On Saturday, October 2, the Western New York Sustainable Energy Association will host its 15th annual Tour of Solar Homes and Green Businesses.  This tour will include 24 area buildings that have implemented a solar array or have some sort of green design element that demonstrates energy efficiency.  It is a self-guided tour that is open to the public.  The list of the sites that are being exhibited is available here.

The day will kickoff at 10 a.m. with a press event held at 95 Perry Street, a renovated former warehouse from 1926

By: Tom Dooney

I'm going to put together a musical revue. It is going to be titled Just Sing The Damned Songs. And despite the title, it's going to include great songs. Lots of them. Really good songs worth singing. What I will toss out is the damned script and damned connective material. No concept. No unifying theme. No rhyme but the lyrics and no reason but the love of music and singing and maybe...maybe some dance. Who's with me?

I say this after seeing too many revues that falter, regardless of the caliber of the production. Trying to force sense

When we hear people discuss the cities that are adjusting well to the demands of the new economy, it is frequently the largest cities that are touted: New York, Chicago, London, etc.  At a minimum, these places tend to be "of a certain size."

Zachary Neal, a professor of sociology and global urban studies at Michigan State, has a new study out that disputes this.  Entitled "From Central Places to Network Spaces," it makes the argument that networks rather than size are the critical determinant of urban success in

We're bringing back our weekly Bills contest where commenters can win a free Hero Design Buffalo Rising print by accurately predicting the final score of this week's Bills game.

At 1pm today, the Bills will enter Lambert Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers.  After a dismal showing against the Miami Dolphins, the Bills are 13 point underdogs against the Pack.  To enter the contest, simply enter the final score of the game for each team - ie Packers 52, Bills 3 - in

The Transplant Miracles Foundation is asking the community to come out in support of organ transplant and research at the 3rd annual Treasure Island Family Picnic - or else have to walk the plank!  The yearly fundraising event is this Saturday, September 18 from 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. at the West Side Rowing Club and Frank Lloyd Wright Rowing Boathouse.

Tickets are $35 per person or $60 per family and include food, drinks, raffles, games, music and fun for the whole family. Proceeds from the event support organ transplant and surgical research, the treatment and care of transplant

Man v. Food, a program which airs on the Travel Channel, made its way to Western New York this summer, in search of restaurants with the type of menu options that are followed by "if you can finish it, you can have it for free." Tonight's program, featuring host Adam Richman, first lands at Riverstone Grill on Grand Island, where the " Bone in the Stone"--a steak weighing in at 3.5 lbs and smothered with bleu cheese and fried onions--proves to be worthy of the program's attention.

Next Richman and crew visit The Silo in Lewiston, a fun joint with a great view and a mother of a sandwich

The Associated Press is reporting that Carl Paladino has won the Republican nomination for New York governor.
Get ready for a very interesting general election campaign between Carl Paladino and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.  
In other election news, Tim Kennedy beat Bill Stachowski in the 58th Senate district.  And Antoine Thompson won yet again defeating Rory

On the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, a monument honoring those who have served - and given their lives - in our nation's most recent military conflicts.  The monument was unveiled in Forest Lawn Cemetery's Field of Valor, a beautiful site just north of Scajaquada Creek's Serenity Falls, and within view of Canisius College.

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In less than four hours, the Buffalo Bills will kickoff the regular season at Ralph Wilson Stadium against the Miami Dolphins.  The Bills have made substantial front office changes since last season - Buddy Nix is the new general manager and Chan Gailey is the new head coach.  Does that mean we should expect substantial improvement from last year's 6-10 record?  Well, no. But we can expect

Submission by Kevin Barton:

The Massachusetts Avenue Project's 2nd Annual Tour de Farms is taking place Saturday September 11th from 7:30am-6pm.  MAP's Tour de Farms is a 30 Mile bicycle tour of urban and rural farms celebrating local food and the amazing bounty of Western New York.   Biking is a great way to see the natural landscape, and this ride specifically emphasizes the urban and rural connection that is so important to the vitality of our local food system.
 
