Category: Western NY

SUNY Niagara is nearing the end of its search for its eighth president, the college announced Friday. The search committee has invited four finalists to visit its Sanborn campus and the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute next week. The finalists are Andrew W. Bowne, former president at Johnson Community College in Overland Park, Kansas; Lloyd A.…

Fashion and health will become partners on March 26 when the American Red Cross of Western New York and Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA team up for a combination blood drive and complementary hands-only CPR sessions. The blood drive is scheduled from 1 to 6 p.m., and the two half-hour CPR sessions will be…

Significant shrinkage Town of Tonawanda residents are seeing less of Joe Emminger these days, and it’s not because he’s neglecting his duties as town supervisor. The 6-foot, 5-inch Emminger has lost 55 pounds over the last 13 months, going from 290 to 235 pounds today – “freshman year of college weight,” as he put it.…

A fired Erie County deputy clerk who was trusted with handling hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer transactions was charged Friday morning with felony grand larceny after investigators accused him of embezzling $216,412 from the Clerk’s Office since 2021. Alexander J. McDougall, of Buffalo, turned himself into the Sheriff’s Office, said District Attorney John…

One of the Town of Tonawanda’s public golf courses could be shrinking. Town officials are considering a plan to slice off six of Brighton Park Golf Course’s 18 holes to make way for a development of single-family homes on this land. The proposal is still in the preliminary stages and hinges on Tonawanda’s ability to…

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office is weighing in on the state of the state’s colleges and universities with a report on the challenges facing New York’s 150 private colleges and universities and 64 SUNY campuses. The report looks at how New York higher education system stacks up against other states, with a…

An 11-foot, 750-pound alligator with “numerous health-related issues” was seized Wednesday from a Hamburg home, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said Thursday. The reptile, believed to be roughly 30 years old, suffers from blindness in both eyes and “spinal complications,” the state agency said in a news release. The alligator was being kept illegally…

Oxford Pennant, which designs and makes wool felt pennants, flags and banners, has cut 22% of its workforce. The Buffalo company said it laid off six full-time and six part-time workers. Oxford Pennant still has a workforce of 43 employees. “Oxford Pennant has made the difficult decision to downsize, including a reduction in workforce, in…

A new mobile app has been launched to connect impaired individuals to ride-shares for St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Developed by the New York State STOP-DWI Foundation and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, the Have a Plan mobile app has a designated driver list and is designed to help New Yorkers locate and call a taxi…

The Riviera Theatre – then named the Rivera Theatre – was envisioned as a showplace of the Tonawandas when it opened Dec. 30, 1926.  It lost some of its luster during almost a century, which is why the nonprofit group that controls the national historic landmark wanted to show off continuing renovations Thursday that will greet patrons…