Categories for Broadcast on Channel 7

Mar 4

2025

An unusual housing discrimination case

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For only the third time in the past decade the City of Buffalo is using its fair housing law to sue a landlord and his property manager. The city usually prosecutes negligent property owners in City Housing Court, but for reasons officials refuse to discuss, the landlord was never taken to Housing Court despite a history of repeated code violations. The case involves a property at 323 Dewey Ave. in northeast Buffalo. The lawsuit contends mold inside the house caused health problems for tenant Zakkiyya Carter and her underaged son. The city is suing Kapil Verma, his company Vaastu Energy[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Feb 27

2025

ICE’s extensive use of solitary confinement in Batavia

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Lansine Sidibe serves a coconut to a child in Sao Paulo, Brazil, prior to his emigration to the United States. Photo via Kathleen Maynard. Like many migrants, Lansine Sidibe came to the United States in 2022 seeking asylum, first fleeing war in his home country Mali and later threats of violence in Brazil. But instead of finding a new home, Sidibe spent every single day of the last 32 months in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, much of that time at the agency’s Batavia facility. For 10 of those months, Sidibe was held in solitary confinement.  Such treatment[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Feb 20

2025

ICE abuse of detainees in Batavia facility

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Recent federal audits of the ICE detention facility in Batavia have documented instances of inhumane treatment of detainees by guards. The audits, conducted in 2023 and last year, found instances of excessive use of force, the shackling of detainees held in solitary confinement for the little time they were allowed out of their cells, and the use of physician assistants to perform dental work on detainees. Former detainees and their representatives paint an even darker picture of conditions inside the facility. Guards beating up detainees is not uncommon, they said. Solitary confinement is a frequent punishment, sometimes in lengthy durations[...]

Posted 4 months ago

Feb 13

2025

“Detective Hy was repeatedly discourteous and unprofessional”

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The state attorney general over the past four years has investigated 10 Buffalo police officers repeatedly accused of misconduct. The investigations found “no pattern” of misconduct by six of those officers, and in two other cases the inquiries were dropped because the officers left the force.  Twice, however, the attorney general’s investigators threw penalty flags. The latest cop to be scrutinized: Detective Richard Hy, who has been a notorious figure for much of his 13-year career. “Detective Hy was repeatedly discourteous and unprofessional during encounters with civilians and escalated the encounters, including by using physical force,” Tyler Nims, head of[...]

Posted 4 months ago

Feb 12

2025

More subsidies for restaurateur accused of wage theft

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The  Niagara County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday unanimously approved nearly $247,000 in tax breaks to a fast food operator being investigated on allegations of wage theft and other labor law violations. The IDA board did not discuss the allegations before granting the subsidy to Muhammad Shoaib, whose other fast food operations previously have received subsidies totaling close to a half million dollars. The latest round of assistance for Shoaib’s businesses comes as the state labor department probes allegations of wage theft made by several of his former employees. At least two have submitted complaints to the labor department that[...]

Posted 4 months ago

Dec 17

2024

Departing OTB chief splurged on travel

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Henry Wojtaszek is going out in style. The departing president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. traveled grandly during his final year on the job, records show.  Consider:  A three-night stay at a swanky hotel on the Las Vegas Strip at a cost of $3,300.  A $1,600 tab — dinner for five — at a top-rated Las Vegas steakhouse owned by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck during that same trip.  An August trip to Saratoga Springs that included a $2,420 tab — dinner for nine — at a farm-to-table steakhouse. And an overnight stay at a four-star New York[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Dec 10

2024

Buffalo schools replacing lead poisoning risks

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Buffalo’s challenge to address lead poisoning of children includes cleaning up contaminated water sources in city schools. Lead in school water isn’t a result of lead pipes leading from streets or in the buildings, but plumbing fixtures, school officials said. Testing conducted in 2022 and 2023 revealed 237 fixtures, including water fountains, with lead levels above current state limits, Investigative Post found. Lead-contaminated water fountains and cafeteria fixtures — 34 fountains and 19 kitchen/cafeteria faucets and kettles, according to an Investigative Post count — have been replaced districtwide over the past few years, school officials said. “Fixtures that are used[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Dec 5

2024

Report: Jail death “may have been preventable”

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Story updated Dec. 8. Sean Riordan’s death might have been prevented if he was given proper medical care while an inmate at the Erie County Holding Center in 2022, a state oversight commission has concluded. Instead, the holding center staff failed to transfer Riordan to a hospital for alcohol withdrawal treatment, and failed to provide adequate care while he was in the jail, the state Commission of Correction concluded in a newly released report. There were “serious deficiencies” in Riordan’s medical care during his incarceration that might have contributed to his death, according to the report. “Had established medical policy[...]

Posted 6 months ago
Investigative Post