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Jim Heaney

Jim Heaney is editor and executive director of Investigative Post. He was an investigative reporter with The Buffalo News from 1986 to 2011 and a reporter and editor with The Orlando Sentinel from 1980-86. His coverage over the years has focused on economic development, local and state government, politics, education, housing and transportation, and he was an early practitioner of computer-assisted reporting. Heaney has won more than 20 journalism awards and was a finalist for the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

Dec 30

2020

Last chance to double your money

Our annual drive is winding down. If you’d still like to contribute, donations must be made by midnight Thursday to be eligible for matching dollars. We’ve had a successful campaign thus far. Last year, match-eligible donations of up to $1,000 totaled $23,312. Those donations this November and December, through Tuesday, come to $35,727. Those donations will be matched, dollar for dollar, by supporters that include NewsMatch, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Try-It Distributing and the Mulroy Family Foundation. Our total donations for November and December total $84,353, including contributions over $1,000. That tops last year’s income for the same period. We’re grateful[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Dec 27

2020

Politics after Trump

Donald Trump’s presidency is about to be past tense. What should our post-Trump politics look like? Joe Biden hopes it’s a time of healing. Conciliation is in his blood and I won’t blame him for trying. But good luck with that. More than 70 million Americans voted for Trump and I question if there’s more than a sliver that can be persuaded. Most of the Republican base is some combination of gullible, bigoted, woefully misinformed or hardcore one-issue voters, starting with abortion. (I almost feel sorry for traditional conservatives; relatively few of their values have been reflected in Trump’s policies.)[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Dec 21

2020

Fired OTB whistleblower claims retaliation

The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. has fired its second-in-command, a whistleblower assisting federal and state agencies investigating the organization. Michael Nolan, OTB’s chief operating officer, was notified of his termination Dec. 18 when he showed up to work, according to his attorney, Steve Cohen. His dismissal is the culmination of two years of harassment Nolan suffered for cooperating with investigators, Cohen said.  “Michael was in favor with everybody, and then, when he began answering questions honestly, as he is required to do, he was stepped on, he was squashed,” Cohen told Investigative Post. Daniel Oliverio, an attorney who is[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Nov 30

2020

Podcast: Funding judicial campaigns

Ken Kruly and Geoff Kelly discuss the self-funding practices of local judicial candidates. They also talk about the latest in the Mark Grisanti saga: an investigation by the state Commission on Judicial Ethics into Grisanti’s handling of a 2018 case argued by attorneys who owed him money.  

Posted 4 years ago

Nov 27

2020

Heaney discusses WNY economy on ‘Pressroom

David Lombardo, host of The Capitol Pressroom, interviews Jim Heaney about his recent story on the pandemic’s impact on the Buffalo Niagara economy. Heaney’s reporting found the local economy employs fewer people than it has in at least 30 years.  

Posted 4 years ago

Nov 23

2020

Brown’s prospects for a 5th term as mayor

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of a column that published in the current issue of Buffalo Spree. It wasn’t long after Byron Brown was re-elected to a fourth term that talk started circulating around City Hall of a “Drive for Five.” As in, a fifth term. Talk quieted down, at least until the mayor held a fundraiser Oct. 5 at 500 Pearl Street, owned by none other than Carl Paladino’s Ellicott Development. Tickets started at $600, and a table of 10 cost $10,000 and came with a half-hour of schmooze time with Brown. Does the fundraiser signal the[...]

Posted 4 years ago
Investigative Post