These pizza wars can get pretty vicious. First, we heard Pizza Junction in North Tonawanda was closing a few weeks ago, except for internet orders. Then, they reopened with new ownership. Now, it looks like their prized cook (the famous Russ Clark)has taken the secret sauce over to another place called Vito's Avenue Pizza. Vito's owner placed a sign announcing the new cook in front of his restaurant and added a taunting billboard in front of Pizza Junction. Why can't they be like South Buffalo and have a different successful pizzeria on every block?
Forget for a moment all the racial stereotypes that go with a pizzeria owner named Vito. The man in this clip, who is seen ramming his jeep into Vito's sign, is named Ryan Fleckenstein. Only in North Tonawanda would they find a Jewish Pizza enforcer. We're told Officer Nathan is investigating...
Information is slowly coming out of the Genessee County town of LeRoy. The only thing certain so far is that Erin Brockovich has probably undergone breast implant surgery...
School officials in the Genessee County town of LeRoy are not big fans of the environmentalist/celebrity Erin Brockovich. Brockovich and her band of scientists broke onto school grounds, with cameras in hand this week to test the soil for contaminants. The district was forced to call local law enforcement to keep the talking heads off school property. "It is appalling that whatever group or entity employing [Brockovich's workers], as well as the media outlets participating in this effort, chose to conduct themselves in this way -- which can only be characterized as grandstanding," Cox said.
Brockovich points to a plume, or underground lake, from a 1970 toxic railway spill, which she claims is lying directly underneath the school. The derailment involved a spill of cyanide crystals and carbon tetrachloride...
She contended that a plume from the 1970 toxic railway spill had spread to within "close proximity" of the school. She noted that the school had been built on a swamp and that there were gas-extraction installations under the school's ball field.
Environmental investigator Bob Bowcock gets points for his inflammatory rhetoric, labeling the whole 1970 incident a huge government coverup...
In a statement to the media Saturday, Bowcock said: "The people of Le Roy need to know they have the largest TCE plume in the eastern United States under their community, and the government has given them lip service for 40 years, telling them, 'We've cleaned it up. We've cleaned it up. We've looked at this. We've done that,' and, frankly, I'm here to tell you they haven't done a darn thing," Bowcock said, referring to the chemical spill.
LeRoy Superintendent Kim Cox disputes this claim, saying Bowcock is full of crap. The plume, according to her, had actually moved in the opposite direction, directly underneath a farm on the other side of town, the birthplace, coincidentally, of several two headed calves...
"There are also some who are attempting to marry the 1970 derailment to the school, when in fact the plume has been shown as moving in the opposite direction some three miles away," she said.
I don't think anyone really knows what is going on here. If I were a betting man, I would guess the whole strep infection thing has something to do with it. In any event, School Superintendent Kim Cox and Erin Brockovich are planning a celebrity boxing match for tomorrow night in the school gym at 7PM.
Mother do you think they'll drop the bomb? Mother do you think they'll like this song? Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls? Mother should I build the wall? Mother should I run for president? Mother should I trust the government? Mother will they put me in the firing line? Mother am I really dying?
Lots of wildlife down in the Valley, and I'm not just talking about the people coming out of Tunies. Thank you to Carol Webster for sending me these pictures of a very large owl trapped near Smith Street. Props to Geno Letina for helping to save the frightened bird.
I was cycling during the summer on Exchange Street (near Smith) and spotted a bird very similar to this one on the ground across the street from the Larkin Building. A spokesman from the D.E.C. was on hand at the scene last night and said the hungry owl was probably in the area in search of "Valley Rats".
I hope the Senate lines remain as they are. Perhaps the powers-that-be aren't comfortable with Tim "Hortons" Kennedy being controlled by the diabolical Steve Pigeon. Whatever happened to his Change Albany mantra? Not much.
Antoine, if you do decide to throw your hat in the ring, expect a three person race in June. Kennedy only represents a small and privileged part of South Buffalo. There are many others on the outside looking to make a case for change. This is a democracy and the last time I checked, you didn't have to be up Brian Higgins' ass to run for office. Anyone with half a brain knows Little Timmy stands only for the status quo. All I can say is, what date do petitions come out?...
From the Buffalo News blog...
Thompson denies interest in returning to politics
Former State Sen. Antoine M. Thompson said today he has not looked at new boundaries of Senate districts released last week by a legislative reapportionment commission.
