"The tale of State Sen. Mark Grisanti's involvement in a fight at the Seneca Niagara Casino last weekend is one of the most bizarre local news stories to come along in quite a while.

Because it involves issues (or at least accusations) of race, alcohol, profane language, injury, and the involvement of well-known public figures, the publication of the story has brought up a multitude of questions over the past several days. Editors at The News discussed and at times disagreed over how to handle aspects of the story. One of these was whether to publish statements by Seneca businessman Ross L. John that he had heard Grisanti yelling profane and racially offensive words during the altercation.

Ultimately, I felt that it was right to do so -- given that we had a named source who is a well-known Seneca businessman and tribal leader, and that we had Grisanti's response."

Get the Story:
News Editor Margaret Sullivan: Covering the strange story of Mark Grisanti and the Seneca Niagara Casino scuffle (The Buffalo News 2/15)

Also Today:
Police still awaiting statements about fight (The Buffalo News 2/15)
Swanick mulling run against Grisanti (The Buffalo News 2/15)

Related Stories:
State lawmaker on defensive after incident at Seneca casino (2/14)
President of Seneca Nation apologizes for incident at casino (2/13)