Robert P. Leiser Jr., is indicted on three counts of aggravated criminal contempt in the first degree, two counts of assault in the second degree, reckless endangerment in the second degree and criminal contempt in the first degree. Leiser is accused of causing serious physical injury to a person under protection of a court order on July 24 in the Town of Alabama. He is accused of hitting the person with a flashlight causing serious physical injury. He is also accused of driving in a reckless manner, at a high rate of speed and without obeying traffic devices, with that person on a motorcycle while the protected person was not wearing a helmet. He is also accused of threatening that person with a flashlight.

Bradley J. Broadbent is indicted on three counts of criminal mischief in the fourth degree, criminal trespass, burglary in the second degree and petit larceny. Broadbent is accused of damaging ceilings in three bathrooms and the sink in one bathroom at the Liberty Square office complex at between 3 and 3:30 p.m., July 6. On the same date, at 4:05 p.m., Broadbent is accused of damaging the door frame and door plate of an apartment on Hutchins Street. He is accused of entering that dwelling without permission. On the same date at 8:13 p.m., he is accused of damaging the exterior door of a residence on Tracy Avenue. He is accused of entering that residence with the intent of committing a crime once inside. He is accused of stealing a pair of shorts and a Buffalo Bills blanket from the residence.

Connie L. King is indicted on a misdemeanor charge of DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater and aggravated unlicensed operation. King is accused of driving drunk May 28 on Dodgeson Road, Alexander. She was previously convicted of driving while ability impaired in June 2009 in the Town of Batavia.

The grand jury also returned a "no bill" (meaning, the grand jury found insufficient evidence to sustain the charges) in the case of Leeann Marchese, who was accused of burglary in the second degree. The charge stemmed from an incident in the Town of Stafford on April 3.

An alarm of fire was reported from Beech Hall at College Village, located at 8170 Batavia Stafford Townline Road. Town of Batavia Volunteer Fire Department is responding. A call-back from the facility indicates the alarm was prompted by burnt food in room B302.

UPDATE 8:55 p.m.: Firefighters are told to bring a box fan to the third floor and a gas fan to the door on the north side of the building.

UPDATE 9:07 p.m.: Having ventilated the stench of burnt food from the entire floor of the dormitory, the volunteer firefighters are back in service, as are the fans.

A 42-year-old man who allegedly reported a gang-style assault during a graduation party in July has been arrested by Le Roy PD on a variety of charges, including making a false report.

Mark E. Cheeseman, of Le Roy, reportedly filed a report with police alleging a fight on Elm Street that he said left him severely injured.

He is said to have signed two sworn depositions alleging the fight and attack.

It turns out, according to investigators, that Cheeseman was the alleged instigator of any confrontation that night.

Cheeseman allegedly grabbed the buttocks of a woman, which led to a fight with other guests at the party.

The altercation reportedly spilled out of the residence and down Elm Street.

Cheeseman allegedly trespassed on another property and would not leave after being told to do so. He allegedly pushed another woman at that location.

Det. John Condidorio drove to Buffalo Criminal Court today and picked up Cheeseman on a warrant.

The charges against Cheeseman include forcible touching, two counts of filing a false written instrument, second-degree harassmen, and trespass.

He was arraigned and jailed on $1,500 bail.

No other arrests are expected in the case.

A Rochester man accused on two different occasions of selling cocaine in Batavia was given a prison sentence of four years Tuesday, and the time will be served concurrently with a prison term he's already serving on Monroe County charges.

Thomas L. Hill Jr., 22, entered a guilty plea June 29 to two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, 5th.

He originally faced four counts of criminal possession of controlled substance, 3rd, following arrests for selling cocaine on Oct. 8 at 335 Bank St., Batavia, and on Jan. 7 at 174 Ross St., Batavia.

Hill received two years on each of the counts he entered a guilty plea on, which will be served consecutively.

A motor-vehicle accident with injury is reported at routes 237 and 33 in Stafford. Mercy medics and Stafford Fire Department are responding.

UPDATE 12:05 p.m.: There are two patients. Mercy Flight is responding to the scene.

UPDATE (by Howard): One person was transported by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Another patient was a sign-off at the scene.

A Sheriff's deputy is responding to a complaint that someone is attempting to remove parts from the scene of a plane crash that occurred in August off Brooksville Road in Alexander.

