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Possible lightning strike sparks smoke inside a house on Ridge Road, East Pembroke

By Billie Owens

Smoke in the residence is reported at 9430 Ridge Road, East Pembroke. East Pembroke Fire Department is responding and mutual aid from Darien and Corfu is requested.

The cause is a possible lightning strike at the residence. A first responder reports debris in the roadway and advises responders to approach with caution. Code enforcement is requested; there appears to be electrical damage inside the residence.

UPDATE 2:46 a.m.: A thermal camera will be used to try and detect heat in the walls.

UPDATE 2:59 a.m.: The code enforcement officer has a 30-minute ETA.

UPDATE 3:13 a.m.: Corfu is back in service.

REMINDER: National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is tomorrow

By Billie Owens

Press release:

The Batavia Police Department will be participating in the DEA’s 2017 National Prescription Drug Take-Back initiative on Saturday, Oct. 28.

The event will be held in the rear parking lot of the Batavia Police Department (10 W. Main St.) between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Citizens can turn in their unwanted, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs for safe disposal.

The National Prescription Drug Take-Back addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.

Studies show that many abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.

Two other disposal sites are in Genesee County, and these also have collection hours between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. tomorrow.

  • Sheriff's deputies will staff collection at Pembroke Town Highway Barns, routes 5 & 77, East Pembroke
  • Le Roy Police at Village Hall, 3 W. Main St., Village of Le Roy (near routes 5 & 19)

(For previously posted press release on how this initiative helps the Great Lakes and New York waterways, click here.)

Photos: Pembroke students learn about fire prevention

By Howard B. Owens

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The students at Pembroke Elementary School in East Pembroke learned about fire services and fire prevention today.

The participating agencies included East Pembroke fire, Pembroke fire, Indian Falls fire, Corfu fire, Town of Batavia fire, Mercy Flight, and Emergency Services.

Reader submitted photos.

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Possible residential structure fire reported on Angling Road, Corfu

By Billie Owens

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A possible residential structure fire is reported at 2317 Angling Road, Corfu. East Pembroke fire is responding along with mutual aid from Town of Batavia and Corfu fire departments. The location is between West Avenue and North Angling Road.

UPDATE 5:31 p.m.: Photos and info from Alecia Kaus/Video News Service: The homeowner was attempting to smoke out bees and his house caught on fire. It got into the attic; a quick response by volunteer firefighters kept the fire from spreading.

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East Pembroke Fire District to hold public hearing on its 2018 budget Oct. 10

By Billie Owens

Press release:

A public hearing will be conducted by the East Pembroke Fire District in the East Pembroke Fire Hall, 2623 Main Road, East Pembroke, from 6 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 10.

It will be held to permit public review of the proposed budget for the East Pembroke Fire District for the calendar year of 2018, pursuant to Town Law 176.

A copy of the proposed budget has been filed with the town clerks in Alabama, Batavia, and Pembroke, and is available for review.

All persons residing within the area to be served, all persons, firms and corporations owning real property within the area to be served, and all persons, firms and corporations whose business interests or employment would either be benefited or adversely affected, whether or not a resident or owner of real property within the area to be served, shall have the right to be heard in person or by representative at the public hearing.

BY ORDER OF The Board of Fire Commissioners of the East Pembroke Fire District, Towns of Alabama, Batavia, and Pembroke, Genesee County New York.

William R. Joyce, Secretary East Pembroke Fire District

Reminder: East Pembroke Fire District budget meeting is tonight

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Please take notice that a workshop meeting will be conducted by the East Pembroke Fire District from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5th at the East Pembroke Fire Hall, located at 2623 W. Main Road, East Pembroke.

Purpose of the meeting is 2018 Fire District Budget.

East Pembroke Fire District to hold a 2018 budget workshop Tuesday night

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Please take notice that a workshop meeting will be conducted by the East Pembroke Fire District from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5th at the East Pembroke Fire Hall, located at 2623 W. Main Road, East Pembroke.

Purpose of the meeting is 2018 Fire District Budget.

GC Sheriff's Office investigator to lead free public workshop on how to spot and avoid scams

By Billie Owens

Genesee County Sheriff's Office Investigator Tim Wescott will lead a free public workshop at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, on learning how to recognize and avoid scams.

It will be held at the East Pembroke Volunteer Fire Department's pavilion, which is accessible using either Main Road or Slusser Road behind the fire hall. The fire hall is located at 2663 Main Road in Corfu.

Topics to be covered include: identity theft, credit cards, telemarketing, Internet scams, and home-improvement scams.

The presentation is provided by the Sheriff's Office in conjunction with the East Pembroke Neighborhood Crime Watch.

Semi rollover reported on the eastbound Thruway

By Billie Owens

A tractor-trailer rollover accident is reported on the eastbound Thruway at mile marker 394.6. The vehicle landed on its side in the median. It is a refrigeration unit and its cargo is not known at this time. Unknown injuries. East Pembroke Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding. 

UPDATE 5:49 a.m.: No injuries.

