Categories for Monday Morning Read

Aug 14

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Consider this food for thought to start your week. Available, by the way, Sunday mornings, along with a summary of what Investigative Post published the previous week, in an email newsletter. It’s free, so, hey. Subscribe here. The New York Times sizes up the race between Carl Paladino and Nick Langworthy.  The Times also writes about how the attack on Salman Rushdie has shaken the Chautauqua Institution.   Ken Kruly, in his Politics and Other Stuff, details all the money spent by local companies and nonprofits to lobby officials in state government. It’s a lot. Ken’s list of individual spending by organizations[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jul 31

2022

Monday Morning Read

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You could have read this – and more – yesterday if you subscribed to WeeklyPost, our free weekly newsletter. You can subscribe here. The Buffalo News has a new editor. The paper is making a big deal out of the fact Sheila Rayam is the first person of color to serve as editor, and it is noteworthy, particularly  given The News’ lack of diversity, especially in its management ranks. Rayam joins The News after a 15-month stint at the daily newspaper in Utica. The Utica Observer-Dispatch has a newsroom staff of only a dozen journalists, so she faces the challenge of[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jul 24

2022

A most unreasonable demand

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I’ve never heard of such a thing: elected officials being asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement to preclude them from discussing public policy. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz is making the demand of three county legislators who would serve on a committee to consider, at long last, a community benefits agreement tied to the construction of the new Buffalo Bills stadium. The county executive wants those negotiations, much like talks involving the stadium, to be held in secret. Public policy should not be negotiated behind closed doors. This is yet another example of Poloncarz kowtowing to the Pegulas and thumbing[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jul 18

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Below is the “What I’m Reading” section of WeeklyPost, our Sunday email newsletter. You can subscribe here. Buffalo has a new school superintendent with the appointment of Tonja Williams. I’ve got to admit I was a little stunned when I heard the news.  As we reported in May, she’s never taught at the elementary or high school level. She has little experience as a principal and her tenure at Futures Academy was a failure: academic achievement at the struggling elementary school actually got worse during her time there and she was eventually removed as a result. Sources told us that[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jul 10

2022

Bad governance, poor politics

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This week, Jim Heaney recaps Investigative Post’s coverage of the Common Council’s fumbling of its redistricting process and gives a shout-out to a half-dozen stories that have caught his eye. You can get Heaney’s insights in your inbox every Sunday morning by subscribing to WeeklyPost. Jimmy Griffin used to call city lawmakers the “Comical Council.” If only the current incarnation was the least bit funny. Geoff Kelly has been following the process of redistricting the Council’s nine districts, as required every decade based on new Census numbers. He first reported on the Council’s proposed district lines, gerrymandered to protect incumbents, then[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jun 26

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Here’s what caught Jim Heaney’s eye last week. You can get the earl scoop by subscribing to his free Sunday newsletter. Tom Dinki of WBFO had a terrific series of stories last week on the rise of the radical right in WNY. An audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli finds IDAs are delivering less bang for the buck. In other words, bigger subsidies, fewer jobs. Ken Kruly summarizes the latest campaign finance disclosure reports ahead of next week’s primary. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas thinks Roe v Wade ought to be just the beginning. Many corporations professing to support LGBT rights are nevertheless underwriting the likes[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jun 12

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter, an excerpt from which you’ll find below. Reinvent Albany has a good rundown of the good and bad of the session’s final flurry.  Among the bad: a $10 billion allocation, negotiated in the dark, to provide huge subsidies to the semiconductor industry. There’s good analysis here and here. New York Focus has more, on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s slush funds and lack of transparency. The state Legislature passed a two-year moratorium on cryptomining. Will Hochul sign or veto the measure? The industry has given big to her campaign and that of her running mate. So,[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jun 6

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Jim Heaney shares his recommended reading from the previous week, which is also delivered Sunday mornings via his WeeklyPost newsletter. You can subscribe for free here. That didn’t take long. Just days after Congressman Chris Jacobs announced he would support gun control measures in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas, he withdrew as a candidate for re-election. The GOP just wouldn’t have it. Analysis here from The Buffalo News and The New York Times. The Washington Post reported a few days ago there have been 232 mass shootings in the United State so far this year. And[...]

Posted 3 years ago
Investigative Post