Inside the News

A mother speaks of her pain

   In many ways, Lori Silveri has been the forgotten person in the long, painful saga involving her late son, Jonathon M. Cote.

   Cote, a former Army paratrooper working as a private security guard, was abducted in Iraq in November 2006. His body was identified and returned to the United States last week.

   Cote is formerly from Amherst, and many of his relatives … including his father, Francis L. Cote … still live in Amherst. Silveri, who was divorced from Francis Cote in 2001, now lives in Florida.

   Francis Cote has been the family's eloquent chief spokesman for the past 18 months. Until Tuesday, when she spoke to The Buffalo News in a two-hour interview, not much had been heard from Silveri.

   A former Circulation Department employee of The News, Silveri said her son's death has given her a whole new perspective on the Iraq War and the role that private security contractors play in the war.

   What does she think of the Iraq War? She has mixed feelings.

   "I think the men and women who go over there to serve in the military are heroic. My son was a hero, for what he did. These people deserve all our respect," Silveri said. "I would like some more answers from our leaders, though, on exactly why we're over there. I don't feel like we've been told the whole story."

   The News will have extensive coverage of Jonathon Cote's funeral on Friday.

   -- Dan Herbeck

   

Has the dust settled at Wilson High School?

    Two Wilson High School baseball coaches have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child following an incident of alleged sexual abuse on a school bus.

   Varsity coach Thomas J. Baia and junior varsity coach William M. Atlas were released on their own recognizance and issued appearance tickets to return to Town Court on the misdemeanor charge May 8.

   Baia, 40, has coached the varsity team for seven years and is a Wilson Middle School math teacher.

   Atlas, 35, is a physical education teacher at Thomas Mark Elementary School.

   Both could face up to a year in jail if convicted.

   "It was more of what they didn't do than what they did do," said State Police Lt. Richard S. Allen.

   Their arrests came in the wake of three members of the varsity baseball team being charged last Friday with sexually abusing at least two members of the junior varsity team April 17, as the teams were headed back to Wilson from a pair of games in Niagara Falls.

   The three varsity players who were arrested each were charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child under the age of 17, a misdemeanor, and felony third-degree aggravated sexual abuse. The felony charge accused them of forcing a foreign object into a private body opening.

   Baia and Atlas, who were suspended from their coaching duties on Monday, were among at least three adults on the bus.

   The investigation is continuing, and more charges could be coming, police said.

   The district learned about the arrests from police at the end of the school day on Tuesday, police said.

   "Once we received information from the police department, we moved immediately to suspend these teachers from the classroom," said Superintendent Michael S. Wendt.

   It is required by law to suspend the teachers with pay, Wendt said.

   What do you think about the way these events have unfolded?

   Did the school take appropriate action regarding the coaches?

   What should happen to them?

  --- Aaron Besecker

Wilson incident is much more than "hazing"

   The term "hazing" usually brings to mind some silly stunt, like a guy having to wear a skirt to school or a bunch of athletes chugging liter bottles of Coke.

   It doesn't conjure images of a serious sexual abuse, the kind of attack that authorities say occurred on the Wilson High School baseball team's bus.

   If true, this is a serious allegation that could lead to a felony trial, lawsuits, permanent criminal records and plenty of emotional scars.

   Maybe the word "hazing" is a misnomer, failing to convey the seriousness of that incident. So maybe we shouldn't use that word here. Or maybe this case shows how serious hazing can
be.

   Whatever we call it, it's a story we should have our teenage kids read, to show them the horrible implications of one stupid moment, one horribly stupid moment.

   -- Gene Warner

An immigrant determined to make a difference

   Delores Powell got much more than she bargained for when she purchased her Massachusetts Avenue home … and not all of was good.

   When the family moved in September 2004, there was a big hole in one of the floors of the two-story home. There was no heat because the boiler was busted and the pipes were lined with asbestos. The sewer system backed up -- the last time was in January.

   The gas company informed her there were no gas lines to the house. So she had some installed.

   And all that work was just part of the repairs that had to be done on her home to make it habitable for herself, a single mother with four of her children living with her and attending Buffalo Public Schools.

   In addition, many of the properties around her were vacant and struggling, too. Some had to be demolished. Others are on the list to be demolished. Many are neglected and contribute to neighborhood blight.

   Still, Powell, a Jamaican immigrant who came to the United States 20 years ago, is determined to make a home here for her family. And while progress has made, much more remains to be done. Through it all, she keeps her determination and optimism.

   "Leaving Jamaica and coming to America was really wonderful. It is a privilege," she said. "Everyone wants to come here for a whole lot more opportunities. It's a land of opportunity."

   Are there any Delores Powells in your neighborhood?

   
  -- Deidre Williams

Kmiec brings change and a whole new style

   In the world of Catholic prelates, where most men come from the same mold, Bishop Edward U. Kmiec and his predecessor in Buffalo, Archbishop Henry J. Mansell of Hartford, Conn., are almost nothing alike.

   Imposing and intellectual, Mansell was a prodigious reader. He was shy around the Buffalo media and revealed few clues about his personal life. He was known within the Buffalo diocese to have kept a tight rein, and his own schedule was a series of precisely timed meetings in which he had everyone's full attention.

   He operated on only a few hours of sleep each night and almost never took a day off - Type A traits that began to wear on some priests who expressed relief when Mansell was promoted to Hartford.

   By the time of Mansell's departure, many people in the diocese were looking forward to a fresh face, and they got him in Kmiec, a chummy and chatty Polish-American priest who likes cigars and an occasional scotch on the rocks, and knows how to delegate.

   Kmiec may be overseeing the most tumultuous changes in the history of the diocese but he hasn't let it consume him.

   Unlike Mansell, he'll engage in conversation on less weighty matters, such as his love of college basketball or unwinding from a long day in front of a television with the Discovery Channel.

   He talks regularly about his own boyhood interest in becoming a priest, and he enjoys sharing tales about his vacation travels back home to Trenton, N.J., where he still owns a home, or to Florida during the winter months.

   He even met with young adult Catholics over beers and pizza at Pearl Street Grill & Brewing Co., where he answered various questions and admitted a penchant for talking too much.

   For all of Kmiec's personableness, though, some critics of the current bishop say they wish Mansell were back in town to steer the diocese again.

