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Justin Sondel

@justinsondel.bsky.social

290 followers 140 following 200 posts

City Hall Reporter for The Buffalo News. If I’m not at work or home I’m probably at an ice rink.

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Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 19h

Updated again with comments from Jeremy Zellner, who is also rumored to be interested in the seat, and Michael Gainer, the independent candidate in the mayor's race.

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 20h

Here is my updated story on Assemblyman Jon Rivera's announcement this morning that he plans to seek Sean Ryan's state Senate seat if Ryan becomes mayor: buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

Jon Rivera wants to be WNY's next state senator ... if Sean Ryan becomes Buffalo's next mayor

Assembly Member Jon Rivera has made it official: He plans to run for state Sen. Sean Ryan’s seat, should Ryan win the Buffalo mayor’s race next month.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 20h

Here is my updated story on Assemblyman Jon Rivera's announcement this morning that he plans to seek Sean Ryan's state Senate seat if Ryan becomes mayor: buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

Jon Rivera wants to be WNY's next state senator ... if Sean Ryan becomes Buffalo's next mayor

Assembly Member Jon Rivera has made it official: He plans to run for state Sen. Sean Ryan’s seat, should Ryan win the Buffalo mayor’s race next month.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 23h

Breaking: State Assembly Member @JonRivera149 plans to run for state Sen. Sean Ryan's seat, should Ryan win the race to be Buffalo's next mayor. Story incoming.

Reposted by Justin Sondel

Lance Lysowski @llysowski.bsky.social · 2d

How much longer can the Bills wait on Tre'Davious White to improve?

They need more from both of their starting corners, but the CB2 spot is an area of concern because of White's play and injured rookies.
buffalonews.com/sports/profe...

Lance Lysowski: How much longer can the Bills wait on Tre'Davious White to improve?

White has allowed 12 catches on 15 targets for 119 yards, 9.9 yards per reception, and one touchdown. He doesn't have the speed to keep up with the league's best, Lysowski says.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 1d

Here's how mayoral hopefuls tell me they plan to address public safety, if they are elected: buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

How the candidates for Buffalo mayor would address public safety

The three candidates for mayor of Buffalo talk about their plans for public safety.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 2d

The car was buried as part of an art collective's project and was supposed to be unearthed in 2000. buffalonews.com/news/local/a...

An Oldsmobile 'time capsule' was buried at Artpark in 1975. New York won't let anyone dig it up

The plan was to excavate the station wagon 25 years later, in 2000. That never happened, and the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation still isn't budging.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 2d

I wasn't able to review the disclosures yesterday because the state BOE site, again, would not load.

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 2d

Nice scoop here from @journo-holly.bsky.social: www.btpm.org/local/2025-1...

'Thanks but no thanks': Sean Ryan rejects Byron Brown’s donation to mayoral campaign

Former Buffalo Mayor, Byron Brown, made a $1,500 donation to the Sean Ryan for Buffalo campaign committee, but Ryan’s campaign rejected the cash.

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 6d

Adrienne Garr comes into the position at a time when violent crime rates are decreasing. She and other city leaders hope to build on that momentum. My latest: buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

Director of gun violence prevention office looks to use collaboration, data to build on progress

Adrienne Garr comes to the city with more than 10 years of experience in the violence prevention world, most recently working for the nonprofit Buffalo SNUG as a social worker.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 6d

My latest:

Robert Gavin @robertgavinbn.bsky.social · 7d

From @justinsondel.bsky.social

A Buffalo city employee has been on paid leave for three years. He wants to return, but will he? buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

A Buffalo city employee has been on paid leave for three years. He wants to return, but will he?

Members of Buffalo's Common Council want to know why a city employee remains on paid leave, even though the employee wants to return to work. And despite his pleas to return, the employee fears he is ...

buffalonews.com

Reposted by Justin Sondel

Aaron Besecker @aaronbesecker.bsky.social · 11d

Buffalo's mayoral candidates detail plans to dig city out of financial hole
via @justinsondel.bsky.social buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

Mayoral candidates detail plans to dig city out of financial hole

This is the first in a series of articles detailing the candidates’ policy platforms on critical issues facing Buffalo as City Hall will see its first newly elected mayor in 20 years.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 15d

City officials tell me they hope they can salvage some of the construction season after dispute over bonding delays projects. My latest: buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

Judge sides with Scanlon, Nowakowski in bond fight with city comptroller

A judge has ruled that the city's comptroller must borrow the full $110 million approved by the Common Council last year in its capital budget.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 15d

A woman died in the Erie County Holding Center over the weekend, the first jail death this year.
by @sandratan.bsky.social
buffalonews.com/news/local/c...

Woman arrested on Tops shoplifting charge dies in Holding Center one day after entering custody

A woman accused of shoplifting $31.99 in goods from a local Tops supermarket was found dead in the Erie County Holding Center one day after entering custody.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 22d

The dispute over the value of city parking ramps continues as the Scanlon administration tries to move forward its plan to sell them to a newly-created authority. My latest: buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

Dispute continues over value of Buffalo parking ramps: Are they worth $40M to $60M?

