Stafford

Coming back from the Notre Dame game yesterday, of course I took some time to take a few photos.

Above, another barn on Griswold Road, Stafford.

Same white barn from a photo published yesterday, on Griswold Road, Stafford, but a different view.

Further south on Griswold Road, a barn and a pond and some horses.

A horse on the same property.

Saturday afternoon, I drove to SUNY Brockport to speak to a group of college students about online journalism. The drive there was overcast and snowy (windblown snow). The drive back was bright and sunny.

Here's three barn pictures from the drive home -- above, the Welch barn on North Lake Road, Bergen.

This barn is on Peachy Road, Bergen. The shot is from North Lake Road. 

White barn on Griswold Road.

A fully involved barn fire is reported at 5816 Torrey Road in the Town of Bethany. Bethany and Stafford fire departments are responding.

The location is between Clipnock and Little Canada roads.

UPDATE 12:10 p.m.: Attica, Alexander, South Byron are also called in, along with all equipment from Pavilion Fire Department. National Grid is called to the scene.

UPDATE 12:13 p.m.: York Fire Department is put on standby.

UPDATE 12:27 p.m.: The fill-in from York is cancelled. All units headed to the scene are told to come in non-emergency mode.

UPDATE 12:42 p.m.: The structure is actually a work shed. The homeowner was welding inside the shed when it caught fire.

UPDATE 1:08 p.m.: The fire is out.

A car has hit a pole on Route 33 237, according to a fire police volunteer from Elba who came across the accident.

There are no injuries, but the pole is leaning and wires over the roadway are now too low for a truck to pass under.

The fire police volunteer is shutting down traffic at Route 237 and Route 33 (aka Byron Holley Road and Clinton Street Road).

Stafford Fire Department dispatched.

UPDATE 8:32 p.m.: Responders are advising almost white-out conditions at the scene.

UPDATE 8:36 p.m.: The accident scene is actually on Route 33, just east of Griswold Road.

For years, Bill Dominiak has been known the world over as a master craftsman.

Dominiak makes pool cues, the kind top professionals buy and use to win tournaments.

Now, right here in Genesee County, anybody can buy a Dominiak designed and built product, but you won't need a felt-covered table to use it.

You just need a knife and something to cut.

Dominiak and business partner Tom Walter launched New York Butcher Block about six months ago and their local retail outlet is Batavia Restaurant Supply.

Blocks are $65 and up, and butcher tables are $275 and up, with table tops and countertops in the works.

The blocks are all natural, including the finish, which contains natural oils and beeswax.

"When you're in business, you're always looking for new revenue streams," Dominiak said.

For pool cues, Dominiak's Stafford-based company buys only the best hardwoods available in Western New York. The people who buy professional pool cues have very high standards and not all of the great wood is good enough to make it into a pool cue.

"Pool cue manufacturers are very fussy about the grade of wood they use and this gives us a chance to do something else with (the rest of the wood)," Dominiak said.

For years, Dominiak said, the wood not used in cues would just be given away.  Now he's found a way to turn the wood into money.

A slippery highway is to blame for a one-car accident at 6:53 p.m., Saturday, that sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries.

Adam F. Helmer, 28, of Chestnut Ridge, Middleport, was reportedly driving west on Route 5 in the area of the former Batavia Party House, Stafford, when he lost control of a 2005 Ford pickup truck.

The truck slid off the south shoulder of Route 5 and into a ditch, turning onto its passenger side.

Helmer's passenger, 27-year-old Cheryl Cary, of Chestnut Ridge, Middleport, who owns the truck, was transported to UMMC by Mercy EMS.

The infant with Helmer and Cary was not injured.

No citations were issued.

The accident was investigated by Sgt. Greg Walker.

(Initial report)

A three-car accident is reported at routes 33 and 237. All vehicles are off the road. There is reportedly one person with a back injury and another with a chest injury, neither are serious. Stafford Fire Department is responding along with two Mercy rigs.

UPDATE 1:52 p.m.: Two patients are being transported to UMMC in one of the Mercy rigs. One is a 33-year-old male who was a driver in the accident. He was wearing a safety belt. He has some lumbar pain. The other patient is a 22-year-old female who was a passenger in the accident. She was also wearing a safety belt and has complaints of right shoulder pain. The second Mercy rig which responded is back in service.

UPDATE 2:10 p.m.: Stafford Fire Department is back in service.

A driver injured in an accident after he allegedly failed to stop for a deputy on Batavia Stafford Townline Road was jailed on $15,000 bail after he was released from the hospital Friday.

Keith Edward Povitch, 29, of Coward Road, Byron, was charged with felony DWI, criminal possession of a controlled substance 7th, refusal to take a breath test, failure to yeld right of way to emergency vehicle and failure to keep right. 

The incident started at 4:08 p.m. after Deputy Brad Mazur allegedly observed Povitch's car blow through a stop sign at Batavia Elba Townline Road.

Povitch allegedly failed to stop after Mazur turned on his emergency lights.

As Povitch allegedly attempted to flee, he lost control of his car on Batavia Stafford Townline Road.

Mercy EMS transported Povitch to UMMC with facial injuries.

Upon his release from medical care, Povitch was arraigned in Batavia Town Court and then jailed.

(Initial Report)

A driver apparently lost control while being pursued by a deputy on Townline Road at Fotch Road, Stafford, and crashed in a field.

Mercy EMS is dispatched.

The deputy is out with the driver.

The deputy initially called in a pursuit and within seconds said, "and he's crashed."

It's unclear how serious the injuries might be.

UPDATE 4:18 p.m.: The crash appears to be further up the road, where Batavia Stafford Townline Road becomes Batavia Elba Townline Road. Town of Batavia responding, with Stafford notified that the accident is in Stafford's district.

UPDATE 4:19 p.m.: One Batavia engine responding, non-emergency.

UPDATE 4:47 p.m.: Patient being transported to UMMC with law enforcement following.

A two-car, minor injury accident is reported at Route 5 and Roanoke Road in Stafford. Stafford fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 4:04 p.m.: All patients will be sign-offs. Medics are to continue in non-emergency mode.

A tractor-trailer is reported to have jackknifed, landing in a ditch, and is now leaking diesel fuel on Route 237, south of Route 33. Stafford Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 1:04 p.m.: Dispatch reports that 100 gallons of diesel fuel have already spilt due to the rupture of the gas tank. The conditions on that stretch of roadway are very icy and responders are told to use caution.

UPDATE 1:22 p.m.: Stafford is on scene along with a heavy duty wrecker.

UPDATE 2:13 p.m.: The truck was carrying 23 head of young dairy cattle. The roadway is solid ice and winds are hitting at least 30 mph across the open fields. Below, WHAM13's Sean Carroll battles the conditions while giving an update from the scene. He's being filmed by cameraman Tom Maloney. Fire crews are just now clearing the scene.

A Stafford resident facing three felony counts of criminal contempt and a misdemeanor count of DWI faces a possible sentence of "shock probation" after pleading guilty Monday to two of the charges against him.

Eric Michael Duda, 50, who has been arrested a few times over the past two years, entered a guilty plea to one count of criminal contempt, 1st, and to DWI.

Duda will be sentenced in April and could receive some jail time followed by a period of probation.

Judge Robert C. Noonan also issued a new order of protection barring him from contact with Summer Ogden, the person Duda has previously had contact with in violation of an order of protection.

Ogden has reportedly also been ordered not to contact Duda and on two occasions when Duda was arrested for violation of the order of protection, Ogden was also arrested.

Duda is out of jail pending sentencing under supervision of Genesee Justice. He is required to be in his apartment from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. under the terms of his release.