The top two pictures were taken from almost the same spot on Bethany Center Road, Bethany. The bottom photo was taken on Mayne Road.

Dozens and dozens of children -- from toddlers on up -- swarmed Centennial Park this morning to gather dozens and dozens of brightly colored Easter eggs.

Sponsored by Batavia Kiwanis, Batavia Police were also on hand -- including Officer Dan Coffey, whose patrol car was almost more popular than the Easter Bunny after the hunt.

More pictures after the jump:

A car has reportedly gone off the road at 6842 Randall Road, Le Roy, traveling through the yard and striking a parked car.

Unknown injuries.

Le Roy Fire and Le Roy Ambulance dispatched.

UPDATE 4:50 p.m.: Units responding can come in non-emergency. No injuries.

View Larger Map

A woman driving on Hutton Road early this morning lost control of her car and it overturned after striking a utility pole guide wire.

The cause of the accident was not included in the Sheriff's Office report and no citations were issued.

The woman, Hope M. Conibear, of Gibson Street, Oakfield, was conscious and alert when extricated from the vehicle and transported by ground ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital.

Conibear was northbound on Hutton Road at 4 a.m. when her 1994 Chevy sedan crossed into the southbound lane, went off the west shoulder, striking an earthen embankment. The car continued northbound, striking the guide wire and becoming airborne. It landed on its roof on top of an old concrete bridge.

The accident was investigated by Deputy Eric Seppala.

(Initial Report)

A car has hit a tree in the area of 9546 Creek Road in Bethany. There are believed to be minor injuries. There was air bag deployment.

Bethany Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

The location is across from Old Creek and Putnam roads.

UPDATE 12:05 p.m.: There is debris all over the roadway. Fire police are shutting the road to traffic.

UPDATE 12:49 p.m.: The driver was transported to UMMC with minor injuries. They are cleaning up the roadway.

UPDATE 1:14 p.m.: The roadway is being reopened to traffic.

An electrical fire that is now out reported at 31 Ganson Ave., Batavia.

There is smoke in the basement.

Residents advised to evacuate the house.

City Fire Department responding.

View Larger Map

National Grid is dealing with two power outages effecting more than 700 customers in the northwestern part of the county.

One outage covering most of Alabama effects 578 customers and started at 3:58 a.m. Power is expected to be restored by 6 a.m.

The second outage started at 3:51 a.m. in the area of Slusser Road and stretches northwest to the Tonawanda Indian Reservation, taking in all of Ledge Road. It effects 138 customers. Power is expected to be restored by 6 a.m.

The initial call reported a female driver either partially ejected from or underneath a vehicle which rolled over in the area of 7178 Hutton Road, Oakfield.

A first responder says there's one person trapped in the car, but appears uninjured. Another person is unaccounted for.

There are power lines down in the area, but power appears to on. National Grid requested to the scene as a precaution.

Oakfield Fire Department responding.

Mercy Flight is not available due to weather.

UPDATE 5:12 a.m.: A second ambulance requested to the scene, but apparently no more Mercy EMS rigs are available, so Medina is requested to the scene.  Mutual aid response from Town of Batavia Fire requested.

UPDATE 5:20 A.M.: Medina's response cancelled.

UPDATE 5:27 a.m.: It sounds like law enforcement thinks the driver has walked away from the accident. A search is in progress.

UPDATE 5:52 a.m.: The trapped person has been extricated. No word on the location of the driver.

UPDATE 6:41 a.m.: The road is reopened.

UPDATE 4:10 p.m.: Based on the accident report, there was only one person in the car, the driver. 

View Larger Map

Meet Sundae Rose, a 4-year-old girl who is truly as sweet as her name.

Sundae loves nail polish, coloring, and putting together puzzles that should be too difficult for a girl her age. She also loves her big brother, Jack, and has been known to play "firemen" with him and her other friends as they ride on the back of her wheelchair. Although she's only had the chair for a year, she's an expert driver.

Sundae has Muscular Dystrophy, a disease that weakens the body's muscles. Her mother, Sue Duyssen, recalled how scary the diagnosis process was for her and her family. Sundae was only a year old.

"They narrowed it down to two kinds (of the disease)," she said as her eyes welled up with tears. "If it was one of the two, she wouldn't survive. The other kind, she could stay the same for the rest of her life or even get a little better."

Thankfully, it was discovered to be the latter of the two conditions, and Sundae enjoys her life, family and friends with the help of physical therapy, her wheelchair and a few other gadgets that help her along.

Some of the things Sundae needs to improve her health and quality of life are covered partly by the family's insurance plan -- but other expenses are not.

To defray the costs to the family, a fundraiser will be held in Le Roy called "Jammin' for Sundae." Fittingly, the event falls on Sunday, May 1.

