Latest

Mar 18

2025

Pegula ranked the worst owner in the NHL

Published by

The Buffalo Sabres are in fourth-to-last place in the National Hockey League standings.  They’re doing better than their owner. The Athletic, the sports arm of The New York Times, just released its ranking of NHL owners. Led by the Tampa Bay Lightning, seven earned a grade of A, based on a combination of factors, including their team’s on-ice performance and a survey of fans. Scientific, no. But telling. Fifteen owners graded out at B, including Jeremy Jacobs’s Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs, eight more at C and one at D, the Vancouver Canucks. Terry Pegula ranked dead last[...]

Posted 5 hours ago

Mar 17

2025

The coming MAGA assault on voting rights

Published by

House Republicans have introduced a bill that would upend voting rights. Among those at risk for disenfranchisement are 69 million married women who have taken their husband’s last name.  Reports the Center for American Progress: “Leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives has declared that passing the legislation is one of their top priorities for the 119th Congress.” Specifically, the legislation would require the vast majority of Americans to rely on a passport or birth certificate to prove their citizenship. While this may sound easy for many Americans, the reality is that more than 140 million American citizens do not[...]

Posted 1 day ago

Mar 13

2025

Buffalo moves to call in Braymiller Market loan

Published by

Inside the now-closed Braymiller Market. Photo by Garrett Looker. Capping off the saga of downtown Buffalo’s failed grocery store, city officials on Thursday took a major step towards calling in the loan issued to  Braymiller Market two years ago. In a unanimous decision, the loan committee of the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency voted to issue a letter of default, the legal mechanism for demanding back the $561,000 the city is owed. BURA’s full board is expected to approve the recommendation when it meets March 27. It remains unclear whether the city will recoup the funds.  By issuing the default —[...]

Posted 5 days ago

Mar 13

2025

Hit-and-run narcotics chief a prolific political donor

Published by

Erie County Sheriff John Garcia (left) and Chief of Narcotics Daniel J. Granville (right) at a press conference Tuesday. Photo courtesy 7 News. Daniel J. Granville — the Erie County Sheriff’s chief of narcotics who last April plowed his county-owned pickup truck into at least seven parked cars on Buffalo’s West Side — is a prolific donor to local politicians. So is his wife, former Buffalo police crime scene technician who now works for the Buffalo Sewer Authority.  And so is his sister-in-law, the Buffalo police lieutenant who supervised the police response to the accident scene — and who is now[...]

Posted 5 days ago

Mar 12

2025

Uncertain future of Buffalo Housing Court review panel

Published by

Installation inside of Buffalo City Court. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel The judge pushing to revive a citizen advisory body for Buffalo’s beleaguered Housing Court was removed two weeks ago from his position as chief administrator for the Eighth Judicial District, leaving fair housing advocates concerned his efforts will founder. Judge Kevin Carter since last summer had been working to reestablish the Housing Court Advisory Council, which has been inactive for more than three decades. The advisory council is a 16-member panel intended to make regular observations of Housing Court, produce annual reports and make recommendations to the judge, according to[...]

Posted 6 days ago

Mar 11

2025

Coverup of hit-and-run by county’s narcotics chief?

Published by

Last April, the Erie County Sheriff’s chief of narcotics, while driving a county-owned vehicle late at night, struck at least seven parked cars on Buffalo’s West Side, several of them as he drove the wrong way down a one-way street.  Chief Daniel J. Granville — who goes by DJ — was driving “in an impaired condition,” according to one of a half-dozen claims that so far have cost county taxpayers $60,000 to settle.  But the accident report generated by the Buffalo cops who responded to the incident gives no indication Granville, 47, was tested for alcohol, drugs or other impairments[...]

Posted 1 week ago

Mar 10

2025

Lawsuit: ICE violating First Amendment in Batavia

Published by

The ICE detention facility in Batavia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stationed at the Batavia detention center are routinely opening, reading and keeping copies of legal mail sent to detainees in violation of the First Amendment, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges. Attorneys with three civil rights groups, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York, argue they can’t properly represent their detained clients if their correspondence isn’t confidential.  The lawsuit alleges that in November, ICE expanded a previous mail inspection policy to include all legal documents that enter the[...]

Posted 1 week ago

Mar 10

2025

The scoop on the hacking of The Buffalo News

Published by

Editor’s note: Circulation numbers near the conclusion of this column have been revised from an earlier version. The Buffalo News is among some 75 newspapers owned by Lee Enterprises that got hacked a month ago. The News has informed its readers in general terms, but press reports  and Lee’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveal very serious and ongoing problems which have crippled operations. Lee was attacked Feb. 3 by Russian hackers known as Qilin. They made off with 350 gigabytes of data, encrypted other files and demanded a ransom. The purloined data includes “investor records, financial arrangements[...]

Posted 1 week ago
Investigative Post