Look at the post Dave Wellenzohn just left on The Batavian.

Find me one other general manager in all of baseball who has gone onto a media and site directly encouraged fans to support the local team!

Listen, people, YOUR TEAM -- and the Batavia Muckdogs are your team -- are in the midst of an exciting and significant pennant race.

You need to attend these home games. You must attend these home games.

And let me ask you -- where is the Daily News in encouraging its readers to attend these final Muckdog games?

Let's be real: The Batavian isn't even five months old.  Our audience is still growing. The Daily News is more than 100 years old and its audience is established. The Daily News can do more to put people in Dwyer Stadium seats than we can, so WHERE is the Daily News support for the home town team? Come on, Tom Turnbull, show us you really love Batavia -- get this stadium sold out these final games of the season.

There is no reason these final games shouldn't be sold out every night -- especially the two games against Jamestown.

So, are you going to support YOUR team, or not?

As the Muckdogs chase their first title since 1963 ( pre Muckdogs) We need noisy fans at Dwyer Stadium.4 home games left, Sun,Thurs,Fri,Sat Let's cheer our boys on as they go for the title. Of course, I'm biased but a championship would be great in 08

This may be my favorite video at the Holland Land Office Museum so far—and Map Measuring Madness is not easy to beat! I won't say anything about this one. As Pat Weissend said to me: You don't want to ruin the surprise factor. Enjoy!

With the seven game win streak ending in a big 16-7 loss to Williamsport last night, and a Jamestown win over Auburn, the Muckdogs now sit in second place in the Pinckney Division, half a game behind the Jammers.  However, Batavia is represented very well in many statistical categories in the NYPL.  Here's a look:

• Arquimedes Nieto overtook 1st place again in pitching, with a 1.20 ERA and 6-0 record.
• Adam Reifer still leads in saves (19) and games (27).
• Colt Sedbrook is 4th in batting with a .324 average.  He also leads the league in hits with 73 and is 2nd in on-base percentage (.416)
• Jose Garcia's 20 stolen bases put him in 3rd place.
• Shane Peterson has a .395 on-base percentege which makes him 4th in the league.
• Overall, the team is 3rd in batting with a .264 combined average and 4th in pitching with a combined 3.22 ERA.

Tonight, the Muckdogs start a two-game series in Mahoning Valley...and I will be there! (It's only 45 minutes away from Kent State).  I'm excited to be able to watch the team live once more!  Hopefully, this road trip will be the start of our next lengthy win streak!

You've likely already read our coverage of last night's City Council meeting, when we posted it last night, so we won't bother with a recap of Joanne Beck's articles about the meeting in today's Daily News. Instead, we'll jump right to the local section...

Reporter Paul Mrozek tells us that the fire Friday at Willow Specialties caused more than $100,000 in damage—but it could have been much worse. Willow CEO Jeff Daggs said: "Ninety percent of our product is not damaged. That's what we believe right now."

Matt Surtel put together a nice tribute piece about Jenny Snow, the news director at WCJW, Warsaw's AM radio station, who died unexpectedly at her home Saturday at the age of 53.

The Genesee County Legislature will meet Wednesday in a special session to vote on the proposed consolidation of dispatch services that was approved last night by Batavia's City Council. City police dispatchers will make the move to the sheriff's office on Park Road complete by Monday. That meeting will be at 7:00pm at the Old County Courthouse.

Roger Muehlig was in Le Roy Monday when Republican Congressional candidate Christopher Lee stopped by Stein Farms to chat with area farmers about labor issues. Muehlig writes: "Lee, a political newcomer, said he didn't have all the answers, but one of the reasons he was successful in business was that he listens to everyone." That's well and good. But there are already plenty of politicians in Albany who are good at listening. Anyone can listen. We don't need more people to listen. We need people to act.

For these and other stories, pick up a copy of the Daily News at local newsstands. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Maybe you've spotted them. They're more than 200 strong, and they rolled into Byron last night. From there, they left for Romulus this morning via Routes 5 and 20 through Avon. They're the cyclists of the Sea to Sea bike tour to end poverty. They're from all over the country, and Canada, too, and they've raised more than $2 million in their journey from the waters of the Pacific, just west of Seattle, to those of the Atlantic just east of Jersey City.

