Inside the News

Sweating the small stuff helps cut city crime

   Self-help gurus have long argued that life is happier when we don't sweat the small stuff.

   But an experiment launched by the Buffalo Police Department is leading many to conclude that when officers crack down on minor offenses, bigger problems don't occur as often.

   Call it Buffalo's version of the broken windows mantra. Fix the little things in neighborhoods, and you spend less time in the long run coping with more severe troubles.

   Two officers in the Northeast District have been spending their time writing summonses for things like excessive noise, high grass, debris and other quality-of-life issues. Ever since the special squad intensified its efforts, most types of major crime have dropped by double-digit levels.

   Mayor Byron W. Brown wants to launch quality-of-life squads in all five police districts, a plan that is being hailed by some community activists and lawmakers.

   What do you think? Would this kind of citywide crusade really deter serious crime? Is it a wise use of resources in a Police Department that some believe will remain short-staffed even after a new class of officers hits the streets? What if the citywide quality-of-life blitz means higher overtime costs? Would it be worth it?

  -- Brian Meyer

 

End game for a political litmus test

  WASHINGTON -- OK, now that Scrabulous has been scrapped by Facebook, I've
come up with an even better game.

   Let's call it  ... "Goodling!"

   And in it, you all get to answer the questions that Monica Goodling, the disgraced Republican appointee who commandeered the hiring of supposedly nonpartisan federal prosecutors, asked the job candidates she interviewed.

   So please, go ahead and answer the following questions:

   "Why are you a Republican?"

   "What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?"

   And:

   "Aside from the president, give us an example of someone currently or recently in public service who you admire."

   Sadly, I haven't figured out how to declare a winner in this game, but I am sure you will have fun playing, nevertheless.

-- Jerry Zremski

Legislative resolve faces Aug. 19 showdown

   That New York is facing a budget problem is hardly a secret.

   When lawmakers voted for the 2008 state budget in April, they did so knowing the state was already facing a $5 billion deficit in 2009. And a sizable portion of that deficit was caused by spending promises they made now for next year.

   That the deficit has only grown since then -- as Gov. David A. Paterson revealed Tuesday -- should be even of less surprise to lawmakers.

   Now, Paterson is shaming the Legislature back to Albany to act during a special session on Aug. 19.

   Over the past week, the governor has said legislators don't get what New Yorkers already know -- that the state's economy is in real trouble.

   Talk of coming back to Albany  just a couple months before election day does not sit well with lawmakers.

   Will anything real happen on Aug. 19?

   That depends, many Albany insiders would say, on the definition of "real."

-- Tom Precious

Playing politics with key federal appointments

   WASHINGTON -- The federal legal system is designed to stop politics at the courthouse door -- but the Bush administration seems to have broken that door down.

   That's the unmistakeable conclusion of a 140-page report, issued Monday by the Justice Department's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, that lambasted Bush Justice Department appointees for allowing political considerations to trump skill and experience in appointments to key
career posts.

   And two of the good lawyers who got trumped are from Western New York.

   Believe it or not, Monica Goodling, the Justice Department aide with the most appointment power, looked at William J. Hochul not as the award-winning prosecutor of the Lackawanna Six -- but as the husband of Kathy Hochul, a longtime Democratic activist who now serves as Erie County clerk.

   And Goodling looked at John Kelly, a federal prosecutor from Rochester, not as Michael A. Battle's handpicked top aide at the office that oversaw U.S. attorneys -- but as a "political infant" who hadn't done enough for the Republican Party.

   Worse yet, Hochul was applying for a counterterrorism job in Washington -- and Goodling decided we'd all be better off giving the post to a Republican with no counterterrorism experience whatsoever.

   And remember, this was the administration that was supposed to be getting tough on terror.

   So does any of this make you feel any safer?

  -- Jerry Zremski

Drilling dilemma

    Guess how many natural gas wells there are in Lake Erie.

   If you guessed 480, you are correct. Read my story here.

   And guess how many are on the American side.

   The answer? None.

   Now Lake Erie is not exactly the outer continental shelf when it comes to untapped energy resources. But it is curious that while environmental concerns have trumped any possibility of natural gas drilling on the American side, a Canadian company extracts enough energy from the lake to fuel a city of 40,000.

   So who's taking the right approach … America, or Canada?

… Jerry Zremski

More bad news in Wilson

   A 19-year-old apparently distraught over his relationship with his girlfriend shot and killed her Saturday morning, then took his own life.

   Family and friends of Shawn R. Wolf of Ransomville were aware of "issues" in his relationship with Kari A. Gorman, as reported in today's Buffalo News.

   The two had dated for eight months and attended their senior prom together.

   Wolf's mother found Gorman's 18-year-old body on her son's bedroom floor. She called 911 at 8:58 a.m., telling the operator she woke up hearing an argument.

   About 14 minutes later, police spotted Wolf's car parked at a Youngstown cemetery. Then they found his body. He had apparently taken a shotgun to his own head.

   A handwritten note, indicating "that there was strife in the relationship," was found at Wolf's home.

      — Aaron Besecker

Stemming the tide of violence

   Violence is far too common in the lives of many young Buffalo residents on the East Side and lower West Side, particularly young people of color.

   Reporter Peter Simon spoke with 10 teenagers who shared their bleak worlds, including a girl who is living with a bullet in her leg. She was shot at her graduation party.

   But what can be done about it?

