A lot of people have been writing about the flight that crashed and it is all over the news. But I think that what I read about today in the news is pretty interesting about The AUD. I admit that I think it is to bad that over all these years no one could find a good use for the AUD, it really is to bad. It is to bad that is has to come down. It is to bad that the only seats that got sold where the blue seats. I know the other ones where to messed up. I think it is sad. Yes I like the New Arena but if I could it would be great to change them. Of course you can't do that. The article I read has a website where you can watch the AUD being torn down. That brings me to a question. Why when you tear something down it is called raze and when you build something like when you raise a house (think a barn or habitat for humanity where you see people lift an entire wall ) and they are both said the same way? I haven't checked out the website yet but it sounds like it is pretty good.

Updated: 02/13/09 07:43 AM
Aud rubbernecking just got a lot easier
Camera lets public watch razing on Net
By Sharon Linstedt
NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER


A live, bird's-eye view of the demolition of Buffalo's Memorial Auditorium is now just a mouse click away.

The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. has launched "Harbor Cam," a video camera mounted on the top floor of the HSBC Center that looks down on the Aud and the Buffalo waterfront.

"It's a really cool way to let people see what's going on down there," said Jordan A. Levy, chairman of the harbor development agency. "Seeing is believing, and we're making progress."

Images from the camera can be viewed, starting today, at www.eriecanalharbor.com . The camera, located outside Levy's office window on the 38th floor of Buffalo's tallest building, can be zoomed in on the Aud or refocused to take in the entire Erie Canal Harbor neighborhood. Users will be able to pan across the waterfront area from the Cobblestone District to the east over to the Buffalo & Erie County Naval and Military Park to

the west.

That viewable swath of the downtown waterfront includes the 20-acre site that will be redeveloped as the $325 million Canal Side project. Demolition of the Aud is the first critical step in that effort, clearing the way for construction of a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store, Great Lakes Museum and public green.

"This camera will let the entire community witness what's going on at Canal Side. They'll be able to follow the project all the way through from demolition through construction," Levy said.

While today marks the first day of live Harbor Cam viewing, the camera has been in place and capturing Aud demolition action since late January. The harbor agency's Web site includes a feature that allows visitors to watch time-lapse shots chronicling the arena's exterior demolition.

The views are compiled in five-minute intervals and can be printed from the site. The time-stamped shots are accompanied by weather data.

As of Thursday, crews from West Seneca-based DEMCO Inc. had opened up a section of the north wall and roof where the main entrance lobby once stood. The selective razing is aimed at creating enough room to drive cranes, bulldozers and other heavy equipment inside the building.

The machinery will then be positioned on the basement level of the arena, with crane booms lifted up to begin removing the Aud's entire roof.

"They'll be taking down 21 trusses and pulling the whole roof down. That's going to be fun to watch," Levy said.

Once the roof is gone, DEMCO will drop the outside walls. In the next 90 days, the 69-year-old landmark will vanish.

Construction of the Bass Pro store and other developments on the Aud block are to start before year's end, pending the outcome of an environmental impact and design review.

Conversion of the adjacent Donovan State Office Building to a mixed-use complex with a totally new exterior is on a similar timetable.

slinstedt@buffnews.com

I just wanted to add that I hope everyone has a great Friday the 13th and watches some scary movies or something. I also hope Valentines isn't to bad for anyone. I Know I'll be at the Bandits game and I have to buy food for my place. I doubt I will do anything after the game. Some might ask how this relates to the story. Well I'm hoping that I Will be able to take some pictures of the AUD before I go to the game but we shall see what happens.

Some of you I'm sure all ready read this in the news or maybe even on face book. But I thought I would post it here since on one else has yet . I think it is an interesting article about the Elmwood strip and how they want to make laws about building there. Oh yeah and (e:drew) is "ed .

02/11/09 06:51 AM
Proponents push design standards for projects in Elmwood Village
By Brian Meyer
NEWS STAFF REPORTER


A plan that would impose strict new design standards on projects in the Elmwood Village was presented to Common Council members Tuesday, capping off a decade long effort by neighborhood advocates.

Speakers at a public hearing in City Hall said the effort aimed to prevent the type of "suburban-style" development that has occurred in some other areas, including the Delaware- Hertel corridor. The distinctive Elmwood Strip should never take on the aura of a Union Road, they argued.

If approved by city officials, new projects along Elmwood would have to be built close to sidewalks. Buildings couldn't have parking lots in front of their facades. The design standards also would favor mixed-use projects that would include upper-floor residences over businesses.

Before structures could be demolished, property owners would have to submit reuse plans for the parcels. The plan also would impose strong community- notification requirements, including signs on properties to alert people to development plans.

The proposed design standards were crafted with suggestions from 300 residents and business owners, said Justin Azzarella, executive director of the Elmwood Village Association.

Daniel Sack, an Elmwood Village resident who sits on the association's design committee, denied that the new rules could hinder economic development. He also highlighted figures showing that carefully planned projects along a business strip like Elmwood have greater economic value per acre than big-box developments or buildings with sprawling parking lots.

"It's not simply about aesthetics," he said. "It's about the . . . economic value of the land."

The Rev. Drew Ludwig of Lafayette Presbyterian Church urged city officials to adopt the new regulations. "These design standards will keep the Elmwood Village as the fantastic neighborhood that it already is," he said.

