A car fire is reported on the westbound Thruway at mile marker 385.3. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 10:33 p.m.: Chief on scene, "nothing showing." Assignment held to Engine 24.

UPDATE 10:37 p.m.: A chief reports, "We have a car full of people. The car is not drivable. We'll need a trooper and a tow."

Veterans from throughout Genesee County gathered today at the future site of a new Genesee County War Memorial at the corner of Bank and Washington to bury the name plaques from the former war memorial.

The former memorial was outside of United Memorial Medical Center and was removed to make room for the hospital's new surgical wing.

War dead from Genesee County were honored with their names on the memorial.

The new memorial will also contain the names of military personnel who lost their lives in America's wars.

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Notice from the City of Batavia Fire Department:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will be conducting hydrant maintenance flow testing on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 14 and 15 in the southwest  quadrant of the city.

This area includes Franklin, West Main, South Main, South Lyon, Orleans, Madison, Adams, River, Meadowcrest, Pearl, Walnut, Law, Chestnut, Jackson, Maple and Court streets.

Water in these areas may become discolored during the testing. If your water appears to be affected, run water in a bath tub or outside hose outlet until it clears. Refrain from doing any laundry until your water clears.

A resident of Woodstock Gardens was assaulted overnight and seriously injured after three people allegedly entered the apartment illegally.

Charged with the assault in the first degree was Christopher Preedom, 18, of 21 Holland Ave., Batavia.

Preedom was also charged with burglary, 1st, along with Kevin Andrews, 19, and Timothy Andrews, 21, both of 144 Bank St., Batavia.

The victim was treated at Strong Memorial Hospital.

Preedom, Kevin Andrews and Timothy Andrews were located by police within minutes of incident being reported.

All three were jailed without bail.

When a Pavilion resident of York Road returned home about 4 p.m., Friday, he found a light-colored minivan parked in his driveway and unknown man sitting in the driver's seat.

As he pulled into the driveway, the van took off.

The homeowner followed the van and called police.

Troopers and Sheriff's deputies from Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston counties converged on the area. The State Police also brought in their helicopter to assist in the pursuit.

The suspect vehicle was stopped on Route 246 in Covington. 

Arrested were Alexis Santiago, 34, of Columbus Avenue, Mt. Morris, and Roman E. Esparza, 22, of South Main Street, Batavia.

Santiago and Esparza were both charged with burglary, 2nd, and jailed on $100,000 bail each.

The two men may be suspects in a series of other burglaries in a three-county area.

As the suspects fled the York Road residence, the men tossed items from the window of the minivan that were allegedly stolen from the house they had just left. The York Road homeowner later identified the items as his. 

Once stopped, Santiago and Esparza were arrested without incident and the van was seized pending investigators receiving a search warrant for the van and its contents.

The case remains under investigation and, because the two men may be suspects in other burglaries, the Sheriff's Office is asking that anybody who might have information that could aid the investigation to call (585) 343-5000. For tips in Livingston or Wyoming counties, callers should contact their local Sheriff departments.

Photos: Top, Esparza; bottom, Santiago.

In honor of Veterans Day, Loyola Recovery Foundation held a recognition ceremony at their East Pembroke transitional housing facility.  

The Loyola Recovery Foundation is a Pittsford-based nonprofit organization governed by veterans, run by veterans and staffed by veterans and civilians providing specialty behavioral health, housing and employment services to veterans and their families.

The 15-bed site in East Pembroke opened Dec. 27, 2010. The site was in need of repairs beyond what was available in their budget so they applied for a $5,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation's "Celebration of Service - Serving Those who Served us All" initiative. The grant was approved in September and was used to replace the roof on the garage, repair and paint the deck, replace the stairs and purchase a new dishwasher and gas stove.

General Jerry Icenhower and Home Depot Manager Dawn Johncox

The East Pembroke Volunteer Fire Department was also recognized for its support of the residents of the home, and to fire department members Matt Florian and Ray Schramm for help with the repairs. Also helping with the repairs were Dave Coughlin, a former resident himself, and local roofing contractor Anthony (TJ) Peca.

East Pembroke Assistant Dale Lewter and COO Chris Wilkins

Loyola's partnership with the New York Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) initiative was recognized in a commitment and signing ceremony.

From left, Major General (Ret.) Jerry Icenhower Loyola Recovery's president and CEO, Major General Dennis Lutz of the New York State National Guard and Chris Wilkins Loyola Foundations COO.

