Month: November 2020

BY ANGELA RACHIDI The American Enterprise Institute commissioned NORC at the University of Chicago to field a survey of 3,518 working-age adults in late July 2020 to learn more about the employment situation of US households and the reach of the social

BY MATT WEIDINGER On Monday, Joe Biden expressed support for further stimulus legislation, calling specifically for the enactment of legislation “like the HEROES Act,” which the House passed in May and subsequently went nowhere in the Republican-led Senate: President-elect Joe Biden on Monday urged

BY BRETT SWANSON Every couple years, we update our original 2014 blog post that asked the question, “What would an iPhone have cost in 1991?” The purpose is to measure — at least in a rough way — the progress

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that four defendants were virtually arraigned today before State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski on indictments charging them with various felony offenses for their roles in two separate homicides that occurred

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 27-year-old Alexander Brewer of Cheektowaga was virtually arraigned this morning before State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski on a nine-count indictment charging him with the following offenses: Two counts of

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 44-year-old Tiffany M. Allen of Buffalo pleaded guilty today before State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns to one count of Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a Class “D” felony.

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 35-year-old Robert L. Dumas of Buffalo was virtually arraigned today before State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller on an indictment charging him with one count of Murder in the Second

BY BILL HAMMOND Coronavirus infections are again rising in New York’s nursing homes, a sign that blanket testing, tight limits on visitors and other precautions have not fully isolated their acutely vulnerable residents from conditions in the outside world. Nursing

BY CAM MacDONALD In light of the state government’s “extremely precarious financial position,” New York’s state lawmakers, judges, statewide elected officials and certain gubernatorial appointees should not receive pay raises in the next four years, a state commission says. “Granting

BY E.J. McMAHON After a weak 2018, personal income growth matched or exceeded national averages in most parts of New York State in 2019, according to the latest estimates from the federal Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The 2019 income rebound

BY IAN KINGSBURY The disruptions to K-12 education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred Governor Cuomo to announce an initiative to “reimagine education.” This challenge should have policymakers asking what inadequacies have been exposed in our public education system, and

BY MIKE MADIGAN The CDC has reported the following:  The risk of Covid19 virus to school-aged children is significantly lower than the flu (CDC website) The CDC cites the 2018-19 flu season had 480 flu deaths in school-aged children vs.

Following pushback to rumors late last week that Michelle Rhee is at the top of President-elect Joe Biden‘s shortlist to lead the Department of Education, the transition team is now quietly floating the idea of nominating the First-Lady-in-Waiting, Dr. Jill

The Seneca Party won a clean sweep of November general elections this week.  As expected, current Treasurer Matt Pagels will take office as President, while current President Ricky Armstrong will serve as Treasurer.  Pagels narrowly won the party nomination for

The innermost circles of the American mafia are abuzz.  The Boss of the Philly mob — ‘Skinny Joey’ Merlino — is taking a victory strut, hobnobbing around the highest echelons of old-time mafia folk, mostly in Florida, describing what may

Joe Biden, who claims the title of President-elect, is planning a sweeping ban on the online sale of firearms.  An advisor with the transition team tells The Chronicle that an executive order has already been prepared and will make it illegal

Good government activist Matt Ricchiazzi is calling on Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz to issue a Request for Proposals for the adaptive reuse of Erie County’s dated Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.   Poloncarz has proposed massive County borrowing of more than

Michelle Rhee, who once led a series of sweeping reform efforts as the Chancellor of the District of Columbia’s public education system, is at the top of presumptive President-elect Joe Biden‘s shortlist to lead the Department of Education.  She would