All the news that fit to read during your morning grumpy. 1. I rarely watch local TV news. Why? Because it’s almost uniformly uninformative and trite, programmed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I encourage you to stop watching it as well. You’re better off reading the daily newspaper, even though that seems a [...]

The Outer Harbor will cost millions to environmentally remediate, but has tons of potential once this place starts getting its act together again. Here’s something I wrote about it in 2004. Personally, I think that the outer harbor should be designed as a mixed-use urban village, incorporating the ideas of New Urbanism. It shouldn’t be [...]

We went to see “The Muppets” movie on Sunday. Kermit’s car, which is seen here emerging from the Mediterranean Sea onto the beach at the French Riviera, is a brown 1984 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur. Ewww! The producers said they chose this car because it is from the years of The Muppets greatest fame — that, [...]

New readers may not be aware that I oftentimes post editorial cartoons done by an extremely talented artist/commentator living in the Adirondacks named Mark Wilson.  His pen name is “Marquil”, and his work can be found at his website, EmpireWire. I think that his art and editorial content rival anything you’ll find in any paper, [...]

We know the drill – our sovereign debt is about to be downgraded because (a) the Congress couldn’t get it together to pass a budget that includes both a reduction in public spending and a repeal of the Bush/Obama tax cuts for the richest earners, so they punted to a so-called “Supercommittee” to do it; [...]

News for you to read during your morning grumpy… 1. As you undoubtedly wake up to news reports of the LAPD beating the ever-loving shit out of the peaceful protesters at Occupy Los Angeles, you might STILL be wondering what all those Occupiers are protesting. The Sunlight Foundation has another piece of the puzzle for [...]

The collapse of the eurozone would likely have a very negative affect on our economy, but would devastate Europe. The euro’s survival depends on large part on Germany, the EU’s largest economy. While founding members like Germany and France are quick to blame rapid expansion of the EU into developing countries of the former Eastern [...]

Buffalo Fire by Flickr user Kevin Brautlacht. Want your photo to appear here? Just join the AV Photo Daily Flickr group, and add your images.

Former Buffalo economic development czar Timothy Wanamaker returned to town yesterday to be convicted by Federal Judge Arcara for charging $30,000 in personal expenses to his BERC credit card. Wanamaker left Buffalo in 2008 to fail as city manager in Inglewood, CA. Wanamaker has yet to be sentenced, but the Buffalo News alludes to the [...]

Obviously, this is from a press release. First house-cleaning in many years, what with the first incoming Democratic County Executive since 1988. POLONCARZ TEAM ANNOUNCES IT IS ACCEPTING RESUMES FOR POSITIONS County Executive-elect Poloncarz Encourages Those Interested in Serving Erie County in his Administration to Submit Resumes Online ERIE COUNTY, NY—Today, Erie County Executive-elect Mark [...]

Whenever I see something like this, I assume it’s been parked and forgotten. But this 1972 Lincoln Continental is sometimes parked in this Town of Niagara driveway, and sometimes it’s not. I assume the times it’s not are right after payday — probably the best time to fill the tank! — Jim Corbran, You Auto [...]

The Buffalo News’ Colin Dabkowski weighs in on the ongoing debate over whether we should criticize good people’s good efforts when they fail to live up to expectations.

If you’re a fan of comedy, today is a sad day. It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that stand-up comedian Patrice O’Neal has died from complications of a stroke he suffered last month. The 41 year old comic was a true original and well known for his outrageous takes on [...]

Ever wanted to ask a public entity to open its books? There’s a way to go about it, and you don’t have to be a journalist, lawyer, or rocket-scientist to find out how to use the Freedom of Information Law. According to the statute, you just have to be a person. Join attorney Peter A. [...]

A bill drawn up by the US Senate Committee on Armed Services includes a provision that would declare that any individual (American or not) could be arrested by the US military anywhere in the world—including the US—and be imprisoned without trial or charge indefinitely. According to Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, the bill will [...]