Categories for Featured

Dec 11

2018

Buffalo Billion criminals get off easy

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Hold up a gas station and you’re looking at a minimum of five years in prison. Get napped with an ounce of crack and the mandatory minimum is five to ten years. Engage in bid rigging, and in the process violate the public’s trust and cost taxpayers potentially million of dollars? If you’re Louis Ciminelli, the sentence is 2 years and 4 months. For Alain Kaloyeros, 3½ years. Minus time off for good behavior, of course. And don’t worry about starting your sentence anytime soon. You’re a free man until you and your high-priced lawyers have exhausted the appeals process.[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Dec 4

2018

OTB’s part-time board enjoys gold-plated perks

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The workload is modest, as is the pay. But, oh, the benefits. The public service corporation that manages off-track betting operations in western and central New York provides free health insurance to its board members in exchange for showing up for meetings two days a month. And the perks aren’t limited to health coverage. Board members are eligible for dental and vision insurance, too. The coverage was described by one health insurance expert as “literally the richest plan available.” Indeed, board members have access to plans that feature a $5 copay for generic prescription drugs, a $15 copay for routine[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Dec 3

2018

No prosecution in deadly police shooting

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Editor’s note: The clip above shows the key minute of the encounter between police and Rafael Rivera. A second clip below expands on that video. In an announcement Monday, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said the Buffalo police officer who fatally shot Rafael “Pito” Rivera in September did nothing wrong and will not be prosecuted. That doesn’t mean the matter is settled, however. Rivera’s family has served a notice of claim, in anticipation of a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and police department. In addition, the family’s attorney said he plans to ask the state Attorney General to[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Nov 29

2018

43North winner delinquent on loan

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Four years ago, local manufacturing startup ASi was riding high, the first ever $1 million prize winner of the state-funded 43North business plan competition. Now, the company is in financial trouble. It’s not currently operational, has just one employee – the founder and CEO – and recently defaulted on a $250,000 loan from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency. In exchange for the prize money, 43North takes a 5 percent stake in each winning company. 43North officials say the struggles of one company, even a winner of the $1 million – the largest prize offered – don’t reflect the track record of the[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Nov 7

2018

Slowdown in Power Authority subsidy programs

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It’s an unusual problem: subsidy programs that can’t find takers. The New York Power Authority has two of them in Western New York. One provides low-cost hydropower to local industry, but a quarter of the pool of electricity lacks for customers and is sold on the wholesale market. The profits from the sale of this unallocated power are earmarked for a program that funds business activity and community projects throughout Western New York. But that money hasn’t been in high demand recently, either. Roughly $4 million sits, unused, in the fund and the board in charge of awarding the money[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Oct 9

2018

State finds police fault in Lehner drowning

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A state investigation into the drowning of Buffalo police diver Craig Lehner identified numerous problems with the policies and procedures of the city’s Underwater Recovery Unit. The report by the Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau of the state Labor Department concluded that Lehner drowned last October after his tether line became snagged on a boulder about 25 feet under water. The safety bureau faulted the police department on a number of fronts, including the inadequate training and equipping of Lehner. The findings mirror previous reporting by Investigative Post, which determined Lehner was not sufficiently trained or equipped to drive in the rapid[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Sep 28

2018

Successes and stumbles for 43North program

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 As the 43North startup competition, funded by the Buffalo Billion, enters its fifth year, organizers have made progress in addressing the program’s weak link: winning companies leaving Western New York after their mandatory year here is up. But, in a notable stumble, one company singled out to receive extra funding slipped through organizers’ fingers, moving all but one of its employees to Toronto earlier this year – despite receiving a total of $1 million in investment from 43North. “Jobs moving to Toronto after a year and a half doesn’t seem like a good investment,” said Kirk Laubenstein, executive director[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Sep 19

2018

Police policy seen as lacking on de-escalation

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The Buffalo Police Department’s use of force policy lacks “important provisions” and is “very weak” on the de-escalation of crisis situations, two national experts have told Investigative Post. The shortcomings, first documented by Investigative Post two years ago, are again open to question following the fatal shooting of Rafael “Pito” Rivera, 32, by a police officer last week. Video tape shows Rivera was running away from police when he was shot three times, including once in the back. No gun is readily visible on Rivera in the video, although police maintain he was in possession of a handgun and posed[...]

Posted 6 years ago
Investigative Post

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