Buffalo Evening News ad, Nov. 7, 1961

Back in 1961, when this ad ran in the Buffalo Evening News, A. I. Hubbard Motor Sales was carrying a rather unusual combination: Checker and Rambler. The Checker, sold primarily as a taxi, was trying to broaden its market by positioning itself as an “upscale” car. It was roomy, and durable, but not very stylish, so not many people took the bait. The last Checker sedan, mostly unchanged from the original 1956 model, rolled off the Kalamazoo assembly line in July, 1982.

Rambler, which lasted a bit longer (although the name disappeared after the 1969 models, when all former Ramblers were known as AMCs), eventually met the same demise as Checker. The 1987 Eagles were the final AMC cars to be built; AMC’s Jeep brand was sold off to Chrysler — and that was that.

The Hubbard dealership is currently the site of a collision shop, and according to the sign in the window, is for sale.

…Jim Corbran, You Auto Know

1961 Checker

1961 Rambler Ambassador

170 W. Ferry St. today

Righteous Babe Records recording artist Ani DiFranco—who needs no introduction here—is returning to her home at Babeville for a performance on Monday (Feb 8), and she’s bringing with her singer Gaby Moreno. Moreno, who sings in both Spanish and English, plays the guitar as well. “My mom bought me this really cheap nylon string guitar when I was 14, and somehow I started figuring out Jimi Hendrix songs with it,” she says. Moreno, who hails from Guatemala, wrote the theme song to Parks and Recreation, which airs on NBC. Her song “Greenhorne Man” was featured on MTV’s The Hills and ABC’s Lincoln Heights and Ghost Whisperer. Moreno also won the 2006 Maxwell Song of the Year as part of the John Lennon songwriting contest for the song “Escondidos.” She originally toured with DiFranco in November and was so well received that DiFranco invited her back to tour again during the months of January and February.

—samantha mcdonnell

7pm (doors). Asbury Hall at Babeville, 341 Delaware (852-3835 / babevillebuffalo.com). $33.50 in advance/$38 at the door at Babeville box office, Tickets.com/888-223-6000, and Tops Markets

Bandits newcomer and surefire fan favorite Kyle Clancy continued to impress tonight, scoring 2 goals and 5 assists. Toronto’s Colin Doyle made his own mark as one of the immortals of the game, becoming only the third player in National Lacrosse League history to score 1000 points. Fights galore and a pileup after Buffalo goaltender Ken Montour got run in the crease in the second quarter.

All this and more made for an entertaining game tonight at HSBC Arena, before a crowd of 14,467, including a sprinkling of Rock fans who made the trip from as far away as Ontario and as close as Elmwood Village.

When it was all over it was the Toronto Rock who got the win, thanks to a strong fourth quarter, where they scored five unanswered goals to defeat Buffalo 14-10.

Buffalo played an almost flawless first quarter, ending with a 3-1 lead. Frank Resetarits undressed the Toronto defenders to give the Bandits a 2-0 lead, and Billy Dee Smith scored shorthanded on a breakaway to make the score 3-1.

Toronto took over in the second quarter, however, scoring seven goals, the last three of the frame coming on the power play, as the Bandits continued to get into penalty trouble throughout the quarter.

After Toronto opened the third quarter to take its biggest lead of the night, the Bandits came storming back to tie it at 9, with goals by Brett Bucktooth, Roger Vyse and Mark Steenhuis. Both teams settled down with good goaltending at both ends, and Mike Accursi then gave the Bandits a 10-9 lead very late in the frame.

The Rock retook the lead early in the 4th, thanks to a pair of quick goals by Bandit-killer Blaine Manning. The 10th and tying Toronto goal was clearly a crease violation, but the Bandits failed to produce the required challenge flag within 10 seconds as stated by rule. Toronto would add three more goals, including a late empty netter to seal the deal. That would be all the scoring in the game as the Bandits were held scoreless for the entire quarter. Final score Toronto 14, Buffalo 10.

“I don’t believe that game was lost in the fourth quarter,” said forward Mike Accursi. We didn’t execute our game plan the way we wanted to. They are a good team. We weren’t that good tonight.” Coach Darris Kilgour fumed after the game, “It (the fourth quarter) was a replay of our first four games. We’re making bad decisions again.”

Kyle Clancy continued to make a big splash since joining the team off the practice squad last week. Said Accursi, “He was getting good looks and getting cutters. He was probably our spark tonight. Hats off to him he played well.” Kilgour added, “I didn’t expect this out of him. It’s a bonus, but if our best player is a 19 year old kid then we’re in bigger trouble than I thought.”

Clancy handled the media questions like a polished veteran. “It felt good, I am getting comfortable and that’ll help us get some wins hopefully.” Clancy has been welcomed with open arms by his teammates since joining the team. “They treat me like family and hopefully we’ll get clicking here sooner than later.”

Over in the visitors locker room, the Toronto Rock were saluting their own Colin Doyle, who took his place in indoor lacrosse history, and was also given recognition during the game by the Buffalo public address announcer. Doyle downplayed his accomplishment while speaking about the win. “We played really well. I’m proud the way everyone stepped up today.” As to hitting the 1000 point mark, Doyle said, “It was pretty special to join the company like that. It says something about how long and how hard one has played in this league. I’m proud of it and to be with Gary (Gait) and John (Tavares) is a pretty big honor.”

The reeling Bandits, now 1-5 on the season, head to Philadelphia next week to face the Wings, then come home in three weeks to face the same Philadelphia Wings at HSBC Arena. Game time on February 27 is 7:30 PM.

