On August 11 and 12th, 2012, the 500 Block of Main Street in downtown Buffalo will be overtaken by art.

Chalkfest [a FREE annual event] is a project envisioned by The 500 Block Association, a group of business, artists and native Buffalo residents to revitalize the 500 Block of Main Street. The festival is throughout the weekend and includes the artwork of Michael Macauley, world reknowned 3D chalk artist.

The two day festival is the first of its kind, all ages on Saturday and Sunday from 12 -5 pm, and after 5 pm on Saturday for adults with live entertainment.

Senator Mark Grisanti (R-60) today announced that the Senate has passed his bill S.6248 to help Buffalo fight its vacant building problem by passing a labor law exemption for contractors employed by the City of Buffalo from payment of asbestos project notification fees for demolitions.  

The cost of an asbestos notification fee can be more than $4,000.  This fee is ultimately paid by the city and the taxpayers in the City of Buffalo.  Since July of 2008, over half of all demolitions in Buffalo have required an asbestos notification fee.  When a project is large, subdivided and has a garage, it is often viewed to be multiple projects thus requiring the submission of several notification fees to the state.