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The Buffalo Soldiers Award is presented annually to outstanding African American veterans who live in Rockland County.

POMONA, NY — Local men and women who didn't hesitate to serve when we needed them were honored in a special ceremony.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day and Director Susan Branam of the Rockland County Veterans Service Agency recognized three local veterans for their service. The ceremony was held Wednesday at the Rockland County Fire Training Center. Austin Hansen, Thomas Edward McBride, Jr., and Douglas Dickerson were honored with Buffalo Soldier Awards for their military service.

Jacqueline Anderson received an Honorary Buffalo Soldier Award. This recognition was for her dedication to the program's history and legacy.

The Buffalo Soldiers Award is presented annually to outstanding African American veterans who live in Rockland County.

"It takes a rare kind of courage to put your life on hold in service to something greater than yourself," County Executive Ed Day said. "Each of today’s honorees answered that call without hesitation. The freedoms we enjoy every day are possible because of individuals like these local heroes, and it is truly an honor to recognize their service and sacrifice."

Austin Hansen served four years in the United States Air Force as a mechanic during the Vietnam War. His awards include the National Defense Service Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal with one Bronze Star.

Thomas Edward McBride Jr. served in the United States Air Force from 1966 to 1970. He was assigned to the 61st Military Airlift Command in the Pacific Theater. He earned the National Defense Service Medal and the Air Force Good Conduct Medal.

Douglas Dickerson was drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War in 1963. He served for three years as a Heavy Equipment Specialist. His awards include the National Defense Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.

Jacqueline Anderson is the spouse of the late Grady Anderson, who was one of the original organizers of the Buffalo Soldiers Award in Rockland County. Since Grady Anderson's passing last year, Jacqueline Anderson has continued his legacy. She updates and presents the Buffalo Soldier history, ensuring the story is shared with the community.

"These veterans have experiences and perspectives that continue to inspire," VSA Director Susan Branam remarked. "We are proud to be able to honor them for their military service."

Day said that honorees will now have have a special place in Rockland County history.

"We thank these individuals for their bravery and continued commitment to our residents," Day told the local heroes. "We are proud to list your name among the proud African American men and women who have been named to the Rockland County Buffalo Soldiers in years past."

According to the Office of Attorney General, students of color and those with disabilities were disciplined more than white students within Buffalo Public Schools.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — An investigation by the office of NYS Attorney General Letitia James reveals that students of color and students with disabilities at Buffalo Public Schools were disproportionately suspended compared to white students and students without disabilities.

According to the Attorney General’s report, in the 2022–2023 school year, Black secondary students were more than six times more likely to receive out-of-school suspensions than their white peers.

Latino secondary students were nearly four times more likely to be suspended than white students.

The investigation studied suspension data starting in 2019 through the 2023 school year, but excluded the COVID-19 school year.

OAG found that Black and Latino students were also suspended out of school "for minor non-violent incidents, including suspensions for absences, cutting class, elopement (leaving a designated school area without permission or notification), and tardiness" at a higher rate than white students.

A breakdown of the data during the investigation period reveals the number of days lost per student due to their ethnicity or whether or not they had a disability.

Students with disabilities lost more than twice as much instructional time as students without disabilities.

Looking at the total number of out of school suspension days during the investigation:

Students with disabilities accounted for 50,079 suspension days during that period.

A total of 138,970 out of school suspension days were administered to students between 2018-2024.

According to BPS data, Black students account for 42% of the student population. Latino students account for 21%, and Asian or Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander accounts for 15%.

White students account for 17% of the student body.

The investigation also revealed that Buffalo Public Schools denied students due process when administering discipline.

Students with disabilities lost "far more instructional time than their peers without disabilities," according to the report.

The AG's report also indicated that "in many cases, students with disabilities were sent home early without documentation -an illegal informal suspension that would limit the child's ability to access necessary due process protections."

Buffalo Public Schools reached a settlement agreement with the Office of Attorney General and must appoint an independent monitor and ombudsperson for the next four years.

