I know it’s early, but let's start thinking about Holiday Shopping!

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce the arrival of the fourth building in the Custom Wood Gift series. On November 1, 2008 the next building, the Old City Hall / Brisbane Mansion will be available at the Museum Store inside the Holland Land Office Museum.

The 5 inch by 7 inch gift features the old City Hall on the front and a history of the building on the back.

Here is the building history from the back:

Brisbane Mansion / City Hall
Batavia, New York

The Brisbane Mansion was built in 1853 by George Brisbane, the son of Batavia’s first merchant. The Brisbane family donated the mansion to the city and assumed it would be razed for a city park.

On February 5, 1918, Ellicott Hall which was serving as city headquarters burned to the ground.

After the fire, City Council decided the Brisbane Mansion would serve as City Hall. Frank Homelius drew up plans for remodeling and the Mansion opened as the new City Hall on September 28, 1918.

In 2004, City Hall was moved from this building to the new City Centre.

The Brisbane Mansion is part of the Genesee County Historic District and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

This is the fourth building available. The others are the Holland Land Office Museum, the Richmond Mansion and the old Genesee County Courthouse.

See the entire collection at http://www.hollandlandoffice.com/museum_store_woodgifts.htm

Call the Holland Land Office Museum at (585) 343-4727 to preorder yours today.

BUILD YOUR OWN BATAVIA!

Maybe you've seen those yellow stickers stuck to the gas pump by the county's department of Weights and Measures, and maybe—like me—you've asked yourself: What does that mean? Who is this Donald D. Luxon fellow? What is he measuring? What is his sticker worth and why can't it be detached? Earlier this week, I set out to answer those question.

Let's start with the easy answer: Weights and Measures weighs and measures. Very funny, you say. But it's true. OK, so let's back up then...

Donald Luxon is the department's director. He's been with them for nine years or so now, ever since he left Eastman Kodak Co. He admits to me that he wishes he had always had this job though. He loves it. And why shouldn't he? He gets out and works with people all over the county all year long. He gets to play with cool equipment, like tolerance measures and apothecary weights. Plus, he's a one-man show.

On a given day, you may find him out at the gas pumps of any station in the county, measuring fuel. It works like this: He fills a five-gallon can with each grade of gas and measures what his can tells him against what the pump tells him was just dispensed. If they match up, great. If they don't, well... it depends. If the pumps are issuing too much gas—that is, if it's in the customer's favor, Luxon can't shut it down. But you can bet, he says, that the station will have that fixed pretty quickly. If the pump is issuing less fuel than it says, then the station owner is notified and the pump can be shut down if it isn't fixed. Luxon tells me that he has never had to fine anyone before, and folks always fix a problem once they're aware of it.

(In case you're wondering: the pumps are permitted a tolerance of plus or minus six cubic inches per five gallons, which is about 1,155 cubic inches total.)

Often, too, Luxon will take samples of the gas that he then sends to a lab in New Jersey to be tested for octane and to make sure there isn't too much of this or that in the gasoline. He says that there's never once been a failure in Genesee County since he took over the job nine years ago.

Such work also gives you a pretty good handle on how the pumps work. Luxon says he often hears folks say that the temperature outside ought to be a clue on when folks should fuel up because the gasoline will either expand or contract depending on how cold or warm it is. Sure, that's true to an extent, he says. But most of the gas is in big tanks underground where there are no significant shifts in temperature. Whether it's hot or cold outside will only really affect about the first half gallon of gas that's in the tube that runs from the handle back into the tank.

Another rumor that turns out has some merit to it is that folks shouldn't fuel up when they see a tanker filling up the underground tanks. It's believed that in filling up those enormous tanks, the gasoline gets all jostled about and some of the sediment and particulates at the bottom of the tank get stirred up and can end up in your tank. That's true, too, to an extent, says Luxon. It's a fine rule of thumb to keep away from the pumps when you see they're being refilled, but if you do fill up at that time, the chances that you'll get the crud in your tank are pretty slim.

Luxon's job isn't all about the gas pumps, though. He also checks other tanks: milk tanks. Just as often as he'll head out to a gas pump, he'll head to a dairy farm to make sure that a 10,000 gallon milk storage tank is really holding 10,000 gallons.

That's the measures side of the gig, but Luxon also does a lot with weights. In fact, he checks every single scale in every grocery store, quarry and pharmacy in the county: whether it's used to weigh a tomato, a trucker's haul, a slice of head cheese, a flank steak or a dose of valium.

