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Thursday, March 16, 2006

Buffalo, New York — The property at 605 Forest in Buffalo was the center of attention at last night’s public meeting held at the offices of Forever Elmwood on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo. Eva Hassett, Vice President of Savarino Construction Services Corporation, confirmed last night that the company will be seeking a variance for the 605 Forest property. Originally, both the 605 and 607 Forest Avenue properties were going to have variances placed on them. As it stands, 607 Forest will not be directly affected by the proposal, should it go forward. Both 605 and 607 are currently occupied by residents.

During Monday night’s meeting, Pano Georgiadis, owner of 605 Forest and owner of Pano’s Resuraunt at 1081 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, threatened to “sue” Savarino Construction if they tried to obtain a variance on his property to build the Elmwood Village Hotel.

The Elmwood Village Hotel is a proposal by Savarino Construction that would be placed on the corner of Forest and Elmwood in Buffalo. In order for the project to move forward, at least five buildings (1119-1121 Elmwood) which include both residences and businesses will have to be demolished. The hotel was designed by architect Karl Frizlen of the Frizlen Group. Although the properties are “under contract,” according to Hassett, it is unclear whether Savarino Construction owns the properties. Hans Mobius, a resident of Clarence, New York and former Buffalo Mayoral candidate, is still believed to own them.

Currently, none of the properties is zoned for a hotel.

A freelance journalist writing for Wikinews asked Hassett what kind of zoning permit they [Savarino] would be applying for and, if 605 Forest is included, what zone that would be.

“There is a ‘special development plan’ in front of the council, which changes only one thing about the zoning. It allows one permitted use for just a hotel. The rest of the zoning remains as it is under the current Elmwood Business District zoning. 605 and 607 Forest are not required for the project. They are not part of the footprint for the project. Let me answer this question again. This is on the record, in council: 605 needs to be rezoned in order to facilitate the project because of the sideyard requirement. Anything in C-2 is excluded besides the hotel. So we’ve taken the C-2 and included the hotel as a permitted use, and excluded everything else and everything else remains the same.”

However, during the February 28 Common Council meeting, Hassett was quoted as saying that the two properties were “off the agenda.”

“Now Karl said, at the last meeting, that they will build this hotel right on the borderline [property line]. If a wall forty-five to fifty feet high goes next to this house, of course it’s not right. You really have to go with whatever the city code says, so you have to get back as many feet as the city code says,” said Georgiadis.

“If you try to get a variance to change the code, I will sue you. This is my home, number one,” added Georgiadis. “First of all I think we are all wasting our time here, you [Savarino], have already made up your mind, but if you go against city code, and you try to do the most rooms with a minimal amount of parking, again, I will sue you. If you build a hotel, in my idea its going to fail. It’s doomed, ok. [If] it’s going to be a home for the disabled, for the homeless, for recovery people, but that’s another story. Then how is it going to be when we say, well I told you so? You will be over and done with. Its very hard to take a four story building [hotel] down.”

Georgiadis stated last night that he was against the proposal and signed a petition to stop it, jokingly saying, “this isn’t a paper to sign to build the hotel, is it? Don’t make me sign the wrong thing.”

Joseph Golombeck, district councilman, was at Monday’s public meeting and said, “we also did request this and the reason we are doing this as a special business district is so that it has to be this specific plan. They [Savarino] can’t go halfway through it and in six months decide that [the hotel] it’s going to be three floors. They can’t decide it’s going to be five floors. It has to be, per law, exactly what it is that they brought to us [the public] so far, and then ultimately to the City of Buffalo Common Council when it’s approved. So if it gets approved, it has to be this specific, exact project. They couldn’t make it fifty parking spots, they couldn’t make it thirty. It has to be specifically what they have right here.”

A man who lives on Granger Street in Buffalo attended the meeting, speaking in favor of the hotel development. He claimed, “There are a lot of low property values. Hopefully if we embrace development, our property values, for those of us who have property, will go up. There are a lot of people unfortunately, who are working hard, that do not get a chance to come to these meetings. I myself was at work and wasn’t able to go to the last two meetings. I express that we appreciate that you [Savarino] invest in the City of Buffalo and for what you hope, because I do not think Savarino is into losing money. These people are not in business to be losing money here. They are hoping for the success of this [the hotel] more than any one of us. They are hoping that the property values in this area will go up more than any one of us, because it will benefit them [the residents and business owners], more than any one of us. I want this city to develop. I don’t think anybody else is here understanding that we’re looking for development in this city, we are looking for the city to get better. The councilman here is not interested in Buffalo failing.”

