Ford’s future
Ford workers in Hamburg are eyeing what will become of their plant when the Ontario facility they supply closes, reports the Buffalo News. It's part of Ford's overall "transformation plan." More details about that are expected on October 20 when Ford's VP of North American Manufacturing speaks at the World Trade Center in Buffalo.
Wine center decanted and breathing, almost ready to serve
Ithaca's Finger Lakes Wine Center is on its way to an official open in November, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. Visitors will get a look at and taste of the regional wine industry.
Paladino’s march to the sea
The Post-Standard has a look back at Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino's campaign to bring Rite Aid franchises to Syracuse:
In the end, he built Rite Aid stores that created jobs, cleaned up some troubled street corners and put properties back on the tax rolls. Even some former opponents admit they fill prescriptions there now. The Syracuse strategy played out in communities across the state, as Paladino, the preferred developer for Rite Aid Corp., built 160 stores in New York and Pennsylvania. He also owns downtown Buffalo office buildings, where he collects an annual $10 million in rent from federal, state and local government agencies, according to The Buffalo News.
Bankruptcies continue to decline
Businesses in Rochester and Buffalo are failing less, according to the Buffalo News, as bankruptcies continue to drop:
The declines continued a trend that has been present all year. For the nine months to date, new cases fell 6.7 percent from the same period in 2009, to 6,861. That includes 4,407 in Buffalo and 2,454 in Rochester, down 6.4 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively.
Hunters out on the street
Hunters in Pennsylvania are worried about losing turf to natural gas drilling operations. From the Press & Sun-Bulletin:
With the region's hotels, bed and breakfasts and other lodging options operating near full capacity with drilling crews and other employees, fewer rooms are available for hunters who traditionally flock to the region during the fall and winter months.
Two on taxes
The Times-Union continues its subtly titled "Property Tax Nightmare" series with a look at families that have fled New York and its high taxes:
Some tax escapees, who are among the 1.5 million New Yorkers who have left the state since 2000, don't move far, slipping over the state line to Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Others flee to low-cost states such as North Carolina, Indiana and Tennessee.
A Canadian hydro-electric firm that receives Empire Zone benefits is being investigated following a Times-Union report about its hiring.
Innovative approaches
The New York Times reports that we're finally about to find out how Twitter will make money. Surprise, it's ads:
In the last two weeks, the company has introduced several advertising plans, courted Madison Avenue at Advertising Week, the annual industry conference, and promoted Dick Costolo, who has led Twitter’s ad program, to chief executive — all signs that Twitter means business about business. It’s Twitter’s biggest financial effort since April, when it introduced its first, much-anticipated ad program, Promoted Tweets.
In part two of what's becoming continuing coverage of driverless cars, we bring you a New York Times story about Google's foray into the machine piloted vehicles. It's apparently a secret, but it's hard to keep cars with no drivers under wraps.
Education
The debate about how to teach math to kids is playing out in Amherst, outside of Buffalo. The Buffalo News has the details about how a stay-at-home-dad with a Ph.D. in physics is lobbying for a more rigorous curriculum.
Six big charitable foundations are putting money into online courses for higher ed. The goal: to help cash strapped colleges reach more students, more economically.
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