Scientists see tiny fish as big deal in waterway health

Bird Island Pier figures into the project to increase emerald shiners population

By Matt Szucs

            A new initiative spearheaded by the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers will help the Niagara River and Lake Erie sustain their ecosystems by providing one of its smallest fishes, the Emerald Shiner, a fighting chance against the current and help them make their way upstream.

            The project plans to build metal attachments known as baffles for 700 feet along Freedom Park’s seawall, passing under the Peace Bridge and continuing on towards Bird Island Pier.

            The construction opportunity was granted to BIDCo Marine Group by the Army Corp of Engineers for $11.8 million. BIDCo is an aquatic-based local construction company, that will design and construct the baffles.

            Mark C. Judd, the president and founder of BIDCo,  said work will being in the spring and continue to a 2026 completion.

            Over the years the seawall along Freedom Park has been hardened, a term referring to the fact that over the years any rocks, trees or plants have disappeared resulting in nothing in the way to slow down the current as it flows.

The emerald shiners come downstream from Lake Erie in the spring to lay their eggs. At the end of summer the newly born shiners ideally swim back upstream from the Niagara River to Lake Erie, but due to the hardening of the seawall the current has become too strong for most to make it. The dwindling number of shiners that can make it will have a severe impact on the local ecosystems if left alone.

The baffles, which will be trapezoid shaped metal structures filled with concrete, will counteract the hardened seawall and help slow down the flow allowing for the majority of the emerald shiner population to return upstream and continue their cycle.

Ten prototype baffles designed by University at Buffalo researchers were put into place along the seawall in 2022. This initiative was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for $1.6 million the Army Corps of Engineers found that these designs successfully slowed the current of the Niagara River by 0.4 meters per second, an amount that on a large scale would slow the stream enough for the emerald shiners to pass through.

Through Buffalo State University the Great Lakes Center  has studied the emerald shiners  with funding from the US Army Corps of Engineers. It conducted the first major study into emerald shiners to better understand just how important the tiny fish is to the ecosystem of the local lakes.

The project was led by Dr. Alicia Pérez-Fuentetaja and lasted from 2013-2018. Much of the initial research into the migration cycles of emerald shiners involved figuring out just how important these fish are for the Niagara River.

Professor Randal Snyder, co-principal investigator, called the shiners are a “keystone” species, a building block at the bottom of the food chain that many forms of local wildlife rely on from larger fish to birds.  

The Great Lakes Center concluded that “A collapse in this species would have negative repercussions to their predators, sport fish and birds that depend on this resource. The impact would be felt by the public as well: sport fishermen and bird-watchers, nature lovers and river users.”

The Niagara River is currently listed as an EPA Area of Concern.

 

 

Help beat high food prices with homesteading

 The Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP) Development Coordinator Ben Bachman says there are simple steps for homesteading and how important homesteading can be in an urban environment like the West Side. The idea of homesteading and cultivating your own food has become a popular hobby for many urban residents. With grocery prices increase at a high rate many people are finding ways to grow their own food, raise chickens or small animals in their backyards, and canning at home. Urban farms like MAP host events to help promote homesteading, like a recent one called Seed Extravaganza.        By Rylee Shott

The bridge is in, now on to other updates at Wilson Park

 The pedestrian bridge in Ralph Wilson Park has now been fully erected over the I-190 to connect the park with the lower West Side.  The bridge, which was built in Italy, traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and up the Erie Canal to where it sits today in Ralph Wilson Park.  Gilbane Building Co. was the primary construction company on the $110 million bridge project. Parks Department Deputy

Commissioner Andy Rabb, left, along with head project manager for Gilbane, Sean Najewski, right, said that the next phase of getting the park ready for the public is to install softball and baseball diamonds, and a soccer field.  Although the bridge is in place, the park will not be fully open until next year.  Other plans for the park include planting gardens, and utility and drainage work. By James Tammaro

AI in art has its fans and foes on the West Side

 

Street Artist Jesse Zuefle at his creation at 795 Elmwood Ave.

By Emmanuel Rogers

            Artificial Intelligence generation has taken the world by storm with its recent technology of creating any thought or image based on a few sentences or phrases. Specifically, one use of AI that has caused different opinions and controversy is AI art or image creators. 

Websites that provide free access to the tools of image generation, such as Midjourney, Firefly Adobe, and Night Café, have given people the ability to make anything imaginable.

A case that occurred in 2020, brought up in a New York Times article, involves a man named James M. Allen, who entered the Colorado State Fair art competition and won a blue ribbon and a $300 prize for entering an AI image created on Midjourney.

Local street artist Jesse Zuefle, also known as Banksy Hates Me, says he can look on both sides of the concerns of AI usage. He understands the frustration of hard-working artists losing their credibility and the advantages of using AI as a reference. He is mostly comfortable with using AI for your personal creative gain.

“I think that artists will always be more important than AI. Are some people going to lose their jobs to an advertisement or marketing development where art is needed? For sure,” Zuefle says.

