If you enjoy The Batavian, it's important that you support our advertisers. That's how we will be able to stay in business.

Current advertisers:

• Oliver's Candies. Buy your Easter candy at Oliver's, and remember, you can shop online.
• Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, offering getaway packages.
• Valle Jewelers, a family-owned tradition in Batavia for three generations.
• Center of Attention Auto Spa, now offering a spring special: Complete interior for $69.99.
• Batavia Downs, a stalwart in the community and fun entertainment venue.
• Barret's Batavia Marine & Sporting Supplies, proud sponsors of Jim Nigro's Outdoors posts.
• D'n'R Fireplaces and Stoves, a great place for your home decor needs.
• Holland Land Office Museum, now featuring a volunteer firefighters exhibit.
• Fastec Automotive, a quality auto repair shop in LeRoy specializing in foreign makes.
• Diegleman's Plumbing in Batavia.
• The Enchanted Florist, right in the heart of Downtown Batavia.

To promote your business on The Batavian, call Howard Owens at 585-260-6970, or write to me at howard (at) thebatavian dot com.

For Background on this poll, see yesterday's story by Paul Mrozek. A Darian Town Council member raised the issue at the Ways and Means Committee meeting on Monday.

"It's kind of ridiculous to have all nine legislators up for election at the same time," said Steve Ferry, a member of the Darien Town Board. He said four-year terms would provide more consistency for the Legislature and would also attract more candidates for the nine seats.

"When you tell people (potential candidates) it's a two-year term they kind of walk the other way," Ferry said.

UPDATE (2:55 p.m.): This notice was just sent to County Legislators.

Chair Hancock has requested your attendance at a Committee of the Whole Meeting Wednesday, April 8th at 6:30 PM for the purpose of discussing a request by Steve Ferry to bring to consideration the extension of Legislature Terms to four years and staggering those terms.  In addition, Mr. Ferry has requested a reconsideration of Legislature Rule 22 in regards to addressing the Legislature.

The Buffalo News reports this morning that a group of Western New York State Assembly Democrats "rebelled" against party bosses by voting "no" on a slate of budget bills.

But how much of a rebellion is it when the outcome is predetermined?

And 23 Democrats — nearly a quarter of the party’s conference — voted no on a massive bill involving health care spending.

What’s going on? Why would so many Democrats buck their leadership on such a crucial matter?

One answer is because Democrats control the Assembly with a highly secure 109-41 margin, leaving plenty of wiggle room to let some members avoid making a politically uncomfortable vote without affecting the overall outcome of a bill the leadership wants passed.

So some Democrats who might face a backlash back home get to play it safe and "buck" party leadership. Does it really make a difference? We still get stuck with this loser of a budget.

John Birchler left Batavia a long time ago, but he's making headlines in Schenectady where he's starring as John Denver in a off-Broadway tribute musical called "Almost Heaven."

Birchler left Batavia to attend college in Albany, and landed a teaching job near the state capitol after graduation. He is now retired.

“I don’t try to sound like him. It’s just a matter of representing his songs in that John Denver musical style. We want to perform the songs and be as faithful to him as we can.”

Birchler is the only identified character in the show, which includes 29 of Denver’s tunes, some of them accompanied by an audio-visual presentation.

“There are no real characters, but I do portray a John Denver-like figure,” said Birchler. “There’s a bit of a narrative thread throughout the show, and that’s me talking a little bit as Denver about different things that happened in his life. Beyond my little dialogue and the music, there’s an A-V component that includes almost 130 images projected onto a screen. In some way, they illustrate the songs and much of Denver’s life.”

BATAVIA , N.Y. -- Kirby S. Wall, 32, of Rochester, reportedly tried to run from Drug Enforcement Task Force investigators yesterday only to be found hiding along the east wall of 400 Towers. The foot chase started at a residence on Swan Street, where officers had gone in an attempt to arrest Wall for allegedly dealing in crack cocaine. Wall was allegedly found to be in possession of $1,000 worth of crack and a quantity of marijuana.