   Darius Pridgen, pastor of True Bethel Baptist Church who is a devoted activist for his community, has one answer.

   His church organizes trips in which he takes African American teenagers, many who have never been outside of Buffalo, to black colleges and universities.

   "They are amazed to see people of color with nice houses and cars, and who don't have to be doing drugs or doing wrong," Pridgen said. "When young people haven't been exposed to anything else, and when the generation that raised them has lost hope, what is there for that generation?"

   What are your suggestions for ending the violence in our neighborhoods?

Smile!

   There's the homeowner who wanted a video surveillance camera so that he could see if his lawn service had come to cut his grass while he was out of town.

   There's the metal-fabricating company that turned to cameras because officials there noticed a spike in thefts of copper and other scrap metal.

   And there are the scores of schools, libraries, police departments and government agencies that are installing cameras in an effort to improve public safety.

   For these and many other reasons, cameras are rapidly sprouting up in this nation's public and private spaces. It's hard for the typical person to go a full day without ending up in camera range somewhere.

   Government officials, the companies that install these cameras and the customers who bought them say the cameras are a valuable crime-prevention tool.

   But privacy advocates say too many cameras are being installed with too little control over where they are, how they are used and how the recorded images are saved.

   They also point to studies that question whether cameras actually reduce crime, or whether they just displace it to the nearest unwatched corner.

   As Buffalo and other local municipalities add more cameras each year, these are key questions to consider.

   Do you see the proliferation of surveillance cameras as an invasion of your privacy? Or do you think they are reasonable and effective public-safety tools?

   --- Stephen T. Watson

A prescription needed for fewer meds?

   A recent national study determined that for the first time, 51 percent of all insured American children and adults are taking one or more prescription drugs regularly for a chronic condition.

   The most widely used drugs are those that lower high blood pressure and cholesterol - problems often linked to heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

   Medco Health Solutions, which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans, gathered the numbers last year. The company sampled 2.5 million customers, from newborns to the elderly and medication use was seen in:

• Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older.

•  One in four children and teenagers.

•  More than half of adult men.

• Three out of four people 65 and older.

   Do you think Americans are over-medicated?

   What steps have you taken to get off prescription medications?

   --- Deidre Williams

Resolution to Wilson hazing case put on the table

   Prosecutors have offered the teenage defendants in the Wilson hazing case a chance to dodge the weight of the initial charges stemming from an April 17 incident on a team bus.

    As reported in today's Buffalo News, the deal would allow the teens to plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of forcible touching, which carries a lesser punishment than the felony sexual abuse count each had been facing.

   Also as part of the offer, each would plead guilty to three counts of second-degree hazing, a violation.

   Kevin P. Shelby, an attorney for one of the 16-year-olds, likened what happened on that bus to a fraternity initiation, and which also lacked any sexual overtones.

   There were at least 30 people on the bus at the time of the incident, Shelby said, and the DA's office has not produced medical evidence suggesting any object, including a cell phone, was used to penetrate the body opening of anyone on the bus as alleged.

   And because of that, and the fact that the deal offers no guarantee that youthful offender status will be granted, he claims his client deserves fairer treatment.

   "Should conduct such as this that does not have sexual overtones, that involves initiation rights, should that impact on a 16-year-old's life for the rest of his life?" he said.

   What do you think of the offer made by the DA's office?

   — Aaron Besecker

DWI Crackdown: Tough Enough?

   After his first DWI crash, Brian D. Davis spent one day in jail and was fined $750.

   His second DWI crash could result in a far harsher punishment.

   Lawmakers have toughened the state's DWI law in recent years, targeting "the baddest of the bad" offenders.

   And Davis appears to fit that description, an anti-DWI advocate said.

   The Rogers Avenue man was convicted of DWI five years ago -- stemming from a personal injury crash.

   And Davis, a 25-year-old parolee, was driving with a revoked driver's license when police charged him with driving drunk on July 5 and causing a crash that killed his friend, a passenger in his vehicle.

   Davis is just one of dramatically increased number of accused drunken drivers to be prosecuted this year by the Erie County District Attorney's Office for killing or injuring others.

   "People who have gone through the system before know how serious it is," said John F. Sullivan, project coordinator for Erie County's STOP-DWI program. "There's no way they can walk into the courtroom and say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this.'

   "They've already been through the wringer," Sullivan added. "And despite all of that, they disregarded the risks and continued to do it.

   "That's getting to the crux of the problem," Sullivan said of the toughened laws targeting chronic offenders.

   Will it be enough?

-- Patrick Lakamp

It's the scandal that keeps on giving: Troopergate.

   A year after the whole affair first surfaced, yet another report finds itself getting released on the inner doings of the former Spitzer administration and its attempt to discredit -- with the help of the State Police -- the former chief political rival of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

   Indeed, this is a story with a lot of "formers" in it. There's the former governor -- who is still awaiting word whether prosecutors will charge him in a separate scandal that drove him from office: Prostitutiongate. For sure, Spitzer may have far more trouble ahead with that affair than the far less sexy story of Troopergate.

   Then there's former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who resigned office last week after giving up his top job in the Senate saying he wants to spend more time with his family and other things outside government. Bruno was the target of the smear effort by Spitzer's aides. Bruno is also the target of the FBI, which has been looking at his outside business activities for two years now.

