Alexander John Delahanty, 20, of 29 Woodstock Lane, Brockport, is charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument. During a traffic stop in Bergen at 6:10 p.m., Sunday, by Deputy Matthew Butler, Delahanty was allegedly found in possession of a fake Colorado driver's license.

Accidents reported on the state police blotter:

12:55 p.m., Feb. 14, Broadway, Town of Darien, two vehicles; Driver 1: Scott R. Dalba, 44, of Oakfield; Driver 2: Steve M. Trader, 35, of Attica. One reported injury.

2:30 p.m., Feb. 14, Phelps Road, North Pembroke, one vehicle; Driver 1: Joseph A. Dicenso, 49, of Oakfield. No injuries.

11: 32 p.m., Feb. 14, E. Main and Ross streets, City of Batavia, two vehicles; Driver 1: Charles A. Ledger, 21, of Medina; Driver 2: Thomas E. Wolfe, 32, of Batavia. No injuries.

 In times of a tough economy, there is only one way to find a guaranteed job; you have to create it and that’s just what current Genesee Community College student and the college's CEO Club President, 20 year old Tim Walton did.

During the summer of 2007, Tim was going into his senior year at Batavia High School and had a busy schedule ahead since he was the captain of the Batavia Ice Devils varsity hockey team and school mayor. This left a lot of responsibility but not a lot of time to hold a job.

After a childhood where Walton had owned a lemonade stand at age 8, on Meadowbrook Golf Course, managed the ice rink sound booth since age 12, and owned a web based business at age 16, Walton always had the mindset to be his own boss. “I knew that when I got older, I wanted to sell things, own my own business, and be creative with it at the same time”. That was when Walton, who has always been artistic, decided to explore graphic design and jobs that go along with that. “I thought to myself; I like designing things, why not design stuff to put onto shirts and mugs?”  He then contacted a local print company to print clothing and other companies to print the promotional (pens, mugs, etc) wholesalers that would print the products for him, and allow him to resell them to his customer at the retail value. This is when Walton, officially launched his home based, yet professional, TopLine Shirt Company.

While selling products for the wholesalers, Walton, who was self taught in the graphic design field, secured a contract job as the graphic artist for one of the local screen printing shops, which gave him the edge in learning the industry and a steady cash flow. Being dedicated to what he was doing, Walton wanted to expand what he did, and not rely on others to print his orders. After not taking a personal pay check for the months during the start of his business, Walton saved all the money and purchased one of the only digital printers in Western New York, which allows for full color prints on clothing. “Digital printing basically dyes the image into the fabric. It’s especially beneficial for low-minimum orders, lots of colors and photos”. This was a niche that gained Walton a large advantage over the other screen printing and print shops. “It replaced the old method of applying heat sealed photos that eventually just crackle off”, he said. “For me it was something I could be proud of. I made my mark on the local industry and it was showing that I could do whatever I put my mind to”. 

For Walton, this was the niche that he needed. Within six months, Walton had picked up so much business that he was finding he needed to stay up all night at times, printing to fulfill his orders. Six months later, Walton had saved to expand once again and bought his own screen printing equipment. “When I got my screen printing equipment, I finally felt as though I was a complete shop”. Walton’s screen printing equipment allows him to print up to 300 shirts per hour, as well as other materials such as jackets, sweatshirts, bags and much more. “If you come to me to get something printed, I can either print it myself or I have a wholesaler to do it”. This one-stop shop mentally along with Walton’s marketing/business background have allowed him to quickly make an impact on the local market, while securing customers from Pennsylvania and Ohio and as far as Florida, Texas, California and even Canada.

 “I started by selling items other people printed, now I am the one doing the printing for people that want to sell what I do. It’s really exciting to know that all my hard work is finally beginning to payoff."

Walton currently does not have a store front, which has been beneficial, although he states that is currently in the works, and operates out of his house as well as a warehouse shop that his friend’s family allows him to use. “Keeping my fixed costs low allows me to bring high quality products to my customers at a lower price.” To place orders or for more information, you can contact him on his business cell phone at (585) 813-4374, email twalton@mytopline.com or through his website at www.mytopline.com.

