In our ongoing effort to ask candidates questions of substance on issues that matter, we turn our attention this week to trade and agriculture.

All four candidates in the NY-26 special election to replace Shirtless Chris Lee on May 24 where asked the same exact questions.

We received responses from Jack Davis and Kathy Hochul. Ian Murphy apologizes for missing the deadline and will have his responses in later today.

As for Jane Corwin -- we've heard not a peep from her campaign. I've left messages and sent multiple e-mails today seeking a response and Matthew Harakal, her communications director, hasn't acknowledged the messages.

If Corwin replies later, we'll update the post with her answers.

UPDATE 5:50 p.m.: We received an e-mail from Matthew Harakal that he sent about an hour ago. He apologized for not responding to messages today.  He said he was away from the office all day.  He said answers will be forthcoming tomorrow. We'll add the answers to this post once received.

UPDATE: Ian Murphy's answers added below.

As previously, the questions we asked are below and the candidate answers, in the order received, cut and pasted verbatim after the jump.

What is your position on NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)?

The next representative of the NY-26 is likely going to be asked on vote on the South Korea – United States Free Trade Agreement. If elected, will you vote “Yes” or “No.”

After offering a straight up or down answer, please explain your yes or no vote.

The U.S. has a $252 billion trade deficit with China, the largest between any two countries in the world. Does this concern you and as a congressional representative would you do anything to address it?

Would New York’s farmers find your immigration policy beneficial or harmful to their businesses?

What policy changes need to occur that you would favor in support of New York’s dairy farmers?

What policies, if any, do you favor to assist family farmers selling their products in local markets?

Jack Davis:

What is your position on NAFTA?

I am against it. NAFTA has been a disaster for Western New York, the United States and working Americans who have seen their jobs disappear in a “giant sucking sound” and their wages depressed in a race to the bottom. We need to get out of NAFTA.

The next representative of the NY-26 is likely going to be asked on vote on the South Korea – United States Free Trade Agreement. If elected, will you vote “Yes” or “No.”

Both President Obama and the Washington Republican insiders are pushing this deal which is the next NAFTA. I will vote NO. 

After offering a straight up or down answer, please explain your yes or no vote.

The Korea Free Trade Agreement would export as many as 159,000 more American jobs. It would also surrender American sovereignty to international organizations, and make “Buy American” initiatives illegal.  This is unacceptable.

The U.S. has a $252 billion trade deficit with China, the largest between any two countries in the world.  Does this concern you and as a congressional representative would you do anything to address it?

Communist China is our enemy. They’re predatory trade practices target American industries for extinction. We must use trade-balancing tariffs to level the playing field for American farms and businesses and counter the unfair advantage the Chinese government is giving its domestic industries through currency manipulation and direct subsidies.

Would New York’s farmers find your immigration policy beneficial or harmful to their businesses?

Farmers would benefit from a reliable supply of legal labor.

What policy changes need to occur that you would favor in support of New York’s dairy farmers?

We must end the uncontrolled import of MPCs (milk protein concentrates) which depress the price of fluid milk and allow processors to bypass our local dairy farmers for the production of cheese and other dairy products.

What policies, if any, do you favor to assist family farmers selling their products in local markets?

We need to place limits on imports of foreign agriculture products that drive down commodity prices for our local growers. In addition, “Buy local” provisions in government procurement of food is an important tool to help local agriculture compete for markets and to develop our local economies.  In addition, local growers should have access to credit so they can invest in facilities to add value to what they grow. There is a growing “local food” movement and with the largest markets in the US within a one-day drive, our growers are in a great position to take advantage of this. 

Kathy Hochul:

Q: What is your position on NAFTA?

A: I do not support NAFTA. All we have to do is look to Western New York to see that trade policies, like NAFTA, do not work. In this state alone, NAFTA has cost New Yorkers more than 51,000 jobs. As a Member of Congress, I will oppose any trade policy that gives corporations and manufacturers the incentives to ship Western New York jobs overseas.    

Q: The next representative of the NY-26 is likely going to be asked on vote on the South Korea – United States Free Trade Agreement. If elected, will you vote “Yes” or “No.” After offering a straight up or down answer, please explain your yes or no vote.

