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Dec 21

2017

A Buffalo Billion bust in Syracuse

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 Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s original plan to redevelop the former Republic Steel site in South Buffalo included Soraa, a California based company that manufactures high efficiency lights. Soraa and Silevo, a solar panel manufacturer, were going to occupy a factory at Riverbend, built at taxpayer expense under the Buffalo Billion program. SolarCity, owned by Elon Musk, bought out Silevo and the state and Soraa decided to locate the lighting plant in Syracuse. Some $90 million in state funds were spent to build the factory in exchange for a promise of 420 jobs. Like the SolarCity project, the Syracuse plant was ensnared[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Dec 19

2017

Vote for best Investigative Post story of 2017

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Investigative Post produced another bumper crop of hard-hitting stories in 2017. The best ones? We’ll leave that up to you readers to decide. Dan Telvock continued his relentless coverage of lead poisoning in Buffalo’s inner-city, radioactive contamination in Niagara County and pollution along Scajaquada Creek. Charlotte Keith exposed yet more wrongdoing and broken promises involving the Buffalo Billion. Daniela Porat documented abuse and other shortcomings in the Buffalo Police Department. Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney selected 10 stories for consideration as the best of 2017. They include, in no particular order: Entrepreneurs take state grants and flee WNY (43North) Buffalo[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Dec 14

2017

Police refused to cooperate in death probe

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A review of internal Buffalo police records and state law raises questions over the refusal of two officers to cooperate with the attorney general’s office as it investigated the death of Wardel Davis during an encounter with the police in February. The two officers involved, Nicholas Parisi and Todd McAlister, refused to be interviewed by the attorney general’s office about the incident unless they were interviewed together. That’s despite a police department policy that states all employees have a “duty” to “extend their fullest cooperation” to outside agencies investigating possible officer misconduct. A spokesperson for the attorney general declined to comment on[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Dec 14

2017

More progress for Scajaquada Creek

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Two Western New York communities will get almost $6 million from the state for projects that will reduce the amount of untreated sewage spewing into Scajaquada Creek. The Western New York Regional Economic Development Council awarded the Town of Cheektowaga $5 million. The town will use the funding to repair damaged sewer pipes that get inundated with stormwater, which causes untreated sewage to be discharged into the creek. In addition, the Village of Depew received a total of $780,000 for two sewer-related projects. One of the projects will reduce untreated sewage from entering Scajaquada Creek by repairing damaged sewer lines and storage[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Dec 9

2017

Podcast: Reporters discuss government obstruction

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This edition of Investigative Postcast features a Dec. 4 panel discussion on the growing hostility towards the press, and the public’s right to know, from the White House to the State House to City Hall. Panelists included Jerry Zremski, Washington bureau chief of The Buffalo News, Jimmy Vielkind, Albany bureau chief of Politico New York, and Steve Brown, investigative reporter with WGRZ. Jim Heaney, Investigative Post editor, moderated.

Posted 7 years ago

Dec 7

2017

Many localities not reporting sewer overflows

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Many local governments across the state fail to report sewer overflows discharged into water bodies, an environmental group reported Thursday. In addition, about one-third of the reported sewer overflows since 2013 did not include the volume, which the group said could be in violation of state law. An Investigative Post analysis shows the Village of Kenmore is this year’s worst offender in Western New York of failing to report the volume of sewage and stormwater overflows. The state passed the Sewage Pollution Right to Know law in 2013. It requires cities, towns and villages to publicly report information about all[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Dec 6

2017

LPCiminelli scaling back operations

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LPCiminelli, the embattled construction firm reeling from the indictment of three of its executives, is shuttering half its business. The company is selling off its heavy construction equipment at an auction next week in anticipation of closing its general contracting arm. Rather than building facilities, LPCiminelli will focus on development and construction management. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter delivered Sundays to your inbox. The company has been under siege for three years, since Investigative Post exposed what federal investigators later determined was corruption in the state’s awarding of a contract to LPCiminelli to develop the Tesla solar panel manufacturing plant[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Nov 21

2017

Sewage inundating Buffalo waterways

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Kevin Koone comes up empty at his favorite fishing hole on the Buffalo River whenever he catches a whiff of raw sewage. “When it’s real strong, the fish don’t bite. It just ruins the fishing down here,” he said in August, while fishing at Mutual Riverfront Park at the foot of Hamburg Street in South Buffalo. The source of the stench: The 255 million gallons of sewage and stormwater runoff that flow into the river upstream every year. Sewage discharges this summer that discolored the Niagara Gorge caused an outcry, but fouled waters are an even bigger problem in Buffalo.[...]

Posted 7 years ago
Investigative Post