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Buffalo’s Electric District is getting a summer boost with a new business-led effort to bring more people downtown after work hours, but the fun is also expected to carry into later in the year.

At a press conference Thursday, Mayor Sean Ryan and local business owners announced "District Live," a year-round lineup of events and activities designed to attract residents, workers, and visitors to downtown Buffalo.

Developer Rocco Termini said the Electric District Alliance raised close to $300,000 to help launch the effort with support from ArtsBuffalo, local businesses, Erie County and the city.

Ryan said downtown already gets bursts of activity during Sabres hockey games or shows at Shea’s, but he sees opportunities beyond what’s currently available.

“We need more than that. It’s got to go seven days a week, and it’s got to go past business hours," he said.

Programming will include Friday Night Live concerts, pickleball and bocce leagues, soccer watch parties, Jazz Sundays, a district-wide jazz festival, Chalkfest, an Oktoberfest celebration, a holiday market and other family-friendly events throughout the year.

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Shakespeare in Delaware Park (SDP) will kick off its second half-century of bringing free, professional theatre to communities across Western New York on June 10, when its touring production, titled "Fools and Foes" performs at Windsong/Autumn Creek in Williamsville.

The tour will visit 21 locations across the region this summer — from Tonawanda and Grand Island to East Aurora and Hamburg — culminating in a special performance at Sahlen Field downtown on Aug. 24.

"Fools and Foes" is a "fast-paced, family-friendly show featuring Shakespeare's most memorable clowns, tricksters, heroes, and villains," SDP said in a press release.

The mainstage productions at Saul Elkin Stage in Delaware Park include "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" from June 18 through July 12 and "The Taming of the Shrew" from July 23 through Aug. 16. Mainstage performances take place Tuesdays through Sundays at 7 p.m.

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A resident of Erie County has tested positive for measles, the Department of Health announced Thursday, the first such case in the county since 2018.

The individual had recently traveled to a country where measles cases are endemic, meaning the infection has been spreading in that country for a year or more, Erie County Department of Health said in a press release.

The infection was confirmed Wednesday, and county officials said possible exposures to the public might have occurred May 24 and May 28 at the following times/locations:

- Golisano Children's Hospital of Buffalo Emergency Department on May 24 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

- 1021 Broadway in Buffalo — a building that includes Jericho Road Community Health Center, the USPS Broadway branch and other businesses — on May 28 between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

- Golisano Children's Hospital of Buffalo Emergency Department on May 28 between 12 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

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Efforts aimed at lowering ticket prices for concerts or sporting events appear to have stalled again in Albany.

Lawmakers had sought to ban the sale of tickets for more than face value and cap the percentage of fees that ticketers and resale platforms can charge.

Speaker Carl Heastie said it would be hard to squeeze in big changes before lawmakers leave Albany on Friday.

So instead, state lawmakers are poised to extend the state’s current secondary ticket market regulations for one more year.
Sen. James Skoufis, a Hudson Valley Democrat, said he understands but is disappointed.

“What we’re all trying to do here is level the playing field for the millions of really frustrated fans that exist in this state that can’t access their favorite artists and sports teams,” he said.

Skoufis said he’s hopeful negotiations can continue after the session so legislation can be passed early next year.

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Several members of Buffalo’s Arts Commission are stepping down over concerns that the city’s public art system is being sidelined by Mayor Sean Ryan and his administration.

Catherine Gillespie, who has served as the chair of the Buffalo Arts Commission for nearly 17 years, submitted her letter of resignation to Ryan on June 1, but she said she hasn’t gotten a response and communication overall has been poor.

For Gillespie, the new concern is the commission itself, due to the city eliminating its staffed executive director position last December.

“It's really Mayor Ryan's intention to disenfranchise the arts commission by taking away the staff,” she said.

A representative from Ryan's office emailed the following statement to BTPM NPR in response to concerns outlined in Gillespie's letter of resignation:

"As part of the administration’s broader efforts to evaluate and improve city operations, we are reviewing how the City supports public art and cultural initiatives, including recommendations that will be put forward by the CREATE Task Force. That process includes incorporating new voices, perspectives, and ideas while ensuring Buffalo continues to support a thriving arts and cultural community. We thank Catherine Gillespie for her many years of service to the Buffalo Arts Commission, including more than 16 years as chair, and for her longstanding dedication to public art in Buffalo.”

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The 40th anniversary of the Law Enforcement Torch Run reached Buffalo today, stopping just outside City Hall.

