The lake effect snow event that's been pounding the Little Valley area continues today... but can somebody tell me why Cattaraugus-Little Valley and Salamanca thought it was a good idea to open for classes in this weather? 12/6

Not a good sign: the Long Island Republican who will lead the New York State Senate in January says Democrat Andrew Cuomo is "one of us" (New York Post)... 12/6

Ten feet high and rising: Olean and Salamanca river gauges creep closer to flood stage (NWS)... 12/1

Rumors: Buffalo Sabres up for sale to multibillionaire Terrence Pegula (The Hockey News)... 11/30

Seneca nation wants control of the Kinzua Dam (Sharon Turano)... 11/30 (Considering how much they opposed, and still oppose, the dam, is this really a good idea??)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM FULLERVISION.NET: CHECK OUT THANKSGIVING FULLERVISION STYLE 2010 FOR PARADES AND MORE... (Note: The Fullervision computer has been in the shop for over a week due to a broken monitor, which explains the lack of updates in the past few days. Full updates should resume Monday or Tuesday.) UPDATE: Good news, the laptop is back Monday, so I'm catching up on some lost time right now.

It's about time: Route 219 extension finally opens... now, instead of dumping out in Springville, it dumps out in the middle of rural Ashford... 11/20

UPDATE: The Christmas music has begun in WNY: WJYE and WTSS flipped to the holiday tunes this morning... 11/15

Congressman Tom Reed hospitalized (Liz Benjamin)... 11/15

Thomas Hamilton, 92-year-old former pastor of the Great Valley UMC, is missing after getting lost on a trail in Allegany State Park (WIVB) (WGRZ) (AP)... 11/10

The infamous "Four Loko" high-alcohol energy drink is being pulled from sale at Tops and Wegmans stores (WIVB)... 11/10 (Brooks Market never carried the drink. I don't think I ever saw it in Crosby's, either.)

Farm accident in Freedom kills one, puts another into critical condition (WIVB)... 11/9

Chuck Schumer, supporter of partisan gerrymandering (City Hall News)... 11/8

CHECK YOUR CLOCKS: STANDARD TIME RESUMES TODAY (check time)... 11/7

Another county auction coming up... but not land this time: a whole fleet of police cars and other used items go up for bids Saturday, November 13 at 9:00 at the DPW outside Little Valley (Cattaraugus County)... 11/3