More about Loyola Recovery Foundation and its work with veterans can be found here.

A semi-trailer has been stopped on West Main Street Road in front of Hodgins Engraving after a citizen reported the truck was driving into oncoming traffic, forcing cars off the road.

It has no or obscured license plates.

The Genesee Community College Men’s Soccer Team will play for the NJCAA National Championship on Sunday, after beating Anoka-Ramsey Community College (Minn.) 3-0 in the semifinals Friday afternoon at Herkimer County Community College.

The Cougars struck early on in the snow-filled match, when Theo Stamatopolous (Norwich, England) sent a cross to Jonny Bonner (Buncrana, Ireland) that Bonner buried into the back of the net during the second minute of play. GCC would threaten a couple of more times during the first half, but could not increase their lead.

The Genesee defense, missing Jack West (Notts, England) and Declan Brennan (Dublin, Ireland) due to injury, stayed solid, thanks in part to defender Ryan Fredal (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and goalkeeper Joe Agerskow (East Yorkshire, England). Agerskow aggressively came out of the net to make two big saves in the later part of the first half to keep the Rams off the board. GCC took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

(Genesee CC celebrates Jonny Bonner's first half goal)

In the second half, the Cougars missed a scoring opportunity about four minutes in when Dom Francis (Huddersfield, England) found an open net with the goalkeeper out of position, but his shot was saved by a defender who stepped in. Genesee was able to score when Peter Keegan (Dublin, Ireland) sent a blast from just outside the box past the Rams' goalkeeper to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead with 30 minutes to play. Just four minutes later, Sean Brettell (Welwyn Garden City, England) scored his second goal of the national tournament by sending a header off of a Josh Gray (Norwich, England) free kick into the net, giving GCC the 3-0 lead.

The lead was kept safe by Agerskow who made a breakaway save with 18 minutes to play and followed it with a diving save off of a corner kick less than a minute later.

Genesee controlled possession for the remainder of the second half and ended Anoka-Ramsey’s season with the 3-0 win.

Genesee advances to the NJCAA National Championship game and will take on Herkimer County Community College which defeated Nassau Community College 5-0 on Friday. It will be a rematch of an Oct. 18th meeting in which GCC beat Herkimer, then ranked number one in the country, 1-0. The match will be played on Sunday at noon on the Herkimer campus.

A two-car accident is reported at 6101 North Lake Road in Bergen. One person has a head injury. Law enforcement is on scene and Bergen fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 6:51 p.m.: One person needs to be evaluated but is not seriously injured.

Two burglary suspects are in custody in Pavilion after a manhunt by multiple law enforcement agencies and use of the State Police helicopter.

The call started late this afternoon when York Road residents came home and found the suspects in their driveway.

The door to their house may have been kicked in.

Details are incomplete at this time.

The Genesee County Sheriff's Office is handling the case.

Area residents report seeing multiple Sheriff's and trooper cars in the area as well as use of the State Police helicopter.

Area barns and garages were searched during the manhunt.

Details have not yet been released on how or where the suspects were caught.

One area resident said there has been a series of burglaries in the area recently. That hasn't been confirmed with law enforcement and it's unknown if this case is related to previous cases.

This post will be updated as more information becomes available.

Veterans from throughout Genesee County gathered today at Jerome Center at the corner of Washington and Bank for an annual Veterans Day service.

More than a dozen veterans made sure their voices were heard Thursday at the public hearing on the proposed 2012 Genesee County budget.

Repeatedly, veterans stepped to the podium and pleaded with the legislature to ensure the next veterans services officer is properly trained.

"Besides the force reduction through attrition, thousands and thousands of servicemen are about to become veterans," said Ernie Luskey, noting the plans to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afganistan in the next couple of years.

Those veterans will have their benefits jeopardized if there isn't a properly trained, credentialed and accredited veterans service officer working for the county, each speaker said.

"There are just too many laws, rules and regulations for a veterans services officer to pick up on the fly," Luskey said. "He has to be trained."

After the meeting, County Manager Jay Gsell said the new veterans services officer will be trained.

Hal Kreter retires from the job in August (he and his wife plan to move to Twentynine Palms in California). Gsell said his replacement will be hired in July or earlier and there are training classes available in August and September.

There is money in the social services budget to accomodate the training, Gsell said.

Gsell said there are other changes coming in the proposed budget, most significantly, the tax rate is going to be reduced.

