Bethany

Jerald Shea would sure like the Town of Bethany to do something about the way his property floods and the damage flooding did to his house this winter.

To the degree the town has a position on the issue, it's that the problem wasn't created by the town.

Shea bought his house at the corner of Bethany Center Road and Paradise Road four years ago.

A retired truck driver, he suffered back and neck injuries when his truck was rear-ended while he was driving through North Carolina a few years ago. He was living in a retirement home in Oakfield when he was awarded custody of his teenage granddaughter (since moved from his house), so he used his insurance settlement money and bought the house in Bethany.

What he didn't know or didn't notice was that his property is lower than the parcel on the south side of Paradise Road. That parcel is a bit of a swamp and there's a small culvert under Paradise Road that drains the swamp into Shea's back yard.

He wasn't happy when he figured that out and asked the town for help, but it wasn't a big issue until this winter when frozen ground topped with heavy precipitation caused his yard to fill with two or three feet of water.

The cement foundation of his house raised two or three inches, causing some damage to the building (no known structural damage).  

"I've always had problems with this, but I could live with it," Shea said. "If I had to flush the toilet, I could just use a pail of water if I had to, but now, (geez), I'm telling you. It seems like nobody (cares) because every time I talk to anybody all I get is I'm not going to get involved because of politics. What the hell is so big about this town that they've got to be afraid of politics?"

There's evidence of the exterior of the house being damaged along the north exterior wall, with faux brick popping off in places. The paneling in a back room has warped and some of it has popped off, exposing framing and insulation. His septic system is damaged, he said, and muddy, dirty water backs up into his bathtub.

Shea always had problems with his yard filling with water, but his house was largely undamaged from flooding until this winter.

The town is in a bit of a transition right now. Supervisor Louis Gayton died April 14 and that has left things a bit unsettled.

In fact, Shea believes Gayton promised him two days before he died that the town would fill in his back yard and make it less susceptible to flooding. 

Town Highway Superintendent Paul Fleming said he doesn't see the town giving Shea dirt and rock for his yard. That just isn't something towns do.

As far as Fleming knows, the culvert under Paradise Road has been there for 50 years, and probably a lot longer. 

The problems Shea is having with his property aren't from "anything abnormal the town did," Fleming said.

Fleming said years ago the property wasn't residential. It was a mechanic's shop. Some of the structures on the property could be more than 100 years old.

In our short talk today, he wasn't really sure what if anything the town should or could do for Shea.

Shea said he's on fixed income -- $1,000 a month -- and though his home is paid for, he doesn't have the means to move or fix the damage that's been done.

"I didn't know about this when I bought the house or things would have been very different," Shea said.

When the foundation of the house rose, the siding of the house pushed down on a pair of yard tools Shea had leaning against the house, causing small indents in the siding.

Photo provided Jerald Shea he took in February showing a portion of his back yard flooded.

A car into pole accident, with injuries, is reported at 10661 East Bethany Road. Bethany fire and rescue on scene.

UPDATE 3:27 p.m.: Bethany ambulance is transporting a patient to the hospital in Warsaw. Other units are returning to service.

A cherished tradition among firefighters is honoring a departed comrade by flying mourning flags on each side of the fire station and displaying a helmet and turnout coat on a folding chair, with a set of boots in front.

And so it was after the unexpected death Monday, April 14, of Bethany Town Supervisor Louis J. Gayton, whose dedicated service to his community was well known and respected. It included more than 50 years as a volunteer firefighter.

The loss of Louie, who was 75, is deeply felt, not only by family and friends, but also many residents in Bethany and the entire firefighting community.

Now there is a lot of outrage, too.

Outrage that someone stole the helmet and the turnout coat from Mr. Gayton's mourning display. (The chair and boots were left there.)

The theft was discovered at about 8 o'clock the next day, Tuesday, and subsequently reported to law enforcement by Bethany Assistant Chief Jeff Fluker. (The chief is out of town for two weeks.)

No suspects as of yet.

The dollar value is estimated to be $350. But you can't really put a price on a gesture of bereavement.

"I've never heard of these items being stolen before," said a dumbfounded Deputy Sheriff Gordon Dibble. "It's a respect thing. I liken it to tipping over gravestones."

After many years of trying to find a proper use or proper buyer for its old Town Hall -- built in 1836 -- the Town of Bethany is prepared to transfer the property to the Landmark Society of Western New York on a $10 purchase price.

