The Cheektowaga Police Department implemented a new training clarifying that officers can only detain people for immigration violations in limited circumstances, following a New York Focus investigation that found some detentions last year may have been illegal.

New York Focus found that police in Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo, called US Border Patrol when they encountered people they suspected of being in the country illegally or whose identification documents they didn’t trust, resulting in at least 15 people being taken into federal custody for immigration proceedings. A state appellate court ruled in 2018 that local police can’t detain people for civil immigration offenses, like overstaying a visa, without a warrant.

Most of the people arrested by Border Patrol had been charged with minor crimes like shoplifting, or no crime at all, according to police incident reports. One of them, a Cuban citizen identified in court filings as JMA, argued that Cheektowaga police violated state law by detaining him after processing his shoplifting charge — which was later dismissed — so that Border Patrol could take him into custody.

Months before Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans to expand a key tax credit for the theater industry, Broadway producers showered cash on her re-election campaign.

In her executive budget on Tuesday, Hochul proposed adding $150 million to the New York City Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit, which covers production costs up to $3 million apiece for Broadway shows and lesser amounts for smaller shows. First created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021 as a one-year lifeline during the pandemic, the tax credit has since been extended three times and expanded by $300 million. That’s despite complaints from watchdogs that the program often funds big, well-resourced hit shows like “The Lion King,” “The Book of Mormon” and “Wicked” that they say do not need taxpayer money to survive.

Who is the governor meeting with? How much time does she spend fundraising for reelection?

When Kathy Hochul ran for a first full term in 2022, it was somewhat possible to answer those questions. Like her predecessor Andrew Cuomo, Governor Hochul released her schedule of meetings on a rolling basis, usually several months after they occurred.

The schedules indicated that Hochul’s record-breaking campaign fundraising was fueled by constant meetings with donors — and that on several occasions, she’d improperly billed taxpayers for trips on state aircraft that included campaign activity.

As Hochul runs for a second full term this year, the public no longer has that view into how she’s spending her time. That’s because the most recent schedules her office has released are from September 2024 — more than 15 months ago.