In its final round of rating local schools this week, Business First newspaper has released its survey of area school districts. Topping the list for the fifth year in a row as the best school district is Williamsville, followed by Clarence. The newspaper also ranked Clarence as the most cost-effective district.
The top ranked school district in Genesee County was Pembroke at number 19.
Batavia came in at 38 out of the 97 districts rated.

Coming in at No. 15 in the Holland Land Office Museum countdown of The Twenty-Five Things That Made Genesee County Famous is the only court case to have orginated in Genesee County that was heard by the United States Supreme Court. This was in 1857.

It all started when a representative of the Ogden Land Company, Joseph Fellows, tried to take the land of the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. Tonawanda Seneca Sachem John Blacksmith wouldn't have it. (A sachem is a sort of Native American king, by the way.) Blacksmith sued the land company and his case was eventually heard by the supreme court.

If you want to know what happened next, check out the full article by Museum Director Pat Weissend. While you're at the the museum's Web site, you can isten to podcasts of some of the other big things that made the list of The Twenty-Five Things That Made Genesee County Famous.

Just something I saw today....when the traffic lights go out, due to what ever reason...do the people of Batavia not know that when the lights are out...the intersection becomes a FOUR WAY STOP.  The amount of cars speeding through the intersection of Main/Bank this morning was amazing.  I did see all the school buses stop...but the amount of cars just speeding by not stopping was amazing.

They're saying Sarah Palin stumbled, struggled, sidestepped, misstepped and was caught off guard in an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson that was aired in part last night. It should however be noted that none of the reports failed to note her confidence and poise on camera despite what her interviewer exasperatedly called her "blizzard of words."

From the New York Times:

Ms. Palin was clearly caught off guard when Mr. Gibson asked, “Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?” Seeking direction, and perhaps time to formulate an answer, Ms. Palin leaned back, smiled stiffly and said, “In what respect, Charlie?”

Initially unwilling to define the doctrine, Mr. Gibson said, “What do you interpret it to be?”

Ms. Palin asked, “His world view?”

Mr. Gibson said, “No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war.”

Ms. Palin responded: “I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation.”

Mr. Gibson, finally defining the doctrine as “the right of anticipatory self-defense,” still struggled for a direct answer, asking twice more if she agreed with it before Ms. Palin answered: “Charlie, if there is a legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country.”

From the Los Angeles Times:

By turns tense and combative, Palin, 44, used two interviews with ABC anchor Charles Gibson to display her grasp of issues central to the vice presidency.

She acknowledged that, other than a trip last year to see troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Germany, her only visits abroad were to Mexico and Canada. And she said that she had never met a head of state but that she did speak last week with President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia.

On the issues, Palin said that "we (as Americans) do not have to stand for" Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, Georgia and the Ukraine should be welcomed into a NATO alliance and "man's activities certainly can be contributing to the issue of global warming."

What do you think? Was Palin a bumbling boob, a confident rock, a candidate to be proud of or one to be feared? Where do you think she will go from here?

UPDATE (by Howard): Here's the interview:

When I first met Joe Zinni, he was a tall, skinny basketball player for Batavia High School, that was obviously not a top scoring option.

He knew his role on the court and basically wound up being an assistant coach on the floor for BHS coach Buddy Brasky.

He's turned that attitude into a coaching career.

Zinni will be an assistant women's basketball coach at Saginaw Valley State University this winter and will be responsible for recruiting, tape exchange, scouting, academic progress, strength and will have responsibilities during practices and games.

"I'm very excited for this opportunity, especially at such a young age," Zinni told me Thursday night. "I've worked under great people who have helped me get to where I am. My goal of making it to the Division I level is now realistic, so I will be working harder than ever to try and get there shortly."

Zinni was a forward at BHS, but will be working primarily with the guards at Saginaw Valley.

He landed this coaching job primarily because of his work with Genesee Community College last season.

The Cougars went 24-6 and wound up finishing as one of the top eight schools in the NJCAA Division II Nationals.

After graduation from Batavia, he spent 2002-2007 as an assistant coach at both the junior and varsity levels at his home school, working with the forwards.

Zinni assisted the 2005 Section 5 Class A championship winning team that made the state tournament for the first time ever.

He has worked as an AAU and RAP coach and was an assistant coach for the Western Regional boys basketball team at the Empire State Games the past two years.

Zinni is a 2006 graduate of Buffalo State College and also has an A.S. degree from GCC.