A pilot dusting a sweet cornfield spotted a wire stretched over the field and in an attempt to avoid it, he crashed his plane. Louis C. Christie, 48, of Stephentown, was unhurt.

The plane was a 1974 Piper Pawnee D Spray Plane. The fuselage of the plane was largely undamaged.

FAA inspectors were called to the scene and the accident was investigation by the FAA and the Sheriff's Office. Their findings have not been released.

UPDATE 11:48 a.m.: According to Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble, the plane's owner or a representative of the owner is at the crash site specifically to remove remains of the wreckage and law enforcement assistance/supervision was requested.

Justice For Children's Advocacy Center's 2nd Annual Bidding On A Brighter Future Auction & Gala will be held on September 22, 2012 at the Batavia Downs Raceways and Casino in the Paddock Room. The cost is $40 per person or $75 for two. 

Special guest honorees are: former Sheriff, Douglas Call & former Genesee Justice Director, Dennis Wittman!

Registration & Social Hour 5:30 - 6:30pm. Grazing stations, free play, raffles, cash bar, live and silent auctions throught the night.

Sponsorship opportunities still available! Some tickets at the door and still accepting donations!!! For details, please call 585-813-5371 or 344-8576.

In a few hours I'll get on a plane headed toward California.

I'll be in San Francisco tonight through Saturday evening, and then fly down to Bakersfield, visit my parents, and return to Batavia on Tuesday.

While I'm gone, Billie will be here, monitoring the scanner, of course, and covering anything that needs covering, plus we'll have help from our usual correspondents and our news partner, WBTA. And I'll be able to do a little news coverage from California. So while the coverage changes a bit with me gone, there will still be news about our community.

On Thursday I'll speak on two panels -- one on advertising sales, and another on running a small online start-up -- at the annual Online News Association conference.

ONA has become the largest trade association for online news in the world and will be attended by representatives from a lot of large news organizations. I've never spoken at the conference before and the last time I attended was in Toronto about four or five years ago. In 2004, the news site I ran then, for the Ventura County Star, won the ONA's General Excellence Award.

The industry has changed a lot in the past few years though, and when I looked at the roster of attendees the other day, I realized I will actually know very few people who will be there.

I don't expect to attend the entire conference. This will be my first trip to San Francisco since I took to photography in a serious way, so I expect to get out and wander around a bit with my camera.

This is the second of three closely timed out-of-town trips. Billie and I still look forward to a trip together to visit family in California this autumn, but we have no idea when that trip can be booked. We're still waiting for the funds to pay for it.

Press release:

Town Justice of Darien, the Honorable Gary A. Graber, was sworn in as the president of the New York State Magistrates Association on September 11th during the 103rd Annual Conference and Certified Advanced Training Program of the New York State Magistrates Association held at the Sheraton University Hotel and Conference Center, Syracuse, New York, Sept. 9-12, 2012.

More than 250 local judges from all areas of New York State took part in the four day event, which combines the State Magistrates Association Annual Meeting and Conference with the Advanced Training Courses which are required by New York State for all town and village justices in the Unified Court System.

The Honorable Timothy Cooper, past president and town justice of Evans was the toastmaster for the Intallation Banquet. Honorable Gary Graber was sworn in by his co-judge the Honorable Michael S. Davis.

Among the many in attendance were: President Graber’s father, Donald Graber; brother, Tim Graber; son, Sgt. 1st Class Matthew A. Graber of the Army; daughter-in-law, Capt. Emily Graber of the Army; grandson, Ian Graber; son, Capt. Jason P. Graber of the Virginia Metropolitan Airport Authority Fire Department; and daughter-in-law Kelly Graber. Also recognized for attending the swearing-in ceremonies were Retired Justice Edgar Hollwedel, Retired Justice Charles Dusen, Retired Justice Gary Davis and his wife, Diane.

The keynote speaker at the banquet was Senator John A. DeFrancisco who proudly represents the 50th District in the New York State Senate. During the banquet, Senator DeFrancisco was presented the “New York State Magistrates Association’s Amicus Curiae Award,” which recognizes individuals other than members of the judiciary for extraordinary contributions to the Courts of New York State.

The major purposes of NYSMA are the maintenance and support of the local judiciary through education and coordination with the New York State agencies regarding laws and other matters affecting local courts, “The Courts Closest to The People.” NYSMA works closely with the Office of Court Administration to assure the training enhances the professional development of the judges and is relevant to the practical situations encountered in the local courts.

