A coal stove reportedly caught on fire and the fire may have gotten into the mantle, but the callers report they think they got the fire out.

Oakfield Fire along with Alabama and Batavia fire departments responding to 3319 Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road, Oakfield.

First on scene reports driveway is snow covered. He's requesting a thermal camera and requests a line be laid as a precaution.

The location is between Downey Road and Lewiston Road.

UPDATE 2:07 p.m.: There is smoke coming from the residence.

UPDATE 2:29 p.m.: "The fire is extinguished."

View Larger Map

This pileated woodpecker gave me ample opportunity to try out our new camera. For half an hour or more it made two large cavities in a young cottonwood, one of seven within a stone's throw of the house. Whenever they visit they tend to ignore the huge cottonwood as well as the walnut, hickory, white ash and maple trees, instead focusing their attention on the young cottonwoods -- smoother bark, easier to penetrate, is my guess.

As you can tell from the photo sequence, the pileated's rountine was to pound away for a bit before tilting its head back as if to inspect its work, sometimes probing around inside the fresh excavation or even repositioning itself before renewing its efforts.

When it was time to leave it flew across our property, over the tops of our neighbor's woods, performing its trademark "swoop and dip" on the fly.

A possible house fire is reported at 365 Wright Road in the Town of Alabama.

Pumpers from Alabama and Indian Falls' fire departments are called to respond.

A woman who lives there reported that she returned home to find her house full of smoke and the couch smoldering. She also said the hot-water heater appeared to be knocked over.

UPDATE 6:41 p.m.: A chief reports the house is charged with smoke, but the fire appears to be out. Pembroke Fire also dispatched.
View Larger Map

A fuel spill has been reported at the Flying J on Route 77 by the Thruway exit.

At the time of the call, the fuel had not been shut off.

A first responder reported "significant saturation."

Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments are responding.

Weather: Overcast all day. There's an 80-percent chance of snow tonight, but no prediction of significant accumulation.

Photos, an abandoned farmhouse on Route 262, Bergen.

Today was "Winterfest" at Byron-Bergen school. It is a fundraiser for the middle school and high school featuring vendors from throughout the region.

Seated above, Kari Pardun, from Brockport, explains her business, Tastefully Simple, to Pavilion residents Cheryll Ferneays, left, and Roberta Graney.

Below, Katrina Wilkins, of Byron, drops by Reggy Pollizi's Tupperware booth.

The City Centre was packed with Zumba dancers this afternoon as part of a "Party of Hope" to raise money for Genesee Cancer Assistance.

Zumba is a fusion of Latin beats, international music and fitness dance moves.

Dancers donated money to participate.

An 18-year-old female has suffered a head injury in a rollover accident on Route 490 in the westbound lanes near the Bergen exit.

Bergen Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding, and possibly Churchville, since this incident is close to the Monroe County line.

UPDATE 8:40 p.m.: Churchville responders and Monroe County Sheriff's deputies are cancelled.

For the second time in less than 13 months, the Ricigliano family is looking for a place to live and trying to figure how how to replace all of their belongings.

On Wednesday night, they were burned out of their apartment at 20 Vine St., Batavia.

The suspected cause and origin of the fire has yet to be released by the Batavia Fire Department.

A year ago, Nick and Melissa were living 132 State St., where a woman died after reportedly starting a fire by smoking too close to her oxygen tank.

"My son’s birthday is Feb. 7," Melissa Ricigliano said. "Last year, two days after his birthday, he lost everything. This year, two weeks after his birthday, he loses everything."

Both Melissa and Nick work (at Sunny's restaurant and McDonald's), but after spending the past year replacing all of their belongings, money is tight and they can't afford the expense of a new rental.

After the State Street fire, they knew they needed to get renters' insurance and started the process but hadn't yet signed the paperwork.

Meanwhile, they lost all of their clothes, a new couch, TV and Xbox.

"It took almost a whole year to buy all of our stuff back and now it’s all gone again," Melissa said.

Melissa said she's been disappointed in the response she's gotten from the American Red Cross. On Wednesday, Ricigliano was given $300 and told to come back the next day.

The next day, the woman she talked to said, "What are you doing here?" The woman said there was no more assistance available. When Melissa said, "I'm homeless and we need food," she was told she should have used the $300 for food.

The $300, Melissa said, went for two sets of clothes for each member of the family, toothpaste and toothbrushes.

