thebatavian

Billie and I always appreciate running into people around town who shower The Batavian with praise. We always love to know that people appreciate our work.

We've always asked our fans and supporters to help The Batavian thrive by supporting our advertisers, which you all have been great about doing.

Now, to help us grow, we're asking you to support The Batavian through direct financial contributions by joining The Batavian Club.

Today, 19 people signed up, which we find is a pretty great start to getting this new idea going.

Hard to believe I haven't done this since June, but here are the most viewed posts for each month of June, July, August, September and October.

June:

• Three members of Le Roy family jailed after scuffle with police
• People swimming in pond at Dewitt Recreation Area, Batavia, by Billie Owens
• Local business owner accused of impersonating cop to keep potential competitor out of town
• Photo: Plane refueling over Batavia
• Police unsure how man fell from seventh-floor window at 400 Towers
• Lawn mower driver said to be enjoying a brew near Maple and North, Le Roy, by Billie Owens
• At first concert of Darien Lake season, 24 arrests and 70 citations
• Today's Poll: Is racism still a problem in the U.S.?
• Photos: Johnny Bananas at City Slickers
• Driver of golf cart involved in fatal accident enters a guilty plea to negligent homicide

July:

• Angry mother confronts store employees she believes sold bath salts to her son
• DEA raids 420 Emporium in Batavia as part of nationwide assault on bath salt sales
• Woman accused of giving bath salts to minor allegedly said she thought it was OK
• Mother's grief has turned her into a crusader against bath salts
• Chris Collins wants to go to Washington to restore the American Dream
• Three people arrested after suspected marijuana field discovered unexpectedly
• Relatively speaking, a calm night at Darien Lake for Dave Matthews show
• 420 Emporium raided by multiple law enforcement agencies, by Billie Owens
• Small turn out, but lots of support for bath salt protest at 420 Emporium
• Broadbent: One Batavia family learning the hard way the damage bath salts can do

August:

• Attorney, young celebrity arrested in Pembroke on charges of DWI and prostitution
• Jacquetta Simmons takes the stand, tells her side of the story
• BREAKING: Jacquetta Simmons found guilty
• Witnesses punch holes in defense contention that Jacquetta Simmons hit victim accidentally
• Simmons' attorney vows appeal, cites jurors' pre-trial media exposure
• Boyfriend allegedly takes pregnant girlfriend's pack of smokes, by Billie Owens
• Metal spikes reportedly placed at the bottom of slides at Le Roy playground
• Defense argues Simmons' punch was unintentional attempt to break free of person holding her
• Business owned by Chad Zambito closed, assets up for auction to pay debt
• Fight inside Wendy's restaurant in Batavia, by Billie Owens

September:

• Pembroke woman, 53, arrested on child pornography charge
• Two men may be headed to Genesee County intent on robbing a farm
• Complaint: Children playing in the street!, by Billie Owens
• Today's Poll: Are 47 percent of the people in the U.S. takers, dependent on government?
• School bus and big rig collide on West Main Street Road, by Billie Owens
• Evicted tenants forgot the dogs, by Billie Owens
• Six-month jail term and probation given to teenage golf cart driver involved in fatal accident
• Ten arrests at KISS concert at Darien Lake
• Investigators unable to determine cause of death for Alyce Huntoon
• Pavilion mother faces second felony DWI charge under Leandra's Law

October:

• Head-on collision on Route 20 in Darien claims life of mother, seriously injures her daughter
• Byron-Bergen school district won't discuss apparent termination of artist who worked as counselor
• Court clerk in Corfu files harassment complaint against village justice
• Fatal accident reported in Oakfield, on Lockport Road
• Corfu trustee denies running afoul of closed session protocol
• No settlement from insurance company on Settler's sign
• Winning drug-free posters from local students (post from 2010)*
• Route 19 closed after suspected hand grenade found in trunk of a car
• Alleged drunken driver destroys Settler's Restaurant sign
• 'Wife Swap' celeb in media spotlight at court appearance on prostitution charge

*That post showing up from 2010 is rather odd. As near as I can tell, that post on The Batavian is a top-ranking search result for "drug free posters." I'm guessing October was the month for students to look for ideas for creating a poster for a drug-free poster contest.

As you know, here at The Batavian, we're always encouraging local residents to support local businesses. We especially like programs that help connect local shoppers with their neighborhood shops.

A couple of months ago, some friends in the online news business showed us a new smartphone and tablet app that is aimed at rewarding local shoppers for patronizing local businesses.

It's called Zebra Reach.

We're all familiar with loyalty cards -- buy five lunches, get the sixth free, buy nine books get the 10th free. A lot of businesses run these sort of programs, but they usually come with flimsy paper punch cards that either get lost or crammed in your wallet with a dozen other cards.

