Free Republic

General Motors is investing $888 million in its Tonawanda Propulsion plant in Buffalo, New York, "to support the production of the sixth generation of GM’s V-8 engines," the automaker announced Tuesday. The investment is a shift from a previously announced $300 million commitment to make electric-vehicle drive units at the plant, as the V-8 engines are used in GM's full-sized trucks and SUVs. GM says the newer engines will provide drivers better fuel economy and reduce emissions by utilizing "new combustion and thermal management innovations." "Our significant investments in GM’s Tonawanda Propulsion plant show our commitment to strengthening American manufacturing...

The policy would not allow officers to request sexual gratuities under any circumstance, but in the event that such a non-monetary gratuity is offered, the officer would not be punished for accepting it, so long as the encounter is less than 15 minutes and the officer declines to take his next scheduled 15 minute break... “In this political environment, with all the horrible things being said about our police officers in the national media, this policy would be a real morale booster,” says Karen, a Tonawanda resident and supporter of the policy change who asked that her last name not...

Tonawanda Island is overrun with forgotten felines.They might not have a council or a conch, but cats have completely taken over an island in the middle of the Niagara River in New York. Locals estimate that Tonawanda Island now has hundreds of abandoned and feral cats roaming its shores. People don't live on the 85-acre island year-round, but the cats now do. Word about the cat population has apparently spread because people will come to the island specifically to drop off their unwanted feline friends. "They're throughout the whole island," Mike Charnock, the owner of the Shores Waterfront Restaurant &...

Gov. David Paterson is heading near Indian Country to sign a bill that would call for the state to collect taxes on sales by Indian retailers. Despite urgings by the Seneca Nation for the governor to veto the measure, he is traveling to Oneida County to sign the legislation in Utica on Monday

New taxes, deep cuts to education and health care, and a restructuring of the state's economic development programs will be hallmarks of Gov. David Paterson's first budget plan to be released in two days, according to interviews of people briefed on components. The plan will come with a host of revenue raisers — increased taxes on hospitals and insurance policies, for instance — and at least one new assessment, a so-called obesity tax on non-diet soda to raise $404 million. The governor also is contemplating requiring new license plates to raise cash, reviving sales tax on clothing purchases, removing the...