The event starts at 1 p.m. and will be held at The Eagle (9 Main St.) in Le Roy. Tickets cost $20 and include a live show from the Skycoasters, a chicken BBQ dinner and soda. There will be 50/50 raffles and a Chinese auction as well. Tickets can be purchased at Papa John's Eagle, Five Star Bank, Java's on Main and The Hobby Horse in Le Roy.

For more information or to donate to the Chinese auction, contact Sue Duyssen or Kelly Stalica at Batavia Legal Printing, Inc. on Bank Street in Le Roy.

Angelo Merica III, the second driver in Wednesday's fatal crash that took the life of 37-year-old Jonathan Colby remains in guarded condition at Strong Memorial Hospital.

Family members are concerned that he may never walk again.

WBTA's Geoff Redick spoke with Merica's uncle, Jamie Merica, who said Angelo -- the father of two young children who recently moved to Batavia from Pavilion -- was planning to get married in July.

Now family members worry that he won't be able to walk down the isle.

"He's going to have a long, tough road ahead of him, for sure," Jamie said.

Though conscious and alert when he was extricated from his car, the 27-year-old Angelo Merica is now in an induced coma.

A possible truck fire is reported near the juncture of routes 19 and 63. Pavilion Fire Department is responding. Traffic control is requested.

UPDATE 1:36 p.m.: "What we have here is a blown turbo," says a responder. It's been "shut off." They are holding the assignment to one engine, nonemergency mode. But traffic control is still necessary. They are asking for some "speedy dry."

The Genesee County Soil & Water Conservation District is holding a tree and native plant sale at the fairgrounds today and tomorrow.

Most of the plants were pre-sold, but there are seedlings still available as well as flower seeds, bird feeders and bird houses.

The sale runs until 6 p.m. today and from 8:30 a.m. to noon tomorrow.

Above, George Squires, left, helps Charles Bartlett of Darien with his pine tree order. Below, Cindy Smith arranges some of the native plants that have been sold.

While there has always been a good number of gray squirrels nearby, this is one of the few fox squirrels I recall seeing near our home. That bushy tail may be one of the reasons behind their name.

About one and a half times the size of a gray, the fox squirrel is North America's largest. Here it's feasting on last year's box elder seeds.

Like the gray and red squirrel, the fox squirrel's color phase may vary from region to region.

Adding to its ample girth.

Smaller than both the fox and gray, the red squirrel, above, seems to be the feistiest of the three, particulary when defending its territory.

Here it's easy to see where the red got its name.   

The entire time I watched, this red seemed preoccupied in one of walnut trees growing along the north border of our property.

Here again, the red tends to a walnut tree. It seemed to concentrate on forks in the tree, perhaps enhancing future buds. Whatever, the red squirrels have established themselves in the area around the six walnut trees that are clustered into a small area. The gray squirrels, meanwhile, have been relegated to the hickory and oak trees back near the creek.

A suspected drug dealer allegedly struggled with members of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force, causing minor injuries to two officers, when they attempted to arrest him Thursday evening on Liberty Street, Batavia.

Taken into custody, following an investigation into the sale, transportation and possession of cocaine in and around Le Roy and Batavia, was 21-year-old Craig A. Tiberio-Shepherd, of Lathrop Avenue, Le Roy.

Once Tiberio-Shepherd was taken into custody, members of the task force along with uniformed deputies and officers from Batavia PD and Le Roy PD, executed search warrants on Tiberio-Shepherd himself and his residence.

Investigators allegedly found a quantity of cocaine, a quantity of Suboxone (a controlled substance), numerous pieces of drug paraphernalia, drug packaging, digital scales and $310.

Following arraignment in Batavia City Court, Tiberio-Shepherd was jailed without bail.

Tiberio-Shepherd was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd, criminal possession of a controlled substance, 4th, assault, 2nd, and obstructing governmental administration, 2nd. In Le Roy Court, Tiberio-Shepherd was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and criminal using drug paraphernalia, 2nd.

The injured members of the task force suffered twisted fingers and minor cuts and bruises.

Timothy J. Wood, 28, of 4 N. Spruce St., Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Wood was arrested following an investigation at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, of a 1-year-old baby being left unattended on the front porch of a residence. Wood was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Joshua L. Baltz, 35, of 29 Tracy Ave., Batavia, is charged with criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, criminal mischief, 4th, and harassment, 2nd. Baltz is accused of being involved in a domestic incident on Wednesday. Baltz was jailed on $2,000 bail.

A 16-year-old resident of West Avenue, Medina, is charged with petit larceny. The youth is accused of shoplifting from Kmart.

Habibah Tywell Caldwell, 19, of Batavia-Stafford Townline Road, Batavia, is charged with trespass. Caldwell is accused of trespassing at College Village after being banned from the property.

