Outside Hires

Incumbent Amber Dixon was passed over on June 13 by the Buffalo School Board, who instead voted to hire Pamela Brown—a failed candidate for the top job in Youngstown, Ohio, Joliet, Ill., and West Bloomfield, Mi.­—as the new superintendent of Buffalo Schools. To say she’s got her work cut out for her is understatement defined.

Disneyfication

After months of hype on June 18 Nik Wallenda completed his 1,800-foot tightrope walk across Niagara Falls—albeit with the aid of ABC-mandated safety tether. No disrespect to Wallenda, his walk was still charming and beautiful, but the absence of any real danger sucked much of the tension out of the act.

Nationalist Boasting

Celebrations kicked off on both sides of the border on June 18 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the largely overlooked War of 1812. While seen by many jingoistic Canadians as a rousing military victory, the three-year conflict between American and (in reality) British forces is viewed as a stalement by most historians today.

Looking to the Future

A deal was inked on June 18 between Canadian and American officials to build a new $4 billion bridge at the Detroit-Windsor crossing, a major step forward for a vital economic corridor. Maybe this good example of a unified social/political view of the future can inspire our community to improve its inadequate infrastructure…

Looking to the Future

…but instead a temporary restraining order was granted on June 20 to prevent the Peace Bridge Authority from demolishing several vacant West Side houses needed to expand the Peace Bridge Plaza. Thanks, preservationsists. Your staid commitment to regressive thinking has yet again cheated our city of an expanded Duty Free.

Estimated total giving, in billions, by US foundations in 2011, according to littlesis.org. The pre-recession peak was $46.8 billion in 2008. If the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were excluded from the totals, 2011 giving would actually have gone down by roughly three percent after inflation.