A 'Flying Wallenda' to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope

(CNN) -- Renowned high-wire walker Nik Wallenda has announced he will attempt to walk a tightrope over Niagara Falls between the United States and Canada on June 15, the first person to do so in more than a century. "This has been a dream for so long, since I was 6 years old," Wallenda said at a news conference Wednesday. Wallenda will walk a 2-inch cable attached to massive cranes on each side of the falls, about 1,800 feet across, and 200 feet up from the bottom of the gorge. The crossing should take about 30 to 40 minutes and is planned to take place in early evening. "There's something iconic about Niagara Falls," Wallenda told CNN on Thursday. "There is a history here." According to Niagara Falls Tourism, the first tightrope walker to cross the falls was Jean Francois Gravelet, better known as "The Great Blondin," in 1859. The last person to cross the gorge on a wire was James Hardy in 1896, but Wallenda said he will be the first to cross directly over the waterfall. "The other people all crossed farther down," said Wallenda. The reason it has been so long since any daredevils have attempted the dangerous feat is because Niagara Falls Park banned tightrope walking displays after Hardy's walk, according to Niagara Falls Tourism. Wallenda, 33, was determined to perform the death-defying stunt and lobbied politicians in the U.S. and Canada to get approval. "I can't tell you the amount of times I was told, 'no,' 'impossible,'" he said. "I just kept on fighting." Wallenda's first breakthrough came in September, he said, when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill giving him permission to perform the feat. At first, Canadian authorities wouldn't allow the stunt on their end, said Wallenda, but finally gave him the go-ahead in February, specifying that they would grant permission for such spectacular acts only once every generation. "This is something that people will talk about for generations to come," said Wallenda. Wallenda says he plans to train in Niagara Falls on May 12 through 22, crossing a practice wire identical in size and length to the one he will cross over the falls in June. Nik Wallenda is a seventh-generation performer in the famed circus family known as The Flying Wallendas. The clan has been doing impressive circus acrobatics and stunts since the 1700s. "My great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, was my biggest hero in life, my biggest inspiration behind everything I do," Wallenda said in 2011 after he completed the exact 100-foot-high walk in Puerto Rico that killed his great-grandfather, who fell to his death in 1978 at age 73. Wallenda, who calls himself "the king of the high wire," has broken several world records and holds the Guinness Record for crossing the longest and highest high wire on a bicycle.

...It looks like the Bills want $200 million in stadium upgrades.

It looks like the Bills want $200 million in stadium upgrades. What they didn’t say goes without saying: Either taxpayers pony up, or the Buffalo Bills — like their namesake — saddle up.

Complicating the issue is an expiring 15-year lease and the mortality of the team’s 93-year-old owner. Ralph Wilson reportedly has no contingency plan to keep the team here after he is gone. The Bills — valued at $792 million — presumably would go to the highest bidder, who probably won’t be from around here. A likely landing spot is Los Angeles, an NFL-covetous mega-market with wannabe owner Phillip Anschutz eager to launch a stadium project.

We know what the Bills want. Here is, to my mind, what we need:

A Lock-down Lease: A $200 million rehab ought to tie the team here for at least 20 years. The Bills reportedly have hinted at a “clawback” deal that refunds — all or in part — stadium fix-up costs if they bolt. That’s not bad. But it could leave us with a gleaming white elephant for monster truck shows.

“You need an extended lease in return for improvements,” said Robert Baade, a sports economics professor at Lake Forest College in suburban Chicago. “Teams have learned how to make these arrangements less than iron-clad— like if specific revenues fall below a certain point, the deal is off. You have to watch for the loopholes.”

Of course, Wilson could craft a lease that locks the team here, with no exit doors. But the Bills are worth more somewhere else. Locking them here shaves a bit off of a still-astronomical sales price. That would be a noble gesture, given the community’s half-century of support for mostly losing teams. But that, sadly, is apparently not what will happen.

