(Reuters) - A union benefits fund filed a class action suit Wednesday, accusing Walgreen Co and generic drug maker Par Pharmaceutical Cos Inc of overcharging for various generic drugs in a bid to boost profits.

The Federal Communications Commission plans to reconsider its blackout rule that allows the National Football League to prohibit local TV broadcasts of games that do not sell out, according to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. The Democrat earlier this...

ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - Alaska's record-breaking winter snowstorms have achieved a new milestone -- school closures in Valdez, a snow-tough Prince William Sound port that is on pace to beat its own season snowfall record.

America's trade imbalance with Canada ballooned by nearly $3 billion in November, according to figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. American firms exported $23.28 billion in goods to Canada in November, but U.S. con...

Today’s storm is of course dominating the Buffalo cyberspace. Keep it here for the latest news, photos, videos, tweets, and more. Submit your content here… Driving into the parking lot of the WBEN Studios at 5:30 in the morning: Related articles Buffalo gets wintry blast …

The new apartments at 1040 are nearly full and one of the partners behind the project is getting ready to start its next project downtown.  James Swiezy of Greenleaf & Company and Paul Kolkmeyer of Priam Enterprises converted the former Lutheran Nursing Home on Delaware and converted it to 49 rental units and office space.  The $5.5 million project officially opened last month.

"We are over 90 percent leased at 1040 Delaware," says Carrie Carney, head of marketing and leasing at Greenleaf.  "We are now leasing our Garden Level apartments on the first floor.  They are exactly like the other units except on the Garden Level.  They turned out exceptionally well and have all the amenities the others do."

"The hallways, parking lot and laundry facilities are now complete," adds Carney.  "The building has a completely different feel."

Rents at 1040 Delaware range from $850 up to $1,295/month for the one and two-bedroom units.

Swiezy is now turning his attention closer to downtown.  Greenleaf and Company has just put the contracts to convert the former Spaghetti Warehouse building at 141 Elm Street into 38 to 40 loft apartments and 2,700 sq.ft. of commercial space out to bid. 

The circa-1883 building has been home to a string of restaurants and bars beginning with Spaghetti Warehouse in 1988, Your Father's Mustache, Sweetwater's, and finally SensationZ which closed in 2004.  The 43,500 square foot structure was formerly a lumber mill operated by E.M. Hager & Sons and will be named Hager Lofts.

Swiezy says they will incorporate the building's architectural features into the residences and anticipates the project cost being in the $7.4 million range.  The project will be using historic tax credits facilitated by Preservation Studios.

Work on the project is expected to begin this spring.

Get Connected: Greenleaf & Company, 716.885.8538

The new apartments at 1040 are nearly full and the development team behind the project is getting ready to start their next project downtown.  James Swiezy of Greenleaf & Company and Paul Kolkmeyer of Priam Enterprises converted the former Lutheran Nursing Home on Delaware and converted it to 49 rental units and office space.  The $5.5 million project officially opened last month. "We are over 90 percent leased at 1040 Delaware," says Carrie Carney, head of marketing and leasing at Greenleaf.  "We are now leasing our Garden Level apartments on the first floor.  They are exactly like the other units except...

Owner blames injuries for team's big slump.

An Emerson High School senior is asking the board to add a seat so that student voices can be heard.

The Eyewitness News team is out in the elements as winter roars back. If you have a picture of what it is like in your area, e-mail it to: news@wkbw.com

Now that Delish! is hitting its full stride on Amherst Street (see original post), it's time to take a step back to see just what this business has brought to the Black Rock neighborhood. First of all, I never got a chance to showcase the opening of the second half of the operation. That's the part where all of the cooking classes take place. It's also the room where owner Deborah Clark does her daily food preparations for the lunch menu. "My classes are all sold out," she told me as she stirred the ingredients in the pots before her....

The music community battles to keep the blues alive on WBFO.

