Island Dispatch, 2000-11-10

              Island  DISPATCH Crash page? Lunch Time page 11 Hometown Boy page 18 Founded 1944 • Complete Community Coverage 56 Years As the Voice of Grand Island Award Winning Newspapers The Official Newspaper of the Town of Grand Island and the Grand Island School District NOVEMBER 10. 2000 24 pages  65c Vol. 56 No. 28  (716)773-7676 | Historical election for region, state, and country Brown wins big in State Senate election Buffalo Common Council Member Byron W. Brown became the only challenger to win a State Senate seat in the area this past Tuesday, defeating incumbent Alfred T. Coppola with relative ease in the election for the 57th District seat. Brown, a Democrat, unofficially took 44,800 votes to win the election. Coppola, who lost the Democratic primary to Brown in September and ran on the Conservative, Green and Working Families Party tickets, came in a distant second with 17,387 votes. Republican Bob Woolworth finished with 11,557 votes, and Right to Life candidate Anthony J. Murty received 1,152 votes. In taking this office, the 41-yearold Brown becomes the first African-American to sit on the State Senate from a district other than New York City. Brown ran a campaign founded on economic development, and plans to initiate strategic planning sessions amongst community members to focus on helping business expand ■throughout the district. Coppola had won the Senate spot in March, when Anthony Nanula left the position, after serving on the Buffalo Common Council for 14 years. Brown will represent the 57th District, which includes Niagara Falls, Grand Island and most of the northern part of Buffalo. He will join fellow election winners Republican Patricia K. McGee (56th District), Democrat William T. Stachowski (58th), Republican Dale M. Volker (59th), Republican Mary Lou Rath (60th) and Republican George Maziarz (61st) as State Senators from Western New York. LaFalce, Hoyt triumphant, Republicans victorious in State Supreme Court by Christopher Marquis and Paul Lane Local Democratic incumbents held off challenges to their congressional and assembly seats on Tuesday. Republicans finished strongly in the State Supreme Court elections. Also, a proposition by the state to issue a $3.8 billion bond for improving the transportation infrastructure was soundly defeated. Incumbent Congressman John LaFalce decisively defeated challenger Brett Sommer on Tuesday. Despite criticism from local officials for his reluctance to support the licensing of the Niagara Falls International Airport to Cintra, LaFalce won his 14th term by an impressive 61-39 percent margin. The 29th Congressional District covers Niagara and Orleans Counties, and part of Erie and Monroe counties. Sam Hoyt defeated Antoinetta Guercio handily, 75 percent to 25 percent, for the State Assembly seat out of the 144 th District. The incumbent Hoyt defeated his Republican-endorsed opponent for the second time in three months, having beaten her out for the Democratic nomination in September. The state judiciary race went well for Republicans this election, Presidential cliffhanger headlines incredible Election Day Floridian flip-flops in the Electoral College highlighted an extremely close election that failed to establish a decisive victor for president. The thriller of a battle between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore lasted almost the entire night, while the eyes of the candidates and the rest of America centered on the fiercely contested state of Florida and its 25 electoral votes. It was a wild political night in general, with a sitting First Lady capturing a Senate seat, a federal court battle concerning polling hours in St. Louis, a victorious deceased candidate, and a doublecampaign for Vice President and Senator that may cost the Democrats control of the Senate. In the prime time hours of Tuesday, several networks projected a strong showing for Gore, awarding him such electorally potent states as New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, and Florida. Many analysts, reasoning that wins in swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida were vital, predicted that Gore would win the presidency. However, the situation became complicated, starting with a statement by Bush from the Governor's Mansion in Austin that Pennsylvania and Florida* remained in play. Within minutes, Florida fell out of the "Gore column". As results slowly crept into the hands of network reporters, it became clear that Bush was pulling ahead. His sweep of the American South, Central, and Mountain regions put him in the running to win the election with a victory in Florida. Gore, winning important states like California, Minnesota, and Washington, also Kids get election-fever On Tuesday, while their parents were electing a president, senator, congressman, and other officials, kids where making their opinions known. The Kids Voting program throughout the area educated students on the issues, and asked them to cast their votes for candidates and various questions, such as "Should kids be in school year round." There were Kids Voting stations set up throughout the town. Here, (l-r) Annie Cooper, Krista Glownia, and Brian Cooper take ballots while volunteer Rita D'Orazio oversees the operaiion at the Grand Island Town Garage. See the results on page 11. Town Board hears from public about budget by Christopher Marquis On Mnr.Jj>. Hie I own Hoard held .i piihlic hcaimt: for ie.-idenis !o voice ihon opinions ahou; ihc town' hudj'el I'hu'-f who spoke were. ..nlical "I the pii-pn-cd increase m. spcildm'J and ui\es -.Mlhin ihc '"Hid :!Ct. The I'iiriv'iit huJivi caiK for an :netc.im: in ilii- town ta\ Ironi 1.2 ]07'<1000 in assessed \:ilue i-i 52.57/'s j MOO The proposed iikTease in hi£h\\<t) iiites will he from .52.05.-SfonO to S2.io/S!<»»0. The average Grand Mand household will p.i> about more in Saves. This is down from llie esiimatcl S5O meiease in llie onginal budget One resident. Ruhard l>iana\.skv. asked Superwsor Petei MeM.ihon to expiain what was uit from the original proposed budget. McMahon icphcd that the town put ofi the iiinii}: ot two adduional employees in the hit'hwas depanmeni and decided no! 10 puahase an additional ichteli- fm the higiiwjj dep.utinent. "ihe-e was ;i!so ovet $50,000 in cuts from (he. »en eral fund, lnciiidirw 5i5.000 in drainage and $5,000 for sidewalk's. "We made broad, across-theboard cuts." added McMahon. Planavsky replied that the reduction of the proposed budget discredited the process by proving that large tax and spending increases were not necessary. "We're trying to compete with other regions," remarked Planavsky. "We're not going to do it with a 21 percent or 11 percent increase." McMahon later noted to the Dispatch that Planavsky is the Republican Town Chairman, and that his expressed concern should be put in the proper perspective. - "Unfortunately, he focuses on the 21. percent increase. He doesn't bother to mention that much of the increase came from a Republicanelected official in the highway department." Ray Dlugokinski is the highway superintendent. Another community member. Gene Ryshkus, offered some ideas for cutting the.budget further, such as cutting or eliminating pay for continued on page 2 continued on page 2 continued on page 3