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Iraq veteran with drug problem gets 12½ years in burglary spree

November 26, 2013, 3:58 am
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A man who admitted using drugs as he moved from military life in Iraq to civilian life in Amherst was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison Monday in a federal weapons case linked to a string of suburban burglaries.

Local prosecutors say Jeffrey M. Zimmerman, 30, stole to support a heroin habit.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara sentenced Zimmerman to 12½ years in federal prison for possessing a weapon he stole during one of the burglaries last year.

After the federal sentencing, Zimmerman appeared before Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk, who sentenced him to six to 12 years in prison for eight burglaries last November and December at businesses in Elma, Amherst, Alden and Akron. The judge ordered his sentence to run concurrently with the federal sentence.

Franczyk noted Zimmerman’s first drug use apparently occurred as he served in the Army.

“What happened to you?” he asked him. “Was it related to the military?”

Zimmerman said that after he left military service, he used drugs “to cope with the transition from being in a state of 100 percent adrenaline to returning to Amherst, the safest town in the country.”

Defense attorney Scott F. Riordan called it a tragic case of a man who served his country, became addicted to drugs and then committed burglaries to support his addiction. He described his client as one of the nicest, most polite people he has represented.

The string of burglaries prompted the federal court to deem Zimmerman a career criminal, resulting in a lengthy sentence on the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Riordan said.

Zimmerman apologized to the burglary victims, who were not in court. “I hope they take comfort in the fact that these were crimes of opportunity,” Zimmerman told the judge. “I never intended to single anyone out.”

Assistant District Attorney Paul E. Bonanno told the judge that Zimmerman was a two-time felony offender who was convicted in October 2010 of attempted second-degree burglary and had pleaded guilty in May to eight counts of third-degree burglary.

Zimmerman, who lived in Amherst but later moved to Cheektowaga, was one of three men charged in the suburban break-ins.

Bonanno, who prosecuted the three men, said Zimmerman’s brother, Kevin J. Zimmerman, 24, of Ellen Drive, Cheektowaga, pleaded guilty in May to three counts of second-degree burglary and six counts of third-degree burglary for breaking into three homes in Amherst and Cheektowaga last December and six businesses in Amherst, Clarence, Alden, Akron, West Seneca and Elma between September 2012 and December.

Kevin Zimmerman faces up to 50 years in prison when sentenced in January, following sentencing in federal court on a weapons charge.

Alfred Tatman, 27, of Big Tree Road, Orchard Park, pleaded guilty in April to eight counts of third-degree burglary and was sentenced to three to nine years in prison.

email: jstaas@buffnews.com
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Hamburg OKs 6-month moratorium on electronic signs

November 26, 2013, 4:01 am
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Hamburg Town Board members Monday night called a temporary halt to new digital signs that flash bright colors as their messages change.

The six-month moratorium on electronic variable signs will be in effect while the town revises the code governing the signs.

“Every sign that comes into the town gets a variance,” planning consultant Drew Reilly told the Town Board during its work session. “That’s the first clue ... something’s wrong with your law.”

He said he would expect the Zoning Board of Appeals would have continued granting variances without the moratorium and unless the law is changed. Some variances are for setback distances, or they allow more than one sign within 1,000 feet of each other. He said the 1,000-foot requirement was a standard across many municipalities, but it sets up a rush for businesses applying for signs first so their neighbors can’t get one.

“If the ZBA is going to continue granting variances, then it’s not working,” he said of the restriction.

The Code Review Committee and code enforcement officer have begun reviewing possible changes, and Reilly said he has accumulated many sample laws from other municipalities and attended two seminars.

“We’ll be coming up with something that is palatable to everybody,” Reilly said. “I don’t think we’re going to ban electronic signs. The industry is here, but I don’t think we want to give them carte blanche, because the aesthetics of the town would go to you-know-what if we did do that. “

The six-month moratorium on applications started Nov. 1, but town officials said there have been no applications filed since the town started talking about the moratorium this fall.

Also Monday, residents of Berkley Place spoke out against an apartment complex planned for vacant land near their development.

The 43-unit development would be built next to the Shaw and Shaw law office on South Park Avenue near Bayview Road. Before it is built, the site must be rezoned from commercial to neighborhood commercial.

“You’re taking a lot of traffic and you’re pushing it out on Bayview,” said Charles Ziemba, president of the Berkley Place Association.

Reilly acknowledged that the Bayview-South Park intersection is a “failing” intersection and that the apartments will not improve the situation. He said the rezoning is being considered by the Planning Board.

email: bobrien@buffnews.com
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Bradner Stadium in Olean to be ready by spring

November 26, 2013, 4:16 am
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OLEAN – It’s going to be more of a pitcher’s park than a hitter’s park, according to the vision outlines by City Public Works Director Tom Windus. Improvements on Bradner Stadium continue, and field work is the most recent mode.

Once completed, the right field fence is going to be 338 feet away from home plate, with left being 330 feet, and nearly 400 to center, according to Windus. The park, with a slightly different layout from the historic positioning of the stadium, will not have a classic arc as a home run fence, but will have a characteristic angular wall.

“It’s those things that make the park unique,” Windus said.

The wall will be constructed in the spring, the same time the rolls of sod will be laid for the infield, he said. Home plate is situated in the northeast corner of the park. The stadium now sits with the infield area devoid of sod, leveled and ready to become the home of the Olean Oilers in the spring.

Windus said all of the bleachers have been replaced, the tunnel has been completed with the exception of lighting, and the installation of a home team dugout has been completed. The installation of the dugout along the right field side of the bleachers – not too far from the press box area – has displaced seats for about 80 people of the 2,400 stadium capacity.

Some concerns remain. There’s a $500,000 shortfall needed to complete the entire project, as seen by Windus and city administrators.

