Work Liberties

On Jan. 27 the NFTA suspended a police officer stationed at the Buffalo Airport for taking home more than 1,000 knives, scissors, nail clippers, and toiletries confiscated from passengers at the security gate. I guess that’s a tad more ethical than the “freebies” cops usually partake in.

Infrastructure

We’ve all seen some big potholes in WNY, but imagine one capable of taking out a 10-ton snowplow. On Jan. 30 a particularly cavernous road chasm on Transit Road in Depew went head-to-head with a state DOT truck and promptly flipped the bastard on its side. Score that round for the pothole.

Reality TV

The Buffalo Common Council took their first step towards (let’s all hope) some kind of trashy reality series on Feb. 1, with their first live stream on the web. All that bickering, nepotism, and backstabbing. Throw in some scanty outfits and dramatic music and you’ve got TV gold in your hands.

Sugar Daddys

After months of rumors, on Feb. 1 the Sabres finally confirmed that owner Tom Golisano will sell the team to fracking billionaire Terry Pegula, a deep-pocketed man with a stated desire to win “multiple” Stanley Cups. Excuse my disbelief but this kind of good fortune isn’t supposed to happen to us.

Snowmageddon 2011

With images of snow-induced chaos in Sun Belt cities and unending media hype fresh on their minds, Erie County schools canceled class well in advance of Feb. 2’s coming storm—a threat which, in the end, never really materialized. I think school officials might have been taking their Mayan calendars a little too seriously.

Percent decrease in state spending for the 2011 fiscal year—down $3.7 billion from 2010——proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Feb. 1. If approved by the state legislature, the $132.9 billion budget would be the first decrease in spending since 1997. Cuomo’s also called for laying off 9,800 state workers and cutting $1.5 billion in education funding.