Category: PostNews

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — This past Monday, a missing 18-year-old woman’s body was found in north Buffalo.

The body of Jalia Marrero, a city resident, was located in a wooded area south of Delsan Court, police said. She was reported missing on May 21, but had not been seen since May 8 or 9.

BPD needs help locating 18-year-old Jalia Marrero, missing since early May

It’s not clear what caused her death. The Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office is working to determine this.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Erie County Sheriff John Garcia on Thursday announced the creation of a multi-organizational effort to combat domestic terrorism and other threats in light of the Buffalo supermarket mass shooting.

Garcia announced a group of law enforcement professionals will form a new Behavioral Threat Assessment Team. He called the unit a “central clearinghouse of information.”

Buffalo shooter had mental health evaluation after threatening his high school last June

“We’ve witnessed many tragedies where the perpetrators have fallen through the cracks,” Garcia said. ” … Today, we begin filling those cracks with a specialized team of trained professionals that will analyze data, look for indicators and share information. No one agency, organization or company can manage the undertaking and be successful. That’s why we assembled this team.”

Garcia said the multi-agency group will create a website, mobile app and other methods for community members to make anonymous tips. “If you see it, say something,” Garcia said.

Garcia said an example of what the team will do could be following up with teachers, family and community members after a school threat is made. The person may be released from observation after 24 hours, Garcia said, but he hopes the group will pick up the work after that point.

Garcia’s example is reminiscent of the situation involving the Buffalo shooting suspect, who was given a mental health evaluation after making a threat at his high school last year.

You can watch the press conference in the video player above.

This is a developing story, check back for updates

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency (BURA) is looking for contractors to help get lead out of some of Buffalo’s older homes.

They’re being sought specifically for the Lead Paint Hazard Reduction Program, which offers remediation and repairs to both rental and owner-occupied homes in the city.

This program is being offered for low-to-moderate income households. Specifically, the agency wants to see work being done in parts of Buffalo where lead poisoning occurs more often. BURA identified them as the upper west side and Schiller Park areas.

“Lead in a household can be very deadly,” BURA said. “It is especially dangerous for children.”

To qualify, a home must have been built prior to 1978 and have one of the following:

A child aged six or younger living insideA child aged six or younger visiting at least once a week for at least six hoursA tenant who is pregnant or a homeowner living in the home who is pregnant

Contractors who are interested in taking part in this program can attend a recruitment session on Thursday, June 9 at 6 p.m. It’s happening at 2393 Main Street and will feature representatives from Belmont Housing Resources for Western New York, the City of Buffalo Permit and Inspection Services Department and the Safety and Health Training Center.

“BURA is also encouraging minority and women-owned business enterprises to apply. BURA and
its partners want to ensure that opportunities are equitably available to everyone in the
community,” BURA said.

The City of Buffalo will pay for contractors’ work, including painting, replacing doors and windows, and making other lead-safe improvements.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — It’s not there yet in Buffalo, but New York’s average gas price has reached $5 per gallon.

Nationally, AAA reports a record average of $4.97, while GasBuddy says the average has “surpassed” the five-dollar mark.

But it’s still cheaper to get gas in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area, according to AAA, which reports a record-breaking average of $4.89 per gallon. A record was also broken in Rochester on Thursday, where gas is slightly costlier at $4.95.

Batavia’s prices, which also broke a record, sit closer to Buffalo’s, at $4.90 per gallon.

Last week, a gas tax cap of $2 per gallon went into effect in Erie County, and a $3 cap went into effect in Niagara County. It makes it so people only have to pay tax on the first two or three dollars of every gallon of gas they put in their car.

This coincided with the state’s gas tax holiday, which will last until the end of the year. It will allow drivers to save an additional 16 cents for every gallon of gas they pump.

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Niagara Falls resident has been charged with a fatal shooting that happened in the city this past weekend.

On Saturday, shortly after 11 p.m., Keith Agee, 26, was shot on the 2400 block of LaSalle Avenue. He died the following day at ECMC.

On Wednesday night, Gabriel Moyer, 20, was found in an Amherst motel, where he was taken into custody by members of the U.S. Marshals Task Force. He’s been charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

After being arraigned in Niagara Falls City Court, he was remanded to the Niagara County Jail. Moyer will be back in court on June 14.

The post Partners on the Career Path appeared first on Buffalo Niagara Partnership.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A couple of western New Yorkers are going to end up a lot richer once their lottery tickets are turned in.

Two top prize-winning Take 5 tickets were recently sold in the region; one in Bolivar and the other in Buffalo. Each was for the June 8 evening drawing.

The Bolivar ticket was purchased at the Bolivar Foodland store on Main Street in Bolivar, while the Buffalo ticket was bought at the Speedway at 535 Kenmore Ave. They’re worth $19,460 and $20,379, respectively.

Take 5 numbers are drawn twice a day, the first at 2:30 p.m. and the second at 10:30 p.m. Anyone with a winning ticket can exchange it within one year of the drawing date.

