News on Western New York

Police: Dancing teen's belt buckle gouges floor

2010-02-22T14:00:14Z

<div id="subtitle">Sheriff: Break-dancing teen arrested after diamond belt buckle gouges NY home's hardwood floor</div><div><p>Police said they've arrested a teenager who caused thousands of dollars in damage to a western New York home's hardwood floor by break dancing on it while wearing a large diamond belt buckle.</p><p>Erie County Sheriff T...

Buffalo to get passport office

2010-02-22T08:58:37Z

<div id="subtitle">Buffalo to get passport office; Expected to open in fall</div><div><p>A new federal passport office will open in Buffalo later this year, giving those near western New York's four busy border crossings quick access to the travel document.</p><p>Authorities said Wed...

The nation's weather

2010-02-22T15:25:35Z

<div id="subtitle">The nation's weather</div><div><p>The major storm that brought significant winter weather to the Southeast heading into the weekend was expected to move off the Eastern Seaboard on Sunday, allowing the nation's eastern half to dry out.</p><p>A few early morning snow showers were predicted for the Mid-Atlantic before they quickly diminished as the storm moved away from the coast.</p&g...

Officer, neighbor shot by NY man firing out window

2010-02-22T23:24:47Z

<div id="subtitle">Police officer, neighbor shot by man firing out window of home in western New York</div><div><p>Police say an upstate New York man firing shots from his second-floor window injured a neighbor and a responding police officer before surrendering.</p><p>western NY man; girlfriend charged with murder</div><div><p>A western New York woman is accused of mixing up a batch of antifreeze-laced margaritas for her live-in boyfriend, who died four days after drinking the toxic cocktail.</p><p>State police arrested 51-year-old Alstom to cut 502 jobs at western New York rail assembly plant</div><div><p>French engineering firm Alstom SA is cutting 502 jobs in Hornell in western New York, leaving between 200 to 300 workers at its rail assembly plant.</p><p>The cuts, announced after mo...

Western NY teen charged in online suicide prank

2010-02-24T15:33:22Z

<div id="subtitle">Western NY teen charged with false report after using ketchup to fake suicide live online</div><div><p>A 17-year-old boy in western New York has been charged with a misdemeanor after he put ketchup on his arms and faked his suicide on a live video Web site, police said.</p><p>Troopers got several calls Tuesday night about a young m...

NY students suspended over raw-meat hazing ritual

2010-02-25T02:13:48Z

<div id="subtitle">10 students suspended over raw-meat hazing ritual at Buffalo-area high school</div><div><p>A western New York high school has been roiled by a hazing ritual that entailed hurling raw meat at new players on the girls' varsity soccer team.</p><p>Schools Superintendent Chris Roser ...

Frat member pleads guilty in teen's hazing death

2010-02-25T03:41:12Z

<div id="subtitle">Frat member pleads guilty for role in hazing death of NY college student during drinking binge</div><div><p>One of three former members of a banned fraternity in western New York has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for his role in the hazing of a college student who died of alcohol poisoning.</p><p>Daniel Wech, a 21-year-old from B...

Shortline railroads keep American towns humming

2010-02-25T15:48:07Z

<div id="subtitle">Off the beaten track: Little railroads like NY's LA&amp;L keep small American towns humming</div><div><p>After an hour of shunting rail cars aside, a 1964-vintage locomotive operated by Tim "Brown Dog" Carney nudges six hopper-loads down an embankment into a pasta factory. It's a routine delivery: 540 tons of semolina flour milled in St. Louis from durum wheat grow...

States weigh benefits, risks of drilling in parks

2010-02-25T19:38:44Z

<div id="subtitle">Parks tapped for oil, gas as companies follow supplies, states seek cash; nature lovers worry</div><div><p>State parks aren't just for hiking, camping and other recreation anymore. Increasingly, these lands are being used for oil and gas drilling as budget-strapped states seek new sources of revenue.</p><p>As they allow more energy exploration in state parks — in some cases by reversing previou...

The Nation's Weather

2010-02-25T22:20:22Z

<div id="subtitle">The Nation's Weather</div><div><p>Active weather will again sweep through the eastern third of the country on Monday. A long front will drag through the Plains and Northeast, providing areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms. The heaviest of these thunderstorms will pop up in the Mississippi Valley.</p><p>The western NY landfill was actually a bear paw</div><div><p>What authorities thought was a decomposing human foot found among recyclables at a western New York landfill really came from a bear. Ontario County Sheriff Phil Povero said a worker found the object among trash...

Human foot found in western NY recycling plant

2010-02-26T00:27:19Z

<div id="subtitle">Worker finds human foot among recyclable waste in sorting plant at western NY landfill</div><div><p>Officials in western New York are trying to figure out how a bare human foot got mixed in with recyclable trash on a conveyor belt at a landfill.</p><p>Sheriff Phil Povero (PAH'-v...

Police: Texting, talking NY trucker hits car, pool

2010-02-26T02:13:03Z

<div id="subtitle">Police: NY tow truck driver was texting and talking on 2 cell phones when he hit car, pool</div><div><p>Police say a western New York tow truck driver was texting on one cell phone while talking on another when he slammed into a car and crashed into a swimming pool.</p><p>Niag...

NY skydiver survives after failing to slow down

2010-02-27T00:33:20Z

<div id="subtitle">Skydiver fails to slow descent in nighttime jump over western NY but survives</div><div><p>Officials say a skydiver who fell too fast and was knocked unconscious when she hit the ground in western New York has been treated at a hospital.</p><p>The Orleans County sheriff's ...

The Gowanus Plan, Massa's New Policy, Skelos Calls for Another Budget

2010-03-02T01:02:31Z

<div><p>Eliot Brown looks at new details about the city's plan for Gowanus: tons of apartments, but not so many hotels. [TRE] </p><p> Eric Massa changed his policy on accepting donations from corporate P.A.C.s. [F29] </p><p> Dean Skelos wants western New York have a new, electronic way to access patient records with the hope of reducing medical errors and avoiding costly duplicative tests.</p><p>The HEALTHeLINK Western New York Clinical Information Exchange is a...

2008 Roundup Roundup

2010-03-03T02:21:20Z

<div><p>Journalists like end of the year round ups, so here's a quick round up of round ups. </p><p>The top 10 DVDs of the year, courtesy of the Middletown THR. </p><p>A year of Western NY politics from Buffalo Pundit. </p><p>And the Buffalo News see...

Man flees police in underwear after traffic stop

2010-03-04T10:42:01Z

<div id="subtitle">Western NY man accused of eluding police for nearly 15 hours after stripping to underwear</div><div><p>A western New York man who police say tore off his off clothes and fled after being pulled over in a routine traffic stop is now wearing a jail uniform.</p><p>The