The NY Thruway reported to dispatch that someone spotted a car off the roadway into a pond in the area of 3323 Harloff Road, Batavia. Town of Batavia East Pembroke fire is dispatched.

"It is in a very wet area of the swamp," by the Thruway, which is the easiest route to access the vehicle.

"It's not totally submerged..." says a first responder.

"These two Great Danes are lost and hanging out in Alexander on Gillate (Road) next to the steam show grounds," according to reader Michele Czekala, who contacted us late this morning.

UPDATE 7:48 p.m.: About 15 minutes ago, an animal control officer was dispatched to 10273 Gillate Road in Alexander to pick up two loose, but friendly Great Danes from the yard. They will be taken to the Genesee County Animal Shelter so their owner(s), hopefully, can retrieve them.

Press release:

The Elba Hall of Fame Foundation will be hosting a Beef on Weck Dinner Tuesday May 16th from 4-6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of the Elba Central School.  

Eat in or take out is available!

Dinner includes sandwich,  macaroni salad, salt potatoes, baked beans, dessert and beverage. Dinner costs $8. Pre-sale tickets are available at the Elba Central School District office and will be available at the door as well. Pre-sale ticket purchases are encouraged to guarantee a meal.

The Elba Hall of Fame Foundation is currently taking applications for this year inductees. Applications are available on the Elba Central school website, and in the Elba Central School District office, and during the dinner May 16th.

Elba Central School is located at 57 S. Main St., Elba.

Press release:

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer has introduced legislation (S5814) today in the State Senate to quicken access to ride-sharing services for residents and tourists in Western New York for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. 

Senator Ranzenhofer has been a strong supporter of bringing this new transportation option to Upstate New York.

"While ride-sharing services have been given a green light, arriving days after the Fourth of July is too little, too late. Every year, we read about accidents and deaths caused by motorists who should not be driving. This safe, reliable transportation option can help to make our roadways safer," Ranzenhofer said.

The new bill amends the effective date for the ride-sharing legislation -- Part AAA of Chapter 59 of the laws of 2017 approved as part of the recent state budget -- from 90 to 80 days. If enacted, transportation network companies would be available as soon as June 29th. Under existing law, it would not be available until July 9th. 

Senator Ranzenhofer noted the positive benefits for the community from an earlier start to ride-sharing.

"As thousands visit Niagara Falls and area attractions from Buffalo to Rochester, it would be a missed opportunity for our region if ride-sharing services were still not available. Allowing these companies to operate sooner is an opportunity for our region to shine. It will help to drive additional spending by tourists at small businesses and restaurants," Ranzenhofer said.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins has received the “Award for Conservative Achievement” from the American Conservative Union Foundation. Congressman Collins was given the highest rating of any member in the New York Delegation for the 114^th Congress.

“I am honored to receive this recognition from the American Conservative Union Foundation,” Congressman Collins said. “When I first ran for Congress I promised to bring a commonsense, conservative voice to Washington, and this award is recognition of my commitment to those principles. I share the ACUF’s philosophy of smaller government and personal responsibility and will continue to support policies that achieve that vision.”

“The 2016 ACUF Award for Conservative Achievement is given to those Members of Congress who receive an 80 percent or above score in our annual ACU Ratings,” said ACUF Chairman Matt Schlapp. “We applaud Congressman Collins for his continued support of conservative values, and working to achieve commonsense conservative solutions for the people of New York.”

The “Award for Conservative Achievement” is based on 25 key votes that demonstrate an adherence to conservative principles. More information on the award is available here.

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) and the Gateway Local Development Corporation (GGLDC) Board of Directors will consider taking action on three projects at its meeting on May 4 in the Innovation Zone board room on 99 Medtech Drive, Batavia, starting at 4 p.m.

The Board will vote on whether to approve incentives to Genesee Valley Transportation for the proposed expansion of the company’s cross dock facility. The $1 million capital investment will expand the facility from 25,000 square feet to 37,160 square feet in order to meet increased customer demand. The estimated amount of incentives is $142,138 and for every $1 of public benefit the company is investing $4 into the local and regional economy.

