Latest

Jul 7

2025

Killing more innocents than the Holocaust

Published by

This is what Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader of Congressional Democrats, said the other day on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding the impact of Donald Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill on the nation’s health: “People will die. Tens of thousands, perhaps year after year after year, as a result of the Republican assault on the healthcare of the American people. I’m sad. I never thought I would be on the House floor saying this is a crime scene.”  Tens of thousands of deaths are just the tip of the iceberg. Huge cuts in foreign humanitarian aid made[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Jul 3

2025

Report: OTB’s No. 2 helped himself to freebies

Published by

An internal review at Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. has found a senior executive spent more than $27,000 of the agency’s money on food and drinks for himself, his friends and other guests between 2021 and 2024. The executive in question, Chief Operating Officer Scott Kiedrowski, was the right-hand man of former CEO Henry Wojtaszek, who he succeeded a decade ago as chairman of the Niagara County Republican Party. Byron Brown kept Kiedrowski on when he took over as CEO in October and gave him a $17,000 raise, bringing his pay to $190,000. Kiedrowski is also the subject of[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Jul 1

2025

ICE targets Iranian family in Buffalo here legally

Published by

The corner of West Delavan Ave. and Greenwood Pl. on Buffalo’s West Side. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. For nearly a week, immigration agents in Buffalo have targeted a block on the city’s West Side, seeking to detain an Iranian man living there. The man is in the United States legally. He has no criminal history, no warrant for his arrest and regularly checks in with immigration officials as part of his asylum case. He’s seeking to stay in the country permanently with his son after having fled persecution in Iran for his political activity. Since Wednesday, agents believed to[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Jul 1

2025

City Hall turns blind eye to parking encroachment

Published by

Cars parked on sidewalk at 145 Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo. Daniel Sack  — a frequent critic of City Hall indifference, ineptitude and corruption — says the City of Buffalo for years has been allowing the owner of a surface parking lot on Delaware Avenue to charge customers for three spots that sit squarely on city property. And the Elmwood Village resident says it’s high time the cash-strapped city government stood up for the people’s property rights and claimed their share of the proceeds. “Every weekday if I drive by 145 Delaware there are cars parked on the sidewalk,” he[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Jun 30

2025

Much ado about the mayoral primary in NYC

Published by

Nationally, Zohran Mamdani’s upset victory in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor was the electoral story of the week. Five takes: The City covers the election results. Politico shares the thoughts of eight political types about what it all means. New York Focus explores whether state government is likely to go for Mamdani’s agenda. The New York Times and The Intercept weigh in on what lessons the Democratic establishment should take from Mamdani’s victory. Writing for The Times, Rebecca Kirszner Katz, a political consultant who worked on Mamdani’s campaign, lamented “the party establishment’s impulse to stifle and ignore[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Jun 27

2025

Scanlon ends his campaign for Buffalo mayor

Published by

  Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon during a press conference in his office earlier in his term. Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon, who lost decisively in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, withdrew his candidacy for the November general election Friday afternoon. Scanlon submitted paperwork to the Erie County Board of Elections to decline the nomination of the Good Neighbors Party, which he created in May. His withdrawal all but assures that state Sen. Sean Ryan, who won Tuesday’s primary in convincing fashion, will prevail in November. Two candidates remain on the ballot in addition to Ryan, age 60, who will be running as the[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Jun 26

2025

Buffalo’s mayoral election has been settled

Published by

The fat lady has sung. Sean Ryan will become mayor come January 1. The November election is simply a formality, barring any drastic unforeseen circumstance. Prior to the primary, Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon stated his intention to run on a third-party line if he didn’t win the Democratic nomination, although in his concession speech Tuesday night he said he had some “soul searching” to do. The cold, hard fact is that he was only able to garner 35 percent of the vote Tuesday. His strategy, should he continue his campaign into November, is to pull a Jimmy Griffin — supplement[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Jun 25

2025

Buffalo primary voters sought change in City Hall

Published by

With a commanding voice Tuesday, Buffalo’s Democratic voters said they preferred state Sen. Sean Ryan to lead the city over Acting Mayor Christopher Scanlon. At polling sites across the city Tuesday, voters told Investigative Post reporters that they were ready for change in City Hall — be that Ryan, former fire commissioner Garnell Whitfield, University Common Council Member Rasheed Wyatt or even newcomer Anthony Tyson-Thompson. Most of those interviewed favored someone other than Scanlon, a reflection of the actual vote. The acting mayor, some said, had failed to gain their trust eight months after succeeding Byron Brown, who resigned in[...]

Posted 1 month ago
Investigative Post