The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 5

"'W SUBURBAN (SIOAL 11 'r 'f s4 TUESDAY MAY 28 2002 fiMH1 4 1 J' DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT SCIENCE Renewal agency stirs hope for Main Street 7 Ji By SHARON LINSTEDT Nws Sra Reporter mail: slinstedttffbiiffiim'scom MEMORIAL DAY POLITICS radio debut at Masiello By ROBERT McCarthy News Political Reporter By ST EPHEN WAT SON IA By URTADO News Staff Reporter See Recall Page B4 See Research Page B4 ROBERT KIRKHAMBuffalo News Mary Alice Coffroth an associate biology professor at UB left and graduate student Tonya Shearer spent 10 days in an underwater research station RedevelopmenbCo LLC an in ivestor group that expressed interest in turning a trio of buildings from 854 to 864 Main St into a series of offices and residential units The development group included Robert Stark an architect with Macon Chaintreuil Jensen Stark and Enianon Partners LLC a group of investors head ed by Buffalo attorney Thomas Barnes and Buffalo based Construction Management Services led by James Comerford Jr All three principals indi cated they planned to move their offices to the Main Street buildings when reno vations were complete Despite early interest the develop ment group has failed to provide the city1 with plans for the sites and its developer status has expired "The six months is clearly up but 1 hear they arc still interested" Sengbusch said can still come back in but several inquiries in the past couple months so who knows who will end up with the designation" Among those who have signaled inter est in the properties are Sam Savarino of Savarino Construction Services Corp and Peyton Barlow Co a construction services company specializing in historic i estorations Coral reef study sends UB team into the depths ormer Mayor James took to the airwaves today with a new radio show and a new mission ending Anthony Masiello's tenure as mayor Griftin launched his new talk show on WHLD by advocating a function of the City Charter that allows citi 'Zens to vote on a ballot proposition that ends a public official's term The former mayor shidyhe haswatched a continual deterioration of the city he led for 16 years and believes it's time to seek his succes sors recall I was in the Army id Ko rca we had something called rest and he should have the same thing only for reduce and recall re duce the size of the Council and re call the Griffin has been increasingly vo cal in recent weeks about condi tions in Buffalo which is experi encing severe financial problems and is facing the layoff of many employees including police offi cers Now he says he is involved with other Bulfalo residents inter ested in recalling Masiello a group he named only as who been with me for a long time" 'A Erie County Democratic Chair man Steven Pigeon also has been hinting about a recall effort and while Griffin said he has talked with Pigeon recently about other topics he did not identify him as involved in his campaign can come aboard he said of Pigeon long as good for the City of Buffalo see what kind of group we can get he added Griffin said he is upset at deteri orating conditions on the Lower West Side and East Side the con tinuing garbage fee a bloated Council bureaucracy and a city fac ing potential bankruptcy left him in pretty good shape with a pretty good he said is being Masiello said this morning he is aware of recall rumors he said are associated with Pigeon Council if Mm The vacant properties which string along Main Street from Virginia Street north toward Carlton Street are expect cd to attract developer interest as the nearby Buffalo Niagara Medical Campustakes shape All the structures which have an appraised value of between $30000 and $75000 each will require significant capital investment for use as office residential or retail use In September the agency gave dcsig nated developer status to 800 Main A Photos by MICHAEL GROLLBuffalo News ilks with liis son Steven past flag adorned Inside Section 1 'A 1 1 Neighborhoods B2 4 Charles Goehng of Buffalo whose father was a World War II veteran wal graves in orest Lawn on Monday 73:77 5 Your 'Money B5 i Opinion BIO A new meaning "I have a feeling that (a Memorial Day parade) is going to have more sym bolism to America and it is going to be more meaningful to she said Tony Williams of Buffalo said he de cided to go to the parade that was closest to his neighborhood everything happening af ter Sept 11 1 think good to come out and show Williams said The parade in Kenmore was one of dozens of Memorial Day events held throughout Western New York Members of the Erie County Ameri can Legion conducted a service in orest Lawn Those who turned out saw many of the staples of the parade such as sol diers wearing camouflage and carrying backpacks symbolizing a troop ready to go to war All branches of the armed ser vices marched under the sun Ken Schank of Tremont Street said this was his first year as a spectator Usu ally he is in the parade with a group called Bag Times a Dixieland band a veteran I support the other vet 1 he said the younger people it makes them a little bit aware of history and gives the children an opportunity to participate with the flag waving" mail: cfurtadohiiffnewscom The calendar said May 27 but the date that seemed to be on the minds of people all along Delaware Avenue in Kenmore was Sept 11 The 75th annual Kenmore Tonawan da Memorial Day parade brought out the usual collection of marching bands firefighters military representatives and thousands of people just like it usually does But this year more than any other in recent memory the true meaning ot a day intended to remember men and women who died for their country was the real story Susan Galvin of the