Alexander

There is a one-car rollover accident reported at Sandhill and Shanks roads, Alexander.

There are injuries, but all victims are out of the car.

Alexander Fire Department is responding.

There is reportedly smoke coming from the roof of a residence on Route 20 in Alexander.

There is the smell of smoke in the house.

The residence is being evacuated.

Alexander Fire Department and Town of Batavia's ladder truck being dispatched.

The location is 3076 Broadway Road, Alexander.

UPDATE 6:01 p.m.: The smoke appears NOT to be coming from the residence, but another location. Alexander units being held in quarters and Town of Batavia can return to its hall.

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A motor-vehicle accident, unknown injuries, is reported on Attica Road at the railroad underpass. Alexander Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 12:35 a.m.: The roadway is reportedly blocked.

UPDATE 12:37 a.m.: There is said to be one patient just north of the accident scene.

If you're in the market for a used fire truck, the Alexander Fire Department has one for sale. It looks like lights and siren are included.

I spent a little time at the Attica Rodeo on Saturday hoping to come away with some pictures of Genesee County residents competing. I came away with two.

Above, Rob Wright of Alexander wrestles with a calf. Below, Tim and Todd Buckenmier compete in calf roping.

Below, a slide show of other photos I took while I was there.

Molasses Hill Bulk Foods is relocating from the Village of Alexander to a building on Ellicott Street.

Owner Shannon Harder said she hopes the new site will be open on Aug. 9.

Harder said moving was a simple business decision. While she had a core group of loyal customers in Alexander, there just weren't enough to sustain the business. She's hoping the bigger customer base of Batavia will help generate the kind of revenue she needs to stay open.

She also pointed out that the outside of the building (formerly Time Bomb Tattoo) will be repainted.

A 21-year-old driver involved in a serious injury motor-vehicle accident on Pike Road, Alexander, is being accused of driving drunk and faces a felony charge of vehicular assault, 2nd.

Wyatt J. Becker, 21, of Sumner Road, Darien, was driving a 1998 Pontiac Bonneville when he allegedly lost control of the car and struck a tree. The incident happened at 12:26 a.m., July 30.

His passenger, Luke M. Taracki, 20, of Rusher Road, Alden, needed to be extricated from the vehicle and taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC with serious injuries.

Becker is also charged with DWI, speed not reasonable and prudent, failure to keep right and refusal to take a breath test.

One person is trapped in a car and a passenger is believed to be unconscious following a motor-vehicle accident on Pike Road, Alexander.

The location is in the area of 2900 Pike Road.

Alexander Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

First law enforcement officer on scene advises, "step it up."

UPDATE 12:34 a.m.: Mercy Flight being started to the scene. Alexander Engine 6 requested to scene for extrication tools. Engine 7 requested to start up a landing zone.

UPDATE 12:40 a.m.: East Pembroke Fire requested to the scene to assist with extrication.

UPDATE 12:48 a.m.: Mercy Flight has landed.

UPDATE 12:56 a.m.: Another ambulance requested to the scene.

UPDATE 1:04 a.m.: Eastbound traffic is being shut down on Pike Road.

UPDATE: According to a Sheriff's Office news release, the driver was Eric Wyatt J. Becker, 21, of Sumner Road, Darien. He was transported by ground ambulance with minor injuries to ECMC. The passenger was Luke M. Taracki, 20, of Rusher Road, Alden. He was extricated from the vehicle and taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC with serious injuries. It's not known what caused Becker's 1998 Pontiac Bonneville to leave the roadway and strike a tree. Speed and alcohol are considered factors. The accident is being investigated by Deputy John Weis, Deputy Kevin McCarthy, Deputy Chad Minuto, Sgt. Greg Walker, Sgt. Steve Mullen and Deputy Eric Seppala.

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Wires are reportedly down in the area of 10420 Brookville Road, Alexander, following a lightning strike.

The strike "blew the pole apart," according to the Alexander chief on scene who called it in.  

Alexander Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 11:22 a.m.: National Grid notified. ETA 30 minutes to 1 hour. Wires are in a tree and there is smoke.

UPDATE 11:31 a.m.: Attica requested to fill in at the Alexander Hall. A chief asks, "Can we have National Grid put a rush on it?"

UPDATE 11:50 a.m.: National Grid is on scene. Secondary wires are involved.

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A motor-vehicle accident with possible entrapment is reported at the intersection of Attica Road and Alexander Darien Townline Road, Alexander.

Alexander Fire and Ambulance dispatched.

Mercy Flight on standby.

UPDATE 9:47 a.m.: The vehicle has reportedly "rolled a few times."

