AL - AnswerLady

When Grandma Goes Bad

2012-01-08T17:30:00.000-05:00

Only in Buffalo* could senior housing be a detriment to a neighborhood, and Jill Joseph Tower is becoming a serious problem in an area with too many problems already.

Residents living near the complex tell us about drug dealing, all day drinking, and illicit daycares with unsupervised kids running wild around the neighborhood.

Lately seniors have taken to stopping us on the street to tell us of drug dealing, rampant crime and filthy conditions. Seniors pay at least $600 a month to live there and are desperate to get out.

Jill Joseph Tower is owned by University Garden Apartment, LP and managed by Clover Management, Inc both operated out of 1430 Millersport Hwy, Williamsville. The President of Clover Management is Michael L. Joseph. If that names doesn't sound familiar, it should because Michael is quite a bigwig in local circles. Michael has served served or still serving on a number of civic and non-profit boards including the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the Jewish Federation of WNY, Buffalo Seminary, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the University at Buffalo Foundation and most recently headed the transition team for the Mark Poloncarz administration.

I'm pretty sure Micheal doesn't want anyone to think of him as a slumlord and that Roswell, the Jewish Federation, Buffalo Seminary, the Buffalo Philharmonic and UB don't want a slumlord on the Board, but read the definition of slumlord below and decide for yourself if Michael isn't coming way to close.

A slumlord (also spelled slum lord) is a derogatory term for landlords, generally absentee landlords, who attempt to maximize profit by minimizing spending on property maintenance, often in deteriorating neighborhoods.

In 2000, AG Elliott Spitzer got a $15,000 settlement against Clover Management for failing to deposit tenants' security deposits in trust accounts and failure to inform them of their ability to access the interest on such accounts. The settlement also required that Clover Management end the practice of charging tenants up to 50 percent of their security deposits if the company finds that their smoke detectors are not in working order.

*Buffalo is not the only place to have serious crime problems in senior housing complexes. It is becoming a nationwide problem. But, you know, that's no excuse. Perhaps Michael needs to take some time off from his busy social schedule and tend to business.

The Next Big Fight

2012-01-01T14:46:00.000-05:00

Photo WGRZ

Just got back from the Buffalo Convention Center and a standing room only crowd at the Mark Poloncarz swearing in ceremony.

It was great to see a crowd of black, white, rich and not so rich applaud labor and people who work for a living and government that cares for what we have built so that it is worth passing to the next generation.

Mark's speech highlighted the fundamental difference between democrats and republicans; government by and for the people versus government as a business paid for by the people for the insider 1% well connected/positioned enough to profit off it.

This fight for who will control Erie County government is a microcosm of the fight going on across the county, and for today at least, the people won.

Taking Niagara out of the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise

2011-12-27T18:14:00.000-05:00

The spawn of Andy Rudnick experienced the tax cuts he is always proponing first hand when Niagara County decided they had better things to do with the $50,000 a year they were paying to be members of the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise.

Apparently, even republicans in the Niagara County Legislature could no longer stomach the Andy and Company's teabagger politics.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/niagara-county/article680886.ece

Another UB Student Beaten and Robbed at Gunpoint

2011-12-04T18:19:00.001-05:00

A University at Buffalo student was recently severely beaten and robbed at gunpoint in my neighborhood. This is just one of an escalating series of crimes that have plagued this area all fall. Muggings, car break-ins, burglaries and armed robbers hiding in a local garages are just some of the highlights of this fall's crime spree.

You would think that some of this might get the attention of the Mayor, but no, apparently he's too busy do clean up in preparation for the Tim Wanamaker tell all to make sure one of the busiest police districts in the City has a full time Chief. E district has been managed by the A district commander since August when the beloved (not) Chief White quit just in time for Party Season. Chief Pascall is great. We are all pleased with the effort he has put in for our district, but managing 2 of the 5 police districts in Buffalo is more than a full time job and more than one person can handle.

And what does our useless Councilwomen Bonnie Russell have to say about all of this. Well, you know, there's nothing she can do. She more or less indicated that we all just need to get used to it.

Planet Rudnick

2011-11-28T19:00:00.001-05:00

I don't know what planet Andy Rudnick lives on but here on Earth, if you are going to call for $100s of millions in state and federally funded spending and tax cuts, you better offer up some revenue increases (taxes to non-teabaggers) to pay for it.

The latest Buffalo Niagara Partnership agenda offers up the same old, tired projects we have heard about for years now, Peace Bridge, UB2020 (aka moving the medical school will create MILLIONS of jobs) and Route 219 (now the Continental 1 Super Highway - part of an even faster way to send jobs to Mexico, cheap labor into the US and bypass all those onerous unionized US dock workers)

The Partnership is also backing an bizarre assortment of wingnut issues:

Immigration reform to import more high skill guest workers. ~ Guess there aren't enough unemployed high skilled workers in WNY already. Bring in enough to suppress wages to 3rd world standards, yeah that'll do it.
Block any attempt to re-introduce the DISCLOSE Act. ~ Corporations are people damn it, and we like it like that.
Free up those IDA (Industrial Development Agencies) to do more industrial development like dorms at Buffalo State.
Frack the shit out of New York.
Absolutely NO prevailing wage legislation.
No fair labor practices for NY farm workers.
No analysis of proposed telecommunication mergers. ~ Just costs money you know and who cares if not taking a closer look costs you money anyway.
And lastly, my person favorite, Oppose workplace bullying legislation. I mean what good is being the boss if you can't bully your workers when you feel like it.

All this wingnut teabaggery doesn't come cheap. In 2009 Andy received $323,814 in salary/bennies, including health insurance and paid memberships to the Buffalo Club and the Buffalo Country Club.

Guess thats the prevailing wage for creepy guys in bow ties.

Made in America

2011-11-26T17:54:00.001-05:00

This year I decided I wasn't going to buy gifts for anyone unless the items were made in America.

Sticking with this theme, I took a ride to Elma to visit the Made in America store.This place is really worth a visit. Its amazing to find tools, knives, clothing, pet supplies, toys and camping equipment (among other things) that are still made in America.

The thing that struck me most though, was the high quality and ingenious design of many of these products. America - we still rock when it comes to designing and making things.

One of the things I got was this cool bird feeder. Made in America, the birds love it and I get to recycle a pop bottle too.

Bonnie Russell just LOVES Chris Jacobs

2011-11-02T20:21:00.001-04:00

Got a stinky little missive in the mail today. To me it smells like Byron Brown, constrained by political considerations from planting a big wet one on his BFF Chris Collins, came up with the next best thing; a real black woman to endorse Chris Collins Jr., aka Chris Jacobs.

For those of you who get a complete brain wipe from the sight of Bonnie and Chris smiling like they just did something that used to be illegal in many states, a little reminder:

Chris Jacob's tenure on the Buffalo School Board has not been very helpful to the poor children in Buffalo who have had the Buffalo Public School System inflicted upon them.

Bennett High School, in Bonnie Russell's district, has been an under performing school for the entire time Chris Jacbs has been on the board. This school is not only failing the students, its failing the people that own homes around it as the kids incarcerated there spread the misery with a trail of crime and destruction to and from school everyday. (Thanks, Chris)
Chris was instrumental in getting Superintendent James Williams hired and keeping him there for for 6 years. (artvoice.com/issues/v7n22/james_williams_pt2)
During the Jacobs/Williams reign of error

Buffalo graduation rate for black males plunged to 25%, making Buffalo the fourth-worst graduation rate for black males in the United States. (Buffalo News)
Buffalo Schools lost out on millions of dollars for failing to put together acceptable plans to turn around the failing schools (Buffalo News )
Puerto Rican students have suffered as well, with only 40% graduating from Jacobs' schools.

On the bright side, at least now we know what good ole Bonnie might be up to while missing all those onerous City Council meetings; sitting for nice portraits with millionaire Chris Jacobs, a member of one of the richest families in Buffalo. (We can't blame the aliens for everything)

Note to Bonnie, Byron and the Chris-es: Your love note is not playing all that well in the neighborhood. Everyone I asked had torn it up and thrown it in the garbage in disgust.

Execute the Rich

2011-10-23T18:53:00.000-04:00

Andrew Cuomo hit a new level of stupid this week, when he compared his opposition to the millionaires tax to his Daddy's opposition to the death penalty. Hint: both were/are supported by over 80% of the population. (State of Politics Blog)

Cue the usual propaganda re: how the rich will all move to New Jersey of we tax them any more than they are already being taxed.

Well, no problem there.

In 2009 (the year the millionaires tax was implemented) there were 345,892 household in NY making over $1 million.

In 2010, a year after the millionaires tax was implemented there were 381,197 worth over $1 million, an increase of almost 10%. (CNBC)

Obviously, the more we tax them, the more millionaires we make.

Regular readers know where I stand. After being fattened up on tax cuts, there's only one thing thing they are good for ..

Byron Brown Chooses Politics Over Jobs?

2011-10-19T18:30:00.000-04:00

After working for years to bring an ethanol refinery to Buffalo, Rick Smith threw in the towel and announced that the project is dead. Mayor Byron Brown's refusal to allow Rick's company to seek $8 million in tax-exempt Recovery Act bonds killed it. These bonds would have cost the City nothing and been paid off by ethanol sales.

The ethanol plant would have employed 65 people directly in high paying manufacturing jobs and supported about 260 jobs indirectly. Hundreds of farmers would have been helped as well. (Each farmer supports 7 other people in their jobs). That adds up to about 3000 jobs all together.

Now why would Byron Brown kill off any chance to bring good jobs to Buffalo? Maybe because the plant would be in South Buffalo, rival Mickey Kerns district? Maybe the boys on Jefferson wanted the money to build more barbershops? Maybe the Mayor wants to fund more fancy restaurants like One Sunset?

But not to worry, all you unemployed people out there, with UB 2020 you have a future selling yourself for medical experiments.

Synergy or Sinergy

2011-09-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

Medical stenographer Henry Davis and the Buffalo Snooze (Medical campus sees growth in synergy, Sept 24, 2011) treat us, once again, to SUNY Buffalo PR masquerading as news and the lie that our future depends on building over $500 million in medical buildings.

Guess those recent Regional Economic Council hearings, where standing room only crowds yawned at the "eds and meds" will save us mantra and demanded infrastructure improvements and green energy investments, got Rudnick, "Trippy" Tripathi and Ciminelli a little nervous. Looks like the boys felt the need to restore a little UB2020 discipline.

Let's take a little look under the Medical Campus Synergy hood, shall we?

Erie County Population Growth (not)

As a county, we have been been loosing an average of 4861 people a year for the last 40 years. The remaining population (14% of which live below he poverty line) are being told that spending a minimum of $500 for every man, woman a child in the county to build a playpen for Rudnick, et al. is the best, if not only way to save the county. $500 is only the down payment mind you, we'll need to spend to more to move Childrens Hospital, staff all the buildings, heat, cool and maintain them.

The real lie, that this is growth that creates jobs, is there in the article too. We're going to shut Children's and move it to another place in the City, cut $100 million out of SUNY Buffalo South Campus investment and spend it downtown instead, shut Milliard Filmore Hospital and move that somewhere else too. Hollowing out one area of the City to build in another is not growth, its a money grab designed to funnel public dollars to the already wealthy (who don't want to do anything risky like actually creating jobs in the private sector).

And in the meantime people are fleeing this county by the thousands, hard to see how "The Medical Campus" is going to stop that.

Ride the UB Party Bus

2011-09-15T18:53:00.000-04:00

After a 3 year hiatus, the UB Party bus is back and better than ever. Police watched in astonishment as UB buses deposited hundreds of underage dorm rats into our neighborhood at 2am to make a beeline straight for the first party they could find.

Here's an idea, how about Satish Tripathi put his $650,000 brain to work thinking of ways to foster better relations with the neighborhood hosting one of his campuses. How about, I don't know, maybe stopping the buses when the campus closes for the night. Or maybe, only shuffling kids back to the reservation after 9pm, no rides into the Heights for cheap booze and underage whatever. I'm sure someone worth $312.50 an hour can come up with something.

September 2008 Party Bus:

Dear Answer Lady: Why do UB buses dump hundreds of students into my neighborhood, late at night, every weekend?

Answer Lady: Oh puhleeze, we all know that the University at Buffalo would never allow their students to charter off-duty campus shuttle buses to drive them to parties in the Heights. UB is simply doing nothing to stop this from happening. Besides, its a public safety issue too. Its very important for 18 and 19 year olds to not drink and drive. Its also dangerous for them to run around pig-drunk. The buses deposit them right at the speakeasy door so they don't have to risk getting mugged.

Once Again, Bonnie Russell MIA

2011-09-06T20:24:00.000-04:00

Where's ~~Waldo~~ Russell?

After this weekends UB blowout/trashathon, we had an interesting little chat with some of the UB officials who have to deal with problem students. Turns out that one of them, who actually lives in the area, tried to call the police about this weekends partying but couldn't get the police to show either.

When asked if they let Bonnie Russell know about this, they indicated that they have pretty much given up attempting to work with Ms. Russell. Now isn't that great, a neighborhood in crisis and the two parties that should be working together, well, not feelin' the love.

As you might recall, just a few months ago, Bonnie Russell and her BFF Byron Brown had to host a neighborhood get together after a UB student was gunned down on Main St, a 19 year old was stabbed to death at one of our quaint little college "house parties" and a brawl on Lisbon St involving over 100 people and other assorted student rapes, student muggings, student beatings and student stompings turned out to be more violence than people in this neighborhood could handle.

Good ole Mayor Brown made all sorts of promise that night, he'd talk to Chris Collins and get the problems with the 911 mess fixed, UB police and Buffalo police would work together, yada yada...

None of which happened, of course.

Parents of students, (I don't care if you have safely ensconced them in that barb wire wonder over on Eggert, a LOT of them end up here every weekend) you might want to keep in mind when your student comes home raped, beaten or god forbid in a coffin, that Mayor Brown and Bonnie Russell choose tax cuts over more police and housing inspectors. You might also keep in mind that our City Council woman's response to all this is so useless, that many of us, including people at UB have given up even trying to work with her. Consider getting a good lawyer.

University at Buffalo students trash the neighborhood

2011-09-03T17:32:00.002-04:00

Over the Labor Day weekend, University at Buffalo students and their assorted hangers on/wannabes trashed our neighborhood with beer bottles, Four Loko cans and hundreds of discarded plastic beer cups. We followed the trash trail to some of its sources.

Neighbors indicate its a new year, same old shit. Police called but none show. Bike police actually spotted on Main didn't venture onto the side streets.

Maybe UB 2020 whore Tripathi, could try doing something for his $650,000 a year and actually spend some effort getting his students under control? Hint: having the UB marching band march around the neighborhood is NOT going to solve the problem. This is the best you can come up with?

And good old Mayor Toady Brown, giving those scary watch out you bad criminals speeches, only to have someone shot the next day, a block away from the speech site. Mayor Toady, remember how this goes dwon? All the money floating around from $5 all you can drink attracts some REALLY bad actors. How many kids have to die this year before you take this seriously?

We followed the trash trail to some of its sources.

169 Merrimac - legs you see is a kid still passed out the next day amidst the trash. House owned by Brad Engel and Russel Hiltermann aka Bros Brothers.

90 Englewood - 100's of little papper cups litter the parch and fill the bin. Jello shots anyone? House owned by Paul Oswald

54 Merrimac - left over partay. House owned by Barbara Dunn.

Driveway between 82/80 Merrimac. (Partay behind 82 Merrimac) House owned by Brad Engel (seeing a pattern here?)

Car - 82 Merrimac, UB hangtag #415319

86 West Northrup. House owned by Elizabeth Cunningham

18 Northrup Place - House owned by Jeremy Dunn

Dear Mom

2011-09-03T09:04:00.000-04:00

Dear Mom,

I just went to my first college party! Man, that party was the dope! Those University at Buffalo kids really know how to party. My roommate and I got so drunk on Four Loko that we could hardly stand up. Some nice boys we met at the party offered to drive us home. We had to stop on the way so my roommate could throw up. We could still hear the kids at the party screaming 2 blocks away! One of the guys dragged her off into the neighbors bushes so she could puke. It took a long time so maybe he f****d her too. LOL, she'll NEVER remember what happened anyway.

While we were sitting is the car listening to the car stereo really loud, one of the locals stopped by and offered to sell us drugs! Of course we screamed as loud as we could that we were going to get busted, but we bought anyway and consumed it in the car before driving off.

All in all a great night. I can hardly wait to do it again tomorrow!

Love,
Your freshman college student

Shirley You're Kidding

2011-08-06T19:49:00.003-04:00

The 5 year saga of the infamous 400 Block of Minnesota Ave winds down the summer with:

stray gun fire striking a car near 200 Dartmouth (Buffalo News July 24, 2011)
a shooting near 3200 BaileyAve (Rashod Washington, no age or address listed, was in the 3200 block of Bailey at about 2:30 p. m. when the gunman began chasing and firing shots at him, police said. The chase continued south on Bailey and then east on Stockbridge Avenue, where the gunman then aimed and fired at Washington, striking him in the arm Buffalo News July 22, 2011)
and a drive-by shooting near 200 Shirley that sent 3 people to the hospital (The three people were sitting on a porch, when they were struck by gunfire, police said. Buffalo News, July 29, 2011)

These incidents and others on the infamous 400 Block of Minnesota Ave took place within blocks of 25 Shirley Ave, the the only address of record for Buffalo City Councilwomen Bonnie Russell and Mrs Bonnie Russell. But do we hear a peep from either of them? Nooo. We heard more when a drunk knocked down a gate at the entrance of University Ave, ole Bonnie moved those somewhat substantial buns toot sweet to get that fixed. But shootings on the front steps, no way, Bonnie is completely MIA.

Primary voters this September actually have a choice, re-elect a Byron Brown rubberstamp, absentee councilwoman who thinks coddling a few well trained block club presidents is actually doing her job. Or give a high energy new comer, Pam Cahill, a chance.

House on Shirley Ave, only address of record for Bonnie Russell ($52,797/yr) and Judge Robert T. Russell ($135,600/yr)

Sean Ryan a Progressive Democrat for NY Assembly 144

2011-07-04T18:36:00.001-04:00

Sam Hoyt's abrupt resignation left a gaping hole in local progressive politics that Attorney/Activist Sean Ryan is looking to fill. Looks to me, like he will be a great successor to Sam.

Sean has spent his career to this point in delivering legal services to those who cannot afford it. He has worked in a homeless prevention program, represented victims of housing discrimination, fought for a more equitable food stamp delivery system, and most recently worked for PUSH Buffalo to establish an affordable housing program aimed at rebuilding a neighborhood in the West Side of Buffalo.
Sean's work with PUSH was centered around building sustainable housing that utilizes the latest in green building techniques including the use of highly insulated shells, on demand hot water and high efficiency furnaces. He developed the concept for PUSH's "Net Zero House" that is powered by renewable energy and will not use more energy than it produces in a year. The house is powered by solar thermal for domestic hot water, PV Panels for electric and a cutting edge geo-thermal heating system using a trench cut into a vacant lot to create domestic heat. This house is groundbreaking in terms using the most cutting edge technology to demonstrate that you can retro fit a vacant City house into a highly efficient energy producing house that can be used as a model for other vacant homes through out the city. He realizes that the government must continue to play in important role to establish the use of residential renewal energy until it becomes more affordable and accepted by the general population.

Sean's work reclaiming/rebuilding old housing stock in Buffalo is a great way to help stabilize the blight affecting the City, create jobs and provide affordable housing for people - Vacant lot will be able to heat home

Sean is on the Board of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper and has pushed the Buffalo Sewer Authority to tackle the problem of combined sewer systems and the resulting discharge of untreated human waste directly into the Niagara River.
Sean has been an advocate for living wage legislation in Buffalo and active in Coalition for Economic Justice, a group that advocates for a living wage, rights at work, accountable economic development and health care for all.

Progressives are offering exciting candidates this year; Pam Cahill for City Council, Diane Wray for City Court Judge (more on Diane coming soon) and now, possibly Sean Ryan for NYS Assembly.

The Mortgage Mess and Lack of Wind Energy Connection

2011-06-21T11:57:00.003-04:00

Installing Siemens 3.6 MW x 120 meter rotor wind turbines recently, in Great Britain. For perspective, the hub height is 90 meters off the surface at Walney2 (yellow part is 20 meters above the water, white tower is 70 meters long, blades are about 58 meters long). Impressive!

One of the reasons for the lack of investment in the wind biz in the U.S. in general and especially in NY State has been the "availability" of other investments, particularly property, both residential and business. But, looks like that was significantly not so (in that, there really was very little REAL viable investments to be made in real estate), and the investors who put a lot of the money into real estate via "Mortgage Backed Securities" (MBS) in the last decade were defrauded by the hundreds of billions of dollars. Looks like counties were also defrauded out of mortgage recording fees for good measure, too, though that seems to be chump change in comparison.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/20/987022/-Finance-Capitalism:Has-It-Eaten-Its-Own-Entrails-in-Mortgage-Fraud-Debacle?via=spotlight

So these never were valid investments. Meanwhile, the hundreds of billions worth of investments in wind turbines needed to replace pollution sourced electricity and the bonds that should have been issued for mass transit construction (and thus replacing oil consumption) never happened in the U.S. Nor did the jobs associated with real wealth creation that go with renewable energy and non-petroleum based transportation.

So far, this story is largely buried, and the public remains unaware of this. And so far, almost all of the perps of these frauds have got away with their crimes, and with a lot of money too. Crime did pay very nicely, while our country will pay for this bad investment "in the concept of air" versus investing in things that require manufacturing, and avoid the need to pollute to make electricity.

Also, along those lines:
More nuke FUBAR - no, not another Fuku type event, just more "drip,drip, drip" on these wretchedly bad investments (money, morality, ecology, job creation, lots of levels....):
http://my.firedoglake.com/somethingthedogsaid/2011/06/21/48-of-65-us-nuclear-power-stations-have-leaked-tritium/

And on the good side of things:
Ontario (unlike NY State), where RENEWABLES = LOTS OF JOBS:
http://www.canwea.ca/media/release/release_e.php?newsId=118 (also downloadable report)

And ANOTHER darn offshore wind farm gets commissioned and is now "ON" in Europe:
http://www.offshorewind.biz/2011/06/21/walney-1-offshore-wind-farm-in-full-operation-uk/
This one is "only 184 MW, "only" cost about $US 800 million to install, "only" created about 13000 job-yrs of direct employment, and is only Part 1 of the Walney complex, with part 2 now under construction:
http://www.offshorewind.biz/2011/06/21/two-turbine-installation-vessels-install-eight-wind-turbines-at-walney-2-uk/. Part two will also create a similar number of jobs, and in combination, Walney 1 and 2 will displace the natural gas that would have been needed to supply
a 165 MW natural gas facility running at 90% of the time, and displacing 8.8 billion cubic feet of methane that Britain would otherwise have to import in return for the export of $53 million/yr at today's low prices (historically, the price should at least be double the present price) - money that Britain would also have to borrow, as their imports now exceed their exports, significantly.

Sound familiar?

Geez, you only have your unemployment to lose, in return for installing renewables on a significant scale. Do you like all that unemployment that seems to be so abundant on the Niagara Frontier these days? So what's the problem? We could make such turbines, and make the vessels that installed them. We could make items like this substation and the underwater electric cables that connect this substation to land, and also the vessel that installed this unit, too:
http://www.offshorewind.biz/2011/06/21/rambiz-heavy-lift-barge-installs-top-section-of-walney-2-substation-uk/
That we aren't helps explain the lack of employment, and high unemployment in these here parts.

TVO

The Infamous 400 Block of Minnesota Ave

2011-06-15T20:41:00.002-04:00

The Infamous 400 Block of Minnesota Ave was in the news again today when an 18 year old was shot in his car there.

This area has been a major problem for a quite a while now.

Man riding bicycle on Minnesota Avenue shot in thigh

Jul. 5, 2008--A 20-year-old Buffalo man riding his bike Friday night shooting of was shot in the thigh, police said, Joseph Tillman, was riding his bike with another person on the 400 block of Minnesota Avenue when someone opened fire at about 11:30 p.m. (Buffalo News)

Tonawanda driver victim of carjacking and beating in University District

Jul. 17, 2008 --A Town of Tonawanda man was robbed, pistol whipped, and carjacked by four men Wednesday night in the city's University District, police reported today.

The victim was driving his pickup east in the 400 block of Minnesota Avenue at about 6:45 p.m. when a man walked off a porch and approached his vehicle, while a second man walked in front of his vehicle to make him stop, Northeast District Police said. One of the men then ordered the victim out of the vehicle, took him to a rear yard where two more men joined them. Police said one of the four men displayed a silver gun and struck him on the head with the gun. (Buffalo News)

Pair of shootings occur overnight

Dec. 25, 2010 --Gunfire erupted twice in Buffalo late Christmas Eve and early Christmas morning, city police reported. Late Friday, a man was shot in the thigh amid a large fight that broke out outside a Minnesota Avenue home where a party was being held, Northeast District officers said.

The incident was reported just before midnight. The victim, Dwight Mitchell, no age or address given, said he had attended the party at the house in the 200 block of Minnesota. A large fight broke out in front of the house. (Buffalo News)

Police probe connection in three carjackings

Dec. 29, 2007 --Northeast District police are attempting to determine if the same thugs were involved in three carjacking crimes reported in the same area of the city Friday night.

Officers said an East Side man was robbed of his car shortly before 6 p.m. at the intersection of Bailey and Minnesota avenues. The man said five thieves approached him, and one pointed a handgun at him.

Shortly after 9:30 p.m., another carjacking took place at Bailey and Minnesota, where a University District man was robbed at gunpoint of his 2007 Honda van. Police recovered the vehicle in good condition on Shirley Avenue. Two thieves were involved. (Buffalo News)

3 charged in assault on taxi driver at University Plaza

Feb, 2010 Three people punched and kicked a taxi driver during a fracas in the University Plaza on Thursday evening, and one of the assailants was a woman who beat the cabbie with her metal cane, Amherst police reported.

He then was punched and kicked by the other man and two women, and struck over the head with the metal cane, police said.

The two youngest combatants, Jessica Robins, 22, of Minnesota Avenue, Buffalo, and Henry Robins, 27, of Langfield Avenue, were charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. (Buffalo News)

Man mugged at Bailey and Minnesota

Nov. 24, 2007 --A Walden Avenue man was mugged at gunpoint by three robbers near the intersection of Bailey Avenue and Minnesota Street at about 7:30 p.m. Friday. Police said the muggers pointed a gun at the victim and hit him in the face with a bottle before taking $230 in cash from him. (Buffalo News)

6 people shot in 3 incidents; teenager dies

Oct, 2009 Northeast District officers also responded to reports of gunfire in the 200 block of Minnesota Avenue in the University District at about 8:30 p. m.

Edward Battles, 17, was struck by gunfire while driving a Chevy Lumina eastbound on Minnesota. He then collided with two parked cars. Battles was in critical condition in ECMC.

A 14-year-old girl who was standing in a nearby driveway on Minnesota also was struck by gunfire, police said. (Buffalo News)

Former high school football star gets 5 years for plot to kill pregnant girlfriend

Aug. 28, 2008 --A former Buffalo high school football star was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for hatching a scheme to kill a teenage girl pregnant with his twins.

