Jun 8
2017
Jim Heaney talks with Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom about the challenges faced by local news outlets as the foundations of their business models erode and reader and viewer attention focuses on the actions of President Trump and other distractions.
May 25
2017
Jim Heaney tells Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom about the “outrageous” payments made by the Fort Schuyler Management Corp. to LPCiminelli on the SolarCity project. The reimbursements were reported Tuesday by Charlotte Keith of Investigative Post. Heaney and Arbetter conclude their conversation with a brief discussion on another Investigative Post story, this one done by Dan Telvock, about the state stocking a badly polluted creek in Niagara County with fish despite an advisory to not eat fish caught in the creek.
May 23
2017
It was an expensive dinner after a long day of meetings on the SolarCity project. A senior executive at LPCiminelli, the company building the factory, ate at an upscale Italian restaurant in Albany, joined by two architects working on the project. The cost of the meal topped $120 each. That night, LPCiminelli picked up the tab. But, ultimately, state taxpayers footed the bill. A few months later, the company listed the meal as a reimbursable expense under its contract to build the vast solar panel factory, the marquee project of the governor’s Buffalo Billion initiative, and was paid back, in[...]
Apr 25
2017
Jim Heaney handicaps Buffalo’s upcoming race for mayor with Susan Arbetter on The Capitol Pressroom. Heaney, in an interview taped April 20, said challenger Mark Schroeder, the city comptroller, faces an uphill battle against incumbent Byron Brown. But he cited several factors that could change the dynamics of the election, including a decision by Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant to enter the Democratic primary. Grant announced several days after the interview that she, indeed, intended to enter the race.
Mar 30
2017
Continuing a discussion that started Tuesday on Capitol Pressroom, Jim Heaney and Susan Arbetter discuss the “State of Subsidies” series published this week by Investigative Post in partnership with ProPublica and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Mar 28
2017
Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom interviews Jim Heaney on the “State of Subsidies” series being published this week by Investigative Post and select newspapers across the state. They were joined partway through the interview by E.J. McMahon, research director of the Empire Center for Public Policy, and Ron Deutsch, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
Mar 2
2017
Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom interviewed Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney on Thursday about his organization’s recent reporting on problems within the Buffalo Police Department. Recent stories include a story Heaney did with Steve Brown of WGRZ on the city’s low homicide clearance rate and a piece by Daniela Porat on a the inadequate monitoring of police conduct.
Mar 1
2017
Two years ago, Investigative Post and WGRZ teamed up to examine the Buffalo Police Department’s inability to solve murders. At the time, police were solving only about a quarter of homicides. A follow-up investigation which aired Wednesday on WGRZ found the department still has a low batting average. Police have cleared only 38 percent of murders committed in the past three years, including 25 percent last year. That compares with a national clearance rate of about 60 percent. Investigative Post and WGRZ found that police are clearing about three-quarters of murders involving robberies, domestic disputes, child abuse and the like.[...]