What do you think about this: https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/governor-eyes-suny-campuses-for-possible-migrant-temporary-housing
Quote from Hochul, "We're working also very hard to make sure that we can get some legal work status that will allow them to go work on the farms and upstate and work in the hotels and work in the restaurants."
Some issues I take with this: - As an relatively new immigrant myself (held green card > 10 years, citizenship in 2010s), I found myself conflicted with this situation. What's going to happen to the citizen or legal immigrants that actually need the jobs in the area? - I know plenty of people that are already underpaid, disabled, and in dire conditions who are citizens and legal residents, and are struggling to get the help they need. If the resources are there for the migrants to having housing and food, why aren't they here for the citizens and legal residents? - Some farm work I imagine is also seasonal, what will the some of these people do during the off-season? - The political left has worked really hard to raise the minimum wage. Now if the migrants can work under the table lower than minimum wage, it doesn't seem fair to give the business owners who break the minimum wage law to have a competitive edge. - On another hand, right now businesses are raising their wages competitively due to the lack of workers, which is absolutely the trend many of us on the left wanted. Now if the migrants get their legal work permits, this trend of businesses raising minimum wage to compete with businesses will likely stop thanks to the influx of workers. Businesses will again race to just meet the minimal requirement and transfer even more money to the rich. - Legal immigrants are heavily vetted before even able to receive the green card, but there are really no vetting on the wave of migrants. Let us even assume that all the migrants start out as good people - but if they are not eventually supported with enough decent jobs, what's to stop some people to turn to the life of crime to survive? Where do these jobs come from? State money? Then this turns back to why aren't existing local people being brought up first.
I've been voting for Democrats for as long as I've been a citizen, and continues to heavily support the following issues. - Higher tax for large corporations. - Higher tax for the ultra rich and higher estate tax. - Public education - Strict gun control - Reproductive rights - LGBQT+ rights - Universal Healthcare - Police reform, prosecute qualified immunity abuse and civil forfeiture abuse. - Repeal Citizens United - Infrastructure funding - etc...
Please don't make me vote for Donald Trump in the next election cycle because NYS and Governor Hochul refuse to find a more balanced solution. I will hate Trump and hate myself for doing it, but I'm not sure if this "we'll take it all" attitude is the right approach when so many existing residents are already not doing great and having a hard time getting the help they need.
What are your thoughts?
Edit: Ever been in a relationship where being too nice is neither good for yourself nor the person you're trying to help? This feels like one of those. For those who are confused about what good would voting for Trump do (yes I know he isn't running against Kathy), maybe he can push for limiting illegal border crossings to the U.S. as a whole? Would he try to undo the rest of government? Probably. I'm just looking for someone to show me a manageable way forward.

The body of a 23-year-old father and DoorDash driver was reportedly found in Richmond, Virginia, a matter of days after three suspects were arrested with the missing man's Honda Civic in connection with a deadly shooting. “[S]ad news to pass along,” WTVR's Jon Burkett reported late Sunday.
https://www.wkbw.com/people-found-in-car-of-missing-doordasher-arrested-for-separate-murder

According to this news website, 50 cent will be coming to preform at the Darien Lake Lakeside Amphitheater.
https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/50-cent-bringing-the-final-lap-tour-to-darien-lake-amphitheater?_amp=true

Below, I am sharing a round up of more articles about the Nicholas D'Angelo story and following up about Frank Parlato's apparent ongoing irresponsibility.

• The Erie County DA, quoted here, with the note that this is graphic (hence the use of spoiler tag):
  • >! In the fall of 2016, the defendant met the first victim through an online dating website and picked her up at her residence for an arranged date. The defendant drove to an unknown location in the City of Niagara Falls where he forcibly engaged in sexual conduct with the victim inside of his parked vehicle. !<
  • On October 26, 2018, the defendant subjected a second victim to sexual contact by forcible compulsion at his law office in the City of Lockport.
  • Between August 2019 and October 2019, the defendant engaged in sexual conduct and sexual intercourse with a third victim on his boat at a marina in Niagara County. Between September 2019 and October 2019, the defendant engaged in sexual conduct and sexual intercourse with the same victim at inside of his vehicle in the City of Niagara Falls. At the time of both crimes, the defendant, being older than 21 years of age, engaged in sexual intercourse and sexual conduct with the victim who was less than 17-years-old.
• Niagara Gazette
• WKBW

The Niagara Falls Reporter (owned by Frank Parlato) blames the underage sex trafficking victim

Here is the writeup of Niagara Falls Reporter, a publication edited by Frank Parlato (it often overlaps with Frank Report, which people here will probably be familiar with). I don't know that he wrote it, because since Parlato plead guilty to tax crimes, he's started wiping articles of named bylines and credits some articles to "NIAGARA REPORTER-" [sic]. However, click that byline and the URL it goes to is niagarafallsreporter [dot] com [slash] author [slash] frank).
I wouldn't normally share this article, because it is trash, but to demonstrate how unrepentant Parlato (who at least is editor here). Recall that even after learning Camila was abused as a minor, Parlato had to repeatedly be told to get his manners in order before he stopped running her photo and last name in a disgusting bit of slut-shaming.
So you'd think Parlato (or his proxy) would know better than to write this bit of apologism for rape and sex trafficking:

The third accuser, a minor who turned to prostitution to support her drug addiction, was allegedly two months short of the legal age of consent of 17 when D’Angelo began a sexual relationship.