The board passed a resolution 4-0 Monday night that will help make transfer of the property to the society.

Officials hope the Landmark Society of WNY is better suited and will have better luck finding a buyer who will preserve the historical character of the building.

People in Bethany are mourning tonight following the unexpected death of Town Supervisor Louis J. Gayton.

News of Gayton's death spread shortly after volunteer firefighters and medics were dispatched this morning to his home on a report of a 79-year-old unresponsive male.

Town Clerk Debbie Douglas heard the call on the radio and couldn't believe it.

"He worked hard and he did a lot for this town that people will never know," Douglas said. "He was an awesome guy."

The town board had a regularly scheduled meeting tonight and met as planned. Deputy Supervisor Walter Wenhold opened the meeting with a moment of silence and a short prayer.

Afterward, board members remembered Gayton fondly and said he was a great supervisor for Bethany.

"I think Louis was a very compassionate type of guy," Sue Neer said. "He always listened to everybody. He never came out with an opinion and said, 'This is it. We're not going to talk about it.' He listened and listened and listened and wanted everybody's opinion, then he formed his decision."

Ed Pietrzykowski said Gayton pulled the town through some tough times, particularly when he took over as supervisor around 2005 when the fight was on over windmills in the town.

"It was a hard time and it was hard on him," Pietrzykowski.

But he always kept his cool, Wenhold said.

"He was always cheerful," Wenhold said. "I never seen him get crossed, no matter what happened."

Paul Fleming said, "He liked helping the people of the community. He cared about the community."

Most recently, Gayton was a big proponent of public water for Bethany and Gayton was pushing hard to make it happen for the town's 1,800 residents.

"The town has no industry and he always said, 'if you want industry you've got to have public water," recalled Pietrzykowski.

His obituary hasn't been released yet, so biographical details are scarce, but people who knew him said he came to Bethany nearly 50 years ago from Perry, where he still has family.

He was a member of the Bethany Volunteer Fire Department from the 1960s and served as chief around 1988. He was highway superintendent for a number of years before becoming supervisor.

Wayne Walker, also a former Bethany chief in the 1980s and volunteer going back to the 1960s, was at the fire hall tonight and recalled Gayton as a man dedicated to his community who would do anything to help people.

"He wanted to be there for people," Walker said. "He was the same way as highway superintendent. If people needed something he was there to help."

We happened to talk on the phone with former Elba Town Supervisor Lucine Kauffman tonight and she recalled Gayton as one of her favorite people to run into at GAM meetings.

"He was one of those guys who always had a smile on his face," Kauffman said.

Gayton did a lot for the Town of Bethany, Douglas said, but his biggest contribution was putting the town on a strong financial footing.

"He put this town in a fantastic financial situation," Douglas said. "We've had no debt to speak of. We pay off everything in cash. He did a great job with our finances and I think that's very important in this day and age."

Douglas teared up more than once while talking about Gayton, saying she would miss him terribly.

"This town is like family, which is why we all get along so well and we work together so well and he's a family member who's gone," Douglas said.

A rollover accident with injuries is reported at 5461 Ellicott Street Road in the Town of Bethany. Bethany and Stafford fire departments are responding. The location is between Mayne and Clapsaddle roads.

UPDATE 12:11 p.m.: Law enforcement is on scene and reports there are no injuries.

Bradley R. Jordan, 21, of East Bethany, and Amber L. Reinisch, 18, of Castile, are charged with burglary, 3rd, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property, 5th.

The investigation that led to the charges against Jordan and Reinisch began with a resident in the Village of Silver Springs reporting that she observed a male and female break glass in an overhead door and enter the garage attached to her apartment. State Police responded, but the suspects fled before they arrived on scene. Suspect and vehicle descriptions were provided to law enforcement officers in Wyoming County.

Police also received a complaint of a male and female fitting the description of the burglary suspects causing a disturbance at the McDonald's in Warsaw. The vehicle description for the two individuals also fit the burglary description. The vehicle was reportedly seen heading toward Save-A-Lot in Warsaw.

A short time later, a customer at Save-A-Lot reported seeing a male customer in possession of a handgun. The person had not threatened anybody with the weapon, but had removed it from his waistband as he walked through the store and then put it back in his waistband.

