Articles for Investigative Post staff

Dec 13

2025

Vote for your favorite story of 2025

Our best story of 2025? You tell us. Our ballot listing 10 stories is posted below. They’ve been selected from about 230 stories our staff produced this year, in addition to 50 or so appearances we’ve made on Michael Wooten’s 5:30 Voices newscast on WKBW 7 News. Dale Shoemaker has three stories up for consideration, including his piece on U.S. customs officials holding families with children in makeshift cells for up to two weeks at local border crossings. Other stories of Dale’s on the ballot involve allegations of wage theft at restaurants in Niagara Falls and curiously timed campaign contributions[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Nov 10

2025

Book club event postponed

Our inaugural book club discussion scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 18, at Fitz Books, 1462 Main St., has been postponed until after the first of the year. The book, The Death of Truth, by Steven Brill, will remain the basis of our discussion, at a date to be determined. The book is on sale at Fitz’s. Our next event will feature Geoff Kelly and Jim Heaney interviewing mayor-elect Sean Ryan on Friday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. the Burchfield Penney Art Center, 1300 Elmwood Ave. Admission is free and requires no pre-registration.

Posted 2 months ago

Oct 24

2025

Panelists confirmed for community discussion on ICE

Investigative Post has finalized its lineup of speakers at our Nov. 5 event focused on ICE and immigration. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, 695 Elmwood Ave. It is free and open to the public. The event will feature a panel of speakers who work daily with immigrants and refugees, followed by a question-and-answer session. The program will begin with a presentation by J. Dale Shoemaker of his reporting on ICE raids, arrests and detentions of migrants in the region and the detention center in Batavia. Confirmed panelists include: Jennifer Connor,[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Oct 7

2025

Investigative Post event series is back on

Investigative Post is relaunching its event series with three programs scheduled for November and December. We took a long break as a result of the pandemic and have staged a handful of events the last couple of years, including popular benefit shows at Sportsmen’s Tavern featuring Tom Toles and Junkman’s Choir. Our plan is to stage events at least once a month. We recently brought Seamus Gallivan onboard to manage our events. His LinkedIn profile describes him as a “social connecter specializing in events, media, and community engagement.” Seamus is perhaps best known for his role in establishing Slow Roll[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Jul 9

2025

Investigative Post adds a reporter

Adam Smith-Perez has joined the reporting staff of Investigative Post. Smith-Perez, 33, is bilingual and will share reporting duties with I’Jaz Ja’ciel on Investigative Post’s urban affairs team, with a concentration on criminal justice. “I’m impressed with Adam’s energy and keen interest in social justice,” said Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney. Smith-Perez comes to Investigative Post via Report For America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. The program underwrites a portion of reporter salaries and provides training opportunities. Investigative Post is one of 101 newsrooms participating in the program[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Jun 13

2025

Tickets on sale for our July 31 benefit show

It’s been a long time since we rock ‘n’ rolled, but that changes Thursday, July 31, when Investigative Post reprises its popular benefit concert at Sportsmen’s Tavern. Tom Toles is teaming once again with Junkman’s Choir to entertain. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the music begins at 6:30 p.m. Be prepared for a blend of classic rock and Americana. Admission is $25. Tickets can be purchased online at this link. Proceeds will help fund Investigative Post’s reporting. We’re a nonprofit and the only news outlet in Western New York focused on watchdog journalism. Toles is the Pulitzer Prize winning[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Jan 7

2025

Geoff Kelly named associate editor

Geoff Kelly is the new associate editor at Investigative Post. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel Geoff Kelly has been promoted to associate editor of Investigative Post. Kelly has covered government and politics since joining Investigative Post in April 2019. “Geoff has an encyclopedic knowledge of government and the community at large,” said Jim Heaney, Investigative Post’s editor and executive director. “He’s also got a wealth of editing experience, which will suit him well as he steps into our No. 2 position.” He succeeds Susan Schulman, who shared management of the newsroom until her retirement last month. Heaney and Kelly will share[...]

Posted 12 months ago

Jan 3

2025

Bauerle story voted tops in 2024

Readers have voted Geoff Kelly’s story on the legal battle involving the family of talk radio host Tom Bauerle as Investigative Post’s top story of 2014. The story, published on May 9, detailed claims by the siblings of the WBEN talk show host that he schemed to defraud them of their share of their late mother’s estate. Kelly wrote: The lawsuit, filed May 3, alleges that Bauerle moved in with his mother, Dorothy, during the last two months of her life. Dorothy Bauerle died March 6. During that period, his siblings claim, Bauerle convinced their mother — “through duress, undue[...]

Posted 12 months ago