It must have felt like hell for the Hornell community.

It has been exactly one month since the tragic death of Hornell football player Dillen McCormick, a loss that devastated a town, a football family and all of Section 5.  The passing was a total shock and under circumstances that are as tough as can possibly be for a family to deal with.

But Dillen's family has been able to survive the crushing loss of a son, and a brother, in do so in many ways because of the love and support shown by the football program and fans from all throughout Section 5.

News of Dillen's death quickly spread as a thread was started on Section 5 Talksback, just hours after the news broke in the town of Hornell. Athletes and fans from everywhere from Bath to Oakfield-Alabama to Geneva and all over one of New York State's largest sections delivered classy, touching and supportive messages. McCormick's passing made an impact on people that were related to him, were friends with him and had never met him.

If you had never met the young man, you very well have heard enough about him by now to feel like you did. One message sent to me personally by one of Dillen's good friends described him as a weight lifter, a class clown, a daredevil, athletic, funny and a kid that loved his family and his friends more than anything else.

Whatever the reasons for Dillen's tragic death, it could never take away from the person that he was and the amount of people he touched in his life can never be in doubt. The evidence is in the Talksback thread, and when you look at the 279 members that are members of a Facebook group set up in his honor.

Or just pay attention on I-390 when you drive past Hornell, where you will see a rock decorated for Dillen. 

The football team rallied around Dillen as well, with the Section 5 Class B semifinal game against Geneva played the weekend after his passing. Legendary coach Gene Mastin asked his players if they wanted to forfeit the game or play, and Dillen's friends took the field in honor of their fallen friend. The Red Raiders lost the game, 21-12, but the result was more than could be expected as football was probably the furthest thing from those kid's minds.

Those closest to Dillen, his family, have been through a lot but are doing okay as well. Darrin and Carol - Dillen's parents - are back to work, doing well and have presumably had the pain of a son's death eased by the kids that are showing support. In the message I mentioned earlier, Mr. and Mrs. McCormick are described as "the most kind, loving, welcoming people you could ever meet." In this hard time, they have opened their home to many of Dillen's friends, giving them as much support as they are receiving in return.

Anybody with a brother or sister could only imagine what Dillen's brother Pat has had to go through. He was pulled out of a football practice and informed of his brother's death. The two were very close.  But he is back to school and playing on the Hornell jayvee basketball team this winter. Pat has seen some great relationships develop with friends of his older brother, which has hopefully helped him through this difficult time.

It is always tough when a high school kid loses his life and it is easy to look at the negatives of a devastating loss. But in just a month, there are a lot of positives to come out of a big negative. Dillen may be gone, but he has united a town, a football community and all of Section 5.

 The big news of the day Friday is on A-3 as Sam Pontillo tells Daily News reporter Joanne Beck that the Main Street Batavia Pontillo's pizzeria is unlikely to reopen soon.

The Daily News originally reported that the restaurant was shut down for renovations before The Batavian reported that the reason was $112,000 in back taxes. Pontillo talked with Beck a couple of days later and revealed a messy situation with the family, causing the restaurant to close because of the tax situation.

Originally Pontillo said that the pizzeria would reopen in a couple of weeks, but now says it is not going to happen because he feels that when he obtains the business from the family estate that there will be a lot of work that will actually have to be done before he can open the doors.

"I'm wondering, 'should I tear the building down and build a new one?'," Pontillo told Beck on Wednesday. "I need to decide that before I put some big money into the (current) building. I want to take the proper course of action. I'm still up in the air, I'm trying to get the estate settled, I'm working the numbers. No one wants to put money into a property they don't own."

Pontillo also says he has had preliminary talks with an architect to redesign the restaurant and has no intentions on keeping Pontillo's closed. He did tell Beck that if a "a big-monied drug store came along and made a generous offer to buy, he would consider it."

The Le Roy branch of Pontillo's is still open and the Batavia site has a sign saying Pontillo's is open for delivery.

The Batavian called the number on the sign (343-3303) at about 1:15 p.m. Friday and spoke with a woman named Maddy, who says that orders can be placed and will be delivered from the Le Roy restaurant to Batavia on Thursday through Sunday nights after 4 p.m. She says the full menu is available.

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Daily News reporter Tom Rivers handled the yearly Black Friday story and spoke with some shoppers that got up early to bargain hunt at Wal-Mart and Target.

Even with the current state of the economy, the stores were packed this morning. Rivers writes "The line (at Target) stretched for at least 500 people, extending to Bed Bath & Beyond.

