Top Stories
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Congress returns with a Dec. 11 funding deadline, a stalled farm bill and a defense bill in doubt. Here is what Western New York has riding on it
Republicans still control both chambers for five weeks. The calendar, the committee chairs’ own words, the White House and Democratic positions, and…
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Buffalo says it has 44 pieces of snow equipment and 3,000 tons of salt ready, as the first snow of the season nears
Public Works Commissioner Nolan Skipper told the Common Council the city is “ready to go.” Here is what is in the fleet,…
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The Bills stadium’s 6% surcharge has raised $2.88 million for Erie County in two months. None of it stays in the county
The charge on tickets, parking, food and merchandise at Highmark Stadium is passed to the state each April 30. Here is what…
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Niagara County Republicans keep the Legislature at 12–3, but a 34-vote Democratic lead in District 5 is still being counted
Republicans gained District 12 and held control. The party chairs disagree on why, and absentee ballots could still move one seat.
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New York sues Interior to strip two Seneca parcels of sovereign status. The case turns on where the money came from
The state filed two federal suits Friday challenging Interior’s restricted-fee decisions for Seneca Nation land in Buffalo and on Grand Island. Here is what each side claims, what the record shows, and who is accountable.
Latest Headlines
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The Kenney Field jet is nearly restored, and the crew found bullet holes under its old patches
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OLV Basilica’s copper dome is about 80% restored, with the scaffolding due down next August
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Sears-Paderewski Park is getting a $2.3 million rebuild. The public record is quieter on who will maintain it
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Buffalo’s $61.4 million heat network won approval. The state’s own math says heat pumps would cut carbon for less
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UB enrolls its 20 paused license-plate cameras in a seminar on how to be properly socialized
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Erie County’s 2026 count isn’t finished. The 143rd Assembly race shows what is still left to tally
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Abuse survivors approve the Buffalo Diocese’s $327 million settlement plan, with court approval still to come
Deeper Analysis
Deeper Analysis
Erie County early vote passes 80,000, already above the 2022 nine-day total
Erie County voters have already cast more early ballots in seven days than they did in all nine days of early voting in the last race for governor, and with two days left the county is on pace to set a new mark for a midterm year.
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Workforce Pell can pay for fast job training. New York should start certifying programs Buffalo can use
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Buffalo’s school board should put its final closure plan in writing and vote on it Nov. 18
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Erie County is right to open a 24/7 shelter. It should show the public the bill.
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Amtrak should say whether the Depew platform is getting a fix or a patch
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Buffalo’s school closure plan is headed for changes, with no new vote date yet
The Buffalo Board of Education has not rescheduled its vote on closing and merging schools. The interim superintendent says the plan will likely be modified, and…
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Erie County’s helicopter deal shows how its purchasing office slipped past its own guardrails
An April audit says Erie County’s purchasing office let one helicopter become two without legislative review, paid a deposit to the wrong vendor and could not…
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Election Day in Western New York: polls open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. after nearly 100,000 early votes in Erie County
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Here is where to vote, what is on the ballot, and what record early voting does and…
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Erie County’s new South Park shelter will stay open on warm nights, too, and local taxpayers will cover those nights
Erie County’s lease on the former Buffalo Creek Academy began Nov. 1. County documents show the shelter will run 24/7 all winter, with local funds paying…
Suburbs
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Niagara power and Albany spending frame the Bologna-Sholk race in the 144th Assembly District
Republican Assemblyman Paul Bologna says New York cannot spend its way to prosperity. Democrat Donna Dye Sholk wants unallocated Niagara hydropower sent to Erie and Niagara…
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Baskin runs on her record as Szymanski tries to unseat her in the 63rd Senate District
First-term state Sen. April Baskin faces former Lackawanna Mayor Geoffrey Szymanski on Tuesday in a district covering much of Buffalo’s East Side, Cheektowaga and Lackawanna.
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Albany’s $9 billion surplus cuts next year’s budget gap to $2.9 billion, two days before voters pick who spends it
The state’s Mid-Year Update raises tax revenue by $8.1 billion and cuts next year’s gap from $6.4 billion to $2.9 billion. What it means for the…
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Erie County early vote passes 80,000, already above the 2022 nine-day total
Erie County’s early vote has topped 80,000 ballots with two days left, about 14% above the full 2022 total.