Every speaker at Tuesday's hearing voiced support for the new regulations. Some noted that in 2007, the Elmwood Village was christened one of the "10 great neighborhoods in America" by the American Planning Association.

Others underscored the importance of making sure that development on Elmwood takes into account pedestrians and bicyclists.

"This is a community [that ] likes to walk and likes to enjoy the vitality of the street," said Karl Frizlen, an architect and a member of the association's design panel.

Mayor Byron W. Brown recently announced plans for a citywide update of what some have branded antiquated zoning codes. But advocates urged Council members to approve the new standards for Elmwood, saying that waiting one or two years for a citywide revamping of codes makes no sense.

North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr., who represents part of the Elmwood Strip, predicted lawmakers will approve the plan, noting that the design standards have been thoroughly debated since the late 1990s.

"I'm embarrassed to say it has taken this long," he said.

Most of the commercial activity on what is considered the Elmwood Strip stretches from North Street to Forest Avenue.

bmeyer@buffnews.com

First of all last night I learned one needs to be careful when they search for things On the internet. I found this page with video and yes it was very dirty and lets just say I saw someone fuck themselves. I kid you not it was very weird and I wonder what it felt like to him. I may never tell anyone to do that ever again since now I know it is possible, ha. Later last night on myspace I saw that some people I know are on facebook so I decided to Join. So far I do like it. I will admit I think it will take me some time to get used to how to navegate the pages but hopefully that will come with time.

For those of you who have read a couple posts back I wrote about how TV stations will change from an analog signal to digital. I do have some issues with the change my self. I also included and article about how it looks like the date of when TV stations will go digital is going to change. Well today I read an interesting article on yahoo about how that change might make things confusing for people. Even after reading that I think pushing the date to June might be a good idea. Here is the article

Some TV stations to end analog signal on Feb. 17 (AP)

* Posted on Fri Feb 6, 2009 7:38AM EST



NEW YORK - Television viewers who use antennas and were expecting a few more months to prepare for digital TV may not have much time left before their sets go dark: Many stations still plan to drop analog broadcasts in less than two weeks.

When Congress postponed the mandatory transition to digital TV until June, it also gave stations the option to stick to the originally scheduled date of Feb. 17.

That means the shutdown of analog signals, which broadcasters had hoped would happen at nearly the same time nationwide, could now unfold in a confusing patchwork of different schedules.

Lawmakers wanted to address concerns that many households that receive TV signals through an antenna are not prepared for the switch. They were also mindful that a government fund has run out of money to subsidize digital converter boxes for older TVs.

Dozens of stations around the country now say they are going to take advantage of the option to drop analog broadcasts this month.

Many others are on the fence. The total number is likely to be in the hundreds, a substantial chunk and maybe even a majority of the country's 1,796 full-power TV stations.

The House voted Wednesday to delay the mandatory shutdown until June 12. The Senate passed the measure unanimously last week, and the bill now heads to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The legislation means analog signals could vanish entirely in some areas but persist in neighboring regions. In rural areas, low-power stations will continue to broadcast in analog even beyond June 12.

On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission ordered stations that still plan to turn off analog signals on Feb. 17 to notify the FCC by Monday.

Acting Chairman Michael Copps said the commission could prohibit stations from making the switch if doing so is not in the public interest. For instance, if all stations in a market want to turn off early, that would draw FCC scrutiny, he said at a commission meeting.

For many broadcasters, delaying the shutdown is inconvenient and expensive. Many of them have scheduled engineering work on their equipment to make the transition on Feb. 17.

The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, the public broadcasting network in the state, said Thursday that it planned to cease analog transmission from its full-power antennas at 1 p.m. on Feb. 17.

"We have four full-power stations all with 30-year-old-plus analog transmitters that are costly to maintain, putting out less than a quality signal," said Mark Norman, deputy director of technology at OETA.

"Sitting right alongside them are brand-new digital transmitters that have been running now for a few years. We just think it's counterproductive to continue to put money into the old ones."

Keeping the analog equipment in operation until June would cost the station about $200,000 at a time when the state is considering cutting its contribution to the budget, Norman said.

PBS spokeswoman Lea Sloan said about half of the 356 public broadcasting stations across the country will make the switch on Feb. 17. Many will do it for financial reasons. PBS said last month that if all its stations had to delay the switch, it would cost an estimated $22 million.

The Utah Broadcasters Association said the commercial stations in the state still plan to shut down analog on Feb. 17, while the public ones will wait until June.

In Wisconsin, at least two stations in Madison and five in the La Cross-Eau Claire plan to flip the switch on Feb. 17. In Minnesota, at least four stations plan to keep that date, along with five in Iowa.

Copps, the acting FCC chairman, said CBS, Fox, ABC and NBC and Telemundo had committed to keeping the stations they own broadcasting analog until June 12.

Together, they own 85 full-power stations, mainly in large cities. The rest of the stations that carry these networks are affiliates not owned by the network. ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover said some of its stations may still go early if all other stations in their market do so.

Gannett Co. and Hearst-Argyle Television Inc. also pledged to maintain the vast majority of their stations on analog, Copps said. They own or operate 52 stations.

"These broadcasters deserve our gratitude. I encourage other broadcasters to join them," Copps said.

