WBFO Brief

The quote of the morning in today’s WBFO Brief comes from Gov. Andrew Cuomo who said yesterday “Harassment is not making someone feeling uncomfortable,” triggering a debate over sexual harassment and his alleged actions toward women. Also, hear Albany Correspondent Karen DeWitt on how often the governor is talking badly about Attorney General Tish James and her investigation into him. 

Today you can also hear from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who now says the province-wide stay-at-home order will remain in effect until June 2. And if it’s Friday, it’s Theater Talk with  Anthony and Peter chatting this morning with Gabriella (Gabby) McKinley, a Buffalo-area actor and college student who will receive the Buffalo State President’s Medal for Outstanding Undergraduate Student.

Today’s WBFO Brief features Jay Moran’s usual Thursday chat about COVID-19 with Dr. Nancy Neilsen M.D. this time with information on vaccine resistance even at younger ages. In a related story, you can learn how in-person instruction in Williamsville is the big issue in this year’s school board elections.

From our Older Adults news desk, as Gov. Cuomo waits to sign a bill on minimum nursing home staffing levels, hear how it’s being received badly by people on both sides of the debate. Also, learn what’s it like to use a ballot marker when you vote and hear about a forum on ballot access issues set for tonight. And look ahead to September’s Buffalo Bills schedule and the possibility of vaccinated/not vaccinated seating sections at Buffalo Bills games.

On today’s WBFO Brief, we've got you covered from Buffalo to the Montauk Point Lighthouse on Long Island.     

You'll hear Investigative Post reporter Layne Dowdell say that if the Buffalo Public Schools were to print out all the documents lost in last month's ransomware attack, they’d fill the Key Bank Center. 

In Albany, correspondent Karen DeWitt reports on a sexual assault law under consideration that would extend the 5-year statute of limitations – and offer a one-year look back on old expired claims, similar to what was done in with the Child Victims Act in 2019. 

Also, go inside the endangered Montauk Point Lighthouse, hear the latest on vaccine deliveries to homes and schools, and learn about a halal food pantry in Buffalo winding down their “Iftar on Wheels” effort as Ramadan ends.

In today's podcast, hear the local reaction to the Biden Administration reversing the Trump Administration's policy regarding LGBTQ+ individuals and protection from discrimination in health care. Also, the Buffalo Common Council hosted a public hearing as part of budget review, and Ontario has been advised to stay the course with pandemic restrictions until COVID cases show a significant decline, which could mean an extended stay at home order. And Albany correspondent Karen DeWitt's report on Cuomo announcing that students attending SUNY & CUNY in-person next fall must be vaccinated.

On the WBFO Brief today, our weekly look at Buffalo’s contribution to the PBS American Portrait project profiles Juwaria Dahir, a Somali refugee making Buffalo Home. Also, New York state is looking at sealing certain criminal records and expunging the records of others, and Albany correspondent Karen DeWitt says the legislature is expected to consider a bill within the next weeks. We also hear from long-haul truck drivers across New York State, and all the troubles they have with getting vaccinated- either because of resistance or strict quarantine and travel rules that are impacting the industry. And Erie County’s health clinics have been obviously focusing on COVID-19, but now that they are resuming some of their other work and finding dramatic increases in some sexually transmitted diseases.

Today on the WBFO Brief,  just before Mother’s Day we learn about “Science Moms” and their approach to talking about climate change.  And if it’s Friday, it’s Theater Talk -- today with a look at when theaters will eventually resume full-house events. Also, minimum NYS  standards for workplace safety on “airborne viruses” will put rules in place that mandates some of the best practices learned during the COVID pandemic -- but businesses say it’s too much regulation at a time when some struggle.   

And  Williamsville schools has picked its next superintendent, The Family Justice Center talks of a huge spike in domestic violence cases, and Braymiller market offers a preview of its downtown market -- which would be the only grocery store within the city’s core.

In today’s WBFO Brief, Albany correspondent Karen DeWitt looks at the return of Broadway shows, baseball, and other re-openings with the lifting of certain statewide COVID restrictions. Meanwhile, Dr. Nancy Nielsen, MD says summertime normalcy is achievable. And even though we are on the cusp of summer, a battle over snowmobile trails in the Adirondacks is heating up.

In today’s WBFO Brief, a group of teachers and parents want Buffalo schools to add basketball to their returning sports, especially to help those with disabilities. Also, the state legislature has passed a measure requiring minimum staffing levels at nursing homes, hear how Bitcoin mining is raising environmental concerns in the Finger Lakes, and how a Buffalo State College student sharing the music of the subways in a podcast has gained some national attention from NPR.

Today on the WBFO Brief, Buffalo in Trenton, but Toronto in Buffalo? Hear what this season could look like for the Buffalo Bisons. Also, Gov. Cuomo talks about fully re-opening restaurants, hear what vaccine providers in Buffalo’s Black and Latino communities have learned about health care and inequity, and why farmers in NYS might have to wait a year before growing recreational marijuana.

During COVID-19, most routine cancer screenings were delayed, and Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s Dr. Steven Edge is sounding a bit of an alarm this morning on the WBFO Brief podcast.  Also, hear Ontario’s troubles with COIVD and inspection of nursing homes, Myanmar refugee Beh Meh talks of her life in Kenmore, and Albany reporter Karen DeWitt looks at restaurant relief from some COVID restrictions.  And NPR founding father Bill Siemering looks at 50 years since the first All Things Considered and says his time in Buffalo as general manager at WBFO influenced a lot of what the fledgling network became.