Top Stories
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Carl Montante, a UB Law alum who practiced law ‘for about a week,’ enters the WNY Business Hall of Fame
Uniland founder Carl J. Montante, a 1967 UB Law graduate, was inducted into the Western New York Business Hall of Fame on…
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Langworthy holds a 37-to-1 cash edge in NY-23 as Gies outraises him again in the final stretch
Rep. Nick Langworthy entered the last weeks of the NY-23 race with nearly $2 million in the bank to Aaron Gies’ $54,000.…
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Rubio invites Cubans to a ‘discrete partnership’ with the CIA as Trump says Rubio will ‘finish up the deal’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Cubans seeking change to contact the CIA, hours after President Trump told a Florida rally he…
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Catholic Health and Benderson seek a tax break to turn a vacant Evans Street Rite Aid into a $28.5 million medical hub
A Benderson-linked developer is asking the Amherst IDA for a property tax break to turn the vacant Rite Aid at 462 and…
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Trump-backed $1.15 trillion defense bill and Dec. 11 funding deadline await Congress after the election
The House passed a $1.15 trillion NDAA matching President Trump’s request, but the Senate bill stalled 50-46. With a stopgap expiring Dec. 11 and a $60 billion defense reconciliation instruction pending, the Armed Services and Budget committees face a crowded lame duck. Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station is among the local projects waiting.
Latest Headlines
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Woodhill Capital’s president admits to mail fraud as records detail a $54 million collapse
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Salvation Army opens Hope on Main shelter, first piece of a $100 million Main Street redevelopment
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With Templeton Landing back in city hands, Buffalo weighs a plan for the whole Erie Basin Marina
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North Tonawanda voters to decide on an $18 million community center at the Keller Building
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NFTA board asked to add nearly $1 million for Metro Rail extension traffic update ahead of 30% design
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Upstate Niagara’s West Seneca dairy expansion grows to $325 million, with $35 million for on-site power
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New York’s $225 million water-for-housing fund is open only to Pro-Housing towns. Many WNY suburbs aren’t certified yet
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Erie County’s 2027 budget cuts the tax rate. Its own four-year plan warns of $70 million gaps
[PREMIUM] Mark Poloncarz’s 2027 budget lowers Erie County’s tax rate again, but the county’s own four-year plan projects gaps near $70 million a year as federal…
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Buffalo’s snow plan boosts contractor money nearly fivefold as the city waits on new plows
Buffalo’s new winter plan raises snow-hauling contractor money from $580,000 to $2.7 million, but the 10 plows the city ordered won’t arrive until midwinter, leaving it…
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GLYS WNY and the Pride Center are buying Oxford Pennant’s Allentown building
After years in basements, GLYS WNY and the Pride Center of Western New York are buying 810 Main St., Oxford Pennant’s “Keep Buffalo A Secret” building,…
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NFTA board set to add $958,000 to Metro Rail extension consultant’s contract
A sixth amendment would pay WSP USA to redo the Amherst extension’s traffic model, lifting its contract to $21.6 million. Construction is still years off, and…
Suburbs
The Southtowns
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A new Quaker Road lot coverage request heads to East Aurora’s zoning board as a senior housing plan moves ahead
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West Seneca gets $1.7 million for a crossing a student flagged. Who gets the credit is now on the ballot
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Lackawanna’s City Hall move is done, but the bill for what it left behind keeps growing
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Hochul’s budget office warns the data center backlash, including her own pause, could cool the AI boom paying New York’s bills
The state budget director told agencies to hold 2028 requests flat and warned that government scrutiny of AI infrastructure could slow the investment wave behind New…
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A Buffalo judge strikes down the body armor ban Albany passed after Tops, on the day Hochul signs new gun bills
Judge John Sinatra Jr. ruled that body armor is protected by the Second Amendment and paused his order for 14 days, leaving the state until just…
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Four Western New York providers win state money to train health workers, one more than the program promised the region
Catholic Health, Jericho Road, The Chautauqua Center and UPMC Chautauqua will share $2 million to $4 million a year in five-year state training grants, pending the…
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Albany is running $9.7 billion ahead of plan. Its own books say Buffalo shouldn’t count on it lasting
[PREMIUM] Wall Street’s record run left New York’s General Fund $9.7 billion above projections at midyear. The state’s financial plan still shows $31.7 billion in gaps…
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Treasury proposes rules for the new federal limit on big investors buying single-family homes
Treasury’s proposed rule spells out how large institutional investors can still build, renovate and sell houses under the ROAD to Housing Act’s ban, and what they…
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U.S. orders non-emergency diplomats out of Saudi Arabia as Houthi strikes widen and Buffalo diesel sits near a record
The State Department ordered non-emergency staff and families to leave Saudi Arabia as Houthi missiles and drones hit the kingdom’s airports and oil fields. In Buffalo-Niagara…
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New York’s senators press the Justice Department on why it stopped enforcing the under-21 handgun sales ban, citing Buffalo
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer joined 18 colleagues in demanding answers from Attorney General Todd Blanche after the Justice Department declared the federal ban on…
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Trump secures release of American Stephen Hubbard as Russia agrees to talks; the first Russian diesel shipment is small against U.S. demand
Putin freed retired teacher Stephen Hubbard and agreed in principle to mid-November talks with the U.S. and Ukraine. The first Russian diesel tanker sails Thursday, but…
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Trump order aims to trim mortgage insurance and refinance costs as Buffalo-area prices climb
President Trump signed an executive order directing federal housing agencies to cancel mortgage insurance sooner, make cheaper refinancing permanent and speed up factory-built housing. Here’s what…
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Every traveler flying to the U.S. must soon swear they haven’t been in Congo. Here’s how New York will watch for Ebola.
[PREMIUM] A new CDC order requires every U.S.-bound air passenger to attest they have not been in Congo, as the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak nears 10,000 cases.…
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Justice Department starts notifying counties it will monitor on Election Day as New York early voting nears
The Justice Department has begun telling counties in five states where it will send election monitors, part of what it calls its largest monitoring effort ever.…
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Trump and Vance unveil Justice Department program paying fraud tipsters up to $30,000 when charges are filed
The new Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program pays $10,000 to $30,000 at charging, not conviction, and prioritizes hospice, home health and day care fraud. Its first $10,000…
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Niagara Falls bets its Main Street comeback on $25 million in Niagara University student housing
A developer plans to turn two long-vacant Main Street buildings in Niagara Falls into housing for 100 Niagara University students, a $25 million project Mayor Robert…
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Niagara County wants Albany to lock in the Falls’ casino share. The Seneca Nation says the next compact may not have one
The County Legislature unanimously urged the state to guarantee Niagara Falls 25% of the state’s Seneca Niagara share. But the Nation says the compact it negotiated…
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Goodyear shuts its Niagara Falls chemical plant on the day its pollution fix was due. Who checks what it leaves behind?
