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A car has reportedly hit a tree on Cole Road, Le Roy.

Injuries are reported.

Le Roy fire and Le Roy ambulance dispatched.

A car has reportedly hit a tree and there are unknown injuries at 3992 South Main Street Road, near Fairway Drive, Batavia.

Town of Batavia Fire and Alexander Fire's ambulance dispatched.

UPDATE 6:11 a.m.: Law enforcement on scene reports no injuries. Alexander's ambulance is cancelled. Town of Batavia can hold all equipment in hall.

Closing and cancellations reported to us:

• "This is a message from the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District.  School will be closed today, Friday January 9th due to the weather. This closing includes all after-school and evening activities. Please note that this is our last built-in snow day of the school year. Our plan for makeup days will be distributed next week to allow you to adjust your calendars. Please stay warm and safe this weekend."
• Alexander Central School
• Attica Central School
• BOCES, Batavia campus
• Pavilion
• Pembroke
• Pembroke Family Medicine delayed opening until 10:30 a.m.
• Independent Living of Genesee Region is closed today.
• Notre Dame
• Lamb Family Medicine (Now Open)
• Bingo at St. Mary's
• Delayed opening for County Court and City Court
• Delayed opening to 10 a.m. for Dr. Basra
• The Women's Care Center in Batavia at 33 Chandler Ave.

E-mail closings and cancellations to howard@thebatavian.com

A reader who witnessed the accident reports a westbound tractor-trailer has jackknifed on Route 5 near Bater Road, Le Roy.

The truck hit a pole and the eastbound lane is blocked.

A trooper just arrived on scene.

UPDATE 5:58 a.m.: Le Roy fire requested to shut down traffic westbound on Route 5 at Keeney Road. Stafford fire requested to shut down traffic eastbound at Buckley Road.

UPDATE 6:44 a.m.: Traffic is reopened. Stafford and Le Roy back in service.

In a special weather statement, the National Weather Service reports a heavy lake effect snow band is moving toward the western portion of Genesee County and could drop snow at a rate of three inches per hour as far east as Batavia.

Visibility will be near zero with winds gusting to 40 mph.

"Travel will be extremely difficult or even impossible due to a combination of snowfall and strong winds," warns the weather service.

UPDATE 6:17 p.m.: A medic with Mercy EMS informs dispatchers that conditions are so bad, "we won't be doing any transports to Buffalo until further notice."

A motor-vehicle accident is reported near Judge Road and Macomber Road, Oakfield.

A medic on scene reports two minor injuries and one person trapped. A second ambulance is requested to the scene.

Oakfield fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 5:40 a.m.: Alabama fire requested to the scene for traffic control.

UPDATE 5:44 a.m.: A second ambulance might not be needed. Two minor injuries. "We might be able to double stack one rig," a responder tells dispatch.

From the Thruway Authority:

Parts of the New York State Thruway in Western New York will be closed due to extreme winter weather conditions. The mainline Thruway, I-90, between Exit 46 (Henrietta) and Exit 61 (Shortman Road), as well as the Niagara Section, I-190, between I-90 and Exit 16 (I-290), will be closed to tractor-trailers at 9 tonight. Starting at midnight, these same sections will be closed to all traffic. Vehicles traveling westbound on I-90 will be detoured off the roadway at Exit 46 (Henrietta) and all eastbound traffic will be detoured off at Exit 61 (Shortman Road). All vehicles traveling south on I-190 will be detoured off at Exit 16 (I-290).

The idea of solar power for county government certainly brought a gleam to the eye of members of the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, but in the end, a proposal by Solar City didn't exactly light up their lives.

The committee voted unanimously to reject a proposal that could have saved the county more than a quarter of its $500,000 annual electricity bill. 

The short-term cost savings looked good, but the long-term and potentially unknown consequences seemed daunting.

Legislator and Committee Chairman Bob Bausch worried about Solar City going bankrupt, and without some sort of bond to protect the county's financial liability, taxpayers could be left holding the bag on a nine-acre solar farm the county had no ability to maintain.

"We would have to clean up their mess," Bausch said.

County Attorney Chuck Zambito said Bausch was essentially right.

"It would be their responsibility, but if they go bankrupt, there would be no way to enforce it," Zambito said.