Did you enjoy the sun today? Good. Because you're not likely to see it for at least four or five days.

Snow returns tonight, with less of an inch of accumulation, and then another inch expected in the morning, with some bit of snow predicted for each of the next three days.

Temperatures will range from the low 20s at night to the low to mid 30s during the days.

Above: I wanted to play around with some low-light photography. Even so, I got a late start. I drove out toward Alexander on Route 98, turned right on Dodson and found this cemetery with a barn in the distance.

At what point is the City of Batavia responsible to replace my garbage can because it was hit by a car again when it was not placed away from the edge of the curb on a windy day?  I leave the house before the trash collector arrive and I return after 4 sometimes after 10 pm on garbage day.  I can't be there to take my can back up.  But you can bet that if I put a bunch of bricks in the bottom so it can't blow away I would get a citation for something. 

Replacing my can every 3 months is getting ridiculous.  Either let us get cans like Suburban Disposal that a heavy enough not to blow away except in the worst storms and get a lift on the trucks, or come up with some other solution before I bill the city.

Gigi Dombrowski pushes son Dane, 3, down the snow covered slope of Centennial Park this afternoon. With the sun out and temperatures in the 30s, it was a great day to snowboard in the park.

Below, Devon, 6, and Angelique, 5, who were in the park with their grandfather Wayne Hintz (not pictured), take their own ride.

The future of the Batavia Elks Lodge, #950, hangs in the balance, but could be decided as soon as tomorrow, according to Ruler of the Elks, Timothy Garlock.

"We need to reorganize and shape up," Garlock said. "Some folks will not be in the same positions. We can't do the same things we did prior to closing and that's the bottom line."

As The Batavian first reported Saturday, the local Elks Lodge had its charter revoked for a reported problem with complying with Grand Lodge requirements.

Kenneth Burns, one of the three trustees appointed to oversee the lodge, said he wanted to stress that there is no allegation of misappropriation of funds or anything similar.

"I don't want any rumors started against these guys," Burns said.

He characterized the Grand Lodge revoking the local charters as merely an administrative matter.

Like Garlock, he doesn't know what's ahead for Lodge #950.

"I"m not really in a position to say much," Burns said. "It (the closing) could be temporary. It could be long term. It could never (open again)."

Garlock said the lodge has been operating in sound financial shape, paying all of its bills and it has money in the bank. He said it has 210 members.

"We continue to have an impact on the local community," Garlock said. "Like a lot of volunteer organizations these days, we could stand for a few more bodies, but times are what they are."

Among the Elks' charitable activities is a recently completed free-throw basketball tournament and there are local students currently having essays judged in a national Elks scholarship contest.

Garlock also confirmed that the Elks building at 213 E. Main St. is owned by the Grand Lodge and not the local lodge.

Garlock said he could know Lodge #950's fate as soon as tomorrow.

Charles M. Blatt, III, 47, of 317 E. Main St., upper, Batavia, is charged with harassment 2nd and disorderly conduct. Blatt is accused of becoming disruptive at 9:15 p.m. on Saturday inside Batavia Downs Casino. When he was approached by security personnel, he allegedly attempted to strike a security officer. He also allegedly became verbally abusive. He's also accused of flipping over a security desk. Blatt was jailed on $1,500 bail.

James A. Hancock, 40, of 8289 Lewiston Road, Batavia, is charged with harassment 2nd and criminal contempt 1st. Hancock is accused of going to his ex-girlfriend's house on Elm Street on Feb. 4 and hitting her in the head. In doing so, Hancock allegedly violated an order of protection that prohibited contact with the ex-girlfriend and to engage in no offensive conduct. Hancock was jailed without bail.

Sidney M. Jonathan, 44, of 6988 Meadville Road, Basom, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, improper left turn, failure to yield half the roadway, operating with a cell phone, unregistered motor vehicle, uninspected motor vehicle and aggravated unlicensed operation. Jonathan was reportedly involved in a property damage accident at 12:14 a.m., Saturday, at the intersection of Judge and Poodry roads.

