The Town of Batavia Fire Department is being dispatched to a reported fire the area of South Main Street Road and Wortendyke Road.

Dispatchers are recommending special equipment because the fire is reportedly deep in the woods in a logging area.

UPDATE:  So, I drove out to South Main Street Road and Wortendyke Road. Nothing to see here.  The fire is reportedly pretty deep in the woods. There's no command center or other fire equipment on the public road, nor is the fire visible, nor is there an odor of fire from the road. Moving on.

UPDATE 2:06 p.m.: I found the general location of the fire.  It was a long way off from Wortendyke. I spoke with two Town of Batavia firefighters. A logging skinner skidder, a piece of heavy equipment for hauling logs, caught on fire. The machine is a total loss, they said.  Crews are currently making sure the fire is out.

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Three Great Deals Today:

T.F. Browns, at 214 E. Main St., Batavia, N.Y.: T.F. Brown's is a great place for a good meal, good friends and to catch up on what's going on in the sports world. The patio is open. It's also a great place to host group events.  See the ad on the left side of the page for contact information. We have a $20 gift card for $10.

Eclectic Creations, 625 E. Main St., Batavia, N.Y. (former location of Triangle Liqore Store): Is it time to buy a gift for a special teen-age girl? Try Eclectic creations, where you can find a wide range of hip and interesting gifts. This is a $20 gift certificate for $10.

Jackson St. Grill and Belladessa's Pizzeria, 9 Jackson St., Batavia., N.Y.: Today's deal is a Family Meal Deal -- one-topping large pizza, 24 wings and a 2 liter soft drink. This is a $25 value for $12.50.

A $1 PayPal service fee applies.

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value.  People who have won a certificate in the past 30 days are not eligible to win a certificate from the same business as before.  By state law, gift certificates cannot be used for alcohol purchase.

How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

T.F. Brown's

SOLD

Belladessa's

Eclectic Creations

BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Michael J. Wells, the third suspect in the June 18 robbery of the M&T Bank in Elba, entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment this morning.

Wells is being represented by Thomas Burns. Burns made no application for bail this morning, so Wells continues being held in Genesee County Jail without bail.

Because there was no bail hearing, none of Wells statements or his background were discussed in court.

Last week both Damone Dillon and Dennis Abrams pleaded not guilty and Judge Robert Noonan assigned each $250,000 bail and $500 bond.

UPDATE: I just spoke with Thomas Burns, who is representing Wells, and he said he is communicating with District Attorney Lawrence Friedman on the eventual disposition of the case. Burns said he agreed not to make a bail application as part of that process. "We felt compelled to honor the request as a sign of good faith in negotiations," Burns said.

Previously:

• Elba robbery defendant reportedly sterling citizen prior to alleged crime
• 'I messed up,' Elba robbery suspect texted wife while hiding from police
• Elba robbery suspects identified, arraigned and held without bail
• Alleged Elba bank robbers indicted by grand jury
• Elba robbery suspects identified, arraigned and held without bail
• Manhunt in progress near Townline and 63

One person suffered minor injuries in a two-car accident on Route 19 at East Park Street in Pavilion on Saturday when the driver of one car reportedly failed to see another car and pulled out in front of it.

David J. Reschke, 18, of 9741 Transit Road, Stafford, was driving a 1999 Chevy sedan owned by Cynthia Reschke, when he reportedly stopped at a stop sign on westbound East Park Street, and then proceeded onto Route 19.

Reschke was reportedly distracted while admiring a passing Chrysler 300.

Three witnesses reported seeing him pull out in front of the on coming car.

The other car, a 2001 Ford sedan owned by Patricia Malone of Batavia, was driven by Tyler Kilgore, 19, of 9366 Sheppard Drive, Batavia. Kilgore reportedly suffered minor injuries and as transported to UMMC.

Following the accident investigation by Deputy Mazur, Reschke was charged with unlawful possession of alcohol by a person under 21.

Jazzmyne M. Heard, 21, of 965 E. Glide St., Rochester, is charged with disorderly conduct. Heard allegedly shouted obscenities while on the sidewalk on South Main St. The alleged incident occurred Thursday at 11:45 a.m.

Megan J. Dowd, 26, of 16 Church St., Le Roy, was charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly shouting obscenities in a public place. The alleged incident occurred at 337 Bank St.

James S. Gibbs, 33, of 34 Vernon Ave., Batavia is charged with criminal contempt. Gibbs allegedly made contact with a person he was ordered not to contact.

