Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

  Nearly 30 years after its release, “Philadelphia” is still one of the most powerful films I've ever seen. Tom Hanks plays Andy, the high-powered lawyer who gets fired because he has AIDS, although the law firm's partners deny that, and claim he was fired because of poor performance and almost loosing a big client. His character doesn't go through a lot of emotional or mental changes, but the physical transformation from a fairly healthy-looking man to a man literally on his death bed is remarkable. Denzel Washington's character, Joe, changes the most, going from someone who was scared after learning he shook the hand of someone (Andy) who had AIDS, and being disgusted by gay men, to developing an affection and respect for Andy. Andy hires Joe, an “ambulance chaser,” to represent him in a lawsuit against the law firm when every other lawyer he contacted turned him down. The supporting cast is phenomenal. Among them, Jason Robards as a law firm partner, Joan...

The man who spent 12 years in prison for intentionally infecting more than a dozen Chautauqua County residents with HIV in the late 1990s has apparently decided being locked up isn’t all that bad. Nushawn Williams’ prison term was up nearly two years ago, but the state kept him behind bars under a law that allows them to keep sex offenders confined past their sentences if it’s believed they pose a threat to society. He had been scheduled for a trial so he could make a case for his release. But his attorney was in court Wednesday asking for the trial to be delayed for a year. He did not specify the reasons for the delay, which the judge did order. Williams has chosen to remain in the Wende State Correctional Facility rather than in a secure treatment facility during the civil confinement proceedings. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947