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A large screen TV reportedly fell into a wave pool at Darien Lake Theme Park earlier this afternoon and injured a 7-year-old boy. He suffered a cut on his leg.  

Darien Lake issued the following statement about the incident:

Darien Lake confirms that today at 12:30 p.m., the outdoor movie screen set up for Darien Lake’s “Dive-In Movie” series fell into the park’s wave pool.

The screen was installed at the deep end of the wave pool this morning, in the same location and with the same installation contractor and process used for previous Dive-In Movie nights. The cause of today’s incident is currently under investigation.

Darien Lake’s emergency medical personnel were on scene within minutes and treated three guests who received minor injuries. The park’s maintenance crew removed the screen and reopened the wave pool within one hour of the incident.

Tomorrow night’s Dive-In Movie, "Finding Nemo," will proceed as planned. We will work with our contractors to reinstall the screen with extra precautions to ensure this situation does not happen again.

- Chris Thorpe, General Manager, Darien Lake

Photo from our news partner 13WHAM.

The following people were arrested by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office during the Slipknot concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Wednesday:

Frederick TWA Parker, 29, of Caribou Trail Ridgeway, Ontario, Canada, is charged with criminal trespass, 3rd, after allegedly reentering the concert venue after being ejected. Parker was arraigned in Darien Court and jailed in lieu of $750 bail.

Name Redacted, 17, of Route 26, West Leyden, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of marijuana.

Broc O. Breen, 18, of Route 26, West Leyden, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of marijuana.

Joshua R. Dietz, 20, of Beach Ridge, North Tonawanda, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of marijuana.

Matthew R. Quinn, 18, of Canal Road, Oneida, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of marijuana.

Zachary J. Walkowski, 20, of Rogers Drive, Cheektowaga, is charged with harassment, 2nd, after allegedly striking another subject in the face.

Jason R. Fearnall, 33, of Knapp Road, Akron, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana after allegedly being found in possession of marijuana.

Colin Hart, all of 1-and-a-half years old, experienced the Spray Park in Austin Park on this hot day for the first time. He was a little unsure of the whole splashing water thing. He was with mom Jill.

Today, off duty city firefighters, members of Local 896, are volunteering their time to help work on the Habitat for Humanity house on Oak Street.

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today released the following statement after introducing the Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act, which will reduce excessive regulations hurting small businesses.

“Small business is the economic engine that drives our economy,” Congressman Collins said. “To unleash the good-paying job opportunities and economic benefits small businesses provide for Western New York, we need to reduce burdensome regulations. This common-sense legislation eliminates duplicative regulations, while incentivizing agencies to eliminate rules that hurt small businesses.”

This legislation is the companion bill to S. 846, which was originally introduced by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL).

“Small business is the engine of the American economy, and it is clear that the burden current regulations are placing on business owners is disadvantaging new innovations,” Senator Kirk said. “The Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act will help correct this problem for small businesses across the country so that they can focus on product creation instead of compliance.”

The Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act of 2015 aims to address the lack of accountability federal agencies face under current law. Federal agencies currently must review rules that have a significant economic impact on small businesses, but there is no current enforcement mechanism to ensure that. This legislation works to correct that by:

·         Adding several critical factors that agencies must consider when promulgating a rule, including the complexity of the rule, complaints from small businesses, Small Business Administration comments, and the continued need for the rule.

·         Implementing an enforcement mechanism: if an agency does not properly perform the required reviews as determined by the agency’s Inspector General, the agency would face a 1-percent cut in funds appropriated for the agency’s salaries.

·         Introducing an automatic sunset provision for new covered rules. Seven years after a final rule is published, it will automatically expire, unless an agency takes action to renew the rule through the existing rule-making process.

A caller reports that there is something vibrating her apartment building. She cannot find the source.

A police officer is dispatched.

City crews are just finishing up water main repair work on Union Street. The leak location was just yards from a leak that occurred during the winter.

Water service was restored to the area about 2 p.m.

Union Avenue should reopen shortly.

The first race of the 69th season at Batavia Downs turned into a coast-to-coast cruise by the #3 horse, Lima Playtime, with a career-best time of 2:00.4. Lima was driven by Rick Zeron and paid $4.20.

It should be both a fun and exciting racing season at the Downs, said Marketing Director Ryan Hasenauer. There are special promotions throughout the season, but the remodoled gaming floor is also bringing in bigger crowds, which generates more revenue, which translates into bigger purses for harness racing. The bigger payouts will draw even higher quality horses to the track.

"Better horses make for better races and better wagering, and bigger pools means bigger winners," Hasenauer said.

The track is in great shape, Hasenauer said, which also helps draw drivers and trainers throughout the season.

"We already have a great reputation among trainers and owners as one of the best-manicured tracks in the industry," Hasenauer said.

Promotional highlights this season include Craft Beer Fridays, running into August, and Sunday wine tastings, and starting in August, Dollar Days, with dollar drafts and dollar hot dogs.

"People really like getting a good dollar hot dog or a cold draft beer at a decent price," Hasenauer said.

Spike is missing.

