Latest

Aug 18

2020

Study: Buffalo finances among worst in US

Published by

Only one city in the country is suffering more than Buffalo from the financial devastation of the COVID crisis. And that’s Rochester, just an hour down the Thruway. A forthcoming study, the source of a New York Times analysis published Monday, projects Buffalo’s government is staring at a 15 to 20 percent shortfall in revenue in the current fiscal year — more than twice the average in the survey of 150 cities nationwide. Upstate New York’s largest cities — Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse — were ranked the most fiscally distressed municipalities in the nation. New York City ranked fifth, right[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 17

2020

Investigative Post teams with UB Law clinic

Published by

Reporters face growing resistance from state and local government officials when they seek public records. The state Freedom of Information Law, intended to promote the public’s right to know, is often used by politicians and bureaucrats to delay the release of records. Investigative Post has found that many bureaucracies, including the City of Buffalo and its Board of Education, and especially the State of New York, routinely take much longer to fulfill FOI requests than what’s permitted under law. Other news organizations experience similar delays. In recent years, it’s become an epidemic. At times, there’s almost an unspoken challenge posed[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 12

2020

Heaney discusses schools on WBEN

Published by

Jim Heaney follows up his story published Monday on distance learning in Buffalo schools with an interview on  NewsRadio 930WBEN. Heaney tells Susan Rose and Brian Mazurowski that distance learning didn’t go very well last semester and the district officials tried to obstruct his reporting.  

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 11

2020

Interview with parent leader Sam Radford

Published by

Sam Radford believes distance learning in Buffalo schools has failed many students, as reported Monday by Investigative Post. In a 20-minute interview with Jim Heaney, Radford, co-chair of We The Parents and immediate past president of the District Parent Coordinating Council, spelled out the concerns he’s heard this spring and summer from the mothers and fathers of Buffalo students. Student participation was an issue – “Some kids logged on, some kids didn’t.” But the quality of instruction is a larger concern. “I think the learning is what suffered the most,” Radford said. “Some teachers were doing really great when they[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 10

2020

Jail guard suspended after confrontation

Published by

An Erie County Sheriff’s Office employee has been placed on administrative leave after being caught on camera menacing Black Lives Matter protesters with a baseball bat during a march Saturday evening in South Buffalo. A video shared more than 300 times on Facebook shows a man wearing an “All Lives Matter” t-shirt climbing out of his pickup truck, then cursing and approaching protesters waving an aluminum bat. An estimated 100 to 150 protesters were marching near Mount Mercy Academy.  Commenters on the post identified the man as a corrections officer with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office who was off-duty at[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 9

2020

Buffalo schools struggled with distance learning

Published by

This story began in April with a handful of simple questions: How many Buffalo school students are participating in distance learning? How many hours a day are they engaged in learning? And how much are they really learning? They were obvious and reasonable questions. So we posed them to the folks who run the school system. Their response: hysterics and stonewalling.  We then turned to teachers, who, in often heartfelt terms, described their experiences working with students since schools shut their doors the middle of March because of the pandemic. Their experiences varied, but on balance they said distance learning[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 6

2020

Heaney talks police contract on ‘Pressroom

Published by

Following up on Geoff Kelly’s report last week, Jim Heaney talks about provisions of Buffalo’s contract with its police union that make it difficult to discipline officers and deprive the department’s leadership of many management rights. Heaney, speaking on The Capitol Pressroom,  noted that while Mayor Byron Brown has harshly criticized the union and its contract for being an obstacle to reform, city negotiators have failed to propose changes.  

Posted 5 years ago

Jul 28

2020

City Hall inertia on one-sided police contract

Published by

Reforming the Buffalo Police Department will require changes in the labor contract between the city and its police union. Major changes. An analysis by Investigative Post found the contract — a behemoth of a document comprising nearly 400 pages of agreements, amendments, arbitration awards and memoranda — is decidedly one-sided in favor of the union. It makes it tough to discipline officers accused of misconduct and deprives the police commissioner of management rights that are a given in many other departments. Investigative Post also determined that the administration of Mayor Byron Brown, who has lambasted the union contract, has never[...]

Posted 5 years ago
Investigative Post