The Buffalo News - City and Region http://www.buffalonews.com Latest stories from The Buffalo News en-us Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:43:42 -0400 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:43:42 -0400 <![CDATA[ Horsefeathers Market & Residences adds gourmet touch to Connecticut Street ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619099/1010
The rebirth of the five-story, 1896 brick building – with its 14-foot-high ceilings, open, unobstructed views and exposed brick- and ductwork – is helping transform Connecticut Street from the blighted, vacant and crime-ridden area it was a decade ago.

“It’s a phenomenal addition to the street,” said Robin Johnson, who heads the Connecticut Street Association. “Thirteen years ago, when I bought Vilardo Printing and the building, Connecticut Street was 85 percent vacant, littered with graffiti, and there were gangs, drug dealing and prostitutes on the corner.

“People said, ‘Don’t do it, Robin. You’re in the middle of a war zone.’ Now we’re in the middle of a renaissance.”

Developer Karl Frizlen purchased the historic building in May 2012 for $475,000 from Hank Sontag, longtime owner of Horsefeathers Architectural Antiques and Hollywood Hank’s, now at 37 Chandler St. in Black Rock.

The 30,000-square-foot building also has a commercial kitchen and walk-in cooler and freezer in the basement. There is geothermal heating and cooling, which required 18 holes drilled into the parking lot some 180 to 200 feet deep.

The 24 one- and two-bedroom apartments – which rented within two months – occupy the second through fifth floors.

It’s the latest change to the street that in recent years has brought renewed life to the neighborhood. The Masjid al-Eiman & Islamic Center moved into a former movie theater a few blocks west of Richmond Avenue. Burning Books followed a block away. There have been the additions further west of First Niagara Bank, the D’Youville School of Pharmacy and a school dormitory, and upgrades to Mineo & Sapio Italian Sausage, the Corner Store and Rite Aid.

Horsefeathers Market has also gone through some revisions, due in part to a 2½-year delay in securing financing.

Early ideas included micro-stall food spaces that could be rented by the hour; a commercial kitchen space used by food trucks, with a basement break room and use of the market’s vendors as a source for ingredients; an open kitchen with a wood-oven bistro offering a menu featuring foods provided by farmers and foodmakers at the market; and use of office and conference space for groups involved with food, nutrition and farming.

Those ideas faded in part because the delay caused some early participants to drop out over time, including White Cow Dairy, which opened the Farm Shop instead at Lexington and Ashland avenues.

Frizlen said the building remains a foodmaker’s market.

“What changed were some of the tenants who planned to be in the building. They dropped out, but that didn’t change the concept,” said Frizlen, who noted “market demands” required more floors of apartments than originally planned.

The largest floor space is operated by Martin Cooks, with its ingredients-driven, open kitchen concept and interior features that include a mural and counter and bar made from recycled beams.

Martin Danilowicz prepares most of the food alongside three other employees, providing five- and seven-course meals for a dozen people twice nightly at a cost of $55 each. The menu changes every week, with less-expensive daytime fare.

“We try to go above and beyond what people’s expectations may be. No one does this in Buffalo, but it’s done in larger Northeast cities,” Danilowicz said.

“I encourage people to come into the kitchen and hang out for a little bit. Sometimes they sit in the kitchen, or at the counter. I want them to feel like they were coming to my house.”

The other tenants are an organic food and juice bar, a manufacturer of frozen Chinese food and a shared space occupied by a husband and wife who produce pasta and desserts.

Jolie Zhou moved her Jolie’s Chinese Traditional Food from a brief opening in the West Side Bazaar to Horsefeathers because the kitchen and freezer space better serves her needs. She first operated there in the winter, when some vendors began opening on Saturdays.

The homemade foods she makes include dumplings, shrimp egg rolls and wonton soup, with three tables to serve customers.

Zhou’s business opened this week. So did Press Raw Food and Juice, which owner Esther Pica describes as “all raw, organic food and cold-pressed juices.

Everything in the shop is live, vegan, organic, unprocessed, just the cleanest food – the best quality food possible.”

Customers can buy from the display case and order from a juicing station for juices and smoothies, with about 20 supplements available.

Pica chose to move to Buffalo from Manhattan, falling in love first with a house and then with Horsefeathers. Her chef, Randi Lefler, moved from Syracuse to work there.

Andrea Amodeo, owner of Blackbird Sweets, said she outgrew baking pastries in her North Buffalo house. She does cupcakes, pies, cookies and cakes for the moment, with a bar planned on the outside for coffee and dessert. Most of her work is custom orders.

Husband Eric Amodeo, who co-owns Pasta Peddler with Andrea’s father, Michael Sedia, outgrew working out of the basement in his house even after adding a commercial kitchen.

Now, with their space in Horsefeathers, they have more room to manufacture the fresh pasta, raviolis, sauces and pesto they sell at several farmers’ markets and a number of retail stores.

“I think the whole community feel of the spaces is what I think will make it a successful venture,” Amodeo said of Horsefeathers.

“Connecticut is definitely turning around, with D’Youville College down the street. I think it’s a good location and a growing area.”

email: msommer@buffnews.com ]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:26:45 -0400 Mark Sommer
]]> <![CDATA[ At a turtle’s pace, crossing roads can be dangerous ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619095/1010
“They’re extremely vulnerable,” said Petra Link, a volunteer at Messinger Woods, a volunteer wildlife rehabilitation center in Orchard Park. “Their natural defense mechanism is just to retreat into their shells – especially for painted turtles. The car doesn’t care, it just runs over them.”

Link said she usually treats an injured turtle every year about this time.

But she has treated twice that many this past week, three this month and four this season.

“That is very unusual,” Link said.

