Going gets tough for JFK Lady Bears

By: Jennifer Orr

When the going gets tough, the team needs to get tough, too. At least that’s the way the JFK Lady Bears varsity soccer team sees things as a group in a highly challenging division.

And so, for the Lady Bears, practice has been a big part of their day-to-day activities. Two solid hours of practice and a half hour of conditioning everyday have become part of the norm for every member on the team.

“Practice, conditioning, skill work,” said coach Rich Mattison, who has taught physical education classes to 14 of the 20 girls on the team since they were in third grade. “I always emphasize that they have to practice the way they expect to play.”

Many of the Lady Bears have played soccer together for years, which can be highly beneficial for the team. Mattison called attention to a new kind of spirit within the team – a new attitude, he says.

“The attitude is different in this year’s team. They’re coming in this year expecting to win more than they have in the past. They want to do it, they know they can do it, they’ve been working hard,” he explained. Among this season’s top players are seniors Emily McGee and Krysta Wiess. McGee, a forward, is probably one of the fastest kids in the state according to Mattison, who added that she is a top prospect for college track teams. Wiess, also a forward, is known for her agility and exceptional ball handling skills among her coaches and teammates.

Other leading players on this year’s roster include senior midfielders Sarah Kapanek and Erin Kraus, and sophomore defensemen Ashley Wieczorek,Katelyn Sikora. Between the team rookies and veterans, there is the right amount of everything – equal parts experience and enthusiasm.

Mattison has one prediction for JFK’s season opener at Lackawanna High School on Wednesday, Sept. 7, which is “to come out hard, play hard, and win the game.”

And as for Mattison’s thoughts on his players, many of whom he has known since their elementary school days: “It’s nice to be coaching at a varsity level with a bunch of girls who are not only good players, but also good people.”

Campus confidential: Amherst High School

By: Mike Pidanick, Metro Source

The Amherst High School football team opened some eyes last season in the ultra-talented Class A. With many of the same names on the roster this season, the Tigers hope to be even better.

“We’re really picking up where we left off last year,” said linebacker Baba Cole, one of seven returning starters on defense. “We feel like we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with. We want to improve on last year and make another run for it.”

After a 6-1 regular season last season, Amherst seems poised for another strong season in 2011. Speed will be the name of the game for the Tigers, who plan on using that turf field to their advantage.

“We’re going to be a spread on offense and an eight-man front on defense that comes at you from all angles. So we’re going to try to use that speed and athleticism for us.

“We should be fun to watch. Win, lose or draw, we should be fun to watch.”

The speed will have to be the strength because there is a lack of size on Amherst ‘s roster. But the effort is there and the Tigers hope the skill guys will find the room to make things happen.

“We’re thin up front,” Murphy said. “We just don’t have a lot of big guys right now at our school that are out playing. So we have to piece that together a bit.

“But we’re going to be fine - the kids we have are working hard and getting better.”

Junior quarterback Justin Twarog is back to lead the offense and he’ll have some weapons in senior receiver Brandon Borden as well as Jonathan Belton, who Murphy said “is a real threat down the field.

The Tigers lost all-star running back Keeon Colvin to graduation, but they’ve got a talented new back to replace him. Senior Justin Burke transferred to Amherst after running for 1,800 yards last season at St. Mary’s of Lancaster .

Defensively, the Tigers will be led by senior linebacker Marquis Artis, who topped 100 tackles last season. Senior Matt Gallineau, a four-year starter, and senior Baba Cole are also back at linebacker.

“We have a good core of guys coming back,” Murphy said. “They know how to practice and they know what it takes.”

National Grid reaches out to customers

National Grid is reaching out to their customers across New York and other states to share some energy-saving tips with them this summer. Energy usage can skyrocket in the summer, especially during the long, hot spells when everyone turns on their air conditioning and fans, and refrigerators and freezers are doing double duty. Conserving energy usage elsewhere doesn’t just help lower energy bills, but it also helps ensure that there is plenty of power to go around.

The energy giant’s elaborate system of measuring how much power there is from moment to moment indicates that there shouldn’t be any problems keeping up with the energy demand of the 6 million customers they serve, but also hope that those same customers will help them stretch the available energy even further.

“Power usage and demand is literally a minute-by-minute balancing act,” says National Grid’s Steve Brady. “Behind the scenes there is a lot of activity that the average customer doesn’t even think about.”