Evelyn Bencinich, resident of Granger Street, would have the hotel directly behind her home, if it were to be built.

“What about construction [time]? Is that just for the exterior, the nine months? Or does that include the interior? Is there going to be blasting through bedrock? Is there property protection for damage? Are you [Savarino and the Frizlen Group] responsible?”, asked Bencinich.

According to Frizlen, there is a layer of solid bedrock at least 30 feet from the surface of the land saying, “we anticipate that the bedrock is at least thirty feet down.” He also admitted that “we haven’t done any soil sporrings,” but did say “the bedrock is somewhere in between twenty-five and thirty feet [down], we don’t need to go that deep. So blasting is most likely out of it [the question].”

“Personally, I can only speak from the city side, but a few years ago we rebuilt Vulcan Street, in the northwest corner of Buffalo, and there were a couple of properties that were damaged and they [the owners] were able to file a claim against the company that did the work and they won in each case. It was the same thing with a school that was built on Military Road. There were a couple of problems with foundations on a couple of properties, and they weren’t sure if caused by the school or not, but the insurance company ended up paying them,” answered Golombeck.

“I would assume that Savarino is insured with someone. So if there is a problem with anything that happens to your properties, what I would recommend is that anybody that lives on Granger Place, if this does go through, that you get pictures taken of your basement and of your foundations, because God forbid if there is a problem, you want to have an^[sic] before and after [picture]. You don’t want to come afterwards and there’s a crack in there [foundation] and you have no way of proving that it happened,” added Golombeck.

According to Golombeck, the properties that Mobius owns have been “in housing court on several occasions, but has a date of April 11, 2006 that he is going back [to court] for these properties. So it is in housing court and I wouldn’t know Mr. Mobius if he walked in this room right now,” stated Golombeck.

“I’ve gone after him on numerous occasions and everytime he gets out of housing court with a slap on the wrist. If I am a conspiracy theorist and say that there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. I can only get him into housing court. Once he’s in housing court, the judge rules on it. Now I don’t mean to take any shots at previous administrations, but I am hoping with the new administration, being in here, that the inspections department is going to be a much better department than it has been for the previous several years.”

The city’s Planning Board on March 14, 2006, agreed to send the Elmwood Village Hotel proposal back to the Common Council so that it may “be opened back up to discussion from the public.”

On March 2, 2006 the Common Council sent the proposal “to committee” for further discussion and also requesting that the public be “engaged further.”

During that meeting, Justin Azzeralla, Executive Director for Forwever Elmwood, said that the organization “supports the hotel project.”

Also on March 2, the planning board agreed to table, or postpone, any decision on the hotel proposal for at least thirty days, also citing the need for the public to be “more engaged.”

The Common Council is expected to meet on March 21, 2006 at 2:00pm local time where they may approve or deny the proposal.

According to The Buffalo News, at least six Common Council members support the hotel project and are pledging to vote to approve it at the meeting on Tuesday, March 21.

However, the city’s Planning Board will get the final say on the project.

Sunday, December 19, 2021

On December 16, Typhoon Rai, locally known as Typhoon Odette created havoc in the Philippines. More than 300 thousand people were evacuated from the southeastern islands of Philippines. After making landfall, the storm ripped off roofs and toppled concrete power poles while knocking out communications and electricity. Today, the Government of Philippines said that more than 75 people have died.

The island of Siargao, where the typhoon made landfall was “totally devastated”, the governor said. The typhoon was categorized as a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon. Surigao City was deprived of electricity and communications due to downed power lines while scores of trees left many roads impassable. Many buildings in the area were also devastated and the overall impact of Rai in the area was described as “widespread”.

On December 17, Gwendolyn Garcia, the governor of Cebu, placed the province of Cebu in a state of calamity due to widespread damages. That same day, the governor of Bohol, Arthur C. Yap, also put the province of Bohol in a state of calamity. The storage of Covid-19 vaccines and vaccine kits were also feared to be disrupted due to power outages. President Duterte also announced that he will tour Leyte, Surigao City, Bohol and Cebu to check the situation there. Food and water were sparse for those impacted by the storm.