A: No, I do not support the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement. I also do not support the U.S.-Panama or the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreements. 

Millions of hard-working Americans have lost their jobs due to unfair trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA and entering into additional free trade agreements will only further harm our economy. Instead of expanding trade policies that have resulted in thousands of good paying Western New York jobs being sent overseas, we need to focus on creating an environment that gives smalls businesses the opportunity to innovate and grow, right here in the 26th District.

Q: The U.S. has a $252 billion trade deficit with China, the largest between any two countries in the world. Does this concern you and as a congressional representative would you do anything to address it?

A: I am absolutely concerned with America’s growing trade deficit with China and addressing the trade deficit begins with taking action against the Chinese government’s continued currency manipulation. Last  year, I was glad to see the House take steps to crack down on China's currency manipulation, by passing the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act. As a Member of Congress, I would support steps like this to reduce our trade deficit and get our economy back on track.

Q: Would New York’s farmers find your immigration policy beneficial or harmful to their businesses?

A: Our immigration system is broken – no question. Farmers here in Western New York need the workforce necessary to sustain their land.  Once  elected to Congress, I will follow the advice of the farmers here in the 26th District and do what’s right for them, including expanding access to the H-2A Visa, which allows immigrants to travel here legally for temporary work in agriculture. While our focus must be getting Western New Yorkers back to work, we must provide our farmers with an adequate workforce if Americans are not willing to take these jobs. 

Q: What policy changes need to occur that you would favor in support of New York’s dairy farmers?

A:  We need to make dairy pricing measures more competitive and make it more profitable for farmers to stay in the dairy farming business. It is crucial that we include competitive pricing, not parity pricing, in the next Agriculture bill so that our dairy farmers can continue to sustain their farms and put food on their tables.

Q: What policies, if any, do you favor to assist family farmers selling their products in local markets?

A: When I visited McCormick Farm in North Java (Wyoming County) just a few weeks ago, I learned how they make their own maple syrup and sell it locally to different markets and restaurants in the region. We need to support these local farms and provide more avenues of support, like promoting farmers markets, which allow many of these products to be sold locally.   

Ian Murphy:

What is your position on NAFTA?

NAFTA is a scam. A factory in Texas moves 5 miles south, for cheap labor, and when that factory ships its widgets back north, it's called “free trade.” It's lowered America's living standard, for the profit of the CEOs.

The next representative of the NY-26 is likely going to be asked on vote on the South Korea – United States Free Trade Agreement. If elected, will you vote “Yes” or “No.”

No.

After offering a straight up or down answer, please explain your yes or no vote.

Absolutely not. If American labor doesn't like it, I don't like it. It's not “free trade” at all.

The U.S. has a $252 billion trade deficit with China, the largest between any two countries in the world.  Does this concern you and as a congressional representative would you do anything to address it?

Well, it's hard to match price with peasants working for pennies. See: Wal-Mart. This is the problem with globalization, generally. A corporation's board of directors are legally obligated to maximize profits for their shareholders. They will always relocate, if the nature of their business allows, to wherever labor is cheapest. The traditional solution to this problem is to impose a trade tariff. If Wal-Mart wants to outsource it's labor to prisoners and children in China, it has to pay the US people for the right to cut them out of the wage equation.

“But then my tube socks will cost $2 instead of $1!” might be the response to that. Well, you spend the collected tariff on infrastructure and job creation. Suddenly, people can afford $2 socks, and nearly extinct mom & pop shops can compete again—putting more money into people's hands.

Also, the Chinese yuan's value isn't determined by supply and demand. They keep its value artificially low by trading their currency on the foreign exchange markets. Real pressure needs to be applied by the world community for them to peg the yuan to a basket of world currencies.

Would New York’s farmers find your immigration policy beneficial or harmful to their businesses?

This country is nothing but immigrants. Immigrants built this country. And people should still have the opportunity to come here, work hard and make a life. Farmers would find this beneficial.

What policy changes need to occur that you would favor in support of New York’s dairy farmers?

I milked cows professionally, so I know small dairy farmers work damn hard, for not enough money. They get priced out by the huge factory farms, which make it next to impossible to compete, and stress their animals to the point of infection and death—often providing us with puss-filled milk. 

