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.

Nov 26

2023

Punishment not befitting the crime

In the wee hours last January, prosecutors say, Jones Woods threw a rock through a window at the U.S. Attorney’s office in downtown Buffalo. No one came. Woods left after 15 minutes, authorities say. Police found him later that day at the downtown bus station on Ellicott Street. After being arrested and charged with criminal mischief, he appeared in City Court the next day and was sent on his way. Ten minutes later, he threw another rock through a window at the U.S. Attorney’s office. “I knew if I came back here, I would go to federal prison,” he told[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 26

2023

Monday Morning Read

A subscription to WeeklyPost, our email newsletter, is free. What are you waiting for? There’s been a fair amount of horse race coverage of the competition to succeed Brian Higgins in the 26th Congressional District. Charlie Specht of The Buffalo News named the three leading contenders – Tim Kennedy, Mark Poloncarz and Byron Brown. Where do they stand on the issues? What sort of agenda would they would bring to Washington? Poloncarz is the most progressive of the three and has a solid track record as county executive and before that, comptroller, although there is the matter of him and Kathy Hochul[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 20

2023

License plate readers target minority neighborhoods

Buffalo police have quietly installed license plate readers at 41 intersections in the city, two-thirds of them located in neighborhoods populated predominantly with people of color. Buffalo police, in response to a Freedom of Information Law request for the department’s policies on license plate readers, wrote that they’re used for “law enforcement investigative purposes only.” While it’s unclear how the department now is using readers, police in the past used mobile readers to issue traffic tickets, at considerable profit to the city. Unlike many other cities, neither the police nor Mayor Byron Brown, their commander in chief, have made the[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 19

2023

Monday Morning Read

Get Jim Heaney’s entire newsletter by subscribing to WeeklyPost. John F. Kennedy was assassinated 60 years ago this week. It earned Dallas the moniker of “City of Hate.” One could argue the cancer has spread to the entire state of Texas under Gov. Greg Abbott – and beyond. Writes the Guardian: Six decades later, the city has grown beyond recognition and come a long way in grappling with that legacy. But the forces that turned Dealey Plaza into a white hot crucible are arguably more prevalent than ever. A 24-hour news cycle; gun violence; casual accusations of treason; rightwing extremism[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 15

2023

Finally, answers on sheriff’s helicopter use

Since 2018, the Erie County Sheriff’s helicopter has rescued 14 people, according to records released by the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office has cited rescues to justify buying a new $10 million helicopter. The records don’t indicate if any of the rescues saved people in life-threatening situations, however. Here’s what records released pursuant to a Freedom of Information Law request from Investigative Post show: In 2021, the helicopter picked up two people from atop a grain elevator when one experienced a medical episode related to diabetes after the pair had climbed to the elevator’s roof, according to sheriff’s records and[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 12

2023

Monday Morning Read

Subscribe to WeeklyPost and you’ll receive our latest reporting and Jim Heaney’s commentary in your inbox Sunday mornings. Brian Higgins has confirmed he’s leaving Congress in February to take over the reins at Shea’s Performing Arts Center. The move has been in the works for a while, as our Geoff Kelly reported back in September. Higgins, in an interview with The Buffalo News, said Congress is “in a very, very bad place right now.” Yeah, Congress is a mess, but he’s known that for a long time. If he didn’t want to continue, he shouldn’t have run for another term. Once[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 6

2023

Hochul doubles down on a mistake

Putting a huge industrial park in rural Genesee County was a mistake to begin with. The site was too rural. It lacked infrastructure. Auto dependent. That was the conclusion of a smart-growth analysis mandated by state law. State economic development officials used a loophole to green light the location anyway, and Steve Hyde and his Genesee County Economic Development Center went to work, thanks to some $43 million in state assistance. For nearly a decade, progress was slow. The site, known as STAMP, or Science Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park, remained fields and farmland. No tenants were to be had.[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 5

2023

Monday Morning Read

Get Monday Morning Read delivered to your inbox Sunday mornings by subscribing here. Moog, which shook down the Erie County IDA for its 14th subsidy earlier this year, reported a 35 percent jump in profits for the third quarter. Reported The Buffalo News: “The company said it expects its ongoing pricing and simplification efforts to further improve Moog’s profitability in the coming years.” Ken Kruly has last-minute news regarding this week’s general election. Nick Langworthy was one of 24 House Republicans who voted last week to expel George Santos. The measure failed. Buffalo Rising had an interesting podcast interview with Frits Abell. I find this ironic: politicians complaining we’re[...]

Posted 2 years ago