to-wall people and shopping carts. (I have no pictures from inside the store because I did the polite thing and asked the manager for permission, even though legally I could have just snapped away until told to stop, and he said no (at which point, I had to comply) -- so just take my word for it, the place was jammed.)

There was another big turn out Saturday for the Batavia Kiwanis Club's annual Pancake Day breakfast at the Presbyterian Church in Batavia.

Robert Frost wrote that "Good fences make good neighbors."

Mr. Frost never met James Pontillo (pictured above) nor Tom Englerth.  

The two Stafford residents and fellow small business owners are in the midst of a dispute that has led to at least three visits by police and is making it more difficult for Pontillo to get his building renovated and a new business open.

"He drew the line," Englerth said. "He put up a fence. He said, 'you stay on your side,' so I told him to stay on his side."

In August 2010, Pontillo purchased a historic building at the intersection of Morganville and Main roads, Stafford. For as long as anybody can remember, there's been a store there that met community needs, but then Englerth put up a new building on land next door.

Shelley Macan-Mouery moved her business, the Stafford Trading Post, to Englerth's new structure. 

With his key commercial tenant gone, the owner of the former Stafford Odd Fellows' Hall, Terry Platt, decided to sell the building. He put it up for auction.

The Stafford Historical Society was concerned that the highest bidder -- possibly Englerth -- would tear down the 120-year-old building. The society secured $35,000 in financing to try and buy the building.

Englerth bid on the building, and the historical society bid on the building, but so did Pontillo and Pontillo won with a bid of $37,500.

And that, according to Pontillo, is part of the reason that Englerth is bent on disrupting his restoration efforts.

Plus Pontillo plans to open a store that will compete directly with the Stafford Trading Post.

Nonsense, says Englerth.

"I own the building," said Englerth. "I rent the store. The rent's the same regardless of what they do."

For Englerth, it's all about fences, he said.

First there is the fence that Pontillo put up, but then there is the fence that Englerth was forced to cut down from eight feet to six feet.

When Pontillo applied for a permit for his fence, he needed a variance to construct an eight-foot-high fence. Part of his argument for the variance was that Englerth had been allowed to construct an eight-high-foot fence.

But it turned out that Englerth never applied for, nor received, a variance for a higher fence than allowed by code.

Englerth accuses Pontillo of turning him in for the out-of-code fence, but Pontillo said that he spoke in favor of Englerth keeping his fence at a town planning board meeting. If Englerth had been granted a variance, Pontillo would likely also get a variance.

Neither got a variance, and Englerth had to take a chainsaw to the top of his fence.

Pontillo is convinced that Englerth has certain town officials on his side, such as Code Enforcement Officer Lester Mullen, whom he accuses of making random inspections on his construction work and roadblocking his efforts.

Mullen has been out on medical leave and wasn't available for comment.

Pontillo is planning to open a pizza shop that will include a deli, ice cream stand and grocery items (much like Stafford Trading Post) called "Talk of the Town." The new building name, which he said he's already trademarked, is "Pontillo's Place."

Other problems Pontillo has faced, he said, has come from the NYS DOT.

Pontillo said he's also been hassled by a guy named "Dan" from the NYS Department of Transportation over parking for the building, even though his parking plan is right in line with the parking that has always been available at the building.

But his problems with the DOT don't stop there. The DOT resurfaced Morganville Road (Route 237), creating a drainage problem that has caused his basement to flood (see photo below). The flooding has caused the hardwood floor on the first level to buckle in several areas -- after the restoration on the floor was almost complete.

The DOT, Pontillo said, has refused to either discuss compensation or fix the drainage issue.

Nonetheless, Pontillo is pushing forward with restoration.

This week he's had workers on the roof ripping off the old shingles with plans to install an entirely new roof.

Which brings us back to the two latest State Police responses to the location.

Pontillo rented a high-lift so his workers could safely get atop the three-story high roof and safely remove old shingles and bring materials to the rooftop.

When it came time for workers to work on the west side of the building, Pontillo asked Macan-Mouery for permission to park the high-lift on the west side of his building.

Since the property line is right at the edge of the building, the only place to park the high-lift was in the parking lot of the Stafford Trading Post.

Englerth reportedly called in State Troopers and accused Pontillo of trespassing.

The troopers said they believed Macan-Mouery had given Pontillo permission to park the high-lift where he did, but after Englerth complained, withdrew permission.

On Friday afternoon, the troopers had Pontillo move the high-lift from the Stafford Trading Post parking lot.

To work on the west side of the building, Pontillo's crews will need to use ladders, which is far less safe and will slow down work.

Meanwhile, on Friday and Saturday, Englerth parked his truck next to the west side of Pontillo's building.

On Saturday morning, he called State Police to complain that debris falling from Pontillo's roof damaged his truck.

Troopers responded but took no action on the complaint.

"The bottom line is he doesn't care about the safety of my workers," Pontillo said Saturday morning. "They could fall and get killed and he wouldn't care."

Notre Dame had no trouble running the ball against Geneseo in their Class D Section V championship match up, but when Geneseo needed a big play, a play action run or option, it seemed to get the job done more often then not.

