Donn Esmonde
Donn Esmonde: Canisius chooses the easy way out
Maybe it was too good to be true. Beth Gerardi and Keith Wharton met while they were theater students at the University at Buffalo, married and shared a dream of starting a theater company. Kaleidoscope was born in 2002, a seemingly perfect fit at Canisius College’s 160-seat Maday Theater. (Updated: 06/28/09 7:37 AM )
Donn Esmonde: A dog walker shows how to reverse blight
It all started with Barkley. Barkley is a cat-sized dog, white with chocolate-drop eyes and a 10,000- watt personality. He spends weekdays charming the staff at the law office of his owner, Fran Letro, in the downtown Dun Building. Like all dogs, Barkley needs walking. Julie Padak, a 29-year-old paralegal, usually got the job. (Updated: 06/26/09 7:46 AM )
Donn Esmonde: Ready to take another step backward
I feel sorry for her. I feel sorry for all of us. But I feel especially sorry for Maria Whyte. She thought she could change something. Not a big thing. A little thing that, 12 years after we were warned about sprawl, we still have not done. (Updated: 06/24/09 9:03 AM )
West Side revival can be a blueprint
I have seen it with my own eyes. I have seen what some people do not think is possible. (Updated: 06/21/09 10:36 AM )
Cut vendor some slack, City Hall
Ido not always believe in happy endings, particularly in this city. But if all goes as promised, James Karagiannis will get what he wants, and Buffalo will be a better place for it. (Updated: 06/19/09 7:41 AM )
Donn Esmonde: Horrible government gets worse
Here I was, thinking that the assault on democracy that is our state government could not get any worse. (Updated: 06/17/09 7:44 AM )
Activist sees issue ripen after 15 years
Iam happy that he is still around. I am glad that he is still in the same single-level house on the corner of Crittenden Road with the American flag flying on the back porch. I am pleased that he is, at age 70, seeing communities warm to the cause he championed in vain 15 years ago. (Updated: 06/14/09 7:02 AM )
Donn Esmonde: University Heights needs UB to step up
The recent rash of violence around UB’s South Campus brought it all back for me: the school’s broken promise over the last decade to invest in —and to stabilize—the surrounding University Heights neighborhood. (Updated: 06/12/09 7:58 AM )
Donn Esmonde: Defrauder isn’t worthy of any mercy
Usually I can dredge up a speck of sympathy for even the worst of weasels. It gets easier when the convict in question is 82, looks like a kindly grandfather, walks with slow steps and seems overwhelmed by the world. (Updated: 06/10/09 8:37 AM )
GM’s decline is sobering at the corner bar
I listen to Bonnie Brown, and I can almost see them, lined up three deep at the bar, drinking away the day’s weariness. (Updated: 06/07/09 1:59 PM )
Donn Esmonde: Citizens cut government down to size
Maybe from now on, politicians will stop standing between people and their right to have a say in their own government. (Updated: 06/05/09 7:47 AM )
Donn Esmonde: Overreacting to a confused 11-year-old
I think we are taking this a little too seriously. I think caution has jumped the fence into overreaction. The common refrain is you cannot be too careful. I think this case shows that, yes, sometimes you can be too careful. (Updated: 06/03/09 12:53 PM )
Donn Esmonde: Lancaster is learning: Less is more
The sky has not fallen. The earth has not moved. The walls have not crumbled. (Updated: 05/31/09 7:45 AM )
Californians drawn here for the culture
Years from now, I think we will look back on them as pioneers. They came to a largely unexplored territory, discovered its treasures and returned home to spread the word. (Updated: 05/29/09 6:50 AM )
Donn Esmonde: Business as usual — a company lost
They do not want to go. None of them do—not Nancy Bell, not the three adult kids who help her run the business. You build a company, you grow close to the people who work for you, you get connected to friends and neighbors—all of that is hard to leave behind. (Updated: 05/27/09 8:34 AM )