2 On Your Side has reached out to Buffalo Public Schools for comment. A spokesperson for the district provided the following statement:

"The approval of the Assurance of Discontinuance agreement between the Buffalo Public Schools and the New York State Attorney General's Office not only recognizes the steps already taken by the district to reduce suspensions, but it will further ensure the district maintains an educational environment that is conducive to learning for all students by reducing the number of suspensions through the use of restorative practices and other positive interventions. The Buffalo Public Schools remain committed to being a district that embraces restorative practices and works to keep more of its students in the classroom."

This is a developing story and WGRZ will continue to update this as more information is released

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Three former University at Buffalo basketball players were implicated in a federal indictment that alleges they accepted bribes to rig point totals during multiple Bulls games in the 2023-24 season.

It’s part of a scheme that federal prosecutors say involved players from more than a dozen colleges and universities, along with fixers, who recruited players to purposefully underperform during games in exchange for payments.

The fixers placed big bets against those players’ teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors, according to the indictment that was unsealed Thursday.

Former UB players Shawn Fulcher, Isaiah Adams and an unnamed individual are listed in the federal indictment.

Fulcher is the only one of the three charged in this particular indictment. He is charged with bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aiding and abetting.

Adams is "charged elsewhere."

WATCH: Former University at Buffalo basketball players named in gambling scandal indictment

The indictment says that during the 2023-24 season, the three players agreed to help ensure that Buffalo failed to cover the first-half spread in three separate games that season: February 24 against Western Michigan, February 27 against Kent State and March 5 against Ohio.

Bets against Buffalo to cover the first-half spreads of the Western Michigan and Ohio games were won, earning thousands of dollars in winnings for the conspirators from several sportsbooks, according to investigators.

According to investigators, bets against Buffalo to cover the first half spread of the Kent State game did not win, missing by one-half of a point. The indictment states that “with the score tied at 27 with 4:40 left to go in the first half of this game, Kent State scored the last points of the half, and Buffalo did not score again.” Also saying that Fulcher, Adams and the unnamed players scored 1 point over the last 13 minutes of the half, “missing several shots, including layups and dunks, and committing several turnovers.”

Both Fulcher and Adams transferred away from Buffalo following the 2023-24 season.

The University at Buffalo is expected to comment on the scandal later Thursday afternoon.

Mark Alnutt, UB Director of Athletics, released the following statement on Thursday:

"We are aware of these deeply concerning allegations. We believe these to be isolated incidents that in no way reflect the values and core ethics of the Division of Athletics or our men’s basketball program. Our department will continue to cooperate fully with the investigating authorities. Preserving the integrity and fairness of sport is a responsibility we take very seriously.The two former student-athletes named in the indictment are no longer enrolled at UB and transferred to other programs after the 2023-24 season.With the investigation ongoing, UB Athletics will have no further comment at this time."

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(TNS) — National Grid this month will expand its rollout of electric smart meters to its 121,000 customers in Buffalo, giving homeowners and business owners new ways to track their energy use and spending.

Customers will be able to track their energy use through a portal, and the utility will be able to immediately identify where power outages happen.

The utility has been installing the devices across upstate New York, replacing technology nearing the end of its lifespan.

Customers can use smart meters to track their energy use in nearly real time through a portal and see where they can conserve energy, said Ken Kujawa, National Grid's regional director.

"The hope is that the more information that we can put in front of our customers, relative to their energy consumption, the better decisions they're going to make when it comes to running appliances in their house, making sure that they're being smart consumers of energy," he said.

The new technology will also enable National Grid to immediately identify where power outages happen, providing operational benefits for the utility.

Smart meters communicate wirelessly with National Grid's control centers through a secure network. Replacing the older technology with a smart meter won't cause customers' bills to rise, Kujawa said.

"We're not seeing any significant issues with bill complaints or anything along those lines," he said. "The nice thing is that the customers' meters will continue to be read every month by National Grid."