Here at the Batavian, we wish him the best of luck and know he is going to represent Batavia well as a big-time women's basketball coach.

Here we go folks. We've got candy. Vats of chocolate. Enrobing machines. Conveyor belts. Artisan chocolatiers. Batavia's very own Oliver's Candies. 'Nuff said. Let's just watch:

We'll be back at Oliver's in November when they prepare ribbon candy. Watch for that!

State police are investigating a scheme to defraud customers of Direct TV and Dish Network. This alert was issued today:

From August 2005 through November 2007 numerous names and social security numbers were illegally obtained and utilized to submit orders for customers who did not request any services from these companies. At this time it is believed that a subcontractor used by both of these companies submitted the fictitious orders for a financial gain. Both companies are aware of the situation and are no longer doing business with the subcontractor. The victims whose name or social security numbers were used then received notices from collection agencies or bills from Direct TV or Dish Network for services they never requested or received. In some cases victims are receiving bills to their address under someone else’s name.

So far, we have accounted for many victims throughout Western New York including Jamestown, Niagara Falls and Rochester. However, due to the investigation we believe that there are numerous other victims unaccounted for at this time. We are asking anyone who believes they may be a victim of this crime to contact Investigator Christopher Puckett at SP Niagara (716) 297-8730.

Le Roy has two weeks to act on the promise of a state grant for $350,000 to use in the restoration of Oatka Creek, according to the Daily News. One member of the Oatka Creek Ad Hoc Committee (Jack Bradbury) told the Village Board last night:

"Nothing has been done for over two years. New York State Parks has not heard from us in two years and the crisis now is that they said they were considering immediate cancellation of the grant."

Whoa! Two years? That sounds like a bit of a blunder, and that the homeowners in the village are angry with the board for not getting moving on the project only renforces that status. It turns out that the village last worked on the creek in 2004, but there is still much work to be done to "stablize" it.

This grant that may now get nixed was approved in 2006 as a match grant, which means the village would have to put up $350,000 of its own funds. Engineering proposals were approved at the meeting last night, a move "that may stave off the state's threat to cancel the grant."

Congratulations to Scott DeSmit for getting this story together and packaging it well, getting the facts out concisely and without ambiguity.

Genesee County's Economic Development Corporation recently closed on a pair of real estate deals: 200 acres of land in the town of Batavia ($800,000) planned for the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park; and another 59 acres of farmland in the town of Alabama ($212,000) to be incorporated into the 1,200-acre Western New York Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park.

An increase in recording fees for the Genesee County Clerk's Office was approved by the Legislature last night. Also passed at that meeting was the $1.8 million budget for the county's workers compensation program, which marks an 8 percent increase in that budget over last year.

Batavia Downs will be hosting the top dogs of harness racing every Wednesday for the next couple months in an effort to raise money for the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester. Racers such as Howard "Pacing" Parker, who was strapped up and circled the track in eight races yesterday, will donate their driving commissions to the coalition. Silent auctions each week for racing memorabilia such as bobbleheads of the drivers will also help benefit the cause.

We encourage you to get out and pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Yesterday was crazy and I never got a chance to formally say hello.

I started my day at 9 a.m. in Fairport, which for me was a heck of an accomplishment, came home and took a short nap and then was out at the Muckdogs game. Throw in the photography and writing and it was insane.

Now that I've got a moment to actually sit down and think, I would like to tell you all a little about what I'm going to be doing here at The Batavian.

I love high school sports and want to take the coverage I gave readers at The Daily News for eight years and take it to a new level here. Print newspapers are fading fast (ask Jay Mariotti) and the Internet gives me the opportunity to do so many new and exciting things.

I have some blogging experience but am still pretty raw, so bear with me as I work on that writing style. 

I will be trying to get out to as many games as possible to shoot video, take photographs and blog, giving the great local athletes the best coverage possible.Video intrigues me a ton because I've done very limited work with that and think I can do some excellent work with that. Expect to see video highlights and interviews with local athletes in the very near future.

I am a huge football fan and you can expect to get the best coverage of area teams here in the coming weeks. My quick previews that I wrote at 3 a.m. is just the beginning of what you will see every Wednesday or Thursday.

I'll be covering games Friday night and Saturday afternoon, then doing some in-depth stuff during the week to preview games. Come sectional time, you will get to know everything about the squads making runs here at The Batavian.

I did a basic roundup of local scores last night, but I would like to get local coaches involved with posting blogs to give great coverage of their own teams. I will start making calls next week and asking soccer, volleyball and cross country coaches to directly post their results on the sports page.

