• Sunday marks 30 years since 1987 tornado in Cheektowaga

     BUFFALO, N.Y.–
    Three tornadoes touched down in our area last week, reminding a lot of people of another tornado that touched down 30 years ago this weekend in Cheektowaga.
    News 4’s Jacquie Walker found video of News 4’s coverage from that day on July 30th, 1987. It shows damage in the tornados path, including at the Holiday Showcase Restaurant.
    “It was an EF1 tornado, which briefly became an EF2 tornado and destroyed three homes at least and produced significant dam
  • Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul visits WNY all-girl coding program

    \
    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul addressed the young members of the WNY STEM “Girls Who Code” Program Friday at Buffalo State College.
    The program encourages girls to learn how to code- and close the gender gap-in the tech industry.
    It’s the only all-girl coding program in the region.
    Thirty-six students from urban school districts in WNY participated in the program.
     
  • Deadly Ohio State Fair accident raises ride safety concerns at Erie County Fair

    HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) –– “What happened in Ohio is an anomaly you probably see an accident like that maybe once in your whole career,” said John Strates of the Strates Shows.
    The ride that flew apart at the Ohio State Fair called the “Fire Ball” by manufacturer KMG is the same ride that has been up and running at the Erie County Fair for years.
    On Wednesday the ride malfunctioned in mid air at the Ohio State Fair, causing an entire row of seats to snap off. It
  • Reince Priebus is out as White House Chief of Staff, John F. Kelly appointed

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (WIVB) – Reince Priebus is out, Gen. John F. Kelly is in as White House Chief of Staff, according to a tweet from Pres. Donald Trump.
    POTUS tweeted around 5 p.m. Friday, welcoming Kelly as White House Chief of Staff.
     I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American….
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2017…and a Great Leader. John has also done a spect
  • Advertisement

  • Woman dropping grandkids off at airport found with loaded gun

    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – TSA officers stopped a Rochester woman who had a loaded gun with her at the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.
    The woman didn’t have a flight ticketed- she held a “gate pass” from the airline to allow her to escort her grandchildren to their gate to fly out of Buffalo.
    As the group started the checkpoint screening process, a TSA officer spotted the .22 caliber handgun in the woman’s purse via the checkpoint X-ray machine. The gun was loade
  • Outbursts, reversals color sentencing of man who shook baby

    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Marcel Brooks is a career criminal who, for the second time in less than seven years, was sent to prison for shaking a baby, according to Erie County District Attorney John Flynn. In this most recent case, Brooks was so violent, the child may never fully recover.
    On Friday, Brooks walked into a State Supreme courtroom like he wasn’t going to be sent to prison for 15 years.
    He coyly smirked at Justice William Boller, even smiled to members of the audience.
  • Buffalo man sentenced for shaking toddler, causing severe injuries

    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A Buffalo man who shook a toddler, leaving him with serious injuries, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday.
    Marcel Brooks had been babysitting two-year-old Devyn Grabowski when he shook him in Oct. 2016, seriously injuring him. Devyn had broken bones and serious injuries to his spine and brain. He still has trouble standing, seeing, and using his left hand, according to members of his family and the district attorney’s office.
    Brooks asked to withdraw
  • Family spokeswoman: British baby Charlie Gard has died

    LONDON (AP) — Charlie Gard, the critically ill British baby at the center of a legal battle that attracted the attention of Pope Francis and U.S. President Donald Trump, has died. He would have turned 1 next week.
    Charlie suffered from a rare genetic disease, mitochondrial depletion syndrome, that caused brain damage and left him unable to breathe unaided.
    His parents fought for the right to take him to the U.S. for an experimental therapy they believed could prolong his life. But Charlie&
  • Advertisement