Timothy J. Stephens, 28, of 3 Norris Ave., Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and moving from lane unsafely. Stephens was reportedly stopped by Officer Kevin DeFelice at 1:47 a.m., Saturday.

Kernardo R. Fields, 19, of 67 Walden Creek Drive, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Fields was cited by Officer Dan Coffey at 2:10 a.m., Saturday.

Sath P. Dhanda, 29, of 5458 Clapsaddle Road, Bethany, is charged with disorderly conduct. At 10:48 p.m., Thursday, Dhanda was reportedly at Larry's Steakhouse, 60 Main St., Batavia, when he allegedly caused a disturbance by shouting obscenities in a public place. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Joseph C. Barone, 30, of 317 E. Main St., Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and unsafe backing. Barone was reportedly involved in a minor accident at 1:10 a.m., Saturday, on Route 33 in Bergen.

William R. Crosby, Jr., 29, of 2717 Marshall Road, Medina, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and inadequate tail lamp. Crosby was stopped by Deputy Chris Parker at 11:14 p.m., Saturday on Route 77 in Alabama. Crosby was allegedly found in possession of a pipe and a grinder and both allegedly had marijuana in them.

Teresa Ka Yan Tam, 26, of 416 Lafayette Ave., Buffalo, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Ka Yan Tam was stopped at 1:35 a.m., Saturday, by Deputy James Diehl on Route 5 in Pembroke for allegedly speeding.

Michael W. Smith, 31, of Batavia, is charged with assault 3rd. Smith was arrested by State Police at 11:32 a.m., Saturday, in the Town of Batavia. No further details were released.

Andrew L. Kosiorek, 38, of Batavia, is charged with DWI, unlawful possession of marijuana and aggravated unlicensed operation. Kosiorek was apparently involved in a  traffic accident (no details provided) and was arrested by state police at 12:19 a.m., Sunday.

Matthew C. Cardinale, 30, of 18 Miller St., Seneca Falls, is charged with disorderly conduct. Cardinale allegedly caused a disturbance in the bar of the Holiday Inn at 2:10 a.m., Monday. Cardinale was allegedly swearing in public and refused to listen to hotel staff. After deputies arrived, they told Cardinale to leave the bar and he reportedly would not comply, and continued to swear in public, "causing alarm and annoyance." Cardinale was jailed on $500 bail.

Nocole Kate Hagadorn, 31, of 18 Miller St. Seneca Falls, is charged with disorderly conduct. Hagadorn was arrested at 2:39 a.m., Monday, in the lobby of the Holiday Inn for allegedly causing a disturbance. Hagadorn was jailed on $500 bail.

Anthony Christopher Sistrunk, 19, of 309 E. Glen Ave., Syracuse, is charged with menacing 3rd and harassment 2nd. At 11:52 p.m., Sunday, deputies responded to an alleged physical domestic fight at College Village. Sistrunk was arrested and charged with the listed offenses.

Accidents from the state police blotter:

2:20 p.m., Feb. 13, Bloomingdale Road, Alabama, two vehicles; Driver 1: Jacob J. Everett, 29, of Williamsville; Driver 2: Laura L. Vosburgh, 30, of Lancaster. No injuries reported.

12:58 p.m., Feb. 11, Asbury Road, Town of Le Roy, one vehicle; Driver 1: Jordan D. Boyd, 17, of Le Roy. No injuries reported.

A number of local landlords are deeply concerned over the Batavia City Council's decision a week ago to deny Michael Pullinzi the chance to buy a piece of property he won at city auction.

The 5-4 vote punctuates a growing frustration with the code-inspection process, which they say puts an unfair burden on the landlords without holding tenants accountable.

Jeremy Yasses (pictured), an Oakfield resident who owns eight properties in the city, as well as several other tenant-occupied buildings outside of Batavia, describes himself as a budding entrepreneur who is trying to build a real estate business.

The 13 citations mentioned by the council against Pullinzi as the reason for denying him the chance to purchase 9 Willow St., is piddling compared to other landlords, according to Yasses. Other landlords, both on and off the record, say much the same thing.

Yasses, for his part, readily admits to getting between 40 and 50 citations a year from city inspectors.