City residents have been notified. Batavia is taking applications for positions on several of its boards and committees. We received a press release yesterday detailing the openings and the requirements for each volunteer position.

• Cable TV Advisory Board: There is one opening.
• Historic Preservation Commission: There is one opening. Any architects, historians, residents of a historic district or residents that have demonstrated a significant interest in the commitment to the field of historic preservation are encouraged to apply.
• Planning & Development Committee: There are three openings and one opening for an alternate member. Residents from Wards 2, 4, and 6 are needed.
• Zoning Board of Appeals: There are two openings. At least one resident from Ward 2 and 5 are needed. 

If you're interested or you want more information, contact City Clerk Heidi J. Parker at (585) 343-9221. You can also download an application from the city's Web site. Applications must be submitted to the clerk no later than November 21.

WBTA's Dan Fischer reports this morning that a worker at the Alliance Energy power plant in Batavia was injured last night when he became trapped under a garage door. The man has not been unidentified, but Fischer reports that he was working alone when he became trapped and used his cell phone to call for help. He was taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital after being freed by Batavia fire crews. His injuries were thought to be serious, but he has since been examined and found to be "OK."

I hate robocalls. I hate any unsolicited call from people, organizations or businesses I don't know -- political, telemarketing or otherwise.

For voters of Genesee County, they're about to get one more caller: Jon Powers.

The D&C reports that Powers is going to record a robo call for Alice Kryzan, the 26th district congressional nominee for the Democratic party.

Powers lost to Kryzan in the primary and recently endorsed his former opponent.

Powers will also be in the district between now and election day making public appearances on behalf of Kryzan.

Hi to all my friends in Batavia and Genesee County.   This is Paul Weiss.  Many of you may remember me from the City Council and Notre Dame High School.  I now live in New Smyrna Beach, FL and as many of you might guess, I have become involved in Democratic Party politics, especially the Obama campaign.  

Because Florida is a swing state and my county (Volusia) was one of the few counties to support John Kerry and Al Gore, the campaign is much more interesting that anything I have ever experienced. 

Barack Obama was in Daytona Beach a couple of weeks ago and John McCain was here today.   Tomorrow Joe Biden's wife will be here and many people believe Hillary Clinton will make a campaign stop bfore election day.

The major effort now is early voting.   There are five places you can go to in the County to vote any day between 8 am and 4 pm.   In just four days, more than 17,000 voters have already cast their ballots.   Democrats are out voting Republicans by 2 to 1 ratio in early voting.The Obama campaign is very organized to get out the early vote and they expect a big effort on Saturday.   The Obama campaign is independent of the Democratic Party and they have 10 paid staff members in the county along with hundreds of volunteers.   The McCain campaign runs through the local Republican party.   I'm not quite sure what they are doing as about all I see from them are lawn signs. 

I'll try to keep you posted.  

Remember--Go Bills!

 All of the high school football previews are set in sports. Here's the list of playoff games with links.

Batavia at Geneva

Attica at ER/Gananda

South Seneca/Romulus at Le Roy

Dansville at Oakfield-Alabama

Bishop Kearney at Pembroke

Perry vs. Notre Dame, at East Rochester

Pool Play roundup

And just in case you missed it earlier in the week, here are the Genesee Region League all-stars.

Batavia City Police have confirmed a burglary downtown at the Elks Lodge on Main Street. No further information is yet available. We will provide the details when we get them.

(UPDATE 6:25pm): Det. Todd Crossett told us that there is not too much information available at this point.

"It's an ongoing investigation," he said. "We can say that it was entered, and property was stolen."

Det. Crossett could not say what was stolen from the lodge. He did not know when the break-in occurred, but he was able to say that the burgler accessed the lodge through a window.

We have few details about the accident at this time. No bus passengers were hurt. A person in one of the other two vehicles was reportedly injuried. We'll update this post either later this evening or tomorrow morning.

(UPDATE 5:59pm): Genesee County sheriff's deputies are still investigating the crash and have not yet put together a report. We have been told that no information will be available until that happens. We will be sure to pass along that info once it comes our way, hopefully by morning.

