Categories for Co-produced with WGRZ

Jan 14

2019

Investigation begins into deadly cop shooting

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The father of a man fatally shot by a Buffalo police officer last month has retained two law firms to investigate his son’s death. The firms, Neufeld Scheck & Brustin in New York City and Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin in Rochester, are both well-known for their work on civil rights cases. A representative of the New York City firm said the investigation is underway. The firm describes itself as “taking on only a small number of important cases.” On Dec. 11, Officer Joseph Meli, 25, shot Marcus Neal three times—twice in the abdomen and once in the leg—after police said[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Dec 19

2018

Battle rages over proposed landfill expansion

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There’s been a tug of war for 15 years between CWM Chemical Services, which has proposed expanding its hazardous waste landfill in Porter, and opponents of the project. Since Investigative Post last reported on the proposed expansion, opponents have filed paperwork with the state that aim to show the community is a bad fit for a hazardous waste landfill. As part of these filings, opponents challenged claims by CWM that the new landfill would generate nearly $1.2 billion in economic benefits for the community. Opponents also filed an engineering report that found that at one point, as many as two out[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Dec 11

2018

Buffalo Billion criminals get off easy

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Hold up a gas station and you’re looking at a minimum of five years in prison. Get napped with an ounce of crack and the mandatory minimum is five to ten years. Engage in bid rigging, and in the process violate the public’s trust and cost taxpayers potentially million of dollars? If you’re Louis Ciminelli, the sentence is 2 years and 4 months. For Alain Kaloyeros, 3½ years. Minus time off for good behavior, of course. And don’t worry about starting your sentence anytime soon. You’re a free man until you and your high-priced lawyers have exhausted the appeals process.[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Dec 4

2018

OTB’s part-time board enjoys gold-plated perks

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The workload is modest, as is the pay. But, oh, the benefits. The public service corporation that manages off-track betting operations in western and central New York provides free health insurance to its board members in exchange for showing up for meetings two days a month. And the perks aren’t limited to health coverage. Board members are eligible for dental and vision insurance, too. The coverage was described by one health insurance expert as “literally the richest plan available.” Indeed, board members have access to plans that feature a $5 copay for generic prescription drugs, a $15 copay for routine[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Nov 29

2018

43North winner delinquent on loan

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Four years ago, local manufacturing startup ASi was riding high, the first ever $1 million prize winner of the state-funded 43North business plan competition. Now, the company is in financial trouble. It’s not currently operational, has just one employee – the founder and CEO – and recently defaulted on a $250,000 loan from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency. In exchange for the prize money, 43North takes a 5 percent stake in each winning company. 43North officials say the struggles of one company, even a winner of the $1 million – the largest prize offered – don’t reflect the track record of the[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Nov 17

2018

Tesla opens the door – a crack

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The building was completed two years ago and Tesla and its partners at Panasonic have been producing solar roofing materials since last year, but only this week did the company allow the press in for a peek. And only a bit of one. Jim Heaney told Scott Levin of WGRZ that the blatant attempt to spin is the way Tesla has dealt with the press and public since Gov. Andrew Cuomo invested $750 million in state tax dollars to build and equip the plant. Left unanswered by the dog-and-pony show: the quality of jobs being created, how much space is[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Nov 13

2018

Western New York’s version of the Amazon deal

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 The agreement that will place a new headquarters for Amazon in Queens is the biggest economic development deal for a private company New York has ever seen, with a subsidy package that could add up to more than $2 billion. The full value of the incentives Amazon stands to receive is unclear, but it might still work out to be a better deal for taxpayers than Western New York’s own marquee economic development project, the Tesla factory in South Buffalo. On top of a $500 million state grant, and more than $1.5 billion in performance-based tax credits, Amazon will[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Nov 7

2018

Slowdown in Power Authority subsidy programs

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It’s an unusual problem: subsidy programs that can’t find takers. The New York Power Authority has two of them in Western New York. One provides low-cost hydropower to local industry, but a quarter of the pool of electricity lacks for customers and is sold on the wholesale market. The profits from the sale of this unallocated power are earmarked for a program that funds business activity and community projects throughout Western New York. But that money hasn’t been in high demand recently, either. Roughly $4 million sits, unused, in the fund and the board in charge of awarding the money[...]

Posted 6 years ago
Investigative Post