Categories for Outrages & Insights

Sep 23

2014

SolarCity deal is a rich subsidy package

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My first blush impressions of the SolarCity deal announced Tuesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo: It’s a rich package. The state is committing $750 million – $350 million to build a manufacturing plant and $400 million in potentially forgivable loans to equip it – in exchange for creating 3,000 jobs, half of which would be employed by SolarCity, the other at firms in their supply chain. That works out to $250,000 to $500,000 per job, depending on how you do the math. By comparison, the subsidy package cobbled together to lure the Yahoo! data center in Lockport five years ago involved[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Sep 18

2014

SolarCity shakedown?

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo last fall pledged $225 million to build and equip a clean energy hub along Buffalo’s waterfront. It was good enough for Silevo, a solar panel manufacturer, and Soraa, the makers of high-efficiency light bulbs. It apparently isn’t good enough for SolarCity, however, which bought Silevo in June. Cuomo has subsequently suggested it’s going to take a richer incentive package to bring SolarCity into the fold and press reports indicate at least two other states are in the hunt for the solar panel plant that is penciled in for Buffalo. Given the track record of SolarCity Chairman Elon[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Sep 11

2014

Some perspective on Pegula’s purchase of Bills

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My buddy Jerry Sullivan, reacting to the news that Terry and Kim Pegula purchased the Buffalo Bills, wrote that Tuesday was “a day for people to cry and embrace … in communal joy, relief and celebration.” Well, I was happy to hear the news, but mostly for different reasons than what Sully had in mind. Pegula’s purchase means we’ll no longer be bombarded with stories speculating whether the Bills will leave town. The hand wringing has been going on for more than a decade, speculation passing as reporting, and it’s behind us now. Which frees the press to report on[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Jul 24

2014

State complicit in defiling of Scajaquada Creek

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Way back in 1993 the state Department of Environmental Conversation told the City of Buffalo to dredge Scajaquada Creek to remove decaying human excrement and other sludge that was up to five feet deep in some places. The city refused — and the DEC did nothing. In 2008 the DEC used an enforcement order to force the Town of Cheektowaga to submit a plan to reduce sewer overflows into the creek. The DEC rejected that plan in 2010—and has done nothing since then to force the issue. In the interim, Cheektowaga has dumped more than one billion gallons of raw[...]

Posted 10 years ago

May 1

2014

Common Council needs to step up

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Right about now, people ought to be missing Jim Pitts. Yeah, yeah, I know, obstructionist and all. I’ll concede, he could be frustrating at times. But Pitts was nobody’s pushover, and during his time in office the Common Council could be counted on to take the occasional lead on issues and function as some sort of check on executive power. That’s in sharp contrast to the “go along to get along” crew now occupying the Council’s nine seats. I did a package of stories last week for WGRZ that considered the effectiveness and independence of the Council and Erie County[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Apr 9

2014

Cuomo’s contempt for public’s right to know

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You may recall a series of stories Dan Telvock did last fall about the push by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, among others, to open Gallagher Beach for swimming despite its PCB contaminated water and proximity to not one, but two Superfund sites. State officials, after first suggesting they might not test the beach for its fitness as a swimming hole, relented and announced the soil and water at Gallagher Beach would be thoroughly tested. We were told test results would be available in February. Well, folks, it’s now the second week in April and state officials are still refusing to say[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Mar 27

2014

Chippewa Street is a red blight district

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Last week I wrote about the overflowing trash bins up and down Chippewa Street that greeted fans in town for the NCAA basketball tournament. That did not make it an unusual week for the downtown entertainment strip – actually, it was a typical one. The truth is, Chippewa is dirty, smelly and uninviting most of the time. I know because I walk the street five, sometimes six days a week. I park workdays at WGRZ on Delaware Avenue and walk up Chippewa to my office on Pearl Street. I retrace my steps on the way home in the evening. In[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Mar 22

2014

The State of Investigative Post, 2014

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Investigative Post recently celebrated its second anniversary and I want to use the occasion to recap the past year and provide a peek of what lies ahead in 2014. When I contemplated leaving The Buffalo News several years ago I wrestled with the prospect of losing the platform that comes with writing for the largest media outlet in the region. That was no small consideration because journalism, to have value, must have impact, and to have impact, must reach a broad audience. Using those benchmarks, Investigative Post had a successful second year, and is poised to have an even better[...]

Posted 10 years ago
Investigative Post

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