Archives

Feb 1

2022

OTB striking back: Officials to fight reform effort

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Officials from the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. plan to fight one state senator’s efforts to reform their operation. Following OTB’s monthly meeting on Jan. 21, agency President Henry Wojtaszek told the Daily News in Batavia that he was directed by the agency’s board to explore options for challenging three pieces of legislation introduced by state Sen. Tim Kennedy. Wotjaszek hinted that one option could be litigation. Another could involve encouraging local lawmakers representing Western New York communities served by OTB to approve resolutions opposing Kennedy’s reforms. “You heard today that the board certainly doesn’t support a measure to[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jan 31

2022

Councilmen violating campaign finance law

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Three of Buffalo’s Common Council members are behind on filing campaign finance disclosure statements, the latest of which was due Jan. 18. Or, rather, they were behind.  When Investigative Post started asking about their missing filings last week, at least two of them began trying to catch up. When we checked the state election board’s online records shortly after the Jan. 18 deadline, we found two city legislators — Rasheed Wyatt and Ulysees Wingo — hadn’t filed since 2019.  That was the last year Buffalo Council members were on the ballot. A third, David Rivera, hadn’t filed since July 2020.[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jan 28

2022

CBA proponents here seeking first win

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Third in a three-part series. Western New York has never adopted a community benefits agreement the likes of which is being proposed for a new Buffalo Bills stadium. Twice, coalitions of community groups and elected officials have tried to attach CBAs to big, taxpayer-funded development projects in Buffalo. Those efforts — the first for Canalside, the second for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus — yielded mixed results: Both campaigns coaxed concessions from developers, but neither yielded the kind of legally binding agreement that has become common in other communities across the country over the past 20 years.  Now, many of[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jan 27

2022

Linking community benefits to a Bills stadium

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This is the second of a three-day series in our continuing in-depth coverage of issues related to a proposed stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Erie County Legislature Chair April Baskin doesn’t concern herself with whether a new Buffalo Bills stadium will be built in Buffalo or Orchard Park.  She’s not particularly worried about its cost. What matters most, Baskin told Investigative Post, is what the community gets in exchange for the taxpayer dollars the team’s owners want from the state and county.  Pegula Sports and Entertainment has made it clear the team expects significant public subsidies — as much as[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jan 26

2022

Heaney discusses Bills stadium on ‘Pressroom

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Jim Heaney covered a lot of ground regarding the proposed Bills stadium in his interview on The Capitol Pressroom. Heaney updated host David Lombardo on recent developments and reporting by Investigative Post, including a story last week that detailed how taxpayers are on the hook for about $13 million a year of stadium expenses.  

Posted 3 years ago

Jan 25

2022

How a stadium can benefit the community

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This is the first of a three-day series in our continuing in-depth coverage of issues related to a proposed stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Before the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers broke ground last summer on a new arena, the team’s owners, elected officials and civic groups made certain the $1.8 billion project would benefit the entire community. In September 2020, the parties signed a community benefits agreement, or CBA, that outlined who would get jobs and contracts during and after construction, how much those jobs would pay, what the project would look like, and how the city and its residents[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jan 25

2022

The Pegulas should pay up

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Note: A version of this column first appeared in the current issue of Buffalo Spree. It’s been updated to reflect recent developments. Let’s suppose a company wanted to build a factory in Buffalo. The plant would be used only 10 times a year.  It wouldn’t employ many people, and a fair share of its front-line workers would suffer injuries that would haunt them later in life. The factory owner is wealthy – a billionaire, in fact – and his business highly profitable. Nevertheless, the owner demands that taxpayers provide hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to build his factory.[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Jan 24

2022

Another high-tech miss for Genesee County

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Another tech giant with big microchip expansion plans is bypassing New York, this time for Ohio.  Intel Corp. announced on Friday plans to invest at least $20 billion to develop amicrochip manufacturing complex  in Jersey Township, outside of Columbus. Company officials said the plant will employ 3,000. Construction is expected to begin later this year, with production expected by the end of 2025.  Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger said the project is part of the company’s plans to invest $100 billion to build up to eight microchip factories on the Ohio campus by 2030. The project is being billed as the[...]

Posted 3 years ago
Investigative Post