Town of Tona wanda who has been coming to the pa rade for 40 years said she could see a difference in the attitudes of people watching with her are more caring since Sept she said "I had a brother who was in one of the (World Trade Center) buildings but he is fine I see more peo ple here this year than over the years People are more patriotic" Rosemary Walsh of Kenmore who was waiting for the parade to go by agreed Mood of celebrations recalls Sept 11 71 Dave Kreutz of Depew decked out as Abraham Lincoln marches in the Kenmore Tonawanda Memorial Day parade News Staff Reporter Not all research takes place in a sterile lab oratoiy with scientists in stiff white lab coats squinting at samples in glass beakers To conduct their research two University at Buffalo biologists recently spent 10 days at an underwater research station Aquarius otf the lorida coast Mary Alice Coffroth an associate biology professor and Tonya Shearer a graduate stu collected cofal sample for DNA finger printing to learn more about how coral reefs glow of this information will really aid us in trying to determine how to maintain and con serve" the lorida reefs and will give us a dear er picture of the state of the Coffroth said Coral reefs are important because they're a home to a variety of marine life and are a source of compounds used in drugs and cos metics Shearer said see that rich diversity of organ isms" anywhere else except rain forests she said And the two scientists said they hope the success of their all female mission demon strates to young women that this area of sci ence solely for men The mission grew out of Shearer's research into the genetic structure of corals in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Shearer working with Coffroth wants to find out whether juvenile corals on a reef came from the adults on that reef or whether traveled there from another reef Testing the DNA of different coral species on different reefs will answer this question Coffroth and Shearer are working with University of Miami graduate student Dione Swanson who is studying the birth and death rates of coral in reefs Swansori and Leanne Rutten a grad stu dent from lorida International University joined the UB researchers at the Aquarius Aquarius is a lab about the size of a school bus'that rests 60 feet underwater and miles off the shore of Key Largo I la in the lorida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Coffroth and Shearer thought working out of Aquarius would be the best way to collect coral DNA samples They sought and received a federal grant from the National Undersea Research Center part of the University of North Carolina at been hoping to get something going in the 800 block and BURA has a process to get things said David the citv's director of cco Thc Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency nomic development 1 I I 1 1 rs 1 1 i 1 1 JN IJLIV IU NVVL1I 1 1 IV kl pi VJU I 11CS III I i OUU UIUtK III iVldlll DIIUUI tl move that will pump $370000 into Buf general fund and better position the buildings for redevelopment Agency board members have ap proved the purchase of the vacant build ings located at 844 846 854 858 864 878 and 888 Main Street The dcvelop fement agency also agreed to purchase a gravel parking lot adjacent to the City Animal Shelter at 380 Oak St for $100000 1 ft 1 THE BONE NfNv I 4 flT i i i i I tifi 1 'A JI 'S I 1 7 1 fl 1 I anh 4 VJ I 1 1 I 1 1 1 Mg Mr 1 I I' Set if a mBt A gMMLM takes 4 A ph 7 A 'JO 7 A Mr 'WMreflHI ilxMp RBHRI 4 KEEPING THE PROMISE VA wired for checkups from home SUBURBAN CENTRAL retired steelworker does a good Connor in October became the first area VA patient to receive a unit and 16 are now in operation here and another four in Batavia The home units cost $5000 and the base unit $10000 and the service is free to VA patients The patient puts on a blood pressure cull and uses a stethoscope to relay heart beats The devices can also be used to It was a cold rainy day and with poor circulation in his legs and feet 78 year old Curtis Connor had trouble getting around But when he needed a routine checkup recently he was able to do it from the com fort of his home thanks to a program of fered by the Veterans Affairs Medical Cen check lune function blood suear levelsand ter that allows medical personnel to moni vveieht The patient can be instructed to tor vital signs ovei a computer hookup move the camera around to check on say Connor and Susan Remo a registered deg ulcers 1 nurse could see each other and chat and a condition stabilizes the Kcmo was aoie io cnecK ms nioou picssme unit is given io someone wno neeos and pulse and listen to his Jieait by means more Charles LEWiSBuftaio News of the TeleJJomecarc system "It can be a huge endeavor for a patient Veterans Affairs MediCal Center nurse Susan Reino uses a teleconferencing system like it" said Connor ii World War II td'get here and it saves us from having to to talk with Curtis Connor and check his blood pressure and pulse Army veteran of the Pacific campaign and drive to see Reino said The VA is the only hospital in the area to offer the service according to Nancy Schmidt prograin director The VA known for being on the cuttingedge she acknowledged in a lot of ways we are way ahead (of other hospitals) in she said The patients have adapted to the conw puters quite well Reino said In some cases jnore easily than the nurses But while the system is fine it is meant to supplement not replace person to pei son visits by the Home Based Primary Care nurses who make house calls Keeping the Promise is a regular feature of I7ic Buffalo Neus 7 mail: temsttffbuffnewscom By TOM ERNST News Staff Reporter ImrUI1 "i I MH aIMET I I 1 ii 1 Ke 4 TlTOw A 7 Y7J iWRM a a yi 7 3 3.