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May 6

2016

Latest Buffalo Billion scandal developments

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There were two noteworthy developments Friday involving the mushrooming Buffalo Billion scandal. Gannett newspapers reported that Alphonso David, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s legal counsel, has issued an edict that requires the bureaucracy headed by Alain Kaloyeros to run all decisions regarding the Buffalo Billion and nanotechnology projects in Albany past Bart Schwartz, who is heading the governor’s review of numerous state economic development programs. Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reported that longtime Cuomo associate Todd Howe has been fired from the law firm that employed him to, among other things, represent politically connected upstate developers. Howe is a focus of U.S. Attorney[...]

Posted 9 years ago

May 6

2016

Heaney interviews on Capitol Pressroom

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The Capitol Pressroom broadcast interviews Thursday and Friday with Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney. Topics of discussion included the Buffalo Billion scandal, the ramifications of this week’s School Board elections, and efforts by City Hall and Erie County officials to deal with Buffalo’s lead poisoning problem. The interview that aired Thursday starts at the top of the program and runs to 13:07. The Friday interview runs from 13:09 to 22:35.    

Posted 9 years ago

May 5

2016

Lawmakers balk at Poloncarz’s lead proposal

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The Erie County Legislature passed on another opportunity Thursday to approve the county executive’s $3.75 million lead prevention plan that includes eight new employees to inspect homes and help families that have children with elevated blood lead levels. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s 11-point lead hazard control plan released Wednesday was not enough to persuade county legislators to move forward with a separate action plan proposed by County Executive Mark Poloncarz. The city’s commissioner and assistant director of permits and inspection services told county legislators Thursday afternoon that the city plan focuses on education, collaboration with the county health department and[...]

Posted 9 years ago

May 5

2016

Recognition for iPost’s Charlotte Keith

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Charlotte Keith has been selected as a finalist for the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists, which honors the work of journalists in nation under the age of 35. Keith, a 24-year-old reporter for Investigative Post, is one of 28 finalists for local reporting based on her story last summer on continuing problems within the Erie County Department of Child Protective Services. Her story was selected from an entry pool of more than 250 stories. Finalists move on to a final round of judging; winners will be announced June 8. Other finalists hail from such news organizations as The Washington Post,[...]

Posted 9 years ago

May 3

2016

Lead poisoning worse than previously disclosed

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Buffalo’s lead poisoning problem – already recognized as serious – is much worse than previously reported by state and local health officials. Officials to this point have only released data that shows the number of children with blood levels that exceed the state’s threshold. Those numbers approached 300 last year. But new data obtained by Investigative Post shows that the number of children whose lead levels exceed a stricter federal threshold exceeded an estimated 1,100. Put another way: At least three times more children have harmful blood lead levels than previously disclosed. This in a city already regarded as Ground[...]

Posted 9 years ago

May 2

2016

Cuomo’s M.O. enables corruption

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One Albany insider told The Buffalo News over the weekend that “everyone is literally flabbergasted” at the turn of events in the federal probe of what can safely be termed the “embattled” Buffalo Billion program. I suppose the spectacle of Cuomo insiders turning on each other as the governor scrambles into damage control mode is a bit jarring. But no one who has been paying attention to Cuomo’s governing style in general, and his administration’s management of the Buffalo Billion program in particular, should be the least bit surprised. In short, the Cuomo crowd is obsessed with secrecy and operates[...]

Posted 9 years ago

May 2

2016

Heaney talks Billion probe on WBFO

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Jim Heaney of Investigative Post discusses the latest developments in the federal probe into the Buffalo Billion program with Jay Moran of WBFO. Heaney said the expanding investigation is unlikely to derail construction of the SolarCity plant or any other projects. He also said the allegations of misconduct are not surprising, given what he said is the Cuomo administration’s culture of secrecy and ethos that “the rules don’t apply to us.”

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 29

2016

Buffalo Billion probe targets Cuomo insiders

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U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s investigation into the Buffalo Billion, triggered by Investigative Post’s relentless reporting, appears to have targeted members of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inner-circle. The feds issued subpoenas to the governor’s office Friday, and, in turn, the Cuomo administration announced its own investigation and issued a press release that appeared to throw one or more close associates under the bus. Folks, this could get real ugly real quick. Those under scrutiny include Joseph Percoco, a top Cuomo aid and political enforcer who recently left the administration; longtime associate and lobbyist Todd Howe; and Alain Kaloyeros, the so-called nanotech guru who the[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post