A Press Release from the Seneca Nation of IndiansThe Seneca Nation of Indians today took out a full-page ad in The Buffalo News pointing out in the wake of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pledge of $1 billion in incentives to the region that the Nation already invested that much in its local businesses. "The Seneca Nation of Indians Welcomes Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Pledge of $1 Billion to Buffalo and Western New York," the ad headline reads. "This is our home. Where we have invested $1 billion of our own funds to build new businesses and create new jobs." The ad comes...

A Press Release from the Seneca Nation of Indians

The Seneca Nation of Indians today took out a full-page ad in The Buffalo News pointing out in the wake of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pledge of $1 billion in incentives to the region that the Nation already invested that much in its local businesses.

"The Seneca Nation of Indians Welcomes Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Pledge of $1 Billion to Buffalo and Western New York," the ad headline reads. "This is our home. Where we have invested $1 billion of our own funds to build new businesses and create new jobs."

The ad comes on a day that Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter plans to attend a news conference at 10 a.m. today with State Sen. George Maziarz at the Niagara Falls International Airport.

The ad is part of the Nation's statewide campaign to promote and maintain its exclusive right to casino gaming in a "zone of exclusivity" agreed to in a 2002 state law. The Nation wants the law, an agreement known as a "compact"  maintained, even if the state decides to approve statewide casino gaming.

The Nation does not oppose statewide casino gambling, but expects state lawmakers to honor state law and retain the Nation's 14-county exclusivity zone. In his State of the State speech last week, Cuomo mentioned amending the state Constitution to permit casino gambling, a long process that requires passage by two successive Legislatures and a public referendum of the state's voters.

Today's ad also states, "The Seneca Nation's annual $1 billion business, combined with the state's promised $1 billion investment will keep the Western New York economy strong and growing. Honor the 2002 Compact. Support the Seneca Nation's exclusive right to gaming in Western New York." The add also promotes a web site, www.senecasmeanbusiness.com

President Porter reiterated that the Nation's regional monopoly comes at a high cost to its gaming business, both in money already invested and in revenues shared with the state and three host municipalities. The Nation, which invested $900 million over the last 10 years in three casinos and two resort hotels, has debt-service agreements based on that exclusive zone promise.

The zone needs to be protected by the state law on which the investment is based. The Nation's compact with New York states: "the Nation shall have total exclusivity with respect to the installation and operation of...gaming devices, including slot machines, within the geographic area defined by..." the area west of State Route 14.

President Porter emphasized that the 21-year agreement guarantees that the Nation's investment would be exclusive and he expects the state to honor the law the Legislature passed and Gov. George E. Pataki signed.

In return for that exclusivity, the Nation paid the state and its casinos' host communities - Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca - $476 million from 2002-2009. With Indian-owned and -run casinos, the state did not have to regulate casinos, create new levels of government to manage casino business or deal with repercussions on casino-host communities.

The Nation's statewide advocacy campaign opened Jan. 5 to emphasize its businesses' economic contributions to Western New York and to protect its exclusive right to casino gaming in the region, regardless of what the state government does to permit casinos in New York.

The Senecas Mean Business campaign is promoting the benefits of the  Nation's $1.1 billion economy, including the $125 million annual payroll for its 6,000 employees and the $167 million spent annually with local businesses and suppliers.

The campaign is also designed to increase awareness of the Nation and its rights for state legislators and average New Yorkers from other regions who may not understand its history and achievements.

On Dec. 12, the Nation formally filed for arbitration over New York's violation of its gaming compact that guarantees the Nation a 14-county Western New York exclusivity zone for casino gambling. The decision came after more than a year of unproductive discussions with state officials from two gubernatorial administrations. The Nation withheld what now totals more than $350 million in payments to the state, for gaming activity starting Jan. 1, 2009, because of the violations. Between 2002 and 2009, the Nation paid the state, and the three communities that host Seneca casinos, $476 million under the compact's provisions.

There have recently been assertions that host communities should sue the Nation to gain access to the withheld funds. However, the Nation has long held the local communities harmless in the dispute with the state and even supported legislation introduced two years ago in Albany that would permit the Nation to pay Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca directly.

Currently the host cities' revenues go to the state, which some 12-18 months later pays the cities.

Entry image courtesy of Google