All suffered traumatic injuries. Two painted turtles had shell fractures and broken spines. The third – a snapping turtle – was resting on a warm driveway when a car drove over it.

All three died.

Higher pond and creek levels from the wet spring have driven turtles to higher land to search for suitable places to lay eggs.

Ellicott and Tonawanda creeks in northern Erie County seem to be among the most common areas to come across turtles. So, too, are the Tifft Nature Preserve in South Buffalo and the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in Genesee County, experts said.

Others turtles have been spotted in the Town of Evans and along the Lockport Expressway.

“Early June. This is when the females are coming to lay their eggs,” said Dr. Karen Moran, a veterinarian with the SPCA Serving Erie County. “They’re going to come out. A lot of times, the road will get in the way.”

Turtles can be found anywhere near ponds, creeks or streams, and this time of year, they are more likely to cross paths with humans.

Mark Kandel, a regional wildlife manager for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said he does not think the number of turtle spottings and injuries are necessarily higher this year. But the sporadic heavy rains could have driven the animals into the road, he said.

“I don’t know if people are better about reporting them now because of social networking, but it’s a phenomenon that’s been going on for a long, long time.” Kandel said. “If the shoulders are flooded, they might come up on the roadways.”

Many of the turtles are recovered injured. The lucky ones can be treated by wildlife rehabilitators and survive; the unlucky ones die.

Link is still caring for a pair of injured turtles recovered last year.

She also cares for a small female painted turtle that suffered a fracture to its bridge – the area connecting the top and bottom shells – when struck by a car earlier this year.

“It’s like a bone fracture. Everything heals very slowly,” Link said.

The turtle, although still not eating, is getting better. Link hopes to release the turtle next year “if she survives and heals.”

Moran is treating several more turtles at her home, including smaller painted and snapping turtles as well as a larger snapping turtle. One of the turtles appears to be packed full of eggs, she pointed out.

She was unable to save another pair of snapping turtles this year because of the severity of their injuries. “Their faces were so damaged,” said Moran, explaining one was blind and the other had lost its nose.

Another female painted turtle, one of the luckier ones, is being nursed back to health after apparently being struck by a car Saturday at Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island. A motorist from Snyder retrieved the 10-year-old turtle and brought it to the SPCA’s Ensminger Road facility in the Town of Tonawanda.

It’s resting comfortably now. Its top shell was patched together with glue and tape, and it seems to move contentedly among some foliage and a water cup in a large plastic bin under a desk at the SPCA’s wildlife offices.

“We’re lucky to get them in. When people hit them, all they think is they hit a rock,” said Denise Cameron, a volunteer wildlife shift supervisor for the SPCA, who has been caring for the turtle and its broken shell. “When they get hit, it’s not like a broken bone – it is their bone.”

This turtle is “in dry dock” for at least a few more weeks because exposure of the animal’s wounds to moisture could lead to infection. It will be returned to its native habitat when it is fully healed.

The healing takes time. “Fast for a turtle is like two months,” Moran, the veterinarian, said.

Wildlife experts say patience by motorists would do a world of good for the turtles:

• Slow down. If it is safe to do so, wait for turtles to cross safely.

• If it’s safe, get out of your car and help a turtle across the road. Experts say turtles should be moved in the same direction they were headed. Returning turtles to the side of the road where they started seems only to sharpen their resolve to try to cross the road again.

• Wash your hands well afterwards; some turtles carry the salmonella bacteria.

Wildlife experts agree it is best to secure injured turtles in a box with air holes, covered by a moistened paper towel, when taking them to a veterinarian or certified wildlife rehabilitator.

Moran said she was able to release 38 baby snapping turtles into the wild two years ago after harvesting 51 eggs from a mother that died and incubating them.

Earlier this spring, she released 10 more painted turtle hatchlings that she accumulated last year in the same predicament.

For help, call Messinger Woods at (716) 345-4239. The SPCA’s Tonawanda shelter can be reached at (716) 875-7360 or (716) 556-0076 after-hours.

“Don’t just walk away,” Link said.

email: tpignataro@buffnews.com ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:42:00 -0400 T.J. Pignataro
]]> <![CDATA[ Killer of bus driver sentenced to 25 years to life in prison ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130619/CITYANDREGION/130619050/1010
An Erie County jury convicted Joshua J. Mitchell, 25, of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon for shooting the victim, Brian G. Chapman Jr., a popular 37-year-old bus driver, on Feb. 1, 2012.

A Buffalo police officer was on patrol in an unmarked patrol car on Guilford Street at the time of the shooting and heard the gunshots. The officer pursued and stopped the car carrying Mitchell and arrested him. ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:32:43 -0400 <![CDATA[ State Legislature reaches tentative deal on expanding casino gambling ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130619/CITYANDREGION/130619051/1010
Key lawmakers say they expect a bill to be ready today that would also allow gambling facilities offering only video lottery terminals – slot-like devices such as those at the Hamburg racetrack – into three upstate regions as well as Long Island, if the casino referendum officials hope to present to voters is defeated.

“It’s the closest we’ve been to having a meeting of the minds to move forward. I think there’s a commitment to move forward in both houses,” said Sen. John Bonacic, a Catskills Republican who heads the Senate’s Racing and Wagering Committee.

Still on the table but getting close is a plan to let businesses expand operations on state and private college campuses without paying any state taxes – an idea that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says will be a major benefit to upstate but that critics call a corporate giveaway that even includes no income tax payments by an expanding firm’s employees.

The casino deal – yet to be announced by Cuomo and legislative leaders and subject to possible change – would give all counties in Western New York a share of the casino revenue-sharing proceeds from the Seneca Nation’s gambling halls in Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca. Currently, only those three localities get the vast majority of the local revenue-sharing money under the terms of a 2002 compact between the state and tribe.

