May 20
2024
A Buffalo renaissance? Not with this much poverty.
- Share on
The most disturbing thing I read last week was a press release from Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli about what he termed the state’s “staggering” childhood poverty rate. Nearly one in five live in poverty, half of them in deep poverty.
Poverty is especially pervasive in upstate’s largest cities, according to the comptroller’s report:
When compared to other U.S. cities with similar population levels, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo have child poverty rates that are double the average rate of their cohort cities. Between 40 to 46% of children in Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo were living in poverty in 2022, and they rank second, fifth, and seventh among the largest cities in the U.S. with the highest rates of child poverty.
Lots of folks in our community talk about our supposed renaissance. Not with poverty rates like this. For further proof, read Henry Taylor’s report on deteriorating conditions on Buffalo’s East Side.
A new study finds PFAS, or forever chemicals, are ubiquitous in the Great Lakes basin, especially near urban areas. That’s us.
There’s a battle brewing in New York over a proposed equal rights amendment.
Jacksonville has joined the ranks of localities prepared to fork over big bucks to keep the owner of their NFL team happy.
Courtney Gore got elected to the school board in a rural county in Texas outside of Fort Worth. Her mission: weed out curriculum that indoctrinates students. You know, critical race theory, gender-bending and the like. She intently reviewed her district’s curriculum only to discover there is no such brainwashing. She shared the news with the far-right radicals who helped get her elected. They didn’t want to hear it.
Donate to support our nonprofit newsroom
In North Carolina, GOP lawmakers want to outlaw the wearing of N95 masks. But, wait, don’t they provide protection against the spread of infectious diseases, including Covid, and aren’t they especially important to immunocompromised people? Yes, but they’re also worn by some people protesting the war in Gaza. So, in other words, you can buy a gun in North Carolina without so much as a background check, but heaven help you if you wear a N95 mask.
There’s tight end and celebrity boyfriend Travis Kelce. Brittany “Look At Me!” Mahomes. Receiver and demolition derby driver Rashee Rice. And kicker and commencement speaker Harrison Butker. Is there a more obnoxious, over-exposed team in all of sports than the Kansas City Chiefs?
