Stories from

Registration for Batavia City School District kindergarteners entering school in the 2012-13 school year begins this week.

Children who will be 5 years old on or before Dec. 1 are eligible to attend kindergarten in the fall.

To register, parents must go to the main office of the nearest public elementary school (see addresses and other school-specific information below) between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on school days and bring with them proof of residency -- such as a current utility bill or formal lease agreement, as well as the child's birth certificate, Social Security card, and complete record of immunizations.

Please note that no child may be registered without the required documentation.

At the time of registration, parents should also make an appointment for the kindergarten screening procedure which will be scheduled for late May and early June.

For more information, call your elementary school office or the district's Curriculum Office at 343-2480, ext. 1001.

Addresses and schedules are as follows:

• Jackson Elementary, 411 S. Jackson St.: phone 343-2480, ext. 4000. Screenings will be scheduled for June 1;
• John Kennedy Elementary, 166 Vine St.: phone 343-2480, ext. 5000. Screenings will be scheduled for May 30;
• Robert Morris Elementary, 80 Union St.: phone 343-2480, ext. 6000. Screenings will be scheduled for June 6.

**Note: Parents of new first-grade pupils are also asked to register their child in the same time frame and with the same documentation.

The Fighting Irish won! The Notre Dame Boys Hockey Team beat Churchville this afternoon 4 to 2 to nab the Section V championship. Josh Johnston scored three goals.

A three-car accident with minor injuries is reported at 8091 Alleghany Road (Route 77) in Pembroke. It is blocking traffic. The location is between Indians Falls and Akron roads. Law enforcement on scene says the roads are icy and vehicles should use caution on approach.

Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments and Mercy EMS are responding.

The driver of the vehicle which allegedly caused the accident left the scene. It's a red pickup with out-of-state plates, hauling a small U-Haul trailer.

UPDATE 4:57 p.m.: Law enforcement has stopped the red truck.

UPDATE 5:05 p.m.: Mercy medics are cancelled. There are five "sign-offs" -- people who don't want or need medical treatment.

UPDATE 5:15 p.m.: Pembroke and Indian Falls units are back in service.

A motor-vehicle rollover accident with injuries is reported at 7201 Big Tree Road. It's between Perry and Boyd roads. Two Pavilion EMTs are on scene. Pavilion Fire Department is responding. Wyoming County is sending a deputy to the location. Fire police are called to routes 63 and 246 for traffic control.

UPDATE 2:04 p.m.: Two ambulances are called in. There are two victims, one is elderly and the other is a child.

UPDATE 2:08 p.m.: There are actually three patients, two of whom have minor injuries. A 58-year-old male has a serious head laceration, but he has not lost consciousness. The vehicle rolled over numerous times.

UPDATE 2:42 p.m.: The roadways are reopened.

A car struck a pole, but the driver is not injured, on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. The location is 7405 Reuben Road. The pole is leaning and there may be wires down. Alabama Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 1:49 p.m.: The pole is down and blocking one lane of traffic.

UPDATE 4:26 p.m.: The roadway is clear and Alabama is back in service.

A car struck a pole and there are minor injuries. The location is 2615 Stegman Road in the Town of Batavia, west of Powers Road. East Pembroke Fire Department is at the scene. Mercy EMS is dispatched. The pole is still intact. National Grid will be called to check it out.

UPDATE 1:41 p.m.: Two children were taken to UMMC. A 6-year-old boy has ear pain and an 8-year-old girl has elbow and knee pain.

A head-on collision with one person ejected from a vehicle is reported at Route 5 and Hopkins Road in the Town of Batavia. The person is semiconscious. Mercy Flight in Buffalo is called, but is not able to fly. The helicopter is Batavia is being contacted. Route 5 will be shut down at Wortendyke  and Powers roads.

East Pembroke Fire Department and State Police Sheriff's deputies are on scene. Mercy medics are responding. Town of Batavia Fire Department is called to provide mutual aid as this is in East Pembroke's fire district.

UPDATE 12:12 p.m.: There are five people involved. Two are children who appear to be OK but will need to be checked out. Two adults are able to walk. One is seriously hurt.

UPDATE 12:20 p.m.: Ambulances from Oakfield and Darien are requested to the scene. They will be providing the third and fourth ambulances responding, respectively. A snow bank has been cleared to enable the Batavia Mercy Flight to fly. A landing zone is being set up in a yard on the southeast corner of Hopkins Road.

