2007 in review

Tolls top issue in 2007

Grand Island Dispatch, December 28, 2007

Aerial photo of the south Grand Island bridges by Joe Eberle.

Eight-thousand people can’t all be wrong.

Nearly 8,000 citizens have signed petitions calling for the removal of the Grand Island Bridge tolls, making the topic the No. 1 issue of 2007.

Tolls made the front page of the Island Dispatch in several ways.

In 2007, the New York Thruway Authority announced a possible hike in the toll rate.

At last count, nogitolls.com had received 6,980 signatures asking for removal of the bridge tolls. LaSalle PRIDE had received another 1,000 signatures.

NoGItolls.com founder Rus Thompson was asked to speak to a state Assembly conference in December concerning the tolls in the Niagara Frontier.

LaSalle PRIDE and No GI Tolls held a march across the North Grand Island Bridge to protest the tolls and a proposed increase to tolls at the I-190 Grand Island toll barriers.

In May, developer Carl Paladino wrote a letter to Gov. Eliot Spitzer urging free passage on the bridges. His earlier efforts helped spur removal of the toll barriers at the Ogden and Breckinridge streets in Buffalo.

Other top stories for 2007:

Re-Tree Grand Island

Grand Island received three checks for $264,664 to compensate for expenses in the October 2006 storm. More than 70 percent of the money came from the federal government.

In May, 25 American elm trees were donated by the Home Depot Foundation and planted in Veterans Park on Bedell Road as part of the Re-TreeWNY program.

In the fall, more trees were planted at Veterans Park and at Town Commons Park.

McMahon re-elected to fourth term

Peter McMahon defeated Town Councilwoman Mary Cooke to return for another term as Grand Island town supervisor.

GICSD hires Christmann

February saw the addition of a new superintendent of schools in the Grand Island Central School District with the coming of Robert Christmann. Christmann said on his first day on the job, he “learned how to close school,” as winter weather forced a shutdown.

Later in the year, the school made news when 19 athletes suspended at GIHS for their involvement in a party where alcohol was present

Island shooting

Thomas A. Dodge was shot and killed by an Erie County Sheriff’s deputy after he shot his estranged girlfriend.

In other news:

•Erie County Legislator Michele Iannello, whose district includes Grand Island, was appointed represent the county on the Greenway Fund Standing Committee.

•The Relay For Life raised more than $128,000 in donations in the fight against cancer.