Get the Bills to Pony Up: The stratospheric value of teams, and tougher economic times, have made massive stadium subsidies less digestible for governments. More teams are kicking in — with cash or shared revenue — for new or improved playpens. The Kansas City Chiefs reportedly laid out $125 million for Arrowhead’s recent $400 million overhaul. St. Louis wants the Rams to cover half of a proposed $124 million fix-up. In Minneapolis, the Vikings are reportedly in for $427 million of a planned $1 billion stadium. The Bills should ante up.

Let Albany Carry the Weight: Dennis Gorski’s coup 14 years ago was getting the state to pay the $63 million fix-up bill. The county then forked over all game-day revenue except breathing rights. That looks to me where the bar is set for Mark Poloncarz.

Hope Another Team Lands in Los Angeles: The NFL landscape is less nomadic than it was 14 years ago. Abandoning longtime NFL cities was bad PR for the league, which now slaps a hefty “relocation fee” on stake-pullers. Beyond that, a tougher economy shaved the number of cities offering everything save firstborn children to entice an NFL team. Which — to our benefit — leaves fewer places for the Bills to land.

The anxiety-provoker is Los Angeles, which wants to pirate an existing team, has a deep-pocketed prospective owner and a stadium proposal ready to launch. The L.A. threat has been used by a handful of teams to leverage new or remade stadiums. Its presence strengthens the Bills' negotiation muscle and gives the next owner a juicy relocation option.

“The L.A. card was played in Minneapolis [to land a new stadium],” Baade said, “and I’m sure it has been whispered with Buffalo. I don’t see Toronto as a viable [relocation] alternative, but L.A. is a different story."

I know that fans are jacked up about next season. But the game with the highest stakes for Buffalo will not be played on the field. Let’s not roll over.

Berman!!!

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres have agreed to sign two prospects, forward Dan Catenacci and goalie Connor Knapp, to entry-level contracts.

Catenacci was Buffalo’s third-round pick in the 2011 draft. He agreed to a three-year deal after completing his final season with OHL Owen Sound, where he finished second on the team with 72 points in 67 games.

Knapp, listed at 6-foot-6 and 222 pounds, was Buffalo’s sixth-round pick in the 2009 draft. He agreed to a two-year deal after completing his college career at Miami, Ohio. Knapp is coming off a career-best season after going 15-9 with a 1.69 goals-against average and five shutouts.

The contracts go into effect next year. Both players are set to join Buffalo’s AHL affiliate in Rochester on amateur tryouts for the rest of this season.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Mario Williams To Buffalo! It's Official!!!!

After three days of negotiating, courting and wining and dining, the Buffalo Bills officially landed prized free agent Mario Williams Thursday. ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports both sides have reached an agreement, but terms were undisclosed.

Williams is potentially the biggest free-agent signing in Bills history and a game-changer for the franchise. Buffalo's 26th-ranked defense struggled mightily getting to the quarterback, and Williams has 53 career sacks in six seasons. Williams also will team with defensive tackles Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams to form one of the NFL's top defensive lines.

The price tag will be costly, but it should be worth it for Buffalo. Williams provides star power, a franchise building block, and a reason for Bills fans to rejoice.

We will have more on Williams and Buffalo next in the AFC East blog. For the time being, share your thoughts on the major signing below.

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons Tickets Buffalo. May19th 2012

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Teachers Spent $5.9 million on Plastic Surgery Last Year. Thats Where Our F*&kin Tax Money Goes..JOKE

Buffalo, NY (CNN) -- As thousands of teachers face layoffs across the country, teachers in Buffalo, NY are getting lipo, nose jobs and any other kind of plastic surgery they want, all on the taxpayers' dime.

Through one of their insurance plan options, all 3,400 teachers in Buffalo are billed nothing for any plastic surgery procedure such as botox, liposuction, and tummy tucks, and there is no deductable.

Second grade teacher Linda Tokarz said she gets regular treatments.

"I think its great for us," Tokarz said. "I wouldn't want to see it taken away."

Dr. Kulwant Bhangoo has been a plastic surgeon in Buffalo for almost four decades.

"I feel the teachers have paid their dues, and it would be wrong to take it away from them," Bhangoo said.

He has plenty of non-teacher patients, but Dr. Bhangoo claimed three out of every ten of his patients are Buffalo teachers, and the school district's insurance covers every single penny.