The ride will begin at Top's on Grant Street.  Registration will begin

One of the cool things about living in Buffalo is not just all the things that make Our Fair City cool, but our connections to cool things and places nearby.  Buffalo denizens are in the catbird seat when it comes to day trips as close as Niagara Falls and East Aurora, to Chautauqua, and Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Even New York City can be done as a day trip.

One of the coolest day trips you can take this time of year couldn't be easier and more unique: the New York State Fair by rail.  Throw fixins for a picnic lunch in a backpack, head downtown (hop on your favorite metro

Everyday, starting at 11:30am, over 100 people gather for lunch in the basement of Lafayette Ave Presbyterian Church.  There, at the ="border-bottom: 2px dotted rgb(54, 99, 136); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor:

With Mark Croce and James Eagan stepping up to submit a bid to buy the Statler tomorrow, the head of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership has a better idea for the landmark: Demolition.  Instead of encouraging private investment, Andrew Rudnick, who apparently was speaking as BNP president when talking to The Buffalo News, says a vacant Statler site may be an incentive for development. 

The News' Matt Glynn has the head-scratching quote:

"It

As many cities, particularly smaller industrial ones, continue to struggle with the loss of manufacturing jobs, people wonder how or if these places will come back and again become economically prosperous. I think the potential for economic renewal at least partly depends on whether or not a place is a true city or a shadow city. What do I mean by that?

Here is one way I categorize the economic life of cities. One can divide companies into three types:

Local goods and services. These are things like banks, grocery stores, dry cleaners, coffee shops,

After a great turnout last year, Roswell Park is excited to announce that this year's Tops 5K/10K is going to be bigger and better than ever! They have added some new features to the event like a 10K option for those looking for a more challenging run. Joe's Deli will be catering the post-race party and there will be an award ceremony, door prizes, basket raffles and music throughout the day.

The event will take place Saturday, August 28th at 9:30 a.m. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, but if you register beforehand

Just days ago, squirrels could be seen scampering across a section of Tonawanda Creek on a floating mat of water chestnuts which had filled the creek bank to bank. An invasive species which "escaped" from ornamental ponds a century ago, the European water chestnut had established this worrisome foothold alongside the island in Ellicott Creek park that was created by construction of the Erie Canal. With the potential for the invader to spread further into the canal system, the Niagara River, and adjacent waterways,

On Friday we taped our regular show with the delightful Mark Scott at the WBFO studios. There was a lot to talk about, we could have filled at least an hour. But, as usual, Mark touched on some timely and interesting topics, a few of which aired Monday on the Buffalo Rising Roundtable.

Our Bass Pro discussion is prefaced with the caveat that it was taped before Bass Pro made their big announcement on Friday. Scott cajoled me a little for my excitement over the two new street vendors that have been given permission to sell fresh and high-quality street food downtown. Here you will listen

By: Scotty Harris

Nobody, I mean nobody, puts ketchup on a Hot Dog! -Inspector Harry Callahan.

So, let's talk Hot Dogs.

Hot Dogs--the ignoble offspring of the sausage makers' art. Call them weenies, franks, dogs, coneys, footlongs, or the ever-popular tube steaks; Americans spent 1.6 billion dollars on these puppies in 2009. Regional variations abound, each claiming to be the superior weenie. Here in Western New York, we have not one but two contenders to that title.

The sausage is an ancient food, thought to have been developed by the Sumerians

THE BASICS: Bernard Shaw's send up of the medical profession, played as a neat little domestic melodrama. This production, at the Shaw's Festival Theatre through October 30th, runs approximately two hours and forty minutes, with a single intermission.

THUMBNAIL SKETCH: London, turn of the last century. Sir Colenso Ridgeon, master physician and laboratory wizard, has come up with a genuine cure for TB--a happy alternative to the bumbling, quackery and guesswork that's been foisted upon the public by some of his less talented colleagues. The trouble is, the required wonder

Green guru Dave Majewski has finished installing a rain garden in the Village of Blasdell.  The homeowner was inspired after reading an article in Buffalo Spree earlier this year:

Rain barrels are one way to save and use rain water before it becomes contaminated, but an even better way is to send the water directly into the earth, where water not used by plants soaks into lower soils, becoming naturally filtered before it eventually enriches wetlands and waterways. Of course, you don't need