Buffalo news

• New Yorkers still pay highest taxes in US

  20-01-2016 23:20 via wivb.com
  
  ALBANY, N.Y. (WIVB)- It may not come as a surprise to many, but New York residents continue to pay the highest taxes in the nation.
  It’s all spelled out in a recent annual report by The Tax Foundation, a Conservative fiscal group based in Washington DC. Using figures from 2012, it lists New York as having the highest combined State and local tax burden in the nation.
  About 12.7% of New York State income goes to a combination of Income, property, sales and excise levies on everything from b
  
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• ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ release delayed to Dec. 2017

  20-01-2016 23:11 via wivb.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — There is a disturbance in the force.
  The release of “Star Wars: Episode VIII” has been delayed from May 2017 to Dec. 15, 2017, the Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday. The date change postpones the next “Star Wars” installment set to follow the box-office hit “The Force Awakens.”
  Though “Star Wars” was once synonymous with the summer blockbuster, the date change means that the franchise will again look to dominate movie theate
  
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• Most stolen passwords of 2015 released

  20-01-2016 22:45 via wivb.com
  
  NEW YORK (WIVB) — In the Internet age, many don’t realize once signed up for a service, it has access to a great deal of personal data, so preserving security is important. The most common breach of security is a poor password.
  Poor passwords, or leaving them as the default “Password” allow hackers to apply pre-programmed bots to the task of cracking into accounts. SplashData released Wednesday its annual list of the most stolen passwords of 2015. 
  Coming in at
  
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• Ways to shave your cellphone bill

  20-01-2016 22:32 via wivb.com
  
  CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Cell phone bills can get pricey, especially if you’re paying for more than one line.
  According to Consumer Reports, paying more than $50 for a single phone line may be too much.
  “I pay about $240 a month, that for four lines, we my wife and the kids and there’s no way to lower it. We’ve tried a few times, we call and there’s nothing we can do. You could get a different company but then it doesn’t work anywhere so that does us no
  
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• Teen charged with raping 14-year-old girl multiple times

  20-01-2016 21:36 via wivb.com
  
  OAKFIELD, N.Y. (WIVB) — Officers in Genesee County are investigating multiple instances of alleged rape by a teen.
  Police say the victim is a 14-year-old girl, who did not give her consent to a 16-year-old. The 16-year-old is accused of having intercourse with the female in Oakfield on two separate occasions, once on Oct. 8, 2015.
  The 16-year-old is a possible youthful offender, so his name will be kept concealed, but he faces charges of third-degree rape.
  The charges are felony level
  
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• Oil prices plunge and stocks hit lowest level since 2014

  20-01-2016 20:40 via wivb.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Another plunge in the price of crude oil sent stocks sharply lower on Wednesday, bringing the market to its lowest level in nearly two years.
  Energy companies were pummeled as the price of crude oil sank 7 percent, threatening more damage to an industry that has already been stricken with bankruptcies, layoffs and other cutbacks.
  The price of U.S. crude fell below $27 a barrel amid a global glut in oil supplies that seems to be getting worse. That’s the lowest price s
  
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• US: 2015 was Earth’s hottest by a wide margin

  20-01-2016 20:21 via wivb.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Last year wasn’t just the Earth’s hottest year on record — it left a century of high temperature marks in the dust.
  The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and NASA announced Wednesday that 2015 was by far the hottest year in 136 years of record keeping. For the most part, scientists at the agencies and elsewhere blamed man-made global warming, with a boost from El Nino.
  NOAA said 2015’s temperature was 58.62 degrees Fahrenheit (1
  
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• Lockport man accused of thefts across Niagara County

  20-01-2016 19:45 via wivb.com
  
  LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WIVB) — A series of thefts across Niagara County has led to an arrest.
  Lockport resident Alec Baker, 21, and his vehicle were found by Niagara County patrol deputies in the Town of Lockport. During that time, Baker was found to have an expired driver’s license.
  Authorities towed the vehicle and subsequently conducted a search of it. Within the vehicle, authorities say they found items that were stolen from various buildings and vehicles in the county&nd
  
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• Law enforcement looking for Niagara bank robber

  20-01-2016 19:08 via wivb.com
  
  TOWN OF NIAGARA, N.Y. (WIVB) — Police in the Town of Niagara as well as Niagara County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a robbery at First Niagara Bank on Military Road.
  Authorities say a white male robbed the bank around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
  Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call 215-1480 or the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office at 438-3327.
  