The transition to digital TV is being mandated because digital signals are more efficient than analog ones. Ending analog broadcasts will free up valuable space in the nation's airwaves for commercial wireless services and emergency-response networks.

In a few areas, including Hawaii, stations have already abandoned analog broadcasting.

TVs connected to cable or satellite services are not affected by the analog shutdown. But that still leaves a lot of people who could see channels go dark on Feb. 17. According to research firm MRI, 17.7 percent of Americans live in households with only over-the-air TV.

Most of them are ready for the analog shutdown, according to the National Association of Broadcasters and analysts at the Nielsen Co. Nielsen said Thursday that more than 5.8 million U.S. households, or 5.1 percent of all homes, are not ready.

At the Oklahoma public broadcasting association, Norman believes viewers are ready for the switch. The network has invited viewers to call in with transition questions on several nights. Each time, the number of callers has been smaller, Norman said.

"We really don't think it's going be as major of an issue as people anticipated," he said.

___

AP Television Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.

So here is an interesting article About AP wanting rights or money or something over that famous Obama picture. The thing that is weird is someone from AP helped write the article. Go to yahoo and check out the story or if you don't want to here it is. That assumes that they don't sue me for passing the story along.

NEW YORK - On buttons, posters and Web sites, the image was everywhere during last year's presidential campaign: A pensive Barack Obama looking upward, as if to the future, splashed in a Warholesque red, white and blue and underlined with the caption HOPE.

Designed by Shepard Fairey, a Los-Angeles based street artist, the image has led to sales of hundreds of thousands of posters and stickers, has become so much in demand that copies signed by Fairey have been purchased for thousands of dollars on eBay.

The image, Fairey has acknowledged, is based on an Associated Press photograph, taken in April 2006 by Manny Garcia on assignment for the AP at the National Press Club in Washington.

The AP says it owns the copyright, and wants credit and compensation. Fairey disagrees.

"The Associated Press has determined that the photograph used in the poster is an AP photo and that its use required permission," the AP's director of media relations, Paul Colford, said in a statement.

"AP safeguards its assets and looks at these events on a case-by-case basis. We have reached out to Mr. Fairey's attorney and are in discussions. We hope for an amicable solution."

"We believe fair use protects Shepard's right to do what he did here," says Fairey's attorney, Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University and a lecturer at the Stanford Law School. "It wouldn't be appropriate to comment beyond that at this time because we are in discussions about this with the AP."

Fair use is a legal concept that allows exceptions to copyright law, based on, among other factors, how much of the original is used, what the new work is used for and how the original is affected by the new work.

A longtime rebel with a history of breaking rules, Fairey has said he found the photograph using Google Images. He released the image on his Web site shortly after he created it, in early 2008, and made thousands of posters for the street.

As it caught on, supporters began downloading the image and distributing it at campaign events, while blogs and other Internet sites picked it up. Fairey has said that he did not receive any of the money raised.

A former Obama campaign official said they were well aware of the image based on the picture taken by Garcia, a temporary hire no longer with the AP, but never licensed it or used it officially. The Obama official asked not to be identified because no one was authorized anymore to speak on behalf of the campaign.

The image's fame did not end with the election.

It will be included this month at a Fairey exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and a mixed-media stenciled collage version has been added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.

"The continued use of the poster, regardless of whether it is for galleries or other distribution, is part of the discussion AP is having with Mr. Fairey's representative," Colford said.

A New York Times book on the election, just published by Penguin Group (USA), includes the image. A Vermont-based publisher, Chelsea Green, also used it - credited solely to Fairey_ as the cover for Robert Kuttner's "Obama's Challenge," an economic manifesto released in September. Chelsea Green president Margo Baldwin said that Fairey did not ask for money, only that the publisher make a donation to the National Endowment for the Arts.

"It's a wonderful piece of art, but I wish he had been more careful about the licensing of it," said Baldwin, who added that Chelsea Green gave $2,500 to the NEA.

Fairey also used the AP photograph for an image designed specially for the Obama inaugural committee, which charged anywhere from $100 for a poster to $500 for a poster signed by the artist.

Fairey has said that he first designed the image a year ago after he was encouraged by the Obama campaign to come up with some kind of artwork. Last spring, he showed a letter to The Washington Post that came from the candidate.

"Dear Shepard," the letter reads. "I would like to thank you for using your talent in support of my campaign. The political messages involved in your work have encouraged Americans to believe they can help change the status quo. Your images have a profound effect on people, whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign."

At first, Obama's team just encouraged him to make an image, Fairey has said. But soon after he created it, a worker involved in the campaign asked if Fairey could make an image from a photo to which the campaign had rights.

"I donated an image to them, which they used. It was the one that said "Change" underneath it. And then later on I did another one that said "Vote" underneath it, that had Obama smiling," he said in a December 2008 interview with an underground photography Web site.

___

Associated Press writer Philip Elliott in Washington contributed to this report.

I wonder how this will effect that site that has the Obama stuff you can get on T-shirts and stuff.

So with all the passing of Prop 8 recently, I almost didn't here about this. It was a small picture on Yahoos page and I think it is a interesting story.

After Calif. loss, gays get right to wed in Conn.



By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press Writer John Christoffersen, Associated Press Writer - 29 mins ago
...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Same-sex couples walked joyfully down the aisle Wednesday for the first time in Connecticut, while gay activists planned to march in protests across the country over the vote that took away their right to marry in California.

