GOP charges that timing of Smith’s departure is tied to health insurance

March 9, 2013, 7:06 pm

≫ Next: NYSEG plans excavation of Lockport street to remove coal tar

≪ Previous: New radio system part of planned Niagara security boosts

LOCKPORT – Republicans in the Niagara County Legislature charged last week that former Democratic Election Commissioner Nancy L. Smith’s upcoming retirement is timed to maximize her county health insurance benefits.

Smith and county Democratic Chairman Nicholas J. Forster denied the accusation, but the fact remains that if Smith left before April 15, when she turns 55, she wouldn’t receive any retirement health insurance from the county.

But by staying until her birthday, Smith ensures that the county will pay 75 percent of her health premiums for the rest of her life.

“That’s why it’s going to cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Legislator Paul B. Wojtaszek, R-North Tonawanda.

Family coverage costs the county between $12,000 and $14,000 a year, depending on the option chosen, said Risk and Insurance Director Jennifer R. Pitarresi. In recent years, annual increases have been 5 percent to 8 percent.

On Feb. 19, the Legislature accepted the Democratic committee’s decision to replace Smith with Lora A. Allen as election commissioner, but Smith was chosen to succeed Allen as deputy commissioner until April.

“She decided when she was going to stay,” Forster said. “[Health insurance] wasn’t a question. It never came up.”

The Legislature in 1998 adopted a policy that appointed officials such as Smith receive fully paid county health insurance if they have 20 years of county service.

Smith will retire with 19 years on the county payroll, entitling her to 75 percent coverage.

But the 1998 policy says the retiree must have reached “the minimum retirement age as denied by the New York State Retirement System.” That age is 55.

“If she left her employment before her retirement age, she wouldn’t get anything [in health insurance],” County Attorney Claude A. Joerg said.

“You have to reach the minimum retirement before the day you retire, or I suppose ‘on the day of’ works, too,” Pitarresi agreed.

“That’s why they’re keeping her on,” Wojtaszek charged. “I firmly don’t believe Lora needs the orientation process. She’s been there 10 years. She’s ready to take the reins.”

Forster said, “It’s too bad the Dirty Dozen [his name for the 12-member GOP Legislature delegation] didn’t pay more attention to trying to reduce taxes the last 12 years instead of nailing Nancy Smith to the wall. … It sounds like she’s the first county employee ever to retire. It almost seems like it, according to these wizards.”

Smith said in an interview last week that the decision to stay as deputy commissioner until her birthday was driven by her desire not to be without income until her state pension kicks in at age 55.

She is fully vested in the state pension system. Her years as secretary to Lockport Mayor Thomas C. Rotondo from 1990 through 1993 count. She became county auditor in 1994, deputy election commissioner in 1998 and commissioner in 2001.

“My husband and I had decided I was probably going to retire at the end of April, anyway,” Smith said. “We’re making some changes in my life, and he’s older than me, and I want to spend some time with him.”

email: tprohaska@buffnews.com

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NYSEG plans excavation of Lockport street to remove coal tar

March 9, 2013, 7:06 pm

≫ Next: DEC plans Thursday meeting on capping ash in Lockport ravine

≪ Previous: GOP charges that timing of Smith’s departure is tied to health insurance

LOCKPORT – LaGrange Street will be dug up – sometime.

New York State Electric & Gas Corp. is planning a major excavation of the Lockport street to remove buried coal tar that is leaking into the Erie Canal.

But no one is sure exactly when it will happen.

NYSEG spokesman Clayton Ellis said there was a manufactured gas plant at the site from 1851 to 1927, which converted coal into gas, leaving coal tar as a byproduct.

City Engineer Norman D. Allen told the Common Council late last month that the cleanup will involve digging up LaGrange all the way down to the bedrock.

That’s about 12 feet deep, Ellis said.

And it could be expensive.

Four years ago, when a public meeting was held regarding the cleanup plan, the price tag for the work was estimated at $11 million.

Recently, Mayor Michael W. Tucker grimaced while thinking about the traffic woes that would result from the work.

LaGrange is next to a gas station that has a Tim Hortons franchise, and the drive-thru lane can be accessed from LaGrange. The street intersects with South Transit Street, Route 78.

“It’s a mess there on a good day,” Tucker said.

This is the second NYSEG manufactured gas site to be remediated in Lockport. The first, on State Road near South Transit, had been the location of the coal tar-processing plant for the gas production facility that left the buried coal tar that is to be dug up.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has yet to comment on NYSEG’s proposed plan.

“NYSEG has quite a bit of prep work to do on their end in the meantime,” said Kristen Davidson, a spokeswoman for the state DEC. “DEC is hoping to approve the design this year but is dependent on NYSEG’s work on their station. When a timeline is ready, it will be available to the public.”

Officials at NYSEG said the effort is part of ongoing work.

“The remediation work will be done under a consent order between NYSEG and the DEC,” Ellis wrote in an email to The Buffalo News. “This order covers 36 former manufactured gas plant sites; five sites, including the Lockport State Street site, have been adequately remediated, and no further action is required.”

Ellis said the gas plant was built by the Lockport Gas Light Co., which later became the Lockport Light, Heat & Power Co. NYSEG took ownership of the site in 1930.

NYSEG now operates an electric substation at South Transit and LaGrange, which in Tucker’s opinion is none too attractive.

“I’ve asked them to make it more aesthetically pleasing on the South Transit Street side of the substation,” Tucker said.

Ellis said the substation fence is to be replaced, and the company also may put in some plantings.

“State regulations do not permit us to spend beyond what is necessary for remediation projects,” he said.

About 75 percent of LaGrange between South Transit and Saxton Street is to be excavated down to bedrock to make sure all the coal tar is removed, Ellis said. The leaching into the canal also is to be eliminated, he added. The leak is below the water level during the navigation season.

NYSEG started investigating the site in 1983, the DEC’s Davidson said. The remedial investigation began in November 2004, and the final report came out in 2007.

“Material removed from the site would be taken to a DEC-approved landfill or a DEC-approved thermal treatment facility,” Ellis said. “The state Department of Health required air monitoring at the perimeter of the site when work is being done. Corrective actions would be taken well before any predetermined action levels were reached.”

He said NYSEG does not expect electricity transmission to be affected by the work near the substation.

email: tprohaska@buffnews.com

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DEC plans Thursday meeting on capping ash in Lockport ravine

March 9, 2013, 7:06 pm

≫ Next: A river rescue by Officer Daryl Truty

≪ Previous: NYSEG plans excavation of Lockport street to remove coal tar

LOCKPORT – Memories of a long-forgotten city dump, which now will cost the state millions of dollars, will be stirred at a public meeting Thursday in City Hall.

A $10.5 million remediation plan for a remote area of west Lockport called “the Gulf,” where tons of incinerator ash were dumped decades ago, will be discussed at the 6:30 p.m. session.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says that although the city once operated a municipal landfill in the area – and the ash seems to have come primarily from household waste – there is no documentary proof that the city dumped the ash in the ravine.

