Remembering Van Miller : "The Voice of the Buffalo Bills"
subject: Miller, Van, 1907-2015.
subject: Buffalo Bills (Football team) -- History.
subject: Radio broadcasting of sports -- New York (State) -- Buffalo -- History
description: Van Miller (1927 - 2015) is remembered as one of the greatest local broadcasters of the National Football League. As “The Voice of the Buffalo Bills” for thirty-seven years, Miller reflected the unyielding enthusiasm of the Buffalo fans who reveled in their team’s four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. Born in Dunkirk, New York, south of Buffalo, Miller’s career echoed his calls in the booth, building to a crescendo from humble beginnings as a summer replacement announcer at WBEN-TV (now WIVB-TV) in the mid-1950s to the station’s legendary sports anchor. His upbeat delivery was punctuated by humor and wit, which became his trademarks on the air. He retired from WIVB in 1998 after a forty-three year run. In 2004, Van Miller became the first local play-by-play announcer to be honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ten years later his name was added to the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame at the team’s home stadium in Orchard Park, New York. During his final interview with WIVB-TV Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg, Miller reflected on his broadcast career in Buffalo, saying, “ That was a great ride. I was the luckiest man in the world.” Miller coined many phrases and catchwords that added to his signature style during Bills games. During the final days of his life, when he was barely able to speak, Van Miller mustered enough energy to raise his hands from his bedsheets and utter a parting word to his Channel 4 colleagues who came to say their final goodbye. It was his word describing the euphoria when the Bills would score a winning touchdown. “Fan-damonium!” Van’s longtime WIVB-TV colleagues who were at his bedside, anchor Jacquie Walker, senior correspondent Rich Newberg, and meteorologist Don Paul, believe Miller wanted Buffalo fans to know they were still number one on his mind.
creator: Newberg, Rich (Writer, Reporter)
creator: Swenson, Scott (Photographer, Editor)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: WIVB (Television Station: Buffalo, N.Y.)
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 2015-20-07
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

