Yesterday, we got up the announcement of No. 4 in the Holland Land Office Museum's countdown of The Twenty-Five Things That Made Genesee County Famous. It was none other than the eponymous Holland Land Company.

So... that brings us to the top three, and the way we've got it worked out, there are still five likely contenders for those three slots. Surely, William Morgan and Jell-O will be among those three. But the third is something of a toss up. A couple of our readers suggested the state School for the Blind. Others have suggested Bill Kauffman. Quite a few more were sure that Barber Conable would make the top five. What do you think? What else has a chance at fame?

Scenes similar to this clean up yesterday at the site of a head-on collision on Clinton Street Road in the city have been common over the past few days. Below zero temperatures have kept the road salt from doing its work and frequent snowfalls have kept the plows more than busy.

In response, the city of Batavia police have issued a statement urging motorists to drive cautiously and maybe drive a little more slowly than they normally would.

In the past 24 hours the Batavia Police Department has investigated about 15 motor vehicle accidents. Only a few resulted in minor injuries. With the extreme cold weather conditions and the snow we have received, the city streets remain slippery and icy especially at intersections. Even after being treated, the intersections and streets become icy quickly with the near zero temperatures we are experiencing.
 
We are asking all drivers in the city to use extreme caution and to slow down, especially when approaching intersections.

Kim M. Mobley, 45, of 11 Pringle Ave., Batavia, was charged with two felony counts of third-degree criminal sale of a cotrolled substance and two felony counts of third-degree criminal possession of  controlled substance Wednesday, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Mobley was arrested at her home Wednesday afternoon following an investigation into the alleged sale of crack cocaine to an undercover agent of the Genesee County Local Drug Task Force. Mobley was sent to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $7,500.

Jessica R. Henry, 23, of Oakfield, was charged with a felony count of use of a child in a sexual performance, a felony count of promoting a sexual performance by a child and a felony count of promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Henry is accused of directing a child to perform multiple sexual acts with Corey Klase, who was arrested by the sheriff's deputies last week. Klase faces multiple charges, including two felony counts of third-degree rape.

Henry was also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. She was released under the supervision of the sheriff's office.

Eric C. Zglinicki, 46, of Darien Center, was charged with driving while intoxicated early this morning, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Zglinicki was stopped on Route 77 in Darien. He was also ticketed with failure to keep right.

This morning may not be too bad here in Batavia... But that wasn't the case in Rochester when I left shortly before 7 o'clock this morning. A few inches of snow had already accumulated and more was falling. Streets were greasy and driving slow almost all the way down I-490 to Bergen. So be careful if you're heading in that direction today in your commute.

As for the rest of the day: cold. We're at about 9 degrees right now and could see a low of zero! Yikes. Fortunately, we will not see significant wind until later this evening into tomorrow. In fact, a wind chill warning is in effect from 4:00am until noon tomorrow.

The National Weather Service out of Buffalo warns us that wind chills could dip as low as 20 to 25 degrees below zero. As if that isn't enough:

In addition to the very cold wind chills, winds (will) become well enough aligned later today and tonight for bands of heavy lake effect snow east of Lake Erie. Warnings will remain in place for southern Erie County and also Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties.

Here's a look out at the Thruway interchange in Batavia right now:

 The Batavia boys basketball team couldn't hit a shot in the first half, then the pressure defense led to offense in the second half as the Blue Devils wound up thumping visiting Greece Odyssey 56-38.

The defense was there, but there was a lid on the basket for Batavia in the first half. Andrew Hoy had some good looks, that didn't fall. And most of the supporting cast didn't have much to add offensively.

Dakota Irvin managed eight of his 10 points and Josh Budlong had an inspired six points, all in the first half as the score wound up being tied at 24.

But coach Buddy Brasky must have had one of his famous halftime speeches because the Blue Devils dominated the third quarter.

Irvin started things off with a basket and Marcus Hoy had five of his points. He also had six assists and four rebounds.

Andrew Hoy also hit a 3-pointer as Batavia scored 12 straight points before Ray Diaz drained a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left. It was 36-27 after three periods of play.

Batavia continued to own the fourth quarter, owning a 20-11 advantage.

Andrew Hoy scored six of his points with seven steals for the game in the final frame. The other big thing to take from the fourth quarter was the minutes and play of Donovan Rolle, who scored two points but looked like he can provide another rebounder for the Blue Devils.

Tim Aledsio led Odyssey with 13 points.