The plan calls for voters statewide to be asked to approve up to seven new casinos, which, like the Indian facilities, could offer real slot machines and table games such as poker.

A separate “enabling bill” with specifics for the plan calls for casinos to pay a tax rate of 40 percent, up from 25 percent that Cuomo proposed. If a casino locates in a region that is home to a track-based “racino,” that track facility would pay a lower share than the current average state tax rate of about 67 percent.

The enabling bill only locates the first of four casinos, and all would have to be in one of three upstate regions: the Southern Tier near Binghamton, the Albany area and the Hudson Valley, including the Catskills. Bonacic said he believes two of the four will end up in the Catskills, a region that was first approved for three Indian casinos, which were never built, a decade ago.

Seneca President Barry Snyder Sr. last week told The Buffalo News he hopes the Senecas could try to expand their casino empire to the Catskills.

Other issues are stalled as the legislative session winds down, including Cuomo’s plan to create a taxpayer-funded campaign financing system for statewide and legislative candidates.

It would have a price tag of $40 million to $200 million, depending on which side is talking.

Fewer and fewer lawmakers believe Cuomo will be successful in his attempt to protect – or expand, as critics say – abortion access in New York if the federal abortion laws are struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A group of four independent Democrats, who control the Senate in a coalition arrangement with Republicans, is pressing for passage of nine other women’s rights and advocacy measures, but Cuomo and some women’s groups say they don’t want the package approved unless the abortion provisions are included.

“It would be a shame,” Senate co-leader Jeff Klein, a Bronx Democrat, said, if nine of the 10 didn’t happen because of the abortion issue.

Lawmakers say they expect the end of the 2013 session, scheduled for Thursday, to drag over into Friday.

Still being worked on is Cuomo’s new plan to let companies locate on college campuses without paying any taxes, including personal income taxes by the workers they employ.

That plan seems all but certain to pass, but the sides are still negotiating how to make more colleges in New York City, now with a shortage of campus property, eligible by expanding their boundaries to help draw businesses to the tax-free zones.

Meanwhile, lawmakers have introduced a last-minute bill to give financial help to three racetrack-based casinos in Hamburg, Batavia and near Rochester. The facilities were at the heart of the Seneca Nation’s dispute with the state that was settled by Cuomo and Snyder last week.

The tribe stopped $600 million in payments to the state alleging, in part, a contract breach when Albany let the three tracks market themselves as “casinos” and offer real slot machines instead of video lottery terminals. The new bill includes lower tax rates for the track casinos and state reimbursement of the cost of “rebranding” themselves in line with the terms of the Cuomo and Snyder deal.

email: tprecious@buffnews.com ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:36:28 -0400 Tom Precious
]]> <![CDATA[ Deal reached on tax free companies at college campuses ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130619/CITYANDREGION/130619052/1010
Lawmakers early this morning introduced a casino expansion bill that will ask New York residents to approve a sharp increase in commercial gambling opportunities in several upstate regions, though not in Western New York or two other areas where Indian tribes now run casino operations.

A new bill also has been crafted to create START-UP NY, which will offer tax-free advantages to businesses that locate on public or private college campuses.

There was, as of 9 a.m., no companion bill introduced in the Assembly matching the Senate bill. But a Cuomo spokesman said the Senate bill, introduced by Sen. Thomas Libous, a Binghamton Republican, represents the terms agreed to overnight by the governor and legislative leaders.

The new bill offers an array of tax benefits that Cuomo says will present a major economic development shot for upstate but his plan to suspend state personal income taxes for all new workers at companies that locate on the campuses appears to have been watered down in the new bill. For instance, it limits to 10,000 the number of workers statewide eligible for personal income tax breaks that will be determined by the state tax commissioner.

The measure includes protections to ensure companies don’t move existing jobs from one town or region of the state onto a college campus and features “clawback" language to penalize companies that don’t produce promised jobs.

Critics say it offers inappropriate Caymans Island-like benefits to companies – including no state taxes of any kind for 10 years – while ignoring the high taxes paid by firms already struggling to survive in upstate. The deal also includes union-backed prevailing wage guarantees, which some business lobbyists have privately said could undermine the measure’s intent of lowering the cost of doing business upstate.

The casino legislation calls for four upstate casinos going into the Southern Tier area near Binghamton, the greater Albany area and the lower- to mid-Hudson Valley including the Catskills. Casinos would be banned, for now, in New York City, though Long Island could get two parlors offering slot-like devices similar to the gambling at the Hamburg track south of Buffalo.

The governor also wants upstate regions, although not areas with current Indian casinos, to get such halls with video lottery devices if voters this fall reject the broader authorization for new commercial casinos with slots and table games such as poker.

The legislation creates a panel, reporting to the new state Gaming Commission, that will select casino developers, sites and determine acceptable franchise fee payments to the state. The state will also get a $500 payment per slot machine or table game to help fund regulatory activities.

The new casinos, which have already attracted the interest of a who’s who of the gambling industry, can be open 24 hours, and while won’t be allowed to offer sports wagering can participate in sports pools. All existing racetrack-based casinos, such as at Hamburg and Batavia, will see their operational licenses expire next year, forcing them to go through a first-ever renewal process with the state.

The new casinos will pay a state tax rate from 37 percent to 45 percent, depending on which upstate region they locate.



email: tpreciousbuffnews.com ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:33:24 -0400 Tom Precious
]]> <![CDATA[ Deputies arrest two women preparing to inject heroin on Squaw Island ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130619/CITYANDREGION/130619053/1010
Deputies on marine patrol were in the area of Squaw Island at about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday when they saw the two mixing a preparation of heroin to be injected with a hypodermic needle, the sheriff’s department reported. The women were taken into custody without incident before injecting the drug, deputies said.

