Who Goes Where When Hillary Goes to State?
City Hall News has flow_chart that tracks who might replace who, from Hillary’s Senate seat on down (click to expand or follow the link—it’s an awkward shape):
November 14, 2008
It’s Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium
These new signs properly label the structure.
We’ve been reading recent stories in the Buffalo News about sportswriter Tom Borrelli’s terrible fall last week at the old All High Stadium. He’s currently battling life-threatening injuries. The News has fittingly started a blog where people can express their concern, and offer their wishes for a full recovery. The story has also been covered by the Tonawanda News, in the city where Borrelli resides.
One thing that was drilled into me as a stringer writing concert reviews for the Buffalo News several years back was the importance of correctly identifying the venue where the event took place. We all know that naming rights for stadiums are a huge deal these days, and people get upset when their stadium is improperly identified. So, it’s puzzling that the location where Borrelli suffered his injury has not been accurately named in any of the media reports filed by either paper. For the record, Borrelli suffered his fall on the antiquated stairs leading to the press box at Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium, which underwent major renovations a couple of years ago. I remembered this name change because it was explained to me by Buffalo Public Schools spokesperson Stefan Mychajliw when I was researching a story about the Buffalo Public Schools Foundation earlier this year. Many of the late Buffalo businessman’s friends contributed to the BPSF after his death.
In that story, I listed the major donors to this private 501c3 organization. Here is their tax return for 2006, and here is their return for 2007—which was unavailable at the time I wrote the story. If you scroll to the end, you’ll see the list of donors for both years. The bulk of the money has been spent on uniforms and staff retreats. Page two of the 2007 return indicates that $15,000 was spent on a new scoreboard at the stadium where Borrelli fell. There’s no telling how much the Foundation has raised this year, but they’re clearly sitting on a substantial chunk of change.
Here’s a rundown of all the improvements that were planned for the structure. With that in mind, how disheartening is it to read that improvements to the press box, and the stairs leading to it, were scrapped due to cost?
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UPDATE 11/20/08
After learning of Borrelli’s death this morning, I called Stefan Mychajliw and left a message asking about the stairs and press box at the stadium. Minutes later, I received this official statement from the Buffalo Public Schools.
CWM Fined for Violations
This week Chemical Waste Management was fined $175,000 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for violating its permits and the state’s hazardous waste laws. I don’t have much to say about that, except it doesn’t seem to me like too much money.
Here’s a picture of the sort of thing that got CWM in trouble:
Last year, AV associate editor Buck Quigley and his band played a gig up at CWM’s annual open house. It rained.
For the especially interested, the press release from DEC follows after the jump.
Musical Chairs
The AP reports that Hillary Clinton met with Barack Obama in Chicago yesterday, adding fuel to speculation that she might be Obama’s choice for secretary of state. If that happens, it has long been rumored that Brian Higgins would be appointed to her Senate seat. (BuffaloPundit reports that rumor this morning. And again this afternoon.) I know a couple prominent businessmen who are working to make that happen, and who knows? Downstate Democrats will make that decision, but maybe it’ll come to pass.
If Clinton does go to Obama’s cabinet, and Higgins does take her Senate seat, then who fills Higgins’ spot in the House? Byron Brown has had his eye on Louise Slaughter’s seat, should she retire soon. But Higgins’ seat is probably safer for Brown (for whomever winds up in it, hypothetically). After the 2010 Census, upstate New York is likely to lose another representative in Congress, and Slaughter’s seat might be the one to go. It’s one ugly-looking district:
There has been another rumor that Brown, not Higgins, would be appointed to Clinton’s seat, but that seems nutball. Higgins’ seat seems a more reasonable aspiration for the mayor.
Who, then, would join Mickey Kearns in the race to replace Brown next year?
Paint the Town
Late last night, at the tail end of one of the few weeks in the past year in which we did not publish anything snarky about anybody, someone threw two gallons of paint on our front doors. Seems a waste; we hadn’t even earned it. Nonetheless, we were cleaning up all morning.
Last week, sure, I can see that: maybe Chris Collins, maybe Steve Pigeon. But no…those guys wouldn’t stoop so low. They don’t even return our calls. It must have been someone else.
Buck Quigley had what sounded on his end like a civil conversation with Bob Gioia earlier in the week, so I can’t believe it was him. And I can’t imagine his brother, Anthony Gioia—recently confirmed as a representative to the 63rd session of the UN—would be so undiplomatic. James Williams? No, Dr. Williams loves AV. He told me so last year. And I can’t believe anything would have changed his mind since then.
Revenge, like pizza, is best served cold, but we understand that the folks at La Nova have made peace with their neighbors. So that’s not it.