Zebra Reach makes loyalty reward programs digital and easier to use -- one app stores all of your purchase points for multiple participating businesses.

For the past couple of weeks, Lisa Ace has been busy asking a bunch of local businesses to participate. We wanted to make sure that when you first learned about Zebra Reach, there would be plenty of local rewards to, well, reward you for shopping locally.

To download the app, with your iPhone or iPad, click here. For your Droid powered phone or tablet, click here.

To visit the Zebra Reach Web site, click here.

And, if you don't have a smartphone -- coming really, really soon are plastic cards that will work pretty much the same. The participating businesses (those with smartphones or tablets) will scan your card, but you'll have only one card to carry for all participating local businesses.

Here are the participating businesses and initial offers (and of course, we're looking for more businesses to participate):

Adam Miller, 8 Center St., Batavia
Model Club Rewards -- $5 off your next purchase. For every dollar spent earn 1 point. Earn 50 points, receive $5 your next purchase.

Alex's Place, 8322 Park Road, Batavia
1 Free sandwich.
Buy any 5 sandwiches, get 6th free.

Charles Men's Shop, Inc.,  200 E. Main St., Batavia
1 Free tie. Buy 3 shirts, get 1 free tie.

Dog Crazy Daycare, 1 Mill St., Batavia
Earn points toward a free doggy overnight stay. For $25 spent, earn 1 point toward the doggy overnight. New clients receive 2 bonus points.

Fisher Sports, 412 Main St., Batavia
10% off hockey equipment, For each visit you'll earn 5 points. Earn 25 points -- you'll receive 10% off your next purchase of any hockey equipment purchase.

Glass Roots, 12 Center St., Batavia
1/2 off glass. Buy 2 pieces of glass, get 1/2 off the 3rd.

Kravings Kafe, 4152 W. Main St., Batavia
$5 off. Receive 1 point for every $5 spent. Earn 16 points, get $5 off your purchase.

Main St Pizza, 206 E. Main St., Batavia
Free small pizza with 1 topping. Earn 15 points and redeem your free small pizza with 1 topping. Earn points with any purchase.

RW Vapors, 224 Ellicott St., Batavia
Buy 5 bottles of E-Liquid, get the 6th free.

Salsa & Curry, 15 Jackson St., Batavia
Buy 1 lunch, get the 2nd for 1/2 off.

Sweet Ecstasy Bakery, 6173 Main Road, Stafford
Free cookie, cupcake or muffin. Purchase any 10 bakery items and receive a free cookie, cupcake or muffin.

Sweet Pea's Cupcakery & Cafe, 23 Jackson St., Batavia
Free cupcake. Buy 11 cupcakes, get the 12th free.

Terry Hills, 5122 Clinton St. Road. Batavia
Free lunch. Buy 5 lunches, get the 6th free.

The Detail Shop, 3875 W. Main St. Road, Batavia
Free deluxe wash. Buy 5 deluxe washes, Get the 6th deluxe wash free.

Valle Jewelers, 21 Jackson St., Batavia
Free Chamilia bead. Buy 3 Chamilia beads, get 1 free.

T.F. Brown's, 214 East Main St., Batavia
1 free lunch. Buy 5 lunches, get the 6th free.

West Main Mini Mart, 3845 W. Main St. Road, Batavia
Buy 7 pizzas, get one free.

Local business owners: To sign up for Zebra Reach, contact Lisa Ace (lisa@thebatavian.com or (585) 250-4118).  Participating is a no-cost, no obligation program to start. There's only a fee, $50 per month, once you have 50 customers participating in your offer(s).

UPDATE: Just added, Lambert's Design Jewelers, 375 W. Main Street. Batavia. "One point for every $10 spent on purchases.  Earn 20 points and receive $10 off your next purchase"

We provide support, in-store promotional materials and the marketing power of The Batavian. There is also a Web site where you can login and manage your offers and check stats on participation to see how your offers are working.

At about 3 p.m., we noticed a problem with the Web site. The wrong headlines were appearing on stories. The wrong comments were appearing on stories. If we tried to edit a story, the wrong edit screen would open.

All of the content of The Batavian is served out of a database. Databases have segments known as tables. Different tables perform different functions and are related to each through numeric sequences. One of the tables of our database stores revision history. This table had become corrupted, which caused the content to get scrambled.

We don't believe any malicious act caused this, or even human error. It just happened.

The most recent available back-up of the site was from 10 p.m., Thursday.

It took a great deal of time to first figure out the problem and then look over our options for recovery. We decided to back up some files on the server, back up the back-up database and then install everything on a secondary server and make sure that the restored database wasn't also corrupted.

