Articles for Investigative Post staff

Nov 2

2021

Voters speak out on Brown, Walton

This story was written by Jim Heaney based on interviews by Investigative Post reporters with 120 City of Buffalo voters. The interviews were conducted at 19 polling places, located in all nine Common Council districts. Three-quarters of the interviews took place on election day, the balance during early voting last week. Participating staff included Layne Dowdall, Mark Scheer, Phil Gambini, Geoff Kelly and Nancy Webb. The election for mayor of Buffalo was not a Tweedledum vs. Tweedledee affair. Byron Brown and India Walton expressed sharp differences of opinions on the issues and about each other. Their supporters did likewise in[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Sep 2

2021

Campaign Notes

Welcome to Campaign Notes, an election blog we update daily with news and intelligence on upcoming elections, including the mayoral race. Geoff Kelly, our government and politics reporter, writes most of the entries, with contributions from other Investigative Post reporters. Email Geoff with tips. Thursday, Nov. 4, 11:50 a.m. Heaney assesses election with with Susan Arbetter How to explain Byron Brown’s landslide victory over India Walton? Susan Arbetter, host of Capital Tonight, put that question to Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney and here’s what he had to say: Investigative Post, in a previous story, identified four key strategies successful write-in candidates[...]

Posted 4 years ago

May 3

2021

Bar Association honors Investigative Post

The Bar Association of Erie County has selected Investigative Post as the recipient of its Media Award. Buffalo’s nonprofit investigative reporting center was among those honored  last week with a Law Day Award, bestowed on individuals and organizations who “have done extraordinary work in the Western New York community.” Over the past several years, Investigative Post has done a number of in-depth reporting on Western New York’s criminal justice system. Coverage last year included stories on police misconduct leading to costly settlements, the mistreatment of immigrants held at the ICE detention center in Batavia, problematic provisions on Buffalo’s contract with[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jan 6

2021

Top iPost story: Cost of police misconduct

The cost to city taxpayers of police misconduct — $11.9 million in legal settlements since 2015 — has been selected by readers as Investigative Post’s best story of 2020. The story by Phil Gambini cited 16 settlements that cost the city treasury up to $4.5 million to settle. Most involve excessive use of force or negligent driving. In addition, the July 16 story reported four ongoing lawsuits seeking damages for alleged police misconduct. Reported Gambini: The court orders and settlements have fiscal implications for a city struggling to close budget deficits, as well. Buffalo has spent $5.3 million on settlements[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jan 2

2021

Investigative Post adds two reporters

Investigative Post has added two reporters to our staff. Mark Scheer joins us from the Niagara Gazette and Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, where he served as regional news director. Layne Dowdall begins a fellowship following her graduation from St. Bonaventure University. Our reporting staff has typically included three reporters in recent years. The addition of Scheer and Dowdall brings us to four full-time reporters. They join Geoff Kelly, former editor of The Public and Artvoice, and Phil Gambini, who worked with Scheer at the Gazette. Kelly covers local government and politics, Gambini is relaunching our environmental beat that has been[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Dec 28

2020

Meet our new board members

Investigative Post has added five members to its board of directors who represent a cross-section of the community. New members include: Sarah Cohen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has worked at The Washington Post and New York Times, and who presently teaches data journalism at Arizona State University. Samuel Savarino, owner and CEO of Savarino Companies, and a past and present member of numerous nonprofit boards. Danielle Judge-Freeman, labor organizer for United University Professions, which represents the faculty and professional staff of the SUNY system.  Bob Confer, president of Confer Plastics in North Tonawanda and a leader in the local[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Dec 12

2020

Vote for our top story of the year

Investigative Post has produced 220 stories and other pieces of content in 2020. Our work has ranged from in-depth investigations, follow-up stories and blog posts to podcasts and radio interviews.  Our reporting this year covered topics ranging from misconduct by Buffalo police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, to assorted shenanigans at City Hall and the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp.  Those stories reached a large audience through our website and partners, starting with WGRZ and including WBFO, WBEN, The Capitol Pressroom and Buffalo Spree. This distribution network can reach[...]

Posted 5 years ago
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