“We haven’t identified a responsible party yet, because we don’t have any records that show who disposed of it. And the land that it’s on is not entirely city property. It’s on city property, town property, NYSEG property, Somerset Railroad property and two other residential properties that extend into the gorge,” DEC project manager Greg Sutton said.

Because of that, Sutton said in an interview last week, the DEC is unable to stick the city with the cleanup tab.

The state Superfund will carry the cost, although Sutton said the DEC will refer the matter to the State Attorney General’s Office to see if it can prove the involvement of any responsible parties.

Mayor Michael W. Tucker was pleased to hear that the city won’t have to pay, but he said he hadn’t received any information about the DEC’s cleanup plan beyond the publicly issued fact sheet.

“Nobody’s contacted me about it,” said Norman D. Allen, city director of engineering and public works.

He said that when the DEC was investigating the site, “They called me to find out where the sanitary [sewer] line was.”

He was referring to a major sewer main called the “Gulf interceptor,” which carries sewage from the southwest part of the city through the Gulf area to the city’s sewage treatment plant.

The Gulf, a steep ravine, contains a small stream that is a tributary of Eighteen Mile Creek, Sutton said.

Allen said none of the waste interferes with the operation of the sewer main. But he conceded, “They haven’t told me exactly where they’re excavating.”

The DEC’s official name for the location is the Old Upper Mountain Road Site. It covers about seven acres.

The old city dump, operated from 1921 into the 1950s, is divided into two parts by the Somerset Railroad tracks. The contaminated ash, 200,000 cubic yards of it, is to be found in what the DEC has dubbed Operable Unit 1, which is six acres north of the tracks.

“It looks like typical municipal incinerator ash,” Sutton said. “You have bottles, clay pieces and leather pieces, things that wouldn’t combust under a normal low-temperature incinerator … We didn’t find any industrial waste, we didn’t find any drums.”

Since August 2008, the Gulf has been listed by the DEC as a Class 2 site, which is an inactive hazardous waste site posing a significant threat to public health or the environment.

Officials said there are two reasons for that listing. One is elevated lead levels.

The other, said Sutton, is “a lot of evidence of people trespassing on the site and either dumping garbage there, or people digging for bottles, so they could come in contact with waste.”

Operable Unit 2, along Gulf Creek, contains contaminated sediment that spilled out of the creek onto the shores of the stream during high water periods over the decades. The sediment, whose primary contaminant is lead, was polluted by runoff from the heap of ash in the ravine, which ranges from six inches to 78 feet thick.

The DEC’s plan is to stuff as much of the ash as possible into the bottom of the ravine to create a slope which will be stable enough to support a cap.

“It was basically dumped over a cliff, so you have to have sufficient grade to be able to cap the material. Otherwise you’ll get too much erosion,” Sutton said.

After that, 18,100 cubic yards of creek sediment will be excavated, dewatered on the site and placed in the ravine atop the ash. Then the whole pile will be covered with a multi-layer cap, and an environmental easement will be placed on the land to control future use.

The ash dumping is believed to have occurred over several decades, but records are lacking as to whether the City of Lockport ever operated an incinerator.

“Maybe it was even burned at the landfill itself. They used to do that. They’d set the trash the piles on fire, which we’d never do today,” Sutton said.

The ash slid down through the gully and contaminated the wetlands and the creek below.

“The big problem down there was, they had a number of beaver dams. They would back up the water and then it would spill over the banks of the creek and contaminate the area right next to the creek,” Sutton said.

A public comment period lasts until March 28, and then the DEC will issue a “record of decision” on what it intends to do. The design of the cleanup work is expected this year, but the remedial work isn’t expected to start in late 2014 or early 2015, Sutton said.

DEC spokeswoman Kristen Davidson said the work will last about nine months and could extend over parts of two construction seasons, depending on how the dates fall.

email: tprohaska@buffnews.com

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A river rescue by Officer Daryl Truty

March 9, 2013, 7:08 pm

≫ Next: Mist-ified by lawsuit? Pay attention as state, Falls boat tour operator defend themselves in court

≪ Previous: DEC plans Thursday meeting on capping ash in Lockport ravine

NORTH TONAWANDA – When Daryl Truty thinks back on it now, just three or four minutes went by between the calls for help and his rescue of the drowning man he has never seen or heard from again.

As he told the story of jumping into the swift current of the Little River branch of the Niagara River, it seemed like it all lasted a slow 15 minutes.

“He was struggling to stay up. He was going under for a second at a time,” Truty said, relating what he remembers of that afternoon last July.

“He would go down and pop back up briefly. He wasn’t able to stay above water.”

Truty had been on vacation, taking his boat out to fix the propeller, when he heard the cries and jumped in the water to make the rescue along with two other men who were nearby.

In the months that have gone by since, news of what happened percolated through local civic clubs. This year, his daring led them to surprise him with commendations, which included a city proclamation “for the dedication and zeal he has demonstrated for his lifesaving ‘Selfless act of Heroism.’ ”

He started to help when a friend of the drowning man called out from a cement bridge piling he managed to climb up on.

Soon Truty and his friend were in life jackets holding onto the man and the edge of an inflatable dingy that Tim Trimper, who also heard the cries, had motored over in from Smith Boys Marina.

“That was that guy’s lucky day, because there was nobody else around except for us,” said Jim Maloney, Truty’s friend and manager of the River Oaks Marina on Grand Island. “If he lives to 80 years, he’s there because three people he didn’t know decided they were going to do something.”

So you threw a first, then a second, “rescue” pillow into the water before you jumped?

I almost hit him with it. I believe he was semiconscious because he didn’t know what was going on. He made no attempt to grab it.

Jim put the life jacket on. He jumped in off the bat. The wind was blowing ... He was getting too far away for us to catch up to him.

The guy in the dingy managed to grab onto the drowning man?

They were basically free-floating on the channel.

You swam to the raft as the boater was saying he didn’t have the strength to keep holding the man?

We met up kind of at the same time ...

So then I was holding on to the kid in the water. Jim Maloney finally caught up to us at that point, swimming. I was holding onto one of the ropes as I was holding onto him. Once Jim Maloney came, we decided that we would push him onto the boat. Somehow we communicated to each other that we needed to get him into the boat. We grabbed onto him and pushed him into the boat ...

The boat couldn’t have been more than eight feet long. It’s just a small inflatable with a motor on it.

Were you afraid?

What was going on in my head was what I had to do. That was probably more job-related. I don’t think I thought about the dangers of what we were doing until it was all over.

Everything seemed to work out in his favor at that time. I can’t say it wasn’t that dangerous. Any series of events could have happened with the boat propellers. With one of us getting too tired and drowning. Even to this day, I don’t see how much I put myself at risk because I don’t see it as that. When it was all over, to me, it felt like the everyday thing that we do every time I come to work.

Have you done other rescues?

Most of the time we’re not able to be in the position to have made a difference. Because that kid would not have been here today if anything was off by 10 seconds. He had a very little window of time where he probably wouldn’t be here. There was probably less than a minute of time whether or not he was dead or alive.