Two companies are seeking to tap into the GGLDC’s revolving loan program. Batavia Brewing Company, located in the renovated Newberry building in Downtown Batavia, is requesting a $150,000 loan to rehabilitate the second and third floors for high-end apartments as part of a $2.6 million project. The basement will be converted into a brewing room and a bar and restaurant and space for FreshLAB tenants are planned for the first floor.

Liberti, Valvo & Associate LLC, a manufacturers' sales representative agency that specializes in quality safety and utility products in markets in New York, New England, the Mid-Atlantic and Ontario, Canada, is seeking a $50,000 loan for a $275,000 business project.

The GCEDC Board meeting is open to the public.

Press release:

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer has announced today that the 2017-18 State Budget restores $10 million in funding reductions, proposed by Governor Cuomo, for agriculture programs and makes a total state investment of $51 million.

“I opposed cuts for agriculture programs from day one. That is why I successfully advocated and delivered major investment for these important programs,” Ranzenhofer said. “Agriculture is New York State’s number one industry and it is also the backbone of our rural communities. Investing in agriculture will help to strengthen the industry and our local economy.”

The new budget also includes $100,000 for the Genesee County Agriculture Academy. Over the last five years, Senator Ranzenhofer has secured a total of $500,000 in state funding to support the Agri-Business Academy at the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership.  

“The Agri-Business Academy is a valuable learning experience for high school seniors from school districts across Genesee County. The one-year program helps to develop and grow the next generation of family farmers by offering students exciting educational opportunities to explore careers in the agribusiness industry,” Ranzenhofer said.

Major programs in cutting-edge research for family farms, environmental stewardship, and protections for plant, animal and public health will receive significant increases:

• $1.5 million (for a total of $1.9 million) for the Farm Viability Institute;
• $1 million (for a total of $9.3 million) for Agribusiness Child Development;
• $1 million (for a total of $5.4 million) for the Cornell Diagnostic Lab;
• $544,000 (for a total of $750,000) for the Apple Growers Association;
• $560,000 (for a total of $610,000) for Cornell Rabies;
• $416,000 (for a total of $800,000) for FarmNet, Farm Family Assistance;
• $378,000 (for a total of $1.2 million) for Pro-Dairy;
• $307,000 (for a total of $1.5 million) for the Wine and Grape Foundation;
• $300,000 (for a total of $842,000) for Future Farmers of America;
• $160,000 (for a total of $200,000) for Cornell Hops and Barley;
Other programs funded in the 2017-18 State Budget include:
• $160,000 for Local Fair Assistance
• $500,000 for the Apple Research and Development Board
• $500,000 for the State’s Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program
• $260,000 for Cornell Berry Research
• $250,000 for Tractor Rollover Prevention Program
• $220,000 for Farm Viability Dairy Profit Teams
• $215,000 for Maple Producers Association
• $200,000 for a “Seeds of Success” award to promote school gardens
• $150,000 for Turfgrass Association
• $125,000 for Christmas Tree Growers
• $125,000 for Cornell Maple Research
• $115,000 for Cornell Veterans to Farms
• $100,000 for Future Agriculture Readiness Marketing (FARM) Camps
• $100,000 for Cornell Vegetable Research
• $75,000 for Corn and Soybean Growers Association
• $60,000 for Berry Growers Association
• $50,000 for Honeybee research at Cornell
• $50,000 for Cornell Onion Research
• $25,000 for Low-Cost Vaccine Program
• $10,000 for NYS Brewers Association
• $10,000 for NYS Cider Association
• $10,000 for NYS Distillers Guild
• $10,000 for Cornell Sheep Farming

Story and photos courtesy Tom Rivers, Orleans Hub.

Joe Bezon, a third-generation muck farmer, had just headed home after a hard day’s work on Monday afternoon when it started raining. A sprinkle soon turned into a deluge.