KENMORE, N.Y. (WIVB) — Regarding one person in particular, the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District has decided to settle 35 lawsuits pertaining to the Child Victims Act, and they’ll be solely responsible for paying for them.

The Child Victims Act was signed into law by former governor Andrew Cuomo in early 2019. It allowed for civil and criminal lawsuits against alleged sexual abusers that otherwise would have fallen outside the previously required timeframe for litigation.

One of the men who’s become the subject of dozens of lawsuits is Arthur Werner, who has not been employed by the Ken-Ton school district for roughly 30 years.

“The District acknowledges that the misconduct alleged against Werner in these lawsuits is reprehensible — both now and back then,” School Superintendent Sabatino Cimato said.

The school district says that during an investigation, no former administrator claimed to have any knowledge of misconduct by Werner, who taught fifth grade at Herbert Hoover Elementary School.

More allegations of sexual abuse against a former Ken-Ton teacher, lawyer says; additional lawsuits may follow

Due to having no past insurance policies able to cover the cost of these lawsuits, the school district plans to rely on bond financing to pay for them.

“Recognizing the extreme costs associated with holding separate trials for each of these 35 cases in the upcoming months and the fact that these costs will be incurred regardless of the outcome of the trial, the District made a business decision to resolve these cases without getting to the merits at trial,” a statement from the school district read.

The settlement was approved last week during a special meeting of the Board of Education.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Hundreds of seniors across Buffalo have been notified their monthly rents are going up by hundreds of dollars a month, which many can’t afford.

Most of those silver-haired tenants live in senior housing managed by a Maryland-based company.. and got their rent notices this week. Many of them — especially at one of the apartment complexes on the East Side — banded together to fight an injustice.

On Tuesday, all the tenants at the Walden Heights apartments got their papers, tacked to their doors–their rent is going up.

“It went from 17.1% [rent increase] as the lowest, to 50% as the highest,” said tenant president Ada Hopson-Clemons.

Many of tenant’s rents are going up as of August 1, even though their leases don’t expire until December.

“I was upset that the rent would go up extremely high like that,” resident Audrey McClure said. “Especially for us seniors — and I am a senior.”

Delores Casey, who is fighting leukemia, has been living at Walden Park for 21 years, and was shocked when she got her rent notice.

“I don’t want to move, I love it here,” she said. “I love everybody, my neighbors are great, they are great.”

Casey’s niece, Elaine Missenden-Love, said it’s hard to find a place to live, even outside of Walden Park.

“The problem is, there are not any openings anywhere because we already did that, too. We started looking around for other senior places, and there is a nine-months wait.”

Many of the tenants called their councilmen.

“We are in difficult times where everything is more expensive — food, gas prices — a $200 increase on an 87-year-old senior is too much,” said Councilmember Bryan Bollman. “They deserve a higher standard of living and I’m going to fight for my seniors.”

The management company, Corvus Property Intelligence, based in Maryland sent News 4 a statement.

“On June 1, residents were notified of a rent increase allowed by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, scheduled to start on August 1,” the statement said. Residents have voiced their concerns regarding the amount of the increases and the impact they would have on their financial well-being. We have heard them and are addressing them.”

And they are reducing the rent increases, as of Wednesday.

Many of those tenants have also accused the management company of charging late fees for tenants who get their benefits in the middle of the month. They have been referred to HOME — Housing Opportunities Made Equal — which is building a case.

ROYALTON, N.Y. (WIVB) — A family’s truck slid into Tonawanda Creek and their house isn’t too far behind.

First responders say the homeowner was inside the house on Tonawanda Creek Road Wednesday afternoon around 4:30 when he saw the truck had slid down the embankment and the back of his yard also slid down about 12 feet.

The barn behind the house is also close to falling in the creek as well.

The homeowner got out safely but his house is likely a total loss.

“Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do at this time. We’ve made the notification we can make right now. The next step is to find out if we can get emergency demolition on the structure and get any stabilization of that bank,” said Rapids fire chief Aaron Bair.

He said he’s concerned it’ll collapse even more overnight with the heavy rains ahead.

“It’s something that we don’t see every day, we train for a lot of unknowns. There was a similar call for the Erie County side of Tonawanda Creek a few years back, the homeowner there also lost their home.”

Jonathan Schultz is the director of emergency services in Niagara County and has dealt with similar situations along Lake Ontario in Olcott and Wilson.

“We’ve had some residences close to going into the water with lake water rising and ice caused a lot of erosion kind of a similar situation you see here, but this one is kind of unexpected. Talking with the homeowner he did see some cracking in the soil earlier today but then when it did go down it was unexpected,” Schultz said.

His suggestion to people living along the water is to constantly monitor for any changes to the property.

“Homeowners need to keep an eye on their property they know it better than anyone else, keep an eye on the structure inside too if you start to see cracks forming on the walls, foundations things like that, maybe that’s when you need to bring out the local building inspector.”

The truck was still in the water as of Wednesday evening and first responders said it wasn’t leaking.

National Grid was also on scene and shut off power and gas to the house.

The next step for the homeowners is to work with engineers to figure out the cause, find out where the water is coming from, and stabilize the creek.

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