A large mulch pile is smoldering on city property north of the Sheriff's Office, which is located at 165 Park Road. City fire is on scene.

UPDATE 6:23 p.m.: A firefighter aboard Engine 11 says "We're going to call it a steaming pile of mulch. We're returning to service."

If you're a vegetable processing company, "growth" better be your favorite word.

It's a word tossed around dozens of times today during an open house for local officials and regional media at Bonduelle's facility in Bergen.

The family-run, France-based firm purchased the plant, along with plants in Oakfield and Brockport, from Allen Foods in March 2012.

It was a strategic purchase. Bonduelle, which specializes in packaging frozen vegetables under the labels of retailers, sees the United States as a place to grow and the Northeast as suitable target market.

Company executives made four trips to Allen's facilities and decided the plants were under-utilized but were in great locations with great employees, said Daniel Viefaure, CEO of Bonduelle Americas.

"When we visited the plants, what we saw were people eager for improvement," Viefaure said. "They were working under a company that was not as eager for growth as we were and the employees realized that. When they saw we were visiting, they were really interested and I got the feeling that they were the right people to do what we really wanted to do."

To date, Bonduelle has invested for $5.5 million in the four former Allen plants (there's also one in Wisconsin), including $3.5 million in the Bergen facility.

Bonduelle was so eager to grow in its first year that it applied for -- but didn't use because the timing wasn't right -- a $250,000 state grant through the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

While Allen was reportedly losing money on the facilities it sold to Bonduelle, Viefaure said his company was profitable its first year of operations.

The company plans to continue growing its WNY operations and Vielfaure said Bonduelle will likely seek out future assistance from GCEDC to assist with that growth.

Steve Hyde, CEO of GCEDC, said Bonduelle is a great success story for Genesee County, helping to shore up the vegetable end of the county's food processing industry.

“This is a game changer,” Hyde said. “The companies that owned this plant previously were really allowing it to decline and they weren’t investing and they weren’t growing, and now what you see is a 180 (degree change).”

The move into WNY by Bonduelle has certainly had a big impact on its employees in Bergen and Oakfield, who were on the cusp of unemployment under Allen. Bonduelle made a point of retaining the 69 year-around employees at the two plants.

The facilities also employ 188 seasonal workers.

Currently, the Bergen facility processes 107 million pounds of corn, carrots, beans and peas, said James Newcomb, facilities manager for Bonduelle.

Newcomb has 42 years experience working for the companies that roll up into the history of the Bonduelle plants.

On one of the tours today, Newcomb repeatedly emphasized the great care for quality Bonduelle has instilled in the plants, making equipment upgrades, improving training and ensuring only the best produce is purchased from family farms within 75 miles of the plants.

"Our customers were asking for more product, but we didn't have the capacity," Viefaure said. "Our customers are very happy to buy more product from us. They are experiencing growth and they needed more vegetables."

Among Bonduelle's clients is Wegmans, which Viefaure said is a great customer for Bonduelle because of Wegmans insistence on quality vegetables for its brand-name frozen foods.

"Wegmans is a state-of-the-art company," Viefaure said.

While Viefaure did not discuss today the specific expansion plans for his company, he did make clear the company is looking to grow its market share in the Northeast and that will mean expansion in Bergen and Oakfield.

James Newcomb demonstrating how corn kernals are stripped from the cob.

A worker sorting through kernals of cut corn, picking out imperfections. Newcomb said this was his first job in the industry and said it's one of the hardest jobs in the plant.

A fight involving several people is reported in front of 55 Mill St. Le Roy police are responding. The caller said the brawlers are "rolling around on the ground."

MoonJava Cafe will host a book signing for new sci-fi author, Kelda Wells and her first book, "The Whole Story." This one-time event will take place on Thursday, September 19th from 2 to 7 p.m.

With her first novel, Ms.Well's book dives into the complexities of time and space exploration as well as spinning a gripping tale that will keep you on the edge until the very end. The book is available as paperback, hardcover and e-book.

MoonJava cafe is located on 56 Harvester Ave., Batavia, NY.

For more information please call (585) 356-3817. Vist us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Moonjavacafe

The woman who rented the lower apartment at 139 Bank St. in the City of Batavia is believed to have abandoned her dog after moving out. A neighbor called dispatch to report that the dog has been in the vacant residence for at least two days. An officer responded to the scene.