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Langworthy, Tenney and Kennedy head back to a House that Democrats will run
Western New York reelected all four of its House members, but Democrats won control of the chamber. Rep. Nick Langworthy says he is ready for the…
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On Election Day, the Supreme Court takes up Catholic preschools shut out of Colorado’s free pre-K
The justices open their November session Monday and hear St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy on Tuesday, a test of whether states can require religious preschools…
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Herzog tells Israel’s leaders to ‘stop climbing trees’ as Arab parties line up behind Eisenkot
Israel’s president opens coalition consultations Wednesday after a deadlocked election. The Arab parties are expected to back Gadi Eisenkot, which would give him 67 recommendations, while…
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Defense bill’s 65-year streak heads into the lame duck with no Senate vote
The NDAA has no Senate floor vote and no budget deal as Congress breaks for the election.
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Trump’s $15 billion in farm promises lands days before the midterms, and New York growers want Albany to add diesel relief
The Trump administration has pledged more than $15 billion to farmers hit by record diesel prices in the final weeks before Election Day. Farm groups welcome…
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Justice Department asks appeals court to lift order barring pressure on election officials over noncitizen ballots
A federal judge barred the Justice and Homeland Security departments from pressuring election officials to set aside ballots. The administration has asked the 9th Circuit to…
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White House circulates fishing industry praise for America First Seafood Strategy
The White House released endorsements from fishing groups and Cabinet officials for its seafood plan.
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Federal survey finds serious violent crime fell 25 percent in 2025, with caveats from a redesigned count
The government’s victimization survey found serious violent crime fell 25 percent and aggravated assault 31 percent in 2025. The Justice Department credits President Trump; the bureau…
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Niagara Falls sewage plant fix now costs $338 million, and the water board’s engineers call it unaffordable
A state order forces Niagara Falls to convert its sewage plant to biological treatment. The estimate has climbed to $338.2 million, and the board’s engineers say…
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Lockport Common Council votes to take down the city’s Flock license plate cameras
The Common Council voted 5-1 to revoke permission for all eight Flock Safety cameras in the city.
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Feds sue the successor of a Niagara Falls manufacturer over radioactive waste under two Lewiston homes
The Justice Department is suing NLI Holdings to recover what the EPA spent digging about 10,000 tons of radioactive waste out from under two homes on…
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Niagara Falls council holds off on delaying DeVeaux student-rental ban until Main Street housing breaks ground
Planners wanted to push the DeVeaux student-housing restrictions to June 2028 while a $25 million Main Street project for Niagara University students gets built. The City…
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Haldimand Tract trial resumes Monday after a Six Nations witness described language loss and displacement
The Six Nations land-rights trial returns Nov. 9 with Professor Alan Taylor scheduled to testify. Turtle Island News has published the first account of Joseph Martin’s…
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Seneca voters pick a new president Tuesday, and with it the next negotiator on an unsigned casino compact
Councilor Tina Abrams, the Seneca Party nominee, would be the Nation’s first woman president. She would inherit a compact standoff in which Gov. Hochul says there…
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Haldimand Tract trial breaks until Nov. 9 as the court weighs Six Nations oral history
The Six Nations land-rights trial adjourned Oct. 28 and resumes Nov. 9 in Ontario Superior Court. Here is where the case stands.
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Haldimand trial week three: Canada and Ontario challenge Six Nations oral history
Canada and Ontario objected to Six Nations’ oral history evidence as the land-rights trial entered its third week.