  -- Jay Tokasz

Peering into the haze of a vicious act

   There is hazing and then there is sexual abuse, and it appears that what happened to at least two boys on the Wilson High School baseball team crossed that line in the most awful way.

   There are many questions about what exactly happened on the bus. But there are many more about what the adults who were supposed to be watching over these children were doing or not doing:

   Did the coaches know what was being done to these children?

   Has it been going on for some time?

   Why did it take the parents of one of the victims to alert the police about the abuse?

   There are rumors that this sort of vicious hazing has been going on for years at Wilson.

   We're asking any readers with firsthand knowledge to share what they saw or experienced. You do not have to give your name.

  -- Maki Becker

Over-the-top language on family-time TV

  I do not watch that much network TV, which is why I was surprised this week to turn on a sitcom at 9 p.m. and hear a character repeat a slang term for testicles throughout the show.

Previous airings of "Two and a Half Men" included explicit jokes and use of a slang term for intercourse (not the "F' word). The FCC in recent years has cracked down somewhat on obscene language on the public airwaves earlier than 10 o'clock at night, when preteens are more likely to be watching. But there obviously are some large holes in the net.

   I understand that pretty much anything goes on cable TV. I expected tighter limits on network television (and radio) in the early evening. Am I being an overprotective parent, or do other people see the casual use of street slang during prime time as a problem?

   -- Donn Esmonde

Neighborhood Watch goes high-tech in Parkside

   Parkside is a close-knit, diverse neighborhood whose residents keep an eye out for each other and remain politically active.

   Those close ties strengthened over the past eight months after residents turned to e-mail lists to warn their neighbors of a spike in home break-ins, burglaries and other thefts.

   Quality-of-life crimes are a nagging concern in this section of Buffalo that wraps around Delaware Park, and last August and December saw two periods when such incidents increased sharply.

   In the past, the Parkside Community Association and block club leaders in the area would issue warnings by phone tree, flier or newsletter in response to a crime wave.

   But starting last August, the association and the block clubs began to forward to all of their members the e-mails they received from crime victims and neighborhood witnesses.

   Some of the e-mails, which often include detailed descriptions or even photos of suspects, led to arrests.

   Buffalo police, community leaders, city officials and others say the e-mail lists are a good example of how a neighborhood can proactively fight back against crime.

   But Parkside certainly isn't the only neighborhood where engaged residents keep in touch with their neighbors.

   We'd like to hear from people in other city or suburban neighborhoods that are home to their own community-based initiatives.

   And is anyone aware of a similar e-mail warning system that led to a break in a criminal case?

   -- Stephen T. Watson

Thruway adds to the high cost of living here

  Thruway Authority officials pressed a hot button with statewide motorists Friday by approving a 5 percent toll hike set to take effect for cash customers on Jan. 1.

   That follows a 10 percent toll increase last year, and precedes another 5 percent hike in 2010.

   What especially irks motorists this time is a toll jump in conjunction with soaring gasoline prices. It all makes what used to be a happy-go-lucky jaunt down the Thruway into a major financial undertaking.

   Just ask Susan Arena. The Williamsville resident recently started what she called a dream job as business administrator for the Silver Creek School District. Now she figures she will pay $44 per month in Thruway tolls on top of all she shells out at the pump.

   "It's becoming a huge financial burden especially with the cost of gasoline," she said Friday.

   Arena is not alone. Costs are going up for everything -- gasoline, tolls, food -- you name it. And in economically depressed Western New York, it all starts to add up.

   The latest toll hike has prompted lots of outrage. Rep. Brian Higgins and Assemblyman Mark Schroeder, both Buffalo Democrats, expressed their frustration on Friday. Schroeder even called for the Thruway Authority to be abolished.

   But of the six members of the Thruway Authority, only Niagara County's Jeff Williams cast a negative vote on Friday. It just seems there is no stopping the rise in prices -- especially when it comes to driving your car.

   -- Robert J. McCarthy

Getting munis up to par

   Before Brighton Golf Course in the Town of Tonawanda started taking tee times, it was not uncommon to see cars in the parking lot before dawn and people asleep inside them as they waited to greet the starter and begin their round at the dawn's first light.

   No one ever accused golfers of being normal.

   But they do know what they like: low rates and well-maintained courses, which is what municipal courses in Western New York have delivered for years.

   The future of the "munis" is the subject of some concern, as fewer people take up the game and more higher-end courses enter the marketplace.

   That has led to suggestions that courses privatize - the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy has had success with the three former city courses, while Niagara Falls tried privatizing with a part of Hyde Park and it didn't work - or make investments to keep up with the competition.

   The question we asked golfers and golf course officials for our article today is the same one we ask you: Should local governments be in the golf course business?

   --- Stephen T. Watson and Bruce Andriatch

   

Reporters touched by the Cote story

   It's a rare sight to see a room full of news reporters with tears in their eyes.

   But that was pretty much the scene at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center on Thursday, as members of the Cote family spoke of the 17-month ordeal that ended in the recent death of Jonathon M. Cote, a hostage taken in Iraq.

   Most of the reporters in the room could be seen dabbing tears away as Francis L. Cote spoke of the death of his son, and Christopher Cote lamented the loss of his brother.

   Buffalo journalists have been amazed by the strength shown by the family since Jonathon … working as a private security contractor … was abducted in November 2006. They have handled an impossibly difficult situation with
dignity and class.

   Cote's stepmother, Nancy Cote … resident agent in charge of the Buffalo office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration … and other family members also attended the press conference.

   She thanked the Buffalo and national media for not revealing her identity over the past 17 months.

   "We were worried that Jon would have been subjected to even worse punishment if [the abductors] knew Nancy worked for the government," Francis Cote said.

   One of the most emotional moments of the press conference came when Christopher Cote was asked what he would ask his brother if he ever had the chance to talk with him.

   "I would ask, "Do you forgive those who did this to you?'‚ Cote said. "If he can, I can."

   -- Dan Herbeck and Lou Michel

City got it right in cracking down on rusted ship

   The city's crackdown on the Lansdowne, the rusting hulk moored on the Outer Harbor south of downtown, needs to be the rule in how City Hall deals with negligent property owners … whether on water or on land.

   After some prompting, the mayor threatened the eyesore's owner with a $1,000-per-day fine. The old hulk, not coincidentally, was towed away Thursday. We do not have to guess what would have happened had City Hall turned its back. A similar eyesore floated in the same spot for 12 l-o-n-g years under ex-mayor Tony "Too Soft" Masiello.

