Buffalo Rising: February 2012 Archives

City February 29, 2012 5:33 PM

Buffalo Central Terminal Schedule of 2012 Tours, Events & Festivals

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The 2012 event schedule for the Buffalo Central Terminal has been released, and with it we are seeing some familiar programming such as the Toy Train and Railroadiana Expo and the Dyngus Day celebration (expanded this year). Deco Fest is making a return visit in 2012, and for those ghost hunters and zombies out there (there are many) the terminal will become the site of three-day paranormal and horror convention - one of the largest in the northeast. Each time you attend an event at the Buffalo Central Terminal you help the architectural icon towards its ultimate salvation. So pick a festival, expo, event or tour and mark it on your calendar.
Highlights include:
Monday, April 9th, 3p-11p - Dyngus Day: The Dyngus Day Capital of the World's biggest party. Polka supergroup Those Idiots will take over the Terminal for the entire night as they play three shows that includes a special "rock polka" concert for the finally.

lifestyle February 29, 2012 2:54 PM

"Laughing in BuffaLOL"

Buffalo Rising 0

By Lani Churley:
During his youth, Dan Mahoney was kicked out of five different schools. His attempts at being funny to gain attention did not amuse school administration. It would appear they couldn't take a joke. During one of his regular trips to the principal's office, he was asked, "Mr. Mahoney, you're back here again? What do you think you're some kind of comedian?" The answer would turn out to be a resounding yes.
Dan Mahoney is in fact a comedian. His style has earned him industry acclaim

City February 29, 2012 1:24 PM

149 Elmwood: From Drab to Fab

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After witnessing some truly unimpressive facade mishaps around town, it's nice to see someone actually spending some time and money in order to spruce up a building. The former Claiborne Liquor location has gone from being jacked-up to looking impressive - and the work is not even complete. The liquor store had been at this 149 Elmwood location for as long as I can remember, and during that time it always had a rundown appearance.
When I first saw that work was being performed on the building, after Claiborne moved down the street, I asked a couple of the neighbors who

food February 29, 2012 9:35 AM

Lucy Ethiopian Cuisine and Variety Store

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There has been a buzz going around this past week that Buffalo is finally going to get an Ethiopian Restaurant. A sign had gone up in a window on Amherst Street announcing the news. That's when I started getting phone calls and emails asking if it was 'my guy' who had finally found a location. As much as I wanted it to be Wass (my guy), it was not, but nonetheless I was excited to learn that Buffalo would soon have Ethiopian food.
After digging around, I learned that the operators of Lucy

Real Estate February 29, 2012 12:10 AM

Construction Watch: 498 Main Street

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Ricotta & Visco's future home is taking shape at the corner of Main and Mohawk streets downtown. The law firm is redeveloping the long-vacant historic building for office use at a cost of $1.5 million. It will move from leased space in Main Placer Tower when the project is finished this summer.

Continue reading Construction Watch: 498 Main Street.

City February 28, 2012 1:02 PM

Regier Finds a Fit

Buffalo Rising 3

By: Kyle Gunn-Taylor
As Sabres GM Darcy Regier tossed and turned dreaming of getting a 1st round pick for Paul Gaustad and finding a Junior B team that might be willing to take on Brad Boyes' $4-million cap hit, myriad trade rumors swirled in the gusts that swept over Buffalo, Monday.
As the 3:00pm NHL trade deadline neared, it seemed as if Regier's alarm clock might have forgotten to arouse him from his daily nap. When the alarm finally went off around 2:55pm, a little earlier than usual, it was just in time for him to realize

City February 28, 2012 11:26 AM

Addressing Climate Change in the Great Lakes: React or Adapt?

Sarah Maurer 0

As part of its efforts to promote sustainable energy solutions in the local community and the greater Western New York region, the WNY Sustainable Energy Association will continue its monthly speaker series tonight with Terry Yonker, co-chair of the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative, Alliance member and WNY Sustainable Energy Association Trustee.
Yonker's discussion, "Addressing Climate Change in the Great Lakes: React or Adapt?" will touch on the probable impacts of global warming on the climate of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem, and

City February 28, 2012 10:35 AM

Lloyd Taco Truck(s): You Can Help Get Another Lloyd Rolling

Buffalo Rising 46

Everyone knows Lloyd Taco Truck. And everyone loves Lloyd Taco truck.
They pioneered the food truck movement in Buffalo. They helped shape reasonable food truck laws which allow trucks to co-exist with brick-and-mortar restaurants.

The only problem with Lloyd - there's just one.
But we can all help solve that problem.
Lloyd has just announced a Kickstarter project to raise enough

City February 28, 2012 9:41 AM

Grant Street: Downgrading the Scajaquada Expressway

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This is the third in a series discussing key intersections along the Scajaquada Expressway, as it is downgraded to a boulevard. Once again, the key elements to be improved upon at this Grant Street intersection are traffic calming on the boulevard and access and egress to Grant Street, Buffalo State College and surrounding neighborhoods. You can see that the on-ramps and off-ramps have been cleaned up and converted into intersections controlled by stoplights. As with other intersections along the boulevard, this plan helps to tie together roadways, while the new arterial environment frees

City February 28, 2012 8:37 AM

Is communications a part of your job? Then this may interest you.