We then had to restore the primary server.

All-in-all, the site was offline for about seven hours. It came back online at 10 p.m. or so while I was at the Cal-Mum vs. Le Roy football game. Then we had a house fire on River Street, so this is my first opportunity to post something and fill you all in on what happened.

The worst of the news is -- besides being down for seven hours -- is that everything posted on Friday was lost. The good news is, I was able to manually save copies of all the home page posts from Friday, so my next task is to repost those. From the best of my memory I'll time stamp the stories to the approximate times originally posted.

Unfortunately, all of the comments left on those posts are gone. Any obituaries, events, announcements, etc., posted on Friday are gone, too.

We apologize for the inconvenience of all of this. It wasn't any fun for us, either. It reminds me of the time I was a reporter at a daily paper in California and the press broke down just as it started the afternoon paper's run. The sense of helplessness feels the same. It's an unhappy situation, but tomorrow's a new day.

In a few hours I'll get on a plane headed toward California.

I'll be in San Francisco tonight through Saturday evening, and then fly down to Bakersfield, visit my parents, and return to Batavia on Tuesday.

While I'm gone, Billie will be here, monitoring the scanner, of course, and covering anything that needs covering, plus we'll have help from our usual correspondents and our news partner, WBTA. And I'll be able to do a little news coverage from California. So while the coverage changes a bit with me gone, there will still be news about our community.

On Thursday I'll speak on two panels -- one on advertising sales, and another on running a small online start-up -- at the annual Online News Association conference.

ONA has become the largest trade association for online news in the world and will be attended by representatives from a lot of large news organizations. I've never spoken at the conference before and the last time I attended was in Toronto about four or five years ago. In 2004, the news site I ran then, for the Ventura County Star, won the ONA's General Excellence Award.

The industry has changed a lot in the past few years though, and when I looked at the roster of attendees the other day, I realized I will actually know very few people who will be there.

I don't expect to attend the entire conference. This will be my first trip to San Francisco since I took to photography in a serious way, so I expect to get out and wander around a bit with my camera.

This is the second of three closely timed out-of-town trips. Billie and I still look forward to a trip together to visit family in California this autumn, but we have no idea when that trip can be booked. We're still waiting for the funds to pay for it.

The second of my previously announced, closely packed set of trips begins this morning.

I'm flying to Chicago for a gathering of local independent online news publishers. The conference is called Block by Block and it's in its third year.

The big news for our gathering in Chicago this year is the official unveiling of LION (Local Independent Online News) Publishers. I'll be on the board of directors of the newly formed nonprofit and serve as its treasurer. LION brings together a group of successful online news publications with the purpose of promoting our segment of the industry, educating publishers on business and editorial practices and providing resources for aspiring publishers.

Of course, news coverage while I'm gone will be altered, but not nonexistent. Most importantly, Billie will be here to stay on top of any breaking news. We also have the help of our official news partner, WBTA.

I should be back Saturday just in time for the Wine Walk (skipping out on the conference a little early, in fact, to catch a flight that should allow me to get into Buffalo by 3 p.m.).

As I mentioned previously, I won't be here for high school football coverage, at least not to take photographs of a game.

Games this week include: Attica at Pembroke (Friday, 7 p.m.); Avon at Le Roy (Friday 7:30 p.m.); Livonia at Batavia (Friday, 7:30 p.m. (the Blue Devils' first home game this season)); Finney at Oakfield-Alabama (Friday, 7 p.m.); Holley at Elba/BB (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (that's what the schedule says ... does that mean Elba is bringing in lights?)); Notre Dame at Alexander, (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.).

Some time before 1:30 p.m., the company that handles a good portion of routing Internet traffic was attacked.

Traffic reaches Web sites through what are known as Domain Name Servers. TheBatavian.com's traffic direction is handled by GoDaddy.com.

That site was targeted by an apparent denial-of-service attack (overwhelming servers with a bunch of meaningless data).

A person with a Twitter account of @AnonymousOwn3r claimed responsibility for the attack, though there is no confirmation that he or she engineered the attack. The attacker claims to be a leader in the cyber-anarchist group known as Anonymous, but several known members of Anonymous on Twitter have mocked his claim and denied any connection between Anonymous and the attack.

The good news is, since I'm able to post this, we are back online.

Millions of Web sites went off-line today because of the attack. A company of GoDaddy's size should really have stronger security than the success of, and duration of, this attack suggests.

Public notices: they’re paid for by taxpayer funds, created by public employees, intended for wide public distribution, but publication is dictated by a monopolistic government subsidy for newspapers.

It’s a law I and every other independent online publisher in New York State would like to change.