Previously, Wall reportedly made two sales of crack cocaine to undercover investigators.

Wall is charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance, both felonies. He is also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and obstructing governmental administration in the second degree, a misdemeanor.

Assisting in the investigation were the Batavia Police Department, the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, Livingston County Sheriff's K-9 Unit, and the Genesee County District Attorney's Office.

Gorgon L. Montgomery, 50, of Batavia, allegedly thought he could get something for nothing. He is accused of taking four tires that had been chained to a residential tree and marked "for sale." The tires disappeared the night of April 1 and were allegedly found in the back of Montgomery's pick up truck yesterday. He is charged with criminal possession of stolen property in the 5th degree. He was issued an appearance ticket on the charge.

Gerald P Perkins, 77, of LeRoy, was reportedly stopped for driving a vehicle without break lights. Upon further investigation, the arresting deputy reports, it was determined that Perkins was allegedly driving while impaired by alcohol. He was charged with DWI and released to a friend.

Michael C. Mirabal, 36, of Batavia, is accused of taking and using another person's car with out permission. He is charged with one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Cattle rustlers like to go after calves, according to Sheriff's Department Investigator Timothy J. Weis.  Weis said the younger animals are easier to move -- they can fit in the back seat of a car -- and easier to sell because they don't often yet have any permanent identification.

"It's easy to cut a calve's identification from its ear," Weis said. "You can use scissors or metal snips. You then have a hole in the ear, but it's difficult to identify the cattle afterwards."

That ease of movement and lack of identification may have been what Charles M. Fuller, 20, of Gainsville, and William C. Raymond, 26, of Castile were counting on when they allegedly calf-napped three young Holsteins from Noblehurst Farms, York Road, Pavilion, on March 23.

What the alleged theives weren't counting on was an anonymous tip that led investigators to suspect Fuller and Raymond.

Without the tip, there may never have been an arrest in the case. Even though the Sheriff's Department notified the livestock auction houses in the region, the thieves were apparently able to successfully sell the calves at the Maplehurst Livestock Market in Hinsdale.

"They (Maplehurst) didn't catch it (that the calves were stolen) and they processed the sale as normal," Weis said.

Rather than try to recover the calves, which would involve tracking them through other possible sales channels and possibly as far as California, the owners of Noblehurst have elected to seek restitution from the defendants upon conviction, Weis said.

The owners are also concerned that "now that the calves have mixed with other cattle, they could bring back disease and infect their other cattle," Weis said.

Often times, Weis said, investigators need not rely on anonymous tips. Because auction houses are notified when calves are stolen, they might spot unusual activity and let law enforcement officials know.

"When they see some individual who doesn't seem to be a farmer (trying to sell cattle), that's a clue," Weis said.

Even so, Weis said that livestock auctions are hectic environments and not conducive to every seller getting close scrutiny.

"You would be surprised at how easy it is to go unnoticed," Weis said.

That's why the anonymous tip in this case may prove crucial in getting a conviction and lead to restitution for Noblehurst.

Mug shots above: Fuller upper left; Raymond, lower right.

Several cities in New York have lobbied the Legislature to allow them to install traffic enforcement  cameras to help catch drivers who run red lights.

Red light cameras are controversial because many citizens view the devices as a get-quick-rich scheme for municipalities, while often times law enforcement officials defend the automated cops as a legitimate traffic control measure.

So the natural question is, if Batavia had the chance, would officials like to install such cameras at any intersections in the city?

City Council President Charlie Mallow said the subject has come up in informal discussions around City Hall, but there is no immediate plans to pursue the option.

"The city has a huge problem with out-of-town truck traffic and speeders bypassing the Thruway," Mallow said. "Traffic is the number one complaint I hear from residents."

Even so, Chief of Police Randy Baker said he hasn't looked into the issue at all. He's aware there is talk of installing the cameras in other cities, but no such proposal has been floated in Batavia as far as he knows.

"I'm not sure even what's involved," Baker said. "I'm not sure how expensive the cameras are or what kind of support is needed."

