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.

Jul 5

2023

Federal oversight ends of county jails

Editor’s note: This is the first story reported by Bruce Rushton for Investigative Post. Bruce joined the staff last week; he covers criminal justice. He can be reached at brushton@investigativepost.com. A federal judge has approved termination of a consent decree designed to improve health care and reduce suicide risk in Erie County jail facilities. At the request of county lawyers and the U.S. Department of Justice, which sued the county in 2009, U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny on June 13 approved dismissal of the decree created more than a decade ago to provide oversight of the Erie County[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jul 3

2023

Monday Morning Read

Subscribe for free to WeeklyPost and you’ll receive our weekly newsletter in your in-box first thing Sunday. It includes Jim Heaney’s recommended reading, below. Jim Shultz, writing for the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, rips into Republicans who control the Niagara County Legislature for taking steps to legally challenge reforms at the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. intended to address what state Sen. Tim Kennedy has called a “culture of corruption.” Western Region OTB has been turned into a political fortress manned by one of the region’s most powerful party bosses, its CEO, Henry Wojtaszek. Wojtaszek, who is also the husband[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 30

2023

Phil Rumore: An appreciation (of sorts)

Phil Rumore is considered Public Enemy No. 1 by a fair number of people in this town. His term as president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation ends today, and a lot of folks are happy to see him go. I get it. He can be obstinate. The Buffalo teachers he represents enjoy generous health insurance benefits through to retirement. Nary a teacher gets fired for incompetence. Settling grievances, of which there were many, could be overly difficult. But you know what? All these years, 42 of them, he was doing his job. He didn’t represent taxpayers or students or their[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 25

2023

Monday Morning Read

Subscribe to WeeklyPost and you’ll receive our newsletter in your inbox first-thing Sunday. Jordan Poyer just doesn’t get it. The Bills safety called off his charity golf tournament scheduled for next month at a Trump course in Florida because a number of participants balked at patronizing a business owned by the former president. In doing so, he threw shade at people for having political beliefs they act on. He equates it to ego. Poyer wants to put money in Donal Trump’s bank account and wonders what the fuss is about. Read all about it in the New York Post and[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 18

2023

Monday Morning Read

Subscribe to WeeklyPost, our free newsletter emailed Sunday mornings and you’ll get a summary of our latest reporting and what’s below – my recommended reading to start off your week. First off, have you noticed the changed typography in the print edition of The Buffalo News? It coincides with Lee Enterprises, the paper’s chain owner, dismantling The News’ design desk and shipping the work off to one of Lee’s satellite offices. Personally, I think the revised look is a step backwards. Speaking of Lee, a former newspaper publisher and editor down in Virginia wrote a couple of posts in his[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 5

2023

OTB board extends embattled executives

Editor’s note: Investigative Post and the Niagara Gazette share selected stories, including the following report from Mark Scheer, who previously worked for Investigative Post. Days before state lawmakers agreed to abolish their positions, the board of directors for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. approved new employee contracts for several members of its management team, including CEO and President Henry Wojtaszek. Documents available on OTB’s website show the board approved contracts during its April 27 meeting after exiting an executive session where directors discussed personnel matters behind closed doors. The minutes reflect only that the board approved the employee contracts. They[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 4

2023

Monday Morning Read

WeeklyPost is a free email newsletter delivered Sunday mornings. You can subscribe here. The Buffalo News published a good analysis Sunday on the dynamics that doomed Medaille University and how they threaten other private colleges, as well. I graduated from Medaille in 1977, after first attending St. Bonaventure University, and it’s weird to see your alma mater go out of business. I got a good education at Medaille; three professors stick out, Kevin Ransom, Ross Runfola and Roger Bonenfant. I also had a good adjunct you might have heard of: Irv Weinstein. He got me my first serious taste of[...]

Posted 2 years ago

May 28

2023

Monday Morning Read

Below is half of what you’ll get in your inbox Sunday mornings if you subscribe to WeeklyPost. Mike Desmond might be the longest tenured reporter in Buffalo. At least he was until WBFO fired him without notice, in the process stripping him of health insurance while he was recovering from a broken back. His dismissal prompted Mark Scott, who was synonymous with the station for four decades, to lambaste the station Friday in a Facebook post. He derided station management for not only firing Desmond, which he termed “unconscionable,” but for what he said was a move a year ago to “severely[...]

Posted 2 years ago