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Genesee County legislators last night approved a grant application to study a shared jail facility with Orleans County, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. Grant funds could total $50,000 for the study, and local taxpayers shouldn't have to pay more than $2,300. Also approved at last night's meeting: the purchase of Finn, a $7,000, 3-year-old, Czechoslovakian German Shepherd who will join the Sheriff's Department as their newest K-9 recruit. Finn's presence means that the current K-9, 10-year-old Jay, can finally start to phase into retirement.

Fischer reports some not-so-good news about the county's ambulance service. It's said that the city of Batavia is charging fees to the surrounding municipalities for providing coverage all over the county. Some towns—Darien and Pembroke are named—have complained that "there have been instances where the city has failed to show up for an emergency call," according to Fischer.

WBTA's Dan Fischer reports this morning that "faulty Halloween decorations" may have caused the fire that ripped through a South Byron home yesterday morning. Fire officials said yesterday that the home may be a total loss, estimating the damage at more than $50,000 already. No one was home at the time of the blaze at the property owned by Anthony Frongetta. A pet dog died in the fire.

WBTA's Dan Fischer spoke with the daughter of Robert Kirkup this morning following Kirkup's sentencing of 5 to 15 years in prison for killing his wife in Genesee County during a camping trip 16 years ago. Lawler asked the court to give her father the maximum sentence. You can hear why daughter Susan Lawler suspected all along that her father was responsible for the death of her mother, Janet Kirkup. Listen to the audio clip here.

Kirkup told the court that he regretted choking his wife to death and then burying her in a shallow grave in the town of Darien, which has not yet been found.

Kirkup was transferred to Genesee County in June following the resurrection of the investigation by a cold case team from California, where Kirkup was then located. In court on August 12, Kirkup said that he killed his wife in self defense.

Dan Fischer reports:

Susan Lawler said she will now turn her attention to finding her mother’s remains. Kirkup had three daughters. Susan was the only one to speak at this morning’s sentencing. His oldest daughter submitted a letter to the court supporting her father.

In other news, a house fire in South Byron required the efforts of six fire crews to battle the blaze that was still burning at noon today. No injuries were yet reported, according to Dan Fischer. Byron, South Byron, Bergen, Elba, Stafford and Le Roy departments responded to the fire at East Main Road at the corner of Mechanic Street.

Motorists dropping off students at Batavia High School are urged not to use the central bus loop, which is for buses only, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. There are safety concerns in allowing buses and passenger vehicles in the same area. If you are picking up or dropping off students, please use the "pick-up circle" near the band room.

City Council will meet tonight at 7:00pm in the Council chambers at City Hall.

Two children died in a house fire Sunday in the village of Fredonia. More details can be found in an article from the Jamestown Post-Journal.

In Medina, a school teacher was arrested and charged with official misconduct. Scott Ballard, 33, is accused of initiating relationships with two of his former students. More details can be found in an article from the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal.

It's that time of year, folks. Time to switch on the heat in the car for the morning commute. Time to dust off the coats and scarves. As chilly as it may have been in Genesee and Monroe counties this morning, it was much more so down in Wyoming, Cattaraugus and Allegany. Those three counties were under a freeze warning issued by the National Weather Service out of Buffalo this morning, according to WBTA's Wayne Fuller. That could be dire news for some vegetable growers. We'll have to wait and see.

In contrast to the cautious words of calm issued by an Oxford-educated economist who stopped by Batavia earlier this week to tell folks that it just "doesn't feel like an honest-to-goodness recession," unemployment numbers were reported as ever on the rise statewide. Genesee County is up more than a percentage point over this time last year: from 3.7 percent last August to 4.7 percent this year. Orleans County climbed from 5.1 to 7.1 percent. So, when does it start to feel like a recession? Is it when Orleans County can say that one in ten of its residents doesn't have a job?

In addition to the increase in unemployment, Fuller reports that job growth is either stagnant or shrinking. ...Maybe recession just isn't the right word, then. Can anyone else think up some words to describe what this feels like? Anyone?