"I haven't given any thought to it," he said when asked if he is contemplating another shot at Albany.
Thompson said he is concentrating on his real estate and publishing businesses and dismissed any thought that he may be contemplating a return to politics. But several sources say the former senator has been busy in recent days discussing a candidacy in the district now represented by Sen. Timothy M. Kennedy, D-Buffalo.
I look out my window and see the empty 40 oz beer bottles, hypodermic needles, crack pipes and abandoned shopping carts on my front lawn and begin to think. The end results have become known as my random thoughts from the ghetto...
Some notes collected while wondering whatever happened to Andy Van Hellemond...
-It's always funny and shocking when you see an old picture of a bald person from when they had hair. -Regardless of which street or direction you are coming from, the intersection of Clinton and Bailey is the worst corner (traffic wise) in the city. There's always someone trying to make a left turn with 42 cars behind them and no hope in sight.
-I kind of miss the old commercials for Syms. How many times did we hear the owner (Sy Syms) say, "Syms. Where an educated consumer is our best customer." ???
-Ralph Macchio was 25 years old during the making of The Karate Kid II. It should have been called The Karate Man.
-Did you ever notice, when a Hollywood star has a drug or alcohol problem, they always get taken to the hospital for exhaustion. But a waitress at your local diner could spend 10 hours on her feet, six days a week and people would laugh at her if she checked in for exhaustion. In reality, who is more likely to be exhausted, someone working their ass off or Demi Moore?
-Whenever a shocking crime takes place, neighbors always say, "stuff like this just doesn't happen on this street." If they dug up people from one of the backyards on my street, I'd probably tell the media, "I'm not shocked. I'm only surprised more things like this don't happen around here in the mothereffin ghetto."
-I used to find it funny when old ladies would call channel 7 to yell at Tom Jolls for not wearing a winter hat during the weather outside. -Western New York usually has severe winters. Colds/flu are often a side effect of this. This is why it surprises me that most restaurants don't serve chicken soup daily around here. I always ask what soups a restaurant is serving and it very rarely is chicken soup. Wouldn't it make sense for every local restaurant to serve it from November until March?
-I'd like to see stink bombs make a comeback. I'm kind of surprised that science hasn't developed one that kids could buy that could stink up an entire city block by now. That's what we really need.It would be great to see these come out of the crowd when one of our local self promoters makes one of their tiresome speeches.
-The most ridiculous thing on earth is when the schools try to teach kids about drugs in health class. Why not just tell the students that drugs are bad for them? They'd always bring in some crazy text book and try to name every nickname of every street drug popular in California. I remember them telling us to stay away from MaryJane, Goofballs, Ludes, Uppers, Downers, Red Devils,and Puff the Magic Dragon (whatever the hell that was). Nobody in our neighborhood was selling or taking any of this stuff. All it did was give us something else to make fun of. "Hey, you guys want to go do some goofballs?"Come on.
-I'd like to give a shout out to one of the blog's first readers, big Stevie Nicks fan Jennifer Schenk-Reiss. See what you started. You had to tell me it was pretty good. Now, 2,000 like-minded crazies read it each week.
And it all comes down to you Well, you know that it does Well, lightning strikes, maybe once, maybe twice...
There is a terribly run down house on Vermont Street. The rest of the street is well kept. Quick, somebody call a building inspector. Oh, wait. The house is owned by a building inspector!...
The house belongs to Joseph M. Latona. He is a city building inspector whose rental property sat vacant and boarded-up for months and is now about to be foreclosed upon.
"It's bringing the whole neighborhood down," said Tom Persico, who owns an auto repair shop on Vermont Street. "If it's foreclosed, at least, hopefully, somebody will do something with the property. He never took care of it."
This would seem to fall upon Chief Building Inspector Louis Petrucci to put the neighborhood ahead of city hall politics, so don't hold your breath...
Petrucci said extenuating circumstances led to Latona getting behind in his mortgage payments and the house going into foreclosure. He declined to say what those circumstances are, but it's believed to be related to the break-up of Latona's marriage.
There's your answer. Lou will never do the right thing. He does not work for the people on Vermont Street. He works for the Democratic party and whoever pulls his strings in city hall. The only way to get a positive result is to keep up the pressure on him. But whatever you do, don't take him at his word or you will surely be disappointed. He has no problem lying. In fact, it's a well known hobby of his...
