City officials launched legal proceedings Friday to seize the former Buffalo Grand Hotel, citing years of neglect, unpaid taxes and code violations. The hotel has remained closed since a suspicious fire in late 2021.The Department of Permit and Inspection filed a Notice of Intent to Commence Abandonment Proceedings in New York State Supreme Court. Roderick Macleod, 70, was a member of the band Roomful of Blues in the 1980s and received a Grammy nomination for his work with them. Also inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in 2014 The woman accused of hitting and killing Mcleod is Shannon Godbout, 41. She has been arrested and arraigned on multiple charges including driving to endanger resulting in death and possession of narcotics with intent to deliver. She is being held without bail. According to Governor Kathy Hochul, New York State schools have served more than 150 million meals since the start of the school year, following implementation of the state’s new Universal School Meals law. According to the Governor’s Office, schools statewide are now providing more than 2.5 million breakfasts and lunches per day.

Emergency crews responded to a house fire in Sissonville late Friday night. The fire was reported shortly after 10 p.m. in the 1600 block of White Oak Drive, according to an alert from Metro 911. Firefighters said that no one was injured from the fire, but the home has been deemed a total loss. Firefighters did not say what might have been the cause of the fire.

A man and woman were arrested in Charleston on charges of drug possession and child neglect, court records said. April Dawn Reed, 41, of Charleston and Dorian Takih Brown, 36, were each charged with child neglect creating a serious risk of injury or death, as well as possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, according to a criminal complaint filed to Kanawha County Magistrate Court.The incident occurred just before 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to the complaint. Police said that they broke into Reed’s apartment after hearing a child crying following multiple attempts to get Reed to answer her door. Once inside the home, police said they found Brown passed out under the influence of drugs in one of the bedrooms, lying on top of several hypodermic syringes. Brown later told police that he frequently watched Reed’s three-year-old son.

The West Virginia Board of Education voted on Wednesday to approve the closure of schools in half a dozen West Virginia Counties.Votes moved to close school sin in Barbour, Logan, Randolph, Roane, Upshur and Wetzel counties.While several parents showed up for a last-minute appeal, that failed to save any of the 15 schools. State School Board Superintendent President Paul Hardesty said he expects to be forced to approve more closures unless lawmakers change the state funding formula, which is now based on student enrollment.

A teenager has died after a single-vehicle crash Thursday night in Cabell County.The crash was reported about 9:30 p.m. in the area of Riverwalk Drive and U.S. 60 in Ona, according to Cabell County dispatchers.The Cabell County Sheriff’s Office said a vehicle driven by a 17-year-old went off the road and over an embankment into the river. The teenager, who was not identified, died from their injuries, deputies said.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced on Thursday plans to provide state employees covered under the general revenue budget with a pay raise, including teachers, state troopers, correctional officers and others. “Now we already know that there are people in the House and the Senate that have been talking about the importance of teacher pay raises,” Morrisey said. “I applaud that. I think it’s great, and I’m looking forward to working with the legislature on the package that ultimately will go through.” The proposed raise aims to go into effect with the 2027 fiscal year budget. Morrisey said along with the raise, the state is also benefitting from progress being made on PEIA premiums. He said the recently approved 3% increase is a step in the right direction but work still needs to be done.

A Grand Island man died Thursday evening after he was reportedly pinned between a semi-truck and a pickup truck while working on the semi, according to a spokesperson with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office.

The family of 13-year-old Leah Mayer, who was killed after she was hit by a car on South State Parkway and Broadway in Grand Island has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the town and the driver of the vehicle.

A school closure committee has recommended closure of D’Youville Porter Campus School PS 3 and Early Childhood Center PS 90 in Buffalo

LEWISTON — The town will be getting a reduced number of pole-mounted license plate-reader cameras installed in the coming months. The town board approved the installation of the cameras on town property at its work session on Monday, with the number of planned cameras dropping from eight to four.

Allegheny Manufacturing has received the incentives it needs for its planned move across Lockport to the former Niagara Fiberboard facility.

44 year old Laquay Gibbs of Egg Harbor City pleaded guilty to possession
with the intent to distribute heroin. Under the terms of his guilty plea, Gibbs is expected to be
sentenced to an aggregate term of six years in New Jersey State Prison.
On May 4, 2022, detectives executed a search warrant on Gibbs’ vehicle, and from inside the trunk, police seized
approximately 500 white wax folds stamped “WAP” containing heroin and one clear plastic bag
containing a brownish powdery substance (heroin) weighing 16.8 grams, along with other paraphernalia. Sentencing is scheduled for February 2nd.

The family of 13-year-old Leah Mayer, who was killed after she was hit by a car on South State Parkway and Broadway in Grand Island has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the town and the driver of the vehicle.

The man who allegedly strangled his girlfriend to death and killed his newborn baby in their Buffalo home in October died in jail on Wednesday. 30 year old Kidane Haile was found dead in the showers at the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden around 9 p.m. Wednesday night. The death is being investigated as an apparent suicide.

The delayed Hotel Live! project at the former Howard Johnson Hotel at 472 Main St. in Niagara Falls has received an extension for its Cataract Grant funding as it now aims to break ground this spring.

Members of the Rotary Club of Lockport served a holiday dinner to 80 guests at the Salvation Army’s Sister Mary Loretto Memorial Community Soup Kitchen earlier this week. Serving turkey dinner at the soup kitchen during the holiday season is a club tradition.

The Buffalo Sabres beat the struggling Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Thursday night.

In Atlantic City a townhome on Arctic Avenue was damaged during a fire Thursday afternoon, officials said. Firefighters responded to the 1100 block of Arctic about 2:30 p.m. to find flames extending from both the front and rear of the center unit within a row of townhomes, police said in a news release. The main unit’s first floor was destroyed and the second floor suffered severe fire damage, police said. The two adjoining units sustained smoke damage.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.