Author: Susan Marie

On October 9, 2008, the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame held it’s 25th Anniversary Induction Ceremony at the Tralf in downtown Buffalo. I had the pleasure of covering this event to further promote the talent that is thriving in our city. This years inductees were as follows: Ed Bentley, Bob James, Richard Kermode, Jerry Livingston, Tom Reinhardt, Joe Rozler, The Schulz Family (Dave, Gretchen and Robert), Joanie Sommers, Jimmy Sacca, Mack Luchey, Anthony Marchese and Richard Sargent. Access Think Twice Radio to listen to the first ever live performance of the Schulz Family (Bob, Gretchen and Dave, along with Joe…

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A Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) membership appreciation boat ride is taking place on Saturday, August 23 from 1 to 2:45 pm on the Miss Buffalo II. Light refreshments will be served. Housing Opportunities Made Equal is a civil rights organization which, since 1963, has led the struggle for fair housing in the Buffalo-Niagara region. There will be basket raffles as well as a pre-raffle of an overnight accommodation for two at the historic Beau Flueve Bed & Breakfast on Linwood Avenue. The Bed & Breakfast accommodation was generously donated by the owners of the Beau Flueve. Pre-sale raffle tickets,…

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The Family Video location at 1488 Hertel Avenue is open for business. A controversial driveway on Sterling Avenue, however, is not. The driveway was built twice as wide as approved and has been ordered blocked off by City officials. Residents along Sterling Avenue objected to the store’s 28-car parking lot connecting to their residential street and claim the store is doing just fine without access to Sterling. In March, Family Video purchased two properties at 1488 and 1500 Hertel, previously occupied by Martino’s TV & Appliance. The retailer paid $537,500 for the one-story, 7,000 sq.ft. commercial building and adjacent parking…

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A significant Allen Street building is looking for some love. 37 Allen, one of the few remaining mansions on the street, is on the market for the first time in three decades. The three-story, shingle-style building was built in the late-1800’s as a home/office for Dr. Matthew Mann, who was the attending physician to President McKinley after he was shot at the Pan American Exposition in 1901. It was designed by Green and Wicks Architects. The property, near North Pearl Street, consists of 10,500 square feet. “On all three floors, there is a central hallway with rooms to the left…

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Spin-off from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is creeping up Main Street. Last month, Kaleida Health announced plans to expand into the 1000 block of Main Street. A few blocks to the north, the Campus’ influence can be seen in the impressive renovation of the ornate Louis Engel, Jr. Building, now home to the Ira G. Ross Eye Institute. The Ira G. Ross Eye Institute is a collaboration among the Department of Ophthalmology of the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the Elizabeth Pierce Olmsted, M.D. Center for the Visually Impaired, and University Ophthalmology Services.

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D’Youville College has started construction of a new six-story, 93,000 square foot academic building. It is being built at the corner of Connecticut and Fargo streets, previously a college parking lot. The $20 million structure will house classrooms, laboratories, student service, faculty, and college operation offices, conference rooms, and also include facilities for a planned pharmacy program. Designed by Cannon Design of Grand Island, it will feature precast panels, brick, and cultured stone on the exterior with street landscaping on the Connecticut Street side. Savarino Construction Services is the general contractor.

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Last year, Elvis Costello rocked the Albright Knox. This morning, director Louis Grachos announced that this year, The B-52s are officially the headliners for Rockin’ at the Knox 2008. Grachos is excited at the cross generation appeal of The B-52s and hopes that they will draw in a wide variety of fans. Rockin’ at the Knox raises money to support the art gallery. This clash of art and music does a great job of bringing traffic into Buffalo from all over Western New York and even parts of Canada. Maria Scully-Morreale, the director of marketing at the Albright-Knox, added, “We…

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After 18 months of renovations at Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, the new imaging services center was finally unveiled on Tuesday. I met up with Alex McDougall, the business manager of the imaging services, and he gave me a tour of the new additions. The new, 742 square foot waiting area was beautiful and relaxing, something that’s important in any hospital. Adults sat around watching the news and The View while their kids relaxed in the play area. The attention to detail makes the room come together in an outdoors theme. The seats were upholstered with a dark green…

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The Philadelphia and Chicago based Icy Demons are back, and this time they’re dominating Soundlab. Icy Demons include talented musicians, from other groups such as Bablicon member Griffin Rodriguez and former Need New Body and current Man Man drummer Chris Powell. The guys are talented and their music is… kind of a mystery. The Icy Demons have found a sound that defies any major categories. Their music is an infusion of jazz, reggae, electronic, dance and new age mind-blowing psychedelic sounds that will leave you in a satisfied state of confusion. You might remember them from when they played at…

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MC Vendetta aka Janna Willoughby in collaboration with DJ Khemikil, the alter ego of Jessica Neilsen, joined forces as females extraordinaire to produce, My 2 Cents In. This 12 track CD features Godfrey “G-Man” T, and “D.C.” recorded in Buffalo NY and Swannanoa, NC, at North Carolina Warren College. Vendetta and Khemikil set you up for the ride of your life as you step out of your world into theirs. I present to you, MC Vendetta and DJ Khemikil. This is “Velvet Krème”. My 2 Cents In is a poetic socio-political stance on the world viewed through genres such as…

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