  • Buffalo Ribfest kicks off today

    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Calling all ribs enthusiasts.
    The Buffalo Ribfest starts Friday at Canalside and runs through Sunday evening.
    The event will feature dozens of Western New York chefs and national chefs.
    The festival starts at 3 p.m. and runs through 10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at Canalside, 44 Prime St.
    Tickets run from $15 general admission  to $45 VIP. Kids 12 and under are free.
    Musical acts are scheduled for all three days.
    For t
  • Jamestown woman charged with making meth following traffic stop

    JAMESTOWN, N.Y. (WIVB) – A Jamestown woman has been charged with making meth following a Charles Street traffic stop.
    Jamestown Police officers reported to the area of the Charlestown Apartments Wednesday afternoon for a report of a vehicle that was in and out of the area, possibly involved in narcotics sales.
    Officers responded to the area and located a dark-colored Jeep that matched the description given. The driver of the Jeep committed several traffic infractions and the officers initi
  • Friday is ground-breaking day for new YMCA facility in Lockport

    LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WIVB) – Friday marks the ground-breaking for a long-awaited new YMCA facility on Snyder Drive in the Town of Lockport.
    The new 52,000 sq. ft. facility will replace the current facility on East Avenue in the City of Lockport.
    It will feature a full-size gymnasium, six-lane swimming pool, a shallow pool with a splash pad, an indoor running track, a steam room and sauna, two exercise studios, a childwatch room and a children’s “adventure center”.
    The YMCA pur
  • Two teens charged with vehicle larcenies in Grand Island, one teen charged again after being released

    GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. (WIVB) – Two  teens were charged with vehicle larcenies in Grand Island early Thursday morning- and one teen was detained a second time for another vehicle larceny later in the morning.
    Erie County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the area of Regency Drive around 4:15 a.m. for a report of a car break-in. The deputies detained a 16-year-old male and a 15-year-old male after locating them with items stolen from the complainant’s vehicles. The teens were cha
  • 10,000 evacuated from Outer Banks due to power outage

    OUTER BANKS, NC – (AP) An estimated 10,000 tourists face a noon deadline Friday for evacuating an island on North Carolina’s  Outer Banks after a construction company caused a power outage, leaving people searching for a place to eat, stay cool or to resume interrupted vacations.
    The Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative said in a news release Thursday that PCL Construction told the utility it had driven a steel casing into an electric transmission cable while working on the n
  • Melania Trump to travel to Toronto for Invictus Games

    Washington (CNN) In September, eight months into her tenure as first lady of the United States, first lady Melania Trump will make her first official solo trip to a foreign country.
    Trump announced in a statement Thursday that she will lead the US delegation to this year’s Invictus Games, being held in Toronto, Canada, September 23-30.
    “In just two short years, the Invictus Games have allowed thousands of injured and wounded servicemen and women from many different countries to
  • Watkins reports to camp healthy, eager to produce

    PITTSFORD, N.Y. (WIVB) — Sammy Watkins was pretty cut and dry about the health of his surgically repaired foot.
    “I don’t want to hear no more about the foot,” he said as the Bills opened training camp Thursday. “The foot is fine, it’s healed and I’m trying to get past that.”
    Watkins had surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot after missing eight games during the 2016 season. He reported to camp looking good and took part in normal drills w
  • Cellino and Barnes face off in the courtroom, again

    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A nasty business divorce continued in State Supreme Court Thursday afternoon.  Well known legal team, Cellino and Barnes is in the process of breaking up.
    Both sides faced off in the courtroom with Ross Cellino present and an absent Stephen Barnes.
    Barnes’ attorney, Gregory Photiadis, requested a preliminary injunction. He wants to place limits on Cellino’s conduct until the court decides whether the law firm can be dissolved.
    Judge Deborah Chim
  • CMC Jazz Festival underway

    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Thursday was the third day of the Colored Musicians Club Jazz Festival.
    Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and some of their national performers spoke today at Babeville to encourage more Western New Yorkers to come out and enjoy some jazz music.
    There are more than 150 performers at different venues throughout Buffalo.
    The festival runs through Saturday.
    Visit http://www.cmcjazzfest.com/ for a schedule and more info.
  • Security researchers hack ATM to make it spew cash