Almost all of them, if not all of them, are for things tenants have done.

And that's the problem, according to Yasses. Tenants are not held accountable, so there's no motivation for them to change. If a tenant puts his garbage out on Wednesday, Yasses gets a notice, so he goes and picks it up on Thursday to correct the violation. Then the same thing happens the next week, and the next.

"Did we get to the root of the problem?" Yasses asks.

"I own the property. I’m held accountable," said Yasses. "I’m not passing the buck, but have the tenant standing right there next to me (in court). That’s how you hold them accountable."

Terry Platt, who operates one of the largest residential rental businesses in the city, said he's no stranger to receiving violation notices for things tenants have done, and he's concerned, also, that the current system isn't really helping to address the problem.

"There's no tenant responsibility," said Platt, who also serves on the city's Neighborhood Improvement Committee (NIC). "We can kick them out, but if they move out, they just move to someplace else in the city and do the same thing over again. How is the city going to clean up the city if there is no tenant accountability?"

(Point of disclosure: Platt is my landlord.)

From the city's perspective, the only option is to hold the landlords accountable. They're the ones who own the property and the only recourse for the city is to cite property owners for any problems outside a house or apartment.

City Council President Marianne Clattenburg said residents want to live in a cleaner city and the citations landlords receive is, at least in part, just the cost of doing business.

"We really don't have a lot of recourse as far as the tenant goes," Clattenburg said. "The only person responsible is the property owner. That's just the way the system is."

Clattenburg is no stranger to getting cited for violations she didn't cause. Two years ago, then-City Inspector Mike Smith wrote her up because her garbage can was next to her house, rather than behind it. The notice came, said Clattenburg, on a day the staff was conducting a citywide sweep on code enforcement. Her trash had been picked up that morning and she was at work, when her father-in-law, who lives next door and has health problems, moved her trash can from the street just to help out.

Still, Clattenburg, a school teacher, thinks landlords need to do a better job of policing the conduct of their tenants, perhaps offering incentives, such as rent breaks, for not getting citations.

"The landlords are in business," Clattenburg said. "If it wasn't a business, if they weren't making money, they wouldn't be doing it. Every business has obstacles and faces difficulties. That's just part of owning your own business. You figure out ways to deal with that."

Yes, it is a business, landlords will tell you, and because it is a business, solutions don't come as easily as city officials seem to think they should.

As we spoke while standing in the front room/kitchen of a house the 33-year-old Yasses is rehabilitating on Thorpe, Yasses said the best he could hope for from that piece of property was $250 per month net profit. That's after mortgage, flood insurance and taxes are paid, and only if the tenant paid the water bill and pays rent on time and there was no maintenance on the 100-year-old building.

“That’s not a lot, especially when you look at the fact that I’ve got four vacancies and I just spent five grand here," Yasses said. "If you take all that into account, that’s two years income all right here in one house.”

Meanwhile, he's grappling with the city over a tenant's car that has no license plate. The tenant, Yasses said, is a essentially a single mom (her husband doesn't work) who works part-time at a fast-food place. She can only use her mobile phone for text messages because all she can afford is a $10-per-month plan. She couldn't afford insurance on her car, so she had to remove the license plates. The city cited Yasses and said it needed to be covered with a tarp.

"So I hounded her, 'put a tarp on it, put a tarp on it' because Ron (Panek, city inspector) hounded me, 'put a tarp on it,'" said Yasses. "She went and bought a blue tarp, covered it. It’s not good enough. You need to have a tarp that’s fitted to the car. I didn’t even know that. So Ron goes, 'we’re going to have to go to court then.' I said, ‘fine. We’ll go to court.’

"Now wait a minute," Yasses added. "We paid a guy to make three visits and make two phone calls, and now we’re going to pay the city attorney to take me to court for a tenant’s car? And we’re hurting for money in the city? Maybe we need to tighten up our belts and our shoelaces a little bit and figure out what’s going on. That’s my point – I think we’re wasting some money and we’re just masking the problem"

Yasses thinks city officials and some NIC members don't have enough experience dealing with low-income people to really understand what many landlords are up against.

