Tomorrow the Buffalo Common Council will vote on whether or not to make Trico Plant #1 a local historic landmark. As with many other issues, there is a period during the meeting for the citizens of Buffalo to have their voices heard. The meeting takes place tomorrow, April 24th, at 2pm in the Common Council Meeting Room on the 13th floor of City Hall. If you want to see Trico receive the landmark designation, come out and show your support, if approved, the local landmark status will ensure that the community

By Hannya Boulos (Buffalo ReformEd): Over the past two months, Buffalo ReformED has had the opportunity to visit a number of Buffalo schools and meet with their student support teams. These teams are made up of teachers, social workers, counselors, and administrators and are responsible for implementing a program aimed at reducing discipline problems and improving attendance rates.  We met with the support team in a small office or conference room; at each school, at least one wall of the room was covered in

When I first heard that Elmwood Village Fabrics was leaving Elmwood Avenue, I was sad, but I figured that owner Sandy Hertel was venturing to another commercial district. That turned out not to be the case. Instead of heading to Amherst Street or Grant Street, Sandy decided to purchase a building on Franklin Street. She did this for a number of reasons, though more room and ownership are two reasons that topped her list. I'm sure that the stunning house was also a fairly good reason to make the move. 
For years Sandy has been looking for the perfect home for her

It was back in April of 2010 when we first saw the shape of a quonset hut rise up along the Buffalo River (see post). Since that time, the Buffalo Scholastic Rowing Association (BSRA) has made excellent use of the river's waters, with rowers experiencing some unbelievable sights awhile rowing what is still an operational industrial waterway. 
While the quonset

Letter to BRO - Karen Karsten, Seneca Gaming Corporation Chairman:                                                                   Several articles recently appeared in local publications about the Seneca Nation's casinos, and one article in the Buffalo News about the Hamburg Casino.
Frank Parlato, publisher of the Niagara Falls Reporter,

Buffalo & Erie County Public Library: Staff Review by Patricia Covley:
Remembering Old Buffalo features the reminiscences of octogenarian Joseph Radder.  Radder shares his memories of old time Buffalo in a highly readable offering, telling us about a very different time and community,  when Buffalo's downtown bustled with activity and summers were filled with rides on the Canadiana to Crystal Beach.
Radder illustrates the story of growing up in Western New York during in the first half of the twentieth century,

UB Law School's Regional Economic Development class is bringing fresh economic development ideas to neighborhoods that need a boost.  The course lets students attempt to identify a real need in the community, apply the theory learned in the classroom and then design a plan that would address this need.  The following is a summary of a project completed by David Burress, Megan VanWie and Christina Akers with simulations by Troy Joseph.  It is one of five reports completed

Where are you from originally? 
Born and raised in Buffalo, grew up in Allentown.
What is your medium?
I'm primarily a painter so I use oils, acrylic, oil pastels and watercolor.  For mixed media works, I use whatever inspires me or whatever I've been collecting or saving in the attic or cellar over the years..  I also love photography and use it in collages.
How has Buffalo influenced your work? 
I love to shoot photos

The following is submitted by Solomon Atta (see profile at bottom) who was a student at the School of Architecture, in the college of design at the University of Minnesota in May 2010. Solomon currently lives in Minneapolis and is devoting his life to researching grain silos in hopes that someday they will be appreciated for their majestic architecture and inherent reuse qualities. Solomon recently reached out to Buffalo Rising to see where our city stood on

On Saturday, parents, staff and supporters of Pinnacle Charter School located at 115 Ash Street expressed outrage and dismay over a recommendation by the State Board of Education that the school be closed at the end of the current school year, vowing to save the 560-pupil facility by whatever means necessary.
Pinnacle Charter School officials were informed Friday that the State Board of Education has recommended the K-8 grade school be closed at the end of the 2011-12 school year. The State Board of Regents has scheduled

Where are you from originally?
Buffalo
What is your medium?
Photography
How has Buffalo influenced your work?
I grew up here in WNY and saw much of it through my grandfathers camera and that was a very big influence
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Everything & everybody
What is your preferred subject matter?
I'm

