The National Hydrologic Assessment of Spring Flooding Risks available at the web site and includes current flood watches and flood risks in the Western New York area

>> click here for the WIVB.com Pothole Patrol to upload your own troublesome pothole photo and location

Get the full list of participating restaurants in this year’s WNY Local Restaurant Week

>> click here

All the regular bloggers know by now there’ll be little excitement on the weather scene around here this week. The greatest challenge later in the week will be forecasting cloud cover. Weak circulation, little mixing, and inversions can make predicting when clouds are going to break up one of the most difficult calls (though not one of the most critical).

With el nino still going essentially full tilt, we can expect the southern branch of the jetstream to remain quite active. The Arctic Oscillation will be moving back toward neutral by later next week, with the PNA showing a weakly positive sign. The operational GFS does point to a somewhat more active pattern next week, which could include a round or two of snow for our region. No sign, however, of anything huge–especially considering these GFS signals are further out in time as model reliability drops off.

Congratulations to John Rodgers who was honored with the 2010 “Service to Mankind” award Saturday night during the 18th Annual Diamond Ball at Samuel’s Grande Manor. The award is presented by the Western and Central New York Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It honors Rodgers for his dedication and leadership in advancing the mission of the Society: finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and Hodgkin’s disease and improving the quality of life for patients and their families.

Dr. Michael Cropp introducing John Rodgers

Rodgers has devoted much of his personal time to helping those who have blood-related cancers. He is executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Independent Health. He has served on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Board of Trustees Executive Committee. He is a past chairman of the Diamond Ball and serves on many of the chapter’s event and fundraising committees.

It is always touching to watch the “Service to Mankind” award presentation. There are no plaques or trophies. Instead, a donation is made in the honoree’s name to continue the fight against blood cancers. And, the honoree is presented with a rose from each of about a dozen leukemia survivors who walk in silence from the back of the ballroom and circle the honoree on the stage. Survivors hand the honoree a red rose. A family member of a patient who did not survive hands a white rose to the honoree.

Service To Mankind Award

Channel Four has been a sponsor of the Diamond Ball from the beginning, and it has been my great privilege to emcee this fundraising event for about 15 years now. It was an especially great privilege to be named as the 1999 “Service to Mankind” honoree. My involvement with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has stretched over a quarter century. I’ve seen the cure rates for blood cancers improve dramatically over these years – proof that medical research is vital. Our local chapter currently is helping support nine research projects at the University of Rochester and Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

I’m sure that John Rodgers will treasure his memories of Saturday’s Diamond Ball and will acknowledge, as I do, that the real jewels of this big event are all those people who gave him a rose, a hug, and a reason to keep working toward a cure.

Jacquie was the emcee for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Diamond Ball

A Rochester Police officer, nearly killed in the line of duty, needs your help.

Officer Anthony DiPonzio is one of eight finalists for the America’s Most Wanted All-Star Award.

Voting begins April 14th, but you can check out his profile here.

(AP Photo)

Saturday’s news about Terrell Owens should not surprise Bills fans.  Owens one-year contract was due to expire, and it was doubtful that HE wanted to come back.  He’ll look to find a mores settled team with a better line, better quarterback and established coach.

The Bills have none of those, and that’s part of the reason why THEY didn’t want him back.  They have young receivers in James Hardy and Steve Johnson who need a chance.  The Bills are making a fresh start with Chan Gailey’s new offense, and Owens didn’t figure in to that.

Along with the announced departure of Josh Reed, the Bills receiving corp will get a makeover.  Hardy would be the favorite to start opposite Lee Evans, although a veteran free agent receiver would make sense to ease the transition.  Johnson should also be in the mix to start, or play the slot.  Don’t forget Roscoe Parrish, if Gailey can figure out a way to use him correctly.

Owen’s time in Buffalo will be remembered for all the hype, excitement and less for his production.  But he played OK, and to his credit, was never a problem in the locker room. 

Does he get to keep that key to the city, though?

The American Red Cross is making an initial $50,000 donation to the Chile earthquake victims, and they need your help.

Visit the Red Cross web site to make a donation.

It’s the first day of on field workouts for the prospects here at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.  Today, Offensive Linemen,  Tight Ends and Specialists are on the field going through drills in front of scouts and coaches.  They’re inside Lucas Oil Stadium being put through the paces.

Some interesting numbers coming out of today’s early workouts.  Williamsville native Rob Gronkowski ranked fifth among the tight ends in the bench press today.  He did 23 reps at 225 pounds.  The bench press drill basically measures how many times the prospect can bench press the 225 pound weight.  Gronkowski says the bench press is the only workout he’ll complete here at the combine, as he continues to recover from back surgery last fall.  His back is fine, but he’s still working himself into condition.  Gronkowski told us this week he expects to be fully conditioned by the time of his on campus workout in Arizona in late March.

The Bills have a special interest in Offensive Tackle prospects in this draft, and no doubt they’re keeping an eye on the workout numbers from that group.  Maryland tackle Bruce Campbell has put up some good numbers today.  He’s fifth among tackles in the bench press, lifting 225 pounds 34 times.  And he had the best time in the 40-yard dash among tackles, a 4.85.   Campbell has battled injuries and illnesses during his three years at Maryland, but his numbers today merit further revue.

The annual NFL Scouting Combine serves as the unofficial opening of a new league season, the first time all 32 teams begin to look foward, rather than backwards.

But there’s no doubt at this year’s combine, that teams are reluctant to look too deep into the future.  The long running dispute between owners and the NFLPA has become the undercurrent of this year’s Indianapolis combine.  It colors nearly every decision teams, players and agents make.  And the scary part is, no one has yet to articulate a way towards a resolution of the dispute that would avoid a lockout in 2011.

Barring a miracle agreement, the league begins an uncapped 2010 season next week.  While the prospect of no salary cap may sound like a bonanza for free agents, it really is more of a boon to the owners.  That’s due in large part to the conditions put into the uncapped year by owners; the reason why they voted to opt out of the CBA early.

There are serious restrictions on free agent movement in an uncapped year, which amount to approximately 200 players who would have been unrestricted free agents next week, instead remaining locked into their current deals.  Bills GM Buddy Nix told me Thursday that the Bills will suffer from having a smaller pool of free agents to consider signing, but the players who had hoped to become free agents are the real victims.

The prospect of a 2011 lockout no doubt influenced the decision of many juniors to enter the draft early, to get at least one year of  pay before the league goes dark for a season. 

The deck appears to be stacked in favor of the owners right now, thanks to a carefully considered strategy for approaching the 2011 season.  The uncapped 2010 season is a major piece of that strategy, a preview of what’s to come.  It will be interesting to see if the players unity begins to crack slightly this spring, when the full impact of the uncapped year sinks in.