When I last wrote about this issue, a guy who has created a national public notices Web site contacted me and told me he was already compiling all of the public notices available online for Genesee County. For the simple price of sending him over our logo, he would provide a link where visitors to The Batavian could go and view public notices in a user-friendly fashion.

He wants to work with independent publishers to help prove online-only publications are just as capable of handling public notices as print publications, so he was offering the service for free.

The Batavia Daily News, under the current law, is the carrier of most paid public notices in Genesee County.

Since the notices originate not from the Daily, but from public agencies, it was our belief the notices are public property and not proprietary to the Daily. Besides, the only action The Batavian was taking was providing a link to a third-party Web site for the benefit of readers.

Now, months after we provided the link, the parent corporation of the Batavia Daily News, has decided to take a different view.

A few days ago, I received a “cease and desist” email from John B. Johnson, an executive with the chain of newspapers that owns the Daily.

The note was cordial, but also asserted legal authority to require us to stop posting public notices that originated from the Daily.

The note accused The Batavian of “copying” notices from thedailynewsonline.com, which was a factually untrue statement. As I noted in a reply to Johnson, the service was provided by a third party for which The Batavian has no contractual relationship and no monetary interest.

The assertion that The Batavian was violating the Daily’s copyright of notices also flies in the face of case law that substantiates the idea that a newspaper cannot claim copyright on material that it did not create. Since public employees create public notices, the notices are public property.

And besides, since no advertising appeared on the third-party’s public notice page, and since print publication of public notices is an income stream protected – a monopoly subsidy -- for newspapers courtesy of the State Legislature, the Johnson Newspaper chain cannot establish an important element of any assertion of copyright violation: financial loss as a result of the use of the material.

All that said, the Johnsons can afford corporate lawyers and The Batavian, still a small, family owned start-up, cannot. When you factor in that there is no monetary benefit to The Batavian for providing the free public service of increasing access to public notices, the risk-reward equation for challenging the newspaper chain’s claims falls well short on the reward side.

There’s just no point in fighting the corporation’s claims. 

But we want to continue to provide the service.

The owners of the third party Web site, at no charge to The Batavian, have graciously agreed to start accepting public notices directly from town, village and city clerks along with the agents of every other public entity in Genesee County that create public notices.

Such agencies can now email those notices to (notices at the batavian dot com) (reformat that address into a proper email address, of course).

I’ve already been in touch with about a half dozen town clerks and all cheerfully agreed to start sending their notices directly to this email address.

While the service is free to the public agencies and won’t cost taxpayers a dime, it is no substitute – under current law – for an agency’s legal requirements to publish public notices in a newspaper that has been designated by state law to publish such notices.

While we wish our friends at Johnson Newspapers well in their effort to protect a business model that is being disrupted from a variety of competitive forces, we believe public notices should not be a State Legislature-sanctioned monopoly subsidy for print publications.

In this day and age, public notices should be widely available to the public, and publications other than strictly print should be able to compete for the business of providing verified, legal publication. We will continue to encourage lawmakers to change the law.

This morning I'm heading to the Buffalo airport to catch a flight to California.

I'll return on Sunday.

My father asked me to make the trip to Bakersfield while my brothers are also in town for my parents' 52nd anniversary.

My mother has Alzheimer's and the disease has progressed quite a bit in the past year, and even though my travel schedule had already included a planned swing through Bakersfield next month, I thought I should take this trip as well.

Which brings up another point: Quite without any real planning, I've developed a travel schedule over the next couple of months.

Around Sept. 14, I have my annual trip to Chicago for our independent publishers' conference, and then I was invited to speak in San Francisco around Sept. 22 by J-Lab (an educational journalism group) and the Online News Association (the largest organization in the country representing online news publishers of all types and sizes). It's in that SF trip that I was able to wrangle a layover in Bakersfield for a couple of days.

Then, some time before the end of the year, Billie and I hope to make another trip (a week-long trip) to California. Billie isn't going on any of the trips mentioned above and also deserves a chance to see her family.

We started trying to put together the money for this trip before these other trips were scheduled and it's important we follow through on these plans as best we can. I'm hoping we can put this together for November.

I regret so much travel so tightly packed together, but sometimes things just fall into place in unexpected ways.

Meanwhile, Billie will still be in Batavia running the site. Lisa Ace will be taking care of business. There are stories I can post while away. We have some help lined up for coverage this weekend of Summer in the City, the East Pembroke Mud Races and a couple of other events. 

We'll also have our news partner, WBTA, available to help out.

If you see anything interesting and get a picture or information, you can always email it to howard at the batavian dot com (of course, reformat that into a proper email address).

