After beating Wellsville (17-5) at the Blue Cross Arena last night 64-41, the Batavia Blue Devils advance to the Far West Regional title game.

Batavia will play Olean (20-2) at 4 p.m., Saturday, at Buffalo State College.

Co Co Irvin led the Blue Devils with 19 points. Andrew Hoy and Josh Budlong each added 15 points. Justin Washington scored nine points and had 11 rebounds. Budlong had 5 three-point goals.

Stafford Fire is being asked to respond to a large controlled burn at 6002 Griswold Road that needs to be extinguished.

Law enforcement is also being dispatched. The fire may be outside of new controlled burn regulations.

Stafford units are responding Code 2.

10:02 p.m.: Stafford units being put back in service.

10:20 p.m.: The pile of wood (possibly an old barn) would take significant manpower to extinguish, so an assistant fire chief and a DEC officer have advised the land owner he will need to watch the burn all night. All remaining Stafford personnel back in service.

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It's going to be a struggle to get through the next month, says Robin Lewin. She, her husband and two teenage daughters are living in an RV parked in the driveway of 28 South Main St., Batavia.

The house they rented there was knocked off its foundation Monday afternoon when it was struck by a truck reportedly driven 19-year-old Louis M. Reeb, of Corfu.

Reeb has not been charged with any crimes yet, but Lewin said investigators have been asking her and her husband questions.

Reeb remains in Strong Memorial Hospital in satisfactory condition.

The pickup slammed into the west side of the two-unit house and demolished the steps leading to the second-floor entryway. Two-by-fours now prop up the west wall.  The east wall is bowed and the cinder-block chimney is cracked at the seams between two blocks.

The second-floor tenant, Luz Castro, was nearly struck by the truck as she waited outside for her daughter's school bus. We have no word on where Castro is staying now, but the Lewin family is preparing to move.

They are getting their belongings out of the portion of the house they are allowed to access (at least one room is locked off because of safety concerns) and moving them to storage.

"I don’t know what we’re going to do," Lewin said. "My youngest daughter’s got three more months to graduate and after that we were going to leave state."

This month, she said, they don't really have enough money for necessities. Her mother, Barbara Waterstraw, a Newark resident, was visiting Monday and in the house at the time of the accident. She has sent some money to help, but Lewin said it's still not enough.

Her husband David works in landscaping, but that business hasn't started for the season yet.

David and Robin have two daughters, Amanda, who has graduated high school, and Danielle, who attends Batavia High.

"We’ll be fine by next month and then we’ll have money for heat and food and stuff like that," Lewin said. "We’ll be fine. It’s just that this month we’ll be struggling with everything."

It was a twist of fate that Robin was even home the day of the accident. She had originally been scheduled for heart surgery in Rochester, which was why her mother was in town, but after further examination that morning, her doctor determined the surgery was unnecessary.

"I was thinking, what would happen if he did the surgery and the girls were in the house all by themselves?" Lewin said. "They were going to stay by themselves for one night. I thank God that he let me come home. I just thank God nothing happened to them."

A car accident is reported in the City of Batavia at Liberty and Ellicott streets. Law enforcement is told to approach from East Main Street because of fuel spillage.

Wanna buy a church? How would you like a nice big living room with stained glass windows? Perhaps you could turn the church into a restaurant or community theater? Or maybe you're a pastor with a growing congregation and need more space.

No matter what you might want to do with the space, you will have your chance to win the former Oakfield Presbyterian Church, 80 and 82 North Main St., Oakfield, at auction at 5:30 p.m., March 18.

The church and adjoining house -- the manse -- will be sold together with a starting bid of $20,000. The high bidder has the option to buy all the contents of the buildings for an additional $5,000.

The assessed value is $398,000, and current annual taxes are about $16,607. 

The church was built in 1890. It's 11,740 square feet. Besides the manse, there's also a one-car detached garage.

Potential bidders can check out the buildings at open houses 10 a.m. to noon on March 13 and March 17. The winning bidder will be required to make an immediate $10,000 deposit.

The auction is being conducted by Harris Wilcox, a Bergen-based company.

Zach Walsh casts his lure into an inlet of the Tonawanda Creek by Law Street, near where he lives. The 16-year-old said the inlet is one of his regular springtime fishing holes. Last spring, he said, he caught a pretty good pike there. Zach was kind enough to fill me in on a few other good spots right in the neighborhood.

Elba Central School District is leading Genesee County schools in the percentage of students who graduate from high school, according to a report released by the New York Education Department.

Elba's 97-percent graduation rate is well above the state average of 74 percent.

