Latest news with #WIVBNews4
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
WIVB News 4 wins Murrow Award for ‘Excellence in Video'
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — WIVB News 4 recently won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for 'Excellence in Video' for our December story on the historic Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo. The Edward R. Murrow Awards are announced every year by the Radio Television Digital News Association. They cast the spotlight on local and national stories that uphold the association's ethics while showcasing the importance and impact of journalism on the community. A behind-the-scenes look into the 270-acre cemetery and how it has grown over the past 176 years was brought to local TV screens by the work of anchor and reporter Marlee Tuskes, photojournalist Allison Staebell and senior executive producer Natasha Yurek. The 10-minute piece takes a deep dive into what it takes to run and maintain the cemetery — which is home to 13th President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, famous singer Rick James and the first Black congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm — by hearing from the people who do it every day. Forest Lawn is described as a place for people to come home to and a place where stories can live on. News 4 is now being considered in the national Murrow Awards competition. The winners will be announced in August. Watch '700 Seasons: The Story of Forest Lawn' in the video player above. Katie Skoog joined the News 4 team in April 2024. She is a graduate from the University at Buffalo. You can view more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Multiple rotting trees at local mobile home park concern residents
ALBION, N.Y. (WIVB) — Residents of a local mobile home park are calling for action over complaints at the property, including numerous rotting trees that residents are concerned could fall on their homes. WIVB News 4 spoke to residents of Oak Orchard Estates in Albion, Orleans County. A number of rotting trees are located throughout the property, standing close to people's homes. Residents said they have been given no information on when the trees will be removed. They're concerned that a wind storm could cause any of them to fall. Potholes are another concern voiced by the residents. News 4 found a number of them recently filled with cold patch, which is a temporary fix. Residents here are also not happy with a recent rent increase. They said with inflation, the cost of living is becoming more expensive and they wonder what they're paying for. 'Myself and my neighbor, we each have a tree less than 10 feet from our home that is completely dead and if we do have a wind storm like that, it would fall on our houses,' said one resident who did not want to be identified. Residents at Oak Orchard Estates said communication is also a problem and they've had a hard time getting in touch with the office manager. When News 4 visited the property last week, the office was locked and there was no one to contact. News 4 was able to get in touch with the owners of the property, Horizon Land Management said workers are inspecting trees and several have been removed and that road work should be done in the next few weeks. The property owner went on to say that it is committed to providing a well-maintained and affordable community for their residents. The property's full statement can be read below: Oak Orchard Estates is committed to providing a well-maintained and affordable community for our residents. Our goal is to offer a thriving and vibrant community and to keep our residents in-place. At Oak Orchard, rents are set according to New York State Real Property Law which caps rent increases for mobile and manufactured home residents at 3% and allows up to an additional 3% to cover property taxes and capital expenses. Residents receive a detailed explanation of the increase. Oak Orchard's beautiful setting is graced with many trees and we are vigilant about tree inspections and maintenance. Several trees were removed in the fall and additional trees were removed following an inspection in April. Road maintenance is an on-going process and efforts were increased this week to fill in pot holes created by the harsh winter weather. The work is expected to be completed in the next few weeks. All residents receive a copy of the Rules & Regulations which are designed to maintain a respectful atmosphere, to help ensure the safety of residents, and to address property upkeep and appearance for the benefit of all residents. Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Bills' Ray Davis, mental health organization advocate for foster children
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — During this Mental Health Awareness Month, WIVB News 4 is highlighting an organization that puts a focus on helping kids in the foster care system. has a variety of programs including a peer support group for young people who may be struggling, referral services for counseling, and pro bono legal services for people struggling with a mental health diagnosis. They also oversee the 'CASA' program, Court Appointed Special Advocates, which focuses on foster children. On a recent Tuesday night, Bills Running Back Ray Davis got involved. Davis has been very open about his journey in foster care, and homelessness, himself. 'We have to understand, it's ok to ask for help,' Davis said. 'It's ok to want help. It's ok to apply that advice to be able to get where we want to go.' Davis said he was nervous at first to tell his story of bouncing around five high schools and feeling very little love from the adults around him. Then it hit him, this is his purpose, to impact others, sharing his experience. He said it's a purpose higher than winning football games. '(My purpose is) to be able to provide what I went through, and provide a blueprint to try and help kids understand it's ok to go through adversity because there's always going to be a light at the end of the tunnel,' he said. 'But you have to make sure you have the right people around you.' That purpose led him to a 9-year-old named Aniyah. 'She's had quite the journey,' Aniyah's adoptive mom, Catherine Wetzler said. Wetzler started out as Aniyah's aunt. 'I met her when she was seven months old,' Wetzler said. 'And a couple days after I met her, she was living in my home, with Doug and I, and was our foster child.' Over the course of eight years, Wetzler and her husband Doug fought to get permanent custody of Aniyah. It wasn't easy. The couple ran into one road block after another. 'There was a lot of unfortunate situations along the way,' Wetzler said. 'During our second encounter with the Family Court system, I was coming out of court, and ran into Jodi. And CASA got involved with our care.' Jodi Johnson runs CASA. The group, overseen by MHA, trains volunteers to help Family Court judges make better-informed decisions about a child's safety and wellbeing. A judge has so many cases, CASA volunteers act as their eyes and ears, advocating for children. 