Council member Rosy Mary Christian said she hasn't given the issue any thought because none of her constituents have raised the issue.

But Mallow doesn't think the idea is off the boards.

"The city already has a plate reader on a (police) car that I’m told has been very effective," Mallow said.  "I guess I have yet to make up my mind about these cameras. If the police department believed it would be effective, I would be open to discussing it."

Both Buffalo and Rochester have long sought permission from the Legislature to install the cameras. The Buffalo City Council voted this week to ask Albany again if it could install 50 cameras. Rochester is expected to seek permission in a City Council vote today, according to an article in the Democrat and Chronicle.

Cities, including New York City, have been clamoring for years to install the cameras, but had been rebuffed by Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman David Gantt, D-Rochester.

However, Gantt said Wednesday he will no longer object to the measure and sponsored legislation this week to let Rochester have the cameras, which take snapshots of vehicles that run red lights.

Gantt said he still has reservations about whether the cameras invade privacy and increase safety. But he said legislative leaders and Gov. David Paterson have been pushing for the measure, so Rochester should be included.

Cities see the cameras as a way to cut down on drivers speeding through red lights and to generate new revenue; each offense would bring a $50 fine.

Citizen advocates, however, charge that municipal red light cameras are nothing more than a revenue grab. A site that tracks red light camera issues, TheNewspaper.com, claims Suffolk County transparently admits its desire for red light cameras is partly driven by a need to make-up revenue short falls.

In a four-hundred-page review of the county's financial situation released earlier this month, officials mentioned only one purpose for the automated traffic enforcement devices.

"At this point the County needs to make hard decisions," the 2009 county budget review states. "Do we raise property taxes? Do we seek state approval to raise the overall sales tax rate? ... Do we raise revenue from traffic tickets by instituting red light cameras? ... These are some of the choices, none of which are attractive. Nevertheless, we must face reality and begin serious discussions on what direction to take."

Suffolk County believes it could generate $3.5 million in new revenue from red light cameras.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety takes a different view of red light cameras, however, claiming that the cameras do help to reduce traffic accidents.

A nationwide study of fatal crashes at traffic signals in 1999 and 2000 estimated that 20 percent of the drivers involved failed to obey the signals. In 2007, almost 900 people were killed and an estimated 153,000 were injured in crashes that involved red light running. About half of the deaths in red light running crashes are pedestrians and occupants in other vehicles who are hit by the red light runners.

Motorists are more likely to be injured in urban crashes involving red light running than in other types of urban crashes. Institute researchers studied police reports of crashes on public roads in four urban areas during 1990-91. Occupant injuries occurred in 45 percent of red light running crashes, compared with 30 percent of other crash types.

...

A study conducted during several months at five busy intersections in Fairfax, Virginia, prior to the use of red light cameras found that, on average, a motorist ran a red light every 20 minutes at each intersection. During peak travel times, red light running was more frequent. Analysis of red light violation data from 19 intersections (without red light cameras) in four states found that 1,775 violations occurred over 554 hours, for a violation rate of 3.2 per hour per intersection

What these statistics do not reveal, however, is what these drivers were doing before running a red light. There is a huge difference between blatantly speeding through a red light and being caught by a short or unexpected red light and not having adequate time to safely stop. I've always wondered how many of the cited accidents, used to justify red light cameras, where caused by drivers who just happened to be the last car through the intersection with no real intention to run the red light?

Charlie Mallow said one reason he's ambivalent about the cameras is he's received a red light camera ticket before.

"I’ve also been on the short end of a traffic camera myself in California. So I understand the frustration of being caught by a big brother spy camera."

And I've gotten such a ticket. My ticket came while I tried to make a left turn at a Ventura, Calif. intersection. I was stopped at the red light and third car in line.  As I accelerated for my turn as the number two car, the light changed to yellow and just as I reached the limit line, it changed to red. Caught.  Three days later I received a letter from the city with three pictures of me in the intersection.  My frustration was that while I technically committed an infraction, there was no way I posed any threat to any other drivers.  With traffic stopped in all directions, there was no chance of anybody moving into the intersection at that point.

