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Jun 28

2024

STAMP is but the latest offense

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Scott Logan, a member of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, stands at the edge of the Big Woods. Photo by Garrett Looker. This is the second of a tw0-part series. The first story is here. Standing at the edge of the Big Woods, an old-growth forest that researchers say contains one of the most unique ecosystems in New York, Scott Logan feels he can see history repeating itself. What he’s looking at are Plug Power’s hydrogen-producing electrolyzers, two massive spheres towering over land that once belonged to Logan’s Tonawanda Seneca Nation. The Nation has new neighbors: The Science, Technology and Advanced[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 27

2024

Embattled Wojtaszek leaving OTB

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Henry Wojtaszek, OTB’s president and CEO. Photo by Garrett Looker. Henry Wojtaszek, the president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., will depart the public gambling agency at the end of the year. Two other top officials at OTB will depart early next year. According to a resolution passed by the OTB board of directors Thursday morning, Wojtaszek will continue to work for the agency until the end of the year. At that point, he will be paid an additional one year’s salary of $287,000 as a buyout.  Jacquelyne Leach, the longtime chief financial officer for OTB, will depart[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 27

2024

Hochul, Schumer pressured regulators over STAMP

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Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part package. Our second story is here. In the drive to build a massive industrial park in rural Genesee County, the offices of Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer pressured regulators to issue approvals for the project that ran afoul of environmental laws and policies, ignoring an indigenous nation’s legal rights along the way. Investigative Post found that: Aides to Hochul pushed top officials at the state Department of Environmental Conservation to work more quickly. Schumer aides intervened with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And a string of state[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 26

2024

Erie County Democrats attack challengers

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A Democratic Party mailer supporting favored candidates in party committee races. The Erie County Democratic Party sent a message last weekend to city voters in the handful of election districts where candidates challenged insiders and incumbents for seats on the party committee: Vote for the party’s “endorsed county committee candidates” to ward off “convicted felon Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican Party,” advised a mailer paid for by party headquarters.  Because “democracy hangs in the balance.” You’d think the party’s “endorsed county committee candidates” were fighting a pitched battle against a rabid red wave of Republicans seeking seats of critical[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 25

2024

A purchase by the sheriff with limited value

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Erie County Sheriff John Garcia. Photo by Garrett Looker. The Erie County Sheriff’s Office plans to acquire equipment to detect whether motorists are under the influence of drugs, even though results aren’t admissible in court due to accuracy concerns.  The purchase of five SoToxa drug analyzers at a cost of $26,000 would be funded through a $2.9 million state grant approved unanimously last week by the county Legislature with no debate or discussion. The money also would pay for surveillance cameras, drones, license plate readers and mobile x-ray equipment designed to capture images of vehicles that would be deployed at[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 24

2024

You think the past week was hot?

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The past week has been sweltering. And a warning of what lies ahead if we don’t get serious about climate change. Here’s a sobering chart. Energy consumption is on the rise, and 82 percent of it involves fossil fuels. In other words, there is no real energy transition occurring. Among the consequences: rising sea levels. Not good news for, among other places, the tri-state area centered in New York City. New York State is missing deadlines to meet many of its climate goals, while governors like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott remain in a state of denial. Wall Street doesn’t[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 20

2024

East Side landlord faces big fines

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Farhad Raiszadeh, left, with city building inspector Tracey Krug. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel. An East Side landlord being sued by the state attorney general for lead paint violations is also under the gun from city building inspectors — and it’s going to cost him. The city is prosecuting 69-year-old Farhad Raiszadeh in Buffalo Housing Court for 125 code violations at 11 properties.  Raiszadeh, who lives in San Diego, was in Housing Court earlier this month, when he was ordered by Judge Patrick Carney to pay the city $65,000, half of which will cover the costs of demolishing a house and[...]

Posted 11 months ago

Jun 19

2024

Smart law enforcement or Big Brother?

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The Erie County sheriff’s office wants to buy x-ray equipment for scanning vehicles that’s typically used for military purposes and has raised privacy concerns in the civilian world.  The requested “whole vehicle scanning system” would be used to “enhance the agency’s details at all mass gatherings and critical infrastructure,” according to the department’s grant application filed with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. It’s a groundbreaking ask. “We’re not aware of any other agencies applying for x-ray systems capable of scanning entire vehicles,” said Kirstan Conley, spokeswoman for the Division of Criminal Justice Services, which administers requests from police[...]

Posted 11 months ago
Investigative Post