FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FUNDRAISER, WED., SEPT. 1 6-10PM, 51 W, CHIPPEWA 

The Buffalo Professional Firefighters Association Local

282 will be hosting a fundraiser September 1^st at the City Tavern located at 51 West Chippewa Street in downtown Buffalo from 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.  The proceeds of the event will help to defray the cost of travel and accommodations to Colorado Springs, Colorado for the families of fallen firefighters Lt. Charles “Chip” McCarthy and Firefighter Jonathan Croom.  The families of both men will be attending the September 11^th ceremony that will add their names to the national Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial.

Firefighters McCarthy and Croom perished in an East Side blaze August 24, 2009.  Both men left behind many loving family members, friends and colleagues.  Due to the personal sacrifice and loss of their lives in the performance of their duty to protect life and property each of them will be remembered and honored in Colorado Springs.  The families will also be recognized during the event.

ASSEMBLY CANDIDATE DAN KOZUB BELIEVES MEDICAID CHANGES KEY TO FISCAL REFORM IN ALBANY

What will be Dan Kozub's first objective in Albany if he's elected to the NYS Assembly next Nov. 2?

"I want to go down there to work toward reducing the size of state government and cutting spending so that the State of New York starts living within its means again," Kozub replies. "We can't go on driving a Lamberdini around when all we can pay for is a Ford. Probably the first area we should look at is our medicaid program, which is the most expensive in the nation."

Legislator Kozub believes the Empire State should have its sights set on creating a robust economy for its hard working citizens, not making its medicaid program ever more elaborate.

"We should be looking to creating jobs here in New York," he declares. "We should be working on economic development so that people are coming to this state for employment, not because we have the most generous medicaid system around."

Erie County Legislator Daniel M. Kozub, whose district encompasses Buffalo’s Inner Harbor and Outer Harbor neighborhoods, including the emerging Canal Side project, has asked the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation and Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to expedite their development plans in light of recent actions concerning both Bass Pro and HSBC Bank.

In separate letters to Jordan Levy, Chair of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, and Henry Sloma, Chair of the NFTA, Kozub asks for action and continued progress.

"At this time, I feel that revisiting the adopted and approved 2004 Master Plan, and issuing request for proposals from interested developers and stakeholders would result in investment in this emerging neighborhood. Serious consideration of the reuse of the DL&W Terminal, and other NFTA properties, should be included in future development plans as well. Creative uses of the public subsidies that were to be used for the Bass Pro project could be invested in assisting local and national business and retailers who might locate here," said Kozub.

The Hispanic Alliance of WNY under President Edwin Martinez, Nosotros, under President Wilmer Olivencia, and Niagara District Common Council Member David Rivera has announced that they are endorsing Judge Betty Calvo-Torres for the NYS Supreme Court, Senator Antoine Thompson for re-election to the NYS Senate, and Judge James McLeod for Erie County Court.

Also being supported by this highly influential trio are: the NYS Supreme Court bid of Catherine Nugent Panepinto, who was also recently endorsed by the the local branch of the Teamsters, Bill Stachowski for re-election to the NYS Senate and Sam Hoyt for re-election to the NYS Assembly. In addition, they backed NYS Senator Eric Schneiderman for Attorney General of the State of New York, Justice Eugene Fahey for re-election to the NYS Supreme Court, and Dr. Curtis Haynes for election to the Ellicott District Common Council Seat.

In a statement released recently, NYS Attorney General candidate Sean Coffey accused Buffalo developer and GOP gubernatorial candiate Carl Paladino of engaging in "hate filled rhetoric." Coffey's complete statement follows:

REMEMBERING THE HEROES AND HERITAGE OF WNY LATINOS...THE PUERTO RICAN DAY PARADE UNDER PRESIDENT CHARLEY TORRES

How did the Buffalo Puerto Rican Day Parade begin? It began one day some eight years ago when an article appeared in a major newspaper which had Latino youth in Buffalo registering some of the lowest levels of educational achievement in the nation.