Batavia improves to 9-1 and is at Mendon on Friday before next week's showdown with Pittsford Sutherland.

West Jackson Corners is a small village built by members of East Shelby Community Bible Church.  A namesake of the original settlement, it comes complete with a town hall, general store, water wheel, black smith shop, open hearth and much more.

            In the north east corner of West Jackson Corners sits an oversized tepee. Hanging above the tepee entrance is a sign reading “Swamp Stories.” The tepee was built by Charlie Ralph and during church festivities like “Old Tyme Days held in July or December’s “Christmas at West Jackson Corners,” Charlie can be found inside the tepee, probably warming his hands over a fire and more than willing to share local swamp lore with those who enter.

            Charlie grew up in the Alabama swamp, his homestead was in the area now occupied by the Swallow Hollow foot trail on the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Charlie’ father also farmed a small parcel of their land, but only after clearing the standing timber. Charlie and his father began by cutting down large trees then using their team of Clydesdales to pull the stumps from the ground.

            In his youth Charlie and friends swam in the waters of Oak Orchard Creek just down the road from his home. On those outings they brought along a jar of salt – for the removal of leeches.   

            Generating income was tough in swamp country, so when a city fellow offered to pay Charlie and his friends for any water snakes they caught, they were happy to oblige.  Charlie never did find out what the man did with the snakes, only that he was willing to pay for them.

            In his early years Charlie traipsed around the swamp with a fellow he knew as “Trapper Jim.” Originally a cook on a Great Lakes tug boat, Trapper Jim took Charlie under his wing while he made the rounds along his trap line and also while acting as caretaker for a group of duck hunters from Buffalo who at the time owned a large tract of the vast wetland.

A mantle of ice lines a stretch of Oak Orchard Creek. This is the same stretch where Charlie Ralph used to swim in his youth. It is still a popular embarking point to access the swamp’s interior.

Several weeks from now, when thousands of waterfowl descend on the swamp, this empty nesting box will house a clutch of ducklings.  

One of the many species of fur bearers inhabiting the swamp, this fox emerges from cover.

The swamp has become popular with outdoor enthusiasts over the years. Birdwatchers, canoeists, kayakers, hunters, fishermen, hikers and nature photographers frequent the area. Come winter, the area takes on a different look. While somewhat desolate at this time of year, the swamp is perhaps more picturesque, and on calm, windless days, certainly quieter. But a couple months from now, in late winter or early spring, the spring peepers will make their presence known by celebrating the spring rain. Dormant for months, their nighttime chorus will herald the change of seasons. Soon afterward the swamp will once again be bustling with activity. 

The Holland Land Company has made the list of The Twenty-Five Things That Made Genesee County Famous, landing in fourth place. This picture to the right may look familiar. For those who don't already know, the Holland Land Office Museum inhabits the very same building that was used by the Dutch investors who hired none other than Joseph Ellicott to survey their land purchase for them back in the 18th century.

Pat Weissend, museum director:

The origins of the Holland Land Company go back to 1789, when four Dutch investment firms sent an agent to the United States in search of investment opportunities. The Club of Four, as it was called then, started to buy large tracts of American land in 1792. Two more investment firms joined the original four, creating the Club of Six. The six firms decided to merge their individual holdings into one stock company, and so the Holland Land Company was formed on November 20, 1795.

In September 1797, the company purchased 3.3 million acres of Western New York land from Robert Morris. The plan was to sell off the land in large tracts to speculators and make a quick profit, but the economy changed and they were forced to hang onto the land, develop it and sell it over the next 40 years.

For more info on the Holland Land Company and Joseph Ellicott, please visit the museum's Web site—there's plenty of interesting links and podcasts and histroy lessons—and be sure to keep up with the countdown. Only three more to go!

Earlier today, we picked up a story from Buffalo's Channel 4 news station about some potential route changes and shifting around of delivery times in store for Batavia and some areas in the region. We contacted the local Post Office this morning to see if we could find out some of the details.

Karen Mizurkiewicz, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, told us that yes, in fact, they would be adjusting some routes in the region.

"We normally do route adjustments because things change in mail volume," she said. "Also, because we have offered some early retirements for employees including carriers. Instead of hiring new carriers, we're redistributing routes among existing carriers. We need to try to direct our postal stamp dollar as far as it will go. We don't receive any tax dollars. So when you're selling less stamps and delivering less mail, you need to stretch your resources."

