A Holley man who assaulted a Byron resident and then stole three long guns from him in April will serve four years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Darrell Bruce Reid, 45, who admitted to assault, 2nd, in May, said today that he was sorry for the attack and blamed alcohol for his behavior.

"I would like to say I'm sorry to (the victim)," said Reid. "I didn't mean for this to happen. Of course, the next day I was concerned that I hurt him bad. I did not intend to go there to rob that man or to beat him or to hurt him. There were some things said and alcohol provoked it."

While Reid has a lengthy criminal history, including prior felony convictions, both his attorney Billy Tedford and Judge Robert C. Noonan noted that this is Reid's first violent felony.

"I just encourage you to do whatever you can do in state system to get on the right track before you’re released," Noonan said.

Reid's mother and girlfriend both wrote letters of support and were in court during the sentencing.

Reid was also ordered to pay $1,900 in restitution to the victim for hospital bills.

Jeremy Dean Lyons, 25, of Judge Road, Oakfield, is charged with unlawful growing of cannabis and unlawful possession of marijuana. Lyons is accused of having four marijuana plants growing outside of his residence in plain view. He was arrested at 6:42 p.m., Sunday, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.

James C. Cooper, 47, of 7 1/2 North St., Le Roy, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Cooper was taken into custody after Le Roy Police responded to a report of a disturbance at 1:27 a.m., Saturday, on North Street.

UPDATE: Two additional items from the weekend that did not initially reach our inbox for some reason:

Robert Steven Zona, 53, of Lake Street Road, Le Roy, is charged with rape, 1st. Zona, reportedly a resident of Le Roy Manor, is accused of attempting to rape another resident. Zona was arraigned and released under supervision of Strong Memorial Hospital for mental health evaluation.

James Christain Oehler, 18, of Lake Road, Bergen, is charged with unlawful fleeing a police motor vehicle, and numerous other alleged traffic violations. Oehler is accused of failure to stop his motorcycle on Route 19 in the Village of Bergen. Oehler was reportedly first observed doing 49 mph in a 30 mph zone on Route 19 near Rochester Street in the village. Oehler reportedly turned onto Hunter Road and then Swamp Road, where his speed allegedly exceeded more than 25 mph over the posted speed limit. Oehler was subsequently located at his residence on Lake Road. Upon investigation, Oehler was allegedly operating an unregistered and uninsured motorbike with improper license plates.

Genesee County Dispatch received a report of a shot fired at 3727 W. Main St. Road, Batavia, near County Building #2.

The initial response had Sheriff's units and State Police responding, with Mercy EMS staging at Dave's Ice Cream.

The caller reportedly said he heard, "Don't shoot."  And then a shot.

On further questioning by a dispatcher, the caller said he was in the area at the time, and that the shot he heard occurred at least an hour earlier. He said he hadn't seen anybody come or go from the area since.

Police are on scene "trying to sort it out."

UPDATE 8:37 p.m.: Scene secure. Report appears unfounded.

Challenger baseball opened last weekend, but I wasn't able to make it, so I stopped by the games today to take some pictures.

More pictures after the jump:

The Batavia Muckdogs dropped its third straight game at Dwyer Stadium, losing to State College 4-2 in 10 innings.

Second-year pro Keith Butler, of Morgantown, Ky., surrendered two runs in the top of the 10th to get tagged with the loss.

Reliever Nick McCully was impressive in four innings, striking out three and giving up only two hits.

Meanwhile, the Cardinal's 5th-round draft pick, San Diegean Nick Longmire, continued his hot hitting. Today, Longmire had two hits, including a triple and a run scored that tied the game 2-2 in the 7th inning.

Longmire tops the league in several offensive categories, including hits (15), triples (3), home runs (3), RBI (16; next best is 9), total bases (33; next best, 23), slugging (.892). He's second in average at .405.

The Muckdogs, now 4-6 and in last place in the Pinckney Division, begins a three-game home series tomorrow against Mahoning Valley. Auburn leads the division at 5-4, only a 1.5 games ahead. Mahoning Valley comes to town with a 4-5 record.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the Muckdogs host Auburn. Friday and Saturday's games feature post-game fireworks. This no home game on Sunday, July 4, so the team is providing an extra fireworks show on Saturday.

Top photo: Longmire arrives at third base after his 7th inning triple.

More photos after the jump:

The National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Genesee County.

The watch is in effect until midnight.

A car has struck a pole at 5465 Ellicott St. Road, near Paul Road, in Bethany. Electrical wires are down. Bethany Fire Department is responding.

Southbound Route 63 is being shut down to one lane because of debris in the roadway. National Grid is responding to the scene in about 30 minutes.