Amanda C. Thiel, 22, and Brittney M. Hammond, 21, were charged with misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and of a hypodermic instrument, as well as loitering. Deputies said Hammond also was charged with a violation count of unlawful possession of marijuana.

Hammond was taken to the county holding center in lieu of $250 bail; Thiel was issued tickets to appear July 9 in Buffalo City Court. ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:06:56 -0400 <![CDATA[ Fire leaves East Side resident homeless ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130619/CITYANDREGION/130619055/1010
No injuries were reported in the 3:43 a.m. at 26 Latour, between Genesee and Walden.

Damage was estimated at $47,000. The cause is under investigation.

email: lmichel@buffnews.com ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:32:55 -0400 Lou Michel
]]> <![CDATA[ Motorcyclist killed in Cambria collision ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130619/CITYANDREGION/130619059/1010
Patrol units arriving at the scene shortly after 9 p.m. found the man critically injured, lying at the edge of the road. He was taken to Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston, where he was pronounced dead. His name was being withheld pending notification of family. The driver of the minivan, a 37-year-old woman, was not injured.

The accident remains under investigation but the sheriff’s department said the initial investigation indicated that the motorcycle, which was traveling west on North Ridge Road, crossed over the center line and collided with the minivan, which was traveling east on North Ridge. ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:18:09 -0400 <![CDATA[ Astronics signs contract ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130619/BUSINESS/130619057/1010
The East Aurora aircraft lighting and electronics products manufacturer said the sourcing agreement extends an existing supply deal with Rockwell Collins and extends it to cover new products that the Iowa-based company is developing. It did not disclose a value of the deal.

The agreement with Astronics’ Luminescent Systems Canada subsidiary covers products ranging from cockpit control panels and keyboards to display bezels and related assemblies, Astronics said. ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:11:05 -0400 <![CDATA[ Tonawanda city school construction managers address storm water problem ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130619/CITYANDREGION/130619080/1010
“How we build buildings today isn’t much different than we did 40 years ago, but how we handle storm water has changed dramatically,” said Brian Brady of Wendel Duchscherer Architects. “The regulations are extremely stringent. Storm water gets a lot of attention by state [regulators]; it gets a lot of attention by us.”

Construction around the new athletic campus at Tonawanda High/Middle School has impacted residents living on Adam Street, who complained about runoff water at a meeting two weeks ago. Dave Kenyon of Wendel Duchscherer said a silk fence divider has been installed between the construction site and residential area to capture storm water, as well as an oversized pipe and dry pond for surcharge water.

Once the athletic campus and Clint Small Stadium are completed, construction managers are expecting the storm water distribution to be about the same as it was for residents before the renovations – if not improve the situation.

“When we’re done with construction, storm-water runoff has to be equal to or less than it was pre-development conditions,” Kenyon said. “To be a good neighbor and sound designer, you just don’t put water on your neighbor’s yard.”

Construction representatives also presented an update on the rest of the capital project.

The turf of Clint Small Stadium has been laid down, as has the base for the track around the field. Workers have also installed underground plumbing and electric, and the foundations for the bleachers.

Summer work for the project begins next week, when contractors will begin work inside Tonawanda High/Middle School and Riverview Elementary. ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:29 -0400 By Mark Ciemcioch

NORTHTOWNS CORRESPONDENT

]]> <![CDATA[ Teen pulled from canal near Ellicott Creek Island dies ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130619/CITYANDREGION/130619171/1010
But the young man they pulled from the water died Tuesday night at Erie County Medical Center.

Brian P. Murphy was out on a leisurely kayaking trip Monday evening with his two sons and two of friends, looking for turtles among the logs near shore at Ellicott Creek Island. At about the same time, a 28-year-old Lockport man was riding his bicycle on the nearby bike path off Old Niagara Falls Boulevard.

Little did these two men know that they would meet that night, because of another bicyclist riding on the same path, 18-year-old Matthew Hovagimian.

All apparently were enjoying the gorgeous late-spring night, until Hovagimian fell off his bike and into the water.

Both Murphy and the Lockport man, who didn’t want his name used, know CPR and began the emergency measures to revive Hovagimian. Emergency personnel from the Ellicott Creek Fire Company and Twin City Ambulance responded.

Hovagimian died about 8 p.m. Tuesday in Erie County Medical Center.

“The two of us gave this kid a second chance,” Murphy, a 50-year-old engineer from North Tonawanda, said Tuesday, before word of the teen’s death reached him.

Murphy marveled at the series of unconnected events that brought all three men to the same location, two of them to rescue the third one.

“I’m still kind of freaked out by the whole thing,” he said. “My religious belief is that all those random events had to line up for us to find him.”

Murphy agreed to tell his story, to emphasize two major points: the need to learn, or brush up, on CPR skills and the willingness to help in a life-saving situation.

“We’re not heroes, but there is a component of human nature to help,” he added.

The incident began for Murphy and his fellow kayakers just before 7:45 p.m. Monday.

His son, Shane, 18, on the trip along with brother Bryce, 13, and two of Bryce’s friends, spotted a bicycle at the edge of the water. Brian Murphy was in the lead kayak.

“I looked at the bike, I saw a sneaker, and then I saw a leg,” he recalled. “The gentleman was face-down in the water, between a log and the bank. But his face was submerged.

“I started yelling at him, ‘Are you O.K.?’ Then I took my paddle and nudged his back. There was no response at all.”

Murphy had no idea whether the young man was alive.

Since no one in his crew had brought a cellphone on the kayak trip, he started yelling for help and pleading with anyone to call 911.

