Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Buffalo, New York —Attorney Arthur J. Giacalone has filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court against the city of Buffalo‘s Common Council and Planning board, alleging that the proposed Elmwood Village Hotel was approved “without giving meaningful consideration to either the impact on the adjoining residential neighborhood, or the unique character of this section of Elmwood Avenue.” Giacalone is representing Nancy Pollina and Patricia Morris, who operate the Don Apparel (a vintage clothing and collectibles shop at 1119 Elmwood Avenue), Angeline Genovese and Evelyn Bencinich, owners of residences on Granger Place which abut the rear of the proposed site, Nina Freudenheim, a resident of nearby Penhurst Park, and Sandra Girage, the owner of a two-family residence on Forest Avenue less than a hundred feet from the proposed hotel’s sole entrance and exit driveway.

The Elmwood Village Hotel is a 72-room, seven-million-dollar hotel proposed by Savarino Construction Services Corporation and designed by architect Karl Frizlen of the Frizlen Group. Its construction would require the demolition of at least five buildings, currently at 1109-1121 Elmwood, which house several shops and residents. Although the properties are “under contract,” it is still not known whether Savarino Construction actually owns the buildings. It is believed that Hans Mobius, a resident of Clarence, New York and former Buffalo mayoral candidate, is still the owner. The hotel is expected to be a franchise of the Wyndham Hotels group.

The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court, is seeking annulment of the City of Buffalo’s rezoning and site plan approvals for the hotel.

“Had the Common Council members complied with State law and waited to receive comments from the County’s planning agency, they would have been obliged to address the County’s concerns regarding the replacement of former residential buildings with ‘a much larger commercial structure’, the health effects of placing a 55-vehicle parking area next to existing homes, and the absence of a traffic study to assess the likelihood that the project would add ‘considerable congestion’ to the Elmwood/Forest intersection,” said Giacalone.

“The four-story hotel will overshadow the neighboring homes and backyards, impacting quality of life and property values. Equally as important, the project will displace a unique and diverse group of businesses that have served nearby college students and Buffalo’s arts and theater community for many years, and replace them with upscale retail establishments that will cater, not to local residents, but to affluent tourists and business travelers,” added Giacalone.

On March 22, 2006 the city’s Common Council approved the rezoning for the proposed hotel and on March 28, the Planning board approved the design and site plan of the hotel.

The lawsuit, entitled Pollina et al. v. Common Council of the City of Buffalo et al., [Index No. I-2006-3885], has been assigned to the Honorable Rose H. Sconiers, and is scheduled for oral argument at 9:30 A.M. on Thursday June 8, 2006.

Monday, August 5, 2019

Wikinews attended the Texas Haunters Convention on the last weekend of July — July 27–28 — in Mesquite, Texas. The event was held at the Mesquite Convention Center and spanned roughly 35,000 square feet of exhibit and classroom space. Halloween-themed, the event was focused on equipment, techniques, props and costumes used in haunted attractions and home haunts.

A children’s costume contest was held each day, with an array of characters and monsters featured.

An array of classes were on offer, one of which allowed attendees to make a faux shrunken head. In a separate class, instructors taught attendees how to build a ‘bubbler’ prop, as might be displayed in a spooky laboratory scene.

Other classes included:

• Stunts and Stilts
• Circular Haunting
• Foam Fright Guns
• Facade Planning and Building

YouTube personality Mr. CreepyPasta was on hand and did a reading of scary stories. Belly dancing troupe Tribal Evolution performed on Saturday and again that evening at the adults-only Costume Ball.

Local actor and producer Joshua Winch was on hand offering DVD’s of his films and promo photos and posters. Winch told Wikinews he began acting in theater 20 years ago and also worked on several film projects as a Production Assistant. Ultimately, he began producing film projects writers would present to him in 2004. Winch said he has produced a great deal of horror-comedy films, but grew tired of reading reviews that his films weren’t horror because they had comedic elements. He then approached a director and said, “I want you to make a pure horror movie.” The result was his recent film, Fall of Grace. Winch said the film has been screened at 14 film festivals and he was named Best Actor at one of those events.

More than 70 vendors were present at the event, coming from various parts of the U.S., including California and Florida. A mobile escape room was onsite and allowed playthroughs for VIP attendees.

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Since June 2019, the people of South Gippsland Shire, located at the southernmost tip of Australia, have been without a local council, after a state government inquiry found “high levels of tension” within the council. Administrators were appointed by the Victorian state government in July 2019, who have governed the shire since then. However, South Gippsland’s council is scheduled to be restored with an election to be held via post from October 5-22, 2021.

Wikinews interviewed one of the candidates standing in this election, Mat Morgan. He is running as a candidate in the Coastal-Promontory Ward, and is endorsed by the Australian Greens. The Coastal-Promontory ward covers towns such as Venus Bay, Waratah Bay, Yanakie, Foster, Port Welshpool, and Toora, and elects three councillors to the South Gippsland Shire Council.

Friday, February 3, 2006

British television station Channel 4 News and newspaper The Guardian have reported that they have obtained a secret transcript of a meeting between United States President George W. Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair on January 31, 2003, two months before the beginning of the Iraq war. The memo has been viewed by Phillipe Sands, a professor of international law at University College London, and by Channel 4 news. Last year, Professor Sands reported on doubts about the legality of the invasion in Iraq voiced by government lawyers, which eventually forced the British government to publish the full legal advice given to them by the attorney general.

According to the two sources, the transcript suggests that the invasion of Iraq was already decided at the point of the meeting, and that Bush had stated that “the diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning”. Blair is reportedly quoted as responding that he is “solidly with the president and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Saddam”.

The memo from the sources also states that Bush suggested “flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft planes with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours”, so that “if Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach [of UN resolutions]”.

According to the memo, President Bush said he “thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups”.

The British government did not deny the existence of the memo last night, but insisted that “the prime minister only committed UK forces to Iraq after securing the approval of the House of Commons in a vote on March 18, 2003.” It added that they “do not comment on the prime minister’s conversations with other leaders.”

The BBC reported that Chief spokesman for the National Security Council Frederick Jones said that “the White House would not comment on what was said or not said in alleged private conversations between Mr Bush and foreign leaders,” and added that the White House “was not going to re-litigate how the nation went to war”.

The purported document has not been confirmed as authentic by either government so far.