Zuefle says when photography was introduced the world took this as a dangerous new form of imagery and eventually became a huge success in art. He says using this new form of imagery can be good for new upcoming artists that need references.

“Artists need to figure out ways to take advantage of it and use it and to not let it use them,” Zuefle says.

Zuefle’s work consist of different styles that are mainly used by stencils and spray paint. He has used AI image generation to get inspiration for his pieces by manipulating them into his style.

Zuefle says he made a piece in New Orleans called “AI Made Me an Artist,” where he stenciled a man holding a sign that originally said, “I am an artist.” By spray painting over some letters, it would then read the quote.

Two local artists had a negative view on AI imagery and how it could potentially give artists difficulty adjusting to the new technology.

Esther Neisen, owner of Lumpy Buttons shop located on 717 Elmwood Ave., believes that AI makes it hard for artists to keep their credibility.

“It's taking without permission from other artists, feeding into it, and making it a way for people to not pay artists to create imagery,” Neisen says.

With AI having the possibility of reaching the level of being displayed and viewed in professional art galleries, Neisen says that this may cause some difficulty in the art community.

“AI is a huge competition for people who are actually doing their own work. AI is taking something from a resource and claiming that you made it,“ Neisen says.

Carl Lee, a media artist who specializes in video film and installation, says AI takes away the original form of an art piece and causes issue with telling what is artificially made and what is not.

“I think it’s problematic because it’s mining the work that people have created, and I think that’s an issue,” Lee says.

 

 

 

Fun, safe Halloween events planned for West Side

By Shanice Forbes

            The West Side is showing its Halloween spirit by hosting kid-friendly community events. These events not only bring the community together, but also allow children to celebrate the holiday as they please and in a safe area.

            The Elmwood Village Association will host a Safe Trick or Treat event from 1-3 p.m. on Oct. 27 at participating businesses, Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, 875 Elmwood Ave. and the Crane Branch Library, 633 Elmwood Ave. Reservations are requested.

            PUSH Buffalo, 429 Plymouth Ave., is hosting its annual Trunk or Treat event on Oct. 29. The organization will be serving hot drinks and snacks, and kids will get to enjoy trick or treating and a costume party here as well. This event will run from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

            Trunk or treat events by a school or an organization offer a safer alternative to trick-or-treating door-to-door. Those hosting it will most likely be dressed in costumes while giving out treats out of the trunk of their cars. Parents feel safer knowing that their children will be given treats out in the open and would know who to hold accountable if things go bad.

            Halloween has been listed as one of the deadliest days of the year for kids due to food safety, potential accidents on the road, or dealing with malicious people.  Each year there are roughly 3,000 Halloween related injuries that take place according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

         

      Some tips to take precaution on this holiday are to choose costumes wisely, limiting the time spent on the streets, and inspecting every piece of candy given. It’s also best for children to be accompanied by someone of age while being out.

            Costume safety is crucial, so ensuring that it’s fire resistant and doesn’t consist of dark colors to where they’re unrecognizable to others is important. Certain makeup used can also cause irritation so it’s best to read all caution labels on all products.

            Those who aren’t taking children out also need to be mindful while being on the road. That means watching out for children crossing streets and being careful when pulling in and out driveways. The National Safety Council discourages new or inexperienced drivers to stay away from the roads this night.

            Officer Shree Siwakoti, community police officer at the Buffalo Police Department, said that the police department doesn’t have many restrictions, but it does suggest that residents light up their homes especially with solar lights and register all cameras with Buffalo Safe Cams.

            The Erie County Department of Health has more tips to help keep both children and adults safe during this scary time. Some suggestions include what can be down both in and outside your homes.

 

 

Ronald McDonald House updating accessibility

 

After celebrating 40 years of helping families, the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo is looking to improve its location even more. Executive Director Lisa Booz said there is an ongoing $800,000 project to address accessibility issues for all including people with canes, using wheelchairs and more. By Antonio Calderon

NY Prop 1 addresses equal rights in state constitution

 

Cindy Havey, League of Women Voters Buffalo/Niagara board member, encourages a Buffalo State student to vote.

By Rylee Shott

                  With the election coming up on Nov. 5, New York voters should be aware of Proposition One that will be located on the back of the ballot.

                  Proposition One is the New York State Equal Rights Amendment. The goal of this amendment is to change section 11 of article 1 of the Constitution to include gender, gender identity, health care choices, age, and disability to the State Constitution. The Amendment is not proposing new laws but enforcing and protecting the laws that are already in place in New York. 

                  “These things are already in New York law, but what this will do is put those rights into the Constitution,” Cindy Havey, League of Women Voters Buffalo/Niagara board member said.

                  Laws can be easily changed whereas the State Constitution is a lot harder to change.  

The amendment has plenty of support but, there are still plenty of people who oppose the amendment.

“People are afraid that it [the amendment] could lead to changes in their lives they are not comfortable with. Opponents seem to me are to be focusing on the possibility of what the constitution amendment could lead to, not necessarily what the Constitution says,” Blair Horner, executive director of New York Public Interest Research Group said.

There are some concerns with how people will understand the wording of the amendment.

                  “The legislature passed a law saying that ballot initiatives had to be written in accessible language where someone with a sixth-grade education could understand it. And so, they say that this initiative is written for someone with a fifteenth-grade education. It is written in a way that is very hard to understand,” Ruth Goldman, Women and Gender Studies professor at Buffalo State University, said.

Havey and the League in Buffalo Niagara have been getting the word out at Buffalo State University and Elmwood Village Farmers Market to spread the word about the amendment.

                  NYPIRG is working to inform the young voters on Buffalo State, Canisius and other campuses in Buffalo on how to vote and what will be on the ballot.

                  “We are going to educate voters more generally, particularly young voters, on how the system works so that they can cast their ballots,” Horner said.

                  The fight for equal rights has been an ongoing battle within the United States for decades. In New York the idea of amending the constitution to guarantee more equal rights has been in the conversation since 2019.

                  “I think it is very surprising to most people that we don’t already have this amendment to the Constitution, especially an Amendment protecting women,” Goldman said.

That bus you're on just might be running on electric

 

Public Information Officer Kelly Khatib says the NFTA Metro service is bringing out more models of battery electric buses into the fleet. So, passengers of the West Side bus routes 3 Grant, 8 Main, 7 Baynes Richmond, 22 Porter-Best, and 12 Utica, can expect to see more of these buses. The first release of the battery electric buses on Earth Day, April 22, 2022, has provided more opportunities for less usage of fossil fuels. The Western New York Environmental Alliance chair, John Whitney, supports the transition. This nonprofit organization collaborates with Western New York companies on environmental goals, interests, and issues such as climate change, the use of clean energy, and reducing greenhouse gases. By Emmanuel Rogers

Lots of after-school fun at West Side Teens program

 

Kameron Dilaura and Marino Frias welcome students to the West Side Teens after-school program held at West Side Community Services. The program returned on Sept. 24 and was created to provide a safe space for teens and help prepare them for life after high school. Frias, director of the youth department, said that the program offers other activities apart from fitness, arts and programming. It offers life skill readiness, resume building, a study hall for the teens to work on anything outside of the program, SAT prep, and many more fun activities to help keep them engaged. Dilaura, teen council president of the program, is 16 years old and said that within a year of being there he’s gained many connections through different organizations and colleges. “There’s a lot of opportunities for any age, you can come here for one year, two years, no matter how long you’re going to get a lot of opportunities later on,” Dilaura said. West Side Teens is available to students in 7th grade to 19-year-olds. They meet at 161 Vermont St. at 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays. By Shanice Forbes

Weaknesses in local health system mirror national trend

By Antonio Calderon

In a country that is known for its ability to innovate on new ideas and ways of life to create wealth, the balance of the current healthcare system in the United State shows the opposite.

            A report done by the Commonwealth Fund showed that when compared to nine other countries in the world that have a high income, the United States ranked last when it comes to overall health care.

            In the Buffalo area, medical officials were not satisfied with the current state of health care.

Paul Violanti, the director of global health education at the Jericho Road Community Health Center believes that health care within the United States is not at all in a good place.

            “For all the money and resources that are put into health care within this country, there are still too many barriers placed in front of those that truly need it,”  Violanti said.

            He also mentioned the need for there to be more foundations and community based projects to help those in need and mentioned the Kaleida Health Foundation as being an example of what Buffalo needs more of.

            Jack Cukierman, a doctor who works with diabetes and metabolism at WNY Medical on Grant Street, agrees.

            “I have had many experiences with patients who were not able to get all of the care that would provide them with the best chance for a healthy future and it hurts to know that it happens to so many despite being in a country that has the resources to make things work,”  Cukierman said.

Western New York Medical

 

    An article from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration speaks on one potential way to solve health care challenges and that is through collaborative communities.

 These are groups in which members of the public and commercial sectors, including the FDA, collaborate on health care concerns in order to accomplish shared goals and objectives. They may last indefinitely, are called together by interested parties, generate outcomes as needed, and address issues with wide-ranging effects.

A local named Justin Mendoza who has worked with the Neighborhood Health Center, has experience with collaborative communities and is in favor of what they offer.

“During my time working with these areas, I have witnessed many good deeds done for community members, and this solely serves to emphasize that there is still more to be done to make sure that everyone can take advantage of the advances in health care that the country has made,” Mendoza said.

As a whole, America has made many mistakes concerning their health care and it is now impacting millions negatively but that doesn’t mean that change can’t still happen.

Local health professionals in Buffalo understand all of these issues and are actively doing more to speak up about it in hopes of others catching on and sharing the message as well.

From local foundations to collaborative communities, there is a lot that can be done to help many in the Buffalo area and beyond.