Dismissing the victim as "a prostitute" is rather neat. It also omits some truly repulsive facts: including that D'Angelo is a grown-ass man, and a lawyer, and was working for Niagara County Social Services. He also, at one point, knew that his victim was in the welfare system (because he sought her records to dirty up her reputation).

And what does the Niagara Falls Reporter have to say for themselves?

Meanwhile, Parlato (or his proxy) tries to exonerate the publication, writing the following disingenuous description of its role in this.

"part-time as managing editor of the Niagara Falls Reporter for about three years [...] D’Angelo resigned from the Reporter in August 2020, three months before his arrest, following the announcement of a civil lawsuit by a woman who accused D’Angelo of raping her when she was his client."

This buries several facts:

• D'Angelo was not just a part time staffer. He and his law practice were The Niagara Reporter's sponsor across several issues. That included front page images of D'Angelo's smirking mug.
• The month after D'Angelo ceased being a "part time staffer" Parlato himself ran multiple articles stating --falsely-- D'Angelo's complete innocence. That included allowing D'Angelo to make claims, unchallenged, about the victim of a rape he committed as a youthful offender (against a younger girl).
• Those claims were part of a defamation designed to chill discussion of D'Angelo's history as a rapist. That lawsuit was quietly dropped because the facts of the matter were quite clear: D'Angelo plead guilty to rape as a teenager, which was covered by the Buffalo News when it happened.
• Parlato/NFR and D'Angelo continued to have some commercial relationship: At some unknown date, D'Angelo became the owner of a small media outlet of his own called "Niagara Action," which operates a Facebook and Twitter account. D'Angelo is described as the operator of both in an April 2022 news story. From 2020 to early 2023, the Niagara Falls Reporter and Niagara Action were basically intertwined. You only need to check the Twitter account for Niagara Reporter to get a bunch of Action news stories.

Parlato is currently awaiting sentencing in federal court for an unrelated tax conviction; the tentative date is June.
It's my understanding that the judge in Parlato's case is considering what factors to allow prosecutors to consider. I would certainly hope that the judge looks at a history of Parlato shirking responsibility and find that this man simply will not respect the law until he sees consequences.

From the company that brought you fun tik-toks like “I just lost 10-20k a year because management didn’t train me how to keep my route evaluation up because their bonus bias is on keeping me sprinting and paid least.” Comes a new twist called “we did all your training for you so you wouldn’t spend any hours in the office learning how to not die from heat stroke, how to handle various hazardous goods etc!”
Yes, the post office after destroying rural carriers pay and making them work more days on top of that pay cut has apparently for years logged into postal accounts and faked their training on everything from privacy to safety issues including some of the things known to kill carriers I.E heat.
See link by vice for more on the pay issue. https://www.vice.com/en/article/88xnbb/two-thirds-of-rural-mail-carriers-are-being-hit-with-a-massive-pay-cut-calculated-by-an-algorithm
See link about the National Association Of Letter Carriers addressing this falsification of training: https://www.nalc.org/news/the-postal-record/2022/september-october-2022/document/DSH.pdf
Employees going through insane lengths to go to work during a blizzard has become major news: https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/blizzard-of-22/a-call-for-change-after-alleged-mistreatment-of-western-new-york-usps-workers-during-christmas-blizzard

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/cheektowaga-man-arrested-after-allegedly-threatening-to-shoot-a-buffalo-student-on-school-bus?dicbo=v2-wAq4nzV

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/blizzard-of-22/a-call-for-change-after-alleged-mistreatment-of-western-new-york-usps-workers-during-christmas-blizzard