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An inmate at the Genesee County Jail has been charged for a seven-year-old burglary in Le Roy, thanks to a DNA link writes reporter Scott DeSmit.

Genesee County sheriff investigator Timothy Weis tells DeSmit that 24-year-old Nick A. Hawkins was charged Tuesday with third-degree burglary for a Dec. 28, 2001 robbery at Frost Ridge Campground in Le Roy.

DNA submitted by Hawkins because he was a convicted felon matched blood taken from the crime scene, according to Weis.

Hawkins is the second person charged in the crime as Christopher D. Nolan was arrensted and charged in July 2002. He received five years probation and had to pay restitution. 

As always, we encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

    The yearnings began before my school years. My Aunt Faith & Uncle Jim first took me off the beaten path early in life. In the pre-war years Aunt Faith had been a school teacher. Having grown up on a farm in the deep-south, it was the naturalist in her who introduced me to Mother Nature. Both she and my Uncle Jim combined to give me a good case of the fishing bug. In the late fifties they moved down south, but before that, they took me along with them on a couple of Canadian fishing trips – exciting stuff for a youngster. 

     My father wasn’t the outdoor type, he bowled and golfed. After my aunt and uncle moved away my ticket to the wild places was temporarily voided. It wasn’t long before I discovered northern pike in the waters of Tonawanda Creek barely more than a stone’s throw from my Hutchins Street home. After reeling in my first pike, I noticed they were a smaller version of the muskellunge, fish I had seen my uncle do battle with on Canadian lakes.         

     On an October afternoon in the mid-fifties, I saw Sal “Savie” Capuano and Jim Holvey seated on the tailgate of the latter’s station wagon. At the time the car was parked below a maple that on the corner of Sumner and Hutchins Sts. The tree’s foliage was a blazing orange, and it only enhanced the scene below. Savie and Jim were sitting on the tailgate, displaying a bag limit of ringneck pheasants. Among the pheasants was a red fox, its coat sleek, its tail full and lush.

     It was in this same time frame when I faithfully tuned in to a television show called Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges portraying Navy frogman Mike Nelson. Despite his mask being partially filled with water at all times, I wanted to emulate this guy.

     Thanks to a few high school teammates, I discovered waterfowling and experienced some pheasant hunting before the ringneck numbers declined.

     My pike dreams, took me from north central Ontario, to Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. Along the way I discovered fishing for spectacular-colored lake trout in shallow water. Time spent in Alaska resulted in catching grayling in the Arctic Circle (not to be confused with the polar ice cap) and experiencing total daylight for a month.

     My skin-diving began on Cedar Street, behind the phone company. One day I grabbed a mask, fins and snorkel and I was off. Ensuing years led to dives off Martha’s Vineyard, LaJolla (where I finally coaxed my wife into giving it a try), the Florida Keys and Abaco, Bahamas.        

              The dreams of my earliest years have all come true. More importantly, God has blessed me with a wonderful wife who, since our LaJolla adventure, has been a dive companion on numerous trips, some with our children and grandchildren. Yesterday we celebrated our thirty seventh anniversary.

     Unlike my childhood dreams and aspirations, Claudia came along unexpectedly. God’s plan is perfect. That being said, there is much to give thanks for today.  Happy Thanksgiving!

 There has been some deliberate misinformation about the City Charter Commission seeking to do away with the City Examining Board of Plumbers. This is not true.

New York State laws, rules and regulations are always changing and it’s hard to keep up with them. The Charter Commission asked the City Manager to check with the City Attorney and determine if Batavia was still required by law to have an Examining Board of Plumbers, as it has had for years. That’s our job. There has been no change in the State requirement that the City of Batavia still have the Examining Board of Plumbers, so there will be no change in the Charter.

As a point of information, this board consists of 5 members. Two (2) shall be Master Plumbers with no less than ten (10) years of plumbing experience. One (1) member shall be a journeyman also with at least ten (10) years experience. The other two members are city employees involved with plumbing, sewers and drainage.

John Roach

Charter Commission Chairman

Every few weeks we stop by the Holland Land Office Museum and chat with Pat Weissend, the museum's director, about some artifact or other interesting something going on at the museum. This time, there was really only one thing to talk about: the Wonderland of Trees. From now until January 3, folks can head down to the museum—check out the Web site for hours—to tour the Wonderland and help raise funds for the museum.