UPDATE 9:48 a.m.: Mercy Flight on in-air standby.

UPDATE 9:49 a.m.: State Police on scene. Fire chief on scene. Vehicle is on its side in the roadway. The accident is actually in Darien's district. Darien will be toned out as well. Mercy Flight cancelled.

UPDATE 9:51 a.m.: Minor injuries.

UPDATE 10:12 a.m.: Alexander ambulance transporting to UMMC.

UPDATE 11:14 a.m.: Photos submitted by Amber Loboreno.

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A domestic dispute in Alexander on Thursday started out as a report of a wife running over her husband with her car and ended for him with a trip to the Genesee County Jail.

Jerod Norcross, 33, formerly of Attica and currently believed to be a resident of West Virginia, suffered a couple of cracked ribs when the side-view mirror of his wife's Toyota struck him, as well as a contusion to his foot when a tire backed over it.

Norcross is accused of taking an unknown object and smashing in the back windshield of the car and cause other damage to the car's body.

After being transported to UMMC by the Alexander ambulance, Norcross was treated and released. Upon release from the hospital, Norcross was arrested by a trooper and arraigned in Alexander Town Court.

He was charged with criminal mischief, 3rd, and jailed on $2,500 bail.

The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending, according to State Police Sgt. Sam Taglienti.

The wife was not charged because it's not believed she intentionally tried to hit her husband, Taglienti said. She was reportedly trying to get away from him and he was allegedly trying to stop her.

The type of object that Norcross allegedly used to smash the back windshield has not been determined, Taglienti said. It hasn't been found.

The couple formerly lived in Attica, according to Taglienti, and moved to West Virginia and were in Alexander visiting family.

A pole fire is reported at the Skyline Resort at 10933 Darien-Alexander Townline Road in Alexander. The pole on fire is F59.

Attica firefighters are called since Alexander is responding to the barn fire in the Town of Batavia. Bethany is called to fill in at Alexander's hall.

UPDATE 4:38: The fire is out.

A man has allegedly been struck by a Toyota in a domestic dispute and he has a leg injury and a couple of broken ribs. The location is 11130 Bowen Road, between Buffalo Street Road and Broadway in Alexander.

Alexander Fire Department and medics are en route.

The female driver is at the Attica Police station and wants to tell her side of the story.

UPDATE 2:06 p.m.: Two State Troopers are now at the scene.

UPDATE 2:24 p.m.: Alexander Ambulance is transporting the victim to UMMC.

Matt Mondoux, a resident of Grand Island and an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, is walking for Lou.

Mondoux, who passed through Genesee County yesterday, is walking the width of New York, all the way to Yankee Stadium, in order to raise money for research into Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"When you see a bunch of people who aren’t getting the kind of help you think they deserve, you realize they need somebody who isn’t directly effected by the disease to help out," Mondoux.

Lou Gehrig's Disease wasn't something Mondoux paid much attention to until a friend was diagnosed and he started doing a little research.

He said reading the blogs of victims raised his awareness and concern for people who have been afflicted.

"Reading up on it, I got kind of emotionally attached," he said. "It was kind of sad that even though I’m a New York Yankee fan, I didn’t know exactly what Lou Gehrig’s Disease was."

Mondoux served 10 years in the Army, but works now at a Seneca-Niagara casino. While he said his employer has been exceptionally supportive of his walk, the 14 days he's taking for the trek is an unpaid leave of absence.

People along the route have already been incredibily supportive, he said.

While he stopped in Bethany and spoke with a reporter, somebody drove up and handed him $2, apologizing that he didn't have more money with him.

A guy walking down the road in a Yankees uniform gets a lot of attention, Mondoux said.

Once he arrives at Yankee Stadium, Mondoux will attend a game using donated tickets. He hopes to be able to get all of the Yankee players to sign his jersey.

If he can raise $2 million, he said, he would like to donate the jersey to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown to help raise awareness of Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"I'll even give them my lucky hat," he said.

He bought the Yankees cap on Sept. 11, 2001, just outside of New York City -- he could see the towers burning that day from where he was, he said.

"It's been with me everywhere," he said. "It's been with me in Iraq and Afghanistan. I wore it the day my daughter was born. It's been everywhere, from Europe to Las Vegas."

Now it's going to Yankee Stadium.

To donate and to track Matt's progress, visit Walking4Lou.com.

A possible structure fire is reported at 10820 Darien-Alexander Townline Road. A vehicle is on fire close to a residence there.

Darien Fire Department is responding along with mutual aid from Alexander.