Village of Warsaw police officers, Wyoming County Sheriff's deputies and troopers all responded to the area. The suspect vehicle was located and Jordan and Reinisch were taken into custody.

Both suspects are accused of stealing merchandise from Walmart and Olympia Sports in North Warsaw, along with the burglary in Silver Springs. The alleged theft from Walmart was of a compact C02 pistol, which State Police say was the weapon later observed by a customer at Save-A-Lot. State Police alleged that when Jordan observed troopers at the front of the store, he ducked into a bathroom and discarded the weapons in a wastebasket. The weapon was later recovered and secured as evidence.

Jordan and Reinisch were arraigned and jailed on $5,000 bail each.

Tilar B. Clark, 22, of Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Clark's vehicle was stopped by State Police in the Town of Attica, Wyoming County, for an alleged equipment violation. He was allegedly found in possession of a small amount of marijuana.

Paul D. Barth Jr., 23, of Cohocton Road, Pembroke, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Barth was allegedly sending text messages to a person he was ordered by a judge not to contact.

Desiree Michelle Hutchinson, 18, of Batavia, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Hutchinson allegedly admitted to Officer James DeFreze that she was hold her baby while in same room with a friend who was smoking marijuana.

Scott P. Rodon, 48, of Garfield Avenue, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Rodon was allegedly involved in a domestic incident at 1 a.m. Thursday.

Oliver Thomas, 22, of Chestnut Street, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Thomas allegedly hit a person in the face during an argument, which was reported at 3:45 a.m. Friday.

Taylor M. Andrews, 20, of McKenzie Road, Caledonia, is charged with menacing, 2nd. endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy, 5th. Andrews is accused of encouraging a juvenile to use a crowbar against another person during an argument. The victim was not struck with the crowbar. The alleged incident was reported at 2 a.m. Friday at 21 Wood St., Batavia.

Robi Liam Terziani, 19, of Route 19A, Portageville, is charged with petit larceny. Terziani is accused of stealing hydrocodine pills from a residence in Byron where he was hired to do service work.

Billy Joe Budziszewski Jr., 22, of Route 77, Corfu, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 3rd, and bail jumping, 2nd. Budziszewski was arrested on warrants out of Village of Corfu Court. He is also allegedly the subject of warrants out of Erie County on burglary, 2nd, and petit larceny charges and out of Wyoming County for failure to pay fine. Budziszewski was jailed on $25,000 bail or $50,000 bond.

Chance Robert Cooley, 19, of Route 5 & 20, Canandaigua, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Cooley was allegedly found in possession of marijuana in a medicine container and a glass smoking pipe with marijuana in it. Cooley was the passenger in a vehicle stopped for an alleged traffic violation at 12 :15 a.m. Sunday on Route 77, Pembroke, by Deputy Chris Parker. Also charged was Anthony Lee Irish, 22, of Terri Drive, Farmington, who was also issued traffic summons for no front plate and no insurance.

Christopher C. Berg, 27, of Pavilion, is charged with a misdemeanor under the vehicle and traffic law. Berg was stopped by State Police at 8:36 p.m. Wednesday on Veterans Memorial Drive. No further details released.

Adam J. Bobzin, 43, of Byron, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Bozin was stopped at 9:42 a.m. Thursday on West Sweden Road, Bergen, by State Police.

Smoke in the basement is reported at 10423 Bethany Center Road. The location is between Cackner and Jerico roads. Bethany Fire Department is responding along with mutual aid from Stafford.

UPDATE 6:26 a.m.: Stafford is told to stand down.

UPDATE 6:36 a.m.: Issue resolved. Bethany is back in service.

Jason Lang, 30, of Liberty Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny, reckless endangerment, unlawful fleeing a police officer and reckless driving. Lang was arrested in Ontario County for an incident reported at 1 p.m. Monday at Pearl Vision in Eastview Mall. Lang allegedly stole two pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses valued at $358. He allegedly fled from police. He later turned himself in to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office. He was arraigned in Victor Town Court and jailed on $5,000 bail, $10,000 bond. (Source: Finger Lakes Daily News / Click here for previous coverage of Jason Lang).

Aaron Michael Bove, 23, of East Buffalo Street, Churchville, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Bove allegedly stole $1,000 in cash from a business in Bethany while there cleaning the establishment.

