Off Main Street: So hard to break away
The offbeat side of the news
Updated: 06/14/08 9:45 AM
Maybe it’s the chow. You know, three squares a day. How else can you explain Anthony Temmons trying to break into the Erie County Holding Center on Wednesday afternoon?
The Buffalo resident was released from the downtown lockup after a court appearance, only to return there eager to pick up his belongings.
One problem. He arrived during a shift change, and doors to the jail were temporarily locked. That’s when Temmons, according to sheriff’s officials, became angry and started kicking the door.
Undersheriff Brian Doyle heard the police call and rushed over to the jail, only to see the burglary suspect struggling with a deputy to get inside.
“When I saw him,” said Doyle, “my first thought was, ‘What’s wrong here?’ ”
Temmons eventually calmed down and was again released.
“I guess he missed us,” Doyle said, “or maybe it really is the food.”
Short and sweet
News that an elected official is serving as keynote speaker at a public ceremony can raise fears of a lengthy, boring speech punctuated by a lot of audience watch-checking.
So it was a refreshing surprise when County Executive Chris Collins gave a brief talk Thursday to new citizens at a naturalization ceremony at the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society Museum.
Even U. S. District Judge William M. Skretny, who was officiating, remarked on Collins’ short-windedness.
“When was the last time a politician respected the five-minute speech rule?” Skretny asked, prompting laughter. “You deserve a round of applause.”
They’ll need a chaperone
Joseph Golombek Jr.’s maverick ways occasionally irk political honchos.
So when the North District Common Council member attended a recent charity event, he seized the chance to bid on a luncheon with Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Len Lenihan.
He placed the $120 minimum bid, later learning he was the only bidder.
“I figured it might be the only chance I’ll have to talk to a party boss,” he said.
If the two politicos end up breaking arms and legs as well as bread during their meal, Golombek quipped that he and Lenihan might be in luck.
The auction at the annual BASH benefits the Greater Buffalo Chapter of the American Red Cross.
“If we end up getting hurt, maybe the Red Cross will give us free blood,” Golombek said.
Bridge building
Lt. Col. Craig R. Maefs spent a year leading the U. S. military training police in Afghanistan.
The Town of Tonawanda resident was chief of current operations for the Combined Security Transition Command there from June 2006 to May 2007. In that position, one of Maefs’ biggest jobs involved handling border management issues.
Among the things he saw on duty, at least one compared favorably to a situation back home in Western New York, Maefs told a recent gathering at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown.
The European Union gave $35 million to help build a crossing on Afghanistan’s disputed border with Pakistan.
Called Torkum Gate, at one edge of the historically treacherous Khyber Pass trading route, the project was completed — get this — in two years, Maefs said.
“I offered my services to the Peace Bridge Authority,” he said. “They didn’t take me up on it.”
A hands-on police chief
Hamburg Police Chief Carmen Kesner was wearing the results of his department’s recent capture of a serial carjacker in the town — and it wasn’t a medal.
He came to Monday’s Town Board meeting with a black eye, suffered when he assisted with the arrest of Ryan Kirbis, the 29-year-old suspect.
Town Councilman Tom Best Sr., a former Hamburg cop, told the 58-year-old Kesner, “Thank you, Carmen. Well done . . . Stay in the office next time.”
“I’ll second that,” said another board member — Joan Kesner, the chief’s wife.
Written by Stephen T. Watson with contributions from Phil Fairbanks, Brian Meyer, Aaron Besecker and Elmer Ploetz.