Many of the cyclists have kept a blog on their journey. Plenty of great photos—such as the pair you see here—can also be viewed on the site hosted by the Christian Reform Church.

How do I know all this, you ask? Well, I was over at the Holland Land Office Museum earlier this morning shooting the next episode of our history series with Pat Weissend—look for it this afternoon, it's a good one—when a kindly couple stopped to ask if I was with the local television station. Long story short, the Templetons are following their grandson who is one of the cyclists in the tour. They told Pat and me all about the race.

All 220 cyclists started in Washington on June 30, with their back tires literally dipped into the Pacific Ocean (see the photo below). Sixty-one days and 3,881 miles later at an average of about 72 miles per day, the cyclists roll to an end in New Jersey, where they will dip their front tire into the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, they've already passed through Genesee County by now, and we didn't have a chance to catch them and maybe sit down for a video interview with some of the participants. But if the little bit we've told you about here has piqued your interest, as it has mine, you should check out the site and poke around. As I said, there are blogs and photos. There are also profiles of the cyclists, news clips, maps and a whole lot more. Much fun.

WBEN's "Hardline with Hardwick" featured a debate between the three Democratic candidates for the 61st Senate District.

The full audio is available here.

It is, at times, a spirited discussion, with Joe Mesi and Michelle Ianello, especially mixing it up, while Dan Ward plays it more low key.

(via Albany's Insanity .)

They're back.

Students returned to class yesterday as Genesee Community College opened for the first day of classes of the fall semester. Enrollment was up over last year. First day totals came in at 4,098, up from the 4,032 from last year, and the college expects those numbers to increase as courses in area high schools get underway in the coming weeks.

Among those 4,000 students are nearly 100 from 19 countries around the world, proving once again that the college is an international destination. "Students came from Belarus, Canada, China, Columbia, El Salvador, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Mali, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, and Venezuela."

In addition, Genesee Community College is among 21 other campuses across the state to welcome 150 students from China.

[They come] from the city of Chengdu in the Sichuan Province of western China, which was the site of a massive earthquake in May. The students will have the ability to continue their college studies for one year in the United States and then return to their homeland to help with the rebuilding effort.

WBTA's Dan Fischer picked up some great audio of last night's concluding debate about the mall sign—which was approved for purchase by a vote of 6-2. He has posted the views of two City Council members who held opposing views on the mall: Rosemary Christian and Charlie Mallow.

In other news, the former highway superintendent of the Erie County town of Marilla, David Pierce, told a judge yesterday that "alcoholism and greed" made him break the law. Pierce was sentenced to seven months in jail for using town employees to work on his property, doing such things as building a fishing and swimming pond.

The Crosscutters (32-30) scored sixteen runs to Batavia's (39-24) seven to put an end to the Muckdogs' seven game win streak.  Adam Veres (0-1) had a shaky start that gave him the loss.  He lasted two innings with six hits, six runs, two walks and four strikeouts.  For Williamsport, Justin De Fratus (5-4) picked up the win in five and a third innings with seven hits, four runs, four walks and nine strikeouts.

Williamsport got the lead right off the bat in the 1st on two singles and a double.  Batavia answered with one run in the bottom of the inning when Jose Garcia reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and came home when Colt Sedbrook hit a double down the middle.  However, the Crosscutters added twelve runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th innings to make the game unreachable.

Batavia wasn't quite finished, though, as they had a three-run 6th inning when Charlie Cutler and Jairo Martinez had back-to-back singles and Chris Swauger tripled to drive them in.  Swauger then came in to score on a Brett Lilley single.  They also had a three-run 8th inning.  Swauger, Garcia and Sedbrook all singled and Shane Peterson had a two-run double, giving the Muckdogs seven total runs, but it was not enough as the Crosscutters plated sixteen on the night.

Swauger went 3-for-5 with a triple, two RBI and two runs scored.  Peterson was also 3-for-5 with two RBI.  Sedbrook continued to raise his average, going 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.  Batavia looks to get back on the winning track Tuesday as they travel to Mahoning Valley for two games with the Scrappers.

