Category: PostNews

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Hundreds of Bills fans hit Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Saturday, the first stop on the way to Tennessee for Buffalo’s Monday Night Football game against the Titans.

Two charter planes full of over 350 Bills fans in the travel group Fans of Buffalo took off this morning en route to Music City for the game.

Fans of Buffalo travel advisor Will Bradley says planning these trips is a lot of work, but they love it.

“I’ve been doing this full time now so it definitely takes a lot of time getting things organized, but that’s what we love to do and at the end of the day, it ends with the Bills game, so it’s been great,” Fans of Buffalo organizer Will Bradley said.

The group is going to five games this year, and after the Titans game, the next stop will be New Orleans when the Bills take on the Saints on Thanksgiving.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Even in the rain, Western New Yorkers show up for a good cause.

Thousands of people laced up their sneakers and hit the pavement on Saturday morning in the American Cancer Society’s annual “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk at the Outer Harbor.

Survivors, caregivers, volunteers and community members all came together, dressed in pink, to raise money for breast cancer research and programs.

Organizers tell News 4 that it’s heartwarming to see the 3,000 walkers that stopped by to support the cause.

“The community always comes out in such an inspiring way, even in the rain like today, in our lovely Western New York type of weather,” American Cancer Society Associate Director of Development Chris Falzarano said. “It’s always so inspiring to see how this community comes together to support this cause.”

The American Cancer Society says that over $250,000 was raised from Saturday’s event.

HAMBURG. N.Y. (WIVB) — Nearly five years ago, Niagara Falls native, Mary Friona-Celani, created Totally Buffalo, a website sharing the positive things happening across Western New York. That led to the Totally Buffalo Festival, celebrating the Queen City and showcasing the works of local businesses.

But when the pandemic hit that annual festival was unable to happen. So Mary took a big leap of faith and opened up the Totally Buffalo Store in Amherst, in November of 2020. That’s right, smack dab in the middle of a pandemic.

Just about a year later, she’s now opened a second location in the South towns. It’s located at 4154 McKinley Parkway in Hamburg.

Both stores showcase more than 50 local artisans. And there’s no shortage of items, signs, shirts, towels, jewelry, photographs, all made with a little Buffa-love from our own neighbors.

For more information, head here.

NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) — Totally Buffalo and Sweet Buffalo have teamed up for a Fall-i-day shopping event, happening Sunday October 17th. The ladies stopped by Weekend Wakeup to News 4’s Gabrielle Mediak the totally-sweet details!

Totally Sweet Buffalo Fall-i-day will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the historic Wurltizer Building in North Tonawanda. Admission is $5 cash. 16 and under are free.

The event will feature 65 vendors who will be selling unique merchandise for the holidays and of course, all things Buffalo and football! 

Mimosas will be served at the bar. For more information, head here.

Interim Rochester Police Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan announced her resignation, effective Oct. 13, during a Wednesday appearance on WDKX radio.

The city later sent out a release, formally announcing her retirement.

Deputy Chief of Operations David Smith will replace Herriott-Sullivan as interim chief. Smith, 53, has been with the department since 1992. 

Herriott-Sullivan, 61, became the first woman to lead the RPD, after the entire RPD command staff resigned their positions, and Mayor Lovely Warren later fired Chief La’Ron Singletary. Warren appointed Herriott-Sullivan in late September of last year. Her first official day was Oct. 14, 2020. She initially agreed to serve in the position through June 2021.

During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Herriott-Sullivan said she intends to return to the Rochester Housing Authority, where she worked before accepting the interim chief position.

MAYVILLE N.Y. (WIVB) – The Mayville Fire Department in Chautauqua County is sounding the alarm. It’s running low on volunteers.

“There used to be a point in time where we’d get an EMS call and we’d have to decide who gets to go. Now it’s like, ‘OK, do we have enough to go?'” said Noel Guttman, who’s been a firefighter for more than 30 years.

He says finding volunteers who want learn and stay with the department is getting more and more challenging.

“Life just gets in the way, and there’s only so many hours in the day,” he said. “The training commitment is there but we try to find a way to work with that and make it easy, but people have school commitments, family commitments and other job commitments.”

When the department doesn’t have enough volunteers to take the calls, the community ultimately suffers.

“What ends up happening is it leads to longer response times. You’re calling other departments from neighboring communities, which obviously it takes time to travel down the road and get to where they need to go,” said Brandon Tarnowski, who’s been with the department for 10 years.

A shortage in volunteers is not just unique to this fire department, firefighters say departments all across Chautauqua County are noticing the same thing.

Buffalo Regals participating in USA Hockey’s “Girls Hockey Weekend”

“All fire departments in the county and probably in the state, are in need of members,” Guttman said. “Years ago there used to be waiting lists for people to get in, that doesn’t happen anymore.”

The Mayville Fire Department redid its training program to reach more people who want to focus on a specific skill set, verses trying to learning skills they might not be interested in. The department is hoping that helps draw in more volunteers.

“When I joined 30 years ago, every single person who joined had to go through the basic firefighter training,” Guttman said. “We’ve streamlined it. Right now if you only have an interest in being an EMT, you take the EMT classes, if you only want to join to be a fire police, you take the fire police classes.”

To help recruit more volunteers, the fire department will be holding an open house each Tuesday evening at the fire hall.

CASSADAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) — A tornado warning issued Friday evening for Dunkirk, Fredonia and Westfield brought a report of a funnel cloud over Chautauqua County.

“If you’re wondering what a funnel cloud is, it’s basically: picture a tornado, but it doesn’t actually touch the ground,” Chief 4 Warn Meteorologist Todd Santos said. “It’s spinning, kind of lowering out of the base of the cloud, but doesn’t quite get to the ground.”

No tornados have been reported from the storm. The funnel cloud was spotted near Rt. 60 in Cassadaga.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for part of Chautauqua County near Lake Erie on Friday that expired at 6:30 p.m. and was replaced with a severe thunderstorm warning.

Viewers sent in the following photos of the storm.

If you’d like to send us your weather photos that were taken safely, you can submit them through our Report It! page and we will follow up with you.

BUFFALO. N.Y. (WIVB) — The 19th annual Dining Out for Life event has been happening all week in Western New York. It’s a chance to enjoy a meal out while raising money for services for people with HIV.

More than 50 restaurants are donating at least 25% of one day’s food sales from this week to Evergreen Health. Evergreen offers housing, transportation, and health care options for people with HIV.

Patrick Ryan owns Fat Bob’s Smokehouse and has been participating in Dining Out For Life for 17 years.

“It’s just always been a tradition almost at this point,” said Ryan. “We have employees that use their services over the years and it’s just an easy ‘yes’ for us.”

Ryan said they did 200 covers Wednesday night, not counting takeout. Fat Bob’s donated 50% of food sales.

Rob Baird from Evergreen Health said the event is about more than the money.

“It also raises awareness. There’s been a lot of advancements in medication or folks with HIV but there’s still quite a bit of stigma surrounding the disease,” he said. “We do get quite a few people who just happened to be dining out, have no idea the event was taking place, so it’s just a great opportunity to educate folks.”

Friday was the last day of the fundraiser and Breadhive was the final restaurant participating, donating 25% of its breakfast and lunch proceeds.

Baird said he’s grateful to all the restaurants that participated this year.

“As a member of the LGBTQ community I’ve seen what HIV has done in the gay community over the years so this event has always been near to my heart,” he said.

A newcomer to the event is Peter Deeb who owns Poppa Pete’s. He participated in the main event Tuesday and says he will definitely be helping out in the future.

“My family member has HIV, my brother,” Deeb said. “So it’s nice to be part of something like that to raise awareness…for the generations to come that are not aware of STDs or HIV.”

The goal is to raise $50,000 and Baird said he’s confident they’ll hit that goal.

Anyone that wasn’t able to make it out to the event this week can still donate online.

Kayla Green is a reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.

The New York State Department of Labor (DOL) released a guide to help employers answer questions related to the new Marijuana Regulations and Taxation Act (MRTA). Earlier this year, the MRTA officially designated cannabis as both a legally consumable product and a lawful recreational activity for adults.

View NYS DOL document here.

The new guidance provides information on permissible employer testing, policies, and disciplinary actions for employees that are observed to be under the influence on cannabis. The document also addresses common situations and questions for employers trying to navigate this new law and adjust current workplace policies.

The BNP will continue to update members on new MRTA guidance.

The post 10.15.21 Advocacy Alert: NYS Dept. of Labor Releases New Adult Use Cannabis & the Workplace Guidance  appeared first on Buffalo Niagara Partnership.

The live business and leadership video podcast EMPower716 Talk Show with Coach Robert Lowery has announced   the recipient of the new show’s first Young Entrepreneur of the Month selection. A $500 startup business grant was awarded to 17-year-old Machi Gibbs, a  Hutchinson Central Technical High School senior  and founder of Buffalo, NY-based fashion brand Brytelife.

Colorfully designed durags, bonnets and fashion accessories fill Machi’s  book bag.  He sold his first piece of art at the age of 15, starting his entrepreneurial journey as a graphic artist and painter who created logos and designs for local businesses. During the pandemic, his inspiration for launching Brytelife was identifying the problem his friends had finding protective, fashionable and customized durags. One of company’s most popular early designs is a tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant, created to uplift and inspire. Gibbs quickly expanded his footprint by partnering with local barbershops, selling products directly to customers. Gibbs credits these partnerships with helping his strengthen his communications and negotiation skills as he learned hands-on small business skills.

 “I saw Machi’s work online and reached out to learn more about his business goals. I was impressed and inspired by his determination and drive,” said Robert Lowery, host, EMPower716. “I am proud to share Machi’s journey with our EMPower716 community and thankful to our sponsors who helped us award him $500 in funds to expand his growing business online.”

EMPower716, a weekly broadcast, was  launched this month to inform, inspire and connect the business and entrepreneur community throughout Western New York. Each month a new young entrepreneur will be chosen to share their story with viewers.  

Certified Life and Leadership Coach Robert Lowery leads Western New York consulting company RL Experience, LLC. He is an active member of the local business community, including serving as a Treasurer and Trustee of Buffalo United Charter School and board member of the Cheektowaga Economic Development Corporation and Resource Council of WNY. RL Experience delivers leadership, personal development, and life coaching services. 

     For guest interview consideration, or to nominate a Young Entrepreneur of the month, contact:  empower716@gmail.com. Nominees must be entrepreneurs aged 21 or under who provide a product or service that offers value to the community, and each must be available for interview on the show.

To learn more, visit www.empower716.com.