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.

May 18

2018

Ciminelli executive pleas in corruption case

One of three LPCiminelli executives indicted on corruption charges related to the Buffalo Billion program pleaded guilty to felony charges Friday. Kevin Schuler, a company vice president deeply involved in its political operations, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A bribery charge was dismissed. Schuler made his plea before U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan. Under the plea, as reported by The Buffalo News, Schuler agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He faces up to three years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. Two other company officials, President Louis Ciminelli and Michael Laipple, are[...]

Posted 7 years ago

May 10

2018

Heaney talks Pegula fracking on ‘Pressroom

Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom interviews Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney on his recent story about the repeated regulatory violations of JKLM Energy, a hydrofracking company in Pennsylvania founded by Buffalo Bills and Sabres owner Terry Pegula.

Posted 7 years ago

May 8

2018

Pegula back fracking – and violating regulations

COUDERSPORT – Terry Pegula cashed in when he sold the bulk of his hydrofracking business in 2010 for $4.7 billion. He used a chunk of the change to buy Buffalo’s two major league teams, and made it clear when he purchased the Sabres that he was in it for the sports, not the money. “If I want to make some money, I’ll go drill another well,” he quipped at a press conference. Pegula is, in fact, drilling other wells. He started another fracking company – JKLM Energy, drawing on the first letters of his children’s names – and has been[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Apr 7

2018

Pegula abandons controversial fracking project

A hydrofracking company owned by Terry Pegula walked away Friday from a controversial project in Coudersport, PA, that has generated a lot of community opposition. A company called Epiphany Water Solutions has proposed building a plant to treat fracking wastewater, a portion of which would be released into the Allegheny River. Pegula’s fracking company, JKLM Energy, was going to be a major customer of the treatment plant. Pegula owns the Buffalo Sabres and Bills. Opponents argued that the plant’s treatment process is not proven and that the project ran the risk of releasing effluent into the Allegheny with unacceptably high[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Apr 2

2018

Judge shutters a neighborhood nuisance

A State Supreme Court judge has at least temporarily shut down Battaglia Demolition, long a plague on the Seneca Babcock neighborhood. The plant, located about one mile south of downtown, crushes and otherwise processes concrete, bricks, asphalt and other construction and demolition debris. Residents have long complained that the plant and trucks that service it are the source of dust, noise – even rats. Two years ago the state filed suit against the plant owner, Peter Battaglia, contending the facility was a “public nuisance” and lacked necessary permits. On Monday, Judge Deborah Chimes issued an injunction that ordered the plant closed until[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Mar 27

2018

Blueprint issued for combatting lead poisoning

The City of Buffalo needs to empower inspectors to get inside houses to determine whether they are contaminated with chipped or flaking lead paint, a report issued Tuesday said. While noting steps the city and Erie County have taken in recent years, the 102-page report by CGR Inc., a Rochester-based consulting firm, declared that defeating “lead poisoning will require much more from local government and the entire community.” The report included 17 recommendations, the most important ones addressing the need for stepped-up inspections of residential properties. As it now stands, inspectors are not guaranteed entry to test interiors for[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Mar 26

2018

Heaney talks corruption on ‘Pressroom

Susan Arbetter, host of The Capitol Pressroom, quizzes Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney on the Joe Percoco verdict, the candidacy of Cynthia Nixon and the curious manner in which Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown selected his new police commissioner.

Posted 7 years ago

Mar 15

2018

Cuomo is guilty at some level

Andrew Cuomo is all worked up over the suggestion that the conviction of Joseph Percoco, his former right-hand man, reflects poorly on the governor and his administration. Cuomo dismissed the linkage as “political garbage” and maintained “there was absolutely no suggestion ever made (during the trial) that I had anything to do with anything.’’ That’s a pretty amazing statement coming from someone with a reputation as a hands-on control freak. Yes, the governor has been neither charged with nor convicted of any wrongdoing. But he is ultimately responsible for the scandals involving state economic development programs and the general sleaze[...]

Posted 7 years ago