News - Page 15

Analysis·Courts·Crime and Justice·Featured·Investigative

October 20, 2025

The Sentence That Won’t Be Served: How German Innovator Bernhard Fritsch Escaped American Justice

By Frank Parlato The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles is asking Judge Dale S. Fischer to impose a 15-year sentence on Bernhard Fritsch on October 20. There’s just one problem: Fritsch

Crime and Justice·Featured·Investigative

October 19, 2025

How German Tech Pioneer Bernhard Fritsch Escaped the Reach of American Courts

By Frank Parlato After having written several stories about his trial and conviction, to my surprise, Bernhard Fritsch disappeared just before a remand hearing ahead of sentencing on June 2. I always

The Secret Hilton Meeting That Changed the Sandusky Case

By Frank Parlato This hearing was the single greatest threat to the

Free Game with Diddy: The Hip-Hop Icon Bringing Peace and Purpose to Prison

Sean “Diddy” Combs has gone from orchestrating global music empires to building

Democrat Primary: Amber Small makes water key issue in waterfront district

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI Energetic and personable, 60th District Democrat Amber Small is focused on three core issues in her campaign for the 60thdistrict State

September 8, 2016

News

Stocker, proud outsider, makes third bid for State Senate

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI Kevin Stocker is the consummate outsider – proud to bark at the heels of a local party that he sees engulfed

September 8, 2016

News

An interview with Chris Jacobs, Republican Candidate for New York State Senate!

BY JOHN DUKE Q: Tell us something the voters might not know about you? Did you grow up in Buffalo? A: Yep, I grew up right here

September 7, 2016

News

DA candidate, Mark Sacha, calls for lead state prosecutor in Pigeon case to be removed

BY FRANK PARLATO Mark Sacha, the former Erie County Deputy District Attorney who is credited for launching the investigation into alleged election law violations

September 1, 2016

News

Emergency plans quietly updated in response to Reservoir issues

BY JAMES HUFNAGEL Over 55 years ago, an earthen barrier was built to surround the large reservoir that contains the water supply for the

September 1, 2016

News

Concerned citizens’ group opposes plan for Knox Farm State Park

BY TONY FARINA Knox Farm State Park, a 633-acre state park adjacent to the Village of East Aurora with 400 acres of grasslands and

September 1, 2016

News

ECC expects to have new President by June

BY TONY FARINA Erie Community College (ECC) will have a new president by next June, Board Chairman Dennis Murphy said this week in an

September 1, 2016

News

Man whose pit bull was killed in ‘wrong house’ raid to sue Buffalo Police

By Frank Parlato; A man whose dog was shot by Buffalo police in late July has taken the first step toward suing the city.

August 25, 2016

News

Next ECC President Unlikely to Be a Politician

by Tony Farina Jack Quinn’s strong political connections helped land him the job as president of Erie Community College back in 2008 even though

August 25, 2016

News

This week in stupid crime

by Mike Hudson Driver crashes cop car An Erie County sheriff’s deputy was driving on Niagara Street near the intersection of Austin Street over

August 25, 2016

News

Gosy’s Patients Doing Well Under New Arrangement

by Tony Farina “The 9,500 patients of indicted pain doctor Eugene Gosy are being well treated,” says Joel Daniels, the attorney who

August 25, 2016

News

Schroeder to expand Open Book Buffalo

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI AND FRANK PARLATO; Last year, City Comptroller Mark J. F. Schroeder created an online database called Open Book Buffalo. Updated biweekly,

August 18, 2016

News

Is there ‘Pay to Play’ at City Hall? Contributors to Mayor Brown get City Contracts!!

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI; Buffalo Comptroller Mark Schroeder is being heralded by good government activists for launching Open Book Buffalo, the database that makes the

August 18, 2016

News

No cross endorsements for Supreme Court this year

BY TONY FARINA It appears there will be no bipartisan endorsements for the now two open State Supreme Court seats that will be on

August 18, 2016

News

Schroeder Sees a ‘Tale of Two Cities, recalls Mario Cuomo

BY TONY FARINA Buffalo City Comptroller Mark Schroeder has not yet fully committed to running for mayor next year, but he is certainly acting

August 18, 2016

News

Jacobs’ plan saves county auto bureau 100k pens

Erie County Clerk Chris Jacobs issued a press release this week announcing he saved county taxpayers $45,000 in pens. He reports that after becoming

