Guest host Jim Ostrowski:

WECK_September_02_2010_11_05

Hour One only today…

BillO September_02_2010_09_05

The Buffalo Bills, Pepsi Beverages Company and Tops Friendly Markets teamed up to provide grants to help refresh area youth football teams. Team representatives submitted their ideas on how they wo...

The varying moods induced by the slate of Buffalo news this summer- Canalside setbacks, potential flight of HSBC bank, and the death of UB 2020 to mention only a few – have highlighted the various goals of tribal Buffalo in 2010. That the same bit of news could cause both despair and victory cheers in such numbers and to such depth shows a distressing fracture. Not everyone will agree all the time, on everything, nor should they. But it wasn’t that long ago that the community was pulling on the same rope in the same direction far more often. Note the recent obituary on the death of the idea of New Buffalo - many can not agree that the patient is even dead, much less what the idea meant when it was alive.

What is the definition of ”progress” in this town? I thought I used to know. I moved back in 2007, unknowingly at the height of “New Buffalo” and accidently in the middle of Old Home Week (nee Buffalo Homecoming, nee Citybration). I didn’t know “New Buffalo” was the name of the feeling, but I did know the hope and optimism. It was one factor that got me to move a family here.

Courtesy Treasure Frey at stuartbrown.com

Now, not so much. Instead of a generally agreed upon view of progress, or at least the idea that the city could walk and chew gum at the same time, allowing us to pursue multiple threads simultaneously, it seems we’ve become divided into a number of camps.

- The Old Building Camp (Tielman, Esmonde, BRO) says that keys to Buffalo progress are rotting away in front of us as we speak. Fix up the nice old architecturally significant buildings we have, and other cities wish we had, and we’re on the road. This view is well summarized by David Steel, one of WNYMedia’s frequent commenters, who identified a list of projects in Alan Bedenko’s article as reasons for optimism. Out of his 35 projects, 25 were rehabs or additions to older buildings.

My issue with this approach is that it pays more attention to the building than its contents. The building is just the container: its the tenants, and the jobs/wealth/impact they generate, that will cause progress in Buffalo. It is telling that the developers of Buffalo (Termini, Brown, Montante, Savarino, Paladino) trip off the tongue faster than the business leaders (Rich, Jacobs, Wilmers is Chairman at M&T (who is the CEO?), I had to look up how to spell First Niagara’s Koelmel).

- The New Building Camp, smaller in size but no less vocal, says that old building conversions are nice, but they are a natural part of city development, and are not a big deal. That we praise them so loud and so long is sad, small, and kinda pathetic. What we should be looking for is New Buildings that indicate a willingness to take risk, require fewer government subsidies, have a potential return of real money, and show a increased demand for CBD space. When Carl Paladino finally builds 50 Court Street, says lefty (another regular commenter), come talk to me.

But to me both the Old Building Camp and New Building Camp have a similar problem: if one focuses on the contents of the package, and not the package itself, it is a less-than-rosy regional picture. The Larkin Building filled with Kaleida, First Niagara, law firms, and others from the local area. The Larkin is a win if you consider moving a corporate HQ from Pendleton to Buffalo a win, and success is measured based upon traffic across the city/suburb line. Even if you are city focused, Avant grabbed a law firm from a Buffalo historic building, construction of UB’s medical campus downtown just moves programs from University Heights, and the future high profile moves of Phillips Little and HSBC to Canalside (allegedly) just move workers several city blocks. Some projects are considered successes before they even have tenants: the only occupier of the new rehab at the Genesee Gateway is the State Dept’s new Passport office, a development coup of a couple dozen low paying government jobs, and the rest of the building is not yet spoken for. The Hautman-Woodard Institute and NY Center of Excellence for Bioinformatics are beautiful and terrifyingly empty, a shade of their possible capacity.

It is the same or worse for housing. A City of Buffalo Common Council member confessed to me in confidence that he is not a fan, generally, of large housing rehabs, such and Frizlen’s and Termini’s warehouse and school conversions. Why? Because 15 new housing units in a neighborhood means 15 abandoned houses nearby. No one is moving from Atlanta, or Syracuse, or even Cheektowaga for most of these units. They are moving from a house a couple blocks away.

