Stories from

These are reader submitted photos of a car that struck the Dollar General Store in Le Roy around 10:15 a.m.

Injuries were reportedly minor.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of a foot of snow fell on Batavia overnight and this morning residents were clearing driveways and sidewalks.

From 13WHAM, The Batavian's news partner, here's a forecast:

Most of the steady snow has now moved west and out of the area. The chance of some scattered snow showers will remain through the day, but not the steady type of snow that we have already experienced. Another inch of snow could fall from any of the snow showers that pass through the rest of today. A Winter Weather Advisory does remains in effect for Genesee and Wyoming counties through 4 a.m. tomorrow. As of earlier this morning, 10 inches of snow had fallen in Warsaw, 4.5 inches in Avon, 6.5 inches near Silver Springs, 10.4 in Wyoming, and 5.5 inches near Dansville.

It will take a while for any melting to begin. Temperatures will remain in the 20s for much of today. Temperatures will rise to about the freezing point for a high tomorrow, but will rise higher, into the 30s and 40s, by this upcoming weekend and early next week.

Top photo: William Palone on East Avenue at Ross Street.

Marilyn Canipe on North Spruce Street.

A bike rider trying to negotiate his way through the snow and slush on North Street.

• Due to the snow, the City of Batavia Yard Waste Station is closed today. It will be open Friday and Saturday. The Yard Waste Station will be closed for the season at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Send closures and cancellations, if any, to howard@thebatavian.com

Kenneth Michael Gray, 23, no permanent address, was arrested on a warrant out of Le Roy by Batavia PD. He was jailed on $1,000 bail. No details provided on the underlying charge.

Joseph Antwan Fletcher, 18, of Liberty Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt. Fletcher was allegedly observed by a Batavia police officer in the company of a person protected from contact by Fletcher by a court order.

James P. Colantonio Jr., 26, of South Main Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI and refusal to submit to chemical test. Colantonio was stopped at 2:12 a.m. Sunday on West Main Street, Batavia, by officer Marc Lawrence.

Daniel S. Kilner, 46, of Redfield Parkway, Batavia, was arrested for an alleged violation of probation. Kilner was located at his residence by the Probation Department and transported to BPD headquarters where he was arrested. Kilner was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Gurpreet Singh Malhi, 41, of Charit Way, Rochester, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .18 or greater. Malhi was stopped at 7:20 p.m. Wednesday on Lake Road, Le Roy, by deputy Matthew Fleming.

Should the Buffalo Bills cheerleaders be paid at least minimum wage?

New York Times: Buffalo Bills Cheerleaders’ Routine: No Wages and No Respect

A two-car accident with injuries is reported on North Road, Le Roy, near the county line.

Le Roy fire and Le Roy ambulance dispatched.

UPDATE 5:59 a.m.: A second ambulance from Caledonia is requested to the scene at 8673 North Road.

UPDATE 6:38 a.m.: North Road being shut down so the vehicles can be moved.

A tractor-trailer has jackknifed on Clinton Street Road and hit a utility pole. A second vehicle may be involved. 

The road is blocked. Power is out in the area.

All occupants are out of the vehicles.

The accident is reported in the area of 5106 Clinton Street Road, near Stringham Drive.

Town of Batavia fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 9:41 p.m. (back from the scene): An eastbound tractor-trailer that was fully loaded lost traction on a snowy road and jackknifed. A red pickup truck that was also eastbound became wedged under the trailer. The passenger side of the cab was completely crushed. Fortunately, there was no passenger. The driver had a cut on his hand and a complaint of arm pain. There's no suitable tow trucks available in Genesee County, so trucks are coming from Monroe County. A National Grid crew is also needed to replace the utility pole before the truck can be moved. Route 33 will likely be closed for some time yet.

There is still no clue investigators can point to that offers even a hint of how a fire started in a garage at 12 Adams St., Batavia, on Sunday night.

There was no electricity nor any other source of ignition in the area of the garage where the fire started. There are no marks on the floor to suggest an accelerant was used by an arsonist (though that in itself doesn't rule out a deliberate fire). Interviews with neighbors have failed to produce any leads.

"So far, we can't figure out what started it," said Capt. Craig Williams, Batavia Fire Department. "It may go down as undetermined."

It will be at least a week before the investigation is completed, Williams said. By then, maybe investigators will have solved the mystery.

The three-car garage was owned by 87-year-old Ken Currier, who spent 30 years working as a mechanic and 25 years building houses, said his son Jerry Currier.

"He had everything you need to work on cars and pretty much everything you needed to work on houses and it's all gone," Currier said.

Among the items lost, two big tool boxes, filled with tools, a milling machine, lathe, band saw and compressors.

Currier and his brother own a contracting business, but didn't work out of the garage. They have their own facility on Route 98, although they do regularly park a work truck at the Adams Street residence.

"We pretty much meet there every morning and have coffee with my parents before heading out to the job," Currier said.

