The Buffalo Chronicle
Feature 1
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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 measure before.
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Erie County’s 2027 budget cuts the tax rate. Its own four-year plan warns of $70 million gaps
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 SNAP costs shift to counties and the…
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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 with 14 or 15 working plows…
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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, as a shared, visible home for…
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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 the department’s Internal Affairs review of…
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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 Restaino calls the linchpin of the…
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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 comptroller’s approval.
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Tonawanda’s new supervisor breaks the tax cap and says it will save residents later. Here’s the math
Supervisor John Flynn’s first budget raises the Town of Tonawanda levy 3.9%, well past the state cap, citing health insurance, pensions, police raises and a 57% jump in rock salt. Clarence faced…
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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
A $1.7 million federal grant will bring sidewalks, curb ramps and crosswalks to Seneca Street and Ridge Road near West Seneca West. Assemblyman Pat Burke and Supervisor Gary Dickson, rivals for the…
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Inside the $11.6 million public bet on Niagara Power Transformer’s Cheektowaga expansion
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 jobs, an out-of-state alternative and a fire-gutted…
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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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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 after Election Day to win a…
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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.
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. Federal records, WHO data and New York’s…
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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 handgun sales to 18- to 20-year-olds…
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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 York’s $7.3 billion revenue surprise.
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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 Falls, diesel is averaging $6.37 a…
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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 Haldimand Tract. Canada’s own court filings…
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Buffalo’s school board blinked on closures. The district’s own filings show why the math won’t wait
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 and a four-year plan the…
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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 a mid-December state deadline…
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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 excessive-force cases.
