Articles for J. Dale Shoemaker

Oct 26

2023

OTB lurches toward ‘new era’

The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. is entering a “new era,” its new board chair has claimed, a shift that could see the public gambling agency increase transparency and institute reforms. The OTB board of directors meeting Thursday marked the first time the group had met since state lawmakers in May fired the old board, ordered the 17 counties and cities that own the agency to appoint a new one, and instituted weighted voting, throwing control to densely populated, Democratically-controlled Erie and Monroe counties, along with Buffalo and Rochester. Those reforms came after more than four years of lawsuits, investigations[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Oct 19

2023

OTB shells out millions for lawyers and lobbyists

The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. has shelled out nearly $2.2 million for an army of 19 law firms and lobbyists over the past five years in an effort to fend off investigators, lawmakers and plaintiffs. The spending has eaten into the profits sent to the 17 counties and cities that own the public gambling agency, including Erie, Niagara and Monroe counties and the cities of Buffalo and Rochester. From 2019, when expenses started to take off, through last year, spending on lawyers and lobbyists cut OTB’s revenue sharing to municipalities by 10 percent. While some spending could be expected,[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Oct 5

2023

Feds move to cite GEICO for anti-union actions

The National Labor Relations Board has found probable cause to allegations GEICO engaged in anti-union activity in attempting to undermine an organizing effort at its regional headquarters in Amherst. Last August, two company executives said in an office-wide email to employees that they should feel free to call the police on union organizers visiting their homes. Organizers, who launched a union drive last year, said those executives later questioned employees about their support for the burgeoning union and made comments suggesting that joining the effort was “futile.” In recent weeks, however, the NLRB has found merit to charges of unfair[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Oct 2

2023

Feds shut down STAMP pipeline construction

Following three spills of drilling fluids onto federally protected land, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has ordered the Genesee County Economic Development Center to halt construction of a wastewater pipeline that will service its Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park. The shutdown, which the Fish and Wildlife Service notified the economic development agency of Friday, will continue until the spills are cleaned up and required reports and plans are completed and approved. The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued its own violation notice last week. Both agencies have said they could levy fines. The shutdown is the latest blow[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Sep 28

2023

STAMP pipeline drilling goes awry

The state has cited the developers of the STAMP industrial park for violations involving a spill of drilling fluids in a wetland through which it is constructing a sewage pipeline. Earlier this month, crews conducting horizontal drilling to construct the pipeline through the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge encountered sinkholes, causing 100 gallons of drilling fluid to spill into a half-acre area. The drilling fluid consisted of water and clay slurry, made from Wyoming sodium bentonite clay, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. It’s the second such spill since mid-August. The DEC, in a notice issued Monday, said the[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Sep 27

2023

Orleans County doubles down on pipeline opposition

Orleans County lawmakers, already engaged in a legal battle over a wastewater pipeline for a major Genesee County industrial park, adopted a resolution on Tuesday that solidified the county’s position, further entrenching the government against the neighboring economic development agency. Orleans County two weeks ago sued the Genesee County Economic Development Center — that county’s industrial development agency — in State Supreme Court over a sewage line for the Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park [STAMP] located in Genesee County’s Town of Alabama. The county asserts the Genesee County EDC has illegally pursued and funded eminent domain proceedings on its[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Sep 20

2023

Genesee County officials make misleading claims

Following a state Supreme Court lawsuit over a critical piece of infrastructure for its Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park, the Genesee County Economic Development Center has begun a public relations campaign. Beginning last week, just days after Orleans County sued the neighboring agency to block a sewage pipeline that would discharge across county lines, Genesee County EDC placed advertisements and letters to the editor in local news publications in an effort to defend its industrial park. The agency also published a new page on its website defending the wastewater pipeline. The advertisements link to the new webpage. There’s just[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Sep 18

2023

Wastewater from industrial park could violate federal law

Updated Oct. 4 at 3:02 p.m. Oak Orchard Creek is considered Orleans County’s “lifeblood.” Flowing south to north from Genesee County wetlands to Lake Ontario, it provides trophy salmon and trout a place to feed and spawn. The creek draws fishermen, $30 million in tourist spending and around $100,000 in county revenue each year. “Oak Orchard Creek is a huge — a huge — part of the fishery … it’s gigantic,” Lou Borrelli, captain of a fishing charter boat, told Investigative Post. “Generally speaking, most of the fish are going to be affected by the water quality, because if it does[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Articles for J. Dale Shoemaker

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