Jay R. Cummings, 23, of 10565 Harper Road, Darien, is charged with felony DWI. Cummings was stopped on West Main Street by Batavia police following a report of a road rage incident in the Town of Batavia.  Officers Coffey and Klimjack report Cummings was allegedly intoxicated. He is also charged with felony unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Cummings reportedly has a prior felony DWI conviction. He is held on $5,000 bail.

Ryan P. Sutton, 19, of 8290 Lewiston Road, Batavia, is charged with making graffiti. Batavia Police Officer Matthew Baldwin reportedly observed Sutton carving something into plastic play equipment in Pringle Park with a folding knife on Thursday night.

Stephan A. Lewis II, 29, of 541 E. Main St., is charged with petty larceny. Lewis is accused of stealing beer from Wilson Farms, 506 E. Main St.

John J. Smalley, Sr., 46, of 32 S. Main St., Oakfield, is charged with harassment. Smalley is accused of making harassing phone calls to another person. He was arrested by Batavia police officers.

Timothy Ryan McJury, 22, of 334 W. Main St., #5, is charged with petty larceny. McJury is accused of shoplifting three DVDs and a video game from Target.

Travis W. Zeidler, 29, of 502-2969 Kingsway Drive, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, is charged with DWI and DWI with a BAC of .18 or more. Zeidler was arrested following a Sheriff's Office investigation into a reported car accident inside the parking lot of Darian Lake Theme Park. Zeidler is held on $500 bail. The incident was investigated by Deputy Jason Saile.

David J. Reschke, 18, of 9741 Transit Road, Stafford, is charged with unlawful possession of alcohol by a person under 21. Reschke was reportedly found to possess alcohol following a car accident at Route 19 and Cato Street in Pavilion on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Stephanie L. Hagen, 26, of 3259 Rose Road, Batavia, is charged with DWI. Hagen was reportedly stopped for an alleged traffic violation on Erie Road in Darien on Saturday morning about 1 a.m. She reportedly had a BAC of .08 or greater.

Ronald J. Tombari III, 21, of Pavilion, is charged with felony unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, DWI and driving with a BAC of .18 or greater. Tombari allegedly struck a parked car in Le Roy and then left the scene. Le Roy Patrolman Daryl Robb made the arrest.

Care-A-Van was busy over the holiday week-end. Even with a holiday week-end among us, we keep going forth to share the good news.

We had grocery distribution Saturday at Batavia Gardens. We fed 8 families with 23 members. We returned to Park Road Senior Apartments for Street Church on Sunday. We had 11 folks attend to hear the message given by Pastor Tom Burns of the Morganville UC of Christ. We were there last Thursday for our weekly picnic and had 29 folks attend. Check out the pile of cookies given away at the Picnic in the Park! 

Last Thurdays picnic at the apartment complex

There were folks inside and out

Care-A-Van Band sings at the Picnic at Park Road Senior Apartments

Pastor Tom Burns giving the message

Inside at street church

Ok, so with all the holiday activity, I was cauught in the traffic on the 90 waiting to get home to be with Care-A-Van on Sunday afternoon. Spent the week-end with my family in Edinboro, PA. Come to find out it was the car that was on fire that was shown on another post.

Jeanne Stack submitted this photo of a car on fire on the Thruway on Sunday at about 2 p.m. Stack said the fire occurred near Pratt Road in the Town of Batavia. She said she doesn't know what happened, but that a trooper came over to her and asked if the car was hers.  We have no further information at this time.

Batavia (9-6) tried to hang on but couldn’t match Auburn’s (6-9) six runs as the Muckdogs fell to the Doubledays 6-5.

Auburn took their first lead in the 5th inning when Kyle Gilligan led off with a double and came home to score on a Kevin Nolan single.  Batavia answered with one of their own after Jairo Martinez struck out but reached on a wild pitch.  Ivan Castro then singled before both runners were advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Beau Riportella.  Martinez then came in to score on a ground ball by Guillermo Toribio.   

But the Doubledays took a 3-1 lead right after on a two-run homerun by Bradley Glenn.  They added four more runs in the 8th to increase their lead to 6-2.

Batavia rallied late in the 8th when they scored three to make it 6-5.  The inning started with back-to-back walks by Alan Ahmady and Xavier Scruggs.  Both came home the next at bat when Ryde Rodriguez hit a double down the right field line.  Rodriguez then came home himself on a sacrifice fly by Riportella.  But, the inning ended there as Toribio went down looking to end the rally.

Auburn tried to add some insurance in the top of the 9th after a lead-off triple by Lance Durham.  However, Josh Squatrito got the next two batters to ground out and Scruggs had a remarkable catch in foul territory to end the threat.