We need to start building policy in terms of what is sustainable, rather than what makes the most short term profit, for the fewest and biggest stakeholders. What that would mean functionally is that we need to make sustainability profitable.

What policies, if any, do you favor to assist family farmers selling their products in local markets?

In this case, gradual market forces will invariably make locally produced goods more feasible and competitive in the future. Energy costs from traditional carbon-rich sources will keep increasing, and it will make pure economic sense for markets to buy local. That said, any potential emergency measures to keep family farmers from going broke should be taken.

The dictum is that “all politics is local.” Economics is also local to a large extent—believe it or not, in this age of “globalization.” What benefit does the American taxpayer see from giving tax breaks (or not taxing at all) huge multinationals? We get cheap junk made by slaves. We get cheap produce picked by the extremely poor. And it doesn't matter all that much because our jobs went overseas, so we can't afford even the cheapest of junk.

What we have both agriculturally and industrially is a battle between the giant conglomerates, with their cheap labor and economies of scale, versus small businesses and family operations who pay Americans a decent wage. I'll side with small, locally owned businesses every time. That's economics for the people, not the CEOs and crooks on Wall Street.

Jane Corwin's response (received May 7, 9 p.m.)

What is your position on NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)?

I am a believer in the free markets and free trade but it must also be fair trade. American workers can compete with anyone in the world, but free trade has to be fair. Some of our trading partners – noticeably China – have engaged in unfair trading practices and have been manipulating their currencies to gain an unfair advantage, and if I was in Congress I would support steps to address this problem and not continue to ignore it, which the Obama Administration has done. 

The next representative of the NY-26 is likely going to be asked on vote on the South Korea – United States Free Trade Agreement. If elected, will you vote “Yes” or “No.”

After offering a straight up or down answer, please explain your yes or no vote.

Legislation can change considerably before it comes up for a vote, but Congress should work towards removing tariffs standing in the way of American job creation. Just last month the International Trade Commission released a report which said that U.S. auto industry’s exports – including those from GM, which has facilities right here in Western New York – would “increase significantly” if the South Korea FTA were to be implemented. This is a sign of the type of job creation that can come from free trade agreements.

But again, we need to ensure that any trade agreement is implemented fairly and that American manufacturers can compete on a level playing field with their foreign competitors.    

The U.S. has a $252 billion trade deficit with China, the largest between any two countries in the world. Does this concern you and as a congressional representative would you do anything to address it?

It’s absolutely concerning and it’s one of the reasons I would support efforts to address China’s currency manipulation practices. A broad range of economists believe the Chinese yuan may be undervalued by as much as 40%. The practical impact of China intentionally lowering its currency's value is to make its goods and services cheap internationally.

Addressing China’s currency manipulation is one of the most effective ways we can address our trade imbalance with China. 

Would New York’s farmers find your immigration policy beneficial or harmful to their businesses?

I’ve been a vocal advocate for Western New York’s agricultural community in the State Assembly and would continue to be in Washington. Agriculture is our state’s leading industry and a key economic driver for our region, and I’ve visited numerous farms of all sizes across the district. I have a keen understanding of the issues they face – including labor concerns – and would work closely with our agricultural community to ensure they have the resources they need.

What policy changes need to occur that you would favor in support of New York’s dairy farmers?
 
New York is among the leaders in dairy production, generating billions of dollars annually. Wyoming County is the state’s leading county for dairy production. Unfortunately, the economic crisis has had a significant impact on the dairy industry.

I’ve met with several dairy farmers across the district to learn directly from them what needs to be done to strengthen the industry. If elected to Congress, I would join the Dairy Farmers Caucus to ensure that Dairy Farmers are being treated fairly and be able to directly advocate on their behalf.

Congress needs to closely examine the process used for setting milk prices, specifically the Federal Milk Marketing Order. The Federal Order system must be more responsive to changes in cost of production and market forces, and if elected to Congress I would work towards implementing these changes.

What policies, if any, do you favor to assist family farmers selling their products in local markets?

Family farms can only sell their goods where consumers will purchase them. I’ve visited several Western New York farms and some sell their products directly at the farm, and it doesn’t get anymore seller to consumer than that.