   One of Buffalo's best assets is its fine stock of older buildings … not just the historic landmarks, but the kind of character-laden structures seen throughout downtown. Their worth was underlined in recent years as developers converted the vacant structures into upscale apartments.

   Sadly, too many of those buildings rotted in plain sight -- and some still are rotting -- because of City Hall's reluctance to crack down on negligent owners. Let the Lansdowne be a lesson: Getting tough is good business.

   -- Donn Esmonde

Meet the new bosses, same as the old bosses

   WASHINGTON … Once upon a time 40 years ago, presidential primaries were nothing more than beauty contests, and every delegate was a "superdelegate" -- a party insider who got to go to the convention and choose the presidential nominee.

   And now, the long and contentious battle between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has turned the last primaries into beauty contests, of a sort, which will serve as guideposts for the 306 remaining superdelegates who will decide the Democratic presidential nomination.

   In other words: meet the new bosses -- same as the old bosses (although, granted, there are fewer of them).

   Talks with superdelegates and other sources Wednesday showed that those undecided superdelegates are not likely to be swayed by Clinton's 10-point win in the Pennsylvania primary.

   Instead, the Pennsylvania results are more likely to simply freeze this race in place for at least another two weeks, as the superdelegates watch what happens in the May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.

   In other words, after five months of primaries and caucuses and tens of millions of dollars in campaign spending and maybe 30 million votes cast, the Clinton-Obama contest will be decided by 306 people.

   That's Democratic, under the party's rules.

   But how democratic is it?

  -- Jerry Zremski

A bird and a fish determine Peace Bridge design

   Thank you, snail darter, from all the common terns and emerald shiners around here.

   The snail darter, a small fish in East Tennessee, became legendary in the 1970s when lawsuits were filed to protect it from the Tennessee Valley Authority's plan to build a dam.

   Thirty years ago, the case reached the Supreme Court. In the end, the dam was built anyway. And the snail darter, described recently by the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel as a "not-so-beautiful, little brown bottom-hugger," has survived.

   The snail darter case helped shape environmental law that came after it.

   And today, that law has prompted state and federal environmental agencies to reject the idea of a cable-stayed bridge as a Peace Bridge companion span across the Niagara River.

   They say Christian Menn's two-tower concept would be too tall for the common tern to fly over. And the piers near the shorelines would disrupt the swimming grounds of the emerald shiners.

   Federal and state regulators say they'll approve only a new bridge that's slightly taller -- not a lot -- than the existing Peace Bridge.

   That's likely to disappoint those who campaigned for a signature bridge like the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay.

   What's your opinion?

   -- Patrick Lakamp

Big Brother is watching on more city street corners

   The electronic eyes are watching.

   They're perched in 43 spots throughout the city … and will grow to 100 pairs of eyes by the end of the year.

   Buffalo's long-touted crime camera surveillance program is now up and running following what Mayor Byron W. Brown described as a successful eight-month trial period. Brown and Buffalo Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson are convinced the high-tech devices will be powerful tools in fighting crime.

   Some block club leaders agree, saying they've already noticed fewer troublemakers on street corners where the devices have been installed.

   But some critics are skeptical. They point to studies suggesting that state-of-the-art surveillance devices have done little to curb violent crime in some cities. And they worry that the cameras might be used in ways that could violate the privacy of law-abiding citizens.

   The mayor and police commissioner repeatedly have assured residents that the cameras will not be used in ways that trample on people's privacy. The city has no desire to "play Big Brother," Gipson told reporters Tuesday as officials showed off a new surveillance monitoring room in police headquarters.

   What do you think about the new surveillance blitz?

   -- Brian Meyer

What should the state do about Buffalo school district dysfunction?

    Things have gotten so bad in the Buffalo Public Schools that the chancellor of the State Board of Regents is exploring possible state intervention, including the dismissal of all nine members of the Board of Education.

   "There are a lot of issues here," said Chancellor Robert M. Bennett. "They're disturbing, to say the least."

   Bennett Monday asked State Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills to spell out steps the state can take, including a top-to-bottom dismissal of the troubled board.

   The state - for both philosophical and practical reasons - is traditionally reluctant to get directly involved in governance issues in individual school districts. So while it remains unclear what will come of Bennett's request for a list of options, the request itself underlines a very deep concern in Albany.

   Bennett mentioned controversies at McKinley High School, Discovery School 67 and City Honors School, along with dismal test scores across much of the district and an ethics commission report concluding that at least one board member lied under oath about leaking information to The Buffalo News.

   But Buffalo Teachers Federation President Philip Rumore said action should be taken against Superintendent James A. Williams, not the board.

   Is Bennett on target? Is the board so dysfunctional that it should be replaced? Or should the state take less dramatic action, or none at all? Where does Albany come into the picture as questions about city schools multiply?

   --- Peter Simon

Prosecution or persecution?

   When Steven Kurtz's wife Hope died of heart failure in their Allentown home in May 2004, he had no time to mourn.

   FBI agents, called in by Buffalo Police who responded to the 911 call, soon blocked off Kurtz's street and donned protective suits as  they spent almost nine hours searching the home.

   They found windows covered with tin foil and petri dishes growing bacteria cultures. Kurtz, an art professor at the University at Buffalo, explained the bacteria were harmless and were part of the couple's artwork.

   Three years after 9/11, it was understandable that officials should get alarmed. But after tests showed there was no public risk, the case did not die.

   Instead, federal prosecutors indicted Kurtz on mail fraud and wire fraud charges, felonies. His fellow academics raised hell and $250,000 to fight the charges.

   Monday, the case appeared over. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara said the facts did not fit the indictment and dismissed the charges. A co-defendent, a very ill Robert Ferrell, a genetics researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, took a misdemeanor plea in February for selling Kurtz the bacteria, and was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation.

   Did the government go too far by continuing to prosecute Kurtz and Ferrell?

  --- Michael Beebe and Dan Herbeck

The man who made National Air Cargo come clean

  To the government lawyers who prosecuted National Air Cargo, Mark Oehm is a hero who helped stop millions in overbillings by blowing the whistle on his former employer, now the biggest commercial shipper of war materiel to Iraq and Afghanistan.