While the "soap opera" (the phrase of the week, thanks to Jason Molino) of the Davis/Powers fight has provided many entertaining moments on The Batavian the past few weeks, Buffalo Pundit drags Alice Kryzan into the fray.

From the Buffalo News in 1998, Alice Kryzan spoke on the 20th anniversary of the Love Canal fiasco. (We just this year remembered its 30th anniversary):

Alice Kryzan, an attorney who represented Hooker and Occidental, said Hooker’s waste-disposal policies in 1978 “were entirely legal and well-ahead of the industry standards of the times.”

And, she said, scientific studies have yet to prove a link between chemical exposure of people living in the area and health effects.

 In the more Democrat-than-thou debate, where do you think these three fall?

After weeks of asserting that he would not recuse himself from a City Council vote to purchase a sign for the mall, Councilman Bob Bialkowski abstained when it came his turn tonight, doing what everyone had been saying was the right thing to do and nullifying any purpose to convene the city's ethics board. So ends that debate.

That vote, by the way, won with a clear majority, and the city will purchase a new sign advertising the mall, not to exceed $20,000. Council members Charlie Mallow and Marianne Clattenburg voted against the purchase.

"I'm really frustrated with this whole situation," said Clattenburg. "I'm ambivalent on the sign. I was for it when we voted for the budget, but I don't know now that this has become so hostile."

After the vote, Bialkowski said that in the end he abstained so as not to hold up procedure.

"Everything else aside," said Councilman Frank Ferrando, "We took the sign down. We should put it back up."

If I may be allowed a moment to digress... Sometimes, folks, things just work out. Even in such municipal farces as these, what we all know ought to happen happens despite the rancor, despite the bitter clash of personalities and despite the obstinacy of otherwise good people who inexplicably act contrary to common sense. God bless America.

Council was also supposed to appoint a five member board of ethcis, but that was postponed owing to the efforts of Rosemary Christian who said she "didn't even know" the city was "looking for an ethics committee."

"My concern," said Councilman Tim Buckley, "is that nobody here can explain to me what exactly the ethcis board does. It might be spelled out, but there has been no action. I'd like to spend some more time on this and make sure it's done right. I'd like to define their job a little more, instead of just saying that these are members of a board that do nothing."

Council members Mallow and Clattenburg sounded the sole votes against postponing the appointments. Clattenburg said that such a move "means we're rejecting these members."

Mostly optimistic talk about Batavia's financial upswing at tonight's council meeting took on some shades of gray when the topic turned to the fate of the city's ambulance corps.

City Manager Jason Molino warned council that "we have to get a financially stable point" before the city looks forward to reacquiring services that have been cut down to keep a sinking ship from going under altogether.

"We talked about a surplus," he said, "but when you look at the cash perspective, there is no surplus. ... We're going to have to take another month to look at this [amublance service] and decide if you want to continue to supply this service or not. It's extremely expensive, and we cannot maintain it."

Little specifics were given—we will fill in more details tomorrow—but it was understood that the council would get together sometime in the coming weeks to consider whether to continue paying for its ambulance service.

Council President Charlie Mallow said that the city received a letter from the fire and ambulance union about the poor state of its emergency vehicles. We will get that letter.

"The ambulances are in disrepair," said Mallow. "There has been a lot of pressure to abandon this."

City Manager Jason Molino had a few words for the mall merchants in an article by Joanne Beck that appeared on the cover of the Daily News Saturday. Beck starts the article with a lengthy quote from Mitchell Chess, president of the Mall Merchants Association.

What Chess has to say can be boiled down to a single sentiment: "The situation needs to be resolved. Since we can't have those type of negotiations to resolve this amicably, we have to take the city to court." Chess has said this before: in news articles, in a letter to the editor, and here on The Batavian. In other words, this isn't really news.

What it is, instead, is a springboard, fashioned by Beck to allow Jason Molino a high dive into the foray—and that he does, with no lack of bravado.

But first a little background supplied by Beck: Following a somewhat productive meeting of the city and mall merchants in April, the relationship between the two sides quickly soured, and Molino blames it on the merchants, who in turn, blame the city.

