wbta

Buyers should be wary of online ticket seller: TicketsMyWay.com, according to the Better Business Bureau of Buffalo. WBTA's Wayne Fuller reports that the bureau has received hundreds of complaints about the site that sells tickets to sports, music and theater venues online. Complaints include: not ever receiving the tickets, getting them too late or getting invalid tickets.

In other news, Mike Ranzenhofer was campaiging yesterday in Genesee County with Sen. Mary Lou Rath, Assemblyman Stephen Hawley and county Legislature Chair Pat Hancock. Ranzenhofer is running to replace Rath in the 61st Senate District. He will take on Democrat Joe Mesi in the general election. Fuller has this to say about Ranzenhofer's platform:

He says he has a three-part plan for tax reform. One part is the doubling of the current STAR exemption over a four year period. The second part is to cap property tax increases to 4 four percent of the inflation rate which ever is lower. Ranzenhofer said the third plank is reform of the Wicks and Taylor laws, backed by organized labor, that he says increases the cost of a public works project by 20 to 30 percent.

Genesee County sheriff's deputies reported a two-car crash yesterday in Alexander that sent two women to the hospital. Eighteen-year-old Jonnie L. Ficarella, of Attica, swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid colliding with a stopped car waiting to turn in her own lane. She struck the vehicle of 24-year-old Tori M. Bentley, of Varysburg. WBTA's Dan Fischer reports that Ficarella was taken to United Memorial Medical Center for treatment. Bentley had suffered more serious injuries and had to be taken to Erie County Medical Center. We phoned both hospitals this morning to find the condition of the women, which was not available through WBTA. Bentley is listed in fair condition as of 8:00am. Ficarella had already been released.

WBTA picked up the story this morning that's getting play across the state: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has warned consumers to watch out for price gouging at the gas pumps in the wake of Hurricane Ike. Gas station owners cannot arbitrarily raise the price of gas as a result of a natural disaster. Folks who suspect price gouging are encouraged to call 1-800-771-7755.

This from the Niagara Gazette:

The average cost of a gallon of unleaded gas in the Buffalo Niagara market was $3.90 Monday — the highest in the state — according to the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The state average was $3.83 while the national average was a penny more.

[...]

“By the time Hurricane Ike made landfall Friday, retailers (in New York) were already experiencing significant hikes in the wholesale price of gasoline,” said Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops.

[...]

The attorney general’s office took similar action against price gouging after Hurricane Katrina. More than a dozen gas stations across the state were fined more than $63,000 for price gouging then.

In other morning news... National Grid reports that all but about 50 residents of Genesee County got that power back on as of this morning. Most of those folks are in Pavilion. No word on WBTA when those homes will be back on the grid.

WBTA's Dan Fischer reports that remnants of what was once Hurricane Ike lashed out winds of up to 60 miles per hour that cut through the area, knocking down trees and electrical lines and leaving nearly 600 people in Genesee County without power this morning. Elba Central School has closed this morning as a result of the storm. Most folks were expected to be back on the grid by 8:30am.

Another 1,800 folks were without power in Orleans County, plus another 500 in Wyoming County.

Most of the debris was cleared off the streets early this morning in Batavia.

Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle reports power outages for more than 45,000 people in and around the city, and many traffic lights were still out during the morning commute.

Heading west, the Buffalo News tallied 14,000 folks who were still in the dark in the region as of 8:30am. That wasn't even the "bad news."

The bad news, for those still without power this morning, was that National Grid, on its Web site, cautioned that full power might not be restored until late Tuesday night.

Batavia's City Council met for a brief session last ight in City Hall and in that time unofficially decided to nix the city's ethics board and rely on the county's one if needed—though I imagine any formal vote on it would come at the next meeting, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. Council also decided to switch the meeting schedule so that council will only meet once a month on alternating Mondays. Council will continue to meet twice a month, but its meetings will be split. That means one Monday will be a business meeting and another will be the conference meeting.

In other news, City Council President Charlie Mallow has decided to step down as chairman of the Genesee County Democratic Party. Mallow will give up the post on September 17, though he plans to remain active in the group. He was chairman for a year and a half.

Renovation will begin today at the former St. Jerome Hospital on Bank Street, according to WBTA. United Memorial Medical Center plans to erect a 37-unit affordable senior housing structure for the site. The project is expected to disrupt traffic and parking in the vicinity.

In other news, Batavia's City Council will meet tonight at 7:00pm at City Hall. Please refer to our earlier post for more details or to download the agenda.

WBTA's Dan Fischer spoke with Batavia City Schools Superintendent Margaret Puzio yesterday to get her thoughts on the start of the new school year. Puzio praised the High School's Link Crew, a program designed to welcome new students to the school. She also addressed the wrapping up of construction over at the Middle School.

WBTA's Dan Fischer broke the story: the city of Batavia has a new fire chief. Thomas Dillon was appointed to the position Tuesday morning. Dillon has been retired from the city of Rochester Fire Department for eight years. He was a deputy fire chief there.

City Manager Jason Molino told Fischer that Dillon was picked among a candidate pool of 15, and he will start work on September 17 at a salary of $75,192. Molino also spoke of Dillon's experience at a larger department.

Happy Labor Day, everybody. How come you're inside staring at a computer screen on a beautiful day like this?

Philip Anselmo has the day off. I hope you do, too.

There's  news on the WBTA news page.

A car struck a tree off the Thruway this morning. One person is unconscious. Mercy flights dispatched. Listen to WBTA for updates.