Even before the earthquake in Haiti compounded and highlighted that country’s problems, there were people and organizations working hard to address the needs of poor Haitians. And those people and organizations will continue to work hard and long after the international community has turned its attention elsewhere. On Sunday (Feb. 7), El Buen Amigo hosts a benefit for one such organization: a health clinic 80 miles outside of Port au Prince that has been providing care, medicine, and food to earthquake survivors. The benefit—which runs 1-5pm, well before Super Bowl kickoff—features music by Allassane Sarr, the Days Park Hot 5, John Gorman, Nelson Rivera, and more. Food will be provided by Lagniappes and the Niagara Cafe. One quarter of all sales at El Buen Amigo that day will be donated to earthquake relief. This is an easy—and fun—way to help those who are helping people in desperate need.

—geoff kelly

1-5pm. El Buen Amigo/Latin American Cultural Association, 114 Elmwood Ave (885-6343)

John Mariani of the Syracuse Post Standard reports that several Native American gaming operations are behind on payments to state police for security provided at casinos. The Seneca Gaming Commission is the furthest in arrears, owing $22.8 million to the state for security at the casino in Niagara Falls and $18.1 million for the casino at Salamanca.

Three Indian nations operating five casinos owe the state police Gaming Detail more than $55.9 million for security work the state does at their casinos, Sen. Craig Johnson, D-Nassau County, revealed last week at a hearing of the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee, which he chairs. Some of the debts go back 10 years.

The Seneca Nation’s Niagara Falls casino owed the most, $22.8 million, followed by that nation’s gaming house in Salamanca with a $18.1 million debt, according to a list provided to Johnson by the Gaming Detail. The Niagara Falls and Salamanca units also cover the Seneca Nation’s Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in Buffalo, the Gaming Detail’s Web page says.

The Akwesasne Mohawk Casino, operated by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, was next with $14.3 million due to the state police, a debt it began accumulating as early as the third quarter of the state’s 1999-2000 fiscal year, the list showed.

The Oneida Indian Nation, operator of the Turning Stone Casino outside Verona, was last on the list with an arrears of $739,000, due for the quarter that began Oct. 1, 2009.

Here’s the report.

JFK, half of the techno dance-punk duo MSTRKRFT, will be spinning records and crafting beats this Friday (Feb. 5), at Pure Nightclub on Chippewa. MSTRKRFT is the current creative outlet for former Death From Above 1979 bassist Jesse Keeler (a.k.a. JFK). After the demise of that band, Keeler combined with DFA1979 producer Alex Puodziukas—also known as AL-P—to create the dance party entity that is MSTRKRFT. In 2006 the duo released their first album, The Looks (Last Gang), which was full of thick modulating synth lines and Daft Punk-influenced vocoder vocalizations. Their 2009 followup, Fist of God (Dim Mak), stayed the course with similar tones and sounds, including plenty of phased-out guitar solos, and more cameos by artists such as John Legend and Ghostface Killah. Most casual listeners might recognize MSTRKRFT for their countless remixes—arranged in three volumes—of songs by bands including Wolfmother, Bloc Party, , Chromeo, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Locall Factory Nightlife DJs Kyle Moody, Jesse Aaron, and Lil’ Joe will warm up the crowd for what should be a wild and sweaty dance party in the middle of frosty Buffalo.

—cory perla

10pm. Pure Nightclub, 75 W. Chippewa (853-5555). $15-$18. Ages 18+

…but, making national headlines isn’t necessarily a good thing. The article in the accompanying photo appears in the February 8 issue of Autoweek magazine (which, when you come right down to it should really be named Auto-every-two-weeks, seeing that it’s published every other Monday).

...from Feb. 8 issue of Autoweek

Having spent some time in the auto sales business, I think I can say that Culligan, unless he held a gun to someone’s head and took the money out of their pocket, wasn’t doing anything that unusual in the used car business — which is pretty much why I got out of it.

In a tradition that dates back to 1975, BMW today announced that internationally renowned American artist Jeff Koons will be  creating the latest BMW Art Car, 17th in the series, to be revealed later this year. Past project artists include Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Frank Stella. Many of these cars/pieces-of-art have been exhibited in renowned museums throughout the world including the Louvre, the Guggenheim Museums, and the Shanghai Art Museum. They have been displayed at the BMW Museum in Munich, between 2006 and 2010 and many went on a world tour throughout Asia, Russia, Africa, India, the United States and Mexico.

Andy Warhol's 1979 BMW M1 Art Car

…Jim Corbran, You Auto Know

JFK, Half of the techno dance-punk duo MSTRKRFT, will be laying down beats and spinning records this Friday, Feb 5, at Pure Nightclub on Chippewa. MSTRKRFT is the current creative outlet for former Death From Above 1979 bassist Jesse Keeler. After the demise of the band Keeler combined with Death From Above producer Alex Puodziukas, aslo known as Al-P, to create the dance parrty entity that is MSTRKRFT. In 2006 the band released their first album, The Looks, which is full of thick modulating synth lines and Daft Punk influenced vocoder vocalizations. Their 2009 follow up, Fist of God, stayed the course with simliar tones and sounds, including plenty of phased out guitar solos and more cameos by artists such as John Legend and Ghostface Killah. Most casual listeners might recognize MSTRKRFT for their countless remixes, arranged in three volumes, of songs by bands including Wolfmother, Bloc Party, Chromeo, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Local Factory Nightlife DJs Kyle Moody, Jesse Aaron, and Lil’ Joe will warm up the crowd for what should be a wild and sweaty dance party in the middle of frosty Buffalo