Today I bought 1 Sabres Tickets to 4 games yes one of them is a preseasson game but I want to see the penguins. I have been to some open practices but I don't think I've ever been to a pre-season game. I will admit that one of my tickets is only a few rows above the players bench so it might be tough to see but it will be interesting to have that view also. I got them because I'm a Sabres insider. They go on sale to the public on Saturday. I admit buying them this early makes me nervous cause what if a great concert comes to the Town Ballroom the same night but that is ok. I figured I should get a few games early before they all sell out. I'm going to see "The Blues", "Blackhawks" and "Senators". I saw in the news today an article about the Aud and that they may try to sell some of the stuff that is in there before they trash it. I will say this if I had home it would be so cool to have turnstyles as people walked in. I think it would be cool to have Rows of chairs in front of my huge TV, that would be awesome. But my place is small so there is no chance of that for me. If bass pro uses that site I wish they would keep the front entrance way as an enterance way to the store then have a little Area with the history of the AUD I think that would really be cool but doubt we will ever see that.


Here is what I wanted to talk about yesterday but didn't have time. I read this in the Buffalo News and will give my thoughts after this about crime in the city.
[box] Habitat for Humanity crew is robbed at gunpoint
Masked men confront workers on Peach St.
By Stephen T. Watson - News Staff Reporter
Updated: 09/13/07 8:27 AM




A group of volunteers renovating a home in Buffalo's Fruit Belt neighborhood through Habitat for Humanity was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday while taking a lunch break.

The two robbers surprised the volunteer workers and demanded their money as the group sat outside a house that's being rehabbed in the 200 block of Peach Street.

This is the first such crime in the 22-year history of Habitat Buffalo, officials said, and members said they hope news of the robbery doesn't hurt the work of the organization.

"Our volunteers are so passionate that they're not going to let this stop them," Margaret Talboys, publicity director for the group, told The Buffalo News late Wednesday. "We will do all we can to ensure the safety of our volunteers."

Habitat Buffalo, part of the national Habitat for Humanity organization, has helped build or rehab 170 homes over 22 years for city residents who can't afford to buy a new home at market price, Talboys said.

In that time, no volunteers have been personally victimized, and the only crimes of any kind have been rare, overnight burglaries targeting the work sites, she said.

Volunteers have been working at the Peach Street site for about two months, said Ron Talboys, president of Habitat Buffalo and Margaret's husband, who is on the Peach Street work crew. Each home project typically takes six to eight months.

The crew was sitting in plastic chairs on the house's front lawn eating lunch at about 12:30 p.m. when two men dressed in black burst upon the group, Ron Talboys and another volunteer said.

The two robbers, wearing hoodies and bandannas to obscure their faces, began pushing the volunteers around and demanding money.

"My initial thought was this was a prank," said Ron Talboys. That notion was dashed when he saw one of the robbers brandishing a handgun.

Many of the volunteers are retirees.

"I just started," said an 84-year-old Clarence resident. "It was my first day."

He said the robber with the gun stood 2 feet away from him, pointing the gun at him, when he demanded his wallet, which contained a credit card and $60.

Another Clarence man was robbed of his wallet and $40, while a third Clarence resident was robbed of $45.

A fourth victim, a Getzville resident, was hurt in his left shoulder when he was pushed off his chair. He gave $60 to the robbers.

After the robbers ran off, several volunteers called 911 on their cell phones to report the crime. A half-dozen Buffalo police patrol cars responded, Ron Talboys said.

Some workers left the site after the robbery, while others continued to work.

"I guess most of the people were more scared afterwards. . . . It happened so quickly," Ron Talboys said.

The Talboyses stressed that they are taking every precaution possible to ensure the safety of their volunteers. They plan to consult Buffalo Housing Court Judge Henry Nowak and Buffalo police have promised to beef up patrols in the area.

Both Ron Talboys and the 84-year-old Clarence man said they plan to return to the Peach Street site.

"We want to continue. This is our mission," Margaret Talboys said.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Central District police at 851-4403.

swatson@buffnews.com
[/box]

The first thing I will say it is to bad that all the guys where on brake. It would have been nice if one of them wasn't and came behind these thugs with a rivet or nail gun and taken them out. Normaly I'm not one of those people who think eye for an eye and rapists should be raped in jail. But this case is different. You have people who come into a place to help that place and help the people who live there and then some thugs rob them. Yeah I understand that there are stick up kids and people who need money for what ever reason. But if you are going to rob someone at least have the moral code to rob other thugs, gangstas or drug dealers. Don't rob the people who are trying to improve the fruit belt. I admit I've been in the fruit belt or at least the out skirts of it for sports events. I have been to a few events at the stadium that replaced "The Rock Pile" and I used to go to Bison games there. I guess the point I was trying to get to is that most of the people there are good (I assume) and want to have nice things but then you have a few bad apples and I hope they don't take it back to how it used to be a long time ago.