Judy Nagel at the Genesee Region Red Cross said the available money for fire victims is tightly regulated by the national headquarters. Each victim, she said, is given a debit card and a form that says, "spend X amount on clothing and X amount on food."

"It's all put into a computer and there's a formula based on policies set by headquarters," Nagel said. "The computer creates the debit card. We're not able to do more than that. We don't have any control over the amount (of assistance)."

Nick and Melissa are currently staying with friends. Their children, Dominic, 6, and Martha, 3, are with family in Chili. Melissa also said the people at John Kennedy School and New Hope Church have been trying to help, as well as several others in the community.

Her sister is working on organizing a fundraiser at a town fire hall, but no date has been set yet.

Melissa said she has a message for any potential landlords: "You might want to put out there that I am a good tenant and I don’t have a curse.”

"New to area. Very fit classy, successful guy. 39, 6ft 190lbs, blond/blue. Smooth hard body. Looking for a sexy ts/cd that i can spoil. I promise not to disappoint."

In a shocking new post, this is the ad Gawker.com suggests  ex-Congressman Chris Lee posted on Craigslist in January.

However, almost by writer Remy Stern's own admission, holes could be poked into the "evidence" that Lee was seeking transgender and transvestite hook-ups through the free classified site. Yet, there's enough to the story that makes it hard to ignore.

Hardest to disregard is the new photo published by Gawker that seems to show a shirtless Lee posing in front of a mirror. It's very similar to an image Gawker published with the initial story about the married Lee allegedly trolling Craigslist for dates. Still, it's different enough in key ways, making makes it hard to believe it's a PhotoShop counterfeit.

Stern reports that the photo was submitted by a transvestite prostitute, whom Gawker calls "Holly."

"The first thing Holly sent us was a never-before-seen picture of Chris Lee's now-familiar torso and red Blackberry. She edited the picture to obscure the Congressman's face, however, and printed her e-mail address over his chest. (We have covered up the address in the photo above.)" If we wanted to publish the unedited image, Holly explained, we'd have to pay her for it."

As for the ad above, Stern claims that it came from a transgender woman who said she found the ad posted on Craigslist and later figured out that the person who posted it was allegedly Lee.

Read the whole thing and see what you think about the claims.

The storm that passed through Genesee County this morning has passed to the east and the National Weather Service has canceled the storm warning for our area.

Some light snow, with as much as an inch accumulation, is expected this evening and tonight.

The picture above was taken during some of the heaviest of the snowfall out on Prole Road, Stafford.

This information is from Genesee Community College.

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter allow Genesee Community College students to connect with peers, faculty and staff almost instantaneously. And in just two months time, GCC's social media presence has seen rapid growth thanks to a renewed, re-focused effort.

Whether it's information about the study abroad options, its Army ROTC program, campus closing information under the threat of an impending snowstorm, or just a place to connect and share memories with a friend -- the importance of social media is increasing exponentially.

"With 600 million people on Facebook alone, social media platforms are a great place to have a conversation with students, alumni and the community," said Kevin Manne, Genesee's new media specialist, who was hired in December.

"Students are becoming more comfortable using social media than traditional forms of communication like direct mail or even e-mail."

Genesee's Facebook page has seen 169-percent growth, with a total of more than 1,100 "likes" from students, alumni, faculty, staff and local community members. Genesee's new Twitter account, @sunygcc, was established in December and has already connected with more than 140 "followers."

A big advantage of these digital platforms is the analytical information that can be compiled and analyzed for future use and reference.

"The majority of our Facebook fans are between the ages of 18-24, a segment that we regularly communicate with because that's the age range of most of our students," Manne said.

"But the demographics show that we're connecting with people from 13 to over 55, illustrating that the reach of these platforms goes beyond the 'traditional' student."

Social media are attractive to businesses because most are free to use. But Manne said organizations should be prepared to invest a significant amount of time to them if they hope to achieve social media success.

"Facebook and Twitter don't shut down when you leave the office at the end of the day," he said. "A social media administrator should listen, respond and provide relevant and entertaining information in a timely manner – and that means keeping tabs on your social networks beyond traditional office hours."

Along with the college's Facebook and Twitter pages, the YouTube page (videos), Flickr page (photos) and student Wordpress blogs have been revamped with a new look and more unified usernames.

