Tag: Politics

Sep 5

2024

Byron Brown chosen to lead Western OTB

Published by

Mayor Byron Brown, incoming OTB chief. Photo by Garrett Looker. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown today was selected to head the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp.  Brown, 65, was one of two finalists interviewed by OTB’s governing board, which unanimously selected the mayor after five hours of closed-door interviews and deliberations. Elliott Winter, who represents Niagara County on the OTB board and served on the search committee, told reporters Brown is a good fit given his experience running a city government. “He oversees 3,000 employees with a budget of over $600 million. He’s worked in the same capacity for the last[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Sep 5

2024

Buffalo City Hall vandal explains himself

Published by

Today, we’re sharing a portion of  political reporter Geoff Kelly’s weekly newsletter, PoliticalPost. To receive his free report in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up in the subscription box at the end of this article. The man arrested Sunday for breaking windows at City Hall and making threats against Mayor Byron Brown is the uncle of a woman who was killed when she fell out of a moving car on the Kensington Expressway in February. On Facebook Antonio Nunes, 40, posted links to stories about his arrest and described his actions as “a warning.” His family, he wrote, was “being disrespected by nobody being[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Aug 27

2024

This Assemblyman makes a lot of money on the side

Published by

New York State Assemblyman Michael Norris. Photo provided. Outgoing Republican state Assemblyman Michael Norris won’t be able to keep his lucrative side jobs — 10, all in Niagara County — presuming he becomes a state Supreme Court justice next year.  The assemblyman did not respond to a request for comment, but his law firm, Lockport-based Seaman Norris, confirmed that Norris will be withdrawing as a partner if elected to the bench in November. Norris, 48, a Lockport attorney and former Niagara County Republican Party chairman, has served as the 144th District state assemblyman  – representing parts of Niagara and Erie[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Aug 15

2024

Four judgeships, four cross-endorsed candidates

Published by

New York State Assemblyman Michael J. Norris. Photo provided. Story updated 1:35 p.m. today. A New York state assemblyman from Niagara County, who struck immunity from prosecution deals as part of criminal investigations in the past,  is in line for a new job as a state Supreme Court judge.  Assemblyman Mike Norris, R-Lockport, said in an interview earlier this month that he intended to seek reelection this year, but the Niagara Gazette learned Wednesday that he is one of four state Supreme Court nominees cross-endorsed by Republicans and Democrats this week. Niagara County Republican Committee Chairman Richard Andres confirmed Wednesday[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Aug 7

2024

GOP no-shows in Cheektowaga

Published by

All three of Cheektowaga’s Republican town board members skipped a special meeting Monday night, denying a quorum to the board’s other three members, all Democrats.  The meeting was meant to be brief: The only agenda item was to set public hearings on a proposal to divide the town into six wards, each with its own representative on the board. Currently board members are elected in town-wide elections, but a formal complaint last year challenged that system, alleging it disenfranchised minority voters in violation of a state law enacted in 2022. More than one-fifth of the town’s 88,000 residents are minorities,[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Jul 29

2024

Trump vs. Harris: The heavyweight battle begins

Published by

I like to lead my Monday Morning Read with something local, but how can you ignore the presidential election? Maybe it’s just me, but it seems every time Donald Trump or J.D. Vance open their mouths, they alienate non-MAGA voters and turbo-charge supporters of Kamala Harris.  Take, for example, Trump’s pronouncement the other day that there will be no need for elections in four years should he win the White House in November. Here’s a story and, better yet, the video. Then there’s the proposal floated by Vance in 2021 to give voters with children more clout at the polls[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Jul 22

2024

Joe Biden: American Patriot

Published by

Politicians tend to be egotistical, me-first creatures. That’s what makes President Biden’s decision to withdraw as a candidate that much more remarkable. He faced facts and put his country ahead of his ego.  Good for him, and good for us. Lindsey Graham, before he went to the dark side, described Biden as “as good a man as God ever created.” I wouldn’t go that far, but he’s been a good president who struck me as a decent human being – Gaza notwithstanding. While his legacy is yet to be written, it will no doubt include him saving us from another[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Jul 17

2024

Brown’s raising money as if he’s running for office

Published by

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has a fundraiser today at the Diamond Hawk golf course in Cheektowaga, with tickets starting at $100 and sponsorship packages ranging up to $5,000.  Brown also held a fundraiser earlier this month at a Bisons game and another in April at The Atrium @ Rich’s. His Brown for Buffalo campaign committee has raised $58,500 since January, according to campaign finance disclosures filed on Monday.  That’s $22,000 more than Brown raised in the first six months of 2020, as he prepared to run for a fifth term. The mayor’s committee had $192,545 in the bank as of[...]

Posted 8 months ago
Investigative Post