Categories for In-Depth

Jul 30

2023

Feds sanction local defense contractor — again

Published by

A Western New York-based military contractor was rebuked by federal agencies three times between 1996 and 2021 for improper accounting practices and mishandling defense contracts, according to records obtained by Investigative Post. The investigations and audit into the Calspan University at Buffalo Research Center — or CUBRC — have resulted in more than $500,000 in penalties against the nonprofit organization. The most recent investigation, which ended in December 2021, was initiated after a tipster alleged CUBRC was committing fraud. Federal investigators ultimately did not charge the organization with crimes, but fined it $129,000 for violating federal contracting rules. A spokesperson[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jul 26

2023

Our library system is hurting

Published by

Nakia Luper, a mother of three, has watched as the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood deteriorated around her. Stores closings. The Central Terminal crumbling.  And, in 2005, her neighborhood library shutting down.  “The kids used to go and have fun,” Luper said. There were “different activities going on at the library all the time. And then one day it was just gone.” The closest library is now three miles away. Luper said it’s not safe for children to walk that distance through blighted neighborhoods to take out a library book.  Nearly two decades after funding for the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jul 25

2023

Cashing in on the post-pandemic learning crisis

Published by

This story is republished from ProPublica, a nonprofit, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Investigative Post republishes its work from time to time. For the nation’s schoolchildren, the data on pandemic learning loss is relentlessly bleak, with education researchers and economists warning that, unless dramatic action is taken, students will suffer a lifelong drop in income as a result of lagging achievement. “This cohort of students is going to be punished throughout their lifetime,” noted Eric Hanushek, the Stanford economist who did the income study, in ProPublica’s recent examination of the struggle to make up for what students missed out on during[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jul 11

2023

Risks vs. benefits of proposed Lockport plant

Published by

An India-based plastics company is seeking to build its first U.S. plant in the Town of Lockport, despite strong objections from environmental groups who argue such a facility could harm human health and the environment. But the plant’s potential ecological impact isn’t the only issue up for debate: The firm wants tax breaks, and could further benefit from a limited environmental review. SRI CV Plastics Inc. is seeking $500,000 in subsidies, including $311,856 from the Lockport Industrial Development Agency, to build a $2.3 million, 14,000-square foot factory in the Lockport Industrial Park. The firm’s CEO, Varunkumar Velumani, said he plans[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 1

2023

The false promises of IDA subsidies

Published by

In order for Western New York’s economy to remain stable, economic development officials argue that industrial development agencies need to grant tax breaks and other incentives. “People just aren’t going to build here unless they have incentives to help them to do that,” Mark Onesi, chair of the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency, told Investigative Post last year. “It’s expensive to do business here so we help as many people as we can.” Research, however, refutes those assertions. Economists have found between 75 and 90 percent of jobs created with tax breaks would have happened without the help.  “The system[...]

Posted 11 months ago

May 31

2023

IDA tax breaks cost schools millions

Published by

 Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories on industrial development agencies. Tomorrow, we report on “perverse incentives” and other shortcomings in IDA programs. Any time Susan McGee’s children want to join an activity outside of the classroom — be it sports, music or other extracurriculars — it means one thing: a fundraiser. Raising money for extracurriculars may seem routine for a small, struggling Rust Belt city like Dunkirk, where McGee’s children attend school. But there’s another factor at play: The Dunkirk City School District loses out on an average of $5 million in revenue every year thanks[...]

Posted 11 months ago

May 17

2023

Mayor’s budget a step backwards on tree planting

Published by

Buffalo has been cutting down twice as many trees as it plants in recent years. It plans on cutting down more than three times as many as it plants under Mayor Byron Brown’s proposed budget. Investigative Post reported last year on the slow deforestation of the city, particularly on the East Side, where some neighborhoods are losing four trees for every one planted.  “By removing those street trees, and even planting smaller street trees, we’re going to run into the problem of creating more and more heat, more and more temperature increases,” said Nick Henshue, assistant professor of ecology at[...]

Posted 11 months ago

May 16

2023

Is Roswell chair eligible to serve?

Published by

Michael Joseph — whose company, the Clover Group, was accused last week of  “racist and illegal housing discrimination practices” — has split time for at least the past decade between Buffalo and West Palm Beach, Florida. That’s not unusual for a well-to-do real estate developer.  But it raises questions about his legal residency — and thus about his eligibility to serve as chair of the board for Roswell Park Cancer Institute. In April 2018, Joseph registered to vote in Florida, according to that state’s records, and his registration remains active. He is registered as a Democrat. For voting purposes, the[...]

Posted 12 months ago
Investigative Post

Get our newsletters delivered to your inbox * indicates required

Newsletters *