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Sep 5

2019

iPost announces fall events

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Investigative Post has scheduled the first two events of its 2019-20 event series. The season kicks off Thursday, Oct. 10, with a 5:30 p.m. social at Community Beer Works introducing Investigative Post’s new reporting team. Geoff Kelly, Kate Kaye and Ali Ingersoll will be on hand to meet with attendees and answer questions. Kelly, former editor of The Public and Artvoice, joined the iPost staff in April; Kay started in August. Ingersoll starts Sept. 23. Editor Jim Heaney will also be on hand. On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Investigative Post will host a discussion with Christopher Klein, author of When the Irish Invaded Canada:[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Sep 3

2019

Turning a blind eye to environmental risks

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You’d think that the construction of a million square feet of manufacturing space on a brownfield along the Buffalo River would warrant a thorough environmental investigation before shovels bit into the soil. And you’d be wrong. The Tesla plant in South Buffalo was built on a former Superfund site — once home to Republic Steel, Donner Hanna Coke and Feine Steel, among other historic industrial polluters. The site borders the environmental debacle that was (and is) the Hickory Woods residential development, which was poisoned by the use as fill of toxic materials created by those plants. Prior to its purchase[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Aug 28

2019

Kelly discusses cop cars on WBFO

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Geoff Kelly has recently reported on a shortage of working police cars in Buffalo (here and here). He discussed his findings this week on WBFO’s Press Pass.  

Posted 6 years ago

Aug 22

2019

Cop car shortage sidelines new officers

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Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and the Common Council have shortchanged the Buffalo Police Department’s police fleet in recent years. They’ve replaced cars at less than half the rate the police department has lobbied for, and which is considered best practice by experts in fleet maintenance. Last week, Investigative Post reported on the sorry state of affairs. The police department has too few patrol cars, we found, and many of the cars that are in service are in poor repair. The situation, said John Evans, president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, is “dire.” “There aren’t enough cars for the patrol[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Aug 19

2019

Cuomo names successor to Zemsky

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Update: When Investigative Post asked Howard Zemsky about his potential replacement as CEO of the Empire State Development Corp. on Friday, he said someone would be named “soon.” Today, Gov. Andrew Cuomo nominated ESD board member Eric Gertler to take over for Zemsky, once he is confirmed by the state Senate. Gertler, executive chairman of US News and World Report, previously served as executive VP of New York City Economic Development Corp. and as co-chair and co-publisher of New York Daily News. Howard Zemsky announced in May he was stepping down as the state’s economic development chief, but he remains on[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Aug 15

2019

Buffalo police handcuffed by ramshackle fleet

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On any given shift, Buffalo police have just half the patrol cars they need to do the job. “I would describe [the situation] as dire,” John Evans, president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, told Investigative Post. “There aren’t enough cars for the patrol officers to patrol the streets and get to the calls.” The cause: The Brown administration has not replaced police vehicles as frequently as the police department would like and national standards advise. As a result, the police fleet is aging and in disrepair. The cars that do work are driven into the ground, while those in[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Aug 14

2019

Introducing our new reporter

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Kate Kaye, a 20-year reporting veteran who has covered business and technology for a variety of publications, has joined the reporting staff of Investigative Post. Kaye’s career has included stints as a reporter, editor, book author and podcast host. She returns to her native Buffalo after working in New York City, and most recently, Portland, Ore. “A chance meeting at a journalism conference led to a job offer from Jim Heaney to move back to my hometown to join Investigative Post,” said Kaye. “Once the shock wore off, I realized the opportunity to immerse myself in the Buffalo culture and[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Aug 11

2019

A problematic downtown development project

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The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason. —T. S. Eliot When one Western New York developer sues another, the motive — no matter the arguments presented in court, however they may be presented in the media as a pursuit of the public good — is of course money. It has to be: To have standing to sue, a petitioner must demonstrate a financial or quality-of-life interest to the court. So, when Rocco Termini sued Ciminelli Development in mid-June to stop Ciminelli’s latest plan for 201 Ellicott Street, naturally Termini had a financial motive:[...]

Posted 6 years ago
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