[PREMIUM] Goodyear will close its Niagara Falls chemical plant Oct. 31, the same day a state order required permanent controls on a bladder carcinogen. Filings, permits…
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Niagara County weighs fully exempting its most disabled veterans from county property taxes
Niagara County lawmakers hold a hearing Tuesday on a full county property-tax exemption for veterans the VA rates permanently and totally disabled, following Erie County and…
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Appeals court says 1929 census descendants belong in organizing the California Valley Miwok Tribe
[PREMIUM] A unanimous D.C. Circuit panel upheld Interior’s decision to let descendants of Miwok people on a 1929 Calaveras County census take part in organizing the…
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For the eighth time, the Montaukett Nation’s recognition bill waits on Gov. Hochul
The Legislature has again voted to restore state recognition to the Montaukett Indian Nation, stripped by a 1910 court ruling. Gov. Kathy Hochul has vetoed the…
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Analysis: Canada tells the Haldimand court it didn’t inherit the Crown’s debts to Six Nations. In the 1920s, it paid toward one anyway
Three weeks into the Six Nations of the Grand River trial, Canada and Ontario say today’s governments aren’t answerable for what the Crown did with the…
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Akwesasne Mohawks and Tonawanda Senecas are fighting hyperscale data centers at both ends of New York
The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe opposes a 635-megawatt data center planned near Akwesasne as Massena lines up lawyers for the review, while the Tonawanda Seneca Nation…
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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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House approves Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act, with Higgins’ amendment
Higgins’ Measure Addresses Algal Blooms in the Great Lakes Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced the House of Representatives approved the Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement…
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Woman shoved by Buffalo’s deputy police commissioner files notice of claim, halting Internal Affairs review
The woman First Deputy Police Commissioner Craig Macy shoved to the ground on Chippewa Street in July has filed a notice of claim against Buffalo, pausing…
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Buffalo officer charged with stalking ex-girlfriend had been investigated by Internal Affairs 13 times
Officer Benjamin Coughlin pleaded not guilty to stalking and harassment and is suspended without pay. His disciplinary record shows a suspension, three reprimands and two open…
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Buffalo’s police overtime keeps climbing, and the city’s own auditors say staffing alone doesn’t explain it
Buffalo police overtime topped $17 million last year and has grown by more than a third in five years. The union blames a 100-officer shortage, but…
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Shootings are falling in most of New York’s hardest-hit cities. Buffalo and Niagara Falls are going the other way
[PREMIUM] Shootings with injuries are down 16% across the state’s GIVE cities this year, but Buffalo is up 14% and Niagara Falls has nearly doubled, state…
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Inside the $11.6 million public bet on Niagara Power Transformer’s Cheektowaga expansion
[PREMIUM] State and county records show about $11.6 million in public support behind a $71.2 million transformer plant expansion on Dale Road, along with 73 promised…
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Rochester lands a $375 million rare earth plant for $3 million in state credits. Buffalo’s last deal cost more per job
Phoenix Tailings will separate rare earths from mining waste at Eastman Business Park, backed by up to $3 million in Excelsior credits for 90 jobs. That’s…
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M&T’s profit slips as rising rates bite, and its finance chief warns mortgages and commercial real estate will feel it next
Buffalo’s hometown bank earned $775 million in the third quarter, down from $818 million. On the earnings call, CFO Daryl Bible said higher rates will slow…
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Solstice will make its Buffalo lab its global research hub, with $1.4 million in state credits for 12 new jobs
The Honeywell spinoff is putting $49 million into its Peabody Street R&D site as it races to develop next-generation refrigerants. The state’s Excelsior credits work out…
The Chronicle Magazine
Culture, Food & Life in Western New York
Design
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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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The Broadway Barns hosted Woodrow Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald and pro hockey. City Hall says it will probably come down
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Broadway Market’s $45 million makeover slips to 2027. Here’s what the design would change
New reporting is coming soon.
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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…
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Josh Allen ties Jim Kelly in Las Vegas, but a spitting ejection leaves the Bills with a suspension question
Josh Allen tied Jim Kelly’s franchise touchdown-pass record in a 33-30 win over the Raiders. Now the 5-1 Bills wait to learn whether the NFL will…
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Bills are 4-1, but Jim Leonhard says his defense can’t keep waiting for Josh Allen to rescue it
The Bills are 4-1, but defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard says a unit giving up historic numbers can’t keep relying on Josh Allen to bail it out.…
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Bills fans paid $1.08 million in Erie County’s stadium surcharge in August. Where does it go?