FULLERVISION LIVEBLOGS THE 2010 ELECTIONS:
AS OF 9:30... VERY FEW PRECINCTS REPORTED SO FAR, ONLY ONES ARE FROM NYC... NOTHING FROM UPSTATE AND, BY EXTENSION, NOTHING FROM CATTARAUGUS COUNTY. MEDIA HAS DECIDED TO DECLARE WINNER BY EXIT POLL, AS THEY ALWAYS LIKE TO DO IN NEW YORK. FAT CHANCE. I'M WAITING UNTIL THE POLLS COME IN.
UPDATE: AS OF 10:00... FIRST REPORTS COMING IN FROM CATTARAUGUS AND CHAUTAUQUA COUNTIES... PALADINO UP BIG IN BOTH COUNTIES... INCUMBENT DEMOCRATS WINNING BOTH SENATE RACES... PALADINO STRONG IN MOST OF WNY SO FAR... CUOMO WINNING IN PRECINCTS EAST OF SYRACUSE...
UPDATE: AS OF 10:30... GIVEN THE PERFORMANCES BY SCHUMER AND GILLIBRAND IN AREAS WHERE REPUBLICANS HAVE PERFORMED BIG, I'M READY TO PROJECT THEM WINNERS... CUOMO LEADS... TAXPAYERS POLLING EVEN WITH WORKING-FAMILIES UP HERE, BUT BOTH WELL BEHIND IP AND CP AND IN LINE WITH GREEN PARTY TALLY... COULD BE BAD NEWS FOR TXP AND WFP IN TRYING TO REACH 50,000... REED LEADS ZELLER IN BOTH NY-29 RACES... VOLK CAMPAIGN A TOTAL DUD, ONLY ONE WRITE-IN IN EITHER RACE SO FAR... YOUNG LEADS MCCORMICK 9-1 SO FAR (WOW)... GIGLIO LEADS LECCEADONE FOR ASSEMBLY-149...
UPDATE: AS OF 11:00... IN NY-27 HIGGINS HOLDS THE LEAD BUT LOSES CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY TO ROBERTO... GOODELL DEFEATS BARGAR FOR ASSEMBLY-150... TAXPAYERS, WFP, GREENS ALL ABOVE 1% WHICH SHOULD PUT THEM IN CONTENTION FOR THE 50,000 MARK... ALL NUMBERS IN FOR CHAUTAUQUA. IN CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, RETURNS ARE MUCH SLOWER TO GET IN. NOT MUCH CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS REPORTS... VOLK UP TO 16 VOTES BUT STILL A NON-FACTOR IN NY-29 WHERE REED STILL LEADS... YOUNG LEAD DOWN TO A 7-1 MARGIN... GIGLIO STILL UP BIG ON LECCEADONE... PALADINO OUTPERFORMING ALL THE OTHER STATEWIDE GOP CANDIDATES IN BOTH COUNTIES...
CLOSING THOUGHTS: I INITIALLY POSTED THAT THE STATE SENATE WOULD REMAIN IN DEMOCRATS' HANDS. THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY THE CASE. ONE DOWNSTATE RACE WENT FROM GOP TO DEM IN QUEENS, WHICH WOULD COUNTERACT THE GOP GAIN IN NNY. HOWEVER, IN A BIG UPSET, MARK GRISANTI IS NARROWLY LEADING INCUMBENT DEM ANTOINE THOMPSON IN BUFFALO AREA. IF IT HOLDS, IT BRINGS IT TO 31-31-- BOB DUFFY, LG, WOULD HAVE A CASTING VOTE ON PROCEDURAL STUFF BUT OTHERWISE IT'D BE GRIDLOCK AND 2009 ALL OVER AGAIN. A COUPLE OTHER DOWNSTATE DEMS' RACES ARE TOO CLOSE TO CALL. THERE IS HOPE FOR AVOIDING THE "REDISTRICTING INTO OBLIVION" SCENARIO. NONETHELESS, ED COX, STATE GOP CHAIR, SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR HIS PARTY'S PERFORMANCE LAST NIGHT LOSING EVERY STATEWIDE RACE AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERING RESIGNATION. ERIE AND NIAGARA CHAIRMEN, WHERE THE GOP OUTPERFORMED, REPORTEDLY BEING CONSIDERED FOR THE POST... LOCALLY, NO SURPRISES, BUT EVEN WITH MCCORMICK'S AD PRESENCE, YOUNG PROBABLY HAD HER BIGGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY EVER WITH HER MANHATTAN-LIKE 61K-11K (85-15) PERFORMANCE LAST NIGHT.

It hasn't happened here yet... but it's coming: four stations in upstate New York (two sister stations in Central New York and two rivals in Albany) have changed over to Christmas music on November 1... and with that in mind I've launched Christmas Fullervision Style. 11/1

For those who have asked: trick-or-treat is Sunday night, Halloween night, from 6 to 8 p.m. (I posted this on the official FV Facebook page but haven't posted it yet here.) 10/30

Report: fatal car accident on New Albion Road last night/this morning... deceased identified as Kevin "Kenny" Preston, 46. 10/31

Comptroller DiNapoli plans to stiff WNY of sales tax revenue (Business First)... 10/30

The debut of a new breed-- and it's about time: judicial attack ads (Buffalo News)... 10/28 Maybe now we'll know what we're voting for.