The Right to Know
subject: Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
subject: Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State)
subject: Hazardous substances -- Law and legislation.
subject: Industrial safety -- Law and legislation.
subject: Chemicals -- Safety measures
subject: Environmental Pollutants -- Poisoning.
subject: Olin Corporation
subject: Bethlehem Steel Corporation
subject: Hooker Chemical Corporation
subject: Lead poisoning
subject: Donner-Hanna Coke Corporation
subject: Republic Steel Corporation
subject: Union Carbide Corporation
subject: Chemicals--Fires and fire prevention
description: RIGHT TO KNOW LAWS In 1980, demands by Western New York union workers dealing with toxic chemicals reached a crescendo. They insisted on knowing the nature of the substances to which they were exposed, and the extent of that exposure on the job. Some were suffering from ailments they attributed to toxic exposure. As a result of their efforts and similar demands that were being made around the country, “Right to Know” laws were passed locally, statewide, and nationally, granting workers and citizens access to chemical information critical to their health and safety. The following series of WIVB-TV reports by Rich Newberg documents this critical period of awakening to environmental hazards. They were aired on WIVB-TV in 1980 and ’81. The same issues are surfacing again today. The incoming Biden administration is pledging to make environmental justice a top priority. The opening comment is from Lois Gibbs. In 1980 Ms. Gibbs and the Love Canal Homeowners Association successfully organized the relocation of more than 700 families whose homes were in the toxic Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York. Their efforts led to the creation of the nation’s Superfund, providing relief for toxic neighborhoods around the country. Her comments are provided courtesy of Harvard University, where she was interviewed as part of the “Voices From the Field Leadership Series” on April 10, 2014. [Total Running Time of Reports: 1:00:26] 1. ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST LOIS GIBBS REFLECTS BRIEFLY ON THE RIGHT TO KNOW “Voices from the Field” (series) Harvard University School of Public Health April 10, 2014 “Right to know actually started in the workplace, and then the workers moved it to the city level, then the county level, and then the state level. And then these various states did it, and the industry is going crazy because they’re filling out so many forms. And they said, we need a federal policy. This is insane.” (Runs: :14) 2. WORKERS RIGHT TO KNOW LAW [SERIES] “A Safe Place to Wo…
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: WIVB (Television Station: Buffalo, N.Y.)
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 1980-2014
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)
contributor: Gibbs, Lois (Environmental Activist)
contributor: Harvard University (School of Public Health)
contributor: Pillittere, Joseph (New York State Assemblyman)
contributor: Spatorico, Sal (Chemical Worker)
contributor: Sambuchi, Art (United Steel Workers Local 2603 President)
contributor: Lukasik, Stanley (Retired Steel Worker)
contributor: Reilly, Jeanne (Technical Engineers Local 57 President)
contributor: New York Public Interest Research Group
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1]
subject: Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
subject: Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
description: More than forty years after covering the Love Canal disaster in Niagara Falls, former WIVB-TV senior correspondent Rich Newberg returns to the site where 20,000 thousand tons of buried industrial chemicals took a terrible toll on families living on top of the toxic dumpsite. Hooker Chemical had once sold the property to the Niagara Falls School District for a dollar. The cries of families ravaged by chemical exposure in their own homes had initially been ignored by lawmakers who were in a position to offer meaningful support. The grassroots struggle of these homeowners and their ultimate victory in winning federal support offers powerful lessons to a nation still troubled by environmental injustice. Mr. Newberg tracked down the former Niagara Gazette rookie reporter who broke the story in 1978. In a rare interview, Michael Brown recalls his "journalistic obsession" after going door-to-door in the Love Canal neighborhood and establishing a pattern of still births and cancer. Lois Gibbs, the stay-at-home mom who rose to national prominence in her fight to be heard, tells Mr. Newberg that local broadcast journalists played a major role in getting the word out. “When people are right and people peacefully demonstrate and speak truth to power,” she said, “that’s how democracy works, and then we got what we needed.” The story ends with President Joe Biden bemoaning the fact that the right of every American to breathe clean air and drink clean water has yet to be fulfilled. “A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening” received a New York Emmy Award in the category of Science/Environment. It also won a national Telly Award. In addition, Rich Newberg and co-producer Tom Vetter took first place “Enterprise Reporting” honors from the Journalists Association of New York. The piece appeared as a featured segment of the Buffalo primetime special, “The Buffalo Story: History Happens Here,” which won a New York Emmy Award for “Public Service.” Originally aired on WIVB-TV and WNLO-TV / Buffal…
creator: Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Host)
creator: Vetter, Tom (Producer, Editor)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 2021-06-07
date: 2021-06-19
contributor: Walker, Jacquie (Co-producer)
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Co-producer)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2]
relation: Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]
relation: What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]
relation: An Interview with Michael Brown
relation: An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her battle and victory on behalf of Love Canal homeowners]
format: Video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her battle and victory on behalf of Love Canal homeowners]
subject: Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
subject: Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
description: Lois Gibbs, a stay-at-home mom who whose family moved into the Love Canal neighborhood when her son was one year old, was never told she would be living on top of a dumpsite where 20 thousand tons of toxic chemicals had been buried. She says that her son, who had been “perfectly healthy,” suddenly got “sicker and sicker and sicker.” He developed epilepsy. Lois began reading articles by Michael Brown in the Niagara Gazette, questioning whether a disproportionate number of health issues in the community could be attributed to toxic chemical exposure. Mrs. Gibbs, who said it was “terrifying,” began her search for answers by going to the Niagara Falls school board, City Hall, and the offices of state senators and other representatives. She says no one offered to help. She says Mayor Michael O’Laughlin told her Michael Brown was a “troublemaker,” and that she should “go home and take care of my child.” In her interview with Rich Newberg, Lois Gibbs reflects on the strategies employed to finally get the president of the United States to come to Niagara Falls and sign legislation benefitting Love Canal families wishing to move out of the neighborhood. It also created a Superfund to assist other communities across the country dealing with the hazards of toxic chemical exposure. Portions of the Lois Gibbs interview appear in the 2021 documentary, “The Buffalo Story: History Happens Here.” It is part of the Rich Newberg Reports Collection. The Love Canal segment entitled “A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening,” won a New York Emmy award in 2022 in the category of Science/Environment.
creator: Newberg, Rich (Interviewer)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 2021-02-15
contributor: Gibbs, Lois (Interviewee)
contributor: Vetter, Tom (Producer)
contributor: Terranova, Michael (Editor)
rights: Copyright held by Moments In Time Video, Inc. & TVRE Productions, Inc. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2] Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3] What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4] An Interview with Michael Brown
format: Video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving image

