The Concrete Central, Agway, The Great Northern, The Marine A, The Lake and Rail, Kellogg, Pillsbury, H&O Oats, Exchange American, Electric Annex — these are just a few of the “Grand Ladies of the Lake” whose fascinating biographies and arresting photos are the subject of a new book on Buffalo’s grain elevators edited by landscape architect Lynda Schneekloth.

“Reconsidering Concrete Atlantis: Buffalo’s Grain Elevators” (2007, Urban Design Project and Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier) tells a colorful and deeply researched historic, economic and cultural story of the elevators through essays and articles by Schneekloth, professor of architecture at the University at Buffalo, and several notable preservationists, urban planners and historians.

The book, rich with scores of photos, drawings, maps, floor plans, charts, history and anecdotes, also presents proposed projects for adaptive reuse of the 13 abandoned elevators that still stand on the Buffalo waterfront. The proposals are by 12 authors from the UB School of Architecture and Planning, Cornell University and Columbia University.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Comedian, satirist, actor and writer Stephen Colbert has been added to the spring lineup of the University at Buffalo’s Distinguished Speakers Series.

Colbert will speak at 8 p.m. April 4 in Alumni Arena on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

Award-winning actor James Earl Jones, who originally was scheduled to speak on that date, has cancelled his appearance to star in a new Broadway production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” UB hopes to invite Jones to participate in a future season of the series.

Congressman Brian Higgins and Senator Hillary Clinton announced $3.1 million in federal funding dedicated to a project that would create 20 acres of new parkland on land now occupied by the Buffalo station for the United States Coast Guard. The funding, championed by Higgins and Clinton, was included in the appropriations bill approved by the House of Representatives and Senate and signed by the President in late December.

Erie County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz today issued his office’s audit of the Sale, Purchase and Operation Agreement (”SPOA”) by and between Erie County (”County”) and Erie County Medical Center Corporation (”ECMCC”). The SPOA and subsequent legal actions (resulting in two (2) consent decrees) govern the County’s sale of the hospital to the then created public benefit corporation in 2004 and the mutual obligations of both parties including ongoing subsidies, reporting, and other financial issues.

Last week, Deloitte & Touche LLP issued a favorable FY 2006-07 audit for the City, which reported a $21,695,000 surplus, the largest in the history of the City of Buffalo and the fifth consecutive surplus the City has reported since the fiscal crisis began in 2001-02. This latest double-digit surplus brings the City’s total fund balance to just over $117 million, with $76 million free from any financial commitments or restrictions.