Legislator Maryanne Clattenburg was concerned that 20 years was too long to lock the county into technology that looks good today but may quickly become obsolete. She said she was especially concerned because the company seems so dependent on government grants, which could dry up in a few years.

"When I think of my phone 20 years ago, or I think of my computer 20 years ago -- I just think it's too long of a time to be tied into one technology," Clattenburg said.

County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens expressed concern that the state, which would help finance the project, might eventually reduce the amount of compensation the county would get for hosting the solar farm.

He also noted that the county may yet need to build a new jail and the proposed location of the farm -- nine acres off West Main Street Road, Batavia, next to County Building #2, might be a prime location for a new jail. Putting a solar farm on that land would potentially drive up the cost of a new jail if the county had to purchase nine acres elsewhere.

Solar City would get use of the nine acres to generate electricity to sell to National Grid tax free, legislators noted.

County Manager Jay Gsell said the county also looked at land at the County Airport, but found FAA regulations would prohibit any possible configuration the county could use because of glare, glide path and safety zone issues.

Hens said other companies have contacted the county about solar power and in rejecting the Solar City deal, which the county had to act on by mid-February, the county keeps its options open.

The way the county treasurer and county clerk see it, the NYS Office of Comptroller didn't do a very good job of crossing its Ts and dotting its Is when it came to issuing audit reports on their offices last month.

While the reports only raised minor bookkeeping issues and found no real evidence of mismanagement, both Scott German and Don Read told the Ways and Means Committee yesterday that they were blown over by the negative audit reports.

"Essentially, the State Comptroller's Office didn't follow normal protocol," German said. "There was no entrance interview, no exit interview, and they always give 90 days to respond and have our response in the audit, and that didn't happen either."

Read said the auditor who hit his office never clarified how certain court records were being handled, just said they weren't being handled correctly.

"Everything she complained about in the audit, we do," Read said. "They said we don't keep a record of it because we don't keep it in a book. Well, we don't keep it in a book any more. We keep it in a folder, a printout. We no longer have to write in a book, get a book out. We put it on computer. That was acceptable the last time they did a court and trust fund audit. They didn't raise any issues, but this time they found fault with it."

Like the Treasurer's Office, Read wasn't given a chance to file a written response before the audit was made public.

The treasure was knocked for not notifying the state of $507 in a trust that needed to be turned over as abandoned. German said the state has changed the rules on the time frame of such notifications in the past few years, but never communicated that change to county treasurers. The lastest printed booklet from the state, which is what German's staff was using contained the incorrect information. (There is apparently a downloadable booklet that is corrected.) He said his staff now has the corrected state booklet.

Ray Cianfrini, chairman of the Legislature, said the couple of minor complaints in the audit report were really a credit to both county offices because nothing more serious was found.

German said his office is currently in the third month of what he expects to be a year-long audit, and he's sure some discrepancy or another will be found.

"I'm sure they're going to find things," German said. "They always do, but nothing major."

From six to 10 inches of lake effect snow are possible overnight with winds blowing up to 45 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

A lake effect snow warning has been issued. 

Snow could fall at three inches an hour.

The warning is in effect from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m.

Visibility will be near zero at times.

The weather service warns travel may become nearly impossible.

UPDATE 4:15 p.m.: Here's a weather report from our news partner, 13WHAM:

Tonight expect the gusty winds to continue with sub-zero wind chills. The actual low temperature will be near 14, but will feel much colder. Late this evening an area wide snowfall will make its way toward WNY. Snow will redevelop and bring a fresh coating of 2-3” for Rochester. South and west, through Genesee and Wyoming counties, another 3-5” are likely. For this reason, we have a lake effect snow warning in place west of Rochester for Friday.

The Friday morning commute could be a challenge as a quick burst of snow will fall producing an inch or more of accumulation. With the brutally cold temperatures and blustery conditions it’s no surprise that lake snow will continue also. Genesee and Wyoming counties will see another 3-6” of accumulation. Outside of any lake effect bands, some breaks of sunshine will be possible. 

Bitter cold temperatures and sub-zero wind chills will persist Friday night. Another lake effect band will move through the area and although the exact placement of this snow band is still to be determined, any area that stays within persistent lake snow could see 6-10” of additional accumulation.