Bezon’s home in Byron was pounded by the rain. He drove to the muck and saw water, everywhere. Bezon was about 75 percent done planting onions for the season. Now there was standing water in the fields.

Bezon said about an inch of rain fell at his house, and 2 inches in the muck.

Bezon and the muck farmers were able to pump lots of the water off the muck on Tuesday, leaving them optimistic the plants and seeds would survive. But he is nervous about the forecast for Thursday, which says another inch to 2 inches is headed our way.

“The water has gone down a lot,” he said Tuesday evening on the muck. “It all depends on Thursday and the through the weekend. It’s wait and see what happens next. It looks like another 10 days of poor weather.”

Another big rain and farmers will struggle to get rid of the water. Bezon said the ground is saturated and the drainage ditches at near capacity.

For the full story, visit Orleans Hub.

One of the four men accused of a home invasion burglary on Central Avenue in October was sentenced to five years in prison this morning by County Court Judge Charles Zambito.

Marquis Saddler entered a guilty plea March 31 to attempted burglary, 2nd, a class D violent felony, and admitted to being a second felony offender.

As a second felony offender, he faced a maximum prison term of from three to seven years.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman sought the maximum and defense attorney Fred Rarick requested a three-year term.

After Saddler's five-year stint he will be placed on parole for five years.

Cases are still pending for Daniel Gilbert, Adante Davis and Oliver Thomas.

One of four men allegedly involved in a home-invasion burglary in October on Central Avenue, Batavia, was supposed to be sentenced on a guilty plea in that case, but it turns out there is a disagreement between the attorneys in the case on what exactly was in the plea deal given to Daniel J. Gilbert.

At the start of the hearing, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman told Judge Charles Zambito that the agreed upon sentence was a straight-up five years in prison (a determinate sentence).

Zambito turned to defense attorney Thomas Burns and asked, "is that your understanding?"

"That's not accurate," Burns said. "That's not our position at all."

Zambito asked if Burns wished to discuss the plea on the record and Burns said he did not, so Zambito called for a recess and met with the attorneys in chambers.

When he returned he said that Burns would be able to file a position paper with supporting citations, and Friedman would be given a chance to answer.  Because of trial schedules and vacation schedules, Gilbert won't be back in county court for a hearing on the plea, and possible sentencing, until 11 a.m. on June 20.

Asked for more information outside of court on the particulars of the dispute, Friedman said he couldn't discuss it.

The cases for the other defendants, Oliver Thomas, Marquis Saddler and Adante Davis, are still pending.

A letter from the Sheriff's Office said the activities of Jeffery D. Torrey Sr., give indications that he has been dealing drugs recently and a letter from Torrey's wife said he travels around with a bodyguard. 

"This is not a favorable PSI," Zambito told Torrey, before saying he did consider rejecting his prior guilty plea.

Instead, Zambito sentenced Torrey to six months in jail and five years probation.

Torrey had previously entered guilty pleas to criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and criminal possession of a weapon, 4th, a misdemeanor. 

The Local Drug Task Force executed the warrant on Torrey's home in October. Agents found a grow operation inside his residence, a quantity of marijuana and cocaine, a set of metal knuckles, a gravity knife and U.S. currency.

Torrey made no statement when asked, prior to sentencing.

Undersheriff Greg Walker was head of the task force at the time and wrote the letter in the pre-sentence report expressing concern about Torrey's activities.

Zambito said he took the letter seriously.

"The Sheriff's Department doesn't often take a stand," Zambito said.

Over the past five years, the Genesee County Fair has gone from a local event that was barely hanging on, to one that is now the envy of many other rural counties around the state, according to a report delivered by Ag Society President Norm Pimm to the Human Services Committee of the Genesee County Legislature.

Pimm said he recently attended an expo for county fair organizers in Rochester and Genesee County's fair was a subject of curiosity.