The garage was insured, Currier said, and will be replaced with one just like it.

"Thank God we have a good insurance company," he said. "The adjuster was here yesterday from 10:30 a.m. to 6 at night going over everything," Currier said. "The little section that didn't burn was so smoke and heat and water damaged that it's a total loss."

UPDATE, Thursday morning: Yesterday, we couldn't reach Det. Rich Schauf, Batavia PD, who is assisting in the investigation.  Schauf reiterated this is likely to be a fire of an undetermined cause. He said there are numerous accidental possibilities, such as an old battery overheating, so just because the final determination is undetermined doesn't mean it was anything other than accidental.

The process of elimination pretty much rules out a deliberately set fire, he said. The location of the fire would mean that a person would have had to enter the garage, move stuff, start the fire, and then put stuff back. That's an unlikely scenario for anybody who might have a reason to start such a fire. There would be easier and safer ways to start a fire.  

"I would never say it was a set fire," Schauf said. "There are too many other things that could have been accidental in that fire."

Previously: Garage fire reported on Adams Street, Batavia

Press release:

Today, senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and representatives Brian Higgins and Chris Collins announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved primary and contiguous disaster designations for seven Western New York counties, due to losses caused by excessive snow, flooding, freeze, and high winds that occurred Nov. 17-24. The Secretarial natural disaster declaration will apply for the following counties: Genesee, Erie, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming.

Last month, following the storm, Schumer, Gillibrand, Higgins and Collins urged the USDA to assess damage and be ready to issue this declaration so that emergency loans could be made available to the farmers, flower growers, and local producers that suffered as a result of the historic November snowstorm. The lawmakers said that USDA assistance is available to farmers who experience severe crop, livestock and business loss.

“After weathering several days of brutal weather and record-high snowfall, the USDA’s decision to provide emergency disaster assistance to farmers and growers across seven Western New York counties is welcome news. I visited many communities and saw the damage the snow caused firsthand. Thankfully, this disaster declaration means our Upstate farmers and growers will have access to critical emergency loans and more, at a time when they need it the most,” Senator Schumer said. “I applaud the U.S. Department of Agriculture for swiftly assessing the damage to farms, flower growers, vineyards, wineries and orchards throughout the region following the historic snowfall in November, and coming through with disaster designation.”

Senator Gillibrand, the first New York senator to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, said:

"I saw firsthand the severe losses Western New York’s agriculture community faced after last month’s unprecedented snowfall. The stories I heard were powerful. This declaration will enable those who lost greenhouses, barns, processing facilities, harvesting equipment, animals, trees, vines and crops to access resources that will help them as they recover and begin planning for a new growing season. I thank Secretary Vilsack and the dedicated staff of the Farm Service Agency who worked so hard to make sure the voices of our farmers were heard and that this much-needed aid is being made available."

Congressman Higgins: “Farm communities in Western New York were hit hard by the November snowstorm, and the federal government has an obligation to respond. This disaster caused loss of crops and business impacting the livelihood of local farmers. We applaud the USDA’s willingness to provide much needed relief to those struggling to recover from damages caused by the storm.”  

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27): “Western New York's agriculture community took a huge hit during the historic November snowstorm and our local farmers and growers need help. I am pleased that our bipartisan push worked and the USDA is taking action necessary to provide needed disaster assistance.”

The senators and congressmen explained that this Secretarial disaster designation will make farm operators eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans. Farmers in the eligible counties will have eight months from the date of the Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for such emergency loans.

The programs available with a USDA disaster declaration are as follows:

·         Emergency Farm Loans -- low interest loans;

·         Disaster Set-Aside Program -- borrowers located in designated disaster areas or contiguous counties who are unable to make their scheduled payment on any FSA debt can set aside one payment after a disaster.

Additionally, the following programs are available through the USDA without a disaster declaration:

·         Tree Assistance Program (TAP) -- provides financial assistance to qualifying orchardists and nursery tree growers to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes and vines damaged by natural disasters;

·         Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) -- provides benefits to livestock producers for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather;

·         Forest Restoration Program (FRP) -- helps the owners of non-industrial private forests restore forest health damaged by natural disasters;

·        Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, & Farm-raised Fish (ELAP) -- provides emergency relief to producers of livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish from other natural disasters that are not adequately covered by any other disaster program.

In their letter to Secretary Vilsack last month, Schumer, Gillibrand, Collins and Higgins wrote: “We urge USDA to dedicate all available resources to complete a damage survey in the most timely manner to assess the need for a USDA disaster declaration to prevent the delay of any needed emergency relief. Additionally, we request that FSA field officers work with farmers to help them accurately document losses, which will enable them to apply for USDA disaster programs.”

Three residents of Batavia, including a father and daughter, are being held in Wayne County Jail after being identified as suspected shoplifters at the Walmart in Macedon.

Two of the suspects are charged with petit larceny and accused of stealing HP All-in-One Desktop printers, with a retail value of $350 each.

