Mark Grisanti's News items

Amanda Lynn’s Law is clearing another political hurdle in Albany, where the senate has passed the legislation making it a felony to tamper with… or dispose of… human remains. On January 9, 2009, Amanda Wienckowski’s nude body was found in a garbage tote along side of a church on Spring Street in Buffalo. She had been missing for weeks. Wienckowski’s family is pushing for a new law and with the help of State Senator Mark Grisanti…the law has now passed the New York State Senate. “We know that poor Amamda did not find herself in that dumpster by herself. Somebody put her there. When somebody does that…somebody needs to be held accountable. They are tampering with evidence. They are tampering with the potential of a crime scene,” Senator Grisanti said.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, one of the most glaring problems that emerged was that emergency personnel did not have radio systems that could communicate with each other. This deficiency was responsible for hundreds of emergency responders not hearing the warning to vacate the towers. The deaths of these brave responders might have been prevented with the proper communication systems.

A plan to end or sharply cut state aid in two years to Roswell Park Cancer Institute has been tentatively reshaped to give more time for the hospital to enter into moneymaking arrangements to improve its fiscal health.

The deal, expected to be part of the 2012 state budget coming together this week at the Capitol, would remove a deadline for Roswell Park to become “operationally independent” from the state by March 2014.

The Niagara Parks Commission will allow tightrope walker Nik Wallenda to walk a wire across the Niagara gorge – a 180-degree turn from its established policy.

Commissioners voted Wednesday to allow the stunt during their Wednesday morning meeting.

It’s an about face for the provincial agency responsible for managing the public property along the Niagara River. It goes against a decades-old policy banning stunters from Niagara Falls.

The parks commission has decided to allow one “qualified stutner” every 20 years.

“It’s a new day,” Niagara Parks Commission chairwoman Janice Thomoson said.

The commission will give Wallenda 45 days to negotiate the arrangements for the walk.

By Richard Baldwin

More than 450 people signed a petition over the Christmas weekend to restore $10 million in state aid to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to preserve full Metro Bus service in Erie and Niagara counties.

State Sen. Mark J. Grisanti, R-Buffalo, said Tuesday he hopes to collect more than 1,000 signatures in coming weeks on his online petition.

The NFTA has announced plans to eliminate about 22 percent of its bus routes and to lay off about 20 of its 100 police officers in order to close a $14.5 million deficit in its budget for the year beginning next April 1.

Western New York lawmakers are hailing the recently approved UB 2020 plan as an initiative that will improve the city’s economy and quality of the university.

The grant, approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Amherst last Tuesday, is part of the SUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program he signed in August. The plan awards $35 million in state funds to the University of Buffalo and begins the first phase of a larger $375 million strategic development that will relocate the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus in downtown Buffalo.

Ninety-six projects in Western New York will get state government cash or tax breaks after the region was selected Thursday, along with three other areas, in a new competitive program for economic development.

Officials picked through hundreds of funding applications and approved $100.3 million for the state's five westernmost counties for projects stretching from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, which is getting nearly 10 percent of the money destined for the area, to a high-temperature lab at Alfred University.

NIAGARA FALLS - Members of the city’s tourism advisory board will get some help with their concerns about the Robert Moses Parkway from the Republican state senator representing Niagara Falls.Following a meeting Monday at City Hall, state Sen.

The 2011-12 Home Energy Assistance Program season is fast approaching. Please review the following information:

The HEAP mail out of “Early Access” applications to Households with Senior Citizen, Disabled, or other vulnerable members, commenced on 8/29/11. The mail out process will take 2-3 weeks. Please advise clients/constituents you speak with to expect an application, and to mail it in as soon as possible. HEAP funding is limited and allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Attached are application instructions. We are receiving inquiries about need for submitting documentation. Please advise your clients/constituents: