Resurgence to decrease Niagara St. site

Resurgence Brewing Co. expects to use its Niagara Street site for research and development when it shifts brewing and sales to South Buffalo.

            Resurgence recently announced its plans for a new location at 55 Ohio St., across town in the Old First Ward.

Anna Ellis, brewery social media and marketing manager, says the 1250 Niagara St. will be downsized and serve as the hub of innovation and research and development for Resurgence.

Resurgence’s new location will be the home to its  brewing facility, canning station, storage and distribution center.

“Having a separate location dedicated to experimenting with new beer styles and trends will allow us to bring new beers to the market at a much faster rate,” Ellis says.

            The Old First Ward site  is being redeveloped by Ellicott Development Co. and will feature an open-air beer garden, distillery, rock climbing facility and apartments.

Resurgence will be in the Pattern Building, which will be the only part of the building that is going to be salvaged. The rest of the complex is planned to be demolished and rebuilt.

Resurgence also had plans for a Batavia location but will be putting those on hold.  By Zachary Huk and Terrance Young

Family Justice Center brings drop-in site to W.S.

The Family Justice Center of Erie County and the YWCA at 1005 Grant St. have formed a partnership for victims of domestic violence on the West Side.

Mary Travers Murphy, director  of the Family Justice Center, said the partnership will provide a drop-in center specifically catering to people of the West Side. The center at the YWCA will offer safety planning, counseling, legal and law enforcement assistance.

The partnership should be up and running within the next couple of months.

The collaboration allows for better access to services for residents of the West Side who otherwise are not able or willing to travel to the Justice Center’s downtown location at 438 Main St.

Travers Murphy said that residents have difficulty with transportation downtown, which entails riding two different buses, and find the area overwhelming to navigate.

“We realized we’re not seeing a lot of people from that community, they're not comfortable coming downtown, but we’re told that there is a great need for information and education and help for people of different cultures who may be in domestic violence relationships,” Travers Murphy said.

The Family Justice Center is working hand in hand with the social workers at the YWCA to provide individualized, client-specific services with special sensitivity to their cultural background. All services are confidential.

“We had a very interesting opportunity, so we figured something out and we ran with it,” Travers Murphy said. By Tara Hark and Max Wagner

Black Dots may move elsewhere on Grant St.

Quinn Moore, acting manager of the West Side vinyl record store Black Dots, prepares for possible relocation as the current home is up for sale. The basement of 223 Lafayette Ave. has been the home to Black Dots since 2013, but ownership believes that moving could be beneficial to the store’s growth. “We don’t know if the new owners are going to want to kick us out or not. Either way even if they want to we are out of space here, so it wouldn’t be the worst thing,” Moore said. If the store does have to move, Moore said that the ideal location for the new home would be on Grant Street. Moore calls the area “up and coming” and would be better for Black Dots compared to moving to another location such as Elmwood Avenue. By Zachary Huk and Terrance Young

W.S. students to join anti-gun walkout

Jessica Bauer Walker supports the student walkout

By Terra Harter

 and Ben Hauver

Bengal News West Reporters

A sense of tension is building as high school students in the West Side prepare to take a stance against gun violence.

They are among the young people across the country who are uniting as a show of solidarity as they prepare to walkout of their classrooms on March 14 for 17 minutes, one minute for each of the lives lost in the recent shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The student member of Buffalo’s Board of Education, Farhiya Diriye,  is planning to participate in the walkout at her own high school, Leonardo daVinci.

“We don’t want prayers,” Diriye said. “It’s not effective what we have going on right now.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on average seven people 19 years old and younger die every day from gun violence. In 2016, there was a total of 38,658 gun-related deaths in the United States.

“Study after study bears out the fact that more guns do not make us more safe,” said Paul McQuillen, upstate coordinator for New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. “There is no truth to the statement that a good guy with a gun is going to beat a bad guy with a gun.”

Last week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation that would lead to the training and arming of teachers across the state with the intent to prevent future shootings. The initiative includes a $400 million package aimed at various programs for the state's school system, including a mobile-crisis team and improved assistance for mental health.        

New York State is not considering similar legislation at this time.

In Buffalo schools, precautions being taken include on-campus practice for how to respond in the event of an active shooter situation.  

Jessica Bauer Walker expresses her support for the students:

 https://soundcloud.com/benjamin-hauver/walk-outmp3

 

 “My kids are young,” said Jessica Bauer Walker, executive director for The Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo. “Since they were in kindergarten they’ve been having simulated drills around school shootings, which is heartbreaking. Pretending someone is coming into school to shoot them can be traumatizing.”

Bauer Walker added that she has noticed a strong sense of activism on this issue from younger people. Diriye noticed this as well in her classmates at Leonardo daVinci.

"As students, we're asking for gun regulations instead of giving more guns to teachers," Diriye said. "More guns means more possibility for violence and I don't think you should fight fire with fire."

The Buffalo Board of Education is expected to release a set of protocols to guide faculty and administration in handling students who plan to participate in the March 14 walkout. Regardless of what the Board of Education decides, students on the West Side and across Buffalo and the nation are determined to have their voices heard.

“They plan to go outside and have a rally and have speeches and have a moment of silence for them (victims of the shooting in Parkland, Florida)," Diriye said, “to  recognize what happened and show the importance that it should never happen again.”

https://soundcloud.com/benjamin-hauver/walk-outmp3

Angler braves the snow to hook a cold one

Fisherman Dennis Dellapenta braves the cold in hopes to hook a walleye in the Niagara River under the Scajaquada Expressway. By Tara Hark and Max Wagner