Press Conference: New Bills Stadium Document Overview

Erie County is joining with community organizations and partners to prepare for a once-in-a-lifetime event that will take place on April 8, 2024 as a total solar eclipse will occur and Western New York will be squarely in the Path of Totality for the experience. During this event our region will experience a complete eclipse of the sun for several minutes, unlike the partial eclipse witnessed locally in 2017. Today, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz joined with Buffalo Museum of Science Director Marisa Wigglesworth, Visit Buffalo Niagara President & CEO Patrick Kaler, Chair of the Buffalo Eclipse Consortium Mark Percy, and assorted eclipse enthusiasts to discuss the heavenly happening and plan for what could be one of the biggest tourism events our area has seen.

“The 2024 eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime treat that will put Erie County directly in the center of the action and we will be ready,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “Erie County will be allocating $100,000 to purchase eclipse glasses, in order that residents can safely see the phenomenon, and our Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services is already planning for any issues that may arise with the large number of tourists and visitors we are expecting for the event.”

“The alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun could prove to be an amazing one-time event for Buffalo and Erie County, translating into big business for our industry and beyond, and we didn’t have to compete to host the celestial event or promote it,” said Visit Buffalo Niagara President & CEO Patrick Kaler. “We hope travelers are inspired to share stories about their Buffalo experience, tell their friends and family, and plan a return visit.”

The Buffalo Museum of Science will be hosting a special eclipse-themed exhibit, “FIND WHY: Eclipse”, to educate visitors on what the celestial showcase is all about. On view now through April 2024, the special educational gallery invites Museum guests to explore the different types of eclipses, what makes these astronomical events so spectacular, and how to prepare to safely view this once-in-a-lifetime event from backyards across Western New York.

“We are pleased to be working with the Buffalo Eclipse Consortium and look forward to providing educational resources to the community so that they can prepare to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event next year,” said Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences President and CEO Marisa Wigglesworth. “We’re grateful to Erie Country for providing us with funding to purchase and distribute glasses to area residents so that they can safely witness the eclipse from wherever they find themselves on April 8, 2024 – whether that be at home, the office, or at one of the many eclipse events that will surely be held by local organizations and businesses across Buffalo and western New York.”

Mark Percy, Chair of the Buffalo Eclipse Consortium, added, “The Buffalo Eclipse Consortium has been organizing since before the 2017 eclipse to make sure as many people as possible can experience the coming eclipse safely. Our members include astronomers, teachers, informal educators, librarians, and many others ready to offer guidance and expertise to local organizations to participate in this once in a lifetime event.”

Buffalo Eclipse Consortium members include the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library; the Buffalo Astronomical Association; the Buffalo Museum of Science; the Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Reserve; the Planetarium Association of WNY (PAWNY); the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium at Buffalo State College; and the Williamsville Space Lab Planetarium.

Related articles

‘A lot of anxiety’: Top senators fear Trump is serious about grabbing Greenland



WASHINGTON — Greenland’s the talk of the town, which even has many Republicans nervous.

“The rhetoric going on now is irresponsible,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told Raw Story.

The rhetoric — including the White House declaring “all options” are on the table when it comes to obtaining the Danish-governed territory — has only been ratcheting up since last weekend, when President Donald Trump deployed the U.S. military to invade Venezuela and capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

“You have to take it more seriously than we did six months ago,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told Raw Story.

“Did you see this coming with Maduro?” Raw Story pressed.

“I'm still so naive that I took them at their word during their classified briefing in December when they told us they weren't interested in regime change,” Murphy said. “Yeah, it's hard to take any of this seriously, given that they have had very little compunction misleading us in the past.”

Murphy was speaking as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth went to Capitol Hill to give confidential briefings about the Venezuela operation.

With Rubio now slated to meet with Danish officials to discuss Greenland, an autonomous territory of the European nation, many on Capitol Hill are reassessing previous political complacency.