The gunman, Terrence J. Martinelli, 20, of Minnesota Avenue, was sentenced Aug. 11 by State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller to 8--years in prison on his guilty plea to first-degree attempted assault. (Buffalo News)

Four members of gang admit roles in stabbing

Feb. 19, 2009 --Four gang members, including two currently facing lengthy prison terms in a fatal shooting, pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted assault charges for the stabbing of a 19-year-old Buffalo man on a Metro Rail train on Jan., 8, 2008.

Gerald Gibson, 18, of Alexander Avenue, Cheektowaga, and Dijon Thomas, 17, a former Buffalo resident living in Roseridge, N. C., were told by State Supreme Court Justice Penny M. Wolfgang they each face one to four years in prison for their roles in the attack.

Gibson, who will be sentenced March 17 to 21 to 25 years in prison, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Jermain Martin, 19, of Shirley Avenue last June 7. Thomas faces 10 to 13 years in prison when sentenced April 2 on his first-degree manslaughter plea; he gave Gibson the handgun used to shoot Martin.

Also on April 2, Wolfgang will sentence Byron Brown Jr., 20, of Minnesota Avenue, and Demario Goldston, 19, no permanent address on their attempted assault pleas in the stabbing. Brown, who is not related to Buffalo's mayor, and Goldston face one-year terms for their roles in the attack. (Buffalo News)

GPS device leads police to suspect's hiding spot - a garbage tote

Dec. 10, 2010 --A garbage tote might seem like a fairly safe hiding place for a bank robber carrying about $2,500 in stolen cash. But the tote was no match this afternoon for the latest technological device used by Buffalo police, in conjunction with local banks -- a GPS tracking device.

The tracking device led Buffalo police officers right to the garbage tote where the suspected bank robber was hiding, not long after the robbery at the Bank of America branch at East Delavan and Bailey avenues early this afternoon.

Police arrested Angelique Guillory, 24, of Minnesota Avenue, and charged her with first-degree robbery and criminal possession of stolen property. (Buffalo News)

3/26/10 Shots fired an hour apart Wednesday afternoon caught one man in the foot on Minnesota Avenue and narrowly missed an East Side mother and an infant in a May Street house, Buffalo police said. Police said Montell Jones, no age or address listed, was walking on Minnesota between Bailey and Comstock avenues shortly before 5 p. m. when he was shot in the right foot. He told police he had no idea how he got shot or who did it. He was taken by Rural/ Metro Medical Services to Erie County Medical Center. (Buffalo News)

2/4/10 A 20-year-old man who was assaulted and robbed by three men at midnight Thursday night on Minnesota Avenue was taken to Erie County Medical Center with head and forearm injuries, Buffalo police reported. He told Northeast District police that he was robbed of his cell phone, book bag, paycheck and other items after being attacked while entering the front door of the home. (Buffalo News)

Police gave chase and noticed one man giving a semiautomatic handgun to another, who tried to hide it in a house. Police also chased down another man, who fought with them when apprehended. Police said two of the men were found with crack cocaine after they were in custody. Javon Hayes, 19, of Shirley Avenue, faces charges that include felony possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence. Charges against Freddie Brown, 60, of Rounds Avenue, include felony possession of a weapon, tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution and promoting prison contraband. Jorden Davis, 19, of Minnesota Avenue, was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing police, tampering with evidence and promoting prison contraband. (Buffalo News)

1/4/10 Phillip M. Perry, 30, of Camden Avenue, was charged with assault by Buffalo police Sunday.
Officers said Perry is accused of stabbing a Hartwell Avenue man in the arm and head during an incident on Minnesota Avenue early on the morning of New Year’s Day. Buffalo News

1/3/10 A man was shot during an attempted robbery Friday in a University Heights neighborhood, Buffalo police said Saturday. Leon Garner, no age or address available, was shot in the right shoulder.
The shooting occurred at Minnesota Avenue and Suffolk Street about 9:30 p. m. Friday, according to police. The victim told police he was accosted by four males who tried to rob him. Buffalo News

1/11/09 Apparently this is one of two violent-crime incidents that happened within an hour of each other. The other incident which occurred at approximately 9:30 P.M., the same night near the address of 46 Minnesota. A young woman was walking on Minnesota (en route home?) and was attacked at gunpoint. The perpetrator was apprehended and taken to the Ferry Street Detention Center and
avoided being arrested and taken to jail, because of his age.

9/10/09 The operator of a Bailey Avenue video rental business was arrested today by Buffalo police and federal agents who called him one of the region's major cocaine suppliers. Sean Washington, 40, of Englewood Avenue, was arrested after more than six pounds of cocaine and four handguns were found in a "stash house" he allegedly operates on Eller Avenue. "[Washington] is a big cocaine supplier, a dangerous individual and we're glad to get him off the streets," said Charles Tomaszewski, resident agent in charge of the Buffalo DEA office. "He has a past record of felony drug convictions and we believe he has supplied a number of drug rings in the area for years. "SWAT teams from Buffalo and the Town of Tonawanda took part in the arrests of Washington and his son, Lamar Washington, 19, of Minnesota Avenue. They face felony charges of drug distribution, drug possession and gun possession. (Buffalo News)

4/30/09 Northeast District police charged a 16-year-old and two juveniles in a gang-related robbery late last week. Buffalo police said Rahim Dunston of the 400 block of Minnesota AVE. Two juveniles, kicked, punched and threatened a man and robbed him of $200 Saturday at Minnesota Avenue and Suffolk Street. The three were charged with first-degree robbery. The victim suffered a broken jaw in the attack. (Buffalo News)

8/14/08 At about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, 16-year-old Tymonn Lee was walking east on Minnesota Avenue, near Bailey Avenue, when someone fired twice at him, police said. One bullet struck a finger of his left hand. Police said Lee was seeking treatment in the emergency room of Sisters Hospital.

6/16/08 Marcellas Hutcherson, 16, was sitting on a porch on Minnesota Avenue, near Bailey, around 12:25 a.m. Sunday when a car pulled up and several shots were fired, hitting him in the right side of his back. He was listed in fair condition in ECMC.

5/7/08 A Buffalo woman escaped injury Monday night when someone fired two shots into her home in the University District, police reported. The woman was inside her home in the 400 block of Minnesota Avenue when gunfire erupted at about 11 p.m., police said. One slug damaged the outer door, a newly installed glass storm door and the hallway wall.

1/26/08 A masked gunman robbed a Williamsville man who was walking to a store at Bailey and Minnesota avenues, Northwest District police said.

12/30/2007 Officers said an East Side man was robbed of his car shortly before 6 p.m. at the intersection of Bailey and Minnesota avenues. The victim said five people accosted him, and one pointed a handgun at him.

The problems on Minnesota Ave. started just about the time Byron Brown got elected. So what his answer to this... bogus gun buy back programs and tax cuts, yeah that'll do it. And, as usual, our apparently none too useful, missing in action City Councilwoman Bonnie Russell is no where to be found.

The Race is on in the University District

2011-06-12T18:36:00.001-04:00

Bonnie Russell has a challenger for her City Council seat. This weekend Pamela Cahill announced that she is running for Councilmember of the University District.

Our absentee councilmember is going to have her hands full with this challenger. Pamela is not one of what has become Grassroots, Inc. She is as sick of the racketeering, corruption and pay-to-play allegations being leveled at the Brown administration as the rest of us. Pamela says anyone that works for her will be required to sign an ethics agreement (for starts).

Pamela is taking a walking tour of our district and wants to met every single voter in it. She believes that the solutions to the District's problems can be found is the knowledge and life experience of the people who live here. And I for one agree.

So if you see Pamela Cahill in your neighborhood, take a minute to let her know what's on your mind. Unlike our current councilmember, Pamela listens and she really cares.

https://www.facebook.com/pamela.d.cahill

If SUNY is New York's Economic Engine

2011-06-06T19:53:00.001-04:00

If SUNY is New York's Economic Engine, we are really screwed (but you knew that already, didn't you).

SUNY Chancellor Zimpher released her her $290,000 report on the SUNY Research Foundation today (A report was paid for with public funds, of course).

The report is a dismal, scathing indictment of the problems that secrecy, arrogance, and lack of accountability produce.

Some highlights from the report:

- In recent years, overall SUNY sponsored research has grown only by about 2%per year, even taking into account the significant ($100 million) special influx of American Recovery and Reimbursement Act (“ARRA”) dollars. During this same period, the top 20 institutional recipients of sponsored research funds in the nation increased their share of total NIH funding from 30% to 35%. But meanwhile, a number of SUNY campuses have actually declined in relative research ranking compared to peer institutions.

- the major conclusion that leaps out from this data is that--putting aside the remarkable achievement of Albany and CNSE--the overall SUNY sponsored research enterprise has grown only about 8% in four years, or 2% per year. Moreover, much of the SUNY increase, as the RF acknowledges, was due to an influx of ARRA dollars, about $100 million. Otherwise there has been very little growth. In 2009-2010, without the new legislation (Obama's stimulus funds) , the increase would have been 1.4%.

- The Research Foundation projects basically a flat trend in overall SUNY sponsored research between 2010 and 2015, with some major campuses declining.

- Overall, most participants agree that the SUNY-RF efforts in technology transfer have been only modestly successful, and disappointing overall.

- There are a number of gradients on which Universities customarily rate their success in technology transfer – and SUNY/RF rank poorly on most of them

- The median return (IP revenue divided by research expenditures) for the top 20
institutions was about 9%. SUNY’s realization was 1.3%! SUNY is by far the lowest of
any of the top 20 institutions studied.

- Significantly, it is not just that the SUNY-RF technology performance is not currently robust. This relative deficiency has existed for more than a decade, and there is not yet evidence of strong improvement.

- as to revenue, except for Stony Brook’s Reo Pro ($8.2 million of the total $10.0 million), a stable and large source of royalty revenue, the performance would be far worse. Overall, year after year, Stony Brook generates 90% or more of total SUNY royalty income. In effect, aside from one invention at one campus, the entire SUNY system and its $1 billion/year research enterprise produce no material licensing revenue. << One campus and two discoveries contribute 90% of funds from patent spinoffs.

Cuomo and his NYSUNY2020 just perpetuate this culture of failure. Does anyone really believe that spending $350,000,000 to rebuild the UB Medical School in a new location will actually fix this broken system, much less create thousands of jobs?

Hogan Report:
http://www.suny.edu/communications/pdf/Hogan%20Report%20on%20RF.pdf

Unshackle New York Jane Corwin

2011-05-14T18:05:00.005-04:00

Congresswoman wannabe Jane Corwin is the darling of Unshackle Upstate, an obnoxious group who constantly bitches about taxes and tax cuts while championing government spending that benefits them and theirs.

Good old Jane scored 100% on the Unshackle Upstate report card by supporting things like limits to environmental protections, opposing prevailing wage laws and hiring competent workers, repealing the Taylor Act, reducing the ability of private citizens to file lawsuits..., you get the idea.

Too bad Jane doesn't believe in unshackling more than just rich people from the taxes they are asked to pay. In a recent vote Jane was one of very few New York State legislatures who voted to allow women prisoners to be shackled during childbirth. http://thinkprogress.org/2011/05/13/jane-corwin-shackle-women/

Education Comments and Wind Power

2011-05-09T13:36:00.000-04:00

Recently, there was an Education Town Hall in Buffalo, attended by about 400 people or so - see
http://artvoice.com/issues/v10n18/week_in_review/time_out_on_schools. Maybe you were even there...?

I read that the graduation rate for black males in Buffalo was 25% last year, and the average high school graduation rate for all Buffalo was somewhere really south of pathetic. But, it's not like there are a lot of actual employment possibilities of significance for those with only a high school diploma in much of the country these days, let alone on the Niagara Frontier. Part of this reason is that there is just no respect for those who exchange their labor for money unless this is actually non-productive work (as in FIRE (= Finance, Insurance and Real Estate) employment). Probably the same for education work, and as evidenced by Kaleida's attempt at wage and benefit give-backs to make up for their bad business decision to proceed with the Vascular Center, health care, too... but, that's a bit of a digression. So who's to blame for the pathetic high school graduation rate? Or the pathetically low probability that a college graduate this year will even be able to find a job requiring their college degree (the 2007 peak of 57% dropped to 18% in 2008, and was not much better than 20% for 2009). But, those college graduates that don't postpone jobs for grad school ARE getting jobs - the ones that in the past would have been filled by those with high school degrees. Which also helps explain why those with high school degrees only have such a high unemployment rate - they are getting bumped for minimal wage jobs by those with enhanced educational experiences.

Of course, that can't be a great motivator for getting that high school degree, since unemployed and underemployed is the same whether you are educated or not in terms of income.... And while there are lots of reasons while manufacturing has taken it in the shorts, so to speak, here is an important reason why so many families in this region no longer have viable employment: http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/heading_south_u.s.-mexico_trade_and_job_displacement_after_nafta1
And this affects all skill levels - after all, no factories means no need for engineers in production activities, and lots of college educated support people also are no longer needed (accountants, lawyers, PR, media, advertising, HR, sales, etc). So factory loss also affects the college educated crowd, and in a big way. For evidence (and a really depressing experience), check out what passes for a SUNY Buffalo "job fair" these days - pretty much restricted to mercs (mercenaries), cannon fodder (armed forces), policing, Repo (home foreclosure, repossesion of loaned items) and Pharma Sales "opportunities". Ugh... try this on for size (warning, not a happy one..) http://www.inflation.us/collegebubble.html

So far, few want to even admit the obvious.... that there is ALSO a glut of highly skilled, highly educated people in WNY. And employers in the private sector in this region seem especially incapable of using their talents, even when those employers are, in effect, extensively bribed (or incentivized, so to speak) via tax avoidance, low interest loans, cheap electricity, low interest loans, etc. And it's probably nothing personal, on an individual level most would like to be able to hire more people. And those who went to the recent meeting probably want a fix to what's wrong as evidenced by high drop-out rates and on average, poor test scores by Buffalo's high school attendees....

So, for the next education conference in Buffalo, perhaps these facts could be considered:

a) The strongest correlation between educational success and no success (= no graduation, poor grades, poor comprehension of what passes for being important knowledge, etc) is POVERTY. Minimizing poverty is the best way to improve grades and improve graduation rates. This is a well proven, and in the U.S., usually a conveniently ignored fact.

b) POVERTY is strongly correlated to employment, obviously. If you want to minimize poverty, you have to maximize employment possibilities for the unemployed/impoverished for whom a better education is supposedly intended, and/or an education for their kids..

c) Since private industry does not want to hire or is incapable of hiring sufficient numbers of people at living wages (though they will hire a select few for atrociously high wages in the executive management realm - as in Kaleida (http://wnymedia.net/the-answer-lady/2011/05/kaleida-squeezes-its-workers-for-60000000/), National Fuel Gas (abbreviated as NFG), SUNY Buffalo, UB Foundation, etc) - what to do? If they won't hire people because there is NO DEMAND for what they might make or for what services they might render, maybe other options need to be considered. Such as taxing the unproductive and stashed assets of the wealthy who own much of the corporate world and putting people to work directly. Or else taking steps to stimulate demand for useful things (and not redundant, already in existence things, like existing Universities and Hospitals) by removing some of the "speculative and gambling" tax-like arrangements that the "predator sector" (FIRE) imposes on society.

d) The motivation for educational success is significantly provided by the probability that actual employment at wages that support a middle class life is sufficiently high enough. When that probability of viable employment approaches zero for a large segment of Buffalo, well, motivating those kids to go to school, let alone getting anything of value out of school becomes more difficult than leading a non-thirsty horse to the Scajaquada Creek and trying to force them to drink that yucky water. Also, check out this: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/09/974409/-Why-Life-in-High-School-Is-More-Absurd-Than-Ever.

e) Educational success is also somewhat of a family affair - those whose parents or parental figures are educated/appreciate an education tend to do better than those whose parents perceive no value in education (just leaves you unemployed, but a lot deeper in debt). More Catch 22, and mostly curable with viable employment for the parents of the kids going to school.

f) Some horrid solutions to the "not enough jobs/too many people" scenario is to decrease the number of people, rapidly - often by war (US "Civil" War, WW1, WW2), genocide (Rwanda, Turkey/Armenia, Europe in WW2, Bosnia in the 1990's), starvation and protein deficiency (China in Great Leap Forward, North Korea), or societal insanity (the present Congo "rape-fest"/butchery zone). And there is the time honored tradition of slaughtering women by accusing them of witchcraft/health care skills - that was good for a 15 million person population readjustment in the Middle Ages (rumors are that some teabaggers have a yen for this one). But, those are horrid. The civilized way to go is hire people, ASAP, and put them to work doing things that make our country a better place, and these days, more energy sensible.

So much of what I heard in the recent Education Town Hall reporting was adults looking for a scapegoat as to why so many Buffalo children don't see any value in education (maybe the lack of scholarships to SUNY Buffalo for Buffalo high school grads is a factor? - After all, the UB Foundation and related only spends 8% of its annual expenditures on tuition for poor people - see http://wnymedia.net/the-answer-lady/2011/05/the-skim/). Maybe if we looked at the situation through the eyes of a Buffalo High Schooler - and not as employed adults, often with college degrees surrounded by other employed adults with college degrees - and saw what they saw in terms of future money income, a more educational experience might be the outcome of the next meeting. Otherwise, we will probably get another exercise in mediocrity, exemplified by US Education Secretary Arne Duncan:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/05/973502/-A-teachers-royal-smackdown-of-Arne-Duncan

Lastly, most ways of stimulating demand and increasing employment when private industry does an impressive FAIL (as was evidenced in The Great Recession - at least a 7 million jobs lost arrangement) is what was done by the great NY Hero of the Economy Harry Hopkins (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hopkins), and yes, this involves government deficit spending. Mr. Hopkins oversaw a massive government hiring of people in the winter of 1933 - the Keynesian Stimulus approach - and this kept a LOT of people (more than a million?) from starving and/or freezing to death, though that fate was not uncommon for poor people during those times.

BUT, there is a way to massively stimulate economic demand without government spending and bribes in the form of tax avoidance for uber-rich people, and that is in the replacement of our pollution based electricity production system (about 80% of NY's electricity is provided via polluters). All you have to do is make manufacture of green energy systems economically viable by creating a demand for them. And to do that, all that is needed is to price the product of these systems - renewable electricity - at a rate that is equal to the cost of production plus some socially defined reasonable profit/return on investment - around 5% to10%, depending on what they are. This could put some of the (so far, "only") $2 trillion in corporate stashed away cash to work, as well as the $1+ trillion in banks/"bankster organizations" like Goldman Sachs. They have NO VIABLE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES for that money (and then there is a lot more from rich individuals and "Hedgies" - Hedge Funds) in the U.S. at the present time. So much for job creation by those rich people that Republicans in the House and Senate have imagined as "The Job Creators"...

So give them some viable investment opportunities, as well as the rest of us "normal people" who wish for more than 0.25% from savings accounts in banks. Take the value-less added, socially destructive and inapplicable-to-renewable-

energy risk out of electricity pricing in NY State. Disconnect renewable electricity pricing from pollution sourced electricity (nukes, coal, Ngas, oil), and put it on a cost plus reasonable return basis. And if banks fail to step up to these massive investment/loan/loan income opportunities, set up a NY State Green Bank for that purpose (it will be an income stream for NY State, too). After all, when those banksters can scam stock holders, governments, consumers and other investors via front-running, swaps, commodity futures/derivatives on those bets, other rigged gambles, etc, you would think WC Fields' comment in "My Little Chickadee" applies:

"Mister, Is that a game of chance?" asks a prospective poker player.
"Not the way I play it" says Mr. Fields, ever so truthfully...

To get the job of replacing most of our pollution based energy systems done in NY State about 4 million job-years of direct employment is needed, as are $271 billion over 20 years (repaid by electricity and ex-Ngas users) - see http://wagengineering.blogspot.com/2011/04/peak-oil-and-wind-power-in-ny-for-2011.html. And then there are spin-off jobs to be had (multiplier effect). No taxes needed to fund this, and any bonds for a NY Green Bank are readily repaid using interest from loan money that comes from reliable repayments of loans based on sane pricing for renewable energy in NY State. BTW, with enhanced economic performance, tax revenues also rise.... And if you use more expensive routes to make electricity, well, that also creates more jobs (somewhere, hopefully here) manufacturing those systems.....

Or we could moan and groan about those slacker kids and what sometimes passes for adult supervision (take some extreme examples, apply it to almost all, and "mission accomplished"), ad infinitum, call in Wall St and the Hedgies for their "educational treatment" and get another education in how to get fleeced of a lot of money. But without a cure for the "leading the horse to that yucky Scajaquada Creek water" problem, there will be no perceptible improvement in graduation rates or test score performance. But hey, Wall St is close to Madison Avenue, so with the right media campaign, we can be convinced that something is happening even though the SOS mode is really occurring.

TVO

Kaleida Squeezes Its Workers for $60,000,000

2011-05-04T19:35:00.000-04:00

Global Vascular White Elephant
UB2020/Kaleida Public Private Partnership
Costs Employees $60 Million

Kaleida is seeking more than $60 million in “life altering” concessions from its Unionized Workforce that could cost workers as much as $60,000 each over the next 10 years. WNY Labor Today

In what should come as no surprise to anyone, economic development UB2020/NYSUNY 2020 style comes with obscene administrative salaries, expensive new buildings and draconian cuts to workers salaries.

In 2010, Kaleida’s CEO James R. Kaskie, raked in $2.3 million, (up from $1.2 million in 2008) to head the not for profit health corporation.

Under Kaskie’s leadership, Kaleida entered into a $173 million agreement to build the UB2020 Global Vascular Center which would house Kaleida's cardiac, stroke and vascular operations emergency department. Under this UB2020 ~~Public Private Partnership~~ Ponzi scheme, Kaleida will then sell part of it to UB for $118 million, leaving a gap of at least $55 million Kaskie has evidently decided to pay for by closing nursing homes, special ed programs, clinics for the poor and cutting workers salaries $60,000,000.

Governor Cuomo’s seems so enamored of UB’s ability to stimulate the local economy with public/private partnerships like this that he is proposing even more of the same with his latest NYSUNY2020 grant program. Watch for more buildings no one can afford paid for by student tuition increases and workers wage cuts, coming soon.

The Skim

2011-05-01T19:19:00.002-04:00

Giving to UB

Alumni can be forgiven in thinking that their gifts actually go to help deserving poor students achieve a higher education. After all, that's what the propaganda tells us, isn't it? Heartwarming stories about how a delightful group of students achived their dreams thanks to you, the generous donor.

The truth, as usual, is not so pretty. Sent to me by concerned readers these stats indicate that UB, through its foundations, spends less than 8% of its take on those deserving students.

Total UBF contributions on IRS990 for 2009: $15 million
Total UBF scholarships on IRS990 for 2009: $2.5 million

Total UBFA revenue reported on IRS990 for 2009: $60 million.
Total UBFA payments for scholarships to individuals: $3.3 million

Anyone following Buck Quigley's exellent series of articles on the UB foundation know that the UB Foundation Activities story was the same in 2008. In 2008, the UBFA spent $28 million on various forms of employee compensation, including millions in salary top-ups to upper-level UB employees, and $18,923,891 on travel, advertising and promotions, conferences, and conventions, and payments to various affiliated corporations while finding a measely $3.34 million for scholarships.

Any charity that spent $3.3 million of $60 million would be considered extremely suspect. The American Institute of Philanthropy gives a failing grade to any organization that spends less than 60% of its income on its stated mission. The best organizations spend upwards of 75% or more.

Alumni and others who think that UB is skimming off way to much to enrich already overpaid bureaucrats and their cronies might consider asking the Attorney General to take a look into UB Foundation activities.

http://www.ag.ny.gov/resource_center/complaints/pdfs/comp_char.pdf

Tripathi's Package

2011-04-18T20:29:00.000-04:00

Satish Tripathi's appointment as president of SUNY Buffalo came with a $650,000 package.

$385,000 base salary
$150,000 from the UB Foundation
$115,000 from the SUNY Research Foundation.

Satish's package includes use of the UB McMansion and a vehicle. I guess at $650,000 he could be expected to pay for his own housing and transportation now could he?

What these guys do to earn money like this is a mystery to me. As Ex-President John B Simpson's right hand man, he presided over a university whose Libraries were allowed to crumble into disrepair and now apparently cannot even afford to clean the classrooms.

Satish is not alone in the greed department. Across the country, people are starting to question what these guys do for money like this (Presidents Defend Their Pay as Public Colleges Slash Budgets).

State budgets are tanking, students graduate into unemployemnt, but up in the clueless, rarified air of academia, the good times continue to roll, for now anyway.

ALEC and UB 2020 - What a Cluster Pluck

2011-04-03T11:02:00.000-04:00

University of Wisconsin Professor William Cronon recently made the news when republican state legislatures demanded access to his work related emails. Cronon is critical of republican Governor Scott Walker's agenda and had recently started blogging about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), its role in writing legislation used by Scott Walker and others in their union busting agendas.

Professor Cronon is questioning the sudden nationwide appearance of extremist right wing legislation aimed at rolling back voting rights, environmental law, immigration rights, collective bargaining, property rights over civil rights, rolling back healthcare reform. He shines a light on ALEC as the author/main driver of this latest push to roll back hard won middle class rights.

Although ALEC's main emphasis is in rolling back environmental protections, they are heavily invested in education legislation.

State lawmakers and higher education leaders must ... work together to maximize every revenue source available to improve institutional efficiency. - ALEC 10 Questions

ALEC literature discusses their promotion of public/private partnerships as a solution to reform government. These partnerships will utilize public funds, but will remove accountability to taxpayers. Gov Rick Snyder Sellout? Prefabricated Corporate Michigan (Government) Courtesy of Koch & ALEC Excl.

The Empire Center, offshoot of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, calls for "Flexibilty Reform for SUNY and CUNY". The Manhattan Institute and ALEC have an intimate history. Check out ALEC / Manhattan collaboration in Center for Civic Innovation publication Show me the Money.

It should come as no surpirse to anyone that the roots of the UB2020 legislation would be found in a group funded by extremists intent on protecting their profits over the public good; Enron, Amoco, Chevron, Shell, Texaco, Coors, Koch Industries, Nationwide Insurance, Pfizer, National Energy Group, Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds and others. To be continued ...

What's wrong with this picture?

2011-03-20T18:46:00.003-04:00

The Buffalo News turned out to be the (almost) lone voice of reason in the rush to declare Mary Anne Rizzo (notorious NIMBY) Economic Enemy #1, when she supposedly, single handedly brought down a multi-BILLION dollar Verizon deal. (warning asshole alert)

Of course, if Verizon really wanted to put the data center in Somerset, it’s hard to believe that it couldn’t have made Rizzo an offer for her land with enough zeros in it that she couldn’t refuse it. Why let a few hundred thousand dollars stand in the way of a $4 billion project that’s already getting cheap power and other government incentives that work out to $3.1 million per job?