An Interview with Michael Brown
subject: Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
subject: Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
description: As a young journalist at the Niagara Gazette in 1977, Michael Brown took a special interest in stories by two fellow reporters at the paper involving sump pump issues in the Love Canal neighborhood. Reported problems included odors and chemicals surfacing in homes. Those articles, published in 1976, did not get much traction at the time. Mr. Brown had begun covering toxic waste dumpsites in Niagara County. That became his journalistic focus. He managed to stir up a lot of controversy in the process. While covering a public hearing, a woman in her early 20s from the Love Canal neighborhood broke down in tears when describing her concerns about potential health issues associated with chemicals believed to be leaking into her and her neighbors’ homes. The city of Niagara Falls had initiated an assessment of the issue and considered covering the old dumpsite with clay. In 1977, Mr. Brown talked with a city engineer who felt the situation was very serious and could effect future generations if not properly addressed. A period of silence by the city followed. Brown decided to follow up but said he got no answers from the County Health Department. He had become the Niagara Falls City Hall reporter for the Gazette. His journalistic intuition prompted him to go door-to-door, talking with Love Canal families. His goal was to determine whether the presence of toxic chemicals may have been having an effect on their health. Rich Newberg’s interview with Michael Brown takes us back to that initial period of discovery and what followed next. At the time of the interview, more than four decades had passed since the Love Canal disaster became a “journalistic obsession” for Mr. Brown. Viewers will learn of the obstacles he faced and how his reporting for the Niagara Gazette led to the rise of Lois Gibbs, leader of the Love Canal Homeowners Association, whose tireless efforts not only ended in victory for her neighbors, but served as the beginning of the environmental justice movement…
creator: Newberg, Rich (Interviewer)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 2020-11-23
contributor: Brown, Michael (Interviewee)
contributor: Vetter, Tom (Producer)
contributor: Terranova, Michael (Editor)
rights: Copyright held by Moments In Time Video, Inc. & TVRE Productions, Inc. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2] Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3] What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4] An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her Battle and Victory on Behalf of Love Canal Homeowners]
format: Video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2]
subject: Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
subject: Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
description: Two years into the battle for environmental justice in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, WIVB-TV presented a news special. The disaster had reached a crisis stage with homeowners demanding action by all levels of government. They had unknowingly moved into a neighborhood developed on top of a toxic dumpsite and were now suffering the consequences of harmful chemicals making their way into their homes and schools. The half hour presentation, was written, produced and reported by Marie Rice, who co-anchored the special with WIVB anchor John Beard. It featured some of the most emotional testimony from Love Canal family members whose loved ones were sick and dying due to chemical exposure. More than seven hundred families were demanding that they be relocated and that their grievances be properly addressed. Tests determined that residents had suffered “ominous” rare chromosomal damage. Lois Gibbs, who ultimately led the Love Canal Homeowners Association to victory, later attributed Buffalo news coverage to the successful outcome. The grassroots crusade has been credited with launching the environmental justice movement in the United States. President Jimmy Carter came to Niagara Falls to sign legislation that met homeowners demands and led to the creation of the Superfund. Formerly known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the program is designed to provide emergency responses to sites contaminated by hazardous substances. By one count there are 40,000 federal Superfund sites across the United States.
creator: Rice, Marie (Producer, Writer, Host)
creator: News 4 Buffalo (WIVB-TV Newsroom)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 1980
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)
contributor: Beard, John (Co-host)
contributor: Swan, Ray (Editor)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3] What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4] An Interview with Michael Brown An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her Battle and Victory on Behalf of Love Canal Homeowners]
format: Video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3]
subject: Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
subject: Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
description: These selected reports beginning in 1978 provide insight into how Love Canal homeowners were able to channel their fears and anger into action in terms of personal injury lawsuits against the Hooker Chemical Corporation and pressure applied to their local, state and federal government representatives. Beginning in the summer of 1978, when blood tests were first administered and only a selected number of households were ordered to evacuate their contaminated homes, Lois Gibbs and her Love Canal Homeowners Association demanded that arrangements be made to move out more families for permanent relocation. After strong lobbying efforts, president Jimmy Carter took initial action in approving enough funds for New York State to buy 236 Love Canal homes. Families were relocated at a cost of $10 million dollars. Three months later it was revealed that 200 tons of dioxin, one of the most lethal chemicals produced by humans, were buried in the canal. Residents said they witnessed the military also using the canal as a dumpsite. In May 1980 the Environmental Protection Agency determined that some residents suffered from chromosome damage. Four days later President Carter declared Love Canal a national emergency. Eventually another 710 Love Canal families were relocated. Love Canal families had originally sought $15 billion dollars in damages from Hooker Chemical’s parent company Occidental Chemical Corporation. In 1983, about 1,330 families got a settlement of $20 million dollars. In addition, a one million dollar medical trust fund was created. In 1995, Occidental Chemical Corporation and Occidental Petroleum agreed to pay the federal government $129 million dollars as reimbursement for clean-up costs of the Love Canal landfill.
creator: Newberg, Rich (Reporter)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 1970-1980
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)
contributor: Rice, Marie (Reporter)
contributor: Beard, John (Co-host)
contributor: Gunter, Gary (Reporter)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2] Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3] What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4] An Interview with Michael Brown An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her Battle and Victory on Behalf of Love Canal Homeowners]
format: Video/mp3
language: eng
type: Moving Image
identifier: Rich Newberg Reports Collection

What Have We Learned? [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 4]
subject: Chemical plants -- Waste disposal -- Environmental aspects -- New York (State) -- Niagara Falls
subject: Love Canal Chemical Waste Landfill (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
description: During the decades that followed the Love Canal disaster, WIVB-TV reporters have sought to gain a big picture perspective of the disaster that laid the groundwork for the environmental justice movement in the United States. In this series of reports presented ten to forty years after the evacuation of an entire Niagara Falls community due to toxic chemical exposure, a sad truth emerges. History appears to be repeating itself. Viewers learn that the losses of life and property that received international attention beginning in the late 1970s failed to prevent others from establishing homes in close proximity to where 20,000 thousand tons of toxic chemicals remain buried in the ground. The industrial and military waste was capped and continues to be monitored by the federal government, which has insisted the area is safe. However, new lawsuits have been filed claiming that chemicals have migrated from the site, again taking a toll on human health. Lois Gibbs, the environmental rights crusader who organized fellow homeowners when the Love Canal story first broke, revisited the neighborhood in 2013. She couldn’t understand how anyone could move anywhere near the Love Canal site. “We said it so many times, don’t bring people back here,” exclaimed Mrs. Gibbs during a walking tour of the site. She added, “they bamboozled them into believing it was safe…and they innocently went in and bought what I bought thirty-five years ago, ‘the American dream.’”
creator: Newberg, Rich (Reporter)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 1980-2020
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)
contributor: Rice, Marie (Reporter)
contributor: McClintick, Michelle (Reporter)
contributor: Newberg, Rich (Reporter)
contributor: Williams, Jordan (Reporter)
contributor: Schanz, Jenn (Reporter)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: A Toxic Nightmare: The Awakening [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 1] Love Canal: Neighborhood of Fear [The Story of Love Canal Pt. 2] Turning Anger Into Action [The Story of Love Canal Pt.3] An Interview with Michael Brown An Interview with Lois Gibbs [Her Battle and Victory on Behalf of Love Canal Homeowners]
format: Video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