Eviction, of course, is an option, but it can also be difficult and expensive, especially if a tenant has been paying his rent on time. It begins with $500 in legal fees and ends with cleaning up the apartment (which can be especially costly if the tenant took vengeance on the evicting landlord) and then searching for a new tenant. The process can take months, especially if a good-paying tenant fights the eviction.

And in the end, a landlord may not even have improved his tenant situation.

"The new tenant is going to be the same pool of tenants," Yasses said. "The next tenant is going to be the same quality – and I don’t mean it that way, because they’re good people, just down on their luck – the next tenant isn’t going to be any better than what I had. We need to train them and teach them and hold them accountable, along with us."

City officials, NIC members and his Fifth Ward Representative Kathy Briggs need to come down on Thorpe and meet some of his tenants and see what he's doing to rehabilitate his buildings, Yasses said. He repeated several times that his tenants are good people just having a hard time, and that he's doing everything possible to improve the quality of his holdings as fast as he can in order to attract, hopefully, better tenants. But it takes time and money, he said.

“I’m doing the best I can," Yasses said. "You can’t get anybody decent to come down on Thorpe Street. When I bought this about four years ago, there was a ton of drug activity right here and right next door, bad, bad, bad. I got fed up, thought I could be the hero and forced these landlords to sell me these houses to get rid of the garbage. I can say right now, I have no drugs down here."

The property Yasses owns on Watson, Thorpe and Maple were probably bad investments, Yasses readily admits. He's losing money on them and gets by only because his investments in other jurisdictions are doing well.

And that's part of the problem -- Yasses said he doesn't have issues with municipal officials in other jurisdictions that he has in Batavia.

“I rehabilitated a four-unit in Middleport and they absolutely love it," Yasses said. "I’m putting my money where people appreciate it. ‘Wow, Jeremy, you put a new roof on, you painted, new windows – this looks great.’”

If he could walk away from his Thorpe area properties and take a $10,000 loss on he each, he said he would, but he doesn't have that kind of money. So he's committed to doing the best he can with them. He has no choice.

“I don’t want this to be a negative thing on the city," Yasses said. "The main problem is, you’ve got to have tenant accountability. I’m not the one putting the trash out. I’m not the one with the vehicles. If you really want to change, that’s what we need to do. Not by fining me. You can fine me. I can go before the next judge next Friday (on the car/tarp case)  – I hope he doesn’t take offense if this gets out there – but he could fine me five grand. He could put me in jail. But at the end of the day, the car still isn’t covered or taken care of because we didn't go to the source."

Submitted by Tammy Cassidy:

Oakfield-Alabama Elementary School employees, pictured in their “Fight Like a Girl” T-shirts, show support for Mrs. Esther Goodrich, who is battling breast cancer. Mrs. Goodrich is the wife of the school district’s Director of Special Education, Mike Goodrich. Thanks to elementary school Principal Mark Alexander, teachers and staff enjoyed a dress down day. All proceeds will benefit Genesee Cancer Assistance.

Last week, the Batavia Masons presented Paul and Bridget Ohlson with a $500 check to support their Cara-A-Van Ministries.

"We were proud to be able to make a small contribution to such a worthy cause," said Jim Rosenbeck (handing the check to Paul), Master of Lodge #475 of the Free and Accepted Masons. 

"Our lodge has decided to begin regularly identifying worthy causes within the community to financially support," Rosenbeck added. "With membership in all community service organizations dwindling, we feel that this is one way that we can help make a difference in Batavia."

Five years of training and practice are starting to pay off for Jonathan Fisher, a punter for Oakfield-Alabama Central School.

According to his father, Kurt Fisher, he's been invited to Senior Camps at Division I schools, such as Syracuse, Rutgers, Louisville, W. Virginia and Illinois.

Currently, Fisher is ranked the #1 punter in New York on MaxPreps.com.

"He's put in a lot of time and effort," said Kurt Fisher. "It's nice to see it paying off for him."

This summer Fisher will be attending Senior Camps to showcase his talents in front of college coaching staffs.

He finished the 2009 season with 19 punts for 888 yards and a 46.7-yard punting average.