So maybe Verizon really never had its heart set on Somerset. Buffalo News 3/20/11

Yeah, maybe Verizon never was really serious about locating its server farm in Somerset. After all no corporation, in the history of corporations, has ever been know to play off one competing area against another, right? Or maybe buying an existing server farm business for way less money suddenly made the BILLIONS $$$ needed for the Samerset project look like a bad investment? Or Judges never give bad advice when they tell your lawyer that no environmental impact study is necessary? Or the coal fired electrical plant that you were depending on for 75% of your electricity, suddenly gets put up for sale?

Nah, it's one little old lady that brought the whole thing down.

Buy In, Don't Sell Out SUNY

2011-03-06T18:55:00.001-05:00

Despite a concerted state tax payer funded PR campaign to convince us that once again that loser UB2020 plan is still viable, word is getting out that its nothing more than another transfer of wealth to the already rich and well connected.

Some SUNY students are able to see through the BS and confronted Sam Hoyt at his Saturday budget meeting about his support of this plan.

http://www.buyindontsellout.org

The latest regurgitation of UB2020, ala Mark Grisanti, includes a few crumbs for working class students in the form of handouts from $375 per semester tuition increases. Its great to see students question a plan that will immediately funnel cash into special interest pockets while insuring that those paying the bills through tuition increases never see the buildings they are paying for.

It makes me wonder who has actually read the latest reincarnation of this pathetic retread of a bill.

Some highlights from the bill:

Tuition for those in professional programs can be increased under the bill to the lesser of the public institution mean or 15 percent of the base year tuition.
This bill requires the State to calculate TAP payments based on the tuition UB students are paying, Translation - NYS taxpapyers will subsidize all these tuition increases, not exactly the revenue nuetral plan that Simpson was touting.
Authorizes the trustees to provide for the sale, lease, transfer or conveyance of state-owned real
property. Your paid for it, a few appointed hacks can sell it to their best buds no questions asked.

Lady Gaga calls out NYS Senator Mark Grisanti

2011-03-05T16:39:00.000-05:00

At last night's concert, Lady Gaga urged the thousands in attendance to contact Mark Grisanti and tell him to support the NY State Marriage Bill

Mark's office was has been swamped with thousands of phone calls, texts, tweets and emails ever since. Way to go Gaga!

Courtesy of Lady Gaga, Mark's email is - grisanti@nysenate.gov

Rush Limbaugh Clones Rwanda Massacre Instigating Phrase

2011-03-02T10:11:00.005-05:00

While it may seem odd, the key to the massacre of about 1 million people in 100 days in Rwanda, and the ensuing wars in Central Africa that use wide scale rape as a strategic weapon, is the term "Cockroach". Actually, it was all about calling your political opponents or just about anybody of another tribe/clique (like union members) "cockroaches" or some other unwanted species, and instead of using all the media at your disposal to scream "exterminate those people", the phrase used was "exterminate the cockroaches".

Sounds stupid, right? But man was it effective.

These Central African (Congo) wars have also led to the slaughter of at least 4 million other people in the last decade, too - I guess it is a way to deal with high population density. Uganda also did a similar horror show with Idi Amin, and it looks to repeat the process with anyone who is gay or suspected of being gay, or aiding someone who is gay.

So along comes that master of propaganda (and who also makes a fortune dishing out bigotry and associated propaganda, sometimes cleverly arranged, sometimes not), Rush Limbaugh:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/02/951587/-Limbaugh:-Leftists-are-cockroaches

Who says it can't happen here? Oh yes, that horrid person Hitler used a similar technique, but he and his band of criminals were hardly unique. Remember, it's the technique that matters. Find a scapegoat, dehumanize, and stand back while the blood flows like water over Niagara Falls.

The U.S. now has about 25 million "surplus people" of employable age (unemployed, barely employed, or "fallen off the radar screen"). There are not enough jobs to go around, and if lots of people "disappeared", there would be less need for unemployment payments, welfare, Food Stamps, heating money payments, medicare, medicaid, and probably less need for money to educate children (they also tend to be tied to their parents). In addition we have a large population of elderly. Geez, taxes on rich people could even be lowered if there were only less of those "undeserving freeloaders" that are "so needy" - Whoppee! Due to the theft of trillions of dollars by banksters and other financial schemers, grifters, con-artists, fraudsters and scammers recently, the economy is now in the pits. And so, scapegoats are being constructed to dump the blame on, and to shift ANY focus on progressive income tax rates, taxing value-less added financial speculation, hedge-fund "gambling" (pretty rigged, actually, in many cases), and stopping 2 useless Oil Wars still in progress which are bleeding our economy and troops something fierce, too.

Such scapegoating by Limbaugh (and others of his ilk are sure to follow), in a nation hurting and extremely well armed and dangerous is...very dangerous, at least if you believe in behaving humanely towards your fellow country-persons.

So, what are you going to do about this vile epidemic of hatred that just got deliberately unleashed yesterday? And if you think that it will just go away by itself, think again. With sufficient money - Limbaugh hauls in $60 million/yr, and via Karl Rove and the likes of the Koch Boys (as in "attention Governor Scott Walker, your dealer is on line 2"), lots of money and carefully crafted Frank Luntz media framing is available rather rapidly - it's a piece of cake. In the U.S., one should never underestimate the ability of advertising to do a lot of persuasion in a short amount of time, especially when a lot of money is behind that advertising. Especially in America, where most every household seems to have a TV set, which will definitely let out that kind of evil ooze in a very rapid and time tested manner. Radio is bad enough at doing this stuff (read the article to find out how the Rwanada wretchedness was no accident).

TVO

Thoughts on Demand

2011-02-09T09:41:00.000-05:00

It seems that ignorance about basic economics (macro version) reigns supreme these days, especially when we get visited by the ghost of Ronald Raygun past (remember the Toles image of the Particle Board Beam?). So...same facts to burst this seemingly Prozac and Valium induced fantasy:

http://www.angrybearblog.com/2011/02/few-graphs-describing-reagan-presidency.html#more

But nowadays, with a Democrat in charge, businessmen keep calling for austerity (mysteriously missing in the reign of George Bu$h) in government (which shrinks economic demand) as well as more incentives for them to invest the $2 trillion plus of cash that they are sitting on (which will shrink government tax revenues, and lead to greater deficits, and more need for more austerity):

And what austerity brings - more calls for corporate welfare when the economy responds to a shrinkage in economic demand by shrinking in output, which eventually hits corporate profits (shrinking or eliminating them/replacing them with losses) once the poor and middle classes have been tapped beyond viability:

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/uk-about-to-implement-massive-tax-break-for-banks-is-the-us-far-behind.html

Of course, more governmental welfare for corporations means more expenditures and less government revenues... thus continuing the situation.

At Gov. Cuomo's recent speech at Daemen College (2-4-11), what was notable was the lack of any creation in Demand by his budget. Sure, its good to go after/cut off from the state money tap the corporate rip-off artists in the Medicare biz, and overpaid public officials, such as the 50% of all public school district supervisors in NY State hauling in more than $200,000/yr in base salary (BTW, there are far worse examples - just google "See Through NY" or scroll through http://www.seethroughny.net/). Maybe the Governor of NY is too far down the totem pole to be able to do anything about macroeconomic demand in NY State. But without more demand for products, business will not:

a) hire more people to make the stuff needed to supply that demand
b) invest in more productive assets, which will also allow more stuff to be made, and to thus create more supply for that demand; this also creates additional hiring (i.e. demand for labor)

And if workers don't get hired, they don't pay more in revenue to NY State, and the budget deficit either does not improve and/or it gets even worse, necessitating more cuts and thus a shrinkage in Demand. This onset of a deflationary death spiral also comes at a time when Peak Oil is cranking up oil prices, and various climate effects (as in the initial teasings of Global Warming) are putting a hurt on agricultural production in many parts of the world. Oh goody, more squeeze...

Behind me at the Gov's speech was a businessman who said that because tax rates (on him, not me) might get dropped, more workers would get hired. But more importantly, because the NY State expenditures would drop, more workers would get hired...!!! Right. But what would these businesspeople make, and who would they sell it too? His answer was "overseas" since domestically, there is no increase in demand for most things. But competition outside the US is even more cutthroat than in the US (and often based on things like bribery/kickbacks, which are supposedly illegal for businesspeople to do), especially in the growing (outside the US, that is) Green Energy field. After all, we have not been technological leaders in this area for a decade (that would be Europe, and that is generally where China buys its renewable technology from/steals it from), so in general, the US does not even have technology in this market to sell, let alone products made from this non-existent technology (some exceptions, but fewer and fewer). Europe's technology is often a result of Feed-In Laws, because the Feed-In Laws allow the products from this technology to be sold at viable prices, because the product of those devices - renewable energy - can also be sold on a cost plus reasonable profit basis. Last year, Green Energy investments in the U.S. (notably wind turbines), shrank, as did the rate of delivered renewable energy (most of which was supplied by wind turbines) from those investments.

I'm guessing this guy was just spouting pre-programmed religion - just press the button and out it comes. And his view seems to have been embraced by the local media, as they refuse to talk about what will actually create economic Demand in NY State, especially on a long term basis. They will tend to go on about education, but the story in the Sunday news about the Just Pizza delivery dude with his degree in biochemistry is going to be SO typical for the next decade unless this issue of THE LACK OF JOBS is addressed. In 2007, 57% of college grads had a job lined up that would require a college degree. In 2008 it was 18%, and 2009 was similar. The 2010 number may have crept up to 30%. The number one concern among college students is "where can I get ANY kind of job, not just one requiring the use of skills learned in their institution of higher learning". That is 4 years (and at about 1 million grads/year)... where an average of 2/3 of college grads had to go after jobs that would normally go to those without a college degree. Talk about a snowball situation, where every year another 700,000 people get piled onto the already several million people with college degrees and with either no job, or a job where no college degree is required. How long can this go on before college attendance and the business of college starts feeling these economics? After all, most who go to college do so because they have a better probability of getting any job, and especially a better paying job. What happens when that is generally no longer true? Why go in the hole to the tune of $30,000 to $100,000 for no net gain? Are the "social activities" in college that can be had no other way worth that kind of coin?

We are used to warehousing large percentages of our population in dead end or no (legal) employment arrangements, but now college seems mostly a way to keep shoving this "dust" (all those millions of people) under the rug, so to speak, to warehouse people for which there are no jobs. How this will play out is anyone's guess, but in the Arab world, it is already boiling over. But maybe US college students and grads are "soma'd out" by any combination of consumer gadgets, alcohol, video games/internet distractions and general sub-urban isolation, so it will be another "no problem situation".

But on the other hand, what happens when the empty rhetoric of of Gov. Cuomo's nice sounding and nicely intentioned "green jobs" gets confronted by actual Green Jobs in Ontario, and essentially none in NY? Will our local and statewide media be able to keep this from ever happening (that is, letting the Ontario Green Jobs story out) by insuring blanket ignorance among NY's young adults? Inquiring minds would like to know... And will needed environmental improvements - like removing possibility that sewage gets dumped into the Buffalo River via the "CSO mechanism" - get dealt with or does that (which also creates lots of jobs, at least during the construction phase) get zapped by the surge to austerity...

Anyway, the sad fact is that the macro-economically ignorant businessman probably has a college degree. So all that knowledge that supposedly was poured into his brain just went out and fell on the floor. Or else, as Upton Sinclair once said, it is easy to remain ignorant when your paycheck depends upon it. And obviously, he's working hard at staying ignorant and spouting the (business) Party line...

TVO

Bob McCarthy - Republican Whore (Part 44)

2011-02-06T10:21:00.002-05:00

Bob put on his lipstick, slapped on the kneepads and got down to business Sunday, with a puff piece informing us of how the Chris Collins campaign fund of $1.3 million (over 60% of which Collins had to donate to himself) is scaring off all challengers.

Apparently Mark Polocarz didn't get the memo. At the first meeting the Good Neighbor Democrats, we had a chance to chat with Mark. Mark's candidacy for County Executive is the worst kept secret in Erie County politics. (A fact conveniently left out by Buffalo's very republican PR dude).

It looks like Erie County voters will have a clear choice this year, progressive politics or a re-run of the Aggressive Narcissism we have come to know and love from King Kollins.

http://poloncarz.com/

Chop from the Top

2011-01-27T19:15:00.002-05:00

photo: WRGB

Its amazing what can happen when students get together and actually think. SUNY Albany students stagged a walk out Thursday to protest cuts to academic programs. During a "teach in" ideas were solicited for ways the University could save, "chopping from the top" was frequently mentioned.

As SUNY doesn't want taxpayers or students to know, millions can be saved by cutting just some of the overpaid administrators.

Residents in the neighborhood surrounding the South Campus of SUNY Buffalo are well aware of these useless bureaucrats. I mean really. Do we need to spend hundreds of thousands a year on people like Marsha Henderson and associated mini minions in External Affairs and Community Relations so they can inflict crap like this - http://www.buffalo.edu/community/impact_south_campus.html on us?

Chop from the top indeed!

Where have all the Library Books Gone?

2011-01-20T20:27:00.000-05:00

Where have all the Lib. books gone?

(Sung to the tune of that infamous Pete Seeger ballad)

The Library community is rife with rumors about the goings on at the Central Library. The whole second floor being closed down, thousands of books throw out, walls being erected on the first floor … Even the staff at the Central Library doesn’t seem to know what the plan or big picture is.

All librarians know that in order to keep a Library collection vital/viable for the community, collections have to be weeded and books disposed of. They also know it often gets the public very upset. That’s why Libraries write policies, follow guidelines and notify/educate the public when they need to throw away some books.

Librarians know that if they leave out some of these steps, that the PR monster will come to haunt them.

Artvoice - The Public Library Fires Books, Too

Why did they get rid of so many books at once, why the hurry, and why trash them instead of giving them to another library or school? and why are they clearing so much space? what is it going to be used for?

The secrecy and hurry that accompanies all this leaves us to speculate on the competency of the Library management, or speculate on manipulation from outside influences. Is our beloved county executive not content with his attempt to savage the Library budget? Allowing the libraries to be destroyed by shrinking them into irrelevance is an excellent followup.

In light of the significant budget restorations that the Democrats in the County legistalture worked so hard to achieive, why is the Central Library being downsized in such a vicious fashion?

Maybe, once again, the answer lies in the politics of it all. Not content to let the legislature have the last word over the Library, are Collins and his BFF Byron Brown encouraging their appointees on the Library board destroy it for them?

... Gone to dumpsters every one.

About that UB2020 Berkeley of the East thing

2011-01-17T18:57:00.001-05:00

Well, that patheic hairball of a plan has been hacked up again by the usual suspects. Simpson is, once again, back online touting UB2020 as our community's highest aspiration. Someone might want to take a look at how the Simpson vision is working out for the Berekely of the West.

UC Berkeley Announces Layoffs

Officials at the University of California-Berkeley announced yesterday that about 280 full-time positions will be eliminated, resulting in layoffs for about 150 staff members.

According to a campus-wide e-mail sent by Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and several other university officials, staff reductions have already begun and will take place before June. About a quarter of the 280 positions have salaries of $100,000 or more.

"We will create a flatter and healthier organizational structure which will have about one third fewer managers and will focus our best managers on developing talent and actively managing the organization."

UC-Berkeley has undergone a number of major changes in recent months: In 2009, the university's tuition and fees increased a staggering 32 percent. In September, Berkeley announced that it would be eliminating five of its sports programs. In November, it was reported that Berkeley had become the first public institution to charge over $50,000 a year for out-of-state students' tuition, fees, room and board.

Probably not what President Emeritus (how much is that going to cost us?) Simpson had in mind, but certainly a Berkeley of the East plan, parts of which, NYS taxpayers should seriously consider.

A Buffalo Outer Harbor Plan

2011-01-15T08:08:00.000-05:00

What to do with the Outer Harbor of Buffalo? Maybe this image might spark off an idea (from a mini-wind farm (but with commercial scale units) in Norway.

The Outer Harbor land used to be mostly owned by the City of Buffalo and some existing businesses (Cargill, Ford, some rail lines, etc), but as many of these businesses/plant went belly up or were abandoned, the City of Buffalo came to own more of them. NYPA bought on the cheap 11 acres to park the ice boom on, and the Army Corp of Engineers created some land by dumping toxic Buffalo River dredgings/sludge, which eventually became the Times Beach wetlands, next to the 32 acres of US Coast Guard land at the tip of the Outer Harbor. In fact, a lot of the Outer Harbor lands are filled in Lake Erie (usually slag from the steel factories, mixed in with Buffalo River dredged out stuff, and at one time, 6 acres of toxic waste mostly from Ford (paints, chrome, oils, metal shavings, garbage from the waterfront stamping plant, etc)). For many years Freezer Queen operated a food processing facility in that big white building next to the NFTA Small Boat Harbor, and the NFTA leased out the ex-Ford stamping plant to a food distributor/warehouse, and a small portion of it to Rich Products.

The Port of Buffalo was operated by the Niagara Frontier Port Authority (eventually becoming the NFTA), and much of this land was ceded to the NFPA/NFTA just before the opening of the Welland Canal did in Buffalo as a significant port. So much for that idea. The NFTA has been struggling to sell land/lease land DONATED to them by the City of Buffalo (for transportation purposes) and pocket the proceeds (profits) - how's that for the NFTA being a non-profit authority, and what are they doing in the real estate speculation/business development business, anyway? Why don't they hand this back to the City of Buffalo, like they were supposed to do, if they could not use it for "transportation purposes"?

By now, only a part of the warehouse on the waterfront, the US Coast Guard, the Sand Products depot/classifier unit and a couple of marinas on the City Ship Canal are used to the north of the Small Boat Harbor - there is lots of vacant land that is "going back to nature" in that region. Recently, the public was given some formal access to part of that area via a bike/walkway along the water, c/o the Niagara Power Project Settlement. So far, this seems to be a well received development. If that trend is continues, a waterfront park stretching from the US Coast Guard to the Freezer Queen Pier may develop. A proposal for the conversion of the Freezer Queen Building into a set of condos seems to have evaporated - another victim of The Great Recession - and the conversion of the NFTA warehouse/ex-Ford plant into a Nanodynamics venture capital emporium/business incubator also has gone "poof" with the bankruptcy and other legal problems of that company.

So, what about a "wind park"? That is, place commercial scale wind turbines along this windiest place in Buffalo, sort of like a string of 10 redwood trees (about the same size, height and girth wise) in this region, and make it "condo-proof" for at least a generation. Those would fit in nicely with the grass/woodlands/marshes that have been sprouting up on the northern part of the Outer Harbor. This would allow some fraction of the electricity made to pay for operation and maintenance of this region (repair the docks, mow the grass, plant trees as needed), but most importantly, it would keep this region as public space, and prevent this from diluting the real estate and commercial property values in the rest of the City. A sort of small version of Chicago's waterfront park. Or an urban version of the wind park at the Northwest corner of Prince Edward Island (PEI), where the Atlantic Wind Test Center, a park, a bird resting/breeding area, a nature center and a wind farm are co-located. See http://www.canwea.ca/images/uploads/File/North_Cape2.pdf and http://wn.com/north_cape_wind_farm_pei_placescom. A total of 27.6 MW (16 x V47 (660 kw, "small units") and 4 x V90 x 3 MW (big ones)) have been integrated into this park. Nearby (about 5 miles) in the town of O'Leary there is now a large wind farm (55 x 1.8 MW V80's).

Of course, PEI is much windier than Buffalo's Outer Harbor, but on the other hand, the wind resources on the Outer Harbor are commercial by US standards, the best in Buffalo, averaging around 7.2 m/s at 80 meter heights and 7.3 m/s or more at 100 meter heights. These also happen to be some of the best wind resources in NY State on land. And there is a huge market for this electricity; about 900,000 people in Erie County, and a bit more than a quarter million people in Buffalo. Placing a few wind turbines in this area will not power up Buffalo totally, but every bit helps, and besides, this is non-polluting electricity that would displace coal derived electricity made in Dunkirk, Tonawanda and Somerset, or else natural gas and/or nuke sourced electricity from somewhere in upstate NY.

In our region, the most famous example of a wind turbine integrated into an urban park is the Lagerwey 750 kw unit in Toronto, totally awesome, and VERY public (no hiding this one). In Europe, there are numerous instances of wind turbines placed on shorelines/coastlines/dikes, placed next to road or next to bikeways. Here is an example (going on 9 years old):

By the way, if you haven't seen the Toronto turbine, it's really easy to Google. It is also a big tourism draw for the City, and it is really photogenic:
http://www.seetorontonow.com/NR/DirectEnergyCentre_GreenInitiatives.pdf

So, where would these Buffalo waterfront wind turbines go? Well, some potential spots are indicated by the red dots on the Google satellite photo map below:

Not every one of these spots needs to be used, and there may be some other opportunities on land just a bit inland. Also, there is a big batch of land that is part of the Small Boat Harbor (just to the south of where the boats get parked) that would also be a great spot for a unit.

There are a few ways to do this, but for all of them, the key is that no state/local tax dollars need to be spent to pay for these - one way or another, electricity customers (all or just a few) will pay down the investment (major cost) and also the upkeep of them (minor cost). In fact, the City of Buffalo, NFTA and/or Erie County could actually do a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and agree to buy the energy output over a 20 to 25 year period at a fixed/defined price. In that way, private developers could install them, and lease payments/PILOT payments and or a percentage of the gross sales could fund park upkeep. The lower production cost way to proceed would be for the City, County, NFTA and/or State to issue bonds to finance them, get them installed and operate them; payments on the bonds would be done by taking the money once paid to polluting generators (coal, natural gas, nukes) and instead used to pay off these bonds. The private developers would (presently) get significant tax avoidance subsidies from some federal and State taxes, while the public route could benefit from an incentive known as REPI (Renewable Energy Production Incentive, worth 2.1 c/kw-hr for 10 years). But regardless, somebody has to make up for the taxes avoided, or for the REPI subsidy, and that usually implies poor and middle class people. But, that's the way that we do things in this country..... On the other hand, with a PPA, maybe a "no tax avoidance" arrangement could be made, but that would result in the true cost being apparent in the price. In the USA, virtually every form of energy is subsidized, so such a proposal would be quite unique.....

In the 2004-2005 era, a horrible plan for most people in this region was put forth to develop Buffalo's Outer Harbor. But, this plan would have been quite the meal ticket for SOME people and organizations, including:

a) Bankers financing this boondoggle.
b) Bond brokers (no doubt public debt would be created to help finance some of this private development).
c) Construction companies, urban designers, architects, etc.
d) Some construction workers, truck drivers, equipment companies (leasing/selling equipment).
e) Politicians and notably their political campaign committees, who would be able to legally shake down prospective or actual bidders, service providers, businesses, labor unions, construction workers for campaign contributions in return for a piece of the action, or a chance to get a piece of the action.
f) Those doing services and collecting fees on them (a wide and varied list), including those betting on the bonds going south in value (shorting the bonds) when this financial turkey imploded (derivatives, and derivatives on those derivatives).

In essence, it would have created a separate zone which rich people, almost all of them white people (they tend to be most of the rich people around here, after all) would have inhabited. There were something like 7 x 13 story glass enclosed condos, a professional basketball stadium, a convention center, and lots of canals carved through the area which the rich people could use to park their boats/yachts, or at least frolic in them during boating season. Also as part of this was more housing and business offices, like Buffalo needs more office space. And because there would be all this disposable income associated with the well off inhabitants and those attending the convention center/basketball stadium and various businesses, some associated bars and restaurants to cater to this newly assembled market would also be needed (like we need more of that in Buffalo, too). Actually, what Buffalo really needs are NEW customers for its existing underused office space, bars and restaurants; in the present zero sum arrangement, new additions get balanced by subtractions of existing businesses, until the balance between supply and demand is re-established.

Of course, those getting shafted would be local and state taxpayers and possibly bondholders when the project(s) fail(s) to generate the required revenues (which probably dumps this back onto taxpayers) to pay back those bank loans and bonds. That would have happened with almost 100% certainty, given that The Great Recession started happening in 2007, with a collapse in the housing industry/home sales/condo sales. Carl Palladino's government subsidized (via property tax avoidance, for starts) condo complex on the waterfront had a lot of trouble finding tenants - it may still be partly empty, and many of those were in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 segment. Imagine trying to sell those when 300 to 500 more of those were competing for the same tiny market of rich people willing to condo along Buffalo's waterfront (but on the "plus" side (marketing view only), at least those are at minimum, economically segregated housing arrangements). The over-saturated market for rich people condos would have sandbagged condo values, further increasing financial losses on sales (assuming there even were buyers for these). And there is no market for a new pro basketball team in Buffalo (we will be lucky to keep our hockey team, and what are the odds on keeping a money losing football team), except on a dreaming basis. The new convention center would also be competing with other established convention centers, and it would be located AWAY from existing hotels/restaurants/bars, which might mean existing ones can go bankrupt/out of business so that new ones (often corporate chains) can be built, until they too go out of business. And a convention center (a "centre" for that classy British spelling) always needs an adjacent hotel or three, to compete with the already super-saturated hotel market in Buffalo. Cute.

This zone would be effectively its own world, disconnected from less economically well off areas of the City, and obviously a lot of money would be spent on contractors and those they employ to build and provide the parts for this bit of urban waterfront, all requiring lots of gasoline (mass transit maybe for the hired help). The cost for this would be in the billions, and no doubt huge subsidies and tax exemptions would be at play. No doubt, the plans for this still exists down at 95 Perry Street in one of the empty office cubicles at the ECHDC building.

But, along came lots of reality, not the least of which is the Great Recession from the end of the George W. Bu$h era. NY State has no money to build this, subsidize this, and the same goes for Erie County, Buffalo and the Federal Government. But, what is evolving is a park of sorts, and bike/walking trails, all leading to and from Dug's Dive (the new one, not the legend of old). The housing and condo dreams have insufficient or no paying customers, nor banks to finance this (and also make huge profits via financing these tasty real estate dreams). After all, banks don't do risk any more, and especially really risky real estate developments anymore. Only the public is allowed to do such risk, and expected to eat the cost if it proves to be a financial hoser. Only most governments (especially NY State, Erie County, City of Buffalo) either are less than broke, or are attempting to appear to be so, constantly pleading poverty, especially when it comes to helping those impoverished as a result of a real unemployment rate in Buffalo north of 30%.

One in 3 who could work have no work in Buffalo, and thus no money stream from that work. As a result, the taxes collected from them aren't much, either. No wonder government revenues are so down in the dumps. Putting these people back to work in real wealth creating options might be a start to get out of that funky pit of economic poor performance. But creating massive public works projects whose goal is to make rich people-only infrastructure that essentially stops creating wealth/middle income jobs as soon as the construction stops...not so good an idea. And then when the bills come due, and sales of these things to rich people can't pay for the financing, who picks up the tab? The rich people who own the bonds, the banks who loaned the money for this boondoggle? Not likely - as they have friends in low and high places. Nope, poor and middle class people would get to eat those costs and do that most probably via the most regressive ways - a higher sales tax and higher property taxes. And what about tapping those who profit supremely well from the bets on those bonds going belly-up (the derivatives)? The "hedgies" doing those bets on bond payments (derivatives) get taxed at a flat 15%, and no Social Security/medicare taxes are charged on that income either. Real nice....

