Culture

THE EDITORIAL BOARD Councilman Darius Pridgen is circulating a two paragraph legal opinion on social media, appearing to be on the stationary of Harter, Secrest & Emory, making the claim that the residents at his True Bethel Townhomes development are not at risk

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 FRANK PARLATO The New York Power Authority (NYPA) successfully installed the three remaining floating sections of the Lake Erie-Niagara River ice boom on December 28, completing the work for the 2015-2016 season. The official Lake Erie water temperature on December

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

Councilman Darius Pridgen was well aware of toxic contaminants at 858 East Ferry Street, long before he developed the industrial site into market rate residential housing, located across the street from his ministry. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) awarded a

BY CAROLETTE MEADOWS The black community has been indoctrinated to the point of brainwashing to never question the “man of God.” But the Bible warns of building wealth. Jesus never worked with Caesar but instead told the servants of Caesar to give up

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

BY TONY FARINA As I was moving slowly through the very long line at the wake for Kevin Dillon on Sunday at the Cannan Funeral Home, a gentleman who at one point was across from me held out his hand

As we look forward to 2016, the election calendar dictates that it will be a big year in politics — especially for Western New York. The Presidency It’s a presidential election year, so expect turnout to be high in the general election for

President Barak Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, said “this primary is anything but locked up,” in a fundraising solicitation behalf of the former Secretary of State. The email fundraising solicitation reads as if the Clinton camp is worried and

Peter F. Paul, a major contributor to Bill and Hillary Clinton when they were still in the White House, is alleging that he gave the Clintons $2 million in campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton’s Senate bid in 2000 that she did not

Mike Deely is the regional director of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the political arm of the state’s public teachers’ unions. He is tasked with spending million of dollars — from the paychecks of hardworking teachers in the classroom —