Categories for Co-produced with WGRZ

Oct 19

2015

Peace Bridge expansion talk premature

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Talk of a renewed effort to begin planning for a second span at the Peace Bridge is overblown, Jim Heaney told Steve Brown on Sunday’s weekly installment of Outrages & Insights. Heaney said his sources tell him the Peace Bridge Authority is focused on its $185 million capital improvement plan that will take another four years to complete. Any serious consideration of a second span would likely be put off until the bulk of that work is done, he said. Heaney noted that bridge traffic has steadily dropped since the 9-11 terror attacks. Increased wait times are not the result[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Oct 14

2015

Updated Buffalo Billion diversity numbers

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Figures released Wednesday by developer LPCiminelli show diversity hiring goals are being met on the construction of SolarCity’s plant at Riverbend. The goals call for minorities to work 15 percent, and women to work 5 percent, of hours on the project. The numbers released Wednesday show 16 percent of the hours to date been worked by minorities and 6 percent by women. The disclosure comes after Investigative Post reported that the minority hiring goal on the project was lowered from the 25 percent originally announced to 15 percent. State officials now say the higher goal was only “aspirational.” The change in the goals[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Oct 11

2015

Scajaquada and other pollution problems

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Jim Heaney and Steve Brown discuss the painfully slow progress being made in cleaning up polluted creeks and streams throughout Western New York on the second weekly installment of “Outrages & Insights” broadcast on WGRZ. The problem is rooted in antiquated sewage systems that are often overwhelmed by an influx of water during rain storms and snowmelts, Heaney told Brown. Systems, unable to handle the water, dump untreated sewage and runoff into nearby creeks and streams. The solution requires costly repairs to sewer lines and upgrades to treatment systems. Politicians at the local, state and federal levels have been unwilling[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Oct 9

2015

Protestors want more diversity at Riverbend

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Protesters from local community groups gathered outside the SolarCity construction site in South Buffalo to call for a return to the 25 percent minority workforce goal originally floated for the project. As Investigative Post reported last week, that goal was agreed to when the city sold the land for the factory to the state, and publicly announced in two press releases. But a more recent agreement between developer LPCiminelli and the construction unions established instead a goal of 15 percent. State officials now say the higher goal was purely “aspirational” and that the revised goals are being met. Erie County[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Oct 6

2015

State rejects Cheektowaga’s sewer plan, again

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For the second time in five years, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has rejected Cheektowaga’s plan to reduce sewer overflows into Scajaquada Creek and other local waterways. The DEC says the town’s latest plan does not adequately address a core problem, the diversion of runoff into the sewage system from downspouts and sump pumps. One town council member, however, maintains that some of the blame lies with the DEC for taking three months to respond to the proposed plan. As the two sides square off, Scajaquada Creek remains the real victim. Investigative Post this year has documented a dozen dead[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Oct 5

2015

State says lower Riverbend goal being met

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The state released figures Monday related to the employment of minority construction workers at the SolarCity plant that they had previously refused to disclose. The release follows a report last week by Investigative Post that showed it was unclear whether the project’s diversity hiring goals were being met. Those figures show that minorities have done 16.2 percent of work on the site from the start of construction in May 2014 through July this year, based on the number of hours worked. Investigative Post had earlier reported that minorities made up 6 percent of the workforce from the start of construction through[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Oct 5

2015

Outrages & Insights podcast

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Jim Heaney of Investigative Post and Steve Brown of WGRZ discuss the latest developments involving the Buffalo Billion on a TV edition of Outrages & Insights that broadcast Sunday on WGRZ.

Posted 10 years ago

Oct 5

2015

Outrages & Insights on WGRZ

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Investigative Post and WGRZ on Sunday launched a television companion to my muckraking blog. The format involves a three-minute conversation between me and Steve Brown, investigative reporter with WGRZ. The discussion will touch on a recent news development or one of my blog posts or story reported by Investigative Post. The program, entitled “Outrages & Insights,” will broadcast Sunday mornings on Daybreak. I’ll post the video to our website later in the day, along with a podcast of the discussion. Readers most likely won’t venture to our website Sunday, but the segment will be waiting for them first thing Monday.[...]

Posted 10 years ago
Investigative Post