Presentations over the four-day event were made by the Office of Justice Court Support, City, Town and Village Resource Center, The 5th Judicial District, Peter Gerstenzang, Esq., Onondaga Commissioner of Jurors, Onondaga District Attorneys Office, Commission of Judicial Conduct, Gary T. Kelder, Esq. Professor of Law for the Syracuse University College of Law, Office of Court Administration, NYS DEC Outreach Program, NYS OASAS, many town and village judges, as well as many of our officers and directors of the New York State Magistrates Association.

Submitted photo: Graber, right, is congratulated after being sworn in by Darien Town Justice Michael Davis.

Lori L. Mullen, 45, of 101 State St., Batavia, is charged with grand larceny, 3rd, and four counts of possession of a forged instrument, 2nd. Mullen is accused of taking the checks of an acquaintance, the forging the checks and cashing them. Mullen allegedly received more than $5,000. Mullen was released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

Cynthia Owens, 37, of 28 Buell St., Batavia, is charged with criminal trespass, 2nd, criminal mischief, 4th, harassment, 2nd and endangering the welfare of a child. Owens alleged forced her way into the apartment of an acquaintance on Ross Street, damaging the door in the process. She allegedly hit the resident in the presence of a child. Owens was jailed on $1,500 bail.

Shane Zimblis, 41, of Hutchins Street, Batavia, is charged with promoting prison contraband. Zimblis is accused of bringing "dangerous contraband" into the Genesee County Jail while serving a weekend sentence. No further information provided.

Ryan Nicholas Bartholomew, 18, of Adams Street, Batavia, is charged with trespass. Bartholomew allegedly entered private property on Kelsey Road, Batavia, without permission and caused car alarms to sound with the intent of disturbing the property owner. Also charged with trespass was Kyle James Bump, 19, of West Main Street Road, Batavia.

Jeremy Adam Schultz, 22, of Buffalo Street, Attica, is charged with criminal mischief, 3rd, and petit larceny. Schultz is accused of damaging an umbrella stand and stealing a security camera by prying it off a building on Attica Road in Alexander, damaging the camera and the wall.

New York Times: A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus' Wife

A three-car accident with minor injuries is reported in the area of 8111 E. Main Road, Le Roy.

That's near Linwood Road.

Le Roy Fire Department and Le Roy Ambulance Service dispatched.

The roadway is blocked.

It will take $125,000 of donated money, but Tom Lichtenthal, assistant town engineer and highway superintendent, hopes the community will come together to support a project that will be unique in Genesee County.

Lichtenthal is supporting a proposal to transform Kiwanis Park into a facility full of fun and activities for children with disabilities.

Central to the plan is a set of playground equipment built to accommodate children with disabilities, though can also be used by children without disabilities.

The plan also includes accessible paths and a small fishing pier on the Tonawanda Creek that is wheel-chair accessible and has guard rails.

The playground with wheel-chair swings, a tub-like marry-go-round, a conveyor-belt type of play set and a wheel-chair accessible glider would be built near the new boat launch, in an area well shaded by big, old trees.

On the opposite end of the park, to the east, would be an area of berms, sand, logs and rocks. Lichtenthal described it as "a natural play area."

The proposal was shared with the Town of Batavia Planning Board on Tuesday, but no action by the board is required at this time.

Genesee ARC supports the project, Lichtenthal said.

Town of Batavia planners are pushing forward with a proposal to add a second roadway into the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park, connecting the park with Route 63.

Town Engineer Steve Mountain said the need and opportunity for the roadway is driven by the requirement of the Muller Quaker yogurt plan for a gas main into the park and a $1 million grant for infrastructure upgrades from state's Office of Community Renewal.

The roadway was always part of the plan, Mountain said, but not until Phase 3.

In the nearer term, the town was going to construct an emergency vehicle access road through the County Highway Department's lot on Cedar Street, but it is more cost effective, Mountain said, just to build the connector to Route 63 now.

The design of the roadway needed to coincide with the gas main design for Muller Quaker, and Muller Quaker wanted to bring the line in through vacant property to save costs.

The vacant land is primarily made up of parcels owned by O-AT-KA Milk Products and local farmer Don Partridge.

The town is negotiating now with both property owners for a right-of-way access, but all of that land (in green on the map) was always intended to be part of the Phase 3 development of the agri-business park (and has already been through the environmental review process).