Rai wreaked havoc across Vietnamese-held isles in the Spratly Islands. Observation tower in Southwest Cay recorded sustaining winds up to 180 km/h (112 mph) and gusts of 200 km/h (124 mph) during the afternoon of December 18, before being knocked down. No casualties were reported in Vietnam.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

The U.S. Army installation at Fort Lee in Virginia will begin using a program called RAPIDGate that will replace passes issued to non-military persons who regularly require access to the facility. The program will take effect July 10, when the practice of issuing 90-day passes to people who present a valid driver’s license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance for the vehicle used for access ends. Those passes will be grandfathered out as they expire.

The RAPIDGate program for fast entry into Fort Lee replaces what was once access privileges performed by the installation itself, which came free of cost. The new outsourced program administered by Portland, Oregon-based Eid Passport, Inc. enhances security to the installation by performing background checks. Their service comes at a price. The screening process makes a ten-year felony background check, performs a check against terrorist and sexual offender watch lists, and does a social security cross reference to validate a person’s identity.

Qualified applicants are issued a pass that enables them to bypass inspection pits and use any of the facility’s seven gates for access. Businesses whose employees would benefit by this are required to contact the program provider and have “point of contact” persons who can validate an applicant’s employment. Enrollment in the program costs the business US$199. A pass for each employee of the business costs $159 annually. The pass for employees expires after a year, when a new background check is required by the program.

The program is a voluntary alternative for civilians to conform with new access policies mandated by the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army, according to an information pamphlet distributed by the base. A kiosk will be set up at Fort Lee to accept applications that process a photograph, social security number, and fingerprint.

Those without a RAPIDGate pass will need to enter the fort at locations where their vehicle can be inspected. A rigorous inspection involves armed guards asking the driver to place keys on the dash board, pop the hood and the trunk, open the glove box, and have all occupants exit the vehicle and open all doors, including the hood and trunk. While the vehicle is inspected inside, another guard uses a mirror attached to a wand to inspect under the chassis of the vehicle’s undercarriage.

Eid Passport, Inc. specializes in identity authentication and background screening. Fort Lee will be the 12th military installation out of an estimated 250 military installations on U.S soil to implement identity screening as part of new policies mandated by the Department of Defense (DoD).

“The pass contains no personal information,” said David Smith, the director of marketing for Eid Passport. It does contain a barcode which is scanned at entry. The RAPIDGate program database includes a biometric fingerprint that might be checked by the scanning device against the presenter of the pass in times of elevated security. The pass is also embedded with an active RFID transmitter. The pass is scanned on entry to the fort at the gate check point, but not upon exit. If the RFID transmitter works properly, movement into and out of the base will be recorded.

The Fort Lee pamphlet mentions a “a new mandate” by the DoD. That mention appears to be in reference to portion of the language found in an Instruction issued in October last year by the DoD that states, “Implement a verification process, whether through background checks or other similar processes, that enables the U.S. Government to attest to the trustworthiness of DoD contractors and sub-contractors.”

The Instruction stems from a Directive signed by President Bush in August of 2004. That Directive, from the Department of Homeland Security, says in part, “Wide variations in the quality and security of forms of identification used to gain access to secure Federal and other facilities where there is potential for terrorist attacks need to be eliminated.”

Fort Lewis in Washington state was the first U.S. military installation to adopt the RAPIDGate program as a test in 2004. Since then, Fort Sam Houston, Fort Carson, and Fort Bragg, among other installations have adopted the program.

“What happened at Fort Dix, [New Jersey], as we look at it, is a Fort Dix issue,” Laura Arenschield reported spokesman for the 18th Airborne, Tom McCollum, as saying in June. “That should not be taken as an invitation for someone to try it here at Fort Bragg, but (security) is a living, breathing entity. You have to constantly change it just to keep those who are trying to penetrate it on their toes.” The new security measures will go into effect at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which is among the largest of domestic military bases, starting July 8.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

In the United States of America and other parts of the word, as Christmas and the holidays draw near, shippers have released information on shipping deadlines. Remember to always clearly label and address your holiday packages.

A compilation of brief news reports for Thursday, April 5, 2007.

Prosecutors in the United Kingdom filed charges against Mohammed Shakil, 30, Waheed Ali, 23, and Sadeer Saleem, 26. Each were charged with conspiracy to cause explosions on transport or at tourist attractions, related to the July 7, 2005 London bombings. Authorities said they are still searching for additional suspects.

The July 7, 2005 London bombings killed 56 (including the four suicide bombers) and injured more than 700.

