The Buffalo Chronicle
The East Towns
Community news from Buffalo’s eastern suburbs.
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Lancaster police publish their first annual report: 41 uses of force, and more than half involved a person in crisis
Lancaster police released their first annual report, counting 41 use-of-force incidents in 24,598 police calls in 2025. More than half involved someone impaired or in crisis, and a mental health clinician is…
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Alden’s ambulance switch is three weeks away, and residents still have questions about the Mercy Flight deal
Mercy Flight takes over Alden’s ambulance service Dec. 1, with a paramedic crew stationed at the town highway department around the clock. Until then, LVAC covers the town for $100 a call.
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Rachel Martinez wins Cheektowaga’s special Town Board election as voters also back term limits
Democrat Rachel Martinez defeated Republican David DeFields Jr. in unofficial results for Cheektowaga’s open Town Board seat. Voters also approved 12-year term limits by a wide margin.
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Marilla’s budget grows by half a million dollars, but the highway tax rate goes down
Marilla’s 2027 budget would rise about 17% while the highway tax rate dips a penny, with reserves covering health insurance and fire costs. The board holds a hearing and votes Thursday, the…
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Repairs finally start on the crumbling Depew Amtrak platform, but how far will they go?
A crew is sealing cracks at the Buffalo-Depew Amtrak station after a CSX flagger finally arrived. The rider who fell there wants the platform rebuilt, and Amtrak has not said whether this…
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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 the park could be…
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Cheektowaga Central Middle School PTA named a National PTA School of Excellence
Cheektowaga Central Middle School’s PTA earned a 2025–2027 National PTA School of Excellence designation after a year of family surveys, parent breakfasts and the school’s first Eid celebration.
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Lancaster and Depew close out a football rivalry that dates to 1919, and only one side wanted it to end
Lancaster beat Depew 48-8 Friday in what was billed as the last game of one of Western New York’s oldest high school rivalries. Depew chose to end the series, and Lancaster had…
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Suspensions, not firings, for Cheektowaga employees who ran 219 Flock searches on a co-worker
A Cheektowaga police officer and two dispatchers who used the town’s license plate cameras to track a colleague got 20- and 45-day suspensions and last-chance agreements. The discipline sets up another round…
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Fox Valley Country Club’s owners say they have put $4 million into reviving the Lancaster course
The Bansal family says it has invested $4 million in Fox Valley Country Club on Genesee Street, five years after the 130-acre Lancaster club sold for $750,000, and membership has doubled to…
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Depew rebuilds its police command from within after a turbulent stretch
Cory Skok is Depew’s new police chief, and Rochelle Menard and Christopher Matteson have moved up, closing a chapter that began when the chief and both captains retired within weeks of each…
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Lancaster breaks ground on a $300,000 stage at Cayuga Creek Park, months behind its first timeline
The Village of Lancaster broke ground Oct. 20 on a pavilion and outdoor stage at Cayuga Creek Park, funded with $200,000 from Russell J. Salvatore and $100,000 from the village. Concerts and…
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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, as its reserves run…
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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. 1, but the contract’s…