Saturday morning will start out with some sunny breaks. Although the sun may be shining, conditions will still be blustery with ice-cold temperatures near 18. By afternoon 3-6” of new snowfall will accumulate south and west of Rochester, bringing snow totals between 2 and 3 feet. Continue to check back for further updates on the snowfall and upcoming storm system from the 13WHAM Weather Authority.

At least two young Elba students made threats against a teacher three weeks ago, resulting in a complaint to local law enforcement, but school officials are handling the matter internally.

Contrary to media reports elsewhere, there was no attempt to either kill or sicken the teacher. It was all talk.

Following a public records request, Sheriff Gary Maha released a police report on the closed investigation, which stemmed from a person who had heard about the incident calling police.

The report indicates that school officials have been attempting to deal with a bullying problem in a fourth-grade class, and in the course of the turmoil at least two students, possibly more, discussed spreading hand sanitizer on personal items of the class's teacher.

The teacher had made it known to her students that hand sanitizer could make her seriously ill. It's not clear that exposure could be fatal.

The students seemed to believe that the hand sanitizer could be used to kill their teacher.

The students never actually spread any hand sanitizer.

Deputy Kevin McCarthy responded to the school Dec. 18 after a complaint was made about children threatening to kill their teacher.

McCarthy interviewed officials and students at the school.

The report states that students were contradictory in their statements about the threats and who made them.  

A parent was also interviewed and was concerned about the alleged threats.

School officials believed two students implicated themselves in statements and those students were reportedly disciplined.

UPDATE: Here's a statement from Jerry Piwko, superintendent of Elba Central School District:

It has been widely reported that certain fourth-grade students had been discussing a way to harm a teacher in the Elba Central School District. This event has been a shock to our community and school. The District cannot comment on the specifics of this event, including discipline, as the information is protected from disclosure under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The reports in the media and on social media do not accurately reflect the entire event.

As soon as the District was made aware of the students' discussion it called in students that were thought to have knowledge of the discussions. After the students were interviewed, the District contacted the Sheriff's Department and cooperated with the Sheriff's deputies in their investigation of the matter. The Sheriff's Department concluded that no crime had been committed and the matter was turned back over to the District. The District in turn has worked with the parents and students involved to address this issue. It is important to note that no one was injured or actually placed in harm's way.

The District does not condone any of the behaviors that have been reported and is in the process of working alongside the Sheriff's Department to use this incident as a vehicle for educating the District's students regarding appropriate behaviors.

A Town of Darien justice has been tapped to become the newest member of the Genesee County Legislature.

Michael Davis, a town justice for about five years and employee of the Upstate Niagara Milk Cooperative, will replace Annie Lawrence, who resigned to become Town of Pembroke supervisor.

County Republicans selected Davis to fill the vacant seat -- which must be filled under county law by a person from the same party as the person who left the seat -- and Wednesday, the Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously to recommend the appointment to the full legislature.

The legislative vote is expected at the start of its meeting next week and Davis would be sworn into office immediately. 

Before then, Davis is expected to resign as town justice.

The committee also reappointed Lori Longhany as the Democratic Party's commissioner on the Board of Elections.

Also on Wednesday, the committee approved the hiring of Ruth Spink as director of the Office for the Aging, who will replace Pamela Whitmore. Whitmore is retiring at the end of the month.

The Batavian: Officials considering bow hunting in Genesee County Park to deal with overpopulation of deer

Deer in the southeast part of Genesee County have figured out that if they hide out in the county park they are not going to get shot at, which has led to an overpopulation of deer in the park, causing problems for the county's forestry management efforts.

County officials are considering -- and the discussion is still in early stages -- allowing a limited number of hunters to hunt deer in a portion of the park during bow hunting season.

"We're still working on the actual nuts-and-bolts details of the plan," said Tim Hens, county superintendent of highways. "It hasn't even been presented to the parks advisory committee yet, but I can tell you it would be very limited in nature in terms of not being through the entire park. It would be limited to specific areas of the park to avoid obvious conflicts with bicyclists and hikers and horseback riders and everything else that goes on down there. It is a multi-use park and the safety of everybody is obviously paramount."

The County Park covers about one square mile in Bethany. It was established in 1915 as the first county park in New York. The land was purchased in 1882 in order to procure cooking and heating wood for what was then the county poorhouse. Various efforts to plant trees in the park took place over the next two decades, and by 1935 nearly 170,000 tress had been planted.