UPDATE (2:03 p.m.): Pavilion Fire Department is asked to reroute all northbound tractor-trailers at routes 63 and 20. The Town of Batavia is sending fire police to reroute all southbound tractor-trailers.

UPDATE 5:06 p.m. (by Howard): Traffic is now being allowed unimpeded at the intersections of Route 63 and Batavia-Stafford Townline Road and at Texaco Town. However, work continues to replace the electric pole, so the southbound lane remains closed and fire police are directing traffic through the one open lane in the area of Paul Road.

A Sheriff's deputy was accosted early this morning by a man accused of wandering down Colby Road in Darien yelling threats toward residents.

Brett Franklin Dieter, 32, of Lewiston Road, Basom, reportedly tried to avoid Deputy Patrick Reeves when he arrived on scene at 1:37 a.m. When contacted by Reeves, Dieter allegedly shoved Reeves and hit him in the face.

Dieter was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident.

Neither Reeves nor Dieter were injured.

Dieter was charged with disorderly conduct and harassment, 2nd. He was issued an appearance ticket and order to appear in Town of Darien Court on July 20.

A driver was cited for allegedly illegally passing on the right, leading to a minor injury accident at 5:37 p.m., Friday.

The car passing on the right was struck by another vehicle, sending it into a parked vehicle in the area of 2761 W. Main Street Road, Batavia.

Mark A. Riegel, 18, of 3644 W. Main Street Road, Batavia, was driving a 1997 Honda when he allegedly attempted to pass a pickup truck hauling a trailer on the right.

The truck, driven by Joseph O. Martus, 55, of 2761 W. Main Street Road, Batavia, reportedly slowed to make a right-hand turn when Riegel allegedly made his passing attempt. Martus reportedly turned into Riegel's vehicle.

Riegel reported minor injuries, but was not transported to the hospital.

I drove out to Le Roy this afternoon to take some pictures of the first Jell-0 Olympics. Unfortunately, it ended earlier than scheduled. Since I was out that way, I figured I'd swing by Oatka Creek in the village and see what I could photograph.

More pictures after the jump:

The Town of Batavia is working to get all its files on computer for easy access. Going "paperless" is touted as being more efficient, but the electronic transformation is certainly not cheap.

Fortunately, the town got the two grants it applied for to update its record-management system. One for $24,000 and another for $28,000.

The first grant paid for a document scanner, software programs and a work station for Record Management Clerk Mary Cordes.

Permanent records and building permits were the first kinds of documents made available electronically. It took a little less than a year for all of the data to be scanned and entered into the computer system.

The other $28,000 grant will pay for scanning town board meeting minutes and assessment records during the 2010-11 fiscal year.

The town will pay for record-management upgrade costs not covered by the grants.

Of course Town Clerk Teressa Morasco, an employee there for 17 years, is also keenly involved with this process.

“It will be so much easier, things are at your finger tips and other departments will be able to use the system as well,” Morasco said.

For example, part of the staff is in the Highway Garage and the system helps them out tremendously.

"They don’t have to walk over every time they need a document,” Morasco said.

Storage space is a big issue at the town office and the new system will free up a lot of room.

Many of the building permits and the assessment records go back to the 1940s and '50s.

Digging through all that paperwork to find a document was no small task. Having the computer software to locate something in the system makes searching fast and simple.

"You don’t have to go through all those hoops,” Cordes said.

Even so, all the material has to be prepared before it can go through the scanner.

There are  several steps involved. All paper clips and staples have to be pulled off and every document has to face the same direction. Photographs cannot go through the document scanner so they have to be saved using a special scanner.

The employees work together to make the prep work easier.

“It takes a little while to get used to the procedure,” Morasco said.

But the rewards of the new information management system are easy to enjoy.

“There isn’t just one certain place it will help the most, it will help all around,” Morasco said.

A fire alarm has sounded in Area 1 of the Corfu Meadows Apartments, located at 53 West Main. St., in Corfu. Corfu fire department is responding with an engine and a rescue unit. Darien fire is on standby.

UPDATE (3:12 p.m.): Darien Fire Department is standing down.

UPDATE (3:15 p.m.): Corfu Fire Department is back in service.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating a series of car break-ins on Gabby Road, Town of Pembroke that occurred Thursday night between 10:30 and midnight.

Four cars were entered at two residences and one credit card was taken.

The card was used or attempted to be used at several stores in Erie County. 

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said not all of the charges were available as of yesterday, but the total is likely only a few hundred dollars.

The value of other items stolen likely exceeds $1,400 (GPS units, purses, sunglasses, etc.).

Brewster said these break-ins do not appear related to the credit card thefts from cars reported earlier in the week.

There's no new information available on that case.

Overnight, somebody pushed over the cow in front of the Cornell Cooperative Extension.