Now, before we get to the video, we would like to ask your help. We've been finding a few problems with the videos uploaded to blip.tv—which is otherwise flawless, with great quality and a large viewing screen. Unfortunately, the videos seem to skip on some computers. Here, we've loaded our video with Pat into both YouTube (top) and blip.tv (bottom). Which looks and runs better for you?

 Thanksgiving is this Thursday and Americans will come together to give thanks and enjoy a safe and affordable meal with their families.  It's important to remember where our food comes from and the family farmers and ranchers who provide America with such a bountiful harvest.

           Hopefully last night settles the issue of me being removed from the MOC. A thinly veiled attempt to remove me was made at last nights Council meeting. Frank Ferrando tried to come up with several different scenarios that could be used to kick someone off a committee. My favorite was being likened to a "community window decorator that hates windows". In the end after all of Frank, Bob and Bill's arguments for removal, intelligent reason prevailed. Thanks to Charlie, Cathy and Marianne it will remain that you can't throw someone off because they don't agree with you. Bob Bialkowski and Bill Cox tried to orchestrate a scheme that would have me removed. Bob asked Frank to implement this sorry attempt to try and hide him as the ring leader. Anyone present at the last Council meeting was a witness to Bob setting this in motion. Through out our campaign against each other a year ago and even until now I've never bad-mouthed Bob. At some point enough is enough. If no one has told you yet, you won Bob! I guess my biggest suprise is Bill. I worked along side Bill a lot last year and even helped him with his campaign. At the time I took him for an intelligent guy. I also thought Frank was above being used in such a way. We do live and learn.

         A couple of weeks ago Joanne Beck ran an article in The Daily News about this whole Mall thing. A week ago I met with Philip and discussed the same issue. We spoke for over an hour and he asked me to go ahead and submit my own article. I figured I'd wait till after last weeks MOC meeting and see how things went last night. I thought I would give you the e-mail I submitted to Joanne and let you all decide your own views. She asked me four questions, these were my answers:

         1.Q; Why did you start recording the meetings? I started recording meetings when I felt the minutes seemed inaccurate. I found things were being glossed over or omitted. When I would bring up these problems during the approval of the minutes it became apparent that these things were omitted for a reason. Dr. Chess would propose to remove the things before and after the missing statements instead of inserting what was really said. All I was asking for was the truth. When a City Council member would say something that isn't allowed due to ongoing negotiations I felt it should be included. Fortunately, they voted to close the meetings. Council members attending meetings should be less frequent now permitting a much less likely chance a verbal mistake can jeopardize Jason's ongoing negotiations.

         2.)Q; Did it involve a disability, and are you willing to elaborate at all?   As far as my disability, that's now a non-issue. They all voted against me recording meetings. Madeline is the only one who is allowed to record now. All I wanted was to have access to the recording. Dr. Chess asked Jason if they kept recordings of Council meetings and he said they did. The board agreed to keep recordings for 60 days and that I could review them at Madeline's office if I needed to. All I wanted was the
ability to check the minutes if I felt something was wrong, and they granted me that. Had they not let me have access to any type of recording, I would have pursued the disability case against them. Since I have access, all is fine. However, if I'm ever denied access or the recording is "lost" then I will have to get my lawyer involved as well as contact the media.

         3.)Q; Why do you think the Board wants you off the MOC?  The reason they want me off the board is unknown to me. My job is to be on the side of the taxpayer. That's a conflict of what they want. I don't know what past city-appointed members did, and I don't really care. I know what my position is:  it's to keep as much of the people of Batavia's money where they want or  don't want it to go. The people have made it clear to me, (very, very clear to me) that they don't want one more dime spent on the Mall. I've told them that's not going to happen. Whether it's an expensive roof, selling it for a dollar, or ten years worth of tax concessions, it's going to cost us something. The board has told me they want all three. I've told everybody that what ever the cost is, I feel the best thing is to make sure we sever all ties between the City and the Mall. Let's make sure this deal is the last deal. Everybody has agreed with me on that point. The public WILL NOT STAND  for the MOC getting all three requests. My job is to give the MOC as little as possible. Again, my job is to give the Mall as little as possible. I'm standing my ground. I guess we know why they want me gone.