Molino says the city was supposed to have six months to "gather information" related—I presume, as this "information" is never qualified outright—to a request by the merchants for repairs to the mall and replacement of the sign.

Not only has the merchants group not allowed the time necessary to do that, but it has fueled the matter by making negotiations public, he said.

...

It all became a "soap opera" that has done nothing to rectify the situation, he said. He stressed the importance for merchants to perhaps not to be so vocal.

"If you [the mall merchants?] continue with the unprofessionalism and badgering ... it's not going to move forward," [said Molino]. "We had identified the issues to be discussed, and we had a timeframe. This is very simple. If we want to resolve this issue, we can. If not, that's up to you. I will not engage in this public hysteria."

Fine bit of euphemism there: "the importance for merchants to perhaps not be so vocal." I like that. That's nice. A lot better than the more direct route: "Keep yer mouths shut!"

The saga continues tonight at 7:00pm at City Hall, when the Council will vote on whether to replace the mall sign, among other matters. I'll be there. Will you?

Batavia bids an early adieu to another of its downtown amenities. Last week, the city announced the closure of the spray park two weeks early due to mechanical problems. Today, the Daily News tells us that the downtown public market is closed for the season, several months early—it was supposed to run through October 11.

Business Improvement District (BID) Manager Don Burkel said the decision was made Friday due to "a shortage of vendors and the lack of community support." The market that opened in late June ran from 9:00am to 2:00pm Saturdays in the parking lot at Ellicott and Jackson streets. On opening day there were maybe 10 vendors total. Lorraine Schaub said she was one of only three vendors when she showed up for the market most days. Schaub owns Cookies & Milk inside the mall. She blamed Burkel and the BID for the poor support, citing a lack of planning and promotion.

Says Schaub: "I don't think they worked on it ahead of time. It's a good thing we had tents; otherwise nobody would've known we were there."

Another vendor, Joan Shuknecht, owner of Ole Barn Country Market of Elba, said the BID did a fine job of promoting the market. She said she was doing well at the market though she could have done better. That sentiment is contrasted with Shuknecht saying elsewhere that during the Summer in the City festival she had to throw out 10 crates of produce because of a lack of sales, in part due to a lack of access to the market because of all the efforts concentrated on Summer in the City. She then told Burkel she would not be returning to the market.

We have not yet been able to reach Burkel for further comment, though he told the Daily News that he is not sure the BID will again support the market in 2009.

In other news:

• Area farmers assessed the damage from this summer's repeated hailstorms and found a beaten crop: whole fields of tomatoes and cucumbers wiped out, apples dented and bruised. They will seek additional federal disaster aid. Check out the extensive article by Tom Rivers for more details. One aspect of the issue not dealt with in much detail that would be interesting to hear more about is the affect the loss of so much produce will have on the market. Will it be strictly local? Will the local market not be affected at all?
• Batavia Downs hosted its fourth annual wiener dog races Sunday. Defending champion, Rudy, owned by Ann Schiller of Lancaster, won his first heat but came in second in the finals to Bambi, owned by Grace De Valder of Bergen.

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

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It was an honor and privilage to watch Joe Gerace at Batavia Downs Gaming this past Saturday night. 

Joe spoke after the 7th race and being awarded for the "2008 Italian-American of the Year".  Many Batavia residents, friends and family members gathered in celebration of Joe receiving his award.  Joe thanked the love of his family, god and everyone who knew and supported him. 

Here is a picture of Joe and his wife Lois just before entering the Batavia Downs.  For more pictures of Joe receiving the award:  Pick up your own copy of the Daily News at local newsstands. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Batavia's City Council will meet tonight at 7:00pm at City Hall, according to WBTA. The meeting, originally scheduled for August 11, was postponed twice. Council is expected to vote on whether to fund the replacement of a sign for the mall. Also meeting tonight at 7:00pm is the Board of Education. They will assemble at the administration building on Washington Avenue.

