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We've added a "Business" section to The Batavian.

We will continue to cover business news as we can, but we want local business owners and managers to know that they are welcome to post their own business on The Batavian.

What is allowed: Anything that qualifies as news -- information that will be interesting to readers.

What is NOT allowed: Pure advertising/marketing messages, such as "20 percent off sale" or "we have the best store in town."

Examples of "press releases" you might want to post:

• New business opening
• Relocation
• A new manager or key employee
• Retirement
• Grand Re-Opening event
• Anniversary (good chance to write about the history of the business)
• Advice to readers related to the business specialty.
• New product or service (but this needs to be informational, not promotional)

Please be careful not to republish verbatim material for other publications, which would constitute a copyright violation.

The Batavian reserves the right to remove any content editors determine doesn't meet our guidelines. We may also promote your post to our home page, but make no promise to put any particular post on the home page.

We are eager to get news from any business in Genesee County.

To learn how to post your own news, check out our tutorials on our Help Page.

If you are interesting in advertising, contact Howard Owens, (howard (at) the batavian (one word) dot com, or 585-260-6970).

Cindy Morelli says in her "about" on her profile that she's looking for a job.

We have a Jobs section for employers looking for help, but we haven't really set up a way for a process for job candidates to let potential employers know of their availability, but if you write a blog post about your experience, qualifications and the kind of job you're seeking, we'll find a way to highlight your post.

We're continuely on the look out for local bloggers -- Batavia needs more of them.

In checking member profiles tonight, we found the blog of  Arlana Pathammavong.

Mostly, it's a personal blog of her interests and observations, but she's a good blogger and includes some tidbits of local interest, such as this post about the Pok-A-Dot.

A chimney fire has been reported at 8824 Lovers Lane, in Corfu. It has been upgraded to a second alarm fire.

We'll most more information when it's available.

UDPATE: 5:24 p.m. The alarm has been down graded and some units returning to stations.

Who would steal a laptop and computer and then send it into the manufacture for servicing?

Whomever swiped Rich Clark's laptop last week, that's who.

Mr. Clark, 27, just dropped by The Batavian office to let his know his computer arrived safely at the service center today.

On Thursday, we highlighted a classified Clark had posted on The Batavian noting that a black box had been stolen from his work truck.

It turns out the box contained a laptop, valued at $1,000, that Clark and labeled and set up to send back for service.  Whoever took it -- whether he saw the post on The Batavian or not -- dropped the box in the mail and it arrived safely at the service center.

Clark, who operates his own satellite installation company and works for IGT, said he couldn't believe the computer had been returned. "It's just amazing. Amazing," he said.

The idea of consolidation of local governments is on its face appealing. It holds out the promise of cost savings, if not lower taxes, as well as reduced regulations on businesses.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo thinks there are too many government agencies in New York.

“Simply put, our system of local government is broken. It has been outpaced by globalization, regionalization, and an ever changing marketplace,” he said. “The density of local government in New York is astounding. There are 10,521 overlapping government units, providing duplicative services creating needless, wasteful bureaucracies.”

The questionable assumption in Cuomo's statement is that globalization and regionalization (never heard that word before) is a good thing.

One could make the case that the smaller the government agency, the closer it is to the people it effects, and the more responsive it is to small group or individual needs.

Here are some other assertions worth further examination:

The law is filled with anachronisms. More disturbing is that the law contains provisions that are relics of the past that conjure up images of “poll taxes.” In some cases, an individual may vote to dissolve or consolidate governments, such as special districts, only if they own taxable real property in the area.

Comparing current laws in New York to racist policies of a Jim Crow era is a pretty loaded. What civil rights are being impinged by the current system?

Again, the idea of consolidation has its appeal. With 10K+ government bodies in New York, you can be assured that many are receiving totally inaccurate oversight.

As a young reporter in California, I loved covering special districts because they received such little attention from journalists. That lack of oversight encouraged a devil-may-care attitude among the officials charged with running the districts. Their expense reports were often a playground of excess if not outright maleficence. There's no doubt that there are redundant and uncessary districts in WNY.

However, I would be leery of any consolidation scheme that diminishes a small town's ability to engage in self rule. Residents shouldn't lose the ability to rub elbows with the elected officials who decided how to spend their tax money.

(Link via Buffalo Pundit)

A child riding in a vehicle northbound on Alexander Road suffered a minor injury when a southbound Jeep Grand Cherokee reportedly served into oncoming traffic.