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• We're #1, again! NY has highest tax burden in U.S.

  20-01-2016 18:52
  
  New Yorkers, congratulations: You still pay the highest taxes in the nation.        
  
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• Sheldon Silver's pension is official: $6,600 a month

  20-01-2016 18:48
  
  He was convicted and tossed from office, but former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is still getting his pension        
  
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• Ice fishing season begins on Lake Erie

  20-01-2016 18:29 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – It’s a sure sign of the season: ice fishing has started on Buffalo’s Small Boat Harbor.
  After we had such a mild December, the ice has only now gotten thick enough to be safe to go out on there, and a lot of ice fishing fans are excited to get going.
  “Winter was slow this year,” said Richard Vasquez, a Cheektowaga resident, who was preparing to ice fish for the first time this season. “I’m antsy because I was ready like when it was
  
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• Police: Drunk driver hits tractor-trailer, witness vehicle while 3 times over legal limit

  20-01-2016 18:22 via wivb.com
  
  CHATHAM, N.Y. (WIVB) — New York State Police say an incident of road rage has led to multiple charges against an accused drunk driver.
  Last Thursday afternoon, January 14, State Police say East Amherst resident Kevin O’Leary, 48, hit a tractor trailer with his truck and fled the scene.
  State Police say a witness who saw the alleged incident called 911 and began to follow the vehicle. After this, authorities say O’Leary realized he was being followed, leading
  
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• South, East brace for big storm, significant snowfall

  20-01-2016 17:42 via wivb.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The South and Eastern United States are bracing for a nor’easter at week’s end with the potential for significant snowfall.
  The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center warns of heavy, “perhaps crippling” snow across the northern mid-Atlantic region, including Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia.
  On Wednesday, the weather service issued blizzard and winter storm watches for parts of Maryland, Washington, Virginia and West Virgi
  
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• Scientists: Solid evidence for 9th planet in solar system

  20-01-2016 17:03 via wivb.com
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists say they finally have “solid evidence” for Planet X, a true ninth planet on the fringes of our solar system.
  The gas giant is thought to be almost as big as Neptune and orbiting billions of miles beyond Neptune’s path — distant enough to take 10,000 to 20,000 years to circle the sun. This Planet 9, as the two Caltech researchers call it, hasn’t been spotted yet. They base their findings on mathematical and computer modeli
  
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• 4-story parking garage near One Seneca Tower to go up for auction

  20-01-2016 16:48 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A large parking garage next to One Seneca Tower, the skyscraper that can be seen across downtown Buffalo, will be going up for auction.
  The four-story garage holds 814 parking spaces.
  A foreclosure auction for the garage was set by State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Walker. This follows an October auction where an affiliate of LNR Property Services “re-acquired” One Seneca Tower for $28 million.
  97 percent of the tower is currently vacant.
  LNR is the tow
  
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• Sponsor of anti-gay marriage bill is undaunted by $8.5B cost

  20-01-2016 16:06 via wivb.com
  
  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee lawmaker whose bill would bar the state from following the U.S. Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling says he’s undeterred by a projected loss of $8.5 billion in federal funds if the Legislature enacts the measure.
  State Rep. Mark Pody said at a rally at the state Capitol on Tuesday that the proposal he has dubbed the “Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act” is worth any cost – and the Lebanon Republican disputed the estimat
  
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• Florida woman arrested after live-streaming herself smoking spice in water park parking lot

  20-01-2016 14:48 via wivb.com
  
  PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — A Florida woman who was caught live-streaming herself smoking synthetic marijuana in the parking lot of a water park has been arrested by authorities.
  The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office says 28-year-old Sarah Lindsey Lecroy was seen by an employee of Big Kahunas water park smoking and live-streaming herself online. After contacting police, a sheriff’s deputy arrived and found Lecroy standing outside her vehicle with a blunt in one hand and a smar
  
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• Depew fire shuts down part of George Urban Boulevard

  20-01-2016 14:34 via wivb.com
  
  DEPEW, N.Y. (WIVB) — A residential fire closed down a section of George Urban Boulevard between Ledyard Ave. and Transit Road in Depew Wednesday morning.
  The fire was reported shortly before 8 a.m.
  News 4 will have more information as it becomes available.
   