I will be the first to admit I like the summer much more then fall and winter. But one there are things I like about the fall I guess since I don't remember how to do the list feature is there still the list feature I'll just list them.
1. Football
2. Hockey
3. Thanksgiving
4. Halloween
5. wearing Hoodies
6. the changing seasons
7. being able to eat chilli or soup with out having to get down to boxers only because of being over hot
8. The excitement of new TV shows. (yes it can be so confusing cause they all start on different dates and you not sure when the new season starts)
9. The return of shows I haven't seen all summer
10. Wish I could say bonfires on the beach but that isn't really true for me.
11. Baseball playoffs I never watch that go on for ever and then hopefully lead into the start of 24


Below is some info in case you have a little extra money and want to get a car and have about 1 and a 1/2 million dollars.

[box] Exclusivity? Try Lamborghini's $1.4 million car

By Gilles Castonguay Wed Sep 12, 12:24 PM ET

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - What price exclusivity? If you ask Lamborghini, one million euros ($1.4 million) should do it -- before tax, of course.
ADVERTISEMENT

In a bid to add more prestige to what it already has, the Italian maker of super luxury sports car unveiled the Reventon at Frankfurt's international autoshow, a very limited edition car that looks more like an arrow than anything on four wheels.

With the six-figure price tag, it is the most expensive car that it has ever built.

Needless to say, Lamborghini has already sold the 20 cars that it plans to build.

"As soon as the word got out, we sold out in four days," Chief Executive Stephan Winkelmann told Reuters, adding that they could have easily sold another 20.

Most of the buyers were men from the United States, Lamborghini's biggest market, he said.

Some of them are already owners of a Lamborghini, which competes with the likes of Ferrari in speed and exclusivity.

"We have among our customers movie stars, sports stars... (but) the majority of our clients are businessmen. Men. Lovers of luxury goods," said Winkelmann.

True to its tradition of cultivating an aggressive image, Lamborghini named the car after a bull that killed matador Felix Guzman in 1943.

Although it is based on its Murcielago LP640 model, Lamborghini's engineers took inspiration from a fighter jet and reworked the composite carbon fiber body to accentuate the sleekness and angular edges usually associated with its cars.

The engine is the same as the LP640: a 12-cylinder rocket that can propel the car from zero to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds.

By comparison, the coupe version of the LP640 costs a relatively more modest 219,600 euros.

Lamborghini, which is run by Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE) Audi division, will start making the Reventon in January and deliver them in October.

The car, which came in an opaque grey at the autoshow, has a three-year warranty.[/box]

First things first I didn't go to the bisons game last night, I just wasn't up for it for some reason. I may go to the plaza thing for the sabres but I think I will watch the game at home.

I was searching online for pictures of Buffalo. In the process I saw some post cards of Buffalo and buildings that are no longer standing and how Buffalo used to look. I don't think I will go there very often but I did join Buffalo Rising. They had comments about the New Tower that is supposed to go up at where the park lane is. There is also a dicusion going on here about it also. Those two caused me to have an idea that I think would help the presvation moviement and also help progress and new buildings be built. It might even help fight of the NIMBY movement. When ever a building is torn down or emploded and however it is gotten rid of. Then there must be pictures and video of it and a history writen for it before it can be demolished. This would also be true of and Victorian Houses as well. This history would then me made into a presentation at the new site. That way when someone goes to a parking lot they can get the history of what was there before. Once a building is built then that history site is built right in on the first floor. For the history part you could also have old photos and maybe even articles about things that happenend there. I think it would be a good idea to expand that to buildings that have been put up allready. Why not even have history tours where people could tour buildings and get the history of what Buffalo used to look like. I think that this would help both the people who want anything that isn't being used torn down and a new all glass building in there and those who don't want anything torn down. It would be a good way to help persevrve the history of Buffalo.

One of the things that caused me to have this idea is the current compromise at the building at 120 delaware. I read an article in the Buffalo News about how they where going to tear down this old theatre but before they did an agreement was reached to remove the historical stuff from the building. I thought that was a great compromise. So if you can delay constrution for a month why not just pass a law and make it part of all demolishion plans. I think it is a lot better then everytime someone tries to bring in a new hotel or anyonther plan there is a law suit. I know there would still be some. I know buildings should try to be saved if they can be used but this would be a back up if they can't be saved.