A 6% Erie County surcharge on tickets, food and merchandise at the new Highmark Stadium raised $1.08 million in August alone. Where the money goes, who…
From Coast to Coast to Coast
Canada Edition
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U.S. reshuffles Canadian tariff list as Ottawa tells diplomats to avoid midterm candidates
Plywood and some paper products come off the 50% Section 338 list Oct. 30, while valves, carpets and waste products are added. Global Affairs Canada has told its diplomats to keep away from midterm…
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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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Albany funds two East Side parks in one day. One is the city’s; the other belongs to a developer-backed nonprofit
The state put $1.2 million into a city-owned park in Broadway-Fillmore and $6 million into Millrace Park, a privately owned park anchoring the Larkin District’s next phase. The…
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DHS letter called Batavia’s planned women’s unit ‘hard-sided’; a same-day ICE contract entry describes a $7.2 million ‘soft-sided tent facility’
[PREMIUM] DHS told Rep. Tim Kennedy on Sept. 29 that construction of a ‘hard-sided’ 100-bed unit in Batavia hadn’t begun. The same day, ICE obligated $7.18 million for…
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A UB medical student’s first year costs $83,000. Washington now lends $50,000. Albany hears what that means
The end of Grad PLUS loans leaves a gap of about $33,000 a year for New Yorkers entering UB’s medical school. At an Assembly hearing, medical and social…
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Buffalo’s school board blinked on closures. The district’s own filings show why the math won’t wait
[PREMIUM] The Buffalo School Board put off its closure vote again. The district’s filings with the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority show a $66 million deficit, a shrinking reserve…
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Buffalo’s animal shelter is out of room as New York’s new shelter rules near
The city shelter on Oak Street has more dogs than space, and Mayor Sean Ryan says a new no-kill shelter is years away. A $412,000 state-backed fix and…
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Change Buffalo PAC urges governor to help put control board back in charge of city finances
Change Buffalo PAC wants the governor to press the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority to reimpose a control period. Under state law, only the board can make that call,…
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Western New York’s SNAP rolls fell nearly 10 percent in a year. Albany’s free school lunch promise may pay the price
[PREMIUM] State data show 20,909 fewer Western New Yorkers on SNAP than a year ago. Because benefit rolls decide how much Washington pays for school meals, the comptroller…
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Niagara Falls gets $25 million toward a $338 million sewer plant fix its own engineers call unaffordable
Western New York landed $66.6 million in Albany’s new water grants. The biggest award covers about 7 percent of a Niagara Falls sewage plant overhaul that the water…
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Judge refuses to halt Seneca Nation’s Miami Street One Stop, rejecting Buffalo’s bid to stop construction
A state judge found Buffalo hadn’t shown enough immediate harm to stop work on the Seneca Nation’s $10 million One Stop at 5 Miami Street, land the federal…
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Trump announces $8 billion in diesel relief for farmers; USDA sets grain payment rates first, with dairy and specialty-crop methods to follow
USDA will set Harvest Fuel Relief payment rates for corn, soybeans and other program crops in November and decide later how to treat everyone else, as diesel tops…
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Iran says it offered to reopen Hormuz in seven days. Until there’s a deal, Western New York pays 65% more for heating oil
Tehran says the U.S. accepted its conditions but wants more, and Iranian officials see no breakthrough before Nov. 3. Meanwhile New York heating oil runs $6.34 a gallon,…
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Buffalo’s school board votes tonight on a closure plan that changed again overnight
The Buffalo Board of Education is set to vote Wednesday on closing six schools, down from eight, after the district posted yet another version of its plan Monday…
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Erie County Republicans try again to cap the gas tax at $2. Poloncarz, who backed a cap in 2022, calls it posturing
With Buffalo gas at $4.37 a gallon, Erie County Legislature Republicans want the county’s sales tax capped at $2 a gallon starting Dec. 1. Mark Poloncarz says the…
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Buffalo nonprofits press Hochul on late state payments as two contract bills await her decision
Western New York nonprofits that do the state’s work first and get paid later are pushing Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign two contracting bills. She has vetoed versions…
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Cheektowaga’s 9.8% tax plan leans hardest on the sewer district as the board clears a path past the cap
Cheektowaga’s board has authorized breaking the state tax cap for 2027. More than half of the $202 increase on the average town bill comes from the sewer district,…
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Orchard Park’s five-story stadium zone stalls after 31 residents take the microphone
Orchard Park’s plan to allow five-story buildings near Highmark Stadium was tabled after 31 people spoke at an Oct. 7 hearing, most of them opposed. It is not…