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DOE touts West Valley cleanup progress, but the study behind its biggest decision still hasn’t been released
The Energy Department is highlighting demolition and a rebuilt spillway at the West Valley nuclear site, but the draft study it projected for late 2025, which…
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A vacant Swan Street corner is slated for housing. Tests found lead at 50 times the residential cleanup limit
A developer who grew up nearby wants to build apartments and affordable townhomes at Swan and Chicago streets. His consultant’s tests found lead, mercury and buried…
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Radioactive slag was documented at a Town of Niagara drive-in in 2020. Neighbors are still waiting for answers
A 2020 report for Niagara County’s land bank found radiation on a vacant Witmer Road drive-in across Gill Creek from homes and recommended a $1.25 million…
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Two weeks after neighbors reported it, the state still hasn’t said where the oil in the Buffalo River is coming from
DEC’s spill record for the South Buffalo sheen lists diesel, mineral oil and latex, with the source “Unknown” and no volume. The same stretch near Ogden…
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The Old Pink’s arsonist gets five years. The Allen Street lots the fires left behind are still waiting on a plan
John W. Burns was sentenced to 60 months for the 2024 fire that destroyed the Old Pink. Court records lay out the texts that helped convict…
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Halton-Pope moves to write Buffalo’s limits on ICE cooperation into city law
A Common Council resolution would direct Corporation Counsel to codify Mayor Sean Ryan’s January executive order barring city resources from federal civil immigration enforcement, with quarterly…
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Gendron jury selection enters week three as a fatal taxi crash brings an indictment
Gendron’s lawyers tell prospective jurors the case is about life or death. Also: a DWI homicide indictment in Kensington-Grider, two sentences for Buffalo killings, a Hamburg…
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Four charged with murder in alleged plot to kill a witness, as federal gun case and day care shutdown round out the week
An indictment accuses five Buffalo residents of conspiring to kill a murder-trial witness. The week also brought a federal gun-trafficking complaint, Timon Street arrests and a…
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Station Twelve opens its first stores Thursday, 11 years after Amherst was promised a new Northtown Plaza
Five stores open at Amherst’s Station Twelve on Nov. 5, 11 years after WS Development bought Northtown Plaza. Here’s what the town was promised, the permit…
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Buffalo Urban League gets $5 million in state aid for Jefferson Avenue headquarters
Gov. Hochul announced $5 million toward the Urban League’s $25 million campus at 1137 Jefferson Ave.
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Young Development buys the land for its $25 million Village Walk senior apartments in East Aurora as plans head to the Planning Commission
Young Development paid $1.2 million for 11 acres on Quaker Road for a 118-unit, 55-and-older complex. The project, which divided residents at a July rezoning vote,…
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UB-trained planner Brian Smith wants to turn North Tonawanda’s empty DeGraff hospital tower into senior housing
The UB communication and urban planning graduate runs real estate development for People Inc. His biggest pending test is converting the vacant DeGraff Memorial Hospital bed…
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Culture, Food & Life in Western New York
Design
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Metro Rail’s newest station is closed while Main Street’s final rebuild runs late
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Buffalo asked in March to lead the Scajaquada makeover. The state’s timeline still puts it behind the 33
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Developers are converting Main Street offices into apartments. The city-owned hostel building across from Shea’s is still empty
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Bills come off the bye with a safety suspended, Lamar Jackson back and a fourth-quarter problem to solve
The 5-1 Bills host Baltimore today with C.J. Gardner-Johnson suspended, Damar Hamlin stepping in and Lamar Jackson expected back. After giving up 30 fourth-quarter points in…
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Western New York’s four Division I men’s basketball teams open Monday picked near the bottom
UB, Canisius, Niagara and St. Bonaventure all start the season Nov. 2 ranked in the bottom third of their conference polls. That includes UB, which just…
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Messiah Burch carries UB past Bowling Green and into a crowded MAC race
Senior running back Messiah Burch ran for a career-high 184 yards and three touchdowns as Buffalo beat Bowling Green 31-24 on Senior Day. The Bulls are…
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Sabres fall behind early again, and the goaltending question follows them on the road
A 3-1 loss to the Flyers ended Buffalo’s point streak and sent the 4-4-2 Sabres on a four-game road trip. As Connor Hellebuyck’s suspension in Winnipeg…
From Coast to Coast to Coast
Canada Edition
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Canada is thirsty for a strong father figure. Pierre Poilievre is built for the job
A GTA mom argues the country is aching for confident, masculine leadership, and that the handsome, hard-charging Conservative leader is the dad Canada has been waiting for.