The Jeep clipped the other vehicle and then careened into a telephone poll -- severing the poll about half-way up its length -- near 8804 Alexander Road.

The child was transported to a hospital for evaluation, according to Deputy Richardson, primarily, he said, as a precaution.

The Jeep was driven by Kayla Tyoe, and the vehicle had two additional passengers.  The other vehicle was driven by Tracy Cooper.

Richardson said the investigation is ongoing to determine what caused Tyoe's vehicle to reportedly cross into the oncoming lane.

UPDATE: The Daily just posted a story with a few additional details.

Reynolds Game Farm is closing down after 81 years of operation, the Binghamton Press reports.

The farm is a victim of state budget cuts, according to the article. No word on the immediate fate of pheasants still on the farm.

The farm has been in various administrations' crosshairs for decades. In fact, if memory serves, the state sought to turn the Reynolds farm over to Cornell University to be used as a wildlife rehab facility in the early 1990s. The news leaked to the Conservation Council and some quick maneuvering and brokering -- ostensibly involving a license fee increase -- saved the farm at that point.

The state consolidated the pheasant program in 1999 when it closed and sold the White Farm in Batavia and moved all the equipment, etc. to Reynolds.

The fate of the pheasant program is still unknown. Commissioner Grannis had expressed in the fact that pheasants could be purchased for the program at far less expense than it took for the Reynolds farm to raise them. Maybe this means the program will continue.

Roger Muehlig reports that the Genesee County Economic Development Center is selling its Mill Street headquarters and will lease back its office space from new owners.

The move paves the way for the property to move back onto the tax roles.

The  price: $675,000. The buyer: Harris Mill Street Properties.

A mortgage tax and sliding scale property tax exemptions package approved by GCEDC directors for the sale totals about $187,745. The largest part of that is an estimated $180,995 in property taxes on a sliding scale over a 10-year period.

The agency is considering relocation within the next three years to one of its other project locations.

Muehlig says that more than 35 new companies have been launched from the business incubator the GCEDC runs from the location.

The agency is working on at least three major development project in Genesee County.

The National Weather Service has issued a weather advisory for Genesee County with chances of freezing mist and a wind child factor of 5 degrees.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND WEATHER OBSERVATIONS AT NIAGARA FALLS AIRPORT INDICATE THIS FREEZING MIST TO BE SPREADING TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. THIS COULD RESULT IN ICY SPOTS ON AREA ROADS, ESPECIALLY UNTREATED OVERPASSES AND THE LESS TRAVELED ROADS. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO BE EXTRA CAREFUL OF THESE ICY CONDITIONS AND PROVIDE A LITTLE MORE DISTANCE BETWEEN VEHICLES, AND SLOW DOWN IN HEAVIER TRAFFIC. SIDEWALKS AND PARKING LOTS MAY ALSO BECOME SLICK AND SLIPPERY, SO BE CAREFUL WALKING EARLY THIS MORNING. THE ICY CONDITIONS SHOULD DIMINISH BY MID MORNING.

Anthony Dimarzo, 18, of Byron was arrested yesterday in his home at 6404 Millpond Road, for allegedly possessing marijuana.

The arrest by Sheriff's deputies came after a probation office reported his suspicion that Dimarzo had marijuana in his house.

Dimarzo is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 5.

WBTA reports on a two-truck accident at the intersection of Routes 98 and 262, with some diesel fuel being spilled.

The accident occurred just before 6:30.

School bus service was not disrupted, but traffic is being rerouted and motorist are being asked to avoid the area.

Tune into WBTA this morning for updates.

We heard from a few sources that one of the hang ups the Daily News ran into was getting its print classifieds online.  This, we hear, delayed the launch of the web site, and when the Daily launched on Tuesday, classifieds were not part of the launch.

That's not surprising -- many newspapers have struggled with getting legacy ad systems to transfer files cleanly to online systems.

It looks like the Daily has worked out the kinks -- the ads are now online.

Dan and Debbie Fischer sure know how to throw a party.

There was plenty of food and laughs tonight at 113 E. Main St., in the studio of Batavia's WBTA.

The radio station hosted the Chamber's monthly mixer and made sure all guests were quite entertained.

Below, Dan received a certificate of recognition from the Chamber for hosting the event.

I spotted this mural on Swan Street in Batavia a few days ago and was taken by the idea that it was probably painted prior to 9/11, and it's still there -- on what is otherwise a pretty run-down old building.  The mural, which consists of two panels of the New York City skyline, is signed "John Howard."