Categories for Monday Morning Read

Feb 26

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Subscribe to WeeklyPost, if you don’t already. There’s more heat being applied to industrial development agencies. We’ve already reported on reform legislation being championed by Sen. Sean Ryan. Last week, the Albany Times Union reported that the chairman of the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations is launching an investigation into how IDA’s dole out tax breaks. Sen. James Skoufis is hot and bothered by a deal in Orange County. He’s likely to blow a gasket if he looks into the deals approved of late by the Niagara County IDA, subsidies for everything from fast food restaurants to market rate housing to a warehouse for Amazon, which[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 19

2023

Monday Morning Read

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This Monday Morning Read, and a whole lot more, is available as a Sunday morning read by subscribing to our email newsletter. Erie County Comptroller Mickey Kearns improperly spent over $100,000 of taxpayer funds to promote his re-election campaign last year, according to a report by Michael Wooten of WGRZ. He faces mega-fines for his transgressions. Kearns’ defense: ignorance of the law. This from a guy who is apparently preparing to run for county executive. The toxic Tonawanda Coke site is being cleaned up in preparation of redevelopment. And what a mess there is to clean up. The escalating price of NFL franchises: The Bills sold[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 12

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Get Jim Heaney’s recommended readings, and a recap of Investigative Post’s reporting for the previous week, via email on Sunday mornings by subscribing here. WGRZ anchor, and in this case, muckraker, Maryalice Demler reported on dirty dealings behind closed doors by the North Tonawanda City Council. Sweetheart waterfront leases, negotiated on the q.t., to benefit political insiders. By now you’ve probably read about Kim Pegula’s health issues. Her daughter Jessica wrote a moving first-hand account for The Players’ Tribune. It’s becoming apparent Kim will not be able to carry on once her much-older husband is no longer in the picture and, as I previously[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 5

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Each Sunday, Jim Heaney summarizes the reporting of Investigative Post from the previous week and recommends other stories to read – along with his commentary. The email newsletter is free. Subscribe here. When officials announced a couple of weeks ago the framework of a community benefits agreement for the new Bills stadium, I asked Geoff Kelly to analyze the deal. He poked around, found nothing had been committed to a public document, and said it was premature to draw any conclusions. That didn’t stop Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz from praising the CBA and for The Buffalo News editorial board from[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 29

2023

Monday Morning Read

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You can read Jim Heaney’s recommended reading on Monday morning. Or Sunday morning, along with a wrap-up of Investigative Post’s reporting of the previous week, if you subscribe to WeeklyPost. Common Council President Darius Pridgen is not seeking re-election next year. In my dealing with Pridgen over the years I found him to be smart, charismatic and street savvy. Unfortunately, the Council under his leadership has been a rubber stamp for Byron Brown. His approach has been to go-along to get-along with the mayor. The city needs an independent and vigilant Council. Brown gathered people Friday to express their horror over the beating[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 22

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter here and you’ll get my recommended reading in your inbox Sunday mornings. It turns out that the City of Buffalo stopped fluoridating its water in 2015, according to a report by Charlie Specht in The Buffalo News. Pretty outrageous. Then again, the administration of Mayor Byron Brown has been bad news for public health for a long time. It dragged its feet on addressing lead poisoning. Tolerates the death of civilians at the hands of police. Didn’t do squat about pollution from the Peace Bridge. Has been cutting down climate-soothing trees without sufficiently replacing them,[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 15

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Want to read this yesterday? Sign up for WeeklyPost, emailed Sunday mornings. Subscribe here. Also includes a summary of Investigative Post’s reporting for the previous week. On this day celebrating, celebrating the birthday, and life, if Martin Luther King Jr., allow me to share a couple of relevant links: historians discuss little known facts about MLK, and  America’s embrace of the man wasn’t always the case. Good reporting by Jerry Zremski of The Buffalo News in detailing the role Big Dog Strategies, a local political consulting firm, played in the election of pathological liar turned Congressman George Santos. Santos, the subject[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 9

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Here’s Jim Heaney’s recommended reading – and a little food for thought – for the past week. His recommended reading is part of WeeklyPost, emailed Sunday mornings. You can subscribe here. In the wake of his injury last week, Damar Hamlin’s charity had raised $8,552,900 as of Sunday night. The GoFundMe page set up to assist the Buffalo family that lost five children in a house fire had raised $181,828. Just saying. How much are the Buffalo Bills worth? Let’s just say Terry Pegula could build his new stadium on his own dime with the increased value of the team[...]

Posted 2 years ago
Investigative Post