Categories for DailyPost

Sep 3

2025

Evans town board settles lawsuit in secret

Published by

The Town of Evans in July settled a defamation lawsuit brought against the town and two current town board members by former Town Supervisor Mary Hosler. But you wouldn’t know it from looking through the town board’s agendas, meeting minutes and recordings.  There is no record of the town board voting to approve a settlement in any meeting held between June and the end of August. There’s no record of the settlement being discussed in an executive session, which excludes the public from discussions of sensitive matters. There’s not even a record of an executive session being called at the[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Sep 3

2025

Niagara County Dems oppose Wojtaszek’s return to OTB

Published by

Niagara County Democrats oppose the idea of allowing former Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. boss Henry Wojtaszek to return to the organization as a member of its board of directors.  They also conceded on Tuesday, in the wake of an Investigative Post report about Wojtaszek expressing interest in an OTB board seat, that they lack the votes needed to block such a move in the county legislature, where Republicans outnumber them by an 11-to-4 margin.  The legislature’s minority leader, Chris Robins, D-Niagara Falls, said he’s heard about the possibility of Wojtaszek replacing Elliot Winter as the county’s OTB board representative[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Sep 2

2025

Podcast: Our economic development follies

Published by

The economy of Western New York, like those of most regions upstate, lags behind most of the nation. Government’s response, at both the local and state level, has been in large part to throw tax breaks and other subsidies at companies in an effort to attract or retain them.  It hasn’t worked. In the interview below, Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney discusses economic development with Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a nonprofit that tracks subsidy programs across the nation. LeRoy is considered a leading expert in his field and is frequently quoted by Investigative Post. Here are[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Aug 31

2025

Wojtaszek eyes return to OTB

Published by

Henry Wojtaszek, the former president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., is planning to rejoin the organization he left last year, this time as member of the board of directors. Elliott Winter, who previously represented Niagara County on the OTB board, resigned from that position last week, creating an opening for Wojtaszek, who lives in North Tonawanda. Wojtaszek’s appointment as Niagara County’s new representative on the board, by law, must be approved by that county’s legislature. But in text messages to OTB board members, Wojtaszek expressed confidence the county lawmakers will vote to approve his appointment in the[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Aug 28

2025

WNY farm targeted again by ICE

Published by

Lynn-Ette & Sons Farm in Orleans County.   This story was originally published by Documented, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to reporting on immigration in New York state. During the early hours of August 14, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents launched a raid on the Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms, a sprawling 8,000-acre farm in Orleans County that specializes in growing snap beans, cabbage, and squash. ICE agents detained four Mexican workers and three Guatemalan workers. The recent arrests at Lynn-Ette are the farm’s second ICE raid in the past three months. In May, a similar raid saw federal agents detain 14 workers.[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Aug 27

2025

Granville case costing city taxpayers

Published by

The City of Buffalo has paid more than $200,000 to the five police officers who responded to the Erie County narcotics chief’s hit-and-run accident on the city’s West Side last spring since they were put on leave in April. The total cost to city taxpayers is considerably higher, however, because the city also has to pay officers to backfill the shifts those five cops are missing.  And sometimes the city has to pay overtime for that, because the police union’s contract calls for mandatory overtime pay when the department has to call in officers to take the place of colleagues[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Aug 26

2025

ICE deports West Side restaurant owner, family

Published by

Katherine Gomez stands outside of Sabores De Mi Tierra, which she purchased from her deported client. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. During the four years William Murcia Henao owned Sabores De Mi Tierra — literally, “flavors of my land” — his West Side Colombian restaurant was celebrated. Opened in 2021, the Niagara Street eatery quickly earned local media attention, praise from a local blogger and a nomination for a state Business Council award from Assemblymember Jonathan Rivera. The restaurant won particular acclaim for its traditional Colombian dishes, which Rivera and others said was missing from Buffalo. But then, in May,[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Aug 25

2025

Let’s talk football: Terry Pegula’s yacht and brain damaged players

Published by

It turns out Terry Pegula owns a yacht valued at up to $100 million.  Fox News reports the yacht “was custom-built and delivered in 2021 and is valued between $75 million and $100 million. From designer interiors, including Louis Vuitton and Gucci, the yacht offers a glass-sided spa pool, sauna, gym, cinema lounge and much more … The yacht is reportedly available to charter at around $500,000 per week.” The story notes that taxpayers are forking over $850 million to help build a new stadium for Pegula’s Bills. As if he needed the money. Today’s football heroes are tomorrow’s damaged[...]

Posted 5 months ago
Investigative Post