Also (reported again on WBTA), the state looks to fare far worse than was initially suspected following the recent bankruptcies and bailouts on Wall Street. Gov. David Paterson envisaged a worst-case scenario of 30,000 jobs lost and a loss of $1 billion in revenue for the state. State officials now expect to lose 40,000 jobs and $3 billion in revenue over the next two years.

Oh. Almost forgot to mention... the price for a bus or train ride on the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is going up a quarter.

Buyers should be wary of online ticket seller: TicketsMyWay.com, according to the Better Business Bureau of Buffalo. WBTA's Wayne Fuller reports that the bureau has received hundreds of complaints about the site that sells tickets to sports, music and theater venues online. Complaints include: not ever receiving the tickets, getting them too late or getting invalid tickets.

In other news, Mike Ranzenhofer was campaiging yesterday in Genesee County with Sen. Mary Lou Rath, Assemblyman Stephen Hawley and county Legislature Chair Pat Hancock. Ranzenhofer is running to replace Rath in the 61st Senate District. He will take on Democrat Joe Mesi in the general election. Fuller has this to say about Ranzenhofer's platform:

He says he has a three-part plan for tax reform. One part is the doubling of the current STAR exemption over a four year period. The second part is to cap property tax increases to 4 four percent of the inflation rate which ever is lower. Ranzenhofer said the third plank is reform of the Wicks and Taylor laws, backed by organized labor, that he says increases the cost of a public works project by 20 to 30 percent.

Genesee County sheriff's deputies reported a two-car crash yesterday in Alexander that sent two women to the hospital. Eighteen-year-old Jonnie L. Ficarella, of Attica, swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid colliding with a stopped car waiting to turn in her own lane. She struck the vehicle of 24-year-old Tori M. Bentley, of Varysburg. WBTA's Dan Fischer reports that Ficarella was taken to United Memorial Medical Center for treatment. Bentley had suffered more serious injuries and had to be taken to Erie County Medical Center. We phoned both hospitals this morning to find the condition of the women, which was not available through WBTA. Bentley is listed in fair condition as of 8:00am. Ficarella had already been released.

WBTA picked up the story this morning that's getting play across the state: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has warned consumers to watch out for price gouging at the gas pumps in the wake of Hurricane Ike. Gas station owners cannot arbitrarily raise the price of gas as a result of a natural disaster. Folks who suspect price gouging are encouraged to call 1-800-771-7755.

This from the Niagara Gazette:

The average cost of a gallon of unleaded gas in the Buffalo Niagara market was $3.90 Monday — the highest in the state — according to the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The state average was $3.83 while the national average was a penny more.

[...]

“By the time Hurricane Ike made landfall Friday, retailers (in New York) were already experiencing significant hikes in the wholesale price of gasoline,” said Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops.

[...]

The attorney general’s office took similar action against price gouging after Hurricane Katrina. More than a dozen gas stations across the state were fined more than $63,000 for price gouging then.

In other morning news... National Grid reports that all but about 50 residents of Genesee County got that power back on as of this morning. Most of those folks are in Pavilion. No word on WBTA when those homes will be back on the grid.

WBTA's Dan Fischer reports that remnants of what was once Hurricane Ike lashed out winds of up to 60 miles per hour that cut through the area, knocking down trees and electrical lines and leaving nearly 600 people in Genesee County without power this morning. Elba Central School has closed this morning as a result of the storm. Most folks were expected to be back on the grid by 8:30am.

Another 1,800 folks were without power in Orleans County, plus another 500 in Wyoming County.

Most of the debris was cleared off the streets early this morning in Batavia.

Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle reports power outages for more than 45,000 people in and around the city, and many traffic lights were still out during the morning commute.

Heading west, the Buffalo News tallied 14,000 folks who were still in the dark in the region as of 8:30am. That wasn't even the "bad news."

The bad news, for those still without power this morning, was that National Grid, on its Web site, cautioned that full power might not be restored until late Tuesday night.

