Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton may have been in Tonawanda last week but she was clearly speaking for a larger audience.

Clinton’s speech on clean energy was a president-in-the-making policy lecture as any I’ve heard.

During her stop at the NRG Huntley Generating Station on River Road, she took a short tour, which made a convenient photo-op and greeted every management-type and blue-collar worker she encountered.

Following her visit, she made two stops in other New York towns to talk about the importance of eliminating America’s dependence on foreign oil and then offered similar remarks the next day in Washington, D.C., to a national clean-energy advocacy group, the Apollo Alliance.

She might have been in Tonawanda to talk about energy, but now the senator is a presidential candidate and was peppered with questions having nothing to do with energy.

On a question about why she originally voted in favor of the Iraq War, Clinton said she wishes President Bush had used his authority differently.

“I’ve said I take responsibility for that and I do,” she said. “I don’t think you get do-overs in life. I think you’ve got to take responsibility for what you do. I’ve done that.”

“I regret deeply the way the president used the authority given to him by the Congress,” she said.

When a television reporter asked about the “negative tone” the campaign was taking (allusions to remarks made by former Clinton supporter David Geffen, now in Sen. Barak Obama’s camp), doors were shut on reporters, but not before Clinton could get out and greet the waiting public.

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A few months back we published a list of the many pork projects secured by Sen. George Maziarz in the 2006-07 state fiscal year. The projects totaled $2.2 million.

Here is the list of state grants Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte secured in the same year.

The following appropriations were sponsored only by DelMonte. They total $56,000:

n $3,000 for American Red Cross — Niagara Falls chapter

n $4,000 for Planned Parenthood of Niagara County

n $2,000 for the Lower Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce

n $8,500 for Niagara Falls Block Club Council

n $6,000 for the Niagara Wine Trail

n $3,000 for Upper Mountain Fire Company

n $2,000 for the Niagara Falls Police Department

n $3,000 for the Village of Youngstown Police

n $2,000 for the Italian American War Veterans Post 0042

n $3,000 for VFW Post 313

n $2,000 for Community Missions

n $4,000 for Independent Church of God In Christ, Niagara Falls

n $2,500 for People and Possibilities, Niagara Falls

n $2,500 for Lewiston Council on the Arts

n $3,000 for Safari Club International

n $2,500 for Village of Lewiston

n $3,000 for Wilson Historical Society

The following appropriations were sponsored by DelMonte and other members. In nearly all instances, the grants were requested by DelMonte and six other members of the Assembly from Western New York. They total $636,000:

n $12,500 for Niagara County Department of Health

n $50,000 for the Buffalo-Niagara Partnership

n $28,000 for Buffalo Niagara International Trade Foundation

n $25,000 for Erie County Fire Chiefs’ Mutual Aid

Organization

n $21,000 for the Western New York Law Center

n $8,000 for Buffalo Music Hall of Fame

n $9,000 for Just Buffalo Literary Center

n $10,000 for Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo and Erie County

n $3,000 for Uncrowned Queens Institute for Research and Education on Women

n $5,000 for Tonawanda/Grand Island Teacher Center

n $6,050 for Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health

n $11,000 for Legal Services for the Elderly, Disabled or Disadvantaged of Western New York

n $15,000 for Opportunities Unlimited

n $17,000 for Carousel Society of the Niagara Frontier

n $14,000 for Catholic Charities of Buffalo

n $5,000 for Child and Adolescent Treatment Services

n $14,000 for the Food Bank of Western New York

n $22,000 for Gaelic American Athletic Association of Buffalo

n $10,000 for Girl Scouts of Niagara County

n $11,000 for Horizon Village

n $14,000 for Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo

n $4,000 for Junior Achievement of Western New York

n $8,000 for Juvenile Fire Intervention Response Program of Western New York

n $5,000 for Mothers Against Drunk Driving

n $36,000 for National Conference for Community and Justice

n $8,000 for Parkside Community Association of Buffalo

n $15,000 for West Seneca Youth Bureau/Americorps

n $5,000 for Art Studio of Western New York

n $20,000 for Artpark

n $12,000 for Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County

n $3,000 for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

n $5,000 for Center for Exploratory and Perceptual and Arts

n $5,000 for El Museo, Buffalo

n $7,000 for Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo

n $15,250 for Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier

n $5,000 for Links Foundation

n $20,000 for Niagara Aquarium Foundation

n $5,000 for Niagara Frontier Chapter — National Railway Historical Society

n $11,000 for Riviera Theater and Organ Preservation Society

n $15,000 for Studio Arena Theater School Corporation

n $15,000 for Tonawanda Council on the Arts

n $6,000 for Ujima Company

n $5,200 for Western New York Artists Group

n $15,000 for Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

n $5,000 for Young Audiences of Western New York

n $75,000 for State University of New York at Stony Brook, Sea Grant Institute

As an end note, the New York Times reported in January on a pot of nearly $1.9 billion in borrowed funds controlled by Empire State Development. The funds were used by Gov. George Pataki and lawmakers for pet projects. From that pot, DelMonte secured $100,000 for the Niagara Military Affairs Council.