George Sax is too urbane to have caused us trouble with the Public Bridge Authority or the Erie County Democrats. And though Bruce Jackson frequently draws heat down on the paper, it doesn’t seem like the Seneca Gaming Corporation’s style. Our other Bruce, late of county government and now thinking deep thoughts about public policy at Buffalo State, is generally brisk but not offensive…unless Bob Wilmers has been nursing a grudge against Fisher and occasional AV contributor John McMahon for months.
What the hell. It couldn’t have been former Buffalo News editor Murray Light.
I’m sure the vandal didn’t issue from City Hall, the good offices of which are AV’s most frequent target, because anyone who works for the city would know that there’s one of those new surveillance cameras just up the street. The blue-light specials.
When I called B District to ask if the camera might have caught the guilty party in the act, I was told that a detective would call back later today. Then, maybe, we’ll see.
November 13, 2008
Old Editions Book Shop
AV videographer Matt Quinn tours Old Editions, an often overlooked treasure at the corner of Oak and Huron Streets downtown:
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November 12, 2008
This Is Not Today’s News
But it would be nice if it were.
Via the Data Stream, by way of Jon Winet.
UPDATE: There’s a print edition, according to a press release, and apparently it’s being distributed in NYC:
Early this morning, commuters nationwide were delighted to find out
that while they were sleeping, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had
come to an end.If, that is, they happened to read a “special edition” of today’s New
York Times.In an elaborate operation six months in the planning, 1.2 million
papers were printed at six different presses and driven to prearranged
pickup locations, where thousands of volunteers stood ready to pass
them out on the street.Articles in the paper announce dozens of new initiatives including the
establishment of national health care, the abolition of corporate
lobbying, a maximum wage for C.E.O.s, and, of course, the end of the
war.The paper, an exact replica of The New York Times, includes
International, National, New York, and Business sections, as well as
editorials, corrections, and a number of advertisements, including a
recall notice for all cars that run on gasoline. There is also a
timeline describing the gains brought about by eight months of
progressive support and pressure, culminating in President Obama’s “Yes
we REALLY can” speech. (The paper is post-dated July 4, 2009.)“It’s all about how at this point, we need to push harder than ever,”
said Bertha Suttner, one of the newspaper’s writers. “We’ve got to make
sure Obama and all the other Democrats do what we elected them to do.
After eight, or maybe twenty-eight years of hell, we need to start
imagining heaven.”Not all readers reacted favorably. “The thing I disagree with is how
they did it,” said Stuart Carlyle, who received a paper in Grand
Central Station while commuting to his Wall Street brokerage. “I’m all
for freedom of speech, but they should have started their own paper.”
We understand the Yes Men are behind this.
November 11, 2008
This Just In…
Always in the vanguard, researchers of the University at Buffalo’s Center of Human Capital have reached a bold conclusion, according to a statement disseminated this afternoon:
Although no official determination has been made about whether New York State or the U.S. is in the midst of a recession, researchers from the University at Buffalo’s Center of Human Capital believe New York entered a recession beginning in the second quarter (March-June) of 2008.
Holy Jesus. No.
This prognosis is based on “an innovative recession-dating method they developed to forecast the start of recessions at the state level,” and the researchers report annually New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
Of course, the model doesn’t so much “forecast” the beginning of a recession as pinpoint the moment—in this case six months ago—when a downward-spiraling economy slipped past a statistical milemark:
Testing its dating methodology backwards, the UB researchers have been able to successfully predict the starting quarters of all the past recessions in New York State for which data on the indicators were available. According to the UB researchers, New York has suffered five recessions since the 1970s. They include the recessions of 1973-75, 1980, 1981-83, 1989-1992 and 2001-03.
I’ve no doubt that knowing when exactly New York’s financial crisis became a recession will be of some forensic use to policy-makers—though I imagine that, just now, they are more engaged by Governor David Paterson’s challenge to close the state’s predicted $47 billion budget deficit over the next four years.
Silver Lining: Edwards Remains a Good Guy
Marshawn Lynch
Amid the anguished finger-pointing, plaintive wailing and resigned head-shaking sweeping the region following the Buffalo Bills’ third straight defeat, Season Ticket would like to apportion a minute sliver of credit.
Quarterback Trent Edwards, by most quantitative and qualitative standards, failed miserably at New England on Sunday (not coincidentally, this was also his third consecutive regressive outing).
He did not throw accurately or effectively, throwing two grotesque interceptions and failing to complete a pass that produced a gain longer than 15 yards. Though sacked only twice, he seemed perpetually rushed and never quite certain about the nature of the of defensive contraption Patriots arch-villain Bill Belichick had conjured to stymie Buffalo’s offense. And he could not get the Bills into the end zone at Gillette Stadium until long after it had ceased to matter.