That includes rerouting power from low-use areas to high use, falling back on backup generators when the usage gets too high and even shutting some generators off if the usage drops. It also takes into consideration not just the energy usage readings of the moment, but also trends over the past years, economic activity and customer patterns.

In Western New York, there tends to be periods of holding patterns, but when the temperatures spike as they have been recently the power usage spikes with it. In the worst case scenario, this can lead to power brownouts -- instances where the power delivered to the home is enough to run appliances but not at peak efficiency -- or even blackouts. National Grid’s elaborate systems are in place to keep that from happening, but that job is made much easier with their customer’s help.

Their web site -- nationalgridus.com -- has a number of energy-saving tips for making the home’s energy usage more efficient. From things to do in the kitchen to ways to make laundry and lighting less of a drain on the checkbook, there are a myriad of tips that don’t take much to implement. Many of these tips are something that only a power company might think of.

Changing the thermostat just a few degrees can definitely have an impact on the bottom line -- a 3 degree temperature change in the right direction can cut almost 20 percent off the energy usage for the home’s heating and cooling. And something as simple as closing the curtains on the side of the house where the sun is shining can cut down on how hard the air conditioning has to work to keep the house cool.

Some energy-saving tips require a one-time investment, such as changing the bulbs to a more efficient type or lower wattage. Putting new gaskets on the refrigerator and keeping fans and vents clean will also make a big difference.

“It’s the small things,” Brady says. “If you start putting even two or three of those together, you can start to see a real difference. Energy usage has to do with the economy as well as the weather. People are really starting to take energy costs seriously and finding ways to save.”

Travis Pitzonka leaves Lancaster for St. Francis College

by Mike Pidanick, Metro Source

As Travis Pitzonka leaves Lancaster for St. Francis College, he sees opportunity as he heads to the next level.

“I’m looking forward to that,” he said. “They run a 3-4 defense and all four of their linebackers from this past season graduated. So everything is wide open.

“I’m going to come in and work hard and earn my spot.

And when Pitzonka says he’s going to work hard, he means it. Last summer, he was one of Lancaster’s Iron Man Award winners based on offseason workouts. That effort paid off when the games started to count for real as Pitzonka, a 6-foot, 215-pound linebacker, had an outstanding senior season for the Redskins.

He collected 103 tackles and won the Tomahawk Award as the team’s hardest hitter. He also earned Class AA South 1st Team honors.

He hopes to play as soon as he can at St. Francis, a Division I Football Championship Subdivision program located in Loretto, Pa. The Red Flash are coming off a disappointing 1-10 season and Pitzonka hopes to be part of the solution.

“I can’t wait to get down there and get to work,” he said.

Before he departs, Pitzonka had one last chance to show Western New York what he can do. He earned Defensive Player of the Game honors for the South team in a 28-20 victory in the the 36th annual Kensington Lions Club’s All-Star High School Football Classic.

“I had a great time being part of this game,” said Pitzonka, who had nine tackles and an interception. “It was great to play again with two of my teammates, Jeremiah Luderman and Austin Bauer - it was fun to play with them for a game, and I got to meet a couple of new friends, too. It was a great time.”

Spend the night with the Buffalo Bisons

The Clarence Chamber will be hosting a community night alongside the Buffalo Bisons on Friday, Aug. 19 at Coca-Cola Field, for their game against the Toledo Mud Hens.

Tickets for this Friday night bash are $12 each, for reserved seats behind home plate Section 101, no less. Game time is 7:35 p.m. sharp, with the ballpark gates opening at 6 p.m.

Fireworks will blast off following the game. Come take part, and join in the excitement of this first ever Clarence community night with the Bisons.

To purchase tickets, stop by the Chamber office at 8975 Main St. or call 631-3888. A limited number of tickets is available. Be sure to get your tickets before Aug. 10.

Legislature Calls on County Executive and Health Department to Release Appropriated Funds for Rodent Abatement

Buffalo, NY –  The Erie County Legislature passed a resolution calling on the County Executive and Health Department to release the funds appropriate for rodent abatement.

On April 14, 2011 the Legislature passed a resolution that appropriated $70,000 for use in rodent abatement.  The money was intended to be used to for training of town and village officials in rodent abatement methods including baiting.

