BUFFALO, N.Y. — 10 years ago this week:
CPR training for students became mandatory in high schools across the state of New York.
The year’s only gubernatorial debate was held here in Buffalo.
Facing objections by those concerned with government overreach and individual rights, Gov. Andrew Cuomo backed off on a policy he tried to implement to have people returning from African nations where Ebola was an epidemic to be quarantined in a hospital, whether they had symptoms or not. Cuomo and the state health department moved instead to require those returning from Africa to quarantine in their home for three weeks, and be tested through onsite visits.
20 years ago this week:
Controversy surrounded Ashlee Simpson, after she was exposed for lip synching a performance on Saturday Night Live. Simpson walked off the stage after she forgot to start moving her mouth when one of the voice tracked verses began. She later said she had a throat problem, necessitating her to lip synch which show producers said they were unaware of.
Ground was broken on the Geico complex in Amherst.
A fire on Elmwood Avenue meant curtains for a venerable business along what was then called the strip-- Chic's Barbershop--which had been in operation for almost 50 years.
Chic, whose name was Augustine Cicatello, relocated down the street where he cut hair for a few more years. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 82.
30 years ago this week:
Lech Walesa, the former electrician at a Gdansk shipyard who formed the Solidarity movement, came to Buffalo attracting crowds of admirers.
Walesa, who was by then the President of Poland, attended church at St. Stanislaus, walked around the Palonia neighborhood, and met with local civic leaders to try and drum up investment in Poland.
Vice President Al Gore was also here, stumping on behalf of NY Gov. Mario Cuomo in his bid to win an unprecedented fourth term. Cuomo’s poll numbers were sagging at the time and he would eventually lose the race to George Pataki.
Gore appeared on crutches due to recent Achilles heel surgery, and gave a fiery speech at Hutchinson Technical High School where he told the audience the answer to America’s growing crime problem was more police and more prison cells.
The Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus was in town at a time when they still paraded circus animals through streets surrounding Memorial Auditorium on their way from the circus train to the arena.
40 years ago this week:
The site of the present day industrial and commercial park on Allied Drive off of Broadway in Sloan was still home to an entertainment venue which first opened in 1950. It is also the subject of this week’s News 2 You Pop Quiz (the answer to which can be found at the conclusion of the video attached to this story).
Concerned over crime and a deterioration of their east side neighborhood, members of the Polish American and African American communities vowed to work together and form a voting block through an effort being organized by the NAACP.
It was not the first time residents attempted to breach the color barrier to work for a common cause but as Channel 2 reporter Ed Caldwell reported at the time, ”organizers say a similar effort aimed at bringing the two groups together in 1972 failed because democratic party bosses were terrified by the prospects."