Canada Nabs 17 Terror Suspects in Toronto
TORONTO (AP) -- Canadian police foiled a homegrown terrorist attack by arresting 17 suspects, apparently inspired by al-Qaida, who obtained three times the amount of explosives used in the Oklahoma City bombing, officials said Saturday.
The FBI said the Canadian suspects may have had "limited contact" with two men recently arrested on terrorism charges in Georgia. About 400 regional police and federal agents participated in the arrests Friday and early Saturday.
"These individuals were allegedly intent on committing acts of terrorism against their own country and their own people," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement. "As we have said on many occasions, Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism."
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested the suspects, ages 43 to 19, on terrorism charges including plotting attacks with explosives on Canadian targets. The suspects were either citizens or residents of Canada and had trained together, police said.
buffalo news
Wal-Mart's meeting is a pep rally
15,000 hear upbeat words on growth, profitability, change
Associated Press
Above, Deb Lyons, who had participated in a musical skit at the beginning of the annual meeting, tells shareholders and employees about founder Sam Walton as photos of him flash on screen. At left, enthusiastic associates from Brazil deliver a cheer.
"Wal-mart is undergoing a transformation."
Lee Scott, president and chief executive officer
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores used its annual meeting Friday to tout changes to its stores, trumpet its expansion in the United States and abroad and emphasize that the world's largest retailer is undergoing changes to sustain its rapid growth rate.
President and Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott said Hurricane Katrina inspired a new vision at Wal-Mart. He noted the company's rapid effort to provide relief supplies - a move that drew praise from Wal-Mart's critics. Scott said he asked, "How can we use our unique strength to be that company all the time?"
Some 15,000 shareholders and workers packed into Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus for the meeting, including brigades of workers from around the world, including a contingent from Central America in matching white shirts with red sleeves.
The session kicked off with a Broadway-style musical featuring one worker tutoring her colleague "Dennis" in the art of customer service and a dancer who assures Wal-Mart workers that they are all stars and can all succeed at the company.
buffalonews
Reveling in a great revival
Downtown's newest residential complex survived fire and near demolition
By SHARON LINSTEDT
News Staff Reporter
6/3/2006
Ronald J. Colleran/Buffalo News
The Granite Works in downtown Buffalo boasts 28 upscale apartments like this one.
Downtown Buffalo's newest residential complex, The Granite Works in the 800 block of Main Street, will welcome its first tenants July 1, completing a dramatic transformation of a property once targeted for emergency demolition.
The 28-unit apartment and retail project will hold its first open house today and Sunday, a milestone that many, including its owner, First Amherst Development, weren't sure would ever come. "It's absolutely been a labor of love," said First Amherst President Benjamin N. Obletz, who with his grandfather, Bernard, the firm's chairman, began pursuing the rehabilitation project in early 2003.
As the Obletzes worked on a proposal to bring the derelict, then-city-owned buildings back to life, an arson fire in April 2003 nearly derailed any renovations. At one point the corner structure, at 844 Main St., was targeted for emergency demolition.
But after preservation groups weighed in, the city agreed to brace the building as it went through the process of picking a designated developer.
Harnessing wind power
88-year-old Blasdell inventor has spent $1.2 million on project
By ELMER PLOETZ
News Staff Reporter
6/2/2006
Ronald J. Colleran/Buffalo News
Frank Tatar believes his "vertical axis" windmill is a better choice than propeller windmills to meet some of the nation's future energy needs.
Frank Tatar has taken his inspiration from the old windmill in Woodlawn, near the Ford Stamping Plant.
Built for $1.6 million in 1984, the 120-foot turbine stood for about 41/2 years without ever generating a commercial kilowatt.
Tatar, an 88-year-old inventor of the American garage variety, figured there had to be a better way. And for the past 20 years, he has been pursuing it in his Blasdell shop.
"Propeller mills have so many moving parts, that's why they break down," Tatar says of the 300-foot-high turbines that are popping up around the state. "Ours is a wind panel. It's quite different."
Specifically, it is "vertical axis" wind power.