'Tucker' missing in East Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

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Lauren Brick says "Tucker" is just like part of the family and she's missing him terribly since he went missing yesterday in the Slusser Road area of East Pembroke.

He's super friendly, she said, and doesn't bark. He has a pizza collar. Call Lauren at (585) 300-8795 if you can help find Tucker.

Accident reported at Route 5 and Indian Falls Road

By Billie Owens

An accident is reported at Route 5 and Indian Falls Road. Eastbound traffic is being shut down. East Pembroke Fire Department is on scene and Mercy medics are responding. Mutual aid for traffic control is requested from Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments.

UPDATE 2:31 p.m.: A trooper deputy at the scene said the silver pickup truck was eastbound on Route 5 when a black pickup truck (not pictured) attempted to turn left off of Indian Falls Road onto Route 5. Possibly due to either speed or inattentiveness, the silver truck came up quickly on the black pickup truck and tried to avoid crashing into it by swerving. The silver truck hit and broke a utility pole and then struck a parked, unoccupied dark-blue sedan (in photo on right). No one was injured. The accident is being investigated.

Car crashes into woods off eastbound Thruway, East Pembroke fire responding

By Billie Owens

A motor-vehicle accident with possible injuries is reported on the eastbound Thruway at mile marker 398.9. A car went off the roadway and crashed into the woods. East Pembroke Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 3:03 p.m.: The East Pembroke assignment is back in service.

UPDATE 3:08 p.m.: Medics are transporting a 56-year-old male to UMMC. He has some glass in his eyes and complains of left elbow pain. His vehicle went "off the road, into a ditch, through some grass and into the woods," says a medic.

Two-vehicle accident with minor injury reported at Wortendyke and Route 5, Batavia

By Billie Owens

There's a two-vehicle collision reported at Wortendyke Road and Route 5, Batavia. One person is complaining of shoulder pain. One vehicle is in a ditch. East Pembroke Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 11:39 a.m.: A trooper said a car was turning onto Wortendyke, and so was another car behind it when a white pickup struck the second vehicle; the truck driver told the trooper he did not see the second car.

Car reportedly off roadway, into pond by Harloff Road near Thruway

By Billie Owens

The NY Thruway reported to dispatch that someone spotted a car off the roadway into a pond in the area of 3323 Harloff Road, Batavia. Town of Batavia East Pembroke fire is dispatched.

"It is in a very wet area of the swamp," by the Thruway, which is the easiest route to access the vehicle.

"It's not totally submerged..." says a first responder.

Drug Take Back Day is Saturday -- fish and frogs thank you in advance

By Billie Owens

Most of this information is from Katherine Bunting-Howarth, New York Sea Grant associate director, Cornell University, the rest is from GLOW Solid Waste:

Twice a year New York residents can take their unused pharmaceuticals back to collection sites statewide --  "no questions asked." It's part of the National Presecription Drug Take Back Day. The first such event for 2017 is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, April 29.

In Genesee County, the drop-off sites set up outside (for drive-by drop-offs) for this occasion are at:

  • the Batavia Police Department parking lot, 10 W. Main St. in the City of Batavia;
  • the Pembroke Town Highway barns at the junction of routes 5 and 77, East Pembroke, the drop-off site will be manned by the Sheriff's Office
  • Le Roy PD

In addition, drop boxes are located at the NY State Police -- Batavia Barracks, 4525 W. Saile Drive, Batavia; the GC Sheriff's Office at 165 Park Road, Batavia; and the Village of Le Roy Police Department, 3 W. Main St. (The Le Roy location also accepts sharps, according to GLOW Region Solid Waste.)

Why people should properly dispose of unwanted medications -- both presription and over-the-counter -- is highlighted in the "Undo the Environmental Chemical Brew: Keep Unwanted Medications and Chemicals Out of the Great Lakes" guide developed by New York Sea Grant.

The guide is posted online at www.nyseagrant.org/unwantedmeds.

The guide written by New York Sea Grant Coastal Education Specialist Helen Domske, associate director of the Great Lakes Program at the University of Buffalo, Buffalo, includes tips on how citizens can keep unwanted pharmaceuticals and personal care products, also called PPCPs, out of local waters and out of the Great Lakes system.

"Taking unused prescription drugs to collection sites helps reduce the impact of unwanted substances on the water resource that provides drinking water to 42 million people in the United States and Canada and aquatic habitat for a host of fishes and other wildlife," Domske said.

The Undo the Chemical Brew guide lists 17 different types of PPCPs, including antibiotics, hormones, contraceptives, antidepressants, cosmetics, and vitamins, that are finding their way into the Great Lakes, the source of drinking water for 42 million people in the United States and Canada.

Research by New York Sea Grant and other science organizations has tracked the feminization of fish populations downstream from wastewater treatment plants to estrogen and its components found in prescription drugs.

"Researchers are increasingly documenting the impact of bioactive chemical substances in PPCPs throughout the aquatic food web on fishes, frogs, mussels and other freshwater organisms. We do not want people flushing unwanted and unused medicines down the toilet or drain," Domske said.

