(Sidenote: sorry about the headshot photo…)

Smoke Signals

NYS judge refuses to block tax collection on non-reservation buyers at Indian shops.

Buffalo businessmen Mark Croce and James Eagan have won the right to purchase the landmark Statler Towers in downtown Buffalo after their bid was accepted Monday in bankruptcy court. Croce and Eagan formed Statler City LLC to acquire and redevelop the vacant building.

University at Buffalo president John Simpson revealed Monday that he will retire as UB’s 14th president.

UB’s 14th president will only serve 15 days of 2011 before returning home to be close to his family in California, but don’t kid yourselves. The family man wasn’t so much heading home as he was quitting New York State.

“It would be less than forthright not to note that this difficult decision has been made somewhat easier by Albany’s failure to give UB and SUNY the policy tools and stable support needed to fully achieve this university’s great potential,” Simpson said.

It’s been a mere 26 days since Simpson responded to the state’s shunning of UB in their latest budget with vigor, stating,

“Our fight is not over. I am calling on all UB supporters to urge Albany’s leaders to continue their talks and find a way to enact the reforms we need in order to create a better future for Western New York. Together, we must continue to challenge the status quo, to be resolved in our commitment for the future, and remain true to our values, mission, and vision.”

I have to wonder what happened in the last month to lead Simpson into calling it quits. Perhaps he learned his desires for the success of the university faced even more obstacles than what he’s seen in the past.

What’s sure is that this status quo needs more than a challenge… it needs a revolution.

Are journalists, specifically news and political journalists serving the public well in this age of new and persistent media?

In a recent interview published in The Economist, NYU Journalism Professor Jay Rosen had this to say in response to that very question:

DiA: You’ve written a book titled “What Are Journalists For?” Looking at political coverage in America, how is your answer to that question different from the job journalists are actually doing today?

Mr Rosen: No one has ever asked me that.  I will let this instance stand for the whole.  A very typical pattern is when journalists fall into horse-race coverage, where they ask:  Who’s going to win?  What’s the strategy?  Is it working?  Focusing on those things helps advertise the political innocence of the press because “who’s winning?” is not an ideological question.  By repeatedly asking it journalists underline that theirs is not an ideological profession.  But how does this pattern help voters make a decision?  Should they vote for the candidate with the best strategy?

My own view is that journalists should describe the world in a way that helps us participate in political life.  That is what they are “for”.  But too often they position us as savvy analysts of a scene we are encouraged to view from a certain distance, as if we were spectators to our own democracy, or clever manipulators of our fellow citizens.  (emphasis mine) Weird, isn’t it?  So that’s why I wrote my book and gave it that title.

As I flip around the news channels each night and hit all my regular news websites throughout the course of the day, I keep rediscovering this theme.  Very little content on the issue at hand, more on the surrounding factors and the results of action.  None of which helps inform the public.  I just thought it was food for thought, read the whole interview for more…

"I just spotted something that might be worthy of a BRO report.  I just drove by the NYSDEC building on Michigan and Seneca and they filled in three tree pits with concrete!  In front of the DEC building! Is it just me or is that ridiculous?" -TM

After receiving the above email, I headed over to see what was going on, and it was true - three trees missing and replaced with concrete, just like the tree wells at Delta Sonic. It seems that ever since The City canned the City Forrester position, anyone can just go around and dispose of trees. It certainly is easier to take care of concrete than it is to tend a tree. So why is it that there is a concentrated effort being conducted by people to plant trees all over the city, and at the same time we see this type of criminal behavior going completely unchecked... or so it appears. I would think that the Department of Environmental Conservation would opt for trees over concrete?

Earlier today I also noticed that the tree beds on the block to the south of Delta Sonic have also fallen prey to concrete infill.  Gee, I really want to shop, live and work in a concrete jungle environment. The building owners must be extremely proud of their new low maintenance environment.

How long are we going to have to wait to get a City forester to prevent boneheads from continuing to fill in tree beds with concrete?

^South of Delta Sonic

The Buffalo Bills have made three moves to get the 75-man roster limit before Tuesday’s deadline by cutting offensive tackle Kyle Calloway, defensive tackle Lonnie Harvey and wide receiver Aaron Rhea.
Of the three, only Calloway is a surprise and a mild one at that.  The Iowa standout was drafted in the seventh round by Buddy [...]

Joe Major, Allen Wilson, Rodney McKissic:

Sports insiders 8-28-10

The Buffalo Bills have cut their roster down to 75 players today. The following players were released:

1) Seventh-round draft pick, offensive tackle, Kyle Calloway.

2) Rookie defensive tackle, Lonnie Harvey.

3) Rookie wide receiver, Aaron Rhea.

The next round of cuts are expected this Saturday, when all NFL teams must trim their rosters to 53 players.

Arm caught in the pooper, ghost train picks up a new passenger, Traficant to run again on “Wig Party” and Penis shaped charts! WTF?!

Steven Talley,25, one of the men wanted for questioning in the August 14th City Grill mass shooting is facing federal weapons possession charges.

The ankle injury that has kept Marshawn Lynch on the shelf since the preseason opener may finally be subsiding. Though it was just a walk through practice for the Bills on Monday, Lynch did take pa...

Everyday, starting at 11:30am, over 100 people gather for lunch in the basement of Lafayette Ave Presbyterian Church.  There, at the Loaves and Fishes dining room of Concerned Ecumenical Ministries, they are served a hot, balanced meal, by volunteers from all walks of life.

In addition to physical nourishment, diners also find community, rest, and connection to other resources. 

I believe it is actually part of what makes Elmwood Avenue great.  Why?  Because it creates community among people that might otherwise struggle alone, because it means that nobody will go hungry, no matter how bad the circumstances, and because a little bit of help with food sometimes means being able to afford shelter or medicine.

This kitchen is almost run entirely by volunteers, and funded by donations.  A fun way to support the ongoing work of Loaves and Fishes is by running the Diner Dash 4 miler (or participating in the two mile walk.) on Friday, September 10.

The race follows the course of the Subaru chase, with the start moved slightly South to the Loaves and Fishes dining room.  Your entry entitles you to socks from the sock guy and admission to the after party.

Sign up to run today, if only for the amusement of witnessing an overweight pastor wheeze his way through four miles.

Finally, if you live/travel on the race route (Elmwood, Forest, Delaware, or Summer), thank you for your patience as the runners race past.

Genesee County newspaper, The Batavia Daily News, is now being published in downtown Buffalo.

Bills head coach Chan Gailey and his staff began the process of whittling down their offseason roster a day before cuts had to be made. Buffalo released three players from their squad a full 24 hou...

UB President John “Suitcase” Simpson is calling it quits after seven years in the position. Not quite a year ago, he delivered a speech at Babeville quoting Teddy Roosevelt: ““It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have [...]