A 16-year-old resident of North Bergen Road, Bergen, is charged with harassment, 2nd. The youth allegedly struck another student in the head during a class at Byron-Bergen High School.

Daniel Paul Hinca, 18, of Railroad Avenue, Alexander, John M. Francis, 20, of Vernon Avenue, Batavia, and a 17-year-old resident of Vernon Avenue, Batavia, are charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. The trio were allegedly found in the rear parking lot of 80 Vernon Ave., Batavia, following a complaint about people in a vehicle who appeared to be smoking marijuana. The three defendants were allegedly found in possession of a bag of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Joshua Lee Baltz, 37, of Tracy Avenue, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Baltz allegedly was found to be carrying marijuana while entering the City Court facility.

John Robert Gerhardt, 64, of Centerline Road, Varysburg, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and moving from lane unsafely. Gerhardt was stopped at 6:32 p.m. Friday on River Street, Batavia, by Deputy James Diehl.

Lisa M. Durham, 42, of Thorpe Street, Batavia, is charged with misapplication of property and falsifying business records, 1st. Durham allegedly rented merchandise from Rent-A-Center and pawned it at Pawn King.

Steven Michael Meyers, 34, of East Bethany - Le Roy Road, Bethany, is charged with menacing, 2nd. Meyers allegedly displayed a firearm during a dispute with another person.

Jenae M. Macleod, 29, of Genesee Street, Corfu, was arrested on a bench warrant out of City Court. Macleod was located by deputies from the Erie County Sheriff's Office during an investigation of an incident and discovered to have an active warrant. She was turned over to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, arraigned, and jailed on $500 bail.

Tracy A. Hilton Sr., 33, of Jackson Street, Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Hilton was allegedly involved in a domestic incident at 12:07 a.m. Saturday.

Tyler D. Macey, 18, of Grandview Terrace, Batavia, is charged with strangulation, 2nd, acting in a manor likely to be injurious to a child and assault, 3rd. Macey is accused of being involved in a domestic incident.

Joshua A. Laraby, 23, of Byron, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and a traffic violation. Laraby was stopped at 5:56 p.m. Friday by State Police.

Daniel J. Laudico, 20, of Elba, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, failure to keep right and speeding. Laudico was stopped at 1:02 a.m. Sunday on North Byron Road, Elba, by State Police.

A one-vehicle rollover, just a minor injury, possibly a sign-off, is reported at 10719 Bethany Center Road. Bethany Fire Department is responding. The location is between Linden Road and Route 20.

UPDATE 3:48 p.m.: The Bethany assignment is back in service.

A chimney fire is reported at 5901 Broadway Road. Bethany Fire Department is responding. The location is between East and Transit roads.

UPDATE 4:15 p.m.: Stafford fire is called to provide mutual aid.

UPDATE 4:20 p.m.: Stafford is told to remain in quarters.

UPDATE 4:33 p.m.: Bethany command tells Stafford to stand down.

UPDATE 5:06 p.m.: The assignment is back in service.

Metal can be molded, shaped and welded together so that it becomes something stronger.

So can the youth of our community.

In a manner of speaking, Tim Adams does both.

As owner of Adams Welding and Manufacturing in Stafford, Adams makes and repairs farm equipment and commercial products.

As a community member who grew up on a local farm, Adams remains deeply committed to 4H and donates hundreds of hours of his time each year to the organization.

Adams grew up in 4H and even after turning 19, he remained involved.

"You don't realize right away the impact 4H has on you and the values it instills in you until later on," Adams said. "It's not that you're out of 4H at 19 -- you don't realize at 19 all the values that you've taken from 4H until later on. This last year really hit home that without people who are willing to volunteer there's not going to be organizations like 4H."

This commitment to our community, both as a volunteer and a local business owner, is the reason Adams will receive a Geneseean of the Year Award from the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday night.

"I'm surprised to be getting the award," Adams said. "That's not why I did it. I didn't do it to get an award. I do what I do to help 4H. It's truly an honor to get it, but I never thought what I did was that much more than anybody does. I just did what I did to get it done."

The son of Mike and Debbie Adams, Tim grew up on their farm in East Bethany, where he developed an appreciation for farm equipment that is in good working order.

"I was pretty meticulous about it," he said.

At first, the Adams farm was a hog farm (later adding replacement heifers) and Tim got involved with the 4H Swine Club, where he met the late Ron Komer, whom he said was a big influence on his life and his view of leadership.

