Current News

The Fourth of July may feel a little different this year due to COVID-19. Smaller barbecues, less parties and limited celebrations filled with displayed fireworks. Although sparklers and similar items can be bought and sold in much of New York, the Firemen's Association of the State of New York urges residents to let professionals handle the fireworks.

With COVID-19 drastically altering how young athletes will be able to spend their summers, NBC Sports and Chelsea Piers present "NBC Sports Camp powered by Chelsea Piers," a free, virtual summer program for 7-to-12-year-old athletes to learn and play a variety of sports from their home turf. "NBC Sports Camp" is a four-week online VOD program starting the week of July 6, offering immersive instruction across more than 10 sports.

HBO renewed the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning comedy series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," starring Larry David, for an 11th season, it was announced Tuesday by Amy Gravitt, executive vice president of HBO programming.

Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino will open to the public at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 2. Temporary hours of operation are 10 a.m. until 2 a.m. daily until July 6, when 24-hour operations will begin.

Grants to support and promote fair housing nationwide; New York awarded over $2.6 million for testing, enforcement, education & outreach

William Mattar law offices announced the kick-off of its fifth annual "In the Heat Check the Seat" campaign to raise awareness of the heatstroke-related tragedies that take place when children and animals are left in hot motor vehicles.

On Tuesday, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation marked the beginning of the summer season by launching a new mobile app for smart devices to provide visitors and prospective visitors useful information about the variety of destinations and activities available throughout the Empire State's parks and historic sites.

New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon announced that, as Western New York continues to reopen, there are a growing number of positions available on the Jobs Express website, at jobs.ny.gov. Currently, more than 8,400 jobs are available in a number of different fields from businesses looking to hire immediately.

Old Fort Niagara will reopen to visitors this Friday, July 3, following its 15-week closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily hours of operation have been shortened slightly, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to allow for extra cleaning before and after hours. Hourly musket and living-history demonstrations and seasonal food service will resume following proper health and social-distancing guidelines.

The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens announced Tuesday it will reopen to the public on July 15, with early access to members on July 8. A press release noted staffers can't wait to be #BackUnderTheDome.

This past week, 4-year-old African lion Roary made his way from the Buffalo Zoo to his new home at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, Ohio.

As Western New York begins to reopen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Villa Maria College announced students will be able to return to campus for the fall 2020 semester. The semester will begin as planned on Aug. 31.

Arts Services Initiative of Western New York Inc. announced applications for its David R. Fendrick Theatre Fund are now open. The biannual program awards one $1,000 grant to an individual theater artist in Western New York, and supports the writing or production of new work, the new production of existing work, experimental and multimedia theatrical productions, and/or the completion of a work in progress. Applications are open until 11:59 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24, and selection will be announced in September.

Freeform has announced the cast of the limited series event, "Love in the Time of Corona," including Tony and Grammy Award winner Leslie Odom Jr. ("Hamilton"), Nicolette Robinson ("The Affair"), Tommy Dorfman ("13 Reasons Why"), Rainey Qualley ("Mad Men"), Gil Bellows ("Patriot"), Rya Kihlstedt ("One Mississippi"), Ava Bellows ("This Too Shall Pass") and L. Scott Caldwell ("Lost").

Award-winning actress Chrissy Metz recently released a brand-new song, "Actress." It follows her recent release, "Talking to God," which goes to country radio next month, and both are set to be featured on Metz's upcoming debut album on EMI Records Nashville.

Junior Achievement of Western New York (JA) announced via a series of video recordings on Facebook that it raised $126,118 through the 36th annual JA Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser. A total of 1,132 individuals, representing 50 local companies, raised funds for JA's financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career and work readiness programs, taught by volunteers in WNY schools. Bank of America has been the title sponsor of the JA Bowl-A-Thon for the past 35 years.

Independence Day is almost here and many travelers whose plans have been altered due to the impact of COVID-19 may be looking for local destinations to quench their pent-up desire to travel. AAA's travel forecast was released last week (June 25) and predicted road trips are the summer travel trend this year with motorists making up 97% of all summer travel.

Governors in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced a travel advisory on June 25 that requires all individuals traveling from states with significant community transmission of COVID-19 to remain under quarantine for a period of 14 days. As of June 30, those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

Cassandra Ott, owner of Cassandra Ott Art & Design, has been named Protégé of the Year by the Allstate Minority and Women Emerging Entrepreneurs (MWEE) program, a joint venture by the University at Buffalo School of Management's Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) and the UB Center for Urban Studies.