August 18, 2016

News

Grant Ferry prostitution eases following Artvoice-Chronicle investigation

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI In the days after Artvoice and The Buffalo Chronicle published a story detailing the rampant open-air drug trade and prostitution economy that has engulfed the

August 17, 2016

News

Attorney General found guilty of perjury, obstruction, abuse of power

Barely four years after winning a landslide election as Pennsylvania’s first female Attorney General, Kathleen Kane was convicted Monday of perjury, obstruction, criminal conspiracy, and

August 17, 2016

News

Ciampoli, a Skelos apparatchik, in town to kick Stocker off ballot

John Ciampoli is the Nassau County Attorney who signed off on the Ab Tech deal that was designed to enrich Adam Skelos, the son

August 17, 2016

News

A primary of consequence for Democrats in the 60th District

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI The retired State Senator and widely respected elder statesman of local politics, Al Coppola is seeking the Democratic Party nomination for

August 16, 2016

News

Victims of Police ‘Dog Shootings’ Tell Their Tales of Horror

By Frank Parlato Last week Artvoice reported on claims that The Narcotics Division of the Buffalo Police Department shot two pit bulls while

August 11, 2016

News

Hertel Avenue businesses oppose it, Brown condones it, Schroeder says he will reverse Hertel Avenue meter plan, if elected mayor

BY MATT RICCHIAZZI City Comptroller Mark Schroeder said if he is elected mayor in 2017, he will reverse the controversial new Hertel Avenue metered

August 11, 2016

News

State Paying Millions to Defend Canalside Suit

By Tony Farina I wrote a story in this space last week that reported I had received nine responses from the state’s Empire State

August 11, 2016

News

West Side residents voice concerns of drugs, prostitution on Breckenridge near Grant St.

By Matt Ricchiazzi Upper West Side residents are complaining of drug sales and rampant prostitution near the corner of Breckenridge and Grant Streets, a

August 11, 2016

News

Background check for Job at County Jail discloses warrant for child endangerment; Fired bus driver claims he didn’t know the YouTube cartoon was sexually explicit

It didn’t turn out the way he planned it. David Dole, 34, of Buffalo recently applied for a Sheriff’s Deputy position within the Jail

August 11, 2016

News·Uncategorized

Quinn’s Travel Plans Unmoved by ECC’s Problems

By Tony Farina Even as the date approaches for the long-delayed groundbreaking of the STEM building at the Erie Community College North campus, now

August 11, 2016

News

Mascia takes city to court to overturn Brown’s removal of him based on ‘illegal speech’

BY FRANK PARLATO Former Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority (BMHA) Commissioner, Joe Mascia, 71, who was removed by Mayor Byron Brown from office in May,

August 4, 2016

News

Charges of election fraud, voter intimidation surface in 60th district race

BY TONY FARINA The battle for the key 60th District State Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Marc Panepinto after one term, is now

August 4, 2016

News

Flynn fires back at Flaherty camp in battle for DA

BY TONY FARINA The battle for the job of Erie County district attorney is turning into a war of words between Acting DA Michael

August 4, 2016

News

Attorney seeks charges against Buffalo Police in dog ‘shooting spree’

The Buffalo Police Department reported their Narcotics Division executed a series of search warrants during the week of July 25-29, arresting several individuals and

August 4, 2016

News

Green Giants Part II: David Kowalski

BY KELSEY SANDRA ABLES After a rejuvenating retreat to the Adirondack Mountains, environmentalist David Kowalski came back to reality: a severe drought in Buffalo

August 4, 2016

News

Did Politics Have a Hand in the Pigeon Prosecution?

Everyone had at least one brush with Pigeon By Frank Parlato A POLITICAL QUESTION The question of whether politics was a motive for

July 28, 2016

News

DOT To Conduct Formal EIS To Study Skyway Removal First Step in Planning Alternative Infrastructure

By Frank Parlato The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) agreed last week to spend an unspecified sum of taxpayer money on a

July 28, 2016

News

Corps of Engineers to Use Herbicide to Kill Hydrilla in Erie Canal

In an attempt to eradicate the invasive aquatic plant hydrilla in the Erie Canal, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, will be

July 28, 2016

News

Around and About

By Tony Farina Flaherty Camp Slams Dem Party Boss for ‘Hypocrisy’ The race for Erie County District Attorney is a real political donnybrook as

July 28, 2016

News

Cambria Seeks Info On Plea Deals in Pigeon Case

By Tony Farina Political operative and former Erie County Democratic Chairman Steve Pigeon faces nine felony counts in a state prosecution involving former State

July 28, 2016

News

Empire State Still Resisting Foil Request

By Tony Farina The Empire State Development Agency (ESD) is the umbrella organization for New York’s two principal economic development entities, the Urban Development

July 28, 2016

News

Blasdell’s Penn Dixie Will Partner with New Himalayan Park Fossil Park in Kashmir; Fossils There Record the ‘Great Dying’ Fossil

By Frank Parlato The Penn Dixie Paleontological & Outdoor Education Center in Blasdell, a 54 acre fossil park featuring fossils from the Devonian Period

July 28, 2016

News

Buffalo boxing history on display at Karpele’s Manuscript Museum

By Mike Hudson One of Buffalo’s hidden treasures is the Karpele’s Manuscript Museum, part of a nationwide group that claims ownership of the largest

July 21, 2016

News

Blasdell’s Penn Dixie Invites Public to View ‘The Classical Planets of Antiquity’ Five planets will be visible in one night!

By Frank Parlato Here’s something different. On Saturday evening, July 30, starting at 7:30, the Penn Dixie Paleontological & Outdoor Education Center will afford

July 21, 2016

News

Around and About

By Tony Farina Flynn Shows Momentum in DA’s Race, Gets PBA Endorsement Tonawanda Town Attorney John Flynn, who is the endorsed Democratic, Conservative, and

July 21, 2016

News

Michalek’s Famous Lawyer Paid Well to Take Guilty Plea

By Tony Farina Carrie Cohen was a big-time prosecutor with corruption-fighting U. S. Attorney Preet Bharara in the Southern District of New York and

July 21, 2016

News

The Public Hearing Process for Citizen Input Needs to Change

By Paul Wolf, Esq. New York State law requires that public hearings scheduled by governmental bodies be done with at least five days notice.

July 21, 2016

News

War is the Health of the State: An argument for The impeachment of Obama and Hillary

By Jim Ostrowski “War is the health of the state,” said Randolph Bourne. “War is hell,” said General Sherman. The war criminal Sherman was

July 21, 2016

News

Scrutiny of alleged Niagara Falls bid rigging needed

By James Hufnagel As the sultry summer weather settles in, investigations into alleged corrupt activities of the Cuomo administration are also heating up. Independent

July 14, 2016

News

This week in stupid crime:

Dog Beater Gets His Day Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty announced last week that 54-year-old Santiago Morales of 53 Arkansas St.,

July 14, 2016

News

The Cargo Cult of the State

By Jim Ostrowski We live in perilous times. We do not know what is going to happen on any given day. I am pretty

July 14, 2016

News

Buffalo Billion project in big trouble: Investors pulling out, pols playing CYA

By Mike Hudson Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Buffalo Billion” project, now under investigation by both the U.S. Justice Department and state Attorney General Eric Schniederman,

July 14, 2016

News

Erie County Deputy Sheriff Admits to Insurance Fraud Orchard Park resident falsely reported stolen car

Keith Capodicasa, 43, of Orchard Park, has pleaded guilty before State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia to Insurance Fraud in the Fifth Degree

July 14, 2016

News

Former Sorrento Cheese Exec Finds Perfect Career Match

By Tony Farina Every once in a while in life, we find a perfect match. It may be a golf club, a pet, a

July 14, 2016

News

Goldman Sachs Bails Out Hamister, Cuomo, Dyster

By Tony Farina Gov. Andrew Cuomo came to Niagara Falls on Tuesday to officially break ground on the long-awaited Hamister hotel project in

July 14, 2016

News

Around And About

By Tony Farina Financial Filings Due Friday The political season is getting into full swing locally, and Friday (July 15) is the first

July 14, 2016

News

MICHALEK TAKES A PLEA; PIGEON PRESUMED INNOCENT, AND The Oxymoron of Government Justice

By Jim Ostrowski Buffalo SUDDENLY is all a twitter about judicial corruption. I have been yelling, screaming, kicking, and litigating about judicial corruption of

July 7, 2016

News