Echo Chamber: The Local Blab (April 28)
DANIEL J. HIGGINS, father of congressman Brian Higgins passed away Sunday in Harris Hill Long Term Care Facility, Clarence, after a long illness. He was 77. The Buffalo News quoted Rep. Brian Higgins saying that his father, a former Buffalo South District Common Council member, was his mentor and “a consummate gentleman who led by the eloquence of example. He was just a wonderful father, a wonderful husband and a wonderful example for our family and the entire community,”
BRIAN HIGGINS was also in news asking that federal officials reconsider their axing of the cable stay bridge designed by Christian Menn. Higgins, who initially positioned himself as let’s-just-move-on, now believes the Menn design has been too hastily abandoned.
CITY HONORS PRINCIPAL William Kresse, who recently penned a document critical of unethical interference at his school, and was recently under attack by high-ranking Buffalo Public School officials he named, received a show of support from his teaching staff. The Buffalo News reported today that City Honors teachers released a lengthy statement of support for Kresse. “As teachers at City Honors School, we feel a response in support of our principal, Dr. William Kresse, is necessary,” the teachers said.
THREE TEENS CHARGED IN HAZING INCIDENT. Three varsity and junior varsity baseball players from Wilson High were arrested and charged for a hazing incident that took place on a bus two weeks ago. The teens, all over 16, are charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. That sounds disturbing. There were multiple victims, all younger than 16. The team is suspended indefinitely.
BUFFALO BILLS DRAFT SELECTIONS - DAY 2
3RD (72) - Chris Ellis / DE / Virginia Tech
4TH (114) - Reggie Corner / CB / Akron
4TH (132) - Derek Fine / TE / Kansas
5TH (147) - Alvin Bowen / LB / Iowa State
6TH (179) - Xavier Omon / RB / N.W. Missouri State
7TH (219) - Demetrius Bell / OT / Northwestern State
7TH (224) - Steve Johnson / WR / Kentucky
7TH (251) - Kenard Cox / CB / Pittsburgh
DENNIS DONOHUE JURY should be in place today. So far 11 of the 12 jurors have now been selected in the Donohue trial. Donohue is charged in the 1993 strangulation of Joan Giambra. He is also the suspect/former boyfriend of Lynn Dejac, who was recently freed for the murder of her own daughter. Several alternate jurors must also be selected. Opening statements should begin tomorrow morning.
THE DOWNTOWN BUS TERMINAL is going to get a $19 million overhaul, according to NFTA officials. Apparently there have been two or three other plans to rehab the old terminal, but because there was always a question of whether the terminal would remain there those plans were shelved. Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra wanted the terminal gone so he could expand Erie Community College’s city campus. Giambra’s pan failed to gain traction. For years, assemblyman Sam Hoyt had floated the idea of an inter-modal transportation site at the old Aud or somewhere downtown, that too failed to get any traction. NFTA head Lawrence Meckler told the Buffalo News, “Now we know we’re going to be here for the foreseeable future, and we can to take steps to make this a great building, an asset to downtown.”
April 17, 2008
City Honors: The Kresse Report
Want to read the report that the Buffalo News has been writing about for the last four days, without ever quoting from it directly?
Here’s what we know about the origin of the report, which was written by Bill Kresse (pictured left), the well-respected principal of City Honors, the jewel in the Buffalo Public School District’s increasingly tarnished crown:
- Last fall, Kresse felt pressured by senior administrators Will Keresztes, Joseph Melvin, and Folasade Oladele to revert to the school’s former method for calculating GPAs. (Kresse and a task force of secondary school principals had arrived at a district-wide standard for GPA calculations in January 2007.) Keresztes’s daughter benefited from the reversion to the old formula.
- In December, Kresse felt pressured to re-admit the daughter of then deputy county executive (and current AV columnist) Bruce Fisher by Melvin, Oladele, and school board member Chris Jacobs, despite his and his staff’s judgment that Fisher’s daughter would be better served at another school.
- Kresse hastily wrote a report about these incidents in December at the behest of of Melvin and Superintendent James Williams.
- The report lay fallow until two weeks ago, when rumors of its contents began to fly and news outlets—including this one—began hunting it down.
- On Sunday the Buffalo News published a front-page story about the report and its allegations, thus identifying the two children involved—much to the consternation of Fisher and Keresztes, who both deny exercising undue influence in the affairs the report documents. (Fisher’s denial is plausible, though it’s possible influence was exerted on his behalf without his knowing about it; Keresztes’s denial seems a little thin.)
- For his part, Kresse stands by his report, though he has indicated that he never expected it to become public.
We’ll examine what the report indicates about the administration of Buffalo Public Schools generally over the coming weeks.
