66 Search Results for Scajaquada

Mar 21

2014

Scajaquada Creek: a Buffalo toilet

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Scajaquada Creek meanders through Buffalo’s most-prized park and yet it reeks of sewage and chemicals. This creek is literally a toilet, especially after heavy rainfall. Don’t believe me? Have a look for yourself: I snapped this photograph last summer while riding my bike through Delaware Park near Hoyt Lake. I smelled something putrid and this was the source. The chemical trails made rainbows in the water. Fish, some several feet long, ate the decay and whatever else was in this mess. I came back 30 minutes later and a group of immigrants  had dropped their fishing lines near here. Raw sewage overflows[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Nov 28

2023

Spending more on settlements than services

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The City of Buffalo will borrow $43 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman rendered a quadriplegic after a police officer hit her with his patrol car more than three years ago. It is the largest payout for a personal injury lawsuit in the city’s history. The city’s top attorney called it “unprecedented.” A city lawmaker called it “catastrophic.” With interest, the total cost of the settlement could approach $50 million, based on current lending rates for municipal bonds, adding nearly $10 million to the city’s annual debt service over each of the next five years.  That’s an[...]

Posted 4 months ago

Aug 14

2023

City authority hires Mayor Brown’s son

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The Buffalo Sewer Authority hired a new press information officer in April, but neither the agency nor the mayor’s office will talk to reporters about who he is or how much he’s paid. But payroll records and authority meeting minutes tell the story: It’s Mayor Byron Brown’s son. The minutes of the May meeting of authority’s board directors indicate Byron Brown II was hired in April at an annual salary of $62,665. His home address is listed as 14 Blaine, which is the mayor’s house. The authority’s payroll records show Brown II earning $2,161 as his biweekly base pay when[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Feb 21

2022

Celebrating a decade of muckraking

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A billionaire is pouring money — $15 million the first year of operation alone — to launch a nonprofit news organization in Baltimore.  Five foundations are putting up $20 million to start a similar venture in Houston. Me? I started Investigative Post with my credit card and an understanding wife. It was the fall of 2011. I had just taken a buyout from The Buffalo News, where I had worked for 25 years. I’d had enough. The paper was in the early stages of a downward spiral that continues to this day. I figured I had 10 years left in[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 7

2022

DailyPost

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Welcome to Daily Post, which we’ll produce Monday through Friday, featuring short enterprise pieces and summaries of full-length stories. Thursday, March 3, 2022 Cash calls it quits Kriner Cash has officially cashed out as Buffalo schools’ superintendent. He’s resigned after leading the district for five and a half years. The district’s Board of Education unanimously accepted his resignation at a special work session tonight. “Both the Board and the superintendent came to an agreement that we were going to part ways,” Board of Education President Louis Petrucci said. The full terms of the agreement aren’t clear — “You can FOIL[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 11

2022

Top iPost story of the year

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Readers voted Phil Gambini’s report on high levels of E. coli bacteria in local waterways at our top story of 2021. Blame it on the discharge of untreated sewage which is spewed into waterways after heavy rains.. Gambini reported: There’s a particular problem with the Black Rock Canal, popular with fishermen, the occasional swimmer and, most notably, the West Side Rowing Club and high school and college crew teams. E. coli readings consistently exceed safe limits — by up to 14 times — established by the federal government. “There are people coming in contact with water with E. coli from[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Dec 21

2021

Poor leadership on display in stadium talks

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It looks like Buffalo is going to keep its losing streak intact when it comes to major planning decisions. You know the history.  Expanding the University at Buffalo campus in Amherst is the mother of bad planning decisions. Add to the list running the Scajaquada Expressway through the middle of Delaware Park and dividing the East Side, and its majestic Humboldt Parkway, with the Kensington Expressway. The Skyway, anyone? And, of course, building a football stadium in Orchard Park. We’re about to see history repeat itself with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s announcement Monday that she’s good with replacing the stadium in[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Aug 2

2021

Popular waterways contaminated by bacteria 

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E. coli is a nasty waterborne bacteria that can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Authorities close beaches when levels exceed safety limits. But they’re doing next to nothing about unsafe readings in other local waterways. There’s a particular problem with the Black Rock Canal, popular with fishermen, the occasional swimmer and, most notably, the West Side Rowing Club and high school and college crew teams. E. coli readings consistently exceed safe limits — by up to 14 times — established by the federal government. “There are people coming in contact with water with E. coli from human feces every single day,”[...]

Posted 3 years ago