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.

Feb 5

2015

Getting away with murder in Buffalo

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[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Jan 20

2015

Heaney radio interview on Buffalo Billion

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.

Posted 10 years ago

Jan 13

2015

Heaney talks Buffalo Billion potential and problems

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.

Posted 10 years ago

Jan 12

2015

Scajaquada story voted best of 2014

Our readers have spoken – Dan Telvock’s coverage of sewage-clogged Scajaquada Creek was the best work produced by Investigative Post in 2014. Thirty-six percent of the 92 readers who cast a vote in our online poll that closed at midnight selected “The Scajaquada is a crippled creek,” which also aired on WGRZ and published in Artvoice. It was the first of nine stories Telvock did on the creek, into which Buffalo and Cheektowaga dump 500 million gallons of sewage and stormwater runoff annually. As a result, sludge up to five feet deep lines some sections of the creek and the water[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Jan 3

2015

Taking stock of 2014

Investigative Post is wrapping up a busy – and productive – year. Dan Telvock, Charlotte Keith and I produced some 90 original pieces of content in 2014, including investigations, follow-up stories, analyzes and blog posts. Many had impact, none more than Dan’s blockbuster story on the shameful condition of Scajaquada Creek and its stomach churning, heart-wrenching follow. We continued to grow our audience during 2014, thanks to our partnerships with WGRZ, Artvoice and City & State. We’re still reviewing our analytics, but it looks like our stories reached a collective audience of 7 million readers and viewers. That’s up from 6[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Dec 30

2014

Heaney talks Buffalo Billion with Fred Dicker

Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney discusses his story on suppression of state documents with New York Post political columnist Fred Dicker. Interview aired Friday, Dec. 26, on Talk 1300 in Albany. Interview starts at 18:15 and runs through 55:51.

Posted 10 years ago

Dec 22

2014

Suppression of Buffalo Billion spending records

Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants everyone to know he’s spending $1 billion to revitalize the Western New York economy. But the bureaucrats he’s charged with managing the Buffalo Billion are refusing to account for how they are spending $855 million earmarked for the program’s big-ticket projects. Three developers, all significant contributors to Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaign, have been selected to build and equip facilities that will house companies recruited to set up shop in Buffalo. But the state-affiliated non-profit corporation managing that work has refused to release contracts and other documents to Investigative Post that detail, among other things, how the contractors[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Oct 9

2014

SolarCity’s shaky foundation

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is investing $750 million of taxpayer funds and the hopes of a community desperate for an economic recovery in a company that is losing money, weathering two federal investigations and facing, by its own admission, an uncertain economic future. To hear Cuomo tell it, the construction of a solar panel manufacturing plant operated by SolarCity Corp. will be a “game changer,” a catalyst to reviving the Western New York economy. Indeed, the company is regarded as a leader in the burgeoning solar energy industry, has acquired promising technology to manufacture solar panels and has enjoyed soaring stock[...]

Posted 10 years ago