Crisis at West Valley 1 : Overview
subject: Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley
subject: Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State) -- West Valley
subject: Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley
description: This series of reports deals with the challenges involved in cleaning up one of Western New York’s most toxic hot spots, located in West Valley, about thirty miles south of Buffalo. Initial projections for the cleanup of radioactive waste pegged costs at $235 million dollars. The project, it was thought, would take seventeen years to complete. By 2018 the amount spent totaled $2.3 billion dollars. The full cleanup price tag could be in the range of $10 billion dollars, according to earlier estimates by the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2020, forty years after the site was declared a National Demonstration Project, efforts were still underway to dismantle and remove the remaining contaminated buildings still standing on the site. Other efforts were focused on either dismantling and removing radioactive waste material from burial and storage areas or making them more secure. Environmental watchdog groups continue to raise serious questions about public safety and health. WIVB-TV, the CBS affiliate in Buffalo, closely covered the West Valley story and presented many reports that focused on the grassroots efforts that helped shape the massive cleanup project. The movement grew in intensity as New York State and the federal government considered proposals to accept more nuclear waste at the site. This overview is the first of five groups of television news reports, videos, and films documenting the political, economic, and social processes that led to a forty-year cleanup effort that is still in progress. The multi-billion-dollar undertaking continues to serve as a national demonstration project. The reports and summaries that follow are compiled by WIVB-TV senior correspondent (ret.) Rich Newberg. He played a major role in covering initial events as they unfolded in the early 1980s. Overview Summary: (1979 - 2020) 1. The Nuclear Waste Challenge CBS report by Robert Schackne lays out the challenge: 1979 “Some 600,000 gallons of lethally radioactive liquid waste that must…
creator: Newberg, Rich (Reporter)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: WIVB (Television Station: Buffalo, N.Y.)
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 1979 - 2020
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (WIVB-TV Graphic Arts Director)
contributor: Vetter, Tom (Editor)
contributor: Schackne, Robert (CBS News Correspondent)
contributor: Roberts, John (WIS-TV Columbia, South Carolina)
contributor: Curtis, Bill (CBS News Morning Anchor)
contributor: Costantini, Allen (WIVB-TV Reporter)
contributor: Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)
contributor: Lauder, Jay (WIVB-TV Photographer)
contributor: D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)
contributor: Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist)
contributor: Hameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)
contributor: Vaughan, Ray (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)
contributor: Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia)
contributor: Pillittere, Joe (Communications Manager for West Valley contractor)
contributor: Bower, Brian (DOE Director for West Valley Demonstration Project)
contributor: Bembia, Paul (NYSERDA Director at West Valley)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

Crisis at West Valley 2 : the Community Responds
subject: Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley
subject: Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State)
subject: Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley
description: 1. This video file begins with a film entitled “The Story of Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing.” It was produced by Nuclear Fuel Services and describes the operation of the plant at West Valley. It describes the benefits of “unlocking the power of the atom” which “promises almost unlimited energy sources.” The plant’s mission is to reclaim the uranium and plutonium inside spent nuclear fuel rods used by atomic power plants, researchers, and test reactors throughout the United States. The material is shipped to West Valley in “ruggedly built trucks and special railroad cars.” The plant is capable of the processing of up to one ton a day of spent fuel elements. (Runs: 11 minutes) 2. Reporter John Beard’s story of a recommendation by the New York State Department of Energy that the plant reopen as a storage facility for more spent nuclear fuel. Beard’s report includes a warning by environmentalists who say that “West Valley is a time bomb threatening to leak radioactive liquid into the soil and eventually into the waterways of Western New York.” Some local residents are in favor of the reopening, saying it would be beneficial for tax purposes and jobs. Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, a nuclear physicist and staff scientist to the Radioactive Waste Campaign, emerges as a major voice of opposition. Those against reopening the facility as a repository call for a ban against spent fuel moving through Cattaraugus County. Congressman Stanley Lundine (D-Jamestown) says it there is “a remote possibility that the site could reopen as a federal nuclear waste storage facility. Lundine points out there is limited storage space and “seismic or environmental problems.” Researchers have determined that West Valley sits in a seismic fault zone. (Runs: 3:05) 3. Reporter Rich Newberg’s story on more safety questions raised by area environmentalists. A former lab supervisor at Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) says there had been problems with the crane that moved the radioactive rods in the pool of water that …
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: WIVB (Television Station: Buffalo, N.Y.)
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 1980
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)
contributor: Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)
contributor: Beard, John (Reporter)
contributor: Petrick, Bob (Reporter)
contributor: D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)
contributor: Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist)
contributor: Ameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)
contributor: Vaughan, Ray (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)
contributor: Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia)
rights: opyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

