Buffalo River

It was on this date in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson visited Buffalo. While the visit would lead to a change in the health of the region's polluted waterways, it was also the day the spotlight was placed on the uncommon efforts of a common man, Stan Spisiak. Author and legendary radio news anchor John Zach details the man and how he changed the environmental course of the region's waters in his new book, "The Day the Buffalo River Burned: The Incredible Story of Stan Spisiak."

To keep waters navigable, they have to be dredged to allow the removal of vast volumes of wet sludge so ships can get through. Experts from around the Great Lakes are in town to see what this area does with dredged materials.

Down in the Valley is Margaret "Peg" Overdorf. Hang your head over the Michigan Avenue Lift Bridge and you can hear her wind blow. This year, Overdorf is celebrating 40 years as Executive Director of the Valley Community Association, from which has bloomed a renewal along the Ohio Street Corridor to the Buffalo River. You may not recognize their names, but the VCA, Overdorf and her close-knit army of volunteers are leaving their mark on our region, serving families and turning former polluted dumping grounds into waterfront destinations.

Improvements on the Buffalo waterfront are moving out into open water, to the breakwalls that protect the harbor.

The Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper announced the completion of the habitat restoration project for the Buffalo River Monday morning.

It’s the early 1960s, and you’re summering at Crystal Beach. You walk across the sands to take a dip in the warm waves of Lake Erie. But before you get to the water, you’ve got to step gingerly through a dozen yards of dead fish, a solid mass of rotting flesh washed up on the sand amid swarms of flies, already stinking in the morning sun.

Downtown Buffalo's Central Library is a good walk from the Buffalo River or Canalside, but the river was the focus Thursday night during a public forum.

Plans are set to be unveiled Wednesday for bringing new life to an old rail corridor in Buffalo.

For more than 150 years they have loomed over the river, gigantic and monstrous. Silent gray canyons lining the waterway, they form a concrete Atlantis, whispering of the wealth they once generated, the ships, the throngs of workers, the noise and traffic and bustle. Long ago, they were made of wood.

Members of a family with roots in South Buffalo and with the Buffalo Fire Department gathered Friday aboard the city's vintage fireboat. The tour is intended to not only celebrate the family's heritage but raise awareness that the ship is in need of upgrades.

A local organization is in the running for what's billed as "the world's most prestigious environmental award."    

The Great Lakes could become a spawning ground for invasive species under a bill recently passed by the House. It would eliminate federal oversight of ballast water that some ships carry around the world.

By early 2017, the City of Buffalo's rental stock will include nearly 100 apartments in two new buildings overlooking the Buffalo River.

The dredges are coming again to the Buffalo River, as a ten-year, $100 million project to clean the river winds down.

Squaw Island State Park on Buffalo’s West side could be the site of some natural recycling.