Dustin R. Benham thought for sure last week he was going to get locked up in a federal penitentiary.

The sentencing recommendation for his role in a meth lab operation in Alabama was 12 to 18 months.

Today, he's under house arrest on a six-month term and then will serve three years probation for unlawful possession of chemicals that could be made into a controlled substance. He also must pay more than $4,000 in restitution.

Benham said a few days after his sentencing that an outpouring of support from friends and family and his own statements to the judge about wanting to move forward with his life seemed to have an impact on the judge's decision.

Getting busted on Nov. 12 at the home of Kenneth Mosholder changed his life and set it in a more positive direction, Benham said.

Shortly after that, he returned to a job he once had at the Pizza Pantry in Corfu, successfully completed a drug treatment program and reconciled with his parents, family and friends.

“I’m happy that I was there," Benham said. "I can’t say I’m 100 percent happy about what happened, but I was ruining my life. If I hadn’t been there, it might not have been until I was 30 or even 50 before I realized I wasn’t going anywhere.”

Now, Benham wants to go from being a "meth cook," as he put it, to a kitchen cook.

According to Pizza Pantry owner Bev Snyder, Benham has a natural talent in the kitchen, and he's matured suddenly.

“I see a difference from when he was here before," Snyder said. "I’m not sure if it’s just that he’s older or what he’s been through, but you could just see he’s more interested in the business and how it runs and cares for how it runs rather than just collecting a paycheck.”

Shortly after his arrest, Benham said he sat down and talked with his father about drugs and said he didn't think he had a drug problem, but a problem with priorities -- making drugs too much of a priority.

His father told him he should re-evaluate that position and look at some of the things he had done in the previous couple of years.

“I realized that if I didn’t have a problem with drugs, then I was a real asshole, and I thought, I’m not that person," Benham said. "I’m not an asshole. It was the drugs.”

As his life moves forward, Benham is hoping people will look past his days of drug involvment. Most importantly, he wants to clear his family's name. He doesn't want the name Benham associated with meth, either for the sake of his parents or if he's ever fortunate enough to have children, for his past to reflect poorly on them.

“I don’t want my kids to have a hard life because their father was me," Benham said.

He then added, “Tell people, everybody has a story. No matter how bad it may seem, it doesn’t mean they’re a bad person. Some people can change.”

More than two dozen young football enthusiasts turned out for an organizational meeting for the Batavia Bulldawgs, a new youth traveling football team.

Actually, two teams -- one for third- through fifth-graders and another for fifth- through new seventh-graders.

Unlike youth football, the Bulldawgs will play four of their eight games away from home, against other teams in the region.

The games are also played on 100-yard fields under the same rules as high school football's Section V.

Team Vice President Ken Proefrock explained that the Bulldawgs will learn the same system used by the Batavia Blue Devils and work as a feeder organization, preparing Batavia's young players to be competitive at the high school level.

Registration is from 6 to 8 p.m., May 13, in City Centre, between JCPenney and Sunny's. Students need a photo, proof of school grade (current report card or letter from the school) and doctor's clearance. For more information, write bataviabulldawgsfootball@gmail.com.

WRGZ is hosting a debate in the NY-26 special election race, and Ian Murphy, Green Party nominee, has been told he won't be welcome.

Murphy was originally included, but the invitation was pulled after News Director Jeff Woodard took offense to an item Murphy wrote about how his invitation was handled in the first place.

Jack Davis says Murphy should be included:

“In a democracy, all citizens should have a voice, and all candidates should be heard. The media shouldn’t be deciding who gets heard and who doesn’t. Though I may disagree with where Ian Murphy stands on the issues, I believe in the First Amendment and he should be heard. Ian Murphy is on the ballot, and he should be in any debate televised on the public airwaves.”

Murphy's take on the kerfuffle, which includes copious amounts of R-rated language, can be found here.

UPDATE: We asked the campaigns of Jane Corwin and Kathy Hochul for their thoughts on whether Murphy should be included in the debate. 

We've received a response from Fabien Levy with Kathy Hochul's campaign:

"Kathy Hochul has already accepted six debates and is willing to debate any candidate on the ballot. An open debate will show that Kathy Hochul is the only one in this race who will fight to protect Medicare, fight to help small businesses create jobs, and fight to get our debt under control."

