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Dec 1

2024

Let’s get real about why Harris lost to Trump

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A fair number of press observers criticized mainstream news outlets for not reporting on Donald Trump more critically during the campaign for president. Yeah, the press could have done a better job, at least when it came to its obsession about polls. But I think the criticism was overblown. I mean, did anyone reading the newspaper or watching television news not know what Trump was about? I’ll note that polling showed that voters who relied on mainstream outlets favored Trump’s opponent by a wide margin. I will take issue with one important aspect of press coverage since the election, however.[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Nov 27

2024

Overtime for Buffalo’s city employees through the roof

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Despite the city’s worsening finances, Buffalo’s public employees — mostly cops and firefighters — are racking up overtime pay like never before. Last fiscal year, no fewer than 26 employees earned more than $100,000 in overtime. Another 270 pocketed over $50,000 in overtime, while 400 more took home at least $20,000. The result: a $22 million hole in the city budget that wrapped up in June. Those figures come from a report issued last week by Buffalo Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams, whose staff reviewed five years of payroll records to document the burgeoning cost of overtime and its impact on the[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Nov 26

2024

Locals getting most of Bills stadium work

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Companies and workers local to Western New York have so far done the majority of the work on the new Buffalo Bills stadium. A significant portion of the $1.2 billion in contracts has also gone to out of town concerns. Team and state officials have refused to release much detail about who is getting the work. Investigative Post, however, has used the limited data officials have provided to calculate where the money is flowing. Our analysis found: Fifty-five firms based in the eight counties of Western New York account for 59 percent of the companies that have had workers on[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Nov 25

2024

A call for ‘top to bottom’ audit of OTB

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Three good-government groups have called on State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to conduct a “top-to-bottom” audit of Western Regional Off-Track Betting. With a leadership transition newly complete, the groups — Reinvent Albany, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters — say all of OTB’s activities should be audited. They include OTB’s “revenue and expenses, procurement, investment, management systems, governance, and public transparency and accountability,” the groups said. In a letter sent Monday, the groups said “golden parachutes for departing executives, nepotistic hiring, and an outsize salary for the incoming CEO” were of particular concern. The “golden parachute” refers to $299,000[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Nov 24

2024

No wonder so many people are misinformed

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I don’t mean to be a press critic, but compelling stories keep coming to my attention that I want to share. One in five adults regularly get their news from social media influencers, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. Among the under-30 set, it’s more than one in three. These influencers are most frequently found on Twitter and are mostly men who are more likely to lean right than left. Perhaps most telling, only a quarter of influencers have ever worked for a news organization.   Opined Taylor Lorentz of UserMag:  “Pew’s findings paint a concerning picture of[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Nov 22

2024

OTB cuts payments to local governments

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Pay raises and buyouts for executives are among the costs blamed for the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. reducing its payments to local governments by $2.6 million this year. In 2023, OTB leaders said Thursday, the agency sent $10.25 million to the 15 counties and two cities that own it. This year, that amount decreased to $7.6 million. OTB did not specify how much the reduced payments will cost individual local governments. Erie County will be out an estimated $200,000. Officials did not fully explain the reduction Thursday, but cited personnel, legal and development costs. The drop follows a number[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Nov 21

2024

OTB hotel expansion delayed

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Hotel at Batavia Downs. Photo by Garrett Looker A planned expansion of the Batavia Downs hotel is on hold, possibly for as much as a year, officials with Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. announced Thursday. Outgoing CEO Henry Wojtaszek said the agency put the 73-room addition on pause after two estimates solicited from Buffalo-based developers came in above expectations. The pause could last six months to a year, he said. According to Wojtaszek, both The Krog Group and Ciminelli Real Estate estimated the project would cost around $16 million. Both offers were far above what the agency had hoped to[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Nov 20

2024

Lawsuit alleges housing discrimination against families

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The Elliot on Linwood Avenue, owned by Buffalo Management Group. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel Fair housing advocates are suing a large apartment manager on claims they’re refusing to rent to families with children — a violation of state and federal laws. In its lawsuit, Housing Opportunities Made Equal said it sent prospective renters with children to inquire about living in apartment buildings near the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus — The Mayflower at 66 Summer St. and The Elliott at 171-175 Linwood Ave. — owned by Buffalo Management Group. The lawsuit, filed Nov. 14, contends the company ignored phone calls, screened[...]

Posted 5 months ago
Investigative Post