So far his invites for Junior Days include one on Feb. 20 at the University of Pennsylvania and on Feb. 27 at Syracuse. He'll also be participating in an upcoming session with college coaching staffs in Buffalo.

Fisher is on the verge of striking the big time in college football a season after another O-A product, Matt Waldron, put together a big year as the #1 kicker at Virginia Tech. Waldron made all 58 of his point-after attempts and 20 of his 23 field-goal attempts, with only one of his misses coming within 40 yards. He scored 108 points for the year.

At about 3:40 minutes into this video, you can watch Fisher practice his kicking during half-time of O-A's playoff game at Cal-Mum.

Meet Abigail, a young girl who was found sharing the love of Valentines day with residents of Washington Towers. Her and her grandma Linda were going door to door and sharing Valentines with the residents on this chilly Saturday morning.

Larry Hicks, volunteer of Care-A-Van visits with Margaret

Care-A-Van Ministries stopped by Washington towers to drop off baked goods for the residents  that were donated from a bakery in Alden. Seen here is Paul Ohlson, founder of the ministry helping Ann decide on a treat.

Happy Valentines Day!  May we all have a big heart like Abigal and her Grandma Linda!

A couple of years ago the wine distributor for D&R Depot Restaurant in Le Roy convinced Sean Valdes that he should drop his dream of serving only New York-produced wines.

New York wines are too seasonal, he said. They would be too hard to keep in stock.The wine list would always be changing.

Then about six months ago, another distributor, one based in Batavia, came by and Valdes mentioned his desire to stock only New York wines. This distributor listened and agreed to work with Valdes on coming up a suitable wine list.

"We figured out that we could do year-around reds and year-around whites from New York," Valdes said. "New York wines are seasonal, so we choose larger vineyards and different choices that we could get all year around, but ones that wouldn't be so different -- not the peaches and the apricots -- not my crowd. Pretty much the standards."

And as of Wednesday, D&R Depot is the only restaurant, according to Valdes, outside of the Finger Lakes or Albany, to serve only New York wines.

"Champagne only comes from a certain region of France, otherwise it's sparkling wine, so even our sparking wine is from New York State. It's Goose Watch," Valdes said.

So why go to an all New York wine list? Valdes' answer:

"First, New York has some great wines. We focus on Finger Lakes, but there's a winery in this area. Long Island has a lot of wineries. There's even some in the Adirondacks. I think it's a neat thing. It's a niche market. It's always good to be local and it's what we strive for anyway, so this is a neat thing to fit in with that. And they're different. Even the riesling that you get from New York has a little bit different flavor than you would get from California or France or Australia. It's something different to offer our customers and it's been a big hit so far."

Some of the wines on the list include Fox Run Chardonnay from Penn Yan, Glenora Riesling from Dundee, Thirsty Owl Diamond from Ovid, Brotherhood Pinot Noir from Washingtonville, Heron Hill Game Bird Red from Hammondsport and Knapp Superstition from Romulus.

Pictured above with a selection of their wines are Valdes and Nancy Nickerson.

The Batavia Elks Lodge, #950, has been closed by order of the Grand Trustees of the National Order, according to a letter posted on the door.

A sign in a window says "closed until further notice" and carries a date from yesterday.

The lodge is located at 213 E. Main St., Batavia.

The shut-down notice accuses the local Elks of failing to make required reports and failure to comply with the Elks' auditing and accounting manual.

The letter states that the charter for Lodge #950 has been revoked.

Appointed as trustees of the lodge are Patrick Burns, of Ransomeville, John Ziezeiula, of Lockport, and Kenneth Perry, of Niagara Falls.

The notice informs the local Elks that they are to turn over all items used in ceremonies as well as books, papers and emblems to the trustees.

Local members, according to the notice, can apply to have their membership transferred to other lodges.

(Thank you to a reader for the news tip.)

Hunting. Somebody wanted to know today how the proposed STAMP project in Alabama will impact hunting in the area.

Lonra Klotzbach raised the question and noted, "I'm not sure that in most communities' experience that hunting and the impact of such development makes would be as big as a concern as it is in this area."

