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Apr 24

2019

Zellner’s conflict of interest

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When Erie County Democratic Committee Chairman Jeremy Zellner got himself appointed the Democratic commissioner to the Erie County Board of Elections in 2015, many protested that he was willingly courting potential conflicts of interest. Four annual election cycles later, those potential conflicts have become quite real and painfully evident. In the first stage of this year’s particularly dynamic political season, five women candidates for Buffalo Common Council presented themselves as a slate. They published photos of themselves together. They took training, advice and material support from the same consultants. They turned in their nominating petitions together. Though each had her[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Apr 23

2019

Sheriff Tim Howard, body cameras and Jesus

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Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard was questioned by legislators about the possibility of deputies wearing body cameras during a March 14 meeting of the Erie County Legislature’s Public Safety Committee. The proposition has won support among many legislators, particularly in the majority Democratic caucus, in the wake of a December 2017 incident in which a sheriff’s deputy severely beat a man during an arrest at a Bills game in the parking lot of New Era Field.  In the following exchange between Howard and Legislator April Baskin, who chairs the committee, Howard compared those who support his deputies wearing body cameras to[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Apr 12

2019

Geoff Kelly joins Investigative Post

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Geoff Kelly, former editor of The Public and Artvoice, has joined the reporting staff of Investigative Post. “I’m really excited to bring Geoff onboard. He’s a gifted reporter and editor and has a wealth of knowledge about the community,” said Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney. Kelly was a co-founder and editor of The Public, a weekly alternative newspaper launched in 2014. Prior to that, he was editor of Artvoice for 10 years, and editor of the weekly paper Pulp in Pittsburgh for two years prior. At Artvoice and The Public, much of his reporting focused on local government and politics,[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Apr 12

2019

Developer pauses wind power project

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  The developers of a proposed wind farm on the shores of Lake Ontario have put the project on hold. Apex Clean Energy has been working on plans to build 47 wind turbines in the towns of Somerset and Yates, about 50 miles northeast of Buffalo. Many residents oppose the projects, saying the wind turbines would will change the character of their rural communities. Federal conservation authorities have raised concerns about the towers’ placement in the path of migrating birds. The town boards in Somerset and Yates have passed local laws designed to prevent the project from moving forward. The[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Apr 11

2019

Info on doctors is hard to find

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In New York, information about a doctor’s disciplinary history is available online. That’s if you know where to look. And if you understand the quirks of the state’s disciplinary system. And if you can make sense of the information once you’ve found it. As Investigative Post reported, pediatric surgeon Dr. Kathryn Bass, director of trauma at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, was put on probation by the state health department last April. In settling the case against her, Bass agreed not to contest one charge of negligence and denied all the other charges, including gross negligence, negligence, incompetence, failure to[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Apr 10

2019

State faults surgeon at Children’s Hospital

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A prominent pediatric surgeon who serves as the director of trauma at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital is currently on probation after being charged last year with professional misconduct – including gross negligence and incompetence – by the state Department of Health. The health department charged that Dr. Kathryn Bass “deviated from accepted standards of care or failed to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent pediatric surgeon would have exercised under similar circumstances,” in the treatment of five patients between 2010 and 2012. In one case, the charges say, Bass performed a colostomy on a six-year-old, using the wrong[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Mar 21

2019

String of violations at Buffalo plant

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 The former American Brass plant on Military Road in North Buffalo keeps getting cited for federal and state environmental and safety violations. The plant, now owned by the German company Aurubis AG, is over a million square feet and home to 650 workers. It produces about 160,000 tons of metal each year for use in cars, batteries, ammunition and zippers.  Last year, state regulators fined the company $35,500 for 15 violations involving the  mishandling of hazardous waste. The violations resulted in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declaring Aurubis a “significant non-complier” between 2016 and 2018. Three times since 2011,[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Mar 15

2019

Key witness in ‘Billion case avoids prison

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 Kevin Schuler, the prosecution’s star witness in the Buffalo Billion corruption trial, escaped a prison term at his sentencing in Manhattan on Friday. Schuler was an executive at LPCiminelli who detailed the bid rigging scheme that resulted in the company landing the contract to build the SolarCity plant in South Buffalo. His testimony was key to convicting his former boss, Louis Ciminelli, and a top state economic development official, Alain Kaloyeros, on corruption charges. Both were sentenced to prison, although they remain free pending appeals. Schuler is required to perform 400 hours of community service over the next two[...]

Posted 7 years ago
Investigative Post