“We are going to go out for bid on the fencing for the stadium soon,” he said. “Once we have those figures and can make a determination, I would like to be able to go out and bid on pouring the foundation, floor and building the structure for the fieldhouse, just to have it ready to go.”

The field house has been determined to be one of the lower priorities on the stadium reconstruction project. Some $1.6 million has been allocated to the project by the Olean Common Council, but those funds will not cover everything that is planned.

To date, the tunnel that connects the stadium to War Vets park, to the north of Route 417, East State Street, has been shored up with additional concrete walls and a steel reinforced ceiling. Bleacher refurbishments and work to the field have been completed as well.

Once the weather breaks and warmer temperatures allow for it, the fencing along the bleachers will be installed, as will the home run fence. If the funds allow for the construction of the field house, Windus said he would like to build it piece by piece.

“I think, if people can see that improvements are still happening, they will be a bit more accepting of the project,” he said.
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Food banks across Upstate New York

November 26, 2013, 5:58 am
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Feeding the hungry

Here is a comparison of food banks across upstate New York



Food Bank of Western New York

Service area: four counties

People served monthly: 96,170 (38,685 children; 7,847 seniors)

Pounds distributed annually: 11,830,606

Pounds collected through food drives annually: 484,462



Foodlink (Rochester)

Service area: 10 counties

People served monthly: 133,203 (37,730 children; 11,112 seniors)

Pounds distributed annually: 16.7 million

Pounds collected annually: 152,528



Food Bank of the Southern Tier (Elmira)

Service area: six counties

People served monthly: 104,660 (38,920 children; 15,463 seniors)

Pounds distributed annually: 7,852,972

Pounds collected annually: 90,000



Food Bank of Northeastern New York (Albany)

Service area: 23 counties

People served monthly in 2012: 295,629 (90,996 children; 21,426 seniors)

Pounds distributed annually: 27,704,054

Pounds collected annually: 84,706



Food Bank of Central New York (Syracuse)

Service area: 11 counties

People served monthly: 184,318 (37,754 children; 14,745 seniors)

Pounds distributed annually: 13,420,441

Pounds collected annually: 85,759

Note: Information listed is for fiscal year ending June 30. The number of people served monthly is an average, and does not represent unique individuals.
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New polls find Cuomo leading potential GOP rivals

November 26, 2013, 6:05 am
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By Tom Precious

ALBANY – Rob who?

If New York’s gubernatorial election was held today, Gov. Andrew Cuomo would beat Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino 56 percent to 25 percent, as 84 percent of registered voters say they don’t know enough about Astorino to form an opinion of him, a new poll finds.

Quinnipiac University also found improvements in Cuomo’s overall job approval rating, which had fallen in the first half of the year. It now stands at 62 percent favorable to 25 percent unfavorable in the poll released this morning.

Another poll, released Monday and which Cuomo administration officials forwarded to reporters to make sure they saw, put Cuomo even further ahead in a hypothetical match-up against undeclared Republicans. In a Wall Street Journal/NBC 4 New York/Marist poll, Cuomo would beat Astorino 65 percent to 23 percent. He would defeat other potential challengers if the election was held today, including Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino, by about the same margin, the poll found.

Cuomo, who was in Rochester for a fundraiser Monday night following a campaign money gathering event in Buffalo last week, leads Astorino in every breakout group except among Republicans in the Quinnipiac poll. Among upstate voters, Cuomo is ahead 45 percent to 34 percent. Astorino, who has not decided whether he will challenge Cuomo next year, has been touted by GOP Chairman Ed Cox, who was with Astorino last week during a trip to Arizona to meet GOP governors, donors and party officials at the Republican Governor’s Association meeting.

By a margin of 59 percent to 31 percent, poll respondents said they believe Cuomo deserves to be re-elected. The Quinnipiac poll has a 2.7 percent margin of error.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC 4 New York/Marist poll found Cuomo’s job performance rating has slipped from 54 percent in April to 52 percent today. Upstate voters gave him a 47 percent positive job approval rating, while 56 percent of New York City voters rated his performance positively.

That poll also found Cuomo would beat New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie among New York voters in a hypothetical 2016 presidential race by 51 percent to 44 percent. And yet a third poll – released last week by Siena College – found Christie beating Cuomo 47 percent to 42 percent among New York voters. Cuomo has insisted he is not running for president while Christie has not stated his intentions.

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Feerick urges public financing of state campaigns

November 26, 2013, 8:10 am
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ALBANY – Nearly a quarter century after leading the last panel to investigate government corruption, John Feerick is pushing again to get one of the reforms his commission proposed when a different Cuomo held the governor’s office: public financing of political campaigns.

The former dean of the Fordham law school is urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature to embrace public campaign financing as one tool to combat the influence of money on the political system. Feerick headed for three years what was known as the Feerick Commission,

“I just felt out of a sense of duty to put out those recommendations again," Feerick said in an interview with The Buffalo News of the campaign reform ideas he and his fellow commissioners suggested when it was empaneled from 1987 to 1990.

The role of money in races, particularly statewide campaigns, drives his belief that public financing is as relevant a tool as a generation ago, said Feerick, whose panel went head-to-head with some of the top politicians of the day.

“I do, based on what I saw as the massive amounts of money that go into statewide races," Feerick said.

With Cuomo’s Moreland Commission on Public Corruption due to release soon a set of preliminary ideas to improve the state’s election and campaign finance process, Feerick believes the New York City public financing system can be a model.

“I think the experience we’ve had with the city program should be replicated in some fashion on a statewide basis,” Feerick said.