An officer on scene said the anchors appear out of the ground, but it doesn't look damaged.

Dispatch is attempting to contact an extension representative.

UPDATE: Officer Ed Mileham was still on scene when I stopped by for a quick picture and he said last week, pranksters hit the extension, too. Somebody rearranged the lettering of the message board to read "Eat Meat July 2." The cover of that board is now held in place by a padlock. The cow was anchored only with tent spikes.

After finishing covering a minor RV fire on Clinton Street Road, I made a right turn down Warner Road and spotted this disabled Galaxie 500 sitting in a field.

City Fire has responded to a working structure fire at 9 Prune St., Batavia.

UPDATE 7:36 p.m.: When I left the scene around 6:50 p.m., firefighters were still on scene trying to get the last of the fire smoldering in the roof. A neighbor told me the fire started on a couch sitting outside that had been left out for trash, but not picked up, because it wasn't tagged. The fire got into the structure of the house by climbing up the wall behind the siding. Chief Craig Williams didn't think the fire had moved into the front of the house. It seem contained to the back attic.

We'll provide an update when more information is released.

More pictures after the jump:

Sandy Gillard, center, hasn't not worked in 38 years.

She has worked at Batavia's Richmond Memorial Library since 1972, went back to school for her bachelor's and MLS (Master of Library Science) degrees while raising three sons about 20 years ago, and has worked very hard to make the library a fun and welcoming place for kids and their families. 

Gillard is retiring this year, and Tuesday of next week will be her last day as children's librarian at Richmond.

On Wednesday, families and friends gathered at a reception -- held in the library's Children's Room -- to express their appreciation for her years of service.

Gina Bergman was one of the parents in attendence. She had a lot to say about what Gillard has meant to her family -- especially to her 7-year-old daughter, Amanda.

"Amanda adores her," Bergman said. "She always treats her like a rock star whenever we see her in public -- like at a restaurant she'll say, 'Oh my gosh, it's Mrs. Gillard! Let's go say hi!' She's really instilled in Amanda a love for the library."

Pictured Gillard with Robert Bombard, 11, who presents her with a flower as a token of his esteem.

"I say she's very important [to the library]," Bombard said. "She brings people to the library with her niceness. It's always great to see someone with such laughter and joy."

Gillard has had a similar effect on other library staff members as well. Kathleen Facer, reference and technology librarian at Richmond, has worked with her for many years and come to know her very well, both as a librarian and as a person.

"Whether in working with the public or with fellow staff members," Facer said, "Sandy's knowledge, enthusiasm and kindness have always been an inspiration."

"She has really come to define the Children's Room here at the library," said Library Director Diana Wyrwa. "She's developed it so much over the years, and she's always proven to be very good at literature selection. I've had many librarians tell me that the Richmond Library has one of the best children's literature collections available."

Having begun her job as library director in 2004, Wyrwa says that she came to the library "at the apex" of Gillard's career, "where we have 700 kids coming to the library and many different programs for children."

One of Gillard's major contributions to the library has been the development of the Summer Reading Program, which she admits is one of the aspects of her job that she will miss.

"I love the creativity of planning and collaborating with my husband (who builds set pieces based on each summer program's theme) to transform the Children's Room into a magical place," Gillard said. "I will miss describing an idea and watching Craig make it a reality. We make a good team!"

She will also miss her colleagues and the families she works with, with whom she has formed deep connections.

"She always remembers the kids," Bergman said. "It's amazing. Sometimes someone will come in who she had in Story Hour 30 years ago, and she'll still talk about the things they used to do when they were little."

Amy Joslyn, a former clerk at Richmond and now a children's librarian in Fairport, said that Gillard influenced her decision to go back to school and become a librarian. Part of Gillard's influence was the fact that she "brought the library to the community."

"She's always been the link," Joslyn said. "To the kids, she was the library. She really loves her job, loves the kids and relates well to parents. She was a big influence on me."

Pictured Gillard, far right, back at the beginning of her career (photographer unknown).

In a way, Gillard's retirement marks the end of an era. At 38 years, she is the library's senior staff member. She has seen many changes throughout her career, but some things have stayed the same.

"What I've seen change is the amount of media attention and commercialization books get," Gillard said. "There are dolls, board games, TV characters, movies, etc., based on children’s books. Still, really good books are being published now just like years ago."

She also notes the way technology and the availability of release dates, etc., online has influenced changes in young audiences.

"In the 1970s children came to the library to see what new books were available. Now they come to the library wanting to know if you have the latest title in a series. They know the release date and expect that you will have the book on the shelves ready for them to take home."

But as the decades have progressed and changes have come and gone, one thing has remained constant: Gillard's love for her profession.