(UPDATE 7:59am): Genesee County sheriff's deputies released a report on the crash early this morning. The Byron-Bergen school bus was stopped on Route 237 in Byron. Its red lights were flashing, and a student was getting off the bus. Kathleen A. Miller, 44, of Byron, was stopped in her SUV behind the bus. James A. Wright, 51, of Le Roy, had been unable to stop in time and crashed into the back of the SUV, pushing that vehicle into the back of the bus. No students were injured on or off the bus. Miller was taken to the hospital for treatment of a minor head injury.

Yesterday, Alice announced the formation of Green Businesses for Alice, a bipartisan group of green business representatives from Western New York who are supporting her candidacy. The group is the result of Alice's work in the community bringing these businesses together, showing the leadership skills we will need to help us realize the promise of the green economy and encourage the growth of small businesses.

Local businessman Andrew McLellan, who runs Environmental Education Associates, commented: "During her campaign she's reached out to green businesses across our community, and her efforts to bring us together have served as a catalyst for the formation of an ongoing association of green businesses that will work to bring good-paying jobs here to the district and help us take advantage of the growing green economy."

Alice is already taking steps to make her policy goals a reality once she is elected. For too long we've had politicians who seem more concerned with empty talking points than with getting things done. Alice is the only candidate in this race to put out real plans on how she'll lower taxes, bring jobs to the area, and encourage the growth of small businesses. That's the kind of leadership we need in Washington.

Anne Wadsworth

Kryzan for Congress

www.kryzanforcongress.org 

The village of Le Roy will consider paying $15,000 in consulting fees to look into becoming retailers of electricty, according to the Daily News. Mayor George Brady invited "a company that helps villages establish such projects" to come to a future meeting so that village trustees can learn more about what's involved and what it means if a municipality turns retailer.

Of course, nothing has yet been decided, but reporter Scott DeSmit reports that the village of Hilton in Monroe County has become a retailer of electricity, selling to its residents and saving them about $40 per year as a result.

One question: How much would the $15,000 consulting fees cost residents in a year? Less than $40?

In other news, Roger Muehlig put together a fantastic piece on the upcoming 62nd season of the Genesee Symphony Orchestra. Muehlig concentrates on one member of that orchestra, 11-year-old Leighann Howland, a violinist. The GSO will open the season this Sunday at 4:00pm at Genesee Community College, then at St. Mary's Church in Medina on Monday at 7:30pm.

Today's issue also features a few stories on upcoming Halloween fests and frights for those who are wondering what to do this weekend and next.

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

Isaac A. Arias-Perez, 26, was charged with driving while intoxicated Sunday, Genesee County sheriff's deputies said. Deputies were investigating a reported domestic incident on Oak Orchard Road in Elba in which Arias-Perez was allegedly involved. He had left before deputies arrived but returned while they were still on the scene. Arias-Perez was allegedly intoxicated and driving without a license, for which he was ticketed. Arias-Perez was later sent to Genesee County Jail in lieu of $700 bail. Arias-Perez does not have a permanent address, and deputies report that there is a "federal detainer warrant" for his "alleged illegal entry into the United States."

WBTA's Dan Fischer reports this morning that as some of the nation's largest financial institutions have floundered in recent weeks, upsate financiers Tompkins Financial Corp. have reported record earnings. Reported third-quarter earnings for the parent company of Tompkins Insurance and Bank of Castile are up 16 percent over last year's figures. A statement issued by the company cites their "high standards for risk management" as one of the reasons for the solid performance in tough times.

In other news, the Genesee County Legislature tabled a decision to purchase 238 acres in the town of Pembroke. Such a decision would permit the county to borrow up to $5 million for the purchase that would use the land for economic development. All that was said of the measure was that "we need more time," and most of the discussion was had during an executive session.

In  response to our request, Bea McManis has posted some of her recipes.

• Harvard Beets
• Roasted Yams and Apples
• Corn Relish
• Apple Butter

If you have recipes you want to share, post them as a blog post and tag them "recipes" and we'll highlight that as a category on The Batavian.

What I'm thinking -- if we could come up with some other "special interest" categories, I'll create a block some where on the left rail to link to these categories.  It might be fishing, or photography, or travel -- if you have a special interest and want to get a category going on that topic ... get it started and we'll create a way to highlight it.

UPDATE: Here's Katie Elia's Cake Cookies.

Wheatland-Chili's Lauren Drago had a tremendous season and led her Wildcats to the Genesee Region League  Division II title.

W-C went 13-3-1 and Drago - a senior midfielder/forward - scored 23 goals and dished out 13 assists, scoring 59 points to earn GR Player of the Year.