         4.)Q; Do you feel you've been "antagonistic" in any way?  Am I being antagonistic? I'm sure they feel that way. I know they didn't like it when I wrote my opinion in the paper several months back. In the next meeting I was told I was now viewed as a "Hostile" and would be treated as such. I'm fine with that. They have their objective and I have mine. After that article in the paper, we as a board all agreed to keep everything at the meetings and not in the paper. I have kept my word on that. I think they feel I'm being antagonistic because I want the truth all the time, not just when it suits some of them. Whenever Dr. Chess has been less than honest, I point it out. When Bill Cox was caught in a contradiction it upset both of them. Bob Bialkowski must still think we're running against each other. To this day, he likes to try and mess with me when he can. I don't dislike anyone on the board. We're all there for a reason, but not for the same outcome. When opposing views are present there is no way it's all going to be lovey-dovey. I understand that, and that's why I sit there as the lone person on the side of the City taxpayers. I'm fine with that. Whether it's a meeting that's 6 against one, or ten against one, it's no problem for me. Apparently they feel the need to have a "yes man" there too. It's too bad for them that I'm not one. I wonder how Dr. Chess would do in my shoes? I think the answer is obvious, he doesn't like being on a team against one opponent. Wow, how would he handle being in my position?
 

Batavia High School is one of ten schools in the state studied by the University at Albany in a report entitled: What makes high schools work: How higher-performing high schools in New York adapt and thrive. In it, the high school is commended for its "state-of-the-art technology."

Facuty are encouraged to use thattechnology to enhance instruction and to take advantage of other professional development opportunties, as well. Collaborative goal setting and use of data to determine progress lead to further refinements in instruction. Teachers examine state standards to find the "power standards"—those concepts that are most important for success in life after school or are the foundation for the next grade level.

Batavia students "consistently outperform" other students in similar demographics, and the school is noted for its "proactive" approach to identifying "at-risk students" and working out programs that can help them succeed.

Download the complete report: What makes high schools work.

Batavia City Council's latest public spectacle has its fair share of drama and opinion. On the stage for this act is the story of the plumbing inspector, Barb Toal, whose friends claim was wronged by the city by being demoted. In the past few weeks, the Daily News has featured three articles on this topic, plus a lengthy and impassioned letter to the editor.

But before we get into the details of last night's Council meeting, let's step back and look at the issue from a distance. Back in March, Joanne Beck wrote an article for the Daily detailing the city's decision to demote Barb Toal from full- to part-time in her position as the city's plumbing inspector. At the time, the Council was looking to cut as much as they could from the budget to lower the tax rate and start chipping away at the city's deficit.

At that time, Council was working out the plans for the police dispatch consolidation, trimming down a couple of city posts—including Toal's—and reducing funding in some other areas, as well. Beck wrote: "Those moves are to get the tax rate increase down from an initial 10 percent to about 8.5 percent for a difference of $12 a year less on a home assessed at $85,000."

Toal, then, was informed in March that she would be reduced to part-time—City Manager Jason Molino issued a statement to Council that said Toal was informed even earlier, in January. So why all the uproar now? Why was the Council boardroom "filled" with people protesting Toal's demotion last night, as Dan Fischer reported, and not in March? One of our readers put it succinctly in a comment left on our post yesterday: "Isn't this a dead issue." The decision was made nearly nine months ago.

Toal herself made some noise about the decision back then. She told the Council that the decision could affect public health. From that article in March:

"It's about the future of public health and welfare of the citizens of Batavia. I think it will have an adverse affect in the long run," Toal said. "It saddens my heart how safe and secure our world we live in is, and that the city has forgotten our public health ... that they think the position is only valid part of the time. There's much more to the plumbing inspector job than counting the number of permits issued each year."

Since then, we've heard nothing, until a few weeks ago, when Beck wrote another article in advance of the actual demotion. That was followed by a letter to the editor asking people to support Barb Toal. Then came Monday's article by Beck in advance of last night's meeting, and the article today wrapping up that meeting. That's a lot of coverage all at once. So why weren't more efforts made in the meantime if folks feel so strongly about this—and they certainly seem so: seven people spoke up about Toal's position at the meeting last night, according to Beck. I've never seen even three people speak up at a meeting on a single topic, if even two.

In Beck's article from today, she writes:

(Toal) passed a Civil Service test for the job description more than 19 years ago and has continuously kept her certification up to date, she said. She didn't need to take another test to prove she's qualified, she said. Candidates for the code enforcement job had to pass a Civil Service test. Toal did not make it to final rounds or interviews.

But if Toal has already passed a Civil Service test, as she says, why does she say that she doesn't need to take a test to prove her qualifications? Wouldn't her qualifications already have been proven? Furthermore, Toal has already gone through the certification for code enforcement, and she expressed interest in taking the full-time code enforcement position. Instead, that position was given to someone else, who has not yet gone through the certification. Why?

Don't expect any answers from the City Council. They have been "muzzled"—Fischer's word—by George Van Nest, the city attorney, who claims that if anyone from Council talks about the issue, it could open the city up to a lawsuit for violating the privacy of personnel.

Some people have raised the (very good) point that the bottom line here is: Do we need a full-time plumbing inspector? If no, then Toal has to deal with the demotion. It's in the best interest of the city.  But that point was made—or at least argued—in January, when the staff was first informed of cuts, according to Molino, and again in March, when the decision was finalized by Council! Now, this seems to have become a different issue: Barb Toal should have been given the position of full-time code enforcement officer. That seems to be what she's saying—judging from today's article, anyhow. Instead, that position went to someone else. Why? That seems to be the question underlying this whole brouhaha. If Toal had the qualifications, the credentials and the experience, why wasn't she kept on in that position? Couldn't the city just as easily have hired a part-time plumbing inspector who hadn't already put in so many years of service and given Toal the full-time slot?

Well, quite simply, Molino told Council that Toal was never on the Civil Service list for the position of code enforcer. So that's that then. Right? Right...?

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Robert J. Jackson, 32, of 41 Maple St., Batavia, was charged with three felony counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and three felony counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Jackson allegedly sold a quantity of cocaine to an undercover agent of the county's Local Drug Task Force Monday. He was sent to Genesee County Jail. No bail was listed.

Roberta Green, 45, of Rochester, was charged with second-degree harassment, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest Monday, deputies said. Green is accused of getting into a fight on a bus on Park Road in Batavia and striking another passenger. She allegedly then refused to comply with the bus driver who asked her to stop and had to be focribly taken into custody by deputies upon their arrival.

Kevin Williams, 43, of Buffalo, was charged with public lewdness Monday, deputies said. Williams allegedly exposed himself in front of deputies and urinated in the 48 Deli Express parking lot on Park Road in Batavia. Williams was sent to jail in lieu of $1,000 bail.

After several weeks of tweaking the proposed budget by County Manager Jay Gsell, the Genesee County Legislature has whittled the tax rate back down to $9.82 per $1,000 of assessed value, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. That's the same rate as this year.

An official vote on the budget will be made on December 10. You can see the salary increases proposed for county officials at the WBTA Web site. A vote on those will be made with the vote on the budget.

Batavia's city police force teamed up with the Genesee County sheriff's department Friday to keep an eye out for people of legal drinking age purchasing alcohol for those who are underage.

Undercover officers took up posts outside stores that sell alcohol to keep watch. As a result of the compliance operation, police have opened an investigation of endangering the welfare of a child regarding the purchase of alcohol by a 21-year-old male, who allegedly entered a car occupied by several people under 21, two of whom were already under the influence of alcohol. Police also investigated reports of an underage drinking party. No other information was available about either investigation in the release. We are enquiring if any charges were made.

"Both agencies will continue the compliance checks and variations of it in the future to help eradicate the dangers of underage consumption of alcohol," city police said.

Several supporters of Batavia's city plumbing inspector, Barb Toal, plan to come out for the meeting of the City Council this evening, according to the Daily News. They will attend the meeting to decry the recent "downsizing" of Toal from full-time to part-time only two months before she would have made pension. Reporter Joanne Beck found a couple of folks who were especially worked up about what they insist is unfair treatment of Toal, who has put in nearly 20 years in employment with the city

Larry Conway told Beck: "I'm going to holler like hell. ... this is the way they pay her back? It tells me that council has taken the attitude that there's no sentiment in Batavia."

Carol Grasso said: "When the city manager came here to work, he took a raise. That's unbelievable. He didn't blink an eye to take a raise but he can do this? She's a 20-year veteran. I think Barb has paid her dues."

If you wish to attend tonight's meeting, be sure to show up to the board room on the second floor of City Hall (inside the City Centre) by 7:00pm. Public comments will be taken near the beginning of the meeting.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Tabatha A. Torcello, 42, of Alexander, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument Friday, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Torcello is accused of possessing a forged prescription at the Target store in Batavia. She was sent to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail.

Lacey L. Benben, 29, of Alabama, was charged with driving while intoxicated Saturday, city police said. Benben was stopped for a traffic violation on Ellicott Street in Batavia when she was allegedly found to be intoxicated. She was also ticketed with speeding and uninspected motor vehicle.

