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.

Aug 26

2024

A newspaper like few others

Daily newspapers are tanking all over the county, including here in Buffalo. But not everywhere. The Minneapolis Star Tribune just announced a major investment to add reporters and open bureaus across the state, share content with hyperlocal news sites, and establish a philanthropic arm. It will henceforth be known as Minnesota Star Tribune to reflect its broader scope of coverage Reported The New York Times: The expansion is a rare big bet in the newspaper industry. Local newspapers have been shrinking across the country in recent years. A 2023 report from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern found that almost[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Aug 12

2024

Free speech may not be as popular as the Buffalo Bills

Mark Sommer of The Buffalo News has a good read on a new policy imposed by the Chautauqua Institute that stifles demonstrations, apparently out of fear that protesters advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza might show up at their gated community. (No one has.) Some folks are OK with the move, others are not, accusing the institute of betraying its self-proclaimed support of democracy and free speech. On one hand, the move is kind of surprising, given Chautauqua’s reputation. Then again, a lot of Democrats, including big city mayors who cracked down on Gaza demonstrators on college campuses this spring,[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Aug 5

2024

DOT plays gotcha on the Scajaquada Expressway

The Scajaquada Expressway isn’t a toll road. Not technically. But the state Department of Transportation has turned it into a moneymaker by surreptitiously installing speed detection cameras under the guise that a stretch of the roadway is a construction zone. As a result, DOT has been issuing a lot of speeding tickets – in the thousands, by the department’s own admission – to motorists. WKBW first reported on the situation, here and here, followed by The Buffalo News. As The News reported: Patrick Freeman, a retired police officer who spent 30 years on SUNY Buffalo State University’s force, has filed[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jul 29

2024

Trump vs. Harris: The heavyweight battle begins

I like to lead my Monday Morning Read with something local, but how can you ignore the presidential election? Maybe it’s just me, but it seems every time Donald Trump or J.D. Vance open their mouths, they alienate non-MAGA voters and turbo-charge supporters of Kamala Harris. Take, for example, Trump’s pronouncement the other day that there will be no need for elections in four years should he win the White House in November. Here’s a story and, better yet, the video. Then there’s the proposal floated by Vance in 2021 to give voters with children more clout at the polls[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jul 22

2024

Joe Biden: American Patriot

Politicians tend to be egotistical, me-first creatures. That’s what makes President Biden’s decision to withdraw as a candidate that much more remarkable. He faced facts and put his country ahead of his ego. Good for him, and good for us. Lindsey Graham, before he went to the dark side, described Biden as “as good a man as God ever created.” I wouldn’t go that far, but he’s been a good president who struck me as a decent human being – Gaza notwithstanding. While his legacy is yet to be written, it will no doubt include him saving us from another[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jul 15

2024

Buffalo’s ever-present hole in the ground

You could have read this, and more, yesterday if you subscribed to our newsletters. Doing so is just a click away. Perhaps nothing symbolizes the inertia that holds Buffalo back more than the site of the now demolished Memorial Auditorium. Portions have been redeveloped, most notably Explore & More, but much of the property remains a hole in the ground – literally – 15 years after the Aud was demolished. The inaction has been under the watch of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., a state agency, and Mayor Byron Brown. The lack of action was in the news last[...]

Posted 11 months ago

Jul 12

2024

Harsh words for costly OTB buyouts

State Sen. Sean Ryan, left, Assemblywoman Monica Wallace and Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. “Egregious.” “Self-dealing.” “Corrupt.” A trio of local Democratic officials used those terms and a few other choice words on Friday to describe contractual buyouts for three outgoing executives that will come at a combined cost to Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. of more than $500,000. During a press conference outside the OTB branch on Clinton Street in Cheektowaga, State Assemblywoman Monica Wallace, D-Lancaster, assailed the six-figure buyouts as “sweetheart” deals that are “wholly unnecessary.” Joining her in criticizing the deals were[...]

Posted 11 months ago

Jul 8

2024

Our entitled elected officials

Erie County Legislator John Bargnesi recently proposed term limits for Erie County elected officials. Most legislators were cool to the idea and County Executive Mark Poloncarz said last week he’d veto term limits if they landed on his desk. Poloncarz used the tired excuse that elections serve the same purpose. But they don’t. Paul Wolf of the New York Coalition for Open Government did a tally of county election results from 2001 to 2023. Incumbents won 145 of 154 elections. “We don’t have competitive elections for Erie County offices and we should,” Wolf wrote county legislators last week. “ What[...]

Posted 11 months ago