Critics, including Unshackle Upstate, which released a report Monday critical of public campaign financing, say the public financing of politics is a waste of valuable taxpayer money that could go to other programs, has been far from perfect in New York City and sends taxes to candidates whose ideas residents don’t support. And they note that for all the touting of the benefits of public campaign financing in New York City, the city mayor’s office has been run for three terms by one of the top ten richest Americans who pumped huge sums of his personal wealth into winning.

Cuomo and Democrats who lead the Assembly support public campaign financing.

But Republicans, who partially control the Senate, say the public campaign financing is unworkable, expensive and will end up giving more political power to labor unions.

Feerick believes, however, that public financing is just one tool the state could use to restore public trust of the campaign process.

Feerick, who still teaches law and heads a social justice and dispute resolution center at Fordham, said he was recently approached by Susan Lerner, head of Common Cause/NY, to share his views publicly on the issue of campaign finance as the current Moreland panel gets ready to release its recommendations. In a statement he provided to Lerner and other advocates pushing for a public campaign finance law, Feerick noted that his commission’s final 1990 report called New York’s campaign finance system a “disgrace” and “embarrassment."

Using subpoena power and with the help of public input at 25 hearings, the Feerick Commission a generation ago made public the internal money raising techniques of everyone from Mario Cuomo to then-Comptroller Ned Regan, both of whom testified in public before Feerick. Like today’s Moreland panel, Feerick’s panel had wars with legislative leaders over the scope of the panel’s powers. In the end, many of the Feerick Commission’s ideas were cast aside over the years by political leaders.

Feerick said his panel’s ideas – limiting donations, better enforcement of campaign finance laws and starting at least a public funding system for statewide races and eventually legislative campaigns – are still relevant today.

“The earlier Moreland Act Commission ended its work on September 18, 1990, expressing the hope that ‘the governor and other New York leaders will give government ethics reforms the emphasis which they deserve and make this an era of reform.’ I reiterate that appeal today to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state leaders," he said in the statement provided to advocacy groups this week.

Feerick’s legal duties have included playing a key role in the mid-1960s in the legal drafting of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which dealt with presidential succession and presidential disabilities and how vice presidential vacancies are to be filled. He led a panel, created after a Buffalo News series, that prodded for improvements in how judges get onto the bench in New York. In 2006, he was co-chair of the public integrity committee for Andrew Cuomo’s transition team as attorney general.

But it was his Feerick Commission that consumed three years of his life, and today he readily acknowledges little in the way of major election and campaign finance reforms have occurred in Albany over the past 20 years.

“The agenda of our commission is still a very worthy and important agenda for the times in which we live," he said in the interview.

email: tprecious@buffnews.com
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Man injured in Chautauqua County crash

November 26, 2013, 8:51 am
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MAYVILLE – A 65-year-old Jamestown man was airlifted to a Pennsylvania hospital following a one-car accident in the Chautauqua Town of Ellery, sheriff’s deputies reported today.

Calvin B. Olson was driving north on Slide Fenner Road, at about 12:20 p.m. Monday, when his vehicle left the east side of the road and hit a utility pole, deputies said.

Olson was airlifted to Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa., with unknown injuries; information about his condition wasn’t available this morning. Deputies said their investigation continues.

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Intruders entered unlocked Amherst homes this morning, police report

November 26, 2013, 9:19 am
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Three burglaries were reported this morning in the Town of Amherst, where intruders entered homes through unlocked doors, police said.

Two of the homes, on Miller Road, were entered while their occupants were sleeping, police said. In one instance that occurred at about 5 a.m., the burglar fled after being confronted by someone in the house, police said.

Another burglary was reported on Phillip Drive shortly afterward, police said.

Officers also are investigating an assault that occurred last Friday on Allenhurst Road, where a woman was approached from behind and punched in the back of a head by an assailant, according to police. That incident is similar to a robbery reported the same day on Callodine Avenue, where a woman reported the same thing happened.

Both of the assaults happened during the early afternoon, as the victims were walking on the sidewalk. Police ask anyone with information on those incidents to call them at 689-1322.
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Snowstorm ‘pretty much on track’ as it moves into Buffalo region

November 26, 2013, 9:31 am
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Grab the shovel and snow brush and rev up the snowblower.

Snow is moving into the region this afternoon, and because it’s not the lake-effect variety, everyone will get some.

In Buffalo and northern Erie County, as well as Niagara County, accumulations could total 4 to 8 inches by Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

An inch or two could fall this afternoon, followed by 2 to 4 inches tonight and 1 to 2 inches on Wednesday, according to the weather service forecast.

The winter storm warning remains in effect from 4 p.m. today to 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The weather service reported earlier this afternoon that “widespread light snow” broke out along the New York-Pennsylvania border as the storm continued trekking northward toward Buffalo Niagara.

“The leading edge of this light snow will continue making its way northward,” the weather service reported, “and, will be somewhere near a line drawn from Buffalo east to Batavia … between 2 and 2:30 p.m.”

It will make its way to the southern shore of Lake Ontario by 3:30 p.m.

“It looks pretty much on track,” meteorologist Dan Kelly said.

Light snowfall will begin filtering into the Buffalo metro area this afternoon and turn heavier as the evening wears on.

While the snow will arrive in time for the afternoon commute, it will likely remain light with only an inch or less accumulation by drive time.

“It could put a coating down on the roads,” he said.

Visibility could be as low as a half a mile at times.

“I think the majority will have fallen when people wake up in the morning, maybe 3 to 5 inches by daybreak,” meteorologist Kirk Apffel of the National Weather Service said.

The snow will be deeper in southern Erie County and through the Boston Hills, the Chautauqua ridge and Cattaraugus and Wyoming counties. Because of some lake effect there, the snow will last longer into Wednesday in these areas, which may receive 10 to 15 inches.

