ALABAMA – The public can hear from the developer of a proposed data center at the STAMP site in the Town of Alabama during a meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday.

Stream Data Centers will host an information session at the Alabama Fire Hall, 2230 Judge Rd.

The event is open to the public and advance registration is not required.

In addition, Stream has created a website which summarizes the project and responds to many of the concerns which have been raised to date in various forums. Visit streamwny.com to learn more about the project.

Stream Data Centers is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company is looking to build a 2.2 million square foot facility on 90 acres of the Western New York’s Science, Technology, and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP).

“When completed, the project would immediately create hundreds of construction and trade jobs to support development across years, offering stable, high-paying employment,” the company states on its website. “Once operational, 120+ long-term employment opportunities for high-tech, full-time jobs in operations, management, and trades. This is in addition to the hundreds of jobs required during the construction phase, which spans over multiple years.”

ALBION – Harry Papponetti, Albion’s animal control officer for more than 30 years, knew we were in for a rough winter.

In the fall he saw squirrels furiously stacking pine cones around his property. He had never seen anything quite like it. In October, he told the Village Board to expect a punishing winter based on what he was seeing from the squirrels.

“I told you,” Papponetti told the Orleans Hub before Wednesday’s Village Board meeting. “The squirrels were right.”

The area has been in the grip of bitter cold temperatures and frequent bouts of snow this winter.

The stacking of pine cones by squirrels as a sign of a brutal winter is believed to be folklore. But Papponetti is a believer that squirrels and wildlife knew extended harsh conditions were in store this winter.

He told the board deep cold and frozen landscape is bringing foxes and other wildlife farther into the village than in a normal winter looking for food. They didn’t stock up on pine cones.

Orleans also could get 6 to 12 inches more of snow today through Saturday

With wind chills expected to plummet to as low as minus 24 degrees tonight, the National Weather Service in Buffalo has issued a cold weather advisory for Orleans County and much of Western New York.

The advisory begins at 7 p.m. and goes until 10 a.m. on Friday.

“This is a potentially hazardous situation to be outdoors,” the Weather Service said. “If you must be outside, be sure to cover all exposed skin. Frostbite can occur in 30 minutes or less with apparent temperatures of 15 below zero or colder.”

Orleans County also is included in a winter weather advisory with Monroe and Wayne counties from 10 a.m. today until 10 a.m. on Saturday. Those counties could see 6 to 12 inches of snow in the most persistent of snowbands.

“Greatest snowfall amounts will be closer to the Lake Ontario shoreline and across eastern Monroe to Wayne County,” the Weather Service said.

Today is forecast for a high of 15 degrees with the temperature dropping to 0 overnight.

The highs in the forecast then show 10 on Friday, 14 on Saturday, 18 on Sunday, 25 on Monday and 26 on Tuesday.

Photo from State Sen. Rob Ortt’s Office: State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt joins his colleagues in the State Senate today during a press conference in Albany, unveiling their recommendations to bring down the cost of living in the state.

Press Release, State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt

ALBANY – State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt and members of the Senate Republican Conference today unveiled “An Affordable New York,” a comprehensive report including legislative recommendations to ease the high cost of living for New Yorkers.

The report is the result of a series of roundtable discussions held by the Senate Republican Conference throughout New York that focused on the key areas driving New York’s affordability crisis.

During the roundtables, the Senators heard from stakeholders and community organizations about a variety of issues including taxes and regulations, energy and utility costs, childcare, housing, insurance, transportation and commuting costs, and the cost of food and groceries.

Participants emphasized that while each of these components present affordability challenges on their own, together they form an unsustainable climate that makes the cost of living increasingly unaffordable for New Yorkers.

“Over the past few months, members of the Senate Republican Conference heard first hand from community members, business owners, and other stakeholders from across the state – and one thing is abundantly clear: New Yorkers are facing an unsustainable affordability crisis, and we continue to lose residents and businesses because of it,” Ortt said. “Despite Albany Democrats catching on to this buzzword, they continue to increase state spending, discuss raising taxes, and do nothing for business owners, all of which will only exacerbate affordability issues.”

The report makes a series of recommendations to help ease the burden on New Yorkers in several areas that were identified as major drivers of the high cost of living and doing business. Some highlights from the report include proposals that would:

Reduce Taxes

• Eliminate state personal income tax on the first $50,000 for single filers and $100,000 for married filing jointly. Lower the tax rate to 4% for single filers up to $250,000 and $500,000 for married filing jointly and 5% for single filers of more than $250,000 and more than $500,000 for married filing jointly that are below the millionaire tax threshold. This would provide a personal income tax cut for all New Yorkers, providing $30 billion in tax relief over its 10-year implementation without having to cut funding from vital state programs (To Be Introduced, Senator Rhoads)
• Exempt tips from state income tax (S.587, Senator Martins)
• Exempt overtime wages from state income tax (S.3914, Senator Martins)
• Freeze real property taxes for three years (S.8489, Senator Weber)

