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The Niagara County Department of Health (NCDOH) confirmed a rabid raccoon on Brown Road, Town of Newfane on April 20, 2021. A Brown Road resident was attacked by a raccoon before killing it on Saturday, April 17, 2021. NCDOH submitted

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 26-year-old Hommys Rivera-Lopez of Niagara Falls pleaded guilty this morning before State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class “B” violent felony).

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 35-year-old Antonio D. Brown of Buffalo was arraigned this morning before Buffalo City Court Judge Patrick M. Carney on one count of Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that State Supreme Court Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek has found 57-year-old Mark Dublino of Cheektowaga guilty of one count of Assault in the Second Degree (Class “D” violent felony). The defendant was

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 34-year-old Thomas R. Schmieder, Jr. of Buffalo was virtually arraigned this morning before State Supreme Court Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek on an indictment charging him with one count of Assault in

BY BILL HAMMOND In spite of an ongoing pandemic and spiraling Medicaid costs, New York’s health-care system received surprisingly little attention in the new state budget. On issue after issue, lawmakers chose to preserve the status quo without addressing the

BY E.J. McMAHON The details apparently would get rancid if exposed to daylight, but Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders have announced the broad outlines of their budget deal for fiscal 2022, which began April 1. The final budget bills, including the all-important

BY E.J. McMAHON New York and its local governments will soon be showered with tens of billions of dollars in federal stimulus cash—and yet the new state budget will pump even more money into New York’s biggest capital pork-barrel slush fund.

BY E.J. McMAHON New York’s private-sector job recovery accelerated in March—but remained far behind the national pace on a year-to-year basis, according to the latest monthly figures from the state Labor Department. This analysis was updated April 16 with subsequently

BY EDWARD RING The New York State Assembly this week adopted a bill requiring that all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state be “zero-emissions”—that is, fully electric-powered—by 2035. Sponsored by the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee chair, Steve

BY BILL HAMMOND New York’s bluest counties are posting the lowest coronavirus vaccination rates for older residents, a striking contrast with the pattern in the U.S. as a whole. The disparity appears to be mainly driven by Brooklyn and the

BY GARY J. SCHMITT The General Accounting Office (GAO) just released a report detailing “readiness” levels for the US military. Readiness is measured by each of the services with respect to a unit’s ability to fight and accomplish the missions assigned to

BY MATT WEIDINGER Fact-checkers have started to notice the shaky jobs claims made by Biden administration officials in touting their $2.2 trillion American Jobs Plan. That includes this whopper from President Biden last week: “Independent analysis shows that if we pass this plan, the

BY MICHAEL ROSEN Last week, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited ruling in the copyright fight between Google and Oracle, a decision that figures to provide modestly more room for computer programmers to operate. As we explored previously, the two Silicon Valley behemoths have

BY DAN BLUMENTHAL The Senate is set to consider a raft of bipartisan legislation promoting competition with China. We have long argued that the US has been in a one-sided fight against an aggressive and insecure Chinese Communist Party, and bipartisan congressional efforts

BY ELAINE McCUSKER Last week, the Biden administration released a massive American Jobs Plan. In contrast, today the administration announced a proposed cut to the Defense Department budget. As recommended by the bipartisan Commission on the National Defense Strategy, the Department

BY SAMUEL ABRAMS Surveys and reports showing that only small numbers of conservatives and Republicans believe higher education has a positive effect on the country regularly make national news. The explicit rationale for these sentiments is not entirely clear, but there are numerous possible

BY ELISABETH BRAW Anyone who has ever visited London has seen the posters and heard the announcements on Tube stations instructing people to “see it, say it, sorted.” The public awareness campaign encouraging people to report odd behavior to the