Tag: Investigative Post

May 15

2015

Speakers want more autonomy for city schools

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A longer school day. More freedom for schools to make their own decisions. Redefining success through alternative paths to graduation. Those were among the issues panelists discussed at a happy hour event Wednesday sponsored by Investigative Post. Asked what one thing they would change about the city’s schools, all three speakers  mentioned more autonomy for schools in how they hire, budget and use testing standards. Strong centralization might have been necessary in the past to create accountability, said William Kresse, principal of City Honors School. “Now it’s on us: let us do the work,” he said. David Rust, executive director of Say[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 30

2015

Quinn and Rumore: No to mayoral control

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Buffalo School Board Member Larry Quinn and Phil Rumore, president of the Buffalo Teachers’ Federation, discussed their differences of opinion – and some agreements – Wednesday at a luncheon sponsored by Investigative Post. Here’s what they agree on: Mayoral control of Buffalo schools is a bad idea and reducing class sizes should be a priority. And they’d both give a “C-” to the overall quality of city schools. Quinn was particularly critical of the health benefits currently in place for Buffalo teachers, which he said cost the district more than $19,000 per policy each year. “It makes me sick to[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Apr 3

2015

Scajaquada Creek coverage honored

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Investigative Reporters & Editors has cited Investigative Post and WGRZ for their coverage of the sorry state of Scajaquada Creek. IRE, the world’s leading professional organization of investigative journalists, recognized the Scajaquada Creek coverage in announcing the winners of its annual reporting awards.  The Scajaquada Creek coverage was listed as one of three finalists for multi-platform reporting in the small market category. The competition involved more than 550 entries from news organizations that include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ProPublica, Frontline and CNN. IRE handed out first-place awards in 14 categories and recognized 51 finalists. The[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Mar 13

2015

Thwarting the public’s right to know

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Government reluctance to release public records is at an all-time high – particularly in New York State and the City of Buffalo – a panel of experts said Wednesday at a luncheon sponsored by Investigative Post. “It’s increasingly difficult to acquire records in a timely way,” said Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government. Freeman said that while the Cuomo administration has made progress on open data and providing online access to some records, the length of time it takes state agencies to fulfill Freedom of Information requests “warrants criticism.” “Across all levels of[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Feb 12

2015

Real State of WNY Economy

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The Investigative Post crew after Wednesday’s event: reporters Charlotte Keith and Dan Telvock, Editor Jim Heaney, Development Director Kate Heidinger. (Photo by Sara Heidinger Photography.)  Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney delivered his first “Real State of the Community” address Wednesday night before a packed conference room at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site. The audience, which included City Comptroller Mark Schroeder and Erie County Clerk Chris Jacobs, heard Heaney use data to detail the state of the Buffalo and Western New York economy. The region is enjoying the start of an economic revival, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo has described as a “national[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Jan 22

2015

Sizing up WNY’s digital landscape

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New digital tools and platforms are changing the way businesses, non-profits and media outlets operate. But many of these entities in Western New York are behind the curve in making the best use of social media. Three digital media experts spoke about the landscape in Buffalo on Wednesday at a happy hour panel discussion at Allen Street Hardware sponsored by Investigative Post. While some panelists said the WNY market as a whole lags in its embrace of digital media, they agreed some businesses, non-profits and media outlets are making smart use of it. “It’s incredible how many stories come from our[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Jan 12

2015

Scajaquada story voted best of 2014

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Our readers have spoken – Dan Telvock’s coverage of sewage-clogged Scajaquada Creek was the best work produced by Investigative Post in 2014. Thirty-six percent of the 92 readers who cast a vote in our online poll that closed at midnight selected “The Scajaquada is a crippled creek,” which also aired on WGRZ and published in Artvoice. It was the first of nine stories Telvock did on the creek, into which Buffalo and Cheektowaga dump 500 million gallons of sewage and stormwater runoff annually. As a result, sludge up to five feet deep lines some sections of the creek and the water[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Jan 3

2015

Taking stock of 2014

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Investigative Post is wrapping up a busy – and productive – year. Dan Telvock, Charlotte Keith and I produced some 90 original pieces of content in 2014, including investigations, follow-up stories, analyzes and blog posts. Many had impact, none more than Dan’s blockbuster story on the shameful condition of Scajaquada Creek and its stomach churning, heart-wrenching follow. We continued to grow our audience during 2014, thanks to our partnerships with WGRZ, Artvoice and City & State. We’re still reviewing our analytics, but it looks like our stories reached a collective audience of 7 million readers and viewers. That’s up from 6[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post

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