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Sunday, June 15, 2008

Buffalo, New York —In an exclusive report, Wikinews has learned that a restraining order won by area residents has temporarily stopped the emergency demolition of a three story building which partially collapsed on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 in Buffalo, New York. The collapse caused at least 15 homes surrounding the property to be evacuated

During the early afternoon hours on June 11, the Buffalo Fire Department was called to scene at 428 Jersey Avenue after residents called 9-1-1 stating that part of a building had collapsed. A large portion of a former livery and stable had collapsed into the yards of at least four houses that surround the stable. Some of the bricks landed inside the building, while some fell into the yards of some houses behind homes on Richmond Avenue, leaving a ‘V’ shape.

According to savethelivery.com, a website set up and dedicated to “saving part of this historic structure”, the restraining order was granted on Saturday, forcing demolition crews to halt their work. The site also states that court papers will be filed on Monday in an attempt to hold the owner Bob Freudenheim responsible for the damage done to the building, and surrounding properties. The site states that Freudenheim has neglected the building for “the last twenty years.”

“We are an outraged and responsibly concerned group of neighbors and citizens who have rallied to oppose the impending demolition of the historic White Brothers Livery and Boarding Stable at 428 Jersey Street, just west of Richmond Avenue,” says the site’s mission statement. They seek to evaluate all options to saving the building before demolishing it, find immediate support to stop any further collapse, hold Freudenheim personally responsible for “endangering the public safety, and compensation of the city and neighbors for expenses incurred by being displaced from their homes.” They also want the city to personally inspect any and all properties he owns and for him to surrender the stable to an interested party who would restore it.

Freudenheim gave the city permission to demolish the building on Thursday June 12 during an emergency Preservation Board meeting, because he would not be “rehabilitating the building anytime soon.” Freudenheim, along with his wife Nina, were part-owners of the Hotel Lenox at 140 North Street in Buffalo and were advocates to stop the Elmwood Village Hotel from being built on the corners of Forest and Elmwood Avenues in 2006 and 2007, which Wikinews extensively covered. They also financially supported a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the hotel from being built. Though it is not known exactly how long Freudenheim has owned the stable, Wikinews has learned that he was the owner while fighting to stop the hotel from being built.

According to city officials, Freudenheim is facing housing violations for neglecting the building. Residents state that Freudenheim should be “100% responsible” for his actions, and many are afraid that once the building is demolished, Freudenheim’s charges of neglect will be abolished.

Although a restraining order is in place, residents still fear that demolition crews will attempt to continue demolition. As a result, police have a permanent detail on location to make sure everyone including both protesters and residents, follow the law.

A rally is planned to take place today at 1:00 p.m. for anyone interested in saving the building.

Monday, February 28, 2005

Cambridge, Massachusetts —The planning board of Cambridge, Massachusetts voted in unanimous approval of Harvard University‘s plan to build a 410,000 ft² (38 090 m²) science center at 24 Oxford Street, according to the local newspapers, the Harvard Crimson and the Cambridge Chronicle. More than half of the space in the building will be constructed underground.

The Northwest Science Building, as it will be called, will house the laboratories of roughly 30 Harvard science faculty members, as well as a chilled water plant and an electrical substation. The building was designed by Craig Hartman, an architect in the San Francisco office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, who also completed Harvard University Master Plan in 2002, according to the firm’s website. Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill also designed such notable buildings as Chicago‘s Sears Tower and the recently completed international terminal at the San Francisco airport.

The vote to approve the plan occurred at the February 15, 2005, meeting of the Cambridge Planning Board at the City Hall Annex, 344 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. In what the Harvard Crimson called a “departure from the norm,” there were no comments from residents at the hearing. The Crimson reported that the Harvard officials at the meeting took this as “a signal that the community was well-informed about the project prior to the presentation.” The sign advertising the hearing can be seen at right.

