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Feb 13

2017

Lawyer questions police over deadly encounter

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It’s been six days since Wardel Davis, a 20-year-old African American man, died after an encounter with two Buffalo police officers on the city’s West Side. What little the public has been told has come primarily from the police and an attorney representing the two officers. Another side of the story is emerging in an exclusive interview with the attorney retained by Davis’s family. “There are troubling inconsistencies with the police version of events,” Steven Cohen told Investigative Post. Cohen, a veteran defense and civil rights attorney, said he is troubled by a lack of transparency on the part of police, including[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Feb 9

2017

Paying price for radioactive hotspots in Niagara

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John Raymond was about to sell his home in Lewiston until Environmental Protection Agency officials showed up last spring armed with radiation detectors. Turns out that Raymond’s basement had radon, a potent radioactive gas linked to lung cancer, at levels three times greater than regulatory limits. EPA officials said it’s possible Raymond has radioactive fill under his home that may be linked to similar material found across the street by Holy Trinity Cemetery. That’s where the EPA detected radioactivity more than 75 times higher than what’s normal for the local environment. “Basically I’m stuck,” Raymond said. “One of the guys[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 24

2017

Pridgen wants Buffalo police accredited

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Updated Jan. 25, 2017  Common Council President Darius Pridgen proposed a resolution Tuesday asking the Buffalo Police Department to seek accreditation as a means of bringing about improvements in the department. It was unanimously approved. As reported last week by Investigative Post, accreditation by outside evaluators is a long-ignored requirement of the City Charter. The resolution also calls for the police to provide updates to the Council on its application for accreditation. “That sounds very, very important to have the state or someone who then has oversight and then can come in and look at where there are pieces where we miss,”[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 19

2017

Suit pending on landfill with Love Canal legacy

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Four families have filed notice against the Town of Wheatfield alleging that a landfill with a Love Canal legacy made them sick through exposure to dangerous chemicals. Each family intends to sue for $60 million in damages, according to the notices of claim filed Wednesday at the Wheatfield clerk’s office. Wheatfield Supervisor Robert Cliffe declined to comment. One of the lawyers representing the families said test results of their soil and dust in their homes showed elevated levels of cancer-causing chemicals, including arsenic and PCBs. They charge that a toxic soup of chemicals migrated from the landfill onto their properties. “These[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 19

2017

City Hall ignoring police mandate

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Many police departments get what amounts to a stamp of approval from outside evaluators that review, advise and ultimately accredit them as adhering to best practices. But not Buffalo. The Buffalo Police Department is currently not accredited, even though it’s required by the City Charter. The issue of accreditation is more than a technical matter. The process is intended to improve the professionalism and efficiency of police departments, and Buffalo faces numerous challenges in this regard. The department has a middling track record of solving crime, its relationships with the minority community is strained, and its training involving use of[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 18

2017

Cuomo’s clean water proposal lacks details

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Update 11:14 a.m Jan. 18.: The governor did release some – not all – details Tuesday night about his proposal to spend $2 billion statewide on water quality and clean drinking water projects. First, the money is spread out over five years. So, that’s $400 million a year for five years. What remains unclear is how the money will be distributed. There are numerous programs this money could go to and the governor was short on those details Tuesday night. According to his capital plan, “The Executive Budget includes $2 billion to finance water quality capital projects to ensure continued access[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 10

2017

Toxic landfill with Love Canal legacy not secured

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Town of Wheatfield officials – encouraged by a lack of urgency among state regulators – have failed to honor their pledge made almost 11 months ago to fence off a toxic landfill deemed a threat to public health. As a result, nearby residents continue to use the 20-acre landfill to fish, hunt, walk their pets and ride all-terrain vehicles that dig into the contaminated soils. Nothing warns them of any danger other than a small “No Trespassing” sign at the base of the landfill’s gravel service road off Nash Road. Investigative Post reported in February that Wheatfield officials and the[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 9

2017

Heaney weighs in on Buffalo Billion II

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WGRZ News Anchor Maryalice Demler interviewed Editor Jim Heaney hours after Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a broad outline of a $500 million extension of his Buffalo Billion program. You can catch Heaney’s comments in the video below or in the slightly revised text that follows. Heaney also provided analysis to WBFO. What do you find striking in the governor’s proposal? It’s very short on spending details. There’s no talk of reforms to avoid the corruption we’ve seen so far in the programs. But more than that, a lot of the spending has little or nothing to do with economic development. I[...]

Posted 8 years ago
Investigative Post