Re-opening the federal government, sloppy Western New York weather, Turkeys for Tickets and more

Gone South has been a podcast about crime in the American South, but for our new season, we're widening the lens. Follow and listen to Gone South Season 5, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows. The WBEN, All Local, a daily look at what's happening in Buffalo, Western New York, and the world. I'm Brian Azarowski here. The stories we're following for Wednesday, November 12th, a messy morning commute. With the first significant snowfall, the season, trees are a concern in this region. I'm Tom Puckett. Some advice coming up. The House could vote to end the government shutdown today. Everybody knows the Boulevard Mall is slated for demolition and a town center redevelopment plan. But what about the BAC building on the backside of the mall? And what about the plan for bringing more housing to the mall? I'm Jim Fink, and I'll explain what's going on. And we're taking a look at the latest outside because Turkeys for Tickets starts in. just about an hour. Your exclusive WBEN 7 weather forecast. Some rain and snow this morning will change to all rain as the day moves along with temperatures topping out in the low 40s. For tonight, some scattered rain and snow showers. Overnight lows in the mid-30s. On Thursday, more of the same, some rain showers with a few wet flakes across the southern tier highs in the low 40s. With your exclusive WBEN 7 weather forecast, I'm Chief Meteorologist Araminkowski. As we get our look outside this morning, seeing a wintry mix. How will it impact the morning commute? We spoke with Liz Jerkowski at the National Weather Service. We are seeing currently in a band across northern Erie into Niagara and Orleans County, a mix of rain and snow. Temperatures will be warming up this morning, especially as we near dawn. and you'll see everything transitioned to rain for the rest of the day. All right. Mostly rain out there right now across Western New York, which is some good news, but still could be a little bit of a messy morning commute on everyone's way back to work. We're going to be talking about the commutes with Bill Geary coming up at 720 this morning and keeping updated on the forecast, of course, all throughout the day. Well, it was heavy snow yesterday and leaves still on the trees. What, if anything, do we have to worry about when it comes to? tree damage, and power lines. WBEN's Tom Puckett. It's here with more. And early snow can mean trouble for some trees, as Chase Tamaro of AJ's tree service. Some of these trees still having the leaves on them. And when they do have these leaves on them, it can act as a way to catch a lot of that snow and rain and precipitation, and especially on certain types of trees that it can really, that extra weight can cause some issues and cause failure. How many calls did he get yesterday? We've probably had about seven or eight stops of cleanup, mostly down limbs that had split from weaker unions, stuff that had been damaged in the past, and now the snowfall had brought it down. But a couple smaller uprooted trees on some Bradford pears and crab apples and smaller ornamental things like that.

Which trees are usually susceptible to early snow damage? Here from Tamara Online. Tom Puckett, WBEN.com News. All right, Tom, thank you. We're watching that, of course, throughout the morning here for you on WBEN, all the things that the weather will bring. You know, you don't have to worry about the weather if you want to take part in turkeys for tickets. You leave that to us. WBEN Odyssey, the Buffalo Sabres, all working together later this morning to benefit Feed More. and the Buffalo City Mission, turkeys for tickets, returns. It all starts about an hour from now. It's 7 o'clock, runs to 9 a.m. at three locations. We'll be at the tops on Young Street and Tonawanda, the tops on Orchard Park Road in West Seneca, and the Key Bank Center surface lot on Perry and Baltimore Street downtown. For every 20-pound frozen turkey dropped off, you get a voucher good for two tickets to an upcoming Sabres home game. So there you go. Great. incentive to take part in a great cause here. And WBEN helping out. We're going to be talking with Marty Baran who will be down helping out. A lot of Sabres alumni taking part. Go see them. You don't have to get out of your car when you're making the donation. That's maybe the best part. They'll take it right from you. Don't get wet or anything like that. Leave that to us. Turkeys for tickets returns. Again, starting at 7 o'clock. This morning. We'll be checking in live when that starts. Well, the House could vote as early as this afternoon on a compromised deal to reopen the government. Rashad Hudson has more. House lawmakers are racing back to Washington to try to reopen the government. Our job now is not to celebrate, is not to start spiking the football, but rather to make sure that we get our job done when we get back into session. But Democrats say they're skeptical. There's some stuff in the Senate compromise that could be good, but I don't trust the Trump administration to follow the orders. And the agreement does not include the extended Affordable Care Act tax credits, a key Democratic demand, leading many in the party to call it a setback and vote no. House Republicans hold just a two-seat majority living very little room for any sort of defections that might happen. 605 now on WBEN. As the Boulevard Mall project starts to move forward, WBEN's Jim Fink, gives us some insight as to what to expect on the massive site when it's all said and done. With the first step of many in place that will allow Benderson development to take control of the Boulevard Mall property, questions have also risen about the fate of the long vacant BAC building. and also plans to develop housing on the complex. Within the next year, measures to revive the BAC building and to gauge developer interest in developing housing options should be released, said Amherr's supervisor Brian Culpa. Culpa envisions the BAC building serving as a community center. The idea is really get in touch, you know, be active with people. As for housing options, Culpa said that by issuing an RFP next year, that should serve as a sign of developer interest and what type of housing may best go on that site. It can be anything. We want to blend. In a perfect world, Culper said he'd love to see the community center open by 2027.