The Occupy Movement is truly becoming global. Three crazy Ukrainian broads were arrested for going topless and trying to break into a meeting of CEOs yesterday in Switzerland... With temperatures around freezing in the snow-filled town, they took off their tops and tried to climb a fence before being detained. "Crisis! Made in Davos," read one message painted across a protester's torso, while others held banners that said "Poor, because of you" and "Gangsters party in Davos."
The activists are from the group Femen, which has become popular in Ukraine for staging small, half-naked protests to highlight a range of issues including oppression of political opposition. They have also conducted protests in some other countries.
The "black money scam" came to Buffalo last week from West Africa. If you're not familiar with it, it's something of a 2012 version of the Emperor's New Clothes. Famous victims of the Nigerian scam include Chelsea Clinton's father-in-law. The scam finds dumb people with excess money and uses their own greed to separate them from it. The one in a Cheektowaga motel last week involved three Liberians and $21,000. This one was rather bizarre as one of the alleged scammers ended up notifying police to save his own life...
The scam is a fraud popularized in the West African nation in which the victim — in this case Omar Clark, 35 — is presented with black construction paper reported to be real U. S. currency that had been dyed black through a chemical process.
The con men —Kromah,; Mohammed Kaba, 42, of Philadelphia; and Yayah Swaray, 32, of Sharon Hill, Pa. — told Clark they needed money to buy another chemical to wash away the black dye and make the currency usable again.
Clark was asked for money to buy the chemical in exchange for half of the black paper. Clark apparently turned over $21,000 to the three scammers in exchange for the black paper, which was really just construction paper with no value, police said.
Then things got interesting. Realizing he had been scammed out of $21,000, Clark told the three scammers he had some friends interested in getting in on the investment. That's when the crooks should have just gotten in their rental car and checked out of the motel.
It was in Buffalo, where Clark and at least three other men confronted the Liberians at gunpoint and demanded his money back. They then beat the hell out of the scammers, tied them up, and threw two of them out of a car on Godfrey Street in Buffalo. They brought the third scammer back to the Motel room where he broke free and called police...
The Black Money Scam, although apparently new in Western New York, has been widely reported in national media after netting several prominent victims, including former Rep. Ed Mezvinsky — the father-in-law of Chelsea Clinton —and a relative of New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma.
In Mezvinsky’s case, ABC reported the former Iowa congressman lost millions due to African money scams — including the Black Money Scam. Mezvinsky eventually served a seven-year prison sentence for fraud.
The only question I have is what did they do with all the black colored money?
One of the best African soccer players of the 90's was Liberian George Weah. He was so popular after his retirement from the game that he ran for President of Liberia, and lost in a very close contest. In his playing days, he often looked like a man competing against boys. The Liberian scammers are probably looking at this post right now, wondering how someone from Buffalo remembers George Weah...
Reading the article on New York State's redistricted State Senate districts, I was intrigued by the last paragraph involving Tim "Hortons" Kennedy's current seat...
Though the district of Sen. Timothy M. Kennedy, D-Buffalo, now includes new turf in Democratic enclaves like the East Side and Cheektowaga, sources in both areas said Friday they see no potential primary challengers at this point.
Not so fast. I'm open to anything that can rid us of this human infomercial for Brian Higgins. Little Timmy is incapable of original thought. He campaigned on a "change Albany" platform and has given us nothing but the same old status quo. Every time he attempts to speak in public, he loses votes. He sounds like he just swallowed a helium-filled balloon and it's always the party line or some ridiculous cheer-leading speech.
He's terrible. Give me six free months to educate his constituents about him, I wouldn't care how many votes I got.
Some people hate free for alls, but I love them. I have no problem finishing in 3rd place if it means taking some votes away from this rocket scientist. The only way to prove you have any political juice in this area is to run for office. With the power of the internet, a well educated person doesn't need any money to get their ideas out. I would be open to meeting with any Democrat from the East side or Cheektowaga looking for a three person primary. This is a democracy the last time I checked, isn't it? Candidates evaluate new districts Share|
When we heard the families of the teenaged girls in the town of LeRoy were bringing in a new doctor to investigate their daughters' symptoms, we thought it was a good idea. Were not accusing the government doctors of any type of coverup. However, they seemed too quick to rule out environmental factors or strep infection.
In any event, we were able to obtain this photo of the new doctor. He comes with a great reputation, but strikes us as being a little inexperienced, but who are we to judge?...
