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Fleecing the Little Guy: New York State Debt Collectors Falsely Allege that You Still Owe

​Just as this country was trying to dig out from underneath a financial crisis, thousands of debt collection suits were commenced in courtrooms across New York State. These lawsuits included repeated copy-and-pasted testimony and affidavits without merit. Yet the accuracy of these filings remained unquestioned. Until recently.

Amid/In WNY Part One

Growing up in Toronto, John Massier remembers his impression of Buffalo being oddly formed by our three TV networks, legendary TV anchor Irv Weinstein, and long-gone local shows like Rocketship 7. “When I was a kid, your impression was that some part of Buffalo was constantly on fire. There’s always a fire in Cheektowaga or somewhere and I realized over time that was because there are a lot of wooden houses here, more than Toronto. You get this strange sense of the place when you are close to it, but far away.” 

Story: Legendary Lance and His All-Star Tribute

The sendoff and memorial for entertainer extraordinaire Lance Diamond would perhaps have both pleased the man for the outpouring of love in the room, and also made him blush a little at all the attention. He was, offstage, a humble man.

Known for his glimmering bedazzled suits that sparkled like diamonds under the white-hot lights of the stage, Lance was also known for his great kindness to friends, neighbors, and fellow musicians. Dozens took the elegant wooden stage of Kleinhans Music Hall on January 9 to pay tribute through recollections and musical tributes.

L'Obamaphobie

On Sunday, there was a huge rally in downtown Paris in honor of the people slain during the week in attacks by jihadist madmen. It was a strong show of support for the principles of pluralist democracy and freedom of speech, including the freedom to offend and ridicule. 

The United States Government was not visibly represented at the rally. 

This has resulted in two astonishing domestic right-wing memes. One is predictable: Obama is a national disgrace. The second was unforeseen: America’s right wing suddenly like France. 

Michael McNeill

[CLASSICAL] Pianist Michael McNeill is more than a habitué and frequent performer at Pause Art House, the gem of a gallery and music club on Wadsworth, just around the bend from Allen Street’s busiest strip of bars.

Cage

[HIP HOP] When people think of East Coast rap they usually think of names from the1990s like Wu Tang Clan, Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, and Nas but Cage is making a run at changing the definition of East Coast rap. The rapper, real name Christian Palko, from Middletown, New York (born in Germany) takes an approach more similar to Aseop Rock or El-P (two artists he’s collaborated heavily with).

Behind Deadlines

Get your fix of indie rock, punk and ska at The Forvm on Friday, January 16. Philadelphia “high energy ska band” Behind Deadlines headlines with support from Strasburg Virginia’s 90 Proof Therapist, Buffalo indie rockers Noah Gokey and the Skulls, and local jammers Fat Tire Society.

Wax Museum Radio presents Boombox

[ELECTRONIC/DANCE] For the last year, the crew at Wax Museum Radio has been running their independent, artist-led internet radio station as a platform for streaming Buffalo-based music and culture to the rest of the world in real-time. Boombox is something like the station’s IRL transmission, featuring a rotating line-up of WMR DJs in the intimate brick-lined confines of Hardware’s Backroom; the show will be broadcasting live from Allentown.

Martin Luther King Day Celebration

[CELEBRATION] On Nov. 9, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke at Kleinhans Music Hall at the request of the University at Buffalo’s Graduate Student Association. Now, 48 years later, Kleinhans will host their annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration in the same hall where he once stood. The celebration will include a word from Bishop T. Anthony Bronner from the Elim Christian Fellowship Ministry, as well as song, dance, and other performing arts in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s work and legacy.

Kickstart Rumble

Anyone with an appetite for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, or Jerry Lee Lewis, should head to Mohawk Place on Saturday, January 17 and check out local rockabilly quintet, Kickstart Rumble. Equipped with an arsenal of fierce originals to accompany the same covers they hauled into Merlin’s (now Blue Monk) in 2009, they’re ready to rattle the floorboards through the roots of rock, and Junior Douglas’s upright bass with a thump that just won’t quit. 

Max Creek

[ROCK] For 43 years, Max Creek has been delivering a brand of music all their own, and in 2015, not a thing has changed, except maybe the bands members. However, this has never stopped them from bringing their unique energy and legendary music to the stage. The current members—Bill Carbone on drums, Mark Mercier on keyboard, Scott Murawski on guitar, John Rider on bass, and Jamemurell Stanley on percussion—emphasize that they are a family band, and further emphasize that the audience is a part of that family.

Star People: The Miles Davis Project

[JAZZ] An all-star lineup of the local jazz faithful featuring Tim Clark, Bobby Militello, John Bacon, George Caldwell, Miles Tucker, and Danny Ziemann will play their ongoing tribute to jazz legend Miles Davis and the so-called “Sons of Miles.” The extensive family-tree of Davis collaborators and contemporaries will also be put on heavy rotation at the Allentown spot by the able hands and lungs of the Star People. 

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