New buildings, old buildings. I care what’s inside. 

- Frustration with the previous two camps yields the Coalition of Enough Already, which does not want just anything built, but does want SOMETHING to happen. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to satisfy all. It shouldn’t do more harm than good. But simply building a Peace Bridge, or Canalside, or a Casino, or anything larger than $30 million, would show a change in attitude and general competence of leaders of all types: political, business, government.

- Moving on from the Construction is Progress camps, our own Chris Smith is vocal advocate for the Good Government Camp, which says what we really need are less corrupt politicians, policy leaders, new ideas, good schools, and a regional plan that leverages our assets. Good government hears the news that the new data center Yahoo built in chilly Lockport uses less energy for cooling, from 54% of all energy used by the datacenter to 1% (!), and makes a plan to capitalize on it. I am sympathetic to the idea, and to the broken hearts of so many that thought Mayor Brown, and a new wave of average citizens getting involved, would make this actually possible. I am now more cynical about this possibility than any of the others.

- The Grass Roots Camp says all your fancy buildings, and money, and politics is crap, and always will be, and while you cry over spilt milk on Canalside or some budget hearing, real people are making a difference every day. Poster children include PUSH, Urban Roots, the Wilson Street Farm, Buffalo ReUse, MAP, taco trucks, Sweetness_7 Cafe, carriage rides in Delaware Park, and yoga down at Canalside.

I have been accused of being dismissive of such things, and perhaps I am. I think all are wonderful projects in their own right. I just don’t confuse any with progress in Buffalo. That so many people do is sad, and says how far Buffalo has fallen, but speaks nothing ill of any of the projects themselves. But I feel jobs and growth will allow Buffalo to progress far more, not just in economic areas, but to fight poverty and improve our general quality of life.

- Let me add in one more camp, not yet represented. It’s the camp I am in. How will we know when Buffalo is “progressing?” Growth. I am waiting for the census data to show Buffalo, or WNY, or even some demographic segment of any decent size, is larger now than it was in the past. Even if that growth is year over year, much less over the decade. Buffalo is getting smaller, greyer, poorer, and suffers a lack of Brain Gain of national proportions. Growth creates markets for buildings new and old. Growth brings new people with new ideas that can flush out some of the old guard politicians and interest groups. Growth can justify new bridges, new casinos, new shopping areas, and new housing downtown. Growth changes the brand. Growth gives me a job a job without taking one from you. Growth gives out two foundation grants instead of one. Growth can cause its own problems, but for a region already as spread out and empty as ours, many of those problems simply don’t exist.

But why do we need the camps at all? Should not a healthy city be able to restore old buildings, build new ones, make better schools, and attract new businesses simultaneously? In fact, is it not those attributes that define a healthy city. Perhaps that is the objective proof we need that Buffalo is not healthy, even if it was momentarily in the recent past.

In Buffalo, we all chew off the same bone. It’s a zero sum game. Money for Larkin means less money for something else. The Wendt Foundation said yes to the Genesee Gateway project, and thus no to something else. Which is why more and more people are becoming members of a second camp, in addition their first identified above: the Nihilists. Saying yes to PUSH means saying no to Canalside. Saying yes to downtown means saying no to the Seneca Casino. Saying yes to the new Courthouse means saying no to the Statler. Saying yes to subsidized housing means saying no to UB. Saying yes to old buildings means saying no to the Peace Bridge.

It is not new for government, business and non-profits to have to make choices with limited resources. It is new for one group to fight another’s project with as much energy as they pursue their own.

After sitting exposed to the elements for a better part of the summer (see post), the windows on Our Lady of Lourdes Church have been boarded up. Thankfully, after sending emails and placing phone calls to Councilman Curtis Haynes, he stepped up to the plate and reached out to the guardian of the building. Days later new plywood was up and the church is now secure for the fall and winter season. There is still a small upper window that needs to be boarded up, but it is so small that it should not present a big problem.

From Curtis:

"We sent an e-mail to Anthony Palumbo, Planning and Development Coordinator for Ellicott Development Corporation. A subsidiary of their corporation recently bought the property. They committed to properly securing the premises in addition to landscaping maintenance and the cleanup of any litter/debris on site in the coming weeks. They moved quickly."

