The Buffalo News : Opinion

Attorney General Eric Holder is taking a calculated risk in moving the terror trials of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his four alleged co-conspirators to a Manhattan federal court but, all in all, he made a good decision. The man believed to be responsible for the murder of 3,000 innocents should be tried fairly, with appropriate precautions, but in public, where the crime was committed. (Updated: 11/21/09 10:54 PM )

Brian C. Davis, the former Ellicott District member of Buffalo's Common Council, took a long time leaving. Even after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors regarding misuse of campaign funds, he clung to his seat, leaving only after his colleagues shoved him. (Updated: 11/20/09 11:55 PM )

TOUGH CHOICES: Local shoppers apparently will be spared the angst, but elsewhere in the country Thanksgiving tradition may be in peril. Pumpkins are in short supply, thanks to two straight wet Midwestern summers. (Updated: 11/21/09 6:44 AM )

They still don't get it. New York State legislators, especially Senate Democrats, are talking about filling the state's yawning budget gap by raising taxes or borrowing. In the nation's highest-taxed state, hemorrhaging jobs and population, how can any honest and responsible lawmaker think about digging his constituents deeper into a hole rather than helping them to climb out of it? (Updated: 11/19/09 9:34 PM )

New York moves maddeningly slowly on critical matters —if it moves at all—but state lawmakers this week did pass legislation that cracks down on drunken driving in two useful ways. (Updated: 11/20/09 6:49 AM )

It was Tom’s decision to die. And, paradoxically, it was Tom’s decision to preserve the lives of others. (Updated: 11/20/09 9:39 AM )

We often hear in American political rhetoric that the war in Iraq is unjust, but that Afghanistan is the “good war.” It is important that we, as a nation, become aware that this is a false claim and that the war in Afghanistan has detrimental effects on Afghan civilian populations. (Updated: 11/20/09 8:54 AM )

Now it’s the Senate’s turn. If Americans are going to have the health care reform they urgently need, it will be because the Senate does more than the House did to control the exploding costs of care. (Updated: 11/19/09 8:44 AM )

State educational policy changes supported by the state Board of Regents in concept—but approved so far only in principle—are designed to reach good goals: teachers with more clinical experience, students involved at earlier ages in science, math, engineering and technology, and people with great non-teaching experience given a better chance to become teachers. (Updated: 11/19/09 7:06 AM )

Guess which industry, if it ceased to serve its function, would have the power to shut down America, impacting public and private sectors alike? Here’s a hint: It’s a human service industry that is generally undervalued in regard to salary and social status, yet most working parents rely on its services. (Updated: 11/19/09 7:06 AM )

Freedom of religion, diversity and responsibility have been some of the fundamental religious principles for Unitarians and Universalists during the 178 years we have worshipped in Buffalo and Western New York. As the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, I have seen how the people of my church depend on their faith in these principles to live well and survive in this world. (Updated: 11/19/09 7:06 AM )

Consider it a warning shot. For many people who think there's no use in complaining to Albany about tax and fee increases because it falls on deaf ears, the fact that protests triggered enough bipartisan lawmaker reaction to threaten a $25 new license plate requirement should be as worrisome to the Legislature as it should be encouraging to citizens. (Updated: 11/17/09 7:19 PM )

It says something about a city when its Charter demands that the mayor submit an annual snow-fighting plan for Common Council review. (Updated: 11/18/09 7:28 AM )

If I had . . . If I had a million . . . of anything. No, we won’t go there. (Updated: 11/18/09 10:57 AM )

There are encouraging economic signs that the recession, the worst since the Great Depression, is ending. While there’s been financial devastation on a global and national level, when it comes to the effects of the recession on the local economy, there is a silver lining for Western New York. Granted, the economic conditions in the Buffalo area have been bad for a long time. Yet we seem immune to many of the negative effects the rest of the country has experienced from the recession. (Updated: 11/18/09 2:23 PM )