Current News

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the recipients of $340 million in full-day pre-kindergarten funding for 81 school districts and community-based organizations statewide, opening full-day classroom slots to nearly 37,000 children.

The funding, included in the 2014-15 state budget, is the first installment as part of the state's commitment to invest $1.5 billion over five years to build a statewide universal full-day pre-kindergarten program.

Assemblyman John Ceretto announced the Niagara Falls City School District is receiving a $289,131 grant to fund pre-kindergarten. This grant comes in addition to the millions in pre-k funding Ceretto helped secure during budget negotiations this year.

Elks Lodge No. 346 Niagara Falls assisted Artpark & Company in presenting the fourth annual Fairy House Festival this summer at Artpark. The Elks have been the presenting sponsor of the annual event, which draws families and visitors each spring.

The Lewiston Council on the Arts and Just Buffalo Literary Center will present the fourth program in the Lewiston Arts Cafe' series, which features presentations by poets and musicians.

State Sen. Mark Grisanti introduced legislation today (S.7935) that would expand the boundaries of the Power Proceeds Allocation Act funding program to include all of Erie County. This expansion would allow eligible businesses and not-for-profits in all of Erie County to apply for power at a reduced cost.

Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center wants to hear your ideas for getting the community engaged in health care.

Patrons driving to Artpark Tuesday for the Styx concert may have noticed more cars parked off South Fourth Street. Vehicles were on residential lawns - parked both parallel and perpendicular - on the road and in driveways. Some homes had more than a half-dozen parked on site.

If this appeared in contrast to previous Village of Lewiston Board rulings, it was - and it wasn't.

Former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor and longtime NFL coach Kevin Gilbride will join Mike Florio and new co-host and veteran NFL commentator Paul Burmeister to discuss the hottest NFL topics this season on "Pro Football Talk," NBCSN's weekday NFL news program.

The Castellani Art Museum is currently taking submissions for the 2015-16 exhibition season. The museum's Tops Gallery - dedicated to the exhibition of work by local and regional artists - presents the "TopSpin" series. "TopSpin" features a broad range of visual expressions, varied in media as well as message, and focuses mainly on new and emerging artists.

Heart of Niagara Animal Rescue will be present with adoptable dogs Saturday, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., at the Sears court in the Boulevard Mall (corner of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Maple Road, Amherst). Dogs Bear, Zoey and Willis will be on hand. Photos and information on these and all adoptable animals is available online at www.heartofniagara.org.

Empire State Development highlighted the economic benefits resulting from the post-production animation of "Dora and Friends: Into the City" in New York. The new children's television series spent approximately $1 million in the state on post-production costs, hired 80 New Yorkers, and generated more than $5 million in non-post-production spending for local New York vendors.

The series is the Empire State's first fully animated television show since Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo extended and enhanced the film and television tax credit in 2013 to facilitate post-production work for animation.

The Center for the Arts, University at Buffalo, hosts "An Evening with Esperanza Spalding - Thank You October" on Thursday, Oct. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Actor, author, fitness enthusiast, Old Spice pitchman and former NFL player Terry Crews ("The Expendables 3") will make his debut as host of the nationally syndicated version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" when the iconic game show launches its 13th season Monday, Sept. 8.

Continuing the epic tradition of the legendary "Star Wars" saga, an animated one-hour movie, "Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion," will be available first to verified users on WATCHDisneyXD.com and the WATCH Disney XD app, beginning Monday, Sept. 29.

Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand joined Congressmembers Brian Higgins and Chris Collins in announcing two separate grants awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority for improvements to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport totaling $1,347,732 million.

The Glasgow/Milne families will present a portrait of Capt. William Glasgow painted by Major Baskerville during World War II to the Niagara Aerospace Museum Saturday at 1 p.m.

Wanderlust Productions - the independent film studio behind the cult hit trilogy "Finger of God," "Furious Love" and "Father of Lights" - is poised to disrupt the entertainment industry's long-established business model on Sept. 6 with the 48-hour world premiere of its documentary film "Holy Ghost."

NBC is waging a comprehensive marketing campaign to ensure the continued awareness for its No. 1 drama series, "The Blacklist," which kicks off its second season at 10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22.

The Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Bailey O'Riley's Village Pub, which recently opened for business at 840 Center St. Local business owners and elected leaders welcomed owner Chris MacKenzie and his family to Lewiston.

Congressman Brian Higgins presented United States Army veteran Sgt. Benjamin Benally with the Purple Heart for injuries sustained while serving in Afghanistan.

The National Hockey League and the Buffalo Sabres announced the NHL Combine will move to Buffalo in 2015 and 2016, with the event being held at First Niagara Center and the soon-to-be-completed HARBORCENTER complex across from the arena.

The Center for the Arts, University at Buffalo, hosts Boyz II Men Saturday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m. Tickets, $60, $50 and $40, go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Niagara University is putting a new spin on thought-provoking presentations.

Lewiston residents have expressed concerns over a fire and police radio tower resulting from a federal radio narrowbanding mandate. As such, Niagara County Legislature Chairman William L. Ross will hold a meeting Wednesday to get answers to the public's questions.