“I said all last year, ‘Ah, you know, nothing will come of it,’” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told Raw Story. “Obviously, it's at the head of my priority list now.”

Even many of President Trump’s GOP allies fear Congress will once again be left in the dark.

“It's hard to say what he's inching towards,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) told Raw Story. “They've kind of been a little bit all over the board.”

‘Wouldn't want to do it by force’

“In the New Year, where’s Greenland on your priority list?” Raw Story asked Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).

“Greenland was not on my bingo card two years ago,” Lankford said. “I don't even know how to answer that question.”

“Are you worried that this could be a distraction?” Raw Story pressed. “Or do you think it is key strategically?”

“No. There's some key strategic aspects there dealing with their own coast and dealing with the Arctic, there's no question about that, so that's a key relationship,” Lankford said. “It’s why we have a base there and have had a base there for years.”

To many Republicans, that relationship’s worked — so they don’t see any need to alter it.

“I wouldn't say it's a top priority for me, no,” Sen. Capito said.

While most Republicans on Capitol Hill don’t want to even entertain the thought of using the U.S. military to capture Greenland, they’re open to reassessing the relationship.

“It’s in our strategic interest to enhance our presence there,” Capito said. “I don't think that it's something that is a top priority for us, and I don't think it's something that needs to be grasped.

“Some kind of mutually agreed enhancement of our presence there would probably be a good start.”

Even so-called foreign policy doves — or isolationists — in the GOP are now openly courting the island country.

“It’d be nice if Greenland would decide they'd like to join the U.S.,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Raw Story.

“But I wouldn't want to do it by force. The only way that you'd convince Greenland to be part of the United States is by offering them things that would be to their benefit, not telling them we're going to invade them.”

‘Talk to the President’

With Russia’s war against Ukraine already straining NATO, bellicose chatter from the White House has U.S. allies nervous.

“Any type of move on Greenland, it'll threaten the existence of NATO, which will be inviting the end of the post-World War II international system,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) — the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee — told Raw Story.

“They'll be conceding, I think, to the Russians influence in Europe that they don't have now — and China.”

But few doubt that President Trump seriously wants the U.S. to take over Greenland — a reality which means many lawmakers are now fielding calls from their NATO counterparts.

“I'm worried that even these threats, even this rhetoric has stirred our NATO allies up so much,” Murkowski said.

“I've talked to the Danish ambassador, talking to my friends, the parliamentarians in other Arctic countries — the Nordic countries — and, yeah, there's a lot of anxiety.”

Still, even with Greenland the talk of this town, many Republicans still just shrug when talk turns that way.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) is chair of the nominally powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee but when Raw Story asked him about Greenland, he simply responded: “I don’t know.”

“Talk to the President,” Risch said.

Alex Jones – This video doesn’t show Venezuelans celebrating after Maduro’s capture

Video shows “millions of Venezuelans flooded the streets of Caracas” to celebrate Nicolás Maduro’s capture.

Governor Hochul, Mayor Mamdani, Police Commissioner Tisch Announce Crime in NYC Fell in 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOBEXTQEZtA January 6, 2026 - New York City,...

James Carville: The Real Reason Trump Invaded Venezuela

https://www.youtube.com/embed/WqiIBwic6Mc

Mike Lindell vows feeble ‘foundation’ will ‘secure welfare’ checks if he wins governorship



MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell vowed to use his feeble Lindell Foundation to secure the welfare system if he's elected governor of Minnesota.

During a Monday interview with Steve Bannon, Lindell reacted to reports that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) could run for governor now that current Gov. Tim Walz (D) had dropped his re-election campaign.

"Yeah, and Keith Ellison has been attacking me for a year ago, September, that my Lindell Recovery Network, by the way, also my foundation, which is going to have a lot to do with securing these welfare platforms in Minnesota," Lindell said. "I've been all laid out, ready to go, and Keith Ellison knows that."

According to ProPublica, the Lindell Foundation gave about $1,000 for charitable causes out of the more than $18,000 it had received in 2021 donations.