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Three weeks ago, it could be argued, it looked like Donald Trump had the GOP nomination for president all but locked up.  

If he could come across as a bit more presidential, he would likely seal the deal.

Then came a flap about candidates' wives and pictures posted to Twitter, and a statement about punishing women who have illegal abortions, and the campaign started to unravel some.

Even Trump admits he made mistakes.

Trump lost to Ted Cruz in Wisconsin and the fight to secure the nomination has gotten more intense.

The key  thing, said Rep. Chris Collins said yesterday at Genesee Community College after handing awards to local high school artists, is that Trump is learning from his mistakes.

Collins is one of only two members of Congress to openly support Trump and is, along with Carl Paladino, Trump's campaign co-chair in New York.

"I can't sugarcoat the last couple of weeks," Collins said. "The fact is, he's laying low right now. He's going to have a big win in New York. That momentum will propel him forward. He's putting together a little more depth on his team. 

"I think, perhaps, two weeks ago, the bad week, may have set the stage for him to realize that people are hanging on his every word, every nuance. As a private-sector guy, on the golf course with your buddies, you can say anything you want to say, but not in front of 80 million Americans. I'm proud to support him for all the reasons we stated earlier, and I'm confident he is going to grow from the missteps."

Collins supports Trump because he likes his private-sector background, his business leadership experience, his positions on trade, immigration and foreign policy, but also said some of those positions need some finessing.

"As a guy coming out of our private sector, what are we used to?" Collins said. "Ask me a question and I answer it directly without any other thought. He's had some missteps and I don't agree with him on every issue.

"I certainly would not ban all Muslims, but I would certainly, and have said, we need to make that those who we don't know who they are, whether Syrian refugees or not, we don't know their background, they're not coming here until the director of the FBI can certify who they are. So I'll nuance, perhaps, Mr. Trump's statements in that regard.

"On the immigration issue, I certainly don't think we would ever put 12 million people on a bus and take them back across the border, but we can process the illegal immigrants in a way that (at) the end of the processing it's 'you come in this door, go out that door,' you have legal work papers, a Social Security number. We know you're a law abiding citizen, now you don't have to hide in the shadows. There are nuances to what he's said that I would take the edge off a little."

A recent column in the Chicago Tribune criticized Trump and Bernie Sanders on trade because they seemingly don't understand that a trade deficit in goods makes America stronger because it generates foreign investment and the U.S. benefits from an export surplus in services. A trade war or a trade surplus in goods could be economically disastrous.

Even so, Collins said he thinks Trump understands well the issues around trade and that America needs a trade policy that is fair and levels the playing field.

"If a manufacturer in China or India or Mexico has a 30, 40, 50 percent advantage, we're going to lose all our manufacturing jobs, and every manufacturing job creates five or six other jobs, so what happens with a tariff is we level the playing field and a lot of jobs are going to come back," Collins said.

"We're going to see some inflation," Collins added. "The good news about inflation at a reasonable rate, the debt we have is paid back in cheaper dollars down the road. We do have a goods / trade imbalance. We're going to have a lot more manufacturing.

"The thought that someone else might retaliate...the fact is, we're 25 percent the world's economy and less than 4 percent of the world's population. They want us to be 4 and 4, not 4 and 25. We're going to have to fight to keep 4 and 25. And I would also suggest many of the services and many of the high-tech goods we export are provided because the other countries don't have the ability (to make them) themselves. So they may not like that we're going to make underwear and socks and radios again here, because they want  to make it in China and Mexico, but when they need our jet engines and they need our aircraft and they need some of our other service, they're still going to buy them from us because they have no choice.

"To me, that's called a win-win. I hope it's not a trade war. I would say it's leveled the playing field and I would hope through it all, you would have other countries paying better attention to the environment, paying better attention to worker safety, paying better attention to what we would call wages and currency, because if their currency floats, if they're paying higher wages, if they're respecting the environment, if they're respecting workers' safety, then we don't have to (impose) a tariff.

"We're not going to have a tariff with Germany. We're not going to have a tariff with the European countries we are playing with on a level playing field. But if we don't stop the theft of our jobs through unfair trade with Mexico, Vietnam, China and the like, we're going to lose all our jobs."

Trump would be the closest thing the United States has had to a noninterventionist president in any of our lifetimes, and Collins fully supports that vision of foreign policy, he said.