She is one of three Wildcats on the Genesee Region League all-star squad, getting selected as a forward.

Chloe Smith is a junior midfielder and earned all-star props after scoring three goals with five assists. Junior defender Lindsey Hall is also an all-star, for leading the defensive unit.

Holley won the Division I title after an epic race for the championship with an 11-3-4 record, and coach Jill Mann was named Coach of the Year.

Three members of her team are named to the all-star squad.

Sophomore goalie Julie Brooks was in net for every 1,480 minutes the team played this season and made 118 saves while allowing just nine goals. That's an amazing .486 goals per game average.

Brooks got a lot of help from fellow all-league selection, junior defender Corinne VanSchoick.

Junior midfielder Emily Troup led the team in scoring with 11 goals and four assists for 26 points.

Troup battled Alexander's Hannah Wilson to a 0-0 tie in the final game of the season that determined the division winner, and Wilson was also named an all-star keeper.

Wilson allowed just 24 goals while making 161 saves, averaging 1.289 goals per game.

Two other Trojans made the team.

Senior midfielder Rachel Pettys was selected after scoring eight goals with two assists, for 18 points, and eighth-grade defender Abby Shilvock is also on the team.

Shivlock had three goals with a helper this season.

Elba had a pair of players make the team in junior midfielder Julie Marshall and senior forward Chelsi Clark.

Clark was a scoring machine, getting 24 goals with six assists for 54 points. Marshall had a goal with seven helpers.

Stacy Maskell and Todne Crowe were selected as all-stars from Byron-Bergen.

Maskell - a junior forward - scored 12 goals with three assists, for 27 points, and Crowe - a senior midfielder - added four goals and five assists.

Pembroke had a pair of all-stars in senior defender Rachel Warren and senior forward Nicole Sharick.

Sharick scored 25 times and had 11 assists, finishing with a league-high 61 points. Warren dished out three assists.

Midfielder Hillary Bates of Oakfield-Alabama makes the squad as a senior. She scored five goals this season.

Attica senior defender Christina West is an all-star after scoring six goals with an assist and Kendall sophomore forward gets the all-star nod after scoring eight goals with six helpers.

Heroes come in all sizes—some under four feet tall. And whoever said a damsel in distress couldn't be a beagle in peril? This particular hero is named Alex Smith, and he's 7-years-old, and he saved the life of his dog, Sasha, and it happened like this...

Alex was hanging out on the driveway at his father's home in Batavia when Sasha burst out out of the shrubbery above him and nearly hung herself there on her leash. (You see, that part of the driveway is sunken down below the yard where Sasha was chained up). As soon as the dog started squealing, Alex wasted no time and ran underneath her, pushing the dog up as high as he could hold her—not bad considering the dog is almost as big as he is. He got her high enough for the leash to loosen so Sasha could breathe. Then Alex was the one who set to squealing, shouting for his grandfather to come out and help Sasha before Alex ran out of strength. His sister Ashley was the first to hear and came to the rescue of brother and dog. We'll let her tell the rest of the story...

Genesee County Legislature Chair Mary Pat Hancock cautioned that the proposed county budget that was filed yesterday "gives a whole new meaning to the word 'tentative'," according to the Daily News. Hancock told reporter Paul Mrozek that so much hinges on what will happen at the state level—"Will there be mandate relief? Will there be mandates that are unfunded?"—that it's tough to say just what the county can afford.

That means the legislature will likely wait until December to vote on the budget, hoping that at least some answers will come from Albany by then. For more details on the budget, check out our post on Mrozek's story from yesterday.

In other news, Virginia Kropf has an interesting article in today's paper. She writes:

I just want to sound off about people who hang up on me when I call about a story. It has happened several times lately and I find it hard to understand. It seems people (and businesses) want the publicity when things are good, but think the public is not entitled to the news when it's not so good.

Kropf then recounts a couple particular instances, such as when she tried to inquire about the rumors that Pizza Hut was planning to close some of its area restaurants, and she was told by a fellow at the district office that "he had no idea what (she) was talking about"—and then he hung up on her.

It's fine, writes Kropf, if someone "can't comment now," but "don't hang up on us." That seems like a fair enough request. But it also seems like par for the course for any reporter who is digging in someone's dirty laundry pile—a real complement for any journalist of the investigative stripe.

