Chris Lee | Endangered Species

SKINNY: With Democrat Bill Owens’ victory in northern New York’s 23rd district, Lee, a first term congressman from Amherst now represents 50% of New York State’s Republican congressional delegation. In fact, Lee and Peter King of Long Island, are the only sitting Republicans north of Pennsylvania. Thats right. Out of New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maine, Republicans hold two, count ’em, two seats out of 49.

VERDICT: While the state’s current and long term trending heavily favors the Dems, Lee represents the last remaining Republican stronghold in New York. Wyoming, Orleans and Genesse counties (New York’s Alabama). That, in combination with the wealthy suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester, should allow this lumbering political relic to survive a few more terms.

Keanu Reeves | Kung Fu Enthusiast

SKINNY: Whoaaaaaaa, Buffalo’s biggest recent brush with celebrity was in town again scouting locations for his upcoming Rom-Com Henry’s Crime, drawing about two dozen curious onlookers and female admirers downtown.

VERDICT: Seriously, can anyone even name the last movie this guy was in? You can’t? Didn’t think so. For the record it was the box-office smashThe Private Lives of Pippa Lee. His last true “blockbuster” was 2008’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, which if not for a strong foreign market (those guys will watch anything) barely broke even on its’ $80 million budget. Reeves is a star in decline, clearly indicated by his recent forays into Rom-Coms, which everyone knows is where good actors go to die, or just make a quick buck (John Cusack we’re looking in your direction).

Teenagers

Six young lives were unnecessarily lost in a single weekend. First, a Clarence teen is stabbed at a party in Buffalo Oct. 31, then an Amherst girl dies of an unknown illness the next morning and finally, four die in a needless car accident that same night.

Tatankacephalus Cooneyorum

The recently discovered dinosaur was partly named (more like alluded to) after the hometown of it’s co-discoverer, illustrator and paleontologist William L. Parsons. The horned ankylosaurid derives part of its’ name (tatanka) from the Sioux word for Buffalo.

The Statler Towers

A very large chunk of the hotel’s aging facade fell 18-stories onto the sidewalk of Delaware Ave. on Oct. 29, closing streets and making the recent sale of the Statler Towers look like more of a renovation project than initally thought.

Tyler Myers

In probably the smartest roster move in a decade, the Sabres’ brass decided Oct. 29 to keep the 19-year old phenom around for the rest of the season. The defensive dynamo had to report to juniors after nine games or stay in Buffalo the whole season.

Newspapers

Warren Buffett, second richest man and owner of the Buffalo News, predicted Nov. 3 that print newspapers have “a terrible future” in an interview for CNBC. In other news, Artvoice is still the free paper of choice for drunks and the homeless citywde!

Billions of dollars in federal loans General Motors is using to purchase Western New York parts supplier Delphi. GM has borrowed $50 billion from the Treasury Department over the past year, which now owns a 60.8 percent stake in the auto company. GM saw its sales rise 4% in October when compared to 2008, its first month-to-month increase in two years.