   To National Air Cargo's lawyers, and many of its employees, Oehm is more of a traitor, who took advantage of complicated air freight regulations to complain about the Orchard Park freight forwarder. They say he's a petty crook who took company software with him to his next job.

   Nonsense, say his lawyers, who helped Oehm win a $3.3 million settlement as part of the $28 million the company paid in U.S. District Court.

   Add U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn to Oehm's supporters. He said the government's investigation rought the felony charge against National Air Cargo, not Oehm.

   What do you think?

--   Michael Beebe and Dan Herbeck

Behold -- a manifesto for affordable government

   That local governments are  increasingly growing unaffordable to property taxpayers is hardly news to anyone owning a home in New York.

   For a generation, there has been hand-wringing over what to do about it. But with property taxes dominating the talk at so many kitchen tables, a state panel thinks now might actually be the time to do something about it. 

  A 15-member group with a long name -- the New York Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness -- thinks it has the ideas for making the hodgepodge and overlapping network of local governments simpler. In the end, that means cheaper.

   It also might mean some glimmer of hope for controlling the rate hikes that have made New York No. 1 in a dubious category of taxes.

   The ideas are not startling new. But they are included in a report, due out in a about a week,  put forth by a group composed of both the private and public sectors, state and local governments. 

   A  draft copy of the report obtained by The Buffalo News contains 76 different recommendations, looking at everything from making it easier for local governments to consolidate services, to having government workers pay more for health insurance coverage.

   But will anyone listen?

   Former Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer created the commission, and no one really knows the appetite that the new governor, David A. Paterson, will have to take on some of the entrenched interests that will line up to kill the panel's ideas. Moreover, it's an election year, which does not always bring a sense of logic to governing. 

   When the full report comes out, look carefully at how Paterson parses his words to either fully embrace the ideas, or if he offers kind of a blow-off response like, "The ideas will be carefully considered by my administration." 

   Look, too, at how aggressively public employee unions, school boards, local mayors and
supervisors react.   

   From all that, an early indication will emerge whether the past year of work by the 15-member board and its six paid staffers was worth the effort or will simply result in just the latest set of ideas to improve government that will gather dust in the reference shelves of the state archives.

  -- Tom Precious

Hungry children by the thousands

Week days are long and tiring for families. During the day, the kids are in school, parents are at
work; at night, there is dinner to get on the table, homework to finish, and family time to
squeeze in.

That schedule doesn't apply for all families, especially those with parents who work several low-paying jobs or whose grocery budget is so taxed, it's not possible to put a hot, nutritious dinner on the table every night.

The staff at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo noticed a few years ago that as one official explained, the kids at five of the city-based clubhouses were "beyond" hungry by dinnertime. The agency is now serving dinner to children who attend its after-school programs, which is the focus of a Page 1 story today written by News reporter Deidre Williams.

By the end of the year, the agency plans to serve hot, nutritious dinners to 8,500 kids per week at
16 clubhouses in Buffalo, Amherst and Cheektowaga.

The parents working long shifts and struggling to make ends meet are grateful their children are getting a square meal and doing their homework in a safe, supervised place.

But the fact that thousands of local children would otherwise go without a good dinner most days is deeply disturbing.

Tucked safely in our homes enjoying dinner with our families, we should think about these 8,500 children. And we should be asking ourselves how we can help.

-- Susan LoTempio

One father's view on a soldier who quit

  The Canadian House of Commons may soon take action on whether to let U.S. war deserters continue to stay in that country.

   There are a couple hundred Iraq War deserters, unlike the thousands who fled to Canada to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War.

   These volunteer members of the American military say they deserted mainly because they do not agree with the Bush administration's reasons for going to war.

   So, whether you agree or disagree, we know why they fled north of the border.

   But what must their family members think about their actions?

  James Hart of Buffalo, the father of Patrick Hart, a resister from city's Riverside neighborhood, offers thoughtful, provocative and highly opininated insights to the issue.

   The temptation for some readers, no doubt, will be to write off Patrick Hart as a criminal who lacked courage to live up to the oath he took to defend thehis country. But keep in mind he served a year in Kuwait and could have been sent to Iraq at any point.

Here are James Hart's answers to our questions.

Many, many more Amherst trees will be felled

   With recent attention riveted on one neighborhood fighting to keep its storm-damaged trees, the fact is, the Town of Amherst has thousands more trees on its hit list.

   The Snyder neighborhood feels the pain of losing some of the biggest and oldest trees, but it isn't the only community in the town with trees that arborists have identified as liability hazards following the October 2006 snowstorm.

   What many residents want now is some assurance that their lost trees will be replaced.

   "We love the neighborhood and will miss the trees," said  Burroughs Drive resident Tim Carlo. "What is lacking is a strategic initiative for reforestation. I have yet to see one town official talk about how they will improve the tree situation. That is the true issue."

   A reforestation plan takes money that the town has yet to set aside, said Highway Superintendent Robert Anderson. So residents can expect to see some empty spots for some time.

  -- Sandra Tan

Combat vet has mixed feelings about new allies

  Disabled Army combat veteran James Raymond's case against a mobilization order to send him to Iraq is now a national story and details of it  are circulating the blogosphere.

   Raymond, a 26-year-old University at Buffalo student, says he is honored that the Western New York congressional delegation has taken up his cause to try and block the activation order.

   He does not believe he could adequately serve in a war zone, since his Afghanistan tour of duty left him nearly deaf in his left ear and with a bum knee.

   With the media attention, Raymond says he is not so thrilled over his cause being co-opted by liberal, antiwar factions, who are publicizing his case on their Internet sites and making him out to be against the war.

   Raymond says he remains patriotic and would return to active duty if he thought he would not be a liability to fellow troops and himself.

-- Lou Michel

A cautionary tale about hiring a home builder

   Ellen Tucker, executive director of the Better Business Bureau serving upstate, says people spend more time test-driving new cars than they typically spend checking out a home contractor or home builder with whom they might spend tens of thousands of dollars.

   And it's a tough business with lots of good, and lots of bad, contractors, she says.

   Others familiar with the industry say home owners must be careful not to extend money before the work is done. Let the contractor do the work, then pay him or her.

   Today's story is a cautionary tale. Home builder Steven Wisniewski was able to get lots of money from his victims before doing the work. And the story also shows that county and state prosecutors are not standing by waiting to pounce on dishonest contractors.