There is another bike group hitting the roads these days. It's not Critical Mass, or the Midnight Madness gang, or the Lazy Randonneur Club. It's The Angry Bees, a group of cyclists that departs from Allentown every Wednesday at 7pm. They meet at The Hive just around the corner from Hardware. The group looks to have around 50 members, many of whom wear yellow shirts with wide black bee-like stripes. Their ultimate destination is McCarthy's Pub in the old First Ward - an extremely bike-friendly watering hole.

For those people who feel that these cycle groups can get a bit out of hand, rest assured that The Angry Bees are harmless for the most part. The queen bee leads the swarm down Allen Street, along Main Street to the waterfront, onto South Park (past 120 South Park), to the Michigan Bridge, along the river and in through the door of McCarthy's. The Queen Bee is responsible for rounding up the swarm, directing the swarm and making sure that the individual bees are accounted for.

If you're looking to join up with The Angry Bees, the best thing to do is to show up with your bike at Hardware just before 7pm on a Wednesday and wait until they cruise around the corner. Once you're in the swarm you may be introduced to The Hive... bring your honey and some money and be a part of the newest buzz.

GRAND ISLE, La. — An offshore oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico today, Thursday, at about 9:30 a.m., west of the site of the April blast that caused the massive oil spill.

WECK GAME NIGHT: UB vs. Rhode Island, 7 p.m., UB Stadium (WECK1230AM).

Once you’ve gone to a bowl game, there is no other goal for a college program regardless of how many starters you lose.  The seniors don’t want to hear about building up the team, or a new coach or a let down.

To be sure, the Bulls could have made it two bowls in a row in 2009 if they could have won one more game, and there were a bunch of tight ones.  Quarterback Zack Maynard had miserable games in touchdown losses at Central Florida and home to Central Michigan.  In the case of the latter, when you can hold the Chipps to 20 points, you need to win that game.

Grover Cleveland product Steven Means

After moving to 3-4, the Bulls lost three consecutive games by a grand total of… seven points.  Yep, 2.33 points-per-game with a freshman, somewhat-scatterbrained quarterback and a head coach in Turner Gill whose balls-to-the-wall gambles and quiet bravado cost the team some awful field position and game clock.

Now new coach Jeff Quinn’s bravado is there, just not even close to quiet.  His spread offense will be in the hands of strong-armed playbook-worm Jerry Davis to start the year, a talented kid whose thrown just 15 passes in his career (one of them a 76-yard touchdown strike).  The biggest worry for a fan might be that the Bulls are deep at running back and Quinn is a spread guy, but I can tell you Quinn recognizes what will work for this team.  Look for redshirt freshman Branden Oliver to get downright nasty (how’s that for analysis?).

Bill Inge’s defense is going to be UB’s best ever if it can do a good job of stopping the run, because UB fans have been looking forward to this year’s edition of the secondary for a couple years.  Davonte Shannon is the best defensive player the program’s seen, and he’s in the back with fellow seniors Josh Thomas and Dom Cook, and freak of athleticism sophomore Ray Anthony Long.  Pass on the Bulls? Not often.

So, how do they make a bowl game?  They need to pull six wins to be bowl-eligible.  Let’s break this down into must-win, winnable, underdog and big underdog events.

Must-win: Tonight vs. Rhode Island, Oct. 30 vs. Miami (OH), Nov. 20 vs. Eastern Michigan, Nov. 26 at Akron

– They simply have to win four home games, and RI and Eastern should be a given.  The Rams are far behind the Bulls in skill, and I think UB should have zero trouble this evening.  Miami is one of those teams the Bulls must beat if they are a bowl team, and the Zips aren’t projected to be a power this year.

Definitely Winnable: Oct. 2 at Bowling Green, Oct. 23 vs. Temple, Nov. 4 at Ohio, Nov. 12 vs. Ball State

– All conference games with the Temple game being another toss-up thanks to the rivalry.  The Owls are good — potentially very good — but they’ll be traveling to Amherst for this contest.  The Bobcats are a tough test but are replacing a bunch of players.  Bowling Green and Ball State are both solid programs who should be down enough for the Bulls to take care of business if they want to go to a bowl game.