Mountain said Phase I of the park is already nearly full and it's his understanding that Partridge has received offers on his land.

Currently, the only developed roadway into the park is from Route 5.

Alpina Products will hold a ribbon-cutting Monday for its new facility, which will initially employ 50 people.

Next year, the Muller Quaker plant, a joint venture between PepsiCo and the Theo Muller Group, will open with an original staff requirement of about 200 people. A mushroom farm and labeling facility (already open) are also among the park's first announced tenants.

Initially, Phase 2 of the development was to extend the rail line into the park, but there's been no demand for it yet from potential tenants.

Among the benefits of the Route 62 access point is that O-AT-KA will be able to use the roadway for truck traffic to his own facility, making the intersection of Route 63 and Cedar Street safer.

A public hearing on the revised planning map is set for Tuesday, Oct. 16, at Batavia Town Hall. More details of the project will be revealed then.

A Niagara Falls police officer accused of hitting a fellow concertgoer inside a women's room at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Aug. 25 could face a Class A misdemeanor charge of assault in the third degree, according to her attorney.

Attorney Norm Effman, out of Warsaw, said he was retained today to represent Kelly L. Alcorn (top photo), a 23-year veteran of the police force, who was initially arrested on a Class B misdemeanor charge of harassment, 2nd.

A woman who claims she was the victim of Alcorn has reportedly contacted the District Attorney's Office requesting more serious charges be levied against Alcorn.

Elizabeth R. Dake, 45, of Farmington, reportedly told the Buffalo News that she suffered a concussion and bruises and that she missed nine days of work as a result of the confrontation.

The fight, according to court documents, appears to have involved at least four women and may have escalated after Dake intervened on behalf of a woman Alcorn was yelling at, according to her statement, for cutting in line.

Dake reportedly told Alcorn to relax and stop yelling.

Alcorn then allegedly turned on Dake and punched her and threw her into a bathroom wall. Dake fell to the ground and Alcorn allegedly began hitting Dake while she was down.

An uninvolved witness reportedly told Deputy Lonnie Nati that Alcorn was "flailing her arms like a windmill throwing wild punches."

Another witness reported seeing Alcorn use a closed fist to allegedly strike Dake.

Also arrested that night was Karen M. Walker, 35, of Niagara Falls, on a charge of harassment, 2nd. Walker allegedly hit another patron who tried to prevent Alcorn from allegedly hitting Dake.

Effman told Darien Town Justice Gary Graber that he was informed today that a new charge of third-degree assault could be filed against his client.

Outside of court, Effman said it's his understanding the investigation is still open, which means Alcorn may yet face a felony charge.

A felony charge, such as assault ,2nd, would likely jeopardize Alcorn's law enforcement career.

Effman said both the prosecution and defense are awaiting medical reports, which will provide details on the seriousness of the alleged injuries and determine the charge to file against Alcorn.

Assault, 3rd, requires only injury to the victim and assault, 2nd, requires serious physical injury.

Today, hours prior to Alcorn's appearance in Darien, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said no decision has been made yet on what charges Alcorn may face.

In court, while waiting for her case to be called, Alcorn sat with Walker. After her case was over, Alcorn waited for Walker's case to be heard -- Walker also pled not guilty -- and the two women left the courthouse together.

Alcorn is scheduled to reappear in Darien Town Court on Oct. 23 and Walker on Sept. 25.

Asked if there are two sides this story as there are to every story, Effman said, "There’s always three sides to every story. It depends on how many people and how they view events. We don’t really know what’s going to happen. We haven’t seen any medical evidence. We’re simply at the beginning of the process. We’ve entered a plea of not guilty and that’s our position."

County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens made a presentation Monday to the Public Service Committee.  We asked him to write a summary of his presenation to go along with the slide show he created.

Click here to view the slide show.

Here's Tim's message:

I took time from my annual department review yesterday to make a presentation that focused on some of the funding challenges we face as well as some of the brighter highlights from the year so far.