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Ontario bill aims to finish Highway 69 widening five years sooner
The proposed Building Highway 69 Faster Act would streamline environmental reviews for the last 68 km between Parry Sound and Sudbury. The province hasn’t given a cost or a completion date.
Ottawa
House of Commons · Senate · Supreme Court · Global Affairs · Prime Minister’s Office · Leader of the Opposition · Assembly of First Nations · Federal Elections
Latest News
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New research suggests New York’s top earners are already near the tax ceiling, and Albany should take note
A Tax Foundation summary of new research puts the revenue-maximizing top tax rate near 48%, close to what New York’s highest earners already pay in combined federal and…
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Kenmore’s old Presbyterian church has a demolition permit and a Shake Shack plan, but no start date
The former Kenmore Presbyterian Church on Delaware Avenue is cleared for demolition to make way for a Shake Shack and apartments, but the village says it has no…
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Aurora highway crew pickets as contract talks stall over raises and health insurance
Ten months without a contract, Aurora’s highway workers want 5% raises and relief on insurance costs. The town has offered 4% and a $500 bonus, and the supervisor…
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Buffalo should publish a plow report card after every storm
Buffalo’s new snow plan promises a plow on every residential street within 24 hours after a storm ends. The Common Council should require the city to publish, district…
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Property tax relief means little unless Buffalo and Erie County say what they will stop paying for
A Reason Foundation commentary warns that property tax cuts without spending cuts only move the cost to other taxes, fees or debt. Buffalo’s 19% levy increase and Erie…
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Buffalo picks a former police precinct in the Old First Ward for its new animal shelter
Mayor Sean Ryan says the city will turn the former police station at 294 Louisiana St. into a modern animal shelter, replacing the cramped Oak Street building.
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Albany installs a deli-counter ticket machine for its $9 billion surplus, and Western New York pulls No. 4,117
Satire: New York finds $9 billion it didn’t expect, and the line for it runs down State Street. Buffalo, as usual, is near the back.
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Buffalo adds snowblower tractors, contractor money and plow tracking to clear side streets
Buffalo’s DPW is adding seven snowblower tractors, a $2 million contractor budget and plow technology aimed at side streets.
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Tribes tell the Supreme Court prediction markets are ‘today’s prospectors’ as Kalshi’s legal fight widens
130 tribes and 15 tribal groups have asked the Supreme Court to rein in Kalshi’s sports contracts. A new Seventh Circuit appeal and New York’s lawsuit raise the…
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State audits flag a $346,000 fire hall overrun in Lancaster, questioned meal spending in Le Roy and lapsed school door badges across WNY
Comptroller audits found Town Line Fire Department spent $1.65 million on a station expansion budgeted at $1 million, Le Roy Fire District paid about $17,000 auditors call unnecessary,…
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Israel’s partial count puts Netanyahu’s bloc ahead but short of a majority after record turnout
With about 42 percent of ballot boxes counted, Netanyahu’s bloc held 57 seats to Eisenkot’s 47, with Arab-led parties holding 16. Neither side had the 61 needed to…
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Albany should send Hochul the Richardson campus land bill, and she should sign it
A small bill to give the Richardson Olmsted Campus clear title to its own land passed both houses in June and still hasn’t reached the governor’s desk. The…
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Western New York has one in nine of the state’s cannabis shops but gets about one in 15 dollars of the local pot tax
As New York’s legal cannabis market passes $4.1 billion in sales, Comptroller data show WNY’s 78 dispensaries brought local governments $2.23 million in the first half of 2026,…
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Opportunity Zone nominations close today, and New York hasn’t said which neighborhoods made its list
Wednesday is the extended deadline for governors to nominate the next decade of Opportunity Zones. New York can pick 429 of 1,716 eligible tracts, including 84 in Erie…
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New laws make hotels post trafficking help or face fines, and warn abuse survivors before their voter privacy lapses
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed three bills that add civil penalties for hotels that skip required human trafficking notices, expand address confidentiality to victims of image-based abuse, and require…
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The Swannie House, closed two years, is headed for a $300,000 rehab under new owners
Kevin and Brian Gould and Ellicott Development CEO William Paladino are under contract to buy the 1886 Old First Ward tavern at 170 Ohio St. They plan to…
