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.

Oct 6

2024

They’re not knocking down their Frank Lloyd Wright

We knocked down our Frank Lloyd Wright office building nearly three-quarters of a century ago. Oklahoma still has one, although it’s not doing well, lacking an anchor tenant and up for sale after several failed revitalization efforts. An architect, writing in 1949, has this to say about the demolition of our Wright masterpiece: The Larkin Building set a precedent for many an office building we admire today and should be regarded not as an outmoded utilitarian structure but as a monument, if not to Mr. Wright’s creative imagination, to the inventiveness of American design. The destruction of all but one pillar[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Sep 30

2024

Apparently, crazy politics sells

The crazier Donald Trump gets, the more Americans lean toward the GOP. The Daily Beast just reported that an analysis of Gallop poll results found 48 percent lean Republican, vs. 45 Democratic. For perspective, back in 1992, Dems held a 52 to 40 percent edge, narrowed to 48-43 percent in 2000. Meanwhile, the Pew Research Center reported in April a dead heat among registered voters, with 49 percent leaning Democratic compared with 48 percent Republican. Pew’s benchmark year of 1994 found Republicans held a 51-47 percent edge. Pew last week reported polling results that included 88 percent of Republicans favoring[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Sep 30

2024

Unpacking Byron Brown’s move to OTB

Byron Brown is as good as gone from City Hall. It’s good for the city, given his nearly 19-year reign of error. Mayor-in waiting Chris Scanlon is an unproven commodity, but he’s got to be an improvement. But Brown getting a raise to take command of the troubled OTB certainly doesn’t represent good government. Here’s my take: Brown is making the move, as reported by J. Dale Shoemaker, for a couple of reasons, starting with money. The mayor is getting a huge bump in salary, from $178,518 to $295,000 next year and the possibility of still more in 2026 and[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Sep 27

2024

More newsroom cuts at The Buffalo News

Lee Enterprises is taking another bite out of the newsroom of The Buffalo News. A big bite. Sources tell me Lee has mandated that 10 jobs be cut from a newsroom that has an estimated 55 positions. Five of the cuts will come via either buyouts or layoffs. In addition, five vacant positions will be eliminated altogether. We’re talking downsizing approaching 20 percent, in one fell swoop. And it’s not just a loss of bodies, which translates into less coverage of our communities, but the loss of institutional knowledge when veterans walk out the door. Keep in mind that peak[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Sep 15

2024

Arena/stadium planning done right

They’re thinking big in Carolina. The hockey Hurricanes just unveiled an ambitious $1 billion plan to develop 80 acres into a mixed use campus. That’s on top of a $300 million renovation to its PNC Arena, which sits adjacent to the North Carolina State’s football stadium. It’s funny what you can do when you put sports facilities next to each other – located in the city proper, no less. Buffalo News hockey writer Mike Harrington noted the lack of progress around KeyBank Center, aside from LECOM Harborcenter and a couple of hotels. Alumni Plaza has been untouched for more than[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Sep 8

2024

So much for reforming OTB

The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. stayed true to form last week in hiring Byron Brown as its new president and CEO. OTB, perhaps the sleaziest government operation in Western New York, conducted what appears to be a sham recruitment process leading up to the mayor’s hiring. Officials have been largely silent about how they went about advertising the job, aside from Chairman Dennis Bassett telling The Buffalo News the agency posted the job on LinkedIn. LinkedIn? No ads in trade journals? No outreach through recruiters? If OTB did anything beyond LinkedIn, officials aren’t saying. OTB officials said 133 people[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Sep 8

2024

The continuing assault on the public’s right to know

On paper, New York State’s Freedom of Information Law is OK. Not great, but OK. In practice, however, state and local government officials often flout its requirements, using them not to produce records, but delay their release. The response of the state Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul hasn’t been to toughen the law to penalize bad faith conduct, but to add a requirement that public employees be notified when their disciplinary records are requested under FOI. Good government groups vigorously opposed the change, saying it places further burdens on a system already functioning poorly and could discourage members of the[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Sep 2

2024

NFL move could help – or hurt – the Bills

The National Football League last week voted to lift its ban on private equity firms owning a piece of franchises. That’s good news for Terry Pegula, who is looking to unload a minority share of the Bills, presumably to help cover stadium cost overruns. The Buffalo News published a good analysis of the NFL vote last week. The league’s move is partly in response to the escalating price of franchises and the dwindling pool of people able to afford buying a team. Looking down the road, the lifting of the ban could further come into play if Pegula decides to[...]

Posted 9 months ago