Rather than having to wait for tomorrow's Daily for a couple paragraphs on each game, you will be able to come here and read exactly what the coaches saw just after the game ends.  Imagine how well you will get to know, for example, about the Alexander girls soccer team if coach Chad Flint posts after every game. Please let your coaches know about this opportunity if they have not seen The Batavian yet.

Those coaches that do post regularly will stand a much better chance of seeing me out at a practice with my video camera, doing special features on players and the team. 

High School athletes, parents and fans can also register and post comments on any blog. 

Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have story ideas or just want to talk high school sports. My AIM screen name is hillabush12, my cell phone number is 585-993-4662 (expect to hear anything from rap music to Jimmy Buffett when you call) and my e-mail is brian at thebatavian dot com. And don't be shy if you see me at a game, come say hi.

I'm looking forward to meeting many new people and giving my home community the best sports coverage in the coming years.

Work has begun on the Ellicott Street improvement project -- or should I say, measurement has begun.

I stopped into the Pok-A-Dot for breakfast this morning. Staff and clientele alike told me crews have been outside the restaurant for four days measuring.

I watched the same line, the same spot get measured six times while I was there.

Since I've never worked construction, maybe this is normal (I don't know), but it seems to take the maxim "measure twice, cut once" a bit far.

As seen from Main Street (north side) between Center and Jackson streets.

Those who knew her and those who didn't have been hearing more and more about Alice Kryzan, the unexpected victor in the Democratic primary race for the 26th Congressional District. Jack Davis had the name recognition and the spending spree. Jon Powers had the adulation of party bigwigs and union bosses. But in the end, it was the semi-unknown who won over the hearts and minds... or at least she got the most lever pulls in the voting booths.

Since that victory, dubbed a "shocking upset" by more than one news affiliate, everyone has been racing to the press, the keyboard and the tube to get in their theories of how and why it happened, what it means for Kryzan and what it means for Powers and Davis. We ran a story earlier this morning that claimed not that Kryzan won because of this or that, but that Powers lost because of this or that.

A story that ran today in the Buffalo News pins the upset victory on the effect produced by a single television ad. Here's that ad:

What do you think? Is that enough to tip the scales?

Buffalo News reporter Robert J. McCarthy conjectures that "Alice who?" was "languishing" only a few weeks prior to the primary. Then magic happened...

That’s when the candidate — also known as Alice J. Kryzan— rolled out a television spot that just about everyone credits with capturing the Democratic nomination for the Amherst environmental attorney in the 26th Congressional District.

“It did the trick of bringing attention to the campaign,” said Kryzan campaign manager Anne Robinson Wadsworth.

Rarely has one political spot — produced by Adelstein & Liston of Chicago — made such an impression on local voters. But the scene of a boyish fellow resembling the 30-year-old Powers wrestling in the park with an old man who looks like the 75-year-old Davis seems to have resonated.

It all allowed Kryzan, 60, to appear on-screen and contend that “fighting will not create jobs, fix health care or change our energy policy.” That’s when she looks back at the scuffle actually filmed in a Chicago park and adds in a now-famous aside: “Boys, take it somewhere else.”

According to several observers, Kryzan’s campaign began to pick up after voters identified her as an alternative to her better- known opponents. Former Erie County Republican Chairman Robert E. Davis, who is now a political media consultant, said it ranks among the best he has ever seen because it offered “the ‘same old/same old’ or me.”

How much of a role can a single television ad play in an election? Were you convinced by it? Do you think most folks had already made up their mind by that point?

Emmanuel Baptist Church will be holding their annual "Swiss Steak Supper" Saturday, September 20, from 5:00 to 7:00pm at the church, 190 Oak St. In addition to the juicy steaks, diners can expect real mashed potatoes and a homemade dessert. It's only $8.50 per adult and $4.50 per child 6-12—kids 5 and under eat for free. Call (585) 219-4855 or 343-4905 to make your reservations today.

Genesee County's Drug Task Force teamed up with Monroe County sheriff's deputies in the arrest of Steig. J. Hale, 20, of Churchville, deputies said. Hale was charged with two felony counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and two felony counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Hale is accused of selling "a quantity" of heroin to an agent of the task force. He was sent to Genesee County Jail, arraigned Monday and released under supervision.

