Buffalo Criterion, 1987-07-30

              thursday july 30-august 5 1967 established in 1925 vol 62 — no 31 the buffalo criterion wnys necessary minority newspaper — featuring paid legitimate circulation niagara region rochester rutkowski hosts downtown ag fest county life comes to downtown buffalo on aug sth when erie county executive edward j rut kowski kicks off the county's bth annual agriculture day cele bration farm equipment live stock country music and an open-air market will all be a part of the city event at 12 noon on the rath building plaza 95 frank lin st in addition to displays from area agricultural or ganizations an outdoor farmer's mart free corn roast produce raffle and a noon time concert by the pointless brothers a popular blue grass group will highlight the celebration samples of local dairy products and complimen tary balloons will also be available the total economic impact on the county from homegrown products sold is about 300 million making agriculture one of erie county's largest in dustries rutkowski said in describing the signifi cance of the day's events volunteers from all over the county will be joining together in a coordinated effort to tell the story of what agricul ture and farming means to our community he add ed local winners of the 1987 awards of distinc tion from the new york dairy farm beautification program also are sched uled to be announced by rutkowski the free annual fest is open to the general public franklin street in down town buffalo between church and eagle will be closed to traffic from 11 a.m to 3 p.m during the celebration delores c hall succumbs funeral services for the late delores c hall were held friday july 24 from jordan grove baptist church 1264 kensington aye the rev glenn h dußois officiated ms hall was born on december 18 1931 in buffalo to rev henry and mable hall she passed away july 20 1987 at home after a lengthy illness the youngest of four children delores would accompany her father the twiores'o rran workshops set to inform seniors on epic program assemblyman william b hoyt d-buffalo grand island has announced that five workshops will be held throughout his district to inform and assist senior citizens with new york states elderly pharm aceutical insurance cover age epic program the epic program which takes effect oct ist wmf ftui imvr iuw ww futm by the state legislature in response to escalating in surance costs for seniors prescription purchases also many health officials feared that some elderly citizens were not taking medications as prescribed because of the costs epic offers a choice of two programs each of which are based on a shared payment plan with the state epic eligibility require ments are 1 65 years or older 2 a legal resident of new york state 3 for those who are not receiving benefits under the state's medicaid program or for those who do not presently have a better program the workshops will be held at the following loca tions mon . aug 10 at 1:30 p.m it tte fefoafosff army 960 main st tuesday aug 11 7 -»..**., *„ tm\j9%ti~o%mfwi%j commuinity center 103 sanders rd between colvin blvd and dela ware aye wednesday aug 12 at 1 p.m at the nike base golden agers 3278 whitehaven road on grand island tuesday aug 18 at 2 p.m at the allentown comnunity center 111 elmwood aye near allen st thursday aug 20 7 p.m at the northwest buffalo community cen ter 155 lawn avenue off military rd state investigates nfta's political activities by abdullah luqman the state commission of investiga tion sic called past and present em ployees of the niagara frontier trans portation authority nfta of which five took the fifth amendment against self incrimination to testify about patron age coercion and solicitation on nfta property of employees by management which is against both the civil service and election laws of the state thursday at a hearing in city court it is a crime for public employees from their official positions to threaten or offer to benefit anyone to secure a political contribution in the language of the criminal law fund-raising by means of threat is extortion and fund-raising by exchanging favorable governmental action for political contributions is bribery said state investigation committee chairman david trager the criminal law however does not set the only standard for lawful political fund-raising new york state prohibits the solicitation of political con tributions in public buildings and the federal government bars public em ployees from engaging in political fund raising altogether in addition the federal government does not allow state employees who administer federal funds such as the management of nfta even to advise subordinates and co-workers to make political contribu tions the commission recognizes that fund-raising in the absence of public election financing is a necessary activity of political parties and candidates for public office critical for the effective operation of a democracy however if this intensely partisan political activity is carried out too zealously it risks becoming an exercise in coercion — especially where public employees are being solicited the chairman's opening statement goes on since 1982 bus drivers and mechanics for the nfta have been selected solely off of patronage lists prepared by the nfta's chairman and/or its executive director in addition chairman raymond gallagher in 1984 and 1985 was a member of a committee which recommended persons for patronage positions at public agencies and authorities in the buffalo area gallagher provided the committee with information on open positions at the nfta and by his own admission most of those hired had political sponsors state investigation committee sic did you have knowledge of solicitations on the job nfta chairman raymond gallag her no sic who were your fund-raisers when you ran for state office gallagher rocco termini sic were nfta employees pressured gallagher i don't know sic did you get legal advice gallagher no sic what was the patronage com mittee gallagher a group of 10 or 11 people who would get together and recommend people for jobs in 1983 or 1984 sic to whom did the list go gallagher the department of transportation nfta and other jobs sic did the committee suggest firing some of the people working in order to hire others gallagher that was discussed but i did not take any action on those re quests sic did you review those lists that h.s grads to receive cao scholarships students plan fall college attendance a dozen recent buffalo high school graduates attending college this fall win receive scholarships from the community ac tion organization educa tional task force in ceremonies aug 14th at 7 p.m at the educational opportunity center 465 washington st according to houston varnado head of the educational task force each of the students will receive a 400.00 scholar sfl?jrrna?rtrpo3stbt6"tly the annual college day held at the buffalo downtown convention center area banks as well as colleges and universities around the nation pay a fee to participate in the event cao's board