WBFO | Buffalo’s NPR News Station

Highlights

Raises are approved for Erie County Executive, Comptroller and Sheriff

By a six-to-five vote, the Erie County Legislature approved the pay raises, recommended by the Citizens Salary Review Commission, for three key county offices. Those raises will not take effect until the next terms of the respective positions but critics suggest the increases were passed to help at least one incumbent who is up for re-election this fall.

MLB players union urges New Era to reconsider closing Derby plant

Red Concepcion enjoys playing "the bad guy" - The Engineer - in MISS SAIGON coming to Shea's

Raises are approved for Erie County Executive, Comptroller and Sheriff

By Michael Mroziak • 6 hours ago

Listen

Listening...

1:36

WBFO's Michael Mroziak reports.

Jussie Smollett 'Took Advantage Of The Pain And Anger Of Racism,' Police Say

By Colin Dwyer • 7 hours ago

Updated at 5:40 p.m. ET

Just weeks after Jussie Smollett reported being assaulted in a potential hate crime, the Empire actor is in police custody for allegedly orchestrating the attack. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Smollett faked the incident, paying two brothers about $3,500 to join a "publicity stunt" staged by Smollett because he "was dissatisfied with his salary."

"Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career," Johnson said at a news conference Thursday after Smollett's arrest.

MLB players union urges New Era to reconsider closing Derby plant

By Omar Fetouh • 11 hours ago

The union representing Major League Baseball players has come out in support of workers at the New Era Cap Company plant in Derby, which is slated for closure next month.

Will high lake levels cause repeat of 2017 flooding?

By Veronica Volk • 14 hours ago

According to the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board, Lake Ontario is more than a foot higher than usual for this time of year. However, Keith Koralewski of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says, “Most of the Great Lakes are currently above average.”

POWER Act has power to fund war on opioids

By Ellen Abbott • 15 hours ago

Local law enforcement agencies are hoping Congress passes legislation that would allow funding for some cutting edge technology that identifies lethal illicit drugs like fentanyl.

Uniland gets go-ahead to build new downtown post office

By Mike Desmond • 15 hours ago

When is a post office not a post office? When it is space built by a private company to be leased to the U.S. Postal Service. That was the issue before Buffalo's Zoning Board of Appeals Wednesday.

Authorities issue arrest warning about marketplace apps

By Mike Desmond • 16 hours ago

You know those marketplace apps like LetGo and OfferUp? The Erie County District Attorney's Office and Buffalo Police are warning people about robberies of those buying and selling on those sites.

Listen

Listening...

1:08

WBFO's Mike Desmond reports

'Empire' Actor Jussie Smollett Arrested On Charges Of Filing False Police Report

By Colin Dwyer & Richard Gonzales • 16 hours ago

Updated at 6:50 a.m. ET Thursday

Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been taken into custody on charges of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report about being attacked on the street, according to Chicago police.

Waterfront cannabis campus touted as job creator

By Mike Desmond • 16 hours ago

A solution to this area's long-term economic problems, jobs for small business, and as many as 1,000 manufacturing jobs in a waterfront plant. Those were some of the dreams discussed Wednesday night, as Flora Buffalo held a community conversation about pot and processing.

Listen

Listening...

1:07

WBFO's Mike Desmond reports

New York City Admits Defrauding FEMA Out Of Millions After Superstorm Sandy

By Matthew S. Schwartz • 17 hours ago

In the days after Superstorm Sandy soaked the East Coast, New York City Department of Transportation workers cataloged the damage to the agency's fleet of vehicles. That information was handed over to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which would give the city enough money to replace the damaged vehicles with new ones.

Only one problem: Many of those vehicles were damaged before Sandy hit. Some hadn't been operational in years and had been marked for salvage long before the storm.

Now Playing

Follow Us On Social Media

NPR News

U.S. Soda Taxes Work, Studies Suggest — But Maybe Not As Well As Hoped

By Daniel Charles • 5 hours ago

This week, the governor of Connecticut proposed a statewide tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. Several cities have already enacted such soda taxes to raise money and fight obesity. And there's new evidence suggesting that these taxes do work — although sometimes not as well as hoped.

When an American flees to join ISIS, should they be allowed to come home?

By The World staff • 5 hours ago

When an American flees to join ISIS, should they be allowed to come home?

Hoda Muthana left Alabama to join ISIS in Syria after being radicalized online. Now — after the collapse of the extremist group's stronghold in Syria — she's in a refugee camp and wants to return home.

But US President Donald Trump made it pretty clear he doesn't want her back in the country.

Nicknames, Fireflies And Reckless Air Quotes: Ross Gay Writes 'The Book Of Delights'

By editor • 6 hours ago

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The governor of Connecticut is proposing the first statewide tax on sugar-sweetened drinks to raise money and to fight obesity. Several cities have already enacted such soda taxes, and there's new evidence this week suggesting that they do work but sometimes not as well as hoped. NPR's Dan Charles has the story.

DAN CHARLES, BYLINE: The way Kris Madsen sees it, sugary drinks are a menace to society. She teaches public health at the University of California, Berkeley.

Trump Administration Shifted Resources Away From Border Smuggling Investigations

By editor • 6 hours ago

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

DAN CHARLES, BYLINE: The way Kris Madsen sees it, sugary drinks are a menace to society. She teaches public health at the University of California, Berkeley.

What A Surge Of Teacher Strikes Nationwide Do And Don't Have In Common

By Anya Kamenetz • 6 hours ago

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

DAN CHARLES, BYLINE: The way Kris Madsen sees it, sugary drinks are a menace to society. She teaches public health at the University of California, Berkeley.

More News

Heritage Moments

Portrait by Carl Van Vechten. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection.

Heritage Moments: Harold Arlen, from Pine Street to Somewhere Over the Rainbow

For one brief era, Buffalo, or at least one part of it, was an integrated place where people of different races and ethnicities mixed freely and comfortably. The time was the turn of the 20 th century, the place was the Near East Side, and the environment that flourished there produced some of the greatest music America has ever heard.

Highlights

Pages

Now Playing

Follow Us On Social Media

NPR News

Heritage Moments