That’s when the Lockport man heard the cries, got off his bike and went down the bank to help.

The two rescuers then had to get the unconscious Hovagimian up a steep embankment. One grabbed him under the arms, the other under his hips. Then they carried him up the bank, about 2 feet at a time.

“It was muddy and slippery,” Murphy remembered. “I think adrenaline allowed us to haul this kid up from the water.”

The men rolled Hovagimian onto his side, cleared his airway, started CPR compressions and called 911 on the Lockport man’s cellphone.

The 28-year-old Lockport man even employed one of his CPR instructor’s lessons – timing his chest compressions to the beat of the disco song, “Stayin’ Alive.”

As luck would have it, Ellicott Creek volunteer firefighters were involved in a nearby training session and reached the scene quickly, along with the ambulance crew, managing to revive the young man. Hovagimian had no identification on him at the time of the accident and was initially considered a John Doe. He was taken to DeGraff Memorial Hospital in North Tonawanda and then transferred to ECMC.

Following a preliminary investigation, Amherst police believe the young man may have suffered from some kind of medical condition that led to his falling off his mountain bike on a bike path near the creek.

Authorities don’t know how long he was in the water.

“Judging by his condition, I would guess it wasn’t more than a few minutes,” Amherst Police Capt. Enzio G. Villalta said. “He couldn’t have been in the water for an extended period of time, because they were able to revive him.”

Amherst police are asking anyone with information about the mishap to call them at 689-1311.

Meanwhile, Murphy was hoping that the rescue story might have an effect on others.

“Do your CPR training and be willing to stop and help out,” he advised.

email: gwarner@buffnews.com ]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:07:13 -0400 Gene Warner
]]> <![CDATA[ Voters in Clarence easily pass new budget ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619082/1010
In six Western New York school district revotes Tuesday, only the Wilson budget was defeated.

Lisa Thrun, who worked to defeat the original Clarence budget, said passage of the second version “is a good thing.”

“The community tonight said they’re willing to provide bridge funding for this year, knowing we need to find long-term solutions. Everyone in the community needs to come together.”

The Clarence budget was approved 3,541 to 1,817. Alden voters approved their budget, 753-586.

In Lewiston-Porter, the budget was approved, 1,663 to 993; in Niagara Wheatfield, the margin was 2,402 to 1,795; and in Bemus Point in Chautauqua County, 601 to 440.

The Wilson budget was defeated 903 to 604, with about 400 more people coming to the polls than came last month.

Some budgets, like those in Clarence and Lewiston-Porter, would spend less than this year. None of the tax levies was above the tax cap, and all needed a simple majority to pass.

“ I think it says that Clarence is a community that is supportive of its schools,” Superintendent Geoffrey Hicks said, adding that he was “grateful” to voters for passing the budget.

The Clarence school vote got a lot of attention after last month’s resounding defeat of the original budget that called for a 9.8 percent tax increase.

Turnout for the Clarence school revote was steady throughout the day but not as high as when the first budget was defeated a month ago.

More than 5,000 voters had cast their ballots as of 8 p.m., the second-highest vote total in the history of the district.

As far as next year and staying within the cap for next year, Hicks said it will be a challenge. “The message we got from within our community is stay within the tax cap. We know that, and we will do things going forward but there are challenges to that,” he said.

Hicks said those challenges range from unfunded state mandates to mounting payroll expenses – things the district is already working with taxpayer groups to combat.

Two parent groups have already come forward, Hicks said Tuesday, to form charitable foundations to restore modified sports programs and academic cuts that were made. “How it will work out, I don’t know, but there are interested people willing to help out, and we welcome them,” Hicks said.

Paul and Michele Beiter voted yes for both budgets in an attempt to preserve programs for their three children.

“Any budget is better than no budget, because the alternative would be a disaster,” Paul Beiter said. “Some of our kids’ most beloved teachers have been cut, and we don’t want any more of that.”

Sharon Spoth-Wetzler voted no for both budgets. “I think people feel like they have been taxed to death. There’s this feeling of helplessness, and the turnout speaks to that,” she said.

“We need to challenge them to work within their budget and find creative solutions, because asking for more money is not the answer,” she said.

She said the revised budget cut programs but did not go far enough to address the district’s mounting payroll expenses. “It’s still business as usual,” she said. “The heartstring issues are the ones where people change their votes – the art, the music. That isn’t the problem. There are other places where you can cut, and we all know where that could be.”

She added that she pays part of her medical insurance, something she would like to see more teachers in the district do.

Last year, there were 24 revotes in New York State, and only two districts operated on contingency budgets: Cheektowaga Sloan, and Oppenheim-Ephratah Central in Fulton and Herkimer counties.

News Niagara Reporter Nancy A. Fischer contributed to this report. email: bobrien@buffnews.com and cspecht@buffnews.com ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:40:18 -0400 Charlie Specht
]]> <![CDATA[ Popeyes to open in late October ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/BUSINESS/130619107/1010
The restaurant will be located near Aldi at 2106 Elmwood Ave., and plans call for a drive-thru and new parking along Elmwood. Customers also will have access to 20 parking spaces in the Aldi lot.

The restaurant plans to be open from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

During a public hearing on the project Tuesday, no one from the community raised any concerns, and the city’s Planning Board did not object to the design. But not enough board members were in attendance to vote, delaying approval for two weeks.

Construction on the 2,900-square-foot restaurant is expected to begin in July and take three months, said Popeyes Construction Manager David N. Wallace.

The nearest Popeyes are in Niagara Falls, Ont., and Rochester.

In other business at the Planning Board meeting: • Three city restaurants requested approval for new patios.