Members of the nonprofit organization that currently manages the city’s parking ramps dispute the estimated value of the ramps as the city prepares to sell them to a newly created

buffalonews.com

Reposted by Justin Sondel

The Buffalo News @buffalonews.com · 24d

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided it will not clean up a small portion of the 7,500-acre Niagara County property used in the 1940s to produce TNT, and to later to store low-level radioactive waste from the Manhattan Project era.

Army Corps of Engineers says there's no reason to continue cleanup of a site that once held Manhattan Project waste

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided it will not clean up a small portion of the 7,500-acre Niagara County property used in the 1940s to produce TNT, and to later to store low-level radioactive waste from the Manhattan Project era.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 24d

With the general election less than two months away, mayoral candidates are ramping up their campaigns. My latest: buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

As November election approaches, Buffalo mayoral candidates ramp up campaigns

State Sen. Sean Ryan is the clear favorite in a city with a heavy enrollment advantage for Democrats. But to become mayor he will have to fend off Republican James Gardner and independent Michael Gain...

buffalonews.com

Reposted by Justin Sondel

The Buffalo News @buffalonews.com · 28d

Add Erie County Legislator Taisha St. Jean Tard to the growing list of elected leaders asking that the New York State Attorney General Letitia James investigate the Granville case as public pressure mounts.

Another elected official wants state attorney general to investigate Granville case

Add Erie County Legislator Taisha St. Jean Tard to the growing list of elected leaders asking that the New York State Attorney General Letitia James investigate the Granville case as public pressure mounts.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 28d

Yesterday our Natalie Brophy was on hand to watch 30 people gain U.S. citizenship. Here is her story: buffalonews.com/news/local/a...

At a time of national unrest over immigration, 30 people become American citizens in Buffalo

On Wednesday morning, 30 immigrants from 17 different countries became naturalized citizens of the United States during a ceremony in the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo...

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · 28d

The state DEC has been slow to release information on the Ischua Creek fish kill.
by Mackenzie Shuman
buffalonews.com/news/local/a...

Regulators stay quiet on Ischua Creek devastation following discharge from cheese factory

State regulators still aren't offering any details about what Great Lakes Cheese may have accidentally discharged into Ischua Creek, killing thousands of fish and badly polluting 8 miles of the waterw...

buffalonews.com

Reposted by Justin Sondel

Sally Herships @sherships.bsky.social · 28d

In a broken system, New Yorkers with wrongful convictions have limited options for getting their cases reviewed. For many, the attorney general’s conviction review bureau is the only option. But deference to prosecutors can get in the way.
@columbiajournalism.bsky.social @nysfocus.bsky.social

New York's AG Wanted to Review Innocence Claims. Politics Got in the…

The attorney general's conviction review bureau has investigated just a handful of innocence claims of the hundreds it's received since 2012.

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · Sep 9

Mayor Christopher Scanlon and Fillmore District Council Member Mitch Nowakowski have initiated a lawsuit against Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams over her refusal to bond for capital budget projects. My latest: buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

Scanlon, Nowakowski start litigation to force city comptroller to borrow

Buffalo Mayor Christopher Scanlon and Common Councilmember Mitchell Nowakowski have sued city Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams over her refusal to borrow money already approved by the city.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · Sep 8

The latest from @tsuj10.bsky.social:

The Buffalo News @buffalonews.com · Sep 8

"It's the opportunity to be at the table where you've got a voice," Houghton Academy teacher Keith Wiley said of his position on the Board of Regents. "A lot of teachers never get that opportunity."
buffalonews.com/news/local/e...

A new voice on Board of Regents: Buffalo teacher tackles state-level challenge

"It's the opportunity to be at the table where you've got a voice," Houghton Academy teacher Keith Wiley said of his position on the Board of Regents. "A lot of teachers never get that opportunity."

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · Sep 8

ICYMI: My colleague Steven T. Watson caught up with Byron Brown to discuss his first year on the job as Western New York OTB boss, a job he took after resigning as Buffalo's longest serving mayor. buffalonews.com/news/local/a...

'I moved on': Byron Brown is having too much fun at Western Regional OTB to miss City Hall

Brown defended his long tenure as Buffalo's mayor but said he picked the right time to shift to the far less stressful, and more lucrative, position of OTB chief.

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · Sep 8

More details from court docs in the trial of Red Carter's accused killers.
by @aaronbesecker.bsky.social

The Buffalo News @buffalonews.com · Sep 8

New court filings revealed more detail about a series of seemingly incriminating statements and actions by a teen suspect and his mother in the case of last year's fatal shooting of 3-year-old Ramone "Red" Carter.
buffalonews.com/news/local/c...

Court documents reveal more incriminating statements in case of toddler's fatal shooting

New court filings revealed more detail about a series of seemingly incriminating statements and actions by a teen suspect and his mother in the case of last year's fatal shooting of 3-year-old Ramone ...

buffalonews.com

Justin Sondel @justinsondel.bsky.social · Sep 4

From @robertgavinbn.bsky.social: a breakdown of Western New York's top lobbying firms and who they represent at the state Capitol.
buffalonews.com/news/local/g...

Report: WNY communities spent $1.54M lobbying the state since 2021

Ten Western New York municipalities have spent $1.5 million of taxpayer money in recent years to pay lobbyists to work in Albany on their behalf.

buffalonews.com