Batavia's City Council met for a brief session last ight in City Hall and in that time unofficially decided to nix the city's ethics board and rely on the county's one if needed—though I imagine any formal vote on it would come at the next meeting, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. Council also decided to switch the meeting schedule so that council will only meet once a month on alternating Mondays. Council will continue to meet twice a month, but its meetings will be split. That means one Monday will be a business meeting and another will be the conference meeting.

In other news, City Council President Charlie Mallow has decided to step down as chairman of the Genesee County Democratic Party. Mallow will give up the post on September 17, though he plans to remain active in the group. He was chairman for a year and a half.

Renovation will begin today at the former St. Jerome Hospital on Bank Street, according to WBTA. United Memorial Medical Center plans to erect a 37-unit affordable senior housing structure for the site. The project is expected to disrupt traffic and parking in the vicinity.

In other news, Batavia's City Council will meet tonight at 7:00pm at City Hall. Please refer to our earlier post for more details or to download the agenda.

WBTA's Dan Fischer spoke with Batavia City Schools Superintendent Margaret Puzio yesterday to get her thoughts on the start of the new school year. Puzio praised the High School's Link Crew, a program designed to welcome new students to the school. She also addressed the wrapping up of construction over at the Middle School.

WBTA's Dan Fischer broke the story: the city of Batavia has a new fire chief. Thomas Dillon was appointed to the position Tuesday morning. Dillon has been retired from the city of Rochester Fire Department for eight years. He was a deputy fire chief there.

City Manager Jason Molino told Fischer that Dillon was picked among a candidate pool of 15, and he will start work on September 17 at a salary of $75,192. Molino also spoke of Dillon's experience at a larger department.

Happy Labor Day, everybody. How come you're inside staring at a computer screen on a beautiful day like this?

Philip Anselmo has the day off. I hope you do, too.

There's  news on the WBTA news page.

A car struck a tree off the Thruway this morning. One person is unconscious. Mercy flights dispatched. Listen to WBTA for updates.

Police dispatchers made the switch to the County's dispatch center at midnight.

And those, so far, are the biggest news items of the day.

Be safe and have fun.

Le Roy will host a rabies clinic for cats and dogs today from 3:00 to 5:00pm at the village Highway Department on North Street, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. The clinic was scheduled following the discovery of a rabid cat in the village earlier this week.

WBTA's Dan Fischer picked up some great audio of last night's concluding debate about the mall sign—which was approved for purchase by a vote of 6-2. He has posted the views of two City Council members who held opposing views on the mall: Rosemary Christian and Charlie Mallow.

In other news, the former highway superintendent of the Erie County town of Marilla, David Pierce, told a judge yesterday that "alcoholism and greed" made him break the law. Pierce was sentenced to seven months in jail for using town employees to work on his property, doing such things as building a fishing and swimming pond.

Batavia's City Council will meet tonight at 7:00pm at City Hall, according to WBTA. The meeting, originally scheduled for August 11, was postponed twice. Council is expected to vote on whether to fund the replacement of a sign for the mall. Also meeting tonight at 7:00pm is the Board of Education. They will assemble at the administration building on Washington Avenue.

No cause has yet been determined in the fire at Willow Industries at 34 Clinton Street that erupted Friday night. The fire was brought under control shortly after midnight. Damage was confined to the warehouse, and some of the materials inside are reported destroyed by fire. Steve Ognibene was driving by that evening when he spotted the fire trucks. He put together this video footage of the scene, which was sent to the Batavian over the weekend:

I made a video of whats called a "Foxhole radio" takes no batteries info found on youtube if you notice at the end the radio station is WBTA. Pretty cool.

Into found on youtube about foxhole radios

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=foxhole+radio&search_type=&aq=0&oq=foxhole

All my video's found here some dumb some are OK if your into online games and electronics

http://www.youtube.com/toomyg155

Police in Le Roy are looking for anyone with information about an apparent break in at the Little League concession stand in the village, according to WBTA. At some point over the past few nights, someone had forced open the door and got inside. Anyone with information should call (585) 768-2527.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley told WBTA's Dan Fischer that most of the $450 million that the state legislature recently agreed to cut from its spending are "un-spent member items, the so-called pork that legislators use to win points with their local constituents." (Quote from Fischer.)