   Anthony Adamo and Brian Pacillo thought they did the right thing. They blew the whistle on Wisniewski to protect others.

   Then, nothing happened.

   What are your thoughts about the situation we described?

   --Matthew Spina

Bush seeks common ground with the pope

   WASHINGTON -- The pope and president did not mention the Iraq War during the enthusiastic
birthday welcome Bush gave Benedict XVI in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday. Instead,
the president reached for common ground in his denunciation of "the dictatorship of relativism" and his respect for human life.

   Bush referred to the "dictatorship" in his welcoming remarks. It is a favorite phrase of the pope's, meaning a cultural tendency to deny natural law, and reject rules about good and evil.

   The crowd of 9,000 invitees -- one of the largest ever brought on to the White House grounds -- applauded spontaneously when Bush said:

   "In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed, each of us is loved. And your message that each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary."

   As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the pope in 2003 was strongly opposed to the Iraq War, and remains so now that the conflict has entered its sixth year.

   Benedict and Bush may have discussed their differences during a 45-minute private talk in the oval office.

   A statement issued by the White House later said only that they shared "their common concern for the situation in Iraq and particularly the precarious state of Christian communities there and elsewhere in the region. The Holy Father and the president expressed hope for an end to violence and for a prompt and comprehensive solution to the crises which afflict the region."

    Invitations to the reception were among the most sought-after cards in town among conservatives and Catholics. The Rose Garden event and the pope's speech at the United Nations on Friday are the only purely secular events during his American visit.

   So Benedict stayed with generalities about moral discipline in his speech here.

   "Freedom is not only a gift," the pope said, "but also a summons to personal responsibility
... The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline,
sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate.

    "Freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must
constantly be won over for the cause of good. Few have understood this as clearly as the late
Pope John Paul II. In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in
his native Poland and in eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows, time and again,
that "in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation," and a democracy without values
can lose its very soul.

   "Those prophetic words in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed
in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent "indispensable supports' of
political prosperity."

  --Douglas Turner

Faceoff in Snyder has gnarled roots

   The tree-cutting faceoff on Burroughs Drive in Snyder is a small window into the strong emotions many residents have felt to some degree in Western New York neighborhoods hard-hit by the 2006 October storm. In this case, Amherst residents were so upset about their 80-year-old silver maple trees being cut down that  county officials felt tree-cutting crews needed sheriff's deputies to protect them.

   Some residents resigned themselves early on to the felling of storm-damaged trees that had managed to survive for generations, recognizing the danger that such huge, wounded trees can pose to property, vehicles and pedestrians. But others held on to  hope, fighting to preserve what is left of the trees' beauty and history even after tree doctors  pronounced them unsavable in the long run. As long as green leaves bud and bloom, as long as evidence of life exists, hope lives.

   Amherst town leaders find their sympathies for the residents warring with the need to protect the town against future liabilities, and the reality that if they wait too long to cut down trees that are dying, the town won't get reimbursed for the tree-felling expense from FEMA. The dilemma promises to drag on.

   --- Sandra Tan

Remorse for abuse scandal comes as a surprise

   WASHINGTON -- For Catholics in the nation's capital, Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States is cause for celebration.

   But for Benedict, it seems, it's cause for contrition.

   "I am deeply ashamed, and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future," the pope said regarding the clergy abuse scandal in response to questions from reporters on his plane.

   Not long after that, Shepherd One landed at Andrews Air Force Base, and a crowd of cheering Catholics greeted the pope on his first visit to the U.S. as pontiff.

   The contrast was a jarring one, detailed in our story in Wednesday's Buffalo News.

   And it came as a surprise to me.

   I spent a good part of the day talking to Catholics who were preparing for the pope's visit. They all spoke with reverence about the pope and the church -- and not once did any of them bring up the scandal that was so obviously on the pope's mind.

-- Jerry Zremski

Truth teller or Buffalo basher?

Last fall, Harvard University economics professor Edward L. Glaeser created
a buzz when he wrote an article about Buffalo's decline for the urban policy
magazine City Journal. Titled "Can Buffalo Ever Come Back? Probably not - and
goverment should stop bribing people to stay there," the article traces the city's
rise, fall, and attempts at resurgence.
     The article urges the city to stop "wasting yet more effort and resources on
the foolish project of restoring the City of Light's past glory."
     Its first publication, and a subsequent one in The New York Sun newspaper,
sparked a lively Internet debate. Many charged Glaeser with arrogance. Some said
he misunderstood Buffalo's efforts completely. A few supported his descriptions of
and suggestions for Buffalo, while still others said his findings were old news.
     What's your take?

--Samantha Maziarz Christmann

The economy takes center stage in Pennsylvania

   PITTSBURGH - It's the economy, stupid.

   And that means you, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

   That was the message plenty of factory workers - and Pennsylvania voters - brought to the downtown convention center here Monday, where Clinton and Obama continued their battle over the Illinois senator's comments that small-town voters are "bitter" and "cling" to religion or guns out of economic frustration.

   Out of 25 voters I interviewed at the event, only two thought Obama's comments were a major issue. Yet every single voter expressed grave doubts about the American economy as it enters a recession after years of factory closings.

   A plurality of the voters I talked to supported Clinton, saying she has the more detailed plan for boosting the economy and the proven toughness to get it enacted.

   As for Obama, many of those voters said they liked him - and would like him better once he actually had a track record of accomplishment on the federal level.

   So that's what the debate was about in Pittsburgh on Monday. It was enough to make me wonder: Why did all the TV shout show pundits spend the weekend shouting about Obama's comments - and did of any of them talk to any Pennsylvania voters before they started shouting?

  --- Jerry Zremski

Johns on the spot

   Police and law-enforcement agents raided four area massage parlors late last year. The operators are charged with forcing illegal immigrants to perform sex acts for customers at the businesses.

   But even though police know the identities of many of the customers of the massage parlors, only one has been charged with a crime in the case. And that's only because - as he later admitted to police - he took women outside New York State to work as prostitutes.

   Police in general don't make a lot of arrests for prostitution-related crimes.  It's rarer still for officers to arrest the customers of prostitutes. Data show that police in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Erie County and across New York are far more likely to arrest the escorts and prostitutes themselves than their johns.

   Some advocates say there's a gender bias at play here.

