On October 5th, at Shea’s Performing Arts Center, the Federation of Italian-American Societies of WNY will kickoff their 100th Anniversary (Cent’anni) with the world premier of “La Terra Promessa”, a film by Marc Odien of WNYMedia.net and Buffalo Icon Joey Giambra.

This film has been a labor of love for both Joey and Marc and serves as the official historical record of Italian-American culture in Western New York. “La Terra Promessa” details the history of the people, culture, faith, and family that distinguish Italian life and have made Buffalo such a wonderful ethnic city.

Please join us at the film and join the FIASWNY as they celebrate Cent’anni throughout the weekend with an original stage play by Neil Radice on October 6th and a Columbus Day Gala at Salvatore’s Italian Gardens on October 7th.

Pano’s.

The mere mention of Pano’s Restaurant or owner Pano Georgiadis seems to drive the typical BRO reader into a frenzy of condescension and anger.

I’ll spare us all the discussion that will ensue if I discuss the merits of of Pano’s demolition of the building adjacent to his restaurant and instead focus on the plans he has for renovating his extremely popular restaurant on Elmwood Avenue.

Newell Nussbaumer wrote an agnostic thread without agenda about Pano submitting his plans for the renovation of his restaurant. However, the publishing of that post on BRO seemed to light the Bat-Signal for every armchair planner and condescending hipster in the Elmwood Village and beyond.

About 40 or so comments into the discussion, WNYM’s BuffaloPundit made an appearance and offered this bit of wisdom to counter the rhetoric about Pano being the devil incarnate and the presentation of this design being a critical juncture in Buffalo’s history:

Such heated discussion and vitriol over a diner.

It’s a diner, for f*ck’s sake. A diner.

To which Dave Steele rebutted:

No Pundit. It is a discussion about much more than a diner. It is a discussion about a city.

Is it really “about a city”?…

Of course it isn’t. What is about a city?

- As of 2006, 46 of the 76 Buffalo public schools were designated as failing or in need of improvement by the state or federal government.

- A violent crime rate that is more than double the national average and a property crime rate that is nearly double the national average.

- An economy that is dying on the vine.

- Corrupt politicians with their hands out at every turn and a “pay to play” economic development system in the City of Buffalo.

- Housing inspectors harassing citizens at the behest of [strike]city officials[/strike] anonymous complaints over gardens while large swaths of our built environment descend into arson and crime

- Members of the Buffalo Control Board who own homes in flagrant violation of city ordinances

- Predatory house flippers picking at the carcass of our neighborhoods

Shall I go on?

For the love of fucking Christ, the number of curb cuts surrounding Pano’s, the size or presence of a strip of grass, the size and shape of the windows, etc…none of it matters without a concerted effort to rebuild the bones of this city. Arguing over the window dressing makes us look small, petty, arrogant, and reeks of a “Nero fiddles while Buffalo burns” mentality. When the city is again economically viable due to the loosening of the leash which Albany perpetually keeps wrapped around the neck of Buffalo, these types of subjective design arguments will no longer seem so vapid.

I would love it if as many people contributed positively to the issues that matter as do a thread about a diner at BRO. If that ever happened, Buffalo might actually begin to rise.

In the 11th District of the Erie County Legislature, the primary is ostensibly the general election. Unless, of course, you are among the dozens of Ernest Norman supporters, known in the district as “Normaniacs“. Err, whatever.

The district is heavily democratic with a nice mix of unionistas in the Tonawanda Districts and uppity white collar elitists in the Delaware District of Buffalo. It is a legislature seat held by incumbent Lynn Marinelli for the past 11 years. Lynn has served as the Chairwoman of the Legislature for the past two years after serving as the majority leader in 2004 and 2005. She is the Past chair of the Government Affairs and Community Enrichment Committees and past vice chair of the Finance, Management, and Budget, and the Energy and Environment Committees. Lynn appears to be a fairly solid legislator if you enjoy the status quo politics of Erie County and a fondness for the standard Democratic principles.

As of late, she is the target of Joe “Captain Insane-o” Illuzzi after she committed some perceived slight in his general direction. I love how he has her depicted in the cartoon as a worn down chain smoking hooker type character, good times. You stay classy, Illuzzi.

Her opponent in the primary is a young whippersnapper named Joel Feroleto. Joel served in the Buffalo Common Council as a legislative aide and as Chief of Staff in the Delaware District. Joel seems like a well intentioned kid, but in a debate on WBEN’s Hardline with Hardwick radio show this past Sunday, offered little distinction between his plans and those of Marinelli.

So, in this type of situation when a voter is faced with a choice of another term of legislative sameness and change for the sake of change, what is one to do?

Let’s go to the political mailers and see what we have…anything good?

Well, it appears that Joel Feroleto is all about change, so he has that going for him, which is nice. He also appears to wax his eyebrows and has snappy looking sideburns. In the images, he clearly likes to talk to people. We see some cool action shots of him with young and old people, white people and black people! One thing I want to know, is he a fighter?