Crisis at West Valley 3 : Working Toward a Solution
subject: Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley
subject: Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State) -- West Valley
subject: Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley
description: 1. WIVB-TV reporter Bob Petrick’s interview with Rep. Stan Lundine of Jamestown. The lawmaker says three important committees in the House of Representatives have approved some sort of West Valley project. Now one bill has to be crafted that will be passed by the House and then the Senate. (Runs: 2:01) 2. Shots of artwork and tee shirts representing the cause of environmentalists who are opposed to reopening West Valley for more nuclear waste. One graphic by those who are against nuclear power and weapons states, “JOIN US…FOR THE SAKE OF THE CHILDREN." A tee shirt worn by an environmental activist reads, “DON’T DUMP ON US” “MAKE THE POLLUTERS PAY.” Another tee shirt put out by the Sierra Club Radioactive Waste Campaign reads, “YOU CAN’T RUN FROM RADIOACTIVE WASTES!” The visuals are followed by reporter Sandy White’s interview with Judith McDonnell, a volunteer who works in the Sierra Club’s Radioactive Waste Campaign. She says thirty people are going to Washington D.C. to lobby against the McCormick bill, which calls for the siting of four high level nuclear waste repositories by the end of 1984. West Valley and the Finger Lakes region are under consideration. The bill calls for funding to come from the federal government and not the nuclear industry. In fighting against the bill, McDonnell says there are no provisions for local community input on where the repositories are placed. She claims it is a federal “preemption of state’s rights.” She adds the West Valley site has a history of leakage and sits on “an earthquake fault…” She says the site should “be cleaned up and closed and that nothing else should be dumped there at all.” McDonnell says two weeks earlier, nineteen people went to the nation’s capital and lobbied more than seventy congressmen. The new lobbying effort seeks to reach at least one hundred twenty congressional offices. She says, “We feel that the government should take more time, there should be more study put into the siting of a high level repo…
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: WIVB (Television Station: Buffalo, N.Y.)
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 1982
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)
contributor: Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)
contributor: Rice, Marie (WIVB-TV Reporter)
contributor: Petrick, Bob (Reporter)
contributor: Curtis, Bill (CBS News Reporter)
contributor: D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)
contributor: Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist)
contributor: Hameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)
contributor: Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

Crisis at West Valley 4 : Cleanup Plans Take Shape
subject: Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley
subject: Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State) -- West Valley
subject: Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley
description: 1. Rich Newberg’s story documenting top U.S. energy officials assuring West Valley residents that the massive cleanup effort will be safely conducted with citizen input. The federal government takes possession of the high level nuclear waste burial grounds and the facilities there in about five days. A citizens panel led by Peter Skinner is aware of “the technological difficulties of the project, the public sensitivity of the facility, and the hazards of the undertaking…” Westinghouse representative Ray Maison promises to keep the community “fully informed of what we’re doing and what we plan to do every step of the way.” However, dairy farmer Emil Zimmerman questions what would happen if the milk from his cows is contaminated with strontium 90. He is concerned about the livelihood of the people in the area. He wants to also know about liability should there be an accident. He says this issue should be considered as a priority as cleanup plans progress. There is also concern about the Reagan administration’s plans to possibly dissolve the U.S. Department of Energy. The department’s representative,Sheldon Meyers, says if there is “dismantlement,” he believes that “the various functions in the department which are mandated by law or are necessary to do, will be either distributed to other agencies or a new independent agency will be set up.” (Runs: 3:33) 2. Reporter Rich Newberg questions Jim Duckworth, who ran the Nuclear Fuel Services plant for Getty Oil. Getty purchased the reprocessing facility from W.R. Grace Company in 1969. The first shipments of spent nuclear fuel rods at arrived in 1965, with reprocessing beginning 1966. A steel storage tank containing 600,000 gallons of high level liquid radioactive must be emptied and converted into a solidified, glass like substance for permanent storage. During an informational briefing featuring a scale model of the tank, Duckworth explains how the original safety system for high level radioactive waste was compromised. …
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: WIVB (Television Station: Buffalo, N.Y.)
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 1981 - 1982
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Arts Director)
contributor: Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)
contributor: Lauder, Jay (WIVB-TV News Photographer)
contributor: Costantini, Allen (WIVB-TV Reporter)
contributor: Jablonski, Emil (WIVB-T Reporter)
contributor: Roberts, John (WIS-TV Reporter)
contributor: D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)
contributor: Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist)
contributor: Hameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)
contributor: Vaughan, Ray (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)
contributor: Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

