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Apr 11

2016

Urban League sues over critical audit

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The Buffalo Urban League, disgruntled after a critical audit by the Erie County Comptroller, is pressing ahead with legal action against the county. The agency filed an Article 78 petition Friday in State Supreme Court. A court date is set for May 10. Urban League President Brenda McDuffie said the comptroller’s report was “filled with factual and procedural errors” and that had harmed the agency’s reputation. The Urban League is not seeking monetary damages but wants the report to be withdrawn. Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw said he stands by the work of his auditors. He said the Urban League was wasting money on legal[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 7

2016

Heaney talks Trump, Paladino on ‘Pressoom

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Jim Heaney discusses Donald Trump; his Mini-Me supporter Carl Paladino; the race to succeed state Sen. Marc Panepinto; and Mayor Byron Brown’s inexplicable stances on lead poisoning and workforce diversity with Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom. The interview, taped and broadcast Thursday, runs from 22:01 to 36:27.

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 5

2016

Dan Telvock talks sewer overflows on WBFO

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On WBFO’s Press Pass, Investigative Post’s Dan Telvock discusses his reporting on the region’s sewer overflows and how they impact Scajaquada Creek and other waterways.

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 29

2016

Buffalo failing to enforce diversity law

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  Mayor Byron Brown has done a lot of talking about the need to provide job opportunities for people of color. He’s pushed some 210 businesses and organizations to sign his “Opportunity Pledge” and spoken in favor of apprentice programs that give young workers a foot in the door of the construction trades. The mayor, however, has failed to use a powerful tool at his disposal to promote diversity in the workforce. City Hall under Brown has failed to enforce a law that mandates the employment of apprentices on city-financed capital projects. “They do not enforce it at all,” said[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 28

2016

Cut to U.S. clean water funds could hurt WNY

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The House and Senate budget proposal includes a large cut in clean water funding that could threaten dozens of sewer repair projects in Western New York. Senator Charles Schumer visited Buffalo on Monday to urge Congress to reject the budget proposal to cut 30 percent, or $414 million, from the national Clean Water State Revolving Fund. States tap into this fund to offset the costs of sewer infrastructure improvements. Projects to stem overflows into the Buffalo River, Scajaquada Creek and other local waterways could be at risk, he said. “We can’t afford such a cut to the Clean Water Act, which[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 24

2016

Quick Hit: Buffalo Water has no answers on lead

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The Buffalo Water Board’s one-page info sheet about its lead testing program fails to provide much substance, especially for a city that still has a serious lead poisoning problem involving its housing stock. The water board’s online info sheet is in response to the catastrophe with Flint, Michigan’s water supply. What the water board has yet to release is the number of service lines – the stretch of pipe of that connects houses with water mains running under streets – that contain lead. The topic has not surfaced in any of board meeting minutes for at least three years. I[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 21

2016

Higgins interview at iPost luncheon

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U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins discussed a range of local, national and international issues in an interview March 9 with Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney. In perhaps his most noteworthy comment, Higgins gave poor to middling grades to local leadership for what he said is its aversion to risk taking.

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 14

2016

Buffalo: Real State of the City

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Buffalo is doing better, but is it doing as well as the politicians and much of the local press would have us believe? The answer, in a word, is “no.” That was the bottom line to my address Feb. 24 at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Progress has been overstated. There’s a lot of racial inequality. We’re a high-crime city where few criminals get caught. And Buffalo is a ward of the state. Charlotte Keith and I dug deep into the data to provide a factual, statistical framework on which I based my conclusions. Here they are, in a nutshell:[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post