Tyler Lavigne went five innings in the start with one run, three hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.  Deryk Hooker (1-1) suffered the loss in his three innings of relief.  He ended the night allowing five runs on two hits with five walks and one strikeout.

Rodriguez and Castro were the only ones with multi-hits.  Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and one run.  Castro finished 2-for-3 with a run and a walk.

Batavia now travels to Auburn for a doubleheader tomorrow and closes the series away on Monday.

Yesterday, I was given a chance to learn all about the latest piece of equipment acquired by the Town of Batavia's volunteer fire department:  A rescue truck that will go into service in about three weeks.

It arrived at the station on Tuesday and cost the department about $460,000.

"This is a 25-year purchase," said Dan Coffey, who with Nate Fix served on the truck purchase committee and researched the needs and specifications for a new fire truck. "A lot of thought went into this purchase. We started planning this in 2005."

The truck already has 3,000 miles on it -- the mileage from Minnesota, where it was assembled, to New York, where a contractor put on many of the finishing touches, and that was by design said Deputy Chief Paul Barrett.  All of those miles got the engine broken in and gave the seller a chance to uncover any potential problems before the department took delivery.

The video contains more information on the truck and its capabilities and purpose.

Pictured above with the new Engine 24 are four members of the department who happened to be on hand yesterday, Deputy Chief Paul Barrett, firefighter Ryan Scapano, Asst. Chief Randy McIntire and firefighter Doug Smart, Jr., who is home on leave from Iraq.

The outgoing Engine 24.

The Batavia Area Jaycees hung flags along Main Street this morning. I think it's always a great sight to drive down Main and see the flag-lined street.

Patrick Weissend is leaving his post as director of the Holland Land Office Museum to become a brank manager for the Bank of Castile in Medina. Supporters of  the museum, its staff and board members gathered at the museum last night to give Pat a festive send off and to thank him for his hard work and dedication.

Batavia (9-5) went up 2-0 in the bottom of the 1st and never looked back as they shutout Jamestown (5-10) 12-0.

Devin Goodwin singled in his first at bat before Xavier Scruggs hit one out of the park to start off the night.Three two-out runs in the 3rd kept things going.  Alan Ahmady singled and was followed by a Scruggs walk.  Ryde Rodriguez placed a ball far down the first base side on a two-run triple.  He then came in when Luis De La Cruz reached on an error by the Jamestown shortstop Chase Austin.

 The Muckdogs had a big five-run 5th to cement their victory.  The inning started off with a solo homerun by Ahmady.  Scruggs and Rodriguez then singled and walked, respectively, and De La Cruz came up with a RBI base hit.  Later in the inning, Ryan Jackson walked to load the bases before D’Marcus Ingram doubled on a line drive to center to clear the bags.

Scott Schneider got the start, going an effective three innings with three hits and four strikeouts.  Eric Fornataro (2-0) followed him for the win in four innings of work with just one hit, one walk and three strikeouts.  LaCurtis Mayes shut down the Jammers in the 9th, striking out two while only allowing one walk.

Batavia moves on to face Auburn at home tomorrow night.

With the ongoing Senate stalemate, I thought it would be useful to have a detailed discussion with our representative, Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer, just to catch up on the issues and get his perspective on the situation.

I'm presenting the entire 26-minute interview unedited in four parts.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4

UPDATE: Links now fixed.

A $500,000 project to resurface state Route 98 (Oak Street) in the City of Batavia gets under way Monday, according to the New York Department of Transportation.
 
Keeler Construction of Albion, Orleans County, was awarded the construction contract. The project is funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
 
“This resurfacing work is one of many DOT projects that will improve our transportation system and bring jobs to communities across the state,” Acting DOT Commissioner Stanley Gee said in a press release. “I thank Governor David Paterson for certifying this important infrastructure project and our congressional delegation for bringing critical economic-recovery funding to New York State.”
 
Of the $1.1 billion New York State received for highway and bridge projects under ARRA, a total investment of $74 million in economic-recovery funding is expected to be certified for Rochester-area communities.
 
The Route 98 (Oak Street) project stretches from Main Street to Noonan Drive, just south of theThruway. It's preventative maintenance, amied at providing a smooth riding surface and extend the life of the pavement. The work includes pavement joint repairs, pavement milling and overlay; drainage structure repairs; an upgraded traffic signal at the intersection of Rt. 98 and Richmond Avenue; installation of detectable warning surfaces at sidewalk ramps; and fresh pavement markings. 
 
The current four-lane road will be re-painted to provide one 14-foot travel lane in each direction and an eight-foot parking lane along both sides. Left turning lanes will be included at the intersection of Richmond Avenue.
 