    (CBS) – Never say your machine can’t be hacked.
    That’s perhaps one of the lessons ATM maker Diebold Nixdorf learned after security researchers showed how they could turn one of the company’s machines into a cash fountain. A simple hack of an exposed USB in one of Diebold Nixdorf’s popular Opteva ATMs allowed researchers at security company IOActive to get it to spew out cash until it was empty.
    During IOActive’s “Breaking Embedded Devices” pan
  • Missing veteran found after 4 days lost in the woods

    TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) – An elderly veteran is recovering in the hospital from a harrowing 4-day search in a Town of Tonawanda neighborhood sparked by a Silver Alert. Authorities believe Harold Roberts, 79, fell and was unable to get up, or call for help, as police and neighbors looked all around for him.
    Erie County officials issued a “Silver Alert” for Roberts, a veteran Air Force pilot, on Friday, July 21, shortly after he was last seen Friday in an area near his home near
  • June Foray, voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, dead at 99

    (AP) – Actress June Foray, who gave voice to Rocky the Flying Squirrel and hundreds of other cartoon characters and was sometimes known as the “female Mel Blanc,” has died in a Los Angeles hospital. She was 99.
    Foray died Wednesday at West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest, but she had been in fragile health since a car accident two years ago, niece Robin Thaler said Thursday.
    Foray was the best-known woman among the voice performers who contributed so much to the
  • Crews clean up estimated $3 million worth of tornado damage on Hamburg Fairgrounds

    HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) — It’s been one week since three tornadoes tore through Western New York. One of the hardest hit areas was the Hamburg Fairgrounds.
    Opening day of the Erie County Fair is now less than two weeks away.Crews are still hard at work picking up the pieces.
    There’s a major difference on the fairgrounds today compared to what it looked like last week.
    Fair officials say the tornado caused an estimated $2.5 million to $3 million dollars worth of damage.
    Fair offici
  • Buffalo Philharmonic’s ‘secret’ for Friday’s enLIGHTen concert

    BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra has been rehearsing for a one-of-a-kind concert.
    “I have to say, this is one of the most interesting collaborations that I’ve ever had the privilege to be part of,” says Stefan Sanders, Resident Conductor of the BPO.
    The collaboration is interesting… and unique.
    Friday, July 28th, the BPO will head outdoors to the sweeping lawn of the Richardson Olmsted Complex and perform live — as visuals are project
  • McDermott, Beane address Adolphus Washington arrest

    PITTSFORD, N.Y. (WIVB) — Bills defensive lineman Adolphus Washington was arrested earlier in July on a concealed weapons charge in his home state of Ohio. Washington plead not guilty earlier this week. On Thursday, as the Bills began training camp, GM Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott addressed the arrest for the first time.
    “I was disappointed,” McDermott said. “Also, thankful that nobody was hurt. Adolphus right from the start has been great in terms of c
  • Beane on Jones trade: “It’s a win-win”

    PITTSFORD, N.Y. (WIVB) — As the Bills opened training camp at St. John Fisher College on Thursday, GM Brandon Beane explained the decision to trade QB Cardale Jones to the Los Angeles Chargers, for which Buffalo received a conditional 7th-round pick.
    “Not having traditional two-a-days like we had back then, you needed four or maybe five quarterbacks… there’s not enough reps really to have four and give them all the reps they need,” Beane said. “I think w
  • Clarence woman ascends to stardom with hit single ‘Face to Face’

    CLARENCE, N.Y. (WIVB) — What started in a cramped coffee shop in Clarence is blossoming into a music career on the verge of stardom for Jennafer Lynsey.
    The 20-year-old Clarence native will celebrate the world wide release of her first single, “Face to Face,” in her hometown, with who else but her family by her side.
    “It’s still like, how did this happen to me, what makes me lucky,” Lynsey said. “I try and stay very grateful and very humbled, and I try t

Follow @Buffalo_News_US on Twitter!