And then what about the depression in the value of commercial and high end residential property values, and the taxes that come from them in the rest of Buffalo, and maybe in other parts of Erie County? That means less tax revenues to tax revenue challenged local governments. And also losses to people and businesses who need to or try to sell their lower valued (and maybe "underwater" valued) properties. Maybe some of those people end up going bankrupt from the glut of real estate on the market, to be created by the Outer Harbor FIRE (Finance, Real Estate and Insurance) dream. I guess that would be the icing on the cake, the chocolate sprinkles on the cannoli. Yum.

As for me, I'd go with the park option, and possibly the wind park project. It seems so much more sensible, ecologically and financially speaking. Plus, in hot summer days, it's nice to cool off by the water, and that simple pleasure should not be reserved solely for the well connected rich, who might actually have one of our many governments/governmental entities buy a good chunk of the Outer Harbor for the wealthy. I don't know why there seems to be so much effort to sell off on the cheap or just give away our waterfront lands to those with big bucks and all the best social, economic and political (crossing all political party lines with the greatest of ease), and keep commoners away from the water, but the old plan of 2004-2005 was a great example of this tendency. Instead of investing in real wealth and job creating businesses and infrastructure, we get these schemes that seem more like welfare for the wealthy, paid for by the non-wealthy. But, looks like The Great recession of 2007-2011 (and beyond?) interceded, and every season, the trees grow a bit taller, the grasslands evolve towards forest, and more and more people discover Buffalo's waterfront as being a nice place to go for a walk or take out the bike and get some exercise. Plus, it's a great place to walk the dog when you get tired of doing a lap around Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park, and those summer lake breezes make this possibly when the heat and humidity make inland walking an exercise in sweating profusely. Yes, there really is a thing called Global Warming. And the general trend of ever hotter/more humid summers lasting longer, and winters being less cold, shorter, with less ice coverage on Lake Erie, and for a shorter duration is happening before our very eyes. Just another example of how the Beer-Lambert Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer–Lambert_law) and the Planck's Law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck's_law, alias Blackbody Radiation) combine to trump human laws and intelligence challenged politicians/business types who deny Global Warming is taking place.

Anyway, in conclusion:

Guest post from http://wagengineering.blogspot.com/

Prying Byron Brown's Hands Off Buffalo's Neck

2010-12-31T08:47:00.001-05:00

Prying Byron Brown's Hands Off Buffalo's Neck, One Finger at a Time.

The Brown, Pigeon, Casey team lost another one last night when the democrats in Zone 18 removed Mayor Brown's hand picked selection for zone chair Dana Bobinchek, and installed their choice of Diane Wray instead.

Its a just a little victory for real grassroots politics in Buffalo, but an important one that will hopefully be repeated all over Erie County in the coming weeks.

Having real democrats making decisions helps put a stop to the Brown/Pigeon attempted take over of the democratic party in Erie County. It helps put an end to the constant stream of losers being run against real democrats like Sam Hoyt. And maybe, just maybe helps us get rid of do nothing seat warmers like Buffalo City Councilwoman Bonnie Russell.

Diane Wray is a hard working liberal democrat with a long history of real grassroots political activity. Congratulations Diane!

Buffalo's Dumbest Criminals

2010-12-04T20:13:00.001-05:00

Today's award goes to:

Two young felons who stole a car and then parked it a few blocks away. Owner of the car walks around the neighborhood, finds the car and calls tow truck and police.

Young felons come back the next morning to finish the job, hop in and attempt to drive off, never noticing police half a block away talking to the owner of the car.

Busted.

Too bad the young felons looked barely old enough to drive; undoubtedly back on the street by the end of the day.

What did Chris Collins' Mommy do to him anyway?

2010-12-01T19:30:00.001-05:00

Chris Collins was back at again, verbally assaulting Kathy Hochul because he heard a rumor that she was going to run against him next year.

Onlookers said it made them uncomfortable to watch.

Erie County Executive Chris Collins and County Clerk Kathy Hochul snapped at each other in a prolonged exchange recently.

Hochul kept saying she was “not looking at that race” — denials not strong enough for Collins.

He kept at her, at one point almost pointing a finger in her face, according to an observer who asked not to be identified, so as not to be drawn into problems with Collins. Buffalo News

Rumor has it that this is not the first woman he has treated in this way. A while ago another (extremely pregnant) brunette was assaulted in exactly the same fashion over some perceived slight to his Collin-ness.

And we all know how Chris likes to treat Blondes. Chris Collins + lap dance

Mark Poloncarz better keep an eye out. Tall, dark and handsome, hopefully running for County Executive, and with the best hair in Buffalo, if Chris comes at you pointing a finger or something else, you know what to do.

You can't build a wall high enough

2010-11-30T18:19:00.001-05:00

$5.3 million new lighting, security cameras and blue light phones on the South Campus and students are still getting robbed at gun point.

UB Police report that a male student was robbed at gunpoint at 6:29 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 29, in the vicinity of Hayes Annex on the South Campus. UB Reporter

I wonder what things would be like if UB had decided to spend $5.3 million stabalizing the area surrounding the South Campus instead of trying to build a wall strong enough to keep the bad guys out.

The average house in the area is worth about $80,000. That's 60 or so houses that could have been purchased and resold to UB faculty and staff or others who agree to live in them.

Owner occupied homes filled with caring neighbors, now that's a wall bad guys have trouble breaching.

$40,000 for a parking spot?

2010-11-28T10:45:00.004-05:00

Years of planning and the best the ECHDC can come up with is a 180 slot underground parking lot that will cost $7.2 million or $40,000 per parking space? What the ECHDC Board evidently doesn't know is that while $40,000 can by a person a pretty nice place to live in Buffalo, its way to much to pay for a place to park your car.

Misplaced priorities by a bunch of wealthy insiders evidently misplaced onto the ECHDC.

Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation - Board of Directors:

Jordan Levy - Executive Officer Softbank venture capital - $495,000 Bird Ave, Buffalo
Lawrence Quinn - Managing Partner Buffalo Sabers - $504,000 St Catherines St., Buffalo
David Colligan - Partner Watson & Bennett - $324,000 Woodbridge Ave, Buffalo
Maureen O. Hurley - executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Rich Products Corporation
Michael Di Virgilio - Vice president, Niagara County Bricklayers Union - no local address
Mindy Rich - Vice Chairman Rich Products
Byron W. Brown - $99,000 Blaine, Buffalo - *almost representative of Buffalo*
Christopher C. Collins - $1,050,000 Cobbleston Drv, Clarence

It's Buffalo's waterfront, let's hope people more representative of Buffalo are allowed to decide what happens to their City for a change.

Thanks for speaking out Marc Goldman, Partnership for the Public Good and members of the Canal Side Community Alliance (Board of Block Clubs of Buffalo and Erie County, Buffalo Car Share, Buffalo Class Action, Buffalo First, Center for Sustainable Communities and Civic Engagement, Citizen Action of Western New York Citizens Waterfront Project
Coalition for Economic Justice, Communication Workers of America Local 1122, Communications Workers of America 1168, Cornell University Industrial Labor Relations School, East Side Redevelopment Task Force, Edible Buffalo and Field & Fork Network, Ephesus Ministries, Gerard Place, Green Gold Development Corp., Hispanics United of Buffalo, Homeless Alliance of WNY, Journey’s End Refugee Services, Lafayette Presbyterian Church, Massachusetts Avenue Project, M.M.L Fruitbelt Coalition, NRG Insulated Block, Partnership for the Public Good, Prisoners are People Too, PUSH Buffalo, Riverside Salem, Sail Buffalo Sailing School, Seneca Babcock Community Block Club, St. Joseph’s University Parish Social Justice Committee, Sweet_ness 7 / Grant Street Gallery, True Bethel Baptist Church, Ujima Company, United Auto Workers Community Action Program Council, United Food and Commercial Workers, WNY Area Labor Federation, WNY Clean Air Coalition, WNY Coalition on Occupational Safety and Health, WNY Peace Center, Workers United of WNY, Working Families Party, VOICE Buffalo

$1 out of every $10

2010-11-21T16:36:00.001-05:00

More than one out of every ten dollars SUNY Buffalo spends on core expenditures goes to subsidize athletics.

Students will also be happy to learn that $474 of their annual fees goes to subsidize athletics as well.

Since UB's budget is currently about $1.3 billon, that's an awful lot of tax money going to prop up a bunch of loser teams with nothing better to do than get pig drunk and trash the local neighborhood.

Maybe its time for UB save us all some money and get back to the business of education. Oh yeah, I forgot, UB doesn't like to do anything difficult.

http://collegeaffordability.blogspot.com/2010/11/no-leadership-from-ncaa-on-slimming.html

Post Mortem

2010-11-03T12:19:00.006-04:00

The world's biggest crawler crane, built to lift the world's biggest turbine into place..

Maybe it can lift some spirits that are currently really depressed, too.

For those Democrats who won, congratulations. Your workload has just been magnified and made exponentially more difficult.

Bottom line, young people did not bother to vote, in general, possibly as a protest for the dismal job prospects and even more dismal economic prospects for them. A college degree or two or three was supposed to enhance the probability that one could get a decent paying job. Now it slightly mitigates the probability of unemployment, though it does raise one's marketability with regards to Walmart/Target/Wegman's/Tops/bartender/waiter/waitress/bouncer jobs. That's not exactly the future most were thinking about a couple of years ago. And remember, not all young people go to college, and these people too need jobs; the lack of hope in that area is absolutely a killer.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Oh well, when nobody bothered to make a massive jobs program from the Federal Government (CCC/WPA type in scale and scope) after it became very obvious that private industry would not be hiring (like, in February of 2009) on the required scale/in the required quantity (and probably could not; low demand for products = no justification for hiring/new investment)/local and state governments could not do that, high unemployment rates and associated social devastation became locked in. As Keynes so wisely demonstrated, when economic demand collapses, only government deficit spending has any hope of stimulating demand. Oh well, ignorance about macroeconomics is going to be really painful for the next couple of years. Can you say hello to "Deflationary Death Spiral"?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/11/3/916330/-Dont-Fool-Yourself,-Democrats.-KNOW-why-you-lost.

And if this is not blunt enough, this one is, but with a lot more detail. Here is the synopsis:

Yes, the Republicans won tonight on absolutely doing NOTHING and we lost by running away from what we did. In the end, it is, what it is. Pitiful.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/11/2/916245/-Democrats-ran-away-from-themselves

The promise and potential of Green Jobs was really well liked, but incompetently carried out, and we had to swallow a really wretched tasting $50 billion loan fund for nukes, too, just to get a smidgen of renewables that also ends up being a massive bribe to really really rich people. Yuck!

The Enercon E-126 - world's biggest wind turbine (7 MW)
being installed at a wind farm of 11 of them in Belgium
Note: the owner of Enercon refuses to do business in the U.S. (not worth it).

Oh well, our choices are limited. We can kick the bucket and get it over with, emigrate to Canada, act real stupid and try and make nice with Republican bullies who absolutely want to make rich people richer at any cost (including the continued hollowing out of the middle class) and lie about it, claiming they are "for jobs" (in China, probably), or grow a backbone and get smart. I sort of prefer the latter option, though if Ontario beckons.... Green Jobs, and a civilized health care system, too. The beer is OK, too.

TVO

Blaming the Victims of the 211 Lisbon Brawl

2010-10-28T21:09:00.005-04:00

The botched response to the brawl at 211 Lisbon, turned into a hot potato that had Byron Brown, Bonnie Russell and the Buffalo Police scrambling to pass the blame as about 200 students and residents showed up to express serious anger at Mayor Brown's status quo.

First up: Blame the students. The brawl Lisbon was seriously under reported by the news. Over 100 people ended up in the streets fighting after issues erupted over whether or not entrance fees to a house party selling alcohol to minors would be paid. Mayor Brown and the police want you to know that there are certain behaviors that can make you way more likely to become a victim of a crime; piles of money laying around from cover changes paid and drunkenness are two of the biggies. Needless to say, that didn't go down well with the student contingent.

Next up: that old bugaboo, the 911 system. Calling 911 in Buffalo guarantees that your call will enter a black hole that it rarely, if ever, emerges from in any sort of timely fashion. This has been going on for years. Apparently Byron Brown and Bonnie Russell have just found out about this problem (yeah right).

Finally that tired old MOU: Bonnie Russell has just discovered what many of us have know for years . There is an agreement between UB and the Buffalo police to patrol the Heights, but the UB police union won't agree to do it. Something about not being covered if they are hurt outside their jurisdiction of campus property.

This problem comes as no surprise to Sam Hoyt who has had his legislation to fix this problem stalled in committee for a while now. It would be soooo helpful if Brown tried working with his democratic partners instead of running lame-o teabaggers against them.

The father of one of the students involved in the brawl, cut through the political smoke screen to the heart of the matter. "Mayor Brown", he said, "Its obvious that you don't have enough police. I've watched you cut taxes and Police personnel for years."

Well Brown, how are those tax cuts looking now?

The Best Line of the Night Goes to

2010-10-27T21:48:00.000-04:00

I just love debates. There's something so refreshing about watching people fight with words instead of stomping each others heads in, and tonight's debate at Allen Hall was a good one. Sam Hoyt, Joe Golombek and Brian Biggie squared off and the differences were stark.

When asked what he was going to do to reduce New York's dependence on foreign oil, Brian Biggie hocked up a giant loogie. Biggie would Frack you and NY too.

Golombek choose to not answer at all, the question about where he stands on the right of women to choose, saying that the issue is only important to fire up a democratic base. Uh, thanks Golombek, maybe if you could get pregnant after a rape or a little Daddy action you might feel a little differently.

Best line of the night goes to Hoyt. After taking hits all night about Albany, Silver, yah dah, yah dah, he pointed out the the biggest puppet in the room is Bryon Brown's boy Golombek. When Bryon says jump ...

I, myself, would like to know what Paladino thinks he's buying with all those Golombek contributions.

Bryon Brown, Medication can Help

2010-09-26T21:19:00.002-04:00

Saturday's Democratic Committee meeting turned out to be uneventful despite the fuss made by Byron Brown earlier in the week. For the second year in a row, the Mayor has made a lot of noise in the press about replacing Len Lenihan but failed to show for the vote. This year's choice, Sandra Ryce, nominated by Brown and seconded by Bob McCarthy was pathetic. Absolutely no support with the democrats who reupped Lenihan with 100% support.

Judging from a recent interview with WNED, Brown seems delusional:

"Lenihan has encouraged the petty politics. He has encouraged intra-party squabbling and bickering...that has caused democrats to lose races [and] has caused people to fight each other, instead of work with each other," Mayor Brown told WNED News.

The Democrats are fighting with each other? Who has run losers against Sam Hoyt three elections in a row and run losers against Rivera and LoCurto as well? And to top it off, whose Committee for Change has taken $40,000 from wingnut republican Chris Collins to defeat a slate of Democratic Committee people being run by Arther Eve, Jr.?

I used to think being a Democratic Committee Member was just a small, volunteer job. Be an eyes and ears for the neighborhood, get the petitions signed and delivered on time and once a year show up to vote for the Chair of the Erie County Dems. Little did I know that it is worth $40,000 to someone to disrupt or derail this little service.

So Browneye, there are drugs to help with your problem. Haldol comes highly recommended. Now, if only there was a drug to cure republicanism ...

Oh Byron Brown, Glenn Beck is Calling

2010-09-23T20:02:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, the nation watched in horrified amazement as angry white people descended en masse on Washington DC to genuflect in front on Glenn Beck while he desecrated the memory of Martin Luther King. Main stream media and bloggers from across the county searched in vain for the elusive black teabagger. Whoda thunk that we could have found one right here in good old Buffalo.

Byron Brown, republican in democratic clothing, took a giant leap into teabaggery this week when he challenged Sam Hoyt’s primary win against CucKoo Conservative Teabagger Golombek, charging “chicanery and fraud”. There were a lot of problems all across the State with the new voting machines (http://www.pdamerica.org/articles/alliances/2010-09-16-11-52-25-alliances.php) and in such a close election it would have been correct to ask for a recount. But come on, hauling your new BFF Darius Pridgen in and implying that Sam Hoyt was in some way responsible for the problems is going way too far. You crossed another line Browneye, welcome to the lunatic teabagger asymlum of desperate losers, enjoy your stay.

Brown’s failed Political Career so far:
~~Federal Senator replacing Hillary Clinton~~
~~Federal Representative replacing Lousie Slaughter~~
~~Lt Governor for Andrew Cuomo~~
~~Erie County Political Overlord anointing a replacement for Len Lenihan~~
Dog Catcher still a possibility?

Party on, Buff State

2010-09-22T20:39:00.002-04:00

The neighborhoods around Buff State are experiencing the same problems as the ones surrounding the South Campus of UB; absentee landlords, out of control student parties, lack of police response/presence and a clueless SUNY bureaucratic response to it all.

Last week, the situation spiraled out of control when dozens student partiers spilled from houses on Tremont and started fighting in the street.

The local media, WIVB, gets it only partially right as usual.

Student Kelsey Dieder said, "Something might have gotten out of control on Saturday, but that's not a normal occurrence. I don't see it as a disturbance. We've gone out of our way to be nice to these neighbors and they've said things about us."

"The fight, I believe, was just one person acting out. It wasn't the whole street. I think this is an active college street and I think the people here know how to have fun. But usually we're very responsible," said student Dan Fortuna.

Regarding this fight, Buffalo State President Aaron Podolefsky says: "But, in fact, the perpetrator was not a Buffalo State student.

First off, Kelsey, the problems on Tremont have been on going for months now, the student residents there have done some very bad things like threatening their neighbors with rape and spray painting obscenities on their property.

Next up, Dan Fortuna uses that delightful code phrase, “this is an active college street”. In other words, the students think they own this area and if the residents don’t like it why they can just leave and go buy a home somewhere else. A party that errupts into 50 to 100 people fighting in the street is not “responsible behavior” in any ones book, except for maybe a few dumbshit Buff State students like Dan Fortuna.

Finally, President Podolefsky lets us know that out of the dozens of students fighting on the street that night not one Buff State student had anything to do with the any of it.

In between UB’s 28,000 students, Buff State's 10,000+ students and ECC’s 10,000+ students, SUNY is responsible for the vast majority of the students present in this and other “student” neighborhoods in the City. Maybe UB, Buff Stat and ECC bureaucrats should try working together to get a resolution to this problem instead of shoveling endless platitudes and excuses our way. Until then, any “economic impact” you are trying to sell to the tax payers is going to fall on pretty deaf ears.

"Interim"; it's Latin for Git some!

2010-09-01T17:42:00.003-04:00

Does this photo remind of you of someone?

Judging from the email in my inbox, UB President John Simpson and his merry band of California carpetbaggers can’t be sent packing soon enough.

There is that lingering problem of his anointed successor, Nostaja, though. What’s up with:

the timing of Simson’s “retirement” announcement, on the first day of class no less. Guranteed to make sure those meddlesome faculty are tied up with teaching duties and can’t provide the input into the selection. By law they are have to be consulted.
What legal authority Jeremy Jacobs had to appoint Scott Nostaja, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, to serve as Interim President.

Its always fun to take a trip down the ole memory hole. How many of you recall the search for Carpetbagger Simpson?

NAMES TO BE KEPT SECRET FOR PRESIDENTIAL FINALISTS;
STEPHEN WATSON. Buffalo News. Buffalo, N.Y.: Jul 28, 2003. pg. B.1

The search committee -- led by Jacobs, chairman of the UB Council and Delaware North Cos. -- has made public extensive information about the timing of the search and the challenges facing the next president. But the committee has kept information on applicants for the position secret, and committee members signed confidentiality agreements.

SUNY guidelines say that when the committee reaches the point of selecting finalists and inviting them to campus, "their names are to be released to the public, along with general information about their background and qualifications."
Further, the guidelines say, "Campus visits are designed to allow a large number of campus and community members to meet and hear from each candidate."

- Well that never happened did it?

NEW UB PRESIDENT WASN'T FIRST CHOICE OF COMMITTEE;
STEPHEN WATSON. Buffalo News. Buffalo, N.Y.: Oct 28, 2003. pg. B.1

SUNY guidelines on presidential searches state the search committee should pass along its recommendations to the UB Council, which sends three names to the SUNY chancellor. The chancellor sends one name to the board of trustees, which gives final approval.

John B. Simpson was not the first choice of the committee seeking a new president for the University at Buffalo, according to officials familiar with the search process.

Eugene H. Levy, an astrophysicist and the second-ranking official at Rice University in Houston, was the leading choice when the UB search committee sent three names to the State University of New York chancellor, the officials said.
"The first choice did not accept the job," said one high-ranking UB official, who asked not to be named, a contention confirmed by two other officials.
Search committee and SUNY officials have refused to disclose the names of the other two finalists for the UB presidency, even though SUNY guidelines say their identities should be made public.

But officials familiar with the search, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Levy and Susan Prager, a former Dartmouth College provost, were the other two finalists.

Jeremy M. Jacobs, the chairman of the presidential search committee and the UB Council, was out of town and not available to comment Monday.

One finalist did drop out after meeting with SUNY Chancellor Robert L. King and his senior staff, but that finalist was not the first choice of SUNY officials, said David Henahan, a SUNY spokesman.

Isn’t it time to remove Jeremy Jacobs from heading another botched, ultra-secretive search for the next ~~John Simpson~~ President? After 13 years on the UB Council, he was appointed by Pataki in 1997, he should know the legal limits of his authority, wouldn’t you think?

And maybe its time to get some community input into the selection of the next President of the University at Buffalo. After years of ignoring Buffalo, all the while telling us how they contribute so much the City, they need to hear from of the residents directly. That way, the next President might know that there is a mass transportation available right from the steps of the South Campus. Maybe the next President can have a plan on how to invest in the area around the Sotuth Campus instead turning his back to it and pretending it doesn’t exist, while the students continue to get mugged, raped and murdered. Maybe the next President will question the wisdom of spending millions on a loser sports program while filling our neighborhoods with coddled jocks and frat boys with nothing better to do than trash our neighborhoods and get Williamsville High Schoolers drunk enough to …

On the plus side of all this, Scott Nostrada’s extensive experience in the entertainment business should be perfect for a University whose administration seems determined to put academics a poor second to real estate and public/private partnership deals.

Oh yeah, I knew the little woman standing by reminded me of something.
What's up with that "spend more time with the family" thing, anyway?

Buffalo, Mass Murder, Hold Please

2010-08-22T20:01:00.001-04:00

My favorite story of the week has to be WIVB's tale of a witness to the murders at City Grill who tried to call 911 10 minutes before the shootings and was placed on hold for a minute a half.

The 911 system has been doing this since 2007 or so, right about the time Chris Collins took office as County Executive. In true rethuglican fashion, he has not adequately funded this and many other public services that Erie County provides.

e-911 budget
2005 $2,523,004
2006 $2,864,648
2007 $3,860,800

Chris Collins takes office and chops the 911 budget by about $100,000 (and changes how the 911 budget is reported)

2008 $3,765,800 ($2.74 per call)
2009 $2.63 per call
Collins reduced call center overtime
2010 budgeted $2.63 per call

Even though the number of 911 calls has increased every year, Collins anticipates that there will be no increase in 2010.

And while I'm at it, what's with all the gang bangers in my neighborhood? First the police round up the usual suspects and arrest Keith D. Johnson of 141 Minnesota Ave for the City Grill murders. Ok, Keith turned out to be the wrong guy, but what's a felon on parole who drove a stolen getaway car in a drive by shooting doing less than a block a way from an elementary school (Public School 63), besides for living with good ol' mom that is.

Next up is Steven Tally of Englewood Ave, picked up as a person of interest in the City Grill murders. Steven has a bit of a history as well:

2004 procession of crack cocaine and a weapon
2009 An Englewood Avenue man accused of robbing someone sitting in a parked car at gunpoint early Sunday was arrested by Northeast District officers, Buffalo police reported. Steven A. Talley, 24, is charged with first-degree robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property, reckless endangerment and possession of marijuana. Police say Talley was one of two men who walked up to the victim as he sat behind the wheel of a car parked at Fillmore Avenue and Gesl Street at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. One pointed a gun at the man and told him to empty his pockets.

Hey Mayor Browneye, if the Downtown party zone gets more police, maybe you should put some in the Heights as well. Besides being a dumping ground for ex-felons, we are after all, the underage drinking capital of Buffalo. And we all know where that leads.

Buffalo discovers teenagers and alcohol don't mix

2010-08-22T10:28:00.002-04:00

Well, duuhhh.

A lot of heavy breathing about the problems associated with underage kids showing up on the Chippewa Strip lately. (Chippewa Pushed to a Dangerous Brink)

That comes as no surprise to the residents of the Heights who have been dealing with this for years. Every weekend our neighborhood is invaded by thousands of college kids, many in the 18 to 21 age group, in search of those underage drinking opportunities thoughtfully supplied by University "frat" and jock houses. Word has gotten out to the High Schools and we are starting to see more and more 15-17 year olds show up here as well.

As evidenced by the problems on the Chippewa Strip, this is a recipe for disaster, but does Mayor Browneye (or UB) care? Not really.

The main difference between Chippewa St and the Heights; no bouncers and a complete lack of police presence to help keep things safe.

Reverend "Heavenly Bank Account" Chapman

2010-08-19T20:29:00.001-04:00

Today's Lesson: There's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over.

Its a lesson the residents of McCarley Gardens are learning a little too well lately as their Reverend looks to sell them out to the highest bidder, currently the UB Foundation at $15 million.

The residents like it in McCarley Gardens and don't want to move. And why should they have to? McCarely Gardens was built years ago in an area that no one wanted to be in. Over the years they've built up a community, a little oasis of calm, in a troubled City. Then along comes the UB behemoth, who's bureaucrats see no difference between one section housing 8 housing development and other, and out they go.

Right now the residents simply want the Rev held to the contracts he signed with HUD agreeing to provide affordable housing at McCarley Gardens until 2035. They are working with a nice, young activist Colin O'Malley to form a tenants union to withhold rent if the Rev continues to try and sell them out.

McCarley Gardens

Looks like a pretty nice place to live, doesn't it?

UB Student Stabbed on her way to School

2010-08-11T17:36:00.003-04:00

Well the school year is off to a good start with a stabbing at 8:30 in the morning. The poor girl was apparently mugged for her school bag and stabbed repeatedly when she fought to keep it.

Lets see, the University at Buffalo has about $300 million or so in its UB Foundation slush fund. Now that UB 2020 has gone down for the third time, how about spending some of those millions to buy up houses in the Heights before the slumlords do, fix them up, and offer them at good prices to faculty and staff? It sure beats watching student after student fall prey to violent crime in the Heights now doesn't it.

Are Appeals to Bill Mckibben Useful?

2010-08-08T18:20:00.005-04:00

It was late one night, a hot (by North Coastal (= Great Lakes) standards, but then we just don't do heat well...) and skankily humid night. I just read another great Bill Mckibben "ecotorial", where he sort of announces that he is tired of playing nice. OK, aren't we all. But, he's not advocating a mass torching and the remaining Hummers marauding our streets, or blocking the cooling water inlets to coal burning and nuke power plants that continue to pollute our planet (actually, he didn't say anything on the nuke topic at all). And maybe those big ideas at grabbing media attention and somehow getting the American Public to not only confront it's "Pogo problem" - we have met the enemy, and the enemy is us - but actually to repent and stop behaving badly, environmentally speaking are still gelling, and not yet complete. Or maybe they just won't work on anything but a small percentage of Americans....the rest being scared witless at the prospect of impending unemployment and impoverishment, once all of the superficial fears imparted by our toadistic Main Stream Media and that professional class of Corporate Whoredom has been peeled off.But I digress, so here was my 2nd attempt at some communication with The Global Warming Dude (GWD). Like the NY Loto, "ya never can tell", even though I have a real good idea what the odds are of any meaningful examination of my 2 cents worth......