I told you when Andrew was campaigning for Governor to hold onto your wallets. The Cuomos like nothing better than spending your money. In the midst of the biggest recession in New York state history, Cuomo thinks the time is right to give his Commissioners pay raises. He feels the need to increase their already bloated six figure salaries in order to attract "top talent."
Don't fall for his nonsensical B.S. Top talent? Is that what he calls these clowns? Every business and non-profit in the state is trying to make due with less, and Andrew thinks we should pay these bozos more of our money? Talented at what, kissing ass? He must realize they need more money in order to afford his expensive fundraisers. I mean, seriously, that is the only "talent" they have.
Please tell us what talent Sam Hoyt possesses, besides being a career politician and the son of Bill Hoyt. None of these lowlifes will get any raises if the blogosphere has anything to do with it. This is right out of the tired playbook of another former Cuomo, the scam artist known as Mario...
I couldn't agree more with this letter writer from Cheektowaga. Donna Dusczak aptly points out that one of the signs of a great city is it's transportation system. If that's the case, Buffalo has it's work cut out for it. The NFTA seems completely out of touch with the needs of it's customers. They are also not held accountable to anyone. Dusczak offers some sound suggestions including cutting salaries at the top, using smaller buses for lighter routes, and lowering the fares to attract more customers. You mean running it like an actual business? What a novel idea...
Reduce NFTA salaries instead of hiking fares
I read the front-page News story “The buck stops here,” which pertained to the City of Rochester and how it compared to the City of Buffalo’s Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.
The NFTA should be ashamed of itself. It needs to cut all administrative salaries by at least 10 percent; send out smaller buses for lighter routes; and lower the fares, not increase them. By raising fares and cutting routes, the NFTA is preventing people from getting to jobs, thereby hindering job growth.
It has been said that one of the signs of a great city is its transportation system. Need I say more?
"Hey kids, get your coats! We're going out to steal things that others have worked hard for!"
What is the definition of a lowlife? Teiaya White, of Buffalo, a 33 year old mom who allegedly hired her kids and their young friends to shoplift for her...
"She was literally taking a bunch of kids out and would wait for them to steal," Amherst Detective Lt. Joseph A. LaCorte said. "I think it is despicable. She's using the system. She knows if the kids get caught, not much will happen to them, and she walks away clean. Hopefully, the courts will take this as seriously as we do."
The big question now is, what punishment will she receive from the criminal justice system, a system which she is clearly playing? I'd be interested in knowing what schools the Buffalo woman's children and their friends attend, also. Just so critics of the Buffalo teachers could see the type of kids they are challenged with each day. I'd also like to know more about the family's father and how much of a role he has in the lives of his offspring, if any.
The type of items being stolen lead Amherst police to suspect encouragement from mom...
Amherst police wonder why youngsters ranging in age from 12 to 14 would steal items generally not associated with youthful thievery.
"There was an electronic tablet, but the other items stolen included steaks, a toaster oven, cigars and a comforter," LaCorte said.
Hopefully, the judge will come down hard on everyone involved here. This is yet another example of people not recognizing the value of things, because they are used to the government giving them everything for free. It's hard to blame the children involved when they have role models like this. There's no reason for society to turn a blind eye to criminal behavior. If the children are not taught ethical behavior from the adults in their lives, the system needs to give them real consequences. This stuff happens because we continue to allow it.
Back to the town of LeRoy, where environmental activists Lois Gibbs and Erin Brockovich are practically tripping over each other to get to the bottom of whatever is causing Tourette's-like symptoms in at least 15 students. In fact, at a news conference tomorrow at 1PM, Gibbs is scheduled to bury Brockovich headfirst in some potentially contaminated soil. This could get interesting.
Now, for the first time, we're hearing stories about an infamous train derailment in 1970, involving a toxic solvent which I can't spell or pronounce. I can just imagine the old timers gathering around the local diner i n LeRoy, discussing the events of that day in vivid detail. It just keeps getting more bizarre. From WGRZ...
Rumors persist that the school or ground sit atop rock and soil trucked in from a part of LeRoy still suffering the after-effects of a huge spill of the toxic solvent trichloroethylene in a 1970 train derailment.
LeRoy schools superintendent Kim Cox declined to answer questions about the gas wells or fill.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees ongoing cleanup of the Lehigh Valley Railroad spill, has no knowledge of fill being taken from the site, said spokesman Elias Rodriguez. But Raba's group has asked the agency to look into it because so many people swear it happened.
