Someone once said Thursday is the new Friday. Whatever that means, here's the Morning Trail Mix from the trusty team of the Innovation Trail.
Tax breaks for craft brewers are now law.
Ralph Wilson Stadium gets a Lego doppelganger.
And: A transparent political strategy on display in western New York.
Business
Check yourself out. No, not in the mirror. At Wegman’s. The beloved grocery store chain has added lanes where the customer scans, bags and pays – without one of those orange-shirted Helpful Hands, writes Samantha Maziarz Christmann.
Rochester-based Paychex is on a roll and looking for more investment from Wall Street. (Matthew Daneman, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
A project in downtown Syracuse will benefit from a $850,000 grant from Empire State Development. (Rick Moriarty, The Post-Standard)
Government
Environmental hazards are usually lurking beneath abandoned gas stations. Cleaning those sites up takes well, you guessed it, money. Senator Chuck Schumer is calling upon Congress to re-up on a tax credit that would offset the cost of rehabbing these properties. (Johnathan Epstein, Buffalo News)
Earlier this week we heard thatbleak days are ahead for Erie County’s finances. Suggestions are coming in for how to fix the situation. (Denise Jewell Gee, Buffalo News)
Bottoms up! Governor Cuomo signs a law creating tax breaks for craft beer brewers. (Joseph Spector, Gannett)
Comptroller Tom DiNapoli may audit the Thruway. (Tom Precious, Buffalo News)
Turn that brown upside down: Syracuse to receive grant to clean up brownfields. (Ryan Delaney, Innovation Trail)
Education
The facelift of the downtown campus of Erie Community College is nearly complete. The 1890’s era building and architectural gem is a better version of its old self thanks to extensive renovations. (Jay Rey, Buffalo News)
Jinelle Shengulette of the Rochester D&C pens an interesting portraitof a local academic looking to automate the analysis of digital images.
Politics
Chris Collins’s strategy for winning his congressional race: associate his challenger with President Obama, over and over and over again. (Bob McCarthy, Buffalo News)
Buffalo Congressman Brian Higgins writes an impassioned editorial calling for further development of the city’s waterfront.
Agriculture
We’re not the only ones feeling the heat: cows are producing less milk due to high temperatures. (Diana Louise Carter, Rochester D&C)
Lego versions of large county-owned football stadiums
A Buffalo Bills fan(atic) built a replica of Ralph Wilson Stadium out of Legos. You have to see it to Bill-ieve it. (Marc Sessler, NFL.com)