I believe there will still be interesting things here to read and discuss over the next few days.

I'll be out of service most of the morning, at a minimum, for routine medical reasons.

Billie will post some items later.

Of course, Billie will monitor the scanner, as usual.

It's a slow news day, and I haven't done a top story post for April and May, so here it is.

Most viewed posts in April:

• Two people killed in Sunday morning accident
• Up to a foot of snow predicted for most of Genesee County
• Photos: Batavia PD looking for help in identifying subject at Batavia Downs
• BREAKING: Alleged bookies charged under NYS organized crime statute
• Laughing Buddha owner pulls potpourri, but believes statewide ban violates constitutional rights, by Tim Walton
• Man accused of sex acts with a toddler
• Local congressional candidate reportedly has previously fallen behind on property taxes
• Mug Shots: suspects on Batavia PD's warrant watch list
• Town of Batavia board member resigns
• Bank robbed in Pavilion, by Billie Owens

Most views posts for May:

• Anti-U.N. residents plan protest during peace garden dedication Sunday
• Nurse who inflated claims to bilk employer of more than $14,000 gets four months in jail, probation, by Billie Owens
• 'Angry cattle dog' left in vehicle at Darien Lake
• Well respected mother passes after 12 year cancer battle, by Tim Walton
• Today's Poll: Do you support gay marriage?
• Downtown bar owners say new overnight parking restrictions could hurt business
• While Ranzenhofer claims neutrality in congressional race, petitions for Collins seem to tell a different story
• Photo: Guard posted at Bank of America in Le Roy
• Regulators taking a look at 'gypsy' auto dealer that set up shop at BJ's last week
• Photos: Rescue of a snapping turtle on Creek Road

Here are the most viewed posts for February:

• Batavia woman's cause of death not yet known
• Four smoke shops on reservation raided by feds -- cigarettes, fake pot, bath salts seized
• All three alleged bookies released from jail following bail review hearing
• Possible fight involving 20 males reported at Oakfield-Alabama school
• Le Roy superintendent releases a letter to the community
• Early information indicates alleged gambling operation was dealing in significant amounts of cash
• Two city firefighters accused of bookmaking
• Le Roy illnesses: today's efforts to gather more information
• Today's Poll: Should health care plans be required to offer women free birth control?
• Father saves baby son from smoke-filled room

For the 29 days in February we had 326,840 visits and 496,811 page views.

Also, it's now officially been three years since Billie and I became sole owners of The Batavian.

There are now 118 businesses signed on as sponsors of The Batavian. That's the highest total ever.

In the past two months, we've been please to have the following businesses sign on as sponsors:

• Awakenings Holistic Center
• Bill Fox Construction & Remodeling, LLC
• Exhale Yoga
• Greased Lightning
• Hot Heads of Le Roy
• Indian Falls Log Cabin Restaurant
• Louis Andolora, Tax Preparer Extraordinaire
• Palm Island Indoor Waterpark
• Pembroke Family Medicine
• R&D Factory Outlet
• Scooter's Family Restaurant
• Sweet Ecstasy Bakery
• Terri Starowitz, CPA
• Turnbull Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration
• YWCA

I've written before about how supporting local businesses keeps more local dollars in our home community. Communities with vibrant local businesses demonstrate all kinds of benefits for local residents.

Along those lines, a recent study found that counties with thriving small businesses also have healthier residents.

The study of 3,060 counties and parishes in the contiguous United States -- published online in the "Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society" and forthcoming in its March print issue -- brings new evidence to a body of research literature and a debate among sociologists, who traditionally have advanced two competing hypotheses about how small business impacts public health.

Some sociologists argue that small businesses — unlike chain retail "big box" stores and large manufacturing plants — have a greater investment in the community and thus have more at stake when it comes to the well-being of employees, customers and other local citizens. The LSU and Baylor University researchers, who analyzed national population, health, business and housing data, found that the greater the proportion of small businesses, the healthier the population.

"Some communities appear to have thriving small-business sectors that feature entrepreneurial cultures that promote public health. A place like this has a can-do climate, a practical problem-solving approach in which a community takes control of its own destiny," said co-author Charles M. Tolbert, Ph.D., chair of the Sociology department at Baylor. "The alternative is the attitude that 'Things are out of our control.' "

It's critical we all do all we can to support locally owned businesses.

On The Batavian, you can find information, now, about 118 local businesses. On Shop Batavia, there are now close to 157 local businesses posting information about who they are and what they do.

In other words, it's now easier than ever to support your local business community.

