LOCKPORT CITY COUNCIL

The Eastern Niagara Animal Welfare Alliance wants
to take over the City of Lockport's contract for
housing stray animals. The County SPCA has done
the job but ENAWA director Bobbie Mael told the
City Council last night they can do it for less. She
submitted a bid of $25,500 for the first year and
a bit over $26,000 for the second and third. The
SPCA was paid around $28,000 this year. Mayor
Mike Tucker said no decision was made but it
gives them an option they had not had before.
The Council also continued work on next year's
budget. The proposed recycling program is
still in it and lawmakers continued to talk about
it yesterday. Tucker said it would require a
large amount of money and it would have an
impact on the bottom line. He said they are
facing some big increases in the pension costs
and the assessment issue has to be dealt with.
He says they hope to keep it in and not have
a big increase in taxes.

FALLS STREETS TO BE REPAIRED

Falls Mayor Paul Dyster will hold a press conference
at 11am today to announce three more streets will
be repaved this Fall with federal stimulus dollars. That'll
be on top of some additional streets that'll see work that
he told the Council about on Monday. Dyster said on
September 30th they would mill 99th Street, 92nd Street,
and Stepehenson in LaSalle....and in the Hyde Park
area...North Gerald & Seneca, Parkview to 32nd, and
North 24th to Hyde Park Boulevard. The Mayor also
said they're using a new piece of equipment, called the
zipper, to repair stretches of Buffalo Avenue. He said
it was a temporary fix until they get enough money to
do a complete reconstruction.

THE AX ABOUT TO FALL

The Falls School Board is expected to fire
ten workers tonight for violating the district's
residency rule. Most of those involved have
already hired an attorney and are asking for
help from the New York United Teachers lobby
in Albany. The President of the Teachers Union
in the Falls says it'll be a long, drawn out
process and it's going to cost the district a lot
of money. Joseph Catalano says the rule is
not clearly defined in the district's written
policy and the investigated employees have been
denied their legal process.

COUNTY LEGISLATURE

County lawmakers are not happy about the
Empire State Development Corporation's role
in helping First Niagara move their corporate
headquarters from Lockport to Buffalo. They
gave the bank $13-million to facilitate the move
and County lawmaker Renea Kimble complained
last night the County was not given the chance to
try to keep them here or given any advance notice
about the move. Lawmaker Clyde Burmaster
suggested, and Legislature Chairman Bill Ross
agreed, to write the agency and ask them to send
officials to an upcoming meeting to answer questions.
Kimble said they should be trying to bring in companies
from outside the State and not trying to help them
move from one county to another. The Legislature
also corrected errors on two previous resolutions and
passed a third putting the question on whether the
number of County lawmakers should be reduced
from 19 to 15 on the November ballot. Falls lawmaker
Dennis Virtuoso said he was concerned the City
would lose representation if it passed. Majority
Leader Rick Updegrove called it ludicrous. Virtuoso
also said he heard the Republicans want to increase
the terms of members from 2 to 4 years and increase
their pay. Ross said after the meeting he would
appoint a committee following the election to look
at the issue. The Legislature also passed resolutions
opposing NYSEG's proposed rate increases and the
State's plan to hike fees for license plates.

DELPHI WANTS ASSESSMENTS LOWERED

The Union Sun & Journal reporting today Delphi
is suing the City and Town of Lockport to lower
their assessments on the five pieces of property
that compose the West plant on Upper Mountain
Road. Delphi claims the largest piece in the
City at 200 Upper Mountain Road is worth
$16.5-million. The City says $23-million. The
company also claims four properties in the
Town are worth about $521,000. The Town has
them assessed at $10-million. The company filed
the suits in mid July after the City & Town rejected
their requests to lower their assessments.

TOPS AGAIN

We're back on top! Niagara County is once
again the highest taxed County in the nation
according to an analysis done by the
Washington based Tax Foundation. The
rating is based on median real estate
values as a percentage of median home
value.

STATE BUDGET DEFICIT

The Governor telling legislative leaders this
morning they'll be called back to Albany soon
to address a $2.1-billion gap in this year's
budget. He suggested it may be as high as
$3-billion. He said sales tax revenues have been
down for three consecutive quarters and state
revenue has been lower for seven of the last
eight. He said cuts will have to be made, that
taxes and fees can't be increased any further.
Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch plans
to meet with legislative leaders in the next few
days so some deals can be made before
everyone is called back to the Capitol.

RAVITCH

The State's highest court reversed two lower court
rulings Tuesday and said the Governor had the
legal right to appoint Richard Ravitch as Lieutenant
Governor. The 4 to 3 ruling coming the day after
Paterson was basically snubbed by the President
when he visited the Capitol Region. Obama wants
the Governor to step aside and not run for another
term and showered his attention on Attorney General
Andrew Cuomo. Polls show he will easily beat any
Republican in next year's election while Paterson
will lose to just about anyone. Some top democrats
are suggesting he should step aside now and let
Ravitch take over...and it's rumored Paterson might
be offered a job in Washington to entice him to do so.

PLEA DEAL FOR LACEY

A plea deal appears to be in the works for the 21 year
old Lockport man whose girlfriend was killed when
his car hit a tree July 21 in North Tonawanda. Ryan
Lacey was in County Court yesterday to answer
charges he violated his probation for a 2006
burglary conviction by being involved in the
accident. Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrezza said
she would normally revoke his bail and put him in
jail but the parents of his deceased girlfriend have
let her know they don't want that to happen. Lacey
remains free on his own recognizance. His
defense attorney say he will be given the chance to
plead guilty October 16 to criminally negligent homicide.
It would carry a four year prison term.

WASHBURN STREET DISTURBANCE

Lockport police say they found more than 25 grams
of marijuana on a Rochester man when they were
called to a disturbance last night at 243 & 247
Washburn. About 20 people were on the lawn
but they all fled except for 25 year old Devon
Nelson. Police say he became beligerent and
uncooperative when they tried to question him and
ran into the doorway at 243 Washburn. He was
charged with possession of marijuana, resisting
arrest, and obstructing governmental
administration. Police also confiscated about
$430. Nelson was also wanted on a warrant for
harassment by Rochester Police.