Robert Paul Leiser, 42, of Lockport Road, Oakfield, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st, unlawful imprisonment and harassment, 2nd. Leiser allegedly became involved in a fight with a protected person while in the Town of Batavia. Leiser was jailed on $15,000 bail.

Benjamin Gove Evans, 22, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Evans allegedly stole property from Home Depot. Evans was located riding a bicycle on Washington Avenue and taken into custody. He was jailed on $10,000 bail.

Daniel J. Saeva, 31, of 6283 Sweetland Road, Stafford, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Saeva allegedly knocked another person down during an argument on April 10. Saeva turned himself in to Batavia Police after a warrant was issued.

Ricardo Brown, 21, of Cedar Avenue, Mount Vernon, is charged with assault, 2nd. Brown, originally from Jamaica, is a detainee at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility on Federal Drive, Batavia, where he allegedly got into a fight with another detainee. Brown allegedly kicked the other inmate in the head several times. Brown was arraigned in Batavia Town Court and returned to the detention facility.

Funeral arrangements have been made for Jonathan Colby, 37, who died Wednesday morning in an auto accident on West Main Street Road.

A celebration of life service will be held at the Gilmartin Funeral Home, 329-333 W. Main St., Batavia. Calling hours will be Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.  There will be no calling hours Easter Sunday.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the family for a college fund for his 7-year-old daughter, Aurelia.

Full obituary.

A pole is reportedly on fire on Alexander Road, south of the overpass past the first railroad track on the west side.

It's apparently the same pole that caught on fire at 4 a.m., Wednesday.

Town of Batavia Fire Department responding.

UMMC is making progress in dealing with a recent outbreak of Clostridium difficile, according to spokeswoman Colleen Flynn.

The number of patients being screened for potentially having C. diff has dropped from six last weekend to three.

And staff, using a sterilization machine designed to clean potentially contaminated surfaces, has learned how to use the equipment to exceed the manufacturer's standards for cleaning surfaces.

"We would really like the current cases to be the last cases," Flynn said. "We don't want any more hospital-acquired cases. We want to eradicate it all together."

Dealing with C. diff and other infectious bacteria is a concern for all hospitals, but the recent outbreak at UMMC brought the local hospital into the spotlight.

Flynn said staff noticed an uptick in C. diff cases before the news hit local media and began new procedures -- in consultation with the State Health Department -- to deal with the spike.

"We immediately took steps to see what else we could do," Flynn said.

When the weekend rolled around and the number of patients at the hospital (called the "census") dropped, staff was able to move patients out of some rooms and group patients together based on their treatment. The hospital also began extra sterilization procedures where necessary and increased staffing to stop the spread of the bacteria.

"We told the Department of Health what we would like to do and the Department of Health concurred that these were great steps," Flynn said.

From Feb. 28 to April 15, UMMC has reported 11 hospital-acquired cases of C. diff and six community-acquired cases (meaning the patients had C. diff before arriving at UMMC), according to Department of Health officials.

One patient who contracted C. diff died in March, but the cause of death has not been determined. The patient had other serious health issues and the cause of death may not have been due to C. diff.

Currently, there are five patients with C diff at UMMC. Four are being treated and one is in comfort care.

Every patient that displays C. diff symptoms -- particularly, diarrhea -- is tested for the bacteria.

Currently, only three patients are being screened, which Flynn said is a good sign the hospital's procedures are working.

"For what we usually see, this is a positive trend for where we want to be," Flynn said.

Tom Allocco, a spokesman for the Department of Health, said the spike in UMMC's numbers is not so great that it should cause public concern. When the department used the term "outbreak" in a previous statement, it merely signified an increase over previous reports of C. diff.

Flynn said UMMC went six straight months earlier in 2010 without a single case of C. diff and finished off 2010 with five straight months of no C. diff patients.

Flynn said the hospital recently purchased a machine designed to eliminate most C. diff bacteria on hard surfaces.

Staff followed the manufacturer's recommended cleaning solutions and procedures for sterilizing surfaces. Then, when scanned for the presence of live matter on the surfaces, the count came within the expected range.

However, that wasn't good enough for UMMC, Flynn said.

They tried again using extra friction and when they scanned again, there was no live matter at all on the surfaces.

"We learned something," Flynn said. "We learned, OK, use the solution mixture recommended by the manufacturer, but (by applying) more friction, we could bring the count down to zero."

In a follow up e-mail, Flynn provided this statement on UMMC's C. diff procedures.

Clostridium difficile precautions at UMMC:
If a patient is admitted with diarrhea, or develops it, while hospitalized and is being tested for C. diff, the patient is immediately placed on Contact Plus Precautions. This means that the STOP sign is placed under the room number so it can be seen before someone enters, and a Contact Plus Precautions sign is posted on the PPE caddy. It specifies that hands are to be washed with soap and water, to wash any spores that may have gotten on the hands of the person down the drain.