Buffalo news

• City looking to improve quality of life by spending millions on parks

  01-08-2016 23:52 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Kevin Baer sits on a plaid blanket with his granddaughter, 10, and grandson, 7. They’re laughing, joking, enjoying a picnic in Cazanovia Park.
  “I use this park quite a bit,” said Baer who enjoys time outside in the summer and winter months. “I know it’s very precious. And I do keep a look on how it is used because of how precious it is.”
  Andy Rabb, the city’s deputy commissioner for parks and recreation, said they’
  
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• Couple accused of leaving toddler son to play ‘Pokemon Go’

  01-08-2016 23:51 via wivb.com
  
  SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona couple are accused of leaving their 2-year-old son alone to go play the “Pokemon Go” smartphone game.
  The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office says 27-year-old Brent Daley and 25-year-old Brianna Daley were arrested after a neighbor found the barefoot boy crying outside the couple’s home in a southeastern Phoenix suburb Thursday night.
  The office said Monday that the couple initially told deputies they went to buy gas but then said t
  
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• Buffalo distillery benefiting from bourbon boom

  01-08-2016 23:10 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – The owners of Buffalo Distilling Company can’t make bourbon fast enough. Every time a new barrel has aged, it flies off store shelves.
  “We’re basically selling the bourbon as fast as we can make it,” Andrew Wegrzyn, the co-owner of the distillery said.
  When the owners started production in 2012, they were making 30 gallons of bourbon a month. Now they make 100 gallons. Due to the demand, they plan on expanding up to 400 gallons a month.
  &ldquo
  
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• Stretch Your Dollar: What to buy/skip in August

  01-08-2016 23:01 via wivb.com
  
  NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — It’s the first day of August and it’s also the last few weeks before students start to head back to school. You’ll see retailers rolling out their back-to-school deals this month, there’s just a few items you may want to pass on. It’s the last month before students of all ages head back to school and retailers are gearing up.
  Expect the essentials, backpacks and pens, to be on sale everywhere. Laptop computers will also
  
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• Groups affiliated with Black Lives Matter release agenda

  01-08-2016 22:40 via wivb.com
  
  (AP) — A coalition of more than 60 organizations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement called for policing and criminal justice reforms in a list of demands released ahead of the second anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
  The agenda was released Monday by the Movement for Black Lives after both the Republican and Democratic conventions, during which Black Lives Matter activists were noticeably absent from protest lines.
  “We seek radical
  
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• Study points way to finding genes affecting depression risk

  01-08-2016 22:37 via wivb.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — In a key advance for the study of depression, a comprehensive scan of human DNA has turned up the apparent hiding places of more than a dozen genes linked to the disorder.
  “This is a jumping-off point” for further work to reveal the biological underpinnings of depression, which in turn can guide development of new drugs, said Ashley Winslow, an author of a paper on the work.
  Experts said the result is important not only for its specific findings, but also for it
  
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• Ohio’s Cedar Point park closing famed wooden coaster

  01-08-2016 22:30 via wivb.com
  
  SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s Cedar Point amusement park says it’s shutting down what was once the world’s tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster after 25 years.
  Mean Streak will permanently close on September 16 in order to make room for future development of the FrontierTown section of the park. A memorial ceremony for the coaster will be held that evening.
  Cedar Point says more than 26 million people have ridden the 161-foot high ride since it opened in 1991.
  
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• Two different visions of America emerge from conventions

  01-08-2016 22:25 via wivb.com
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — For eight summer nights, there were two starkly different visions of America.
  At Donald Trump’s Republican convention, America was a nation spiraling into chaos and economic ruin. Immigrants were cast as criminals, or in some cases, potential terrorists. The government is rigged for the wealthy and powerful, almost past the point of repair.
  “I alone can fix it,” Trump said as he accepted the GOP nomination in Cleveland.
  The Democratic convention in Phila
  
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• Happier Meal? McDonald’s nixing some unpalatable ingredients

