My friend Marion died last week. Her memorial service was at our Buddhist community center on Saturday. Every time I saw Marion she always encouraged me and gave me her undivided attention. I really am going to miss her and her amazing spirit.

This photo really shows how high of a life condition she had right up until the last breath. Her type of breast cancer was particularly painful as it ate away all of her chest. It was like being burned alive very slowly. In this picture she was on Morphine and Methadone. Despite this she was so alert and so determined to overcome her illness. When her doctor told her that she only had two weeks left (at the time of this photo), she fired her doctor.

I dreaded going to the memorial service. It turned out to not be as painful as I thought it would be and at one point it really felt like she was sitting next to me with her arm around me. When she died in her daughters house, all of the lights and cell phones went dead. I'm really not surprised considering the amount of energy she had stored up. Marion has six, very loved children.

I'm very excited about the new changes to the recycling program for city residents. Especially the fact that they will be expanding what we are able to recycle. I'm hoping that the city will try a bit harder at education this time, as I really can't believe the kind of crap people are putting in their recycling bins. Below is the latest from Buffalo News.

Changes to city recycling program include pickup every two weeks

By Brian Meyer

NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Published:
November 4, 2010, 12:00 AM





Get ready for an extreme makeover of Buffalo’s recycling program.

The Common Council voted, 7-1, Wednesday to approve a five-year contract that includes major changes in recycling practices.

Next spring, the city will distribute new 65-gallon totes to every property. The larger containers will replace those tiny blue bins that property owners have used since the program was implemented citywide in 1990.

The city also will reduce recycling pickups to every two weeks. Currently, recyclables are picked up every week.

Another big change will involve Buffalo’s move to “single-stream” recycling, which will allow people to toss more types of items into their new totes. Crews will not have to perform curbside separation chores.

The new plan is built into a contract that lawmakers approved at Wednesday’s meeting. Allied Waste Services, the city’s current recycling vendor, submitted the lowest of three bids. The city will pay Allied $1.2 million and will absorb the costs of buying new totes.

Crews will begin distributing the totes in April or May, so the conversion will not take place during snowy weather, Public Works Commissioner Steven J. Stepniak said.

Even some Council members who back the changes acknowledged that the city faces challenges. Majority Leader Richard A. Fontana said it will be tough for some people to remember which weeks they are supposed to recycle.

“You have one person on the street who puts it out [the wrong week], then you’ll have a whole street put it out because they saw someone’s tote out,” Fontana said.

He thinks the city should distribute calendars that would stick to the top of people’s totes. Stepniak said a number of strategies will be used to make sure people understand the changes, including an aggressive public education campaign.

“It’s worked in other communities, and I think our residents are just as sharp as other communities,” Stepniak said after the meeting. “We can make this work.”

Some lawmakers worry that homeowners who have small lots won’t have enough space to accommodate two totes. Properties already have one city-owned trash container.

Will crews continue to pick up recyclables that are placed in the little blue bins? Stepniak said problems will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Voting against the contract was South Council Member Michael

P. Kearns, who said there are too many unanswered questions. Kearns wanted the city to consider taking back operation of the recycling program, which was privatized in 2003. Stepniak said such a move would not be cost-efficient.

In other Council action, lawmakers unanimously adopted a resolution that encourages waterfront planners to consider building a state-of-the-art Great Lakes-themed aquarium on the Memorial Auditorium site. Advocates believe the attraction would be a catalyst for attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors and new businesses to the inner harbor.



bmeyer@buffnews.com

More specifically, Antoine Thompson's office is harassing me. The first time they called I said I was not going to vote for him and that I did not want them to call me again. The second time they called I reminded them that I already asked them not to call me anymore and I added that Antoine disgusts me. They called me again today and left a message that I received after I voted for Mark Grisanti. I really hope this jerk loses.

I really had to seek this cuteness out. Sooo cuteee!!!

‘Gasland’ documentary sheds light on hydraulic fracturing
Published:
October 24, 2010, 12:00 AM

Updated: October 24, 2010, 6:47 AM

A free showing of the documentary “Gasland” and a discussion with filmmaker Josh Fox will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday in Buffalo State College’s Bulger Communications Center.

The documentary about the natural gas drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing—which is causing controversy in Collins and other parts of Western New York—was awarded a special jury prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The presentation is sponsored by the college’s Communications Department, Students for Peace and State Sen. Antoine M. Thompson, D-Buffalo.

I received a message on my home phone yesterday. It was a robo call about one of my neighbors lost pets. I think it is kind of abnoxious but understandable at the same time. I did some pretty crazy things to try to get my bike back but I never thought about robo calls. I don't think this should be legal. I'm really getting sick of political robo calls too. It is my phone and I don't want anyone calling it unless I have given you the number. I am on the do not call list.

They charge A LOT of money and I kind of doubt that they really work. I'm sure a lot of people who pay for this really can't afford it in the first place. Check out their pricing plan which ranges from $85 for 250 calls to $850 for 10,000 calls.