Mizurkiewicz didn't have any details on which routes would be affected. She said that right now, the postal service is "examing the data for Batavia," and that changes will be more clear nearer to the end of February.

We'll be sure to pass along those details to our readers when they become available.

Update at 12:17pm: Clinton Street Road has been reopened.

A head-on collission on Clinton Street Road, Route 33, just south of Terry Hills Golf Course near the city line has halted traffic through that stretch of road. Emergency crews are on scene at this time, and motorists are being redirected.

I came in via Route 33 this morning and can attest to the iciness of the road. Whole stretches of 33 in the town of Batavia and further out in Bergen were coated in ice. Please be careful if you do have to drive that way later today, and be sure to avoid it in the meantime.

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A home contractor based in Le Roy will face further accusations of defrauding his customers, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Martin A. Miller, 48, of Le Roy, was charged with a felony count of third-degree grand larceny and a felony count of first-degree sceme to defraud. Miller is accused of accepting $3,100 as a down payment toward a $6,200 barn roof that he agreed to replace in May. He allegedly cashed the check without ever even starting the work on the roof.

Miller was first arrested about a month ago by sheriff's deputies and was charged with a felony count of third-degree grand larceny and a felony count of first-degree scheme to defraud. Those charges stemmed from the accusation that he had taken $3,800 to repair a roof in Alexander and failed to do so. At that time, he was sent to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail.

Robert C. George III, 24, of 2 Roosevelt Ave., Batavia, was charged with driving while intoxicated Tuesday night, deputies said. George was picked up following an investigation of a vehicle off the road in the town of Le Roy. He was also ticketed with failure to reduce speed and use special hazards.

Well folks, it turns out not even the postal service is immune to an economy that's feeling the hurt. A story on Buffalo's WIVB Channel 4 informs us that postal delivery route changes are in store for several districts in the area, including Batavia.

From a companion story on the Channel 4 Web site:

When the nation's businesses experience a downturn, it directly affects the volume of mail. Economic decline leads to a decline in mail volume. The current year is particularly challenging since mail volume has declined significantly

In order to remain economically viable, the Postal Service must make changes to its operations, staffing, and facilities to match current mail volume and to maintain the service performance the American public has come to expect.

We will contact the local branch later this morning to see if there are more details on when and where in particular these changes will take effect.

Temperatures have settled at about 4 degrees, or nearly 30 degrees below freezing, in the Batavia area this morning. As a result, area police have cautioned motorists to be wary of black ice on the roads. Even those roads treated with salt have iced up in some spots, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer.

Fortunately, there's no significant wind to push that cold all the more insistently into our faces today. Unfortunately, that won't be the case tomorrow when more wind develops and could yank the temperature down near -17 degrees. Expect more of the same on Friday.

A well-written article this morning in the Buffalo News has some tips on how to get through the "deep freeze." For example: You may want to keep your water running just a little bit so that it doesn't freeze in the pipes.

Batavia High School has been one of the smallest schools in the Monroe County League for a long time.

It has hindered the chances some programs have had to win.

But those things are about to change as realignment has given Batavia a chance to remain part of a league, yet be competitive in sports it normally struggled to compete in.

"With our school and our size, Monroe County recognized that our school and Greece Odyssey were a little different," Batavia athletic director Mike Bromley said. "You have to give them credit for that because they give us a league affiliation and will allow us to be competitive."

The Blue Devils will be playing in Monroe County League Division III, but will be essentially playing a half-league schedule.

Geography is a big consideration for Monroe County as teams were realigned. Division I and II teams are matched up as much by travel distance as school size. Division III is mostly about size.

Batavia will play each team in Division III once in both boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball and volleyball. That means the Blue Devils will get to play seven league games, which is also happening with Odyssey.

While Batavia will no longer be eligible for league championships, it will give teams chances to schedule non-league games with teams that they can compete with.

A prime example is the boys soccer team, which experimented with the schedule least year. Batavia went 7-10, going 7-1 outside of Monroe County and 0-8 in the league.

"We gave up the opportunity to win a league championship because we don't play everybody twice," Bromley said. "But to be able to go out and get schools that are closer to our size and be more competitive makes more sense than trying to win league titles."

Kids will still have  a chance to be recognized as all-county and there will be no changes for track & field or cross country. 

This sets up some potential great local rivalries, especially as Batavia drops down to Class B. Imagine home and home series' with Attica or Albion. Those could be great local rivalries for Batavia.

Once you get past not being able to compete for a league championship, there are still goals for Batavia teams. 