Running red lights is dangerous, but I don't believe red light cameras are really intended to stop the such reckless drivers. They are really designed to trap people like you and me so that the government can reach one more time into our wallets and extract a little cash.

At least there is this much though: If New York's fine is only $50, that's a hell of a lot better than the $260 of my California fine.

Traffic is blocked and backing up on northbound Oak Street to Main following a semi-truck and car collesion at 12 Oak Street.

Only minor injuries are reported.

BATAVIA, N.Y. -- It's a great day to BBQ, but apparently some people haven't brushed off the cob webs of winter and reminded themselves cooking out doors.

About 1:35, a resident on Bank Street saw flames from an enclosed area in a neighbors back yard and called dispatchers with report of a fire at 117 Bank Street.

Batavia fire crews responded promptly and found nothing more than a beginning-of-spring bar-b-que in progress.

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The Downtown Batavia Public Market returns Thursday, June 25 for its third year of operation, according to Don Burkel, manager of the Batavia Business Improvement District.

The market will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and run until Sept. 10 and operate at the corner of Ellicott and Center streets.

"This year the Market will be open on Thursdays to accommodate  residents and employees of the businesses and government," Burkel said.  "This provides a convenient venue for them to shop for fresh vegetables, fruit, baked goods, fresh cut flowers, honey, specialty BBQ sauce and popcorn and lots more within a short distance of their homes and places or work."

There is plenty of parking at the location, Burkel noted.

For those interested in being a vendor at the Downtown Public Market they can contact the Business Improvement District Office at 585-344-0900 or for more information visit the BID Web site.

Eric Bastian, 25, of Macedon, was arrested in Bergen Monday and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Bastian was reportedly driving on Route 262 when a Sheriff's Deputy stopped him for allegedly driving with improperly tinted windows and a partially obscured license plate. When the deputy approached the vehicle, he said he could smell marijuana coming from the vehicle. Upon questioning, Bastian stated it was marijuana, according to the deputy's report. A field test also confirmed that the substance found in the car was marijuana. Bastian was issued a ticket and ordered to appear in court on April 8.

Jason Smith, 30, of Ontario, was arrested for alleged unlawful possession of marijuana following a traffic stop near Oak and Main streets in Batavia. Smith was allegedly speeding. When a Sheriff's deputy approached the vehicle, the deputy could reportedly smell the smoke and then observed smoke in the car. A field test of the substance in the car reportedly confirmed it was marijuana. Smith was issued an appearance ticket for April 8 in the City of Batavia.

James P. Cox, 46, of Pembroke, was arrested for alleged DWI after a witness allegedly observed him hit another vehicle in Erie County. The witness helped Erie and Genesee County Sheriff's deputies track and find Cox. Cox was stopped on Route 5 in Pembroke. He is charged with aggravated DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. He received additional moving violation tickets. Cox must now appear in courts in both Pembroke and Newstead.

James P. Coles, 30, of Darian, was arrested by Batavia Police yesterday for allegedly violating an order of protection the day before. Coles is accused of sending text messages to, and then showing up at the residence of the protected person. He is being held in lieu of $1,000 bail.

A 17-year-old from Bergen was picked up by Sheriff's Deputies yesterday and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. The teen was allegedly found in possession of marijuana in the Village of Bergen municipal parking lot.

Last night citizens of LeRoy and surrounding towns flooded the Gymnasium at LeRoy Village Fitness to listen and voice their concerns on teenage alcohol abuse.

The community forum was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., but started ten minutes late because people continued to pile into the gym.

Pastor Jack Hempfling was the moderator and gave a big thank you to everyone for coming out.

In her introductory remarks, LeRoy Central Schools Superintendent Cindy Herzog, said it is all about perspective. We all come with many perspectives, we all wear different hats. She connected with the audience by sharing her own experiences.

She is a mother of five, ages 22, 20,16,14, and 13. She talked about a time when her teenage daughter was out one night and she received a phone call in the early morning hours from the police.