National Grid is trying to avoid the headaches New York State Electric & Gas experienced in 2024, when the utility was installing smart meters for its own customers in the Buffalo Niagara region.

NYSEG faced claims from some customers that the new meters were driving up their bills. NYSEG insisted that was not the case, instead saying it was switching to generating bills based on a customer's actual electricity usage, instead of an estimate. The utility said weather, supply costs and customer usage were likely factors in any increases.

It takes about 10 minutes for a worker to remove the old meter and install a smart meter. If the old meter is inside a customer's home, as is the case in many city residences, an appointment will be needed for an employee to get access to it. The meters will be installed by a combination of crews from National Grid and Utility Partners of America.

National Grid has about 543,000 customers in its 11-county Western division and has installed smart meters for about 25% of those customers so far. The utility has installed over 1 million smart meters across upstate New York, and is aiming to complete its Western New York installations in 2027.

Customers can opt out of having a smart meter installed, but they will have to pay a monthly fee of $15.45, or about $185 a year. Kujawa said that is to cover the cost of sending an employee to a residence to read a meter, since the current system involving vehicles reading signals from the street will go away.

Around the state, less than 1% of National Grid customers have opted out of smart meters.

©2026 The Buffalo News, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Buffalo. N.Y. (WBEN) - A blanket of fresh snow and bitter cold temperatures have overtaken the weather across the Buffalo-Niagara region, slowing travel and closing many school districts.

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Winter Storm Warnings are posted for the region through Thursday, with additional snowfall in the forecast and lake effect snow expected to develop both north and south of the Buffalo metro region.

The snow will continue to fall through the day Thursday, adding to accumulations.

"For the metro area, probably looking at about an additional 2 to 4 inches," National Weather Service meteorologist Tony Ansuini tells WBEN. "Then we'll transition over to some lake effect snow...mainly north of the metro area, and also south of the metro area."

Once the general snowfall subsides across the general Western New York area, the lake effect snow will begin to setup, however the metro area will escape the bullseye of that, Ansuini says. "It should focus across Niagara and Orleans counties off Lake Ontario, and then off Lake Erie, most of the snow will be confined to the hills and the southern tier."

"Tomorrow morning's commute will probably be pretty tricky," Reynolds notes. "The system will just be pulling through here, and it will also be turning quite cold behind it, so any untreated roadways might become slippery."

Accumulations will be heavier well to the south of Buffalo. "Once the colder air comes in here, we will have some lake effect," Reynolds cautions. "Typical places south of Buffalo, across the Chautauqua Ridge and ski country will probably receive a little bit more, up to 10 inches are possible across those areas."

It's not just the snow that is thrusting the region into a more January-like forecast, it's the bitter cold temperatures.

Arctic air will move into the region today and tonight. Temperatures will fall to the teens and lower 20's this morning and remain steady through the day. Wind chill values will be near zero Thursday, forecasters say.

A brief break in the arctic air is in the weekend forecast, before temperatures again take a dive beginning Sunday.

The cold temperatures and active weather looks to continue for a while with just a few breaks of near normal temperatures values for a day or two at a time through late next week.

WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 PM EST THURSDAY... * WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations 5 to 10 inches. The greatest accumulation will be across northern Niagara and Orleans counties. * WHERE...Niagara, Orleans, Northern Erie, and Genesee Counties. * WHEN...From 4 PM this afternoon to 7 PM EST Thursday. * IMPACTS...Travel will be difficult. The hazardous conditions will impact the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Widespread accumulating snow will create dangerous travel conditions.

WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM EST FRIDAY * WHAT...Heavy snow. Additional snow accumulations 6 to 12 inches. The highest amounts will be across the Chautauqua Ridge and Boston Hills. Wind chills below zero are expected Thursday and Thursday night. * WHERE...Wyoming, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Southern Erie Counties. * WHEN...Until 1 AM EST Friday. * IMPACTS...Travel will be difficult. The hazardous conditions will impact the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Widespread accumulating snow will create dangerous travel conditions.

Featured Image Photo Credit: NOAA Buffalo