Dear Mr. Mckibben,

I read your "ecotorial" that was on the Energy Bulletin today (http://www.energybulletin.net/node/53672), a mild mannered and still sensible version of Howard Beal's call to arms. And still the question of how do we "dope smack"/knock some sense into the people of this country remains unanswered.

Yes, many people are very frustrated with the frozen pace of progress with regards to CO2 pollution, and maybe some will start doing civil disobedience/get arrested/ and possibly spend some time behind bars getting socially acquainted with some very anti-social people. Oh yes, these actions will also be tracked by our National (in)Security apparatus, both the various governmental ones, as well as the quasi-governments ones, and some corporate ones, too. And as long as too much of a hassle is not stirred up, not too much "anti-social" will be dished out in retaliation. But, too much success, and we get a repeat of what happened to anti-Vietnam war protesters, and in this time of AIDS and dreadful Hepatitis strains, well, getting a slow death sentence for a stay in jail for protesting Global Warming and Corporate Greed may not seem worth it to all but a few. Also, in my town of only 1 newspaper, and many identical corporate TV and radios, this protesting will almost never be covered - the old "what if an acorn falls and nobody hears it land - did it ever happen?" conundrum.

In general, enviro stuff hear rarely gets even 15 seconds, but a few tea-baggers...well I'm sure you know that scene.

So what gets people's interest these days? And what has gotten it for the last decade, but so many main stream enviro groups never seemed that interested? Well, the real unemployment rate in the City of Buffalo is more like 35% to 40%, but that's just an average, with those in labor/factory/construction jobs doing the worst, while those in service jobs/lawyers/professors/corporate/governmental technocrats/bureaucrats doing more or less OK - the usual class sort-of-warfare scene. These workers would also be the people whose ex-bosses and ex-co-workers might have college degrees, and the whole team was actually making stuff - but no more.

With the advent of Obama, there came the hope of Green Jobs, but unfortunately, those are happening in Ontario, not across the creek here in Buffalo. That's because they have a Green Energy Act (GEA)/Feed-In Law and we don't, and there can actually be renewable energy installations that make economic sense in Ontario. And if they don't dump too much solar PV onto their market (and those are mostly being made for the jobs, not the energy), and put more wind into their mix, the result of adding this higher priced electricity into the Ontario grid will actually be lower average electricity prices via the Merit Order Effect.

But, the GEA is mostly about jobs, and secondarily about finding non-polluting substitutes for pollution sourced electricity - particularly the province's coal burners and natural gas burners. Where it will get tricky is with nukes, which are far too expensive and almost bankrupted Ontario a decade ago. Soon, there will be much more than the 27,000 direct jobs now underway, via the $17 billion now under contract, and lots more to go. Those jobs will have spin-offs (job multipliers), and suppliers and finance people to make it happen, as well as communities benefiting from these jobs. Soon, no one will miss the coal burners; there were no new jobs to be had with them, anyway.

And then, try to take away the Feed-In Law provisions - it just won't happen. Ditto as in Germany right now. There would be riots, and all kinds of quiet and not-so-quiet protests/actions/demonstrations and vitriolic emails/calls/letters demanding those Feed-In Laws back, and probably lots of demands jail time (and not the Club Fed ones either) for the human varmits that tried or did take them away.

We in NY State and for most of this country see little evidence of Green Jobs. In NY, Green Jobs don't happen because it is now and for the foreseeable future mostly a money LOSING proposition to install renewable energy systems - especially wind turbines - right now. None have been installed in almost 21 months - and it looks like all of 2 commercial scale units might make it this year. Truly pathetic, but then this is because electricity prices collapsed by 50% when demand dropped by ~ 6% (mostly via factory shutdowns, too). You can't expect people to invest $1 billion (2008) and then just lose $100 million per year for a decade, and expect more investments.

This is a big difference between NY and Ontario (and lots of other states). The electricity we use/pollute the skies to make is not really priced on a cost plus reasonable profit basis, as in Feed-In Law places, or even in regulated states where the same monopoly owns the lines and most of the power plants. In this brave new world of "de-regulation" and "competition", now only natural gas burners make sense, because they are so NOT capital intensive compared to wind and other renewables. But, maybe no new ones will be installed - it fits with the "double-dip recession" motif. Anyway, the result will be effectively no new Green Jobs with respect to making anything, just some with efficiency improvements, until the state coffers dry up (really soon, too).

So, here's the bottom line. Lots of support will accrue to clean energy when people are employed directly or indirectly in the Green Energy biz, or where their communities have a vested interest in such endeavors. But, absent the jobs, most of the population will find actions aimed at imposing a CO2 tax as very job unfriendly, despite the merits. And unlimited corporate and right wingnut propaganda ("advertisements") can also cement that state of mind.

And if you want a massive renewable energy industrial complex (yes!), so we can shut down those polluting plants without shutting down our society/heading for some combination of a Mad Max and peasant farming/societal regression, we need to make renewable energy profitable, and not just for the extremely rich to own. We want rich people paying taxes, not using incredible quantities of tax credits (see http://wagengineering.blogspot.com/2008/11/november-2008-rpt.html). We need to be able to let states do big time feed-in laws, as in Germany and Ontario. We need a renewable energy manufacturing industry widespread across the country, employing at least 1 million people in direct manufacturing, and with about 5 million other jobs tied to supplying those jobs with parts ranging from fiberglass to steel to coatings to concrete to transformers and switchgear to cranes. And beer sales to quench some thirsty people's need to relax after actually being lucky enough to work to by that beer.

To do that, a tiny piece of Federal legislation is needed, which I call the Section 102 approach (see attached). This will replace the term "Avoided Cost" in the 1978 PURPA Law with cost plus reasonable return possibilities (for why, see http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/ferc-defines-states-feed-in-tariff-authority). And it would allow those states who wish to to enact Feed-In Laws (in NY, we have bills A187 and S2715 "in the hopper") to enact them. Not all states need to enact these initially, but when those other states see the job creation/economic stimulus that the Feed-In Law states get, well, that will cause rapid changes ("the second grader effect").

So, I realize this is not "big picture" stuff. Or the cathartic wake-up smack to the head to the American public, where they will agree to pay more for electricity that is made via non-polluting approaches, because it is the morally correct thing to do. But this Section 102 would probably do more than anything in the Kerry-LIEberman bill, and probably the better Waxman-Markey ACES bill (where it was lifted from).

Anyway, my prediction is, no Green Jobs, not more than a minority will support climate-sane energy production approaches. When real unemployment rates are way past 20%, such concerns about future generations that Global Warming encompasses take a back-seat to survival for the vast majority who live in search of a paycheck, or from paycheck to uncertain if there will be a next paycheck. After all, during the Great Depression, hypothermia was the second leading cause of death. And 48 people per day starved to death in Detroit for much of 1932.

Anyway, we could use your help with Section 102. It can be added as part of a jobs bill (it's true place), an environment bill, or an energy bill (it is an update of the 1935 federal Power Act/1978 PURPA Act). Consider this as one of your biggest recruiting drives into a part of the population (workers, engineers, bankers, chamber of commerce types, businesspeople) that is a bit thin in your organization.

Besides, when students graduate from college into unemployment (the rule these days, not the exception), wouldn't they like a chance at a job that actually makes the world a better place? Oh yes, not one of those "intern" unpaid ones, a real job that pays money - maybe not the most, but enough to keep them in fine Vermont beer on occasion. Section 102 will allow that to happen, and also prevent a lot of CO2 pollution at the same time.

------

Post Script: And, I did get a reply. Seems the GWD liked the idea, and thought it might be worth a try - said he would talk to a couple of people in Congress about it. Cool and then some. Now if we could only get others to do this...

BTW, here is Section 102 of the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act - the whole bill is well over 900 pages, and most of it is pretty boring stuff:

111TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 2454 AN ACT
To create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence,
reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean
energy economy.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

2
1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
3 ‘‘American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009’’.
4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for
5 this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. International participation.
TITLE I—CLEAN ENERGY
Subtitle A—Combined Efficiency and Renewable Electricity Standard
Sec. 101. Combined efficiency and renewable electricity standard.
‘‘Sec. 610. Combined efficiency and renewable electricity standard.
Sec. 102. Clarifying State authority to adopt renewable energy incentives.
Sec. 103. Federal renewable energy purchases.
Subtitle B—Carbon Capture and Sequestration

53
8 SEC. 102. CLARIFYING STATE AUTHORITY TO ADOPT RE-
NEWABLE ENERGY INCENTIVES.
10 Section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies
11 Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof:
12 ‘‘(o) CLARIFICATION OF STATE AUTHORITY TO
13 ADOPT RENEWABLE ENERGY INCENTIVES.—Notwith
14 standing any other provision of this Act or the Federal
15 Power Act, a State legislature or regulatory authority may
16 set the rates for a sale of electric energy by a facility gen
17 erating electric energy from renewable energy sources pur
18 suant to a State-approved production incentive program
19 under which the facility voluntarily sells electric energy.
20 For purposes of this subsection, ‘State-approved produc
21 tion incentive program’ means a requirement imposed pur
22 suant to State law, or by a State regulatory authority act
23 ing within its authority under State law, that an electric
24 utility purchase renewable energy (as defined in section
25 609 of this Act) at a specified rate.’’.

TVO

Grifting ECHDC Style

2010-08-05T21:19:00.000-04:00

Grift - confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, hustle, scam, scheme, swindle or bamboozle) is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence.

Artvoice has a great article about the cluster fuck that is the ECHDC, Erie County Harbor Development Corporation (Corporate Capture at Canal Side)

Turns out the ECHDC is a cesspool of insider deals, conflicts of interst and out of state people with too much money and time on their hands. This article has it all:

Bob and Mindy Rich manipulating outcomes from their wealthy suburban enclave in Florida
Gov Paterson getting thousands in campaign contributions for delivery the goodies
Jordan Levy, Larry Quinn, Ken Schoetz of NYPA, Phillips Lytle Law firm, Benderson Development and Ciminelli Development all standing to gain enourmously from obvious conflicts of interest.

Mark Goldman - real Buffalonian

Kudos to Mark Goldman (Obstructionist's Manifesto) and Buffalo City Council members LoCurto, Haynes, Kearns, Fronczak and Rivera for seeing through this latest grift of the citizens of Buffalo.

More Grassroots Rubber Stamps

2010-07-26T20:06:00.000-04:00

Had the dubious pleasure of listening to Crystal Peoples-Stokes umm and uh her way through an interview on WNED this morning.

Crystal is upset that the City Council has issued a home rule request to the NYS Legislature asking to change the BMHA board from 5 out of 7 appointees chosen by the Mayor to 3 by the Mayor, 2 by the Council and 2 by the tenants.

Crystal thinks Mayor Browneye can do a much better job representing "the voice of the people" than the City Council. She also mumbled some stuff about Brian Davis and the Council disrespecting the Mayor.

Maybe Crystal is worried about Mr. Crystal People-Stokes' job as BHMA Crime Prevention Specialist (no experience required) if the "the voice of the people" is actually heard for a change.

Yo, Sam Hoyt, can you and some of the other legislatures weigh in on this?

Sunday Morning Bitchathon

2010-07-25T10:32:00.003-04:00

Sundays are always annoying, what with the Sunday Morning Bobble Heads and what passes for a newspaper in Buffalo these days.

First up: Chris Lee as WNY's biggest a**hole. @JerryZrimski informs us that Chris Lee managed to spend over a quarter million dollar$, on "glossy brochures". 13 times as much as Slaughter and Higgens combined.

Maybe someday, someone will be able to explain to me how the republican brain works. Complain viciously about government spending then go spend more than everyone you complain about?

Next up: Clueless McCarthy lets us know that "Minor Parties Strut the Stage". Poor Bob, his last hope for republican dominance in WNY faded away as the Independence Party endorsed Democrat Sam Hoyt.

No Sunday is complete without a chat with one of our favorite neighbors who let us know that a recent meeting of the GBNRTC, people were asking why the approximately $3 million budgeted by the Feds for the bike trail in North Buffalo has still not been spent.

The answer, of course, is Mayor Browneye's laser like focus on ~~campaign contributions~~ development at any cost.

And speaking of cost, those patio homes (Colvin Estates) that were going to go in instead a bike trail in North Buffalo, well maybe not. Turns out that the cost to install sewer lines came in at over $1 million, well over the $600K of tax payers money that Mayor Broweye was willing to spend.

Common Council Takes a Look at Police Reorganization

2010-07-19T20:13:00.002-04:00

The addition of Curtis Haynes was the breath of fresh air the Common Council needed to take a look at issues that the Grassroots Rubber-stamps would never even consider.

Kearns, Rivera, LoCurto, Fontana and Haynes added a resolution for a Joint Commission to examine police reorganization to the latest Council agenda.

The last time police organization was looked at was way back in 1991. The result, downsizing 14 precincts into 5 districts has never lived up to the hype. It was supposed to increase the number of police on patrol and reduce response times. Residents in the neighborhoods abandoned by Brown (most of them) know that its almost impossible to get police to respond to most calls and crime has increased steadily every year that Brown has been Mayor. Property and nuisance crimes have been completely ignored and are reaching epidemic proportions.

18,401 crimes (2009) in a city of in about 270,000 means that one of of every 15 people in Buffalo was a victim of crime last year.
453 crimes per square mile. That's almost 1 crime per block for every block in Buffalo.

Kearns, Haynes, LoCurto, Fontana and Rivera believe that the District setup has made the City less safe and hindered its ability to utilize community policing. They are calling on Mayor Brown to join a Joint Commission to review the organizational structure of the Buffalo Police department.

Can't happen soon enough if you ask me.

@The Italian Festival

2010-07-15T20:16:00.001-04:00

In between Pasta Fagioli from Desidario's, Baked Zitti with Pesto , wine at Lombardo's, Stuffed Peppers from Amici's and Cannoli's from Romeo and Juliet's, we caught up with Sam Hoyt pressing the flesh at the Italian Festival.

It comes as no surprise to us to find Sam walking Hertel talking to his constituents. That's one of the things we really like; a personal, community oriented touch to his district of over 120,000 people.

We thanked him for all the effort he's expended on behalf of the residents near Buffalo State who are being plagued, same as we are, by out of control students and absentee landlords who don't give a s***.

In the 3 years since we started this blog, we have found Sam always responsive and willing to help, whether its letting UB know that it resides in a community not an Ivory Tower or fighting misguided development from City Hall.

Thanks Sam! We highly recommend the cannoli's from Romeo and Juliet's, hands down best of the fest.

When is it a Gift and When a Bribe?

2010-07-12T18:41:00.001-04:00

Hedge fund manager James Simons offer to donate $150 million to SUNY Stoney Brook if the legislature passes UB 2020/ PHEEIA / SUNY Empowerment has generated a lot of discussion, including this from one of my readers:

Sec. 75. Bribery of members of the legislature.

A person who gives or offers, or causes to be given or offered, a
bribe, or any money, property, or value of any kind, or any
promise or agreement therefor, to a member of the legislature, or
to a person who has been elected a member of the legislature, or
attempts, directly or indirectly, by menace, deceit, suppression
of truth, or other corrupt means, to influence such a member or
person to give or withhold his vote, or to absent himself from
the house of which he is, or is to become, a member, or from any
committee thereof, is punishable by imprisonment for not more
than ten years, or by a fine of not more than five thousand
dollars, or by both.

http://www.tenant.net/Other_Laws/Pubofc/pubofc05.html

SUNY Empowerment, the plan that just won't die

2010-07-11T09:42:00.002-04:00

Latest up in the endless UB 2020, PHEEIA, SUNY Empowerment saga is an offer from a hedge fund billionaire to give SUNY Stoney Brook $150 million, but only if Paterson's SUNY Empowerment act is passed.

Mr. Simons’s role has raised hackles among some lawmakers opposed to the plan, which would let SUNY campuses raise tuition without legislative approval and give them more latitude to enter into partnerships with private-sector firms.

“I don’t think it’s out of bounds for someone to say, ‘I want to make a really strong commitment,’ ” said Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick, a Manhattan Democrat who opposes Mr. Paterson’s plan. “But we’re not supposed to be considering legislation on the basis of what could be viewed as some quid pro quo.” New York Times

Ms Glick is absolutely right to be outraged by this attempted manipulation of the legislative process. Multi-billionaire James Simons is a fine example of just about everything that is currently wrong with the U.S. economy.

The income gap in the U.S. is the highest its been in 80 years. Wealth is being concentrated in unprecedented amounts into the bank accounts of wealthiest Americans. Simons is thought to be worth $8 billion.
Our (supposed) best and brightest go into financial manipulation instead of going out and actually making things. One time head of the SUNY Stoney Brook Math Department, Simons now manages the Renaissance Technologies hedge fund.

Ms Glick, here's a better idea. Instead of settling for crumbs off the billionaires table, why not pass a billionaires tax? It will raise more than a measly $150 million which could then be used to benefit all New Yorkers, not just a few wealthy well-connected ones.

The Legislature Says No to UB 2020 (Again)

2010-07-01T19:52:00.002-04:00

The NYS Legislature said no to whacking the SUNY Pinata, for now, when the Assembly and House striped PHEEIA/UB 2020 language out of the recently passed budget bill.

All this political theater gives us the amusing image of Stachowski attempting to grow a backbone after being accused of, well, lacking in the manhood department.

"They didn't deliver," said Sam Capitano, vice president of the Buffalo Construction Trades Council, who said thousands of construction jobs are on the line.

"Our politicians from Erie County have no stroke here. Western New York gets the shaft again," said Capitano, who is also the business manager of the Laborers Local 210 in Buffalo. Buffalo News

And Thompson, once again, shows us he doesn't have a clue what he stands for.

When asked if he would be willing to vote no on a final budget bill if the SUNY component is not resolved, Thompson said, "I'm not really a type of legislator who really gets into hostage politics and threats." WIVB

Thompson said. “Folks in the Senate are going to go home and won’t be back until there’s a deal. We gotta get UB done…we gotta come home with that bill…I gotta come twist a couple arms.” Capital Tonight

As a last ditch attempt to inflict UB 2020, public private partnerships and unrestritcted ability to lease out state owned land on us, our favorite senators are attempting to get a special exemption for SUNY Buffalo and SUNY Stoney Brook inserted into the budget as a "pilot" project.

Guess these two don't remember what happens when SUNY starts cutting deals...

Private Plans for a Public College / Insiders would be main beneficiaries of a plan that would provide little aid to SUNY Old Westbury (Newsday)

A development plan promoted as a way to turn around SUNY Old Westbury's troubled campus stands to benefit a small circle of political insiders and developers while offering little prospect for long-term improvement.

A Newsday investigation has found that in return for ceding control of roughly 200 acres of some of the most expensive land on Long Island, valued at a minimum of $60 million, the school would receive under recent proposals less than $500,000 a year-a sum that won't make even a dent in efforts to upgrade the troubled college, whose enrollment has been declining and buildings have been decaying.

And we already know that SUNY Buffalo President Jonh B Simpson has no problem dipping into the UB Foundationation cookie jar.

Simpson’s 2009 state salary was $265,000, for example. But in 2005 the UB Foundation gave him an additional $212,556, and in 2006, they threw him an extra $216,767. Artvoice

Thanks to Assembly members like Ron Canestrari, that have the guts to say no to this latest raid on NY taxpayers property.

Canestrari said he opposes the Empowerment Act as it’s been proposed and believes most of his colleagues in the Assembly are against it too. He has a lot of reservations, “all of which I think fatally wound the empowerment plan,” he said.

Canestrari said doesn’t like the provision that allows the university systems to set their own tuition and charge different tuitions at different schools. There’s no guarantee that the money collected in tuition would stay in the system, he said. One of the other objections he has is he doesn’t think the university systems should be able to contract out land-lease agreements without legislative approval, he said. (Politics on the Hudson)

Sharen Trembath NIMBY, or the Dangers of those Darn Turbines

2010-06-23T18:50:00.004-04:00

Sunday, the Buffalo News treated us to an overwrought Sharen Trembath warning us of the environmental dangers of offshore turbines in Lake Erie. (Turbines in Lake Erie pose risk to Western New York, Buffalo News, June 21)

Sharen dusts off her environmentalist creds and warns us that you will be able to see these turbines, wonders if the "behemoths" will disturb lake currents, predicts dire consequences to fishermen dropping anchor on (burried) electric lines and contemplates what will happen if we disturb the toxic layer that has settled on the bottom of the Lake.

Too bad Sharen doesn't seem so concerned about just SOME of the dangers of continuing with the status quo: mercury contaminated fish from coal burner fallout, strokes and heart attacks from the fine particulate matter the coal burners belch into our air by the megaton (Coal's Assault on Human Health). Coal Burner Pollution is especially hard on children.

The Erie County property register indicates that Sharen owns property close to the Lake Erie shoreline. It looks like concern over her private view is driving this activist.

$31 Million Buys Us 84 jobs

2010-06-20T10:04:00.002-04:00

The article in today's Buffalo News illustrates everything wrong with the plan to fund the University at Buffalo (aka SUNY Buffalo) as the driving economic force for the WNY economy.

Over the past year and a half or so, SUNY Buffalo has received $23,979,506 in federal stimulus funding and created (or saved) 148 jobs. ($162,023 per job)

$24 million to employ a few graduate students and post docs in temporary jobs. It would be interesting to see a break down on how much of this money went to non-US citizens and green card holders.

SUNY Buffalo's own numbers are even worse. $31 million to create or save a total of 84 jobs. ($369,047 per job).

Photo courtesy Buffalo News

At this rate, its going to take $10,110,235,200 to $23,028,532,800 to employ the rest of WNY's 62,400 unemployed in temporary jobs that disappear when the funding runs out. Not a way to run a healthy economy, is it.

Where are they now?

2010-06-19T17:57:00.001-04:00

Jacob Herbert - Todd Heatley

A jury handed down a guilty verdict of second-degree murder to 28-year-old Todd Heatley.
Prosecutors say, he repeatedly stabbed 19-year-old Jacob Herbert after police broke up a party in Buffalo's University District. (WIVB)

Javon Jackson - Demario Cordelius

Cordelius sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Photo - Buffalo News April 6, 2010

Javon Jackson - DaMario Cordelius

Twenty-year-old DaMario Cordelius pleaded guilty Tuesday, to killing Javon Jackson on Mother's Day last year.

Jackson was shot at Main and Lisbon in the Buffalo's University District just three hours after graduating from UB.

As part of Tuesday's plea, Cordelius will serve no more than 25 years behind bars when he's sentenced March 31st. WIVB 3/2/10

Jesse Garnett - Andre Ridgeway

Andre “Dre” Ridgeway apologized Monday as he was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for gunning down his former girlfriend’s new boyfriend last spring.

Jesse Garnett, 21, was killed May 25 in the Amherst flat of his girlfriend, who was the mother of Ridgeway’s 2-year-old son. That homicide occurred just 15 days after Garnett’s roommate, Javon R. Jackson, was gunned down in what police said was an unrelated shooting hours after graduating from the University at Buffalo.

Monday, Ridgeway, 26, of Shirley Avenue, expressed his apologies to Garnett’s family, none of whom were in court for the sentencing. Erie County Judge Michael F. Pietruska then imposed the 20-year term on Ridgeway’s plea to first-degree manslaughter, less than the original charge of second-degree murder. Prosecutors said Garnett’s twin brother had agreed to the plea deal because it carries a prison term that’s near the 25-year maximum for such a manslaughter charge.

After the sentencing, James F. Bargnesi, head of the district attorney’s Homicide Bureau, said Richard Garnett and other members of the victim’s family were still too devastated by his killing to come to court for the sentencing.

Defense attorney John K. Jordan said Ridgeway was tearfully remorseful in court “because he realizes now, after the fact, what a horrible mistake he made” in killing Garnett. Jordan said he expects Ridgeway will spend about 17 more years behind bars. Buffalo News 3/2/10

Adrienne S. March - Kiele Coleman and Frank Militello

12/19/09 The judge imposed the near-maximum sentence for the shootings of Frank Militello and Kiele A. Coleman.
Coleman, in a wheelchair, told the judge she wanted her to “alter Adrienne March’s life as she altered my life.”
Still partially paralyzed and blind in her right eye from being shot in the head by March, Coleman, 23, told the judge that she hopes to some day be able to “smile again.”
Militello, 27, remains on a feeding tube in an Erie, Pa., hospital. (Buffalo News)

Adrienne S. March

1/20/09 Adrienne S. March was convicted of first-degree attempted murder, assault and a weapons counts for shooting Kiele Coleman and Frank Militello in a car in North Buffalo. She claims the man was supplying her the crack cocaine she sold on Buffalo streets.

March claimed Militello, 27, was her drug supplier and that she shot him in self-defense as they argued in his car over drug money she owed him. The jury unanimously rejected her self-defense claims.

Militello is now at a rehabilitation hospital in Erie, Pa. Coleman, 23, lost vision in her right eye and hearing in her right ear, and her left arm and leg are paralyzed. She was being brought to court today by a friend as the jury verdict was announced. Both victims were shot in the head. Buffalo News

Todd Heatley

11/8/09 Detectives on Friday charged Todd R. Heatley, 28, of Main Street with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Jacob Herbert at about 4:30 a. m. Oct. 31.

Herbert, 19, of Clarence, was stabbed several times outside a house party at 112 Lisbon Ave. and died in Erie County Medical Center. Buffalo News

Photo courtesy of Artvoice.
Heatley was featured on the cover - Artvoice July 22, 2009
(he's the guy standing by the TV in the blue suit)

Custer St Rapist (alleged no longer)

Rasheed I. Milton, 27, of Custer Street, was found guilty as charged on two counts of predatory sexual assault and unlawful imprisonment and a weapons count.
The crime occurred in the Dartmouth Avenue home of Milton’s sister. Milton grabbed the victim as she was walking along Dartmouth, forced her into the house, where he assaulted her for four hours.

Because of a bookkeeping error, Milton was freed from the county jail in Alden last Feb. 27 by mistake. He was arrested a day after the March 4 sex attack.

A member of Buffalo’s Cash Money Gang, Milton still faces sentencing in U. S. District Court on a drug-trafficking conviction.