Patrick C. Schultz, 38, of Lockport, was charged with driving while intoxicated Friday, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Schultz was stopped for a traffic violation on Route 5 in Pembroke. He was also ticketed with speeding.

Gregory E. Durfee, 22, of Attica, was charged with driving while intoxicated Sunday, deputies said. Durfee was stopped for a traffic violation on Tinkhan Road in Darien. He was also ticketed with moving from the lane unsafely and improper left turn.

Adam J. Zack, 21, of Lancaster, was charged with driving while intoxicated Saturday, deputies said. Zack collided with another vehicle on Route 20 in Darien. He was also ticketed with driving left of pavement markings in a no pass zone.

Adam B. Thomas, 19, of 191 S. Main St., Batavia, was charged with driving while intoxicated Sunday, deputies said. Thomas was allegedly driving on Route 98 in the town of Batavia when he lost control of his vehicle while texting on his cell phone. He then veered off the road, spun around and off the other side of the road. He eventually drove into a ditch and into a tree. Thomas was uninjured. He was also ticketed with speeding and failure to keep right.

Bharat Ramsamujh, 48, of Jamaica, was charged with driving while intoxicated and aggravated DWI Sunday, deputies said. Ramsamujh was found by deputies in the parking lot of Flying J's in Pemborke, following reports of a sick and possibly intoxicated person at the gas pumps. Deputies allegedly discovered several alcoholic beverages in the vehicle. Ramsamujh was also ticketed with possession/consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle and dark tint/unattended motor vehicle.

A proposal to cut community funding for towns and counties that host video-lottery-gaming facilities failed to pass the state Legislature earlier this year. But it is being brought up again by Gov. David Paterson and could take effect April 1, if it is passed. From the Democrat & Chronicle:

Towns and counties with video-lottery-gaming facilities would go bust under a plan by Gov. David Paterson to slash their aid by 50 percent as a way to trim the state's growing budget deficits.

If passed, the cuts could mean a drop from about $14 million to about $7 milion for counties across the state, including Genesee, Erie and Ontario.

Some local governments said they have prepared for a reduction in aid and didn't budget any of the money in the 2009 fiscal year, which for counties runs on calendar year. Aid to municipalities that have racetracks with the slot-machine-like devices started in 2006 under former Gov. George Pataki.

"We never programmed that money until it actually arrived," said Ontario County administrator Geoffrey Astles. Finger Lakes Gaming and Racing is located in Farmington, Ontario County.

The county would get its aid lowered from $844,533 to $422,267, while Farmington would see its aid sliced from $2.5 million to $1.3 million.

Genesee County Manager Jay Gsell told us this morning that the county has already planned for the cuts. In fact, he said, they do not perceive the drop in aid as a budget cut. "We look at it as there will be an inclusion of about $140,000," he said. That amount is compared with about $240,000 from the previous year.

The town of Hamburg stands to see a much more significant drop in their aid. From WNED:

The $1.2-million the town currently gets from Fairgrounds Gaming is supposed to cover the costs of having the gambling operation in Hamburg. Supervisor Steven Walters has asked town department heads to look at possible cuts in case the governor's proposal to cut the state share to $600,000 takes effect.

Check out the article from the Albany Times Union for more details on the proposed cuts.

Thanks to Don Burkel of the Batavia Business Improvement District for passing along this television commercial for Christmas in the City. It's got all the details about the big event coming up a week from Friday.

Genesee County's Legislature will meet tonight at 7:00pm in the Old County Courthouse. Also, the Batavia City Council will hold a conference meeting at 7:00pm at City Hall.

          Yesterday I hauled the canoes away from the creek bank. They’ll spend the winter nestled up against the garage.

              Having looked forward to the autumn for so long, how could it have passed so quickly? There’s a month left before the winter solstice, yet Mother Nature closed the door somewhat abruptly. I don’t mind the snow, but I could do without the prolonged cold snap that comes with it.

              Once the first snows cover the countryside, I find it hard not to think about Christmas. Remembering a cluster of bittersweet I came across during the archery season, I returned to fetch some for my wife. Minus the foliage, Claudia likes to use the vine with its red and yellow berries for Christmas decoration.        

            While snipping sections of vine I could hear geese honking, but the surrounding cover was so dense not much of the sky was visible. Looking up, I had no clue where they were.  