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Brookings says hospital cybersecurity needs mandates and money together. New York already tried that mix
A Brookings commentary argues Congress should pair hospital cybersecurity mandates with real funding. Buffalo learned the stakes when ECMC spent nearly $10 million recovering from a 2017 ransomware…
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Ryan’s arts task force wants a city culture department and an end to grants with “no transparent, equitable process”
Mayor Sean Ryan’s CREATE Task Force recommends a $150,000 Department of Arts and Culture, a competitive process for city arts grants and a cultural plan anchored to the…
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Chautauqua IDA is hiring engineers to see if 500 lakeshore acres at Eagle Bay can become an industrial park
Proposals were due Monday for engineering and environmental work on the vacant Eagle Bay site in Sheridan, funded by $1.35 million. The IDA says it has no tenant…
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In Stefanik’s open seat, Constantino’s $17 million in loans meets Gendebien’s $7 million from donors
Republican Anthony Constantino has lent his campaign $17 million and raised nothing from individual donors; Democrat Blake Gendebien has raised $7.2 million from individuals. Federal filings show how…
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Albany Democrats send $196,000 to defend McMahon as public matching money fuels McGuire’s Amherst challenge
The Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee moved $196,000 to Assembly Member Karen McMahon before a $236,000 TV buy, while Republican Terry McGuire has drawn more public matching money than…
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Four years after it was announced, Tonawanda’s fix for Young Street bridge strikes gets final approval
The City of Tonawanda has approved $1.225 million in federally funded work on a sensor-triggered warning system meant to stop overheight trucks from hitting the Young Street railroad…
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Depew opens a new St. James Street Park playground, built mostly with a $150,000 county block grant
Depew and Erie County officials opened a rebuilt playground at St. James Street Park, funded largely by federal Community Development Block Grant money. The mayor says sidewalks around…
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West Seneca’s Boys & Girls Club finds a home in the Winchester building, aiming for a fall 2027 opening
West Seneca schools will give a new Boys & Girls Club three years of free rent and busing at 650 Harlem Road, with East Aurora’s club as lead…
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Pentagon presses Congress to write the ‘Department of War’ name into law in the final defense bill
Both the House and Senate Armed Services versions of the defense bill would make the Department of War name law. The Pentagon and White House want it kept…
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Niagara County’s sewer moratoriums need a repair plan and a hard end date, not open-ended renewals
Pausing big projects while Niagara County’s sewers overflow is defensible. But the pauses should come with a public repair schedule, measurable targets and a firm end date, and…
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A Buffalo psychiatric-campus land bill waits on Hochul as she pitches state hospital land for housing
As Gov. Hochul offers part of a Utica psychiatric campus for housing, a bill letting the state sell 1.62 acres of the former Buffalo Psychiatric Center to the…
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A Buffalo-made battery moves into a West Side apartment building as Dunkirk pauses storage projects
Viridi and Good Carbon say they have installed a 3.75-megawatt-hour, state-backed battery system inside the 105-unit Peace Bridge Place, as Dunkirk’s council passes a six-month moratorium on battery…
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State innovation summit brings $430,000 startup competition and quantum talk to Buffalo
The two-day NYS Innovation Summit opens Tuesday at the Buffalo Convention Center, where nine finalists will compete for $430,000 and state officials will outline technology priorities.
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USDA proposes chip cards for every SNAP account, but states would cover the switch
A proposed USDA rule would require chip-and-tap EBT cards in every state to stop skimming thieves, without new federal money as states absorb SNAP administrative cuts. New York…
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Reason makes a case for a Jones Act economic-need waiver, and Buffalo’s lakers deserve a say in the details
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Backyard apartments are catching on, and Western New York’s suburbs should make room for them
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Albany should not hand Erie County the bill for SNAP’s error-rate penalty
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The case for rethinking hospital tax breaks, and why Buffalo should tread carefully
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Want more starter homes in Western New York? Start with the minimum lot size
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Niagara Falls bought back Main Street. Now it should publish a scorecard for every building
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The NFTA should tell Buffalo what the Metro Rail extension costs before it spends more planning it
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