   Then there are the four former Spitzer administration officials -- Preston Felton, Darren Dopp, Richard Baum and William Howard -- who were all charged Thursday with various abuses of state ethics laws for their role in Troopergate.

   It's all enough to confuse even former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who, it should be noted, had nothing to do with this scandal since he resigned in 2006 following his involvement in a whole different scandal.

   But Troopergate is still not over. Senate Republicans are still sniffing around. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating the State Police to determine if there were any rogue elements engaged in espionage of politicians. And the little-known state Commission of Investigation is using its broad investigatory powers to investigate the investigations into Troopergate.

   -- Tom Precious

Pet funerals for you?

We certainly love our pets. They are faithful friends and members of our families.

So it can't be too surprising that it has come to this: pet funeral homes.

The phenomenon started in large cities, but it is spreading across the country. They have been called the hottest new trend in the booming business of pets. A couple recently opened one in Orchard Park.

For the casual pet owner, the thought of a funeral for a deceased animal must seem strange, but for a passionate pet lover, it's just right.

Wilson hazing: to deal or not to deal?

  It's been three months since an alleged incident of sexual abuse happened aboard a Wilson baseball team bus.

   Prosecutors say they are still considering all of their options when it comes to finding a resolution to the case.

   But an attorney representing the families of two victims said it wouldn't be unusual for all the defendants to strike plea bargains, as is the outcome in similar proceedings.

   Terrence M. Connors told The Buffalo News on Wednesday he's filed his notice of claim with the Wilson School District, preserving his clients' rights to bring a civil lawsuit.

   "Our clients desire a fair and just resolution," Connors said.

   Meanwhile, the case against the three teens heads back to Wilson Town Court tonight.

   The accused players, an 18-year-old and two 16-year-olds, face multiple charges including felony third-degree aggravated sexual abuse. They allegedly forced a foreign object into a private body opening of at least two JV players.

   The coaches, William M. Atlas and Thomas J. Baia, remain suspended with pay from their teaching positions. Meanwhile, two others have been appointed to take over the fall sports Atlas and Baia coached last year, a school district spokesman told The News.

   How would you like to see the case handled going forward?

   — Aaron Besecker

Making sense of getting across the border

   WASHINGTON -- It used to be easy to go to Canada. All you had to do is look innocent and be nice to the person you regarded as a glorified crossing guard in the glass booth at the Peace Bridge, and before you knew it you were cruising down the QEW.

   But the guys and gals in the glass booths were really always much more than glorified crossing guards, and now the U.S. government seems out to prove it.

   First Uncle Sam was going to require passports at the Canadian border. And then, after a years-long wrangle beset with all the drama and action of a Merchant-Ivory production, settled on allowing New York to offer an "enhanced driver's license" -- while the feds offer a new "passport card" to ease border
crossings.

   And now, finally, the passport card is being issued.

   But buyer, beware: applying for the passport card and a regular New York driver's license will cost you more than just getting a new enhanced driver's license when it becomes available on Sept. 16.

   Got that?

   Or are you still confused by all wrangling over border security documents, and longing for the old days?

   -- Jerry Zremski

Colleges cope with 'helicopter parents'

   Helicopter parents - a term coined for moms and dads who tend to hover over their kids - isn't just an American thing.

   Dennis Black, vice president of student affairs at the University at Buffalo, pointed out they're found in Scandinavia, too, but under a different moniker: "curling parents."

   It's in reference to the sport of curling, where players sweep the ice to remove obstacles in front of the gliding stone. Likewise, curling parents try to remove all the obstacles in the way of their children.

   Of course, extreme helicopter parents, who go overboard to make sure no harm comes to their kids, get a special classification: "Black Hawks," a name taken from the military helicopter.

   There were some self-proclaimed and proud helicopter parents at UB's recent parent orientation, where for two days they got an introduction to the college experience from the parent's point of view.

   But it's not just parents attending college orientation, anymore - it's the whole family.

   "Now, they may be bringing a younger sibling or grandparent along," said Sheila Hausrath, vice president for student life at Niagara University. "We've seen more of that in the past few years."

   --- Jay Rey

       

New York - an onlooker in the presidential race

Western New York may very well have had its only up close and personal brush with the 2008 presidential campaign Monday -- all in the course of a quick three hours.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain was whisked into Buffalo shortly after 5 p.m. and left just after 8 p.m. with more than $1 million in new campaign contributions -- a record for a local political fundraiser.

It all shows that living in New York means you never really feel part of a presidential campaign.

New York is overwhelmingly Democratic -- a "blue state" that is steadily becoming "bluer." That means that New Yorkers are expected to pull the Democratic lever again this year en masse, leaving Democrat Barack Obama to count the state in his column and McCain to concentrate on genuine battleground states where spending his money might do more good.

It also means that New Yorkers will not see much of the presidential candidates this year and won't be subjected to the barrage of television commercials bombarding voters in key states like Florida and Ohio.

In other years, New Yorkers might get a taste of presidential politics during the Democratic primary season. But with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton locking up her home state early in the 2008 primary season, New York voters didn't even get a chance at that part of the campaign this time around.

Does it make a difference to you that New York is usually an onlooker from the sidelines?

Or would you rather not be subjected to the airwaves saturation and other hoopla associated
with our quadrennial exercise in democracy?

--Robert J. McCarthy

Has the Berger Commission cured what's ailing WNY health care?

New York State's grand experiment to close, merge and restructure hospitals is over.