There will also be changes in the modified programs at Batavia, as the drop in numbers will no longer support a seventh and eighth grade team. The two grades will be combined for modified and will play a schedule based on geography.

Here is the new alignment for the Monroe County League:

Division I: Canandaigua, Irondequoit, Fairport, Penfield, Rush-Henrietta, Webster Schroeder, Webster Thomas.

Division II: Brockport, Churchville-Chili, Gates Chili, Greece Arcadia, Greece Athena, Greece Olympia, Hilton, Spencerport.

Division III: Batavia, Brighton, Greece Odyssey, East Irondequoit Eastridge, Honeoye Falls-Lima, Pittsford Mendon, Pittsford Sutherland, Victor.

Earlier today, we contacted Charlie Mallow, Batavia's City Council president, and Greg Post, the town supervisor, to get their thoughts on some specifics about the upcoming consolidation plan. Mallow sent us his responses via e-mail this past hour. We include them below.

When we called Post, he told us that he wouldn't be available to answer the questions until later this evening. We will try to get in touch with him then and get his answers up once we have them. They were given the same questions.

Note: CGR is an abbreviation for the Center for Governmental Research, the group that put together the report in preparation for an upcoming study on consolidating the city and town of Batavia. You can download the complete report here. Our questions (verbatim) are in italics. Mallow's responses (verbatim) are in bold.

CGR's memorandum calls for a Consolidation Plan to be complete by May in order for community discussion to take place between then and November, in advance of the tentative November 3 vote. Does that sound like a tenable timeline?

The time tables are tight; there is no question about it. It will be a challenge to get the information out to the voters. It is doable and needs to be a priority.

What do you see as your role moving forward in this process? Do you plan to be a passive contributor—for example, you will sit for interviews and meetings when asked, but that's the extent of it? Or do you plan to actively promote consolidation efforts? If the latter, how do you plan to do so?

The experience I have gathered during the cities financial difficulties has made it very clear to me that individual municipalities cannot continue on the way we are. The tribalism that we have in NY is driving away business and making it impossible to compete. We need to eliminate layers of government as soon as humanly possible. I have every intention doing what I can to drive this consolidation issue. To do nothing when you know the future financial outcome resulting from doing nothing would be pure incompetence on my part.

CGR's memorandum states that a public vote is not required for a consolidation. Would you support efforts at consolidation if the residents were not allowed to make the final decision? If the residents do get to vote and they decide they do not want to go ahead with consolidation, but the state Legislature calls for it anyway, would you still support it?

The state should mandate consolidation but, it’s too incompetent and slow to react to make positive changes in our state. The special interests control Albany and most of what comes from state government is a stage show for political purposes. The state government is corrupted to such an extent that nothing good could ever come from Albany. That’s why I’m confident the state will do nothing to solve a major problem like the over abundance of small municipal taxing entities in our state.

CGR states that "current boundaries and the resulting turf protection issues have made it very difficult to develop cost effective regional solutions to deliver ambulance, police and fire services." Do you agree with that? Is consolidation the only answer to these problems? Do you feel these problems would remain if consolidation did not go through?

You’re talking about three distinct issues. Consolidation between the City/Town would be a first step. None of the issues you mentioned would be solved by a vote for consolidation in November. We have asked for a plan that would NOT increase or decrease services or change the tax structures in the city/town. Consolidation would decrease some of the costs and put our community in a position to deal with those other issues in the future.

Fire services are handled by fire districts; these districts cross municipal lines and require another round of consolidation prompted by the state to move forward. I believe county departments have trouble attracting volunteers and getting good response times during the day. The amount of districts also has cost millions in redundant equipment purchases. There are far more fire trucks in this county than are needed. Consolidation of fire districts would be a long and painful task, which is not part of this effort.

Police protection is something that would remain a city service unless there was a petition by residents in the old town who desired the service. Again we are not talking about increasing the level of service anywhere in the town with consolidation. Just sharing the things we currently all need. 

From my point of view ambulance service is something that should come from the county. This service was started by people in the city who had very little knowledge of the long term problems inherent with taking on that service. The city is currently in a position of collecting fees from municipalities it has no taxing jurisdiction over to keep the service afloat. The long term cost of continuing the service the same way would be devastating to our cities finances. This problem is a separate issue that council will be tackling in the upcoming year.