Sex Crimes Detective Jacqueline Sullivan testified Thursday that while she was interrogating Milton in police headquarters, she excused herself to use a restroom and Milton told her, “Sit down — I’m not done with you.” In closing arguments Glazer said the “the most damaging evidence” against Milton was in “his own words” to Sullivan, which showed a twisted desire to “dominate and control” women.
Buffalo News Nov 14, 2009

Rashid Milton convicted of rape (WIVB)

Micheal Bliss

Buffalo News 5/11/09 Charles P. Jordan, one of the former University at Buffalo students who violently stomped Micheal Bliss, will be in jail only another six months or so after being sentenced today by a judge who cited his "secondary" role in the attack.
The sentence left Micheal Bliss, who now must use a wheelchair, complaining about Jordan's seeming lack of remorse and the brief smile he appeared to have on his face as he was led from the courtroom.
Bliss was beaten and kicked early on March 22, 2008, in the parking lot of the Steer following an argument inside the Main Street restaurant and bar.
Bliss insisted during the sentencing that even after he was lying motionless on the ground, Jordan, 23, of Clifton Park, kicked him and "labeled me a Long Island faggot." The attack left him paralyzed.
After the sentencing, Bliss said what while he agreed to Jordan's plea deal, he felt his brief jail term was "not long enough." But Bliss said he plans to continue rehab work with the goal of some day walking again.
Cambria said the stomping will "haunt" Jordan, who pleaded guilty March 12 to second-degree assault, the rest of his life. He said Jordan, who has been in jail since March 23, hopes to express his remorse to Bliss once the civil suit is resolved.

Chisha Hawkins and Vernard Millner

(Buffalo News) 4/24/09 Buffalo homicide detectives have arrested a 21-year-old man accused of shooting to death two people whose bodies later were found in a burning University Heights house on Jan. 18.
Byron Howard (picture left) of Easton Avenue is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the shootings of Chisha Hawkins, 27, and Vernard Millner, 38, of Sumner Place.
The two victims, whose bodies were burned beyond recognition, had been shot to death before the fire started, police sources have said.
"He broke into the house, executed them and set the fire to cover up the crime," Buffalo Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson said.

Micheal Bliss

Michael W. Bliss sat in his wheelchair and told the man responsible for putting him there

“The worst part of this whole injury was waking up with tubes hooked up to me controlling whether or not I would live or die,” Bliss told Kevin F. Rowland on Wednesday in State Supreme Court.
Rowland offered an apology, and Bliss said he is “in the process of forgiving.
But a judge still sentenced Rowland to eight years in state prison for the beating.
The lives of both young men —Bliss, 22, Rowland, 24, — changed forever a year ago last March in an early morning fight outside the Steer restaurant on Main Street, a short distance from the University at Buffalo where they were students.
In an alcohol-fueled attack, Rowland and another young man repeatedly stomped Bliss after he was knocked to the ground and cried out to a friend to get an ambulance because he could not move. (Buffalo News 4/9/09)

Custer St Rapist (alleged)

4/4/09 Rasheed I. Milton was indicted Friday on sexual assault charges related to a crime that occurred after he was mistakenly released Feb. 27 from the Erie County Correctional Facility.
Milton, 26, a member of Buffalo’s Cash Money Gang, is accused of predatory sexual assault, unlawful imprisonment and weapons charges. He pleaded not guilty to the new indictment, and State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski ordered him to remain jailed without bail.
If convicted, Milton faces a mandatory state prison term of at least 10 years to life and up to 25 years to life on the predatory assault charge resulting from the March 5 knifepoint rape of an 18-year-old Dartmouth Avenue woman.

Officers Wendy Collier and Earl Perrin of the Buffalo Police Mobile Response Unit and detectives from the Sex Offense Section had charged Milton with first-degree rape. The grand jury elevated the charge because of the use of a knife and Milton’s history of sex crimes, the prosecutors said.
Milton already faces sentencing in U. S. District Court on his guilty plea to drug-trafficking charges stemming from the federal, state and local crackdown three years ago on the Cash Money Gang, a violent East Side drug organization with national connections that sold cocaine throughout the Buffalo area. (Buffalo News)

Kiele Coleman, Frank Militello

3/31/09 Both people Adrienne S. March is accused of shooting earlier this month remained in medically induced comas Monday, as a key evidence hearing in her first-degree attempted-murder case was postponed.
Buffalo City Judge Debra L. Givens rescheduled the proceeding to Friday afternoon after prosecutors did not object to the request from defense attorney Joseph S. Terranova to put off the court appearance until later this week.
March, 21, of St. Lawrence Avenue, turned herself in at Buffalo Police Headquarters last Tuesday. She had been in hiding for five days after the March 16 shootings of Frank Militello, 26, and Kiele Coleman, 22. (Buffalo News)

Micheal Bliss

3/25/09 Buffalo News Charles P. Jordan faces a one-year jail term for his role in the drunken stomping that paralyzed a fellow University at Buffalo student, turned himself in Monday afternoon even though he didn’t face sentencing until May 11.
Attorney Paul J. Cambria said his client entered the Erie County Holding Center because he wanted to begin getting credit for jail time to put the tragedy behind him as soon as possible.
Jordan pleaded guilty March 12 to a reduced assault charge in the attack on Bliss, 22, a Rochester native. He had been charged with attempted murder.

Jordan had been free on $50,000 bail. He likely will be released from custody in eight months or less.
On Oct. 29, the only other suspect prosecuted in the case, former UB student Kevin F. Rowland, 24, of Wappingers Falls, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault as the leader of the attack. He faces an eight-year prison term when he is sentenced April 1.

Tom Olszowy - The perps were Irving Mooreman (19, the "lookout") and Daquan Hunter (17, with the gun) for the assault on June 2, 2008 (or June 1). Mr.Mooreman was overheard on a jail phone talking to his mother, and he ended up confessing to being the lookout. Daquan was then squeezed into confessing to the shooting. Of course, they also got popped crossing McCarthy Park, and one with the gun, so in terms of a difficult court case, this was not one of those.

Irving plead guilty to armed robbery, and got 3.5 years + other years of supervised release. Daquan plead guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and got 6.5 years plus several years of supervised release. His sentencing just happened on March 11, 2009. The DA was Brian Parker.

Adreine March
Kiele Coleman, Frank Militello

3/20/09 Cheektowaga police had a simple reason overnight Monday for failing to detain marijuana suspect Adrienne March, the same woman Buffalo police wanted for questioning in a double shooting earlier in the day.
Officers in Cheektowaga had no idea Buffalo police were looking for her. (Buffalo News)

Christopher Tulmello
Amanda Knowlton

3/19/09 21 year old Christopher Tulumello of Amherst plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, and DWI all in the first degree on Tuesday in Erie County Court. Tulumello plead guilty to the highest charges possible in this case. His attorneys and family would not comment. The prosecutor says part of the reason for the higher charges has to do with a previous charge that Tulumello has. "A previous driving while impaired conviction and that's a basis for what elevated these charges to the high level," prosecutor James Bargnesi said. (MSNBC)

Michael Bliss

3/19/09 Charles P. Jordan, 23, admitted his role in the beating of Michael W. Bliss on the sidewalk outside Steers Restaurant in Buffalo on March 22, 2008. Jordan pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in front of state Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia during a court appearance last week in Buffalo.
Officials from the Erie County District Attorney's office said Jordan originally faced attempted murder charges, but agreed to plead guilty to the lesser assault charge. Jordan is expected to be sentenced to one year in jail.
Bliss' father, Michael Bliss of Rochester, said that his son's recovery is ongoing. "He can stand on his own," the elder Bliss said. "Other than that, it's a long haul for him." Bliss added that his son didn't know his attackers, who were also students at the university.(Times Union)

Custer St Rapist

3/6/09 Custer Street man arrested last June on a first-degree rape charge was taken into custody again Thursday, charged with another rape, of an 18- year-old girl on Dartmouth Avenue, Buffalo police said.

Rasheed I. Milton, 26, mistakenly released from the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden was recaptured, and is charged with raping a woman while he was out.

Michael Bliss

10/30/08 Former University at Buffalo student Kevin F. Rowland pleaded guilty Wednesday to a beating and stomping this spring in a Main Street parking lot that left another student permanently paralyzed.
Rowland, 23, of Wappingers Falls, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault for the attack on Michael W. Bliss, 21, in the parking lot of the Steer Restaurant on Main near Winspear Avenue at about 3:30 a. m. March 22, 2008 (Buffalo News)

Buffalo Carnage watch

2010-06-16T18:42:00.002-04:00

Despite all evidence to the contrary Mayor Brown continues to insist that crime is down in Buffalo and money that could go to providing a stronger police presence is instead doled out in highly publicized, infinitesimal tax cuts.

And so the body count keeps rising:

6/16/10 Drive-by shootings send victims to ECMC with serious injuries. One drive-by occurred at LaSalle and Suffolk near UB's South Campus.

5 people are killed in last 10 days as city homicide rate increases
T.J. Pignataro, Brian Meyer. Buffalo News. Jun 15, 2010

Five people have been killed in the last 10 days in Buffalo and three more remained hospitalized late Monday with serious injuries as the result of citywide gun violence.

Buffalo homicide detectives said Monday they're narrowing in on suspects in a number of the cases and are continuing to probe the circumstances surrounding the uptick in violence, which accounts for 20 percent of the year's 25 homicides.

This is the quickest the city has reached 25 homicides in four years.

Teen killed at West Side bus stop; Freshman at Lafayette High School becomes Buffalo's fourth homicide victim in a week
T.J. Pignataro, Jackie Smith. Buffalo News. Jun 12, 2010.

A 15-year-old freshman at Lafayette High School was gunned down early Friday afternoon at a bus stop at a busy West Side intersection, the city's fourth homicide in a week.

The victim was identified as Jawaan Daniels, believed to be an East Side resident of Buffalo.
He was at a Metro Bus stop at the southwest corner of West Delavan Avenue and Grant Street when two shots rang out, striking him in his midsection.

Witnesses said the boy managed to run through the intersection before he collapsed on West Delavan just east of Grant. He was rushed to Erie County Medical Center where he died.
Clark said the intersection is no stranger to violence. That was plainly evident by a makeshift memorial of flowers and candles set up for John T. Rockmore, 24, who died at the intersection June 9, 2009, after he and two others were shot.

People living in Buffalo know what the Mayor refuses to admit. Violent crime touches every part of this City on a daily basis.

Violent Crime reported in the last 30 days

129 Authorities Sam Hoyt wants to Shut Down

2010-06-08T20:20:00.002-04:00

First of a growing list of Authorities that Sam Hoyt and Richard Brodsky want to shut down (Capitol Confidential):

Sloatsburg Urban Renewal Agency
Beacon Community Development Agency
Norwich Urban Renewal Agency
Nyack Urban Renewal Agency
Peekskill Community Development Agency
Mount Kisco Urban Renewal Agency
Island Park Urban Renewal Agency
Ellenville Urban Renewal Agency
Hornell Urban Renewal Agency
Washingtonville Urban Renewal Agency
Mamaroneck Urban Renewal Agency
Tarrytown Urban Renewal Agency
Plattsburgh Urban Renewal Agency
Woodridge Urban Renewal Agency
Potsdam Urban Renewal Agency
Lancaster Urban Renewal Agency
Gouverneur Urban Renewal Agency
Lockport Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Clayville Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Walden Urban Renewal Agency
Ilion Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Penn Yan Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Pawling Urban Renewal Agency
Baldwinsville Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Hamburg Urban Renewal Agency
Saranac Lake Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Port Chester Community Development Agency
Tuckahoe Urban Renewal Agency
Palmyra Urban Renewal Agency
Newark Urban Renewal Agency
Salamanca Urban Renewal Agency
Village of East Rochester Urban Renewal Agency
Auburn Urban Renewal Agency
Village of New Paltz Urban Renewal Agency
Ogdensburg Urban Renewal Agency
Long Beach Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Johnson City Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Hilton Urban Renewal Agency
Oneonta Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Liberty Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Lyons Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Pawling Urban Renewal Agency
Baldwinsville Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Hamburg Urban Renewal Agency
Saranac Lake Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Port Chester Community Development Agency
Tuckahoe Urban Renewal Agency
Palmyra Urban Renewal Agency
Newark Urban Renewal Agency
Salamanca Urban Renewal Agency
Village of East Rochester Urban Renewal Agency
Auburn Urban Renewal Agency
Dolgeville Community Development Agency
Town of Wallkill Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Greenport Urban Renewal Agency
Thomaston Urban Renewal Agency
Watertown Urban Renewal Agency
Fallsburg Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Geneseo Urban Renewal Agency
Town of Bethlehem Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Massena Urban Renewal Agency
Watervliet Urban Renewal Agency
New Rochelle Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Fort Edward Urban Renewal Agency
Dunkirk Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Monticello Urban Renewal Agency
Village of East Syracuse Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Medina Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Catskill Urban Renewal Agency
Village of New Hartford Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Hudson Falls Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Webster Urban Renewal Agency
Rensselaer Urban Renewal Agency
City of Cohoes Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Lynbrook Urban Renewal Agency
Oswego Urban Renewal Agency
Yorktown Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Warwick Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Albion Urban Renewal Agency
City of Canandaigua Urban Renewal Agency
Town of Guilderland Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Whitehall Urban Renewal Agency
Town of Colonie Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Fayetteville Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Waverly Urban Renewal Agency
Village of North Syracuse Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Fredonia Urban Renewal Agency
Village of St. Johnsville Urban Renewal Agency
Village of Canajoharie Urban Renewal Agency
Town of Orangetown Community Development Agency
Village of Greenport Industrial Development Agency
Town of Queensbury Industrial Development Agency
City of Beacon Industrial Development Agency
Town of East Greenbush Industrial Development Agency
Deerpark Industrial Development Agency
Town of East Hampton Industrial Development Agency
Town of Carmel Industrial Development Agency
Town of Oyster Bay Industrial Development Agency
City of Watervliet Industrial Development Agency
Town of Schodack Industrial Development Agency
Village of Horseheads Industrial Development Agency
Village of Lake Placid Industrial Development Agency
Village of Keeseville Industrial Development Agency
Town of Horseheads Industrial Development Agency
Town of Dryden Industrial Development Agency
Long Island Market Authority
Alfred, Almond, Hornellsville Sewer Authority
Water Authority of Southeastern Nassau County
Amsterdam Parking Authority
Monroe Regional Parking Authority
White Plains Parking Authority
Hudson Parking Authority
Elmira Parking Authority
Rome Parking Authority
Peekskill Parking Authority
Fulton Parking Authority
Harrison Parking Authority
Port Jervis Parking Authority
Utica Parking Authority
Owego Parking Authority
City of New Rochelle Parking Authority
City of Poughkeepsie Parking Authority
Village of Spring Valley Parking Authority
City of Long Beach Parking Authority
City of North Tonawanda Parking Authority
Village of Port Chester Parking Authority
Middletown Parking Authority
Salamanca Hospital District Authority
Salamanca Indian Lease Authority
Long Island Job Development Authority
Historic Rome Development Authority
Multi-Town Solid Waste Management Authority
Broome County Resource Recovery Authority
County of Essex Solid Waste Management Authority
Town of Brookhaven Resource Recovery Agency
Greater Troy Area Solid Waste Management Authority
City of Peekskill Civic Center Authority
Chautaugua Sports, Recreation and Cultural Authority
Utica Transit Authority

Looks like this year it might actually happen. The Gov has a bill abolishing authorities and the Senate is expected to pick it up as well.

In 2009, NYS had 141,771 people employed in Authorities. Their salaries alone added up to $9,141,915,401. (SeeThroughNY)

Am I the only one that thinks Village and Urban Renewal sound like oxymorons?

Bryon Brown by the Numbers - Part II

2010-06-06T21:33:00.000-04:00

A short while ago Paul Wolf wrote about how some people would not give Bryon Brown credit no matter what he did (Bryon Brown by the Numbers). According to Paul, under Bryon Brown "summonses for panhandling, loud music, open containers of alcohol and messy residential properties have increased 10 times from 2006-2009, compared to what was done from 2000-2005."

Today's Buffalo News puts some numbers behind the residents experiences with those quality of life issues. (Franczyk wants police to target quality-of-life issues - Brian Meyer)

Summons for quality of life issues are down 50% from last year (a Bryon Brown election year as you may recall).

"Interim Police Commissioner Derenda said the decline in summonses since last spring is the result of being required to assign officers to other tasks. “I have to pick and choose, and still get the job done,” Derenda said."

This is pretty much the same crap we've heard from the Brown administration for years now. The Police department is understaffed and officers are constantly pulled to deal with other, more pressing crimes. Its the reason we are constantly given for why there is no burglary patrol in the Heights even though property crimes are a constant, serious, never ending problem. Its also why we never saw those quality of life bike patrols either.

Franczyk nails it when he says “These problems can be the final straws that prompt some residents to leave the city."

Keep those tax breaks coming, Brown. Its the only thing left in that bag of political gimmicks as your political escape routes are narrow by the day, ~~Lieutenant Governor~~, ~~Senator~~, ~~next Lousie Slaughter~~. Maybe someone will take pity on Buffalo an put you in a think tank somewhere.

Chuck Schumer - Call me

2010-05-31T09:08:00.002-04:00

Word of Chuck's latest effort, saving American jobs by taxing companies that use foreign call centers, spread quickly through the news this weekend.

Photo - NYDailyNews

While Chuck's concern for the working class is admirable, I would like to remind him of the 5 million manufacturing jobs lost since 2000.

This loss represents 17% of all manufacturing jobs in the US.
Manufacturing in the United States generates about $1.4 trillion, or 12 percent of our gross domestic product.
Manufacturing is responsible for nearly two-thirds of private sector research and development in the United States.
Manufacturing directly employs 14 million America and supports 8 million more.
Each manufacturing job supports as many as four other jobs, providing a boost to local economies.
(http://www.americanmanufacturing.org/issues/economic/)

What do you think Chuck, maybe its time to spend a little of that political capital on saving manufacturing, the backbone of America's middle class?

Getting Paid (Very Well) to Fail

2010-05-26T20:56:00.001-04:00

Unfortunately it sounds like we can expect James Williams, the longest serving Buffalo Schools superintendent in recent history, to be inflicted on Buffalo for a while longer. (Despite rocky road, Williams earns extension, Buffalo News May 26)

Despite 7 failing schools, (only Rochester and NYC have more), a dropout rate of about 50% and a school system that is $93 millions of dollars in the hole over the next three years, Buffalo takes very good care of Mr Williams. His current salary of $220,000 comes with lifetime health insurance, a car and driver.

Where do the other 50% of Buffalo School students that Williams is failing, go? I saw the products of Mr Williams FAILURE hanging in the park this morning. Over a dozen young teenagers with nothing to do, no where to go and no future in store. Way to go Williams.

Your Weekly Dose of Wingnuttery

2010-05-16T18:15:00.007-04:00

The Buffalo News was really busy kowtowing to their right wing handlers again this week.

Friday we're treated to Sheldon Silver as Skeletor and informed that "republican icon" Dale Volker did more for Western New York than anyone in recent history, even though he apparently spent his 30 + years in the senate codes committee. My sympathies Buffalo News, even you had a hard time making Dale Volker look good. Incumbents and seniority - Buffalo News, May 14, 2010

Sunday, Bob McCarthy managed to write about the Senate race for the 58th districtrict, Stachowski's district without once mentioning progressive candidate Sean Cooney.

Poor Bob, he sounds really worried about the idea that the pathetic excuse for what passes as the republican party in New York might be redistricted out of existence.

Repugnican James Domagalski - AKA Mr. McButterpants

Dear Buffalo News. if the republican party in NY goes the way of the dinosaurs, can we please have a political editorialist that actually writes about progressives instead of regressives? Naw, I realize that too much to ask.

I would like to thank the News for finally noticing that SUNY Buffalo is spending an awful lot of taxpayer and alumni/foundation money to convince us to send with even more of our tax dollars their way. (UB ads a new degree: Magnum cum lobby)

Dear President Obama - About That NY Renewable Energy....

2010-05-12T07:16:00.000-04:00

Dear Mr. President,

As you do you whirlwind tour of Buffalo and presumably a Town Hall where there will be way more questions, comments and requests to/for you than there are hours in a month, odds are you will be asked about the intersection of two great current needs in this part of the world. These are:

1. Where will the energy to run things come from?

and

2. Where are any of those rumored to be jobs?

Essentially, and especially, where are those Green Jobs - aside from Ontario (more about that in a bit)? For the Buffalo area, these Green Jobs are far too rare (if they exist at all for the manufacture of renewable energy systems) and there are at least 30,000 people in the City of Buffalo that would like one that pays at least some money, if not at least a living wage. And that is just a low ball estimate.

Now, some of these Green Jobs are involved in energy efficiency - specifically, fixing up existing houses and buildings. It will be great when these are not like "energy sieves", leaking profuse quantities of heat to the great outdoors, which tends to be chilly for several months of the year up on America's North Coast. And while that is a great idea, the implementation has been far too slow for most people's liking, but rumor has it, some progress is being made on this front.

But, it's a whole different story, and not a nice one, either, with regards to the production of renewable energy in NY State. In case you do not know and have not been told, the renewable energy industry essentially collapsed in the summer of 2008, and more or less went into severe hibernation following the completion of the Sheldon High Winds and Whethersfield 2 wind farms in nearby Wyoming County, NY. Nothing (wind turbine wise) in NY State has been built since the winter of 2008-2009. Last month $400 million worth of wind farms (201 MW capacity) were canceled by Noble Environmental Power (a JP Morgan "derivative") because the low prices for "market priced" electricity did not justify the investment, even with the NY Renewable Portfolio Standard "bonus" of ~ 1.5 c/kw-hr for the initial 10 years.

Meanwhile, in Ontario (which has similar renewable energy resources to much of NY State), there is a massive boom going on with respect to renewable energy. This has been made possible with NO new governmental grants/tax avoidance subsidies and assistance - instead, it's happening via the Green Energy Act's Feed-In Law provisions. The recent award of ~$9 billion worth of contracts for 2500 MW of capacity (a lot of solar photovoltaic in this batch of contracts are going to receive about 70 cents/kw-hr, and they will be installed at ~ $7 million per MW of capacity - much more than the wind farm cost of ~ $2 million/MW of capacity and ~ 13 c/kw-hr for the purchased energy) is a pretty decent start on things.

It is like night and day. In NY, at present only old (and generally old polluting) energy sources are decently profitable (during the price spike of 2007-2008, they were obscenely profitable) - this is essentially old nuke, old coal and old, small privately owned hydroelectric facilities. But in Ontario, these new renewables energy systems (mostly wind turbines) will be used to shut down their coal fired generation units, and also to avoid another financially catastrophic (and stupid) investment in new nukes (the previous ones almost bankrupted the province with $30 billion in debt). In fact, a recent RFP for two nukes disclosed that it was more cost effective to install offshore wind turbines (at ~ $10 million per delivered MW of generation) than for new nukes (at ~ $12 million per delivered MW of electricity).

But it turns out that the MAIN reason the Green Energy Act was passed was to get some serious manufacturing jobs initiated in Ontario. The province had gotten hammered with the downturn in the automobile industry in the 2006 to 2008 time period - similar in number to what happened in Michigan. But, when North American car sales dropped by ~ 40%, and manufacturers had no paying customers for their products, well, massive unemployment and recessionary ripples were the inevitable result. And with the downturn in electricity usage (partly caused by factory slowdowns/shutdowns), and losses in provincial and banking revenues, no one could justify any new investments in manufacturing job creating enterprises, especially ones doing the world a favor and replacing polluting coal burning electricity plants with non-polluting renewable ones.

Enter the Feed-In Law. It replaces the "marginal based pricing" electricity system (well tuned to fluctuating fossil fuel prices) for renewables with electricity sold on an average cost to manufacture plus a reasonable profit basis. Prices for electricity are set by the technology, so that electricity made by onshore wind turbines is priced lower than that made by photovoltaics, and onshore wind is less expensive than offshore wind. Contracts between the grid operator (in general, Ontario Hydro, a government owned corporation) and suppliers (companies, single owners, cooperatives, etc) are set for 20 year terms, allowing the developers to access low cost (due to low financial risk made possible by prices actually defined over 20 years) equity and bank loans. So far, $9 billion worth of contracts have been signed for the first year. And there is also major investments in new transmission lines being undertaken (also job creating) so that even more renewable electricity can be installed and delivered to Ontario customers. So far, an estimated 20,000 jobs will soon be filled. Not bad for a start - only 30,000 more to go to fulfill the initial goals of the GEA.

And as a by-product, the renewable energy installed will actually be lower cost than could identical systems installed in an identical resource in NY State. That is mostly due to lower interest, longer term debt, lower required equity percentages, lower required equity returns (less financially risky), and the fact that more of the renewable energy systems will be manufactured locally (thus avoiding sometimes onerous transportation costs). In another strange twist, electricity prices will actually drop via the "Merit Order Effect", with the addition of some more expensive renewable electricity - an artifact of the "marginal pricing". And then there is the offshore wind proposed - up to 20,000 MW in lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron. This energy will also allow for the replacement of coal burners and the avoidance of natural gas consumption to make electricity, creating jobs at no loss in revenues to the government. In fact, those new jobs added and the new businesses formed will result in greater tax revenue.

So, such an arrangement would be really nice of NY State. In fact, short of governments either subsidizing via grants, tax avoidance and operating subsidies (and probably not the NY State one, as we are way less than broke thanks to "Bu$h the Tooth's" legacy of "The Great Recession"), no renewables will be installed in NY until prices recover (and for a significant time, too) to their 2007-2008 levels (about double present levels). And by then, most hope to get those renewable energy systems manufactured in NY, with associated new jobs and businesses, will be gone, since already established manufacturing capability will exist in Ontario, as well as Quebec (they use the government electricity monopoly Quebec Hydro issuance of big Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to install wind turbines, with mandated local manufacturing).

So how could we get a Feed-In Law in NY? Well, it would be nice if you could call up several key NY State legislators (Assembly, Senate, especially those in the Energy Committees) to pass NY bills A187 and S2715. Maybe you could have a constructive word with our Governor. Or maybe you could have your aids and key officials do this on your behalf. That would be a nice start. And if a bill comes out of the U.S. House and Senate that modifies the byzantine 1935 Federal Power Act and the "recent" update, the PURPA law, which allows Feed-In Laws unambiguously in states that choose this option, well, please sign it.

Otherwise, if you come to NY and talk Green Jobs, but nothing is done to get rid of the crazy arrangement where renewable electricity prices are set by polluting electricity sources (oil, natural gas, coal and old nukes), there won't be any Green Jobs involved in the manufacture of renewable energy systems for installation anywhere in NY. Your audience will roll their eyes, groans will be heard as the crowd's collective impatience is tested. And then you will be off to some other locale, with aids left to deal with the mess. You might not even ever get why the crowd would be so cool and stand-offish to what should be a real popular message. After all, most people really do prefer renewable energy to polluting energy, and they really do want renewable energy jobs. But endless promises of that which is never delivered - and in NY, Green Jobs CANNOT be delivered to any significant extent under the current arrangements/laws/incentives/"legal bribes" (tax avoidance incentives like tax credits, tax deductions) to the really, really rich) - well, as my favorite band in known to say, "It gets to wearin' thin".

from http://jimbaker.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/gratefuldeadls1.jpg

So, if you really want to see Green Jobs made in NY and renewable energy systems made and installed all over NY, please start working that phone....

Byron Brown - Giving credit where credit is due

2010-05-10T20:35:00.004-04:00

CrimeReports.com

I wasn't going to say anything about Paul Wolf's Byron Brown puff piece, but then on my evening walk, a North Buffalo neighbor stopped me to let me know that a house down the street had been broken into last night and the residents awakened by a thief who jumped out a window with the TV and two laptops. All the cars on the street were also broken into and items stolen.

