Categories for Featured

May 13

2012

Interview: Phil Rumore

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Investigate Post launched an interview program Sunday with WGRZ 2 On Your Side featuring an interview with Phil Rumore, president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation. In the interview, Rumore said reaching an agreement on teacher evaluations will require more than consensus on how to account for student absenteeism. The quality of standardized tests and the English language proficiency of students also need to be considered, Rumore said, as well as how to evaluate teachers on the academic performance of special education students. He disagreed with those who say the school district is failing students. “I don’t think the schools are[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 11

2012

Investigative Post launching interview segment with WGRZ

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In addition to co-producing investigative stories, Investigative Post and WGRZ 2 On Your Side will broadcast weekly interviews with newsmakers that will air on Daybreak Sunday. Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney will conduct the interviews. This Sunday he puts questions to Phil Rumore, president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation. Rumore has lead the BTF since 1981. He and the union are currently embroiled in a dispute with state education officials over proposed teacher evaluations. In their interview, Heaney quizzes Rumore about the quarrel over evaluations and a number of other topics, including whether the BTF president intends to seek another[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 9

2012

Coppola elected Investigative Post board president

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Lee Coppola, whose career has included stints as an investigative reporter, journalism school dean and federal prosecutor, has been elected president of the board of Investigative Post. “Lee has been a practitioner and champion of investigative reporting his entire career. I’m very excited to have someone with his depth and breadth of experience leading our board,” said Jim Heaney, editor and executive director of Investigative Post, a non-profit investigative reporting center focused on issues of concern to Buffalo and Western New York. “Being elected president of the board of directors is an honor I will try to uphold by helping[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 7

2012

Byron Brown’s bridge over troubled water

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Momentum is building to do something with the Outer Harbor and just days after a group of  community activists called for developing its 120 acres into a park Mayor Byron Brown make a pitch for City Hall to play a role, perhaps a big one. The Outer Harbor is state land, controlled by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. The NFTA wants to get out of the real estate business, which has begged the question, who would assume responsibility for developing the property? Some think the task should fall to the Erie Harbor Canal Development Corp., a subsidiary of Empire State[...]

Posted 12 years ago

May 2

2012

Notes on the news

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My take on recent developments: There’s a movement afoot to redevelop the outer harbor into a park. Doing so would give Western New Yorkers a grand 120 acre playground in the summer – and a 120 acre wasteland in the winter, and a good part of the spring and fall, too. Should a good chunk of the 120 acres provide the public access to its waterfront? Absolutely. Can that be done while still accommodating development that could not only attract visitors year-round but add to the city’s tax base? Absolutely. Are the two objectives mutually exclusive? Absolutely not. Nearly everyone[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Apr 29

2012

Is Apple rotten to the core?

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The New York Times on Sunday published yet another damning investigation on the business practices of Apple. Among the key findings: Apple has exploited the tax code, both here and aboard. According to The Times: Apple’s headquarters are in Cupertino, Calif. By putting an office in Reno, just 200 miles away, to collect and invest the company’s profits, Apple sidesteps state income taxes on some of those gains. California’s corporate tax rate is 8.84 percent. Nevada’s? Zero. Setting up an office in Reno is just one of many legal methods Apple uses to reduce its worldwide tax bill by billions[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Apr 28

2012

Buffalo will have to wait

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We’re No. 51 The Federal Communications Commission voted Friday to require the four major television networks and TV stations in the 50 largest markets to report details on political advertising that will be posted in the FCC website. Buffalo-Niagara Falls turns out to be the 51st largest market, meaning stations in WNY are among 160 smaller markets that have until July 2014 to comply. The near-term objective is to promote transparency regarding the estimated $3.2 billion that is expected to be spent on TV advertising this election year. But the new rule requires disclosure of all political advertising, including air[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Apr 25

2012

Check out the fact checkers

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Lying has become rampant in public life. In politics, it’s called “spin.” In business, “public relations.” In sports, “upper body injury.” Well, not exactly, but you get the drift. The propensity of the press to produce “he said, she said” stories and otherwise give disproportionate coverage to the loudest voices in the room regardless of their credibility has helped enable this epidemic of dishonesty. Cable television and social media are also complicit. In response, a number of websites dedicated to fact checking have set up shop in recent years. Here’s a rundown on the best of them. PoliFact.com is produced[...]

Posted 12 years ago
Investigative Post

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