What do you know about him?

I think he was around 20. I think they were just swimming. I think he tried to swim upstream to get back to where he was, and he got tired.

I thought I heard he was from Rochester. One of the firemen seemed to think he was here with Canal Fest. I believe they transported him to DeGraff.

Was it strange not to hear from him?

I thought somebody would have maybe said something. I guess it is a little surprising never to have heard.

I wouldn’t describe it as disappointing because I wasn’t looking for anything. I’ve obviously received awards for what happened. I wasn’t looking for any awards. They’re very much appreciated.

What did your family think?

My wife ended up seeing all the fire engines. She was there when I got back. It didn’t surprise her that I was in the middle of it. It isn’t out of the ordinary. I seem to end up in the middle of things.

What do you mean?

Probably six years ago, I went in water after somebody else before that was trying to avoid the police. He was trying to avoid arrest, and he jumped in the water. Almost the same exact spot. That’s why it didn’t surprise her.

We always had a pool. We’ve always had a boat. I grew up around the water. I’m not afraid to go in the water.

Everybody’s been pretty good about it. I’d prefer to not be in the center of attention.

Hopefully this summer I’ll only have to swim for my personal pleasure.

Know a Niagara County resident who would make an interesting column? Write to Q&A, The Buffalo News, P.O. Box 100, Buffalo, NY 14240, or email niagaranews@buffnews.com. email: mkearns@buffnews.com

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Mist-ified by lawsuit? Pay attention as state, Falls boat tour operator defend themselves in court

March 9, 2013, 7:08 pm

≫ Next: Four community leaders to be honored for contributions

≪ Previous: A river rescue by Officer Daryl Truty

NIAGARA FALLS – No one seems to know exactly what the new lawsuit challenging the Maid of the Mist will mean for Niagara Falls.

It could spell the end for an iconic local company that has taken people to the base of the falls for centuries.

It also could disrupt the popular boat tours at the height of the tourist season.

Or Hornblower could simply end up losing its case.

But one thing’s for certain: The suit, to be played out in State Supreme Court starting next month, already includes many intriguing angles for local residents.

The heart of the argument by Hornblower Cruises & Events of California lies in the contract that the Maid has with the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

That agreement allows the Maid to lease valuable public land at the base of Niagara Falls for the purpose of operating its popular boat tours.

The Maid keeps most of the profits from the service but pays New York State a share of each boat ride.

For years, the state has said little about how this agreement came to be. Hornblower’s suit sheds a bit more light on the state’s contention that the current 40-year contract with the Maid of the Mist – as well as previous contracts that dated from more than a century ago – did not need to be put out to bid.

The contract to lease the prime land at the base of the Niagara Gorge was never opened to public bidding, state officials have said, because the Maid was considered the “sole-source provider” of the tours.

In other words, no company other than the Maid could conceivably provide the American tours because they depended on the storage facilities controlled by the Maid on the Canadian side.

Those facilities – which protect the boats from the icy winter waters – have been used to store the Maid’s American and Canadian fleet for decades. No storage or fueling facilities have ever existed on the American side.

In justifying the lack of public bidding for the 2002 lease, state parks officials say that “it would be impossible for [the Maid] to use the American side for anything akin to their operation across the river,” other than to “pick up and discharge passengers,” according to the suit.

That statement was given in 1996 in response to concerns from the State Comptroller’s Office about why the new lease was not being put out to public bid.

And what would happen to the American contract if the Canadian operations, for some reason, were no longer controlled by the Maid?

State parks officials, according to a letter obtained in the suit, said they “could negotiate with” or “assign the balance of the [New York license] to,” whichever “new vendor” was awarded the license in Canada.

Hornblower says that it wanted a chance to do just that, but was never afforded the opportunity by state officials.

And company officials now say – given the previous reasoning – that they don’t understand the state’s recent agreement to let the Maid build a new storage facility on the site of the former Schoellkopf Power Plant.

That’s not the only instance where Hornblower is trying to use New York State’s words against it.

It also cites official state parks policy that calls for the state to “encourage competition for private sector investment and operation of public service facilities at State Parks and Historic Sites.”

State officials have said they do not need to put the lease out to public bid because the $30 million in storage construction at the Schoellkopf site is covered under an amendment to the original 2002 contract.

But Hornblower says in the suit that the state would essentially need to “move heaven and earth [and, according to recent regulatory filings, solid waste and storm water runoff]” for the company.

The crux of the lawsuit may lie in the state’s ability to prove that the Schoellkopf modifications are not significant enough to warrant a new deal and, therefore, public bidding.

Just as intriguing is the choice of legal representation by Hornblower.

In addition to its New York City legal team, the San Francisco company has chosen John P. Bartolomei to represent it in the proceedings.

Bartolomei is a longtime Niagara Falls attorney who seems to regularly find himself at the center of high-profile cases.

Only recently, he has served as legal representative for Niagara Falls Redevelopment, the controversial downtown landowner.

Last year, he also represented Nik Wallenda, the “King of the High Wire” who fought the city over unpaid expenses after his history-making wire-walk.

The Maid of the Mist case may not be as closely watched as Wallenda’s breathtaking event that drew worldwide attentionlast summer. But it could prove to be just as important to Niagara Falls.

“I have never seen something so blatantly against the law as this,” Bartolomei said last week. “To me, it’s as clear as day. I think we will prevail.”

Maid officials have said they “are confident that the courts will determine that this lawsuit is without merit.”

The next phase of the suit begins April 11.

email: cspecht@buffnews.com

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Four community leaders to be honored for contributions

March 9, 2013, 7:09 pm

≫ Next: Dollar General prepared to build in Wilson

≪ Previous: Mist-ified by lawsuit? Pay attention as state, Falls boat tour operator defend themselves in court

Four community leaders will be honored as the National Federation for Just Communities of Western New York holds its 2013 Citation Banquet at 6 p.m. March 20 in Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

The honorees include Sister Margaret Carney, president of St. Bonaventure University; attorney Kenneth P. Friedman, a partner in Hodgson Russ LLP; certified public accountant Gerard T. Mazurkiewicz, a partner in Dopkins & Co. LLP; and Surjit Singh, a retired SUNY Buffalo State chemistry professor and an interfaith community leader.

Carney, the 20th president of St. Bonaventure, was appointed to the post in 2004 and helped restore integrity to the university following the basketball recruiting scandal that forced her predecessor to resign.

She served for eight years as general superior for her community, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Providence of God, before joining the St. Bonaventure staff in 1997 and, as president, has worked to reinforce the school’s role as a leading international resource for the Franciscan order.

Friedman, who is listed among the Best Lawyers in America, specializes in corporate law and leads his firm’s Business Practice Area and its Corporate & Securities Practice Group. He and his wife, Amy, a founder of Tapestry Charter School, are recipients of the NCCJ Sisterhood/Brotherhood Award for their dedication to the community.