The first signs of the precipitation associated with the winter storm came at about noon as the earliest fringes trekked northward, crossing over the border in the Southern Tier from Pennsylvania from about Jamestown through Olean and into central Allegany County.

Light snow and a misty fog was reported at Olean as temperatures hovered at about 30 degrees.

Wind and rain are not expected to be much of a factor, but temperatures dropping from freezing to around 20 degrees Wednesday night could freeze the slush on the ground and make driving conditions difficult.

By Thanksgiving day, the snow should taper off, with a few flurries in Buffalo and high temperatures expected to be in the mid- to upper-20s.

The large winter storm, spawned by a low centered near the Gulf of Mexico, already showed some teeth this morning in parts of the south and Appalachian Mountains with mixed weather ranging from rain and freezing rain in some spots to heavy snowfall in others.

As of mid-morning today, areas of western and central Pennsylvania already reported up to three inches of snow.

Communities in Mississippi reported four inches of rain or more in places.

Areas of Virginia and North Carolina reported freezing rain ice amounts of up to nearly a quarter-inch in places, according to National Weather Service reports.

The weather has impacted air travel.

Delays began slowly piling up at Buffalo Niagara International Airport because of the storm’s impact elsewhere across the eastern third of the country.

Airlines delayed departures to Baltimore, Newark, Tampa, Detroit and New York City, while flights into the Buffalo airport from New York, Detroit and Atlanta were also delayed, according to real-time airport data boards.

A high pressure system is supposed to arrive for the weekend, bringing an end to the snow but not the cold. Forecasts call for temperatures in the 20s Friday and a high just above freezing Saturday.

The snowfall should put Buffalo Metro’s seasonal amount at normal levels. The total for the season, as registered at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, stands at 1.2 inches. Normal is 6.6 inches.

The storm is expected to hit areas from east-central Ohio through New York’s North Country, and almost all of Western New York except for Allegany County.

Forecasters characterize it as a “synoptic” snow event, meaning it occurs when the winds associated with the snowfall do not pass over the Great Lakes.

The National Weather Service cautioned that early holiday travel would be disrupted by the storm. Some of the region’s busiest airports – New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston and Charlotte – could see delays.

The storm is brightening the prospects for skiers and ski operators.

Kissing Bridge in Colden will open Wednesday, a full month ahead of last year. Two trails and two lifts will open. The hours will be noon to 8 p.m.

Holiday Valley ski resort in Ellicottvile will open Friday with a base of 10 to 25 inches of snow, helped by 6 inches of natural snowfall since Saturday.

At least 11 trails will be open with five quad lifts in operation. Hours will be 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Peek ‘n Peak in Clymer reported on its website that it plans to open Friday, with the first chair lift running at 9:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, at the City of Buffalo’s Broadway Barn, 201 Broadway, Buffalo Public Works Commissioner Steven Stepniak this morning told assembled media that city workers have been preparing for the coming snowstorm.

“We are ready for this snowfall that’s coming our way,” Stepniak said, against a backdrop of salt stored several feet high.

“We had crews out last night, throwing some salt last night. As you know, we’ve had some small events. This is the first significant event that we’ve had for the season,” Stepniak added.

The city has 7,000 tons of salt in reserve being stored at the city’s public works facility on Fuhrmann Boulevard. Stepniak said the city has added to its fleet of wing plows which, he said, “is an added plow to a single unit, which allow you added surface space [because] you a plow in the front and a plow on the side.”

Otherwise, Stepniak said, there are no extra special preparations in place.

“We stick to our game plan, which works very well for us,” he said.

“We’ve scheduled properly. As you know, being that it’s a holiday … that we’ll have some overtime involved that’s fully budgeted for and we prepared that in our budget. So again, we feel fully confident,” Stepniak added.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced he directed state transportation agencies “to take all necessary preparations to be ready to clear roadways as quickly as possible” in advance of this first “major storm of the season.”

Local utility crews also encouraged customers to stay aware of the forecast and the “possibility of service interruptions” and keep themselves safe during the storm.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

email: msommer@buffnews.com and tpignataro@buffnews.com
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Police from around state converge on Olean for trooper’s funeral

November 26, 2013, 11:00 am
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ALLEGANY – As many as 2,000 police officers from all over New York and elsewhere joined other mourners assembled here in St. Bonaventure University’s Reilly Center early this afternoon to say a final goodbye to State Police Trooper Ross M. Riley, who died Wednesday during a training accident in the gorge at Letchworth State Park.

The service, scheduled for 1 p.m., was late in starting. At 1:15 p.m., an Allegany Fire Rescue ambulance, carrying the coffin, pulled up to the center, accompanied by 15 State Police motorcycles, four stretch limousines and a SWAT vehicle. Members of the clergy were waiting to accompany the coffin into the hall.

The shock of the 44-year-old trooper’s death was hard to take.

He was a Marine veteran of the First Gulf War who was married to a fellow trooper, Sgt. Heidi Riley, who serves as the station commander at the State Police Station in Olean. The Rileys have three daughters: Abaigeal, 10; Katherine, 8; and Jillian, 3. And he was well-respected for his values on and off the job.

All of that made Riley a trooper’s trooper, according to his colleagues, who said he lived to serve others during his 17 years on the state police force.

His coffin arrived shortly before the service in a volunteer fire company ambulance – a wish he had once expressed to his wife.

Just before the funeral service Major Michael J. Cerretto, head of Troop A offered this assessment of Riley:

“When it came right down to it, Ross was an outstanding family man. He cared about his girls and his wife and he enjoyed his time with them,” Cerretto said. “His loss is going to create a void in the State Police, especially here in Troop A.”

“He was probably the most genuine, kind-hearted, self-sacrificing individual I will ever know,” Trooper Jeffrey Bebak said.