  
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• Buffalo PD looking for woman wanted on felony drug, weapon charges

  20-01-2016 14:17 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A woman accused of felony narcotics possession and felony weapon possession is wanted by Buffalo Police.
  Police say Bianca Emondt-Fauel lives on Ross Ave. in Riverside.
  Anyone with information on her location is asked to call 911.
  
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• Iran’s foreign minister calls new US sanctions over ballistic missile testing `illegal,’

  20-01-2016 14:03 via wivb.com
  
  IRAN (AP) — In an AP interview, Iran’s foreign minister is decrying what he calls the United States’ “addiction to coercion” with its new sanctions against Iran over ballistic missile tests.
  Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the new US sanctions ‘illegal’ and justified Iran’s program as self-defense. He spoke to The Associated Press ahead of an appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he was expected to take part
  
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• Taliban spokesman disowns university attack

  20-01-2016 13:54 via wivb.com
  
  CHARSADDA, Pakistan (AP) — A spokesman for the main Taliban faction in Pakistan has disowned the group behind a deadly attack on a university in a northwestern town near the city of Peshawar that killed 20 people.
  The spokesman, Mohammad Khurasani, says Wednesday’s attack was “un-Islamic” and insists the Pakistani Taliban were not behind it. Such statements from among the Taliban are not uncommon since the group has many loosely linked factions.
  Khurasani, who also d
  
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• ‘Adele Carpool Karaoke’ video reaches 46M views

  20-01-2016 13:35 via wivb.com
  
  LONDON (WIVB) — During a segment on “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” the host took a drive and sang along with Adele in a video that has been gone viral with more than 46 million views in just one week.
  Adele said she “had the best time doing” the segment with Corden.
  I had the best time doing this! We met 7 years ago in an aeroplane hanger in Wales!! Love you mate @JKCorden X pic.twitter.com/eA6wAcvJTq
  — Adele (@Adele) January 14, 2016“
  
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• Inmate accused of attacking corrections officer in Warsaw

  20-01-2016 13:08 via wivb.com
  
  WARSAW, N.Y. (WIVB) — An inmate who was already in Wyoming County Jail on assault charges is accused of attacking a corrections officer while there.
  Warsaw resident Adam Aguado, 26, is accused of assaulting the officer on Monday evening. The officer received medical treatment for a dislocated shoulder
  Aguado was recommitted back to the jail on an additional $50,000 bail after being charged with two counts of second degree assault.
  
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• How to test the water quality in your home

  20-01-2016 12:51 via wivb.com
  
  FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — The situation in Flint, Michigan has many people worried about their local municipal water.
  Under federal law and state law, Fort Wayne, Indiana’s water is tested for contaminates multiple times through the year.
  When it comes to lead, Flint’s water currently tests about 25 parts per billion. That means there are 25 particles of lead for every billion parts of water. While that may not seem like a lot, it’s nearly double the maximu
  
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• Flint water protestors: ‘Synder’s got to go’

  20-01-2016 12:39 via wivb.com
  
  LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Michigan state Capitol Tuesday night, demanding accountability from Gov. Rick Snyder amid the Flint water crisis.
  MORE | Flint water protest
  Protesters were so loud outside the building that some said they could be heard inside the House chamber as the governor delivered his annual State of the State address.
  Outside, a boisterous crowd chanted “What do we want? Clean water! When do we want it? Now!” along with
  
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• Coast Guard to suspend search for 12 Marines of Hawaii coast

  20-01-2016 12:28 via wivb.com
  
  (KHON) — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday that at sunset, crews suspended the active search for 12 Marines missing after Thursday night’s double helicopter crash off the North Shore.
  This was the fifth day of a multi-agency search-and-rescue mission.
  Capt. Jim Jenkins, U.S. Coast Guard District 14 chief of staff, called it a difficult decision, made after careful analysis.
  “A decision to suspend searching without finding survivors is extremely difficult given the dep
  
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• Police looking for gunman after overnight Buffalo shooting

  20-01-2016 12:18 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — One man is recovering at ECMC Wednesday morning after an overnight shooting at Eggert Road and Langfield Drive.
  The shooting occurred around 10 p.m. The victim is expected to be okay.
  Anyone with information on the shooter is asked to call Buffalo Police.
  
