Latest

Jan 26

2017

City schools want to test for lead poisoning

Published by

A Buffalo Public Schools official says that the district wants to respond to the city’s serious lead poisoning problem with a sense of urgency. But a district proposal to test children for lead in schools is not getting support from the Erie County Health Department. “It just seems it would be so easy to test the untested children,” said Will Keresztes, the school district’s chief of intergovernmental affairs, planning and community engagement. “Why can’t that happen when the school district is so interested in making that happen?” This was just one of many policies and best practices discussed at a roundtable Thursday[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Jan 25

2017

Telvock analysis on suspended EPA funding

Published by

Details are sketchy, in part because of a news blackout, but Dan Telvock told WGRZ on Tuesday that a presidential order to freeze contracts and grants made by the Environmental Protection Agency could disrupt work on a number of projects in Western New York.

Posted 9 years ago

Jan 24

2017

Pridgen wants Buffalo police accredited

Published by

Updated Jan. 25, 2017  Common Council President Darius Pridgen proposed a resolution Tuesday asking the Buffalo Police Department to seek accreditation as a means of bringing about improvements in the department. It was unanimously approved. As reported last week by Investigative Post, accreditation by outside evaluators is a long-ignored requirement of the City Charter. The resolution also calls for the police to provide updates to the Council on its application for accreditation. “That sounds very, very important to have the state or someone who then has oversight and then can come in and look at where there are pieces where we miss,”[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Jan 19

2017

Suit pending on landfill with Love Canal legacy

Published by

Four families have filed notice against the Town of Wheatfield alleging that a landfill with a Love Canal legacy made them sick through exposure to dangerous chemicals. Each family intends to sue for $60 million in damages, according to the notices of claim filed Wednesday at the Wheatfield clerk’s office. Wheatfield Supervisor Robert Cliffe declined to comment. One of the lawyers representing the families said test results of their soil and dust in their homes showed elevated levels of cancer-causing chemicals, including arsenic and PCBs. They charge that a toxic soup of chemicals migrated from the landfill onto their properties. “These[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Jan 19

2017

Heaney talks ‘Billion on ‘Pressroom

Published by

Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom interviews Jim Heaney on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed second phase of the Buffalo Billion. Heaney’s take: It doesn’t have much to do with economic development. He also discusses Howard Zemsky, the state’s economic development czar and Buffalo civic leader.

Posted 9 years ago

Jan 19

2017

City Hall ignoring police mandate

Published by

Many police departments get what amounts to a stamp of approval from outside evaluators that review, advise and ultimately accredit them as adhering to best practices. But not Buffalo. The Buffalo Police Department is currently not accredited, even though it’s required by the City Charter. The issue of accreditation is more than a technical matter. The process is intended to improve the professionalism and efficiency of police departments, and Buffalo faces numerous challenges in this regard. The department has a middling track record of solving crime, its relationships with the minority community is strained, and its training involving use of[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post