Categories for News

Sep 10

2025

How the investigation on police misconduct was done

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This story is co-published with The New York Times and New York Focus. It’s a followup to yesterday’s story about police officers who drive drunk, crash cars, and escape meaningful consequences. In the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in 2020, New York State repealed a law that for decades kept the disciplinary records of its police officers secret. The New York Times and New York Focus, a nonprofit newsroom, have since gathered more than 10,000 such files from around half of New York State’s nearly 500 law enforcement agencies. The documents, most[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Sep 10

2025

Jemal late in paying millions in bills

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Contractors have filed nearly $3.7 million in liens for unpaid bills against Doug Jemal’s projects in Western New York over the past year and a half. It’s another indicator that high interest rates and the diminished market for office and retail space have put the screws to the developer’s business.  Jemal called those conditions “a pandemic of real estate” that have made cash flow tight for his company and real-estate developers across the country.  “There’s cash flow issues, no doubt,” he told Investigative Post. “But we’re taking care of this. We pay our bills.” The mechanics liens — a legal[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Sep 9

2025

Police who drink, drive and avoid charges

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Ronald W. Wilson, an investigator with the New York State Police, admitted to drinking and driving this vehicle in 2021 but received only a traffic ticket. Photo courtesy of the Orchard Park Police Department. This story is co-published with the New York Times and New York Focus. An Orchard Park police officer found the man on the shoulder of Southwestern Boulevard, standing near his crumpled black BMW, arguing with his girlfriend. It was 11 p.m. on a Saturday in 2021. The BMW had slammed into a Jeep, smashing its left taillight. White high heels were toppled on their sides on[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Sep 5

2025

Buffalo landlord hit with hefty penalty for lead contamination

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Farhad Raiszadeh, left, in Buffalo Housing Court in 2024. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel. A Buffalo landlord whose lead-contaminated homes poisoned more than dozen children will pay a $515,000 settlement, the state attorney general announced Friday. “For years, Farhad Raiszadeh and the Raiszadeh Group failed to protect tenant families despite receiving repeated warnings and violations. Today, we are ensuring that hundreds of thousands of dollars will be invested directly into making these homes safe,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement announcing the settlement. The attorney general in March 2023 sued Raisazdeh, his wife Shohre Zahedi and four of their[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Sep 5

2025

OTB approves sexual harassment lawsuit

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OTB’s Scott Kiedrowski. Photo courtesy of The Niagara Gazette. The board of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. has voted to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit involving Scott Kiedrowski, its No. 2 executive at the time of the alleged incidents, and the agency’s head of security. The settlement, which awaits final court approval, involves payment of $135,000 to three female employees, two of whom contended management withheld tips from them when they worked as bartenders at the Batavia Downs casino and hotel.  The board resolution authorizing the settlement notes that the matter so far has cost OTB nearly $301,876 to litigate,[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Sep 3

2025

Evans town board settles lawsuit in secret

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The Town of Evans in July settled a defamation lawsuit brought against the town and two current town board members by former Town Supervisor Mary Hosler. But you wouldn’t know it from looking through the town board’s agendas, meeting minutes and recordings.  There is no record of the town board voting to approve a settlement in any meeting held between June and the end of August. There’s no record of the settlement being discussed in an executive session, which excludes the public from discussions of sensitive matters. There’s not even a record of an executive session being called at the[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Sep 3

2025

Niagara County Dems oppose Wojtaszek’s return to OTB

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Niagara County Democrats oppose the idea of allowing former Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. boss Henry Wojtaszek to return to the organization as a member of its board of directors.  They also conceded on Tuesday, in the wake of an Investigative Post report about Wojtaszek expressing interest in an OTB board seat, that they lack the votes needed to block such a move in the county legislature, where Republicans outnumber them by an 11-to-4 margin.  The legislature’s minority leader, Chris Robins, D-Niagara Falls, said he’s heard about the possibility of Wojtaszek replacing Elliot Winter as the county’s OTB board representative[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Sep 2

2025

Podcast: Our economic development follies

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The economy of Western New York, like those of most regions upstate, lags behind most of the nation. Government’s response, at both the local and state level, has been in large part to throw tax breaks and other subsidies at companies in an effort to attract or retain them.  It hasn’t worked. In the interview below, Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney discusses economic development with Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a nonprofit that tracks subsidy programs across the nation. LeRoy is considered a leading expert in his field and is frequently quoted by Investigative Post. Here are[...]

Posted 1 month ago
Investigative Post