Because frankly, if I’m gonna have a Common Councilman with a fondness for ideological fisticuffs, I need to know whether or not my County Legislator has his back in a political brawl.

Unfortunately, Joel is all about commitment, not fighting. Perhaps I might glean something from this personal letter from his sister, Kate Feroleto.

Nope, just some bromides about Sunday dinners at his grandparents house. But, poor Kate was made to personally sign all the letters. Nice touch.

What else have I gotten in the mail? Oh yeah, did you know that Marinelli = Giambra = Horr-uh!

I think we can all agree that Joel Giambra was a disaster as County Executive. But, for the love of Christ, can we stop beating the electorate about the head with it? He won with an overwhelming majority and even Len Lenihan had been spotted in a Team Giambra t-shirt once upon a time.

What did I receive from Ms. Marinelli? A photo of her with Susan Grelick and another of her wearing a hardhat!

In the end, not much is learned from the mailers. If forced to look at the candidates, I’m gonna have to go with change for the sake of change. Joel Feroleto is my boy.

Why? Because no politician deserves seven terms in office. It’s reason #1 why this area never moves forward, political inertia. The government needs a good colon cleanser once in a while…and I guess Joel is the, well, err, he’s got my vote.

And Lynn can move on to a glorious position at the Water Board.

The Buffalo Sabres and the NHL have called a press conference for Monday to announce the details of an outdoor New Years Day game at Ralph Wilson Stadium between the Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Details have been kept secret, but WNYMedia.net’s own Andrew Kulyk obtained some advance information on ticket prices and game details.

WNYMedia has learned exclusively that ticket prices for the big event have been set from $10 for the first few rows of the 100 level seating bowl, which are labeled as obstructed view, to $203 for those heated club seats under the overhang.

We obtained a copy of the pricing chart through an unnamed contact, but were unable to reach Sabres PR spokesman Mike Gilbert this afternoon for verification or further comment.

The game in Buffalo, dubbed the “Ice Bowl” will be the second outdoor NHL game. The first was played at Edmonton’s 57,000 seat Commonwealth Stadium in 2003 when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3. Ralph Wilson Stadium is home to the Buffalo Bills and has a capacity of 73,967 seats for football games. Final details on the number of seats were not available, but it is possible that 75,000 fans could be in the house to watch the Penguins/Sabres tilt which will be televised nationally on NBC.

Since defeating Tim Wroblewski for the 9th District Erie County Legislative seat in 2005, Cynthia Locklear has been a fresh face of reform and openness. She has called for increased transparency and accountability in government and has advocated for a new direction from the typical union pandering and backroom deals which typify our the legislative process.

She has openly disagreed with her Democratic counterparts, sided with the Republicans when it made sense, and generally acted as an independent legislator. Sure, she might be excluded from the occasional party caucus meeting or be left out of the “in-crowd”, but is that necessarily a bad thing?

Well, it sure seems that way if you evaluate from whom her opponent has received checks. Tim Wroblewski is back and looking to regain his former seat in the legislature. In the past year, he has accepted contributions from some pretty familiar names.

SEIU, AFSCME, Asbestos Workers Local #4, Erie County Sheriff’s PBA, I.U.O.E. Local 17, Iron Workers Local #6, and the IBEW are all donors to Mr. Wroblewski. You think this might have something to do with Locklear’s virulent opposition to the Apprenticeship Law which essentially eliminates competition in public construction contracts?

Wroblewski has also received contributions from local politicos like Mark Schroeder, Bill Stachowski, Paul Clark, Jim Keane, Michelle Iannello, Paul Tokasz, Tim Kennedy, Norm Polanski, and Fran Warthling.

On the other hand, it doesn’t appear that Cindy has picked up any donations from local politicos of note nor any union money…unless I am missing some insider name that I am unfamiliar with.

Sometimes, you learn more about a candidate when you read through the finance reports than you do from reading their campaign literature.

Cindy deserves another term and hopefully, we can add another independent candidate to the legislature to work with her.

I wish we lived in a country where people didn’t have to hold Chinese Auctions and chicken barbeques to pay for medical expenses. Unfortunately, if you’re a working class parent, you’re often forced to absorb a significant chunk of the expenses when your child is deathly ill or the victim of a horrible tragedy.

Nineteen month old Baby Charlie is currently in the ICU of Women’s and Children’s Hospital. He was rushed there after having been found unconscious in an inflatable pool at his West Seneca home.

His recovery will require years of extensive therapy and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, the health insurance carrier does not provide the necessary coverage needed for his recovery.

Charlie’s story is tragic and not all that uncommon.

The boy, whose name was withheld by police, was playing about 5:30 p.m. with his toys in a “Florida room” attached to the back of the family’s garage on Southwood Drive while his parents were nearby cleaning the garage, West Seneca Police reported.

