Michael Mallia is a wanted man. He's a wanted man in Western New York and a wanted man in Florida.

Mallia is the man behind the camera in a controversial video produced by the Erie County GOP in an attempt to discredit Jack Davis, a registered Republican running for congress on his self-made Tea Party line.

The Davis campaign announced today, in conjunction with David Bellavia, that veterans in Western New York are willing to pay a $5,000 bounty for a media interview with Mallia, who has allegedly been spirited away by the GOP to an undisclosed location in Florida.

Of course, no credible media organization is going to accept cash for a conducting a news interview, but a wanted poster published on wheresmallia.com was clearly created with tongue implanted in cheek.

Though, a footnote on the poster says, "This is not a joke. This is a serious offer and the reward may be collected."

From Bellavia's press release:

"Jane Corwin's legislative chief of staff is wanted by the military veterans of Western New York for disrupting our meeting last week, mocking a moment of silence for combat casualties, attacking a 78 year-old Marine, and working on a political campaign while being paid by New York State taxpayers," decorated combat veteran David Bellavia said. "Now Corwin has sent Mallia to Florida in an attempt to hide him and the unedited video from reporters, because she doesn't want the truth to come out before Election Day: her staff chief followed a Marine and called him a coward to create an incident."

The reward, apparently, could be paid to anybody who just lets a media outlet know where Mallia is, leading to a published interview.

Full press release after the jump:

(BATAVIA, NY) - The special election in New York's 26th Congressional District is now being played out in Florida. Vacationers and locals there are being asked to find Michael Mallia, the chief of staff to Jane Corwin, a candidate for Congress in New York's 26th Congressional District - and veterans in Florida have offered a $5,000 reward to anyone who finds the politico on-the-lam.

"Jane Corwin's legislative chief of staff is wanted by the military veterans of Western New York for disrupting our meeting last week, mocking a moment of silence for combat casualties, attacking a 78 year-old Marine, and working on a political campaign while being paid by New York State taxpayers," decorated combat veteran David Bellavia said. "Now Corwin has sent Mallia to Florida in an attempt to hide him and the unedited video from reporters, because she doesn't want the truth to come out before Election Day: her staff chief followed a Marine and called him a coward to create an incident."

Twenty three year old Mallia attacked Jack Davis, Corwin's Tea Party opponent, in a political dirty trick at a veterans event last week. Mallia has video of the attack that reporters in Western New York are demanding, but Corwin's campaign sent him to Florida to hide him and the video from the media. (See: http://thebatavian.com/howard-owens/questions-linger-about-second-tape-corwin-staffers-confrontation-jack-davis/25992)

To facilitate the manhunt, Bellavia also announced that Florida veterans who served with him in Iraq have launched www.WheresMallia.com, where Floridians can download a WANTED poster with recent photos of the Corwin staffer to aid in their search. WheresMallia.com sent emails over the weekend to 25,000 veterans and Tea Party activists in the Sunshine State to inform them of the search and reward. Broadcast-quality video of the poster plastered at beaches, pools and marinas on both coasts of Florida is available here: http://vimeo.com/23776422
"How does a candidate for public office send her taxpayer-funded chief of staff out to disrupt a veterans event?" Bellavia asked. "This shows Jane Corwin's lack of judgment and indicates she can't be trusted to work on behalf of veterans in Washington."

WheresMallia.com will pay the $5,000 reward to the person who finds Mallia and helps organize a media interview of the political fugitive. The bounty expires on Election Day, May 24th.

Reader Doug Veltz submitted pictures of this morning's one-car accident on Union Street. At this point, we have no further information on the accident (initial report).

Eric J. Bratcher, 22, of North Street, Le Roy, is charged with disorderly conduct. Bratcher is accused of shouting numerous profanities while outside a residence. At the time, there were many other individuals, according to Le Roy police, who were capable of overhearing the vulgar language Bratcher was allegedly using.

Ryan Thomas Covell, 20, of Polish Place, Buffalo, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Covell was allegedly found in possession of a partially smoked marijuana blunt during a traffic stop on Route 63 in Pavilion at 11:35 p.m., Friday, by Deputy Chad Minuto.