Tatar has built and patented a turbine behind his shop on the appropriately named Electric Avenue that looks like a silo, about 20 feet high and 40 feet in diameter.
Its key is a bank of neodymium iron boron magnets - the strongest kind of magnet in the world - that essentially lift the panels over the generating device the same way maglev (magnetic levitation) trains are lifted off railroad tracks to reduce resistence.
Then, it's a matter of letting the wind catch the panels - or wind sails - to rotate the device and generate electricity.
Tatar figures he has spent about $1.2 million on the project, money raised from selling his Windfall Energy stocks and from his own savings. He ran a novelty production company out of the site for years before retiring.
BUFFALO
Apprentice requirement may expand
By BRIAN MEYER
News Staff Reporter
5/28/2006
More construction contractors who do work for the city would be required to have apprentice programs under a plan that the Common Council will consider this week. Buffalo already has a law requiring all construction companies with city contracts that exceed $250,000 to have state-approved worker-training programs.
Council members are reviewing two proposed revisions, both sponsored by Antoine M. Thompson of Masten. One would extend the apprenticeship mandate to companies with contracts that exceed $25,000. A compromise would impose the requirement on contractors who do at least $100,000 in work for the city.
Other revisions would require at least 10 percent of contractors' work forces to be made up of employees who participate in apprenticeships. Companies also would have to promise to make good faith efforts to have work forces comprised of at least 25 percent minorities, 5 percent women and 25 percent city residents.
Thompson is pushing for a vote at Tuesday's Council meeting, claiming it is important to act before the summer construction season begins. He says the plan would expand worker-training opportunities and help stimulate local employment. "This is a serious piece of legislation that can put many people to work," Thompson said.
Advocates view apprentice programs as tools to promote greater diversity in the construction industry. But critics warn the more restrictive law could end up costing city taxpayers more money.
"A study has shown that every time you lose a bidder, you increase the costs by 3.2 percent," said Scott Zylka, government affairs director for the state chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, a group of non-union contractors.
Zylka believes the law should recognize other worker-training programs - not just state registered apprenticeship
TORONTO (AP) -- Canadian police foiled a homegrown terrorist attack by arresting 17 suspects, apparently inspired by al-Qaida, who obtained three times the amount of explosives used in the Oklahoma City bombing, officials said Saturday.
The FBI said the Canadian suspects may have had "limited contact" with two men recently arrested on terrorism charges in Georgia. About 400 regional police and federal agents participated in the arrests Friday and early Saturday.
"These individuals were allegedly intent on committing acts of terrorism against their own country and their own people," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement. "As we have said on many occasions, Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism."
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested the suspects, ages 43 to 19, on terrorism charges including plotting attacks with explosives on Canadian targets. The suspects were either citizens or residents of Canada and had trained together, police said.
buffalo news
Wal-Mart's meeting is a pep rally
15,000 hear upbeat words on growth, profitability, change
Associated Press
Above, Deb Lyons, who had participated in a musical skit at the beginning of the annual meeting, tells shareholders and employees about founder Sam Walton as photos of him flash on screen. At left, enthusiastic associates from Brazil deliver a cheer.
"Wal-mart is undergoing a transformation."
Lee Scott, president and chief executive officer
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores used its annual meeting Friday to tout changes to its stores, trumpet its expansion in the United States and abroad and emphasize that the world's largest retailer is undergoing changes to sustain its rapid growth rate.
President and Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott said Hurricane Katrina inspired a new vision at Wal-Mart. He noted the company's rapid effort to provide relief supplies - a move that drew praise from Wal-Mart's critics. Scott said he asked, "How can we use our unique strength to be that company all the time?"
Some 15,000 shareholders and workers packed into Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus for the meeting, including brigades of workers from around the world, including a contingent from Central America in matching white shirts with red sleeves.
The session kicked off with a Broadway-style musical featuring one worker tutoring her colleague "Dennis" in the art of customer service and a dancer who assures Wal-Mart workers that they are all stars and can all succeed at the company.
buffalonews
Reveling in a great revival
Downtown's newest residential complex survived fire and near demolition
By SHARON LINSTEDT
News Staff Reporter
6/3/2006
Ronald J. Colleran/Buffalo News
The Granite Works in downtown Buffalo boasts 28 upscale apartments like this one.
