Tag: City Hall

Jul 5

2018

Vet a victim of discrimination – and inaction

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The red brick apartment building on Crescent Avenue is two blocks from Delaware Park. Online listings show pictures of light-filled rooms with hardwood floors and decorative fireplaces. Reginald Holloway never got to see inside. In 2008, Holloway, a disabled Marine Corps veteran, was looking for a one-bedroom apartment in a peaceful neighborhood. He still struggled with flashbacks and nightmares from his military service and wanted to live somewhere quiet; doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs had diagnosed him with chronic post traumatic stress disorder. Holloway had a Section 8 voucher that would help him pay the rent and, in[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jul 5

2018

Buffalo not enforcing its fair housing law

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 The heating in her apartment was acting up and her knee problems made carrying groceries up the stairs difficult. So, Gloria Adkins had gone with a friend to look at an apartment in Black Rock, planning to ask the landlord if he had anything else available. After he said he did, she steeled herself to ask the all-important question: Did he take Section 8, a federal program that helps poor people pay their rent? She remembers him saying no: too much hassle, too much paperwork. Most people would have let it go. But Adkins knew that refusing to rent[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jul 2

2018

Lehner family sues over police diver’s drowning

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The family of Officer Craig Lehner filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against City Hall and the Buffalo Police Department. Lehner drowned during a dive training exercise in the Niagara River last October with the department’s Underwater Recovery Team. The lawsuit contends the city and police department “violated and departed from” the rules and regulations guiding dive training. Several of the allegations in the filing are similar to the findings in an Investigative Post story published earlier this year, which exposed shortcomings in the dive team’s training, equipment, and safety procedures. The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court, contends: Lehner[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Jun 28

2018

Lehner family to file wrongful death lawsuit

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The family of Officer Craig Lehner intends to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the Buffalo Police Department and the City of Buffalo in the coming weeks, an attorney for the family confirmed to Investigative Post. The family had previously signaled its intention to do so with the filing of a notice of claim. Lehner drowned during a training exercise in the Niagara River last October with the police Underwater Recovery Team. Investigative Post subsequently reported that inadequate training and equipment contributed to his death. Dangerously fast currents typical of the Niagara River were also a factor. On the day Lehner drowned,[...]

Posted 6 years ago

May 23

2018

Heaney talks rich retiree benefits on ‘Pressroom

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Susan Arbetter quizzes Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney on The Capitol Pressroom about a recent iPost story on gold-plated health insurance benefits provided by the Buffalo school district. Heaney also touched on the recent guilty plea involving the awarding of the contract to develop the SolarCity factory.  

Posted 6 years ago

May 17

2018

Rare, costly benefit for Buffalo school retirees

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Most retired employees of the Buffalo school district receive a benefit not enjoyed by their counterparts in suburban school districts – lifetime health insurance. And not just any old health insurance, but about the best money can buy. This coverage, provided to an average of about 4,200 retirees, including teachers and administrators, doesn’t come cheap. The bill for the budget year that is winding down is a projected $66 million. That’s more than the $64 million the district is spending on health insurance for active employees. One parent leader criticized the spending in light of the district’s subpar graduation rate.[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Mar 27

2018

Blueprint issued for combatting lead poisoning

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 The City of Buffalo needs to empower inspectors to get inside houses to determine whether they are contaminated with chipped or flaking lead paint, a report issued Tuesday said. While noting steps the city and Erie County have taken in recent years, the 102-page report by CGR Inc., a Rochester-based consulting firm, declared that defeating “lead poisoning will require much more from local government and the entire community.” The report included 17 recommendations, the most important ones addressing the need for stepped-up inspections of residential properties. As it now stands, inspectors are not guaranteed entry to test interiors for[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Mar 27

2018

Progress on Buffalo police accreditation

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 The Buffalo Police Department is getting closer to obtaining professional accreditation from the state, according to police representatives who spoke Tuesday at the Common Council’s Police Oversight Committee.   As Investigative Post reported last year, the City Charter requires the police to maintain professional accreditation, a good housekeeping stamp of approval that ensures departments are following contemporary best practices. Over 150 departments across New York are accredited with the state’s Law Enforcement Accreditation Program While the Buffalo police is updating its policies and procedures to comply with the state program  in areas like administration and property maintenance, changes to[...]

Posted 6 years ago
Investigative Post

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