"After that, some people got together and decided to get the parade going as a way of building self esteem among our young people," recalls current Puerto Rican Day Parade President Charley Torres. "A few years later, we were having a problem getting sponsors...

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GILLIBRAND: RACE TO THE TOP A BIG WIN FOR NY

New York Schools To Receive As Much As $700 Million

Washington, DC – As the Obama Administration awards New York State as much as $700 million in the second round of Race to the Top funding, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued the following statement:

“This is a big win for New York. It took enormous effort, but New Yorkers came together and delivered for our children. This investment will improve our schools and help prepare students for college and the jobs of the future. I worked hard with my colleagues to secure this investment for New York, and I will keep fighting to make sure New York gets its fair share from Washington.” 

UB 20/20 FAR FROM DEAD, STACHOWSKI INSISTS...PROGRESS BEING MADE, WITH ASSEMBLY NOW ON BOARD

Is UB 20/20 dead as some critics charge? Definitely not, says the program's leading champion, NYS Senator Bill Stachowski. Instead, he indicates that the idea is gathering steam, with new supporters being recruited and old objections being refuted every day.

"We are still negotiating with regard to UB 20/20," the Senator told NewWNYPolitics recently. "The Assembly is on board now, which it wasn't before and we are going forward with the negotiations needed to make it a reality. I was holding up passage of the budget until it was passed and I wouldn't have voted for the new state budget if I didn't think we were making progress on it. I was given assurances that UB 20/20 would continue to make progress toward passage and that is exactly what is happening."

Among the encouraging pieces of news coming to the fore is the fact that some of the major objections generated by downstate legislators seem on the way to being answered.

SNOOTY FOX TO BE SCENE OF PANEPINTO EVENT

The NYS Supreme Court campaign of Catherine Nugent Panepinto will hold a fundraiser on Wed., Sept. 8 from 5:30-7:30pm at the Snooty Fox on Delaware Ave. in Buffalo. The contribution levels are $125 for Friends and $250 for Advocates. Checks can be made out to: Nugent-Panepinto for Justice; 485 Norwood; Buffalo, NY 14222. For more information, call 852-1888.  

RATED "QUALIFIED" OR "HIGHLY QUALIFIED" BY BAR GROUPS, CALVO-TORRES READY TO BATTLE FOR SUPREME COURT SEAT

Having been rated "highly qualified" by the Woman's Bar Assn. and "qualified" by both the Erie County Bar Assn. and the Minority Bar Assn,, highly respected Buffalo City Court Judge Betty Calvo Torres is running for a seat on the NYS Supreme Court, fully confident that she is as really as anyone to tackle the job.

"I feel that the New York State Supreme Court needs judges more than ever who are able to look at things from a different perspective and would bring..."

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"IF YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT, I'M A PUERTO RICAN," SAYS HOYT...CALLS CUOMO "ONE OF BEST FRIENDS"

"If it's true that you are what you eat, then call me Sam-well Hoytito because I'm a Puerto Rican," NYS Assemblymember Sam Hoyt declared to cheers all around at a Latino flavored fundraiser for him at the Puch Olivencia Center on Swan St. on Friday. "I hear people say at this microphone, 'Let's support this person because he or she is one of our own.' Well, I can totally understand that. But, I'd like to be considered one of your own too. I've always been with the Latino community here in the Buffalo area and I'm always going to be with you."

After talking about his closeness to local Hispanic, Hoyt went on to discuss the blessings of being a senior member of the NYS Assembly.

"People say that seniority is bad," he observed. "They say, 'Oh, he's been there too long. We've got to get rid of him.' But, the truth is that seniority means power and influence in any legislative body, especially when that body is controlled by your party and when the Governor is a member of your party. Look, if one of you had a problem with state government back when Pataki was governor, I'd make a call and I'd get referred to some obscure legislative aide."

"Now that Paterson is governor," Hoyt continued, "when I call I get a close friend...."

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