Adjustments have already been made to reduce the rate from the originally proposed rate of $9.95 per $1,000 of assessed value to $9.92.

Gsell said the direction he is getting from the legislature is to reduce it further -- to $9.85 per thousand. The current rate is $9.82.

The county is struggling with cuts to local programs while seeing state-mandated costs -- particularly pension contributions and Medicaid expenses -- skyrocket.

Taken together, the increases in those two programs push the expenditure beyond what the county could generate in property tax revenue, if the legislature raised taxes as much as it could under the recently enacted 2-percent property tax levy cap.

Medicaid alone costs the county more than 42 percent of county's tax levy, or $10 million.

Gsell said New York is one of only three states in the union that makes local taxpayers shoulder any part of Medicaid expenses, all while also providing recipients with a "Maserati" level of numerous services, and with less oversight.

"Medicaid is the entitlement with no ceiling and minimal controls as far as case management and disease management and health-living metrics are concerned," Gsell said. 

If the state took over Medicaid costs, property taxes in the county could be reduced by about $3 per thousand.

"Contrary to what Gov. Cuomo has alleged himself or through his stalking horse, Lt. Gov. Duffy, we counties are not whining or asking to be 'subsidized,'" Gsell said.

"The state put counties in this unprecedented and unenviable position 30 or 40 years ago, with no local control or discretion to fund a benefit that the state and federal governments totally orchestrate. The state alone has the power to gradually and strategically extricate the counties from this fiscal morass."

Total proposed appropriations for 2012 are $142,098,429. That's up 1.10 percent from 2011.

Anticipated revenue for the fiscal year is $112,015,617. The deficit will need to be made up either through more cuts in spending or an increase in the property tax rate.

Gsell said cuts will be made and the rate increase will be lessened when the revised budget is brought forward on Nov. 21.

Top photo: County Manager Jay Gsell; inset, veteran Paul Gaylord; bottom, legislators Esther Leadley, Robert Radley and Hollis Upson.

Message from Councilman Bill Cox:

Residents and friends of the First Ward,

I would like to personally thank everyone for the support and friendship which you have given to me during the past four years as your councilman.

It was an honor and genuine pleasure to represent and assist you.

It was my sincere desire to continue to represent you. You made your decision on your next representative and I respect it. I called Kris Doeringer to offer my congratulations and to offer my support for a smooth transition. I also offered my support to him during his term if he would like to contact me for any reason. I am sure he will do an outstanding job of representing you.

We have a great city and a great ward. I wish each and everyone of you the very best in every way.

Bill Cox
Councilman – First Ward

The Genesee Community College Men’s Soccer Team came back to defeat Manchester Community College (Conn.) 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA National Tournament on Thursday afternoon at SUNY IT in Utica.

Rain was falling throughout the match and made for a slick pitch during the battle of the Cougars. GCC narrowly gave up the game’s first goal six minutes in, when goalkeeper Jack West (Notts, England) came out of the net to make a save. The shot was turned aside by West but remained in the box with a vacated net. Manchester managed to get a shot on goal but defender Josh Gray (Norwich, England) stepped in to make the save and keep the game scoreless.

Genesee controlled possession for the better part of the first half and capitalized in the 11th minute when Sean Brettell (Welwyn Garden City, England) finished a nice cross from Dom Francis (Huddersfield, England) to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. About 12 minutes later, Peter Keegan (Dublin, Ireland) came within inches of increasing the lead to two when his shot off of a free kick went just wide of the Manchester net.

The Cougars of Manchester responded late in the first half scoring off of a corner kick in the 37th minute and then netting the go-ahead goal with just 40 seconds to play in the first half to take a 2-1 lead into the break.

The number-one team in the country would respond after the intermission and came out putting pressure on the District G champions from the very beginning of the half.

Five minutes in, Brettell tried to return the favor by sending a cross Francis’s way, but Francis’s shot sailed just wide. Genesee kept play in the Manchester end and cashed in the equalizer when Ryan Fredal (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) pushed a header off of a throw in by Gray past the Manchester goalkeeper 10 minutes into the second half.

With the score tied at 2, Theo Stamatopolous (Norwich, England) found good position on two occasions but could not connect on a Jonny Bonner (Buncrana, Ireland) long ball or a Keegan cross to put GCC on top.

The Cougars did take the lead with a little over 14 minutes to play on an own goal. Gray sent a bid into the box that was inadvertently knocked into the Manchester net by a Cougar defender. Gray was credited with the eventual game winning goal.