            After exiting the woods and loading the bittersweet into the back of the pickup I could see geese all over the sky. While the honkers flew about in all directions, the northwest sky became dark gray. Minutes later it began snowing once again. The snow intensified, and despite the squall, geese were still flying. One sizeable flock was landing in a grain field. With wings cupped and locked, they dropped lower to the ground in a driving snow.

            Watching the geese negotiating the elements, I thought of Zeke Kehlenbeck and his retrievers. I know he would have appreciated seeing those honkers in the snow. At the time those geese were touching down, Zeke was probably deer hunting with his dad, Aaron, and brothers, Tyler and A.J.

 In recent years we’ve crafted a corn stalk tepee for our grandsons. Seeing it cloaked in white tells me it’s nearly time to put up the Christmas tree - all three of them!     

 For this area, if a high school basketball program has one or two players that move on to play the next level, it's a pretty remarkable achievement.

The Batavia boys basketball program makes one or two playing in college look like nothing, as five former Blue Devils are playing at the Division III level, with the best-of-the-best in the area.

Mike Chmielowiec is the elder statesman of the group and is starting his senior season at the University of Rochester tonight, with a game against Pitt-Bradford.

Kevin Saunders is a junior and playing at Fredonia State and Adam Brasky is a sophomore at King's College.

Mike Hoy and Bryan Anderson are freshman, Hoy playing at Geneseo and Anderson at Roberts Wesleyan. 

Chmieloweic and Saunders both start.

"I've definitely learned a lot of different things as the years went on," said Saunders, who started 13 games as a freshman. "Being a junior I've played a lot and learned a lot of different things along the way. I've grown as a player overall."

Chmielowiec has had a tremendous career and is one of two seniors starting for UofR this season. 

"I think there is a different element to (being a captain in college)," said Chmielowiec, a political science major. "Most kids on the team were captains or the man where they are from. It's a different responsibility. Now you have guys that were the best. It's almost a different kind of leadership role."

He played every game (including three starts) as a freshman, scoring 4.2 points per game, leading the team in 3-pointers with 14. 

Chmielowiec was the MVP of the Chase Tournament as a sophomore and started all 26 games. He led the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game, also leading the team in rebounding with 3.5 per game. He had 48 assists, good for fourth on the squad.

He was third on the team in scoring last season at 12.4 per game, starting 19 games and missing some time due to injury.

Chmielowiec was recently featured on the UofR Web site.

After spending the summer living in Los Angeles and putting on over 10 pounds, he is ready for a big senior season. After that, he will either go into the workforce or play basketball overseas, where a former coach has some contacts that will be interested.

Saunders started 19 games and saw action in all 24 in his freshman season at Fredonia, finishing second on the team in 3-pointers (28) and assists (48).

He led the team in assists last year with 63 and started 13 games, playing in all 26.

Saunders is a captain for the Blue Devils this season, and his team is off to a 2-1 start. Fredonia is a team on the upswing and the hot start is big, especially with the 66-63 victory over Penn State-Behrend this week. The Blue Devils were down 18 points with six minutes to go and went on a tear at the end of the game.

 "I don't know if we are a better team this year, but we are more experienced, said Saunders, a sports management major. "When I was a freshman and sophomore, we had young guys. I was seeing a lot of minutes as a freshman, so we were young. Now the core of our team is all juniors and seniors."

Adam Brasky - son of Batavia coach Buddy Brasky - played in all 19 games for King's College as a freshman, where he played 5.9 minutes per game, scoring 1.2 points per game with nine assists on the season. King's won a conference title last season.

He expect to have a big sophomore season, and has averaged 17.5 minutes per game in the first two contests of the year.

"There is a big difference for me from my freshman year," said Brasky, a history major. "The game doesn't feel as fast as last year. It has slowed down and I feel more comfortable now."

Brasky is playing a new style of basketball compared to Batavia's high-octane, man-to-man full-court pressure defense.

"We don't press much and aren't an up-tempo team," Brasky said. "We don't want them to get to the basket and offensively we set up plays and run motion. In high school the players aren't all this good. Here you run motion and use your basketball IQ to run plays, rather than run the court.

Hoy and Anderson are just getting their feet wet in the college game, but the two freshman are off to solid starts.

Anderson was a big signing for the Raiders and starts his college career off as the backup center.

Roberts is off to a 3-1 start and Anderson has played 18.3 minutes per game, scoring 8.8 points with 4.5 rebounds per game.

