Categories for Outrages & Insights

Dec 22

2025

The many costs of proposed data center

Published by

There’s a lot to not like about data centers. They consume a lot of energy, and oftentimes water, and usually demand a lot of public subsidies. All to fuel the operations — and profits — of the likes of Amazon, Google, Apple and Meta. J. Dale Shoemaker reported last week about a new proposal to build a massive data center at the STAMP industrial park in Genesee County, located midway between Buffalo and Rochester. How massive?  There’s its physical size: 38 football fields. And its energy consumption: 500 megawatts. That’s enough electricity to power practically every residence in Erie County.[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Nov 25

2025

‘Falls mayor in need of anger management

Published by

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 1 month ago

Oct 23

2025

From conservative to kinda crazy

Published by

Back in the day, Republican leaders in Western New York were conservatives. Congressmen like Jack Kemp and Jack Quinn. Erie County Executive Ed Rutkowski. State Senator George Maziarz. Party chairmen like Bob Davis and Jim Domagalski. Party leadership started down a slippery slope a couple of decades ago. Carl Paladino switched party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 2005 after his friend Tony Masiello, a Democrat, retired from public office. Mike Caputo, an operative who learned at the feet of Roger Stone, became a player locally when he ran Paladino’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign and his influence grew from there. Nick[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Aug 25

2025

The coming duopoly at Channels 2 and 4

Published by

Editor’s mote: This story was updated on Sept. 1 My item last week about the pending purchase of Channel 2’s parent company by Channel 4’s parent company generated a lot of traffic and a fair amount of speculation and hand-wringing.  Well, the deal went through last week and from what I’ve learned, there’s plenty of justification for continued hand-wringing. Alan Pergament of The Buffalo News wrote a good analysis on the local impact and The Washington Post produced an insightful analysis from a national perspective. Both are worth a read. (The Post story is a gift link.) Pergament wrote about[...]

Posted 4 months ago

Jun 26

2025

Buffalo’s mayoral election has been settled

Published by

The fat lady has sung. Sean Ryan will become mayor come January 1. The November election is simply a formality, barring any drastic unforeseen circumstance. Prior to the primary, Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon stated his intention to run on a third-party line if he didn’t win the Democratic nomination, although in his concession speech Tuesday night he said he had some “soul searching” to do. The cold, hard fact is that he was only able to garner 35 percent of the vote Tuesday. His strategy, should he continue his campaign into November, is to pull a Jimmy Griffin — supplement[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Jun 9

2025

Blah-blah-blah on the mayoral campaign trail

Published by

Most everyone recognizes that fixing the city’s fiscal problems is job one for whoever is sitting in the mayor’s chair come January 1. There are, however, a lot of other issues that deserve discussion and consideration during the final weeks of the campaign, leading up to the June 24 Democratic primary. Instead, I’m hearing too much blah-blah-blah. You’d expect the daily newspaper to provide the most substantive coverage, but I’m disappointed in much of its issues-related coverage that consists of publishing written statements from the candidates rather than reported analysis. Lazy journalism. Take the issue of police reform. In its[...]

Posted 7 months ago

May 26

2025

The right’s double standard on free speech

Published by

Today’s topic: free speech. It’s under siege. The right to protest. The right to publish. The right to speak your mind. Donald Trump is leading the charge, supported by his army of MAGA quislings.  Let me put the hypocrisy in context.  American Nazis and their ilk have long exercised their First Amendment rights.  Remember when the ACLU went to court to defend the rights of neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois, back in 1977. Or, more recently, the “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. You know, the one where marchers chanted “Jews will not replace us!” Few[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Mar 18

2025

Pegula ranked the worst owner in the NHL

Published by

The Buffalo Sabres are in fourth-to-last place in the National Hockey League standings.  They’re doing better than their owner. The Athletic, the sports arm of The New York Times, just released its ranking of NHL owners. Led by the Tampa Bay Lightning, seven earned a grade of A, based on a combination of factors, including their team’s on-ice performance and a survey of fans. Scientific, no. But telling. Fifteen owners graded out at B, including Jeremy Jacobs’s Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs, eight more at C and one at D, the Vancouver Canucks. Terry Pegula ranked dead last[...]

Posted 10 months ago
Investigative Post