So Paul, lets give credit where credit is due. Kudos to Byron Brown for:

being the first Mayor to preside over not one but two student murders, in the same year no less. Javon Jackson, Jacob Herbert
promising quality of life patrols and neglecting to mention that said patrols would only occur when enough police were available. And, big surprise, never enough police available. Ditto on that burglary task force, never enough police to do that either, oops.
cutting taxes while maintaining SEVEN failing schools.

Let's take a look at that crime data from another point of view, shall we?

18,401 crimes (2009) in a city of in about 270,000 means that one of of every 15 people in Buffalo was a victim of crime last year.
453 crimes per square mile. That's almost 1 crime per block for every block in Buffalo.

A little quiz - Spot the Subsidized Housing

2010-05-04T20:02:00.000-04:00

Does subsidized housing in the Heights look like this?

LaSalle St

Or this?

William Price Parkway

If you chose William Price Parkway, you are correct.

Taxpayers spent $20 million to put up 30 houses in the Main-LaSalle Place (William Price Parkway) development
You can see how well this investment of tax dollars impacted the surrounding area. LaSalle St, one block over is filled with weedy lots, absentee landlords and crime.

None of this deters Byron Brown.

Even though he acknowledges many of the houses are not worth what they cost to build, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown defends the city's policy of building subsidized single-family homes. Buffalo News, May 3 -Tearing down, building up homes in Buffalo

Or City Councilwoman Bonnie Russell either, for that matter.

Common Council Member Bonnie E. Russell, whose University District includes Ken-Bailey, doesn’t think her district has suffered from people leaving the neighborhood to buy subsidized homes elsewhere.

Those who left Ken-Bailey were renters, and they were replaced by other renters, she said.

“It’s not a bad reflection that they are moving out,” Russell said. “They want to buy a new home. We have new renters moving in. I think we are doing well.” Buffalo News, May 2, - The Housing Shuffle

Got news for you Russell, we're not doing well here. Stop hiding from your constituents and take a look around. Minnesota Avenue is a good place to start. A block club is trying to hold on to what's left of their neighborhood. But slumlords, dilapidated housing and constant crime are taking a heavy toll.

Councilman Curtis Haynes tells it like it is

2010-05-03T19:03:00.006-04:00

"They might even be willing to pay more taxes for better quality of life," Haynes told the mayor's finance team as the Council began budget hearings. Buffalo New, May 3

You got that right Councilman Haynes. EVERYONE we know would be willing to forego their $20 tax cut in order to fully fund the police department. (In fact, we'd throw in an extra $20 just to be rid of Byron Brown.)

And what is the main reason for keeping taxes low?

Given the concerns many parents have about city schools, Penksa added, it's important that Buffalo's tax rate be lower than its suburban counterparts so families have the financial ability to choose to pay for private schools if they so desire.

Note to Councilman Haynes: If you're looking for places to cut, I suggest we start with Penska's position.

George Will and Repugnican Lies - Gulf Oil Spill

2010-05-02T20:03:00.003-04:00

A dead sea turtle is seen along the Louisiana shoreline on Saturday in Breton National Wildlife Refuge. (Eric Gay/Associated Press)

George Will, on This Week - ABC, today told us that wind turbines kill more birds every day than have been killed in the British Petroleum Gulf oil spill.

Lie number one, George: the wind turbine/dead bird myth has been debunked years ago. Wind Energy and Wildlife

But anyway, wind turbines never:

As the bad news continues to gush out along with the unstoppable oil leak, you can be sure that we will learn of thousands of other things that wouldn't have happened if we had made renewable energy a national priority.

The United States gets another wake up call.

This:

or this:

Photo - LACoastPost

Byron Brown Meets the New Boss (same as the old boss)

2010-05-02T09:40:00.000-04:00

Mayor Byron Brown taking marching orders

from BFF Andy "The Slimemold" Rudnick

Mayor Byron W. Brown's push to hold the line on commercial tax rates while cutting residential tax rates by 2.7 percent is the right move in tough economic times, the head of the region's largest business advocacy group said Friday.

Andrew J. Rudnick, president of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, had been pressing city officials to keep taxes in check. (Buffalo News, April 30)

Mayor Brown, happy to bow to the wishes of his handlers, announced that the City's multimillion dollar surplus would not be spent on addressing quality of life issues or filling the 43 empty police positions. Nice to know that an African American Mayor in a city that is 39% black can't find 40 African Americans qualified to be police officers.

I guess all those promises Brown made during his re-election campaign were lies? Big surprise there. Byron Brown holds Christmas in September

Fun facts on the Brown's tax cut:

Average house value in Buffalo $63,000
Average tax bill on $63,00 house - $1162. (If you pay the full assessment of $18.45 per thousand, which most don't.)
Average 2.7% tax cut - $31.38. Enjoy, don't spend it all in one place.

The good news is that Brown's political career is dead. He won't be the next Senator, Representative or apparently, even the lieutenant governor. The bad news is that we are stuck with him until someone (hopefully) better comes along.

Violent crime in the Heights 2009-10

2010-05-01T19:15:00.000-04:00

“Despite the current crisis that has affected every sector of our society, the City of Buffalo is Safer, Stronger and Smarter, I am confident we’re moving in the right direction – despite the statewide and national challenges we all face - and I believe Buffalo is in a good position to withstand this current crisis and is ready for further investment and development.” Mayor Brown - State of the City Address 2009

View University Heights Crime Map 2009 in a larger map

View Larger Map
(2008 crime info)

A 74-year-old Buffalo man told police he was stabbed at least three times by a young bandit who tried to rob him near Elmwood Avenue and Bidwell Parkway on Saturday morning.
The victim told officers the bandit jumped him from behind at about 8:15 a. m. and stabbed him with a hunting knife when he resisted. Buffalo News, May 10, 2010

University Police are investigating an attempted robbery that occurred at 3 a.m. today in the Main-Bailey parking lot near Clement Hall on UB's South Campus.
The suspect, described as a black male, 5-foot 8-inches tall wearing an orange shirt under a black zip-up hoodie and black jeans, approached the victims in the parking lot and attempted to take their property. The suspect punched both victims and then fled the area toward Springville Avenue without any property. May 4, 2010 UB Reporter

A North Buffalo woman was knocked to the ground, punched and kicked by an assailant who approached her Friday at around 11:25 p. m. as she was entering her apartment on Saranac Avenue near Hertel. The attacker took her purse, then fled. (April 25, 2010 Buffalo News)

Northwest District police were searching for a brazen armed robber who held up a Glenwood Avenue man at gunpoint Monday morning while he pumped gas on Delaware Avenue, according to Buffalo police reports.
The victim told police he was pumping gas at the A-Plus at 1390 Delaware Ave. at about 9:30 a. m. when a man approached him with a .38-caliber handgun and demanded money from him. The thief fled with about $65 cash, heading east on West Delavan Avenue. (April 13, 2010 Buffalo News)

An armed robber, who looked to be about 12 years old, and his accomplice, who could have been younger, held up a North Buffalo convenience store Saturday, according to a report filed with Buffalo police.
The young bandits targeted the A-Plus mini-mart, 1301 Hertel Ave. near Colvin Avenue, between 1:30 and 2 p. m., according to police and a store employee.
The two waited for everyone to leave the store and then the older boy displayed a small silver handgun, police said.
“Give me the money,” the boy told the employee. “You have 10 [expletive] seconds to open the drawer.” (April 11, 2010 Buffalo News)

Buffalo police are investigating a report of an assault Sunday morning by a group of 20 women on Bailey Avenue.
Police said a witness saw the women exit four vehicles and attack several other women in the 2400 block of Bailey. The witness told police she tried to break up the fight and was stabbed in the left arm and cut on the right hand. (Buffalo News 3/29/10)

A group of five people armed with metal baseball bats and brass knuckles assaulted a woman in the city’s Bailey- East Delavan area at about 5 p. m. Thursday, Northeast District police reported Friday.
The victim told police that the attackers followed her vehicle, cut her off and when she left her vehicle, assaulted her with the bats and brass knuckles on Navel Avenue, just east of Bailey Avenue, between East Delavan and East Ferry Street. (Buffalo News 3/27/10)

Shots fired an hour apart Wednesday afternoon caught one man in the foot on Minnesota Avenue and narrowly missed an East Side mother and an infant in a May Street house, Buffalo police said.
Police said Montell Jones, no age or address listed, was walking on Minnesota between Bailey and Comstock avenues shortly before 5 p. m. when he was shot in the right foot. He told police he had no idea how he got shot or who did it. He was taken by Rural/ Metro Medical Services to Erie County Medical Center. (Buffalo News 3/26/10)

A Bailey Avenue M&TBank branch was held up for the second time in four days Friday; this time, the robbers made off with the loot, according to Buffalo police.
Police said that at about 2:30 p. m., two bandits—one armed with a handgun— ordered everyone to the floor. After a teller handed over a quantity of cash, the two fled the bank and made their getaway in a four-door maroon sedan last seen going south on Suffolk Street, police said. (Buffalo News 3/20/10)

Amherst police are looking for two robbers wearing ski masks who took about $40 and a cell phone from a 29- year-old man walking on Springville Avenue near the University at Buffalo South Campus late Tuesday.
The two men approached the victim at about 11:20 p. m., pointed a gun at him and stole the items. One of the two thieves then punched him in the mouth, according to police reports. (Buffalo News 3/18/10)

An 18-year-old Buffalo State College student told Buffalo police he was attacked on Elmwood Avenue earlier this month by a group that may belong to a rival Buffalo State fraternity.
The victim told police he was walking to a store at about 1 p. m. March 6 with a friend when at least six men approached him from behind and punched, slapped and kicked him to the ground and kept attacking him until he lost consciousness. (Buffalo News 3/16/10)

A DNA hit obtained through a national database led Buffalo police to a career criminal who is now in custody, charged with the 2002 rape of a 15-year-old girl on her way to school, Buffalo police reported Friday.
Craig Burroughs, 45, of Grider Street, was charged with first-degree rape and sodomy stemming from the 7 a. m. Dec. 11, 2002, incident in Shoshone Park, police said.
Burroughs was on parole at the time of the alleged rape after serving time for forgery and criminal possession of stolen property stemming from a 1999 incident. He was released on parole again Dec. 11, 2009, according to state corrections records, after serving more than three years in prison of two felony counts of grand larceny. (Buffalo News 2/27/10)

2/13/10 Buffalo police have arrested a 34- year-old man accused of breaking into a Voorhees Avenue home, where he beat a man with a metal pipe and choked and beat a woman.
Northwest District officers charged Duane Andrews, of Fairfield Avenue, with burglary, two counts of assault, weapons possession and harassment.
Andrews was accused of kicking in the front door Thursday night to enter the home, just south of Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo, according to police reports.(Buffalo News)

2/6/10 A bandit armed with a semi-automatic handgun made off with an undetermined amount of cash after tying up an employee shortly before 4:30 p. m. at Bucks for Books on Millersport Highway in Amherst.
Amherst police said the robber— wearing a dark-colored uniform and a dark blue vest with a blue bandanna covering his face—fled the business, at 1325 Millersport, on foot. The bandit was described as a black male, 25 to 30 years old, about 6 feet tall, of medium build and wearing a dark-colored winter hat. (Buffalo News)

2/4/10 A 20-year-old man who was assaulted and robbed by three men at midnight Thursday night on Minnesota Avenue was taken to Erie County Medical Center with head and forearm injuries, Buffalo police reported.
He told Northeast District police that he was robbed of his cell phone, book bag, paycheck and other items after being attacked while entering the front door of the home. (Buffalo News)

Northwest District police early Friday morning arrested two suspects and confiscated two butcher knives following an attempted burglary on Beard Avenue in North Buffalo.
Police accused the two suspects, Danny Drayton, 47, of Main Street, and Jason M. Thomas, 47, of Eagle Street, of breaking a window with the intent to enter a home on Beard near Parker Avenue shortly before 3 a. m.
Thomas also was charged with possession of burglary tools, after Officer Nicholas Parisi found two eight-inch knives in his boots after Thomas was apprehended at Fillmore and Wakefield avenues, according to police reports. (Buffalo News 1/30/10)

1/25/10 Three men were arrested late Saturday after a shot was fired at a police lieutenant as he was questioning a robbery suspect at Suffolk and Lisbon avenues.

The suspect was among a large group of men at the corner when the lieutenant approached him at about 10:30 p. m. and began to question him, according to a police report. Someone in the group fired a shot at the officer and fled, the report said. The officer was not hurt.

Police gave chase and noticed one man giving a semiautomatic handgun to another, who tried to hide it in a house. Police also chased down another man, who fought with them when apprehended. Police said two of the men were found with crack cocaine after they were in custody. Javon Hayes, 19, of Shirley Avenue, faces charges that include felony possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence. Charges against Freddie Brown, 60, of Rounds Avenue, include felony possession of a weapon, tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution and promoting prison contraband. Jorden Davis, 19, of Minnesota Avenue, was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing police, tampering with evidence and promoting prison contraband. (Buffalo News)

1/24/10 Amherst police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred at an Eggert Road apartment building Saturday night. Details were still sketchy late Saturday, but the robbery occurred just after 8 p. m. at an apartment at 1963 Eggert, police said. (Buffalo News)

1/16/10 Two people remained in Erie County Medical Center Friday following a triple shooting that occurred in the 3100 block of Bailey Avenue about 3:45 p. m. Thursday. Felisha D. Martin, 18, of Berkshire Avenue, who was struck by gunfire near the spine and underwent surgery at ECMC, was listed in serious condition Friday. Deon Allen, 18, of Dartmouth Avenue, who was struck in the right ankle was listed in stable condition. Authorities said Javier Baez, 33, of Kensington Avenue, was treated for an arm injury at ECMC and released. (Buffalo News)

1/15/10 Six girls attack two on Bailey Avenue. Six teenage girls attacked a pregnant woman and another female on Bailey Avenue late Friday, stealing earrings and other jewelry. The woman, who is 11 weeks pregnant, was struck in the head and body, suffering cuts to her mouth and back. She was treated in Sisters Hospital for cuts and cramping, Buffalo police said. The robbery occurred about 9:20 p.m. near Bailey and Berkshire avenues. The assailants were believed to be ages 15 to 17. (Buffalo News)

1/10/10 A North Buffalo man was tied up and robbed of guns and ammunition as two men forced their way into his apartment about 9 p. m. Friday, Buffalo police said Saturday. The invasion occurred in an apartment on Sterling Avenue, just off Hertel Avenue. The 21-year-old victim told police his doorbell rang, and when he answered the door he was met by two men, one of them brandishing a silver handgun. The two bandits ordered the resident to the floor, and placed the handgun to his head, then tied him up with an extension cord. Stolen from a bedroom were four rifles, including an an AK-47 replica rifle, and 40 rounds of ammunition (Buffalo News)

1/4/10 Phillip M. Perry, 30, of Camden Avenue, was charged with assault by Buffalo police Sunday.
Officers said Perry is accused of stabbing a Hartwell Avenue man in the arm and head during an incident on Minnesota Avenue early on the morning of New Year’s Day. Buffalo News

1/3/10 A man was shot during an attempted robbery Friday in a University Heights neighborhood, Buffalo police said Saturday. Leon Garner, no age or address available, was shot in the right shoulder.
The shooting occurred at Minnesota Avenue and Suffolk Street about 9:30 p. m. Friday, according to police.
The victim told police he was accosted by four males who tried to rob him.
Buffalo News

12/27/09 Nathaniel Guy, of Texas, was getting out of a vehicle when he was struck by gunfire. He was transported to ECMC in a private vehicle, and is listed in critical condition. The incident happened around 4 a.m. Sunday in the 400 block of Hewitt Ave. near Orleans St. WGRZ

12/20/09 A man told police he was beat up and robbed early Saturday at Main Street and Lisbon Avenue in the city’s University Heights neighborhood.
The victim was attacked by four people just before 5 a.m. The muggers made off with $3 and a cell phone, police said. Buffalo News

12/20/09 a 16-year-old University Heights boy was shot by an unknown assailant at about 11:15 p.m. at West Delavan Avenue and Grant Street.
A couple of hours earlier, a man told police he was walking along Bailey Avenue, near Hewitt Avenue, when he heard several shots. He said he felt something strike him in the back, according to a police report. He was treated at ECMC for a superficial gunshot wound to his back.
Buffalo News

12/05/09 A woman on her way to work about 7 a. m. Saturday told police a man tried to force her into a van at gunpoint in University Heights. Police said the van—described as a late-model tan or gold Dodge Caravan —pulled alongside of her on Custer Street, and the driver, wielding a black handgun, said, “Get in the van.” The woman, who told police she noticed another man and a woman in the van, ran to a neighborhood store and summoned police. Buffalo News

11/20/09 Buffalo Police are investigating a strong-armed robbery that occurred on Nov. 19, 2009, at about 10:25 p.m. on Main Street at Englewood Avenue in the City of Buffalo.
The suspect is described as a black male, 5-feet 4-inches tall, wearing dark clothing, and a white and gray knit cap. The suspect may have followed the victim from the Main Circle bus stop down to Main Street, where he forcibly stole the victim's purse. UB Reporter

11/15/09 A 22 year old woman told police she was getting out of her car on Elam Place and Crescent Avenue in Buffalo around 11 p.m. Saturday night when two men came out of nowhere. The victim was bound, blind folded and taken back to her apartment in Kenmore, where her roommate was awakened at knife point by the suspects. The two men blind folded and tied up the roommate as well. Both women were then told to get in the back seat of the car. With a gun and a knife in hand, the two suspects then forced the women to hand over their ATM cards and their pin numbers. They drove around to a number of ATM machines, withdrawing 800 dollars in cash. When they were done, the two suspects dropped the women back off where it all started, on Elam Place and Crescent Avenue in Buffalo. WIVB

11/15/09 The University Police are investigating an assault that occurred on Nov. 15 at 2 a.m. on the sidewalk next to the Townsend Parking Lot on the South Campus. The victim was assaulted as he and his girlfriend walked from Main Street to the Main Circle bus stop. The suspects were described as four or five white males, with the primary aggressor described as wearing a white t-shirt and Timberland boots, with dark hair styled into a faux-hawk. The victim was knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly. The suspects were not known to the victim. WIVB

11/11/09 Two University at Buffalo students walking home from the South Campus were victims of a strong-armed robbery late Tuesday night, Amherst police said. The two male assailants grabbed the students from behind, demanded their cell phones and wallets and threw one of the victims to the ground, shortly after 10:30 p.m. The robbers fled north on Springville Avenue. Buffalo News

11/11/09 Apparently this is one of two violent-crime incidents that happened within an hour of each other. The other incident which occurred at approximately 9:30 P.M., the same night near the address of 46 Minnesota. A young woman was walking on Minnesota (en route home?) and was attacked at gunpoint. The perpetrator was apprehended and taken to the Ferry Street Detention Center and
avoided being arrested and taken to jail, because of his age. It didn't make today's paper as I thought it would. The incident was told to me by Captain Stabler of the E-District. (Email from neighbor)

10/31/09 Buffalo Police are stating that an early morning dispute has claimed the life of a young adult on Lisbon Avenue. The victim, who was stabbed multiple times, is believed to be a 19-year-old white male. He died a short time after the incident. The stabbing occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m. at a home in the 100 block of Lisbon Avenue. Detectives believe some type of dispute broke out as people were leaving a large house party. (WKBW)

10/31/09 Home Invasion. The victim reported that two gun-toting men wearing hockey masks broke into his home in the first block of Tyler between Flower Street and West Winspear Avenue. One suspect ordered him to the ground and put a gun to his head, while the other assailant searched the house. Buffalo News

10/21/09 Armed robbery - as told to me by my neighbor.

10/21/09 Seven separate police raids Monday night at homes in University Heights netted $73,000 in cash from a drug dealer’s safe on Davidson Avenue, seven guns, cocaine and marijuana, ammunition and the arrests of six individuals, authorities said. Arrested on weapons and drug charges were Andre Banks, 41, of Poultney Avenue; Uriah Grant, 27, of Shirley Avenue; Tyree Lemon, 20, of Shirley; Darius Ofield, 22, of Stockbridge Avenue; Lavelle Reeves, 19, of Davidson; and Donte Walker, 18, of Poultney. The raids were conducted at two homes on the 100 block of Poultney and at homes on the 100 block of Bickford Avenue, the 100 and 200 blocks of Shirley, the 200 block of Davidson and the 500 block of Stockbridge. (Buffalo News)

10/20/09 Buffalo police were searching for three men in connection with a Monday afternoon home invasion on Tyler Street, according to police reports. A 24-year-old resident told police that at about 4 p. m., the three men removed pins from the hinges on a door and forced their way into his apartment while he was sleeping. The victim woke up to find the three burglars in his house, and they threw a blanket over him, sitting on top of him and threatening to shoot him.(Buffalo News)

10/18/09 Buffalo police were called Saturday night to restore order outside a Buffalo roller rink, where teenagers who got turned away turned it into a chaotic scene. At least three arrests were made and one person was injured. The incident near Arcadia Roller Skating Rink, 30 E. Amherst St. near Main Street, erupted about 8 p. m. after a skating party at the rink quickly filled to capacity. There were a lot of young people milling around outside waiting to get in and frustrations about being shut out may have boiled over, police said. There were reports of as many as hundreds of teenagers in and around the rink.Tempers flared and fights broke out, spilling onto the streets, and police from at least three districts were called to restore order and move traffic. There were at least three arrests, but charges are pending. (Buffalo News)

10/11/2009 University Police are investigating a robbery reported October 11 at approximately 10:45 p.m. on Rensch Road near the Audubon Parkway intersection. The victim was approached from behind and shoved to the ground. (UB News Center)

10/10/2009 One male was shot in the upper body at about 8:30 p. m. in the 200 block of Minnesota Avenue. A woman was hit in the leg and her injuries were not life-threatening. (Buffalo News)

10/5/2009 University Police received a report at 10:10 p.m. on Oct. 4 from a student who stated he was robbed at gun point on Lee road near Jarvis B Parking Lot. A second student also reported being robbed between Ketter Hall and Putnam Way shortly after the first incident was reported. According to the victims, the suspects were two black males, both wearing dark clothing, one wearing a black scarf on his head and armed with a silver handgun. (UB News Center)

9/25/09 Buffalo police from three districts as well as officers from the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority police converged on a large fight involving as many as 30 students on Main Street near Hertel and LaSalle avenues Thursday afternoon, police reported.
The incident began about 3:30 p. m. Police were called to the area for the report of a large fight after school. It was believed that some of the students involved were from nearby Bennett High School, but it was unclear how many, authorities said. (Buffalo News)

9/21/09 A Buffalo man who was shot on Allenhurst Road in Amherst early Saturday was listed in fair condition Sunday in Erie County Medical Center.
Shawn Wilson, 34, of Dodge Avenue, was found with several bullet wounds when Amherst police responded to a report of shots fired at about 1:20 a. m. in the 500 block of Allenhurst. A dark-colored SUV was seen leaving the area shortly after the report of gunshots. (Buffalo News)

9/10/09 The operator of a Bailey Avenue video rental business was arrested today by Buffalo police and federal agents who called him one of the region's major cocaine suppliers. Sean Washington, 40, of Englewood Avenue, was arrested after more than six pounds of cocaine and four handguns were found in a "stash house" he allegedly operates on Eller Avenue. "[Washington] is a big cocaine supplier, a dangerous individual and we're glad to get him off the streets," said Charles Tomaszewski, resident agent in charge of the Buffalo DEA office. "He has a past record of felony drug convictions and we believe he has supplied a number of drug rings in the area for years. "SWAT teams from Buffalo and the Town of Tonawanda took part in the arrests of Washington and his son, Lamar Washington, 19, of Minnesota Avenue. They face felony charges of drug distribution, drug possession and gun possession. (Buffalo News)

9/5/09 A Highgate Avenue woman told police someone fired a shotgun blast through the front window of her house early Friday morning. No one was injured, but the 12:39 a. m. shooting left a spray of birdshot in the drywall and molding of the house on Highgate, between Suffolk and Orleans streets.(Buffalo News)

9/2/09 A woman walking around Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park about 6 p. m. Monday was punched in the head and kicked by an assailant who also robbed her of her wallet, which contained $500 and some credit cards, Northwest District police report. The attacker was described in police reports as a black man in his late 20s, about 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, wearing a black hooded sweat shirt. Buffalo News

9/2/09 E District Police are investigating a shooting on the city's East Side early today in which a man fired more than two-dozen shots into a house on Wade Avenue. Buffalo News

8/31/09 A surveillance camera got two photos of a suspect in an armed robbery Sunday at a Mobil station on Bailey Avenue at Winspear Avenue. Police officials say the gunman entered the Mobil station at 3444 Bailey just before 5:30 p. m. and demanded money. He made off with an undisclosed amount of cash and cigarettes. Buffalo News

8/30/09 A Colvin Avenue woman was attacked this morning as she walked to her vehicle in a quiet North Buffalo neighborhood. The woman told police a man approached her at around 6:30 a.m. at Avery and Virgil avenues. "Do you have any money?" the man asked her, according to police records. When the woman said she had no money, the man struck her in the face several times.The victim described the suspect as a 5-foot-9 black male who weighs about 160 pounds and was wearing a brown hoodie and jeans. Buffalo News

8/12/09 Two armed men entered a Mighty Taco restaurant in North Buffalo early this morning and ordered everyone to the floor, while demanding cash from the manager and fleeing with an undisclosed amount of money, Buffalo police reported. The robbery occurred between 1 and 1:30 a.m. at the Mighty Taco on Delaware Avenue, near Hertel Avenue. (Buffalo News)

7/21/09 Residents of Buffalo's Central Park area say they're living in fear, as gangs take over their neighborhood. Neighbors say desperate calls for help have fallen on deaf ears.
Concerned neighbors on Manhattan Avenue are armed with video cameras capturing scenes several times a week.
Bolden reached out to News 4 to say she and her neighbors are tired of dozens of teens invading their street, "They're trashing people's houses, busting out people's windows, jumping on people's kids. It's just a melee." WGRZ

7/9/09 Two Buffalo men in their 20s were stabbed during a fight outside a restaurant near that intersection early today, less than four hours after an armed bandit waved a small handgun at a fast-food restaurant worker almost directly across the street.
The double stabbing occurred during a fight involving four to eight men at about 2:55 a.m., outside Louie's Texas Red Hots, at 2350 Delaware, just north of Hertel. Both men who were stabbed, Ernest Bishop, 26, of Hopkins Street, and Robert Carlock, 24, of Roberts Street, have been treated and released from Erie County Medical Center. Bishop was stabbed in the back, while Carlock was stabbed in the stomach.
The armed robbery occurred at about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, when a lone gunman stole an undisclosed amount of money from the Mighty Taco restaurant at 2363 Delaware Ave.
The thief, who wore a black scarf over his face, pulled out the handgun and demanded money from the clerk while waving the weapon around inside the restaurant. (Buffalo News)

7/6/09 A North Buffalo man who was calling police to report that four young people fired Roman candles at his home was beaten over the head with his phone and struck across the back with a metal bike chain early Sunday morning, police reported today. Northwest District police said the man was beaten repeatedly and dragged down the street. The assault occurred on Villa Avenue, which is one block south of Kenmore Avenue, between Delaware and Colvin avenues. Police early today announced the arrest of two boys, ages 12 and 14, who are being petitioned to Family Court on what would be charges of gang assault, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, according to police reports. (Buffalo News)
6/23/09 An Englewood Avenue man accused of robbing someone sitting in a parked car at gunpoint early Sunday was arrested by Northeast District officers, Buffalo police reported. Steven A. Talley, 24, is charged with first-degree robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property, reckless endangerment and possession of marijuana.
6/1/09 A gang of youths armed with bricks and rocks went on a rampage Saturday night, shattering windows on houses and cars in a normally quiet Buffalo neighborhood.
At least three reports were filed with the Buffalo Police Department on Sunday about the incidents on Shirley Avenue between Bailey Avenue and Eggert Road. They included the smashing of a plate glass window at a plumbing store at 484 Shirley, a house at 407 Shirley, and damage to a number of cars on the street.
He said at 10:20 Saturday night, about 40 to 50 kids ran screaming down the street, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.
“One car across the street had its hood bashed,” he said. His own car was struck by a brick that was thrown at it with such force that it smashed his back window and wound up on the dashboard.
He said Saturday’s vandalism is just the latest in a series of incidents that have been happening in the neighborhood, a problem that is relatively new.
“I’ve lived here a very long time,” he said. Much of the commotion seems to be coming from one house in particular, one he calls the “fun house.”
“It was a quiet area here before they moved in,” he said. There are “so many” kids coming and going at all hours, something he says is generating much of the trouble. Buffalo News

6/1/09 A drive-by BB gun shooting on Main Street in University Heights led to the arrest of four Buffalo teens. Two women and a man told police Sunday a passenger in a gold vehicle shot at them with a BB gun while they were at Main and Custer streets. The suspects later were found by Cheektowaga and Buffalo police on Treehaven Road with a BB gun in plain sight, according to police. Arrested were Donald Silmon, 17, of Winspear Avenue; Jeffrey E. Campbell, 17, of Treehaven Road; and Davaughn D. Dantzler and Justin Ward, both 17 and both of Highgate Avenue. All four were charged with felony assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon. Buffalo News

5/31/09 5/31/09 Several cars were vandalized between Saturday night and tonight by a gang of 6-8 young black men around the ages of 13-16.