Ross said the community meeting, set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Upper Mountain Fire Co., 839 Moyer Road, will bring county officials involved in the sighting decisions for the radio tower network, including County Manager Jeffrey M. Glatz, to meet with local residents, firefighters and the general public.

The Grand Island Fun Center is calling Buffalo's best miniature golfers for its second annual mini golf tournament on Aug. 24 at 1:30 p.m. Golfers will tee off and compete for more than $500 in cash and prizes.

Michael McDonald will co-headline the final "Tuesdays in the Park" concert on Aug. 26. The singer with the distinctive baritone voice was the top draw in 2005 - the first year Artpark & Company went all-out to bring top talent to Lewiston - and drew more than 12,000 for a second appearance in 2008.

Niagara County Community College has long supported the Lewiston Kiwanis Club and the Niagara County Peach Festival. Now that NCCC's Culinary Institute is up and running - and garnering praise for its offerings - the timing was right for the downtown Niagara Falls campus to sponsor the annual Peach Festival peach recipe contest taste-off.

Center and North Fourth streets is quickly becoming the Village of Lewiston's coolest corner.

The Niagara County Peach Festival, Sept. 5-7, is only three weeks away. Make sure you are prepared for one of the area's most highly anticipated events of the year.

Grand Island High School students took home the People's Choice award and a third-place yellow ribbon from the Chalk Walk competition at the Lewiston Art Festival Saturday.

The Grand Island Town Board proclaimed Aug. 16 National Airborne Day in the town during its meeting Monday and encouraged Islanders to observe and commemorate the event.

During the Monday evening meeting of the Grand Island Board of Education, trustees heard reports on a variety of topics, including some important staffing changes. Dr. Andrés Arroyo is leaving his position as assistant principal of Grand Island High School to become principal at Newfane High School. Arroyo has served Grand Island for the past seven years and earned his Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

His resignation comes close behind that of Assistant Principal Michael Lauria, who left his job earlier this summer to become principal at Springville High School. Administrators acted quickly to search for and to hire replacements for Arroyo and Lauria, and high school Principal Dan Quartley introduced the new staff to the Board of Education at Monday's meeting. They are T. Michael Carter and Corey Gray.

Island contractors showed up at Town Hall Monday to criticize a proposed local law that one called "blue collar vs. white collar."

A public hearing at the monthly Town Board meeting was attended by many of Grand Island's contractors, who gave input on Local Law Intro No. 13 of 2014 that would amend chapter 407 of the town code to allow contractor maintenance yards as a special use in certain residential districts, subject to certain conditions.

Just before taking public comments, Town Supervisor Mary Cooke said, "What's currently going on in town right now may not all be legal, and we're trying to figure out a way to allow someone who has a small operation to be able to work in their property that they have without disrupting their entire neighborhood so that we don't get complaints from people who say, 'I live in a residential neighborhood. I didn't sign up for this.' "

The Grand Island Town Board has called the results of the first month of use with the new 95-gallon wheeled recycling carts "fantastic."

In a press release to the media this week, the board said the amount of recycling by Grand Islanders in the first month of using the carts that were delivered in May by Republic Services has increased.

Buffalo Division Manager Terry Schweitzer and Municipal Services Manager Terry Grady of Republic Services met recently with the Town Board to review the recycling numbers and the overall program, the statement said. According to the town, when compared to the same time period last year, the Grand Island recycling rate has increased by more than 30 percent.

Rita Tweedie, chief fiscal officer of Niagara Cerebral Palsy, will serve as the interim CEO/executive director for the organization. This comes after current CEO John Reardon's mid-August departure to relocate out of the area.

The Western New York Regional Economic Development Council has approved its 2014 progress report and endorsed the council's list of priority projects for round four of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Regional Economic Development Council process. The progress report, including the list of priority projects for the five-county region composed of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara, was submitted to New York ahead of the Aug. 15 deadline.

"I am very pleased to note that, throughout the year, Western New York and our council have continued to build upon the significant progress in implementing core and sector strategies," said Satish Tripathi, WNYREDC co-chair and University at Buffalo president. "It is clearly evident that Western New York truly is moving the needle on all of our economic growth indicators. Going forward with round four of the Regional Council initiative, we anticipate that the state will recognize and celebrate the transformative work that is occurring across our region."

ABC'S hit series "Shark Tank," fresh from a 2014 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality Program, is eating up ABC's primetime schedule with the return of the popular "Shark Tank Week," beginning Sunday, Sept. 7, at 10 p.m. "Shark Tank Week" will conclude Friday, Sept. 12, gearing up for the special two-hour season six premiere Friday, Sept. 26 (8-10:01 p.m.), on ABC.

The Wheatfield Town Board on Monday did some final tweaking on its biosolids law to ensure that Quasar won't be injecting its equate, which includes treated human waste, into town farm fields.

According to US2020, there will be 1.2 million job openings in the U.S. in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields by 2018, with a significant shortage of qualified applicants to fill them.

Nationally syndicated morning talk show "LIVE with Kelly and Michael" announces the lineup of guests appearing on the show next week.

Lewiston-based Women's Medicine of Niagara is the latest health care organization to join HEALTHeLINK, Western New York's clinical information exchange.