   The deadline passed at the end of June to fulfill the mandates of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, also known as the Berger Commission.

   Changes the commission set in motion - some controversial and others altered - have begun to play out. Hospitals here and elsewhere will look different.

   The mandates included the closure of Kaleida Health's Millard Fillmore Hospital at Gates Circle, creation of unified governing board over Kaleida Health and Erie County Medical Center, and a new arrangement between Sisters and St. Joseph Hospital.

   But it will take years to judge whether the monumental effort is a success, failure or something in between.

   What do you think?

   - Henry L. Davis

Rivalry between Sam Hoyt and Byron Brown heats up Assembly race

Assemblyman Sam Hoyt's feud with Mayor Byron W. Brown is heating up … again.

   The rift between the two politicians, who have been at odds for years, has resulted in a serious primary challenge for Hoyt, this time from former Common Council Member Barbra Kavanaugh.

   Hoyt claims Kavanaugh, now a state Supreme Court law clerk, is running at Brown's urging and that her real motivation is a judgeship down the road.

   Kavanaugh, who has the backing of Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano, says she's running because Buffalo and Albany need change and the only one to accomplish that is new, independent leadership in the State Legislature.

   Who do you believe and is it time for a change in the 144th Assembly district?

   - Phil Fairbanks

Assemblyman Sam Hoyt's feud with Mayor Byron W. Brown is heating up … again.

   The rift between the two politicians, who have been at odds for years, has resulted in a serious primary challenge for Hoyt, this time from former Common Council Member Barbra Kavanaugh.

   Hoyt claims Kavanaugh, now a state Supreme Court law clerk, is running at Brown's urging and that her real motivation is a judgeship down the road.

   Kavanaugh, who has the backing of Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano, says she's running because Buffalo and Albany need change and the only one to accomplish that is new, independent leadership in the State Legislature.

   Who do you believe and is it time for a change in the 144th Assembly district?

   - Phil Fairbanks

Wendt Foundation, generous patron, pays for a controversial lawsuit

         Press has always been positive for the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, and why shouldn't it?

   With $5 million to $6 million or so to give out each year, trustees of the foundation have helped save the Buffalo Philharmonic, Shea's Buffalo, and the Hopevale School, and have given hundreds of other grants to help improve the quality of life for all in Western New York.

   But the $1.9 million given so far to fund the lawsuit against the Seneca Indians' Buffalo Creek Casino has broken that mold. The Wendt Foundation is depicted by those who favor the casino as elite, blue-bloods who are trying to impose their own morals on the community.

   Not so, say the trustees. A casino will draw in those who can least afford to lose, they say, and the tax-free hotel and restaurants will be a drain on the competition without the tax breaks. They say they're funding the lawsuit because those who oppose it lack the resources of the federal government.

   And their side has so far won a ruling that gambling at the site is illegal.

  What do you think?
... Michael Beebe

Take home vehicles for Sheriff's Office

The Erie County Sheriff's Office puts at least 55 take-home vehicles on the road. Not all are plush, but some are fine late-model SUVs that spare their drivers from the cost of a daily commute.

Sheriff Timothy Howard says the presence of police vehicles in neighborhoods can act as a deterrent and a reassuring sign of a police presence.

But gas is more than $4 a gallon. Most Erie County residents have to pay their own way to their jobs. Some front-line deputies say resources directed toward take-home vehicles should have been spent on the patrol fleet. There's always the argument that some of those take-home autos hold special equipment needed for emergencies -- tools to deal with explosives, for example.

But does everyone who has a car really need one? If they needed a car during their work day, couldn't they sign one out? If you were sheriff and could set the department's policy, what would you do? How liberal would you be in granting take-home cars to the ranks?

And have you seen those take-home cars being abused? In other words, driven for personal errands when they are supposed to be for official use only?
  Matt Spina

A tempting loan to yourself

If you need a loan, borrowing money from a 401(k) retirement fund seems like a no-brainer.

     After all, it's your money, deducted from you paycheck. The interest you pay goes back into your retirement fund. And no stone-faced banker is holding a bunch of loan approval hoops to jump through.

     So when it came time to buy a house, or to pay for a kid's wedding or tuition, many people went to their 401(k)s.

     Now those easy decisions are starting to backfire, financial counselors say. Job cuts have made it harder for many people to repay. If they default, they're on the hook for an IRS penalty equal to 10 percent of the unpaid amount. Plus, the back taxes on the amount come due.

     The ease of tapping into retirement funds is coming under fire. A measure introduced in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday would ban debit cards that are issued with some 401(k) loans. A Washington think tank says that rising 401(k) borrowing will hurt retirees financially down the road.

     In the Buffalo area, where good-paying industrial jobs have been disappearing, planners say the 401(k) loan crunch is already a problem.

-- Fred O. Williams

Win or lose, Buffalo loves its Bills and Sabres

   Nobody knew how Buffalo Bills fans would react to losing one regular-season home game each year to Toronto, perhaps a strong signal that the team could be heading there — or elsewhere — in a few years.

   Everybody seemed sure, though, that the Sabres' well documented woes — losing stars to free agency and failing to make the playoffs — would put a crimp in their ticket sales.

   Yet both teams are smash hits at the box office this summer.

   How the heck can that be happening, especially with all the dire economic news bombarding us from every angle?

   There are possible theories galore, but can anyone really explain this?