"I have been the luckiest person in the world," she said, "because I have been paid to do what I love. Richmond Library is Batavia’s greatest asset. The board (of directors) and staff and Friends of the Library have been a joy to work with, and I am proud to have had a small part in building a Children’s Room that is the envy of people from other communities."

In retirement, Gillard plans to volunteer in the community, spend time with her elderly mother, travel with her husband and read (of course).

For more details about Gillard and her career, have a look at this Q&A, which was conducted about a year ago.

Pembroke teacher Gregory Kinal and his daughter, Brooklyn teacher Tracy Kinal, began a pen-pal program so that their respective seventh-grade classes could get a taste of the other’s way of life.

Six years later, the program continues to thrive.

Last Friday, 40 seventh-graders from Shallow Intermediate School in Brooklyn finally met their Genesee County pen pals after corresponding with them throughout the school year.

Arriving in a bus at Pembroke Junior/Senior High School, the teachers paired up everyone for a brief meet-and-greet before enjoying special games run by the physical education department.

Their weekend activities included marching in the Stafford parade and traveling to Niagara Falls for a day of hiking and fun.

According to Gregory Kinal, who has taught at Pembroke for 40 years, the pen-pal program serves mainly as an examination of city vs. country culture, the similarities and differences between the two.

This sometimes leads to interesting revelations. One year, the Shallow students were noticeably surprised to see an area in Pembroke without sidewalks. Another year, one student asked, “How do you get a cab out here?”

The program, funded by businesses in Buffalo, Binghamton and Brooklyn, has also led to long-lasting friendships.

"Even after six years,” Kinal says, “some pen pals still keep in contact with one another.”

Both father and daughter decided a possible reversal of the program, sending the Pembroke kids to Brooklyn, would be both expensive and distracting.

"Pembroke has a lot to offer,” Gregory Kinal says, pointing out his students would eventually get the chance to go on their school trip to Washington the following year.

After playing variations of team tag, charades and musical chairs, the students spent the rest of the afternoon eating pizza and chatting.

Tracy Kinal, who has taught English-as-a-second-language for eight years, said that her class of new and former immigrants would discuss the pluses and minuses of their Pembroke experience once they returned to Brooklyn. Her father would similarly talk about the Brooklyn students with his class.

“Not everything looks like NYC,” Tracy Kinal explains.

“We live in a multi-cultural society,” Gregory Kinal says. “There’s a world outside of Genesee County.”

An RV fire with heavy smoke is reported in a yard at 6854 Clinton St. Road in the area of Warner Road. It is near a barn and it is unknown if it is occupied. Byron, South Byron, Stafford and Le Roy fire and Mercy EMS is called to respond.

UPDATE (12:55 p.m.): The fire is contained to the RV and is under control.

UPDATE (by Howard): Fire crews cleared the scene at 1:41 p.m.  The possible cause was a fan left on to air out the trailer. The motor may have overheated.

Sallome's Italian Deli, 40 Oak St., Batavia, NY: Wraps, subs, paninis and pasta as well as pizzas -- Sallome's offers a tasty variety of Italian deli items for eat-in or take-out. We have $10 gift certificates for $5 each.

Stafford Trading Post, 6173 Main Road, Stafford, NY: Lunch or dinner, Stafford Trading Post offers a variety of fresh, homemade meals, as well as snacks and drinks. Now in a new, expanded location. We have a $25 gift card for $12.50.

T.F. Brown's, at 214 E. Main St., Batavia, NY: T.F. Brown's is a great place for a good meal, good friends and to catch up on what's going on in the sports world. "If it happens in sports, it happens at Brown's." We have a $20 gift card for $10.

Matty's Pizzeria, 4152 W. Main St., Batavia, NY: Matty's is another Batavia favorite for pizza and wings. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

Kravings, Valu Plaza, 4152 W. Main St., Batavia, NY: Kraving's offers soups, salads and sandwiches, fresh and flavorful; Monday through Saturday. We have $10 gift certificates for $5.

Alex's Place, 8322 Park Road, Batavia, NY: People come from all over the region for a fine dining experience at Alex's. It's best known for its ribs, of course, but Alex's seafood is also a favorite of the restaurant's diners. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

Delavan's Restaurant and Tavern, 107 Evans St., Batavia, NY: To me, Delavan's is one of those restaurants where you want to eat frequently until you try everything on the menu. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

Center Street Smoke House, 20 Center St., Batavia, NY: Authentic Southern BBQ, from ribs to brisket with all the fixin's. We have a $20 gift card for $10.

Margarita's Mexican Restaurant, 15 Jackson St., Batavia, NY: When you're looking for an authentic Mexican meal, Margarita's is the place to go. The food and atmosphere are perfect and the service is always outstanding. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

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