   But even police officials admit that they can't effectively address the problem of prostitution without going after the johns whose demand drives the industry.

   Members of the largely defunct Buffalo Prostitution Task Force say they'd like to see more enforcement efforts using undercover female detectives to target johns. And they'd like to restart the "John Schools" that offered an educational alternative to jail for men arrested for patronizing a prostitute.

   I'd like to hear what you think. Some people say if the laws are going to be enforced, they should be enforced equally between prostitute and john.

   Still others point to the example of Sweden, which recently made it a crime to buy sex but not to sell it.

   And finally a number of people say prostitution is a consensual crime between two adults that shouldn't be prosecuted at all.

   --- Stephen T. Watson

   

Initiative on Race -- a decade later

    Upon hearing Barack Obama's much-discussed speech on race last month, something about it seemed eerily familiar.

   He seemed to be suggesting that America would benefit from an honest dialogue on race -- and  I remembered that President Bill Clinton had not only suggested the same thing 11 years ago, but followed through with a presidential initiative on the issue.

   Instantly I wondered: what do the people who worked on the President's Initiative on Race think of their work 10 years later? What do they think of Obama's speech? And what do they think of the role race has played in the historic Democratic presidential campaign between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton?

   The answers, spelled out in a dozen interviews over several weeks and in a story in  Sunday's News, came as a surprise to me. Many of the top-level people in the Clinton initiative are still angry, months later, over Bill Clinton's supposedly racially tinged comments before the South Carolina primary.

   In particular, here's what he said about the Obama-Clinton race:

   "They are getting votes, to be sure, because of their race or gender, and that's why people tell me that Hillary doesn't have a chance to win here."

   And on the day of the primary, the former president said: "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."

   So what do you think? Do the people who helped Clinton on his race initiative have the right to be so disappointed?

-- Jerry Zremski

The challenges of hanging on in a sinking economy

   Mary Jo Hash finds herself on the front lines of a battle that more and more Americans are fighting: the battle to find a job at the beginning of a recession.

   Worse yet, the 42-year-old Lancaster mother of two must cope with rising prices unlike any we've seen in years.

   Hash, whose story is spelled out in Sunday's Buffalo News, is struggling but coping. Meanwhile, economists look at an increasing unemployment rate and rising inflation and nervously ponder how bad things will get.

   No doubt many of you are doing the same thing, right?

-- Jerry Zremski

Putting a value on wrongful imprisonment

    Both Anthony J. Capozzi and Lynn M. DeJac clearly have been wronged, spending years in prison for crimes they didn't commit.

    DNA evidence has proven that Capozzi didn't commit the rapes that sent him to prison for almost 22 years. And authorities now say that DeJac's daughter wasn't even a homicide victim.

    So how much do they deserve from the state of New York?

    Capozzi may have the easier case to prove, since the DNA proved his innocence, he served about eight years longer in prison and he has suffered from mental illness that may have made his imprisonment tougher.

    Does Capozzi deserve more than the highest settlement ever reached in such cases in New York, $3.3 million?

    And how much should the state give DeJac, whose case has elicited feelings of both empathy and scorn from the public in Western New York?

    -- Gene Warner

Paterson's new challenge: tax-free Indian cigarettes

     The new governor, David A. Paterson, is about to get a quick lesson in a long-simmering fight over the issue of Native Americans and tax-free cigarette sales.

   The issue has stymied his three most immediate predecessors: how to collect a tax the state says it is owed but which Native Americans, led by the Seneca Nation, claims violates its sovereignty and treaty protections dating to George Washington? 

   Looking for money for the inflation-busting state budget, which Paterson and lawmakers agreed to this week, officials turned to cigarettes, raising the per-pack excise tax by $1.25 to $2.75 -- the nation's highest. 

   But, logic and past history dictates, the resulting price spike -- the result of now more than $30 per carton in excise and sales taxes --  will push even more smokers to tax-free outlets, like the Seneca Internet and smoke shop operations spread across its reservations. 

   So, while the tax cured one problem for the governor … providing $265 million more to spend in the budget … it reignited the debate overnight about the state's tax-collection efforts.

   If Paterson has a plan, he's not showing it. Aides have refused for a week to say if or how Paterson may try to collect the taxes or even whether he thinks the state has a right to collect them.

   Now, with Paterson a month into the job, the familiar rhetoric is already coming from both sides in the debate. Critics say the state has an obligation to collect the tax, both legally and financially and in fairness to non-Native American retailers who have to charge the tax.
Senecas, however, say they will never, as a sovereign body, serve as tax collectors for the
state, and that they have every legal right to continue selling tax-free tobacco products. 

   But one thing is certain. The new budget assumes $120 million will be collected by the
state going after tax-free cigarette sales. Is that a gimmick, as former Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer
did in his first budget for a tax collection effort that never began? Or, does Paterson have a
plan?

   -- Tom Precious

Rediscovering the city of trees

   Trees. Some of us have strong attachments to them, like old friends. It was painful to witness what happened to them during the 2006 October ice storm.

   While Buffalo is known as the "City of Trees," it seems we actually have a pretty thin blanket of tree cover. A 2003 aerial study of the city showed we had only a 12 percent tree "canopy" before the storm, compared to an average of 30 percent in other northeast American cities.

   Re-Tree WNY has made a pledge to restore 30,000 trees to Buffalo and its suburbs in public areas over the next few years -- about half what was lost in the storm. The group has asked towns, cities and villages to match and plant an equal number of trees. Even so, a spokesman for a national conservation group called American Forests says it will still take homeowners and businesses planting another 350,000 trees on their private property to get the area back to the tree canopy it had before the storm.

   Small and large cities across  America are experiencing alarming losses in their tree canopies, mostly due to development and not ice storms or other natural disasters. American Forests is so concerned it has called on all U.S. cities to set tree canopy goals for the future, and many have already heeded that call

   A healthy tree canopy for a northeast city, according to American Forests, is 40 percent. For the suburbs, it's 60 percent. Should the City of Buffalo and some of its rapidly developing surrounding suburbs set tree canopy goals? Do you think private citizens will be sufficiently motivated by what happened in 2006 and by the national problem of vanishing tree cover to plant a sufficient number of new trees on their property?

   --- Irene Liguori

A generous budget in tough economic times

   The state is mired in a recession. Tax revenues are falling. The budget was looking at a $4.6 billion budget hole. Tough times mean tough choices was the mantra heard lately in Albany.

