Articles for J. Dale Shoemaker

Apr 8

2025

Tesla spends taxpayer ‘slush fund’ on new cafeteria

When Tesla employees show up to work nowadays in South Buffalo, a cafeteria serving breakfast, lunch and dinner — along with snacks and coffee — awaits. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch: Tesla employees must pay for the meals, which include salads, pasta, pizza and sandwiches. The other catch? New York State taxpayers have footed the bill for the eatery, which cost $1.6 million to build. Records obtained by Investigative Post show the electric vehicle maker continues to spend taxpayer dollars each year on the factory, which the state spent $959 million to build and equip. The[...]

Posted 1 week ago

Apr 3

2025

Lawmakers demand answers on border detentions

Federal, state and local lawmakers across Western New York are denouncing a Trump administration practice of detaining individuals and families in cells at the U.S.-Canada border for as long as two weeks. The region’s federal lawmakers are demanding answers on the new practice. “Our office is looking into these disturbing allegations,” a spokesperson for Sen. Chuck Schumer said in a statement to Investigative Post, noting his office is also seeking answers on ICE’s recent arrest of a mother and children in Sackets Harbor. “There is no excuse for the cruel or inhumane treatment of children & families. [U.S. Customs and[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Apr 1

2025

Feds locking up families, children at Canadian border

Pedestrian entrance to Rainbow Bridge Customs station. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. In a departure from past practice, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is detaining people — including families with young children — at official ports of entry along the New York-Canada border for as much as two weeks at a time. In multiple instances since mid-February, families with young children have been detained in cells at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. An Investigative Post reporter personally confirmed one of those family detentions. In that case, the family was held for two weeks. Jennifer Connor, a Buffalo advocate for[...]

Posted 2 weeks ago

Mar 28

2025

OTB settles lawsuit, pays whistleblower

Michael Nolan, at one time the second-in-command of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., has settled a wrongful termination lawsuit with his former employer, related to his firing more than four years ago. As a result, OTB will pay Nolan a $550,000 settlement. In a statement saying the “long-standing litigation” had been resolved, OTB attorney John Owens said simply that “the parties are satisfied with the settlement.” OTB spokesperson Mike DeGeorge declined to comment further. Steven Cohen, Nolan’s attorney, also declined to comment. Owens said OTB will pay $150,000 of the settlement and its insurance company will pay the rest. Neither[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Mar 25

2025

Wage theft widespread in Western New York

The theft of employee wages is widespread across Western New York, data from state and federal labor departments show. State and federal labor investigators found some 1,900 regional employers withheld $17.1 million in pay and benefits from 23,613 workers over the past decade. That’s an average of $3,066 per affected worker, according to data collected by Documented and analyzed by Investigative Post. Some employers were found to owe a handful of employees large amounts — more than $40,000 in some cases — while others were found to owe many workers small amounts. The median worker was returned $500 due to[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Mar 19

2025

More subsidies for restaurateur accused of wage theft

A Niagara Falls restaurateur under investigation for allegations of wage theft received a third round of tax breaks Wednesday. With little discussion, the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency unanimously approved $51,000 in sales tax breaks for Muhammad Shoaib to open a Church’s Chicken, Jamba Juice and Carvel Ice Cream in downtown Niagara Falls. Meanwhile, five former employees, three of them managers, have come forward with new allegations that Shoaib and his wife, Hina Qureshi, failed to pay overtime and withheld tips from their workers. They told Investigative Post the couple altered payroll entries and told employees to destroy records and[...]

Posted 4 weeks ago

Mar 13

2025

Buffalo moves to call in Braymiller Market loan

Inside the now-closed Braymiller Market. Photo by Garrett Looker. Capping off the saga of downtown Buffalo’s failed grocery store, city officials on Thursday took a major step towards calling in the loan issued to Braymiller Market two years ago. In a unanimous decision, the loan committee of the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency voted to issue a letter of default, the legal mechanism for demanding back the $561,000 the city is owed. BURA’s full board is expected to approve the recommendation when it meets March 27. It remains unclear whether the city will recoup the funds. By issuing the default —[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Mar 10

2025

Lawsuit: ICE violating First Amendment in Batavia

The ICE detention facility in Batavia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stationed at the Batavia detention center are routinely opening, reading and keeping copies of legal mail sent to detainees in violation of the First Amendment, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges. Attorneys with three civil rights groups, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York, argue they can’t properly represent their detained clients if their correspondence isn’t confidential. The lawsuit alleges that in November, ICE expanded a previous mail inspection policy to include all legal documents that enter the[...]

Posted 1 month ago