And the first of many housing options developed by also 2027. This is Jim Fink for WBEN.com News. Jim, thank you. WBEN News Time, now 606. The maker of the infant formula that's been linked to botulism has now expanded a voluntary recall to a nationwide recall of all batches of bi-heart, whole-nutrition infant formula cans and anywhere pack. CDC data shows so far 15 infants have been hospitalized across 12 states. Mary Kakados with the ABC News Medical Unit on what parents can do. Check the cans. Check your lot codes and the used by dates listed to see if those cans are part of the recall. If you have any of the recalled formula, dispose of it. Safely discard any of the affected products. Do not attempt to use them. Throw them away or take them back to the store and you could get reimbursement. And stay observant. Monitor your baby for any symptoms that they may. be experiencing. All right, all due to that one type of formula, again, cases reported in several states including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington. A former New York governor's aide is set for trial on charges that she sold influence to China. Linda's son, who was an aide to two New York governors' charge was selling her influence to Beijing and then illegally profiting from the state's bulk purchase of face masks during the pandemic. Her husband faces money laundering charges. The trial begins today in Brooklyn federal court and is expected to take several weeks. Son's attorney claims some charges were filed after the... the statute of limitations ran out. Gary Baumgarten, Fox News. 608 on WBEN, the families of six campers who were killed during flooding in July at Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas. are filing a lawsuit, Austin's Marco Betonal, with more. Mark Lanier is representing those families. The lawsuit filed by Lanier's firm claims that the cabins, the six girls were housed in, were located in an area known for flooding. But that wasn't made aware to parents. Those families are also accusing the camp of failing to react in time to save lives. And once the camp did react, instructions given to the campers may have led to disaster. As other campers fled to higher ground, Lanier says the young girls were instructed to stay in the cabins, even as water. rapidly rose inside them. Camp Mystic's legal team has since released a statement to the lawsuits claiming that in part no adequate warning systems in the area were in place and that the magnitude of the floods were unexpected. At least three other lawsuits have been filed at the camp, including one seeking a million dollars in damages. 27 people died at that camp because of the flooding. Over in Italy...

Some new laws, people now need to prove their age if they want to access adult content online. Some of the world's most popular pornographic websites are subject to this new law. Italian residents trying to access the likes of porn hub and only fans will have to go through an age verification system. That'll mean connecting to another company like a bank or phone service that already has that info. There's an anonymity system in place to respond to privacy concerns. Websites that are non-compliant face fines of up to a quarter of a million dollars. The UK introduced a similar rule a few months ago. After that, Pornhub said British traffic fell 77%. Jonathan Savage, Fox News. Joining us this morning? The Tax Lady. Esther Gullius from EG. Tax. We're talking about some new changes that might impact a lot of people because Esther, I feel like we were making a big deal about this about a year ago. IRS direct file. Basically, a tax do-it-yourself software that anybody could access for free online. Well, it will not be offered for this upcoming tax filing season, the Trump administration confirming that. First off, how popular was this option, this IRS direct file? Well, you know, Brian, I mean, less than... 0.02% of all the people that filed tax returns out of 41 million, only 296,000 use this software. And so it's costing them a bunch of money, and they said, It's not economically in the best interest of people because Scott Bessent said he thought that the private sector could do a better job. And there's all these other free softwares available to low-income people anyway. So they got rid of it. Why is that that nobody was using this? I don't know. I don't know. I really don't know. Well, do you think they didn't get the word out or something? I mean, are there other softwares that are better? Well, I mean, for instance, you know, there's TurboTax and H&R Block Software and Free Tax USA and VITA. They were all doing it for free for low-income people anyway. So I don't know whether it just was a learning curve or whatever, but it's still out there. So the public-private partnership from a income tax preparation point of view is still going to be available. And, you know, with the way, since COVID, you can't really be, just because you don't have to file a tax return doesn't mean that you wished you would have. as evidenced by the fact of the stimulus money that just came out from the governor in New York, the $200,400. If he didn't file a return, you missed the deduction. You missed the credit altogether. So a lot of times when you're left to your own devices, it's not the best thing that you can do. Well, especially when after we talk with you and my head's spinning about all the changes in the tax laws. I didn't realize, Esther, that...