A former board chairman of the NFJC and Leadership Buffalo, he supports numerous charitable and cultural agencies. He is secretary of the Shaw Festival, vice chairman of the Buffalo History Museum and a member of the boards of trustees for Temple Beth Zion and the Jewish Community Center for Greater Buffalo.

Mazurkiewicz, a former partner in the Buffalo office of KPMG, joined Dopkins in 2004 and specializes in income tax, estate tax and succession planning.

He serves on the boards of Women & Children’s Hospital, Kaleida Foundation, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Hilbert College and University at Buffalo Foundation. Last year, he and his wife, Barbara, received the Bishop’s Medal from the Foundation of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

Singh, who was born in India, has fostered a spirit of peace, diversity and interfaith dialogue since his arrival here in 1967. He was on the welcoming committee for the Dalai Lama’s visit to Western New York and after the 9/11 attacks helped lead the prayer service for healing and unity.

He has been a leader in the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service sponsored by the NFJC and the Network of Religious Communities and speaks frequently on interfaith issues. Former president of the Amherst Diversity Commission, he was instrumental in construction of the new Sikh Temple in Niagara Falls.

Co-chairmen of this year’s banquet are NFJC board members Laura A. Zaepfel, vice president for corporate affairs for Uniland Development Co.; and Peter A. Vukelic, vice president of government affairs for Try-It Distributing Co.

The NFJC has worked to combat racism and other discrimination in the area since it was founded as a branch of the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1951. For information and tickets to the dinner, call 853-9596 or visit www.nfjcwny.org.

email: citydesk@buffnews.com

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Dollar General prepared to build in Wilson

March 9, 2013, 7:09 pm

≫ Next: Niagara Wheatfield board votes to keep tax hike under limits

≪ Previous: Four community leaders to be honored for contributions

WILSON – A Buffalo firm has been contracted to build a Dollar General store at 684 Lake St. and submitted a site concept plan to the Village of Wilson Planning Board.

Plans call for a 9,100-square-foot building on 1.1 acres of land, according to David Pawlik, of Creative Structures Services of Buffalo.

The property is directly across the street from the former Pfeiffer Foods plant, which closed in 2009.

“This was farmland, and we will need to grant a variance to make it commercial," Wilson Deputy Mayor Bernard “Bernie” Leiker said.

“They brought in their plans, and we said we’d need landscaping and a sidewalk put in across the front of the property. We want something in the façade to give it more character. They want to work with us on this to make it unique to Dollar General and unique to the village. ”

Pawlik said he hopes construction could be under way by May.

“This store will provide a service,” Leiker said. “A lot of people here like Dollar General, and they’ve been traveling to Newfane or other places to visit the store.

“ Now they’ll be able to walk to it. We also think this will draw people in from outside of the village, and this will increase our tax base.”

Dollar General is a Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based corporation with 10,000 stores in 40 states, posting $14.8 billion in sales last year, according to its Website.

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Niagara Wheatfield board votes to keep tax hike under limits

March 9, 2013, 7:10 pm

≫ Next: Picture a penguin and win a prize

≪ Previous: Dollar General prepared to build in Wilson

SANBORN – Niagara Wheatfield Central School District voters won’t be asked to break the state tax cap this year.

The School Board has voted to keep any tax hike in 2013-14 within the maximum property tax hike limits. State law permits taxing entities such as school districts to raise taxes no more than 2 percent each year, with a number of exceptions. A district can override the taxing limit if the budget is passed by a “super majority” of voters, or 60 percent.

In 2012, Niagara Wheatfield voters were asked to approve a $61.7 million budget that carried a tax hike of slightly less than 10 percent. Several factions of the district had been lobbying at meetings to convince the board that a large tax bill was preferable to devastating cuts in programs and personnel.

Voters rejected that budget proposal and later supported a second proposal that kept the tax hike at less than 5 percent.

Board president Steve Sabo said he would not make the same mistake again.

“When we tried last year, we barely broke 40 percent (of the vote),” he said of the failed attempt to exceed the tax hike limit. “This year, we decided the people spoke. They didn’t want it.” On that premise, the board voted Feb. 6 to notify the state that it would not try to exceed the tax limit.

Sabo conceded that the board’s choices are few. Nearly 40 teaching positions were on the chopping block in the current year’s budget and a number of programs and offerings were eliminated or restructured.

“Not much is left,” he noted. “Last year, it was all flesh and muscle. Next is the marrow.”

But even with the taxing limit, Sabo said voters needed to be aware of what the state allows.

“People don’t know that it’s a ‘soft’ cap, not a ‘hard’ cap,” he advised.

Exclusions allow a district to go beyond 2 percent.

School business executive Kerin Dumphrey said if Niagara Wheatfield is allowed to include all of its budgetary exclusions, the tax cap would be increased to nearly 6 percent of the tax levy.

State law permits each district to adjust the tax limit beyond 2 percent by figuring in various factors such as assessment roll increases, losses from payment in lieu of taxes agreements, budget carry-overs, payments on the interest for capital projects, and increases in the cost of the teachers’ retirement system.

For Niagara Wheatfield, Dumphrey explained that if approved by the state, its tax levy could be increased from $28,661,923 to $30,354,760. The increase amounts to about 5.9 percent or 5.74 percent when the School Tax Relief Program (STAR) exemptions are included, he said. The exclusions for the district amount to an additional total of $1,372,466 toward the levy.

Dumphrey added that the proposed aid package from the state would make the situation worse as its increase is at 1.5 percent or $330,066.

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Picture a penguin and win a prize

March 9, 2013, 7:13 pm

≫ Next: From the blotter / Police calls and court cases, Feb. 21 to March 2

≪ Previous: Niagara Wheatfield board votes to keep tax hike under limits

NIAGARA FALLS – With their comical waddles and sleek, tuxedoed looks, penguins can make inviting photo subjects.

That’s why the Aquarium of Niagara is now inviting photo submissions for a contest to help celebrate the popular aquatic birds.

The first-prize winner in the contest will earn a meet-and-greet with a penguin.

Second prize will be an 8-by- 10-inch unframed penguin art piece from the Aquarium. Honorable mention will earn a 4 x 6 inch art piece.

Winners in the contest will be showcased during a Penguin Days Celebration to be held March 23-24 at the aquarium.

Contestants are allowed to submit up to five photos of penguins – taken locally or anywhere around the world – for their entry. Deadline for the photo submissions is Wednesday. All entries will be returned.

“Most of the photos submitted to us have been taken by locals who take photos here, but we did have someone once who went to the Antarctic and took pictures of other species,” recalled Dan Arcara, supervisor of exhibits for the aquarium.

The aquarium boasts 10 Humboldt penguins, Arcara said.

These include William, who dates back to the aquarium’s original colony settlement in 1978, as well as 7-year-old Bobbi, a female, and Chile, a male.

William is at least 38 years old, but his exact age is undetermined because he was an adult when he was brought to Niagara, Arcara explained.

“They generally live 15 to 18 years in the wild, and much longer in captivity,” Arcara said of the penguins.