"That's a good suggestion," said Roger Person, the consultant heading up the environmental review process for the project. "We are doing a threatened and endangered species assessment, but that's not what you're suggesting, so why don't we add that to our scoping document to consider the impacts on hunting grounds."

Earlier, Klotzbach started a discussion about how today's informational meeting -- and one like it on Thursday -- is not required by the environmental review process.

The purpose of today's meeting, as Person noted, was to better define the scope of what the environmental review will cover, and the hunting question illustrated how such an informational meeting can help the consultants better understand unique local issues.

Legally, the only time public input is required is during a public hearing after the draft environmental impact report is written.

For the STAMP project, the Genesee County Economic Development Center is holding four meetings during the review process -- the one today, one this past Thursday and two while the environmental report is being drafted.

Besides hunting, today's meeting uncovered concerns about storm drainage, the impact on the volunteer fire department, traffic and agriculture, as well as what additional impact further housing development might have.

"I think it's exactly what we expect," said Chad Zambito, spokesman for GCEDC. "Take the first meetings we had here and add these, and I think we've seen an evolution of understanding and a growing trust between residents here, and this is what we want -- we want good, honest, open dialogue."

About 30 people attended today's meeting, and Zambito said about 80 people were at Thursday's meeting.

Genesee County residents who wish provide comments to the environmental review process can write to the WNY STAMP Project c/o GCEDC, One Mill St., Batavia, NY 14020. Comments must be received by March 5.

Previously:

• Three major projects in the pipeline show promise of bringing industry back home
• Keep Alabama rural is local farmer's plea

The Batavia area was blanketed by about an inch of snow over night, and snow will continue through the day, with very little accumulation.

But accumulation tonight should be another one or two inches. By Monday snow showers will turn to flurries.

Temperatures will be in the mid-20s range, with overnight lows dropping below 20 degrees.

Picture: A barn behind a graveyard on Judge Road in Oakfield.

A barn fire is reported at 1156 Route 354 in Attica, located between Alleghany and Burrough roads in Wyoming County. Alexander and Darien are called to respond, including a fast team. Bethany and a unit from Alexander and Town of Batavia are requested to stand by at Attica Fire Hall.

Easily more than 200 people gathered at the Batavia Party House last night for the Batavia Muckdogs Booster Club's annual hot stove dinner and auction. There were plenty of laughs and people expressed a lot of excitement about the coming season, which could be a critical year for drawing enough community support to keep the team in Batavia.

At the podium, Brian Paris honors "The Voice of the Muckdogs," Wayne Fuller, for his many years of service to the team as the public address announcer and official score keeper. Fuller stepped aside from those roles after the 2009 season. But his voice won't be far from a microphone during the upcoming season; he'll serve as color man on WBTA's broadcast of games.

More pictures after the jump:

Todd Jantzi, left, and Patrick Weissand chat during the silent auction.

Brian Paris, left, and Ryan Gugel chat with a fan who drove to the dinner from Greece.

Board member Bill Kauffman gets a gift from the board honoring his service to baseball in Batavia.

Gretel Kauffman is in the foreground. Immediately behind her is local artist John Hodgins, watching the bidding progress for his winter landscape painting. It fetched $255, well above any other auction item.

Auctioneer Todd Jantzi makes a sale.

Daily News photographer Mark Gutman goofs when the camera gets turned on him for a change. Writer Alanna Stage gets a good laugh.

Everybody likes a little friendly competition, right? And if it's for a good cause, all the better!

These guys definitely feel that way:

Half of them are pictured above...

...and here's the other half!

High schoolers from all over Genesee County are getting involved in "Change for Change" (C4C), a fundraising project for United Way of Genesee County. Student government reps from Batavia High School, the NYS State School for the Blind, Oakfield-Alabama High School and Pavillion Central School gathered in the BHS auditorium Yesterday to kick-start the project. 

From Mar. 8-26, the schools will compete to raise as much money as they can and deposit their funds in an account with the Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union (set up for United Way, with a sub-account for each school) every Friday.

BHS government members welcomed their fellow students and gave them the lay of the land (contest rules and stakes, etc.) at Thursday's meeting...

