April Baskin

A contentious public safety hearing of the Erie County Legislature Thursday morning ended up with all parties satisfied and a plan in place for sheriff's deputies to wear body cameras by the end of 2019.

Body cameras for Erie County deputy sheriffs are moving closer to reality, with bids in Wednesday to supply the cameras and the computer capacity to make the system work.

Erie County will be getting a Corrections Specialist Advisory Board. It comes after a vote in the County Legislature Thursday in a meeting that involved some personal insults among members and a lot of citizens and supporters of the board in the Legislature Chambers.

The Erie County Legislature held a public hearing Thursday evening, but not a single speaker showed up. That was unexpected, because the hearing revolved around the plan for a Corrections Advisory Board, which has been controverial.

Less than two years ago, April Baskin was a candidate for the Erie County Legislature. On Monday, she was elected its chairwoman, moving up from the majority leader post she gained as soon as she became a legislator.

Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard is before the County Legislature Wednesday morning, along with District Attorney John Flynn, Clerk Mickey Kearns and the Board of Elections, on this second day of hearings on County Executive Mark Poloncarz' proposed budget for next year.

After several years of talk about the death of Erie County Holding Center inmate India Cummings, local officials are hoping for definitive answers from a new investigation begun by New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

Area unions are pushing back against the U.S. Supreme Court's Janus v. AFSCME decision, which allows public employees to gain pay and benefits under union contracts without paying union dues. Union leaders made clear during a news conference Monday they expect a future push to do the same to private sector unions.