Crisis at West Valley 5 : Present and Future Concerns
subject: Radioactive waste disposal in the ground -- New York (State) -- West Valley
subject: Radioactive waste sites -- New York (State) -- West Valley
subject: Reactor fuel reprocessing -- New York (State) -- West Valley
description: The following videos show progress made in cleaning up the West Valley radioactive waste site. They include the solidification of the high level liquid waste that had been in underground tanks and the demolition of contaminated buildings. They also include the on-site storage of high and low level radioactive waste and the removal of some of this waste from the site. Since the mid-1970s citizen watchdog groups including experts in the field of nuclear waste have expressed concern about the health, safety and environmental issues involved in the storage and management of nuclear waste at West Valley as well as the subsequent efforts to clean up the site. In 2020, decisions still must be made on how much nuclear waste can be left in trenches, holes, tanks and the below-ground portion of the building that once reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods. Watchdog groups continue to express concerns that the site itself is on rapidly eroding plateaus surrounded by creeks that drain through the Seneca Nation of Indians into Lake Erie. They warn that there is a potential for this erosion to reach the underground nuclear waste and release long-lasting dangerous radioactive materials into the Great Lakes. VIDEOS 1. Huge steel lined concrete casks provide on-site storage of high level radioactive glass logs converted from liquid waste at West Valley. 56 casks holding the high level waste are stored above ground on the property of the West Valley Demonstration Project site. They sit on a reinforced concrete slab until they can be shipped out to a national nuclear waste repository yet to be named. The casks each hold five canisters containing the glass logs which will remain highly radioactive for thousands of years. Each cask weights close to 90 tons. The high level waste needed to be removed from the plant at West Valley so building demolition could take place. [“HLW Progress Video” produced by DOE contractor CH2M HILL BWXT WEST VALLEY, LLC. ; 7/7/2016 ; Runs: 1:58] 2. Transporting …
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: WIVB (Television Station: Buffalo, N.Y.)
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
date: 1979 - 2020
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (WIVB-TV Graphic Arts Director)
contributor: Vetter, Tom (Editor)
contributor: Newberg, Rich (WIVB-TV Reporter)
contributor: D’Arrigo, Diane (Nuclear Information and Resource Service)
contributor: Resnikoff, Marvin (Nuclear Physicist)
contributor: Hameister, Joanne (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)
contributor: Vaughan, Ray (The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Wastes)
contributor: Shepp, Amanda (Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives, SUNY Fredonia)
contributor: Pillittere, Joe (Communications Manager for West Valley contractor)
contributor: Bower, Brian (DOE Director for West Valley Demonstration Project)
contributor: Bembia, Paul (NYSERDA Director at West Valley)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

The Crash of Flight 3407
subject: Aircraft accidents--New York (State)--Clarence
description: On Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 10:17 pm, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed into a house in Clarence Center, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. All forty-nine passengers and crew members were killed. One man in the house also lost his life. The twin-engine turboprop belonged to Colgan Air, a regional airline company serving Continental Airlines. The flight had originated in Newark, New Jersey. It crashed only a few miles from the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. This composite of stories begins the night of the crash. WIVB-TV’s Lisa Flynn was the first to report that it was a commercial airliner that crashed, not a small plane, as had been first thought. The crash sent a shock wave across Western New York. Many of the victims were from the Buffalo area. Families and friends of those who perished in the crash remembered their loved ones during grief stricken moments, and Western New York went through a period of mourning. Many questions were raised about the cause of the crash and whether the crew had been properly trained to operate this particular aircraft. Family members began attending hearings in Washington DC and closely followed the investigation. A year after the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that pilot error was the probable cause of the accident. Captain Marvin Renslow had failed to correctly respond to a stall, which is the sudden reduction in lift of an aircraft. The pilot had pulled back on the control column, tilting the nose of the plane up instead of lowering it and applying full power. Families had begun questioning whether Federal Aviation Administration regulations for regional airlines were adequate. Critical safety issues raised included pilot training and fatigue. On the one year anniversary of the crash, family members and supporters walked from the accident site on Long Street in Clarence to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport to draw attention to their cause. In a series of WIVB investigative reports, Rich …
creator: Newberg, Rich
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
publisher: WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
date: 2009 - 2012
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)
contributor: Walker, Jacquie (Anchor)
contributor: Postles, Don (Anchor)
contributor: Flynn, Lisa (Reporter)
contributor: Macko, Rob (Reporter)
contributor: Moretti, Luke (Reporter)
contributor: Newberg, Rich (Reporter)
contributor: Shultz, Lorey (Reporter)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
relation: Digital Collections of the B&ECPL
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

