Categories for Co-produced with WGRZ

Apr 24

2014

Erie County’s lackluster lawmakers

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An Investigative Post report, co-produced with WGRZ, finds Erie County legislators pass few laws, make few budget amendments but pass hundreds of resolutions honoring residents, both dead and alive, that have nothing to do with the operation of county government. All this, at a cost of $3.2 million a year. A report Friday on WGRZ examines the track record of the Buffalo Common Council. For more, listen to Jim Heaney’s interview with Shredd & Ragan of 103.3, The Edge.

Posted 10 years ago

Apr 16

2014

Failed bid to oust Paladino from school board

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Carl Paladino has survived a legal challenge that sought his removal from the Board of Education. Joan Simmons, a city resident upset with Paladino’s conduct on the board, petitioned state Education Commissioner John King in late November seeking Paladino’s removal just five months after taking office. “He has done nothing since July but create havoc, tension and animosity,” Simmons told Investigative Post earlier this week. “He is an unnecessary, destructive distraction to the board.” Paladino filed affidavits in December that contended Simmons’ petition lacked merit. King rejected the petition in a March 12 ruling that press outlets have not reported[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Apr 14

2014

‘Big victory’ for Buffalo water quality

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The Buffalo Sewer Authority will spend $380 million on upgrades to its century-old sewer system over the next 20 years that will drastically reduce the amount of raw sewage and untreated stormwater flowing into the Niagara River and its tributaries. The authority agreed to the improvements under pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency, which determined in 2004 that the city was violating the Clean Water Act. “This is a big victory,” said Judith Enck, EPA’s administrator for Region 2 that includes New York. “We think this formal agreement will make a big difference in terms of improving water quality in[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Apr 3

2014

Buffalo’s decade-long dust bowl

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The Weaver family and their neighbors on Peabody Street may be the only people in Buffalo who don’t look forward to warm weather. That’s when concrete crushing kicks into full gear at Battaglia Demolition, a construction and demolition processing facility that abuts their homes in the gritty Seneca Babcock neighborhood about a mile southeast of downtown. “I can’t open my windows because of all the dust from the rock crushing,” Jan Weaver wrote to the state Department of Environmental Conservation last fall. Between 80 to 200 diesel trucks a day rumble down Peabody Street loaded with concrete, scrap metal and[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Mar 27

2014

Chippewa Street is a red blight district

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Last week I wrote about the overflowing trash bins up and down Chippewa Street that greeted fans in town for the NCAA basketball tournament. That did not make it an unusual week for the downtown entertainment strip – actually, it was a typical one. The truth is, Chippewa is dirty, smelly and uninviting most of the time. I know because I walk the street five, sometimes six days a week. I park workdays at WGRZ on Delaware Avenue and walk up Chippewa to my office on Pearl Street. I retrace my steps on the way home in the evening. In[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Mar 21

2014

Belated Chippewa Street cleanup

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Rain washed away the stale beer and vomit and city crews finally emptied overflowing trash receptacles along Chippewa Street on Wednesday after Investigative Post and WGRZ pointed out the poor impression conditions were leaving on basketball fans visiting Buffalo for the NCAA tournament.

Posted 10 years ago

Feb 27

2014

City Hall scandal over anti-poverty funds

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Our partners at WGRZ have broken a number of stories recently about Buffalo’s misuse of block grant funds and the failure of federal regulators to hold city officials accountable. The latest story by Jeff Preval includes an interview with Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney, who has covered the issue for more than 15 years.

Posted 10 years ago

Feb 27

2014

Cuomo’s costly Peace Bridge purchase

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  The property was a mess — contaminated, mired in debt and depreciating in value — but Gov. Andrew Cuomo wanted it bad. As it turns out, as much as $27 million bad. To buy the abandoned Episcopal Church Home, a property considered essential to an expansion of the Peace Bridge plaza, state government under Cuomo’s direction paid a premium and inherited a costly environmental cleanup. The Cuomo administration also orchestrated moves that cost state and federal taxpayers millions more. The final tab hasn’t been tallied, but it could run as high as $27 million, for a property appraisers hired[...]

Posted 10 years ago
Investigative Post

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