A friend of mine was walking in Shoshone park about 6pm when she was harassed by this group of kids, who also smashed her car windows and headlights while she was parked in the La Salle lot near the day care center. She could only identify two of the boys as the others were hiding in the brush. She said one wearing a very bright orange t-shirt and the other was wearing a black t-shirt and they were taunting her as if they were the gang leaders. They threw rocks at her and her dog while screaming and cursing at her. Neighbor Report

5/26/09 WIVB Police are searching for a man they say is armed and dangerous. He's wanted in connection with the murder of a man in Amherst.
Richard Garnett is visibly distraught. You can understand why. Monday night, his twin brother, Jesse, was shot and killed in Amherst.Two weeks ago in Buffalo, their roommate, University at Buffalo graduate Javon Jackson, was gunned down. The three young men grew up in the Bronx together and shared an apartment in a Lisbon Avenue home. Garnett said, "My roommate, now my brother. Everything is taken away. My dream is gone."
Richard says his brother was visiting his girlfriend and her two-year-old son at a Yale Avenue apartment when he was shot multiple times Monday night, possibly by her ex-boyfriend.
The mother and child weren't hurt. Amherst Police spent much of the day going door to door, in search of the alleged gunman. They want to talk to 24-year-old Andre Ridgeway of Buffalo.
Amherst Assistant Police Chief Timothy Green said, "He's considered a person of interest and at this time he's considered armed and dangerous." Investigators wouldn't say whether Ridgeway was also considered a person of interest in the Mother's Day shooting of Javon Jackson.
5/24/09 A Woodbridge Avenue resident told police he was robbed while walking through Delaware Park late Friday night. The victim told police he was walking through the park near Parkside and Oakwood Place at about 11:15 p. m. Friday, when he was accosted by three males. “Give us what you got, and you won’t get hurt,” one of the suspects told him. Buffalo News

5/24/09 An employee at the Sunoco at 1301 Hertel told police that two males covering their faces and wearing hoodies entered the gas station at 4:45 a. m. Friday, displayed handguns and demanded cash. Buffalo News
5/14/09 About four months ago, a Buffalo mother of three young children began a relationship with a 29-year-old man who killed her late Tuesday, police and neighbors said Wednesday.
De’aira Wall, 21, was fatally shot at about 11:25 p. m. in the bathroom of her townhouse, and four hours later, the boyfriend, Jesse L. Jones, whom she let live with her, critically wounded himself with a gunshot to the upper body.
“It appears to be an apparent murder-attempted suicide,” Chief of Detectives Dennis J. Richards said Wednesday afternoon. “It’s very disturbing. We’re trying to determine why somebody would do this.”(Buffalo News)

5/10/09 Javon Jackson was shot to death early this morning in University Heights, less than a day after graduating from the University at Buffalo in front of parents who came here from out of town. (Buffalo News)

5/10/09 A Kensington Avenue man was hit in the face with a gun and robbed in front of his house early Sunday. The man told police he was outside at about 1 a. m. Sunday when someone walked up to him and said, “Give me everything you got.” The victim laughed and turned around. but his assailant hit him in the face with a chrome gun, then took $85 and his cell phone from his pocket. (Buffalo News)

5/8/09 A man was mugged late Friday night while at Comstock Avenue and East Amherst Street by two men, one of whom fired a weapon during the incident, police said.The victim said the mugging occurred about 11:20 p. m. He said a man took $40 in cash from him while a second man displayed a rifle and fired once in the air. The muggers then fled east on East Amherst. (Buffalo News)

5/8/09 Police were investigating a report of shots being fired through a window of a Shirley Avenue home early Friday morning. A resident of the home told Northeast District police that he thought he heard firecrackers sometime between 2:45 a. m. and 3:30 a. m. Friday. Buffalo News

5/1/09 An Appleton man said he was stabbed and slashed by three men at about 4 a. m. Thursday during a robbery in the 2800 block of Main Street. The attackers emerged from a vehicle and cut the victim in the face, eyes and stomach and punched him repeatedly. (Buffalo News)

4/30/09 Two teenagers have been arrested for robbing a University at Buffalo student early Wednesday morning on the South Campus on Main Street.
The two suspects approached a male and female student on campus at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, displayed a gun, and took off with the female's purse, said UB Police Chief Gerald Schoenle.
University police were called and dispatched a description of the suspects. Buffalo police stopped two suspects a short time later near the campus at Main Street and Winspear Avenue. The two allegedly had the victim's property, and a weapon was recovered. "It turned out to be an air gun," Schoenle said.
Charged by police with robbery, possession of stolen property and possession of a weapon were David Desouza, 17, of Buffalo, as well as a 15-year-old male, Schoenle said.
UB police are working with Buffalo detectives to determine if this robbery is connected to a holdup early Monday near the South Campus.
In that case, three males approached a UB student at about 2 a.m. at Main Street and Englewood Avenue. The robbers, who all covered their faces with the hoods of their sweat shirts, demanded money. One suspect put a gun to the victim's head and took the student's iPhone and laptop, before the three ran away through a campus parking lot. (Buffalo News)

4/30/09 Northeast District police charged a 16-year-old and two juveniles in a gang-related robbery late last week. Buffalo police said Rahim Dunston of the 400 block of Minnesota Street, with the two juveniles, kicked, punched and threatened a man and robbed him of $200 Saturday at Minnesota Avenue and Suffolk Street. The three were charged with first-degree robbery. The victim suffered a broken jaw in the attack. (Buffalo News)

4/30/09 Buffalo police are searching for a bandit who handed a note to a teller stating he had a bomb and demanded money, police said. The robbery occurred about 2:50 p. m. Wednesday in the HSBC Bank branch at 340 Kenmore Ave. According to reports, the robber was a black male, about 5-foot-6, dressed in a black hooded sweat shirt and wore blue jeans, latex gloves and sunglasses. The note also said, “I want 100s and 50s, no dye pack.” (Buffalo News)

4/29/09 Northeast District police are continuing to investigate the shooting of a man in North Buffalo late Monday afternoon. Keenon Fitzgerald told police he was shot in the right calf at about 5:45 p. m. in front of a home on Heath Street in the Main Street-Englewood Avenue neighborhood. (Buffalo News)

4/29/09 Several residents were rescued from a second-floor roof and porch and 11 people were left homeless after a fire — apparently sparked by fireplace ashes placed in a trash bin — caused extensive damage to two North Buffalo houses about 4 a.m. today, occupants said.
But according to Rebecca McSwain, who rents quarters on the second-floor of 143 Wellington, the fire was sparked when residents of another apartment placed hot fireplace ashes in a blue city trash bin between the two houses. The fire started at 143 Wellington and spread to the house next door, she said.
Several hours earlier, she called police because the son of the downstairs resident was "tearing the place apart and having a fight with his friends," McSwain said. "His mother is out of town picking up her other son, and the boy downstairs had started a fire in the fireplace," McSwain said. "The police handcuffed him and took him outside, but then released him. He went back inside and started cleaning up the house."
McSwain said that was when the son put the ashes in the trash bin, despite printed instructions on the bin not to do so. The ashes apparently smoldered for several hours before setting the house on fire, McSwain said. (Buffalo News)

4/27/09 Buffalo Police received a report of an armed robbery that occurred at the intersection of Main Street and Englewood Avenue at 2:05 a.m. on Monday April 27, 2009.
Three male suspects approached the victim and displayed a revolver. The suspects took the victim's iPhone and laptop. The suspects were last seen running through the Townsend parking lot and then behind Saint Joseph's Church.
The suspects were all described as black males wearing dark clothing. The shortest of the suspects displayed the revolver and had some kind of mask. (http://www.buffalo.edu/news/10075)

4/22/09 A Massachusetts Avenue man was the victim of a strong-arm robbery by two teenagers in Delaware Park on Tuesday afternoon.
The victim said he was in the park near the Hoyt Lake between 2:15 p. m. and 2:46 p. m. when he was approached by two teenagers, police said. He said he was held from behind and punched in the face. The teens took his wallet which contained $140 in cash, credit cards, a driver’s license and other items.(Buffalo News)

4/16/09 Several shots were fired late Wednesday at a home on Jewett Avenue, with one bullet whizzing through a window and almost hitting a woman who was sitting on the living room couch. Northeast district officers investigating the shooting recovered one bullet from the home and eight assault rifle shell casings from the street. (Buffalo News)

4/10/09 Buffalo police are investigating the home invasion of an Eggert Road address at about 10:30 a. m. Thursday.
Two men wearing masks, gloves and hooded sweat shirts, armed with a shotgun and a knife, entered the house in the 300 block of Eggert, threatened a 12-year-old with a knife and demanded drugs and money, police said. (Buffalo News)
4/8/09 Two would-be North Buffalo robbers and the two occupants of the house they targeted all ended up under arrest Monday afternoon.
When Darwin D. Brooks and Willie J. Carson kicked in the door of a residence in the 300 block of Huntington Avenue and pointed a handgun at Kalela Carter, she turned the tables and chased them out of the house and down the street.
Several Northwest District officers joined in the foot chase at about 11:30 a. m. and succeeded in catching Brooks, 33, of Hagen Street, in the 300 block of Woodbridge Avenue, and Carson, 24, of Melvin Place, at Depew and Linden avenues.
Officers also succeeded in recovering a 9 mm handgun that had been stashed inside the wheel well of a vehicle parked in the 400 block of Huntington.
Normally, that would have been the end of the story. But police suspected things were not in order in the house the robbers had targeted, and a search warrant was obtained. Officers’ suspicions paid off. Police said they recovered cocaine and marijuana that Carter, 25, and the other occupant, Samuel L. Rose, 24, intended to sell. Both were charged with criminal possession of narcotics by midafternoon. Brooks and Carson were charged with burglary, attempted robbery, criminal use of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon. (Buffalo News)

4/1/09 Two youths who robbed a North Buffalo resident at gunpoint after he refused to let them borrow his cell phone were caught late Monday night, Northwest District police said.
“You’re going to let me use your phone, or I am going to shoot you,” one of the robbers told the victim at about 9:40 p. m. at the intersection of Colvin Avenue and Taunton Place, police said.
The victim said he tried to grab the silver handgun one of the robbers pointed at him but was wrestled to the ground. The other robber then put a foot on top on his throat to keep him pinned while the accomplice searched his pockets and took his wallet and cell phone.
Police later caught Willie T. Jessie, 17, of the 300 block of Pine Street, and Justin A. Gist, 17, of the 200 block of Voorhees Avenue, in the 400 block of Voorhees. They were charged with robbery and a criminal possession of a weapon. (Buffalo News)

3/31/09 Michael R. Ralston, 16, of Kenmore Avenue, was arrested after he allegedly held a 9mmBaretta to the head of another man at about 4:10 p. m. Saturday. He told the victim he would be dead in an hour. Ralston was found in possession of brass knuckles and did not give police his real name when he was arrested on Kenmore Avenue near Toledo Place about 90 minutes later, according to the report. He was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a Class C felony, as well as second-degree menacing, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and false personation. The gun was not recovered. (Buffalo News)
3/31/09 Buffalo police early Sunday arrested four men who are accused of violently assaulting three men in a fight in the University Heights neighborhood. Officers say the gang assault took place at about 12:45 a. m. at Englewood Avenue and Cornell Street when three friends were attacked by a group of four men. One victim suffered a broken nose when he was punched in the face. A second victim told police he was held in a headlock by one attacker and punched in the head by another. The third victim told police he was punched in the back of the head. The three sought treatment at Sisters Hospital.
The suspects, all of Buffalo, are Kevin Hoyler, 19; Kevin Langdon, 19; Matthew J. Bohack, 18; and Bryan R. Forbes, 18. They are charged with gang assault, assault and harassment. Forbes also is charged with obstructing governmental administration. (Buffalo News)

3/30/09 A woman was dragged by a man trying to steal her purse Saturday night in University Heights. The woman told Buffalo police the incident happened at Tyler and Cornell streets, just west of Main Street and Winspear Avenue, at 10:45 p. m., according to a police report. The robber grabbed the victim’s purse, knocked her to the ground and dragged her until she let it go. (Buffalo News)

3/30/09 An armed gunman stole potent prescription drugs at about 5:10 p. m. Sunday from the Walgreens drugstore at 3488 Main St. in the University Heights neighborhood, according to Buffalo police. The gunman displayed a weapon and demanded that the pharmacists give him Ambien and Sonata, both sleep aids; OxyContin, a narcotic pain reliever; and Lorazepam, which is used to treat anxiety disorders. The robber then ordered the employees to the ground and told them to count to 60. (Buffalo News)

3/28/09 Two 23-year-old men were arrested following a bar fight early Saturday at the Steer Restaurant & Saloon on Main Street in the University District. At about 3 a.m., Louis H. James of Staten Island allegedly threw a beer bottle at a man in the bar, hitting him on the left side of his face and causing severe bleeding, police said.The bouncer then tried to restrain James when Jason M. Legrett of Buffalo allegedly punched the bouncer. (Buffalo News)

3/22/09 Two men entered a home in the University Heights neighborhood Saturday and robbed the residents of cash and a cell phone. The victims told Buffalo police the two suspects entered the home on Lisbon Avenue through an open basement door at about 6:30 p. m. One of the intruders displayed a weapon and asked the residents where they kept the money, according to police reports. (Buffalo News)

Kiele Coleman
3/16/09 Two people are in critical condition at the Erie County Medical Center after they were shot in a car this afternoon on a St. Lawrence Ave. (Buffalo News)
Kiele Coleman, 22, remains hospitalized in critical condition at the hospital. She was shot in the head on Monday while riding in the front passenger seat of her boyfriend's car on St. Lawrence Ave. in North Buffalo. "She went through the one surgery," Bob Coleman said. "She still has a bullet in her head behind her eye socket. Every day, every hour, we just keep praying for her." Kiele's boyfriend, Frank Militello, 26, was also shot. He was driving the car and crashed it into a tree seconds after the shooting. Police are looking for Adrienne March, 21, of St. Lawrence Ave. She's being described as a person of interest. She may be using the alias Vanessa Gregory, according to police. (WKBW)

3/6/09 Custer Street man arrested last June on a first-degree rape charge was taken into custody again Thursday, charged with another rape, of an 18- year-old girl on Dartmouth Avenue, Buffalo police said.
Rasheed I. Milton, 26, was arrested at about 7 p. m. by Officers Wendy Collier and Earl Perrin of the Mobile Response Unit along with detectives from the department’s Sex Offense Section. Milton, who forced the victim to have sexual intercourse, was charged with first-degree rape and unlawful imprisonment. Mr. Milton has quite a history in Buffalo. (Buffalo News)

2/12/09 Northeast District police responding to a call of a burglary in progress late Tuesday on the first block of Westminster Avenue caught three teenagers, one armed with a Taser, authorities said.
Thomas Benjamin, 17; Joshua Jackson, 17; and Christopher Sweat, 19, all of Lisbon Avenue, were charged with burglary and criminal possession of stolen property. Sweat was also charged with criminal possession of the Taser.

2/3/09 University Police are investigating a strong-arm robbery that occurred on Feb. 3, 2009, at approximately 7:55 p.m. in the Main/Bailey Parking Lot on the University at Buffalo South (Main Street) Campus. The victim was approached from behind and assaulted by a group described as four black males, 5-feet 10-inches to 6-feet tall, in their late teens to early 20s and all wearing dark clothing. (UB Reporter)

1/20/09 A 19-year-old Buffalo man is in fair condition in Erie County Medical Center today following a drive-by shooting in the Kensington-Bailey neighborhood. The shooting happened on the 500 block of Stockbridge Avenue, between Suffolk and Orleans streets, at about 2:10 p.m., Buffalo police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said. Police believe the victim was walking alone when someone inside what's being described only as a green vehicle fired several shots at him. The victim was struck by more than one bullet. (Buffalo News)

1/18/09 The Buffalo Police Dept.'s homicide squad is asking for the public's help identifying the victims of a Sunday morning fire at 39 Dartmouth Avenue. Fire investigators discovered the bodies of two adults - one male and one female - inside the house. Authorities say the bodies are too badly burned to be identified. (WGRZ) 1/24/09 The two people found burned beyond recognition in a University Heights house fire Sunday morning had been shot to death before the fire started, several sources confirmed Friday. (Buffalo News)

1/11/09 Three men were attacked during an early morning robbery in the Bailey-Kensington neighborhood today. One man was shot in the elbow and another was hit in the face with a gun, a blow which knocked out some teeth. (Buffalo News)

Hoyt Calls on School Superintendents to Freeze Pay

2010-04-28T20:21:00.002-04:00

Hoyt wrote: "With the state being unable to provide the levels of aid that it has previously been able to, it is no longer feasible to act, at a local level, in a manner that does not reflect the loss of this aid. Just as private sector executives have had to give up benefits, freeze or cut pay, and make structural changes to weather the fiscal storm, it is necessary for your members to make the same sorts of decisions.”

A recent analysis by The Buffalo News showed the pay of school administration skyrocketing as one of the fastest growing costs by school districts. Administrators' pay raises have been outpacing the rate of inflation and comparable private sector pay. In the letter, Hoyt asked the NYS Council of School Superintendents to consider the voluntary freeze for one year in order to assist in closing the state budget gap. samhoyt.com

Taxpayers paid $7,326,634, in 2009, on salaries for 66 Buffalo School employees earning over $100,000. SeeThroughNY

We recently had a chance to chat Patricia Devis outside of Dash's while she was collecting signatures for her run for Buffalo School Board. Patricia told us that Williams has really larded up the top level administration while squeezing everyone else.

I like Sam's call for a pay freeze for administrators, but don't think he goes far enough. Its time for a hair cut for the K-12 management. No time like the present to bring these guys back down to reality.

Its a Miracle!

2010-04-27T19:50:00.002-04:00

Imagine investing tax dollars into an organization that not only returns the investment, it also pays its workers so we don't have to. Its a miracle! No, its GM.

No need for a CBA (Community benefit agreement) to make sure workers get a living wage either. The union workers at GM get paid well, well enough to afford to purchase what they make. Imagine that.

Every dollar invested in GM returns the dollar invested plus an additional $1.43 and also employees scientists, engineers, business majors, lawyers and other graduates of our knowledge economy.

Like it or not, manufacturing is fundamental to the health of our economy. If we don't make things there's no one to pay the bills; including those extremely large bills being rung up by our knowledge economy (as SUNY Buffalo is finding out, to its enormous distress).

GM investment will help entire area
GM brings another new engine line to Tonawanda plant
GM's Tonawanda plans will preserve 710 jobs

High-speed Rail FAIL

2010-04-25T09:42:00.004-04:00

Many people were confused and angry when NY received only $151 million to tweak the edges of a plan to run high-speed rail from NYC to Buffalo. Now, even that little plan looks like its in danger of failing.

To find the real culprits in this giant FUBAR, we need only look as far as the car centric DOT, NYS Department of Transportation.

Ann Perdue, the High-Speed Rail Project Manager, recently announced her resignation amidst claims of lies, chaos and policy shifts.

NYSDOT Commissioner Stanley Gee

Turns out NYSDOT Commissioner, Stanley Gee, is one of the main obstacles in the sudden policy shift that stopped looking at the third rail option. The DOT decided to focus on the current status quo of sharing the existing two rails with CSX. The status quo means passenger trains will not be able to travel more than 79 mph as they share the tracks with 55 freight trains a day. The Feds are calling for a minimum of 110 mph in order to qualify for hi-speed rail subsidies. (Guess that's why its call high-speed).

All this jockeying for bureaucratic position is going to cost NY big time as our slice of the stimulus pie for high-speed rail could be cut from $151 million to $6 million or less. It virtually guarantees that New Yorkers will never have high-speed rail connections between NYC, Toronto, Montreal, Albany, Buffalo and points west like Chicago.

Rail chief quits over gov's 'lies'
High-Speed Rail Plan in Danger of being Derailed Before it Even Leaves the Station
High-Speed Rail 'Derailed'?

Getting in touch with your inner teabagger

2010-04-22T20:50:00.001-04:00

Today's host will be County Executive Chris Collins.

Chris has been a busy boy lately. In between purchasing new golf carts and making sure the tax payers subsidize golfing at the same rates as last year, Chris/Erie County has:

Stopped acccepting new applications for the day care financial aid program.

"We have 17,000 single mothers living in poverty in Erie and Niagara County, most of them dependent upon child care to actually rise above poverty," said Doherty. WNED

Re-allocated $2.9 million in Federal Government Stimulus Recovery funds. The grant was supposed to “develop an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy and implement projects that will reduce energy use and green house gas emissions within county operations and the community.” Chris has other, unspecified, ideas on how the money should be spent. Artvoice
Politicized and significantly reduced funding for cultural agencies. Erie County Comptrollers Office

On the bright side, a new branch of the Collins family tree was discovered was discovered earlier this month. I guess that extra penis might come in handy for something, lap dances for instance.

The residents of McCarley Gardens sound really pissed

2010-04-20T19:26:00.000-04:00

The April 7 edition of The Challenger had an article about the ~~sellout~~ sale of McCarley Gardens to SUNY Buffalo.

According to the McCarley Tenant Council, the fundamental issue is trust. Based on past experience the McCarley Tenant Council doesn't trust anything to be delivered as promised. They see, that despite the promise of new housing, "such housing will be scattered, people displaced and an entire community destroyed."

The Tenant Council says the Gardens are an irreplaceable neighborhood housing an "extended family". 95% 9f the residents are against the move and say that aside from a couple public meetings, they were never involved in any of the real decision making.

"They shook hands and sold us out ... but we're not done yet. We're not going to let this go. We're not going along with the program. Right now we just want people to hear us."

More than a few people are starting to believe that UB2020 has become a public menace with its attempt buy up and destroy McCarley Gardens, a stable poor and working-class neighborhood in downtown Buffalo.

Councilman Dr. Curtis Haynes speaks out on behalf of the McCarley Gardens residents.

“It was just a matter of time before they moved all of us out and pushed us further away from the downtown area,” said McCarley Gardens resident Laura Cooper. Her family has lived in the McCarley Gardens housing development seven years. Soon the community and its residents will to move to make way for the University of Buffalo medical campus expansion.

“The older people, a lot of their sons and daughters are not even in Buffalo anymore. So they have to pick up and move and make a new start,” Cooper added.

“We really have to make sure that the residents of McCarley Gardens have their say on this project,” said Buffalo Ellicott District Common Councilman Dr. Curtis Haynes, Jr.

http://buffalo.ynn.com/content/top_stories/500837/ub-buys-mccarley-gardens-property-for-medical-campus-expansion/

Sam Hoyt on the NYS budget

2010-04-18T20:04:00.002-04:00

Community meeting night with Sam Hoyt in North Buffalo. Not surprisingly, the budget was the main topic of discussion.

The NYS budget is $132 billion, $70 billion of which comes from state funds. The $10 billion short fall has to come out of State funds.

Sam’s main goals for the budget this year:

No to more borrowing
No to new fees and taxes
No to an increase in spending over last year.
Yes to learning to live within our means.

Sam took a lot of heat for suggesting that the teachers accept a one year pay freeze. Phil Rumore called him a despicable excuse for a human being. Everyone in attendance agreed with Sam’s stance. We have all experienced either pay freezes, layoffs, increased health insurance cost in the last few years and do not believe state workers should be exempt from the new realities of the State economics. We all would gladly receive 0% increase instead of the 100% decrease of being laid off.

Rumore, Iannuzzi and Brown divvying up the spoils?

Some fun facts about Phil Rumore’s Buffalo Schools.

90% of the funding comes from the state.
It costs $18,000 a year per student in the Buffalo schools, more than what it costs to go to Nichols. (And with decidedly worse outcomes as well.)

Sam has authored a bill to have a commission see what can be done to reduce the number of schools districts in NY. There are 750 in the State, 37 in Erie county, 5(!) in Cheektowaga. Sam would like to see centralized services run out of BOCES.

Other ways to cut the budget with relatively little pain, combine DOT and the Thruway authority, the Peace Bridge authority with the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission.

Fun Facts about Authorities in NY (SeethroughNY 2008 data set)

Over 99,000 people employed by State Authorities
Over $6,5 billion in salary costs alone. Health insurance, pensions, travel and other perks necessary for the car and feeding of State employees extra.
Average salary about $67,000
759 people employed by the NYS Olympic Regional Development Authority.

Lots of good ideas from those in attendance:

Reduce administrative costs by combing SUNY and CUNY administration
Give a hair cut the highest paid state employees. It will help cut the budget deficit and help bring them back down to the same reality the rest of us are experiencing
Across the board cuts are wrong. A 10% in Williamsville does not have the same effect as a 10% cut in Buffalo. “The State would rather build prison than educate.”
The Iron Triangle of oil, cars and suburbs will hold back or destroy any hope of economic recovery in NYS. Increasing cost to maintain the Triangle will reduce the amount we have to spend for education, infrastructure, parks, libraries, etc.
Smart growth and renewable energy legislation will help break the Iron Triangle.