Smoke is reported in the residence at 24 Platt Ave., Le Roy.

Le Roy fire and Le Roy ambulance responding.

UPDATE 12:52 p.m.: The smoke is related to some sort of sewer work going on in the village. Le Roy fire standing down. A Le Roy chief informs dispatchers, "we may have a lot more of these in the coming weeks."

UPDATE 2:02 p.m.: The same kind of situation may be responsible for a call about smoke in the residence at 7 Elm St. Le Roy fire is asked to stand by in quarters until the chief confirms it.

UPDATE 2:09 p.m.: The chief confirmed this incident is also due to the ongoing sewer work. The Le Roy assignment is back in service.

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A car vs. school bus accident is reported in front of Dunn Tire store at 140 W. Main St. in the city. The bus has no passengers. There are no injuries. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

From WBTA

Tom Turnbull, publisher of the Batavia Daily News, will become the new president of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

He replaces retiring Lynn Freeman, who steps down at the end of the month.

Freeman, 70, announced his retirement in June saying he wanted to do other things.

Turnbull has been publisher of the Daily News in Batavia since 2002. He holds a master's degree from the State University at Buffalo.

An inmate at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center has not eaten for 55 days, according to a caller to dispatch, and an ambulance is called to the facility at 4250 Federal Drive in the Town of Batavia.

The man is said to have "a severe sickness" due to "an apparent hunger strike." Because a Mercy rig is not available, an ambulance from Byron is responding.

UPDATE 11:51 a.m.: Byron is standing down and Mercy is now responding.

UPDATE 12:28 p.m.: The 28-year-old is being taken to UMMC.

UPDATE 3:50 p.m. (by Howard): We're trying to get more information on this situation and have been in touch with a spokesman for ICE. We can say at this point, it's 55 (or 50) meals, NOT days. More information to come, assuming it becomes available.

Town of Bethany residents heard for the first time Thursday night details from Department of Transportation officials on their plans to build a roundabout at Suicide Corners.

There were dozens of citizens in the room. None seemed to favor the roundabout proposal, even after a stats-packed presentation by the state's leading specialist on roundabouts.

"Yeah, something needs to be done, but I don't believe spending that much money is the way to go," said resident Jeff Bloomberg. "I think there are cheaper alternatives."

DOT officials said they looked at all of the alternatives -- from rumble strips to four-way stops -- and concluded a roundabout, at a cost of $2.6 million, is the only solution that addresses all of the issues that have contributed to so many accidents at the intersection.

Where East Road and Route 20 meet, there is a hill to the west that provides less than ideal visibility while a driver looking to the east can see for up to a mile.

Ironically, nearly all the crashes involve cars and trucks coming from the east.

"People get fixated on the hill and even though they can see a mile down the road (to the east), they miss the car 100 feet away," said DOT Project Engineer Eric Thompson (inset photo).

For the study period, going back to the 1990s, there have been 36 total crashes at the intersection and three fatal accidents. There have been 18 right-angle crashes (meaning cross traffic) and 14 of those have involved westbound vehicles.

The agency has tried widening the intersection, adding more signs and adding bigger signs, but nothing, Thompson said, has really improved the intersection much.

There isn't much you can do about inattentive drivers other than slow them down and lessen the chances of right-angle impacts, officials said.

A roundabout does that.

Rich Schell (second photo), the state's roundabout specialist, said that on a nationwide basis, roundabouts have reduced accidents where they've been installed by nearly 40 percent. The number of injury crashes by 76 percent and the number of fatal accidents by 89 percent.

Colorado is one of the nation's leaders, with 200 roundabouts now, in installing such intersections.

Schell referred repeatedly a DOT-installed roundabout in Mendon. The intersection, like Suicide Corners, is rural and involves a heavily trafficked highway with a lot of truck traffic.

During one woman's comments, Schell again pointed to the Mendon roundabout and the woman snapped, "I'm tired of hearing about Mendon. Let's talk about here."

"Well, I like to talk about success," Schell said.

The most serious accidents at Route 20 and East Road involve either northbound cars blowing right through the intersection or making a rolling stop and then continuing.

Only a roundabout, Schell said, addresses both of those issues.

Schell played a video of at least a dozen accidents at intersections that had red light cameras installed. Repeatedly, cars didn't even slow as they approached the red light, even with tractor-trailers in their path or four or five cars crossing in front of them.