   So, why was everyone smiling at the state Capitol on Wednesday?

   New York's new budget, a $121.7 billion document contained in thousands of pages in a dozen ifferent bills, was wrapped up Wednesday afternoon. But instead of major cutbacks to deal with the worsening economy, the 2008 budget hikes spending at a breakneck pace of 4.9 percent. That, in the face of a projected 2.6 percent inflation rate, is still sustainable, Gov. David A. Paterson said.

   Supporters, led by Paterson and most lawmakers who voted for the budget, say the spending is needed to fund things like public schools. So they provided a record aid increase to education. That, they say, will put less pressure on schools to turn to property taxpayers.

   But critics worry that schools are being sold false promises. They recall the early 1990s, when then-Gov. Mario Cuomo called lawmakers back to town at the beginning of winter. They had to swallow hard and undo budget increases they pushed through months earlier for schools and others. That meant schools had to endure mid-year budget cuts. For many programs that rely on state funds, it was an action that forced layoffs and program cuts.

   Can that happen this year? Paterson himself sounded worried about the national economy, but said the budget is soundly balanced now.

   "It's a concern of mine," Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said of worries that lawmakers could be forced to repair … meaning cut … the budget later this year. "I don't predict it will happen," he said, however.

   If fixes are needed, though, look for a late-November or early-December return trip to
Albany for lawmakers. For certain, it will be after the Nov. 4 legislative elections.

   -- Tom Precious

Three candidates, three views of Iraq

   WASHINGTON … Nearly six years into a war that was supposed to end in quick victory, one of three people will likely inherit responsibility for the future of America's efforts in Iraq.

   And all three of the main presidential contenders had a chance to hint at their visions during Senate hearings Tuesday.

   At hearings where the American commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, urged an indefinite halt to troop withdrawals this summer, Sens. John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton all, in short order, spelled out how they would handle the conflict that still may define the 2008 presidential
election.
   

   McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, was predictably gung-ho, saying America was on the verge of winning in Iraq.

   "Should the United States instead choose to withdraw from Iraq before adequate security is established, we will exchange for this victory a defeat that is terrible and long-lasting," McCain said.

   But the Democrats defined victory and defeat much differently.

   "I believe we are more likely to resolve [the Iraq conflict] if we are applying increased pressure in a measured way," Obama said. "Increased pressure in a measured way in my mind includes a timetable for withdrawal."

   Meanwhile, Clinton said: "The administration and supporters of the administration's policy often talk about the cost of leaving Iraq, yet ignore the greater costs of continuing the same failed policy . . . It's time to begin an orderly process of withdrawing our troops."

   So there you have it: three candidates, three different views on the future
of the American effort in Iraq.

   Who's right?

  -- Jerry Zremski

The feds crack down on Local 17

   Every five years or so, it seems that the federal government takes another stab at ending labor racketeering in Western New York.

   First it was Buffalo's Laborers Local 210.

    Next came Laborers Local 91 from Niagara Falls.

   Now, the feds are after Operating Engineers Local 17, headquartered in Lakeview.

   Some pretty serious accusations -- stuff that sounds like it comes right out of a "Sopranos" script -- are listed in court papers filed by the U.S. Attorney's office on Tuesday.

   From Laurie Bennett, agent in charge of the Buffalo FBI office, comes the disturbing news that, despite the recent crackdowns, Buffalo remains a hotbed of union intimidation and illegal activities. She revealed that at least one other labor-racketeering investigation is still under way in her office.

   To our readers involved in the construction field, we pose this question: What is it really like out there? 

   Is the corruption as bad as the feds make it out to be? Or worse?

   Or are federal prosecutors and agents going overboard with their accusations?

   We'd be interested in your thoughts.

   -- Dan Herbeck and Phil Fairbanks

   

WNY's love affair with athletes turned politicians

   Western New York has always loved its sports stars.

     They even often elect them to office.

     So it's no surprise that heavyweight boxer Baby Joe Mesi enters the race for the seat of retiring Sen. Mary Lou Rath, R-Williamsville, as an instant contender. The Democrat is well known, he has a fundraising base among a host of loyal fans, and he's working to convince voters that he knows he can take on Albany as well as he did 36 unfortunate boxing opponents during his career.

     Mesi has a big job ahead. Already he is facing skeptics about a boxer who once sustained a brain injury. And several other Democrats as well as probable Republican opponent Michael H. Ranzenhofer, a lawyer and county legislator, all think their credentials are more appropriate for the marble-columned halls of the Capitol.

     But Mesi is almost universally recognized in Western New York. He filled HSBC Arena during his fighting days — which he said are on "hold" — and also has become well known on the banquet and charity circuit.

     It's not crazy to think he could pull it off, especially after so many sports stars before him have succeeded.

     That's why Mesi's next venture will not only grab lots of attention in the months ahead from television, radio and The Buffalo News, but the likes of ESPN and Ring magazine as well.
    
     -- Robert J. McCarthy

Growing up fatherless in Buffalo

     Spend any amount of time in some of Buffalo's poverty-stricken neighborhoods and you'll see first hand the cultural shift outlined in today's Page 1 story  about poor kids in the city growing up without fathers in their lives.

     The story, part of The News' ongoing coverage of the problem of widespread poverty among Buffalo's children, calls it "Fatherless Buffalo."

     In these homes, in Buffalo in 2008, more than 18,000 boys and girls are living with their mothers -- often young women struggling to get by on welfare, with part-time jobs or help from relatives -- or other females.

     Fathers, here, are absent.

     This problem isn't just in Buffalo, it's all over the country.

     But, in Western New York, any coverage of this kind of changing cultural landscape draws attention.

     Some people are saying that today's story was needlessly sympathetic to the single mothers, many of whom gave birth as teens.

     Others are saying the fathers deserve more blame and social opprobrium.

     And still others say the dads are getting made into scapegoats.

     What do you think?

     And be sure to check out the News' entire series on poverty among Buffalo's children.

     -- Charity Vogel
    

Government pensions -- the ticking bomb

   Some call it a ticking bomb that could cause long-term fiscal chaos for local and state governments in New York. 

   They're referring to the state pension system. Since 2000, taxpayer contributions to state-financed pensions skyrocketed from $1 billion to $8.4 billion.   

