Category: PostNews

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Niagara Falls woman has admitted to aggravated vehicular homicide following a fatal crash that took place in July 2020.

Last year, on Independence Day, 25-year-old Breanna Best was driving a Dodge Avenger more than 90 miles per hour on Porter Road when she crashed into the porch of a residence on Hyde Park Boulevard.

This crash killed one of her backseat passengers — 27-year-old Niagara Falls resident Precious Cox. Best and two of her other passengers were hospitalized.

Originally, Best had been charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, aggravated unlicensed operation, reckless driving and a number of vehicle and traffic law violations, including driving with a suspended registration.

She will be sentenced for aggravated vehicular homicide on December 16.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — India Walton, Buffalo’s Democratic nominee in the race for mayor, will be appearing alongside New York City Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this Saturday.

The two will be together for an early voting launch rally at Town Ballroom, in Buffalo’s theatre district.

The rally will take place from 11 a.m. to Noon.

JAMESTOWN, N.Y. (WIVB) — Police in Jamestown say a man was fatally shot at an address on Water Street.

The shooting occurred on Tuesday evening, and no suspect has been named.

The victim was taken to UPMC Chautauqua, where he later died.

Anyone with information on this incident can call police at (716) 483-7537 or leave an anonymous tip by calling (716) 483-8477.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – The City of Buffalo has approved a settlement with the family of fallen police Lieutenant Craig Lehner.

The Buffalo Common Council voted in favor of the agreement worth almost $1.3 million.

Lehner went missing on a training dive in the Niagara River four years ago.

His body was found several days later.

The lawsuit claimed the city failed to evaluate the risk of the training exercise.

(WIVB) – There’s a lot to talk about in local politics right now ahead of November’s election.

Former Erie County Democratic Chairman Len Lenihan stopped by News 4 on Tuesday to talk about the hot topics.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Buffalo Common Council is pushing to bring the Bills back into the Queen City.

On Tuesday, members passed a resolution calling on all City, County and State representatives of the City of Buffalo to explore the “feasibility of a Downtown Buffalo Bills stadium.”

“If you’re a Buffalo elected official and you’re not cheering for the Bills to be in Buffalo, what are you doing?” asked Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt, who introduced the resolution. “We made a mistake some years ago by letting the Bills go to Orchard Park. The economic base that the Bills can bring and the businesses impact downtown could be off the chart.”

In some renderings, councilmembers are exploring what the city could look like if the stadium is built along South Park Avenue. Now, they’re hoping this idea will earn support from Gov. Kathy Hochul as the state continues its study into building a new stadium.

“This is a rare time in Western New York history where we also have a Governor who is from Western New York, and really good timing with the Bills new stadium,” said Councilmember Joel Feroleto. “I’m confident she’ll be in Western New York’s corner.”

News 4 asked Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz’s office for comment. In an email, a county spokesperson said they’re wondering if the Common Council committed any financial contribution to construct in the city – if not, “then the administration will not be commenting on this.”

We also reached out to Empire State Development for response to the resolution. In a statement, a spokesperson says a study into several stadium location options, including a potential downtown site, is underway, and that “cost, required infrastructure and the potential economic impact are all factors that will come into play.”

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Disney on Ice is skating back to KeyBank Center from Jan. 27 to 30.

Tickets go on sale to the general public today (Oct. 19).

The show will include a cast of Disney favorites, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Disney princesses including Anna and Elsa from Frozen and more.

Guests should check on the venue website for up-to-date COVID-19 health and safety policies.

SHOW DATES AND TIMES:

Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.Friday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.Saturday, Jan. 29 at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.Sunday, Jan. 30 at 12 p.m., 4 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com or in-person at the KeyBank Center box office.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Buffalo mayoral candidate India Walton has held up her leadership of an inner city land trust to show she has the skills to run the city.

But it seems Walton’s vision for affordable housing is starting to crumble.

It has been one of the positive talking points of India Walton’s candidacy – the Fruit Belt community land trust, which she led until she threw her hat in the ring, was creating affordable housing while putting the brakes on the threat of gentrification

Located right next to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, longtime residents feared being forced out of their homes by higher housing prices, and for homeowners, higher property taxes.

As executive director for the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust, India Walton joined forces with the Southern Tier Environments for Living and came up with plans for a $20 million affordable housing development.