CUOMO: "THERE IS NO PLACE CALLED UPSTATE NEW YORK" (Buffalo News)... 10/26

Ladies and gentlemen... assemblyman Joseph "Gigolo" (Buffalo News)... 10/23 Cue the David Lee Roth...

THE FLAKES ARE FLYIN': The first flakes of snow (of the lake-effect variety) have left a dusting of accumulation in the valleys and perhaps as much as a coating on the hilltops. There will be a few scattered showers today, but this weekend should see highs in the 60s. 10/22

The leaf-suckers are out: the village of Little Valley has begun its annual cleanup of extra autumn leaves. There haven't been any public postings but the cleanup began last Monday. I'm assuming it will take place each Monday and by request, so call the village if you're interested. 10/19

Bottle bombing in Allegany (WESB)... 10/19
Update 10/20: One of the accused placed a confession on his Facebook profile this morning. He has since retracted it. I have the confession saved to my hard drive and will make it available to the authorities if asked.

Illegal aliens busted in Randolph (WESB)... 10/19

Remember Ralph "Bucky" Phillips? Well, he's suing the cops (YNN)... 10/17

Fall Foliage Report: Week of October 15
Little Valley, as I reported last week, is mostly past peak. There remains significant color, mostly on the northern, south-facing hills, but southern, north-facing hills are almost bare at this point. The state tourism agency reports that the Finger Lakes and I-90 corridor are at near peak, most of the southern tier and Hudson Valley are at peak foliage, and the mountains at past peak. Rochester, in a peculiarity, remains stuck at midpoint. Northern Pennsylvania is also reporting past-peak foliage in most trees, except for oaks.

Judge punts: Arcara rules that state does in fact have the right to collect excise taxes on Seneca sales to non-Indians, but won't let the state collect them until the next step on the appeals process has completed, citing public safety concerns. Senecas promised appeal immediately afterward (Buffalo News)... 10/15

Oh good grief... not this guy again: Moe "We have little sympathy for outsiders" John is running for Seneca President again (Buffalo News)... 10/12

Moody's downgrades bond rating of Seneca casinos due to their refusal to pay the state (Business First)... 10/12

Happy Thanksgiving... in Canada: Forget Columbus Day. If you want to celebrate Thanksgiving early, and you have Atlantic Broadband, tune to channel 9 (CFTO/Toronto) at noon for the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade. The coverage lasts one hour. Then, at 1:00, log on to ESPN3.com and catch the Thanksgiving Day Classic as the Canadian Football League holds its annual Turkey Day doubleheader. For those without access to ESPN3, you can try listening live: CJAD.com for the opening game (or CKAC.com if you're familiar with le français), CJOB.com for the nightcap. What you eat for dinner is your responsibility. 10/11

Fall Foliage Report: Week of October 8
A prolonged stretch of rain appears to have short circuited this year's fall color display. The hill outside Little Valley is partially bare. The hills facing the sun have now shown duller yellow and orange colors compared to the brighter ones on display earlier this fall, but most still have their leaves. Overall, foliage is probably at its peak.
Around the state, the Finger Lakes, Erie Canal/I-90 corridor, and the Lake Champlain area are listed as at midpoint. The outer Catskills and fringes of the Adirondacks are listed to be in peak foliage. The Mohawk Valley and most of the rest of the southern tier are listed at near peak. Pennsylvania notes that maple and birch trees are at peak and that oaks are just changing.

Seneca nation backtracks: We'll give the municipalities their share of casino revenue directly (Jamestown Post-Journal)... 10/8
* Update 10/12: Paterson says no way (Olean Times Herald)...

Murder in Salamanca (WIVB)... 10/8

Is this really necessary?? Florida expatriates dump their land in Perrysburg to rebuild the old Gowanda hospital that was flooded last year... 10/8

STATE DROPS THE BOMB: PAY UP-- OR THE CASINOS SHUT DOWN (Buffalo News)... 10/7