   — Gene Warner

No lazy, hazy days for city school kids

    Summer school enrollment is growing tremendously in Buffalo, and it's all by design.

   Superintendent James A. Williams is convinced that city students need more instructional time, and should be spending their summers in the classroom, not at home or on the streets.

   In 2006, fewer than 4,200 Buffalo students attended summer school. This summer, just two years later, participation has ballooned to 10,858 students, or 29 percent of the total district enrollment.

   So far, most of those students have been behind in their work, and instructed to attend summer school so they can catch up and move on to the next grade.

   But Williams wants to add Advanced Placement and honors courses to future summer school programs to attract students already working at or above grade level. He also envisions summer lessons in piano, violin, chess, swimming or soccer.

   Ultimately, Williams wants all city students in summer school, adding as much as 25 days to their school year.

   "We're losing our edge in a competitive world," Williams said. "We have to do this to get back on par."

   Is he on track? Should Buffalo students be in class much of July and August?

   Or is the goal of a year-round schooling for all city students going too far?

  -- Peter Simon

It's time to clean up City Hall -- literally

   Buffalo's City Hall is a 1931 Art Deco masterpiece that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is too bad that the city cannot keep it clean.

   What should be a point of pride is instead an embarrassment. On a recent visit to the city's civic home, I saw tarnished entry doors, stained walls, filthy windows above the entrance and a dimly lit lobby with an ATM alcove out of a Stephen King movie. In-wall water fountains throughout the building have not worked for years. Notices of everything from foreclosure sales to bus tours are taped to walls (often within steps of a bulletin board) and the 28th-floor observation deck is a mess.

   The message sent by the mess is that the people in charge either do not notice, or do not care. Either way, it needs to change. Maintanance staff has been cut over the years, yet Mayor Byron Brown brags about the city's $76 million surplus. I cannot see how anyone can believe the mayor will straighten out the city when he does not keep his own house in order.

  -- Donn Esmonde   

 

Power plant plans fizzle

It would have been huge.
     The $1.6 billion "clean coal" power plant at the Huntley Station site in the Town of Tonawanda would have brought 1,000 construction jobs and 100 permanent plant jobs. Western New York hasn't seen a project like that in a long time.
     But in the end, the cost of the plant and the experimental nature of the plan to inject the captured carbon dioxide into the ground proved too much of a lift for the state.
     A smaller plant with a similar goal of injecting carbo dioxide underground is going forward in Jamestown, but a proposal for a similar project in Somerset in Niagara County will not be considered.
     In the meantime, the Huntley Station, one of the dirtiest coal plants in the nation, will keep running.

-- Grove Potter

Smile: You're on Google camera

   Buffalo seems ready for its close-up in Google's Street View program, which arrived in this area last month.

   The impressive program links panoramic photos to the search engine's popular Google Maps feature, a boon to anyone looking for a house, restaurant or museum.

   Users can search for a specific address, or just browse through the Buffalo region on Google Maps, and pull up photos of streets and buildings that can be rotated 360 degrees.

   Google's cameras … which automatically take photos from every angle as a Google car drives through a community … captured area landmarks, geographic features and, most likely, your house and place of employment.

   They also caught a lot of people walking around the area who didn't know their image was captured for posterity.

   Privacy advocates say Google went too far with Street View, catching photos of people as they walked into an adult book store or as they laid out in the sun in swimsuits.

   Google argues it is on safe legal footing because its cars only shoot photos from public roadways.

   However, one husband and wife from Pittsburgh did sue Google in April because they say their privacy was compromised after the company posted photos on Street View taken when a camera car drove down their street … which is a private road … and turned around in the couple's driveway.

   Does Street View go too far in intruding on our online privacy? Or is the value provided by Street View's searchable photos worth the potential loss of privacy?

   And have you found any interesting or embarrassing photos from this area on Street View?

   -- Stephen T. Watson

New Yorker cartoon ignites a firestorm

Monday was a typical Washington day, with the media providing us with a kerfuffle du jour to distract us from all of that repetitive stuff about gasoline prices, people losing their homes and soldiers dying in far-off wars.

   And this time the kerfuffle was all about ... a cartoon!

   In case you spent Monday in a submarine exploring the depths of Lake Erie and somehow missed it, The New Yorker this week ran a cartoon on its cover that featured Barack Obama in a robe and turban. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was shown fist-jabbing his rifle-toting wife in an Oval Office where a portrait of Osama bin Laden hung above the mantle and the U.S. flag burned bright in the fireplace.

   Now this was supposed to be a parody of all the Internet-fueled hooey that's convinced some Americans that Obama is, well, just not one of us.

   And it reminded me of the woman I met in North Carolina a couple months ago, who said to me: "I hate Barack Obama. I think he's a Muslim. And I can't stand that minister of his!"

   Now what do you think she will make of that cartoon?

   -- Jerry Zremski

Green and greener

   I'm old enough to remember when Earth Day was first observed in 1970, but admit that I didn't seriously practice what was preached until becoming a homeowner decades later.

   Now a faithful curbside recycler, I volunteered to sort the trash following a potluck Thanksgiving dinner last fall in our church hall.

   If there's a line at the drive-thru, I'll park and walk inside.

   Most of our light fixtures have those energy-saving bulbs, although I don't think they're bright enough for reading.

   And count me among those who appreciate the roundabout that recently replaced the traffic light at a busy intersection near my house.

   Whether your motivation is saving dollars or making environmental sense, how green are you?

   … Janice L. Habuda

Recharging Buffalo's recycling effort

    Trucks that pick up recyclables in Dallas, Texas, have these words painted on their sides: "Too Good to Throw Away."

    That's the message Buffalo officials want to spread in hopes of boosting the city's anemic recycling rate.

   Only 9.2 percent of the city's curbside waste is recycled each year. Even when you throw in yard waste, Buffalo's recycling rate barely hits 10 percent.

    City Hall honchos are determined to change that. They're hoping to launch a pilot project next year that will employ single-stream recycling. The process would mean that all types of recycled materials could be tossed in one container without being sorted by residents or collection crews. The sorting process occurs after materials reach a recycling center.

   Buffalo also is planning an aggressive outreach program that will include advertising, awareness blitzes in local schools and possibly even contests or other incentives to encourage people to recycle.

   Why do you think Buffalo has had such a tough time getting many residents to recycle? Would more people do so if they had totes with lids for recyclables, versus the tiny blue bins? Should the city take a get-tough approach and start fining people who refuse to recycle?
    -- Brian Meyer

Lake Erie vista: whitecaps and windmills

   How soon could it be before you look out on Lake Erie and see spinning wind turbines?

   Realistically, experts say it will be at least another five years, and more likely closer to 10 years.

   But most of the people I talked to for this story believed it's not a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen.

   One of the factors that will have an impact on whether wind power happens in the lake will be public opinion. Opposition to a proposed wind farm off Cape Cod has blunted that project's momentum.

   Here's your chance to let officials and developers involved know what you think about the idea.

  -- John F. Bonfatti

Arts tradeoff -- is it worthwhile?

     The Albright-Knox Art Gallery added a multi-hued feather to its cap Thursday with news of a
"partial gift" from Italian collector Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo of 71 works recently featured in the "The Panza Collection: An Experience of Color and Light."

   The paintings, installations and sculptures were made over the last 40 years by 15 artists previously were under-represented or not included at all in the gallery's collection of modern abstract art, and thus meet an obvious need, said Director Louis Grachos.

   In return, the family received an undisclosed sum from the gallery's special endowment for acquisitions, which grew by more than $67 million through the controversial sale of 207 antiquities at Sotheby's in Manhattan.

    Being able to make this kind of deal was just what the Albright anticipated when it put those items on the auction block. Was the tradeoff worthwhile? Tell us what you think.

    --Tom Buckham
 

The sad journey of a well-liked teacher

  It was sad watching a formerly popular 30-year-old teacher marched into Buffalo City Court in handcuffs, to face serious felony charges over an inappropriate relationship with her former student.

   It was even sadder when arrest papers explained why Cara L. Dickey was charged with promoting a suicide attempt  — accused of making a suicide pact with the boy.

   This young woman, by all accounts a successful and well-liked teacher, sat in court as she faced criminal charges, now trying to pick up the shattered pieces of her career and family life.

   Some things just don't make any sense.

  — Gene Warner

Brainstorming ways to halt the exodus

   The census takers have told us, again, what everyone in Western New York already knows: people are leaving the Buffalo area.

   Civic leaders and Buffalo boosters alike are desperate to find a way to draw people to the region --  or at least stem the tide.

   Everyone agrees that the key is jobs. But, of course, that's easier said than done.

   So, let's hear your ideas on how to bring jobs -- and the masses -- back to Buffalo.

  -- Maki Becker

Benefits delay for lesbian couple -- bias?

   A married lesbian couple from Buffalo made it clear Wednesday that they didn't want to be interviewed about their lawsuit seeking spousal benefits from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Western New York.

   But they did come forward, putting their names on the lawsuit and providing a photo of them
with their 1-year-old daughter.

   The legal arguments aside, an attorney for the Cheektowaga Central School District, where one of the two women, Jeanne Kornowicz, works, was quoted in court papers as discussing the human side of the issue.

   "... None of our heterosexual married employees have ever suffered the kind of delay in processing an enrollment change form that Jeanne Kornowicz is being subjected to relative to her marriage," attorney Thomas J. DeBoy wrote. "This is unacceptable."

   What do you think?

-- Gene Warner

Free to take more hazardous waste at CWM

   Hazardous waste weighing about as much as 478 Statues of Liberty will soon be coming to Western New York from one upstate cleanup site.

  As reported in today's Buffalo News, work has begun north of Glens Falls in the Town of Queensbury, and the PCB-contaminated material is coming straight to CWM Chemical Services in Porter.

   It will take about 1,500 truckloads to transport the waste by truck, criss-crossing area highways and roadways to get here over the next year or so, state environmental officials said.

   At 74,600 tons, it is one of the biggest single projects to have waste shipped here in a while.

   No one could immediately be clear on just how much these shipments will affect remaining capacity at the CWM facility.

   Company officials said residents should see no spike in truck traffic on area roads.

   The cleanup site in Queensbury includes an existing landfill and former salvage yard used by General Electric Co.

   General Electric is paying hundreds of millions to dredge a portion of the Hudson River, which swallowed PCBs dumped by two of the company's plants prior to the suspected carcinogen's ban in the late 1970s.

   GE has denied responsibility for the PCB contamination at the Queensbury site, meaning this one's taxpayer funded, at least for now.

   The state can sue the company if it so chooses.

   While only half of the contaminated material is coming to the landfill in northwest Niagara County, the Northeast's only hazardous waste dump, at first none of it was supposed to come here at all.