  01-08-2016 22:23 via wivb.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — McDonald’s, which is trying to shake its image for serving processed junk food, said Monday it’s eliminating some unpalatable ingredients from its most popular menu items.
  That includes making Chicken McNuggets and other items without artificial preservatives, and removing high-fructose corn syrup from its burger buns. McDonald’s did not immediately respond when asked about which specific preservatives are being removed.
  The changes come as the world&rsquo
  
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• Cheektowaga man accused of taking upskirt photos of woman in grocery store

  01-08-2016 22:15 via wivb.com
  
  LANCASTER, N.Y. (WIVB) — Police in Lancaster arrested a Cheektowaga man they say was taking inappropriate photos of a woman in a store.
  The man, who has only been identified as a 27-year-old, allegedly took pictures up a woman’s skirt while in a checkout line at a Transit Road supermarket.
  He was charged with second-degree unlawful surveillance, which is a felony, and second-degree harassment.
  
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• Buffalo Zoo asks voters to name lion cub

  01-08-2016 21:53 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Buffalo Zoo is looking for help naming one of their new lion cubs.
  Three new cubs were born at the zoo on May 12, and two of them have been named. One cub, a girl, renames unnamed.
  The Buffalo Zoo has set up a survey asking voters to pick the name of the girl. The choices are listed here:
  LuLu — This name is a possibility due to the cub looking like her mother, Lusaka. Also, “LuLu” means “precious” in Swahili.
  Amirah &mdash
  
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• Gawker founder Nick Denton has filed for personal bankruptcy

  01-08-2016 21:37 via wivb.com
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Gawker founder Nick Denton filed for personal bankruptcy Monday in the aftermath of a Florida jury’s awarding $140 million to Hulk Hogan in a privacy case revolving around a sex tape posted on Gawker.com.
  As a result of the verdict, which is being appealed, Gawker’s parent company has gone into bankruptcy and is up for sale.
  Denton’s bankruptcy filing Monday says he owes $125 million to Hogan, a former professional wrestler. Filing for bankruptcy helps him
  
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• Tractor overturns, kills driver in farm accident

  01-08-2016 21:36 via wivb.com
  
  TOWN OF BOLIVAR, N.Y. (WIVB) — A man was killed in an Allegany County farm accident Monday afternoon.
  Richard Gasbarre, 62, was using a tractor to till a yard in Bolivar when he backed over a break wall.
  The incident caused the tractor to overturn and land on Gasbarre, killing him.
  
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• CDC warns pregnant women from Zika-stricken part of Miami

  01-08-2016 20:02 via wivb.com
  
  MIAMI (AP) — Government health officials are warning that pregnant women should avoid travel to a Zika-stricken part of Miami and urging expectant mothers who frequent the neighborhood to get tested for the virus, after the number of people feared infected through mosquito bites in the U.S. climbed to 14.
  In a warning issued Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said men and women who have recently visited the area should wait at least eight weeks before trying to con
  
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• NYS investigating several incidents at Gowanda Correctional Facility

  01-08-2016 18:09 via wivb.com
  
  GOWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) – The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is investigating several incidents involving inmates that happened Friday at the Gowanda Correctional Facility.
  According to spokesperson Thomas Mailey, “The Gowanda Correctional Facility frisk of select areas of the premises including housing units has been completed. The facility has returned to normal operations.”
  No staff were injured during the incidents.
  Mailey tells News 4 that
  
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• 3 escape burning Rochester home by jumping out of windows

  01-08-2016 17:57 via wivb.com
  
  ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say three people had to escape a blaze by jumping out of second-story windows of their Rochester home that’s located across the street from a fire station.
  Fire officials say the blaze broke out around 2:45 a.m. Monday at a home on Barton Street on the city’s southwest side.
  Crews working out of the station across the street got there quickly but say three people had already jumped from the burning structure. All three were injured and are bei
  
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• NY parole authorities to bar sex offenders from Pokemon Go