At the Legislature’s annual Mid-Year Budget Hearings Legislator Lynn Marinelli (D-Tonawanda and Buffalo) asked officials from the County Health Department what steps were being taken to distribute this money to the municipalities.  The Health Department officials said they were waiting on direction from the County Executive on how to distribute the funds.

“These funds should have been used for rodent abatement months ago,” stated Marinelli “I can’t understand what the Administration is waiting for, but I can tell you that the residents of my district expect this money to be spent and this problem to be confronted immediately.  Saying that we are waiting on a plan is unacceptable – action needs to be taken now to control the rat population.”

The resolution also called for the addition of 2 positions in the Health Department that deal with rodent abatement to be restored.  Those positions were eliminated from the County budget this year by the Administration.

“The County Executive has said this is not a state mandated service that the County has to perform,” Marinelli explained.  “But I am saying that the residents of the County of Erie are the ones that are proclaiming this a mandate.  Rodent abatement is high on the list of priority for the residents and that is what makes it an important issue for the County.”

GOVERNOR CUOMO SIGNS LAW TO ALLOW STATE LIBRARY AND MUSEUM TO OPEN ON WEEKENDS

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed a law to allow the Board of Regents to determine what days the state library and museum will be open, giving the Regents the ability to set a new schedule that better serves the public and weekend visitors to Albany.
"The state library and museum is a testament to New York's extraordinary history and should be made as accessible as possible to all those who visit our state's capital," Governor Cuomo said. "This law will allow for the public to visit the museum on weekends without additional costs to taxpayers. I thank Senator McDonald and Assemblywoman Nolan for sponsoring this legislation."
Current law requires the library, which houses the state museum, to be open for at least eight hours every week day. The new law still requires the library to be open at least five days a week, but allows the Board of Regents to decide which days it will be open.
Senator Roy McDonald said, "The opportunity for local community residents and visitors to learn about New York's rich history is very important. The museum's many impressive displays tell a story of New York's founding and important role in the history of this nation. I thank Governor Cuomo for signing this important measure into law and I welcome visitors to our area."
Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan said, "With tight budgets and constrained spending, it is important to continue to find ways to make our institutions of public learning, such as the state museum and library here in Albany, open and accessible to the public without extra costs. Governor Cuomo has done this today, and I applaud him for signing this bill. We must continue to look to the lessons throughout New York's history as we rebuild the Empire State, and allowing for the state library and museum to be open to the public on weekends is a step in the right direction."

GOVERNOR CUOMO TO SIGN LAW TO PROHIBIT SALE OF CHILD PRODUCTS CONTAINING DANGEROUS CHEMICALS

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced he will sign a law to prohibit the sale of child care products containing the flame retardant chemical TRIS which has been known to cause cancer in test animals and has been banned for decades from children’s clothing.

"This new law will continue our efforts to protect children from potentially hazardous chemicals," Governor Cuomo said. "For years this product has been known as a potential carcinogenic and appropriately banned from children's clothing, and it is long overdue that we extend these protections to other child care products. I thank the sponsors of this legislation, Senator Grisanti and Assemblyman Sweeney, for their work to ensure New York's children are protected from chemicals that could cause them harm."

The legislation bans the sale of any consumer merchandise intended for use by children under three, such as baby toys, car seats, crib mattresses and strollers, if the product contains the TRIS chemical. Violators would be charged $1,000 per day for a first violation and up to $2,500 for a second violation. Since 1977, TRIS has been banned from use in children’s clothing, although its low cost has led to a proliferation of its use in baby gear including strollers, nursing pillows and rocking chair foam. The law applies to any products sold after December 1, 2013.

Senator Mark Grisanti said, "It is shocking that a chemical known to cause cancer in test animals has been used so widely in child care products. The signing of this bill is a major step forward in protecting our children from the dangers of TRIS, and parents should welcome this new safeguard as an important cautionary measure for the future health of children across the state. I commend Governor Cuomo's leadership in signing legislation that protects children from harmful substances."

Assemblyman Robert Sweeney said, "Children are more sensitive to and are at increased risk from chemical exposure. The passage of this legislation is an important step to protect children from unnecessary health risks caused by chemicals found in products designed for young children. There are safer alternatives to TRIS that do not have the same health concerns."