This year’s campaign for the 61^st State Senate seat has already seen many twists and turns.  In over 20 years of watching people collect signatures for candidates I recently witnessed the first football style tailgate party for the group collecting signatures for Dan Ward.  

These workers were surprised when some of their neighbors set up a tailgate party for them.  There were songs, food, soda pop, and Buffalo Bills jokes.  The group really mellowed out and everyone had a great time.

High fuel costs are pushing more and more people to turn to mass transit to save on cost of getting to and from work.  Most cities with subway systems report ridership up daily.

“A survey of 132 cities, released Friday here at a meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, found that 90 percent were altering operations because of fuel costs. Republicans and Democrats from New Jersey to Hawaii are essentially becoming energy-pinching nags.”

“They are pushing City Council members, whether they get along or not, to car-pool. They are telling housing inspectors to arrange site visits in clusters so they stop criss-crossing neighborhoods. And, even as many of them still use S.U.V.’s, the mayors are asking nearly everyone to do a little more walking.”
[read whole story]

The late spring flooding has wrecked havoc on millions of acres of prime farmland.  The impact on food production is staggering.  Corn prices are setting the same kinds of records that oil is and soybean  prices are headed in the same direction.  The Bush administration is under intense pressure to do what it can to bolster the food supply.

“The Midwest floods have washed out an estimated four million acres of prime farmland, crimping this year’s harvest as the world desperately needs more grain. With corn prices setting records and soybean prices not far behind, the Bush administration is under intense pressure to do what it can to bolster the food supply.”

“In disasters, the Environmental Protection Agency can roll back requirements for ethanol production, which could free up a large amount of corn for animal feed. Mr. Grassley, a strong ethanol backer, rejected that proposition, but in recent days many industries that depend on corn have urged the government to act.”
[read whole story]

Ford has lost money for three consecutive years.  It has a new pick-up truck ready to introduce that it was counting on to turn things around.  Not gonna happen.

Ford will hold off until late fall to allow dealers to unload stockpiles of the current model.

“In addition, the company announced its second significant production cut in a month, saying it would build 90,000 fewer pickups and sport utility vehicles in the second half of the year than it had previously planned.”

“It is increasing production of more fuel-efficient cars and crossovers, but over all, Ford plans to build 25 percent fewer vehicles in the third quarter than it did in the same period of 2007.”
[read whole story]

A FAIRWAYS GROUP LEGAL FUND IS NEEDED TO CONTINUE OUR FIGHT TO STOP THEBENDERSON DEVELOPMENT ON MAPLE ROAD. 
 
Dear Neighbor,
 
The Fairways Group is now beginning the legal battle with Benderson and the Town. These two entities have seriously neglected to consider the quality-of-life issues for residents in over 1000 homes in our neighborhood, Maple Road and in the extended North Forest area.  They have ignored our Comprehensive Plan, the law, correct procedure and the protests from the majority of stakeholders.

As soon as possible, we need the help of everyone to cover legal expenses.  We will be in court in the next few weeks.
 
Please send whatever donation you are able to make (no donation is too small) to:
 
The Fairways Group
213 Donna Lea Blvd.
Amherst, New York  14221
 
Thank you.  Together, we can reverse the rezone and take back our neighborhoods and Town.

Please visit www.fairwaysblvd.com for important updates. We will post information when available.

The Fairways Group

Dan Ward made it perfectly clear he will not run for any other office but the 61^st NY State Senatorial seat. 

Jerry Schad has a clear field to run against Jim Hayes.   By the way – I am working on an investigation concerning Jim Hayes’s past practices while in the Assembly and before.  I’ve come across some information that raises my curiosity and, like a dog with a bone, I’ll be digging further.

The major problem in local Amherst politics was started by Michele Iannello’s close friend and old time politico, Debbie Norton.   Debbie has the genius to persuade people that black is white and white is black.  She realizes that with both Michele and Michele’s brother-in-law, Dan Ward, staying in the same race they would most likely both lose the Primary to Joe Mesi. 