"There are a lot of fairs that are crying that they're going backward in attendance, so we are one of the few that is going forward, and we actually have a lot of fairs coming to us and asking what we're doing differently," Pimm said.

Last year more than 22,000 people attended the fair.

People attend, he said, because of the attractions and the animals.

Ag is a big part of every county fair, but Genesee County has been able to revitalize its ag program and last year there were more than 800 animals on show, which put the fairgrounds at capacity for farm animals.

Last year's fair included the Empire Classic sheep show, which attracted competitors from all over the state. The show gave local youngsters a chance to learn from and compete against some of the very best competitors in the Northeast.

The beef show was also a big hit and attracted two farm families that hadn't shown beef at the Genesee County Fair in 40 years. They were quite pleased with what they found at the show.

"They went to Syracuse after that and they were telling people there, 'you've got to go to Genesee County next summer. You've got to be in this show. It's awesome. and their fairgrounds look great.' "

The two families were in Ohio the following week complimenting the Genesee County fair again, he said. 

"We now have two big nationally known exhibitors out talking about us," he said. "That's fantastic."

Not everything, though, is a home run. The midway -- all the rides and games -- is a fair essential, but it's also a reliable money loser.

"Our midway kills us, but you have to have one," Pimm said. "It sounds sad, but you have to have one. We had some fair board members say 'let's not have one.' You have to, so we just need to make it up somewhere else."

Part of what pays for the fair are all the other events that are hosted by the fairgrounds spring, summer and fall, from auctions and 4-H events to flea markets and horse shows.

The new horse barns, in fact, are a big attraction now and there is a horse show booked at the fairgrounds every weekend this summer. 

There's also going to be a statewide high school rodeo hosted by the fairgrounds this summer; it's the first held locally. If it goes well, Genesee County could be considered to host the national high school rodeo championship.

The Genesee County Agriculture Society is on a continuous improvement project with the fairgrounds and is about to embark on a $500,000 electrical upgrade of the entire grounds. Because of the cost, it will have to be done in stages, Pimm said. A recent grant of $90,000 from the governor's office will help the society get started, he said.

The County budget earmarks $9,500 in assistance to the Ag Society.

Improvements lead to more events to host, and more events help generate the funds for more improvements. The events throughout the year help pay for the fair which, even with all its success last year, still came up short of expenses by $4,400.

"We're trying to use the grounds as much as we can so we keep the revenue coming in and we can keep investing back into the grounds," Pimm said.

It was another busy year in Genesee County in 2016 for Mercy Flight, Bill Schutt, director of Mercy EMS locally, told members of the County Legislature at its Human Services Committee meeting on Monday.

The ambulance service received about 8,600 calls, which resulted in about 6,700 transports.

Mercy Flight itself received 189 requests and flew a total of 96 transport missions.

Those 189 requests not only included the time an airship went to a medical emergency scene, but all the times it was put on ground standby or in-air standby or was requested to do so, but couldn't fly because of weather.

Schutt explained that dispatchers operate off a set of protocols for determining whether to alert Mercy Flight to a possible emergency call for the helicopter and sometimes what dispatchers are being told from people at the scene sounds more serious than it might actually be. When a fire chief or medic arrives on scene, the situation can be clarified.

"You don't want to wait for a crew to get there to make an assessment because now you're there waiting for a helicopter," Schutt said.

With Mercy Flight handling all the calls they do, it isn't unusual to periodically get in a situation where all the ambulances are on calls or there is no ambulance close by a particular emergency. That's what makes the volunteer ambulances around the county so valuable.

"As a commercial ambulance, you would think you would want those volunteers to go away, but we need those volunteers," Schutt said. "We need those resources. There are always going to be the days where no matter how many ambulances you have in service, they are not going to be enough."

The Human Services Committee unanimously recommended approval of the Mercy Flight/Mercy EMS contract for the county, along with the continuation of the $12,800 contribution the county makes to help support the nonprofit service.