  01-08-2016 17:54 via wivb.com
  
  ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed state authorities to prevent nearly 3,000 registered sex offenders now on parole from playing Pokemon Go in an effort to safeguard children who play.
  The Department of Corrections and Community Services is making that a condition of supervised release from state prison for all sex offenders.
  The state says Monday that county probation offices should adopt the same policy.
  Cuomo has also sent a letter to software developer Niantic Inc. requ
  
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• Governor: 14 Florida Zika cases likely caused by mosquito

  01-08-2016 17:46 via wivb.com
  
  MIAMI (AP) — Gov. Rick Scott asked Monday for a federal emergency response team to help the state combat the spread of the Zika virus in the U.S., saying the number of cases in Florida had increased to 14.
  The new cases are clustered in the same square-mile neighborhood in Miami-Dade County identified last week. Florida health officials said in a news release Monday they believe active transmissions of Zika are occurring only in that area.
  Officials announced four cases on Friday, believed
  
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• Local restaurant owner pleads guilty to sales tax evasion

  01-08-2016 17:42 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The owner of a restaurant on Broadway in Buffalo has admitted to sales tax evasion.
  Derby resident Gary Lee Toner, 47, operates Avenue Pizza and Submarine. Authorities say Toner collected sales tax from customers, but did not remit those funds to New York State finance officials.
  “As this case clearly shows, ignoring a tax obligation has serious consequences,” said Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Jerry Boone. “When businesses co
  
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• Former Lancaster school employee sentenced to probation after stealing thousands of dollars

  01-08-2016 17:19 via wivb.com
  
  LANCASTER, N.Y. (WIVB) — A former employee of the Lancaster School District was sentenced to five years of probation after spending ten years stealing from the district.
  Earlier in the year, Rhonda Greco, 47, was indicted on charges of grand larceny and ten counts of falsifying business records.
  In May, she admitted to stealing more than $3,400 from the school while working in the Accounts Payable department. This happened between September 2014 and October 2015.
  The mo
  
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• Wind knocks 4-year-old off boat on Chautauqua Lake

  01-08-2016 16:53 via wivb.com
  
  CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (WIVB) — A four-year-old boy was injured in a boating accident on Chautauqua Lake Sunday afternoon.
  Chautauqua County Sheriff’s deputies say a family was tubing on the lake near the Chautauqua Institution when they decided to start water skiing.
  After this decision was made, deputies say the tube was brought onto the boat and placed toward the front of the vessel.
  The four-year-old was playing under the tube when winds from the lake and the vessel combined
  
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• Man walks into ECMC after getting shot Sunday night

  01-08-2016 15:51 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Buffalo man walked into ECMC with a gunshot wound to the leg late Sunday night.
  The man, only identified as a 23-year-old, was shot on the 500 block of Woodlawn Ave., according to detectives.
  He has since been treated and released after walking in just before midnight.
  Police are investigating the shooting. Anyone with information on it is asked to call the confidential police tip line at 847-2255.
  
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• Russian helicopter shot down in Syria, killing all 5 onboard

  01-08-2016 15:30 via wivb.com
  
  MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian transport helicopter was shot down in opposition rebel territory in northern Syria on Monday and all five crew and officers onboard were killed, the Kremlin said, in the deadliest single incident for the Russian military since its involvement in Syria’s civil war.
  The Mi-8 helicopter was shot down in Idlib province while returning to the Russian air base on Syria’s coast after delivering humanitarian goods to the city of Aleppo, the Defense Ministry said
  
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• Sabres’ Evander Kane pleads ‘not guilty’ in Buffalo court

  01-08-2016 15:21 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Sabres forward Evander Kane appeared in Buffalo City Court to answer to charges alleging he grabbed three women during an altercation at a downtown bar in June.
  The 24-year-old Kane was arrested July 22 after turning himself in to Buffalo police and was charged with non-criminal harassment, disorderly conduct and trespass. He was released after being processed.
  The charges stem from an alleged incident that occurred early on June 24. Three women said they were grabbed
  
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• NFL sources: Bills sign veteran RB Reggie Bush