Advocates said they expected thousands at a demonstration at Boston's City Hall Plaza later Wednesday, with gay couples and families featured to try to keep the tone positive, said Ryan McNeely, an organizer for the Join the Impact protest movement.

"We're not trying to convey an image of persecution, we're not trying to attack any specific group," he said. "The point we need to be making is that we need to bring everybody together and to respect each other, and that hate breeds hate."

Bubbles and white balloons bounced in the chilly autumn air as well-wishers cheered the marriage of Peg Oliveira and Jennifer Vickery in New Haven. They wed outside City Hall, next to a statue commemorating the struggle for freedom among captives on the Amistad slave ship.

Despite the roaring traffic and clicking cameras, "it was surprisingly quiet," Oliveira said after the brief ceremony. "Everything else dissolved, and it was just the two of us. It was so much more personal and powerful in us committing to one another, and so much less about the people around us."

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Oct. 10 that same-sex couples have the right to wed rather than accept a 2005 civil union law designed to give them the same rights as married couples. A lower-court judge entered a final order permitting same-sex marriage Wednesday morning.

"Today, Connecticut sends a message of hope and inspiration to lesbian and gay people throughout this country who simply want to be treated as equal citizens by their government," said the plaintiff's attorney, Bennett Klein.

There was no comparison between civil unions and marriage for Robin Levine-Ritterman and Barbara Levine-Ritterman, who obtained a civil union in 2005 and were among eight same-sex couples who sued for the right to marry.

"We didn't do it with pride or joy," Barbara Levine-Ritterman said of getting the civil-union license. "It felt gritty to be in a separate line."

On Wednesday, however, she proudly held up the first same-sex marriage license issued in New Haven as about 100 people applauded outside City Hall. She and her betrothed, who held red roses, plan to marry in May.

"It's thrilling today," Barbara Levine-Ritterman said. "We are all in one line for one form. Love is love, and the state recognizes it."

Manchester Town Clerk Joseph Camposeo, president of the Connecticut Town Clerks Association, said clerks in the state's 169 communities were advised by e-mail shortly after 9:30 a.m. that they could start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

"The feedback I'm getting from other clerks is that we're all at the ready, but no one really has a sense yet of what kind of volume we're going to get," he said.

According to the state public health department, 2,032 civil union licenses were issued in Connecticut between October 2005 and July 2008.

The health department had new marriage applications printed that reflect the change. Instead of putting one name under "bride" and the other under "groom," couples will see two boxes marked "bride/groom/spouse."

Massachusetts is the only other state allowing gay marriages. Like the highest courts in that state and Connecticut, the California Supreme Court ruled this spring that same-sex marriage is legal. After thousands of such unions were conducted in California, however, its voters last week approved Proposition 8, a referendum banning the practice.

Constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage also passed last week in Arizona and Florida, and Arkansas voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents.

Gay rights advocates are citing Massachusetts as an example at planned rallies this weekend to demonstrate why gay marriage is beneficial to families and children.

"In Massachusetts, in particular, we have a great story to tell, a great story to tell about marriage equality, that it works and that it's good," said Marc Solomon, executive director of MassEquality.

Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which opposes gay marriage, said planned and past protests, some of which have been angry in tone and targeted churches, are meant to intimidate the California high court into reversing its ruling that Proposition 8 was constitutional.

"We are a nation that goes by the rule of law," he said. "No court should ever be intimidated by mob rule. And that's what our opponents right now are trying to do."

The California vote has sparked protests and several lawsuits asking that state's Supreme Court to overturn the prohibition.

A group of Southern California activists have launched an effort to have simultaneous protests outside statehouses and city halls in every state Saturday. Demonstrations have been scheduled outside the U.S. Capitol and in more than 100 cities.

Activists also are aiming boycotts and protests at businesses and individuals who contributed to the campaign to pass Proposition 8. Many of the donors are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which played a significant role in encouraging its members to support the California ban.

Mormon churches in several states have become the focus of protests and some vandalism since the vote.

Since lawyers for gay rights groups and the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco have asked the California Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8, same-sex couples in California are not flocking to Connecticut and Massachusetts to wed, said Shannon Minter, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

"I think couples are still very hopeful they will be able to marry here," Minter said.

Connecticut voters could have opened the door to ending gay marriage last week by voting for a constitutional convention to amend the state's constitution, but the measure failed.

Peter Wolfgang, the executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, a gay-marriage opponent, acknowledged that banning gay weddings in Connecticut will be difficult but vowed not to give up. He condemned the high court's decision as undemocratic.

"Unlike California, we did not have a remedy," Wolfgang said. "It must be overturned with patience, determination and fortitude."

The state's 2005 civil union law will remain on the books for now. Same-sex couples can continue to enter civil unions, which give them the same legal rights and privileges in Connecticut as married couples without the status of being married. Several states, including California, allow domestic partnerships or civil unions for same-sex couples.

___

Associated Press writers Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., and Lisa Leff in San Francisco contributed to this report.

