WBFO Brief

In today's WBFO brief, the Buffalo Bills drop their National Football League season opener, a Buffalo church expands its housing footprint on the city's East Side, the Buffalo Planning Board is asked to take a vote of confidence in Hertel Avenue businesses, and WBFO Disabilities Desk reporter Emyle Watkins hears from a family who explains how masks in schools may be a challenge for some kids, but a must for the safety of others.Also, we recall reporter Michael Mroziak's story on this day 20 years ago, when flights at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport were allowed to resume following the 9/11 terror attacks. Then, we look back on the Attica Prison Riot 50 years later, first with WBFO's Mike Desmond recalling his quest for information on-site as a Courier Express reporter, then with an attorney who is still seeking justice and truth for many of the victims.

In today's WBFO Brief, the candidates for Buffalo mayor face off in their first debate, even as the Erie County Board of Elections holds off on certifying the November ballot with legal challenges still in play.Also, a joint law enforcement effort against violent crime is extended into October; Erie County lawmakers pass legislation allowing children as young as 12 to use firearms while hunting deer; Three Buffalo sites are among 19 nominated for preservation by the State Board of Historic Preservation; On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, we explore how teachers present the event to students, and hear from the man known as "America's Police Chief" about counter-terrorism; Plus, Peter Hall and Anthony Chase bring us this week's edition of Theater Talk.

In today's WBFO Brief, we look back on the Attica Prison Uprising, which began 50 years ago today, with reports from Jay Moran and Thomas O'Neil White. Also, two more local Starbucks locations file to hold a unionization vote; A key component of a massive Gates Circle redevelopment project is formally opened; Mayor Byron Brown expresses his confidence about being put back on the November ballot. And, we share some news from across the border, on the first of two pre-election debates, and the latest on COVID in Canada.

And Ontario health care and education officials --- like many in the US—are starting the third school year touched by COVID-19. Reporter Dan Karpenchuk has a familiar story of masks, vaccines, and some remote learning.In today’s WBFO Brief, comedian Paula Poundstone from NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”. WBFO’s Jay Moran talks with her and takes a look inside Babeville, the performance space in Buffalo that she is returning to after the pandemic.Also, the NWHL, the league that includes the Buffalo Beauts, is changing their name, dropping the word “Women” “We don’t talk about the NHL as the national ‘Men's hockey league….,’ says hockey writer Melissa Burgess.

In today’s WBFO Brief, hear back-to-school perspectives from two area school superintendents: Hamburg’s Michael Cornell tells Jay Moran “ I don’t think there’s a safer place in a COVID era, than your neighborhood school.” And Niagara Falls’s Mark Laurrie says remote learning was the best they could do last year, but it's good that now, mask or no mask, students are back in school. Also, Governor Kathy Hochul celebrates Labor Day in Buffalo, an update on the Tonawanda Coke cleanup efforts, and Ontario correspondent Dan Karpenchuk reports on anti-mask protests in the streets of Toronto.

On today's WBFO Brief, a special labor day conversation with Peter De Jesus, President of the WNY AFL-CIO Labor Federation, an umbrella group of Buffalo-area labor unions. He talks with WBFO's Dave Debo about organizing during a pandemic, health care contract fights on the horizon, the Buffalo Mayor's race, Gov. Cuomo, President Biden and Monday's parade and celebration in Cazenovia Park.

If it’s Friday, It’s Theater Talk. Today Anthony Chase and Peter Hall look at the restrictions and staggered start dates that mark this year’s haltingly slow start of the theatre season--- with significantly diverse casts and shorter shows.Also, hear about plans to bring maybe as many as 300 Afghanis to the Buffalo area. And WBFO’s Marian Hetherly goes in-depth on COVID vaccines and what they mean for pregnant women. Mike Desmond looks at how the old Chevy and American Axle Plant on Delavan Avenue is now home to a manufacturer of electric construction vehicles, and you can hear about partnership talks between Spectrum Health & Human Services, a mental health and addictions counseling provider, and Evergreen Health Services which concentrates on needs of the LGBTQ+ community are working out a partnership- short of a full merger.

In today’s WBFO Brief, hear about the mental health concerns of students returning to school. Also, a new vaccine certificate program comes to Ontario, New York State legislators approve an extension of the eviction moratorium, and Buffalo schools honor former NYS Assemblyman Arthur Eve, with a mural on the school that bears his name. And hear about the challenges of getting 30 relatives and refugees with Buffalo-area connections out of Afghanistan. Also, how the federal anti-gun VIPER program is having an effect on Buffalo’s streets.

In today’s WBFO Brief, hear about the Buffalo Bills plans for a new stadium in Orchard Park, from The Associated Press’s John Wawrow, the reporter who first broke the story of what details are being floated in Albany. Also, Buffalo area Starbucks’ workers are the first in the nation to undertake a labor union organizing drive. Hear their story from WBFO’s Tom Dinki. And from Albany, open meetings, the eviction moratorium, and moving cannabis distribution forward are all on the agenda for a new special session of the state legislature called in by new Gov. Kathy Hochul.

In today’s WBFO Brief, the quote of the day is that “overdose deaths are kind of like a hidden secret”. Hear more about the support grieving families need, and awareness events designed to dispel stigma.Also, hear from Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown about his plans to go to court and try and gain a ballot line in November, after losing the Democratic Party primary in June, the latest on Afghan refugees coming to Buffalo, and the continued growth of the craft beer scene in Buffalo- persevering despite COVID-19.