Riley, an Olean area resident, fell to his death after he and two members of the State Police Special Operations Response Team-West, out of Collins Center, were lowered down 70 feet to a ledge where a mannequin had been placed to simulate a rescue.

Once the mannequin was secured in a basket to be hoisted up, Riley somehow became untethered from his safety line and fell backward, landing more than 30 feet below at the bottom of the gorge near Wolf Creek. He suffered a massive head injury and was rushed to Wyoming County Community Hospital, where he later died.

An investigation into the accident is continuing.

Riley, an Auburn native, was the 16th trooper to die in the line of duty in the last decade.

Trooper Kevin P. Dobson Sr. was the last local trooper to die. The 14-year veteran was struck and killed by a vehicle in March 2011 during a traffic stop on Youngmann Memorial Highway, near Colvin Boulevard, in the Town of Tonawanda.

As they waited for Riley’s coffin to arrive, 1,500 to 2,000 State Police and other law enforcement members stood at attention outside the Reilly Center.

State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico pointed out that police from as far away as Washington State are in attendance.

“This is kind of like a brotherhood when something like this happens,” he said. “Ross was a great guy. He was part of Emergency Response, what is known as SWAT, and one of the people we go to when we need help.”

Maj. Christopher Fiore, who is in charge of the emergency response team and was Riley’s boss, said the trooper’s lasting legacy will be how he helped to modernize the emergency medical equipment brought to scenes by troopers.

“He was always pushing to advance the team,” Fiore said.

email: lmichel@buffnews.com
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Ex-sheriff’s dispatcher sent to prison for injuring two in DWI accident

November 26, 2013, 11:08 am
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A former Erie County sheriff’s dispatcher was sentenced Tuesday to one to three years in prison for plowing into two pedestrians as he was driving his pickup truck at a high rate of speed last April in Hamburg after drinking at the Dyngus Day Festival in Buffalo.

The April 1 collision left both victims with traumatic brain injuries, a factor that State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski cited in sentencing Thomas A. Gilray Jr.

Gilray, 29, of College Street, Hamburg, pleaded guilty in July to first-degree vehicular assault for striking Bill Sheehan, 61, and Michael Serrano, 32, with his Dodge Ram truck on Route 5 near Milestrip Road.

A Hamburg police officer was investigating a fender-bender involving Sheehan and Serrano on Route 5 when Gilray approached at more than 80 miles per hour, according to prosecutors.

Gilray’s blood-alcohol content was 0.12 percent, exceeding the 0.08 percent legal limit. He admitted he had been drinking at Dyngus Day festivities even though he was supposed to be the designated driver, according to police.

The police officer jumped over the hood of his patrol car to avoid being hit. Gilray’s pickup slammed into Sheehan’s parked vehicle, which then crashed into the two men, who were walking nearby.

Sheehan and Serrano were taken to Erie County Medical Center. Sheehan had multiple injuries, including a broken neck, and was in a coma for two months.

The judge said he had read a victim impact statement from the Sheehan family before sentencing.

“It was one of the most difficult statements that I have had to read,” he said. “There were times when I had to put it down. But I began to understand the tragic nature of the injuries” that both men suffered, “but particularly Mr. Sheehan.

“This is a group of people who have been catastrophically changed for the rest of their lives,” the judge said, referring to the family.

Despite that fact, he said the Sheehans are not vengeful toward Gilray. “They didn’t say send him to prison for the rest of his life, like others sometimes do in these cases,” he said.

The judge said he hoped that with the support of such a loving family, Sheehan, a retired teacher who taught biology at Lake Shore High School for 35 years, will be able to “get back to some semblance of his life before this incident.”

In imposing a prison sentence, the judge cited Gilray’s actions. “You were the impetus for the events leading to these catastrophic injuries,” he told the defendant, who could have received up to seven years in prison.

Before he was sentenced, Gilray said he was deeply sorry for the victims’ families and his own family.

He said that before the crash, he had spent his life helping people. He became a volunteer firefighter when he was 16, and he joined the Air Force at 18 and served for 11 years before joining the reserves. He also served as a commissioner for a youth football league.

“I had dreams of becoming a police officer, but I let everybody down,” he said.

He added that he will continue to work on becoming a better person.

Gilray’s attorney, Michael S. Deal, told the judge that his client was not the kind of man who should be in court facing a prison term, noting his lack of a criminal record and his life of service to others.

“But he was the decision-maker in an almost perfect storm of events that resulted in these catastrophic injuries,” Deal said.

“He is a good person who made a tragic decision,” the attorney added.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher M. McCarthy prosecuted the case.

email: jstaas@buffnews.com
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Bad weather keeps Cuomo’s plane from landing for trooper’s funeral

November 26, 2013, 11:25 am
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ALBANY – Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s plane, flying through bad weather this afternoon, was unable to land in Olean so he could attend the funeral of a state trooper.

Weather radar was showing heavy snow falling as the governor’s plan was on approach to Cattaraugus County-Olean Airport shortly after 1 p.m.

The Beechcraft Super King Air, a small turboprop operated by the State Police, made a circuitous path towards the airport when it abandoned the approach and increased altitude to head back to the White Plains airport in Westchester County where it had departed, according to FlightAware.com, a flight tracking system.

The governor was heading to St. Bonaventure University for the funeral of State Police Trooper Ross M. Riley, a veteran member of the State Police who died last week during a training mission at Letchworth State Park. As many as 2,000 police officers from around the state were on hand for the trooper’s funeral.

Cuomo had been due to arrive for the services at 1 p.m., according to his public schedule.