So I went onto Yahoo to read my mail and I saw this article that I had to read and re post below. From what I understand these two skinheads where going to try and Kill Barack even though they thought they might not get away with it and they might even die doing so. That is really some heavy hate. They never got to the attack stage so we don't know if it is really true, and maybe they are taking the fall for a larger movement who knows what is really going on. If you read the article maybe you'll have the same question I did why not go after Barrack 1st, what if you first attacks don't work. I don't think they would have ever gotten close to Obama. That being said it still seems like this isn't the entire story. Yeah this is a lot of hate, I know I have some sterotypes that I fight with sometimes but I'm glad I'm no where near as bad as these guys are. I hate to say it but I don't think this will be the last attempt either.

Assassination plot targeting Obama disrupted




By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer Lara Jakes Jordan, Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON - Law enforcement agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn., federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school in a murder spree that was to begin in Tennessee. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of ATF's Nashville field office, said the two men planned to kill 88 people, including 14 African-Americans by beheading. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree after the Tennessee murders, with Obama as its final target, Cavanaugh told The Associated Press.

"They said that would be their last, final act - that they would attempt to kill Sen. Obama," Cavanaugh said. "They didn't believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying."

An Obama spokeswoman traveling with the senator in Pennsylvania had no immediate comment.

The men, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman 18, of Helena-West Helena, Ark., are being held without bond. Agents seized a rifle, a sawed-off shotgun and three pistols from the men when they were arrested. Authorities alleged the two men were preparing to break into a gun shop to steal more.

The two men were arrested Oct. 22 by the Crockett County, Tenn., Sheriff's Office. "Once we arrested the defendants and suspected they had violated federal law, we immediately contacted federal authorities," said Crockett County Sheriff Troy Klyce.

Attorney Joe Byrd, who has been hired to represent Cowart, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday. Messages left on two phone numbers listed under Cowart's name were not immediately returned.

No telephone number for Schlesselman in Helena-West Helena could be found immediately.

Cowart and Schlesselman are charged with possessing an unregistered firearm, conspiring to steal firearms from a federally licensed gun dealer, and threatening a candidate for president.

The investigation is continuing, and more charges are possible, Cavanaugh said.

The court records say Cowart and Schlesselman also bought nylon rope and ski masks to use in a robbery or home invasion to fund their spree, during which they allegedly planned to go from state to state and kill people.

For the Obama plot, the legal documents show, Cowart and Schlesselman "planned to drive their vehicle as fast as they could toward Obama shooting at him from the windows."

"Both individuals stated they would dress in all white tuxedos and wear top hats during the assassination attempt," the court complaint states. "Both individuals further stated they knew they would and were willing to die during this attempt."

Cavanaugh said there's no evidence - so far - that others were willing to assist Cowart and Schlesselman with the plot.

He said authorities took the threats very seriously.

"They seemed determined to do it," Cavanaugh said. "Even if they were just to try it, it would be a trail of tears around the South."

The court documents say the two men met about a month ago on the Internet and found common ground in their shared "white power" and "skinhead" philosophy.

The numbers 14 and 88 are symbols in skinhead culture, referring to a 14-word phrase attributed to an imprisoned white supremacist: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children" and to the eighth letter of the alphabet, H. Two "8"s or "H"s stand for "Heil Hitler."

Helena-West Helena, on the Mississippi River in east Arkansas' Delta, is in one of the nation's poorest regions, trailing even parts of Appalachia in its standard of living. Police Chief Fred Fielder said he had never heard of Schlesselman.

However, the reported threat of attacking a school filled with black students worried Fielder. Helena-West Helena, with a population of 12,200, is 66 percent black. "Predominantly black school, take your pick," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Erik Schelzig in Nashville, Tenn., and Jon Gambrell in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

So (e:MrMike) posted about the Aud Yesterday. What I want to say is that it is to bad that there is no way to reuse it, it really is but here is a story about it from the Buffalo news.

During a final look at Buffalo's Aud, 'I'll never forget the time . . .'
By Sharon Linstedt
News Business Reporter
Story tools:


Bill Wippert/Buffalo News Debris surrounds one of the old turnstiles in the Aud, which for 12 inactive years has been nothing more than a symbol of events long past.Bill Wippert/Buffalo News The site of the Aud Club, longtime social nexus for a sports-intensive city, is a shell of its former self during final tour. More photos on Picture Page, C10.
Related Content

Memorial Auditorium, arguably Buffalo's most beloved white elephant, has a November date with destiny.

After nearly six decades of use as a sports and entertainment venue, and a dozen years of stagnation while politicians and planners debated its future, the massive landmark will soon be demolished.

By this time next year, a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store, museum and public plaza are expected to be under construction on the five-acre site.

"We all have memories, we all have sentiments about this building, but life goes on. It's time to move on," said Jordan A. Levy, chairman of Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., who led a final tour of the venerable arena Tuesday morning.

Dark, chilly, with walls torn open from asbestos removal and with open spaces at its rooflines, the Aud hasn't totally lost its identity.

The arena's scoreboard still hangs from the rafters. Concession stand menus are frozen in time from the days when the Canadian exchange rate was 35 percent in favor of the greenback.

The Aud hosted its last hockey game April 14, 1996, when the Buffalo Sabres beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-1. The team has played in nearby HSBC Arena since the start of its 1996-97 season.

The last concert in the Aud was Sept. 11, 1996, with R&B ensemble Bones Thugs-n-Harmony as the final act in an entertainment history that included Bruce Springsteen and Frank Sinatra, the Ice Capades and the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Levy, who heads the agency overseeing redevelopment of the inner harbor site, has more than his share of personal memories of the Aud, having worked at the arena from 1970 to 1976.

