Feb 14
2013
Investigative Post introduces a new feature that uses Storify, a publishing platform that enables the curation of online content, including stories, video and social media. Our first Storify post, prepared by Jeremy Izzio, our intern this semester from Fredonia State University, focuses on pollution in the Town of Tonawanda. Take a look and let us know what you think. [View the story “Tonawanda: A History of Pollution” on Storify]
Feb 12
2013
Residents living near the Town of Tonawanda’s industrial corridor have higher cancer rates than others in the state and region. The state Health Department revealed the concerning data Tuesday in a health review that has been in the works for almost four years. The review also noted that two of the cancer types are associated with chemical compounds the state Department of Environmental Conservation detected in its 2009 air monitoring program of Tonawanda, which has one of the highest concentrations of industrial polluters in the state. “There are definitely health issues of concern in Tonawanda that could be related to the pollution,”[...]
Feb 10
2013
Mark Schroeder serves as Buffalo’s fiscal watchdog in his job as city comptroller. He made news recently by raising concerns about City Hall’s budgeting practices, which have involved the use of reserve funds the past three years to balance the books. Schroeder, 57, spent 25 years in the private sector, working for two food companies before moving into electoral politics in 2001 as part of a political organization lead by Brian Higgins. Schroeder served three years in the Erie County Legislature before winning election in November 2003 to the New York Assembly. He represented Orchard Park, West Seneca and portions of[...]
Feb 8
2013
Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, who made his fortune hydrofracking, has used his status as a sports mogul at least once to lobby state lawmakers to embrace drilling for natural gas. Jon Campbell of the Gannett News Service’s capital bureau in Albany is reporting that Pegula invited lawmakers to his hockey arena 15 months ago and pitched them on the merits of hydrofracking. In late November 2011, nine months after he took control of the National Hockey League club, Pegula gathered Buffalo-area officials and state lawmakers in a boardroom at then-HSBC Arena. There, he and members of his East Resources team[...]
Jan 31
2013
Public Bridge Authority officials say they’re focused on expanding the Peace Bridge Plaza on the American side because it will improve traffic flow. But a look at the authority’s books reveals another possible motive: Money. While passenger vehicles account for almost 80 percent of bridge traffic, car tolls account for only 21 percent of authority revenue. Truck tolls, on the other hand, generate 48 percent of the authority’s revenues, almost $16 million a year. Duty Free stores at the base of the bridge in Buffalo and Fort Erie account for another 22 percent, or $7.2 million projected for this fiscal[...]
Jan 27
2013
Jordan Levy is one of Western New York’s most successful entrepreneurs in recent times. He might be best known to local residents as the former chairman of the Erie Harbor Canal Development Corp., which is developing Canalside. He served in that capacity for four years before stepping down in 2011. During that time he first supported the controversial plan to construct a Bass Pro store in the inner-harbor then lead the EHCDC in its embrace of a more popular approach dubbed “lighter, faster, cheaper.” Levy, 57, has enjoyed a long and successful career in the private sector. He is a general partner[...]
Jan 20
2013
Few people in Buffalo elicit a stronger response than Tim Tielman. To some, he is a champion of preserving the city’s urban fabric. Others consider him an obstructionist. Tielman, 53, is executive director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture and principal of The Neighborhood Workshop, an urban design consulting firm best know for its design of Larkinville, aka Larkin Square. He is also a member of the Buffalo Preservation Board. Tielman has been involved in every preservation issue in the city for the past 25 years, usually as an advocate and sometimes as a plaintiff. His causes have included the Richardson[...]
Jan 18
2013
There is less ice cover on the Great Lakes, which poses numerous economic and ecological problems, scientists say. The map above is a snapshot of the Great Lakes for January 17, showing very little ice cover so far. Normally, Lake Erie would be iced over by the second week of February. For example, watch this ice coverage video that shows each winter day, frame by frame, in 2007. George Leshkevich, a physical scientist with the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, said that while there is variability in the data, trends show there is less ice coverage on the Great Lakes over the past 40[...]