Arcara promised many more interesting penguin facts during the celebration, which he called “a very popular event” for the aquarium, typically drawing close to 2,000 visitors over the two-day span.

“The Humboldt penguins are from Peru and northern Chile – from a warmer climate,” he said. “Most people think of snow and ice and cold when they think of penguins because of what we see in the media and in movies, but of the 18 known species of penguins, only a half-dozen are from the Antarctic region. The rest are from warmer climates in South America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.”

In order to be part of the contest, all photographs must have the entrant’s name on the back of the photo with location and title. The contest is not open to aquarium employees or their immediate family members.

Photograph submissions must be no smaller than 5 by 7 and no larger than 8 by 10 inches. Digital images may be submitted at 300 dpi or greater.

Photos may be mailed to the Aquarium of Niagara, Exhibits Dept., 701 Whirlpool St., Niagara Falls, NY 14305.

For more information, contact the Exhibits Department at 285-3575, Ext. 211, or email aonaquarium@aim.com.

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From the blotter / Police calls and court cases, Feb. 21 to March 2

March 9, 2013, 7:13 pm

≫ Next: Do  Catholics  care who  fills Peter’s  chair?

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A Buffalo couple told Niagara Falls police that property was stolen from their rental car overnight Thursday while it was in the valet parking lot at the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel. A cellphone and a pair of prescription eyeglasses were taken from the car sometime between 11 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday, police said, resulting in a loss of $285. Valet parking employees told police the car may have been left unlocked.A burglar stole $480 in cash after breaking into a 19th Street apartment overnight Friday in Niagara Falls, police said.

A resident told police that someone entered the apartment through a side window between 5 p.m. Friday and 12:40 a.m. Saturday.

In addition to the money, which was taken from a bedroom, two cellphones were taken from a living room area. Total loss was estimated at about $700.An Ohio couple lost $100 to a thief while they were at a bar on First Street in Niagara Falls early Saturday, police said. The wife told police that two $50 bills were in her purse when she went to the bar shortly after midnight.

She said she left it on the bar momentarily when she went to check on a lottery ticket. Upon returning to her hotel room at about 1:30 a.m., she said, the money was missing from her purse.Police in Niagara Falls arrested a Canadian woman Friday afternoon, accusing her of shoplifting $62 worth of liquor in her wheelchair. Lori-Ann Bowman, 47, of St. Catharines, Ont., was charged with petit larceny at Supermarket Liquors on Niagara Falls Boulevard. According to reports, Bowman, who is an amputee, tried to conceal several bottles of whiskey, rum and vodka inside a bag underneath her wheelchair. She was stopped after leaving the store at about 5:15 p.m.

• A resident of Chestnut Ridge Road, Gasport, was sleeping late Friday when he heard someone steal his Nissan pickup truck from his driveway, police said. It was just before midnight when the man heard the vehicle start and saw it being backed out of his driveway.

Sheriff’s deputies said the truck had been left unlocked in the driveway, with the ignition key atop a floor mat. An extensive search of the area was conducted but did not turn up the vehicle.

• Three juveniles nearly got away with throwing rocks and eggs at cars in a Cudaback Avenue parking lot Friday afternoon in Niagara Falls, but one ill-advised toss may have sealed their fate. A Toronto man called authorities after his 2003 Toyota was damaged by a rock at about 4 p.m. in the 1700 block of Cudaback Avenue. While officers were interviewing the man at the scene, an egg landed a short distance away, and police spotted a young man ducking into a nearby residence. Officers went to the house and interviewed the boy’s mother, who said that her son was inside with two friends. Police took all three back to the scene, where they were identified by two witnesses. The police Juvenile Aid Bureau is investigating the incident.Police charged a Lockport teenager with assault early Saturday after a 14-year-old Newfane resident reported being assaulted at the Allie Brandt bowling lanes on Lincoln Avenue in the Town of Lockport.

The victim suffered several cuts around his mouth and was treated in an area hospital, sheriff’s deputies said. The suspect was tracked to his home, where police found him holding ice on hand injuries reportedly stemming from the fight. The suspect will be petitioned to Family Court.

• Police arrested a Tonawanda man for driving while intoxicated after a slow, short chase early Saturday in the Town of Niagara. Sheriff’s deputies said they spotted Dwayne T. Wright driving around the Niagara Falls International Airport parking lot at about 4 a.m., before moving on to another parking lot down the street.

When deputies put on their overhead lights and tried to stop Wright’s car, he reportedly drove off at slow speed, driving on the shoulder of the road for about 50 yards before stopping. The 49-year-old resident of Revere Avenue in the Town of Niagara was charged with driving while intoxicated and failure to use a designated lane.

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Do  Catholics  care who  fills Peter’s  chair?

March 10, 2013, 5:28 am

≫ Next: Gun-control laws create ‘stampede’  of weapon buying

≪ Previous: From the blotter / Police calls and court cases, Feb. 21 to March 2

Jim Conrad of Clarence hopes to see an evangelical pope who emphasizes tradition and orthodoxy.

Phylis Slattery of Williamsville expects whoever is elected as Benedict XVI’s successor to clean up the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal.

“Do something, rather than just talk about it,” Slattery said.

Mary Ann Ingelfinger of Orchard Park prefers a candidate from outside the Vatican curia who can make the church more welcoming and less exclusionary.

Luke Slate wants a pontiff who will shed outdated traditions and lead the church in new directions.

“Being young, I feel part of a group that still has hope the next pope will be active in promoting change,” said Slate, a 17-year-old senior at Canisius High School.

With the papal election process set to begin Tuesday inside the Sistine Chapel, many of the world’s one billion Catholics are examining the state of the church and wondering what lies ahead.

That includes Western New York, home to more than 630,000 Catholics in eight counties, far and away the area’s largest denomination.

Yet recent studies and polls show that American Catholics often tune out the pope and the Vatican on matters of theology, faith practice and morals. And many of these U.S. Catholics believe church leaders are out of touch with them, especially on such topics as married priests and women clergy.

“A lot of people are expecting change with a new pope,” said Henry Zomerfeld, a University at Buffalo law student and campus minister at SUNY Buffalo State’s Newman Center. “Anytime you have a change in leadership, you want to see other changes.”

Some maintain that church restrictions against artificial contraception, women clergy and married men serving as priests are antiquated and should be changed.

Others question the election process itself, which has 120 cardinals – most of them older than 65, all male and all appointed by the previous two, ideologically similar popes – determining who should shepherd a tremendously diverse and far-flung flock.

When asked for her preferred characteristic in the next pope, Mary Herbst of Grand Island responded: “Of course I could say, ‘a woman,’ which is true, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Indeed, only baptized Catholic males are considered eligible for the post.

The monarchical hierarchy of the church is so stuck in the time of the Roman Empire that lifelong Catholic Gloria McLaughlin, a former nun, can hardly watch the election process anymore.

“I’ll be interested, but mildly,” McLaughlin said. “I wish I could give them more heed. I wish it were more significant in my life, but it isn’t.”The church has a golden opportunity to make big changes that could help restore credibility in the wake of the sex abuse scandals, McLaughlin said.