Downtown Buffalo's newest residential complex, The Granite Works in the 800 block of Main Street, will welcome its first tenants July 1, completing a dramatic transformation of a property once targeted for emergency demolition.
The 28-unit apartment and retail project will hold its first open house today and Sunday, a milestone that many, including its owner, First Amherst Development, weren't sure would ever come. "It's absolutely been a labor of love," said First Amherst President Benjamin N. Obletz, who with his grandfather, Bernard, the firm's chairman, began pursuing the rehabilitation project in early 2003.
As the Obletzes worked on a proposal to bring the derelict, then-city-owned buildings back to life, an arson fire in April 2003 nearly derailed any renovations. At one point the corner structure, at 844 Main St., was targeted for emergency demolition.
But after preservation groups weighed in, the city agreed to brace the building as it went through the process of picking a designated developer.
Harnessing wind power
88-year-old Blasdell inventor has spent $1.2 million on project
By ELMER PLOETZ
News Staff Reporter
6/2/2006
Ronald J. Colleran/Buffalo News
Frank Tatar believes his "vertical axis" windmill is a better choice than propeller windmills to meet some of the nation's future energy needs.
Frank Tatar has taken his inspiration from the old windmill in Woodlawn, near the Ford Stamping Plant.
Built for $1.6 million in 1984, the 120-foot turbine stood for about 41/2 years without ever generating a commercial kilowatt.
Tatar, an 88-year-old inventor of the American garage variety, figured there had to be a better way. And for the past 20 years, he has been pursuing it in his Blasdell shop.
"Propeller mills have so many moving parts, that's why they break down," Tatar says of the 300-foot-high turbines that are popping up around the state. "Ours is a wind panel. It's quite different."
Specifically, it is "vertical axis" wind power.
Tatar has built and patented a turbine behind his shop on the appropriately named Electric Avenue that looks like a silo, about 20 feet high and 40 feet in diameter.
Its key is a bank of neodymium iron boron magnets - the strongest kind of magnet in the world - that essentially lift the panels over the generating device the same way maglev (magnetic levitation) trains are lifted off railroad tracks to reduce resistence.
Then, it's a matter of letting the wind catch the panels - or wind sails - to rotate the device and generate electricity.
Tatar figures he has spent about $1.2 million on the project, money raised from selling his Windfall Energy stocks and from his own savings. He ran a novelty production company out of the site for years before retiring.
BUFFALO
Apprentice requirement may expand
By BRIAN MEYER
News Staff Reporter
5/28/2006
More construction contractors who do work for the city would be required to have apprentice programs under a plan that the Common Council will consider this week. Buffalo already has a law requiring all construction companies with city contracts that exceed $250,000 to have state-approved worker-training programs.
Council members are reviewing two proposed revisions, both sponsored by Antoine M. Thompson of Masten. One would extend the apprenticeship mandate to companies with contracts that exceed $25,000. A compromise would impose the requirement on contractors who do at least $100,000 in work for the city.
Other revisions would require at least 10 percent of contractors' work forces to be made up of employees who participate in apprenticeships. Companies also would have to promise to make good faith efforts to have work forces comprised of at least 25 percent minorities, 5 percent women and 25 percent city residents.
Thompson is pushing for a vote at Tuesday's Council meeting, claiming it is important to act before the summer construction season begins. He says the plan would expand worker-training opportunities and help stimulate local employment. "This is a serious piece of legislation that can put many people to work," Thompson said.
Advocates view apprentice programs as tools to promote greater diversity in the construction industry. But critics warn the more restrictive law could end up costing city taxpayers more money.
"A study has shown that every time you lose a bidder, you increase the costs by 3.2 percent," said Scott Zylka, government affairs director for the state chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, a group of non-union contractors.
Zylka believes the law should recognize other worker-training programs - not just state registered apprenticeship
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