But, officials at the land trust found the planning was disorganized, and Mayor Byron Brown now says Walton’s claims of success were fiction.

“And now the truth is coming out where you have the successor saying that she was inexperienced,” Brown said.

Walton’s successor at the helm of the Fruit Belt Land Trust told us they seem to be on the verge of parting company with the Southern Tier group and the land trust is now concentrating rehabbing single family and two-family homes, rather than a large multi-unit complex.

News 4 tried to ask India Walton about what is happening at the Fruit Belt Land Trust at one of her planned events on Tuesday, but her campaign staff told us she would not be responding to any of these political questions.

NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) — North Tonawanda’s mayoral battle is gaining intensity, with two weeks until the November election.

Fliers sent to North Tonawanda residents claim Democratic candidate Austin Tylec lied about the financial status of the city. Tylec held a press conference Tuesday to address these statements, insisting that he never referred to the city as “bankrupt,” but does say there are issues with the budget.

“North Tonawanda averaged a $1.1 million budget gap in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The city balanced the budget by relying on one-shot revenues.”

Tylec blames the fliers on Republican candidate Bob Pecoraro, who claims he had nothing to do with the situation.

“Other residents got them in their mailboxes yesterday. [That] was the first time I saw that mailer,” said Pecoraro.

Pecoraro also argues NT’s budget is in fine shape.

“North Tonawanda’s new budget is under the tax cap. It is also able to bring in additional dollars to help our reserve funds.”

While Pecoraro denies any involvement in the campaign, he doesn’t disagree with what the fliers read.

“The mailer came out from the Republican campaign. He calls it a ‘smear campaign.’ I call it full of facts.”

Tylec is confident the pamphlets will not affect voters.

“If he and his team continue to do it, then so be it. I think North Tonawanda sees beyond it, and people have been pretty vocal online about how they’re over these kinds of smears.”

Both candidates are looking to replace retiring Mayor Arthur Pappas on November 2, 2021.

BUFFALO (WIVB) – CWA members outside Mercy Hospital continue to receive support from state and local leaders, as week three of their strike approaches.

“I think when we started this journey we thought it was going to be 2,000 of us, which is a large number, kind of on our own and it was mind blowing that it didn’t turn out that way,” said Jamie Banks who’s a CAT Scan Technician at Mercy Hospital. “The communities support, the lawmakers support, other unions too nationally, donations, people calling wanting to know what’s going on and what they can do to help. It’s been absolutely mind blowing.”

There’s still no deal on the bargaining table and union members have picked up the slogan, “One day longer, one day stronger” to help keep momentum going.

Several faith leaders addressed CWA at the picket lines outside Mercy Hospital to offer them encouragement.

The President of one of New York’s Largest union also stopped by, their message is to encourage CWA members to stand their ground and fight for what they believe is a fair contract.

“When you’re out on strike, you don’t know what to expect, you’re doing it simply because you believe in the cause, better wages, better benefits, better conditions of employment, to see others in it with you makes it a little bit easier to get through the day and the weeks,” said Mario Cilento, who’s the president of New York State AFL-CIO.

“You know is it something hard, is it something we still want to be outside this building? Absolutely not, we want to go back in that building more than anything,” Banks said. “I think it has made us stronger as a union, it’s made us stronger as a work family and we’ll be better off for our patients due to that.”

News 4 reached out to Catholic Health. A spokesperson says there is no update at this time.

Leaders of nearby hospitals say the strike is increasing the staffing issues at their facilities, including within Kaleida Health’s network.

Kaleida Health CEO Bob Nesselbush released a statement earlier this month saying that Kaleida Health is “dealing with the direct impact of CWA’s labor strike at Mercy Hospital” and that it’s “putting Kaleida Health and our workforce to the test.”

Buffalo General Medical Center is seeing record high volumes in the ER, inpatient admissions as well as daily discharges. Oishei Children’s Hospital is seeing high ER volumes, not to mention an additional 4-6 deliveries a day. Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital is juggling high volumes, more COVID-19 cases, and more ER traffic while trying to help decompress our downtown campuses. DeGraff Medical Park has had ER volumes not seen in four years

Kaleida Health CEO Bod NesselBush