“The tragedy of it is certainly many American Catholics don’t get too excited about it because it’s going to be the same old, same old,” she added.

Ingelfinger of Orchard Park feels similarly that the next pontiff isn’t likely to take the church in a different direction, especially since his predecessor, Benedict XVI, will be living nearby and casting a long shadow in papal retirement.

“The very idea that he’s living there is going to color what the next pope thinks,” Ingelfinger said. “Benedict should have gone back to Germany to a monastery there. He didn’t have to be on the grounds of the Vatican.”

Nonetheless, Ingelfinger said it won’t make much of a difference in her life who gets elected.

“Whatever comes, I have been a Catholic and I will remain a Catholic because my faith doesn’t depend on one person or another,” she said. “I’ve been here for several popes, and I’ll be here when they’re gone.”

The papal office remains highly regarded among most American Catholics, including Ingelfinger, who said she respects the papacy and the tradition it represents.At the same time, Catholics in the United States – even those who strongly identify as Catholic and emphasize Catholicism’s importance in their lives – often tune out the pope and the Vatican.

Fewer than a third of Catholics in this country consider the Vatican’s teaching authority very important to them, and 20 percent described that teaching authority as not important at all, according to 2011 survey research by Michele Dillon, professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire.

“There is a disconnect. American Catholics go their own way, regardless of what Rome says,” said Dillon, whose forthcoming book “American Catholics in Transition,” with co-authors William V. D’Antonio and Mary L. Gautier, explores practice and beliefs of American Catholics. “It’s very much their religion, not some distant hierarchy’s religion.”

The most recent data suggests American Catholics’ deep bond with the church is slipping, however, especially among women.

In 2011, about 55 percent of women surveyed in Dillon’s research said they would never leave the Catholic Church, which was down from 62 percent in 1993. Weekly Mass attendance among those women also fell to about 32 percent from more than 50 percent in 1987, and the church ranking among the most important parts of a Catholic woman’s life fell to 38 percent.

In 1987, 58 percent of women expressed that sentiment about the church.

“It’s as if they’re running out of patience,” Dillon said.

More than half of Catholics surveyed in a Quinnipiac University poll released Friday said church leaders were out of touch with American Catholics and the next pope should move the church in a new direction. The poll also showed strong support among American Catholics for married priests and women clergy.

The church seemed “a little outdated” and “stuck in some traditions” that are out of step with a world in constant change, said Slate, the 17-year-old Canisius senior.

“The church should try to keep up with that if it wants to retain its popularity,” Slate said.

Young Catholics especially could use a jolt from the papal changeover, he added.

“They tolerate the church right now, but they would definitely become more enthusiastic if a more liberal pope were elected.”

Does Slate think it will happen?

“Realistically, probably not, but my hope would be yes,” he said.There are other local Catholics, though, who want a pope who stays with traditional teachings.

Conrad of Clarence believes the future pontiff should avoid bending on church doctrine that has a track record of relevancy for 2,000 years.

Conrad wants a conservative pope who won’t hesitate “to be bold in telling the church of America, ‘This is the way it is.’ ”

“There’s a lot of cafeteria spirituality. There’s a lot of Catholics that can’t even recognize sin,” he said. “We tend to not be as obedient to the pope’s teaching … We have a different mindset over here in America. We’re kind of rebels.”

And Michael Godzala of Cheektowaga also doesn’t want to see the next pontiff stray from the church’s current teachings, including its belief that marriage exists solely for the benefit of a man and woman.

“I’m keeping to my faith, and whatever people want to do with gay rights and same-sex marriage, that’s their conscience,” said Godzala, who hopes to see a much younger man elected as pontiff this time around.

“The church needs a strong pope to spread the faith throughout the world and show that he’s the leader of the faith,” he said.

Whatever they think of church dogma and the current crop of “papabile” – those cardinals considered contenders for the papacy – many local Catholics are expected to tune into media coverage of the conclave spectacle.

The Rev. Francis Lombardo, a local Franciscan priest, already spent an hour answering questions about the conclave from parishioners of St. Gregory the Great Church in Amherst during a recent informal lunch get-together.

“Books are going to be written about this time,” he said. “This is history.”

email: jtokasz@buffnews.com

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Gun-control laws create ‘stampede’  of weapon buying

March 10, 2013, 5:36 am

≫ Next: VA reconsidering decision to scrap veterans games

≪ Previous: Do  Catholics  care who  fills Peter’s  chair?

At the Niagara Gun Range on the border of North Tonawanda, pistol permit classes are booked through May.

People coming for target practice have had to wait an hour and a half to shoot.

And the store can barely keep up with customers’ demand for guns that hold 10-round magazines ahead of the April 15 ban date for detachable magazines that can hold more than seven rounds.

“Andy has been one of my best salesmen,” said range owner Dennis Deasy.

Andy being Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. The governor is the one who championed the NY SAFE Act, a sweeping set of gun laws enacted in the wake of the December shootings of elementary school students and staff in Connecticut and volunteer firefighters near Rochester.

The new legislation, hailed by gun-control advocates as among the strictest in the nation and reviled by gun-rights advocates across the state and nation, was quickly passed and signed in January.

The Cuomo administration has argued that the governor invoked the emergency measure to avoid a run on guns ahead of its passage. But gun-rights advocates and people connected with the gun industry locally say the NY SAFE Act has only inspired people to buy guns as fast as they can.

“Look at what it’s done,” said Wilson Curry of Williston Auctions, who mainly deals in antique and collectible guns and is a vocal gun-rights advocate. “Look at what it’s created. He created a stampede of people buying every firearm they can get a hold of.”

It also may have created new gun owners and gun-rights advocates.

James Emmick, owner of Firearms Training of WNY, has been adding classes to keep up with demand.

“People are coming to the class and they say: ‘I’ve never thought about owning a gun before in my life but they’re trying to take away that right. So I want to own one,’ ” he said.

The SAFE Act does not put any new restrictions on who can own a gun.

But it does widen the definition of what an assault weapon is and it put an immediate ban on sales and purchases of such firearms. Those aspects of the act went into effect Jan. 15.

Other provisions are being rolled out over the next year and half.

Starting Friday, for instance, universal background checks for all firearm sales – including private sales – will be required.

And on April 15, detachable magazines that hold more than seven rounds no longer will be legal to buy or sell.

Gun-control advocates say such provisions are reasonable changes to existing gun laws.

Gun-rights advocates say they chip away at their Second Amendment rights, are difficult to enforce and are goading people into buying more guns.Local gun sales show there’s been a huge surge over the last couple of months.

Take for instance the Erie County Clerk’s office, which oversees the Pistol Permit Department. Any Erie County resident who wants to purchase a handgun is required to obtain a pistol permit first from this office. There is no limit on the number of guns that can be on that permit, but handgun owners who already have permits must get another one if they want to purchase more handguns, explained County Clerk Christopher Jacobs.