A lot of the changes that we've been talking about actually apply for this upcoming filing season, things like the deduction on auto loan payments and all this other stuff. It makes me crazy, really. I mean, over time and tips. and car interest loans and the salt deduction has been lifted 40,000 and the senior deduction and you know it's interesting every time i go to a restaurant i'll say to the server do you know that your tips are tax-free and they go yeah yeah i mean because people don't understand it and you get these deductions even if you don't itemize so it's um you know and If they listen and ask the tax lady on Saturdays, they would know this stuff. But I mean, I'm WBEN. But I mean, I'll tell you, some of the stuff that's coming down the pike is absolutely great. So if you're left to your own devices and you don't know the tax law, then you don't take advantage of these things. And you may save $70 filing a return, but you just cost yourself $10,000 in Wright House, you know. So. And you don't want to be using any sort of out-of-date software that isn't up to speed with all these changes too. All software has to be up to date or else it won't go electronically. We're taking a look at our sloppy morning out on the roads and elsewhere with Bill Geary, the Commissioner of Public Works for Erie County. Bill, thanks for being out with us this morning. All right, we've got our first snow of the season under the belts. How's the last two days gone for you? Good morning, Brian. Yeah, the cruise, as always answered the call. It started for us midday Sunday and rolling right through normal operations today. Had the trouble areas up on the hills, probably saw the highest accumulations up to 6 to 8 inches. But this time it was a little different. The north side of the city of Buffalo, Tonawanda's parts of Amherst, probably got a little more accumulations. But like I said, the cruise. It did a fantastic job responding, and we were ready for it. Well, it maybe couldn't have happened at a better time because yesterday all the snow is flying outside of our studios, and you're thinking most people are off for Veterans Day, and today could have been a lot worse. We were thinking maybe a little more snow mixed in with the rain, but it's a lot of rain across western New York. No, absolutely. Not having schools is a huge help. Those school buses lower volume on all the roads. So a lot of our new drivers getting broken in had less volume to deal with. But yeah, we were prepared. We had cruising over the night. We saw the transition for the most part from snow just around dawn about half an hour ago and anticipating the rain to pick up and probably see about three quarters of an inch of rain plus the snow melt from any accumulations. So, you know, anybody driving today is definitely going to be, take your time. Look out for pounding on the roadways from that excess of rainfall and snow melt combined. But as always, Department of Public Works in the surrounding communities, I think we were all prepared for it. Never, it didn't catch us by surprise, which was great. You know, whether I'm shoveling my own driveway or just kind of looking around to some of these snow piles around our parking lot here, I see the same thing. It's a good mix of snow.

leaves that fell off the trees over the last three days. Is that, you know, proved to be any sort of problem for you when you have the leaves involved with the snow? It does. It's not so much in the snow, but like today, when we get the rain and, you know, the water is trying to get to those drainage inlets, leaf piles will plug that up or cover them up. So the crews, you know, we're not going to get the drainage of the roadways that we would expect. But I know, you know, the crews have been out there trying to get all the leaves picked up. We are a little deeper into November, typically our first snowfalls last week of October for us. But traditionally we're starting to see that date creep into November, and here we are, you know, November 10th and get our first dose of it. Yeah, I don't know what it is. It doesn't matter when it falls or when it happens or how often I'm sitting in this chair telling people it's coming. I'm always caught off guard. I know that's different from you guys. You're ready, and that's what your job is to be ready for when this happens. What is the state of winter preparedness around Erie County? I know last time we were talking with you during the last winter season, there was a big concern about the availability of salt. What does that look like right now, and how are the stockpiles around Western New York? Yeah, no, the crews started getting all our equipment ready. We started transferring trucks over the first week of October. We had 30 trucks out of our 45 going into the winter season on Sunday. All our salt barns were full. We have 15,000 tons on hand. We have about a pile of 120,000 ton down at the Port of Buffalo for the municipalities around the county bids. And then New York State also relaxed the Buy American Salt Act. So that allowed us to leverage some other partners and vendors, and that's what's down at Port of Buffalo. We still do get some of our salt out of just south of Rochester from American Rock. So we have two suppliers this year, really confident, feel a lot better, given what we dealt with in the first half of 25 here, and having to pivot right away in some emergency declarations in order to get salt. But we have an adequate supply, and we're still looking to improve. I would procure salt in Erie County and also for our municipal partners. We're working together with the Buffalo Sabres to benefit Feedmore and the Buffalo City Mission. with turkeys for tickets. Goes on for another hour plus here until 9 a.m. at the tops on Young Street in Tonawanda, the tops on Orchard Park Road in West Seneca, and the Key Bank Center surface lot on Perry and Baltimore streets downtown. We've got Marty Baran who's out there this morning joining us live now. Marty, always a great event, always a big crowd for it, who want to not only help out, but be able to get those vouchers for Sabres tickets in return. What are you seeing out there?