With a 3-2 lead, Genesee added an insurance goal with just over 5 minutes to play when Brandon Reiner (Attica) scored from just inside the box, icing the game and giving GCC the 4-2 win.

Genesee (15-1-2) advances to the NJCAA National semi-finals which will take place tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 at Herkimer County Community College. The Cougars will take on Anoka-Ramsey Community College out of Minnesota. The Rams, ranked #5 in the country, represent District C and sport a 14-2-2 record. They advanced after beating Howard Community College (Md.) 3-1 on Thursday afternoon. The winner of tomorrow’s contest will move on to play for the NJCAA National Championship on Sunday afternoon.

The Sheriff's Office believes Wyatt Becker is in the Batavia area and knows law enforcement is looking for him but haven't yet pinpointed his location, according to warrant officer Eric Olson.

Olson is asking that anybody who has information on Becker's whereabouts to call (585) 343-0911.

Becker is wanted for alleged vehicular assault, DWI and felony violation of probation.

On Monday, Becker failed to appear for his arraignment in Genesee County Court on those charges. Previously, when Becker was in Alexander Town Court, after learning that he was going to jailed on $5,000 bail, Becker reportedly asked to use the restroom and never came back.

The assault and DWI charges stem from an Aug. 3 accident in which a person was seriously injured.

The New York Times: Should Penn State Cancel Its Season?

Michael Tomaszewski, right, marvels at the fact that he and business partner Dave Stupp have remained friends through seven and a half years of operating the Batavia Party House together.

Friends that go into business together often don't stay friends, Tomaszewski noted today.

The two businessmen were talking about a change in their partnership, one that will spell the end of the Batavia Party House as we know it.

While the partners will continue to operate a catering service together, the party house, after more than 40 years in business, is hosting its last party on Monday.

Both Tomaszewski and Stupp have stakes in other local businesses, and those have increasingly become a focus of their time and resources. Operating the  Batavia Party House -- located at 5762 E. Main St. Road,  Batavia -- has simply become something they no longer wish to do.

"Since we began this place together, our lives have gone in different directions," Tomaszewski said. "Dave has the pizza business (partner in Pauly's Pizza) and the deli (Northside Deli). I have the funeral business (Michael S. Tomaszewski Funeral and Cremation Chapel), and those businesses are doing well."

Stupp and pizzeria partner Paul Bernardini recently expanded Pauly's Pizza into Clarence. Tomaszewski recently added a reception center next to his funeral home on West Main Street.

"We have other business interests now," Stupp added.

Stupp and Tomaszewski tried finding a buyer for the party house, which was founded in the 1970s by Tom and Bill Barber.

"This part of town is growing, with what's going on at the ag park  and Adams trucking coming in next door, we've had a lot of interest in the building," Stupp said. "But, nobody has come forward with an interest in the party house as a party house."

It's tinsel and baubles time at the Holland Land Office Museum.

Dozens of sponsors -- more than ever before -- are in the process of setting up their Christmas trees for the museum's popular, annual Wonderland of Trees.

It's the 10th year for the event, which is a major fundraiser for HLOM.

The opening gala is 7 to 10:30 p.m., Nov. 18. It will include entertainment, hors d'ouevres and a raffle. Cost is $5 per person.

The children's gala is from noon to 4 p.m., Dec. 17. Cost is $5 per family.

The trees will be on public display from Nov. 18 through Jan. 3, with admission prices of $3 for adults, $1 for children, and free for children 5 and under.

A two-car accident with injuries is reported at Clinton Street and East Avenue in the City of Batavia. One person is complaining of dizziness.

City fire and Mercy medics are responding.

Possibly three minor head injuries, and/or other types of injuries, are reported after a car cut off a school bus transporting children.

The accident occured at about 11:50 a.m. when a dark blue or black Pontiac Grand Prix exited the parking lot of the Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union and went onto Jefferson Avenue.

The bus driver slammed on the brakes, they locked up, jolting everyone inside. There was no impact with the other vehicle, which is possibly registered to a Bergen driver, who continued on and left the area.

The bus driver also drove away, but then some children complained of pain and so he pulled into the parking lot of the Salvation Army on Jackson Street. Two Mercy ambulances are requested to the scene to evaluate the passengers.

UPDATE: A 6-year-old girl and one other child were taken to UMMC with minor injuries, complaints of pain. Police are continuing to look for the other vehicle.