An oft-repeated theme that comes up as I interview attorneys, business owners and managers is that there is still a lack of good jobs available in the region that pay a living wage. Each time a job is posted, employers are flooded with resumes, phone calls and walk-ins hungry to work.

We have written in the past how tough times often spur some people to start their own business - a sort of forced entrepreneurship. As the fax machine continues to spit out releases from the U.S. Attorney's office, it seems that entrepreneurial spirit has reached new lows.

• Let's start with young William Webster. At just 19-years-old, Mr. Webster along with an accomplice, broke into the Wyoming Gun Center in Java and stole 16 firearms. Any slacker could have just taken the guns to the street and sold them, but embracing the true spirit of entrepreneurship, Webster began shortening the barrel and stock on the guns.

Again, reselling them would have been the easy thing to do, but apparently Webster wanted to run a bit of quality control on his products. So he found a driver and proceeded to drive through Java Center shooting out car windows and taking out street signs.

For his entrepreneurial innovation and willingness to go the extra mile and make sure his modified weapons actually worked, Webster now faces 10 years in prison after entering a guilty plea yesterday to charges of illegally making firearms.

• Next up we've got Buffalo resident Michael McCallum. Having not crossed paths with Webster, McCallum, according to the complaint filed against him, entered the Clinton Pharmacy on New Year's Eve without a gun in search of some Oxycodone. Undeterred by his lack of firepower, McCallum hopped the counter, and quickly left the store with more than 1,300 pills valued at more than $37,000.

Without the need to market test his product, McCallum allegedly hit ground running and in a throwback to the era of door-to-door salesmen, began unloading his booty. Unfortunately for this entrepreneur (and quite fortunately for the rest of the good people of Buffalo), McCallum sold some Oxycodone to an individual working with the DEA. Though he has only been charged, and thus is presumed innocent until proven guilty, McCallum is staring down a potential sentence of 40 years behind bars and a fine of up to $1,250,000.

• Moving on, we have the case of Minnetta Walker. The 43-year-old Buffalo resident worked as a TSA agent at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. She was arrested yesterday and charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing security measures at the airport. It seems that Walker had heard the old saying of flying the friendly skies and she took it as her personal mission to put the friendly in friendly skies.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Walker allowed several passengers to pass through security using in one case, a false name, and assisting others in circumventing normal security measures to board planes. One of the passengers Walker is alleged to have helped, Derek Frank, of Amherst, was also arrested and charged in a related crime, with possession of 100 kilograms of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

Though Walker had a job, times are tough and in the true spirit of innovation, it appears she found creative ways to keep her customers happy, and secure her own employment future. Thanks to yesterdays arrest, her future could be secured behind bard for up to six years if convicted of all charges.

• Finally, we have the case of Daniel Black. Black is a the president of Blackstone Business Enterprises Inc. He was convicted of charges stemming from the removal of asbestos from a building he was overseeing and filing a false tax return to avoid paying taxes on more than $400,000 in income.

Unlike our street entrepreneurs, Black appears to have been just a rich guy trying to get more rich. For this case, it isn't him that drew my interest.

Keeping with out theme of finding work in a down economy, many Western New Yorkers have lost their jobs and turned to temporary staffing agencies as a means to put food on the table.

When Black needed to gut his Jamestown building of steam pipes containing that pesky asbestos, he sought out four temporary workers from one such agency to do the work. Black had taken a shortcut, failing to conduct an inspection for asbestos before he had these workers begin to remove the pipes from the building.

As if life isn't tough enough, these workers who sought out gainful though temporary employment had the misfortune of crossing paths with Daniel Black. The good news is, they won't be running into him anytime soon. Black was sentenced yesterday to 12 months in prison for his crimes.

I could go on, but heck, it's only Wednesday, let's pace ourselves.