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• Highlights: Park stays perfect

  20-01-2016 05:36 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)-  Park held off Bishop Timon to remain undefeated.
  
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• Niagara’s Emile Blackman: WNY’s must-see dunker

  20-01-2016 05:34 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The best dunk artist in all of Western New York might just be Niagara junior guard Emile Blackman.
  A Google search brings up clips of Blackman embarrassing defenders dating back to his days in high school on Long Island. And now he’s doing the same in Lewiston, even garnering a Sportscenter Top 10 nod for a dunk against Canisius in February of 2015.
  “I’m confident in my ability,” Blackman says with a grin. “If you put me up against
  
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• Study finds employment inequality in Buffalo

  20-01-2016 05:31
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A new study shows a big racial gap still exists when it comes to unemployment in Western New York.        
  
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• As Canadian Dollar Weakens, Americans See Benefits

  20-01-2016 05:29
  
  FORT ERIE, Ontario - Four weeks ago, Ken Guttin helped open Chuck's Roadhouse on Garrison Road.         
  
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• Former Niagara Falls Police Officer Sentenced in Road Rage Incident

  20-01-2016 05:27
  
  WHEATFIELD, N.Y. -- No jail time, a fine, and he'll keep his pension. That's the bottom line for a former police officer who pleaded guilty to a road rage crime.        
  
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• Public weighs in on draft law to restrict hunting in Town of Lancaster

  20-01-2016 05:18 via wivb.com
  
  LANCASTER, N.Y. (WIVB)- Some people in Lancaster are worried about their safety after they saw a man hunting near their backyards. The man wasn’t doing anything illegal but that could change.
  The Town Board is considering a law that would restrict where people can hunt. It would make it illegal to discharge a weapon within 500 feet of a structure in four different residential districts.
  “I don’t think anyone with small kids or animals, or anyone who likes to use
  
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• Study says nail polish chemicals can end up harming the body

  20-01-2016 05:07 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – We’re learning what comes out of the nail polish bottle ends up not just on your nails, but inside your body. This comes from a joint study through Duke University and the Environmental Working Group.They say a toxic chemical enters your body with the swipe of that nail polish brush. Erin Burns from Cheektowaga said, “I was more aware of skin care products, but I had never heard of any sort of nail polish that there was a concern.”
  For som
  
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• Hawking: Threats to human survival likely from new science

  20-01-2016 03:42 via wivb.com
  
  LONDON (AP) — Physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that new technologies will likely bring about “new ways things can go wrong” for human survival.
  When asked how the world will end — “naturally” or whether man would destroy it first — Hawking said that increasingly, most of the threats humanity faces come from progress made in science and technology. They include nuclear war, catastrophic global warming and genetically engineered viruses, he said.
  Hawki
  
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• Ben Carson campaign volunteer dies after car accident in Iowa

  20-01-2016 03:38 via wivb.com
  
  OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A volunteer for the presidential campaign of Ben Carson has died after being hospitalized with injuries suffered in a car accident in western Iowa that hurt three other campaign workers.
  Carson was in South Carolina at the time of the Tuesday morning accident and has suspended his campaign events.
  An official for a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, says the Carson campaign volunteer, 25-year-old Braden Joplin, died late Tuesday afternoon.
  Campaign spokesman Jason Osborne says
  
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• Coast Guard to suspend search for 12 Marines off Oahu’s North Shore

  20-01-2016 03:36 via wivb.com
  
  OAHU (KHON) — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Tuesday that at sunset, crews will suspend the active search for 12 Marines missing after Thursday night’s double helicopter crash off the North Shore.
  This was the fifth day of a multi-agency search-and-rescue mission.
  Capt. Jim Jenkins, U.S. Coast Guard District 14 chief of staff, called it a very difficult decision, made after careful analysis of the developments and circumstances of the case.
  “A decision to suspend searching
  
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• Missing 60-year-old located safe & sound