"He is spot on when he says our country, which is broke, $20 trillion in debt, is running deficits and we can't take care of our infrastructure. The thought that we are protecting and watching out for the rest of the world, and they are not paying a fair share, not that we're going to turn a blind eye to atrocities, but let's face it, there are countries taking advantage of America and it's not that we have surpluses," Collins said, "We're running deficits. So I'm 100 percent in line with what he's saying. It is time for them pay their fair share. If we're going to defend them, they're going to pay for it. We can't get involved in every regional conflict. The rest of the world doesn't want us to. It's not our role to play, so I'm 100 percent with Trump on that."    

After his recent blunders, Trump has revamped his campaign staff with an eye toward being more strategic about securing delegates. He's put Paul Manafort into a key campaign role to take on that task.

Collins said, as a private-sector guy himself, he understands the need to learn on the job and adjust. Judging how Collins mingled with the high school students and their parents Saturday at GCC, he's grown into the job of Congressman himself. Compared to a couple of years ago, he's much more relaxed and he deftly displayed an individual interest in every student he spoke with.

Trump, Collins said, is learning, will learn and will make sure he's surrounded by nothing but the highest-caliber talent if he occupies the West Wing.

"I come back to the need to have a chief executive in office and there's only one left standing, and that's Donald Trump," Collins said. "Private-sector guy, 40 years experience making tough decisions knowing how to manage people, hiring the best and brightest. I'm convinced he will have the best cabinet that's ever been assembled by a president. There are no hangers-on. There are no retreads. He is going to hire the best people he can hire because they're the best people. He's not going to say are 'You're a Republican, a Democrat. What is your party affiliation? How much money did you give to the party?' That's not Donald Trump.

"It harkens back when I was county executive (in Erie County). When I had to hire my commissioners, all I wanted was the best and brightest who believed in serving the taxpayers, who understood the need for efficiency and the like. After the fact, it turned out, my deputy county executive was a Democrat. It turned out my head of economic development was a Democrat. I didn't ask those questions and neither will Mr. Trump. When it comes back to the president with his cabinet, I think you will have the best ever.

"What does the president do? He sets the 30,000-foot vision, not unlike Ronald Reagan, and this vision is clear. We're going to take our jobs back that were stolen by Mexico and China. We're going to stand tall against foreign adversaries whether it's Russia, North Korea or Iran. We're going to defeat ISIS. We're going to make sure we deal with immigration; keep our borders secure. That's his top-level focus. He's going to have advisors who make all that happen, with him as the conductor and the leader. He's a born leader and that's what we haven't had for seven and a half years."

Whoever becomes president will have a lot of power. If that's Trump, well, Trump has displayed his ego and controlling personality, but Cruz, Clinton and Sanders all might be tempted by the lure of easy executive orders. Asked if Congress should take action before the end of the year to curb the use of executive orders, Collins said he didn't think so.

"Executive orders have always been part and parcel of the executive powers of the president," Collins said. "There are lawsuits and judicial remedies for overstepping, which this president (Obama) has been slapped down on on more than one occasion. I don't really think there is a role for Congress to play other than for the public to understand executive orders are the lay of the land and Hilary Clinton is saying 'If you think Obama did a lot of executive orders, wait until I'm president.' It's a concern, but it's part of history and I think the court system will hold people in check."

NOTE: Chris Collins' views on the issues related to his support of Trump are consistant with what he said to us during his campaign in 2012.

The DSP Jazz Trio (Derek Reiss, Skip Taylor and Pete Mark) played a benefit concert today at City Church for Crossroads House.

It was the girls turn for a change to race pinewood derby cars at St. Joe's this afternoon. Traditionally a Boy Scouts event, the ladies held their own "Race Like a Girl" event this afternoon.

Local Boy Scout leaders, and some scouts, who have the equipment and experience hosting such events, set everything up and the girls raced away.

Photo of winners submitted by Matt Landers. Alexandrea Mann, first place, Bianca Gregory, 2nd, and Casey Tatarka, 3rd.

The vehicles filled with electronic waste were lined up and down Route 5 this morning, and by this afternoon, trailers were stuffed and bins were gorged with has-beens of the Digital Age, all destined to appropriate recycling facilities rather than a landfill.