'They visit at least once a month,' Johnson said. 'They talk to the schools, pediatricians, therapists, the caregiver… and most importantly, we talk to the children and get to know them.' 'Which made a huge world of difference for us,' Wetzler said. 'Because we finally felt like we had support that she needed. It wasn't really about us, it was about her and the support she needed to get used to all these different transitions.' Wetzler said, when Johnson came into her life, she was at a breaking point. 'I was feeling kind of defeated by the system at that point,' Wetzler said. 'I had to let Aniyah go live in a rehab center with her mother. The other time, I had to let her go live at Cornerstone, which is part of the City Mission downtown. Those were very, very challenging for us. What brought her to our home finally was that, her mother took her to NYC and left her in a homeless shelter. It took me a week to get her back here.' Through the entire way, CASA was there to lean on. 'When I felt like, 'do we give up at this point? Is it just going to be this pattern where we just send her back to these situations? And just getting involved with CASA, it helped Aniyah a lot and it helped me work a lot of my own feelings with all of this,' she said. Aniyah's life took a profoundly happy turn at the end of last year. The week before Christmas, a joyous December day marked the culmination of a long-awaited adoption by her beloved aunt and uncle. 'She has a lot of spirit about her, and I believe that now that her home is her permanent home, Aniyah will thrive,' Wetzler said. 'Aniyah will have a good life. And Aniyah will go to college, and she will be successful, and we will travel and she will get to experience things that every child will get to experience.' Part of that life experience includes becoming 'best friends,' as Aniyah says, with Ray Davis. 'Many people are going to continue being in her corner,' Davis said. 'Whether it's family or not, I'm going to tell you: everyone is going to be an Aniyah fan at the end of the day… I'm one of her biggest fans too.' MHA is always looking for volunteers. Johnson said there are about 40 CASA volunteers right now and they need 100 more. To volunteer, you can call (716) 886-1242. You can also call that number for help if you need it, or Kelsey Anderson is an award-winning anchor who came back home to Buffalo in 2018. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scanlon says new location for Buffalo Animal Shelter to be announced soon
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon joined WIVB News 4 on Thursday to discuss the Buffalo Animal Shelter, his recently announced repaving plan, and other topics on the minds of Buffalonians. A new location for the Buffalo Animal Shelter has been decided and will be announced in the next couple of weeks, Scanlon said. A public-private partnership is currently being finalized. On Wednesday, the acting mayor announced a $17 million repaving plan of over 190 streets. When asked about the historic amount, Scanlon said large-scale projects will be done on Jefferson Avenue, Bailey Avenue, and Main Street, as well as spot repairs throughout the year. He also said they have repaired nearly 2,500 potholes since March. Scanlon said he is working to bring small businesses downtown, as well as more residents and that he wants to convert office space into residential space. View the entirety of this month's Ask the Mayor in the video player above. Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Amherst Police investigating ‘misuse' of AI by high school student
AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) — Amherst Central High School administration sent a letter this week to parents after it learned that a student used artificial intelligence (AI) to create and share content that included the names of several students and faculty. The letter by Amherst Central High School Principal Gregory Pigeon was sent out Wednesday to let parents know about a recent incident involving a high school student's misuse of an internet-based AI tool called Flow GPT. That AI software was used by the student to create fictional chat bots that included the names of several students, parents and faculty, as well as some images taken from publicly available sources like social media, according to a new letter that was sent out Thursday by Amherst School District Superintendent Anthony Panella. Amherst Police are now conducting a full investigation. While we still don't know the specifics of what happened, what we do know is this type of thing is being seen all across the country, varying in its degree, where inappropriate photos of students are being used to create artificial images and videos — often times for nefarious purposes. WIVB News 4 sat down with Barry Covert, a local criminal defense attorney, to find out what this could mean for the student responsible. 'Where you take a minor's head and use that face, or identifying information from them, and create deep-fake porn, and AI generated porn, that can be a federal offense,' Covert said. 'That can be under child exploitation, under child porn, possessing it would be a federal crime, distributing it even more serious, and producing it is very serious.' While the courts may be different, if the culprit is a minor, Covert says the charges would likely still be the same. 'It looks very differently when a minor is charged in federal court,' Covert said. 'Then there's different rights that are guaranteed to them in the state court as well — you've got family court, you've got juvenile court, but yeah, plausibly, they could be charged.' WIVB News 4 also sat down with a local psychiatrist, Dr. Wendy Weinstein, to find out how children who fall victim to this could be affected. 'Your social life can suffer tremendously, your self-esteem and identity can just be destroyed, you can become anxious, you can become depressed, you can self-isolate,' Dr. Weinstein said. 'You can even do things like, one of my colleagues was talking about, the possibility of self-harm … in the worst case scenario.' Dr. Weinstein went on to discuss the importance of how parents react and the type of support they provide to their child if this happens to them. 'Listen to the child or adolescent with open ears,' Dr. Weinstein said. 'If we judge, the child or adolescent is going to pick up on this and it's going to make them feel worse, and it's going to create a downward drift.' In the letter sent out to parents, Principal Pigeon wrote that they 'take online safety and student well-being very seriously. Please be assured that appropriate steps are being taken to address the situation and support those involved.' Rob Petree is an anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in 2025. See more of his work by clicking here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