Sorry about your lost kitty, but I think you should stick with signs and advertisements in the paper or craigslist.

Maybe the next time Basra runs off you can robo call the neighborhood (e:PMT)?

I want to bring some food to share for my family's Thanksgiving day dinner. It will also be celebrating my Grammy's 80th birthday. I really would like to bring something special so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions? It would have to be something I could make the night before and that I could travel with in a cooler for 3-4 hrs. It could be a dessert but would like to stay away from the pies. My family never has seafood on Thanksgiving and I was thinking that might be a nice change but I can't think of anything I could make the night before.

I spilled some pure tea tree oil and I wish it was milk! It is so strong. I do like it diluted but full strength is overwhelming. It spilled on my clothes, on a bag of plastics I am hoarding and on my kitchen floor. I can't get it out of my nose. Thankfully it wasn't a full bottle but some I had saved in a plastic container because I had over poured.

I miss my conejo. He is my life just like my (e:mike).

Updated: September 22, 2010, 6:51 PM

Homicide investigators late this afternoon were at the scene of what was described as a murder-suicide at 54 Tuxedo Place in the city's Riverside neighborhood.

Police described the victims as a woman in her late 40s and man in his early 50s -- boyfriend and girlfriend. The violence, police said, erupted during a domestic dispute.

Further information was unavailable.

Click here to comment on this story

Nevermind, guest. I found what you were referring to. I had no idea it was so recent. I almost was killed once because of domestic violence. I had a knife to my throat and thought I was going to die. I was lucky but Valerie and this unfortunate woman were not.

A Tuxedo Place woman about to escape an abusive relationship was killed Wednesday by her estranged boyfriend, who then took his own life inside the apartment they shared, police said.

Loud quarrels between Joy Rizzo, 49, and Andrew Soos, 51, were said to have been frequent in their lower flat. Often -- and as recently as three days ago -- they ventured outside, in full view of neighbors, according to Trina Pena, Rizzo's friend.

"She was trying to leave him," Pena said. "She was scared. She feared for her life, and [Soos] took her life."

Neighbors said Rizzo was packing her belongings into boxes and planned to move to Florida with another man she had known since childhood and had befriended again on Facebook.

That was the reason for the loud quarrel that neighbors heard earlier this week.

"[Soos] was standing on his porch saying, 'Over my dead body,'" Pena said.

The other man, who neighbors called "Steve," was supposed to have been picked up by Rizzo earlier Wednesday. When Rizzo did not show up, he called her unsuccessfully before showing up on Tuxedo Place, which is north of Hertel Avenue, a few blocks east of Military Road.

When there was no answer at the apartment, police were summoned.

Northwest District officers responded after 2 p.m. to make "a welfare check" on the two, and the landlord arrived with a key to let them in.

"Police arrived on scene, gained access to the home, and, once inside, they found the bodies," said Michael J. DeGeorge, Buffalo police spokesman. "Right now, it appears to be an apparent murder-suicide that appears to be domestic in nature."

Police would not say what type of weapon was involved. However, neighbors described hearing two gunshots at about 1:45 p.m.

Authorities released few details of the crime, saying only that it remained "under investigation" by homicide detectives. Police did not release the names of the victims.

Nancy Young, a neighbor, said she had been friends with Rizzo since childhood. The two attended Hoover Elementary School and Kenmore West High School together and had remained friends ever since. Soos, Young said, was the first man Rizzo let abuse her.

"I was surprised she stayed with a violent man," Young said. "She never put up with it before. She tried to leave him several times. He had some kind of fear of God in her."

Young described Soos as a controlling man who once cut the brake lines to her vehicle to keep her and Rizzo from attending a concert together at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. She said Rizzo liked the outdoors, including hiking in Zoar Valley, camping, volleyball and football.

The couple leaves behind a 12-year-old son who was met at school Wednesday by police. The child is now in the care of relatives. Neighbors said the boy would often be seen walking down the street and stopping to visit during quarrels between his parents.

Neighbors said Rizzo's older son from a previous relationship, Nick Rizzo, now 22, spent time in jail after coming to the defense of his mother by hitting Soos in the head with a baseball bat. The Nov. 22, 2004, police report states that the incident occurred at Chadduck and Ontario streets. Soos was taken by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center.

Nick Rizzo is now serving up to seven years in the Attica Correctional Facility for robbery, burglary and grand larceny, according to state Department of Correctional Services records.

Soos' wife of two years, the former Valerie Wilkins, 43, was found slain behind a Niagara Street bar in November 1996. Her ring finger was cut off after her death, but before authorities found her nude body in her car behind Campbell's Pub, 1591 Niagara St.

"Cold Case Squad detectives were recently looking into that cold case," Dennis J. Richards, chief of detectives, said late Wednesday, "and furthermore were conferring with homicide detectives who were at the scene of today's find."

This was written by By T.J. Pignataro for the Buffalo News.

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