Melissa DeRosa, a Cuomo spokeswoman, confirmed the governor’s flight was unable to land due to poor weather.



email:tprecious@buffnews.com
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North Tonawanda barbecue joint serves unfussy, smoky chow (7 of 10 plates)

November 26, 2013, 12:16 pm
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Over the years I have learned to breathe deeply in barbecue joint parking lots. When I don’t smell woodsmoke, I usually don’t taste it later. ¶ Smoke greeted me when I stepped out of the car in front of Joe Tomasino’s place, J&L’s Boulevard Barbecue. Inside was a room decorated with license plates and a motorcycle, and a counter where you order. It’s a Spartan setup, with half-filled, unlabeled sauce bottles on the tables. A server cooks or warms up your food and brings it out. ¶ The minimal menu does not include salads, or any other feature that might be considered encouragement of vegetable eaters, but that’s the barbecue joint way. ¶ There’s no doubt it’s real barbecue, though. When the meat is good, I don’t care as much if the table’s wobbly. Or the sauce bottles are mysteries. I wasn’t prompted to reach for a sauce bottle once while I was there, which is a compliment, in a way.

The spare ribs ($23 a full rack) were tender inside, crusty outside, slathered with sauce and smoky all the way through. The tender pork pulled cleanly off the bones. Everybody asked for seconds, and the ribs were gone.

The pulled pork was moist but not mushy, and had a hint of smoke. I wished for more bark, the almost-charred outer crust of a barbecued butt, but the meat satisfied. A platter ($8.40, sandwich $6.30) was an ample serving, and we could have shared another.

The smoked turkey sandwich ($5.50) was a healthy portion of moist sliced turkey and mustard on a bun. Late in the meal, after I should have stopped eating, I was still pulling out slices of turkey and making sure they didn’t escape.

Beef brisket ($12 platter, $8 sandwich) was moist, but lacked smoke. Its hearty flavor made me think it would make a good sandwich with horseradish.

Rotisserie chicken ($7.35 platter) was dark around the edges, like adequately grilled chicken. Its tender meat was bland by itself, but a bite into a drumstick and its sauce-brushed skin was satisfying.

All platters come with two sides. The best was the “Frenchy” fries, hand-cut and cooked to order. These spud batons were terrifically crisp and hit with peppery seasoned salt, leaving me wondering why everybody can’t do that. We ordered a second round, and those went, too.

Macaroni and cheese was gooey elbows, the pasta still firm. The baked beans tasted like Bush’s, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The coleslaw was crisp and not drowning in mayonnaise. A special “potato explosion” side, with many of the ingredients of a stuffed baked potato but served by the scoop, was a rich upgrade from the standard mayonnaise potato salad.

The cornbread was in single-serving ingots, moist, and topped with honey-butter and wrapped in plastic wrap. While I am all for avoiding stale cornbread, much of the honey-butter ended up on the plastic wrap.

When the personal-sized brisket pizza ($8) came out, I was surprised by a whiff of smoke. Turns out this crisp little flatbread is baked directly over hardwood embers, browning the cheese and giving the dish a campfire touch without having to worry about setting up a tent. This fire-blessed treat was my favorite bite of the meal, after the ribs and pork. Next time I’d ask for a pulled pork version, though.

There’s a fire-grilled chicken quesadilla ($8.40) on the menu, too. The place also cooks its burgers over a hardwood fire, which couldn’t hurt.

Our server was friendly and patient. J&L’s isn’t going to win any interior decorating contests, but its kitchen turns out honest food at a decent price, including real barbecue.



email: agalarneau@buffnews.com
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Hip-hop visionary Lupe Fiasco will perform at the Rapids Theatre on Friday

November 26, 2013, 12:24 pm
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Hip-hop needs to connect the reality of the street to the history of the world. That’s a tall order, isn’t it? Finding the universal truths in the individual doings of an economic class, connecting what’s happening now to what has happened, knowing your history so that you might change your future, and making it all rhyme, and groove, and move. No wonder so much modern hip-hop doesn’t bother, instead focusing on the obvious, and leaving the context out of the equation.

Which is why an artist like Lupe Fiasco stands out from the contemporary hip-hop crowd. The man has spent his career crafting masterful cross-pollinations that stretch the envelope sonically and lyrically, while keeping things good and funky, with a firm grasp on the old school, and a keen eye for the new one. One of the great hip-hop intellectuals of the past decade, Fiasco connects the language of rap to the linguistics of Noam Chomsky. He knows his history, he knows his place in it and he would like it known that he would prefer to decide that place for himself, thank you very much. Positive, forward-looking, clear-eyed, highly intelligent, exuberant, creative – Fiasco’s music sets the bar by which all of his hip-hop peers must be measured.

Fiasco is preparing to drop a new album, “Tetsuo & Youth,” in early 2014, and he’s mounted a brief tour to share some of this new music. Happily, that limited run includes a stop at 7 p.m. Friday in the Rapids Theatre (1711 Main St., Niagara Falls). Tickets for “The Tetsuo & Youth Preview Party with guest Mickey Factz” are $35-$40 (box office, www.ticketfly.com).

– Jeff Miers
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Jazz vocalist Faith Harris returns to Buffalo for two performances on Saturday

November 26, 2013, 12:24 pm
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Jazz vocalist and Buffalo native Faith Harris comes home for twin engagements at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the Metropolitan Entertainment Complex (1620 Main St.). Fans of highly nuanced interpretive jazz singing – think Cassandra Wilson, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn – might want to think about attending both shows, so soulful and inspired is Harris’ singing throughout her most recent release, “The Time is Right.”