Underdog: Sept. 11 at Baylor, Sept. 18 vs. Central Florida

Baylor’s good, and the game’s in Texas, but that wouldn’t make this a major upset if the Bulls pulled it off.  The Bears have a super-talented quarterback coming off an ACL tear.  If he’s himself, this one’s a doozie.  If not, it’s up for grabs.  George O’Leary’s put a solid program together but only beat the Bulls by a nose last year down in Florida.  Hopefully the loss of Torrell Troup benefits the Bulls as much as the Bills.

Big Underdog: Sept. 25 at UConn, Oct. 16 at Northern Illinois

– If Northern can get through a non-conference schedule that features trips to Iowa State, Illinois and Minnesota without losing their swagger, they can make a solid run at the title.  Throw in the fact that it’s a road game and there could be trouble on the horizon.  UConn is a very good program and winning there simply isn’t easy.  They’ve beaten Louisville, South Florida, Virginia, Baylor and Cincinnati at home while losing by two to No. 19 UNC last season.  It’s the only game on the schedule that looks downright scary.

Prediction:  Can the Bulls win all four of their must-win and two of their winnable games or one of their underdog contests?  I believe so.  Look for Quinn’s first year to feature six or seven wins on the road back to Bowltown, which I just invented and where I would like to live.

This is what I’m thinking:

* One would have thought that Channel 4 would have made its decision by now on who is going to be the permanent replacement for Lisa Flynn as anchor of its 5:30 p.m. news and the 10 p.m. news on sister station WNLO-TV.

 Lia Lando, who is married with young children and lives in Rochester, has filled the job since Flynn left two months ago. The ratings for July were solid, which also suggested that Lando is the front-runner for the job if she wants it.

According to sources, she wants it and also is popular within the newsroom.

So you have to wonder what the holdup is in signing Lando and putting her in the intros before the newscast begins.

 A couple of recent developments make you wonder if Lando is a sure thing to be the long-term plan.

 Emily Smith, a Buffalo native who was a Channel 4 producer early in her career and used to work at WBEN-AM, recently left her job as an anchor for CBS’ Up to the Minute in New York City. That should end the speculation that she wouldn’t leave Manhattan for a job here. According to sources, she is very interested in working in her hometown and would certainly be interested in the Channel 4 job.

 Lando, meanwhile, would also seem to be an ideal candidate for an open anchor job at WHEC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Rochester. After all, that’s where she lives. It would be a much easier commute for her if she didn’t want to move her family down the Thruway. Lando mentioned on a Wednesday newscast during some happy talk that she has a six-year-old.

 Of course, Channel 4 has a third in-house candidate in Melissa Holmes. However, she would seem to be too valuable in her present position as morning anchor of “Wake Up” when it moves at 7 a.m. to WNLO-TV.

 Channel 4 is notoriously slow to fill openings – it still hasn’t hired a sports reporter to replace Robin Adams. But a decision has to be made shortly.

 Lando impressed initially and her ratings are strong but she isn’t exactly the most energetic anchor in town and she doesn’t shine in happy talk. However, she fits very nicely the profile of a Channel 4 anchor.

 Smith also would be a feel-good homecoming story and would likely give Channel 4 something it loves in its anchors and reporter – stability.

 At this point, it would be a surprise if Lando doesn’t get the job after a two-month tryout. But if there is one sure thing in broadcasting these days it is there are no sure things.

* After the murder indictment of Main Street shooting suspect Riccardo M. McCray Wednesday, Channel 4 took the camouflage off of the footage of him it shot when he surrendered at the station several days earlier. The Buffalo News, Channel 7 and other media outlets also allowed Western New Yorkers to see the face of the man accused of one of the more heinous crimes in recent history.

 The media was extremely co-operative with law enforcement authorities in declining to show McCray’s face before the indictment. Once he was indicted, there was no reason to keep his face hidden from the public.

 A case also could have been made that the media should have shown McCray’s face even when the police asked photographs not be  shown before it had time to put him in lineups and get him indicted. After all, he was a wanted man accused of a violent act and was believed to be at large in the community. 

As a group, the media decided that accepting the police request to keep his face hidden was the right way to go rather than showing it and possibly jeopardizing the case against him.

