Mark Scott

City Comptroller Mark Schroeder has fired his chief auditor.  WBFO and AM 970's Mark Scott talks with Jim Heaney of the website http://investigativepost.org, who broke the story with WGRZ television.

Saturday is Public Radio Day at the Chautauqua Institution. 

For 139 years now, the Chautauqua Institution has been a summer retreat where people go to learn and expand their horizons.  Tom Becker is institution president.  He says Chautauqua is truly unique, not only in this area, but worldwide.

Public Radio culminates this evening with a performance of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra that will air on our sister station, Classical 94.5, WNED.

Western New York is in the midst of a drought.  Rain late last week brought some relief.  But it wasn't nearly enough to help the region's farmers whose crop yields are expected to be much lower this year. 

Buffalo News Suburban Editor Bruce Andriatch joins Mark Scott on this week's Press Pass on WBFO and AM 970 for a discussion of the drought's local impact.

 With the Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act, Western New York health care providers are now ready to roll up their sleeves and begin to figure out how to move forward.

"We have a direction for the county, that healthcare reform is the law," said Dr. Michael Cropp, president & CEO of Independent Health. 

Dr. Cropp reacted in  a live interview  with WBFO & AM-970 late Thursday morning with Mark Scott. 

Returning veterans from the fighting in Afghanistan and from the earlier conflict in Iraq say their biggest challenge is finding work.

Congresswoman Kathy Hochul sat down with some local veterans at a roundtable meeting at the Eggertsville Snyder Library yesterday to learn more about their difficulties in landing a job.  

Hochul says she was stunned to learn that these vets were more afraid of the unemployment they face when coming home than they were of the enemy combatants they were fighting overseas.

Controversy continues to swirl around the verdict that acquitted James Corasanti of the most serious charges lodged against him in the death of 18-year-old Alexandria Rice of Amherst.  The public at large believes Corasanti should have been held criminally responsible for striking Rice with his car last July and then leaving the scene. 

Bruce Andriatch is suburban editor of the Buffalo News.  On this week's Press Pass, Andriatch tells WBFO and AM 970's Mark Scott while people can disagree with the verdict, the jurors should not be subjected to the harsh criticism aimed at them.

It was a stormy Sunday morning across Western New York. 

The National Weather Service reported a heavy thunderstorm moved through the Southern Tier during the 9am hour.  Earlier, a heavy downpour around 6:00 caused some flooding problems on the State Thruway at Walden Avenue.  The left lanes were closed for about 45 minutes. 

Veteran broadcast journalist Stefan Mychajliw is running for Erie County Comptroller. 

Mychajliw has been endorsed by the Republican,  Conservative and Independence Parties.  He has had a varied career. 

After working in TV news, Mychajliw served as a spokesman for the Buffalo School District.  More recently, he ran his own public relations agency and served as co-host of a noon-time debate show on Channel 2. 

Mychajliw said all that experience makes him well qualified to run for county comptroller.

State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher says she is waiting to hear more from the University at Buffalo on a controversial study of hydrofracking. 

Zimpher was responding to questions posed by Susan Arbetter on the statewide public radio show, "The Capitol Pressroom," heard locally on WBFO and AM 970. 

The lawyers who represented Dr. James Corasanti during his recent trial say they've been targeted with death threats.

Corasanti was acquitted of the felony charges lodged against him this week after the car he was driving struck and killed Alexandria Rice on Heim Road in Amherst last July.

Attorney Cheryl Meyers-Buth told the Buffalo News the day after the acquittal was "unnerving." She admits such threats "can be part of the job for a defense attorney."

Meyers-Buth said a "very disturbing letter" sent to Corasanti has been turned over to Amherst Police.

A school bus with 19 children on board plowed into a house in South Buffalo Thursday morning, injuring four of them.  The bus was transporting students to Lorraine Academy when it struck the house on West Woodside Drive between South Park Avenue and Hopkins Street. 

Four students were taken to Women and Children's Hospital for treatment of bumps and bruises.  The driver was treated at Mercy Hospital. 

Sunday marks the 42nd Earth Day observance in the United States.