Tonie. R. Rhinehart, 39, of Stafford, was charged with driving while intoxicated and third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation Wednesday, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Rhinehart was stopped and ticketed with speeding. A subsequent investigation found her to allegedly be under the influence of alcohol and driving without a valid license.

All above reports were issued in published releases by the respective departments.

The D&C reports that the New York's Education Department is considering turning Batavia's historic School for the Blind into a private institution because the state cannot adequately run the institution.

The state Board of Regents will decide next week whether to seek letters of interest from private operators who could run the Batavia school. The change would require approval from the state Legislature and governor.

No recommendations have been made yet, said Rebecca Cort, a deputy commissioner.

"We do want to reassure people that we are not looking to close this school," she said. "In fact, it's just the opposite. We are trying to look long term and say, 'How do we continue to ensure the viability of a very viable program?'"

The 140-year-old institution's enrollment was once as high as 300 but is now just over 50. The population has declined largely because school districts have adapted to federal and state laws that require special-education students be mainstreamed into regular classrooms when possible.

The LoHud.com version of the story contains this:

Assemblyman Stephen Hawley, R-Batavia, said he is also trying to publicize the school. As for privatization, "I'm not sure that that's necessarily the route that we need to take at this point."

The school has about 150 state employees and a $10.3 million annual operating budget. It is one of two state-run schools. The other is the School for the Deaf in Rome, Oneida County.

On Tuesday, the Regents will discuss a report on the school by the Education Transformation Group. ETG, which was hired by the state, recommended operating a seven-day program and expanding admissions criteria to include students who are developmentally disabled and have a sensory impairment (vision and/or hearing loss) that makes it difficult to succeed in a regular classroom.

ETG is recommending the institution be privatized and become a state-approved school. Doing so would provide greater flexibility in who could be admitted, the report said.

The school was founded in 1868 largely to help Civil War veterans learn new skills. Here's a 1995 New York Times story that goes into some detail on the school's facilities and results.

After eliminating Lowell Wednesday night in a hard-fought 3-2 victory, the Batavia Muckdogs will face the Jamestown Jammers Friday night in an effort to secure the team's fourth league championship in its seven-decade history.

Surprisingly, the NY-Penn League site's story on the championship series gets it wrong, saying that Batavia is going for its first-ever title. (Surely, the Jammers, as one of the leagues original teams, has won championships before -- and we know they've made the finals before, because Batavia beat Jamestown in 1945 -- but I couldn't find any history of the team from before the 1990s.)

Last night, Adam Veres, who was 1-1 with a 4.35 ERA in the regular season, may have pitched the career game of his young professional career.  He went seven innings and gave up only 1 run and two hits while striking out seven.

From the NY-P story referenced above:

"We feel great right now, this was obviously the biggest game of the season," Veres said. "We've got a lot of high-spirited guys that want to go all the way with this."

...

"I was really amped up to get this start," he said. "I was locating the fastball to both sides of the plate and the ball was moving real well. I just wanted to prepare for this one just like any other game, but this one obviously meant a little more."

Ramon Delgado struck out the side in the eigth to preserve Batavia's selendor 3-1 lead.

Closer Adam Reifer was shacky in the ninth, giving up a walk, a hit and a run, but held on to pick up the save, retiring Lowell's Ricardo Burgos on a called third strike while all 800 or so Batavia fans were on their feet clapping and cheering.

Friday's opening game will be at 7 p.m., and then the teams return to Batavia Saturday for a 7 p.m. game. If game three is necessary, it will be played at Dwyer on Sunday and the game time will be 7 p.m. (oops, make the 6 p.m.).

UPDATE: Here's how the Batavia franchise finished in each year it fielded a team 1939 through 1997 (actually, the Batavia Indians seasons are here (including a 1957 finals appearance), and the Batavia Pirates made the finals twice, winning in 1963; and the Batavia Trojans made the finals in 1977). The Jamestown Falcons won five titles in nine championship appearances. The Jamestown Expos won twice in four appearances. The Jamestown Tigers made the finals once.

Now that we have a sports writer, I just wanted to make the point that not all sports coverage will appear on the home page.  If you're interested in local sports, you should regularly visit the sports page by clicking on the "Sports" tab in the top navigation.

Brian posted some scores from last night as well as previews of upcoming prep football games.

And so long as I'm posting reminders, don't forget you can post free classifieds under "Buy, Sell & Trade," as well as free help wanted ads under "Jobs."

The 26th District blog has a thoughtful post up on "Why Powers Failed" to win the primary.

A lot of it boils down to too much confidence in a mirage of grassroots support, and a poorly managed media message.