The event outside the county's Social Services building was organized by Assemblyman Steve Hawley and his staff with a heaping trove of help from the Batavia High School Track Team.

Angelina Miconi, a Batavia High School student, was announced this morning as winner of the annual Congressional Art Contest for New York's 27th District, represented by Chris Collins.

Miconi was tops among 85 entrants (more than 30 attended today) from high schools throughout the district.

While each district in the United States has 750,000 residents, Collins said the NY-27th has one of the highest participation rates in the contest. Some districts get as few as 10 entries, he said.

The winning pictures will be displayed in the halls of Congress for the next 12 months and Miconi and a parent will be flown to Washington, D.C., for an art show opening.

The reception today was held at Genesee Community College.

City fire has responded to an automatic fire alarm in the basement of Building E at Park Site Manor Apartments, 541 E. Main St., Batavia.

On scene, a chief reports heavy smoke in a utility room.

Engine 11 and Ladder 15 have responded. No other units have been dispatched.

UPDATE 5:23 a.m.: The issue has been dealt with and the assignment is back in service.

It was family night Thursday at the Clarion Hotel in Batavia for a meal, a training demo and a Q&A for the loved ones of incoming recruits.

The NCOs were dressed to the nines in their Class As loaded with ribbons and gold stripes, and the new recruits were polite and professional in their slacks and blue Marine-issued T-shirts, already well schooled in "yes, sir" and "no, sir."

It's all part of a process local Marine recruiters take their future Marines through so they will be better prepared for the rigors of basic training and life in the corps.

For most of the event, the room was quiet and calm, with Marines and family members enjoying a meal together and discussing life in military service.

Then Marine Staff Sgt. Jose F. Garcia, a drill instructor from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, entered the room with a group of five young men who have recently completed basic training. In a flurry of jumps and spins and arm waving, Garcia led the men through a fast-paced demonstration of a training drill.

Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Terry B. Hall, a recruiter instructor for Marine Corps Recruiting Station Buffalo, explained during the Q&A that the purpose of basic training is not only to teach recruits military skills and improve their physical fitness, it's also to rebuild their character and turn them into Marines.

Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Terry B. Hall. 

Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Hendrickson, pool program specialist for Marine Corps Recruiting Station Buffalo.

Marine Capt. Michael A. Kelly, executive officer for Marine Corps Recruiting Station Buffalo. 

SSgt. Stephen Porter, a decorated Iraq combat veteran, runs the Batavia recruit station.

Below, photo and caption provided by the Marine Corps.

Parents of Marine Pfc. Maria A. Inzinca, pin on chevrons during her promotion ceremony at the conclusion of Marine Corps Recruiting Sub Station Batavia’s annual Family Night at the Clarion Hotel in Batavia. Inzinca is a native of Bergen and will serve the Marine Corps as an embarkation specialist. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher O’Quin.) 

Police are out with a tractor trailer that has broken down on Walnut Street in the right turn lane onto Law Street.

The rear ties are locked up.

No ETA when the obstruction will be clear.

New York Times: Ted Cruz Is Fuming Because John Kasich Won’t Bow Out

Hannah C. Dibble is not the "party girl of Pembroke" she once was, her attorney Ben Bonarigo told Judge Micheal F. Pietruzka, in County Court this morning before Pietruzka sentenced Dibble to six months in jail and five years probation for a drunken-driving accident that claimed the life of Alyson D. Krzanak.

Krzanak was an 18-year-old GCC student who hoped to become a Special Ed teacher.

The 23-year-old Dibble, who has gone from a California blonde to a bookish brunette since her last court appearance, told Piertuzka how sorry she was She apologized to Krzanak's family, her family, the families of the other accident victims, the community and any others hurt by her poor decision of Feb. 21, 2015.

Dibble was supposed to be the designated driver that night.

Bonarigo said when he first met with Dibble after the accident, he wasn't sure she really comprehended what she had done, her culpability in the accident. He said he was then "a doubting Thomas."

But as Dibble has proceeded through months of rehabilitation, much of it at her own insistence that she needed more work, through in-patient care to halfway houses and support facilities, he's seen Dibble come to grips with her own actions and reach the level of remorse where she wishes she could go back and if not undo what happened, at least trade places with Krzanak.

This morning's hearing opened with Alyson's parents, Dave and Renee Krzanak, delivering victim impact statements.