No cause has yet been determined in the fire at Willow Industries at 34 Clinton Street that erupted Friday night. The fire was brought under control shortly after midnight. Damage was confined to the warehouse, and some of the materials inside are reported destroyed by fire. Steve Ognibene was driving by that evening when he spotted the fire trucks. He put together this video footage of the scene, which was sent to the Batavian over the weekend:

A four-run 8th inning for the Muckdogs (39-23) was enough to get the 4-3 win against Williamsport (31-30).  Arquimedes Nieto (6-0) picked up the win, pitching the 6th, 7th and 8th with one strikeout.  Adam Reifer (19) earned himself the save in the 9th with two hits, one run and two strikeouts.  Jesse Oster (1-1) blew the save and got the loss throwing one inning with two hits, four runs and two walks for the opposition.

The Crosscutters started their early lead in the 3rd, scoring one run when Brandon  Haislet singled, Bryan Frew walked and Steve Susdorf came up with a RBI single.  They added another in the 5th after Haislet was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch.  Later in the inning, Haislet came around to score on a Susdorf sacrifice fly.

However, Batavia came through in the 8th to score enough for the win.  Jose Garcia got on base with a walk and advanced on a wild pitch.  Colt Sedbrook came up and singled to send Garcia home.  After Osvaldo Morales also was walked, Xavier Scruggs drove one over the fence in right field to bring three runs home.

Williamsport threatened in the 9th by scoring one run on a Troy Hanzawa double and Tim Binkoski single, but Reifer struck out the next two he faced to finalize the win.

Sedbrook had a big game, having three of the team's five hits in four at bats, including a double, RBI and a run scored.  Scruggs was clutch in his 1-for-3 day with a homerun and desicive three RBI.  The Muckdogs look to sweep Williamsport and increase their streak tomorrow night at home.

      Saturday's edition of Batavia's Daily News front-paged a story of our local law enforcement performing their duties in the full spirit of the oaths they take.  Sheriffs deputies from Livingston, Genesee and Wyoming counties dovetailed their efforts in apprehending a group of robbers that have been victimizing local immigrant workers.  Using the workers' fear of immigration authorities, these thugs forcibly invaded migrant housing, beating and robbing with the confidence that local law enforcement wouldn't be notified.  However, local farmers worked with our law enforcement professionals to convince the victims to come forward.

 '   "Many of the victims felt helpless,  due to the fact many were illegal immigrants in this country, fearful of reporting the crime and being deported," Livingston County Sheriff John York said Friday during a news conference.'   But the local law saw things in black and white.   Later in the article, York says, "....I want to make it clear to everybody that even illegal immigrants or legal immigrants have the right not to be victimized in this country."

    Those sentiments were repeated by many of the fine people who worked in an "intensive, round-the-clock" effort to stop the victimization of some of the most defenseless among us.  To read the story is to be proud that our law enforcement officials take their duty to "serve and protect" to mean they'll serve and protect everybody.

Batavia's (38-23) four errors looked to be costly, but the Muckdogs took the game into extra innings to get the 4-3 over the Williamsport Crosscutters (31-29).  Josh Hester started the game positively, going five innings with four hits, one run (unearned) and three strikeouts.  LaCurtis Mayes (4-0) threw the 11th and 12th innings for the win.  He walked one while striking out three.  Williamsport's Michael Schwimmer (0-2) got the loss in two and a third innings with two hits, one run, one walk and three strikeouts.

The Crosscutters led 1-0 after the 4th when D'Arby Myers reached on a throwing error and came around to score on a Steve Susdorf double.  The Muckdogs took over the lead by scoring three in the 7th.  Colt Sedbrook singled and Shane Peterson reached on catcher's interference.  They then both advanced on a balk before Xavier Scruggs came up with a double to score them both.  Charlie Cutler followed with a single to move Scruggs to third.  A wild pitch then allowed him to score.

However, Williamsport came back in the next inning to even things up.  Arlon Quiroz and Myers both singled, then Susdorf had a RBI double.  The other run came on a sacrifice fly that scored Myers.  The game remained at a 3-3 standstill until the bottom of the 12th inning.  Edwin Gomez started off the inning with a single.  After Frederick Parejo was intentionally walk, Sedbrook singled through the right side to let Gomez come in to score to win the game.

Sedbrook and Gomez both finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.  Xavier Scruggs went 2-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.  The two teams meet again today at 1:00.