Superintendent Joan Cole told WBTA that teachers pay close attention to each student in Elba.

"Where there's a concern in terms of student academic performance or any other struggles a child might have in the classroom, we're able to right away address it through working with the family to make sure the students are successful," Cole said. "Teachers are very attuned to the kids."

None of the schools in Genesee County fell below the state average, but Alexander High came close, with a 76-percent graduation rate.

Batavia's rate was 81 percent.

Principle Chris Daly said because Batavia is larger and in a bigger population area, it has different dynamics to deal with.

"Our goal every year is to get to 100-percent graduation," Daly said. "We look to incrementally increase each year to get there."

He also faulted the state report for not considering the students who complete their education at BOCES, which may take five years.

"That sometimes delays graduation on time," Daly said. "The way the state counts it, they're not graduating on time, yet they'll come out with a skill that will earn them more than some college graduates will have for starting pay."

The other schools: Byron-Bergen, 87 percent; Le Roy, 86 percent; Oakfield-Alabama, 80 percent; Pavilion, 91 percent; Pembroke, 88 percent.

Batavia had 200 freshmen in 2005, the biggest class in the county. Elba's was the smallest, at 33. The next smallest was Alexander with 70.

(via WBTA)

Jessica L. Culver (a.k.a Jessica L. Langmaid) has been indicted on a charge of grand larceny, 3rd. Culver is accused of stealing property between Oct. 29, 2008 and March 17, 2009 from Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union with a value in excess of $3,000.

Amanda J. Richardson is indicted on two counts for falsifying business records, 1st, and two counts of petit larceny. Richardson is accused of falsifying a money order record and of stealing $54 from the Mother Goose store in Elba on July 14. She's also accused of falsifying a deposit envelope and stealing $100 on July 24.

A spokeswoman for the union that represents most county workers issued a statement this afternoon asking the County Legislature to table a resolution on tonight's agenda to freeze county employee pay.

Lynn Miller writes:

The legislature is expected to vote on the terms and conditions of the contract tonight following failed mediation and a fact-finding recommendation rejected, in part, by the union. CSEA had asked the county to return to the table to fine tune the fact-finding report. In addition, the union provided several alternatives for the county’s consideration.

“The fact-finding decision brought the two parties a bit closer, and with further talks an acceptable agreement may have been reached,” said CSEA Genesee County Unit President Debby Long. “We are disappointed the county manager turned down both our request to negotiate and the alternatives we offered."

Throughout negotiations, the county’s negotiator has asked for CSEA to agree to a “second tier” wage scale. The new scale would cut 10 percent from the salaries of newly hired county workers. CSEA considers that to be the major sticking point.

“Creating a second tier wage scale does little more than drive a wedge between employees,” Long said. “The county didn’t suggest any other union agree to the second tier. We do not believe it is in the best interest of the membership.”

The properties listed below were reportedly foreclosed on by Genesee County for non-payment of taxes.  They will be auctioned off March 27 at Bontrager's.

The properties listed as owned by Genesee County are properties that were not sold at the last auction.

The Sheriff's Office is still looking for a man convicted of burglary, 2nd, who has allegedly violated his probation.

A "wanted" release was put out by the Sheriff's Office on Feb. 2 for Christopher A. Laird.

Warrant Officer Eric Olson says that Laird has likely exhausted his places to stay in Le Roy and is probably in the City of Batavia.

Olson asks that people with information on the whereabouts of Laird call 911.

Most of these photos are scenic Alaska shots, while others depict a way of life totally foreign to the rest of North America. Taking pictures proved far easier than prospecting for gold! 

Pioneer Peak

Sitka Spruce grove in the Matanuska Valley

That white mass you see between the horizon and the cloud is Mt. McKinley, aka Denali. We were 80 miles down the highway from Denali Park when I snapped the photo.

Full moon at midnight over Pete's Creek....the Summer Solstice, June 21, 1997

Stunted birch and spruce trees.

Part of a "fish wheel" under construction. When completed, the fish wheel  will be used just like a river boat's paddle wheel, but instead of providing locomotion, it seines migrating salmon.

It's 1am and that is the Alaska pipeline near Coldfoot in the Artic Circle.

Stephen J. Farrell, 43, of 8542 W. Bergen Road, Le Roy, is charged with robbery, 3rd. Farrell was arrested on a bench warrant 11:56 p.m., Friday. Farrell was located through a combined effort of the Sheriff's Office, the Le Roy Police Department, including Det. John Cordidorio, and the New York State Police. Farrell was reportedly found hiding under a bed at his residence. Law enforcement officers were conducting an investigation into an unrelated robbery at the Rite Aid in Le Roy.

