The Fast and The Furious

Rumspringa is alive and well in the Chautauqua County Town of Sherman, where four Amish teens were arrested and charged with underage drinking on March 11 after a horsedrawn buggy crashed into a police car. Police say there was reason to believe the teens had been “racing” buggies.

Transit Priorities

Budget airline Direct Air, one of only three carriers operating out of Niagara Falls Airport, announced on March 13 that they were suspending flight operations due to unpaid fuel bills. Nice to see that the NFTA’s $42.5 million airport expansion is paying off while our bus fares go up another 25 cents.

Courtship

Details of the Air Force’s upcoming budget cuts were released on March 6, and once again the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Base is being targeted for contraction, putting 845 jobs in jeopardy. If you listen to Republicans, it’s clear the only prudent thing to do is begin the wholesale bombing of Iran.

City of Light

The ECHDC announced last week that they have contracted a $300,000 study to investigate the feasibility of lighting the monolithic grain elevators on the Buffalo waterfront. For once, a genuinely intriguing plan to deal with the omnipresent blight we see around town. Let there be light!

Noms

For several years in a row readers have nominated Ethiopian as the restaurant Buffalo needs the most—something even Rochester can boast—in the annual Artvoice Best of Buffalo awards.Last week their calls were answered with the opening of Lucy in Black Rock. What will you nominate next? See best.artvoice.com.

Number of contaminated sites in New York listed on the EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List. On March 13, Congresswoman Kathy Hochul announced that Eighteen Mile Creek in Niagara County, which is heavily contaminated by metals and polychlorinated biphenyls, would be added to the list eligible for federal cleanup funds.