If my understand is correct now that Bass Pro if they ever come here won't be using the Aud that has brought about the Idea of razing it. I think that is a horid idea. Granted that no one has come up with an idea that has worked for the Aud as of yet. But just because you havn't had anyone try to use it, dosn't mean that you tare the building down. I admit that the way the arena is set up that it would be tough to use it for anything else with out a lot of building taking place inside the building. Then i got a crazzy idea. Why not use it as an ice rink or at least the rink part of it. You could maybe even use it as an arena for concerts and things that wouldn't get a crowd as big as HSBC but bigger then sheas or that needs a bigger stage, like a small circus. As cool as new arenas are one of the problems is that they arn't verry acomdating and the seats are close togather. From what I remember of the Aud that wasn't really the case. But maybe some seats could be taken out and then the seats spread apart then the seats that are pulled out could be sold or auctioned off maybe even for charity. When there warn't any events it could be a open as Museum with pictures and information about Buffalo over the years. My point is if you go to Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens is still there. You can say what you want about Leaf fans but I went to a Lacrosse Game at Maple Leaf Gardens when the Air Canada Center (ACC) was allready open. Did the Toronto Rock wind up moving to the ACC yes but the Garden is still there. I also think that taring down the Rock pile after the Bisons moved was another bad idea. I understand that that turned it into a great football field and a cool track. But they could have done that with out destroying most of the building and just opdated the things that needed to be modernised.

I know that there are a lot of people in Buffalo who are Anti Casino. I can understand that and they have good Reasons. I disagree but that isn't the point I'm getting to. I know there are a lot of people who don't get The Bass Pro deal and think that the money can be spent in better ways. I know there are people who think the Elmwood Hotel is a bad idea. There was a lot of opposition to Pano trying to destroy that cool atwater house. The problem is that us citizens are hurting Buffalo more then we are helping it. Yes the politicans are evil and hurt the city to. But If I wanted to start a buiness I wouldn't come to Buffalo. If I did I would get all kinds of oppostion and I would have to have meetings. I think that it is good to have stanards and ask questions and say we don't aprove and we think it is a bad idea. But what about when there is something you think is a good idea and then others bitch about it. I think we all want Buffalo to grow and get more Business and have more out of towners visit. But if we shoot down everything business that wants to come here then no one will ever come to Buffalo.

Lately I have read a bunch of interesting articles but I can't talk about them all and give links to them all. So I will briefly mention them (the ones I remember). I think the article I have below is the most interesting one. I think it brings up a good question. Is preservation a good thing. I understand that there are historic bulidings that have a lot of history and should be kept. But what about new buildings that could add revenue for the city and make sense for Buffalo to move ahead in time. Some people belive that preservationsists keep companies from moving to buffalo by not allowing new buildings to replace old ones I don't agree with that but it is interesting to read.

I read two articles in todays Buffalo News about The Silos and the Casino. Apprently the Sencas have had plans made up for the new Casino that include knocking them down and Keeping them and working them into there plans. I think the fact that they at least are considering keeping them may be a good sign who knows what will happen there are still legal battles going on. The other article was about those legal battles and that was interesting. It was about how cheap the indains got the land and that if they got more land then they needed for the casino that it could violate the state compact with them.

I Have read about a couple of possible constrution projects. One was about the New Burchfield Penny Center. They make it sound as if it is a sure thing. I guess one complaint is that there wasn't much community invovlement in it and it isn't predestian friendly. The other article was about how the person who owns the buildings on Elmwood near forest where Skunk Tail Glass, Mondo video and a few other places wants to turn that area into a Hotel with underground and ground level parking and shops. They didn't say if all those houses would come down or if they would be built into it. I assume that they would be torn down. I guess calling this post Changing Buffalo isn't really correct yet because none of these projects has started officaly yet. For example Niagara Falls has supposed to have gotten I'm guessing about 30 differant big time devolpments that never happend.

In sports local boy Travis Meyer from the Meyer Brothers family didn't medal in the olympics. That is to bad. I was hoping he would. There is a real nice article about him in the paper. When I have more time I want to talk about the Google and Yahoo issue of helping China Sensor there web use there are a lot of issues there to be covered from the few articles I have read about it, but I want to hear some thoughts on TV about it also before I chim in. I want to know all my facts before I talk about it with the computer savy people on this site.





FOCUS: PRESERVATIONISTS
Preserving or obstructing?

---

Saving historic buildings is a fierce passion for some, but others feel an 'everything must be saved' philosophy is hindering Buffalo's growth

By MARK SOMMER
News Staff Reporter
2/16/2006



The historic value of the H-O Oats grain elevator has been a subject of debate, with preservationists touting the tourism potential of elevators near the Erie Canal terminus.





Preservationists in Buffalo can be found in the trenches, trying to stop 19th century buildings from being torn down, or saving hulking grain elevators from meeting the wrecking ball.
But not everyone applauds such efforts.

From average citizens to developers, some local people see preservationists as obstructionists who want to save every blighted building in an aging city. They do so, critics charge, without regard for feasible reuse, prospects for restoration funds or how their actions discourage investment in the city.

"There is definitely a school of thought - and quite a large contingent of people - who very openly take the position that everything must be saved. I don't think that helps the city in terms of moving forward," said Richard C. Baer, a member of the Buffalo Preservation Board, the city agency that considers changes to historic structures.