4 The Families
subject: Aircraft accidents--New York (State)--Clarence
description: Four days after a plane crashed in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence, New York, claiming the lives of all forty-nine people on board and a man on the ground, WIVB-TV- Channel 4 presented a one hour special honoring the memory of those who perished. “4 The Families” included eulogies from relatives and friends and the latest details on the crash investigation. Colgan Air Flight 3407 was on its way from Newark, New Jersey to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Colgan Air was a regional company servicing Continental Airlines. Shortly before the crash, the crew had reported a buildup of ice on the aircraft's wings and windshield. The Bombardier Q400 two-engine turbo-prop failed to recover from a stall and crashed into a house on Long Street in Clarence Center. Three people were in the house. A mother and her daughter were able to escape. The father did not survive. The accident occurred at 10:17 pm, about five miles from the Buffalo airport. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board would later attribute the crash to pilot error. Instead of pointing the nose of the plane downward and applying full power, the proper reaction to an aerodynamic stall, Captain Marvin Renslow pulled back on the control column pointing the nose upward causing the plane to pitch and roll. It quickly lost altitude and crashed. Among those killed in the crash were Allison Des Forges, a human rights investigator and an expert on the Rwandan genocide, Beverly Eckert, named co-chair of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee after her husband was killed in the September 11 attacks, Susan Wehle, the first American female Jewish Renewal cantor, and jazz musicians Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett, who were en route to a concert with Chuck Mangione and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
creator: WIVB-TV
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
publisher: WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
date: 2009-02-16
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)
contributor: Jacquie Walker, Jacquie (Anchor)
contributor: Postles, Don (Anchor)
contributor: Holmes, Melissa (Reporter)
contributor: Richert, George (Reporter)
contributor: Newberg, Rich (Reporter)
contributor: Vaughters, Al (Reporter)
contributor: Schultz, Lorey (Reporter)
contributor: Arena, Joe (Reporter)
contributor: McClintick, Michele
contributor: Hairston, Mylous (Reporter)
contributor: Cruze, Tricia (Reporter)
contributor: Moretti, Luke (Reporter)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving image

Manny Fried : Life Reflections
subject: Labor--New York (State)--Buffalo.
subject: Playwriting.
description: Interview One Manny Fried turns 80 and reflects on his life and the struggles he endured after being blacklisted from 1956 to 1972 for his political beliefs. He says that growing up as one of nine children, “We were taught to be honest and stick up for your rights.” In his books and plays he writes about relationships inside the labor movement. “I tried hard to be a voice for the American worker,” he tells Rich Newberg. He talks about refusing to answer any questions by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and about receiving support from Albert Einstein. Fried says the committee did not have a constitutional right to exist. He says he has no regrets, even though his life has been tough. He says, “I’ve tried to embody my experience in plays I write and the novels I write.” The interview is conducted at the Alleyway Theater before scenes are rehearsed for his play “Big Ben Hood.” Fried says the underlying theme is, “The need to be true to yourself, the need to have integrity, and the need to make a choice and not try to stand on the fence.” When the interview ends, the actors on stage celebrate Manny Fried's birthday, surprising him with a song and a cake. He joins them on stage and blows out the candles with one breath. The actors, including Jim Santella, pay tribute to Fried, pointing out his honesty and integrity. March 1, 1993 Interview Runs: 12:36 21:18 including b-roll Interview Two In 1994 Manny Fried is interviewed by Rich Newberg at home, where he discusses his lawsuit against the FBI and the price he paid for being labeled “the most dangerous man in Western New York.” At age 81, he discusses the lawsuit he filed against the FBI based on testimony he learned two years earlier from a former FBI worker. He says the woman told him that the FBI set up 25 agents to follow him around the clock, bug his conversations, read his mail and work toward getting him indicted. Fried says the most important goal of his lawsuit is to “have them admit what they did... …
creator: Newberg, Rich (Writer, Reporter)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
publisher: WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
date: 1993-03-01 1994-06-09
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

Manny Fried: A Guiding Presence
subject: Labor--New York (State)--Buffalo.
subject: Playwriting.
description: When Manny Fried was blacklisted during the McCarthy era in the 1950s, he says the union rank and file he represented as an organizer stood by him. He said he never lost hope in the American people because of that support. He was being investigated for his association with the Communist Party. His refusal to answer questions from the House Un-American Activities Committee earned the respect of Albert Einstein, who sent him a note on April 16, 1954 saying, “You did the right thing and fulfilled your duty as a citizen.” After finding it impossible to find work in the US, Fried took a job with a Canadian company as a life insurance salesmen. He established his voice as a playwright, author, actor and teacher. He began teaching creative writing at Buffalo State College in 1972. Later in life he sued the FBI for emotional and financial damage, claiming he and his family were harassed and intimidated by twenty-five agents under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover. Fried’s book, “The Un-American,” retells the nightmare he and his family were made to endure. When Manny Fried passed away in 2011 at the age of 97, Buffalo News columnist Colin Dabkowski wrote, “He remained a guiding presence in Buffalo’s theater, literary and social activist communities and was widely regarded as the most important figure on Buffalo’s theater scene.” Manny Fried told his story to Rich Newberg, who produced three reports in 1993 and 1994.
creator: Newberg, Rich (Writer, Reporter)
source: Rich Newberg Reports Collection
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
publisher: WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
date: 1993-03-01 1994-06-02 1994-06-09
contributor: Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