A car has struck a pole at 2811 Pratt Road, just east of Powers Road. There are no injuries reported. The pole snapped in half. There are electrical and cable wires down.

East Pembroke Fire Department is responding. Law enforcement is on location.

UPDATE 11:54 a.m.: Westbound traffic on Pratt Road is being shut down.

UPDATE 11:58 p.m.: National Grid was contacted. No ETA given.

UPDATE 12:04 p.m.: National Grid expects to be on scene in about 15 minutes.

UPDATE 12:43 p.m.: The roadway is reopened. Responders are back in service.

Press Release:

WILLIAMSVILLE – The campaign for Jane Corwin, successful businesswoman and candidate for New York’s 26th Congressional District, released a new 30-second ad today highlighting Jack Davis’ consistent and unwavering support of liberal Democrats.
 
“Democrat Jack Davis proudly said he ‘couldn’t be happier’ to have played a role in making Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House, and during her time as Speaker the government borrowed trillions of dollars more from China and our economy lost millions of jobs," said Matthew Harakal, Communications Director for Jane Corwin for Congress. "Jack Davis can try and avoid talking about his past helping liberal Democrats get in power and push through economic policies that have decimated our economy, but Western New York voters deserve to know the truth about the real Jack Davis.”

Press release:

In response to media reports in today’s Roll Call and elsewhere that Washington insiders including Crossroads - Karl Rove’s super-PAC - and Democratic groups including EMILY’s list and the AFL-CIO, are going to influence the NY-26 special election, Jack Davis issued this statement:
 
“The voters of Western New York are not going to be intimidated or bullied by Karl Rove, big labor and other special interests that are willing to spend millions to try to own this seat for the insiders. This seat belongs to the people of Western New York, and I have faith that they will vote for someone who’s independent of the influence of lobbyists and both the Democrat and Republican parties. This seat is the people’s seat.”

Fewer than a dozen people showed up to Jackson Street School on Tuesday night to hear, and have a chance to be heard, on the proposed 2011-12 Batavia City Schools' budget.

It's a budget that would, if passed, increase the tax levy by 5.75 percent, or about $1.14 per $1,000 assessed valuation.

The $39.6 million spending plan eliminates several staff positions as the district struggles to meet the demands of shrinking state aid and growing personnel costs.

Voters will be asked to approve the budget May 17.

If voters turn out against the budget,  it doesn't necessarily mean local property owners will avoid a property tax increase.

The district has two choices if the budget isn't ratified: propose a new budget for voters or pass a contingency budget.

In the case of a contingency budget, the state mandates certain budget expenses be removed -- equipment, some instructional and extra-curricular programs and public use of school buildings.

Even if those items are cut from the budget, Superintendent Margaret Puzio explained, it would only decrease the tax levy by about $100,000.

Even a contingency budget would lead to a property tax increase.

About 75 percent of the district's budget is taken up by personnel costs.

Employee benefits account for $8.8 million of the district's expenses. The state mandated employee retirement system contribution has gone up more than 16 percent, an increase of 39.6 percent over 2010-11. The district's contribution to the teacher retirement system has gone up 11.11 percent, a 28.9 percent increase over the previous budget year.

“Those are significant expenses and completely beyond the control of anybody in the district,” said Board Member Gary Stich (inset photo).

Most of the revenue for the district comes in the form of state aid, which is being cut for the fourth straight year.

In 2008-09, the district received $20.1 million in state aid. The estimated aid for 2011-12 will be $17.9 million.

In that time, state aid has decreased from 49.92 percent of the district's revenue to 46.83 percent.

The district is getting a little help from the federal government, Puzio said. It's a one-time grant of more than $500,000. The district is using that money to help offset reduced state aid.

"The good thing is it (the grant) helped us plug a little bit of the hole from that loss in state aid," Puzio said. "The bad news is, next year it will be gone. We don’t know what we’ll get in state aid next year, but we need to realize that we are already a half-million dollars down.”

The budget reduces non-instructional staff time and eliminates six non-instructional positions.  

Six full-time instructional positions are eliminated, including three teacher aids.