Bus riders: Don't fall for the NFTA's latest scam. You might remember a few months ago, they announced they would be drastically cutting some popular bus routes. People who used those routes to get to work were understandably outraged. Now, the suits are saying they can avoid cutting the routes by raising the fares. They even have the audacity to claim the riders are more than willing to pay the higher rates in order to keep the popular routes!
"It's based on the comments," Executive Director Kimberley A. Minkel said of the revised plan. "We had close to 400 emails, and overwhelmingly the comment was: 'Please don't cut my service; I would gladly pay a fare increase.'" Stop lying, Kimbo. Nobody is sending you emails thanking you for raising the rates. Do you think the Blogger is that stupid? Nice try, though. Don't fall for this blatant ploy, citizens. If the NFTA were a business, it would have went bankrupt years ago. They make zero profit, yet have loads of bureaucrats walking around collecting hefty salaries. The people at the top live by Spaulding Lake and have probably never taken a metro bus in their lives.
My advice to bus riders: Find out exactly how much the top level crooks over there make, show up to this meeting, write letters to the paper, and publicly ask them if any of them would consider taking pay cuts. If this doesn't work, I suggest throwing things at them. Only in Governmentland can you run a business poorly, lose money, and still pay yourself and your friends hefty salaries. The people at the top have missed the bus. Riders spur NFTA to rethink cutbacks
So the guy grabbed a chainsaw and cut down six utility poles. Maybe he was just having a bad day. Six months of grey skies and rampant unemployment will do that to you...
Gregory J. Seifert, described as a computer engineering wizard who attended the University of Rochester and held a significant computer programming job, has been repeatedly diagnosed with psychiatric illness, according to his brother. Unfortunately, according to the brother, Seifert refuses to take his medications and winds up in and out of trouble with the law.
Give the man a break. We all find different ways to relax. Maybe his was knocking out power to 6,300 customers. There's a fine line between sanity and insanity. Let's face it. The Bills suck! The Sabres suck! Our politicians are all criminals. If blogging wasn't a good outlet, I'd probably be heading down to Home Depot myself and picking up a chainsaw. My sentence for Seifert is no jail time and zero hours of community service. Chain-saw figure cited as mentally troubled
Finished with my woman cause she couldn't help me with my mind! people think I'm insane because I am frowning all the time!
All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify
Although well intentioned, the people from Citizen Action are woefully out of touch with what is going on in the Buffalo Public Schools. The bleeding hearts, who took some time off from pretending to sleep out in Niagara Square, chanted "Books, not prisons!" and paraded a bunch of minority handcuffed-wearing children around at tonight's school board meeting. But I didn't hear one of them accept responsibility for the overall piss-poor behavior of the students at the lower performing schools. I guess it's much easier to thump ones chest and protest than to actually talk about personal responsibility and good parenting.
One woman said the death of a student at a bus stop would "never be allowed at a suburban school". This tragic death had everything to do with society and nothing to do with the school. Does she ever stop to think why most parents left the city in the first place? So their kids wouldn't have to sit next to the angels (white and black) constantly disrupting class on a daily basis, with their outbursts and overall ignorant behavior.
By the way, despite what Citizen Action would have you believe, the Buffalo Public Schools' policies are not racist (and nobody has criticized the board and administrators more than I). Ask the well behaved kids from Somalia, Nigeria, and Burma if the current suspension policies are racist. They are just as puzzled by the boorish behavior of the American born students as school employees and the rest of us are. It all starts with attitude and an appreciation for education. Stop blaming everyone else and simply raise your children. If your kids weren't acting like fools, they wouldn't have to worry about getting suspended...
I'm glad to live in the United States of America. Living in Cuba, I'd never get away with criticizing the government like I do on a daily basis. However, that doesn't mean I don't agree with Fidel Castro's opinion of the type of " leaders" our current political system promotes. You might remember, the topic of Castro's impending death came up during last week's GOP debate... http://mikeblake-myopinions.blogspot.com/2012/01/mitt-and-newt-wish-death-on-fidel.html)
Needless to say, Fidel Sassoon is not a big fan of the GOP hopefuls...
In an op-ed column published Wednesday, Castro writes, “The selection of a Republican candidate for the presidency of this globalized and expansive empire is — and I mean this seriously — the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been.”
The greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance? I thought that was when Tim Kennedy ran against Bill Stachowski in 2010? I guess the man with the big cigar gets touchy when others talk about his limited time here on earth. Not to be outdone, he had this to say about Barack Obama and American voters, specifically minority voters...
