Buffalo News

SANBORN – Comedian, political commentator and radio talk show hostess Stephanie Miller will deliver the keynote address May 11 at Niagara County Community College’s commencement exercises. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m.

The Lancaster Village Board on Monday adopted a $7.4 million budget for 2013-14 that raises the property tax rate by 1.96 percent from the current year’s budget.The tax levy, or the amount to be collected in taxes, rises by 1.17 percent next year and spending rises by 3.6 percent.The tentative budget introduced last month called for higher spending and larger increases in the tax levy and property tax rate, but village officials on Monday approved a budget that reflected revisions made in recent weeks.“We’re very proud to be under 2 perce

Hamburg Town Board members Monday night unanimously turned down a rezoning that would have paved the way for 66 luxury apartment units off Howard Road.Residents who had packed the Town Board chambers applauded after the board voted.“Thank you,” said Cheryl McBride of Heatherwood Drive.

The Aurora Historical Society is opening the doors at four East Aurora historic sites for special tours beginning this Saturday and running through May 19.Open house-style tours at 2 p.m.

“Americans Feeding Americans” will take place from noon to 3 p.m. Wednesday on Busti Avenue between Hudson and Maryland streets.Volunteers from Buffalo Dream Center and other local organizations and churches will be on hand to help feed 800 families.Each family will receive about 60 pounds of food.Along with Dream Center representatives, about 200 people are expected to help distribute food to the families, including volunteers from the Belle Center, PepsiCo, Lays, Tops Friendly Markets, Larkin Center of Commerce and AmeriCorps.

A half dozen candidates filed petitions by Monday’s deadline in the hopes of winning one of three available seats on the Depew School Board.Incumbents John Spencer and Nancy Fumerelle will face challenges from Steven Brady, Patrick Law, Gabrielle Miller and Nicole Simon during next month’s race, according to district clerk Jessica Neischel.

A cat rescued from the Cairo streets during the chaos of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 has not only become one of the best-known felines in the region, she was also the catalyst for a deep friendship between her owners and a group of nuns in Williamsville.“Shu Shu has brought so much activity into our lives; we have met so many new people because of her,” said Tim Craig of Buffalo.

Lackawanna voters will be asked to approve a $47.5 million budget for the Lackawanna School District that doesn’t increase their property taxes for the 2013-14 school year.The district’s Board of Education on Monday adopted a proposed budget that amounts to a 4.9 percent increase over the current spending plan of $45.3 million.But a $1.6 million increase in state financial aid, as well as dipping into the district’s surplus fund, enabled budget crafters to avoid a tax hike.“What other district around here is coming across with a ze

LOCKPORT – For years, the budgets of the Niagara County Refuse Disposal District have been manipulated to conceal the true cost of operating the district’s only active landfill, county legislators were told Monday.Dawn M.

WASHINGTON – Canadian authorities Monday arrested two men on terrorism-related charges in connection with an al Qaeda-linked plot that, according to U.S. officials, would have involved attacking a train that travels between Toronto to New York via Niagara Falls and Buffalo.“As I understand it, it was a train going from Canada to the U.S.,” Rep.