Categories for Featured

Nov 13

2017

Zemsky pressed on Buffalo Billion projects

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Howard Zemsky, the state’s economic development czar, told state Assembly members Monday that state officials are pushing IBM to create more high-tech jobs in Buffalo. “The kinds of jobs that we’re going to see at the IBM center are not going to continue to be call center jobs,” Zemsky said. The state pledged $55 million to renovate and equipment the six floors of Key Center’s south tower to lure IBM here on the promise of creating good-paying, high-tech jobs. But, as Investigative Post reported last week, many of the employees at the company’s office downtown work call center jobs for[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Nov 9

2017

IBM another Buffalo Billion letdown

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Bringing IBM to Buffalo was meant to create good-paying jobs and develop a technology hub downtown. Three years ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state would spend $55 million on equipment and office space for the company to set up a “center for cutting-edge software development.” In exchange, IBM and its partners agreed to create 500 jobs over five years. State officials made the point over and over: these would be good-paying, high-tech jobs. But many of the employees in IBM’s Buffalo office, at least so far, are working in low-skilled, relatively low-paying, call center jobs. Most of them[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Nov 8

2017

Failing kids with lead poisoning

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Sherry Slaper was at wit’s end trying to help her lead poisoned daughter. She followed the orders of the Erie County Health Department by painting over the lead paint on her window sills and staircase, throwing away cheap Chinese toys that can contain traces of lead and obsessively cleaning her Kaisertown apartment. But her daughter’s lead levels did not drop. “It was a storm of emotions,” Slaper said. “You go from being angry to scared to sad.” Could it be the water, she thought? To be safe, she installed a water filter on her kitchen faucet. Then — and only[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Nov 7

2017

Testing to get the lead out

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The crisis in Flint, Mich., put a spotlight on the risks of lead in drinking water. The public water supplies in Buffalo and surrounding areas are not facing the same problems as Flint. Nonetheless, lead still poses a risk here because of our old infrastructure and housing stock. In fact, experts say there is always a risk of lead leaching into your tap water if you have a lead service line. Days after my story “Looking for lead (in all the wrong places)” in August 2016, I got calls from concerned Buffalo residents who wanted to know how they could[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Oct 18

2017

Land owners sue over radioactive waste

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Twenty property owners in Niagara Falls, Lewiston and Grand Island have filed a lawsuit charging that three companies acted with gross recklessness by directly or indirectly disposing of radioactive wastes that they knew posed a danger to human health and the environment. The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York on behalf of 28 plaintiffs who own or share homes, businesses and vacant land in the affected communities. Investigative Post reported in July 2016 that government documents show the federal Department of Energy and state health and environmental officials have known for[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Oct 9

2017

Schumer to EPA: finish radioactive cleanups

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U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer called on the federal Environmental Protection Agency to finish the $11 million clean up of radioactive hotspots in Niagara County. Investigative Post reported in August that the EPA abruptly left the county without finishing the work. That story caught the attention of Schumer, who was in Lewiston on Monday to urge the EPA to return to clean up the “invisible stain of radioactive waste.” “This is EPA’s job, they shouldn’t be backing away from it, they shouldn’t leave homeowners like Mr. Wade in the lurch,” Schumer said. Left in limbo are property owners in Niagara Falls[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Oct 4

2017

Entrepreneurs take state grants and flee WNY

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Cory Rosenfield knew the deal: in exchange for up to a $1 million state investment in his fledgling company, he would have to move the business to Buffalo for at least a year – and hopefully much longer. So, when he made his pitch to the judges of the 43North competition two years ago, he assured them this wouldn’t be a problem. “We are so excited to be making our new home in Buffalo,” he said. “We are here to stay no matter what.” Just over a year later, the company had gone back to Toronto – despite winning $250,000.[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Sep 26

2017

City Hall agrees to increased police oversight

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City officials, faced with growing concerns over the conduct of Buffalo police officers, agreed Tuesday to form a citizen advisory committee with Open Buffalo, an activist organization. The commitment came during a meeting of the Common Council’s Police Oversight Committee. Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda was in attendance and agreed to the advisory group. Details are to be worked out, and it is unclear whether the advisory panel will have any teeth. “I think [it will] provide more opportunities for folks in our community to be heard and for the police and council members [to] hear more directly from the community[...]

Posted 7 years ago
Investigative Post

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