 According to sources, Channel 4 didn’t run the footage showing McCray’s face without first feeling out law enforcement officials, who didn’t seem to have a problem with it. One imagines the other outlets that carried it may have also asked if running the picture would disturb law enforcement officials. 

 * Bristol Palin, who will be in the next edition of “Dancing with the Stars,” reportedly has said she plans to avoid wearing skimpy outfits that seem to be a requirement for young female contestants. So put Bristol down as either the first or second female to be eliminated this fall.

 * I’ll give On Demand viewers a few more days to catch Tuesday’s strong season finale of “Rescue Me” on FX before addressing the final scene. Let’s just say, the game-changing scene was a shock and made one wonder if it was real or just one of those creative moments in the show that was the product of Tommy Gavin’s (Denis Leary,see above) vivid imagination.

 pergament@msn.com     

By Chris

The Bulls start their new season tonight at 7 p.m. If you can’t make it out to the game, join us in our live chat.

When you live in a city that was once known as The City of Trees, you shouldn't feel bad when someone calls you a tree hugger. It can be tough to watch concrete being poured over tree beds, or a crew of hacks taking down branches on your street. Then again, you can't you can't save every tree. Sometimes you have to let some trees go in the name of progress. The frustrating part is not knowing - the times when you find yourself scratching your head and wondering why a tree-lined street was mowed down. In a perfect world (or even a far-from-perfect world) Buffalo would have a City forester to call to ask if the tree removals are necessary (or even legal). That's why I find it so interesting that more and more emails are coming through from readers asking about specific tree removals - I can empathize, mainly because I know the 'pit in the stomach' feeling that follows after watching a crew lay waste to a block of trees. Was it necessary? Yes, no, maybe... Here are two recent tree-be-gone cases that we have been alerted to. The first one is really painful to see. The second one was sent by multiple readers along with photos. Here they are:

Porter

Given your recent street tree post, I thought you'd be interested (outraged?) by this.  I ran past the Porter Ave. reconstruction from Niagara St to the river on Monday morning and was upset to see that the mature tree in front of School 3 had been removed.  I was at least a little relieved that, though the old sidewalks and curbs between Centennial Pool and the river had already been torn out, the trees still stood in front of the Pumping Station.  Not so this morning.  The six mature trees along that stretch have been cut down, and the only remaining tree on that side of the street has the orange "X" of death on it. Not sure why this is the case, but in any event it was really, really depressing to see. - AA

Tri-Main

If you want to cry, stop by behind the Tri-Main building and see the dozen+ trees the gas company mowed down "in anticipation" of needing access to fix a gas line (see below). It makes me sick. They are working there now, but the work holes that they have dug are in the street, not where they needed access between the sidewalk and street. - LD

By: Tony Wilson

I tried to write an article that extolled the virtues of catching a band like Shellac. But I couldn't. It turns out it just didn't feel right to try and sugar coat something that was created with the idea that life is not covered in sugar, so why should music be?

Shellac is the main act of sound engineer notable Steve Albini, whose history of blunt practicality followed him not only in his personal life, but also professional. If you are wondering what the fuss is all about, you should definitely check out his past credits. Yeah, he's kind of a big deal.

Out of respect for the band's no frills disposition, I will only simply tell you, the readers, that Shellac is well worth seeing. They play aggressive, abrasive, tempo shifting rock. They've been labeled as math rock and noise rock, but I'm not certain what either of those things truly mean, so I won't bother pretending since it would be seemingly pointless.

Kismet led to me catching Shellac last fall at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Monticello, NY. I rate it among the top live sets I saw in all of '09, as blistering drum beats seamlessly intertwined with oppressive power chords, all while Albini's  jagged vocal delivery provided the narrative.    

The scene at Ninth Ward is going to be blistering. Bring your fist pumps and ear plugs.

Shellac
Thursday, September 2nd
Ninth Ward at Babeville
7pm, $15



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Tony Wilson is a freelance music journalist. When asked about his experience he says "I'm just a guy who likes music". Follow his musings at xsonicanarchyx.blogspot.com or email him at xsonicanarchyx@gmail.com.

Whenever a player returns to play in the NFL city where he grew up there is naturally going to be a good contingent of friends and family eager to come out and support him. That scenario may be tak...