There was no real media team. For a campaign built upon “grassroots support” and on-line activism, there was nothing interesting nor innovative about their Web site. ...

I should note that the campaign’s communications person was more than happy to talk to me when it came to spreading positive messages. Almost every e-mail send inquiring about War Kids Relief or anything off message were ignored. After awhile I stopped receiving any contact at all.

...

I am a firm believer in the echo chambers ability to distort perception. If you spend all your time with people who think like you do, then you start believing everyone thinks like you do. No doubt the Powers team would go into halls and see a hundred people or knock on doors with a few dozen volunteers and begin to think they were a part of something.

The same thing happened in the “blogosphere”. In a district of this size it is true that a few hundred people could help sway things, but if that is all the support and name recognition you have, it won’t be enough. It was clear in reading the financial reports, Powers did not have the “local” or “grassroots” support he was claiming when it came to fund raising. That lead me to wonder if he actually had the on the ground support as well.

Even as a somewhat distant observer, I found myself, as I read through the post, finding the points persuasive.

When times were rough and it looked like the failures in the management of the Batavia Muckdogs franchise was going to cost the city a team, New York-Pennsylvania League president Ben Hayes admits he was on the fence. 

He said after the sixth inning of tonight’s game that it was tough for him to back keeping one of the NY-P’s original franchises in the league because of how bad things were. But he didn’t pull the plug because of Batavia’s history and because of the job done by the Rochester Red Wings.

He was impressed that the first playoff appearance for the franchise in eight years has brought out plenty of fans – 789 to be exact - on a chilly Wednesday night in September.

Combine the on field victories and the progress made in rebuilding the historic franchise and the league feels good about the Batavia situation.

“This is a win-win,” Hayes said. “What Naomi Silver and the Red Wings – Dan Mason, Gary Larder – what they have done is an experience in professionalism that is top-notch in Minor League baseball.”

Of course, everybody knows about the terrible financial problems that nearly left Dwyer Stadium without a team this summer, and how Naomi Silver and her Red Wings stepped in the bail out the team.

When the situation looked its worst, Hayes ducked phone calls by the media. The Muckdogs were not my beat at The Daily News, but I heard reporters talk about the frustrations of not getting a phone call (or three) returned.

He had no problem speaking to me now that I'm at The Batavian, shortly before the Muckdogs picked up a 3-2 victory over Lowell to advance to the league championship series.

Hayes was sitting with Silver and expects that the disappointing attendance figures for this season will not be a problem next year after the Red Wings get a full offseason to work on promotions.

“They got started very late in the marketing season,” Hayes said. “The other clubs started marketing two weeks after the season. The Rochester Red Wings didn’t take over operation of the club until the end of March. It was very, very late in the season, so to speak. I don’t think you will see anything different, but over an extended period of time the momentum will be a lot different. The problems have been fixed (with the stadium and the finances). Now they can focus on other things.”

While the former professional baseball player turned league president is optimistic, he realizes that there is still work to be done – the biggest of which is the support of local baseball fans, or rather, lack their of.

Batavia was 13^th out of 14 teams in the NY-P in attendance at 43,167 during the regular season. Those numbers are going to have to go up.

Hayes says that the sellouts can’t just come on the 4^th of July. Batavians need to get out to watch some quality Minor League baseball at a reasonable price.

If not, the talk about the franchise leaving town that engulfed the city of Batavia last winter could be back in the future. He has faith that the Red Wings will do a good job with promotions, but says it is up to the locals if we want professional baseball in Batavia.

“It really depends on the community and the fans, and if they are going to support the team,” Hayes said. “There has to be enough revenue for this team to survive. The cost of umpires, the cost of travel – all the costs associated with being a minor league club. It’s not an image, it’s an endeavor. In order to put the product out there for the community, the community has to support the product.”

The Batavia Muckdogs just won their playoff series against the Lowell Spinners and now are heading to the championship series against the Jamestown Jammers!  What a turn around from a city that was about to lose their long time baseball franchise!  The president of the New York Penn League was in town tonight to see Batavia win!  Its not over yet, we need the entire community, county and Rochester support to come out this weekend and cheer on our 2008 Batavia Muckdogs!  Several fans are heading to Jamestown this Friday for the first game and I expect to see every member of the city council along with  a few thousand fans Saturday night at Dwyer Stadium!  What a great story for this franchise and this community! Thank you all for your contiunued support and LET'S GO MUCKDOGS!