Categories for DailyPost

Apr 17

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Below is an updated version of the “What I’m Reading” section of the WeeklyPost newsletter that is emailed to subscribers each Sunday morning. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here. There’s a lot for Kathy Hochul to fix as governor, including corruption and a lack of transparency in state government. (I think she’s off to a lousy start on both fronts.) But there’s also the issue of toxic masculinity in Albany, a topic The New York Times explored in a story Sunday. An interesting read. Two Buffalo News stories caught my eye last week: The Western New York economy is not recovering from[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Apr 13

2022

The Poloncarz exchange with stadium critic

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Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz didn’t talk about a new Buffalo Bills stadium while county and state officials were still negotiating terms of an agreement with the team.  With the $1.4 billion stadium deal now approved as part of the new state budget, Poloncarz had a lot more to say this week.  Well, he didn’t actually “say” anything. Instead, he Tweeted .  On Monday, Poloncarz defended the stadium plan that will cost state and county taxpayers at least $1.13 billion over a 30-year lease term in a series of Twitter exchanges between him and Dr. Ryan Miller, a supporter of[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Apr 12

2022

Progressives take a pass

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When India Walton beat Mayor Byron Brown in last June’s Democratic primary, it seemed like progressive activists might be ready to wield greater influence in the party, which monopolizes city politics and governmental institutions. Brown, after all, lost the primary despite carrying the Democratic Party’s endorsement. Furthermore, Kim Beatty — a city Democrat — beat the party’s endorsed candidate in the primary for Erie County Sheriff. Change was in the air. But then Brown beat Walton in November’s general election. And Beatty lost to Republican John Garcia. And now, it seems, city progressives have chosen not to mount an effort[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Apr 11

2022

Hochul playing footsies with donors

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There’s yet another troubling story about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s ethical conduct. The Albany Times Union reported Sunday about Hochul donors pushing legislation to benefit their businesses gaining access to the governor’s senior staff. The story also provides examples of Hochul subsequently using her power as governor to support the business interests of those donors. This arrangement isn’t necessarily illegal, or even unusual in today’s money-soaked political environment. But it stands in stark contrast with the governor’s stated desire to improve the ethics of state government, which some watchdogs consider a cesspool. Hochul continues to draw criticism on another ethical front:[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Apr 10

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Below is the latest “What I’m Reading” portion of our email newsletter that publishes every Sunday. You can subscribe for free here. Let’s discuss “opportunity costs” for a few minutes. An opportunity cost is when you spend money on something at the expense of spending it on something else. An example: You’ve got $100 to spend. You put it towards a nice dinner rather than, say, buying a new winter jacket. That said, the decision by state — and soon, county officials — to spend $1.13 billion to build and maintain a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills involves a huge opportunity[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Apr 7

2022

No tax break request yet for Amazon project

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The online retail giant Amazon hasn’t applied for any tax breaks for a proposed $300 million warehouse in Niagara County.  At least not yet, anyway.  Niagara County Industrial Development Agency Attorney Mark Gabriele said this week that the company has not yet submitted an application for tax break assistance for a five-story distribution center it has proposed for a site on Lockport Road in the Town of Niagara, just outside Niagara Falls.  Today is the deadline for submitting items to be considered for the NCIDA’s next regularly scheduled board meeting, slated for Wednesday.  The board isn’t scheduled to meet again[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Apr 6

2022

Buffalo FAFSA rates on the rebound

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The number of students applying for federal student aid as they transition into college is on the rise in Buffalo after a significant decline during the pandemic. Students looking to enroll in colleges or universities are required to fill out The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine if they’re eligible for any financial assistance for tuition, housing and any accompanying fees.  The number of students who completed the FAFSA in high schools across New York dropped 5 percentage points from before the pandemic in February 2020 through the same time this year, according to a recent report[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Apr 5

2022

Allegations of ICE mistreatment of detainees

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A coalition of advocates for immigrants’ rights claims that “egregious conditions” and “unsafe release practices” at the federal detention center in Batavia have caused detainees “serious injury and even death.” Those claims are leveled in a Freedom of Information request filed Wednesday with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the agency that runs the Batavia facility, formally known as the Buffalo Service Processing Center.  In the FOIA request, the coalition cites current and former detainees’ accounts of beatings, medical neglect and other abuses.  In addition to conditions inside the detention center, the coalition takes issue with ICE’s practice of[...]

Posted 3 years ago
Investigative Post