County Manager Jay Gsell explained that eight counties contribute to Mercy Flight's funding, but as the host county for the main ambulance services office and a host county for one of the agency's helicopters, it was important for Genesee County to provide financial assistance.

"This is part of our commitment, but it also aligns us with this vital service," Gsell said.

Pembroke firefighters Troy Williams, left, and Kurt Pasturszynski hold pet oxygen masks, which were donated to the department by Emma's Mission. The pet masks will be stowed on Pembroke's trucks, ready to use in the case of a fire where a pet suffers from smoke inhalation.

For more information about Emma's Mission, click here.

Submitted photo and information.

Press release:

U.S. Representatives Chris Collins (NY-27) and Eric Swalwell (CA-15) kicked off Small Business Week today by reintroducing the Main Street Revival Act of 2017. This legislation will expedite local small business development in underserved areas.

“For America to achieve a high rate of economic growth, government must do a better job creating an atmosphere for small businesses to thrive,” Congressman Collins said. “Small businesses are the engines that drive our economy, and here in Western New York we must do everything we can to ensure they have the tools to succeed. I am glad to partner with my colleague, Congressman Swalwell, as we work to generate tangible economic development and job growth in our communities.”

“Small businesses are at the heart of our communities and economy – we must do what we can to help them grow and succeed,” Congressman Swalwell said. “The Main Street Revival Act helps new small business owners build a strong foundation for future success. Encouraging entrepreneurship nationwide, especially in struggling areas, will help create an economy that can work for everyone, everywhere.”

The Main Street Revival Act allows qualifying small businesses to elect to defer paying payroll taxes during their first year in operation. The deferred taxes would then be paid in installments over the subsequent four years. The option is limited to businesses expecting to hire no more than 25 people in their first year, and that are located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones, known as HUBZones.

The areas in NY-27 that would be eligible for this benefit include: Tonawanda Reservation, along with portions of Batavia, Lockport, Medina, and York. The HUBZone map can be seen here.

Full text of the legislation can be read here.

Press release:

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer has announced today that legislation (S4281),raising the monetary limit to $150,000 for school districts to purchase local produce without approval from the State Department of Education, has passed the New York State Senate unanimously.

Under existing law, a waiver from the State Education Department is required for food purchases above $50,000. The bill, sponsored by Senator Ranzenhofer, would amend state procurement laws to conform with Federal rules.

“Requiring a waiver at current levels creates unnecessary, burdensome paperwork for schools districts, discouraging the purchase of food products from local farmers,” Ranzenhofer said. “This legislation makes it easier for schools to buy more local produce and support the local agriculture economy, while offering healthier options– more fresh fruits and vegetables– to students.”

The New York Farm Bureau supports the initiative. The bill will be sent to the State Assembly. The legislation is sponsored by Assemblywoman Addie Jenne.

The 2017-18 State Budget raised the threshold from $25,000 to $50,000. In 2016, Senator Ranzenhofer successfully worked to establish an initial threshold at $25,000.

City Republican Committee Chairman David Saleh's confidence in his party's slate of candidates soared Monday night with the news that former Genesee County Sheriff Gary Maha will be running for a seat on the County Legislature.

"All of our County Legislature candidates have done a very good job and Gary will be a great addition," Saleh said this morning, hours after City GOP representatives endorsed Maha for the legislature's Ninth District seat, a position that covers the City of Batavia's fourth and fifth wards.

"With a new (county) jail a major issue, and other key decisions to be made, Gary's experience is unparalleled."

City Republicans also backed City Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. and At-Large Councilmembers Bob Bialkowski and Adam Tabelski for at-large positions in November's elections.

"We've got good continuity on City Council and we're going in the right direction," Saleh said. "In terms of experience, these three men bring value to city residents. All in all, we're very hopeful for November."

Jankowski has served as City Council president since 2016, and will be seeking his second term on the board.

Saleh said the GOP committee will conduct its chicken BBQ fundraiser on May 21 and "pull together with the candidates to prepare for the election."