Deadlines

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state leaders reached an agreement on March 27 to a $132.5 billion budget that cuts spending by two percent. If passed before March 31 it would mark the first budget since 1983 to pass early. This wouldn’t be New York if they couldn’t find a way to screw that up.

Responsible Drug Usage

Former Buffalo police chief and current “drug czar” Gil Kerlikowski said while in town on March 28 that despite increasing calls for the moderation of drug laws he is “dead set” against legalizing marijuana. Smart policy, especially when you consider how well prohibition worked last time.

Con-Air

It was reported this week that the notorious Erie County Holding Center will begin selling advertising space via TV screen—which they cleverly refer to as “Captive Ads”—to lawyers and bail bondsmen hoping to reach incarcerated prisoners. No word yet if they’d be willing to accept ads from the ACLU.

Dodging The Bill

The city of Buffalo breathed a huge sigh of relief on March 29 when the state Court of Appeals ruled that the city was not responsible for back pay to teachers, firefighters, and police officers during a three-year wage freeze. Buffalo schools alone faced upwards of $111 million in added costs by 2013 if liable.

Healthy Living

A national health study by the Population Health Institute released on March 30 placed Erie County 56th out of 62 New York counties on their overall health and wellbeing ranking. Hmmmm, I wonder if our unhealthy eating habits, poor air quality, and frequent binge drinking have anything to do with that?

Year that Rochester will overtake Buffalo as the second-largest city in New York if current population trends continue according to 2010 census figures. With Buffalo decreasing 10.7 percent every 10 years and Rochester losing only 4.2 percent of its population, the two cities would reach equivalency sometime during 2040 at roughly 184,500.