"Red light cameras do not save lives," Schell said.

There's simply no device that can be installed at an intersection that solves the problem of distracted drivers. 

"Everybody has had the experience of driving through an intersection and saying, 'Damn, I just ran a red light,' " Schell said. "A roundabout demands your attention and that is what's needed at this intersection."

Rumble strips might slow drivers, but that still doesn't mean they will be as attentive as they should be at the intersection. Rumble strips would not have saved the driver in one accident at the intersection who came to a rolling stop before proceeding.

Many area residents who have seen the roundabout at Oak Street question the raised red-brick median in the middle of the intersection. People have called it a design flaw and implied it's not well thought out.

The raised center serves a very important purpose, Schell explained after the meeting.

"That's important to keep cars from straightening out the curve and going 40 miles per hour through there," Schell said. "Curves dictate speed. There's a direct relationship. People don't like to hear their tires squeal, so putting a curb out there allows trucks to still get through but deflects cars and lowers their speed. Lowering speed is what it's all about."

Slower cars give drivers a better chance at driving defensively and more reaction time to avoid drivers who are ignoring the rules of the road, Schell said.

Even after Schell's presentation and a more than 30 minute question and answer period, the public speakers were uniformly opposed to the roundabout proposal.

"I am dismayed that the only solution that seems to be, at least according to the NY DOT, is a roundabout," said County Legislator Esther Leadley.

There was a sense, people said, that the decision has already been made.

"I think this meeting has been educational and it's got a lot of information," Frank Morris said. "I do think the DOT has turned a blind eye to everything but a roundabout. This meeting is just a formality. Your minds were all made up before we came in here. The input we put in here tonight, I don't believe it was welcomed and I don't believe it was taken seriously."

To some degree the very proposal of a roundabout can be traced back to a petition Tom and Debbie Douglas passed around several years ago.

And that's ironic, Tom Douglas (top photo) noted, because if the roundabout is built, it is his home that will be destroyed.

A firefighter, Douglas is all about safety, but he doesn't believe a roundabout is the logical next step for the DOT, not before rumble strips are tried.

"A simple solution, that I brought to you before, is rumble strips," Douglas said. "In 2004, I was standing right outside, on my front law and I watched that vehicle on East Road. I could see them. I heard the Jake brake. They were talking, having a conversation. They never even touched a brake. A rumble strip would have woken them up."

The couple has raised five children in their more than 200-year-old home. Even though DOT officials promise to do everything possible to find them a suitable replacement home to their liking, that's easier said than done, Douglas noted after the meeting.

He likes older homes, but doesn't want to repeat the massive amount of restoration work and expense he's already put into his house.

The house was once a road stop for weary travelers on historic Route 20.

Dave Carley, a town resident and architect noted that Route 20 was once the longest continuous highway in the nation. It's history goes back even further than English settlements.

The former tavern is more than just a building inconveniently located for new construction.

"It is a piece of our historical heritage in our town," Carley said. "(Tearing it down is) one of the things that happen and continues to happen across the country that we should not allow to happen. It's a beautiful old building."

UPDATE: There is a Facebook group now, Save the Douglas Home in East Bethany.

Dave Fleenor

A two-car accident with possible minor injuries is reported at Route 77 and Route 5, Pembroke.

Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments responding along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 8:29 a.m.: The accident is not blocking and there may be no injuries.

UPDATE 8:30 a.m.: There is at least one person with injuries being treated.

This cottontail no sooner emerged from dense cover when it rose up on its hind legs to sample the green growth from which it came......

but rather than opting for fresh greens, it chooses some brown drying growth - not that it matters, for this is but an appetizer. His main course is waiting beneath the apple tree.

Regardless of the season, there is never a shortage of furry visitors to our yard and this time of year, be it rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel or woodchuck, they all come to feast on the apples.  

Unlike the rabbits and woodchucks, this red squirrel isn't limited to dining on the ground. I'm sure he would much rather have pine cones from a Norway spruce but he's learned to take what he can get. And speaking of woodchucks, that green growth in the background is a travel corridor, so to speak.....

it's one of my wife's flower beds and the woodchuck uses it for cover. Here he's slinking past the ferns and hostas on the way to his dinner. Once he's sure the coast is clear, he'll waddle out into the open and grab an apple. If undisturbed, he will then stand on his haunches and begin gnawing away.