The location is between Broadway and Buffalo Street roads.

UPDATE 11:38 p.m.: The vehicle fire is "well involved" and about six feet from the house.

UPDATE 11:42 a.m.: Darien chief reports the car fire is out and the structure was not involved.

Level 3 sex offender Ronald A. Smith was convicted Tuesday afternoon in Genesee County Court of one count of failure to register a change of address.

After deliberating less than two hours, the jury of seven women and five men returned a guilty verdict, which needed to be unanimous, for a violation of the Sex Offender Registration Act. Sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 8.

The Lewiston, Maine, native rejected two plea offers by the District Attorney before taking the case to trial. The first offer was for one and a half to two years in prison, the minimum allowed under statute, and the second offer was for one to three years.

Smith was released Oct. 28, 2010 after serving time for first-degree criminal sexual act with a child under 11. Subsequently, he reportedly lived on Thorpe and East Main streets in the City of Batavia, as well as in Alexander and Oakfield. He was found to not be legally residing at any of these locations.

In court on Tuesday, Smith wore khaki-colored pants, and a snug-fitting white, long-sleeved shirt which revealed a well-muscled torso. His head was nearly shaved. He's about 5'4" tall.

In his brief opening statement, William Harper, an attorney with the Public Defender's Office, reminded the jury of its duty to stick to the issue at hand and not be prejudiced in weighing the evidence because his client is a sex offender.

"The presumption of innocence is the cornerstone of our justice system," Harper said. "We know you won't pre-judge."

Harper and Public Defender Gary Horton tried to create reasonable doubt in the jurors' minds by indications that Smith was confused about his obligations and was not properly instructed about them. The credibility of two witnesses who live on Thorpe Street was also called into question.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman told jurors the case would not last long because it is not complicated. Simply put, Smith knew he had to register his address, knew how and when to do so, but did not.

A videotaped interview conducted on Jan. 13 was played in the courtroom. It shows Smith, clad in a black T-shirt and slumped in a chair, telling an officer he lived in a trailer park in Oakfield. The officer says he talked with Smith's aunt and others in Oakfield and they said Smith didn't live there and never had.

The defendent maintained that he lived in Oakfield with his fiancee until his sister was removed from his mother's house and put into foster care -- because he is not allowed by authorities to be in contact with his sister. Once that occurred, he moved in with his mother. He didn't register there because his mother "would get evicted."

But a child-protective services worker testified that he visited Smith's mother's house beforehand and found the defendant "crouched in a fetal position by the bed with his eyes covered." He said he saw him again the following day turning into the driveway of the apartment complex and contacted police.

The length of time Smith lived on Thorpe Street was said to be four days or two to three weeks, depending on who was talking. He said he notified authorities he lived there, but not the landlord. When the landlord found out he was there, it was made clear he was not welcome.

At some point, too, he purportedly lived in Alexander.

"The place you come home to is where you live...not because you get mail there," Smith is told in the videotape.

Smith, who will turn 20 in January, replied that "before you told me, I really didn't know."

And yet Smith acknowleged his parole officer told him what he needed to do as a free citizen: Notify the police within 10 days of a change of address, show police verification of address every 90 days, go for treatment if required to do so, and let the state know where he was.

Desiree Sumeriski is the mother of Smith's baby daughter and lives in an apartment on Thorpe Street. She testified that Smith stayed there until Oct. 31 after his release and left to move in with his mother.

She was romantically involved with another man at the time and when asked if this created a problem with Smith being around, she said no, that she only saw the man when Smith wasn't there.

Horton asked if she had been convicted of filing a false report of child abuse against a person with CPS and she admitted she had. Asked if she had also pled guilty to harassment charges on more than one occasion, she said yes.

Her neighbor across the street, Jennifer Schaffer, also testified that she knew Smith was staying there and that he left on Oct. 31. Her friendship with Sumeriski was pointed out by the defense, an inference that this might affect her testimony.

The cross examination of the two women was apparently an attempt to discredit their testimony that Smith lived there only a few days because Smith had stated he was there for two or three weeks. But in his videotaped interview, he says he was only on Thorpe for a few days.

Regardless, Sumeriski's landlord was not notified because Smith claims he didn't know he had to.

On cross examination, Horton tells Batavia Police Detective Kevin Czora that Smith mentioned several times he didn't know he had to notify the landlord.

"Did you ask him what he thought was required to notify the landlord?" Horton asked.

"No," the detective replied.

An administrative aide with the Sex Offender Registry in Albany testified that address information filed for sex offenders "all ends up in Albany." There are only three notifications on file for Smith.