A New York Sea Grant-funded, two-year research project that began in February 2016 is examining the effectiveness of advanced water treatment options, environmental levels and potential effects of pharmaceuticals in New York waters.

The biannual National Prescription Drug Take Back Days are an initiative of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in cooperation with law enforcement agencies nationwide. Authorized collection sites are posted on the website at https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/

New York Sea Grant, a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. New York Sea Grant has Great Lakes offices in Buffalo, Newark and Oswego.

Girl Scouts set up Little Free Library in East Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

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Members of Girl Scout Troop 42025, from Corfu, set up a Little Free Library outside Seaman's Hardware in East Pembroke as part of their Earth Day project on Saturday. They stocked it with a large collection of children's and adult books they collected.

"We wanted to put a free library in our neighborhood with hopes that it will be used greatly!" said member Lilly Senko.

"Reading is so important to being a good learner, and when everyone can get free books to read, it will help them read more," said Hannah Beach.

Photos and info submitted by Julie Beach.

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East Pembroke residents hold first neighborhood watch meeting

By Howard B. Owens

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Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble, right, and Undersheriff Greg Walker were on hand Wednesday night at Pembroke Elementary School for an initial neighborhood watch program organized by residents of East Pembroke and attended by about dozen residents.

Dibble went over some of the crime issues and calls for service in East Pembroke and talked about what residents can do to help fight crime.

The group will meet again in about three months to talk about further actions and perhaps have another speaker in.

One thing of interest to the group was getting residential and neighborhood signs noting that neighborhood watch is active in the community.

"If somehow we can get at least 50 percent of the homes with neighborhood watch signs in the windows, they (would-be criminals) might just move on," said resident Taylor McCabe. 

Dibble encouraged residents to call in any suspicious activity or report anything that seems out of place. 

One interesting note from Dibble: If you accidentally dial 9-1-1, don't hang up, Dibble said. It's better to stay on the phone and just tell the dispatcher, "oops, sorry," because otherwise, dispatchers must send two patrols to the location of the 9-1-1 call to confirm the reason for the call.

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Neighborhood Watch program forms in East Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

Crime isn't out of control in East Pembroke, but the idea of a neighborhood watch program in the hamlet is to make sure things don't get worse, said Amber Winters, one of the group's organizers.

There is crime in every neighborhood, she said, and East Pembroke isn't unique.

"It’s a pretty normal rate of crime here but that doesn’t mean we have to be OK with it," she said.

More than 150 people have joined a Facebook neighborhood watch group. The group has joined National Neighborhood Watch, a division of the National Sheriffs' Association, and is planning a meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. at the elementary school April 19.

The Sheriff's Office is fully supportive and will participate in the meeting, said Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble.

"Years ago we used to have several neighborhood watch groups in the county and they kind of died off," Dibble said. "We're very interested in neighborhoods that want to start these up.

"We’re excited to see what we can do to give this group what it needs," Dibble said.

The main purpose of neighborhood watch group is just to help neighbors get to know each other better, which helps residents identify things that are out of the ordinary.

"There are more rental properties now and people are coming in and we're looking at a lot of new faces all of the time," Winters said. "We just don't know anybody anymore and we want to connect all of the new families and the faces and the houses who don't know each other so we get to know each other."

One impetus for the group was the assault at the Arrow Mart a couple of months ago. Some community members thought, Winters said, that maybe they should do something before crime does become a serious problem in the hamlet.

"With all the car break-ins, people attacked in their homes, the assault at the Arrow Mart, we were feeling more frustrated," she said.

At the meeting on the 19th, people will be able to meet each other, but the Sheriff's Office will also be on hand to let the community know what it has available to help the group.

"We just don’t know our neighbors like we did back in the day," Dibble said. "It’s the truth. We know that."

East Pembroke residents are looking for a chance to change that.

Big rig and car collide on Thruway

By Billie Owens

A tractor-trailer and car collided on the eastbound Thruway by mile marker 396.9. All occupants are believed to be out of the vehicles. East Pembroke Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

Investigators looking for suspect in assault on employee of Arrow Mart in East Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

The Sheriff's Office is investigating an assault on a female store employee at the Arrow Mart in East Pembroke the night of Feb. 25, Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster confirmed this morning.

The attack was reported about 8:25 that night.

A female employee said she was returning to the back door after dropping some cardboard in a dumpster. Brewster said the assailant punched her in the head.

The victim was medically examined and released. 

She said she punched her attacker several times. Investigators also took swabs of her hands and they are awaiting lab results.

There was no sexual assault, Brewster said.

Deputies search the area after the report and did not find the suspect and there were no surveillance cameras that captured events or the suspect.

The suspect is described as a tall, heavy-set male wearing all dark clothing and a hood. He headed south on Reed Road. The suspect may have facial cuts or bruises as a result of the confrontation.

Brewster said there have been no similar reports in Genesee County.

The investigation is ongoing.

People who might be able to provide additional information are asked to call the Sheriff's Office at (585) 343-5000.

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