Buffalo Ny

To many labor unions and high-tech workers, the Indian giant Tata Consultancy Services is a serious threat -- a company that has helped move U.S. jobs to India while sending thousands of foreign workers on temporary visas to the United States. So when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) came to this struggling city to announce some good news, her choice of partners was something of a surprise.

The Buffalo area was all but paralyzed after a record-breaking snowstorm. The heavy, wet snow snapped tree limbs all over the western part of the state, leaving about 392,000 homes and businesses without power. At least three deaths were blamed on the storm, and a state of emergency was in effect in four counties, banning all nonessential travel. Branches and power lines lay draped across cars and houses, and normally busy downtown streets were still blanketed by up to 2 feet of snow.

A flood watch was posted Saturday as the region's record snowfall melted, and about 350,000 homes and businesses still had no electricity. The storm gave Buffalo its two snowiest October days on record. More than a day after nearly 2 feet of snow buried western New York, travel bans were lifted, stores had reopened and the Buffalo Sabres game was on. However, National Grid still had nearly 230,000 customers without power and New York State Electric & Gas reported 120,800 customers in the dark.

A man who sent 850 million junk e-mails through accounts he opened with stolen identities was sentenced in Buffalo to as much as seven years in prison for forgery, identity theft and falsifying business records. Atlanta-based Internet service provider Earthlink Inc. said it hoped the sentence and an earlier $16.4-million civil judgment against Howard Carmack would deter other spammers.

Federal agents descended on a working-class neighborhood in this old steel town near Buffalo on Friday, raiding several houses and arresting five men suspected of belonging to a terrorist cell, officials and witnesses said. U.S. officials in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said five men of Yemeni descent were arrested. A senior government official said the Justice Department plans to charge the men with providing material support and resources to terrorists. U.S.

After an unprecedented snowless November and December with temperatures in the 60s, Buffalo was hammered Thursday by one of its heaviest snowfalls ever. A storm that moved in on Christmas Eve dropped more than 2 feet of snow on top of the near-record totals on the ground, shutting down streets, offices and the airport. At least one traffic death was blamed on the storm.

Already reeling from a Christmas week blizzard, Buffalo residents coped Friday with 3 feet of new snow, the second-highest one-day total in the city's 170-year history. The city has received nearly 7 feet of snow since Monday, nearly as much as it typically receives in an entire winter. Officials have declared a state of emergency, with streets made impassable, mobile home roofs caved in and at least two deaths linked to the harsh conditions.

Hundreds of schoolchildren were forced to spend Monday night at supermarkets, restaurants and community centers after a powerful storm paralyzed the city with 2 feet of snow. About 2,000 students were expected to be stranded all night, authorities estimated. School officials stressed that all children were safe and being cared for, but some parents were frantic.

The National Guard was sent in Tuesday to help the city dig out after a surprise 2-foot snowstorm trapped motorists in their cars and stranded thousands of workers and schoolchildren overnight at offices, supermarkets, City Hall and restaurants. "It's like an army just came through and just started hitting us with snow, that's how everything looks," said 12-year-old Journey Cooper, one of seven youngsters who spent the night at a hotel.

I was in Buffalo, N.Y., and I should have stayed there. (Has anybody ever said this before?) It was snowing. The temperature was subzero. The city of Buffalo was like Siberia, except with restaurants that serve hot chicken wings. It was Fargo without the glitz. Nobody knew if Buffalo's airport would close. Planes were grounded all across America. My connection was in Chicago, but I wasn't sure O'Hare would be open if I could get that far. "Spend the night in Buffalo," suggested a friend.