Join us for a tea party on September 21st at 11 a.m. The courtesy of a reply is requested by September 13 due to limited seating. For tickets please call or visit us online at: www.SweetEcstasyBakery.com. We're located at 201 E. Main St. -- Batavia (Bank Street Entrance). (585) 813-3652

Workers have begun resurfacing the city-owned School Street parking lot. The area has been milled and cleaned and new asphalt will be laid soon, weather permitting.

The council approved the $30,000 project Monday.

Press release:

The Alabama Town Clerk and Assessor offices will be closed Tuesday, Sept. 17 and Thursday, Sept. 19 for paving of the parking lot. The offices will reopen on Monday, Sept. 19.

Click here to Like Kreative Design Kitchen & Bath on Facebook and register for the contest.

With all six of his starters returning from last year, Jeremy Mettler thinks the Batavia volleyball team can make a good run at a sectional title this season.

In his 14th year as head coach of the varsity squad, Mettler described his team as scrappy, one  that makes opponents work for their points.

That attitude was certainly on display Wednesday night when the Blue Devils fought back from seven-point deficit to force the rubber match into an extra-point ending.

Even in the loss there was a measure of victory because Mettler said he purposefully set up his girls with a tough early season schedule to better prepare them for sectional play.

Hilton, last night's opponent, is a bigger school with some taller players and heavy hitters.

"The best moment of the game was, when we switched sides in the volleyball game we were down 13-6 and at one point we were down 21-14 and we fought back and took them to 26-24," Mettler said. "It just shows this team is not going to give up. They're going to scrap and make you earn every point you get."

Last night's scores (Batavia in bold): 11-25, 25-18, 25-20, 14-25, 26-24.

Batavia's record so far on the season 2-2 overall, but 2-0 in their division.

Mettler said he teaches his players to be aggressive servers and that was on display in the final match when Ashlee Yasses and Tessa Engel each went on five-point runs.

"That's the kind of thing I look for my team to do," Mettler said. "I expect them to get at least three points every serve."

Mettler said Tessa Engel and Haley Case were hitting the ball from the outside well and Madison McCulley made some key kills.

"Bri Mazurkiewicz came off the bench to start a nice run in game four," Mettler said. "It's nice to get kids coming off the bench that contribute right away and help quite a bit."

Batavia has three tough games coming up: at Spencerport on Friday, Brockport at home on Monday and then a rematch with Honeoye Falls-Lima -- the team that knocked Batavia out of sectionals last year -- at home one week from today. Game time for home matches is 6 p.m.

Batavia plays in the Monroe County League in Division 4.

Here are the standings in the Genesee County League -- Division 1: Pembroke (3-0), Notre Dame (2-0), Byron-Bergen (2-0), Alexander (2-1) and Attica (1-1). Oakfield-Alabama leads Division 2 with a record of 1-1. Le Roy, in the Livingston County League, has no league record and is 2-1 overall to lead its division and Pavilion, also in Livingston County's league, leads its division with a 3-0 record.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Kristen L. Brightenfield, of South Byron, and James M. Kavanagh, 23, of Chili, are charged with one count each of burglary, 3rd and grand larceny, 4th. Brightenfield and Kavanagh were arrested following a lengthy investigation by Le Roy PD into a burglary in April 2012 at the old Jell-O Factory, 57 North St., Le Roy.

John O'Shea was arrested for the burglary shortly after it occurred and is currently serving a sentence in State Prison. Brightenfield and Kavanagh are accused of being accomplices. Investigators executed a search warrant at a location in Monroe County and allegedly recovered stolen property. DNA evidence linking Brightenfield and Kavanagh to the crime was also reportedly found at the scene. Both suspects were arraigned and released on their own recognizance.

Rachel Lynne Chatley, 18, of Angling Road, Corfu, is charged with petit larceny. Chatley and a 17-year-old friend (name withheld by the Sheriff's Office) are accused of shoplifting $115.55 worth of merchandise from Walmart.

Christopher John Naugle, 44, of Appletree Avenue, Bergen, is charged with harassment, 2nd, and unlawful possession of marijuana. Naugle is accused of throwing a lit cigarette at another person and hitting that person in the face with it. During the investigation, Naugle was allegedly found in possession of marijuana and a pipe with marijuana inside of it. Naugle was jailed on $300 bail.

Buffalo News