During January and February of this year, the number of Erie County residents who submitted applications for a new pistol permit – meaning they didn’t have one before – was 852. That’s nearly double the number of those who applied in January and February of 2012.

As for Erie County residents who already had a pistol permit on file and submitted a subsequent application, 1,715 applied to add more handguns to their collections this January and February.

The previous year, 962 applications for added handguns were submitted for the same two months.

“Pistols would normally receive 10 to 12 submitted applications per day,” Deputy Clerk Michael J. Cecchini said in an email detailing the county permit figures. “Now the average is 25 to 30. The max day was on Jan. 18th, when we took in 45 applications.”

Statewide figures point to a marked increase as well.

There were 76,001 background checks run for New York in January and February of 2013, according to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, which handles the federally mandated background checks for purchases of firearms and explosives.

During those same months last year, 51,086 background checks were run for New York.

And back in 2008, the FBI ran 33,761 checks for the state.

The data does not reflect how many guns were involved in each purchase. It also does not indicate the number of background checks that led to denials of a purchase of firearms or explosives. However, the FBI said on its website that, of the 100 million background checks it has performed over the last decade, there were 700,000 denials.Nationally, gun sales have soared since the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings Dec. 14 that took the lives of 20 young students, six teachers and staff members, and the shooter’s mother.

Last year marked the highest number of federal background checks the FBI ever ran since starting the program – more than 19.5 million.

In December alone, more than 2.7 million background checks were done. In November, following the re-election of President Obama, another 2 million checks were run.

In New York State, the Cuomo administration countered that the recent spike in gun sales proved that they were right in pushing through its legislation without the three-day “aging” period for the law that is supposed to occur.

When Cuomo signed the act Jan. 15, it put an immediate ban on an assault weapon, which was redefined under the new law to be any semiautomatic firearm, whether a pistol or rifle, with a detachable magazine with one military-style feature.

“[Legislature] leaders asked for a message of necessity because they agreed with us that the SAFE Act immediate ban on assault weapons should be just that. What you described proves our point that there would have been a run on these dangerous weapons if we delayed action,” said Richard Azzopardi, spokesman for Cuomo’s office.Local gun shop owners say the current boom in sales is being boosted by what happens on April 15. That’s the start date for a provision in the NY SAFE Act that bans the sale or purchase of a detachable magazine that can hold more than seven rounds. The previous magazine limit was 10 rounds.

Under the new law, people who already own such a 10-round magazine are allowed to keep them, but may not have more than seven rounds in the magazine unless at an incorporated gun range or at certified competitions.

At the Niagara Gun Range, customers are buying up “any type of gun that has a 10-round magazine,” said Michael Deasy, Dennis Deasy’s son who co-owns the range. They’re also buying up the magazines to have as back-ups.

The majority of the guns he sells are made to hold 10-round magazines, he said.

“It reduces my selection by about 90 percent,” he said.

Gun owners are also buying up ammunition ahead of Jan. 15, 2014.

On that date, new regulations on ammunition kick in, requiring ammunition dealers to register with the State Police. Buyers would have to pass a state background check and the purchase, including the amount of ammunition, would be provided to the State Police. It also will ban direct Internet sales of ammunition.

“There’s no ammunition for any firearms,” said Emmick, the firearms trainer. He recalled a dip in inventory in certain types after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began. Now, he said, even .22 caliber rounds are hard to come by.

Another part of law goes into effect this Friday, when universal background checks for the purchase of firearms – including private sales – will be required. But there hasn’t been much grumbling about the provision among gun owners.

Dennis Deasy said he’s happy to handle federal background checks for anyone who wants them done for private sales. He’ll charge $10 per person.

But, he said, he’s not counting on a lot of business from the extra background checks.

There’s no real way to tell whether a private sale happened after the March 15 start date, Deasy pointed out.

“They’ll say: ‘I sold that a long time ago,’ ” he said. “It’s a totally unenforceable law.”

email: mbecker@buffnews.com

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VA reconsidering decision to scrap veterans games

March 26, 2013, 9:59 am

≫ Next: Tourists loses a knapsack with thousands of dollars worth of gold and jewelry

≪ Previous: Gun-control laws create ‘stampede’  of weapon buying

Norman Verbanic, an 82-year-old Navy veteran from the Korean War era, has been working out for months to participate in the National Veterans Golden Age Games.

So have many of the nearly 1,000 other veterans who learned last week the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had abruptly canceled the Western New York games in which they planned to compete.

On Tuesday, a news conference was called to cry foul on the VA and to update the region on efforts to reinstate the games. Verbanic was told to continue his workouts.

The Elma resident said he intends to do just that.

“I went and got a stress test, and my doctor said I’m good to compete. Sometimes I’ll swim a hundred laps at the YMCA in Orchard Park,” Verbanic said, holding up a special athletic ring. “My daughter bought this ring for me. It keeps track of my laps and how long it takes to do each lap.”

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, told Verbanic and dozens of others at the news conference that they, too, are in a competition – challenging the VA’s top brass on their decision about the games.

Schumer said Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki is reconsidering and promised to get back to him by week’s end.

The games, which had been expected to pump $2.2 million into the local economy, were called off just 10 weeks before their start, with the VA citing potential financial concerns.

“Secretary Shinseki assured me the games are postponed, not canceled,” Schumer said at the gathering in the Buffalo & Erie County Naval and Military Park. “I told him that’s not good enough. I told him to move heaven and earth to hold the games as scheduled. He said he would take a look, and I said, just don’t take a cursory look. If there are any problems, call me or Congressman [Brian] Higgins, and we’ll work it out. He said he’d call me by the end of the week.”

Higgins, who said he is also seeking help from the White House, offered a harsh assessment of the VA, saying it could not get its story straight on why the games were called off.

“My question to the secretary and the assistant secretary was, what is it exactly that Buffalo folks failed to do? I was told they didn’t do anything [wrong]. They were exemplary. [The VA] might have a funding problem,” Higgins said.

That excuse, he said, was invalid. “We added an extra $2.5 billion to their budget,” the congressman said of a funding resolution recently passed.

It is estimated that the VA would have to spend about $1 million to put on the games.

Shinseki, Higgins added, said that Buffalo Niagara was not the only region to have the games halted.

“The secretary said others were excluded. His assistant secretary said only Buffalo was excluded. They better get their facts right.”

The comments from Higgins and Schumer received strong support from Patrick W. Welch, a wounded Vietnam War veteran and volunteer leader of the games.

Welch said many of the participants, 55 years of age and older, are Vietnam veterans, and it is yet another misstep in how the country has treated them.

“I’m very disappointed in Secretary Shinseki, a fellow Vietnam veteran. He knows the value of recreational activity. There’s no justification for this,” Welch said.

Mayor Byron W. Brown called the VA decision a slap in the face to veterans “who honorably served the country” and a slap to the area’s economy.

Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, president and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara, said many of the games’ participants had already finalized plans to attend and that hotels and venues had reserved large blocks of space for the events.

“Our community made a commitment to the Golden Age Games, and we are greatly disappointed that the VA does not intend to honor theirs,” she said.