Here's a complete list of sponsors of The Batavian:

• Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle
• Alabama Hotel
• Alberty Drug Store
• Alex's Place
• Alli's Cones and Dogs
• Awakenings Holistic Center
• Baker's Frontier Kitchens
• Barrett's Batavia Marine and Sporting Supplies
• Batavia Downs
• Bill Fox Construction & Remodeling, LLC
• Beds 'n' Bones Pet Lodge
• Belhaven Kennels
• Bohn's Restaurant
• Bontrager's Auction
• Bontrager's Real Estate
• Bourbon & Burger Co.
• Bruggie's
• Carlson's Studio
• CB Beach Mortuary
• Cedar St. Sales and Rentals
• Center Street Smoke House
• CPR (Computer & Phone Repair)
• Crazy Cheap Cars
• D&R Depot Restaurant
• Dan's Tire
• Delavan's Restaurant and Tavern
• The Detail Shop
• Dupont TV
• Empire Tractor
• Espresso Salads and Subs
• Exhale Yoga
• EZ Budget Insurance
• Fastec Automotive
• Ficarella's Pizzeria
• Foxprowl Collectibles
• Genesee Community College
• Genesee County Emergency Services
• Genesee Dental Group
• Genesee Graphics
• Gilmartin
• Godfrey's Pond
• Grammy's Laundry
• Greased Lightning
• Greens of Le Roy
• Greg'ry's Bakery
• H.E. Turner & Co.
• Hardcor Audio
• Haul-4-Less
• High Voltage Tattoo
• Holy Family School
• Hot Heads
• I.R. Systems
• Indian Falls Log Cabin Restaurant
• The Insurance Center
• J. Leonard McAndrew
• Jagged Edges Salon
• John's Service Station
• Ken Barrett
• KleenAll
• Kravings Kafe
• Kreative Design Kitchen & Bath
• L.C. Mosman

• Lamb Family Medicine
• Lambert's Design Jewelers
• Larry's Steakhouse
• Le Roy Hearth and Home
• Louis Andolora
• LPL Financial
• Main St. Pizza Company
• Making Memories of Travel
• The Mane Attraction
• The Manor House
• Mark Lewis Agency
• Matteo & Mullen, CPA
• Max Pies
• Michael Tomaszewski
• Millennium Computer
• Mr. Wine & Liquor
• Next Level Fitness
• Nothnagle - Danielle Torcello
• Nothnagle - Frank Minuto
• O'Lacy's Irish Pub
• Oliver's Candies
• Optique
• Palm Island Indoor Water Park
• Pauly's Pizza
• Pellegrino Auto Sales
• Pembroke Family Medicine
• Planned Parenthood
• Present Tense Books
• Pudgie's Lawn and Garden Center
• R&D Outlet
• Rancho Viejo
• Rebecca's Salon
• Reeb Family Moving
• Roxy's Music
• Salon VIP
• Salsa & Curry
• Scooter's Family Restaurant
• Scratch Bakery
• Select Collision
• Settler's Restaurant
• Sloat's Tire
• South Beach
• South Main Country Store
• Southside Deli
• Spirits
• Sweet Ecstasy Bakery
• Ten Cent Millionaire Tavern
• Terri Starowitz, CPA
• Terry Hills
• T.F. Brown's
• The Finishing Line
• TIm Kabel Builders
• Tri-County Glass
• Turnbull Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration
• Valle Jewelers
• Viking Valhalla Restaurant & Rose Garden Bowl
• West Main Wine & Spirits
• WNY Fireplace Outlet
• Yasses Trucking & Construction
• YWCA
• Zoom & Groom Dog Grooming

Here are the most viewed posts for January, 2012:

• State health officials discuss outbreak of tics in Le Roy, but say they can't share the cause
• Specialist questions scientific validity of Le Roy district's environmental reports
• Report: Cyberbullying at local high schools
• Albany news station reports Tourette-like symptoms in two girls
• Two teens from Le Roy appear on NBC to talk about tic symptoms
• Le Roy School District labels media exercising First Amendment rights 'criminal activity'
• Potentially dangerous synthetic drugs readily available in Genesee County
• 'Hammer Head' 'incense' blamed for seizure of youth in Le Roy
• Doctor treating Le Roy girls appears on national TV and says the diagnosis is 'conversion disorder'
• Doctor who reportedly diagnosed 'conversion disorder' received substantial payments from pharma companies

It was, overall, a big traffic month for The Batavian. A new record was set in visits, but not in page views.

Visits: 340,980
Page Views: 512,319

More than 3.3 million times people visited The Batavian in 2011 to find out what's going on in Genesee County.

That's up from 2.5 million visits in 2010, when the site served up 4.3 million page views. In 2011, The Batavian served 5.6 million page views.