Butterwood Sweet and Savory and Pan American Grill, both at the Hotel @ the Lafayette, 391 Washington St., and Savoy, a cocktail bar that serves light fare at 149 Elmwood Ave., presented plans for small patios to the Planning Board.

Board members did not raise objections and appeared inclined to approve them in two weeks, assuming enough members attend so the board can vote.

• The Rev. Dwayne Jones of Mount Aaron Missionary Baptist Church, 538 Genesee St., described the growth in his congregation and the need for an addition. The church plans a 3,560-square-foot expansion, as the congregation has doubled now that the church offers more activities for children and seniors, Jones said.

Board members said they think the improvements will be good for the neighborhood, which is southeast of Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

During the Common Council’s Legislation Committee meeting Tuesday, residents from the Seneca-Babcock neighborhood complained about air quality, noise and truck damage stemming from operations at Battaglia Demolition. “There is no quality of life for these people whatsoever,” said Arthur J. Robinson, a community activist .

The Council will look into ways to stop concrete crushing at the site, said Council President Richard A. Fontana. “These people are living in a horror film over there,” he said. “It’s not conducive to a healthy neighborhood.”

Battaglia Demolition owner Peter Battaglia said his business is in full compliance with all city and state regulations and that he has been crushing concrete since 1998.

In other business at the Legislation Committee meeting:

• Council Members Darius G. Pridgen and Demone A. Smith called on the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to remove beer advertisements from Metro Rail cars, noting that children use the transit service. The authority has said it will continue the practice, though Pridgen said he is inviting an NFTA representative to an upcoming meeting to discuss the ads.

• James Brem, a resident of the Roosevelt Apartments at 921 Main St., told the committee of his concerns about plans by the University at Buffalo to purchase a parking area used by his fellow residents, which would force them to park elsewhere. Pridgen said the Council would seek a response from the residential building’s owner, though the project is not subject to city approval.

• Lawmakers sent a measure that would make the city’s “ban the box” ordinance take effect in January to the full Council for a vote. The Council voted in late May to prevent employers in the city, with some exceptions, from asking on a job application whether an applicant had been convicted of a crime. The ordinance did not say when it would take effect.

The law does not prevent employers from asking about prior criminal convictions after an initial application has been filed, or during interviews.

email: jterreri@buffnews.com ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:35:06 -0400 Jill Terreri
]]> <![CDATA[ NFTA given speedup for study of Buffalo-Amherst rail link ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619102/1010
The Federal Transit Administration agreed to the change at the request of Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who announced the move on Tuesday.

“This simple rule change will save an estimated $1 million and one year in the project’s development,” Schumer said. “That’s a year closer to a sensible system that ties the Medical Campus and downtown Buffalo with UB’s Amherst campus.”

Schumer won the $1.2 million grant for the study in October 2011, and at the time, federal law required that the money be spent on both an “alternatives analysis” and an “environmental review.”

Congress consolidated these two processes into one in highway legislation it passed last year – but not for projects that were funded under an earlier highway bill, which included the Buffalo transit study.

Such projects needed special approval for such a consolidation. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that approval in a letter to Schumer.

“I can assure you that FTA staff at headquarters and at the New York City Regional Office has been working with NFTA to amend the grant application, which should be completed in the near future,” LaHood wrote. “I also appreciate the need for transportation and other services over the wide-ranging area of Amherst, Buffalo and Niagara, and how much your constituents will benefit from the improvements.”

With the expansion of the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus and nearby parking in short supply, the NFTA has dusted off the decades-old idea of extending Metro Rail to Amherst and other northern suburbs.

The original plans four decades ago called for an eventual light rail link to the north, but the pending study will take a look both at that option and also much cheaper alternatives, such as dedicated bus lanes.

Under the study that will now go forward, the NFTA will consider these alternatives while also studying the environmental impact of each prospective plan.

While it is far too early to know exactly how a northern transit link would be constructed – or how it would be funded – NFTA officials envision a “coatless” transit system where a doctor could board public transit near his or her home in Amherst and travel to the Medical Campus without ever going outdoors.

Kim Minkel, the NFTA’s executive director, thanked Schumer for pressing the Federal Transit Administration to change the terms of the grant to allow the studies to be combined.

“Going forward, this will provide for a faster and less expensive process,” she said.

email: jzremski@buffnews.com ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:18:04 -0400 Jerry Zremski
]]> <![CDATA[ Peace Bridge battle stirs Canadian threat to fight in court ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619094/1010
Asked if Canada was prepared to go to U.S. federal court if New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signs the bill that the State Legislature passed last week, Ambassador Gary A. Doer said: “Canada will protect its sovereignty. And having said that, we prefer a cooperative approach.”

Doer insisted that New York State cannot unilaterally tear up the agreement with Canada that created the Peace Bridge Authority, adding: “We believe that if the bill is signed, it’s going to be a good day for lawyers and not a good day for Buffalo business. We would rather hire hard hats than lawyers.”

Doer’s warning about a legal fight ahead highlighted an interview with The Buffalo News in which he offered the most extensive – and critical – comments yet from the Canadian government on the Peace Bridge controversy.

In the interview, Doer also reiterated Canada’s support for an experimental plan in which U.S.-bound truck cargo will be pre-inspected on the Fort Erie side of the Peace Bridge. He indicated that the plan was proof of Canada’s good intentions to improve the traffic flow on both sides of the border.

“We agreed to the pre-inspection program to decrease congestion. We agreed to that without being threatened,” Doer said.

With Cuomo’s appointees to the Peace Bridge Authority demanding the removal of the bridge’s Canadian general manager, and the Legislature passing a bill that aims to end the authority in about a year, Doer responded to a long-standing News interview request with a blunt and confident message.

