FIRING LOCAL POLS IS ONE THING, BREAKING UP VILLAGES PEOPLE CALL HOME IS QUITE ANOTHER...ONE OF WNY AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY'S LEADING YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS TO BRING WORLD OF YOUTH CULTURE TO BLACKWNY

WNY government downsizing activist Kevin Gaughan should have known better. Give local voters the chance to get rid of local politicians and, of course, they'll go along. "Where do I go to vote" is the only question they'll ask. But, try to get them to vote to eliminate village entities which have become part of their personal identities all their lives and, possibly, for generations before that, and you'd better get ready for a whooping 

As one Williamsville resident who is a close friend of this reporter put it: "We are a pretty close knit group in Williamsville. We work together on things and we just done't want to give that up, even if it meant saving a small amount of money. We choose to live here in Williamsville and to pay the additional costs. That is our right."

In other news, one of the WNY African-American community's most successful young entrepreneurs, Mr. Will Jones, agreed to serve as the Youth Culture Editor of Black-WNY.com on Wednesday.  Combined with the major design improvements coming to the site very soon, this new development makes us confident that this new Positive Voice of WNY African-Americans will continue to grow and provide more and better service to a growing audience among Buffalo/Niagara Falls African-Americans...Welcome aboard, Will!!!

Finally, Noticias-WNY.com is proud to welcome the Pucho Olivencia Center to its family of advertisers. Not only are we honored to have the Center's support under Chairman Wilmer Olivencia, we are looking forward to the additional coverage of the WNY Latino community that this cherished association will make possible. 

"More than one-third of voters are following the news about the proposed Muslim community center and mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site very closely and 75 percent are following it either very or somewhat closely, up from 20 percent and 56 percent, respectively, two weeks ago," says Steven Greenberg of the Siena College Institute. "This is clearly an issue that has received a great deal of media coverage and has attracted the public’s attention.

"The level of opposition to building the Cordoba House remains very strong, with 63 percent of voters opposing it and only 27 percent supporting it, virtually the same as the 61-26 percent opposition in the Siena Poll two weeks ago. Voters, however, can clearly distinguish their personal view on whether the community center and mosque should be built near Ground Zero from their opinion on whether the developers have a Constitutional right to build the Cordoba House there," Greenberg said.

Siena College Poll:

Cuomo Holds Wide Lead over Reps; Rated Better on 7 Issues

Loudonville, NY.  Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo maintains leads of more than 30 percentage points against Republicans Rick Lazio and Carl Paladino in both head-to-head and three-way match-ups, and voters think he will be more effective than either of the Republicans on seven key issues that affect New Yorkers.  Paladino has closed the gap against Lazio to 13 points among Republicans, according to a Siena College poll of registered New York voters released today. 

Three-quarters of voters have been following the news about the proposed Muslim community center and mosque in lower Manhattan at least somewhat closely, up significantly in two weeks.  Opposition remains strong against building the mosque, 63-27 percent, however, by a margin of 64-28 percent voters say that the developers of the Cordoba House have a Constitutional right to build it.  Nearly one-quarter of voters say the position of the gubernatorial candidates on this issue will have a major effect on which candidate they support.

“With less than 11 weeks until election day, Andrew Cuomo continues to be the prohibitive favorite to be elected New York’s next governor. 

GRANT, PRIDGEN, HAYNES TEAM UP TO BATTLE INNER CITY VIOLENCE

Several positive programs to stop inner city violence emerged from Monday night's community meeting at the Delavan/Grider Center, hosted by Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant. Among the most promising is a plan to have every black church and black owned business in Buffalo hire one young person this year.

"There are about 750 black churches and black owned business in this city," says Grant...

To read more of this story, click on to www.black-wny.com

BARRON/DOYLE/JIMENEZ TICKET SUBMITS OVER 3 TIMES MINIMUM IN BID TO RUN AS CANDIDATES OF FREEDOM PARTY...EGRIU WILL FIGHT ON

New York City Councilman Charles Barron submitted 43,180 signatures on Monday, almost three times more than the 15,000 he needs to get on the November ballot to run for governor as the candidate of the Freedom Party. Also benefitting from the submission is the rest of the Freedom Party ticket, which includes activist Eva Doyle of Buffalo for Lt. Governor and law professor Ramon Jimenez of the Bronx for Attorney General.