In perhaps the only light moment of the news conference, Schumer produced a brass medal attached to a red, white and blue ribbon and said he and Higgins would award it to Shinseki if Shinseki succeeded in reinstating the games.

As for Verbanic, the chance to compete in swimming would be a first for him. But even more important, he says, is the fact that the games would send a strong message about how important it is for older people to stay physically fit.

“When my heart is pumping strong, I’m not sick. I save the government money in health care costs because I take care of myself,” he said.

email: lmichel@buffnews.com

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Tourists loses a knapsack with thousands of dollars worth of gold and jewelry

March 26, 2013, 3:58 pm

≫ Next: Gasport man charged with stalking

≪ Previous: VA reconsidering decision to scrap veterans games

NIAGARA FALLS – A New Jersey man told police Monday that he drove home and left his knapsack in restaurant on Portage Road on Sunday.

The man said he called the restaurant to see if it was found, but the knapsack was missing. The bag contained a 14K gold rope chain, valued at $650, and a one ounce, 24K Liberty gold medallion valued at $1,750.

Police questioned why he waited a day to contact police. The man said he was in a rush to get back home to his job.

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Gasport man charged with stalking

March 26, 2013, 5:37 pm

≫ Next: NT man, wanted for 25 years, appears in court

≪ Previous: Tourists loses a knapsack with thousands of dollars worth of gold and jewelry

GASPORT — A Gasport man was charged after he was caught allegedly looking into a girl’s bedroom window.

Nicholas J. Heschke, 25, of West Avenue, was charged Tuesday with third-degree stalking, a misdemeanor, following an investigation by State Police with help from the Niagara Niagara County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident was reported in Gasport at 10:50 p.m. March 17 when a homeowner said he saw a man looking into the bedroom window of a girl in the house who was under age 16.. The homeowner told police that he confronted the man and identified him as Heschke. Police said Heschke fled on foot before they arrived. He later was interviewed and charged on Tuesday.

Heschke was arraigned before Town of Royalton Justice Gregory Bass and remanded to Niagara County Jail on $1,000 bail. He is to return to court on Tuesday.

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NT man, wanted for 25 years, appears in court

March 26, 2013, 5:44 pm

≫ Next: Owen named president of Olmsted Center for Sight

≪ Previous: Gasport man charged with stalking

LOCKPORT – The past caught up with Keith R. Smith this week.

Smith, 55, of Ganson Street, North Tonawanda, appeared Tuesday in Niagara County Court to answer a warrant for violating probation – in 1988.

He was taken into custody earlier this week after having moved back to North Tonawanda seven months ago. Smith, who said he had been living in Wisconsin, was given until April 4 to hire a lawyer and was held on $1,000 bail in the meantime.

Assistant Public Defender Ryan Hanna, who stood in for the arraignment, said Smith had been working in construction.

He was placed on three years’ probation by County Judge Aldo DiFlorio July 9, 1986, after a conviction for fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and menacing. A charge that Smith had absconded was filed Aug. 1, 1988.

Assistant District Attorney Theresa L. Prezioso said she could offer no information about his original crime because the files have long since been destroyed.

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Owen named president of Olmsted Center for Sight

March 26, 2013, 5:48 pm

≫ Next: Olmsted Parks gives Herrera-Mishler seven-year contract extension

≪ Previous: NT man, wanted for 25 years, appears in court

The board of the Olmsted Center for Sight on Tuesday named Tamara Owen as the new president and chief executive officer of the 106-year-old agency dedicated to meeting the needs of the region’s blind and visually impaired residents.

Owen, who helped lead the integration of the former Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, Buffalo General Medical Center and Gates Vascular Institute, has worked in health care operations as a senior executive for more than 20 years. She will begin her tenure at the Olmsted Center on April 8.

“We are confident Tammy will successfully lead our organization into the future, and build upon our organization’s legacy and recognition as a regional, national and international leader for people of all ages and degrees of visual impairment,” said Patricia Clabeaux, chairwoman of the Olmsted Center’s board of directors.

A native of Boston, Mass., Owen began her career with Kaleida in 1990 as a physical therapist. She has held several positions with the company over the years. They include vice president of ambulatory and rehabilitation services; vice president of strategic planning and network development; and president of both DeGraff Memorial Hospital in North Tonawanda and the former Millard Fillmore Gates.

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Olmsted Parks gives Herrera-Mishler seven-year contract extension

March 26, 2013, 5:48 pm

≫ Next: Cuban may be deported after serving time for pot, fraud

≪ Previous: Owen named president of Olmsted Center for Sight

Thomas Herrera-Mishler will continue as president and CEO of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy through 2020.

The conservancy’s board of trustees announced Tuesday that Herrera-Mishler’s contract has been extended for seven more years. A landscape architect and longtime admirer of Frederick Law Olmsted, he assumed the posts in February 2008.

The conservancy noted that Herrera-Mishler has increased diversity in the park workforce, planted more than 4,000 trees, finalized the parks master plan and attracted support for more than $8 million in projects ranging from the Humboldt Basin restoration in Martin Luther King Park to the upcoming renovation to Marcy Casino in Delaware Park.

“I look forward to overseeing the continued investment and care of the Olmsted parks and parkways,” Herrera-Mishler said. “Landscape architecture is something I’m extremely passionate about and I have dedicated my professional life to carrying out Olmsted’s vision for our city.”

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Cuban may be deported after serving time for pot, fraud

March 26, 2013, 5:48 pm

≫ Next: Man pleads guilty to unemployment benefit fraud

≪ Previous: Olmsted Parks gives Herrera-Mishler seven-year contract extension

LOCKPORT – Police said a Cuban national, in the United States legally for the past three years, may face deportation after he serves a state prison sentence of one to three years for using a machine to make phony credit cards and for growing marijuana in his former Lockport home.

Jose M. Cabrera, 38, of Howard Avenue, Buffalo, was sentenced Tuesday by Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas for second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and second-degree criminal possession of marijuana.

Cabrera was living on Academy Lane in the Town of Lockport when he was arrested July 25 following a State Police raid on his basement. Troopers seized more than 10 pounds of marijuana, a batch of fake credit cards and $900 in cash.

Of that amount, $632 is to be used as restitution for the charges Cabrera made with the homemade cards.

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Man pleads guilty to unemployment benefit fraud

March 26, 2013, 5:51 pm

≫ Next: Man who shot up a passing vehicle pleads guilty

≪ Previous: Cuban may be deported after serving time for pot, fraud

LOCKPORT – A Hartland man admitted Tuesday in Niagara County Court that he collected $4,582.50 in unemployment benefits while actually holding a job.

Garrett J. Oliver, 31, of Hartland Road, is to be sentenced for fourth-degree grand larceny May 14 by County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas. Oliver collected the money between April and June 2011, Assistant District Attorney Laura T. Bittner said.

Oliver remains in custody in lieu of $25,000 bail. He faces an unrelated misdemeanor warrant in Amherst and a potential probation violation charge in Tompkins County.

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