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Traditional Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ council challenges Cayuga Nation police appointment, saying no clan consensus approved it
The Condoled Chiefs and Clan Mothers Council says the Halftown administration’s police department was never approved by the clans, and that Cayuga families who oppose it should not…
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Lockport’s short line gets $9.6 million from the last of the infrastructure law’s rail money. Congress hasn’t refilled the pot
The Falls Road Railroad between Lockport and Brockport won $9.64 million in Monday’s $2.3 billion federal rail round, the final one funded by the 2021 infrastructure law. The…
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Powder letters hit Schumer, Gillibrand and dozens of other offices as New York heads into early voting
At least three dozen congressional offices and election officials in 15 states have received suspicious letters, including New York’s two senators and two of its House members. None…
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Erie County drivers deserve license plate camera rules written by lawmakers, not by Flock
Cheektowaga’s Flock misuse case shows how little stands between drivers’ movements and anyone with a login. Town boards, the Erie County Legislature and Albany should write license plate…
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Erie County lawmakers killed a new jail. The plan to keep the two old ones running now costs $57 million
Poloncarz’s 2027 budget puts $7 million toward repairs at the Holding Center and the Alden jail, the first piece of a $57 million plan through 2032, after legislators…
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BMHA’s director goes month to month Nov. 1, with two board seats empty and tenants pressing on safety
Gillian Brown’s contract as head of the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority expires Oct. 31, and two of the mayor’s five board seats sit empty. Tenant commissioners are pressing…
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43North’s final pitch is over. The biggest return on New York’s startup bet now sits in a foundation
[PREMIUM] 43North handed out its last $5 million this month. Tax filings show how a state-funded stake in ACV Auctions became a $61 million foundation that now decides…
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Nearly three years of Seneca casino money sits in escrow. If the compact the Nation describes is approved, the 2023 deal sends it to arbitration
[PREMIUM] Since December 2023 the Seneca Nation has paid its 25% slot share into escrow. The extension Hochul signed says a new compact without exclusivity, like the one…
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Road-repair merger forces sale of Suit-Kote plants in Jamestown, Buffalo and Belmont to keep county bids competitive
In nine Western and Central New York counties, Colas and Suit-Kote were often the only two companies bidding on road-sealing work. Attorney General Letitia James says a forced…
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Still waiting on your $200 energy rebate? Most New Yorkers are, and the checks keep coming through December
Only 3 million of 8.2 million POWER checks had arrived by mid-October. Here’s who qualifies, why your neighbor may get one first, and what the $1 billion payout…
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Buffalo Niagara added jobs again in September, but it’s the only peer region with fewer businesses than in 2020
A second straight month of hiring still left Western New York’s private sector slightly smaller than a year ago. A new Buffalo Niagara Partnership report ranks the region…
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Erie County’s plan to widen its senior property-tax break has sat in committee since summer
A bill to raise Erie County’s senior exemption income limit from $37,399 to $50,000, at a cost of about $7 million, was back on the Finance and Management…
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Alden’s 2027 budget sets aside $40,000 for ambulance service as Mercy Flight takes over Dec. 1
Alden’s preliminary 2027 budget carries $41,000 for ambulance service and billing after a decade of free coverage from Lancaster’s volunteer ambulance corps. Mercy Flight EMS takes over Dec.…
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Ukrainians’ TPS reaches its deadline with DHS saying a decision will come ‘at the appropriate time’
Ukraine’s Temporary Protected Status hit its Oct. 19 end date with no federal decision, leaving about 101,000 Ukrainians nationwide protected only by a government web alert. The same…
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ORELL: Richard Franke left a legacy on the liberal arts education
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TEWS: 5G, Planes, and Progress
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ABRAMS: New England liberal arts colleges are dangerous to American civility
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PETHOKOUKIS: So Big Tech massively investing in itself is worrisome now?
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POMERLEAU: A progressive corporate income tax doesn’t make a lot of sense
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ORELL: Strong relationships at home improve employment outcomes for adults and children
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JAMISON: Sens. Klobuchar and Grassley show why Congress should not pass Big Tech legislation
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SCHMITT: Biden’s imperial presidency moment
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