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Jul 21

2025

Public broadcasting cuts will harm WBFO

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Central to the playbook for dictators dismantling democracies is neutering the press. That’s been at the top of Donald Trump’s to-do list since he retook office in January and that effort gained further traction last week when he strong-armed Congressional Republicans into voting to withdraw $1.1 billion previously appropriated for public broadcasting. National Public Radio (NPR) is comprised of over 1,000 stations. They provide vital news and information, many serving rural communities who have lost their daily or weekly newspaper to closure. A recent study found that the number of journalists nationally has dropped from 40 per 100,000 residents in[...]

Posted 1 week ago

Jul 17

2025

Latinos, roofers are prime ICE targets in WNY

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An ICE raid took place on Crescent Avenue in May. Photo submitted. Rather than targeting the “worst of the worst,” as the Trump administration claims, ICE agents in Western New York are primarily arresting immigrants with no criminal history. Data shows that more than three-quarters of migrants arrested in Western New York since President Trump took office have no criminal record.  To date, most of the 335 detainees are from Latin American counties, a significant percentage of them roofers and others in the construction field. By contrast, ICE arrested a total of 84 in Western New York all of last[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Jul 16

2025

ICE deception on immigrant detentions

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On X, ICE has used these words to describe detainees who were already incarcerated. Graphic by I’Jaz Ja’ciel. Since Donald Trump took office in January, the Buffalo ICE office has issued a steady drumbeat of press releases and social media posts purporting to show that its agents are taking dangerous criminals “off the streets.” But in reality, more than half of the immigrants ICE Buffalo has publicized since Trump’s inauguration were already in state or federal prison. Following a White House-issued quota, ICE data shows that arrests in the region have skyrocketed from 83 last year to 335 through the[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Jul 15

2025

Another Buffalo cop cited for misconduct

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The state attorney general’s office has determined another Buffalo police officer abused his authority through his use of excessive force and other misdeeds.   The AG’s office reviewed 14 complaints made against Officer Justin Ayala between October 2021 and August of last year. The findings were based on five incidents, including his punching of a man while held down by other officers, pepper-spraying a handcuffed suspect, and use of vile language on a teen-age girl and her mother. The office of Letitia James also took issue with the department’s investigations into Ayala’s conduct, arguing the department erred in exonerating him in[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Jul 14

2025

Zyglis cartoon: Much ado about nothing

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Adam Zyglis has exhibited his work at the Buffalo History Museum since the spring. Early on I attended and found most interesting a display of the hate mail he’s received over the years.  Pretty vile stuff from assorted wing-nuts, although nothing that compares to what came out of the woodwork last week when The Buffalo News published a Zyglis cartoon on the flooding in Texas.  I’m talking death threats against Zyglis and his wife and children. Over a cartoon. Michael Kracker, chairman of the Erie County Republican Committee, kicked things off with a tweet that characterized the cartoon as “filth[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Jul 10

2025

Behind the closing of Club Marcella

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The entrance to the former Club Marcella. Photo by Grant Ashley. When Buffalo police shut down Club Marcella in December 2023, club owners Joe Guagliardo and Michael Slyder seemed to have a lot of questions to answer.  One person died and three others were injured in two shootings inside the club that year, and another three were injured in shootings just outside the club. In the 18 months the club was open at its new location on Michigan Avenue, Buffalo police responded to 32 assaults, 10 fights and four other reports of shots fired. The State Liquor Authority charged the[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Jul 9

2025

Investigative Post adds a reporter

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Adam Smith-Perez has joined the reporting staff of Investigative Post. Smith-Perez, 33, is bilingual and will share reporting duties with I’Jaz Ja’ciel on Investigative Post’s urban affairs team, with a concentration on criminal justice. “I’m impressed with Adam’s energy and keen interest in social justice,” said Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney. Smith-Perez comes to Investigative Post via Report For America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. The program underwrites a portion of reporter salaries and provides training opportunities.  Investigative Post is one of 101 newsrooms participating in the program[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Jul 8

2025

Lawsuit seeks environmental review of STAMP data center

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Chief Roger Hill, a Tonawanda Seneca Nation leader, looks out to Plug Power site. Photo by Garrett Looker. The Tonawanda Seneca Nation is again suing the builders of the Genesee County STAMP industrial park, arguing in a lawsuit filed last week that the industrial development agency failed to conduct a proper environmental review for a large data center. The lawsuit asks a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to halt any prep work being done for the data center, and eventually to rule that additional environmental reviews are needed before the project can proceed. The Nation and the Sierra[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago
Investigative Post