Tag: Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown

Nov 18

2020

Missing persons report for city’s control board

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Editor’s note: The original version of this column incorrectly reported on events related to actions by the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority involving the city’s four-year budget plan. The source of the errors: The control board, on its website, incorrectly labeled videos of  special meetings held on June 16 and July 20. Investigative Post based its reporting in part on those videos, which resulted in a conflating of events. The text below has been revised accordingly. A control board spokesman said the agency was attempting to correct the errors on its website. Three times in the past five months, the city’s state-imposed[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Sep 4

2020

Heaney-Bellavia interview on WBEN

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Jim Heaney made his debut Thursday on David Bellavia’s talk show on NewsRadio 930WBEN. Heaney and Bellavia, in a 41 minute interview, discussed a range of topics, including the M.T. Pockets situation, Mayor Byron Brown, the city’s contract with its police union, and the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. The show broadcast in three segments, which are below. First segment, talking about Investigative Post, incident outside M.T. Pockets and problems with distance learning in Buffalo schools. Second segment, regarding Mayor Byron Brown, unions and police contract. Third segment, involving more on police contract and OTB.  

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 18

2020

Study: Buffalo finances among worst in US

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Only one city in the country is suffering more than Buffalo from the financial devastation of the COVID crisis. And that’s Rochester, just an hour down the Thruway. A forthcoming study, the source of a New York Times analysis published Monday, projects Buffalo’s government is staring at a 15 to 20 percent shortfall in revenue in the current fiscal year — more than twice the average in the survey of 150 cities nationwide. Upstate New York’s largest cities — Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse — were ranked the most fiscally distressed municipalities in the nation. New York City ranked fifth, right[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 12

2020

Heaney discusses schools on WBEN

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Jim Heaney follows up his story published Monday on distance learning in Buffalo schools with an interview on  NewsRadio 930WBEN. Heaney tells Susan Rose and Brian Mazurowski that distance learning didn’t go very well last semester and the district officials tried to obstruct his reporting.  

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 11

2020

Interview with parent leader Sam Radford

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Sam Radford believes distance learning in Buffalo schools has failed many students, as reported Monday by Investigative Post. In a 20-minute interview with Jim Heaney, Radford, co-chair of We The Parents and immediate past president of the District Parent Coordinating Council, spelled out the concerns he’s heard this spring and summer from the mothers and fathers of Buffalo students. Student participation was an issue – “Some kids logged on, some kids didn’t.” But the quality of instruction is a larger concern. “I think the learning is what suffered the most,” Radford said. “Some teachers were doing really great when they[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 9

2020

Buffalo schools struggled with distance learning

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This story began in April with a handful of simple questions: How many Buffalo school students are participating in distance learning? How many hours a day are they engaged in learning? And how much are they really learning? They were obvious and reasonable questions. So we posed them to the folks who run the school system. Their response: hysterics and stonewalling.  We then turned to teachers, who, in often heartfelt terms, described their experiences working with students since schools shut their doors the middle of March because of the pandemic. Their experiences varied, but on balance they said distance learning[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Aug 6

2020

Heaney talks police contract on ‘Pressroom

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Following up on Geoff Kelly’s report last week, Jim Heaney talks about provisions of Buffalo’s contract with its police union that make it difficult to discipline officers and deprive the department’s leadership of many management rights. Heaney, speaking on The Capitol Pressroom,  noted that while Mayor Byron Brown has harshly criticized the union and its contract for being an obstacle to reform, city negotiators have failed to propose changes.  

Posted 5 years ago

Jul 20

2020

Police misconduct costing Buffalo millions

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 A cop shooting and paralyzing a teenage driver.  A police tow truck driver running a red light and slamming into a passenger car. A cell block attendant ramming a handcuffed detainee’s face into a door at Central Booking. The incidents all led to lawsuits against the City of Buffalo and its police department, and subsequently settlement agreements. Since 2015, a total of 16 settlements have cost taxpayers $11.9 million. Most involve excessive use of force or negligent driving. Those figures trouble Samuel Davis, a local defense attorney.  “I find it alarming that that much money has been paid out,”[...]

Posted 5 years ago
Investigative Post