A single lane of northbound and southbound traffic will be maintained throughout the construction phase. Street parking will be permitted along Route 98, except during a two-week period (approximately) from mid-July through the end of July. That's when milling and paving operations are scheduled to take place. Access to all driveways and side streets will be provided at all times.
 
Initial work includes spot pavement repairs and adjustment of manholes and drainage structures in the northbound curb lane. The project is expected to be finished before school starts in September, possibly sooner.

“The State Department of Transportation office serving the greater Rochester region has been able to double its preventative maintenance paving program this year because of the economic recovery funds provided to us,” Acting Regional Director Robert Traver said. “A strong preventative maintenance program is critical in keeping the state’s transportation system in a state of good repair for the thousands of citizens who use it.”
 
Traver noted the significant support of the congressional delegation, Senator Michael Ranzenhofer and Assembly member Steven Hawley in delivering this regional transportation project.
 
The economic-recovery funds coming to New York State for transportation projects must follow the same process required for distributing all federal transportation funds. The funds are allocated to projects that are selected by the 13 regional Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) across the state, which are comprised of local elected officials, local transit operators and NYSDOT representatives. MPOs vote unanimously on projects for their Transportation Improvement Program, and the projects are candidates for economic-recovery funds. The preventative maintenance project was approved by the Genesee Transportation Council to be eligible to receive ARRA funding.
 
Similarly, regions of New York State without MPOs are served by NYSDOT, which consults with local elected officials and selects projects for the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. The department worked with local officials and the governor’s Economic Recovery Cabinet to identify shovel-ready projects eligible for recovery funds.

WBTA's Geoff Redick posted the final installment of his well-done five-part series on the dairy-price crisis from the perspective of Genesee County dairy farmers.

Here's all five parts:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Two Churchville men were arrested and charged in LeRoy with petit larceny by Sargeant Michael J. Hare at 1:39 a.m. today (July 3).

The arrests were made after police noticed a suspicious vehicle in LeRoy Village at the Department of Public Works on North Street.

Daniel J. Gray, 28, of 5839 Chili Riga Center Road and 25-year-old Nathaniel M. Dean of 5 Willowbrook Drive allegedly loaded their car with various kinds of scrap metal, sewer grates and new sign posts, all property of the DPW.

Both men were arraigned in Town Court by Justice Charles Dusen and put in Genesee County Jail in lieu of $1,000 cash bail. They were scheduled to appear again in court at 1 p.m. Aug. 3.

Contrary to a report in another media outlet, there are still tickets available for the Batavia Muckdogs game tomorrow, July 4th.

Traditionally, the Muckdogs July 4th game, with fireworks, is the best attended game of the season, but don't let the inaccurate report of no seats being available keep you from the ballpark.

That said, you might want to get to Dwyer ASAP to reserve your seats.

A fire alarm has gone off at Lowe's, 4180 Veterans Memorial Drive.  A manager has reportedly told the fire alarm company there is no visible fire, but their is no clue why the alarm went off. Fire units are responding.

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Larry's Steakhouse, 60 Main St.  The name says it all -- when you want a good steak, Larry's is an excellent choice.  Not only is the food good, but it's a great dining atmosphere and the service is always great.  We have a $50 gift certificate for $25.

Center Street Smoke House, 20 Center St., Batavia, N.Y.: Ribs, brisket, steak, prime rib -- Center Street is a meat lovers paradise. We have a $25 gift card for $12.50.

Delavan's Restaurant and Tavern, 107 Evans St., Batavia, N.Y.: Have you tried the homemade Italian sausage yet? You should. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

Batavia Downs Grandstand Bar & Grille, 8315 Park Road, Batavia, N.Y.: One of Genesee County's more popular restaurants. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50 (plus $1 service fee).

Sport of Kings Family Restaurant, 419 W Main St., Batavia, N.Y.: A favorite locally owned family restaurant that is open 24 hours per day, seven days a week. We have TWO $15 gift certificates for $7.50 each (two separate winners).

Picasso's Pizza, 419 W. Main St., Batavia, N.Y.: A great variety of pizza, subs and salads -- and try the wings, too. We have three $5 booklets of $1 gift certificates ($15 value) for $7.50.  The gift certificates can be used collectively or individually).

A $1 PayPal service fee applies.

Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value.  People who have won a certificate in the past 30 days are not eligible to win a certificate from the same business as before.  By state law, gift certificates cannot be used for alcohol purchase.

How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

Larry's Steakhouse

SOLD

Center Street

SOLD

Delavan's

SOLD

Sport of Kings

SOLD

Picasso's

SOLD

Batavia Downs

SOLD