CGR presents population research that shows that the city of Batavia decreased in population by .7 percent between 2001-2006, while the town of Batavia increased 26.2 percent. Do you feel these trends will continue? How could such trends benefit or hinder consolidation efforts?

The town has shovel ready land and a lot of it. The town also has the benefit of 16,000 city residents who shop in their business district. There is no choice but, for new developments to grow outside the city, there simply is very little land to develop inside the city.

Last night, the Batavia City Council voted to waive the residency requirement for 14 city employees. That was all the news that was reported about the 6-to-1 vote. Nobody has yet been able to tell us why exactly the city has such a requirement if it's willing to waive it for such a large number of employees. In the meantime, we would like to get your thoughts. Do you feel it's imperative for a person to live in the city of Batavia if they are employed here? Can someone in Oakfield do the job? Does it matter? If it doesn't matter, why does the city require residency here? If it does matter, why would the city waive that requirement? Well, what do you think?

Michele Anastasi, 52, of Lockport, was charged with a felony count of first-degree criminal contempt, second-degree aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor, and second-degree harassment, a violation, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Anastasi is accused of striking someone during a fight in the town of Pembroke. Following the altercation, Anastasi allagedly made "several harassing messages to the same individual" in violation of an order of protection.

Anastasi is due to appear in the town of Pembroke court this evening to answer those charges.

Every morning, I spend a good hour or so perusing the local media sites, looking for the stories most relevant to the folks of Genesee County. Links to those articles are then included in our Regional Headlines section down here to the right.

Often, there's that one story that deserves more than a cursory mention. For a while now, I've wanted to pick out that one article or news clip that deserved a bit more attention and bring it to you in the full light of our central blog well.

Today is the day we start that service. We hope you enjoy it.

An article this morning in the Buffalo News tells the story of a young man from a small town on the northern shore of Lake Erie. Reporter Chairty Vogel writes the tale with a sure hand and finesse enough to make it come alive.

He burned with artistic fire. But he lived a tough life, and died at a heartbreakingly young age.

Asa Ames was, in many ways, the James Dean of American folk art.

And he lived his entire life — just 27 years — right here in Western New York, in the Town of Evans, where today his simple slab tombstone lies toppled over in a country graveyard, crumbling and neglected.

That was in 1851. Now, Ames will be honored in an exhibit at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Vogel truly does a tremendous job with this story, which she recognizes as much more than a tragic tale of a talented young man who died too soon. This is the story of undiscovered talent—small town talent—that Vogel so aptly describes as "hauntingly personal." Ames was working outside of the mainstream, away from the city centers in a medium—wood—that was for the most part unappreciated at the time. He is the quintessential outsider. Like Georg Büchner and Henry Darger, Ames was not understood by the insiders until long after his death. And as Vogel tells us near the end of her article, Ames remains something of enigma, even today.

Batavia's City Council last night waived the residency requirement for 14 city employees, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. Councilman Bob Bialkowski was the sole dissenter in the 6-to-1 vote. Assistant City Manager Sally Kuzon and recently appointed Code Enforcement Officer Ronald Panek were among those relieved of the requirement.

No one has yet explained exactly what such a decision means for the city. If the residency requirement was in place: How did the city hire 14 people in violation of the requirement? We put the question to Council President Charlie Mallow this morning, and we're waiting for his response. We'll be sure to get it up when he responds, if he doesn't just beat us to the punch and post a comment before then.

Update: Mallow has responded to our inquiry from earlier this morning.

"The City has a residency requirement for all employees to live within the boundaries of the County," he said. "These employees were identified as living outside the County, some who have worked for the City for over 10 years, and it has been determined that it is in the best interest of the City to waive this requirement  for these people."

We're looking at a severe winter weather advisory for the region from 9 o'clock this morning through 6:00pm this afternoon, issued by the National Weather Service out of Buffalo. Don't expect things to get more friendly after that. We're already hearing talk of record low temperatures possibly down to minus ten degrees by Thursday. For now, here's what to expect:

A strong cold front will cross western New York early this afternoon and bring 1 to 3 inches of snow to the area. Strong southerly winds ahead of the front will shift to west with the frontal passage and gust up to 35 mph. This will result in considerable blowing and drfiting snow. Expect very hazardous conditions for travel for a few hours during the afternoon.

Please be careful driving out there. Wind, plus snow, plus cold usually make for the worst driving conditions. I can speak from experience that Route 33 between Batavia and Bergen is often treacherous when the gusts start kicking the snow across the road.

Everything looks clear right now on the Thruway.