The only audience member to speak was David DiSalvo, and he questioned the seemingly high salaries of some staff and district administrators.

Board Member Patrick Burk defended administrator salaries saying that current administrators are earning less than they might make elsewhere and that the district must offer competitive salaries in order to hire and retain the best personnel.

There are now three Republican incumbent legislators who won't seek re-election in November.

Le Roy's representative, Jay Grasso, informed GOP County Chairman Dick Siebert today that he won't run and Siebert also confirmed that Legislator Bob Radley is not running.

County Republicans will meet at Bohn's Restaurant on Thursday evening to discuss potential candidates to endorse in each of the three races.

Seibert said Town of Le Roy Republicans already have a candidate they expect to endorse and will announce that candidate tomorrow night.

The local GOP will also need to select a candidate for coroner. Siebert said Coroner Jack Taylor will not seek re-election.

Upson announced in early April that he won't run again. Radley was not been available for comment today, but Grasso said he's been accepted into a doctoral program at the University of Rochester and fears he won't have time to pursue that program while serving as a legislator.

"I like to provide a certain level of constituent service," Grasso said. "I don't feel I can provide that level of service while in a doctoral program."

Grasso is studying education management. 

The other five Republican incumbents in the Legislature have all notified Siebert they intend to seek re-election.

Siebert said no potential candidate for District 9, the seat held by Democrat Ed DeJaneiro, has contacted either him or City GOP Chairman Joe Gerace seeking a GOP endorsement.

Republican Jane Corwin, running in the NY-26 special election, is expected to make an appearance at the GOP dinner tomorrow night.

The low, heavy clouds looked pretty ominous earlier today, but produced no rain.

The good news is, we should be getting some sun Thursday, Friday and Saturday with daytime temperatures in the 60s.

The photo was taken on Bank Street Road, just outside of the city limits.

Funeral arrangements have been set for Gerald M. Olin Jr., 76, of Perry, who died Tuesday in a trucking accident on Route 19 in Bergen.

Olin's truck left the roadway and overturned just east of Bovee Road shortly before 9 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

He is survived by his wife, Patricia, as well as several children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Olin was a longtime member of the First Congregational Church in Perry Center. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish.

Calling hours are from 2 to 4 pm. and 7 to 9 p.m., Friday, at the Eaton-Watson Funeral Home, 98 N. Main St. in Perry. Funeral services will take place at 10 a.m., Saturday, at the funeral home. Interment will take place in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Perry Center.

UPDATED 4:31 P.M.

Funeral arrangements have been made for Margaret E. Wagner, 86, of Batavia, who died Monday.

Wagner's illness made news after the family of Joe and Lois Gerace publicly raised concerns about her care at United Memorial Medical Center, where Wagner, they believe, contracted Clostridium difficile, more commonly called "C. diff."

State Department of Health officials said in a release today that Wagner is among of three deaths of UMMC patients who are believed to have contracted C. diff at the hospital. The cases remain under of investigation to determine what role C. diff might have played.

The total number of C. diff cases under investigation at UMMC is 19, according to Jeffrey Hammond, a spokesman for the Department of Health.

Previously, only one C. diff-related death had been reported there, in March. There were 18 C. diff cases going back to February.

Currently, according to spokeswoman Colleen Flynn, one patient is being screened to see if he or she has contracted C. diff.

That's a substantial drop in probable C. diff cases a few weekends ago when six patients were being treated for the bacteria.

"The policies we've always had in place were effective and the steps we've taken since the higher than usual numbers were reported have worked very well," Flynn said.

After the outbreak of C. diff was detected, hospital officials step up sterilization measures and took aggressive actions were taken to battle against the bacteria.

Wagner was born April 5, 1925 in Buffalo and worked 26 years for MetLife Insurance in Batavia.

She was a member of the Batavia First United Methodist Church, where she sang in the choir, taught Sunday school and also kept the records for the Sunday school classes. She also worked and volunteered at the Salvation Army and for the Beckwith Insurance Company in Pembroke.

Calling hours are from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday, at the H.E. Turner & Co. Funeral Home, 403 E. Main St., Batavia. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the Batavia First United Methodist Church, 8221 Lewiston Road, Batavia. Burial will be in Alexander Cemetery, Alexander.