Here are the most viewed posts of 2011:

• Brad Paisley fans get themselves arrested in droves during Darien Lake concert
• Teenage Bergen bow hunter takes down 17-point buck*
• Suzanne Corona accused of shoplifting from Batavia florist*
• Walmart greeter, age 70, seriously injured after allegedly being punched by 26-year-old woman*
• Today's Poll: Should the U.S. arm Libyan rebels?
• Woman who reportedly jumped in front of a car on East Main takes her own life*
• Two-car, head-on collision with serious injuries on Indian Falls Road*
• Employees of Batavia Lowe's told store closing, layoffs coming*
• Witnesses describe combative situation after Walmart employee asked to see receipt*

Stories denoted with (*) were reported first, and in some cases, exclusively, on The Batavian.

Below are the most viewed posts for December, November and October. Again, stories you read first on The Batavian are denoted with an (*).

December:

• Walmart greeter, age 70, seriously injured after allegedly being punched by 26-year-old woman*
• Witnesses describe combative situation after Walmart employee asked to see receipt*
• Fight reported in Walmart*
• Horse rescue owner diagnosed with cancer, 18 horses need new homes immediately*
• 'Significant year' justifies GCEDC bonuses, board member says
• Young woman's arm caught in grain auger in Elba by Billie Owens*
• Suspicious photography on Route 98*
• Consultants lay out three-year plan to help reshape future of Batavia
• Law and Order: Driver accused of transporting 15,650 untaxed cigarettes
• Corfu resident among four corrections officers accused of assaulting Attica inmate

November:

• Elba woman killed when car strikes tree on North Byron Road
• School district's 10-year-old policy on religious observance suddenly new(s)*
• Street fight on State Street, by Billie Owens*
• Possible hunting accident on or near Iroquois Wildlife Refuge*
• House in foreclosure, dog left behind, by Billie Owens*
• Likely buyer for 'Project Wave' plant is PepsiCo*
• Final approvals in place for 'Project Wave' to begin construction*
• Today's Poll: Should aggressive anti-illegal immigration laws be passed, even if ... ?
• Strong-armed robbery of purse in Oakfield, by Billie Owens*
• 'Project Wave' could break ground in ag park in 10 days*

October:

• Teenage Bergen bow hunter takes down 17-point buck*
• Employees of Batavia Lowe's told store closing, layoffs coming*
• Driver in early morning crash in Elba faces possible DWI charge
• Photo: 'I stole art from Glass Roots'*
• State considering $1.8 million roundabout for Route 20 at Suicide Corners*
• City schools’ Board of Education says no to hockey team tournament trip, by Geoff Redick
• Winning drug-free posters from local students*
• Fences, and more, divide business neighbors in Stafford*
• Possible hazmat issue on West Main between Hopkins and Powers roads*
• Consultants: Negative attitudes hurting city more than actual problems

Happy New Year from The Batavian!

I was thrilled to get this email from Brian Staebell, marketing director for Roxy's Music, and wanted to share it. Brian clearly gets what we're trying to do with Shop Batavia.

I was very excited about Shop Batavia when you showed it to me and even more after getting in and seeing how easy it is to manage your products and business listings. I’m looking for ideas where we can help each other promote our businesses together. I think if Shop Batavia is successful, we’ll be successful. We’ve already seen sales through the site. We received one direct order for a music stand and another customer saw our guitar starter pack on the site and decided to stop in and buy it. Reaching out to the the local market through shopbatavia.com  is an additional avenue to promote our business in conjunction to our existing website. Being able to drive sales both online and in store is very important to us, this service does that and more. So far, Shop Batavia has been successful for us.

As I said before, when Shop Batavia came along, I felt like it was an unexpected gift -- a great chance to create a new revenue avenue for The Batavian so we can continue to grow the business. But I also was excited because Shop Batavia brought to local businesses some really powerful marketing tools -- tools that through other avenues can be difficult, confusing and/or expensive, but here they were in one place, affordable and accessible.

The real power of Shop Batavia, though, will be realized when we have widespread participation from local businesses. The more businesses using Shop Batavia, the more local residents will want to use it as a shopping guide, restaurant guide, community bulletin board, business directory and online shopping mall.

All boats will rise together -- for local businesses and for local residents.

It was great to read Brian's email and see that he understands the success of Shop Batavia isn't just about success for a business venture of The Batavian's, it also means a success for his business, for all the local businesses it serves and for the people who use the site to shop local businesses.

If you haven't checked out Shop Batavia yet, click here. Nearly 100 businesses have already signed on for accounts and there are new products, services and savings available every day.

Most readers will probably remember the trip I took to Chicago a couple of months ago – for a conference with other small, local publishers.

One of my longtime friends in the industry was there and she showed off a service she had launched in her local community to deliver really powerful online marketing tools to locally owned businesses.