Reduce Regulations and Government Spending

• Create a task force to review the State Administrative Procedure Act, making the regulatory process more business-friendly by ensuring state rules are consistent, efficient and not overly burdensome (S.930, Senator Gallivan)
• Reduce bureaucratic red tape by requiring that when a rule is adopted that imposes a new administrative burden on a business, one or more existing rules must be amended or repealed to offset the cost (S.2371, Senator Ortt)
• Establish the New York State Commission on Regulatory Efficiency to examine state regulations and identify unnecessary and wasteful state regulations. New York has over 300,000 regulations, the second most of any state only behind California (S.6724, Senator Ortt)
• Require the Governor to hire an independent private professional service firm to audit state agencies and public authorities for any payments, claims or expenditures that appear improper, fraudulent or abusive. Such wrongdoing would be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agency (S.8661, Senator Ortt)

Lower Costs of Basic, Everyday Necessities

Energy

• Return unused funds held by the State from the New York State Climate Investment Account to ratepayers, providing nearly one billion dollars in relief to ratepayers at a time when utility bills are skyrocketing. (S.8461, Senator O’Mara)
• Provide a one-year utility bill tax and surcharge holiday and two-year green energy tax holiday. Government taxes and fees account for between 25 to 50% of a customer’s utility bill. (S.8463, Senator Rolison)
• Repeal the system benefit charge. The system benefit charge is a fee imposed on all ratepayers that provides money to NYSERDA and the PSC. Repealing such fees would lower utility bills. (S.7075, Senator Walczyk)

Housing

• Establish the First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act. (S.850, Senator Helming)
• Repeal All-Electric Building Act, which adds approximately $20,000 to $25,000 to the construction cost of a single-family home. (S.1167, Senator Mattera)
• Allow developers to comply with the less costly and less burdensome 2020 Energy Codes in lieu of the 2025 Energy Code, a $7,400 savings per single family home. (S.8621, Senator Mattera)

Childcare

• Ensure the Child Care Assistance Program is fully funded in the 2026-27 State Budget, so all eligible families receive proper help with childcare expenses.
• Supplement the State’s existing child tax credit by providing a $1,000 “baby bonus” refundable tax credit for all parents of newborns. (S.4487, Senator Ashby)
• Allow the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to grant temporary staff to child ratio flexibility during documented staffing shortages (similar to ones granted during COVID) and clarify regulations to permit directors to serve as classroom staff during shortages without penalties. Currently, directors stepping into classrooms to maintain ratios are cited. Citations have led to insurance cancellations, threatening center viability. (S.9049, Senator Rolison)

Senate Republicans will continue to roll out key initiatives under their Save New York agenda through the coming weeks.

Press Release, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) held a virtual press conference to demand that President Trump stop illegally threatening tariffs against American allies.

Over the weekend, President Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Canadian goods. He also said that the U.S. would levy a 25% tariff on South Korean goods. Earlier this month, the president threatened a 10 percent tariff on NATO countries unless the United States is given Greenland.

“As the president continues to recklessly and haphazardly threaten countries with tariffs, working New Yorkers and small businesses are paying the price,” said Senator Gillibrand. “If the president follows through on his latest threat to impose a 100% tariff on Canadian goods, New Yorkers will suffer. From fertilizer to electricity to car parts, Upstate New Yorkers rely heavily on Canadian products. At a time when prices are already soaring, working families shouldn’t have to pay more for what they need. I’m demanding that President Trump halt his illegal actions, and I will do everything in my power to hold the president accountable for the hardship he’s causing for New Yorkers.”

Last year, President Trump levied tariffs on over 90 countries, including a 35% tariff on certain Canadian goods and a 10% tariff on Canadian energy, energy resources, and potash. These global tariffs have already hit American families hard, increasing costs for New York households by an estimated $4,200. If the president follows through on his threats to impose further tariffs on Canadian goods, New York families will pay an even higher price, Upstate small businesses will suffer, and energy prices will skyrocket.

Senator Gillibrand has opposed President Trump’s tariffs since the start of his administration. Last year, she joined 14 of her colleagues in introducing the Small Business RELIEF Act to end Trump’s tariff tax and refund small businesses their duties paid. She also sent a legal brief with 206 members of Congress emphasizing to the Supreme Court that these tariffs are illegal.

Press Release, New York State Association of Counties

The following statement is from Phil Church, president of NYSAC and administrator of Oswego County.

As a result of new federal and existing state laws pertaining to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), counties across the state will be on the hook for an estimated $170 million in new annualized administrative costs that support the payment of SNAP benefits beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026, according to the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which briefed county leaders on Tuesday.

The new federal law lowers the federal share from 50 to 25 percent, requiring counties to pick up a larger share of the program costs. These are costs that will ultimately be passed on to local taxpayers, raising costs for homeowners at a time when “affordability” is the most pressing issue facing New Yorkers.

Counties across New York play a critical role in the administration of SNAP, ensuring that vulnerable residents receive the nutrition assistance they need. However, under the new federal law when the state’s benefit payment error rate in the program exceeds federally established thresholds of over 10 percent, beginning in FFY 2028 the resulting financial penalty of up to $1.2 billion will be shifted to the state, with no determination made by the state yet on whether part of that penalty will be shifted to counties.

We urge our federal representatives to work to delay the implementation of these new SNAP rules that will impact state and local taxpayers, and importantly, the residents who rely on these benefits. We are also calling on State leaders to work together with county officials to address the federal intent of preserving program integrity so that counties and our taxpayers are not saddled with these new costs.