All equipment has been requested to respond to a possible chimney fire at 5500 Broadway (Route 20) in East Bethany.

Bethany Fire has been dispatched.

UPDATE 7:30 a.m.: Alexander Fire responding mutual aid. The caller indicates seeing sparks. There is apparently a wooden bridge on the driveway that will prevent heavy equipment from driving up directly to the house.

UPDATE 7:41 a.m.: Several units on scene. Hand tools requested to possibly open a wall. No word yet on extent of the possible fire.

UPDATE 8:00 a.m.: Firefighters can see some coals somewhere down the chimney, but no flames reported.

UPDATE 8:08 a.m.: Some units being put back in service.

UPDATE 8:12 a.m.: "Everything is out and cleaned up." Bethany back in service.

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Mercy Flight is being put on standby for a man who fell down a flight of stairs and hit his head on a hammer.

The man has been unconscious 7 to 8 minutes. He is breathing.

Darien Ambulance is being dispatched to Mammot Road.

UPDATE 7:07 p.m.: An assistant fire chief for Darien has requested Mercy Flight. Darien Fire is being dispatched to set up a landing zone.

UPDATE 7:09 p.m.: The landing zone is being set up at the Darien Fire Hall.

UPDATE 7:11 p.m.: Mercy Flight is responding from Buffalo. ETA, 5 minutes.

UPDATE 7:48 p.m.: Mercy Flight in the air, heading to ECMC.

Timothy R. Beszcynski, 22, of 11000 Townline Road, Darien, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, failure to keep right and use of a portable electronic device (texting). Beszcynski was arrested by Deputy Howard Carlson after allegedly being involved in a single-car accident on Route 98 in the Town of Batavia at 12:15 a.m., Monday.

Juan Alberto Ramos, 20, of 5215 Clinton Street Road, Batavia, is charged with trespass.  Ramos was allegedly found in a building at College Village after being barred from the premises.

Buckle Up, Batavia.

That's the message from the Batavia Police Department, which will be using grant money from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee to fund extra enforcement details in the city.

The Police will be looking for front seat passengers not wearing seat belts and issuing tickets. They'll also keep a sharp eye out for drivers talking on mobile phones.

The enforcement details will be in place for several months starting today.

In a statement, officials said:

The goal of the enforcement effort is to raise the seat belt use rate by all front seat occupants. With the use of seat belts, there is a significant reduction in the number and degree of personal injuries in the event of an accident.

Charles H. Wroten, the Level 3 sex offender who lives at 214 S. Swan St., upper, was originally classified as a Level 2 offender at the time of his scheduled release from state prison for raping a 15-year-old girl.

But after the order was signed, prosecutors in the case learned that his prior conviction for burglary in South Carolina was a little more than breaking into the house.

According to court documents (PDF):

[Defendant] did enter into the residence of [the victim] with intent to commit a crime, in that he did enter into the bedroom of a 12 yr old female and did feel her body and did make an effort to get this 12 yr old girl to have sex with him.

Entrance into this residence was at 4:30 AM in the night time.

Wroten appealed the re-evaluation. The document linked above is from the appeals court that heard his case and ruled against him.

The risk level of sex offenders in New York is determined by a worksheet that assigns points for various factors to gauge the likelihood of a person repeating an offense. Wroten's points initially put him at the high end of a Level 2 sex offender, but when prosecutors found out the violent nature of his burglary conviction in South Carolina, it added 15 points to his evaluation, so they sought to have him immediately reclassified as Level 3.

Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian raised the issue of Wroten's residence at the Batavia City Council meeting last night, saying she had received numerous inquiries from citizens wondering what could be done about it.

At her request, an informational meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m., March 16, with Police Chief Randy Baker and Det. Rich Schauf at the Batavia Police Station.

Teacher and school administrator salaries in Upstate New York rose 5 percent in 2008-2009, according to a study recently released by The Empire Center for New York State Policy.

In school districts outside of NYC, total expenditures on teacher salaries rose to $670 million to $14 billion.

The number of teachers and administrators making more than $100,000 increased by 5,022 employees, making the total to 32,064.

From BusinessWeek:

Carl Korn, spokesman for New York State United Teachers, said the median teacher's salary statewide was $62,332 for 2007-2008 school year, up 4.7 percent from the year before. That's typically someone with about 15 years' experience, he said.

"We're talking about a professional with a master's degree in their peak earning years," Korn said. "What those figures actually say is that most teachers are paid fairly, but many earn far less than what they would earn in the private sector."

We found this story originally through the D&C.