These were tools that can be really expensive and time-consuming for local businesses to implement on their own, but here was an effective, efficient and affordable solution.

I told my friend I wanted to bring this service to Genesee County. She got me in touch with the developers and a few weeks ago we signed a contract so The Batavian could deliver this powerful platform to local businesses and the local shoppers who will use it.

Today, we are introducing Shop Batavia.

Why will local businesses like Shop Batavia?

First, because never before have merchants in Genesee County been offered such powerful marketing tools at such an affordable rate.

ShopBatavia.com isn't just another "hope they find us" business directory with nothing more than a picture and a few words about your business. With ShopBatavia.com merchants can actually sell online, offer specials, discounts, coupons, daily deals, product information, set up newsletters for direct marketing, integrate with Facebook and Twitter, answer customer questions and do it all in an environment that is professional and backed by same-day phone support.

ShopBatavia.com is bolstered by the marketing power of The Batavian, with its thousands of daily local readers and thousands of Facebook fans.

With powerful reporting tools, you won't have to guess if ShopBatavia.com is working for you. You will know it's working for you.

Why will local shoppers love Shop Batavia?

Because for the first time, they’re going to be able to shop online at dozens of locally owned businesses and either arrange in-store pick up or have the items shipped directly to their homes.

Customers will be able to use Shop Batavia to find local coupons, discounts, special sales, browse restaurant menus and contact local merchants with questions.

And all of this will be available online, from any computer or mobile device 7/24, every day of the year.

I’m excited and pleased to bring Shop Batavia to Genesee County. There is not now, nor has there ever been, anything like Shop Batavia available to Genesee County residents and businesses.

I've had a couple of conversations recently that reminded me how fortunate we are to live in Genesee County.

The first was with a gentlemen who came into Delavan's on Friday night. He's from Ohio but visits Batavia regularly for business. He's decided to buy a small home here rather than always packing for a hotel stay.

"I love Batavia," he said. "It's a great little city. The people are friendly, the crime rate is low, there's a lot beautiful old homes around and it's a nice area."

The other conversation was with Jeff Stephen, the dairy industry expert. Stephen had no idea I was from California when we started to talk, but he began to compare Batavia to the so-called Golden State. Batavia, he said, was a great place for a company to set up business compared to California. We have good schools, the cost of living is so much lower, it's less crowded and people in Western New York, unlike California, he said, really appreciate their jobs.

San Diego, my hometown, can call itself America's Finest City, but I think where I live right now has it beat hands down.

There's a lot of advantages to living in Genesee County that are easy to forget as we go about our day-to-day business. Every community has its problems, and it's easy as we struggle to solve them to let them become bigger in our minds than they actually are, or to forget about all of the good things around us.

All of us in Genesee County have a lot to be thankful for, from the place we live, to the neighbors who are always ready to help, to the friends we stand by and who stand by us, to the families we cherish.

On behalf of myself, Billie, Lisa Ace and our correspondents, we want to thank both our readers and our advertisers for making it possible for us to live and work in America's Finest Little City. We wish you and yours the very best. Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, Billie and I are moving from our apartment into a rental house. Tomorrow will also probably be taken up with moving and getting settled in.

Thursday, I'm flying to Chicago and will be gone through Tuesday.

Throughout, we'll have our scanners on and endeavor to keep the site updated with breaking news. WBTA's Geoff Redick will also provide coverage of Genesee County news, posting directly to The Batavian. We will also have some coverage from our correspondents. And while on the road, there will be news items that come into me that I can post. All-in-all, we should be able to keep the site appropriately updated.

In Chicago, I'll be attending a conference of local online news publishers, then the same university that arranged this conference is hosting about a dozen of us more successful publishers for three days of discussion about how we might continue to grow our businesses.

There's a lot of concern in the journalism world about the fate of newspapers and whether online-only news sites can be economically viable enough to fill in any gaps in news coverage. The Batavian is at the forefront of building a sustainable online-only news business, which is why I've been invited -- all expenses paid -- to these conferences.

While I won't be around to go out and cover things like I typically would, we will continue coverage of our community.

We've selected the winners of three contests we recently held on The Batavian.

In the Facebook "Like" contest sponsored by Hardcor Audio, Brian Staebell is the winner. Staebell wins a free remote starter from Hardcor Audio.

In the Facebook "Like" contest sponsored by Scratch Bakery, the winner is Denise Rader. Rader wins a birthday party package.

In the Facebook "Like" contest sponsored by The Batavian, Lynn Bezon is the winner. Bezon wins an 8G iPod.

Thank you to all who participated. We'll have more contests as soon as we get them organized.