The tone was set in the first four minutes of the first quarter. Andrew Mullen capped a Notre Dame drive with a 7-yard run to give the Fighting Irish a 7-0 lead. Before another 30 seconds had ticked off the clock, Geneseo's Jon Ridler, on the Blue Devil's first play from scrimmage, bolted 79 yards, and with a two-point conversion, Geneseo was up 8-7.

"Good teams make big plays and they made the big plays when they needed them," Coach Rick Mancuso said.

By the half, Notre Dame was down by three, 24-21 and the two teams combined had rushed for more than 400 yards.  

Sophomore Andrew Mullen scored all three of ND's first-half TDs, one on a 59-yard run.

The Irish took a leg up in the seesaw scoring battle when Doane McCulley took the opening half kick off 82 yards to put ND up 28-24.

True to form for the game, Geneseo countered with another big play. Xavier Copeland scored on a 55-yard run, but the Irish answered with another grind-it-out drive capped by a five-yard run by Nick Taylor.

Score, 35-32, Note Dame with 4:53 left in the third quarter.

Then the game took a decisive turn in Geneseo's favor.

After stopping the Blue Devils on their possession following Taylor's score, Notre Dame was moving the ball down the field again when QB Tim McCulley took off on a keeper. After gaining about 10 yards, he was gang tackled by Blue Devils defenders.

As the photo above shows, McCulley was in possession of the ball as his knees were down, but there was no whistle. This gave Geneseo's Ridler a chance to strip the ball from McCulley.

The Blue Devils recovered the "fumble."

"I thought his forward progress would stop," Mancuso said after the game. "I was waiting for the whistle. He was being driven back on his way down. I thought we’d get the whistle and we didn’t and they got the ball and that deflated us.

"We went from being very, very high and being very energized to being somewhat deflated and I think that kind of took a little wind out of our sails."

Geneseo scored 12 unanswered points and led 44-35 with 9:47 left in the game.

A fourth Mullen TD, on a seven-yard run, pulled the Irish within two points, but with two minutes left in the game, Copeland ripped off another 56 yard TD run, and with the two-point conversion, the Blue Devils cemented a 10-point win, 52-42.

In all, Notre Dame gained 394 yards on the ground and Geneseo ran for 409 yards and gained another 145 through the air, giving the teams a combined offensive total of 948 yards.

For Notre Dame, Mullen scored four TDs on 15 carries and gained 160 yards. Nick Taylor scored one TD and gained 221 yards on the ground.

Tim McCulley attempted 10 passes, completed four for 48 yards. He was intercepted once.

Xavier Copeland carried the ball 17 times for Geneseo, gaining 234 yards and scoring four touchdowns. He also passed for 145 yards on four completions. Jon Ridler carried the ball 18 times and gained 154 yards, scoring twice. Wes Smith had three catches for 118 yards and one TD.

On defense, Kyle Morse, Nate Woods and Andrew Mullen each had seven tackles. Jacob Tschiderer had 11 tackles for Geneseo. 

Anthony Paladino was Notre Dame's defensive player of the game. Aaron McDonald received a lineman award.

Time of possession tipped in Notre Dame's favor, 29:25 to 18:35.

"I've been very, very proud of the effort of all the kids throughout the season and today was no different," Mancuso said. "I really felt they left everything out on the field. I don’t think we got cheated at all in what we brought to the game and I think they’ve got a lot to be proud of."

If you have trouble viewing the slide show below, click here.

The Redskins capped off a perfect season by topping the Steelers on Saturday. Despite the cold temps, a good crowd was on hand to witness the season finale of Batavia Youth Football's B division.

The Steelers backfield reacts as their QB takes the snap.

Redskin's running back slips past the Steelers' defender...

and breaks into the open for a long gain,

much to the delight of Coach A. J. Martino.

Obviously, it takes more than one tackler to bring down this guy!

Steelers offense getting set prior to the snap. The Steelers played tough, but in the end...

they spent a great deal of time chasing down #32.

Three TD carries by sophomore Andrew Mullen hasn't been enough for Notre Dame to keep pace with three counter strikes, with two-point conversions, by the Geneseo Blue Devils in the first half of their Class D championship game at Shlen's Stadium in Rochester.

At the half, the score is 24-21.

Mullen has scored on runs of 15, seven and 60 yards (approximately), but after each of Mullen's first two scores, Geneseo has answered with long running plays in the first series from scrimmage.

The game so far has been almost all run and no pass by either offense. Notre Dame has 277 total yards on the ground, and none in the air, compared to 244 rushing yards for Geneseo (and a bit more than 40 through the air).

UPDATE 11:33 p.m.: Final, 52-42 Geneseo. The two teams combined for 803 yards on the ground and more than 1,000 yards total offense. Andrew Mullen scored four TDs.

The entire staff of South Beach is dressed up for Halloween tonight. Do you recognize owner Ken Mistler?

Following an investigation into an alleged assault of a 14-year-old at a party on Cleveland Road in Pembroke on Aug. 23, a Portageville man is facing two felony charges.

Arrested on Oct. 21 was Joshua J. Ebersole, 25, of State Route 19A, Portageville. Ebersole is charged with strangulation, 2nd, and assault, 2nd.

He was jailed on $10,000 bail.

Also charged was David M. Snyder, 25, of Genesee Street, Warsaw. Snyder is charged with assault, 3rd, a misdemeanor.

The case was investigated by Deputy Jason Saile and Investigator Roger Stone.