Both said Alyson was a joy, a friend, a talented and special person who had much to give the world. Dave said his wife still wakes up at night sometimes crying. He said he thinks about the fact that he will never walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day, see her graduate, have children, become a teacher.

Renee said Alyson was a miracle baby. After years of trying to conceive, she was about to undergo a fertility treatment when a doctor told her he couldn't do the treatment. She was already three days pregnant.  If the doctor hadn't noticed that little embryo, Alyson wouldn't have been born.

They always knew Alyson would be special.

"She excelled at everything she tried," Renee said.

"People don't understand what it's like to lose a child until you lose your child," Dave said. "It's a sadness you can't imagine."

Renee said she last spoke to Alyson about 11:30 the night of the accident. 

"Whatever you're doing, be safe," Renee said she told her daughter.

"I'll be safe," Alyson said. "I have a driver."

Alyson trusted her friend, Hannah C. Dibble, Dave and Renee said, and it was a trust misplaced.

"We don't hate Hannah Dibble," Dave said. "We hate the choice she made."

Dibble drove her 1997 Chevrolet Geo across Route 20 coming off Molasses Hill Road in Bethany and it was slammed into by a semi-truck.

Not only was Krzanak killed, three others suffered serious physical injuries: James Scherer, 21, Brandon Danser, 22, and Felecia J. Fazzio, 20.

Assistant DA Will Zickl said through getting to know Dave and Renee as he took them through the mundane legal process of prosecuting Dibble, he came to understand who Alyson was as a person.

"These are fine people," he said.

Their grace and understanding he said were a reflection of the grace and understanding Alyson would want shown to Dibble, which is why there was eventually a plea deal that would cap Dibble's maximum possible sentence to six months in jail and five years probation.

Pietruzka wasn't on the Genesee County bench for any of the prior hearings in the case and as he reviewed the court documents and notes last week, he said he was initially puzzled as to why Noonan agreed to such a seemingly light sentence in such a serious case.

"Now I understand as difficult as that commitment was, it was made after much discussion and consideration and in appreciation of Alyson and who she was as a person," Pietruzka said.

After signing court documents, Dibble was escorted, without handcuffs, from the courtroom, by a deputy. Officially, she's in the custody of the Sheriff's Office, but since the county jail is unable to house female prisoners, she will be transferred to another, as yet undetermined, county jail to serve her six-month term.

Dibble said she hopes to continue her rehabilitation and education and eventually enter the medical profession.

"I take full responsibility for what happened that night," Dibble said. "It's very clear to me what I must do. Every step I make in recovery, I dedicate to her. I must make sure everything in my life changes for the better and everything I do and have done will be in Alyson's name."

A two-car accident with injuries, including a possible head injury, is reported at 8244 Batavia-Stafford Town Line Road. Town of Batavia Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding. The location is near R. Stephen Hawley Drive.

UPDATE 8:59 a.m.: A second Mercy ambulance is called in, non-emergency mode.

Sixty Minutes: Privacy, weekend leave, keys...This is prison? (video, autoplay)

From our news partner, 13WHAM.

Exhibitors said there was a steady stream of people coming through the Chamber of Commerce's Home Show today at Falleti Ice Arena in Batavia, and that had them in pretty good spirits.

Here's a quick photo tour of some of the activity today.

Doors are open tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

More pictures after the jump:

A car has reportedly hit a utility pole and wires are down in the area of 6071 Ellicott Street Road, Bethany.

No injuries are reported, but Mercy EMS is dispatched as a precaution.

Bethany fire and Stafford fire dispatched.

UPDATE 9 a.m.: Bethany and Stafford, back in service.

A 23-year-old woman was transported to UMMC with a complaint of right knee pain after a two-car accident shortly after 6 p.m. at Jackson and Ellicott streets, Batavia.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Traffic was impeded for about 30 minutes.

The woman had a passenger in her van who was uninjured and the other driver was not injured.

Batavia PD, Batavia fire and Mercy EMS responded.

Late this afternoon, vendors were busy putting together the final touches on their booths for the annual home show at Falleti Ice Arena.

The home show, brought to you by the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, opens at 5 p.m. today and continues tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday.

There are about 70 exhibitors with goods and services designed to help you make home life better, beautiful or more efficient. For more information, visit the Chamber's Web site.