"He was always there to help you if you needed something," Adams said.

In high school, Adams was taking a class at BOCES and a classmate, Jake Pocock, asked him if he'd ever tried welding. He hadn't. Jake had him put on the protective gear and weld two pieces of metal together.

 "All it took was one stick rod and I was hooked," Adams said.

Two years of welding classes at BOCES and two years of more study at Alfred State and Adams had a career, and with his connections to the ag community in Genesee County, Adams had a place to start to build a business.

In early 2012, Tim Adams and his brother Scott (Adams Trucking) took a big step together for the growth of both of their businesses and built a shop in Stafford on Route 5.

Adams' involvement with 4H includes leading the Swine Club, conducting the tractor safety courses, serving on various committees and taking charge on some key fundraising efforts.

This past year, he helped organize -- with John Duyssen, Keith Carlson, Heather Weber -- the Swine Club's first pulled pork BBQ, which Adams believes is the most successful fundraiser in the history of Genesee County 4H.

This was also the first year the Swine Club sold a club pig at the County Fair's livestock sale.

Among the most cherished contributions Adams makes to 4H is teaching the tractor safety classes. He took his first class from Bob Mullen at age 14 and has been involved in tractor safety ever since.

He said it's such a critical class for farm kids and does a lot to prepare youngsters to help out around their family farms.

"Being involved in 4H teaches responsibility, it teaches community service, it teaches you to take responsibility for an animal and be accountable, and it teaches a lot of life skills," Adams said.

He is also a member of a welding trade association, the Farm Bureau and has helped raise money for Crossroads House.

All of this community involvement has inspired Scott Adams to get more involved.

"It's something to see somebody actually carrying off and pulling off as much effort as he does," said Scott Adams, who's chairing the fair committee this year. "He actually cares about what he does. He goes that extra mile to get something done. From what he does with 4H, he's got me more involved with the fair and the ag society. He's motivated me to get involved more in the community. It's an eye-opening experience that one person can make a difference."

Clearly, making a difference is important to Tim Adams. He wants to make a difference in lives of young people the way people like Komer and Mullen did with him. Maybe today's 4H members will remember what Tim Adams did for them.

"I hope they look back like I did 10 years after I was out and look back and say, 'Hey, he was helping make me the person I am today,' " Adams said. "I'm hoping that's what they'll say."

Accidents will happen. That certainly appeared to be the case last night at Suicide Corners after a tractor-trailer struck the home of Tom and Debbie Douglas.

The intersection has a reputation for being dangerous. But it appears that none of the factors sometimes attributed to the intersection contributed to last night's crash.

Suicide Corners is the intersection of East Road and Route 20 in Bethany.

A year ago, the Douglases were worried the state would take their home to build a roundabout to improve traffic safety at the intersection, but community pressure helped convince the DOT to scuttle the plan.

It's been at least five years since there has been an accident at the intersection and more than a decade since the last fatal accident there.

Tom Douglas thinks improved signs and lighting have helped make the intersection safer and DOT is planning to add more safety enhancements this summer.

There was a moment at about 3:30 a.m. when he thought, "here we go again."

"We were asleep and we heard a big bang," Douglas said. "It didn't sound like a car wreck and the house just shook a lot. I thought a tree had come down. It was windy last night. I looked out the window and I saw the car lights. I saw the driver looking under the truck, almost like he'd hit another car, so I yelled out to him and he said no. When I came downstairs it was like, 'wow! what a mess.' "

The truck knocked a hole in the living room wall, pushing a couch well into the room and sending debris flying.

Douglas said the driver was pulling an empty trailer. The south blowing wind had caused a great deal of snow to pile up on Route 20 on the hill west of the Douglas residence. The empty box, the wind and the snow caused the truck to jackknife. The truck actually hit the house at an angle, and with the impact of the cab, the trailer whipped around to the east, pulling the cab back toward Route 20.

Nobody was injured in the accident.

Top photo: Douglas explains what happened to his house when the truck hit it. Pictures below provided by Tom Douglas.

