And you thought the Westvale Plaza sign was bad… A few weeks ago, Benderson decided to whisk us all back to the rockin’ ’80s and replace the old Fairmount Fair sign with this orange beauty. (Yes, that appears to be plaid or some kind of waffle weave behind the barely legible lettering — which appears [...]

On the same day that I posted about my grandmother’s purchase of a home in Fairmount, two girls discovered the body of a homeless man who apparently died of exposure sometime last week, “in the woods” behind the Fairmount strip. (“The woods” is misleading, it’s more like an empty lot with trees on it… this [...]

I woke up this morning to read a small item in the PS Local section about Holy Family Church being robbed yesterday in broad daylight, right after a service. It appears some punk with a BB gun stole the collection plate. Between this, the Burger King robbery and the rogue bear, maybe they’ll be rethinking [...]

It’s amazing stuff, $4 gas is. People are just busting out all over. They’re on the sidewalks, walking. They’re on their bikes, riding. They’re at the bus stops, waiting. They’re playing in their front yards. I have seen this with my own eyes — the stories are true. When I go for my evening walk, [...]

A Buffalo News story on a backlash against “walkable redevelopment” makes me wonder if we’re not all dancing around the real problem with getting Americans to stop driving so much: it’s not just the distances involved, it’s also the stuff. The “walkable community” uses a dense, villagelike mix of homes and businesses to create historic-looking [...]

One of my favorite childhood books was Richard Adams’ Watership Down. His follow-up novel, Shardik, was very different (and less popular; I can’t remember if I finished it, to be honest). It was set in a fantasy world where the central figure of worship was a giant bear, whose mysterious appearance and journey across the [...]

Black Bear on the loose in Geddes And he’s really pissed off about The Noise! No idea if this is really for real, but if this dude managed to get across West Genesee Street, watch out, Westvale and Taunton. Updated: Apparently the bear did get across WG Street… Possibly a false alarm about a bear [...]

The Noise from the Suez plant is back, but in a different form. Here are some new sound clips, recorded by a resident of Sherwood Knolls in the wee hours of Wednesday, May 7: Clip 1 and Clip 2 (ugh). It has been back for about a week. It’s no longer the super-maddening whump-whump-whump, which [...]

Spring just hit this area with a POW! this week. Everything is strangely accelerated, almost as if summer is just around the corner. I can definitely feel a slowdown in the vibe on the University hill (in summer, everything there slows down). I wonder if this is one of those springs that will make some [...]

The Noise from Solvay’s Suez cogeneration plant… captured on tape! Complete with audio analysis!