"I was here for some amazing hockey and basketball games, and fantastic concerts. I'll never forget the time I spent in this building," said Levy, whose jobs included patching up the ice between periods of Sabres games and operating the escalators on concert nights.

Levy was joined by Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo; Mayor Byron W. Brown; and Erie County Executive Chris Collins in a final walk through the 69-year-old building, and all of them shared personal memories.

Collins recalled seeing his first hockey game in the Aud in 1976. "I had moved here from Alabama and didn't even know what hockey was. I kept asking, 'What are they doing? What's a blue line?' " Collins said, noting that he is now so hooked on hockey that he purchased 26 full season ticket packages to Sabres games for use by his family and his businesses.

For Brown, memories center on the Aud's hardwood floor and Buffalo Braves basketball. The mayor's first trip to the Aud was to see the Braves as a Buffalo State College freshman, when he dreamed of playing college basketball and going on to the National Basketball Association.

Memorial Auditorium: One Last Look
More videos

"Some upperclassmen brought some of us to the game, and we sat in the nosebleed section. It was wonderful," Brown recalled.

Higgins, who grew up in South Buffalo, said Aud events were always part of his life. "I couldn't tell you how many times I've been in here, too many to count," he said.

But the outspoken advocate of waterfront redevelopment said it's time to look forward. "We have an unprecedented opportunity to remake Buffalo's waterfront and seize a once-in-a-lifetime economic-development opportunity," he said. "Let's hold onto the memories and step into the future."

A six-month-long environmental abatement, which will result in the removal of about 2,000 tons of asbestos and other hazardous materials from the Aud, is set to wrap up in the next two weeks. Demolition crews will arrive by mid-November.

Jon Williams, co-owner of Buffalobased Ontario Specialty Contracting, said his firm is drafting demolition plans as it waits for the state to sign off on its $1.5 million contract. "Exactly when we start depends on getting the paperwork through Albany," he said, "but the expectation is we'll be on the site by the middle of next month."

The crews will dismantle the 450,000-square-foot auditorium piece by piece. Much of its steel and concrete structure will be recycled.

Developers are expected to unveil details of the Canal Side project, a $400 million effort that covers about 20 acres of the inner harbor, including the Aud parcel. The development will include more than a half-million square feet of retail, entertainment, hotel, office and residential space.

The first phase of construction will follow completion of a state environmental review, which is expected to take six to nine months.

City-sponsored live and online auctions of Aud "blue" seats and dasher boards are scheduled for Nov. 15-16. The "Farewell, Old Friend" event, which will be held in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, will also feature guest appearances by former Sabres and Braves players.

slinstedt@buffnews.com

Check out the web page looks like there is some nice stuff there.


I know that Wal-Mart does get a lot of bad press and that they are evil and do a lot of bad stuff. Some of that is depending on how you look at, hey if you need a job and you get one there you are better off. But that isn't what I'm talking about they gave a big donation to food banks in NYS and it looks like a big boost to buffalo here is the article.

Wal-Mart gives Food Bank big boost
$577,000 to aid operations here and across the state
By Deidre Williams
News Staff Reporter


Wal-Mart and the Food Bank of Western New York joined Tuesday to announce a new partnership to feed the hungry across the state.

Wal-Mart executives came bearing a $577,000 check to help address the problem.

The Food Bank of Western New York will get about $65,000 of that amount, as well as any food collected from a drive Nov. 22-23 in 10 area Wal-Mart stores.

The partnership between the retail giant and the Food Bank Association of New York State is called "Feeding New York: Rolling Back Hunger One Meal at a Time." The initiative will provide funding, food and volunteers to the eight regional food banks in the state.

The check from the Wal-Mart Foundation was presented at the Food Bank distribution headquarters on Holt Street.

In addition, Wal-Mart delivered canned soup, vegetables and fruit, cereal and rice to the local food bank.

It comes at a much-needed time, officials said, as the Food Bank has seen an 11 percent increase in food distributed to member agencies since last year, said John T. Evers, executive director of the Food Bank of Western New York.

Wal-Mart chose Buffalo as the site to announce the statewide initiative because of the city's dedication to philanthropy, said Steven V. Restivo, a director of corporate affairs for Wal-Mart.

"The Buffalo area is No. 1 in terms of contributions to the Children's Miracle Network," which is sponsored by Wal- Mart and supports Women and Children's Hospital, he said.

Besides the food drive next month, Wal-Mart staffers will make a commitment to volunteer at the local Food Bank next year.

dswilliams@buffnews.com

The reason why I give both the story and the link is because if you want to read the story then you can. But also with the link there is sometimes links from that page to other stories. But with the Buffalo News once it goes into archives then the link won't work and you have to pay to see the archives.

I didn't want to post any thing (heard rumors kinda) until it was offical Music Is Art will take place this year . Granted it isn't 2 days but I'm sure 1 day will be enough I'm glad they are having it. I know that a lot of people where upset when it was at the Fair Last year. That was kinda cool but I think where it is will be kinda interesting. Hopefully with it being a little later it will still be warm, we shall see. This is from the Music is art site.