Did you see the guy in the pink gorilla suit on East Main Street, Batavia? It's apparently a publicity stunt. First thing I said to the guy was, "What, lose a bet?" He said he was only allowed to answer, "Coming soon." He said he was hired to walk up and down Main Street in the suit.

More than 500 National Grid customers along the Route 98 corridor from Batavia to Elba are without power.

The power outage spreads like triangle from the City of Batavia, where the tip starts, up to the Village of Elba, where the base of the triangle stretches east and west.

Power is expected to be restored by 2:15 p.m.

The outage caused one person to become briefly trapped in an elevator at the Hampton Inn. (Back-up generators corrected the problem.)

Radio traffic indicted the problem is a power line that stretches under the Thruway.

Press Release:

ERIE COUNTY – Kathy Hochul, candidate for New York’s 26th Congressional District, today reiterated her opposition to the Shuster amendment after the Federal Aviation Administration yesterday announced their opposition to the Republican-backed amendment that would unravel two years of work to reform the airline industry.   

In a statement yesterday, the FAA said they had “concerns” that the Shuster amendment protects “a set of procedural hoops that could have the effect of slowing down rulemaking projects under way and in the future.”

“Every Member of the United States House of Representatives, who voted for the Shuster amendment, is responsible for potentially endangering the lives of airline passengers from across the country,” said Hochul.

“If I were in Congress today, I would be fighting, alongside Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Congressmembers Slaughter and Higgins, for the people of the 26th District and the families of Flight 3407; working tirelessly to ensure major changes to how the airline industry operates are enacted.    

“No one from outside this area understands the collective pain we experienced as a community following the crash of Flight 3407, which is why it is disturbing to hear my Republican opponent will not rescind her offer for Speaker John Boehner, the leader of the party that overwhelmingly supported the Shuster amendment, to travel to Western New York and raise thousands of dollars for her campaign.

“The safety of our families and loved ones must be our top priority and we must do anything we can in order to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again.”

The Shuster amendment halts major measures to combat pilot fatigue, increase commercial pilot licensing requirements, improve training practices, establish an electronic pilot records database, and set up new transparencies for regional carriers.  

A person is stuck in the elevator at the Hampton Inn because of a power outage at the hotel. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding.

The hotel is located at 4360 Commerce Drive.

UPDATE 12:47 p.m.: (Due to computer problems, I wasn't able to post this update sooner.) The back-up generators kicked in about 20 minutes ago and the person is out of the elevator. National Grid is on scene and the Town of Batavia fire crews have been put back in service. There is a brown out in the area which is expected to take just over an hour to repair. A transformer on the property has some hot spots in it. There is a "two to three layer" power problem. A power line that runs under the Thruway and connects power to the hotel and vicinity is the trouble point.

A new Pepsi Challenge grant contest is under way and the Pembroke PTA is pushing for a new playground.

The $50,000 grant would be used to build a "Challenge Park," which will serve as a teaching station for leadership and team-building exercises, as well as a place for students to play during recess. It would also be a recreation area where parents can bring their children after school and on weekends.

You can vote by clicking here, or texting 106129 to the phone number 73774.

Voters approved a new budget for the Richmond Memorial Library on Tuesday that increases the tax rate for Batavia property owners from $1.48 to $1.51 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The budget passed by a vote of 223 yes votes to 120 no votes.

The total budget is $1,320,649 with a tax levy of $1,166,749.

The budget included a 2-percent salary increase for the libraries 14 full-time and six part-time staff members.

Currently, the library serves more than 22,000 cardholders and more than 188,600 visitors per year.

Dana Charters was re-elected to the Library Board of Trustees with 299 votes.

City Republicans have candidates they're backing in three wards and are looking for candidates for the other three wards.

Last night, the local GOP picked newcomer Kristopher Doeringer in Ward 1 and incumbents Patti Pacino in Ward 2 and Bob Bialkowski in Ward 4.

Chairman Joe Gerace said candidates interested in wards 3, 5 and 6 should contact him by May 20.

Currently Ward 1 is represented by Bill Cox; Ward 3, by Sam Barone; Ward 5, by Kathy Briggs; Ward 6, by Rose Mary Christian.