“Threatening is not going to work, because we do not feel threatened,” he said.

Doer said Canada is gravely concerned, though, that the legislation in Albany would prompt a long legal battle that would be bad for everyone involved.

“The bottom line is, both countries and both provinces and states have the ability to get something done, or they have the ability to gum it up,” Doer said. “We think this [legislation] is going to gum it up.”

The Peace Bridge Authority approved $50 million in improvements to the American plaza last October, but the authority’s Canadian chairman has warned that those improvements could be stalled because of the Albany legislation.

Doer reiterated that point, again and again, in the interview.

“Since the Assembly passed the bill last week, everybody is lawyering up – including in Canada – rather than building across, which is what we want to do,” he said. “We believe that lawyering-up is a recipe for slowing it down.”

Shown a transcript of Doer’s comments, the Cuomo administration responded with a two-sentence statement from former Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello, a recent Cuomo appointee to the Peace Bridge Authority.

“We know from our past that lawsuits delay action and create hard feelings,” Masiello said. “We agree with our Canadian friends that we need to ride above the rift and expedite the plaza for positive progress for both sides of border.”

Doer said he did not want to speculate on how long any legal action might delay improvements at the Peace Bridge, but he also noted that the biggest recent delay in work there stemmed from an environmental-impact statement that was in the works in New York State for the better part of a decade before being abandoned last year.

“This tennis ball bounced in the court of the U.S. side on the plaza from 1995 to 2012,” he said.

And while Canada – or the Canadian members of the authority board – would be the most likely entities to go to court to challenge the New York law, Doer insisted it was New York, not Canada, that was forcing the issue. “We’re not initiating this,” he said of the bill passed in Albany last week. “This is not our law. We do not see this as a sensible way to go. We see this as a recipe for increased congestion.”

Noting that Cuomo had received a memo from lawyers regarding the legality of the Peace Bridge legislation, which was cited in an article in The News on Sunday, Doer said: “He’s talking about lawyers already. He talked about lawyers this weekend. We’re responding in kind.”

The memo Doer referred to argues that the legislation dissolving the Peace Bridge is legal because a set of 1970 amendments to the Peace Bridge Charter was never approved by Congress. In the view of Cuomo’s legal advisers, that means an earlier version of the Peace Bridge Charter – which would have led to the authority’s dissolution in the 1990s – is still legally binding.

Asked what he thought of New York’s legal argument, Doer indicated there’s a larger issue that would come into play in any court battle.

“You don’t need a lawyer to understand that the bridge crosses an international border,” he said.

Doer said Canada’s legal view is that then-New York Attorney General Jacob K. Javits was correct when he said in 1955 that both the U.S. and Canadian governments would have to sign off on any substantive changes in how the Peace Bridge is governed.

He also took issue with the contention, voiced by some in Albany, that the Canadians have not paid proper attention to the American side of the Peace Bridge.

“We actually wanted to have pre-inspection” at the Peace Bridge rather than other border crossings, Doer said. “We chose this site because we wanted to find ways to improve congestion on both sides of the border.”

While some have speculated that the spat over the Peace Bridge’s future could derail the pre-inspection plan, Doer said that’s just not so.

“This flows from an agreement between the president and the prime minister,” he said. “That’s not in danger. We will proceed with the pre-inspection exercise.”

That came as good news to Assemblyman Sean M. Ryan, D-Buffalo, one of the chief sponsors of the legislation to dissolve the Peace Bridge Authority.

Doer’s acknowledgement that pre-inspection will move forward “reduces some of the fear-based decision-making” on the issue, Ryan said.

Otherwise, though, Ryan implicitly criticized much of what Doer had to say. “Everyone keeps saying the law’s on their side,” Ryan said, but the Canadians “seem deeply concerned about the impact of this law. It’s like: ‘We don’t feel threatened, but, holy cow, we’re going to court.’ There’s a bit of a forked tongue here, but it doesn’t get us any closer to a conclusion.”

Doer, however, insisted that the debate about the Peace Bridge Authority – and New York’s attempt to dissolve it – must be grounded in a simple truth.

“You don’t need a lawyer to realize this is a bridge across two countries, not a diving board,” the ambassador said. “If it was a diving board, the New York State Legislature would have complete authority. But it’s not.”



email: jzremski@buffnews.com ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:16:49 -0400 Jerry Zremski
]]> <![CDATA[ Yahoo moves to fill 125 openings at new Lockport call center ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/BUSINESS/130619106/1010
The company over the past few weeks has worked through the University at Buffalo to advertise the positions and is holding a job fair this week on the UB North Campus.

Yahoo hopes to hire 110 customer-care agents and 15 supervisors, who would start working in leased space in Amherst next month while construction on the expanded facility in Lockport proceeds over the next 12 to 18 months, Mauricio Quibano, senior manager for global planning and sourcing for Yahoo Customer Experience, said Tuesday.

Yahoo initially said it plans to hire 115 new workers, on top of the 77 who work at the current data center, and spend $168 million to build the expanded complex, which also received an extensive set of tax breaks and an allocation of low-cost electricity. The new call center will be Yahoo’s third in this country, joining a facility in Omaha, Neb., and another outside Portland, Ore.

During construction, Yahoo is moving into leased office space in Uniland Development Co.’s Sheridan Meadows Corporate Park – North, 6400 Sheridan Drive, Amherst.

The call center workers will be hourly, full-time employees, with benefits; pay will range from the mid-teens to $20 per hour, Quibano said.

The job fair at UB began Tuesday and continues through Friday.

Walk-in interviews run from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Center for Tomorrow, near the entrance to the Amherst campus from Maple Road, at the corner of Flint and Service Center roads.