“When you get that phone call you can hardly breathe,” she said.

She talked about her husband always putting on the news in the morning, and the fear she feels every time they mention the teenage arrests.

“I fear every time on R News, it’s going to be one of our kids.”

David Markham, Executive Director of GCASA, tugged at the hearts of the listeners when he answered the question of “Why do I care?” He cares because he lost his 5- and 8-year-old, because of someone making a wrong choice. A drunken driver killed his children.

As he spoke he took the time to pause and let the audience reflect when he said today they would be 22 and 25.

He said we must focus on changing the community norms and attitudes, and decrease access.

Markham brought up a great point about the media reacting to the incident with Janet Jackson, at the Super Bowl. Everyone made a big deal about part of her breast being exposed, but there wasn’t anything wrong with the 22 beer commercials that were shown during the Super bowl.

Today teenagers have access at their fingertips; it is up to parents to decrease access.

Chris Hayward, LeRoy chief of police presented a slide show full of statistics showing the kids who are drinking the most are the age group 13-15.

The Village Police have seen a 131 percent increase in drug and alcohol related arrests since 2003. This is not including DWI arrests.

In 2008 the 13-21 year-old populations represented 53.5 percent of those arrests. Of those arrests the 13-18 year old population represented 73 percent.

On a national level 22.4 percent of eighth graders and fifty percent of seniors consumed alcohol in the last month from data from 2007.

There were 23 underage drinking incidents in LeRoy since May of 2008. One of the incidents in November was a 15-year-old was so drunk she couldn’t walk or stand up, so her friends just left her. Hayward gave praise for the parent who was out looking for their daughter, if they didn’t, who knows what might have happened.

Part of the message was parents must be responsible and get involved. They asked for places for teenagers to go. Seventy one percent of American youth say their parents are their leading influence.

Sixty percent of LeRoy students have used alcohol in their lifetime.

‘We have great kids,” said Hayward, “Some of our kids are making bad choices, choices that could result in death."

It is not about their character, he said, it’s about their choices.

Jackie Whiting, of LeRoy said she is all about the good choices but really pressed the panel with this question, “What are we going to do to offer better choices?” Now that the community is all here showing their concern what are the next steps to take was her main point.

Herzog responded by saying we are a big community that wants to do a lot of things, but the resources are not there. People in the audience were shaking their heads as soon as Herzog said we accept all ideas.

Ed Bishop, a parent who has spent 40 years in public education agreed there needs to be activities for the kids. He asked a powerful question about parenting.

“Most parents do not know,” he said referring to their child’s activities and whereabouts.
“Do you know?” he said.

One parent asked about the emphasis of arresting teenagers for marijuana. She works at Bryon-Bergen and said she knows kids are getting high before class in their cars.

“Pot is extremely accessible,” she said.

Hayward responded saying three weeks ago there was an arrest for possession of marijuana. He said it is a little bit tricky when it comes to making arrests with marijuana but there are arrests being made for it.

It takes a community to raise a child, one woman said and it took a community forum to realize the seriousness of preventing underage drinking in LeRoy.

The organizers gave everyone two folders full of statistics and pamphlets with advice and articles on underage drinking.

Also on the panel: Dana Berg, student, Ed Bishop, parent, Joe Englebert, Jr/Sr High Principal, Lisa Heywood, Parent, Father Michael Rock, St. Peter’s Church.

A note of interest, as I was walking to my car a couple were talking about the pool located in the Village Fitness, talking about how small it is. Then they went on to talk about how the community pool is getting taken away, and said, "Well now the kids won’t even have that."

Private ambulance companies can begin bidding on a contract to provide Genesee County with ambulance services. The private service will replace the service terminated by a vote of the Batavia City Council and scheduled to end Sept. 1.

Lawn signs protesting the council vote continue to dot the Batavia landscape.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) can be found on the County's Web site. The RFP was developed by the Genesee County Ambulance Task Force.

WBTA interviewed Tim Yaeger is the county’s emergency management coordinator, and head of the task force. Yaeger said the task force will review the proposals and submit recommendations and feedback to the participating government agencies.

