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Jul 3

2014

Air quality in Buffalo is improving

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Less than 10 years ago the Buffalo region’s nitrogen dioxide levels were on par with larger cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York and Denver. But the region’s smog has diminished quite a bit since then, including steep drops in nitrogen dioxide. The gas is one of numerous air pollutants that can agitate asthma, a respiratory disease that plagues neighborhoods in both east and west Buffalo, especially near the Peace Bridge. “The gas is produced primarily during the combustion of gasoline in vehicle engines and coal in power plants,” according to NASA. “It’s also a good proxy for the presence[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Jun 25

2014

Western Lake Erie’s algae blooms not going away

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The harmful algae blooms in western Lake Erie may be a problem over the next century. In fact, some parts of the western basin could see huge increases of blooms. A story from the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio.

Posted 10 years ago

Jun 18

2014

Solar jobs, entrepreneur headed to Buffalo

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SolarCity is buying Silevo, which last fall announced plans to bring 475 jobs to the city under the Buffalo Billion Program. SolarCity is a much bigger operator and has plans to increase the planned manufacturing plant’s capacity five-fold, which would make it among the largest such facilities in the nation. More jobs are also anticipated, a total of anywhere from 1,000 to 2,500. Beyond the jobs, SolarCity brings noted entrepreneur Elon Musk, whose ventures have included PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX. Will the larger manufacturing capacity necessitate the state upping its $225 million investment to build and equip the clean energy[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Jun 18

2014

Buffalo recovery a Tale of Two Cities

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Jim Heaney makes his debut as a columnist for City & State this week with a piece that puts Buffalo’s improved economy in perspective. Heaney notes a great and growing divide between “the haves and have-nots.” Yes, there is the psychological boost thanks to the Buffalo Billion initiative, and construction cranes denote progress at Canalside and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. But other aspects of the economy lag. “Any way you cut the numbers—poverty rate, unemployment rate, actual number of city residents working—they lag behind where things stood prior to the Great Recession of 2008–09,” Heaney writes. Meanwhile, the public[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Jun 18

2014

Heaney assesses SolarCity deal

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Investigative Post editor Jim Heaney discusses the SolarCity deal, and the thinking behind the Buffalo Billion initiative, with WGRZ’s Danny Spewak in a 6 minute, 42 second interview taped Tuesday evening.  

Posted 10 years ago

Jun 16

2014

High bacteria levels close Bennett Beach

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The start of the swimming season at Bennett Beach is getting off with a bang—a bacterial bang, that is. The beach, which is 22 miles southwest of downtown Buffalo, opened for swimming Saturday. But health department officials closed it Monday for high levels of E. coli bacteria. The announcement of the closing didn’t reach all levels of county government fast enough, however. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz sent this Twitter post at 10:58 a.m.:   Two minutes later, the Twitter feed for Erie County Parks made the following announcement: Bennett Beach closed 15 times last season, according to data from the Environmental Protection[...]

Posted 10 years ago
Investigative Post

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