   Initial plans called for all of the waste to undergo a process called thermal desorption. But because the only bid that came in exceeded original cost estimates, the backup plan means half of the material stays on-site to be cleaned with the rest buried at CWM.

   Hazardous waste disposal operations at the CWM site started in 1972, with CWM taking over in the early 1980s. A 10-acre interim storage cell for radioactive waste, which sits on a portion of 7,500 acres of land taken by the federal government for weapons production during World War II, neighbors CWM.

  —Aaron Besecker

Federal judge rules on Seneca casino but what now?

   The future of the Seneca Nation's Buffalo Creek Casino is as clear as the mud from last night's rain at the construction site of the planned $333 million casino and hotel now being built on the Seneca's nine acres on Michigan Avenue.

   U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny gave the Senecas a partial victory, ruling the parcel was indeed Indian country, contrary to the arguments made by casino opponents. 

   But Skretny also said that a decision by the National Indian Gaming Commission in July 2007, authorizing casino gambling at Buffalo Creek, was arbitrary, capricious and contrary to
law.   

   In other words, opponents say, keep building but don't expect to operate a casino on the property.

   Attorneys for Citizens for a Better Buffalo, which brought the suit, say gambling at the temporary casino, housed since last July in a blue metal building, is illegal and want it shut down. The Senecas say they will keep it open while they ponder their next option with the U.S. Justice Department, which along with the gaming commission, are defendants in the suit.

   What should happen now? What if the Senecas continue to lose in court? Should they just abandon the casino construction, due to get its first structural steel in weeks? Could any other use other than casino gambling justify such an expense?

   And although the Senecas casino in Niagara Falls is not included in this lawsuit, it too was built with money derived from the Congressional act that repaid the Senecas for 100 years of low-ball leases in Salamanca. Skretny ruled that it was not a land settlement act, one of the few exceptions for off reservation casinos.

   What now?

   Michael Beebe

Should the city of Buffalo think smaller?

   While most cities plot a planning and development strategy that promises growth, Youngstown is doing just the opposite.

   The Ohio city is planning to get smaller, not bigger, and do it intelligently.

   A former steel town like Buffalo, Youngstown has adopted a plan that acknowledges its decline and accepts the notion that it will be a smaller but better city.

   What that means on the street is a land use plan that encourages investment in some neighborhoods while discouraging it in others. And with that comes an expectation that some neighborhoods might not be around in 20 or 30 years.

   One of the primary forces behind this strategy, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, has been lauded as a courageous politician, an elected official with the moxie to accept and make the best of his city's fate.

   Would Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown be wise to follow Williams' lead? Or is Buffalo right to expect population growth in the years to come?

   - Phil Fairbanks

Should the city have a better housing demolition strategy?

   In the eyes of many, there's no bigger threat to Buffalo's neighborhoods.

   The 800-pound gorilla they speak of is the city's vacant housing problem, a crisis that already has claimed large sections of the East Side and now seems headed to the West Side, Black Rock-Riverside and Buffalo's first-ring suburbs.

   Is City Hall equipped to deal with this problem?

   So far, the city's response has been to tear down houses. The goal is 5,000 in five years.

   But is that enough to save these neighborhoods from further decay, or is it simply a quick fix?

   It's no secret that many of these vacant homes are a haven to crime and that neighbors often plead for their demolition.

   It also is true that many experts see the city's demolition effort as short-sighted and destined to fail because it lacks vision on what to do with the nearly 7,000 to 8,000 properties City Hall will likely own by the end of this year.

   Is the city wise to focus on "stopping the bleeding," as one city official called it?

   Or does the city need to do more, most notably rehabilitating more than the seven vacant houses it now averages each year?

   - Phil Fairbanks

Have charter schools passed the test?

     The Charter school movement has come a long way since it first began here in 2000.

    Buffalo Niagara will have 16 charter schools during the upcoming school year -- the most in the state outside New York City.

   Some 7,000 children  are being educated at local charter schools and many charters have waiting lists.

   But after nearly a decade, there still is some underlying tension between the city's traditional  schools and charter schools.

   "The criticisms are diminishing," said Corrinne Cristofaro, executive director of the Western New York Charter Schools Coalition, "because performance is obvious."

-- Jay Rey   

Buffalo ranks near the top of U.S. cities vacant houses

   Only two American cities, Detroit and New Orleans, have a higher percentage of vacant houses than Buffalo.

   Yes, we all know of at least one horror story about the city's vacant houses, but few of us are aware of the magnitude of the problem.

   Did you know, for example, that City Hall is now Buffalo's biggest landowner, and there are streets on the East Side where the city owns more than half of the properties are vacant or abandoned?

   Did you also know that a third of all city streets have at least one vacant and abandoned property?

   And did you know that new data indicates the city's vacant housing crisis is spreading to Black-Riverside and Buffalo's first-ring suburbs.

   It's a problem of immense proportions and, in the words of Kathryn Foster, director of the University at Buffalo's Regional Institute, may pose the single biggest challenge to Buffalo's neighborhoods.

   Have you, as a homeowner, renter, neighbor or investor, experienced the consequences of Buffalo's vacant housing?

   - Phil Fairbanks

A rite of passage of youngsters and parents, getting ready for kindergarten

   This article began with brainstorming on how to tell the story of the first day of school … an annual rite of passage for thousands of area youngsters.