For this engagement, Harris will be joined by a band led by renowned area saxophonist Bilal Abdullah, and featuring the talents of bassist Greg Piontek, pianist Doug Gaston, drummer Lester Robinson, trumpeter Tim Clark and guitarist Chuck Buffamonte. It’s a killer ensemble that is well-suited to the open-ended, in-the-moment approach Harris brings to her own compositions, as well as to jazz standards such as Horace Silver’s “Peace” or R&B chestnuts like Eugene McDaniels’ “Compared To What.”

Tickets are $25 in advance at the Metropolitan Entertainment Complex, through www.faith-harris.com, or by calling 440-5171. Admission at the door will be $30.

– Jeff Miers
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Death of Fort Erie businessman labeled suspicious

November 26, 2013, 1:10 pm
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The founder of a Fort Erie marine business was found dead in his home on Bertie Street on Monday and local police are treating the death as suspicious.

According to Niagara Regional Police, an acquaintance arrived at the home of Blake Nicholls, 81, and called for help after finding the elderly man unresponsive. No cause of death was released and an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.

Anyone with information regarding the death is asked to contact the Niagara Regional Police Service Homicide Unit at (905) 688 4111, Ext. 4200. Information also can be submitted anonymously using Crime Stoppers of Niagara, 800-222-8477.
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Collecting food for the hungry becomes big business in WNY

November 26, 2013, 5:59 am
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A Buffalo disc jockey braves freezing November temperatures to camp out in a tractor-trailer for one week to collect frozen turkeys for the Food Bank of Western New York. The sleep-out last year raised $22,842 and 41,989 pounds of food – including 2,508 frozen turkeys.

In downtown Rochester last month, 11 teams designed and built giant themed structures made entirely from full cans and packages of food. This year, CANstruction Rochester – including a Hollywood red carpet built with peanut butter jars – generated 27,699 pounds of food for Foodlink, the city’s food bank.

The Jeff Koehler family of East Syracuse each year electrifies its neighborhood with a home light and music display that runs from Thanksgiving through New Year’s and attracts donations for the Food Bank of Central New York. Last year, they collected 450 pounds of food and more than $200.

People living throughout upstate New York dig deep into their pantries and pockets this time of year for the many innovative food drives to help stock community food bank warehouses to feed the hungry.

But nowhere do they dig deeper than in the state’s four westernmost counties.

The 484,462 pounds of food collected last year in Erie, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Niagara counties by the Food Bank of Western New York is the largest amount raised among the five regional food banks located upstate.

The overwhelming support from generous Western New Yorkers does not surprise Marylou Borowiak, chief executive officer of the Food Bank of Western New York. Her offices are located in a sprawling warehouse facility at 91 Holt St., where food is collected, sorted, stacked to the ceiling and distributed.

“We want to be grassroots. We want children, parents and grandparents to feel they play a role in feeding the hungry, and it’s working,” Borowiak said. “Our philosophy has been to partner with the local media and retailers to come together throughout the year on phenomenal food drives.”

To date this year, the food bank sponsored 275 food drives, according to Michael J. Billoni, its public and community relations director. The top five drives last year for the food bank, were:

• Food 2 Families (WGRZ-TV and Tops Markets): 123,841 pounds of food (or approximately 103,200 meals) and $116,329 in donations.

• National Association of Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger”: 114,531 pounds of food (or approximately 95,443 meals) was directed to the Food Bank WNY.

• Erie County Fair Canned Food Drive: 85,273 pounds (or approximately 71,060 meals) and $32,178.

• “Rock Out Hunger” (WGRF-FM): 41,989 pounds of food (or approximately 34,990 meals) and $22,842.

• Janet & Nick with KISS 98.5-FM: 5,241 pounds of food (or approximately 4,368 meals) and $715 in donations.

The half-million pounds of food collected through the Food Bank of Western New York represents a fraction of the food it distributes to 340 member agencies – pantries, day cares and senior centers, homeless shelters and soup kitchens. Much of the food it receives comes by way of large donations from manufacturers or retailers like Sorrento Cheese, General Mills, Walmart and BJs Wholesale Club.

Food banks also receive surplus commodities from the federal government and aid from New York State’s Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program that assist in the purchase of dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables.

Hunters, too, contribute to the state’s food banks. Since 1999, the Venison Donation Coalition secured money for the processing and distribution of venison to families through regional food banks. Last year, 20,682 pounds of donated venison – or 17,235 meals – were distributed in Western New York.

“Eighteen years ago, people were reluctant to take venison because they didn’t know how to cook it,” said Borowiak. “Today it is very popular. As quickly as it comes in, it’s gone.”

The state’s eight regional food banks – Food Bank of Western New York, Foodlink Rochester, Northeastern New York (Albany), Central (Syracuse), Southern Tier (Elmira), Food Bank for New York City, Food Bank for Westchester and Long Island Cares – belong to the Food Bank Association of New York State, formed in the late 1990s.

It is not uncommon for association members to trade food items.

“Recently, we had an abundance of Perry’s Ice Cream, barbecue sauce and bulk cereal,” noted Borowiak. “We’ll share our products and in return we receive yogurt from Syracuse because Syracuse has an abundance of yogurt providers. When Albany’s flooding hit or when Hurricane Sandy hit, we were there with truckloads of food. Those are our sister food banks.”

Food banks have many options when procuring food.

Christina Ehlers, director of food security for Cattaraugus Community Action in Salamanca, works with the Food Bank of Western New York to oversee a program in which farmers, grocers and restaurants donate prepared and perishable surplus food. Ehlers pointed to Seneca Allegany Casino as a big donor.

“They’ll prepare the food for buffet, but not put it out on the line, and if they have a leftover tray of macaroni and cheese or goulash they donate it,” Ehlers said adding: “You can only reheat food once after it has been cooked. We pick up every day from the casino.”

The food is transported immediately to Lighthouse Community Kitchen in Salamanca, where an average of 90 dinners are served daily.

The Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry in the basement of Olean’s Hillside Wesleyan Church serves more than 400 households twice each month, according to volunteer director Linda Schafer.

And while meat (protein) appears regularly on the food pantry shopping list, at this time of year everyone is talking turkey.

“As soon as people find out turkeys are here they will be at the door, so we established a policy,” Schafer explained. “Each pantry has its own policy. We give turkeys to our regular clients, people who have been with us for at least three months. It’s not being mean. It’s what we have to do. If they don’t get turkey, we give them other meat. We have ham and chicken.”

Borowiak also has a turkey policy.

“People think we get all the turkeys donated for Thanksgiving,” she said. “But years ago we bought turkeys. What we do now is purchase whole chickens because we can get the chicken for 69 cents a pound, while the turkeys were $1.19. We still give turkeys, but only donated turkeys.”

Mark Quandt directs the Northeastern Food Bank Albany, which serves 23 counties, the largest service area in the state. Quandt said his ability to raise funds not only helps with transportation costs but also increases his purchasing power.

“We’re getting lots and lots of fresh produce this time of year, lots of apples, squash, corn and all the other end-of-season crops,” Quandt said. “It costs us money to get that transported here, plus you have to store it. If we didn’t have financial resources, we could not afford to take the donations from farmers. That would be crazy.”



email: jkwiatkowski@buffnews.com
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New music club Buffalo Iron Works adds to Cobblestone’s ‘mosaic’

November 25, 2013, 9:12 pm
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With brick walls, tall ceilings, exposed air ducts and salvaged architectural relics, Buffalo’s newest music club exudes industrial strength in the Cobblestone District, just a few blocks from Canalside.

Buffalo Iron Works, a two-story building at 49 Illinois St. – adjacent to First Niagara Center and backed up against the Helium Comedy Club on Perry Street – has been open less than a month but is already booking local and touring acts five nights a week. Locally made brews are offered, along with an assortment of smoked and roasted meats, sandwiches and wraps ranging from $6 to $10.

“It’s absolutely awesome – the decor, the atmosphere, the people,” said Melissa Richardson, of Cheektowaga, there on a recent Saturday night to watch the Ragbirds, an Ann Arbor, Mich., touring band with some local members. She sat at the bar, where one of the room’s four screens showed the band.

“It’s a beautiful and pretty unique venue,” said Lauren Leadbetter, who added she appreciated the large selection of local beers.

The building and the club are owned by developers Roger Trettel and Samuel Savarino, anesthesiologist Edward Plata and real estate agent Daniel Mania.

Savarino is Helium’s landlord and co-owner with Plata and Mania of nearby Lagerhaus 95 at 95 Perry St., which provides Iron Works’ food and beverages. That building is also where Savarino Companies is housed.

“With everything else going on, such as Canalside all the way down through the Ohio Street corridor, we think Iron Works is a nice piece of the mosaic. There is a good critical mass developing there,” Savarino said.

He added that he thought there could be an opportunity for more entertainment venues in the district.

Savarino said the 1915 building, which was initially bought by Trettel, cost $400,000. The owners sunk $600,000 to $700,000 in construction costs. They also followed National Park Service and state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation standards in the historic renovation, with the hope it would be eligible for historic tax credits. They have applied for the building’s designation on the National Register of Historic Places.

“I think our taking that step augured well for a chance to use historic tax credits for that building, and other buildings on the block possibly in the future,” Savarino said.

The club’s capacity is 400, with approval expected soon for limited mezzanine seating of about 50. The club is open for music every night except Sundays and Mondays, when it’s open for a lunch trade. There is music those nights, too, if First Niagara Center has a concert.

“The club has great potential to be a home for local original music and for touring bands,” said Seamus Gallivan, one of three independent promoters currently booking the club, as he stood near a wall adorned with photographs taken by the late Buffalo photographer Milton Rogovin. “It has a great opportunity to meet multiple demographics,” Gallivan added.

Jeremy Hoyle, the singer for Strictly Hip, a local band that has played there in the opening weeks and does so again Friday, said Iron Works “is a nice club and it’s a nice stage, one of the bigger ones downtown.”

Hoyle said he thinks there’s “tons of potential” in the Cobblestone District, but isn’t sure if Iron Works could be the start of more to come.

“The musician side of me says sure, but the side of me that works in the music business in Buffalo says I’m not so sure,” said Hoyle, who does show promotion for the Tralf Music Hall.

“I think the area is really cool. I tour a lot with my band and have been to areas that people talk about, like Baltimore and Cincinnati, and you can see how that can really turn a city around. It’s such a positive thing to have for an area that’s been sitting idle so long.”

email: msommer@buffnews.com
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Holiday Lights of Niagara to open in Hyde Park

November 26, 2013, 9:26 pm
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NIAGARA FALLS – The annual Holiday Lights of Niagara Trail will open tonight in Hyde Park.

A free kickoff event will be held near Sal Maglie Stadium at 5:30 p.m. and include an appearance by Santa Claus and performances by local dance and choir groups.

The lighted displays will be illuminated at the conclusion of the kickoff event and will be followed by a fireworks display. The trail, which runs nightly from 5 to 10 through Jan 31, includes displays throughout Hyde Park as well as across the city.

For more information, visit www.uwgn.org or call 216-4582.
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State Police patrols to focus on drinking, texting drivers

November 26, 2013, 9:26 pm
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State police will step up traffic patrols over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday, focusing especially on drunken drivers, aggressive drivers and drivers talking or texting on their cellphones.

Troopers will set up sobriety checkpoints and use unmarked patrol cars to spot drivers using hand-held phones. State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico urged New Yorkers to reduce to risk of alcohol-related accidents by designating a sober driver.
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