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Seven Days: The Straight Dope From the Week That Was

Thursday, November 5

Could this be Michael Vick's next sporting endeavor?

The week begins with Seven Days putting out an all points bulletin for Brian C. Davis. The embattled Ellicott District Council Member was nowhere to be found in City Hall today after being similarly absent the day before. Davis is currently under investigation for a multitude of offenses including allegations of shifting block grant funds in his district to the failed restaurant One Sunset.

Speaking of One Sunset, former owner and basketball player Leonard Stokes, recipient of the $140,000 in city grants to run his business into the ground, was in court today to face unrelated charges of non-criminal trespassing, stemming from an incident with the mother of his child. Stokes remained tight-lipped about any and all City Hall questions.

Friday, November 6

We have a Brian C. Davis sighting! In a brief interview with the Buffalo News, Davis denied dodging state police and Erie County investigators during his two day absence, but would not comment on his pending criminal probe.

In other news, preceding the release of data that alleges Buffalo to be one of the more dangerous cities for pedestrians (see By the Numbers above), Andrea Glinski of the Town of Tonawanda was sentenced to one-to-three year prison sentence for the high-profile hit-and-run of two Daemen College students in March. The two students, Amy Stewart and Rachel Baird were lucky to survive, but face serious future health consequences. That very same day, Sarah Gregory, 31, of Amherst returned home (minus a leg) after seven weeks of recovery following her hit-and-run accident in South Buffalo this September. The driver, Steven Cavarello, 30, of Lackawanna was charged with several offenses including vehicular assault earlier in the week.

Saturday, November 7

Following a full day of vigorous debate and after voting late into the night, the House of Representatives narrowly approved HR 3962, taking a huge step towards instituting comprehensive health care reform in the United States. Cheers on the House floor erupted at 11:14pm when the deciding vote was cast. The narrow 220-215 victory followed mainly along party lines, with 39 Democrats dissenting and only one Republican congressman voting for reform. The $1.2 trillion bill will now be sent to the Senate, where legislators will likely draft their own version of the bill. If passed, a conference committee will be established to negotiate the discrepancies in the bill before it can be signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Sunday, November 8

You can blame global warming if you’d like, but the likely culprit was a soft dip in the jet stream that brought unseasonably warm temperatures to Western New York today. The high temperature at Buffalo Niagara International Airport reached 68 degrees, one shy of the record set in 1945.

Former head coach and current NBC football pundit Tony Dungy claimed that the Buffalo Bills were a darkhorse candidate to secure world-renowned animal lover Michael Vick’s services at quarterback next season. Currently a backup for the Philadelphia Eagles, Vick has struggled in his first season since he was released from federal prison, where he served 18 months for running a dogfighting ring in his Virginia home. Dungy, who serves as an advisor to Vick, claims that the Bills were among the teams that had showed interest in signing Vick before the start of the season. At that time, Bills general manager Russ Brandon issued a soft denial but did not close the door completely. Before his legal troubles, Vick was the highest paid player and was arguably, the most athletic quarterback in NFL history. By the way, the Bills had their Bye week today, did anybody notice?

Monday, November 9

Nothing happened today. Unless you count the 20th anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, a feat commonly attributed to that grandstanding economic trickler Ronald Reagan but which was actually accomplished thanks to the skillful negotiation of George H.W. Bush.

Tuesday, November 10

Our final Brian C. Davis sighting for the week. Barraged by reporters following Tuesday’s Council meetings, Davis issued a brisk “No Comment” to inquiries regarding a plea deal.

Wednesday, November 11

If anyone out there still notices, the United States is currently embroiled in two hopelessly messy wars abroad. Being Veterans Day, take a moment to think about the 4,680 official deaths sustained by Coalition forces in Iraq and the additional 1,515 in Afghanistan. Don’t stop there. Think about the 1,739 homeless veterans that Senator Chuck Schumer estimates live in Western New York. In fact, take another moment to think about the estimated one million civilian casualties on top of that.

Oh and state lawmakers left Albany today after negotiations to curb the looming $3.2 billion deficit stalled (do these numbers even register with people anymore?). See you next week!

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