Categories for Featured

Oct 24

2012

Not the same as the old boss

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These are about to be interesting times at the Buffalo News. I say this because for the first time in decades—maybe forever—the paper has gone outside to hire an editor. Margaret Sullivan, who started at the News as an intern, held the editor’s job for 13 years before leaving in August for the New York Times, where she works as the public editor. Her predecessor, Murray B. Light, held the top job for 20 years, plus a lengthy stretch when he split a shared editorship. The legendary Alfred Kirchhofer ran the newsroom for 39 years. Put another way, factoring out[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Oct 24

2012

Panel makes case for watchdog journalism

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By Jeremy Izzio More watchdog, less lapdog. That’s the prescription David Cay Johnston, president of Investigative Reporters and Editors, offered for American journalism Tuesday to an audience of about 140 people at Burchfield Penny Art Center. Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winner and best selling author, headed a panel to consider “The State of Investigative Reporting”  hosted by Investigative Post. “Government derives its power from the consent of the people,” Johnston said. “Government is a fiction we create to make our society work. But if the only people paying attention to the government are those who make money off it, it[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Oct 22

2012

Q&A: Larry Quinn

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Larry Quinn, once a boy wonder, turned 60 earlier this year. He’s a couple of years removed by his tenure as managing partner of the Buffalo Sabres and membership on the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. During his carrer, he served as development commissioner under Mayor Jimmy Griffin and later oversaw the construction of what is now First Niagara Center. His tenure with the Sabres won him both praise for helping to rescue the franchise out of bankruptcy and implementing a number of innovations, and criticism for the loss of popular stars including Pat Lafontaine and Chris Drury. He’s now[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Oct 18

2012

Man O’ Trouble

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The snail’s pace construction of a linear park up the spine of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is a standing joke between the owner and patrons of Ulrich’s Tavern on Ellicott Street. “We have an over and under if it would get done before the 2016 Olympics,” said owner Jim Daley, whose tavern provides a front-row seat to the construction. It’s a simple enough project: The federal government earmarked $5.1 million of the $6.4 million project to landscape, resurface and otherwise improve about a half-mile stretch of Ellicott Street street through the medical campus. The idea was to improve traffic[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Oct 17

2012

Another politician who isn’t paying his taxes

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An elected official in the Town of Alden hasn’t paid his property taxes in more than five years and is in peril of losing his home to foreclosure. Carl E. Fix, highway superintendent for the town, and his wife, Ann, own a home and adjoining vacant lot on Broadway with an assessed value of $72,100. But the county, the town and the Alden Central School District haven’t received a dime in property taxes for either property since 2007. The couple now owes more than $33,000, according to county records. (Here is the payment history for the house and the vacant[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Oct 14

2012

Q&A: Underground press pioneer Paul Krehbiel

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Paul Krehbiel is one of the pioneers of Buffalo’s alternative media. As a student at the University at Buffalo in the late 1960s, he helped found New Age, one of the city’s first “underground” newspapers. The paper was founded at the height of the Vietnam War, a time when Krehbiel and his collaborators at New Age didn’t sign their stories for fear of retaliation. The threats and acts of vandalism against his property occurred anyway. Krehbiel moved from Buffalo in the late 1970s, working in Denver and then Los Angles, where he continues to live today following a career as[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Oct 11

2012

Godzilla of invasive species strikes local creek

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Local biologists said yesterday that one of the most invasive aquatic plants in North America has spread over portions of a 13.5-mile stretch of Tonawanda Creek, which could pose serious problems for native plants, animals and recreation. U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Michael Goehle first discovered the Hydrilla plant on Sept. 7 in North Tonawanda by the boat ramp on Sweeney Street. Since then, Goehle’s coworker, biologist Denise Clay, has been working with six other agencies to inspect 46 miles of waterways, including the Niagara River, to see how far the Hydrilla has spread.  Hydrilla, a native plant of Southeast Asia, grows[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Oct 10

2012

4 billion gallons of sewage goes where?

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Buffalo is one of the few Great Lakes cities that doesn’t have an EPA-approved long-term control plan that takes advantage of green technologies for its wastewater. And mayors across the nation—minus Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and a bunch of others—were in the nation’s capital last week to discuss how the federal regulations will cost municipalities billions to improve their wastewater treatment systems. Mike DeGeorge, the mayor’s spokesman, did not return messages seeking comment. Buffalo Sewer Authority dumps 4 billion gallons of untreated wastewater into local waterways each year, typically after heavy rainstorms  overburden the system. Yes, that’s 4 BILLION GALLONS. According to EPA Regional Administrator[...]

Posted 12 years ago
Investigative Post

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