Earlier this month, Castro remarked that, faced with a choice between Obama, a top-tier Republican rival or a robot,“90 percent of voting Americans, especially Hispanics, blacks and the growing number of the impoverished middle class, would vote for the robot.
The same thing can be said of South Buffalo voters. If they see an endorsed Democrat on several lawn signs or one of these liars says hello to them at a church lawn fete, forget about it. It doesn't matter how stupid the candidate is. The opponent could be the next Winston Churchill and it wouldn't matter.
It's about time Buffalo had some good news, even if it is only potentially good news. Roswell Park has announced a new vaccine, which they think could potentially cure cancer someday.
This is extremely hopeful news, but I'd like to know more about the vaccine. I wonder how often this has happened in the past, with potential cures being discussed publicly. It is very exciting, though. Can you imagine in 2097, the Health Journals saying the cure for cancer was discovered in the outpost of Buffalo, NY in the year 2012? That would be almost as exciting as the day the lady from the Anchor Bar decided to keep the discarded chicken parts and call them wings.
It's interesting how something so big could take place right in our backyards. Curiously, there was no mention of this story on the front page of the Buffalo News this afternoon. Perhaps a cat was stuck in a tree somewhere...
After Amherst town board member Richard "Jay" Anderson was called to duty for the Navy Reserves, he used a little known codicil in the Amherst Constitution to have his daddy sit in for him.
His father is former State Assemblyman Rick Anderson, Sr. After all, this is Western New York, where the old politicians never leave. They just linger around like contagious fungi. Now it seems that dad can't be bothered to attend the town board meetings because he "winters" in Florida.
These days, however, Town Board members are wondering if the replacement needs replacing, since Anderson Sr. is wintering in Florida and isn’t scheduled to return until late April or May.
Talk about entitled. Did you ever notice the only people "wintering" in Florida are the ones who made their living off the taxpayers of Western New York ?(see Jim Keane). I'm disappointed in the residents of Amherst. Get rid of this carpetbagging loser and replace him with someone from the private sector, who actually lives here year round. What a joke!... Amherst officials debate replacing Anderson’s replacement
The story just keeps getting more weird. Two Albany area girls, who stopped and ate in LeRoy over the summer, have been diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome. As one of their fathers points out in this WIVB clip, perhaps one of them brought the cause of the outbreak to the small town. In any event, still more questions than answers.
I'm not saying the cause here is environmental. I'll leave that to the experts. Something just doesn't add up...
WGRZ reports now that 15 students have been diagnosed with the symptoms and that one of them is male. In this clip, they interview a doctor who studied a similar case in North Carolina a decade ago. In that case, students began displaying symptoms of Epilepsy. It was determined to be Mass Hysteria caused by Conversion Disorder...
In case you missed Steven Tyler's butchering of the national anthem, here you go. Not exactly Whitney Houston at the Super Bowl. Waaaaaaalk this Waaaaaaaay!!!..
If you thought that was bad, check out this police officer's version. Holy cow! This is fall out of your seat funny. I've seen people screw it up, but never this great. I can't believe the people in the audience maintained their composure...
This one is another classic, which you may have already seen. NBA coach Maureece Cheeks sees a young singer struggling with the words and goes over and guides her through it. He took what could have been an embarrassing situation and turns it into a memorable one...
If the Buffalo Public Schools' suspensions debate interests you, I suggest you check out Mary Pasciak's blog on the Buffalo News' website. She compared the number of suspensions at each school to the number of students suspended at the school. What she found shouldn't be a surprise to anybody...
In some schools, the average student who got suspended was suspended about three times: North Park Middle led the pack, followed by Riverside High School, Southside Elementary, Waterfront Elementary, Buffalo Elementary School of Technology and Harriett Ross Tubman.
At the other end of the spectrum, at some schools, most students who were suspended were suspended only once: Early Childhood Center 82, Olmsted 64, D'Youville Porter, Hutch Tech and Middle Early College.
They need to take the students who behave at the lower performing schools and have them separated from the students who choose to misbehave. In other words, have the worst of the worst students go to alternative schools. There is no reason to force well behaved students to sit next to consistently disruptive students. Here is a comment from underneath Pasciak's post. Although the language is rather blunt, I do tend to agree with his opinion...
