Mark Leitner

Erie County is hoping it will be one of the five communities across the state to be approved for creation of a so-called land bank. 

The County's application was dashed off to Albany Friday, according to County Executive Mark Poloncarz. 

A landbank would address and hopefully help to remedy a steadily - growing problem of vacant, abandoned, and tax delinquent properties.

Convicted animal abusers will pay a heavy price, if a just-introduced local law makes its way through Old County Hall and the Rath Building successfully.

Legislator Terrence McCracken unveiled the measure at a news conference Thursday afternoon.  The proposed law would establish an online registry containing the names, addresses, ages, and facial photographs of those found guilty. The information would be publicly available.

The national numbers portray an improving employment picture, but the count of hundreds at a Wednesday job fair in Niagara Falls shows a gloomier, more desperate reality.

WBFO and AM970's Mark Leitner visited the fair and spoke with many of the attendees.

The day, perhaps, offered a microcosm of the nation's changing economy.
 

With a June primary ahead, Republicans David Bellavia and Chris Collins are getting active and taking shots at each other.

On Tuesday, Bellavia, the decorated Iraq War veteran, challenged Colins to a series of eight debates, one for each county in the sprawling 27th district.

Bellavaia says it's the best way to explore the many issues of importance to district constituents.

Collins called the debate idea "premature." 

The former Erie County Executive dismissed Bellavia as a "candidate whose campaign is floundering."

The NFTA's Board of Commissioners today unanimously approved a 25 cent increase in the basic Metro Bus and Rail fare. 

The basic fare will go from a $1.75 to $2 in the coming weeks. Holders of daily, weekly, or monthly passes will also see similar increases. 

The Commissioners also pared some bus routes, but NFTA Executive Kimberly Minkel says the service reductions pale in comparison to what was originally proposed.

Buffalo school officials and teachers union leaders have met a deadline by sending to Albany, at the 11th hour, a memorandum of understanding concerning teacher evaluations.

Student absenteeism has been a major bone of contention in talks between the two sides.  Buffalo can secure several million additional state education dollars, but the district and the union must agree on a rigorous teacher evaluation system whether or not students show up for class. 

Some of Niagara County's top law enforcers and Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy met with reporters at Niagara Falls Police Headquarters Thursday to say they welcome a new state law that expands New York's DNA Databank. 

Beginning October first, DNA samples will be collected from anyone convicted of a felony or Penal Law misdemeanor.     

Niagara Falls Police Superintendent John Chella said as chief of a department, it is his job to ensure that Falls Police Officers have all the resources they need to investigate and solve crimes. 

 The Western New York Stormwater Coalition held its 2012 conference at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center Tuesday.

Communities in Western New York and across the state; indeed, across the country are paying more attention to stormwater runoff. 

Carol Lamb-Lafay is with the State Department of Environmental Conservation.

“It’s in its infancy.  I think the Clean Water program has been around since 1972, but stormwater really took off in 2003,” said Lamb-Lafay.

Koga, a 24-year-old, 400 lb., male silverback gorilla, was loose for about 45 minutes at the Buffalo Zoo late this morning. 

The Zoo says a door to Koga's holding cage was mistakenly left unsecured, allowing the giant silverback to get into the zookeeper's aisle, which is unfamiliar territory.   Koga became rattled and bit a zookeeper on the hand.   Zoo officials were alerted and a red alert was sounded around 11 a.m . 

The Buffalo Sewer Authority has been dumping billions of gallons of sewage and wastewater into the Niagara River and its tributaries for years. The Environmental Protection Agency says that has to end. So, to that end, EPA regional spokesman

Mike Basile says the Sewer Authority is being ordered to comply with federal Clean Water Act requirements for combined sewer systems.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says, starting tomorrow, the county's Rodent Control Program will be restored to full strength.  Poloncarz pledged its reinstatement, if elected. 

"Tomorrow is a bad day to be a rat," Poloncarz joked.

Speaking to reporters at the Rath Building, the County Executive noted the previous administration cut the Rodent Control Program to the bone.  That, according to Poloncarz, proved to be a serious mistake.

With the clock ticking toward its new fiscal year, the NFTA continues to study how to close a reported $5 million budget gap, something that, by law, it is required to do.

Democratic State Assemblyman Sean Ryan of Buffalo is proposing ways to help the Authority get over the hump, not only now, but over the long term.

To accomplish that, Ryan is willing to ruffle some feathers.　One way to do that, he said, would be to suspend the mortgage tax waived by Erie County IDAs a few years ago.

Those revenues were destined for NFTA operations.

It is known as "K-2" or "Spice."  It's a synthetic substance that can be found in convenience type stores in Western New York and across the land.

U.S Senator Charles Schumer was in Buffalo Monday to say that he and other members of Congress on both sides of the aisle want to see it banned.

With the Erie County Courthouse as a backdrop, Senator Schumer, joined by Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard and Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita, said the substance, which sells for about $20 a packet is really synthetic marijuana.

Public transportation is at a crossroads.   Though ridership is up, so too are the costs of operation. 

At a public transit forum Friday, experts sat down with members of of the public for a 90 minute give-and-take discussion on funding.  It's a problem because ridership revenues cover only about 25 percent of what it takes to keep mass transit up and running.   

Prescription drug abuse is endemic across America, resulting in 27,000 deaths annually. New York's top law enforcer thinks there is a solution.

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman unveiled a bill dubbed "I-STOP" one year ago, a proposed law he hopes can be approved by both houses of the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Cuomo in the coming months.

I-STOP, an acronym for Internet System for Tracking Overprescribing, establishes an online database that allows doctors and pharmacists to report and track certain controlled narcotics in real time.

The Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator appeared in the Town of Tonawanda Monday to announce a federal grant to study air pollution.  

Judith Enck announced the $100,000 federal grant.  Enck said the EPA is collaborating with the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York to study harmful air pollution in Tonawanda and review pollution causes and possible remedies.