Kenyon Hanks Barnes, 26, of Clinton Street, Batavia, and Lisa Marie Horn, 21, of Clinton Street, Batavia, are charged with endangering the welfare of a child and unlawfully dealing with a child. Barnes and Horn are accused of providing alcohol to a 17-year-old girl while at their residence, 5100 Clinton St., Lot #4.

Stephany Marie Demorcy, 21, of East 161 St., Bronx, is charged with petit larceny. Demorcy is accused of shoplifting at Walmart.

Mazariegos Rene Roblero, 26, of McGregor Street, Corfu, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, failure to dim headlights, unlicensed driver and unsafe tire. Roblero was stopped at 2:20 a.m., Saturday, on Main Street, Village of Oakfield, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

Timothy Wood, 22, of North Spruce Street, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Wood is accused of threatening to harm a woman.

Woodrow C. Horseman, 35, no permanent address, is charged with petit larceny. Horseman is accused of shoplifting from the Wilson Farms on East Main Street, Batavia. He was jailed on $2,500 bail.

When the Bergen Fire Department was formed, bucket brigades were still used to get water from cisterns and wells to a building engulfed in flames.

That was in 1861. 

Now, 150 years later, the department responds to a fire in heavy duty trucks, deploys 5-inch hoses that can pump out water at more 1,000 gallons per minute and firefighters enter burning buildings swathed in protective gear.

But one thing hasn't changed about the Bergen Fire Department: It's still an all volunteer force.

On Saturday, the Bergen Fire Department celebrated its 150th anniversary with a dinner and officer installation ceremony at the Genesee Country Museum.

The department received numerous proclamations and handed out its own awards to its members.

In all, 13 past chiefs attended the dinner (pictured above). They are (in no particular order): Paul Cummings, Scott Crosier, Jim Pascarella, Carl Pocock, Norm Pimm Sr., William Kolmetz, John Zastrocky, Lewis Cunningham, Jim Keller, Merton Reynolds, Robert Bobzin, Gerald Fuerch, Larry Smith.

The 2011 officers are: Chief Paul Cummings; Deputy Chief Eric Wies; Assistant Chief Jim Bridge; captains Garrett Dean and Doug VanSlyke; lieutenants Brian Carson, Kevin Bruton and Mark Holley; EMS Chief Barry Miller and Assistant Chief Melody Kolmetz; Fire Police Captain Gerald Fuerch and Lt. Frank Watson; President Joseph MacConnell, Vice President James Ride, Secretary Gail Ride and Treasurer Wayne Keller; and Ladies' Auxiliary President Lisa Crosier, Vice President Linda Cunningham and Secretary Sharon Fuerch.

This year's awards went to: 

Firematic Awards

Most Fire Calls - Gary Mielke and Jim Pascarella
Most EMS Calls - Sara Gillard, Mark Holley
Most Combined Fire and EMS Calls - Mike Crosier, Sara Gillard
Most Training Hours - Jeff Thomas
 
Service and Membership Awards
 
68 Years - Merton Reynolds
55 Years - George Cunningham, Wayne Keller
10 Years - Collette Dodson, Charles Wies
5 Years  - Lisa Flanagan, Victor Flanagan
 
Ladies Auxillary Service and Membership Awards
 
15 Years - Linda Cunningham, Lisa Crosier
10 Years  - Sherry Watson

To find out more about becoming a volunteer emergency responder in your community, visit ReadyGenesee.com.

More pictures after the jump:

A vehicle that came off the Thruway apparently spilled diesel fuel on Park Road from Route 98 to Veterans Memorial Drive.

A caller reported that the spill made the road slick, "like ice."

A trooper checked the scene and confirmed the spill and the slickness.

DPW is being dispatched to deal with the situation.

UPDATE 11:45 a.m.: It sounds like a trooper has tracked down the vehicle causing the spill.

UPDATE 11:46 a.m.: Apparently, the truck was heading onto the Thruway. The vehicle has been located about six miles down the Thruway. It has a broken fuel line. The trooper on scene reports the Thruway entrance was also slick.

A car has reportedly struck a utility pole in the area of 8 Union St., Batavia.

No injuries are reported.

The pole is down. Unknown hazards.

City fire dispatched.

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A tree is down in the area of 7116 North Bergen Road, Bergen, and wires may be down with it.

There is a report of power out in the area.

The tree is totally blocking the roadway.

Bergen fire is responding.

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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.