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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.

Jan 31

2016

Latest Urban League developments

The transgressions of the Buffalo Urban League – submitting inflated bills to Erie County, failing to train employees, retaliating against whistleblowers – is an issue that Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and fellow Democrats on the County Legislature are wishing would go away. But it’s not. A critical audit issued in December by County Comptroller Stefan Mychajli was the topic of a hearing Thursday in which Republicans and Democrats clashed. Later in the day, Investigative Post reported the Acting District Attorney Michael Flaherty is reviewing the audit to determine if there are grounds to launch a criminal investigation. Jim Heaney[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 10

2016

Considering Mark Poloncarz

I’ve been on the airwaves the past week discussing Mark Poloncarz – his demeanor, his job performance, his supposed mandate. I appeared Sunday with Steve Brown on Outrages & Insights, my weekly video blog on WGRZ. I was interviewed last week at greater length by Susan Arbetter for a segment of The Capitol Pressroom that broadcasts on 20 public radio stations across upstate, including WBFO. I used to hold Poloncarz in relatively high regard, but have soured on him over the past year. Yes, he is smart (although thin skinned, and sometimes downright prickly). And he can be more forthcoming than your[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Dec 28

2015

Our top stories of 2015

We’re closing the books on our fourth year of muckraking, and a pretty good year it’s been. I’ll save the details for my annual “State of Investigative Post” that we’ll publish in February to mark our fourth anniversary. For right now I want to note stories that had particular impact in 2015 and ask you, our readers, viewers and listeners, to cast your vote for our best story of the year. In deciding what stories to pursue, we consider their potential for impact. As such, we don’t simply “drop the bomb,” so to speak, as in “write a big story[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Dec 13

2015

Urban League scandal demands further scrutiny

What to do about the Buffalo Urban League and its president and CEO, Brenda McDuffie? Something, that’s for sure. As our Charlotte Keith first reported, and an audit released last week by Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw subsequently confirmed, the Urban League has been overcharging Erie County for services that include working with families to prevent child abuse. To make matters worse, the Urban League retaliated against the caseworkers who helped expose the problem, firing or running off all eight of them. To make matters even worse, Urban League officials stonewalled the comptroller’s audit and, on the eve of its[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Dec 7

2015

Buffalo’s East Side awaiting a rebound

While Buffalo is recovering, there is plenty of room for improvement, especially on the city’s East Side. That was the consensus of a panel discussion moderated last week by Jim Heaney of Investigative Post, who shared his impressions with Steve Brown on the weekly edition of Investigative Post. Panelists said the East Side lacks organizations with the capacity to manage redevelopment initiatives. The relocation of African American residents away from development hotspots was cited as another problem.  

Posted 8 years ago

Dec 4

2015

Heaney on Alcoa’s latest subsidy deal

Susan Arbetter of Capitol Pressroom interviewed Jim Heaney on Thursday about the recent deal in which New York State agreed to increase its already generous subsidy package to Alcoa’s plant in Massena. The interview runs from 22:03 to 36:58.

Posted 8 years ago

Dec 2

2015

WBFO report on iPost event

Avery Schneider of our partners at WBFO reports on Investigative Post’s panel discussion Tuesday that posed the question: “Is Buffalo really getting its mojo back?” Panelists included Henry L. Taylor of the University at Buffalo, developer Rocco Termini and Buffalo Rising Editorial Director Newell Nussbaumer. The panelists agreed that Buffalo has recovered to a degree, but that much work remains, especially on the city’s East Side.

Posted 8 years ago

Nov 30

2015

Outrages & Insights: Diversity at SolarCity

There’s a problem with the pipeline that is feeding workers to the SolarCity project at Riverbend, Jim Heaney told Steve Brown on Sunday’s installment of Outrages & Insights. Heaney, referring to a story last week reported by Charlotte Keith, noted that African Americans accounted for only 5.7 percent of the construction workers employed at the SolarCity site during the quarter that ended in September. That contrasts with a city population that is 38 percent black. The project is nevertheless meeting its goal of employing a workforce that is at least 15 percent minority.

Posted 8 years ago
Investigative Post

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