Deadline for submissions is April 29.

The RFP is a very thorough document (PDF). It specifies the scope of service, company qualifications, insurance requirements, equipment needs, response times and communication guidelines.

The winning bid will be granted a three-year contract beginning Sept. 1, 2009 and ending Aug. 31, 2012. The contract may be terminated by either party on 120-days written notice.

The selected vendor must submit a surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of $500,000 to guarantee performance of work.

The task force also reserves the right to reject all proposals.

Interested companies can ask questions and get more information on April 15, 10 a.m., at the Fire Training Center.

While service must start by Sept. 1, no date has been set for announcement of the awarded contract.

Most of the information contained in proposals received by the task force will be public information, discloseable under the Freedom of Information Law, except information specifically deemed as proprietary, in writing, by the submitting company.

Opponents of the city's decision to terminate its ambulance service set up a Web site to rally community support for its position. At one time, the site contained a (certainly non-scientific) poll to gauge community support for its position. Before the poll was taken down, only about 35 percent of the poll respondents favored the pro-city-ambulance position. The site also contains an online petition, but as of this moment -- several weeks after it was launched -- only 131 people have signed it.

The Obama stimulus package includes $7.2 billion to help rural America access the Internet more easily, and officials in Genesee County would like to ensure some of that money benefits the region.

Known as "Title VI--Broadband Technology Opportunities Program," the allocation is a mere 1 percent of the entire stimulus program.

County Manager Jay Gsell clued me in a couple of weeks ago about the County's efforts to attract some of that money to help areas of the county that do not yet have broadband access. He said the broadband effort is one of many tasks on the County's to-do list related to bringing as much stimulus money to the county as possible.

Stephen Zimmer, Genesee County Director of Information Technology, said the county is participating in a state program to map current broadband availability and identify areas of need.

New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton applauds the effort to help rural residents access the Internet more easily.

"Farmers in rural, agricultural areas need broadband," Norton said. "Support for broadband has been in our policy book for years. Technology is necessary to keep agriculture viable. Your business (The Batavian) thrives off of technology and agriculture is needing technology more and more."

Much is unknown even at this point about how the broadband program will be administered, and it may not be until 2010 before we see any results. This PCWorld article explains some of the unresolved questions about the program.

The broadband stimulus program is also not without controversy.

Former FCC economist Michael Katz has been acerbic in his dismissal of rural American and the need for spending $7.2 billion on improving Internet access.

Katz listed ways that the $7.2 billion could be put to better use, including an effort to combat infant deaths. But he also spoke of rural places as environmentally hostile, energy inefficient and even weak in innovation, simply because rural people are spread out across the landscape.

"The notion that we should be helping people who live in rural areas avoid the costs that they impose on society … is misguided," Katz went on, "from an efficiency point of view and an equity one."

According to the same NPR piece, a New York Times article has referred to the rural broadband initiative as a "cyber bridge to nowhere."

But others say the package could help another 20 million Americans get broadband access, and high-speed access does help create and retain jobs.

A study of 3,000 people in Michigan, Texas and Kentucky found those in areas that received broadband Internet grants from the federal Rural Utilities Service quickly signed up for service, matching the penetration rates in cities. That happened where network investment was coupled with community programs aimed at convincing people about the benefits of Internet access.

Home broadband users were more likely to start businesses or take classes online, and less likely to move away, the researchers at Michigan State University found.

Norton said a lot of farmers in Genesee County are still stuck with dial-up, which hurts their productivity. It also keeps them from accessing more advanced online-software that help them run their businesses.

"(Broadband) will help the more progressive and larger enterprises the most," Norton said, "but with the smaller ones, there lies another opportunity to educate people and help them."

In a statement issued last night, Assemblyman Steve Hawley said the elimination of VLT money (video lottery terminal funds) is going to cost both Batavia and the County some big bucks.

Today we asked City Council President Charlie Mallow (who, along with Rose Mary Christian, apparently will be a candidate for the County Legislature) about the impact of the state budget on local governments.