The deer hunting plan is being drafted by an ad-hoc committee comprised of the parks supervisor, affiliated agencies like the Department of Environmental Conservation, wildlife and forestry experts, and members of the Genesee County Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee.

The plan would be presented to the advisory committee when completed and if the committee approves it, it would still need approval by the County Legislature.

"Speaking in very general terms, the initial concept calls for a fee-based lottery draw for hunters who will have access to limited regions within the park for limited period of time during regular bow season," Hens said. "Hunting will be bow-only. Focus will be on deer management and there will be an initial emphasis with disabled vets and youth hunts."

The hunt would likely take place for more than one season, Hens said, but whether it became a perpetual event would depend on how successful it was at knocking down the deer population in the park. Letchworth, which is significantly larger, has an annual deer hunt for the same reason, but since the county park is smaller, an annual hunt may not be necessary.

Hens said the ad-hoc committee is interested in community feedback on the proposal and there will be a public information meeting on the plan before it is presented to the Legislature.

A working chimney fire is reported 4136 Ridge Road.

Elba fire and Oakfield fire were dispatched initially.

A second tone out includes Bergen and Byron with Town of Batavia to fill in at Elba.

A chief on scene reports heavy smoke.

The residence has been evacuated.

UPDATE 9:37 p.m.: A firefighter requests a chainsaw and a thermal camera.

UPDATE 10:07 p.m.: Fire contained to chimney. Firefighters starting overhaul.

To help keep traffic moving on a cold, windy, icy day, a little while ago, Sgt. Dan Coffey and another police officer pushed a disabled vehicle out of the intersection of Oak and Main, Batavia.

Reader submitted photo.

Outside the GCC gym last night, the weather was pretty sloppy, but not as sloppy as the basketball game going on inside.

In the second game of the annual Rotary tournament, matching Notre Dame and Alexander, there were turnovers and missed shots and refs who were seemingly calling an inordinate number of traveling penalties and questionable jump balls. 

The final score was 37-22.

"It's was a sloppy game," said Dave Pero, Fighting Irish head coach. "What more can I tell you. It was just a sloppy game."

Pero knows he'll need a better performance out of his girls Thrusday night when they take on the Lady Blue Devils in the tournament championship.

Batavia beat Midlakes 55-32 in the tournament opener.

Notre Dame has taken the previous two Rotary Tournament finals against Batavia, and both coaches said they're ready to lock horns again.

"They'll throw out all the stops and we'll be ready and they'll be ready and it should be fun," Pero said. "I like our chances, but we can't play like we did tonight. But Thursday's another night."

Give the Lady Trojans credit, they pushed hard on defense and even with a team of girls with perhaps an average height of maybe about 5' 4", they managed to pull down quite a few rebounds against a team with three starters over six foot.  In the first half, nearly every trip down the court resulted in numerous second and third chance tries at baskets.  

Unfortunately for Alexander, nothing fell.

"It'ss been like that all year," said Alexander's head coach, Marcia Hirsch. "Our defense has been so good, but we just haven't been able to score."

The loss puts the Lady Trojans, who've managed as many as 50 points just twice this season, at 4-4.

Alexander applied pressure to Notre Dame at half court with some success, but on those rare possessions that resulted in a basket for the Trojans, they used a full court press and Notre Dame seemed out of rhythm all night.

That's pretty much the kind of defense the Irish will see when they meet Batavia in the championship game.

Head Coach Marty Hein said the Blue Devils will use pressure and the team's deep bench to compensate for Notre Dame's height advantage.

“We talked about trying to make that our identity,” Hein said. “We’re not a big team but we’ve got depth this year, so we run, run, run and press. We’re doing it for 32 minutes if we have to do it for 32 minutes.”

Both Alexander and Notre Dame suffered key injuries that disrupted their offenses.  Brett Stephens suffered an ankle injury crumpled to the court in the second quarter. A possession or two later, Emily McCracken fell down in the same exact spot.  Both are being evaluated and are considered day-to-day.

For Batavia, Essence Williams notched a double-double with a game-high 15 points and 11 rebounds, Tiara Filbert added 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals. Sam Cecere, recently returned from an injury, scored nine points and added seven rebounds.

Shea Norton and Rebecca Krenzer led the Notre Dame attack, both with double-doubles. Norton had 14 points and 17 rebounds along with four blocks and four assists. Krenzer scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

For Alexander, Sydney Breton had seven points and five rebounds. Jayna Wright scored four points and had five rebounds, while Karli Phillips grabbed five rebounds.