The initial portion of the presentation focused on the difference between capital improvements and preventative maintenance.  Generally speaking, a capital improvement is a significant improvement or total reconstruction of the roadway, whereas preventative maintenance is only a surface treatment or temporary improvement meant to extend the service life of the underlying pavement.  Preventative maintenance is used to keep "good roads good" and it is the best bang for the buck when applied at the appropriate time.  If you were to plot a line of pavement conditions over time, it would gradually drop, and after about 7-8 years, it would start to fall away quite quickly.  The goal with preventative maintenance is to catch the pavement before that line starts to get too steep.  That way we can take a typical 15 year pavement life and extend it out to maybe 30-35 years before it needs a capital improvement, which is very expensive in comparison.

The next phase of the conversation moved on to the cost of materials and construction in general.  Higher material prices have impacted both preventative maintenance and capital improvement costs, limiting the amount of work that can be performed each year.

The presentation then moved back to a quick overview of techniques that are used for preventative maintenance, a comparison of their costs, and a comparison of what was performed in 2012 versus what we should be doing to improve the condition ratings of our system.  As it stands we are generally treading water with our highway system and we are losing ground with regard to our bridges, especially the shorter span bridges which are not eligible for federal aid.  Tighter budgets as a result of unfunded mandates on the county and increasing material prices (mostly due to the cost of oil) are requiring the county to defer maintenance and improvements.  For every dollar deferred, the county will need to spend between $4 and $6 to get the same result (road condition) down the road.  We are falling further and further behind.

When is comes to bridges; the deficencies are significant.  The county owns and maintains 341 bridges.  Of these bridges, only 95 are eligible for federal aid.  The remainder are completely reliant upon local funding and very limited state aid.  More than half the bridges were built prior to 1960 and 53% of the bridges are considered functionally obsolete or structurally deficient by federal standards.  Our average bridge condition rating stands at 4.98 (out of 7) where anything below a 5 is considered in poor condition.  The cost just to support federal aid subsidized replacements is likely to exceed $600,000 per year if we replace the two bridges per year to stay ahead of the deterioration.  Factoring in the cost to replace short-span bridges and the total cost over the next ten years is likely to exceed $10-15 million.  The county currently does not have the capability to fund this need .

The Highway Department will be engaging engineering consultants this winter to analyze the inventory of short span structures the county owns, develop a plan of attack and design a few cookie-cutter solutions so that some of these smaller bridges may be replaced in-house to save money.  There is a need to bond some of the replacments over the long-term so that future taxpayers who will benefit from today's improvements may share in the cost as well.

Some quick slides were shown on the cost of Snow & Ice Control for the county.  A majority of county milage is plowed by Town Highway Departments under contract.  The contract rate is determined using a formula based off the three year average snowfall for the area.  The warm winter in 2011-12 adjusted this rate significantly and the proposed rate to the Towns for the 2012-13 season is much lower.  A quick history of rate adjustments waas presented; as well as a slide showing the limited amount of overtime expended by the county versus what was budgeted as a result of the warm weather.

The presentation ended with a few slides of the DeWitt Recreation Area and the improvements made there as a result of the open winter and available labor and equipment from the Highway Department.

A 22-year-old man admitted in Genesee County Court today to illegal sexual intercourse with a girl age 15 years of age or younger.

Jonathan Garcia entered a guilty plea to rape in the second degree with no sentence cap in satisfaction of charges that also included rape in the first degree (forcible rape) and sexual abuse.

Garcia faces a sentence of up to seven years in prison and will be sentenced Nov. 15.

When Garcia was asked to admit to factual allegations by Judge Robert C. Noonan, Garcia balked admitting to sexual intercourse on May 16.

"I was there, but there are witnesses who were there who said I didn't do it," Garcia said.

Under questioning, however, Garcia admitted to sexual intercourse with the girl at another, unspecified, time.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman suggested the charging document be amended to cover the time frame of May through June rather than specifically May 16.

The crime took place in the City of Batavia.

A pole fire and possible transformer fire are reported at 7323 Kenyon Ave. Alabama Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 8:05 p.m.: The scene has been turned over to National Grid. Alabama is back in service.

A Pavilion man who was arrested multiple times in early spring will serve two to six years in state prison on a third-degree-burglary conviction.

Joshua Lanair Webster, 25, of 7882 York Road, Pavilion, admitted to the burglary charge June 28 and was sentenced in Genesee County Court on Monday.

Webster was identified as the suspect in one crime after a picture of him walking through Batavia Downs was posted on The Batavian.

In April and May, in various unrelated incidents, Webster was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and failure to yield right-of-way, burglary, 3rd, grand larceny and criminal mischief, 4th, and criminal possession of a controlled substance.