Macedon police say the suspects match those of people seen on the video stealing the printers.

There were not arrested until this week for the alleged crime Nov. 24.

Justine McWethy, 27, and Christina Deluna, 24, were stopped by a Macedon police officer and when asked for identification, they allegedly provided false names. 

The officer was able to determine their identities and found they were both wanted on several warrants in various jurisdictions. 

Justine's father, 46-year-old Mark McWethy, was later located in Macedon Town Court. He was reportedly waiting for a court appearance at the wrong time.

Justine McWethy is charged with false personation, criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument and petit larceny.

Deluna is charged with false personation and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument.

Mark Mcwethy is charged with three counts of petit larceny and felony burglary. 

All three are being held pending their next court appearance in Macedon on Dec. 30.

Via The Batavian's news partner, 13WHAM.

The predicted snowfall for this morning didn't really materialize, but it's coming down pretty good right now, with a prediction of up to two inches by 7 p.m.

Here's 60 seconds of what it was looking like at Main and Center a few minutes ago:

Kyle Couchman, of Batavia, is today's Flip Ad winner. Kyle was the seventh person to correctly identify today's secret code, which was "Brisbane." It was flipped under the Turnbull ad.

Reminder: To win you must correctly identify the secret code word. I received a half dozen e-mails this morning before we even put the contest up. Each e-mail was idenifying an existing Flip Ads. That's not how the contest is played.

When playing, remember to include your full name and address to qualify for the prize.

There won't be another code up until some time tomorrow.

Turnovers bedeviled the Lady Blue Devils in their home-game debut for the 2014-15 season as they suffered their first defeat of the campaign, losing to Mendon 54-33.

This is a better team than they they showed Tuesday night with the four returning starters, Essence Williams, Tiara Filbert, Sam Cecere and Madison McCulley.

"We've got a great group of girls," Head Coach Marty Hein said. "They're all returners. We lost one senior. Our bench is stepping into their jobs. We'll be there. It just wasn't a good night tonight."

It was a sloppy first quarter for both Mendon and Batavia, with both teams struggling to retain possession. Batavia (1-1) took a 15-10 lead. But Mendon started to find its rhythm in the second quarter, scoring 18 points and holding Batavia to nine points.

The game became lopsided in the third quarter, with Mendon scoring 15 while the Lady Blue Devils didn't knock down a single field goal and scoring its lone point on a free throw.

Batavia needs to be more aggressive on offense, Hein said, pushing the ball up the court faster on inbounds and transitions.

"When we push the ball, we're a much better team," Hein said. "In the last five minutes, we were looking ahead, running the floor and we did better. It was the same thing in Albion. We waltzed the ball up the floor, and if you're meeting good pressure, you're not getting into your offense. When we're actually running the floor, at least we're getting their defense below the foul line."

Filbert, a junior, remains the team's offensive fire power. She scored 16 points Tuesday and has 25 on the season along with 13 rebounds and nine steals. 

McCully had seven points and Williams had four.

Now, Hein said, the team knows what it needs to work on.

"There's nothing wrong with a loss as long as we learn something from it," Hein said.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

Was CIA torture of terrorist suspects justified?

New York Times: Political Divide About C.I.A. Torture Remains After Senate Report’s Release

A winter storm warning for heavy snow has been issued for 4 a.m. through 6 p.m., Thursday, replacing the previous storm advisory.

Precipitation will start start tonight and change over to snowfall by the morning.

A storm total of 8 to 14 inches is predicted, with 3 to 5 inches in the morning and 4 to 6 inches Wednesday night and 1 to 3 inches Thursday.

Winds from the northwest at 10 to 20 mph.

Visibility will be reduced to a quarter of a mile at times.

A service of prayer and remembrance was held tonight at Northgate Free Methodist Church in Batavia, hosted by H.E. Turner Funeral Home.

The annual service is a chance for those who lost loved ones during the year to honor their memories.

A pair of snowy owls have returned to the Genesee County Airport. Jim Burns sent in these photos. Burns said he and other members of the Batavia Photo Club have been out photographing the pair, whom they dubbed George (above) and Martha.

Katie Bieber, of Batavia, is our winner. She correctly found the secret code "Joseph Ellicott" under the Kleen-All ad.

Katie will be sent a check for $25.

We'll run another contest tomorrow.

Ryan J. Scopano, 27, of North Spruce Street, Batavia, is charged with grand larceny, 4th. Scopano is accused of removing two guns from a business on West Main Street Road, Batavia, some time in the early winter months of 2013. The owner didn't discover the guns missing until this weekend. Both weapons have been recovered and are in the possession of the Sheriff's Office. The investigation was conducted by Investigator Kristopher Kautz and deputies James Diehl and Joe Loftus.

Dustin L. Stump, 44, of Stafford, is charged with identity theft, 3rd, and grand larceny, 4th. Stump is accused of stealing the debit card of a family member while the person was hospitalized and withdrawing $200 without permission between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1.