"I thought that as a freshman I would only get 2-3 minutes per game," said Anderson, who is a physical education major. "There were a couple problems and one of the big guys couldn't play, so it has helped me to get more playing time. It showed the coach that I can play at this level. Myself and another freshman are the big guys right now."

Hoy is mentioned as a sharpshooter in the Geneseo Web site preview, and he's already contributing after just one game.

He grabbed four rebounds and scored two points while playing 19 minutes in the opening game victory.

"I was a bit surprised," said Hoy, who has not declared a major yet. "It was more of a surprise in the scrimmages because I didn't expect to play this much. I got a lot of time and was like 'wow'".

 Hoy - like all five former Batavia players - has found the transition to college basketball easy because of the guys he plays with.

"Playing basketball is fun for me," Hoy said. "I like all the guys on the team. It has made the transition easier. I've been really happy about that part."

With seven-straight Monroe County League Division III titles, the Batavia program has been one of the best in the area. And with five players contributing on Division III teams, it shows.

Earlier this week, Robert Harding of the Albany Project posted his suggestions on how to tackle the state's budget crisis: Cut taxes, cap spending and tax millionaires. As always, Harding makes a great case for each, whether or not you're willing to go along with him on it or not.

Meanwhile, at the capitol, leading state legislators bickered and taunted and mocked one another at a special session that cost tax payers in excess of $100,000 and saved them nothing. Nor was anything acheived from the meeting. Outside, more than a thousand protestors gathered to decry any cut in revenue for whatever special interest group they happened to represent.

In short, New York proved yet again that it is more than worthy of the epithet: the nation's most dysfunctional legislature.

So I thought, OK, we've heard over and over again, every day this week, more about the dysfunction, and how nothing is getting done, yet this nothing is costing us more than ever. Well, we've got a few new faces that will soon be heading to Albany. One of them is our own Mike Ranzenhofer, representative of the 61st District. All eyes will certainly be upon him. He ran a solid, hard-fought campaign and got elected to represent us. We will now wait for him to deliver.

But isn't that a lot of pressure? Can Ranzenhofer really change things in Albany, home to the hulking, ineffectual organism that is our state Legislature?

Well, I called to ask those very questions. Here's what he had to say.

"One of the things I've always been able to do is... I'm able to work with members on both sides of the aisle," said Ranzenhofer.

He went on to explain that many new members will be heading to the Legislature at the beginning of the year.

"I'm hoping these members will prevail on some of the more established members to stop all the bickering and finger pointing and come to the realization that changes need to be made," he said. "We're in unprecedented times. We need to encourage members of looking at new ways of doing things."

Ranzenhofer had an inciteful response to just how one goes about getting the otherwise recalcitrant members of the Legislature to "look at new ways." He described the situation as being similar to someone who is going through a "personal" problem.

"First, you have to acknowledge that the problem exists, then be able to adopt strategies to deal with it," he said. "A lot of people in Albany are in denial. They don't realize there's a problem. We first need to identify the problem."

One such problem: We just don't have the revenue to support the amount of spending that has been approved.

Ranzenhofer has talked about his plan a lot before: cut spending across the board.

"I don't think this should be dictated by the governor or by the Assembly," he said. "We need to go to the workforce, go to the department heads and ask them about where they think cuts need to be made."

What's more, he said, we need to consider that it is "not acceptable" for anyone to say: 'Hey, it's this other department that's the problem, not mine.'

So, the real question, though, is how would Ranzenhofer—or any state representative, for that matter—make the case to his constituents, to the people of the 61st, that he's doing his absolute best to get things done, even if the atmosphere in Albany doesn't change. Bringing home the pork has been the standard mode of conduct. But shouldn't we start expecting more than just a gift of Christmas lights to smooth over the utter failure of our state representatives to run things with at least a modicum of efficiency? What if establishment rule carries the day, and no matter what you do, the stalemate, the bickering, the political charades—what if all that continues, despite your efforts? How do you let your people know: 'Hey, I'm still doing my best.'

"There are several things you (such a representative, that is) can do to tell them (the constituents) what's going on," he said. "It really involves communication: through venues such as your own or newsletters or telephone calls or town hall meetings. It's important to let people know that you're trying to make the changes. It's important to communicate with the people you represent in your district."

"I think I've done a good job of that in the (Erie County) Legislature, communicating the efforts I put forth trying to make changes. There are no guarantees. But you certainly have to have the energy, the vigor and the attitude that you're not going to give up."