ARMED WITH UNANIMOUS POLICE UNION SUPPORT, DA CANDIDATE KEN CASE IS MAKING THE CASE THAT HE'S THE ONLY INDEPENDENT CHOICE

"What is the most important issue in the current race for Erie County District Attorney?  In the view of candidate Ken Case it's the fact that he was willing to go out on a limb to challenge incumbent DA Frank Clark while others were playing it safe.

"I had the courage to run against Frank Clark and I did it, not because I thought it would benefit my career, but because I believed there was a public safety problem involved here and I thought that someone needed to come forward and insist that a change needed to be made," this former Asst. District Attorney points out. "I thought we needed a DA who would work more closely with the police to make cases against habitual criminals, who would be much more aggressive in using tools such as Project Exile and the witness protection program to fight crime and protect our citizens. Others might have agreed with me, but they didn't have the courage to get out there and put themselves on the line to take a stand. I did."

The result of Case's early decision has been a remarkable run in which he has garnered the support of literally every police union in Erie County that makes endorsements, with the Buffalo Police Benevelent Assn. recently added to the list.

"I have also been endorsed by the WNY Police Assn., the Police Council  of the State of New York, the Erie County Sheriff's PBA, the NFTA police union, the NYS Troopers union, the Cheektowga Police Club,  and the Amherst,

DAVID PATERSON'S WALK ON THE BUDGET CUTTING HIGH WIRE...WHERE HE CUTS WILL DETERMINE WHO WILL BE BANKROLLING  HIS OPPONENTS

Accidential New York Governor David Paterson did the right thing, both politically and otherwise, by taking the fiscal bull by the horns with a 10 minute address to the people of the Empire State in which he called the Legislature back into session to cut $700 milion from the state budget. What would have been really impressive would have been if the Governor had outlined exactly WHERE he thought the Albany spending plan should be cut.

The big problem for a Governor who wants to run for a term in his own right in 2010 is that whatever cuts he decides to support will in turn spawn a group of political enemies who will be ready, willing, and able to spend big money to defeat him...possibly on behalf of an Andrew Cuomo challenge in the Dem primary two years from now or another Tom Suozzi run.

For example, if he chooses to propose cutting the state workforce, he will have to contend

EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS ON THE MAYOR'S TAKE-HOME CAR AND DRIVER BY SIGNING ON-LINE PETITION

Do you object to Mayor Brown's use of a 24/7 city car and driver? If you do, a community group known as Save Buffalo is circulating a petition asking the Mayor to give up both. More information including their press release follows:

DISTRICT 4 STEELWORKERS DIRECTOR BILL PIENTA: HE REPRESENTS THE MOST PRODUCTIVE WORKERS IN THE WORLD...ALL THEY NEED TO SUCCEED IS A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

Instead of complaining about the challenges of free trade, play by the rules, the Bush Administration says to the American Labor Movement. So the United Steelworkers decided to do just that, mounting expensive legal challenges to the unfair trading practices used by the Peoples Republic of China and winning all six cases before international trade tribunals.

What did the steelworkers get for their diligence?

"We won all 6 cases, but the Bush Administration simply refused to enforce what the courts ruled against China," reports United Steelworkers of America District 4 Director Bill Pienta. "They just refused. The problem is that the provisions of these trade agreements that could protect American workers from unfair practices by China and other countries are simply not being enforced. Did you know that the Chinese government has forgiven the electric bills run up by their steel industry to the tune of over $30 billion?

"Can  you imagine how well our steel industry could do if our government were to pay all of their utility bills? According to every study that's been done, our workers are the most productive per man hour in the world. But, it's pretty hard to compete with countries that continually break the rules of international trade as stated in the trade agreements themselves and nothing is done about it."

Still, Pienta asks that readers please don't get him wrong. Many of his members' jobs in

AS CROWDS CALL HIM A HERO, DENNIS DELANO DECLARES IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE IN THE EMPIRE STATE....ASKS WHERE OPPONENT HAS BEEN PAST 27 YEARS

It happens everywhere Republican state senate candidate Dennis Delano goes, at Hamburg's Blast on the Beach, at the Blessed Sacrament Church lawn, at Cheektowaga's Pulaksi Day Parade....Ordinary people come up to him pledging their support, calling  him their hero for standing up for the innocence of DeJac and Cappozzi even if it meant risking the ire of his superiors, Democrats announcing they will cross party lines to vote for him.

What does Delano see as the major issue of his race against incumbent State Senator Bill Stachowski?

"The major issue for me is putting the taxpayers first," he replies. "Right now many of these politicians in Albany are catering to so many special interests that they aren't even thinking about the interests of the average taxpayer. Look at  how they went home without passing the cap on property taxes, for example. There are thousands of hard working tax payers all over this state who