[box]Music is Art Festival '08 Announced for Saturday September 13
at Albright Knox Art Gallery
All day event to feature music, dance, art, dj performance and more


Music is Art Founder and President Robby Takac today announced that the annual Music is Art Festival will take place Saturday, September 13 on the grounds of the Albright Knox Art Gallery. The event is absolutely free.


"I founded Music is Art in 2003 to bring together all genres of music and to link them to the other art forms in our area," Takac said. "What better way to show that music is art than to bring our festival to the world famous Albright Knox Art Gallery."


The all day festival - kicking off at 11 a.m. - will take place outdoors (rain or shine) on the Lincoln Parkway side of the gallery on three stages featuring live music, dance and theatre performance. The event will also feature live art creation, displayed art and photography, a kids village, a not for profit row, and a dj performance area. The Music is Art Student Battle of the Bands winners will play on the main stage, and this year the other finalists and winner of The Big Easy in Buffalo battle will also perform.


"I am excited that Music is Art continues to do good work in the community, and I would like to congratulate Robby Takac and the entire Music is Art team for continuing this great tradition of bringing all the arts together in this festival," Albright Knox Director Louis Grachos added.


Now in its sixth year the Festival has entertained thousands and again takes its place as one of the most innovative and anticipated cultural events of the year. The festival is one of seven core programs of Music is Art, including a music instrument drive currently taking place at 18 Starbucks locations until August 17. Information on Music is Art and its programs can be found at www.musicisart.org.


"We're happy to be partnering with the Albright Knox and we're thrilled to have the festival back in Buffalo," Takac concluded. "Everyone in invited to come out and join me on September 13!"




Bands


Agent ME Maria Aurigema
Bev-Beverley Chylde
Crittenden Image Performance Dali's Ghost
Ron Davis Acid Funk Duo Family FUNKtion & The Sitar Jams
FreshGuac Gamalon
Handsome Jack A Hotel Nourishing
Inlite (student Battle of the Bands winner) Johnny Nobody
Juxtaposse Klear
Last Conservative Lazlo Holyfield
Mandy K The Mom And Dad Love Parade
Peanut Brittle Satellite Psuedo Intellectuals
Rhyson Hall Rhubarb
Terry Sullivan Those Idiots
Type:Relevant Wisp


ALSO AT MiA '08. . . . . . . gEt FrAcTaLs beat gallery


11 DJs including Jubei, Marc V, Tweak Nasty, dharmalab, DJ Brandon Chase and amungus . . . w/ special guest MCs and Vocalists throughout the day . . . .


w/ Dance Exhibitions featuring:

Amy Lynn's Dance Studio Bella Dea Bellydancing
Center for Dance Motivation Future Dance Center
Hamburg Performing Arts Ilya's Bellydancing
Janet Dunstan's School of Dance Rince Na Tiarna School of Irish Dance
Stacy Zawadski's ECNAD Dance


...And More!


[/box]

Since it says and more I won't say that there is one Band I was hoping would play but that I don't see listed. Most of the bands music I don't know. But see that is part of the reason to go is to hear new music and find new bands that you like. I'm also assuming , could be wrong that they will have some big performance at the end of the night. Last year it was Amungus with a lot of different people. One time it was the Goo Goo Dolls they have had fire dancers before, not sure if they can do that there or not, but I look foreward to it. One cool aspect is dancing. Yeah I like watching ladies dance but don't like to do it myself. I also like that people do art and you can watch, sometimes at first it looks like nothing but by the end it is very nice, even if it isn't your style.

So I had a good time at the Allentown Art Fest today. I bought some Buffalo pictures and a couple of Asia. But on my way there I found out that they most likely will be tearing down the livery it is an old building that used to be stables





A few links about the story. I will admit I have no idea how much it would cost to fix this building up. But if people can save the Central Terminal why not this. I'm not an investor so I'm not sure what it could be used for but I'm sure there are plenty of things from a museum or condos it is in a good part of town there is no reason it can't be saved or used for something else. It is a shame it has come to this but maybe someone can find a way to save it and reuse it, it has been used before.

I know there are some people here who may not like when people repost entire news stories and they have some valid points. I admit I had nothing to do with this story and am just reposting it. The reason for this is that it is a detective story. But more then that it is also is something that I wished happened to me and it would have made some else pictures I know still be around (I think his camera was stolen like mine and not lost but don't let the truth get in the way of a good story now). The other reason is that I have heard that there is so much negative energy in NYC (hope I understood them correctly). That I would post this story of someone who was honest and did a good thing.

Photo clues lead to camera's owner

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN, AP Technology Writer Fri Jan 25, 5:46 PM ET

At dusk on New Year's Eve, Erika Gunderson got into a taxi in New York City and entered a digital-age mystery.


Sitting on the back seat was a nice Canon digital camera. Gunderson asked the driver which previous passenger might have left it, but the cabbie didn't seem to care. So Gunderson brought it home and showed it to her fiance, Brian Ascher. They decided that the only right thing to do was to find the owner.

But how? The only clues were the pictures on the camera: typical tourist snapshots, complete with a visit to the Statue of Liberty. How could they find a stranger among the huddled masses?

Gunderson is busy in finance for Bear Stearns Cos., so the detective quest fell to Ascher, a 26-year-old law student at New York University. He was on winter break and eager to put off writing a paper about climate change treaties.

