The Buffalo Chronicle
Feature 1
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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 Committee’s agenda Oct. 15,…
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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…
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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 day, Trump said someone…
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Amherst’s tax hike lands on plows and garbage trucks, not the general fund
Amherst’s proposed 2027 budget breaks the state tax cap by $3.55 million, yet the town’s main operating fund barely moves. The increase lands on highways, salt and garbage, with the last budget…
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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 Street has had unexplained petroleum sheens…
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Hamburg adopts its first Airbnb law, with $2,000 in fees and single-family streets included
Hamburg had never had rules for Airbnb-style rentals, yet more than 100 are listed. On Monday the Town Board adopted a law that charges hosts $2,000 for a first two-year permit and,…
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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 stopgap Congress passed in…
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Alberta votes to stay in Canada, CBC projects, after a campaign Carney cast as a stand against outside pressure
Albertans voted to remain in Canada, CBC News projected, with about three in four ballots counted so far rejecting a path to a separation vote. Carney had warned that ‘some outside our…
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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 has tested hazardous, 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
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 data show. Most of Buffalo’s increase came…
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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 Buffalo. The notice gives no cost…
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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 scrapped a consolidated jail.…
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Trump keeps 2027 refugee ceiling at 17,500, prioritizing Afrikaners the White House says face persecution; Buffalo resettlement stays low
The 2027 refugee ceiling stays at 17,500, mostly for Afrikaners, after a year in which all but five of 16,292 admitted refugees came from South Africa. Here is what that means for…
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Albany’s data center review closes its first comment window Tuesday as Western New York’s biggest proposal sits on hold
Comments on the scope of New York’s statewide data center review are due Oct. 20, and 56 legislators want more time and public hearings. At STAMP in Genesee County, a $19.46 billion…
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Copart now owns ACV, and the merger filings show what Buffalo workers were promised, and for how long
Copart closed its $1.9 billion cash purchase of Buffalo’s ACV Auctions on Oct. 16. The filings guarantee employees’ pay for one year but describe no commitment to keep the headquarters or jobs…
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Buffalo wants its control board to borrow $20 million for emergency repairs. Its comptroller wants the math first
Buffalo is asking its state control board to borrow up to $20.06 million for emergency repairs, the first such request since 2007. Comptroller Barbara Miller Williams wants the costs, savings and repayment…
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Erie County still chasing $617,700 from Albany for jail stays left over from the prison strike
Erie County lawmakers voted unanimously to press the state for $617,700 the Sheriff’s Office spent holding parole violators during the prison staffing crisis. The state law at issue doesn’t mention parole violators,…
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Niagara Falls froze its trash fee for 2027, leaving a $1.12 million gap for the mayor’s budget
The Niagara Falls City Council voted 5-0 to keep the garbage and recycling fee at $181, leaving about $1.12 million for the general fund to cover. Mayor Robert Restaino’s 2027 budget is…
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North Tonawanda traffic stop that ended in Border Patrol arrests is under state review
The attorney general’s office is reviewing a complaint over an Oct. 7 North Tonawanda traffic stop that ended with Border Patrol arresting three roofing workers. The police chief says it was a…
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Seneca Nation bans all Level 3 sex offenders from its territories, with annuities and leases on the line
The Seneca Nation Council has barred every Level 3 registered sex offender from Seneca territory. Members who violate it can lose annuity payments, and lessees who harbor an offender can lose their…
