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Sep 18

2015

Feds probing Buffalo Billion contracts

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(Updated Saturday at 3:05 p.m.) This is big. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who has tackled corruption in state government, is investigating the awarding of contracts under the Buffalo Billion program, The New York Post reports. “It’s a comprehensive look at the bidding process,” said one source, who also told The Post that several companies have been issued subpoenas. Meanwhile, The New York Daily News is reporting that the feds have subpoened records of the SUNY Polytechnic Institute, headed by Alain Kaloyeros, who is managing the Buffalo Billion program. The Daily News also reported SUNY has hired a criminal defense lawyer to represent[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Sep 17

2015

Contamination a challenge on Outer Harbor

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The state’s leaner and greener plan for the Outer Harbor still has some obstacles to overcome, chief among them the contamination of 60 acres adjacent to properties targeted for residential and commercial development. As Investigative Post reported in March, about 40 percent of the soil samples taken on the parcel detected contamination levels that made it unsafe for use as a park. The standards would be even stricter for using the property for residential purposes. If that’s not bad enough, one acre in the parcel is a partly remediated Superfund with a restriction against residential development. Officials concede it’s going to[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Sep 17

2015

Heaney joins Capitol Pressroom lineup

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Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney has joined the list of regular contributors to The Capitol Pressroom, heard daily on 20 public radio stations across Upstate New York. Heaney will field questions every other Thursday from Capitol Pressroom host Susan Arbetter. The program attracts about 100,000 listeners daily on outlets that include WBFO, 88.7 FM in Buffalo. “We are thrilled to have a journalist of Jim’s caliber appear regularly on the show. His commitment to investigative journalism will help further engage our savvy audience,” Arbetter said. Added Heaney: “The Capitol Pressroom attracts a large and influential audience that we’re eager to[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Sep 16

2015

State kills plan for swimming at Gallagher Beach

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It turns out it’s not safe to go in the water at Gallagher Beach. State officials announced Wednesday they have shelved plans to open the beach along Route 5 in South Buffalo for swimming. The decision marks a retreat from plans announced two years ago by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins and Mayor Byron Brown, who were excited at the prospect of a beach within the city limits. What’s changed? Investigative Post has been reporting on water pollution and and soil contamination at the beach. State officials initially refused to even commit to testing to determine if there were[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 26

2015

Labor groups protest hotel subsidies

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Around 100 people from local labor groups gathered Wednesday morning to protest the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency’s awarding of tax breaks to hotels. They say low-cost hotels like the Budget Inn on Niagara Falls Boulevard, where the protest was held, should not receive subsidies because they don’t create good-paying jobs. The protest was organized by the Coalition for Economic Justice. Investigative Post reported on the subsidies in January, documenting how the IDA’s indiscriminate granting of tax breaks to hotels defied the recommendations of a 2011 study commissioned by the state. That study found that the city had already had a “glut” of lower-end hotel[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 25

2015

NRG closing Huntley coal plant in Tonawanda

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NRG Energy plans to retire its Huntley coal plant in Tonawanda by March. NRG informed its 79 employees at the River Road facility on Tuesday morning. “The market conditions don’t make the plant economically viable,” said NRG spokesman David Gaier. “We don’t see any scenario under which things will improve to allow the plant to remain in service.” At the same time, NRG’s $140 million project to convert and repower its coal plant in Dunkirk is in jeopardy. The conversion plan, approved last year, would allow the Dunkirk facility to burn both coal and natural gas. Now, that plant could be mothballed by January. On[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 17

2015

Buffalo steps up recycling efforts

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Buffalo officials have finally launched what they are calling an “extensive public awareness campaign” in an effort to boost its anemic recycling rate. This campaign, announced Monday, comes almost three years after Investigative Post reported how the city had failed to spend more than $400,000 earmarked for recycling education and promotion. City officials said the goal is to exceed the national recycling rate of 34 percent by 2018. They have a long way to go. Buffalo will need to more than double its rate in three years to reach that goal. In 2012, the city introduced the green tote program, which allows residents to[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 6

2015

Outer Harbor plans shrouded in secrecy

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The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation is again the subject of transparency complaints over its planning effort for the Outer Harbor. Board member Sam Hoyt had said the state would unveil a revised development plan at two public meetings in April. The development corporation controls some 200 acres of lakefront at the Outer Harbor. But those public meetings never happened. Instead, Investigative Post has learned that state officials have held at least two secret brainstorming sessions. Some who attended had been critical of the state’s first Outer Harbor plan released last fall. That plan included up to 2,100 housing units, stores and restaurants. But Assemblyman Sean Ryan, U.S. Rep. Brian[...]

Posted 10 years ago
Investigative Post