  20-01-2016 03:18 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A woman who went missing in the Queen City has been located, more than 10 days after she went missing.
  Erie County Sheriff’s Deputies say they located 60-year-old Lynn Hewitt, who went missing from her assisted living home on Jan. 8 in the 4900 block of Harlem Road.
  Hewitt was located safe and sound in Erie County, and she’s currently undergoing tests at a local hospital to ensure she’s in good health.
  Police say she’ll be reunited with h
  
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• Retired cop avoids jail time during sentencing for misdemeanor assault charges

  20-01-2016 02:46 via wivb.com
  
  WHEATFIELD, N.Y. (WIVB) — Although a victim of assault asked for jail time for his assailant, a judge was lenient with a now retired Niagara Falls cop during sentencing on Tuesday.
  James Conte, a 48-year-old retired Niagara Falls Police Department officer, faced his sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty to lesser misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault. Conte first faced felony charges after authorities said he knocked a man out with his motorcycle helmet following a disp
  
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• Sarah Palin’s oldest son arrested in domestic violence case

  20-01-2016 02:09 via wivb.com
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The oldest son of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been arrested in a domestic violence case in which his girlfriend was afraid he would shoot himself with an AR-15 assault rifle.
  Court documents say 26-year-old Track Palin is charged with assault, interfering with the report of a domestic violence crime and possessing a weapon while intoxicated in connection with the incident Monday night at the Wasilla home of his parents, where he lives.
  Palin family attorney
  
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• At least 4 investigations into alleged 'no-show' plowing contractor

  20-01-2016 02:03
  
  At least three local police departments and the NYS Attorney General's Office are investigating a local snow plowing contractor.        
  
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• New heated bus shelter spells relief for riders

  20-01-2016 01:49 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – NFTA commuters are known to be a tough crowd–standing at bus stops in all kinds of weather, at all hours–but the transit agency is taking steps to ease the ride for Western New Yorkers.
  Officials seem to be switching into a “winter mode” with a number of changes and improvements to take some of the sting out of Buffalo’s frigid season.
  The most noticeable improvement is a new hi-tech heated bus shelter at the corner of Niagara and Ontar
  
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• Lewiston-Queenston bridge to get $50 million facelift

  20-01-2016 01:37 via wivb.com
  
  LEWISTON, N.Y.(WIVB)- It can take hours to get over the Lewiston-Queenston bridge from Canada.
  It’s why Kristen Trunzo doesn’t travel on it.
  “The wait is so long that it’s horrible to come over. I don’t even go over to Canada. Maybe once a year, just because of the congestion,” she said.
  A $50 million dollar modernization project aims to take the headache out of crossing the border, by cutting down on wait times.
  Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer announced
  
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• Finalists in HARBORCenter art contest revealed, public to vote

  20-01-2016 01:10 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The public is on the spot with the opportunity to vote on the next piece of public art that will adorn the HARBORCenter building for all to see.
  The art contest, announced on Oct. 6, was revealed with the goal of cultivating a talented local to create a masterpiece on the exterior of the HARBORCenter’s northern end.
  With the theme of history on Buffalo’s downtown, six artists submitted their proposals for consideration. See them below.
  Anybody can vo
  
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• UB Med School Studies Pain Control Without Opioids

  20-01-2016 01:09
  
  UB Med School Looks at Patient Pain Control Because of Opioid Abuse        
  
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• LEWISTON-QUEENSTON BRIDGE TO GET $50M UPGRADE

  20-01-2016 01:09
  
  LEWISTON-QUEENSTON BRIDGE TO GET $50M UPGRADE        
  
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• Schumer announces $50 million Lewiston-Queenston expansion

  20-01-2016 01:08
  
  LEWISTON, NY - Senator Chuck Schumer announced plans Tuesday for a $50 million modernization project at the U.S. Plaza of the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.        
  
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• Kelly for Kids Foundation luncheon

  20-01-2016 01:07
  
  The Kelly for Kids Foundation announced the long list of recipients splitting more than $190,000 in grants.        
  
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• Different story for snow days in 2016

  20-01-2016 01:04 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Sunday and Monday, the southern portion of Western New York was socked with snow, leading to some of the first school closings of the year.
  That’s a far different story from what districts faced this time last year.
  “I think everyone is certainly more sensitive to having their backup plan for how they would use vacation period to fill in for those days,” said Dr. Lynn Fusco. “And they’re acutely more aware of it now, having been through
  
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