It all began one month ago at Dan’s fundraiser.  Debbie showed up and for over two hours tried to convince Tom Wiesbeck and I to get Dan to bow out of the race telling us that if he didn’t Dan’s brother would be probably lose his job along with Len Lenihan and a slew of other people.  This was basically a Boss Tweed tactic that would have been used in Manhattan in the old days, to try to scare the hell out of a candidate.  Her attempt fell short but she continued to spout this garbage to anyone who would listen. 

The next big spilt came the night the Amherst Democratic Committee was going to endorse, or recommend, a candidate for the 61^st Senatorial seat.  Both Dan Ward from Amherst and Michele Iannello from Kenmore came to try to get the Amherst recommendation.  Before any voting could begin Michele threw a dramatic punch by running off the stage crying and saying that to keep family together she would not contest her brother-in-law Dan Ward for the endorsement.  This stage production was orchestrated by Iannello herself. 

Two weeks after this event Michele opened up to Amherst Democrats.  She wrote an e-mail letter telling them the “truth” behind her stunt.  She said that Len Lenihan, Chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party, had called her the day of the endorsement and told her to let Dan win in his own Town.  She said Lenihan told her he was going to give her his endorsement which would make her the official endorsed candidate.  Iannello agreed but something happened along the way to her endorsement.  Chairman Lenihan said he never talked to her about receiving the official endorsement from him. He said she wasn’t telling the truth.

Iannello wrote her letter to the ADC, telling them about the Lenihan deal and how it fell through.  Since her husband is Dennis Ward, Chairman of the ADC and Dan Ward‘s brother, she wanted the ADC to let her use a room in Amherst headquarters; even though her home court is Kenmore.  On June 18^th the ADC re-voted.  The result was that no one could use the headquarters, including Dan Ward the endorsed candidate, until after the Primary in September.

The cost to rent the headquarters is $1500 a month, so from June until after the Primary in September it will not be used.  That’s a BRILLIANT solution.  You’d think they were Republicans!

Why doesn’t Erie County Legislator Michele Iannello from Kenmore work out of her own Kenmore headquarters? Most everyone knows she’s married to Dennis Ward, the Commissioner of the Democrats of Erie County and the Chairman of the Amherst Democratic Committee which endorses Dan Ward for the same position Iannello is seeking.

Her meddling to squeeze into the Amherst Headquarters is just plain mean and greedy. It has caused uproar in the party plus her announcement she is for developers and was for the Benderson Gun Club development even though the Democrats on the Town Board fought the good fight but lost.   Why would Amherst Dems want her in their headquarters?

For years she was a worker for a firm of development lawyers which included Mr. Jeff Palumbo.  Her allegiance to the developers is another hard bump in the road for the Democrats to overcome. .Maybe her supporters can find an office for her in one of the many empty office spaces that are available.                                    

D.R

Friends of Dan Ward are hosting a fundraiser for him Thursday June 26, 2008 at the Jacobs Executive Mansion on Delaware Ave. in Buffalo, NY. 

Dan Ward for NY State Senate
Thursday, June 26, 2008
5:30 - 7:30
Jacobs Executive Mansion
672 Delaware Ave.
Buffalo, New York

Friend: $200.00           Golden Friend: $500.00             Platinum Friend: $1000.00

RSVP (716) 691 - 6005
Make checks payable to ~ “FRIENDS of Dan Ward”
and mail to: 49 Manor Oak Drive, Amherst, NY 14228

Good news for Jim Hayes.  Jim had a longtime dream to get involved in the stock market as a broker and his dream may be coming true.  We hear he has passed the exam to be a stock broker The word is he is working for Wachovia, formerly AG Edwards, in addition to his many duties as a State Assembly member.

Jim had high hopes he would replace Tom Reynolds in Congress but since this didn’t happen, could it be that Jim is seriously thinking about leaving politics for the Market place?