Well, it's been a big party for us in West Seneca because we got the speaker going. We had Sabertooth dancing and having fun a little bit ago. Pat Caleta and Brian Duff are here with me at the tops on Orchard Park Road in West Seneca. And you don't have to get out of your car. I know. It's a wintry mix. It's like snowing, raining or whatever. You just open the trunk or we get in the back seat. We grab the turkey. We give you the... the vouchers, and you're on your way. It takes 30 seconds. It's like a well-oiled machine going on right now, and it's a lot of fun. Yeah, that's the best part about it. On a day like today, you don't have to get out of your car. We make it easy for you, all the great volunteers, including yourself out there, helping make things happen. You do a lot of great work for Feedmore and the Buffalo City Mission with your donation. I know you've spent a lot of time talking with people involved. both of these organizations and seeing how they help people in Western New York. Well, it's been unbelievable. I was just looking and talking to some of the Buffalo City Mission people, like I believe since 1917. I mean, they've been, you know, a part of this community for over 100 years. And we all know that with food insecurities, what feed more Western New York does as well, being able to help so many. And we're entering this holiday season. And it's a lot of stress on a lot of families. And so being able to donate a turkey or a couple of turkeys and just come by any of those locations, you're going to help a lot of families maybe have a brighter holiday season because of that. So that's why we're doing it. That's why the Sabres have been committed to doing it because Buffalo City Mission and Seymour Western New York are such great partners. And for your help, you get a pair of Sabres tickets. You know, Marty, despite all the injuries and everything that the team's been through, I've been to most of the games this year. They're a fun team to watch on the ice. You can tell they're given a real effort out there. Yeah, and you know what? It just needs like one little streak, right? You look around the National Hockey League. Anheim has won seven in a row, eight in a row, whatnot. And, you know, Boston just won seven in a row, and you're like, look, we could be that team too. And I get there's a lot of injuries, but you see, like, Judge Donne is a fun player to watch. He just came over from Utah. You know, right now, Rassizdalene is on a leave of absence going back home. Obviously, his fiancé, Carolina, having the health issues and scare that she had over the summer with heart transplant. So that's a lot. But you've got other guys that are stepping up and trying to make a difference. So this is a big trip. They got Utah tonight, Colorado tomorrow, and then they're in Detroit Saturday.

They're maybe actually celebrating a little bit because the Democrats who voted for this bill in the Senate are giving them cover in a little bit of a way. Here, you're going to be able to reopen the government while saying that you didn't support the measure that's going to reopen the government. Well, I wouldn't be shocked if that's what's happening because keep mind, it was eight Democrats on the spot that voted for this, which was the exact eighth they needed. So this thing cleared the filibuster with 60 votes total. So, I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if that's going on. I think everyone's going to at least be happy in some regard that the government is reopened and that ultimately troops are going to get paid federal workers are going to be able to come back to work and air travel could probably get back to normal at some point. When are we expected to see the impact on air travel and that return to somewhat normal? That could take a while, potentially. You know, President Trump is trying to make this move as quickly as possible. He's already told air traffic controllers and tried to put pressure on them to get back to work and pretty much says, look, you're going to start getting paid soon again. So let's get back to work and let's get this thing back to normal. So I think it just depends on when all the workers come back and ultimately they stop calling in sick. When we talk about the government shutdown, we're kind of focused on a lot of the impact of the government being shut down. But one of the things that we don't talk much about is what's being left on the back burner. When everybody does return, when the government's reopen and the talk is not about the shutdown and it's back to normal business, what is on the agenda? What's been put on the back burner and what's maybe still ahead is some of these big issues in Congress? Well, it's this issue. That's still going to be the, or at least it should be the priority for Congress. You know, their job is to fund the government through the next fiscal year. They have 12 bills that fund different agencies that they're supposed to pass. They will pass three of them that will fund the government through the end of September. And then they have to work on the nine remaining ones. So this is still going to be, I think, the big. you know, debate or at least the funding battle that that kind of is the top of mind between now and January. You also have work that could get done on potentially a compromise on these Affordable Care Act tax credits or some type of solution on health care. That's kind of been put at the forefront and now has become a big priority. And then also keep in mind, Adelita Grohalva will be sworn in today and she will become the last signature needed. on a discharge petition to compel the release of the Epstein files. So that is going to be back on the top of the news cycle as soon as this is over too. That's the WBEN All Local. All new episodes are made available each weekday morning, produced by the award-winning WBEN Newsroom.

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