Applicants should bring a resumé to the fair. They must have a bachelor’s degree and have earned a grade point average of at least 3.2.

email: swatson@buffnews.com ]]> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:14:34 -0400 Stephen T. Watson
]]> <![CDATA[ State senate leaders hosting meeting with veterans on June 27 ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619081/1010
State Sen. Mark J. Grisanti, a member of the Senate’s Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee, announced Tuesday that the meeting with Senate coalition leaders Dean G. Skelos and Jeffrey D. Klein is set for 3 p.m. June 27 at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park at Canalside.

In urging veterans to attend the meeting, Grisanti, R-Buffalo, said it is important for state leaders to receive direct input from former members of the armed forces.

At the top of the list to be addressed is the state’s unemployment level for post-9/11 veterans, Grisanti said. That rate is currently 10.7 percent.

“There is no good reason for these men and women to be out of work at such a high rate,” said Klein, a Bronx-Westchester Democrat. “That is why we are doing everything we can to get them into the private sector, where I know they will succeed.”

“We simply cannot allow this type of employment environment to continue for our veterans,” Grisanti added.

The lawmakers are hoping to find ways to make veterans aware of different legislative initiatives accomplished this year to assist job-seeking veterans, including tax credits for businesses hiring veterans.

Skelos, a Long Island Republican from Rockville Centre, is expected to highlight additional legislation that helps veterans.

Those interested in attending are asked to contact Grisanti’s Buffalo office, 854-8705, in advance.

email: lmichel@buffnews.com ]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:56:47 -0400 Lou Michel
]]> <![CDATA[ New bids sought for garbage totes for West Seneca, Lackawanna ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619090/1010
Bidding has been reopened for garbage and recycling totes for two suburbs after potential bidders claimed they never received specifications in the mail.

The Town of West Seneca and City of Lackawanna are working together to buy wheeled garbage totes with attached lids, which are considered an important weapon in combating rodent infestations. West Seneca is looking to buy recycling totes, as well.

“The town attorney mailed the specs to five different companies; only two bid,” Town Clerk Jacqueline A. Felser said Tuesday. “We were kind of surprised.”

Those bids were opened May 30.

Felser said that two bidders called, after the fact, and said they did not receive the specs in the mail. “We don’t know what happened to those,” she said.

Requests for bids routinely are posted on the town’s website. And when specialized goods or services are sought, the specs are sent directly to vendors to encourage more bids, Felser said.

Both of the bids opened May 30 had items that did not meet specifications, Town Attorney Shawn P. Martin noted at the time. And the prices were higher than expected, the town clerk added Tuesday.

The West Seneca Town Board voted last week to reject those bids. The new bid opening date is July 8.

email: jhabuda@buffnews.com ]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:39:46 -0400 Janice Habuda
]]> <![CDATA[ NeMoyer announces bid to be 7th District legislator ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619086/1010
NeMoyer, a Democrat, is challenging first-term Republican incumbent Kathryn L. Lance of Wheatfield in the 7th District in the November election.

The 7th District includes parts of Wheatfield and North Tonawanda.

“From what I’ve seen, the one-party rule in the Legislature has left a spiral of economic decline, continued high taxes and an exodus of young people from Niagara County,” said NeMoyer, 41.

Like other Democratic newcomers entering this year’s Legislature races, NeMoyer criticized the county Industrial Development Agency.

He said the agency needs to create jobs rather than approve projects that offer little growth while taking tax revenues away from schools and local governments. ]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:34:31 -0400 <![CDATA[ More modern cargo planes sought for Falls air base ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619087/1010
In a letter Tuesday to the Air Force secretary and chief of staff, Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and her congressional colleagues suggested moving eight C-130H3 cargo planes from a base in Minneapolis, where they are scheduled to depart next year, to the base in Niagara Falls.

The more modern planes are scheduled to be moved to the Falls in 2017, but in the letter, the lawmakers said it makes more sense to send them to the local base next year rather than basing them in a third location for three years.

Noting that the C-130 cargo planes currently based in the Falls are among the oldest in the nation’s fleet, the lawmakers said: “This is an opportunity for the department to restore a capability to NFARS, which benefits the Air Force and the nation.”

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., also signed the letter, as did Reps. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, and Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo. ]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:32:40 -0400 <![CDATA[ Cardiac/stroke care upgrade in the works for Falls hospital ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619088/1010
The grant is conditioned on Memorial raising a matching amount, spokesman Patrick J. Bradley said. The grant moved the fundraising effort over the $1 million mark, with a goal of $3 million.

The hospital’s existing cardiac/stroke unit served more than 1,500 patients last year, but it is seeking a major technological upgrade that also will enhance patients comfort and safety.

“The Niagara region continues to experience some of the worst rates of cardiovascular disease in the nation,” Memorial president Joseph A. Ruffolo said. ]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:31:02 -0400 <![CDATA[ Board OKs 2013-14 budget with 1.6 percent increase ]]> http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130618/CITYANDREGION/130619089/1010
The new budget, which totals $34.55 million, is a 1.6 percent increase from the college’s 2012-13 spending plan. JCC’s fiscal year begins Sept. 1.

“Given the continued economic uncertainty in our state, country and throughout the world, this was yet another challenging budget to build,” said Dr. Gregory DeCinque, college president. “The approved budget includes a state aid amount of $2,422 per full-time equivalent student.”

The budget increases full-time New York resident tuition by $85 per semester. College officials built the budget on a projected enrollment of 3,250 students – a decrease from last year’s projected attendance of 3,375 students.

“The budget is based on smaller freshman and sophomore classes due to recent declines in the number of regional high school graduates,” DeCinque said. ]]> Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:29:04 -0400