Police dispatchers made the switch to the County's dispatch center at midnight.

And those, so far, are the biggest news items of the day.

Be safe and have fun.

Le Roy will host a rabies clinic for cats and dogs today from 3:00 to 5:00pm at the village Highway Department on North Street, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. The clinic was scheduled following the discovery of a rabid cat in the village earlier this week.

WBTA's Dan Fischer picked up some great audio of last night's concluding debate about the mall sign—which was approved for purchase by a vote of 6-2. He has posted the views of two City Council members who held opposing views on the mall: Rosemary Christian and Charlie Mallow.

In other news, the former highway superintendent of the Erie County town of Marilla, David Pierce, told a judge yesterday that "alcoholism and greed" made him break the law. Pierce was sentenced to seven months in jail for using town employees to work on his property, doing such things as building a fishing and swimming pond.

Batavia's City Council will meet tonight at 7:00pm at City Hall, according to WBTA. The meeting, originally scheduled for August 11, was postponed twice. Council is expected to vote on whether to fund the replacement of a sign for the mall. Also meeting tonight at 7:00pm is the Board of Education. They will assemble at the administration building on Washington Avenue.

No cause has yet been determined in the fire at Willow Industries at 34 Clinton Street that erupted Friday night. The fire was brought under control shortly after midnight. Damage was confined to the warehouse, and some of the materials inside are reported destroyed by fire. Steve Ognibene was driving by that evening when he spotted the fire trucks. He put together this video footage of the scene, which was sent to the Batavian over the weekend:

I made a video of whats called a "Foxhole radio" takes no batteries info found on youtube if you notice at the end the radio station is WBTA. Pretty cool.

Into found on youtube about foxhole radios

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=foxhole+radio&search_type=&aq=0&oq=foxhole

All my video's found here some dumb some are OK if your into online games and electronics

http://www.youtube.com/toomyg155

Police in Le Roy are looking for anyone with information about an apparent break in at the Little League concession stand in the village, according to WBTA. At some point over the past few nights, someone had forced open the door and got inside. Anyone with information should call (585) 768-2527.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley told WBTA's Dan Fischer that most of the $450 million that the state legislature recently agreed to cut from its spending are "un-spent member items, the so-called pork that legislators use to win points with their local constituents." (Quote from Fischer.)

Genesee County residents can get their pets vaccinated against rabies for free today at the County Fairgrounds on Main Street in Batavia from 4:00 to 7:00pm, according to WBTA. The clinic is sponsored by the county Health Department. Out-of-county residents may also use the service, but they have to pay $5.

UPDATE: Ooops. My fault.  Show is at 9:40, twenty minutes later than the original headline indicated.

I will be on WBTA in the morning to discuss blogging -- not The Batavian so much as blogging in general.

My goal is to encourage more bloggers in Genesee County.  I don't care if you blog for The Batavian or your own Word Press or Blogger site, just blog.  It helps extend the conversation.

That will be my theme.

Lisa Neary from Attica will assume the position of deputy director of finance for the city of Batavia, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. Neary fills a vacancy left by the unexplained departure of Shelly D'Alba earlier this summer. She will earn about $52,000 per year and starts September 5. Neary holds a degree in accounting from the Rochester Institute of Technology and had previously worked as the finance director for Wymong County Community Action.

Summer in the City kicks off tonight in Batavia. Check back in with us later today for a full list of events.

Congressional hopeful Jon Powers released his "education policy" at a discussion at Main Street Coffee Tuesday afternoon. The Democratic contender for the seat in the 26th District said that college is too expensive, loans are too high and national education standards stifle teachers, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. Powers calls for reform of No Child Left Behind—though no specifics are given—and wants to lower the interest on federal loans for students from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent by 2011.

In other news... Genesee County has qualified for state disaster aid as a result of the devastating hail storms that wracked the region earlier this summer. Fifteen other upstate counties qualified. Some farmers could receive "permanent disaster payments," says Fischer.

The Genesee County Legislature will meet tonight at 7:00pm in the Old County Courthouse. The Batavian has a request into the clerk to get a copy of the agenda, which we have not yet received. We will post that when it becomes available.

Tune into WBTA 1490 AM for these and other stories throughout the day.

Thousands of live chickens spilled from their crates onto the state Thruway yesterday when a truck carrying nearly 10,000 of them overturned at the Route 190 off-ramp in Erie County. WBTA's Dan Fischer spoke with state police who said they had never seen anything like it. Dozens Thousands of chickens were killed. Many others were taken to the Erie County Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty. The truck driver was ticketed with unsafe lane change.

UPDATE (9:18am): The Buffalo News ran a full story on this sad crash—the photographs and video are unsettling. It turns out that not dozens but thousands of chickens died, either at the scene or later by euthanization. From that article:

Gina Browning, the public relations director of the SPCA in the Town of Tonawanda, described a grim scene of blood and broken eggs inside the SPCA facility.

“In 18 years [working at the SPCA], I can tell you I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude,” Browning said.

The facility closed 2 hours early to make room for the birds. SPCA officials used the auditorium and the garage to fit all the crates.

“It’s mortifying,” employee Julie Ruppel said. “It’s unimaginable what we’re seeing.”

In other news, Batavia's Rotary Club will be holding auditions for its upcoming musical production of Singing in the Rain. Auditions for the November performance will be held on September 3, 4 and 5 in the Batavia High School from 7:00 to 10:00pm.