   We wanted to find out how the day went for a child, her teacher and her family. But we realized that school for a kindergartner starts well before September, with kindergarten screening in the spring and preparations in the summer.

   Then we started to think that it might be neat to check in with the pupil throughout the year, to get a glimpse of how the lofty issues debated by educators and lawmakers in Albany and Washington affect real children in the classroom.

   This is the first in a series of stories about Rachel Scharf, 5, and her journey through kindergarten at West Seneca West Elementary School. She may remind you of your own child or grandchild, or even yourself, and you'll see that kindergarten has changed.

   As West Elementary School Principal Rachel Badger says, "We don't take naps anymore."

   … Barbara O'Brien

Pruning the take-home fleet

   Nearly three-dozen city employees who have enjoyed take-home vehicles at taxpayers' expense received unwelcome news from Mayor Byron W. Brown.

   The mayor has slashed the number of take-home cars from 85 to 50, a 41 percent cut. the rising cost of gasoline, coupled with concerns that some individuals might be abusing the privilege, spurred the administration to overhaul policies. Brown put First Deputy Mayor Steven M. Casey in charge of the downsizing. (A footnote: Brown has a take-home vehicle and will continue to use it; Casey has never had a taxpayer-funded car.)

   The Council began asking questions about take-home vehicles nearly three months ago. The Buffalo News filed a Freedom of Information request for data on the city's take-home fleet May 8. The mayor released the data Thursday -- 56 days after The News request for the information was filed.

   Casey insisted the review began long before lawmakers or reporters started asking questions. He added that this is the first time in at least 20 years a mayor has taken such extreme steps to shrink the number of take-home vehicles on the roads.

   Take a look at the Web links we've provided that detail Buffalo's new take-home vehicle policy, the list of all 50 vehicles, and the job titles of the employees still assigned cars on a 24/7 basis.

   What do you think? Has Brown taken significant steps to control expenses? Or do you think a lot more must be done when it comes to take-home cars?

  -- Brian Meyer

A stellar report card for area hospitals

   It may not be the final word yet, but at least the first word on the value of hospital care nationwide puts Buffalo on the map.

   A new study and index by a health care information firm ranks Buffalo Niagara No. 1 in the nation among large cities for the value of hospital care that is provided.

   That's after ranking eight Western New York hospitals as among the top 100 nationwide for hospital value.

   That doesn't mean the Buffalo-area hospitals offer the best possible care money can buy. But for the money you spend, it's the most bang for your buck of any large metropolitan area in the country, it contends.

   The study of more than 1,400 hospitals nationwide scored the institutions using publicly available data on medical quality, prices, the hospitals' costs, patient satisfaction and the hospitals' local reputations.

   All four Catholic Health System hospitals -- Sisters of Charity, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, Kenmore Mercy Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital -- made the top 100, as did Kaleida Health's Buffalo General Hospital, Erie County Medical Center, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and Mount St. Mary's Hospital and Health Center in Lewiston.

   Not too shabby.

   -- Jonathan D. Epstein

Made-for-video fights raise alarms

   The footage can be violent and disturbing.

   Pairs or groups of young people are shown fighting with each other. In some cases, gangs of teens brutally attack a single victim.

   The fight videos have popped up on YouTube, the video-sharing Web site, elsewhere online and in media coverage across the country.

   Two weeks ago, a video of a fight between two North Tonawanda Middle School students showed up on YouTube, bringing the national debate to this area.

   Teens have always used their fists to settle disputes, but what's new is the technology that allows people to easily record videos and share them over the Web.

   In some cases the fights were staged with the intention of recording them and posting the video on YouTube.

   Experts say the teens who do this are seeking attention, mimicking what they see on TV or in other fight videos or trying to humiliate the fight victims.

   Some may just think it's funny to do this.

   With thousands of such videos currently posted on YouTube, school and police officials wonder what can be done to stem the tide of video violence.

   Should the law be changed to make it illegal to post such videos? Should the fight participants face tougher penalties? Should YouTube be forced to screen all videos before they are posted?

   And should parents be doing more to keep their children from posting such videos?

  -- Stephen T. Watson

   

A new reason to be talkin' proud

   Jordan Levy wants to make Buffalonians proud again. Proud of where they're from. Proud of their history. Proud of where their community is headed.

   One of the ways he's trying to do that is by heading the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., the state agency overseeing the redevelopment of Buffalo's downtown inner harbor.

   The first real sign of the agency's work, the Erie Canal Harbor, will make its official debut today.

   So far, the reviews -- except for a minor encounter with sewage -- are positive. Even true cynics seem impressed by what's been done so far.

   Is it enough to make you a believer, or are you still one of those naysayers demanding to see more?

   -- Phil Fairbanks

   

Questions without answers about Dennis Donohue

   Last September, after DNA evidence linked Dennis P. Donohue to the 1993 strangling of Joan Giambra, Deputy Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda made a strong statement about Donohue at a police press conference.

   "It's possible he's a serial killer," Derenda said. "He is a person of interest in two other homicide cases."

   Donohue can't be tried in one of those two cases, and investigators have no physical evidence or eyewitnesses in the other.

   So -- barring any news about Donohue's expected appeal of his conviction for murdering Giambra -- we may have heard the last of Donohue.

   A man expected to go down in local law-enforcement circles as a murderer, but not as a serial killer.

   -- Gene Warner