Click On Link To Know More

Development & Urban planning are interests of mine, so I thought I'd create a forum on here weekly to pull together all of the news that I've seen in the past week. Feel free to add comments & additional news items.
Squire Shop project in Snyder poised for final town approval (buffalonews.com)
" Tensions remain high between Benderson Development Co. and residents of a Snyder neighborhood over a planned project on Main Street, as the Amherst Planning Board prepares to take up the Squire Shop redevelopment proposal – and potentially approve it – Thursday.
... The developer wants to demolish the buildings – consisting of several linked structures east of Harlem Road – and replace them with a three-story apartment building that would also contain two restaurants. A 950-square-foot Craftsman-style stone-and-stucco house at 22 Chateau that is part of a potential historic district would also come down as part of the project on an acre of land along Main.
Under a previous design, the 65,000-square-foot U-shaped building at 4548-4564 Main would have featured 48 market-rate apartments and 6,624 square feet of ground-floor retail and commercial space, plus 76 parking spaces.
But neighbors on the two side streets said the project is far too big for the site and worry that the influx of new residents and restaurant patrons will worsen an already bad traffic and parking situation.
Benderson made adjustments to the plan to comply with town requests. Most recently, the firm shortened the building's length along Chateau by 39 feet to 200 feet, reducing the apartment count by four units to 44."
Plans announced for the transformation of North Aud Block at Buffalo's Canalside (wkbw.com)
" The governor's office said the plan to transform the vacant North Aud Block includes 425,000 gross square feet of space for commercial, retail, and residential buildings and up to 450 parking spaces in a structured ramp. According to the governor's office, the plan is to reflect the 19th-century street grid and adapt and incorporate 21st-century infrastructure and amenities. "
Big Reveal: McCoy-Young Commons - Buffalo Rising
" The McCoy Convention Center at Clinton and Adams Street may be getting some neighbors. Belmont Housing Resources for WNY, Inc. is teaming up with Church of God in Christ WNY Jurisdiction #2 to develop McCoy-Young Commons, a three-building, 53-unit affordable housing development. "
Home prices across Buffalo Niagara region continue to rise (buffalonews.com)
" Home prices across the Buffalo Niagara region continue to rise – but at a slower pace than the last few years. That's because home values have already increased substantially, while mortgage rates have now risen and pushed up monthly payments, knocking some buyers out of the market. In turn, that means less competition to drive up bids "

BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — The Seneca Nation is getting ready to celebrate the grand opening of Nativa Cannabis.
This will be the first marijuana dispensary owned by the Senecas.
The shop is scheduled to open at the corner of John B. Daly Boulevard and Niagara Street, Wednesday morning at 10.
That's located right next to the Seneca One Stop gas station and convenience store.
Nativa Cannabis will operate from a 2,500 square foot facility, and will be open to customers age 21 and older.
https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/senecas-first-cannabis-dispensary-opens-this-week-in-niagara-falls

sure, you may be into crypto. and you may know all the scams, and have gut instinct for telling whats a real email and whats phishing. but your retired mom and dad might not, and with technology gettinng advanced every day, especially with AI, it may be hard for them to tell the difference.
nobody wants to see their parents get leeched out of their life savings by some scumbag. but this can be avoided by having a simple discussion with them about it someday.
example: my mother isnt into crypto, but shes definitely heard of it and knows im into it. but she has nothing against it. one day she calls me up all excited, tells me Elon is giving away free bitcoin because of a vid she saw on youtube. it was one of those fake vids of Elon, definitely an AI generated voice, and at the bottom it showed a bunch of fake transactions being made: people send their bitcoin, and he sends back double. she started encouraging me to send it, and i had to explain to her how it was bullshit.
now what if she had bitcoin and actually knew how to send it? she probably wouldve gotten ripped off.
so please keep your parents aware. consider it a safety measure thats up there with seed phrase storage.
https://www.twincities.com/2023/04/02/scammers-send-mn-victims-to-bitcoin-atms/
https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/news/2022/06/10/bitcoin-ransomware-attack-scam-sudbury-lincoln-massachusetts-elderly-woman/7566908001/
https://www.wkbw.com/7problemsolvers/buffalo-woman-loses-retirement-savings-in-bitcoin-atm-scam

anyone see that shit. That shits craaaazy.
Heard from the workers at braymiller that there was a dispute over a baby daddy and that one woman was chasing another at like 90 mph.
Luckily no one was killed (to my knowledge at the time of writing)
UPDATE: 7 people injured

WKBW released: Jason Arno, 37, was a three-year member of the Buffalo Fire Department.
https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/firefighters-battle-massive-three-alarm-fire-on-main-street

Donation Information

The union is collecting donations for the Arno Family. Checks can be made out to Buffalo Professional Firefighters and sent to or dropped off at 500 Southside Pkwy Buffalo NY 14210.
Call 716-856-4130 with any questions.
u/jshalt31

Long-time friend of Jason (Jay) Arno. He was a wonderful person, full of kindness and joy, with a big smile and an even bigger heart. He loved to laugh and have fun, loved to cook, loved his job as a firefighter, and deeply loved his family and friends, including his wife, Sarah, and their 3-year-old daughter, Olivia. He will be truly missed by all those whose lives he touched...RIP Jay. You are a hero, and we love you.
To add to the Donation Information posted by OP, there is also a GoFundMe page, created by his brother, Delton Arno, for anyone that was interested in sending their support to the family. https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-family-of-buffalo-firefighter-jason-arno?qid=10ba58e25f774cbdef4a48126d38b669