...starting with an icebreaker from treasurer Amanda Jones, who asked representatives of each school to come up with and share a few "fun facts" about their school.

Some interesting ones to consider:

1. O-A HS recently organized a lunch boycott

2. Pavilion is one of the few schools in the state with a pillow tournament

3. The Blind School has a heated pool with a moving floor

4. BHS has the best cookies in the state, inarguably, of course

Handling introductions was co-mayor C.J. Shultz, who introduced his fellow officers and their faculty advisors/helpers as follows:

"There's [mayor] Matt Hoye, who has nothing better to do than keep his beautiful red hair perfectly groomed.

"And next to him is Sahil Jain, our representative to the board of education -- which basically means he makes sure the students' voices are heard at board
meetings. But then he doesn’t get to vote for anything, so it doesn't really matter.

"Then we have the wonderful Amanda Jones, who is our treasurer. We have to trust her with our money. She ran unopposed, so we really didn't have a choice.

"Erica Bucci is our secretary, who takes great notes...when she's
there.

"In the audience is [BHS special education teacher] Mrs. Gammack, who is a great student advisor. Nobody else really wanted the job, so...

"And finally, there's Mrs. Johnson, who is the best statistics teacher at Batavia High…actually, she's the only statistics teacher at Batavia High."

Shultz and Hoye were the brains behind the whole operation, according to Gammack and the other student officers.

"They came to me with this idea in August," Gammack said. "And I thought it sounded great."

The project was inspired by 98 PXY's Penny Challenge, in which BHS students competed (and won!) two years ago. They raised $8,000 in pennies by doing "some crazy things" [crazy in a good way, of course], says UW Campaign Associate Christine Fix.

"We saw the school come together in a way that surpassed any kind of sporting event, school activity, etc.," Hoye said. "We felt that another fundraiser could produce a similar effect, continuing to blur the lines between grade levels and uniting the school as a single body."

"I remember how close our school became during the Penny Challenge," Jones said, "and I really wanted to start that kind of excitement within our school again, with a new group of kids."

During the Penny Challenge, the students saw how powerful a tool competition can be when raising money. This time, they decided to expand the range to include their peers throughout the county.

"I think this is a great way to encourage healthy competition and interaction between our schools," Jones said, "especially since Batavia doesn't participate with the smaller schools in sports very much, since we're in the Monroe County League."

There is another major difference from the 98 PXY fundraiser: this time, they are keeping it local.

"Even though we raised a lot of money [for the Penny Challenge], the proceeds went mostly to agencies in Rochester," Hoye said. "Although we are very proud of our efforts and the money we raised, we would like to see our money used within our own communities in Genesee County."

Representatives from area organizations that will benefit from this fundraiser came to the meeting to express their gratitude and to show the kids how much of a difference they will be making.

UW Regional Manager Lori Stupp pointed out that UW will "fall short of [its] goal this year" in terms of fundraising.

"What you guys are doing is going to help us recuperate some of that loss," she added.

Patricia Kurtz of the Salvation Army -- which receives $57,000 a year from UW -- took a moment to thank the high schoolers for "stepping up to represent [their] schools and to raise money for our community."

"Know how important what you're doing is to us," she added. "I hope this goes to show that when we are united, we are strong, and we can change the world together."

YMCA Regional Director Erik Fix called the C4C fundraising project "a phenomenal thing that speaks volumes about the students in our communities."

"It feels like we're a part of history at BHS," education board rep Jain said. "I feel like the fundraiser will only get bigger and better in the years to come, and to be among the people who started it is an incredible thing."

Students of each school were encouraged to be creative with their fundraisers, which could be anything ranging from competitions between the grades to placing cans at community businesses.

Shultz concluded the meeting on a mobilizing note. First, he quoted Gandhi's famous statement: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Second, he said: "Now get out there and raise as much money as you can. Booyah!"

Stay tuned to The Batavian for updates on C4C's progress, which will be submitted on a weekly basis once the project officially gets started.

Additional Note:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (pictured) and Legislator Jay Grasso came to talk to the students about the importance of civic responsibility and why Genesee County is a great place to live in, thereby encouraging them in their efforts.