  01-08-2016 14:54 via wivb.com
  
  PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills brought in free-agent running back Reggie Bush for a visit on Monday with the intention of adding veteran depth behind starter LeSean McCoy.
  Bush was spotted at the Bills’ training camp facility outside Rochester around noon. NFL sources said Bush signed with Buffalo on Monday afternoon.
  CBSSports.com first reported Bush was scheduled to sign with the team pending his physical.
  General manager Doug Whaley told the AP that h
  
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• Bills sign veteran RB Reggie Bush

  01-08-2016 14:54 via wivb.com
  
  PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills brought in free-agent running back Reggie Bush for a visit on Monday with the intention of adding veteran depth behind starter LeSean McCoy.
  Bush was spotted at the Bills’ training camp facility outside Rochester around noon. The Bills announced Bush’s signing with Buffalo on Monday afternoon.
  CBSSports.com first reported Bush was scheduled to sign with the team pending his physical. In addition to Bush, the team also sign
  
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• Bills close to signing RB Reggie Bush

  01-08-2016 14:54 via wivb.com
  
  PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — A person with direct knowledge of the situation says veteran free-agent running back Reggie Bush is traveling to meet with the Buffalo Bills.
  The person says the Bills will sign Bush pending the player passing a physical, which he is scheduled to take on Monday. The person spoke to The Associated Press Monday on the condition of anonymity because the Bills have not announced their plans.
  CBSSports.com first reported Bush was scheduled to sign
  
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• Addiction hotline in Erie County set to launch

  01-08-2016 04:40 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Help is on the way for those suffering from addiction. A new addiction hotline for Erie County will launch Monday morning.
  Lawmakers have been working on it for months after seeing an increase in the number of people dying because of opioids.
  In western New York, opioid overdose numbers are expected to double this year from 2015.
  The goal of the county-wide hotline is to provide the community with a quick and easy way to find information, support and treatment for ad
  
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• Trump again criticizes fallen veteran’s father

  01-08-2016 03:08 via wivb.com
  
  ASHLAND, Ohio (AP) — Hillary Clinton said Sunday that Donald Trump repaid the “ultimate sacrifice” of a U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq with insults and degrading comments about Muslims, as the soldier’s bereaved father pressured Republican Party leaders to distance themselves from the GOP presidential nominee.Clinton’s comments came after Trump refused to back down from his criticism of the Gold Star parents’ remarks.“Am I not allowed to respond?&rdquo
  
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• Hundreds participate in Ice Bucket Challenge for Annual Walk to Defeat ALS

  01-08-2016 01:40 via wivb.com
  
  BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — More than one thousand people gathered at Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday for the 2016 Annual Walk to Defeat ALS.
  This year’s event had a different twist than years past. 650 participated in an Ice Bucket Challenge after the walk.
  They hoped to break a Guinness World Record with the most people participating in the challenge, but fell short.
  Organizers say the Ice Bucket Challenge started as a small campaign but has turned into something much bigger.
  “Wh
  
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• Semi-truck burns on thruway near Blasdell

  01-08-2016 01:09 via wivb.com
  
  BLASDELL, N.Y. (WIVB) – People drove by a large semi-truck fire on the thruway Sunday afternoon.
  The truck was pulled over on the side of the road near the Blasdell exit.
  Video into the News 4 newsroom shows large flames and dark smoke billowing from the truck.
  New York State Police say no one was hurt in the fire.
  Firefighters from the Newton Abbott Fire Company and Scranton Volunteer company battled the flames.
  Once the fire was a out, a photo shows the truck burned all the way down
  
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• Local dog fights to live after long journey to WNY

  01-08-2016 01:07 via wivb.com
  
  ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) — A dog in Orchard Park is looking for a new “leash” on life. He already fought two battles to get to where he is today, and now, he’s facing another one.Meet Lazaro, the 1-year-old chow is originally from the country of Columbia. He almost died after his neck was severely wounded from a barb wire leash.
  Brittany Turner, Lazaro’s current owner said, “It barely missed the trachea, he had to have numerous surgeries along with reconstruc
  
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