Jul 4
2012
City Hall a “high risk” recipient of federal aid
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, weary of longtime mismanagement of aid, get tough in face of ineptitude.
Posted 14 years ago
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 4
2012
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, weary of longtime mismanagement of aid, get tough in face of ineptitude.
Jul 4
2012
Federal housing officials are tightening the screws on City Hall over its chronic mismanagement of anti-poverty funds. A series of critical reports and audits have documented problems dating back to the Griffin-era, but meaningful sanctions to this point have been few and far between. But the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is now moving on three fronts to force compliance from City Hall in how it spends about $18 million a year – three-quarters of it block grant aid that is the primary pool of money used to combat poverty in one of the nation’s poorest cities. HUD,[...]
Jul 1
2012
Amherst IDA director explains why his agency does what it does, often to the chagrin of its critics; discusses what we’re doing right and wrong to improve the regional economy; and recommends more of an emphasis on promoting entrepreneurs and making the area attractive to the “creative class.”
Jul 1
2012
Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney interviewed Jim Allen, Executive Director of the Amherst Industrial Development Agency, on the state of the regional economy and some of the controversial projects that have been subsidized of late by local IDA’s. Allen, in the interview that aired on WGRZ’s Daybreak Sunday, said: The state is much better off focusing $1 billion in aid pledged by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to promote entrepreneurship and nurture a creative class in Western New York than on trying to lure manufacturers and other large companies to the region. The regional economy is more diversified and otherwise in better[...]
Jun 27
2012
Haves and have nots: Median household income in Orchard Park is more than 10 times greater than in city’s poorest Census tract on Lower West Side. A look at wealth and poverty in Erie and Niagara counties.
Jun 26
2012
Think the city’s East Side is the most impoverished section of Buffalo? Think again. Poverty is even worse on the West Side. And Niagara Falls has its share, too. iPost unveils DataBank, a new weekly feature that tracks key issues by the numbers.
Jun 24
2012
Erie County Democratic Party chairman discusses his plans, upcoming elections and how long it’s been since he and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have spoken.
Jun 24
2012
Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney interviewed Len Lenihan, chairman of the Erie County Democratic Committee, on a range of issues, including his plans to seek another term. Lenihan, in the interview, which aired on WGRZ’s Daybreak Sunday, said: He and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is seeking Lenihan’s removal at the behest of Mayor Byron Brown, have not spoken directly in about a year. He is unwilling to declare, one way or the other, his intentions to seek another two-year term as head of the county party. The enrollment edge enjoyed by Democrats in the Senate district represented by Republican Mark Grisanti[...]