In related news, the Director of Urban Design for Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill’s New York office, Vishaan Chakrabarti, will be speaking at the Harvard Graduate School of Design on March 1, 2005.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Thirty-five square kilometers, or 13.5135755 square miles, or 3,500 hectares or 8,648.68835 acres.

However you figure it, it’s a sizeable chunk of land.

And it’s missing from Cambodia on the website for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, a 10-member regional body of which Cambodia is a member.

The apparent rounding down of Cambodia’s territory, 181,035 square kilometers, on the ASEAN website, has some Cambodian lawmakers up in arms.

Parliamentarian Keo Remy, a member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, is calling for the ASEAN website to be blocked by Cambodia’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications if the number is not corrected.

“We know that Cambodia has border disputes with its neighbors, and Khmer citizens are paying attention on these issues. We cannot accept such incorrect points. The most important thing is that the government should close this web site,” Keo was quoted as saying by the Khmer-language daily newspaper Kampuchea Thmey.

Though Keo acknowledged the error could be an honest, if careless, mistake, he said it could mean something more sinister – that ASEAN is trying to undermine Cambodia’s sovereignty, and that perhaps ASEAN is working for neighboring nations. It could even be treasonous, he said.

“If it was intentional and perpetrated by a Cambodian, this is treason. It is like not knowing your own parents,” Keo was quoted as saying by Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Other lawmakers also called on the Cambodian government to take action.

“The royal government must react urgently, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,” Monh Saphan, a Funcinpec parliamentarian was quoted as saying by Kampuchea Thmey. “The website [must] be corrected, because it affects the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Cambodia.”

And non-governmental organization leaders weighed in.

“The state’s figure is more important and appropriate than figures of other organizations. Therefore, we should urge the government to check this issue,” Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development, told Kampucha Thmey. “We also wonder where ASEAN got this figure.”

Kek Galabru, president of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, said that incorrect figure is most likely a mistake, but said the government should investigate it. “Otherwise a small problem might turn into a bigger issue,” she said.

Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said he would investigate, and called for cooler heads in the meantime.

Border disputes are a hot-button political issue in Cambodia, which has some long-standing unresolved boundary conflicts with neighbors Thailand and Vietnam.

Cambodia joined ASEAN in 1999, the last country to gain admittance to the regional geo-political and economic body for Southeast Asia. It was founded in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Other members are Brunei, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

April 7, 2005

A bus service successfully crossed the disputed region of Kashmir today despite coming under attack early on in its journey. It is believed Islamic separatists launched grenades at the Indian run bus minutes after it left a station in Srinagar, although the coach continued on to Muzaffarabad after it survived without damage. Whilst its passengers escaped unhurt, the attack is understood to have injured four other people, including a policeman. Indian authorities also located and defused at least one explosive device placed along the bus route.

The service, the first of its kind in almost 60 years, transported Pakistani and Indian Kashmiris across the conflict torn region, passing the cease fire line between India and Pakistan, dubbed the ‘Line of Control’. The bus trips, which run to and from Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, are seen as a major step forward in the growing peaceful relations between India and Pakistan. The two nuclear powers both seek to control the Kashmir region, which has been a flashpoint for conflict for over 50 years. [1]

“A door has opened,” said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today as the bus set off from Srinagar. “Pakistan and especially President General Pervez Musharraf have helped us open this door and without their support, the door would not have opened. This is the beginning of a new phase. Violence is not going to solve any problems.”

Anti-Indian separatist Kashmiri militants have branded the return of bus service as a “betrayal of peace”, according to reports.

Earlier this week, guerrillas attacked a Government safe house where the bus’ passengers were said to be staying.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

The upcoming 2006 Mississauga municipal election, to be held November 13, features an array of candidates looking to represent their wards in city council.

Wikinews contributor Nicholas Moreau has contacted as many candidates as possible, including Sean Semper-Whyte, asking them to answer common questions sent in an email. There is no incumbent in the ward; also competing for the position are Matanat Khan, Olive Rose Steele, Terry Pierce, Jr., Ron Starr, and former MP Carolyn Parrish.