Jim Heaney

Jim Heaney is editor and executive director of Investigative Post. He was an investigative reporter with The Buffalo News from 1986 to 2011 and a reporter and editor with The Orlando Sentinel from 1980-86. His coverage over the years has focused on economic development, local and state government, politics, education, housing and transportation, and he was an early practitioner of computer-assisted reporting. Heaney has won more than 20 journalism awards and was a finalist for the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

Dec 8

2025

Buffalo’s incoming mayor begins to build his team

Mayor-elect Sean Ryan’s management team is starting to take shape with the announcement Friday of four deputy mayors. Three of the four are present or past members of Mark Poloncarz’s team in Erie County government. That’s a good sign — on the surface, anyway — as the county executive has been a competent administrator, the terrible deal on the Bills stadium notwithstanding. Past mayors have had one, sometimes two, deputies. Ryan’s approach is to give each deputy mayor a portfolio of departments to oversee. The most thankless assignment will fall to Eugenio Russi, responsible for the police and fire departments.[...]

Posted 7 days ago

Dec 1

2025

There’s more to local media than what the chains offer

Although local corporate media websites attract most of the traffic, there are a growing number of worthwhile websites and Substacks worth reading. Allow me to introduce, or remind you, of the best of them: Ken Kruly authors Politics and Other Stuff, which reports on, well, politics and other stuff. Ken has a particularly sharp eye when it comes to government and campaign finances. He also has a good feel for local and state politics. Charlie Specht writes Buffalo Muckraker on Substack, riffing largely off his work for Channel 2 and drawing from his knowledge gained through previous reporting gigs with[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Nov 25

2025

‘Falls mayor in need of anger management

Many politicians and bureaucrats drag their feet when they field a request for information from a reporter they don’t like or are asked about something they’d rather not disclose. But they at least go through the motions of responding – eventually. Then there’s Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino, who recently announced on his YouTube channel that he’s refusing to respond to information requests from the Niagara Gazette. Wrote the newspaper, in a story we republished last week: In his message, Restaino also suggested the newspaper and members of its staff have refused to “honor” an “obligation” to report on things[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Nov 24

2025

Stepped up government surveillance

The U.S. Border Patrol is no longer just policing the border at entry points such as the Peace Bridge in Buffalo and the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. An investigation by the Associated Press has found the U.S. Border patrol “is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.” Once limited to policing the nation’s boundaries, the Border Patrol has built a surveillance system stretching into the country’s interior that can monitor ordinary Americans’ daily actions and connections for anomalies instead of simply targeting wanted suspects. Started[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Nov 17

2025

A MAGA dream team or nightmare?

WKBW’s Michael Wooten reports that Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has recruited what I consider a “rogues’ gallery” of Western New York Republican operatives to help run her campaign for governor next year. Michael Kracker is chair of the Erie County GOP and a top aide to state Sen. Rob Ortt of Niagara County. He’s been named chairman of Stefanik’s campaign. Kracker most recently ran James Gardner’s bid for Buffalo mayor — a schizophrenic effort in which Gardner’s often intelligent discussions of policy were undermined by dark warnings against creeping socialism and rampant crime should Democrat Sean Ryan prevail. Ryan won[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Nov 14

2025

Investigative Post launches annual fundraising drive

Good journalism doesn’t come cheap. Here at Investigative Post, the stories we publish are often weeks, sometimes months, in the making. That’s because we’re doing original reporting that involves complicated issues or topics that people in power want to hide from public view. Our work requires patience and persistence, and the financial support of the Western New York community. We don’t sell advertising or charge for access to our website or newsletters. Instead, as a nonprofit, we rely on donations from our readers who value our work and believe in the importance of independent reporting. We’re in the midst of[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Nov 11

2025

“TreeGate” involving Niagara Falls mayor, engineer

Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino at a recent press conference. Photo via the Niagara-Gazette. The City of Niagara Falls paid a private contractor to remove trees in front of houses owned by the city’s mayor, his neighbor, and the city’s lead engineer, according to city documents obtained by the Niagara Gazette. City Engineer Robert Buzzelli included his own property and the home of Mayor Robert Restaino on a list of four addresses where trees were targeted for removal under a $20,000 contract change order authorized by city lawmakers in July, according to the documents. The documents, obtained through a pair[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Nov 10

2025

Creeping autocracy under Trump

The New York Times, in consultation with scholars, came up with a dozen indicators of creeping autocracy to gauge Donald Trump’s impact on our democracy. “The sobering reality,” The Times wrote, “is that the United States has regressed, to different degrees, on all 12.” Here are the benchmarks: Stifling dissent and speech. Persecuting political opponents. Bypassing the legislature. Using the military for domestic control. Defying the courts. Declaring national emergencies on false pretenses. Vilifying marginalized groups. Controlling information and the media. Attempting to take over universities. Creating a cult of personality. Using power for personal profit. Manipulating the law to[...]

Posted 1 month ago