A tractor-trailer struck a house in Bethany at 1051 10515 East Road, at the intersection of Route 20. No injuries are reported. "Unknown circumstances." Bethany Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 3:44 a.m.: Firefighters are on scene. Command confirms the big rig struck the house and now is in the yard "well off the roadway." Road conditions at Suicide Corners are described has having a lot of drifting snow. "We're going to need a plow out here. We've got a large amount of snow covering the whole roadway." The Department of Transportation is notified about the need for plowing. A heavy wrecker is called to pull out the truck and, most likely, tow it away. The house that was hit is the 200-year-old home owned by the Douglas family. Last year, the DOT proposed putting a roundabout at the intesection to reduce the high number of accidents there. It would have required tearing down the house. Ultimately, residents' opposition convinced the DOT to drop the roundabout plans. In DOT studies going back to the 1990s, there have been 36 crashes at the intersection and three fatal accidents.

UPDATE: Last night, a responder estimated the damaged area on the structure to be about 10'X10'.

Press release:

The Genesee County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Directors has announced the selection of Baskin Livestock as the 2013 Genesee County Conservation Farm of the Year. Baskin Livestock will be the honored guests of the District at the Celebrate Agriculture Dinner on March  22th at the Alexander Firemen’s Recreation Hall.  They will be formally presented with their award at that time.

Baskin Livestock is owned and operated by Bill Baskin and Susan Blackburn. Bill purchased the former James Hume Jr. Dairy Farm from Chester Ptak in 1992. Since that time, Bill and Susan have acquired several neighboring farms (John Gardner, 1996; James Hume – remainder, 2001; Kruszelnicki, 2001; Don Norton, 2005; Woodhouse, 2007; Ethel Cook, 2009) and now own a total of 1,748.66 acres in the towns of Alexander, Bethany and Batavia. Of that total 1,157 acres is cropland. Most of the cropland acreage is fenced for pasture. Little Tonawanda Creek runs through the farm. With only a few exceptions, livestock is fenced out of the stream channels. Baskin Livestock became a District Cooperator in January of 1993. They started working on a plan for grazing in 1995. A grazing plan was written by Art Hanson of Western New York Crop Management (WNYCMA) in April 2001. Baskin Livestock is a medium Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) and has a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) completed by WNYCMA in July of 2002. Baskin Livestock is active in the Agricultural Environmental Management Program (AEM) .

They raise dairy replacement heifers, beef, and quarter horses. Recent conservation practices installed with district assistance include heavy use area protection (bedded pack), waste transfer system, roof runoff structure, compost facility, and waste storage facilities.  Baskin Livestock has one of the most extensive grazing (pasture) systems in the County.

A tractor-trailer is on its side on Ellicott Street Road near Fargo Road. No injuries are reported but traffic is blocked. 

Traffic being shut down at East Road and at Texaco Town. 

Bethany and Stafford fire departments responding. Pavilion handling traffic at Texaco Town. 

It will be an hour before a heavy wrecker is on scene to right the truck.

A two-car accident is reported at Route 63 and Fargo Road. The occupants are conscious. There is entrapment. Bethany Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding, along with mutual aid from Stafford for fire police and a rescue unit. Mercy Flight is not able to fly due to weather.

UPDATE 4:51 p.m.: An ambulance from Le Roy is requested to the scene.

UPDATE 4:59 p.m.: There are four victims.

UPDATE 5:04 p.m.: An ambulance from Byron is requested. It will be the fourth ambulance in.

UPDATE 5:07 p.m.: An ambulance from Alexander is requested to fill in at Bethany's fire hall.

UPDATE 5:19 p.m.: Two patients have been extricated.

UPDATE 5:20 p.m.: "Third patient extricated, one more to go."

UPDATE 5:27 p.m.: The fourth and final patient is extricated. So far, two ambulances are transporting patients to Strong Memorial Hospital.

UPDATE 5:38 p.m.: Bethany is taking a patient to UMMC.

UPDATE 5:39 p.m.: A total of three patients went to Strong. Two flatbed tows are called. Traffic is backed up. Command says when it clears up a crew should respond ASAP to salt the road. Once that is done, they'll go in service, he says.

UPDATE 6:40 p.m.: The roads are reopened. The Bethany assignment is back in service.

With the sun out this morning, I went for a short drive out to the Bethany area thinking, "the sun before the storm."

Our previous winter storm watch has been upgraded to a warning and between tonight and tomorrow night, we could get up to 10 inches of snow.

Heading down Clipnock Road, I spotted a group of trainers working out harness racing horses.

Bottom picture, a broken barn door on Transit Road.