Dec 30
2013
Alternative newspapers found 2013 to be an unforgiving year. The Boston Phoenix closed and many others struggled. Readers in urban areas are losing out as a result. A report from Al Jazeera America.
Dec 23
2013
ProPublica highlights the best muckraking of 2013, from revelations regarding the NSA, sky high medical bills, unsafe work places, and more.
Dec 20
2013
The tax breaks for the Yahoo data center in Lockport just keep coming. The Lockport IDA on Thursday granted the company a sales tax waiver on equipment purchases for the next 20 years. This is but the latest in tax breaks granted by IDA officials. A report from The Buffalo News.
Dec 16
2013
The Center for Public Integrity references a yet-to-be-published federal study that found 50 cases of bladder cancer at the Goodyear plant in Niagara Falls through 2007. A chemical called ortho-toluidine is believed to be the trigger, but Goodyear didn’t reduce employees’ exposure for over a decade, and by that time it was too late.
Dec 16
2013
An analysis by the influential rating service on the clean energy project recently announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo concludes: “The long-term impact to the region may be limited … The clean technology industry is relatively volatile … and its ability to jumpstart a struggling post-industrial economy is untested.” A report from State of Politics.
Dec 12
2013
Forbes reports that a national jobs survey has found only one metropolitan region in the country is projecting negative job growth in the coming year. Yeah, you guessed where. Click the title of this post for the full survey.
Dec 10
2013
Corporate tax breaks and grants total $1.7 billion this year alone in New York State. That’s up three-fold since 2005. The ROI? Employment is down. A devastating analysis by David Cay Johnston for Tax Analysts.
Dec 9
2013
The governors of eight Northeast states, including New York, want the federal government to force Midwest-Rust Belt states to prevent coal plant soot and smog from wafting across borders. The solutions are costly air pollution control technology or closing the coal plants for good.