Both Pero and Hein expect a tough, competitive game Thursday night in the final at GCC.

"It should be fun," Pero said.

To purchase prints, click here.

We ran a Flip Ad contest Tuesday (the secret code didn't actually come down until this morning, but we got our winner last night) and the winner is Jody Robbins, of Stafford.

She was the eighth person to correctly identify "Paolo Busti" as the secret code phrase.

Robbins wins $25.

Watch for another Flip Ad contest next week.

Business owners: Flip Ads are a great, interactive way to draw more attention to your message. Contact Lisa Ace at (585) 250-4118 for more information. And ask about all the new interactive ad styles we now have available.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia has joined Rochester Regional Health System, becoming a full affiliate effective January 1, 2015. Rochester Regional is the newly formed health system that combined Rochester General and Unity Health Systems in July 2014.

The Genesee County hospital announced its intention to join Rochester Regional in February 2014. While United Memorial is very strong financially, hospital leaders recognized that changes in health care threatened the long-term outlook for independent rural health care providers. Joining the large regional system will enable continued and even enhanced local services for Batavia-area patients. United Memorial will maintain its name and a local board, and will continue its longstanding tradition of providing a wide range of medical and acute care services in Batavia.

“The full affiliation of United Memorial is another example of how Rochester Regional is creating a model health care system that helps communities get healthy and stay healthy,” said Eric J. Bieber, MD, President & CEO, Rochester Regional Health System. “Our model will maintain access and control cost by keeping care within the local community with seamless access to the highest quality specialty acute care for patients throughout the region, no matter where you live or through which system-wide door you enter.”

The partnership mirrors a trend among successful hospitals and health care systems nationwide. These system affiliations address the economic realities that community hospitals face with health care reform, enabling them to continue to offer a full range of primary and secondary services locally, while providing a gateway to the best clinical care available when more highly specialized care and technology – like cardiac surgery, stroke services, neurosurgery, and other complex services – are required.

“Joining Rochester Regional Health System secures our ability to provide quality health care to our community for the long-term,” said Dan Ireland, President, United Memorial Medical Center.

“Though most patients won’t notice any difference at the hospital, they will benefit from greater access to specialized services and technology available through the Rochester Regional network.”
The two health care institutions are no strangers to each other, having collaborated in the areas of Cardiology, Pathology, Surgery, Urology and Gastroenterology since 2008, and most recently partnered to open a Cancer & Infusion Center at United Memorial.

In making its decision to affiliate with Rochester Regional in early 2014, the United Memorial board cited the system’s longstanding focus on high-quality patient care and safety, its expertise in clinical integration, its comprehensive medical and surgical specialties that will enhance existing services available in the Batavia community, and its successful track record of collaboration with smaller acute care hospitals and physicians. 

Press release:

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce has announced a series of business workshops for 2015 in conjunction with the United States Small Business Administration. 

The workshops are open to all Chamber and non-Chamber businesses and their employees and will offer expert advice from experienced business professionals designed to help small businesses succeed and grow.

“We’re excited to introduce this series of workshops this year,” said Tom Turnbull, president of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.  “The Chamber’s mission has always been to create an environment for business success and we believe these workshops fit right in with our mission.  Each workshop will give business owners and their employees valuable insights on a specific business subject.”

The 20l5 workshop schedule is as follows:

• February 11 “Marketing Your Small Business”
• March 11 “Financing Your Venture”
• April 8  “Home-Based Business Strategies For Success”
• May 13 “Selling and Succession Planning”
• June 10 “Women-Owned Small Business Workshop”
• September 9 “Holiday Campaigning For Your Small Business”
• October 14 “Profit Improvement Strategies – Increasing Your Cash Flow Now”
• November 18 “Customer Service That Wins Sales”

All workshops will be held at the Chamber of Commerce office, 210 East Main St., Batavia.  The sessions will run from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Businesses may attend any one or all of the workshops.  Cost for non-Chamber members is $10 for each attendee.  Chamber members may attend all sessions free of charge but must make reservations to insure space for their employees. 
To reserve a seat in any workshop or for more information, contact Kelly Bermingham at 585-343-7440 or by email at  kbermingham@geneseeny.com.