He checked whether anyone had reported a matching missing camera to the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission. No dice. He placed ads in lost-and-found sections of Craigslist but got just one response - from a couple in Brazil who had lost a camera in a cab on Oct. 12, not Dec. 31.

"I guess they thought their camera had been riding around in a taxi for two months," Ascher recalls now, chuckling at the notion that such a thing would be possible in New York.

The 350 pictures and two videos on the camera showed several adults, an older woman and three children. Half put them at New York sites like the Empire State Building. The other half had the group enjoying warm weather and frolicking at kid-friendly theme parks.

Ascher easily pinpointed Florida. The group had stood in front of a sign indicating Clearwater, Fla., and posed at Bob Heilman's Beachcomber Restaurant there.

They also took a pirate-themed boat ride where the kids got mustaches painted on their faces. Ascher zoomed in on the group to see name tags on their shirts. He spotted an Alan, an Eileen, a male Noel and a female Noelle, plus a Ciarnan. Under their names was written "IRE."

When Ascher checked the videos, he saw nothing telling, just the children dancing and swimming. But in the background, he heard Irish accents.

OK, Ascher figured, the camera's owner is from Ireland.

Ascher called Canon's Ireland division to see if anyone had registered the $500 camera's serial number. No such luck. He posted ads on Irish Web sites. Nothing.

He checked the date stamp on the photos from Bob Heilman's and called to inquire whether anyone remembered serving a big Irish group that day. Without the diners' last names, there was no way to check. It's a nice thing you're trying, the manager told Ascher, but you probably just found yourself a new camera.

Enter some fresh eyes. Ascher's mother, Nancy, and sister, Emily Rann, scoured the pictures for clues he might have missed. Nancy was particularly confident, having reunited people with their lost belongings before. She once found a California woman's wallet in a cab in Florence, Italy, and spent all day on her trail before making a handover at an American Express office.

"I thought, with all this data in the camera, there's no way we're not going to get it back to them," Nancy Ascher says now. "I was hoping it wasn't going to take a trip to Ireland, flashing their pictures everywhere."

Ascher's mother and his sister noticed that one of the pictures showed a doorman helping someone into a New York taxi. Zooming tight on the doorman's uniform, they made out the logo of the Radisson Hotel.

After several phone calls and a visit to the hotel to show the pictures around, Nancy Ascher persuaded an employee to search the Radisson's guest records by first name and country of residence. Indeed, a Noel from Ireland had stayed there on the date stamped on the photo. Nancy Ascher charmed the hotel employee into sharing the guest's e-mail address.

Wonderful.

Except that when Noel responded to Brian Ascher, he said he hadn't lost a camera.

By now, school was resuming, and Ascher was prepared to give the camera to his mom so she could take over. She had figured out the name of the Florida pirate-boat cruise and was trying to reach its operator.

But first Ascher took a final look at the photographs.

He pored over some from Dec. 30 that didn't include the children. The photos showed signs for bars in Manhattan's East Village: The Thirsty Scholar, Telephone Bar, Burp Castle. There also were multiple interior shots of a tavern, but they didn't seem to fit with what Ascher knew of those other three bars.

Then he stopped on another picture, showing two people outside an apartment building. Seemingly accidentally included in the picture was something Ascher had missed the first time: an awning in the background that read "Standings." Aha! Standings is a bar next to Burp Castle. Ascher checked its Web site, and the interior matched the pictures on the camera.

Ascher found Standings' owner, who reached the bartender who had worked Dec. 30. Yes, he recalled an Irish group. Especially because one of the women was a big tipper and said she worked at another New York City bar, Playwrights. The Standings bartender called Playwrights to ask which employees had been in his bar.

Ascher soon got an e-mail from a woman named Sarah Casey, whose sister Jeanette works at Playwrights. Suddenly everything Ascher had seen on the camera came to life.

The Caseys recently had hosted relatives and friends from Ireland. The group included their friend Alan Murphy, who had journeyed to Florida with family before heading to New York, where the clan stayed at the Radisson. (Their Noel was not the Noel whom Ascher e-mailed.) Murphy ended the trip kicking himself for leaving his camera in a cab in the twilight on New Year's Eve.

Sarah Casey agreed to send it to him. It didn't go to Ireland but to Sydney, Australia, where Murphy lives now.

Murphy, an insurance underwriter, had been devastated to lose the pictures from a trip he had planned for years. It was Jan. 10 - his 34th birthday - when he heard he would be getting the photos back. "I was over the moon," he says now. "Best present ever."

"I owe you one," he wrote to Ascher. "It's good to know there are some honest people left in the world."

Oh yeah since I'm here On line I decided to not go to the movies and try to watch Winter X games all day and in between them as much of that skill contests and Young hockey stars game or what ever it is called on Versus. I don't remember all the sports that will be on today but maybe I can spend some time cleaning my place up a little bit as I watch. I all mean to do that and never do for some reason. Oh yeah I'm lazy. That being said (this assumes a few things that to me are barriers where not any more magicly) as fun as those sports are to watch it sure would be fun to go Skiing, snowboarding or maybe even snowmobiling (racing no tricks for me) every weekend. I think that it would also be a great way to go visit new places. To fly out to some ski town or maybe even fly near it rent a car or truck see the city for a day then drive to that ski town for a few days then drive back and fly home. For those of you that have the chance to do that I say go for it. It really makes you happy about the winter instead of drudging through it.