   Reform advocates warn that costs will continue to spiral unless sweeping changes are made to the way pension benefits are calculated. One proposed revision would not allow overtime to be used in the final pension calculations for new hires. The move would aim to prevent employees from bulking up their pensions by working extensive overtime in their final year or years of service.

   Public servants insist they've made many sacrifices that have earned them the right to decent pensions. Some argue they could have made more money in the private sector doing similar jobs, but they opted to work in government. Benefits, including state pensions, help to level the playing field, according to some public employees.

   Union leaders also defend members who work extensive overtime, claiming staff shortages require municipalities to lean more heavily on workers.

   What do you think? Does the state pension system need to be revamped?

-- Brian Meyer

Evaluating Chris Collins' first 100 days

     Come Wednesday Chris Collins will have endured his first 100 days as Erie County executive.

     That just 7 percent of a four-year term. But the passing of 100 days has become a marker for assessing the performance and style of chief executives.

     Collins promised to run the government more like a business, and he has focused on that.

     He promised to set a new style, and he's not taking a county-owned car round-the-clock, nor has he taken a county cell phone. And he's cutting back those perks in the departments he controls.

     Collins knows he must negotiate new contracts with the county's unions. But only this week did the Legislature conform his new commissioner of labor relations and county attorney.

     The real test of how well the county executive is doing depends on the assessment of the residents and taxpayers he serves.

     So how do you think Chris Collins is doing?

     -- Matthew Spina

Martin Luther King Jr. in Buffalo

    
     It was a Thursday evening on Nov. 9, 1967, when Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo.

     King spoke for about an hour, as he called on the Johnson Administration to de-escalate the Vietnam War and the space program, and focus on eradicating slums and poverty.

     The story ran on the Metropolitan Page of The Buffalo Evening News the next day.

     Here are a few of the comments from his speech.

     To his critics of his anti-war stance: "There comes a time when a person must take a position which is neither [polite], safe nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him to take it."

     To the Black Power advocates: "If we are to move toward a truly integrated society ... black and white Americans must realize that their destinies are bred together ... "

     On being escorted by Buffalo police compared to the Alabama police, who led him to jail a week earlier for violating a Birmingham court injunction: "I can assure you, this is a much more relaxing atmosphere."
 

    --Jay Rey

Higher-education funding in state of limbo

         
     New York's institutions of higher learning are still finding out how this year's state budget will shake out for them.

     But the picture certainly isn't as rosy as it was just a few months ago Ñ for the public or private colleges.

     Former Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer led a charge to use higher education as a way to help rebuild New York.

     He talked about his grand vision of turning the State University of New York into one of the nation's premier public systems, and making the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University into bookend "flagships."

     He pushed his controversial proposal to lease the state's lottery system to establish a $4 billion endowment for New York's higher education.

     But that bubble burst for higher ed when Spitzer resigned amidst scandal, leaving institutions to wonder what's ahead.

     -- Jay Rey

Like "Rocky," Hillary refuses to quit

     WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has been accused of many things, but a resemblance to a fictional heavyweight boxer has never been one of them -- until Tuesday, when she started comparing herself to that Pennsylvania celluloid hero Rocky Balboa.

     She took the stage at a town hall meeting here to the theme from "Rocky," and in Philadelphia, made the connection even more explicit, saying: "Let me tell you something, when it comes to finishing a fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I never give up."

     Her comments came days after Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, suggested she should leave the race.

     "Sen. Clinton has every right, but not a very good reason, to remain a candidate for as long as she wants to," he said. "As far as the delegate count and the interests of a Democratic victory in November go, there is not a very good reason for drawing this out."

     Indeed, Clinton faces long odds.

     According to the Slate delegate calculator, the New York senator would need to score 64 percent of the vote in the remaining contests to pull ahead of Obama in the delegate count. To put it mildly, that might be a stretch for a candidate who has exceeded 64 percent in only one contest -- the Arkansas primary -- so far.

     Then again, it's a free country, so Clinton can continue to run until the nomination is decided, or until she runs out of money, if she so chooses.

     But should she?

    -- Jerry Zremski

One Buffalo cop's truly comfortable retirement

      Buffalo police officers have a difficult job. No doubt about that.

     It's tough and it's dangerous.

     But when they retire at a salary that most Erie County residents can only dream of making while hard at work, it might make some people question the justice of it all.

     Granted, Office Patrick McDonald's $100,000-plus pension is likely one of the highest in the Buffalo Police Department. But he's not the only one taking advantage of a state retirement system and police union contract that allows for such excesses.

     With national studies showing many older workers can't afford to retire, we're wondering: How do you plan to finance your retirement?

      --Susan Schulman

School's out forever

   We hear a lot these days about church closings, many of them in older neighborhoods of the city and suburbs. But there's been very little attention paid to the closings of the area's once vibrant Catholic schools.

   It's no stretch to say large numbers of today's adult Catholics were formed in schools that are now serving as bingo halls or meeting places for scouts.

   Today's report is more about real estate - the closed schools and their possible reuses - than the events and causes that led to this point, or the role these schools played in the community. For several communities, the question is: What else could be done with these buildings?

   --- Thomas J. Dolan

Same time next year?

   Another year in Albany, another late budget.

   So went Monday's deadline for a budget for the fiscal year that began today.

   Officials with Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature say it's just a matter of days before a final plan is in place.

   But what kind of plan will it be? Before the $124 billion spending plan is even signed into law, critics are already lining up saying Albany is trying to spend its way out of a recession. To pay for its spending appetite, the state is turning to higher taxes and fees that will hit smokers, some internet shoppers, health insurers, banks and other industries that will pass along the higher levies to consumers.

   But the major question, and one that won't be answered until later this year, is will the budget last the full fiscal year? With the state's economy taking a pounding, there are warning signs that New York - which, unlike other states, is not cutting its spending but simply slowing its rate of growth to still above the inflation rate - is risking trouble later in the year.

   Should the economy continue to tank, will the spending decisions today come back to haunt the state later in the year? Such a scenario occurred in the early 1990s, when the budget had to be ripped up more than half-way through the fiscal year and big new cuts were imposed. That forced mid-year spending cuts by schools and others - well into their own fiscal years.

   The warning signs are in place for 2008. Whether the budget players in Albany get it right this week will be known in the coming months.

   --- Tom Precious