No news here. Tough schools like Burgard, South Park and Riverside have higher recidivism rates as they have since the magnet school system came to town. The more serious students get siphoned off to Hutch, Da Vinci and Honors and the thugs and slugs get dumped in with good kids who dont have great grades in the so called academic schools. The more thugs and slugs in your building the more suspensions and repeat offenders. Pardon the offensive language but spend a few minutes in the hallways and listen to the filth and disrespect spewed by some of these "students" and you will wonder why we cant just expel some of these 18 year olds with 5 more arrests than they have high school credits. If school is a joke to you then the punchline should be "you're out." Suspension is the only temporary reprieve some kids and teachers get from the criminals and idiots in a building who couldn't care less about an education.
Very true. By the way, North Park Middle School leads the pack with 3.1 (the average # of suspensions per student suspended). Most of the students there are not from North Buffalo. This comes as no surprise to me, as it is the worst school I've seen (behavior wise) in my three years of subbing. To see how your son/daughter's schools stacked up, please go to:
New York state lawmakers are quietly trying to give themselves raises again. These scum make $80,000/year for a part time job that they are poor at. Even their own leader admits that many (all) do their jobs on a part time basis...
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he thinks lawmakers deserve more money. "Well, obviously it's never a good time to make the case and I'm not making the case," Silver told WNYT-TV. "I am saying that members work hard, many of them are full time legislators."
"Many" of them. Unbelievable. The taxpayers have already spoken out on this issue and are dead set against any pay raises. If any of these talentless vultures are unhappy with their pay, they are free to look for work elsewhere. Tim "Hortons" Kennedy ran on a "Change Albany" slogan. We'll be waiting for him to come out with a statement opposing these ridiculous raises. Don't hold your breath. Should NYS Legislators Get a Raise? | wgrz.com
Did you ever wonder who has the best pizza in South Buffalo? Don't tell the Ninja, but Boy Scout troop #60 from St. Teresa's will be sponsoring the first ever South Buffalo Pizza Fest on Saturday, March 10th from 12 noon until 5:00PM. Proceeds will benefit the troop for equipment and tents.
Admission Tickets are $2 presale or $3 at the door. Many South Buffalo and surrounding area pizzeria's will be on hand featuring their best pizzas.
Awards will be given for best: * Cheese and one topping * Specialty * Table Presentation
I'll admit that I don't know a whole lot about Cuban leader Fidel Castro. However, Mitt and Newt's responses on his impending death make me wish we had some better Presidential candidates.
The knuckleheads were asked how they would respond to a 3AM phone call informing them of the Cuban leader's death? Mitt said he'd be glad that he was "meeting his maker." Newt responded that Fidel would be going to the other place. I can tell you this, Castro might be a scumbag, but he's much more sincere in his patriotism towards his country than these two buffoons.
I'd like to ask them, how would they respond to a 3AM phone call asking them if their refrigerator was running?...
Another person at LeRoy Central High School is walking around making crazy noises and gestures. The current doctor says it is consistent with Conversion Disorder.
Meanwhile, several of the parents don't believe him and have sought a second opinion. Some quack named Dr.Rosario is coming to town to investigate their daughters' symptoms. He thinks the girls might have PANDAS, a neurological disorder caused by strep throat. He calls the findings of the government's doctors "garbage." The government doctors are quick to point out that PANDAS is very rare after age 11, and they counter that only one of the girls had a sore throat before exhibiting the Tourette's-like symptoms.
If I had a daughter at the school, I'd force her to walk around town making crazy noises and spazzing out. If the cause eventually proves to be environmental, I'd want my share of the inevitable class action lawsuit. I might even show up to a meeting myself and do my best Michael J. Fox imitation. Whatever it takes to get paid.
This story gets more bizarre by the minute. And just like the girls' facial tics, I don't expect it to go away any time soon...
The FBI cracked down on a gang of lowlife thugs today. And after they finished with the Erie County Democratic Committee members, they also arrested some drug dealers.
The news conference had been scheduled for noon. However, once they realized how many relatives of the Common Council, the mayor, and local ministers were in custody, the FBI decided to change it to 2PM. That gave them enough time to come out with a "revised" list...
Baltimore Ravens coach Jim Harbough is quickly gaining a reputation as a crybaby. Former Bill Lee Evans had the ball swatted out of his hands for an incompletion that would have won the game. Fans who read way too much into the rules, might try to make a claim that Evans completed the act of a catch. BS. As John Madden once said, one knee equals two feet and a catch is a catch, not a drop. Good call by the officials.