They come in for hair removal on their face, rhinoplasty, even breast enhancement.

Dr. Bhangoo is one of many plastic surgeons who advertise in the teachers union newsletter.

Last year, Buffalo schools spent $5.9 million on plastic surgery, which is also known as a cosmetic rider. Buffalo teachers have had this rider nearly four decades. It is the only school district in the country known to have such a cosmetic rider for teachers.

Most people might think Buffalo's school district has plenty of cash to offer perks like free plastic surgery, but that is not the case. Louis Petrucci, president of the Buffalo Board of Education, said he is projecting a $42 million deficit in next year's school budget. Petrucci said if the $5.9 million wasn't being spent on plastic surgeries, he would hire about 240 teachers.

The teachers claim there is more to this story. They said the teachers contract with the city expired nearly a decade ago and negotiations for a new one have failed.  And they add, they are woefully underpaid.

"We've told the district from the beginning of negotiations six or eight years ago that we're willing to give it up," said Philip Rumore, president of the teachers union, about the plastic surgery benefit, "so as long the district comes back to the table with us, it's gone."

Police and firefighters in Buffalo have similar plastic surgery programs, but those departments are not dealing with the same financial problems as the economically challenged school system.

Kevin Hart.Buffalo. “Let Me Explain Tour."First Niagara Center. 3/16/2012

Comedian Kevin Hart will be performing in Buffalo when his “Let Me Explain Tour” comes to First Niagara Center on Saturday, March 10th at 8pm.

Hart has burst onto the scene as one of the most versatile comedy actors in film and television. In September 2011 Hart released “Laugh At My Pain” the feature film version of his comedy tour (under the same name) the movie grossed over $7Million and was the 2011 most successful film that was released in less than 300 theaters. The LAMP Tour made Hart 2011’s number one comedian on Ticketmaster and in February 2011 Hart sold out the Nokia Theater two nights in a row to break a record previously set by Eddie Murphy.

Hart’s DVD Seriously...Funny is one of the fastest selling DVDs in recent years and has gone triple Platinum. His comedy central special of the same name is the highest rated comedy special of 2010.

In 2012 Hart will be seen starring in two movies. On March 9, 2011 Screen Gem will release Think Like A Man, a comedy is based on Steve Harvey's bestselling 2009 book Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man. In April 2012 Universal will release the Nick Stoller comedy Five Year Engagement for producer Judd Apatow.

Kevin Hart comes to Buffalo

Hart was last seen in the Meet the Fockers Sequel "Little Fockers", and Death at a Funeral, alongside Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan and Martin Lawrence. He also co-starred alongside Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in Fool’s Gold, as well as opposite Steve Carell in The 40 Year Old Virgin. Hart’s film credits include: Soul Plane opposite Tom Arnold, Method Man and Snoop Dogg, Not Easily Broken, Extreme Movie, Drillbit Taylor, Epic Movie, The Last Stand, Scary Movie 4, and In the Mix, Meet Dave and Superhero Movie.

In 2009, Hart’s one-hour comedy special “I’m a Grown Little Man” on Comedy Central was also one of the highest rated specials for the network. Hart was the host of BET’s classic stand-up comedy series “Comic View: One Mic Stand.” Hart’s other television credits include ABC’s “The Big House” which he also executive produced and wrote, and recurring roles on “Love, Inc,” “Barbershop,” and “Undeclared.”

Hart debuted on amateur night at a Philadelphia comedy club and was instantly hooked. He quit his job as a shoe salesman and began performing full time at such clubs as The Boston Comedy Club, Caroline’s, Stand-Up NY, The Laugh Factory and The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. However, it was his first appearance at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival that led to work in such feature films as Paper Soldiers, Scary Movie 3, and Along Came Polly opposite Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. With his passion for stand-up, Hart continues to tour the country to sold-out audiences.

Tickets can be purchased at the First Niagara Center Box Office, 1-888-223-6000, or tickets.com

When: Sat, Mar 10, 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm.

Where: First Niagara Center, One Seymour H. Knox III Plaza.

Cost: $39.50 - $169.50