Zeitgeist

On Monday, the Buffalo Common Council met at their regularly scheduled caucus, where members review agenda items ahead of their Tuesday committee meetings. The meeting discussed the BMHA’s pending request for a $250,000 grant to cover its ongoing operating deficit

BY MIKE HUDSON For Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, it’s not about the destination but the journey. Which is why, since taking office in January 2008, the city has been subjected to numerous and lengthy forays into the unknowable unknown,

BY JAMES HUFNAGEL Strike up the band, join the parade, wave the flag and pop the bag. The politicians are renaming the Robert Moses Parkway, to the Niagara Scenic Parkway. Please curb your enthusiasm. Especially since, instead of renaming it, they

BY CHRIS STEVENSON Early last week Edward Berezowski , 54, was reported as found hanging in his cell by his jail-issued pants. According to the Buffalo News he died on Friday, August 17. He was said to have told deputies he was going

BY MATTHEW ALBERT, ESQ. A tragic and horrific case: My client India Cummings, in the throes of mental illness, clearly incapacitated and incapable of taking care of herself, was put in custody at the Erie County Holding Center on February 1st,

BY MATTHEW RICCHIAZZI Development in downtown Niagara Falls remains at a snail’s pace, with Governor Andrew Cuomo unable to advance development projects or to grow the volume of tourists visiting the city. A prominent local developer argues that the Cuomo administration’s failure to

BY FRANK PARLATO  There has been a lot reported in local media about a recent New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPR) proposal to dewater Niagara Falls.  “Dewatering is necessary for two reasons,” a report from

BY TONY FARINA If there’s a financial crisis at Erie Community College, as certainly appears the case, there’s no sign of it if you take a look at the salaries at the college headed by President Jack Quinn at $192,500

BY TONY FARINA Ash Wednesday, a mostly Catholic observance where ashes on the forehead are a reminder of our mortality, marks the beginning of Lent and in recognition of the special occasion next Wednesday, Feb. 10, the new owners of

BY T.W. HEWITT Councilman Darius Pridgen’s effort to collect bottled water for residents of Flint, Michigan in the wake of that city’s wide scale lead poisoning, are being called “a self-serving distraction from lead poisoning in his own backyard.” In

BY TONY FARINA The public will finally get a chance to weigh in on the Erie County bar closing debate next Tuesday (Feb. 2) at 5:30 p. m. at a public hearing in the legislative chambers in Old County Hall,

BY FRANK PARLATO The issue of whether to roll back the bar closing time from 4 a. m. to 2 a. m. in Erie County is certainly a hot-button item right now. The idea is a bad one – or,

BY PAUL WOLF, ESQ. Sadly our election process is a rigged game where an incumbent losing is a rare event. In most years incumbents win 90 plus percent of the time, with one or two losing. Tuesday’s election with few

BY MIKE HUDSON It’s politics as usual at the City Hall of Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster. That’s the charge of Rick Smith, who has served on the city Planning Board for the past nine years, six as its chairman.

BY MIKE HUDSON At least publicly, Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster has sung the praises of the shadowy and secretive Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp., and its’ CEO John Percy. The NTCC benefits from nearly $2 million a year in

BY TONY FARINA As we have reported for some time, many at Erie Community College have questioned the commitment and leadership of President Jack Quinn who earns $192,500 to run the school but has several outside assignments not related to

The land affectionately known as the Ferry Fields — now the site of True Bethel Townhomes — was used as a massive dumping ground for toxic ash, a byproduct of lead production and metal processing. Those fields were commonly used by children

BY PAUL WOLF, ESQ.   The recent convictions of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos provide a great inside view of how campaign cash and political corruption meet. A key player in both trials was a 101 year