There are 50 legs of the run, passing the NY Special Olympics "Flame of Hope" across the state.

The state's Summer Games get underway tomorrow in Utica.

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Speed cameras are coming to more work zones across New York as part of the state budget approved by lawmakers.

There already are portable work zone cameras on roadways like the New York State Thruway or other high-speed expressways. Now, they can be deployed on all New York State Department of Transportation highways.

There were 366 work zone crashes on NYSDOT highways last year, resulting in 58 injuries and two deaths, according to the state. Another 228 crashes happened on the Thruway.

“When we go out and ask them to do this work on the roads, whether it's on a state road or a local road, our workers need to feel safe. And unfortunately, they don't,” said Sen. Jeremy Cooney, D-Rochester and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. “By implementing and expanding our existing work zone safety program, I think that we'll start to … at least be able to give confidence to people that they could be able to come home at the end of the night.”

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The hopes and dreams of the many new Americans living in Buffalo may be best witnessed in the halls of Lafayette International High School. Depending on the school year, 30 to 60 different languages are spoken there, says language arts teacher Dr. Melissa Meola-Shanahan.

She sat down with BTPM NPR this week to discuss the Agents of Change Initiative “a community-based project where students explore the good work that the people of Buffalo are doing to improve the lives of others.”

Now in its sixth year, the project culminates Saturday with a special event at Duende. Running from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., it’s free and open to the public. Reservations are appreciated, though not required.

“They’ll be greeted with some complimentary baklava from Fresh Arabic Sweets, and some mango tea from Al Fatiha Drinks,” offered Meola-Shanahan.

The project’s focus this year is on immigration and the five local resettlement agencies that have helped to make Buffalo home for thousands of refugees.

“The students are going to be telling about their own journeys,” she says.

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Photo by Torn Space Theater.

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More than 100 local students have joined with Canisius University to learn about women in STEM.

The event Wednesday was part of Girls Who Game, an annual initiative across the U.S. that blends video games with learning. Lessons at Canisius involved hands-on lessons with biology, insects and other STEM topics for fourth to eighth grade girls.

Buffalo Public Schools Student Technology Coordinator Amy Burdette says using Minecraft to build what they just learned about keeps students engaged.

“All the kids like Minecraft, and they don't even realize that they're learning. They think they're playing, they think they're having fun," she said. "And really, what they're doing is using the design thinking process, and they are collaborating with each other, and they are growing and learning in ways that they don't even realize. It's phenomenal.”

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Hundreds of residents packed a Town of Tonawanda Planning Board meeting on Wednesday night to voice opposition to a proposed 300-megawatt data center planned for the former Tonawanda Coke site along River Road.

The project, proposed as part of the Riverview Innovation and Technology Campus redevelopment, would transition a portion of the former industrial property into a large-scale data center. Residents who spoke during the public hearing raised concerns about electricity demand, environmental impacts, noise and potential effects on nearby neighborhoods.

For nearby resident James Gomez, the proposal represents a continuation of the site's troubled legacy.

"To what benefit?" Gomez asked the board. "So that we can all see our electric bills rise due to the energy demand of large corporations and developers? So that we can continue polluting water and the air through the downstream effects? This facility will provide no meaningful amount of jobs of the surrounding area. It will not provide us with access to new technologies or facilities that could improve the lives of those around it."

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Discernment and peace. That’s where you find the journey of C.J. Wild. The newest and only priest to be ordained in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo this year.

“I think we know if something is from the Lord if it brings a sense of peace,” Wild told BTPM NPR about his journey into the priesthood.

The 28-year-old Lancaster native said intentionally pursuing his calling in life through prayer and the sacraments created a level of certainty that this was his God-given calling.

“So often, I and probably many others are on autopilot, going through life without stopping and asking if this is the life that the Lord wants for me right now,” Wild said. “For me, there were significant moments, but it was a gradual growing in certainty that the Lord was calling me to be a priest.”

As far as being the only priest to be ordained in two years in the diocese of Buffalo, Wild said it’s a need he looks forward to serving but believes the need is not a vocational crisis but one of faith.

“I suppose it would be naive to say that it has nothing to do with the numerous factors that are plaguing the church and the faithful here in Western New York," he said. "It's not that the Lord isn't calling people to be priests, He is, He is calling people to be priests, calling men to be priests, but it's really a question of are we courageous enough or willing enough to make those sacrifices to become a priest.”

Wild’s ordination is Saturday at St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown Buffalo.

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