The first move documented is from West Main Street (jail), Batavia, to Alexander. The second is from Alexander to Thorpe Street. The last is from Thorpe to South Main Street, Oakfield. There is nothing on file about residency at his mom's apartment in Batavia.

Outside the presence of the jury, Horton moved to vacate the case for lack of evidence and his motion was denied.

In closing arguments, Horton told jurors the key question is "When did Ron Smith register?" He told them to forget about the details, the forms -- which weren't explained to the defendent -- and not to use Smith's prior convictions to decide the case.

"Cases don't get much simpler that this," Friedman told the jury. "They don't get less complicated than this."

Friedman said Smith gave different addresses and different times he stayed at them. He admits that he never lived in Alexander or Oakfield, Friedman said. He also claims he thought he could just list an address without regard to where he  actually stayed, which is inconsistent with the legal obligation he acknowleged, Friedman said.

After asking to view the videotape a second time and having the stipulations of the charge reread for them, the jury reached a verdict just before 3:30 p.m. Smith will remain in custody.

A court date for other charges pending against Smith will be set at 11 a.m. on July 7.

He also faces up to five years in prison -- to be served concurrently with the failure to register conviction -- if he's found guilty of three counts of sexual acts with a child under 11.

He was arrested less than four months after being released in October, 2010 on suspicion of molesting a child in the City of Batavia.

An ATV rider driving on a trail next to a railroad track in Alexander hit a ditch and was thrown from his vehicle on Saturday afternoon.

Injured in the accident was Matthew S. Streiff, 38, of 39 Drake St., Oakfield.

Streiff was riding on the former Erie Lackawana Railroad bed, which runs parallel of Genesee Street, off Stroh Road, Alexander.

When his ATV hit the ditch, he was ejected, according to Deputy Frank Bordonaro, who investigated the accident, which happened at about 4 o'clock.

A friend transported Streiff to UMMC and Streiff was then transferred to Strong Memorial Hospital.

Streiff, who suffered a head injury, is listed in satisfactory condition at Strong.

This is a press release from Genesee Community College.

At the Genesee Community College Board of Trustees on Monday, they agreed to locate an educational wind turbine at the Batavia campus in cooperation with Batavia, Alexander and Pavilion high schools.

The three schools received a Title I federal grant to purchase the wind turbine, which will be used by the high schools and the college for science and engineering instruction. Trustees anticipate locating the turbine at the northeast corner of the campus. The turbine will be much smaller than many windmills, standing only 70 feet. The schools identified the Batavia campus an ideal location for the turbine since it is believed to be the windiest location in Genesee County.

The turbine will generate a variety of wind and meteorological data that will be transmitted to a computer housed at the campus. Students will use and analyze the data as part of their educational programs. The college has identified at least nine engineering, chemistry and physics courses that would use the turbine and turbine-related data. Eight Genesee Accelerated College Enrollment (ACE) Physics courses offered in area high schools are also expected to use turbine data. And at least two of the high schools are developing courses that would specifically include use of the wind turbine.

Hundreds of students will directly benefit from the equipment each year, said Eunice M. Bellinger, Ph.D, executive vice president for Academic Affairs. The turbine could also be used for community courses and demonstrations in the future, President Stuart Steiner said.

In addition to its small size, the wind turbine is very quiet, rated with a noise level of 35 decibels, which is softer than a typical conversation. One side benefit of the wind turbine is that will generate about 1,500 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which will slightly decrease the college's electricity bill.

Besides supporting educational programs, the wind turbine reflects the State University of New York's system-wide commitment to an "energy-smart" New York.

"We have a real commitment to sustainability and we want to help meet SUNY's vision of an energy-efficient New York state," Bellinger said.

An electrical fire is reported coming from the panel box outside the residence at 10805 Sandpit Road in Alexander.

Alexander Fire Department is on location and advises that National Grid be notified.

UPDATE 7:40 p.m.: National Grid notified, no ETA. The firefighters are checking out the rest of the home to make sure everything is OK.

UPDATE 8:38 p.m.: Alexander Fire back in service.

Shannon Mowbray Graham, 34, of Colonnade Drive, Rochester, is charged with DWI, aggravated unlicensed operation, 1st, refusal to take breath test, failure to stop for stop sign and inadequate exhaust. Graham was stopped at 12:06 a.m. on Route 98 in Alexander by Deputy Joseph Graff.

A 17-year-old resident of Wood Road, Holley, is charged with unlawful possession of alcohol under age 21. The youth was arrested following a report of an underage person allegedly buying alcohol in Bergen.