Sources

• “Three charged over 7/7 bombings” — BBC News Online, April 5, 2007
• “Three Charged In 7/7 London Attacks” — CBS News, April 5, 2007

A US UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed after coming under fire near Latifiya, Iraq. The US military confirmed that the helicopter was shot down. All nine aboard survived but four had been injured. Witnesses reported a hard landing and gunfire afterwards, but no explosion.The US has lost at least fifty military helicopters in Iraq, nine of those since the beginning of this year.

Sources

• “US helicopter ‘shot down’ in Iraq” — BBC News Online, April 5, 2007
• “U.S. Copter Downed In Iraq” — CBS News, April 5, 2007

Scientists who studied relics that were thought to have belonged to the saint Joan of Arc and were said to have been found at a pharmacy in Paris, France, have turned out to be forgeries. Tests show that the items are actually the remains of a mummy from Egypt.

The relics were originally authenticated by the Roman Catholic Church and are now in a museum in Chinon, France.

Sources

• Declan Butler. “Joan of Arc’s relics exposed as forgery” — Nature.com, April 5, 2007
• Mark Henderson. “Relics aren’t Maid of Orléans but a mummy made in Egypt” — Times Online, April 5, 2007

April 9, 2005

Microsoft’s Encarta has announced the addition of a blog as well as some wiki-like functionality to the online subscription encyclopedia.Encarta is welcoming revision suggestions from their users, but they have a disclaimer:

Encarta is different from open-content encyclopedias found elsewhere on the Web that post users’ changes immediately.

When the changes are implemented at Encarta, readers can click an “Edit this article” link to have their contribution reviewed by editors at Microsoft for possible use.

The web enhancement has introduced a minor security glitch for the subscription service. When trying to look up an article on Encarta as a non-subscriber, web surfers receive a teaser page suggesting the user sign up for a subscription [1]. However, using the editor URL for the same article will get a WYSIWYG display of the article requested; a simple way around the subscription requirement [2].

Saturday, August 26, 2006

The Green Party of Canada will elect a new leader today. The new leader will replace Jim Harris, who stepped down after holding the position since 2003.

The candidates are:

• Elizabeth May, a former Sierra Club executive director
• David Chernushenko, the party’s deputy leader
• Jim Fannon, a real estate agent from St. Catharines, Ontario who is a four-time Green candidate, and founder of Nature’s Hemp food company.

May and Chernushenko, have emerged as frontrunners of the leadership race.

“We draw pretty much equally from across the entire political spectrum,” Jim Harris told CBC News. “If you were a Progressive Conservative, as I was, where do you go? The Green party supports Kyoto. We were opposed to the war in Iraq and yet at the same time we’re fiscally responsible. This is something that’s attractive to people.”

The Green party didn’t get any member elected in the January 23 general election, but the party did get about 4.5 per cent of the vote, enough to secure $1 million a year in federal funding.Chernushenko, an environmental consultant in Ottawa, got the most votes of any Green candidate.

Most Green party members have already cast their ballots by mail for the next leader.

May says that “her national profile and background as an adviser to the environment minister during Conservative Brian Mulroney‘s government are important for getting more Canadians interested in the party”. May referred to tackling climate change, urging electoral reform and ending Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan.

“I don’t really understand yet what she stands for. It’s a lot of rhetoric,” Globe and Mail columnist Jane Taber told CTV Newsnet.

“We will elect MPs by continuing to gain the trust and confidence of Canadians, and by reaching out to Canadians outside of our traditional base of support,” said Chernushenko. Chernushenko said the party should parachute star candidates into key ridings.

“Chernushenko sees a need for government regulation but wants to involve the private sector a bit more, and that’s consistent with Jim Harris’s ideas,” said Jonathan Malloy, political science professor at Ottawa’s Carleton University.

Jim Fannon, who spoke casually to the audience about his talents as a mediator, capable of bridging political gaps between the Greens, Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats. Chernushenko says though he may not always be able to “wow” a crowd, he remains a strong communicator and team player. “I can’t do the rah-rah motivational thing, like Jim (Harris) did an incredible job at, but I can go very deep on complex issues and explain them in plain language,” he said Friday.

Josh Matlow of Earth Roots said: “Elizabeth May is someone I would want to lock myself to a tree with; David Chernushenko is someone I would want to discuss policy with; and Jim Fannon is someone I would go for a beer with”.

Political analysts consider May, a veteran envirnomental activist but also a newcomer to the party, to be the strong favourite to win the race against party stalwart Chernushenko.