Barron launched his Freedom Party bid in response to the fact that the Democratic Party's state-wide ticket will be all-white, with no African-American or Hispanic candidates included.

In other news, congressional candidate Eddie Egriu is vowing to "fight on to the end" to stay on the September 14 primary ballot despite legal challenges launched by Congresswoman Louise Slaughter.

"We are going to fight this all the way to the end," says Egriu. "Why is a Democratic Congresswoman hiring a Republican law firm that usually represents utilities that are being sued by average citizens to keep a working man off the ballot," he asks. "I thought Democrats were supposed to be on the side of the people, not the powerful." 

TAKING NOTHING FOR GRANTED, SENATOR THOMPSON LEAVES NO STONE UNTURNED AS SEPT. 14 APPROACHES

With this year's Democratic primary only 28 days away, NYS Antoine Thompson and his re-election campaign are working as hard as they can, manning phone banks, doing lit drops, going door to door, and attending events, all aimed toward the goal of a big showing on Sept. 14. The Senator himself seems very upbeat, buoyed by a spate of recent labor endorsements.

"I"ve been very honored to get the endorsement of the Sierra Club for my leadership role on environmental issues," Senator Thompson says. "Also I've been endorsed by the Public Employees Federation as well as New York State United Teachers to add to a number of other union endorsements I"ve received. I feel that I have attracted this support because people know that I've been a progressive voice in the Senate who has spoken out for the interests of working people and for the environment in this state."

Perhaps even more important than his long roster of labor endorsements is Senator Thompson's lengthy record of legislative accomplishments during his brief three and a half year tenure in Albany's upper house.

"We've been able to pass legislation to protect the environment as well as children with my bill to outlaw baby bottles which contained toxic materials," he points out. "We've passed legislation to protect farm workers from abuses and also to make sure that prison inmates are counted in the census as residents of the cities from which they came, not as residents of the counties where they are incarcerated. This will mean more representation for city residents in the Legislature in the future."

Still, there is much more the Senator wants to accomplish in a new term in Albany.

GIVENS EVENT TO BE HELD, TUES., AUG. 24 AT WATERFRONT VENUE

The Committee to elect Judge Debra L. Givens to the NYS Supreme Court will hold an event at Templeton's Landing (the former Shanghai Red's) on Tues., Aug. 24 from 5:30-7:30pm. The contribution levels are: $99; $200; and $350. Checks can be made out to: The Committee to Elect Judge Debra L. Givens to the NYS Supreme Court.

What can the average person do to end the reign of terror on the streets that was highlighted early Saturday morning by the shooting of eight people, with four murdered, in front of a well known downtown Buffalo bistro? Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant is hoping ot begin to answer that question with a community meeting on Tuesday night from 6-8pm at the Delavan-Grider Community Center, 877 E. Delavan Ave.

On the agenda is the struggle to find a way to stop people who would fire a gun into a crowd of people, most of whom the gunman didn't even know.

"Why do people do these things," she rhetorically inquiries. "Why do people sell drugs to other people, knowing those drugs are going to kill them? These are people who shoot and kill other people and don't care about who they hurt or kill. These are people who don't care about the consequences, who don't care about the family members whose lives they are destroying. This was a very large family which was touched by this terrible shooting. These people had come up here to celebrate a wedding anniversay. Now there is all this pain and grief."

"The terrible thing about it is that the killer probably didn't even know the people he shot," she continues. "It looks to be a random shooting spree. He just wanted to kill someone."

How does she think the meeting will help?

To read more of this story, click on to:

www.black-wny.com

COMMITTEE TO ELECT CALVO-TORRES TO SUPREME COURT HOLDING EVENT, THURS., AUG. 26

The Committee to Elect Judge Betty Calvo-Torres to the NYS Supreme Court will hold a fundraiser on Thurs., Aug. 26 at the Nixon Residence on Delaware Ave., Buffalo from 5:30-7:30pm. The contribution levels will be: $50 for a Birthday Wish; $100 for a Birthday Cake; and $200 for a Birthday Party. Checks can be made out to the Committee to Elect Judge Betty Calvo-Torres to the NYS Supreme Court.