Archives

May 14

2021

Battaglia Demolition still a problem

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A state Supreme Court judge is preparing to decide the penalty for Peter J. Battaglia Jr., three years after his illegal concrete crushing business in South Buffalo was shut down.  Judge Deborah Chimes has ruled Battaglia could be held personally liable for the damages requested in a lawsuit filed by the New York State Attorney General. Diane Lemanski, a nearby resident and a leader in the grassroots decade-long campaign against Battaglia Demolition, will be among those testifying before the court on Tuesday. On Friday, she and other residents who live near the abandoned business made their case at a press[...]

Posted 4 years ago

May 12

2021

Dowdall talks school hack on WBFO, WBEN

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Layne Dowdall reported Tuesday on the underplayed hacking of the Buffalo school district in March. Her story documented how the ransomeware attack has crippled district operations and the leadership’s failure to communicate with parents, teachers and other staff has left many frustrated. A companion story aired on WGRZ and posted to our YouTube channel, and Layne followed up Wednesday with radio interviews with WBFO and WBEN. Both are posted below. Interview with WBFO   Interview with WBEN  

Posted 4 years ago

May 10

2021

Buffalo schools still reeling from hack

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How bad was the hack of the Buffalo school district’s computer system in mid-March? The paper equivalent of lost documents would fill KeyBank Center to the rafters, one source told Investigative Post. The missing records include decades of teaching materials, student records and some 5,000 applications for admission to schools in September. Systems essential to the operation of the district, such as legal and accounting, are crippled. The hack has caused minimal disruption to classroom instruction and distance learning, but it’s impacted the physical operation of school buildings. Automated functions such as operation of heating and cooling systems have been[...]

Posted 4 years ago

May 3

2021

Bar Association honors Investigative Post

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The Bar Association of Erie County has selected Investigative Post as the recipient of its Media Award. Buffalo’s nonprofit investigative reporting center was among those honored  last week with a Law Day Award, bestowed on individuals and organizations who “have done extraordinary work in the Western New York community.” Over the past several years, Investigative Post has done a number of in-depth reporting on Western New York’s criminal justice system. Coverage last year included stories on police misconduct leading to costly settlements, the mistreatment of immigrants held at the ICE detention center in Batavia, problematic provisions on Buffalo’s contract with[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 28

2021

Byron Brown’s sorry track record

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India Walton is running for mayor, seeking to dethrone Byron Brown, who is seeking a record fifth term. She is far from the ideal candidate, lacking experience in government you’d like to see in a candidate seeking executive office. I mean, it’s one thing to be an inexperienced legislative backbencher, another to be managing a city with a $500 million budget and a workforce of nearly 2,700. Walton, then, is a bit of an unknown. On the other hand, we know all about Brown.  Consider his sorry track record:  Mismanagement of city finances: Brown inherited a hard control board that[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 26

2021

Spiraling costs at remote industrial park

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The bill is coming due for putting an industrial park in the hinterlands of Genesee County and the cost to taxpayers is considerable. The Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park, being built on 1,250 acres in the rural Town of Alabama, flunked the state’s smart growth test when first proposed.  The project’s location rated so poorly that it failed to meet seven of ten smart growth criteria under the state’s own grading system, prompting one good government group to label it a “poster child for location inefficiency.” Empire State Development Corp. nevertheless approved spending state tax dollars to develop the[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 23

2021

Kelly talks police referendum on WBEN

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Geoff Kelly reported earlier this week about a petition effort to place a referendum on the city’s November ballot to establish an independent police review panel. He spoke Friday morning with Susan Rose and Brian Mazurowski on NewsRadio 930WBEN.  

Posted 4 years ago

Apr 21

2021

Reformers pushing for police referendum

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They’ve lost hope that Buffalo’s elected officials will make the police reforms activists have advocated since last summer. So a coalition of groups and individuals is seeking to bypass City Hall entirely and take one of those reforms directly to voters.  The coalition seeks to put a referendum on this November’s general election ballot. The referendum would create a new police review commission with the power to investigate complaints against officers, mete out discipline and review departmental policies and budgets. It’s a recommendation put forth last June by the Buffalo Police Advisory Board, one of three police oversight bodies in[...]

Posted 4 years ago
Investigative Post