The tortoise belongs to a local family who's owned him for 16 years. He escaped from their yard around 2 p.m., Friday. A neighbor on Summit Street, trying to be helpful, thought Spike was a turtle and took him to the Tonawanda Creek behind the courthouse and released him. It's possible two kids who were there fishing took him home.

Family friend Mike Hilchey is fielding tips on Spike's whereabouts. He can be reached at (585) 344-0931.

Press release:

There is a water main break on Union Street in front of Notre Dame High School, and a Water Department crew has responded to begin repairs. Water service on Union Street will be affected in this area, and water discoloration may be noticed in the surrounding areas. Union Street will be closed to traffic between Richmond Avenue and Soccio Street until repairs are complete.

An inexperienced jumpmaster has been blamed by Army investigators for the death of Sgt. Shaina Schmigel, the former Batavia resident who died in a training accident at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina on May 30, 2014.

The Army Times reports that the jumpmaster was performing his duties for the first time and was not current on his training.

The Times reports:

Schmigel’s equipment was misrouted so that, when exiting the plane, she became a “towed jumper.” While be being towed, the subsequent jumper exited the plane and Schmigel became entangled in his T-11 parachute. Schmigel reportedly died from fatal lacerations to the throat and a broken neck. The entire incident lasted three to four seconds, according to the report.

After Schmigel was hit by the second jumper, her body continued its decent with the parachute deployed properly. Nobody noticed anything was wrong until she was found unresponsive on the ground.

The information about the accident was obtained from the government through a Freedom of Information Request.

The jumpmaster, who was recommended for reassignment, also reportedly failed to attend a pre-jump briefing.

The investigators, however, found no criminal wrongdoing. The report contains a number of recommendations for improving paratrooper safety.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today condemned the decision by the Fast-Food Wage Board to raise the minimum wage for all fast-food workers statewide to $15 per hour. Hawley said that non-elected bureaucrats making statewide labor policy is an irresponsible way to govern and sets a dangerous precedent that is wrong for New York State.

“As a small-business owner for over four decades, I am appalled at the governor’s handling of this situation,” Hawley said. “Allowing a group of non-elected officials to determine a major change in labor policy for New York’s fast-food industry sets a dangerous precedent of allowing bureaucrats, hand-picked by the governor, to make legislative decisions without debate or input from the Legislature.

"A sharp wage increase will undoubtedly lead to higher prices for consumers and the termination of many employees statewide as franchise owners adjust to deal with higher labor costs. The minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage and a more viable solution would be to create more sustainable, career-oriented jobs instead of providing an incentive against working hard to advance.”

This morning we make a big change in how we handle classified ads and our local business directory. We've moved away from the sites handled by third party vendors and have gone 100-percent homegrown with a new site, Batavia's List.

Batavia's List replaces Shop Batavia, our real estate site and our jobs site.

Our goal was to create a very basic site that acts as a one-stop hub for all kinds of online commerce, from looking up a local business to putting items up for sale, and real estate listings, and job postings, and cars for sale and businesses with promotions and coupons -- all in one place, in one main feed that is easy to scroll through.

We'll also distribute the posts on Facebook (click here to LIKE Batavia's List on Facebook).

The new site also has an easy to use and free way for you to post your garage sales on a map and we've added a calendar of events (more on that to come in a future post). We'll add features as the site grows.

If you're ready to post something, e-mail me at howard@thebatavian.com and I'll send you a coupon code for a free, introductory ad placement.

Local business owners should make sure their business is listed and the listing is up to date.

Members of The Batavian Club can post for free, and as an introductory offer, we've reduced the price of a Club membership by more than half, to $24.95. The membership includes unlimited free classifieds postings as well as $300 in gift certificates to local businesses, plus we're still offering free T-shirts to new members.

Deputies have responded to Walmart to look for a shoplifting suspect who drives a black hatchback but may be hiding in the woods nearby the store.

The subject was reportedly trying to steal an air conditioner, and has been attempting the same heist several times this week, according to a dispatcher.

Pictures submitted by Dylan Brew of of a hummingbird clearwing moth spotted in Alexander. 

Elba volunteer firefighters hosted a boot drive Saturday to benefit the local Boy Scouts to help them purchase a new gear trailer. The old trailer has a broken axle. Karl White, who supplied the photos, said the drive raised nearly half the cost of the trailer.

There's a nice patch of yellow daisies that have popped up in a field near the intersection of Judge Road and Alleghany Road, Alabama.

Doug Smith, of Batavia, won the Harley Raffle hosted by the Town of Batavia Volunteer Fire Department. The photo above is of one of the $500 drawings.

The $500 winners: Eric Bruggman, Attica; Bill Lickfield, Hamburg; Chris Rockerfeller, Batavia; Kristina Lobello, Batavia.

To purchase prints, click here.

A few highlights from yesterday's tractor pulls at the Genesee County Fair, along with a couple of closing livestock shots.

A one-vehicle roll over accident is reported in the area of 175 Genesee St., Darien. 

A person is believed to be trapped. 

Dispatchers are checking on the availability of Mercy Flight. One helicopter is already tied up on a medical call in Stafford. 

Darien fire and ambulance dispatched. 

UPDATE: No serious injuries reported.