Had the play happened at midfield, Harbough would have been screaming that it was an incompletion. At least Evans owned up to it after the game and didn't make the same excuse as his lame coach...
"It’s really not a whole lot to say about it," said Evans barely above a whisper as tears welled in his eyes. "It is what you saw. It was an opportunity for us to go to the Super Bowl and I let it go."
I'm glad some people are finally speaking up about student behavior in the Buffalo Public Schools. There have been at least three letters this week in the Buffalo News pointing the finger where it needs to be pointed: at unruly and disrespectful students.
Sam Radford and the group Citizen Action think it is the teachers' job to raise children. Parents of the schoolchildren are not held accountable in their view, because that wouldn't be politically correct. These people live on Mars and have no idea how poorly behaved many (not all) students are in the Buffalo Schools. The students demand (not ask) to use the bathroom. They are outraged that anyone should tell them to put their cell phones away during class. Many feel it is within their rights to walk around and disrupt the class. Despite being given everything for free, they can't be bothered to show up with pens, paper, etc. Fortunately, people with common sense are starting to respond to the kooks who want to blame the adults in the buildings. We're living in the real world, bleeding hearts. Go into the classrooms at some of these schools and see what is really going on. This isn't some kind of Michelle Pfeiffer movie we're talking about...
Don't blame teachers for terrible behavior
I am a Buffalo teacher and a Buffalo Teachers Federation Executive Committee member. I am writing in response to the article, “Dozens take district to task over suspensions.”
Suspensions are not given for minor offenses and primarily to “students of color.” There are rules of behavior for students. If they disobey these rules, whether the child is white, black or purple, rich or poor, there are consequences. Cellphone use, tardiness, destroying school property, bringing in weapons, wandering the halls, swearing and fighting are not just minor offenses. I have witnessed a child saying, “get off my d---” after being politely asked to sit down, a student screaming, “what the f---are you looking at” to a teacher, texting to arrange fights and lavatory destruction. Despicable!
Students are not “kicked out of school and put into the streets.” There is protocol and behavior modification plans. Work is given to suspended students. There is not “a lack of black history taught in the schools.” Black history is integrated into our entire curriculum. Black History Month is also celebrated. There are not “too few black teachers.” Students should behave for and learn from any teacher, regardless of color. There is no place for racial bias and bigotry.
Parents must take responsibility for their children. Children are “dying in the streets” not because of teachers, but because of poor parenting. Know where your children are at all times. Ten-year-old children should not be out roaming the streets at midnight. Insist on proper bed times so that your children can make it to school on time. Read to them. Make sure that they complete their homework. Attend meetings even if they are “not on the bus line.” Find a way to be an integral part of your child’s life. Parent your children!
Newt Gingrich pulled off an upset victory over Mitt Romney in South Carolina on Friday. Questions about Romney's taxes and investments have him looking like a deer caught in headlights heading into Florida. What's more American than having your millions of dollars invested in a bank in the Caymen Islands with a guy named Jose?
Romney gave a somewhat rambling, noncommittal response in a debate in Myrtle Beach last Monday when asked if he would release his tax returns before the primary. The following day, he told reporters that because most of his earnings come from investments, he paid about 15 percent of his income in taxes, roughly half the rate paid by millions of middle-class wage-earners. A day later, aides confirmed that some of his millions are invested in the Cayman Islands, although they said he did not use the offshore accounts as a tax haven.
Asked again at a debate in North Charleston on Thursday about releasing his taxes, his answer was anything but succinct and the audience appeared to boo.
Gingrich clearly was going after the redneck vote when he referred to President Obama as the "food stamp" President.
Obama is "the most effective food stamp president in history," he said. "I would like to be the best paycheck president in American history." Those declarations and his attack on the "elite news media" reprised two of his more memorable lines from a pair of debates that helped fuel his victory.
Ironically, the polarizing Gingrich is the candidate who would have the toughest time defeating Obama in a one on one election. Will comments like the one above fly with moderate voters? I have to admit, when I first heard him call Obama the food stamp President, the issue of race came to mind. Newt has never been politically correct, but unfortunately for him, he's never been honest, either. Where's the guy from the Gong Show when you need him? Unfortunately for the GOP, what they need is a charismatic guy like Ronald Reagan. Love him or hate him, Reagan had a way of reaching middle America. I don't see anyone like that in this field.