The Vehicular Manslaughter Trial of Lyndon Goodell
subject: Goodell, Lyndon
subject: Drunk Driving
subject: Trials (Manslaughter)--New York (State)
description: In August, 1988, Lyndon Goodell was found guilty of being under the influence of alcohol when the car he was driving smashed head on into a driver-education car. On June 10, 1987, three 17 year old Pembroke, New York High School students and their 55 year old instructor were killed. Victims' relatives attended every day of the fifteen day trial in Batavia, New York. The jury took two days to deliberate. The jury had to determine that it was 23 year old Goodell behind the wheel. His passenger, Carol Rokicki, was with him at the time of the accident. She had been granted immunity by the prosecution in exchange for her testimony. Defense attorney Fern Acomb said it was Rokicki who supplied the alcohol and had the keys to the car, and that she was driving at the time of the crash. However, it was Goodell's chest injuries that convinced the jury that he was in the driver's seat. The manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter convictions of Goodell were based on the belief that he knew, or should have known that his reckless drunken driving had the potential to kill. District Attorney Robert Noonan said, "...a guilty verdict on all counts was the only verdict that I would have been happy with." The victims' relatives comforted each other after the two week trial ended with a guilty verdict. Tricia Collins, whose husband Patrick was killed in the accident, expressed the hope the trial would serve as a powerful lesson that drinking and driving can lead to tragic consequences. Genesee County Judge Glenn Morton sentenced Goodell to 7 1/2 to 15 years in state prison. A wrongful-death settlement totaling $340,000 dollars was paid out by insurance companies to the families of all four of the victims. Goodell kept maintaining that he was not driving, but lost subsequent appeals.
creator: Newberg, Rich
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
publisher: WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
date: 1988-08
contributor: Reeve, Richard (Reporter)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

The Rescue of Heather Mercer
subject: Humanitarian aid workers--Afghanistan
subject: Mercer, Heather
subject: Taliban
subject: Shelter Now (Organization)
description: The Rescue of Heather Mercer Heather Mercer and her friend and co-worker Dayna Curry, were American aid workers arrested in Afghanistan by the Taliban on August 3, 2001. They were part of the Antioch International Movement of Churches and employed by a German-based Christian aid organization called Shelter Now International. Following their arrest, six other Western aid workers and sixteen co-workers from Afghanistan were taken into custody and charged with preaching Christianity, a crime potentially punishable by death under Taliban law. The workers were initially held as prisoners in Kabul. When Northern Alliance forces took control of Kabul on November 13, 2001, the aid workers from Afghanistan were freed. The Western aid workers, however, were moved by the Taliban to a prison in Ghazni. There, anti-Taliban forces freed those prisoners as well. They were airlifted to safety in Islamabad, Pakistan. Heather Mercer grew up in suburban Virginia, outside of Washington. Her parents were divorced. Heather's mother, Deborah Eddy from Lewiston, and her grandmother, Norma Anderson from Niagara Falls, worked tirelessly for Heather's release. Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry were welcomed home by President Bush and invited to join him at the White House. The president said, "They had a calling to serve the poorest of the poor." Heather commented, "We know we're here because of the prayers of people all over the country, all over the world!"
creator: Newberg, Rich
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
publisher: WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
date: 2001-11-26
contributor: Hill, Ahmir (Graphic artist)
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image

The Hunt for Ralph "Bucky" Phillips
subject: Escaped prisoners
subject: Phillips, Ralph James
subject: Fugitives from justice.
description: This series of reports compiled by retired WIVB-TV senior correspondent Rich Newberg documents the escape of Ralph "Bucky" Phillips from jail and the subsequent manhunt that cost a New York State Trooper his life. Two other Troopers had been shot and wounded by Phillips. It was one of the largest manhunts in the nation, lasting more than five months. Mr. Newberg's report on the funeral of Trooper Joseph Longobardo is included, as well as many stories documenting the progression of events leading up to Phillips' capture. Ralph "Bucky" Phillips had appeared on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Background On April 2, 2006, Ralph "Bucky" Phillips escaped from the Erie County Correctional Facility by using a can opener to cut through the metal roof of the kitchen. He had been arrested on a parole violation following a burglary conviction in 2005. Although his criminal record also included grand larceny and other crimes, he was initially not considered to be a violent person by friends and relatives, according to early reports. Some believed he was intent on patching up his relationship with his daughter and grandchildren. During the initial phases of his escape, the public became fixated on Phillips' ability to allude police, who at times were hot on his trail. Feeding into his "folk hero" status, one restaurant established the to-go "Bucky Burger," for those "On the Run." T-shirts were marketed saying "Run, Bucky, Run!" A song with the same title was written. The Bucky Phillips saga turned dark when he shot and wounded New York State Trooper Sean Brown near Elmira on June 10, 2006. Trooper Brown was approaching a stolen Ford Mustang Phillips was driving. A second shooting took place in the Chautauqua County town of Pomfret on August 31st. State Troopers Donald Baker Jr. and Joseph Longobardo were hit during a house stakeout of a relative of Phillips. Longobardo later died from his wounds. Phillips was captured by Pennsylvania State Police on September 8, 2006. H…
creator: Newberg, Rich
publisher: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)
publisher: WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
date: 2006-04-02
date: 2006-09-08
rights: Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.
format: video/mp4
language: eng
type: Moving Image