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.
Jun 12
2015
New York Post political columnist Fred Dicker interviews Jim Heaney on Investigative Post’s ongoing battle to obtain records related to the Buffalo Billion program. Heaney described the foot dragging and stonewalling by several state development corporations. The 8 minute, 45 second interview was broadcast June 9 on Talk 1300 in Albany. Dicker previously interviewed Heaney in December.
May 19
2015
Investigative Post has sued a state development corporation so intent on withholding records involving the Buffalo Billion program that a leading state official likened efforts to obtain them under the Freedom of Information Law to an act of terrorism. Investigative Post has asked the State Supreme Court to rule on whether the Fort Schuyler Management Corp. is subject to the state FOI Law. WGRZ and the Gannett Company are helping to finance the lawsuit that was filed Monday in Albany. Fort Schuyler is managing the construction of three facilities that will house SolarCity, IBM and Albany Molecular Research Inc., which have been[...]
Mar 24
2015
The Cuomo administration has redoubled its efforts to suppress the release of documents that disclose how it is selecting developers and spending money on the Buffalo Billion program. The Fort Schuyler Management Corp., charged with managing the program, is still refusing to release information sought by Investigative Post despite a legal opinion recently issued by the State Committee on Open Government that concluded the agency is subject to the Freedom of Information Law. “In my opinion, it is cut and dried,” said Robert Freeman, the committee’s executive director. “It is, in essence, a governmental agency, that it is required to[...]
Mar 10
2015
Steve Brown and I reported five weeks ago that Buffalo has a serious murder problem. Our city’s homicide rate is among the highest in the nation — and the solve rate is among the worst. Over the past five years, police have cleared only 39 percent of homicides, and that rate has been steadily dropping, to just 23 percent last year. Gang violence and a resulting lack of cooperation from witnesses, and the community at large, partly explain the low clearance rate. But shortcomings in the city’s homicide squad also come into play. The problems are pronounced enough that Erie[...]
Feb 8
2015
Authorities in Buffalo cleared only 39 percent of homicides from 2010 to 2014 and that solve rate has been steadily declining. In part two of our report, Jim Heaney of Investigative Post and Steve Brown of WGRZ explain the reasons for the low rate, which include a decline in the police department’s homicide squad and a lack of cooperation from witnesses, and sometime victims. Some also fault prosecutors for not being aggressive enough. Part one of our series can be found here; a concluding report here.
Feb 5
2015
A lot of people are dying in the streets of Buffalo. The body count last year was 62. To put that number in perspective, consider that only five murders were committed in the balance of Erie County last year. Buffalo’s murder rate is high, not just in comparison with the suburbs, but with comparably sized cities with a population between 250,000 and 500,000. Buffalo recorded an average of 18.7 murders per 100,000 residents vs. 11.3 for all mid-sized cities for the five years ending in 2013. That’s the bad news. And it gets worse. Most killers get away with murder[...]
Jan 20
2015
Jim Heaney’s story on state efforts to suppress documents detailing how the Buffalo Billion is being spent continues to generate interest across the state. He was interviewed Monday by Mark Piersma and Frank Elias on their “Talk of the Town” show on WUTQ 100.7 FM in Utica.
Jan 13
2015
Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney discusses the Buffalo Billion, including state efforts to suppress documents, with talk radio host John Gomez of Long Island News Radio, 103.9 FM. Interview was conducted Tuesday afternoon and starts at 1:51 of the audio file below.