president billy johnson will present the scholarships some 100 persons in cluding members of the western new york asso ciation of counseling and development are expect ed to attend the scholar ship award reception says varnado annual college day 1987 will be held october 26 at the convention center with more than 3.000 students and adults interested in furthering their education are expect ed to attend some.2oo colleges and universities as well as many area banks will have representatives on hand to discuss finan i cial assistance for college as well as programs available at these educa tional institutions college day is sponsor ed by area colleges and universities the commu nity action organization the buffalo board of edu cation and erie county office of child and family services co-chairmen of the event are drexel gidney of canisius college and bernadette corcoran of the buffalo board of education students who will re ceive the cao scholar ships are lydia soto and andrea coleman of gro ver cleveland high school thao lam melissa barrett and d a m c n green of hutchinson technical high school danita myree and alison ashe high school for the performing arts amy mitchell bennett high school candace baxter bishop turner carroll high school carolyn copeland buffalo tradi • tional malora mathis city honors and marcia wright mt st joseph '' through participation in college day banks and educational institutions have made these scholar ships possible for deserv ing young people in the buffalo area says var nado johnson becomes naacp life member pictured here is illustrious com mander-in-chief john e johnson left or pibuii ouiiaiaimy no 2 p.h.*,r aa he presents a check for 1,500.00 for a life membership and golden heritage in the naacp to sublime prince j carl bland of the naacp as he applauses the announcement of the presentation at the annual banquet held at the golden nuggett """■*•" partially is sublime prince samuel triggs loyal lady ruler doris lewsey of bison assembly no 48 order of the golden circle and mrs kathy franklin county head seeks to create division of eeo erie county executive edward j rutkowski tuesday announced plans to create a division of equal employment oppor tunity within the office of the erie county executive presently there exists an office of equal employ ment opportunity within the personnel depart ment mr rutkowski said i'm asking the erie county legislature to approve a local law which will create a division of equal employment oppor tunity within the office of the erie county executive this is a significant recog nition of the importance i place in the responsibili ties this office conducts by amending the char ter to create this division we make permanent its role in county government the office of equal em ployment opportunity will have its own identity which many people in the community have been calling for particularly the minority community and women's organizations mr rutkowski contin ued the division of equal employment opportunity will ployment opportunity will be headed by a director who shall establish a county affirmative action plan investigate employ ment discrimination com plaints administer the county minority business and women-owned busi ness utilization programs collect data and compile statistics concerning mi nority employment in county government mr rutkowski said mr rutkowski who was joined at a press confer ence in his office with nu merous individuals sup porting his proposal add ed creation of the division of equal employ ment opportunity will not require any additional staffing therefore it can be accomplished at no additional cost to the taxpayer equal opportunity en ables individuals to pursue the work of their choice and advance that work based on one's qualifica tions and performance this division will provide the proper status within county government that the responsibilities of this office demand it will enable the direc tor to more efficiently and effectively carry out the duties and responsibilities of the office as a result of having its own identity and budget also the director will now respond directly to the office of erie county executive and participate in meetings the executive conducts wih all county department heads harbor linen president saluted pictured from left recently in the washington d c office of u s house ways and means committee chairman dan rostenkowski dem-chicago iii congressman rostenkowski is shown congratulating and presenting silver congressional plates to harbor linen president earl waxman of cherry hill n j and u s congressman henry j nowak dem-buffalo mr waxman one of america's largest linen distributors was saluted for his efforts recently in bringing to the u s little children from poland and sri lanka near india for emergency life-saving surgery in the united states sheriff announces new unit weap erie county sheriff thomas f higgins and a representative of the new york state dept of trans portation and james ma kowski chairman of the erie county traffic safety committee were on hand to announce the sheriff's new weight enforce ment team in erie county recognizing a need for an effective truck weight enforcement program the sheriff applied for and was awarded a grant of 159 000 from the new york state dept of transporta tion under the auspices of the weight assistance program weap this gives the sheriff's dept 3 deputy sheriffs portable truck-weighing equipment a full-sized 1987 station wagon to carry the portable scales and money for the utility type uniforms for the deputies working on this team the sheriff said the objectives of the weight enforcement assistance program is to reduce the number of vehicles travel ing the state's highways that exceed the weight limits prescribed by law this will be accomplished by substantially increasing the number of trucks weighed thereby increas ing the likelihood that overweight vehicles will be apprehended the new unit will also be enforcing highway tax laws state transportation laws and the state truck safety equipment laws the weight enforce ment team will follow up on complaints of over weight trucks from citizens and town officials in erie county the unit is also available to police agen cies upon request the sheriff concluded facts & figures the average lons-distance move made by an american household covers 930 miles and transports 6.500 pounds of household goods the aver age cost varies depending on who's doing the moving self movers can save 50 or more on the average using a com mercial mover costs 1,766 by comparison self moving using a rental truck averages 804 ryder truck rental has over 5,000 authorized dealers throughout north america the company's trucks which are serviced on a regular basis every 4,000 miles are available for one-way and local moves of the 16.5 million amer ican households that will relo cate this year 82 percent will be self-movers and one out of three will use rental trucks nfta — continued on page 3 hall see page 3 serving working leading in wny inner cities since 1923 price only 20 c per copy