Despite the fact that they live in a city with such a significant historic role as a Great Lakes port, many of Buffalo's public school students are lacking in knowledge and hands-on experience with the great natural resource that lies just outside their door.
A locally-based organization, Buffalo Urban Outdoor Education (BUOE) is partnering with the school-based community organization Closing the Gap in Student Performance, to provide hands-on water education and sailing programs on Lake Erie for hundreds of Buffalo students. BUOE offers several program options,

Preservation Buffalo Niagara is recognizing outstanding preservation projects and those contributing to preservation efforts at its annual awards ceremony May 30, 11:30 AM in the Statler's Golden Ballroom.  Award categories were established to acknowledge distinguished contributions to our community through preservation activity. Recipients will be recognized in several areas including: preservation craft; rehabilitation/adaptive use; stewardship; neighborhood conservation; planning/reconstruction; and

By Michael Hargrave: 
While we've been covering a number of West Side advancements as of late, including a number of developments on Massachusetts Avenue, there is one important project that deserves special attention. 456 Massachusetts Avenue, like many of the other People United for Sustainable Houses (PUSH) rehabs, is a great looking restoration project. But it's more than that. PUSH is currently occupying the storefront and is using the space as the home for its PUSH Green operation. 

Laurel Street in Buffalo runs through the East Side between Main Street and Fillmore. It has been ingloriously severed at the Kensington carbon monoxide trench, a highway formerly known for being a wonderful tree-lined parkway.  For most of its length Laurel Street exhibits all the ills the East Side is famous for - derelict houses, disinvestment, abandonment, poverty, and vacant lots.  It is easy to write off this street and think no more about it, and that is pretty much what has been done by the City and most of the rest of the metropolitan population.  But most is not all.

By Joshua Bauer (Football Nation):
Bills fans, did you ever wonder when your team turned into the Rodney Dangerfield of the NFL? Point at the four consecutive Super Bowl losses, or point at the 12-year playoff drought, but when the schedules are released annually, Buffalo just seems to get no respect. Sure, the 2012 Bills may have made some noise this offseason, may be whispered as sleeper picks for the playoffs, may be building something

Can Buffalo do it? More importantly, can Shredd and Ragan do it? 
After witnessing all of the hype surrounding Dyngus Day, 103.3 The Edge's Shredd and Ragan began to hatch a plot. If a 'B-list' holiday such as Dyngus Day could suddenly catapult to infamy, then maybe they could use a similar formula to see if they could get another 'B-list' holiday off the ground. That's when they thumbed through the calendar and realized that Arbor Day was right around the corner. That's it... Arbor Day!
The first thing that the on-air team did was to research

Ever since Canalside began picking up steam, Kevin Townsell felt that it would be the perfect spot to hold the Buffalo Irish Festival. Being the Festival Chair, Kevin anticipated that renewed excitement at the Inner Harbor would draw a whole new crowd of festival-goers, while past fans of the two-day affair would love enjoy celebrating the waterfront's history and how the Irish helped to shape the spirit of Buffalo. According to Townsell, "As a cultural Festival promoting Irish Heritage, I don't think you could find a more appropriate

Purchase a great meal for a great cause on Tuesday, April 24 when nearly 100 restaurants in Erie, Niagara, and Chautauqua counties participate in the tenth annual Dining Out For Life community fund-raiser.
Choose a restaurant, make reservations and enjoy dinner there. The restaurants will contribute 25 percent or more of that day's food sales to Evergreen Health Services of WNY (new name of AIDS Community Services). The agency is dedicated to stopping

Where are you from originally? 
Niagara Falls, NY (LaSalle area)
What is your medium?
I used to paint primarily with oil, but now I use oil, acrylic, pastel, ink, chalk, charcoal......just about anything I can drag across canvas.
How has Buffalo influenced your work? 
I was working in the Washington, DC area for many years before coming back to Buffalo in 2008. I think starting over in a new city (though WNY was my childhood home,