Charlie sent along this statement:

The city never planned for the VLT money to continue. We have always looked at the money as a short term windfall that was used to pay down the city’s debt. This year we used most of the money for designs to plan for infrastructure repairs.  On the bright side we were able to dodge a bullet that would have taken $40,000 in state aid that helps support our Youth bureau. We lobbied hard to change the governor’s mind about those block grants.  As far as I am aware at this point, some careful planning has helped us in the long run and this budget shouldn’t have a major effect on the city.

Hawley's statement about the VLT cuts:

The budget will also include a 50% reduction in VLT funding that will leave municipalities that depend on this money left holding the bag. The City of Batavia will see a cut of $314,849, the Town of Batavia $114,563, and Genesee County $143,137.  This lack of funding will force municipalities to pass along the added burden to taxpayers.

Reltated but out of the area: In an editorial, The Canandaigua Daily Messenger  recently said Farmington was wise not to count on keeping VLT money, which has been targetted for potential cuts before.

Homer is the moniker selected for the Batavia Muckdogs following a contest among local residents.

More than 100 names were submitted for the big lovable dog mascot of the NY-Penn League Champions.

The contest winner is Katie Houseknecht of East Bethany. She was the first person to submit an entry and the first one to suggest Homer for the mascot's name.

"The name was a no-brainer for me," Katie said in a Muckdogs' press release. "Homer is my brother Tim's nickname. And if the Muckdogs hit lots of 'Homers,' they will be NY-Penn League Champions again."

She won an electric scooter, courtesy of 7-Up, plus two tickets for Opening Day at Dwyer Stadium. The Muckdogs will play against the Auburn Doubledays in the Friday June 19 game. Fireworks will follow.

Local dairy farmers are hurting, according to Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau.

Prices have plummeted -- because of decreased demand for dairy products at home and abroad -- while costs have increased substantially. 

Currently, milk is selling for $10.50 to $11.50 per 100 weight (about 8.5 gallons), while the cost of production is $15 and $16 per 100 weight.

Last year, milk sold for about $20 per 100 weight.

"The area economy stinks and it's a tough year," Norton said. "Receipts are down and individuals might be exiting the dairy industry."

Exports have dropped and domestic demand has been driven down as people eat out less during the recession, so there is shrunken demand for dairy products.

To help address the plunging prices, Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has initiated a herd retirement program, which will help reduce the number of milk-producing cows and lower supply.  Bids must be postmarked by May 1.

Dairy farmers throughout the nation are hurting according to The Rural Blog:

“The number of dairy cows being sent to slaughter has risen by about 20 percent from last year, as desperate farmers cull their herds and sell at fire-sale prices,” Sue Kirchoff writes for USA Today. “Adding to the problem, banks are less willing or able to extend farmers’ loan payments amid the financial turmoil.” John Murawski reports for the News & Observer in Raleigh, "Several dozen dairy farms in North Carolina are expected to go under this year." (Read more)

The National Dairy Federation has called on President Obama to aggressively address the problem, or thousands of jobs could be lost.

“There are several reasons for the implosion: oversupply, falling export demand and continued high prices for supplies such as feed,” Kirchoff explained. “The dairy sector in the past has been less prone to huge price swings than other areas of agriculture, but that’s changing as the industry relies more on the markets and less on government programs.”

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a program to buy 200 million lbs. of nonfat dry milk surpluses for domestic low-income programs.

Neighboring Wyoming County is being especially hard hit by the downturn in the dairy market, according to a story by Tom Rivers.

The $60 million in reduced revenue is compared to 2008 prices, when dairies averaged about $17.50 per hundredweight. This year the prices are forecast to average $12.80 for the year. The prices are expected to climb above the current $11 level and top $14 in September, which is still below most farms' production costs.

The county's 47,970 cows, which outnumber the county's residents, produced $178.9 million worth of milk products in 2007, by far the most in the state.

"The market is saturated and these prices are likely to be with us until mid-summer," Norton said.