On Saturday, July 11, at the Stella Niagara Preserve, the Western New York Land Conservancy will host Jen Zeitler, Let's Goat Buffalo's owner, for an event where one can see the goats in action and learn about the potential environmental benefits of goatscaping.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced eight additional states meet the metrics to qualify for the travel advisory requiring individuals who have traveled to New York from those states - all of which have significant community spread - to quarantine for 14 days. The newly added states are California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee. The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average.

Niagara County Legislator Dave Godfrey on Tuesday announced the Niagara County Department of Emergency Services will hold a giveaway event in Niagara Falls to provide free masks and small bottles of hand sanitizer to the general public.

Coronavirus stats for June 30

NBC News' "Today" anchor Craig Melvin will host the evening, which begins with a special performance by national youth poet l­­aureate Amanda Gorman. Black Eyed Peas, The Killers, Lady A, John Legend, Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley will take the stage before the fireworks begin. Spectators in New York City and from coast-to-coast, will have a front-row view to the unparalleled barrage of color, light and sound.

The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) and the New York State County Executive's Association (NYS CEA) on Monday announced they are joining with dozens of national and statewide organizations representing states, counties and cities to call on the U.S. Senate to act immediately to support a federal coronavirus relief package that provides funding to state and local governments.

At a Monday morning press conference, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced air conditioning filters with a minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV) rating capable of filtering COVID-19 particles or similar air exchange measures will be mandatory for large mall reopenings.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has OK'd Western New York to enter into phase four of his "New York Forward" reopening plan. He said his global health experts cleared the region for this stage of operations.

Modern Disposal Services, a family-owned company founded locally in 1964, closed Sunday on its acquisition of the Western New York operations of Phoenix-based Republic Services, an industry leader in U.S. recycling and non-hazardous waste disposal.

Artpark & Company announced the Strawberry Moon Festival performance featuring the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra with Jon Lehrer Dance Company, originally planned for Aug. 1, has been postponed to a new date (to be announced) for summer 2021.

The Erie Community College Board of Trustees announced the immediate search for Erie Community College's 12th president, which is expected to result in a candidate selection by the end of 2020. The co-chairs for the search will be SUNY Erie Board Chair Leonard Lenihan and SUNY Erie Vice Chair Danise Wilson. A website has been established for the search: www.ecc.edu/Presidential-Search.

HBO Sports has acquired North American television and streaming rights to the documentary feature film "The Weight Of Gold," a revealing and powerful documentary exploring the mental health challenges Olympic athletes often face in deeply personal detail. The film debuts Wednesday, July 29 (9 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO, at the same time as the 2020 Summer Games (with 11,000 world-class athletes in attendance) were slated to be competing in Tokyo. Those athletes, like much of the world's population, are currently at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WNY STEM Hub and AT&T are currently seeking 39 public school students from across Western New York entering grades 6-12 to participate in the free science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) "Hand in Hand Powered by AT&T" summer program where they will create prosthetic hands for local youth and area veterans.

The UNLV Lee Business School and the Ted and Doris Lee Family Foundation recently announced the elite list of committee members who will select winners for the Lee School Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Out of an abundance of caution and prioritizing the safety of volunteers, donors and attendees from the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers decided to postpone the Western New York Children's Book Expo until Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021.

Congressman Brian Higgins announced the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through a partnership with the Great Lakes Commission and Buffalo Urban Development Corp., in collaboration with the City of Buffalo, NYSDEC, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper and the Wilson Foundation, has authorized a request to provide $1,056,914 in federal funding toward the project transforming Buffalo's Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park.

Just in time for grilling season, a new online virtual event, "Chillin' and Grillin,' " is set for July 28, benefiting the Community Action Organization of Western New York (CAO). "Chillin' and Grillin' " is Western New York's first virtual meat and veggie raffle. Funds raised will help CAO continue its programming during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday announced New York veterans who were denied honorable discharges due to their LGBTQ identity can begin submitting applications under The Restoration of Honor Act. This will allow veterans who were denied an honorable discharge because of their sexual orientation or gender identity to have their New York state veterans' benefits restored.

The Aquarium of Niagara is preparing to end its COVID-19-related closure this week, as Western New York enters phase four of the "New York Forward" reopening plan. The venue will officially open to the general public on Saturday, July 4, with summer operating hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Grammy Award-winning, Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry members The Oak Ridge Boys are set to host TBN's July 4th weekend special performing multiple songs, along with guests two-time Grammy-nominated and GMA Dove award-winner Nicole C. Mullen, Grammy-winner Lee Greenwood and joined by co-host Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Seneca Resorts & Casinos announced that, beginning July 1, it will offer limited table games at Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino, Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino and Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino.