Inside the Newstag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-6336732009-10-08T19:46:43ZTypePadThings are tough all over.tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a5cebde8970b2009-10-08T15:46:43-04:002009-10-08T19:46:43ZBreaking on The Buffalo News Web site today: - Deficit grows to $3 billion as Paterson asks for ideas - Tom Precious/The Buffalo News ALBANY -- Fiscal officials in the Paterson administration and Legislature believe the state's deficit is at least $3 billion -- $900 million more than estimated in July. In a letter today to his negotiation counterparts in the Legislature, Robert Megna, the governor's budget director, said the Paterson administration needs the help of lawmakers to close the red ink. The request came a couple days after Paterson ordered $500 million worth of savings in state agencies --...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/10/things-are-tough-all-over.htmlTime 2 - Lucy 0tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a5b6384c970b2009-10-02T14:56:49-04:002009-10-02T18:56:49ZI read The News today, oh boy. A 4.4 million-year-old fossil nicknamed Ardi has been proclaimed the earliest known ancestor of the human species. She displaces Lucy, a mere 3 million years old, as the furthest back we can get with remains that are recognizable as hominids in our line of evolution. Lucy, you may recall, was so named by her discoverers because of the song that had been blaring from their camp tape player, the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." This about a week after we read that Lucy Vodden, childhood friend of Julian Lennon and inspiration...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/10/time-2-lucy-0.htmlAll news is localtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a5b179c0970b2009-10-01T12:32:34-04:002009-10-01T16:34:48ZSome more stories from other newspapers that might sound a little familiar to you, the loyal readers of The Buffalo News: Here: U.S. sues county over alleged jail abuses - Matthew Spina/The Buffalo News There: Inmate's death caused by denial of needed medication - The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press Here: NYSEG asks more to deliver power, gas - George Pyle/The Buffalo News There: Black Hills Power looks to increase rates by more than 25 percent - The Rapid City (S.D.) Journal Here: State pension fund’s value drops $44 billion - Tom Precious/The Buffalo News There: Oregon governments, schools face big...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/10/all-news-is-local.htmlBuffalo, you are not alonetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a5e87576970c2009-09-23T15:53:43-04:002009-09-23T19:53:43ZSome news from elsewhere. And why it sounds familiar: - Pavement to Parks Allison Arieff/The New York Times Last Friday, cities and towns throughout the world celebrated Park(ing) Day, an event created to bring awareness to the importance of using and enjoying public space. - Why not turn vacant lots into gardens? Donn Esmonde/The Buffalo News Buffalo’s full-bore demolition policy has left in its wake thousands of vacant lots. Next to many of them are homeowners like [Roxanne] Chase, who would gladly turn an eyesore into a lawn for kids to play on or a garden to brighten the street....Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/09/buffalo-you-are-not-alone.htmlSick pilots cleared for flyingtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a54c0aec970b2009-09-06T06:00:00-04:002009-09-06T10:00:00ZHow would you like to fly on an airline where the pilots say the following: Whether a pilot is sick or tired, airline managers "will harass you until you give up and fly." "It was a battle calling in fatigued. They would do anything they could to talk you out of it. They just want to get the plane moving." "The chief pilot called and started giving me a hard time. And I was just coming out of general anesthesia." That's what pilots and former pilots at Colgan Air, which operated the doomed Continental Connection Flight 3407 that crashed in...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/09/sick-pilots-cleared-for-flying.htmlHealth care reform silent on malpractice reform tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a56719e8970c2009-08-23T06:00:00-04:002009-08-23T10:00:00ZThe folks drawing up the health care bill in the House spread ink over more than 1,000 pages … but not a word deals head-on with one of the central complaints of doctors in Buffalo and nationwide. There's no mention of medical malpractice liability reform to fix what doctors call a lawsuit-happy system that prods them to order extra expensive tests just to ward off potential lawsuits. Experts in the field counter by saying that lawsuits are actually falling in volume and that any effort to change the system might end up costing more. But there are other issues at...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/08/health-care-reform-silent-on-malpractice-reform-.htmlKane comes to court, tracked by camerastag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a509b693970b2009-08-20T17:25:13-04:002009-08-20T21:27:36ZAbout an hour before Patrick Kane's 2 p.m. arraignment, news cameras were stationed on Delaware Avenue outside Buffalo City Court waiting for him to arrive. When the 20-year-old Chicago Blackhawk did, along with his attorney and parents, the cameras and reporters followed them through the metal detectors and up to the seventh floor of the courthouse. But they were stopped just outside Chief Judge Thomas P. Amodeo's courtroom door. Per the request of defense attorneys, cameras were kept out of the court proceeding. Both Patrick T. Kane and his cousin, James M. Kane, 21, pleaded not guilty to charges of...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/08/kane-comes-to-court-tracked-by-cameras.htmlWhy cab driver's license issue is importanttag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a547f717970c2009-08-13T15:24:36-04:002009-08-13T19:24:36ZI've gotten several e-mails and phone calls from outraged readers who think The Buffalo News was fed information about Jan Radecki's past by Patrick Kane's attorney in an attempt to discredit the Buffalo cab driver. Radecki has accused the 20-year-old National Hockey League star and his cousin, James M. Kane, 21, of robbing and assaulting him. The paper is "blaming the victim," critics say, and playing into the hand of Paul Cambria Jr., Patrick Kane's high-profile defense attorney. Radecki's attorney, Andrew C. LoTempio (pictured right, Derek Gee/Buffalo News), said this to me on Wednesday: "It sounds to me like the...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/08/kane_cabbie_license.htmlFlood vignettes from Gowandatag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20120a5413023970c2009-08-12T09:13:10-04:002009-08-12T17:58:39ZIt's curious the things that stayed. After a savage flood inundated the Village of Gowanda this week, with water rising up to nine feet above the flood stage, perhaps the most incredible things are those that weren't swept away. Before the flood, Mike and Michelene Washy laid a curb of bricks in front of their Chestnut Street house. They used no mortar; it seemed unnecessary. Early Monday morning, the couple woke to see a surging river of garbage and debris rushing down the street. Just blocks away on Stafford Road, the violent waters carved a gorge more than 100 feet...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/08/flood-vignettes-from-gowanda.htmlMissed opportunity for a safer Buffalo tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b85a69e20115714e81d7970c2009-07-29T06:00:00-04:002009-07-29T10:00:00ZWASHINGTON -- So the score is Rochester $5.8 million, Buffalo 0. That's how much the two nearby cities got in federal stimulus grant money for the hiring of new police officers -- and it might just be because Buffalo didn't apply for the grant. The city didn't apply because it had existing police vacancies, and thus wasn't eligible to apply. Those vacancies occurred because it could not find enough minority police candidates, which it must do under a federal court case dating back to 1978. Yes, 31 years later, Buffalo -- which was found to have discriminated in its hiring...Blog Editorhttp://blogs.buffalonews.com/inside_the_news/2009/07/missed-opportunity-for-a-safer-buffalo-.html