"I think preservationists are choking the city with the things they are doing," said Ernestine Aberle, a Buffalo native who lives in Clarence and opposes spending $76.5 million to restore the historic H.H. Richardson complex.

"I'm all for preserving things from the past, whether it be family customs or buildings, but it can get way off balance."

Critics point to several buildings they believe preservationists have gone overboard to save: the Vernor Building in the Theater District, the Balcom/Chandler House on Niagara Square and a 19th century building next to Pano's restaurant on Elmwood Avenue.

Preservationists are hardly a monolith. Some focus on buildings with clear historical value, such as the Richardson complex, while others are concerned about maintaining the historic integrity of neighborhoods that include structures less highly regarded.

But all believe the city's future can be found, in part, in its past.

"Preservationists have visited other cities and know that quality economic revitalization occurs when the fabric of the built environment is invested in, rather than demolished in the name of progress and easy profits for developers," said Dennis Galucki, executive director of the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier.





The Pano's battle

A recent battleground between preservationists and those who think they go too far is the building next door to Pano's, a popular Elmwood Avenue restaurant. The 1893 structure is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Restaurant owner Panagiotis Georgiadis applied for a demolition permit in September 2004 to tear down the building. He wanted to replace it with a dining patio and more parking, and later offered to incorporate design elements from the building.

Preservationists insisted that the building was essential to the Elmwood Avenue streetscape. They pressed their case with picket lines and at public hearings, attracting the support of some politicians.

Georgiadis said his supporters voted with their feet, boosting his business during that time to all-time heights.

The case is in the courts, but the experience, Georgiadis said, landed him in the hospital.

"I got a bleeding ulcer, and since then, I don't care about this house anymore, or this city. I just go to work every day. I think [preservationists] are parasites," he said.

Baer, the Preservation Board member, is another critic.

"I think of those of us on the Preservation Board as being pragmatists," said Baer, who works as a construction consultant in Angola.

Baer said he is sympathetic to developers because he recognizes obstacles and delays can make redevelopment of historic buildings untenable.

"They just drag out beyond the developer's patience or ability to financially make it work," Baer said.

Tim Tielman of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture and Culture, can recite dozens of downtown buildings torn down through the years, most prominently, Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Administration Building in 1950.

Tielman blames the city's failure to penalize irresponsible owners and its lack of interest in citizen concerns for forcing preservationists into action.

"These complaints about "preservationists' are not about preservation. They're about power," Tielman said.

"For 50 years, the decisions about the future of our city and how our money was spent was the exclusive province of the business and political elite," he said. "Today, on the margins, citizens are making themselves heard. Hooray for them."

Preservationists also point to many run-down buildings that were nearly demolished in recent years and are now success stories.

Recent examples include: the 1863 George Squier mansion on Main Street, now home to Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo & Erie County; the former Holling Press on Washington Street, which opened last year as mixed-income housing; and The Church, the former Asbury Delaware United Methodist Church, at Delaware Avenue and Tupper Street, now reborn as an art gallery and, soon, a performance hall.

That's why Baer also said a debt is owed to activists like Tielman.

"I've always said I couldn't be a Tim [Tielman], but I think of the Erie Canal Harbor and [buildings being rehabbed at] Main and Virginia, and I'm sure many more that would probably be gone if he hadn't jumped into the fray, as mad as it makes developers," Baer said.





Developers aren't fans

Not surprisingly, many developers see preservationists as impediments to progress.

"There are a lot of projects people would like to see saved that are not saveable and may ultimately be a hindrance to development," said Benjamin Obletz, president of First Amherst Development.

The company owns Lofts at Elk Terminal near the Cobblestone District and is restoring the row of mostly 19th century buildings at Virginia and Main streets.

Carl Paladino, chief executive of Ellicott Development Co., who was vilified by preservationists for demolishing the Harbor Inn in 2003, is more blunt.

"I think the preservation effort is tempered by the Preservation Board. Beyond them, you have a bunch of extremists who have no appreciation whatsoever of how to help our city move into the 21st century," said Paladino, who has converted two historic downtown buildings into housing and is planning others.

The fate of the H-O Oats grain elevator, on Seneca Nation of Indians land near the Cobblestone District, has stirred perhaps the most recent controversy. Preservationists have promoted tourism potential in the collection of grain elevators near the historic terminus of the Erie Canal and suggested the H-O Oats silos could be turned into a hotel.

Paladino, who sold the grain elevator to the Senecas in October, recommended that the silos be used for signs, and was told the idea would be considered.

But he fails to understand what preservationists see in them.

"We have enough grain elevators to show the next few generations," said Paladino. "There's nothing particularly unique about the H-O grain elevator compared to the 17 other ones in town."


e-mail: msommer@buffnews.com