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Jim Heaney

Jim Heaney is editor and executive director of Investigative Post. He was an investigative reporter with The Buffalo News from 1986 to 2011 and a reporter and editor with The Orlando Sentinel from 1980-86. His coverage over the years has focused on economic development, local and state government, politics, education, housing and transportation, and he was an early practitioner of computer-assisted reporting. Heaney has won more than 20 journalism awards and was a finalist for the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

Jun 27

2025

Scanlon ends his campaign for Buffalo mayor

  Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon during a press conference in his office earlier in his term. Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon, who lost decisively in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, withdrew his candidacy for the November general election Friday afternoon. Scanlon submitted paperwork to the Erie County Board of Elections to decline the nomination of the Good Neighbors Party, which he created in May. His withdrawal all but assures that state Sen. Sean Ryan, who won Tuesday’s primary in convincing fashion, will prevail in November. Two candidates remain on the ballot in addition to Ryan, age 60, who will be running as the[...]

Posted 2 days ago

Jun 26

2025

Buffalo’s mayoral election has been settled

The fat lady has sung. Sean Ryan will become mayor come January 1. The November election is simply a formality, barring any drastic unforeseen circumstance. Prior to the primary, Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon stated his intention to run on a third-party line if he didn’t win the Democratic nomination, although in his concession speech Tuesday night he said he had some “soul searching” to do. The cold, hard fact is that he was only able to garner 35 percent of the vote Tuesday. His strategy, should he continue his campaign into November, is to pull a Jimmy Griffin — supplement[...]

Posted 3 days ago

Jun 23

2025

Troubling transparency issues with local cops

Sandy Tan of The Buffalo News produced an excellent piece on the lack of transparency on the part of many local law enforcement agencies. Ignoring or slow-walking requests made under the Freedom of Information Law. Failing to release information about taxpayer-funded settlements involving public employees. Having a seemingly separate set of rules for dealing with reported criminal behavior when it involves a police officer. Not acknowledging property damage incidents. It is all part of a well-worn playbook now being followed in the case of Daniel “D.J.” Granville, the embattled Erie County Sheriff’s Office narcotics chief who has been on sick[...]

Posted 6 days ago

Jun 16

2025

Buffalo’s race for mayor, by the numbers

Last week, Ken Kruly, author of Politics and Other Stuff, published an insightful analysis of where the votes for mayor are likely to come from in the upcoming primary election for Buffalo mayor. Total turnout will likely be in the range of 30,000 – the average of previous elections.  Dividing up the vote five ways may mean that the winning candidate will need 12,000 to 15,000 votes … A solid base of support, buttressed by the financial resources available to get their messages across to the largest number of potential voters, moves both [Chris] Scanlon and [Sean] Ryan to the[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Jun 9

2025

Another alt-weekly is not in Buffalo’s future

Alternative weekly newspapers are “alive and well,” according to the Columbia Journalism Review.  I asked Geoff Kelly, my deputy editor, to read over the story and tell me what he thinks, as he edited Buffalo’s last two alt-weeklies before joining Investigative Post. Here’s what he had to say: We should be so fortunate as those cities where alt-weeklies persist. I’ve been editor of three alt-weeklies, one in Pittsburgh and two in Buffalo. Two are long dead, and the one where I started in this business, Artvoice — which used to be a force in this town — is an online[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Jun 9

2025

Blah-blah-blah on the mayoral campaign trail

Most everyone recognizes that fixing the city’s fiscal problems is job one for whoever is sitting in the mayor’s chair come January 1. There are, however, a lot of other issues that deserve discussion and consideration during the final weeks of the campaign, leading up to the June 24 Democratic primary. Instead, I’m hearing too much blah-blah-blah. You’d expect the daily newspaper to provide the most substantive coverage, but I’m disappointed in much of its issues-related coverage that consists of publishing written statements from the candidates rather than reported analysis. Lazy journalism. Take the issue of police reform. In its[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Jun 2

2025

Incompetency and arrogance in service to cruelty

Below is the complete verion of WeeklyPost, the newsletter we send via email on Sunday mornings. Our Monday Morning Read typically includes a portion of that newsletter; today, we’re publishing it in its entirety. If you don’t already subscribe, you can do so here. ICE did it again. Back in March it deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador in defiance of a court order, an action that generated international attention and condemnation. ICE officials said the deportation was the result of an “administrative error.” Not that they’ve attempted to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. Well, ICE[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

May 26

2025

The right’s double standard on free speech

Today’s topic: free speech. It’s under siege. The right to protest. The right to publish. The right to speak your mind. Donald Trump is leading the charge, supported by his army of MAGA quislings.  Let me put the hypocrisy in context.  American Nazis and their ilk have long exercised their First Amendment rights.  Remember when the ACLU went to court to defend the rights of neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois, back in 1977. Or, more recently, the “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. You know, the one where marchers chanted “Jews will not replace us!” Few[...]

Posted 1 month ago
Investigative Post