Edwards did, however, nail the post-game press scrum at his locker.
Unlike some of his predecessors at the position over the past decade, Edwards did not subtly shift blame toward his coaches, blockers, receivers, or running backs—though there was clearly plenty to go around, given the painful deficiencies in every phase of the game and on the sideline during New England’s 20-10 win. Nor did he sniff haughtily in the direction of his interrogators, clumsily try to deflect criticism with non-sequiturs or stare blankly as if posing for a Hall-of-Fame bust (not to bring back bad memories of Doug Flutie, Rob Johnson, J.P. Losman or Drew Bledsoe, respectively, or anything).
Instead, he acknowledged both that criticism comes with the job and that he needs to get better at his.
“I think a little bit of everything, honestly,” Edwards said when asked where he needs to improve. “Underneath throws, deep throws, footwork, pocket presence, turnovers—everything. I think all that needs to be looked into and I need to fix it soon.”
Contrast that with the words of Jamal Lewis, running back of Cleveland, Buffalo’s next opponent, following the Browns’ collapse against Denver last Thursday.
“This is the NFL, you can’t call it quits until the game is over,” Lewis said after the Browns blew a third-quarter lead and lost 34-30 at home against the Broncos. “But it looks to me like some people called it quits before that.”
In case none of his teammates had been adequately insulted, Lewis continued.
“This is a man’s game,” Lewis noted. “The way we went out and played two weeks in a row, finishing the same kind of way, it’s just not there. Some men around here need to check themselves. Straight up.”
Certainly, Lewis possesses an unofficial master’s degree in how biological males behave in a group setting, having spent four months in a Florida prison camp after pleading guilty to using his cell phone in an effort to set up a cocaine deal. And what he said about his teammates’ tenacity may well be true, given that the Browns have surrendered leads of at least 13 points in each of their last two games while being outscored by a combined 38-7 in the fourth quarter of those contests.
Few people of any gender or profession like to be called out so publicly, though. Such dissension is clear evidence of a team in an even worse situation than Buffalo, which has now been beaten four times in five outings, the last three losses coming against divisional foes.
At least the Bills waited until late October to start letting their fans down. The Browns disappointed right out of the gate. Projected to build on last year’s 10-6 finish, Cleveland instead opened 0-3, won three of four, and gave away the last two.
As dismally as Buffalo performed Sunday—and the two Sundays before, for that matter—Cleveland offers a wounded, in-fighting foil for what should be a rather hostile Monday-night crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
A win would set the Bills up for a chance at redemption in December, when they face the Patriots, Jets and Dolphins again, since their foes for the rest of this month are the hapless Kansas City Chiefs and the slightly less pitiful San Francisco 49ers.
A loss, however, would drop the Bills to 5-5, effectively wiping out any lingering good feelings about starting 4-0 and 5-1. Then the blame game truly begins.
Straight up.
Dave Staba has covered the Bills since 1990. He welcomes e-mail at dstaba13@aol.com. A full report on Sunday’s game will appear in the November 13 issue of Artvoice.
November 6, 2008
BNMC Open Meeting Tonight
Tonight at 6:30pm in the auditorium of the downtown library, everyone is invited to attend a public hearing on the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus—North End Projects. Among the projects planned are a 300,000 square foot Medical Office Building to be owned and operated by Ciminelli Development Company, Inc., which will lease medical office space to a variety of tenants. Also planned is a 200,000 square foot skilled nursing facility, and a “multi-modal transportation structure that can accommodate 1,200 to 1,600 cars”—not to be confused with a parking garage.
The most ballyhooed project is the 500,000-600,000 square foot Global Vascular Institute, which, according to the report sponsored by BNMC, Kaleida Health, Ciminelli Development Compan, Inc, and the University at Buffalo, will be a “first-of-its-kind, multi-dimensional medical institute focused on the full spectrum of vascular health care, and will bring together physicians, researchers and educators to address heart and vascular diseases.” The report states that the Institute will be operated by Kaleida Health and the University at Buffalo.
The plans call for the removal of six residential structures, the closure of Goodrich Street, the demolition of the Community Mental Health Facility, and would require the removal of two properties eligible for recognition by the National Register of Historic Places.
The lead agency holding tonight’s meeting is the City of Buffalo Planning Board. The report, and relevant maps can be downloaded at the links below.
DRAFT GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
The deadline for written comments regarding the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement is November 18, 2008. Written comments should be sent to:
William P. Grillo
c/o City of Buffalo Planning Board
901 City Hall
Buffalo, NY 14202
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