Much has changed since the first Earth Day in 1970.  Back then, many bodies of water in the US, including Lake Erie, were considered dead.  And air pollution was rampant. 

Judith Enck is regional administrator of the U-S Environmental Protection Agency.  On the Capitol Pressroom on WBFO and AM 970, Enck said while real progress has been made on improving the environment, challenges remain.

The Buffalo Bills released their 2012 schedule Tuesday night. 

They open the season on Sunday, September 9th, on the road against the New York Jets.  Their home opener is a week later against Kansas City at Ralph Wilson Stadium. 

The Bills will play one nationally-televised prime time game at home against Miami on Thursday, November 15th on the NFL Network. 

The annual Toronto game will feature the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, December 16th.  

The Bills will wrap up the season with a home game against the New York Jets on Sunday, December 30th. 

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band perform in concert tonight at the sold-out First Niagara Center in downtown Buffalo as part of the "Wrecking Ball" tour.  

Springsteen last appeared in Buffalo in November 2009.  It turned out to be the last concert featuring saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who died in June 2011.   Tonight's concert will include a tribute by Springsteen to his old friend. 

WBFO and AM970's Mark Scott has a preview of tonight's show.
 

State Senator Mark Grisanti unveiled a package of bills today that he says will protect the environment should hydraulic fracturing of natural gas move forward in New York. 

At a news conference in downtown Buffalo Friday, Grisanti said his bills would prohibit public sewage treatment plants from accepting wastewater from hydrofracking and would set up a system so that the public could easily access information about the location of gas wells. 

Shoppers by the thousands are stopping by Buffalo's venerable Broadway Market today. 

Good Friday is traditionally the busiest day of the year for market vendors.  The stands selling meats, baked goods, and butter lambs are the most popular, but there are also some new vendors who say they're enjoying some success. 

The newly-redrawn 27th congressional district will make it more difficult for incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul to win re-election this year.  And two area towns are exploring a job sharing arrangement to reduce costs. 

WBFO and AM 970's Mark Scott touches on these and other topics in this week's Press Pass with Buffalo News Suburban Editor Bruce Andriatch.

Mitt Romney scored a hard-won, home state triumph in Michigan and powered to victory in Arizona Tuesday night, gaining a two-state primary sweep over Rick Santorum.  Political analysts say the two victories gave Romney precious momentum in the most turbulent Republican presidential race in a generation. 

But UB Political Scientist James Campbell is more cautious in his assessment.  WBFO's Mark Scott reached Campbell on the phone last night for his thoughts on the race.

No charges will be filed in the fight two weeks ago between State Senator Mark Grisanti and his wife and several other patrons at the Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls.

The Niagara County District Attorney's office announced its decision Friday afternoon. 

Police said video from the casino was inconclusive as to who started the fight. 

Grisanti's wife Maria suffered a concussion in the fight.  Grisanti said the fight started when he intervened in an argument between two Seneca Nation businessmen. 

Western New York Congresswoman Kathy Hochul says the federal Environmental Protection Agency will  remove drums of toxic waste from a Superfund site in Le Roy by the end of this week. 

The waste will be disposed of at a landfill in Belleville, Michigan.  There has been speculation in Le Roy that the waste may be responsible for an outbreak of a tic-like illness among some high school students.  But most medical experts have dismissed that as the source.  

The barrels were left from the Lehigh Railroad Derailment Superfund site in LeRoy.

These are challenging times for local school boards and administrators.  They pleaded their case for more financial resources during a recent meeting with state legislators from our area.  State aid is at 2008 levels.  Administrators are putting together budgets in the face of a two percent property tax cap.  And they're seeking a rollback of costly state mandates. 

On this week's Press Pass, Buffalo News Suburban Editor Bruce Andriatch tells WBFO's Mark Scott that legislators didn't offer the district leaders much encouragement.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won Tuesday's Republican presidential primary in Florida.  Romney rebounded from his defeat ten days ago in South Carolina, taking a major step toward the GOP nomination.  But UB Political Scientist James Campbell says the race is far from over. 

WBFO's Mark Scott reached Campbell on the phone Tuesday night for his analysis of the Florida primary.