Year: 2018

BY NORBERT RUG Empty nest syndrome, I never knew when it would hit. That extreme feeling of loneliness when my kids began leaving home to start a life on their own. Everybody had graduated from college, the weddings were over

BY JOE GENCO A short take on today’s news: In the next episode of lying liars and the liars that lay them, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn faces federal sentencing today but hopefully won’t be sent away for long. 

BY TODD ALDINGER, ESQ The Libertarian Party has emerged from the 2018 midterm elections as a meaningful player in New York State politics. There will necessarily be some electoral competition between Republicans and Libertarians; however, because we live in deep-blue

BY TODD ALDINGER, ESQ A significant legislative pay raise would help Republicans recruit and retain the caliber of candidates they need to compete with Democrats. With Democrats firmly in control of both the State Senate and Assembly, potential Republican candidates

BY TODD ALDINGER, ESQ New York State Republican Senate Campaigns outspent Democrat candidates for State Senate by nearly three million dollars — and still lost eight seats in the 2018 midterm elections. Much of these funds were spent defending State

BY TODD ALDINGER, ESQ Despite the historic loss of eight State Senate seats in the 2018 midterm elections, the chamber will likely remain the critical component Republican power in New York State, at least through redistricting in 2021. This is because the

BY TODD ALDINGER, ESQ New York State Republican donors have for a long time treated the Assembly as little more than an afterthought in favor of the State Senate.  This attitude must end now that the State Senate has been

The Democratic Party has taken control of the State Senate — a chamber that has been controlled by the Republicans for decades, excepting a brief period in 2008, before a leadership coup paralyzed the chamber until 2010 elections. Tim Kennedy

BY JOE GENCO A short take on today’s news: Please sign this petition to improve Sheridan Drive. Minimize accident severity. Improve traffic flow. Make left hand turns easier. Make room for bikes. The Trump shutdown is coming! The Trump shutdown

Patrick Burke was elected to the State Assembly last month, vacating his seat on the County Legislature representing District 7, which encompasses South Buffalo and most of Cheektowaga.  While the district enjoys a substantial enrollment advantage for Democrats, many Republicans

BY JOE GENCO A short take on today’s news: When former Trump fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced to jail, it wasn’t just another connected crook heading up the river. It was the beginning of an avalanche. Think for a minute:

Under the leadership of Erie County Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy, it has become common practice for the party to avoid fielding candidates in the City of Buffalo.  The thinking is, that if there are no general election contests in city

BY JOE GENCO A short take on today’s news: Long-time National Enquirer publisher David Pecker (yes that’s really his name) will not face criminal charges for catching and killing a story about President Trump’s affair with a Playboy Bunny. As

BY NORBERT RUG As an eight-year, three-time, cancer survivor, I always read with interest in the latest advances in cancer treatment. Over the years I have been poked, prodded and probed. I have been subjected to MRIs, CAT scans, X-rays,

BY MIKE MADIGAN Is there a much larger scandal buried in the details of Senator Marc Panepinto‘s sentencing? United States Attorney JP Kennedy‘s office alleged, and Panepinto pled, that bribe funds and a government job were offered, and were to

Thurman Thomas — one of the Buffalo Bills’ most legendary players and a key to the team’s four-year Superbowl streak in the 1990s — appeared before the Erie County Legislature’s Public Safety Committee on Thursday to call for bail bond reform. Thomas argued

BY JOE GENCO A Short Take on Today’s News: Victory is ours, sayeth the Slow Spokes! Elves unite! We will rule the world! Thanks Mark Mitri for leading with love. The world needs more Slow Spokes. Love more. Judge less. Come ride

BY NORBERT RUG The falling leaves drift by my window, The falling leaves of red and gold. Frank Sinatra (1954) Now that the midterm elections are over, all those intrusive political ads of the past few months have settled down.