Katie Krawczyk 3

The term "Communications," when applied to one's work, is so broad that it likely touches everyone in some way. All of us, some more than others, must communicate to push our mission forward. It's one of those broad generalizations that touch all of us, but so few of us really know how to do it effectively and efficiently.
Whether you work in a field directly tied to communications such as media, public relations or marketing, or you work in fields such as human resources, education, business, or health care that require you to communicate to various audiences, internally

City February 28, 2012 8:08 AM

Rock The 500 Block Party

Buffalo Rising 0

By Erica L. Eichelkraut:
This Friday, March 2 from 5-11pm, the 500 Block of Main Street will be rockin' as they host another Rock The 500 Block Party. The event was originally thought of while in a meeting with Councilmen Pridgen's office, Buffalo Place and multiple 500 block business & building owners, who wanted to think of a way to show off all of the great changes that have been happening in the area.
Join them this Friday night for a block-long open house celebrating local art, music & downtown Buffalo.
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lifestyle February 27, 2012 3:18 PM

Sabres Trade Zack Kassian to Vancouver for Cody Hodgson

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While fans were panicking and yelling for Sabres general manager Darcy Regier to "do something," the Sabres have done something.
First, they traded Paul Guastad and a fourth round draft pick to Nashville of a first round pick. Now, the Sabres have traded prospect Zack Kassian and Marc-Andre Gragnani to the Vancouver Canucks for Cody Hodgson and Alexander Sulzer.
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City February 27, 2012 3:09 PM

Olmsted Organic

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The future of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks is starting to look greener and healthier thanks to many of the organic initiatives that we have seen implemented in recent years. As forward thinking ideas of 'plant zoos' and 'maintained meadow areas' move from concepts to realities, Olmsted Parks are uniquely positioned to become sustainable examples of how organic practices can lead to living better lives. The goodness of green doesn't stop

Regional February 27, 2012 2:30 PM

Sabres Trade Paul Gaustad to Nashville for a 1st Round Draft Pick

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According to multiple reports from USA Today, TSN and The Hockey News, the Sabres have traded Paul Gaustad and a fourth round draft pick to the Nashville Predators in exchange for a first round draft pick.
Guastad, who has played with the Sabres since the 2005-06 season, has racked up 71 goals in 479 NHL games. The centerman had 585 penalty minutes in his career with Buffalo. He was top 10 in the league in face-off percentage for the past 3 seasons.
To his credit, Gaustad was well-liked in the community. He lived in the City and was frequently

City February 27, 2012 2:30 PM

Seneca Gaming's Buffalo Waterfront Fund Application Process Set

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The Seneca Buffalo Creek Development Advisory Board today outlined a grant application process for $1 million in projects designed to boost infrastructure, landscaping, lighting and signage in areas around the downtown Buffalo casino.

The process announced today is the result of nine months of work and a series of board meetings that involved input and guidance from stakeholders such as the Seneca Nation Council; Erie County; the City of Buffalo; the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority; Seneca Gaming Corp.; the Seneca Nation Planning Department; the Old First Ward Community Association;

City February 27, 2012 9:58 AM

The History of the "Talking Proud" Campaign

Mike Puma 26

This story originally appeared on Views of Buffalo

Buffalo's Talking Proud campaign of the 1980s was a huge booster for the city in a time where it was bombarded nationally with negative comments, sometimes even coming from the city's own residents. It took years to develop and almost never happened, but thanks to the perseverance of Pat Donlon the long road to actually launching the campaign was a success.

The concept for the Talking Proud campaign has its

City February 27, 2012 9:21 AM

7-11 Captures A Market

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Now that 7-11 has opened its doors it's time to take a look at a few of the differences that customers can expect from the convenience store (see history). Although the company got its name from the morning to night time period that it was open, 7-11 is now open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. I discovered this while driving past an Elmwood location a couple of days ago at 4:30am. I stopped in to get a cup of coffee and ended up talking with the clerk who was on duty. "I just made a fresh batch of coffee," she told

City February 27, 2012 8:45 AM

Hotel Lafayette: The Two Month Countdown

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The Hotel Lafayette is two months away from opening. That means that a crew of 270 workers is showing up daily to get the historic hotel ready for businesses and residents. "We're spending $10,000,000 on restaurants inside the building," developer Rocco Termini told me. "There will be 34,000 square feet of banquet space... all totaled this is a $42,000,000 project that will be 100% operational the day that it opens. That means that the 400 seat Pan American Brewery and Dining Room will be up and running, as will Butterwood Desserts with its 40 bakers and 3000 square feet of walk-in coolers.

food February 26, 2012 12:16 PM

Janice Okun, the Only Restaurant Critic in the History of the Buffalo News, Retires (Kinda)

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Her career began at The Buffalo News in 1974. She "retired" in 2009 but it seems that retirement was figurative as she continued to write the restaurant reviews in addition to another weekly column. Now, after 38 years and hundreds of restaurant reviews, Okun has decided to "step down" according to a column by editor Margaret Sullivan.
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City February 26, 2012 11:37 AM

The President Is A Sick Man by Matthew Algeo

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Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Staff Review by Carol Ann Strahl:
In this day of persistent investigative journalism, the secrecy covering President Grover Cleveland's cancer surgery on a yacht in Summer 1893 would be an almost impossible task. This is just one of the many issues covered in this fact-filled expose.
Cleveland of course began his career in Buffalo as a young lawyer; eventually became Erie County Sheriff (the only U.S. President to ever have served as hangman), Mayor of Buffalo and New York Governor