UPDATE 12:24 p.m.: The grass in the yard is too wet to land the helicopter, so it will land in the middle of the roadway on Route 5.

UPDATE 12:30 p.m.: Because of safety issues, the helicopter will not being landing on Route 5. Instead, it is being directed to the paved back parking lot of a nearby building.

UPDATE 12:32 p.m.: Mercy Flight is on the ground.

UPDATE 12:50 p.m.: Mercy Flight is airborne, headed to Erie County Medical Center with the seriously injured adult. Two adults children are being taken to Strong Memorial Hospital for evaluation. Darien is going to UMMC with a 48-year-old male truck driver who's complaining of ankle pain and has "a brush burn on his nose." Preliminary indications are that the driver of a minivan lost control of the vehicle, which then crossed the center line and was struck head on by a semi pickup truck. An adult passenger in the pickup truck was uninjured.

UPDATE 2:07 p.m.: The roadways are reopened. East Pembroke is back in service.

A motor-vehicle accident with "very minor injuries" is reported on Route 5, west of Indian Falls Road. Law enforcement is on scene. East Pembroke Fire Department and medics are responding.

UPDATE 8:06 p.m.: An "older male" complains of an arm injury and back pain following this car vs. deer accident. He is being transported to UMMC for evaluation.

Press release:

ALBANY -- The New York State Sheriffs’ Association held its election and installation of executive committee members and trustees at its 78th Annual Mid-Winter Training Conference. Members elected Genesee County Sheriff Gary T. Maha to the executive committee.

Sheriff Maha was appointed Interim Genesee County Sheriff in 1988 by then-Governor Mario Cuomo, after a 21-year career with the Sheriff’s Office. He has been elected for six successive terms since then.

Sheriff Maha is a past president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association and is currently vice chair of the National Sheriffs’ Association’s Criminal Justice Information Systems/Technology Committee.

He is also a member of: the National Sheriffs’ Association’s Homeland Security Committee; the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Council; the New York Interoperable Communications Board; and the New York State Executive Committee on Counter Terrorism.

Sheriff Maha will work hand-in-hand with the newly elected president of the Sheriffs’ Association, Sheriff Donald Smith, of Putnam County, and sheriffs across the state to strengthen law enforcement, specifically by advocating the following goals that association members adopted at their meeting:

• Support the All Crimes DNA bill, which requires all individuals arrested for a crime to have their DNA placed in the state DNA bank.
• Oppose a House transportation bill in Congress that would, among other things, allow triple tractor-trailers on interstate roads,making our highways less safe.
• Join with the NYS Association of Counties to urge state officials to alleviate the burden on local jails of housing parole violators in county jails because this is an unfunded mandate and parole violators are a state responsibility.
• Join with the NYS Association of Counties to gain for the counties a greater portion of the revenues from the NYS public safety surcharge to support county-level 9-1-1 communications projects; i.e. the purpose for which the surcharge was created.

The full slate of trustees and committee members selected at this year's conference are as follows:

Executive Committee:
Chairman, Livingston County Sheriff John M. York
Genesee County Sheriff Gary T. Maha
Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin E. Walsh
Orange County Sheriff Carl E. DuBois
Oswego County Sheriff Reuel A. Todd
Rensselaer County Sheriff Jack Mahar
Warren County Sheriff Nathan “Bud” York

Trustees:
Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph A. Gerace
Montgomery County Sheriff Michael J. Amato
Wayne County Sheriff Barry Virts

The New York State Sheriffs’ Association, Inc., is a not-for-profit corporation, formed in 1934, for the purpose of assisting sheriffs in the efficient and effective delivery of sheriffs’ services to the public. It comprises all of the elected and appointed sheriffs of New York State.

A motor-vehicle accident is reported at the intersection of Park Road and Oak Street in the City of Batavia. No one is believed to be injured. City police are responding.

UPDATE 12:41 p.m.: City firefighters are requested to the scene because of a broken/leaking radiator.

UPDATE 1:04 p.m.: Both vehicles are blocking the roadway. Two tow trucks will remove them soon -- a responder says in about five minutes.

UPDATE 1:18 p.m.: All units are back in service.