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Sep 10

2015

Help wanted: Reporter to cover iPost events

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Investigative Post is seeking a free-lance correspondent who can cover our event series that kicks off later this month. Work involves a handful of assignments a month. We’re looking for someone with a journalism background who can write, use social media and shoot and edit video and still photos. (In short, a backpack journalist.) Note: This is not an invitation to apply for a full-time reporting position. Send cover letter, resume and three work samples by Sept. 18 to Jim Heaney, editor of Investigative Post, at jheaney@investigativepost.org.    

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 31

2015

Heaney talks ‘Billion with Capitol Pressroom

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Susan Arbetter of Capitol Pressroom interviewed Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney on Monday regarding transparency and the Buffalo Billion. The 9 minute, 19 second interview runs from 13:10 to 22:29. The Capitol Pressroom broadcasts on National Public Radio affiliates as well as non-profit community stations across New York State and is produced in association with WCNY, which is based in Syracuse.

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 27

2015

A call for action on sewer overflows

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The federal Environmental Protection Agency gave Buffalo 20 years to curb its sewer overflows into Scajaquada Creek and other waterways flowing through the city. That’s not fast enough, said Erie County Legislator Patrick Burke, whose district includes Cazenovia Creek, which, like the Scajaquada, he says is badly polluted by sewer overflows. The lack of urgency among local, state and federal authorities has him frustrated. Therefore, he’s invited the responsible parties to a public meeting next month in an attempt to bring transparency to a problem that’s tainted local waterways for a century. “We’ve kicked the can down the road on[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 26

2015

Labor groups protest hotel subsidies

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Around 100 people from local labor groups gathered Wednesday morning to protest the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency’s awarding of tax breaks to hotels. They say low-cost hotels like the Budget Inn on Niagara Falls Boulevard, where the protest was held, should not receive subsidies because they don’t create good-paying jobs. The protest was organized by the Coalition for Economic Justice. Investigative Post reported on the subsidies in January, documenting how the IDA’s indiscriminate granting of tax breaks to hotels defied the recommendations of a 2011 study commissioned by the state. That study found that the city had already had a “glut” of lower-end hotel[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 25

2015

NRG closing Huntley coal plant in Tonawanda

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NRG Energy plans to retire its Huntley coal plant in Tonawanda by March. NRG informed its 79 employees at the River Road facility on Tuesday morning. “The market conditions don’t make the plant economically viable,” said NRG spokesman David Gaier. “We don’t see any scenario under which things will improve to allow the plant to remain in service.” At the same time, NRG’s $140 million project to convert and repower its coal plant in Dunkirk is in jeopardy. The conversion plan, approved last year, would allow the Dunkirk facility to burn both coal and natural gas. Now, that plant could be mothballed by January. On[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 20

2015

Heaney talks SolarCity with WBEN

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Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney fields questions from WBEN News Radio regarding SolarCity and plans to open a large solar panel manufacturing plant at Riverbend in South Buffalo. Heaney discussed SolarCity’s mounting financial losses and described the project as “high risk, high reward.”

Posted 10 years ago

Aug 17

2015

Buffalo steps up recycling efforts

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Buffalo officials have finally launched what they are calling an “extensive public awareness campaign” in an effort to boost its anemic recycling rate. This campaign, announced Monday, comes almost three years after Investigative Post reported how the city had failed to spend more than $400,000 earmarked for recycling education and promotion. City officials said the goal is to exceed the national recycling rate of 34 percent by 2018. They have a long way to go. Buffalo will need to more than double its rate in three years to reach that goal. In 2012, the city introduced the green tote program, which allows residents to[...]

Posted 10 years ago
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