The boy wandered through a door into his backyard and fell over the edge into the soft-sided pool.

When his parents went to check on him in the “Florida room,” he was not there and they began a frantic search for him with the help of neighbors.

The boy’s father found him unresponsive in the 3-foot high swimming pool in about 20 inches of water, according to Assistant Police Chief Daniel Denz.

“There was no foul play involved,” Denz said. “It appears it’s just a tragic accident.”

If you can find a few spare dollars in your wallet for this family, it would mean the world to them. Please extend your support if you are able.

Things I’ve learned in the past couple of days while wondering whatever happened to Ross Perot…

That’ll do it…

Buffalo, Erie County, and Western New York are mired in a calcified state of political and economic stasis.

Even the most deluded New Yorker cannot deny this fact.

So, at what point did the stasis begin? Was it in 1960? 1970? 1980? 1990? When it happened, who was in elected office? Since we entered this period of stasis/decline, who are the people who have allowed it to continue?

At some point, are we not required to hold those people accountable for creating an environment in which we all suffer economically? Should we not demand better of those we elect to represent us in local, regional, and state government?

To simplify the argument, if you were to hire a contractor to build your home and it was built poorly, would you consider re-hiring that contractor to fix it? Would you take that contractor’s recommendation on another who could fix the problems he created for you? Would you hire him to build homes for your family members after he proved he was incompetent during the build of your home? Probably not.

Yet, for some reason, people in this region continually do exactly that when it comes time to vote every November. We seem to hope that if Dale Volker (32 years in elected office), Sam Hoyt (15 years/family for nearly 50), Robin Schimminger (31 years), Dave Franczyk (21 years), etc. were to get just one more term, they might have the clout or leverage to get something accomplished.

We believe that “our legislator” isn’t the problem, it’s the “other guys in Albany/Rath Building/City Hall” that are truly holding back progress. We hold up their free mailers that show how much (insert official here) cares about his/her community. He got new helmets for the little league football team! She got $5,000 for Meals on Wheels! As if it takes 15 years in the Assembly to get new street lights for Connecticut Street…

Your votes are being purchased and you have been convinced to vote against your own self interest. To paraphrse Verbal Kint; “The greatest trick a politician ever pulled was to convince the world that his existence truly mattered”.

Why do we value extended periods in elected office as a qualification to hold higher office? Why should I vote for Jim Keane in the upcoming Democratic primary when it appears that his greatest accomplishment was to have been an appointee under Dennis Gorski? The lengthy series of meet and greet photos on his campaign website that feature him standing with old school politicians sure is impressive, but what does that qualify him to do in our current economic mess? Should I look back fondly to the days of exorbitant property taxes, mind numbingly slow private sector economic growth, and excessive patronage as the salad days? Should I vote for Paul Clark in the primary as he has clearly led the steaming locomotive of mediocrity known as West Seneca for 15 years?

Well, this registered Democrat is tired of continually being presented with false choices come election time. I am writing in a vote of “BuffaloGeek” in the primary election and voting for Chris Collins in the General Election.

While I find the continual allusions to his corporate image as being trite and obvious, Chris Collins is the only candidate for Erie County Executive who doesn’t make me shake my head in disappointment and disdain. I have read the Chris Collins “prospectus” and I guess I am “investing” in Chris Collins, but it sure beats the idea of sending yet another career political hack into office to bring back the old days. I’ll take a fresh approach to our problems over people who have lorded over our 40 years of economic decline in a heartbeat.

Now, if we can only convince the party zealots to stop worrying about bridge burning, their own political future, and their tenacious grip on patronage appointments, we might be able to move this region in the right direction.

The 2007 edition of the National Buffalo Chicken Wing Festival attracted 74,000 people who consumed 500,000 wings during the two day festival that celebrates Buffalo’s famous contribution to the national cuisine.

Festival organizer, Drew “Wing King” Cerza was shocked by the turnout and the rabid hunger of the record crowd. “We ran out of wings at the end of the day on Saturday. We cooked up nearly 15 tons of wings and still had to order 12 tons to cover the crowd on Sunday. It just goes to show you that the chicken wing truly is America’s favorite food!”

Throughout the course of the weekend, festival attendees sampled wings from 30 restaurants from across the country. Each restaurant submitted sauces to various contests to determine who could create America’s best wing sauce. The categories included Best Traditional Extra Hot Wing Sauce won by Ker’s WingHouse, and Best Traditional BBQ, won by Bocce Club Pizza of Buffalo.

My favorite wing was the Cranberry Chipotle entry from Captain Spongefoot of Granby, CO. It had a touch of tart sweetness that slowly melted into a great smoky bite on the way down.

Aside from the wing sauce competitions, the Wingfest also featured a nationally sanctioned competitive wing eating competition that was won in record setting fashion by Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas. The 99 pound eating dynamo set an official world record by downing 173 chicken wings in just 12 minutes.