It's Buffalo Powder Keg Winter Festival weekend! And we've got the snow. A nice

fresh supply of it, although not nearly as much as the National Weather Service promised or

most of us feared. But powder, it's not. This is the wet, soggy stuff. It should taper off

this afternoon, but there should be plenty of raw material for the festival's snowman-building

contest.

What we don't have is bitter cold. This afternoon's high should be around the freezing

mark, with the low tonight in the mid-20s. Forecasters say the temperatures should stay in

that range all weekend, with the likelihood of frequent snow showers right through Sunday

night. Festival organizers couldn't ask for much more.

Who are all those teens marching up Delaware Avenue in the snow this morning with

what looks like a torch? They're Canisius High School students, carrying the famous Torch of

Life, blessed by Pope John Paul II, from Buffalo City Hall to their school at Delaware Avenue

and West Ferry Street. The torch is here on Day 126 of a 732-day campaign, currently on behalf

of 4-month-old Quinn Matthew of Connecticut, who was born with a severe heart defect and is

awaiting a transplant.

As the third-poorest city in the nation, we're well aware that poverty is all around

us. Looking for ways to emerge from it are the folks from the Buffalo Poverty Research

Workshop, who hold a session from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Merriweather Library, Jefferson Avenue

and East Utica Street.

Speakers include University at Buffalo professor Samina Raja, a national expert on the

relationship of food to poverty; Henry Taylor, director of UB's Center for Urban Studies;

Wende Mix, a geographer at Buffalo State College; Erin Robinson, a sociologist at Canisius

College; and Kathryn Foster, director of the UB Regional Institute. They will talk about

recent research into the region's poverty crisis, how community groups and scholars can

collaborate, and brainstorm about new research projects. A reception follows. It's free and

open to the public. For details, visit www.wnyhomeless.org.

The media gets a preview this morning of "Sesame Street Presents: The Body," the

next big touring show at the Buffalo Museum of Science. An interactive exhibit, it teaches

children how their bodies work and how to stay healthy. It opens Saturday, continues through

June 9 and is included in general admission to the museum at no extra charge.

McKinley High School's eighth annual African and African-American History and American

Diversity Conference opens with a dinner at 6 p.m. featuring guest speaker Dr. Sheila

Evans-Tranumn, retired associate state education commissioner. Theme of this year's conference

is "The People In The Mirror: With Our Eyes on Haiti, That She May Rise Again." It continues

Saturday. For info, call 816-4480.

There won't be elephants or tigers at the 50th annual Lockport Exchange Club Circus

this weekend in Kenan Arena, 433 Locust St., but there will be plenty of clowns and acrobats.

Performances are at 7 p.m. today and 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $4 adults, $2

children, with proceeds benefiting charity. More than 6,000 are expected to attend.

"This year, we'll have Flippenout Extreme Trampolining from Plainfield, Conn.; Invest

juggling group from Buffalo; the Lockport Flips gymnasts; USA Self-Defense group, which does

karate; and our local band, CRS," club member Hartley Hutchins told a Buffalo News reporter

recently. "We have about 50 people -- our club members and people from the community -- dress

up as clowns each year. They come out and do silly things, and to watch the little kids' faces

-- well, that's the cool thing."

The Rotary Club of Buffalo and the Buffalo Rotary Foundation hold their fifth

annual Wines of the World wine- and food-tasting event from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Mary Seaton

Room at Kleinhans Music Hall.

Filling the restaurant food stations are Bing's, Trattoria Aroma, the Left Bank,

Stillwater, Verbena, Oliver's and May Jen, among others. Wine sponsors include Premier, Dr.

Konstantin Frank, Warm Lake Estate and more. Silent auction items include one-week

accommodations for eight at a charming cottage in Ireland. Tickets are $60 at the door, $50 in

advance. Get them at Wegmans supermarkets, by calling 854-3397 or online at

www.buffalorotary.org.

Meanwhile, down at HSBC Arena, the Sabres Foundation hosts its fifth annual Aces &

Blades casino night from 7 to 11:30 p.m. Tickets are $125. It features gaming with current and

former Sabres acting as dealers, live and silent sports memorabilia auctions, plus food and

drink. Get tickets at www.sabres.com or by calling 855-4417.

One Sabres player who won't be at Aces & Blades is goalie Ryan Miller. He'll be

asked to be steadfast once again for the American hockey team against Finland in the semifinal

round of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The game starts at 3 p.m. You can watch on WGRZ,

Channel 2; or on CFTO, Toronto Channel 9. Other Olympics highlights include speed skater Apolo

Anton Ohno trying for another gold medal, as part of the coverage beginning at 8 p.m. on

Channel 2.

On the final weekend of the regular season for major college basketball, two of the

local Big Four -- Niagara and Canisius -- see both men's and women's action tonight.

The men are away. Canisius, 13-15, takes on Loyola, 12-15, at 7 p.m. in Baltimore. Listen

on www.gogriffs.com. Watch streaming video on www.loyolagreyhounds.com. Niagara, 16-13, which

is fighting for a playoff berth in next weekend's MAAC Tournament, visits Manhattan, 10-17, at

7:30 p.m. Listen on WGR 550 AM.

The women are home. Canisius, 10-17, hosts Saint Peter's, 10-17, at 7 p.m. in the Koessler

Center. Get streaming audio and video at www.gogriffs.com. Fairfield, 15-12, comes to the

Gallagher Center at Niagara, 12-15, also at 7 p.m. Both teams are tied for third place in

their division and are vying for the best seeding for next weekend's tournament. Listen on

Yahoo Sports.

High hopes for post-season basketball glory abound at Medaille College. The Lady

Mavericks finished 23-2 overall and were undefeated in AMCC play. The men went 21-4 and are

top seeded in AMCC Final Four tournament. As a result, Medaille is hosting that tournament

today and Saturday.

In today's semifinals, the Lady Mavs take on Penn State Altoona at 1 p.m., while Frostburg

State plays Pitt Bradford at 3. On the men's side, Medaille goes up against Frostburg at 6

p.m., while Pitt Bradford meets Penn State Behrend at 8. Find live coverage at

www.medaillesports.com.

The championship games are Saturday with the women hitting the court at 1 p.m. and the men

at 3:30. Winners of the AMCC Tournament receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III

Tournament.

R&B singer, model and actress Ashanti, who pitched in back in November to help build

the Extreme Makeover house on Buffalo's West Side, performs at 9 p.m. in the Avalon Theatre in

Niagara Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, Ont. Tickets are $55 Canadian and up.

The Canadian rock band The Trews, having released a sprawling live acoustic CD last

year, come to the Town Ballroom, 681 Main St., for a two-set unplugged performance at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $18.

Movies opening this week include "Cop Out," a cop buddy movie directed by Kevin Smith

of "Clerks" fame, with Bruce Willis, Tracey Morgan and Jason Lee; a remake of George Romero's

1973 horror flick, "The Crazies"; and "The Last Station," which has earned Oscar nominations

for its stars, Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren, portraying Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy

and his wife.

Highlight of Gusto at the Gallery at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery is the 7 p.m.

screening of "Fifty Dead Men Walking," a 2008 film starring Jim Sturgess and Ben Kingsley in a

crime thriller set during the violent clashes between the Irish Republican Army and British

troops in Northern Ireland in the 1980s. A pre-film talk with Curator of Education Mariann

Smith features Irish art during "The Troubles." Admission to the gallery is free from 3 to 10

p.m. Admission to the film is free for gallery members, $5 for everyone else.