What do you think? Do reporters deserve more courtesy? What about the other glaring issue here: folks did not only hang up on Kropf, they flat out lied to her? Sure, the fellow at Pizza Hut's district headquarters may have been rude in hanging up the telephone instead of answering Kropf's question. But what about the big fat lie that he didn't know what was going on. Listen to what Kropf says here:

I mentioned I had seen a sign on the counter of the Albion store which read, "Due to our closing, we are out of the following..." He told me it was news to him and he guessed he'd have to call and tell them to take it down.

Then, the very next day, Pizza Hut issued a news release about the closing of the stores. So why lie? Is this a simple case of a hush-hush corporate policy getting tangled up in a situation that no one can deny?

One thing is for sure: I can sympathize with Kropf. As a reporter, I've had a few phones slammed in my ear—often to the great delight of the other person.

But it's going to happen.

Let's now have a talk about our rights as "the" public. As Kropf says, the same folks who seek out press coverage of their goodness will often nevertheless act as if "the public is not entitled to the news when it's not so good." So, what are we entitled to? Do we deserve to know that Pizza Hut is closing? The employees certainly should. But do we? If we call to ask, can the management just tell us to buzz off?

What about the time I called Ponderosa to ask about a recent burglary and I was told that there was no burglary only to read the next day in the paper that there was, in fact, a burglary? Should they have told me the truth? Are they required to talk to me at all?

Where is the line drawn for what the public deserves to know? Or how about we start with this: what does the public "want" to know?

We encourage you to pick up a copy of the Daily News at your local newsstand. Or, better yet, subscribe at BataviaNews.com.

We received this notice today from the Batavia City School District, which is conducting a survey to help guide its future mission statement.

Have You Filled Out Your Survey?

A focus group has been formed to review and refine the Batavia City School District’s vision and mission statements… and their first goal is to gather YOUR input by November 18 so that all community members, including that of the community-at-large, parents, students, and staff are able to be part of the process. Here is an opportunity to provide your thoughts on how important you feel various school-related factors are, such as basic knowledge, technology, school safety, communication, social skills/character, and more.

Separate surveys have been prepared for staff, students, parents, and community members in general. All are accessible via the internet by following the links from the District website or by going directly to the webpage... If you do not have internet access but wish to fill out a survey, please call Pam Schunk, Director of Learning, 343-2480 extension 1000, and request that one be mailed to you.

The surveys are purposely short so that they can be completed in a matter of minutes. The community survey, for example, provides a checklist of skill areas to be be rated in their  importance. In addition, space is provided for your individual comments, and space to elaborate on your ratings by answering a more open-ended question of what knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes you would like to see in BHS graduates.

The input of all is an essential component in this process, and all comments and feedback are valued.

The Buffalo News reports this morning that gas prices in Western New York are the highest in the state.

The average price in Buffalo is $3.38 per gallon, or 12.7 percent lower than a month ago.  Rochester is paying an average of $3.28 per gallon, which is down 14 percent.

Meanwhile, the national average has fallen 23 percent.

A month ago, Cleveland's price was nearly identical to Buffalo's. But its price has fallen 31 percent since then, to $2.66. In Erie, Pa., the price over the past month is down 18 percent, to $2.96.

Lawrence Southwick Jr., professor emeritus at the University at Buffalo, said prices in New York State are routinely higher than many other states because of taxes and the cost of related regulations.

The News says that Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, has asked the Federal Trade Commissioner chairman to investigate the price discrepancy.

"Your investigation into exactly why gasoline costs significantly more in the Buffalo area than it does in other upstate communities will assist me and my colleagues as Congress takes further action on gasoline prices next year and may uncover cause for the Federal Trade Commission to take enforcement action in the meantime," Higgins wrote in a letter to William Kovacic.

In his letter, Higgins mentioned a few theories arising from previous discussions about why Buffalo's gas prices are higher: the region's distance from oil refineries; differing local taxes and fees; and the amount of retail competition.

High gas prices and high taxes are both job killers.

Among WBTA's top stories this morning:

The city begins its annual leaf pick up Monday, Oct. 27. The pick up will end Dec. 5. The city asks that piles be free of sticks and foreign objects, and that cars be parked in a manner not to block access to the pile.

The County Legislature meets tonight, and besides the proposed tax increase of 4.2 percent from County Manager Jay Gsell, also on the agenda: State Senator Mary Lou Rath will honor Ricky Palermo for working to raise awarness of spinal cord injuries.

Be sure to tune into WBTA throughout the day for news updates.