Other new communication technology Genesee is using includes applying Quick Response (QR) codes to print ads, fliers and posters. These black and white, two-dimensional bar codes allow users to "scan" the code using the camera on their mobile device or smart phone to instantly connect online.

In addition, the college will soon begin using geo-location-based social networks such as Foursquare and Facebook Places to offer special deals when users "check in" to the Stuart Steiner Theatre for discounts on tickets.

Get connected with all of GCC's social media pages from the college's homepage using the special icons on the lower right corner.

Manne leads Genesee's communication efforts across social media, blogging, Web and other emerging mediums. He previously served as communications and public relations specialist at Catholic Charities of Buffalo.

Manne earned his associate degree from GCC and graduated magna cum laude from Buffalo State College with a bachelor's degree in Public Communication. He serves as secretary on the Public Relations Society of America, Buffalo Niagara Chapter Board of Directors and is a member of its E-Communications Committee.

In 2009, he was awarded the platinum "best of show" Excalibur Award for development of a Web-based employee newsletter and in 2010 he received a silver Excalibur Award in social media.

Manne and other guest speakers are available to make presentations to local community groups at no cost to their organization through the Genesee Community College Speakers Bureau.

For a complete list of speakers, visit:

<http://www.genesee.edu/resources/SpeakersBureau.cfm.>

WHAM13's Sean Carroll shared this picture of the Thruway with us showing the traffic snarl from one of the accidents this afternoon.

While traffic was congested, a trooper told me there were no significant injuries. "It sounded much worse than it was," he said.

UPDATE: Also for those who might need to travel west (or returning to Batavia), the Thruway is closed between Hamburg and Dunkirk.

There are multiple accidents countywide due to weather conditions. The Thruway has accidents at several paces eastbound and westbound, most thought to be noninjury.

Many calls are flooding the dispatch center and dispatchers are asking for all scanner communications to be kept to a minimum.

A propane truck and another truck have crashed at 8053 Lake St. Road in Le Roy. Le Roy Fire and Ambulance are called. Injuries unknown.

Bergen Fire Department is asked to standby in its quarters.

UPDATE 11:50 a.m.: Bergen is now requested to go to the scene. A second ambulance is called. State Trooper is on scene.

UPDATE 11:57 a.m.: Bergen is told to go back in service. A trucker trying get through the clogged traffic is reportedly "in a hurry," to which someone replies "no doubt."

A serious accident involving a tractor-trailer and another vehicle on the Thruway is reported. There are believed to be multiple injuries.

The location is eastbound at mile marker 387.3. It's nearest to the Byron Road Bridge.

Town of Batavia Fire Department is called to respond along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 11:47 a.m.: Oakfield Fire is requested to standby in the Town of Batavia's hall.

Several inches of snow have fallen this morning and we seem to be in the heaviest band of the storm right now.

There's a 50-60 percent chance of snow through the afternoon, tapering off by this evening.

The winter storm warning remains in effect.

There is a report of smoke in the basement of a house at 210 Osterhout Ave., Batavia.

City fire dispatched.

UPDATE: Never heard any more on this and when I went by about 30 minutes after the initial call, the fire department had cleared.

View Larger Map

Proposed cuts in state aid to school districts will hit rural districts harder, local educators told Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer and Assemblyman Steve Hawley at a well-attended gathering Wednesday night at John Kennedy School.

The hour-long session centered on school district leaders from throughout Genesee County expressing their concern and asking questions about the proposed cuts.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing a $1.5 billion reduction in state aid to schools. But the funding formula currently in place would make the cuts inequitable, to the detriment of rural school districts, local education leaders say.

Some downstate districts will see funding drop about $700 per student, while rural districts will get $1,200 to $1,700 less.

"Our concern isn’t that we won’t make the cuts," said Mark Johnson (inset, left), a trustee in the Oakfield-Alabama School District. "We’ll do the same with less. The issue is we just want the cuts to be equitable."

Hawley said he will only support a 2-percent property tax cap if there is mandate relief.

"There has to be mandate relief," Hawley said. "These are costly, cumbersome and overburdening mandates by the state of New York on districts that know how to operate a business."

City Schools Superintendent Margaret Puzio said the meeting was fruitful, if for no other reason than to hear Ranzenhofer say there is a conversation going on in Albany about the inequality of the budget proposal.

"Our kids have to compete with kids from rich urban districts," Puzio said. "If they can’t get the same AP course, the same gifted and talented programs, the same chances in athletics, how can that be fair?"