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.

Apr 23

2012

Bribery and coverup at Walmart

Walmart’s history is punctuated with repeated allegations of predatory and anti-labor business practices. Add corruption to the list. An investigation published Sunday by The New York Times reports the retail giant engaged in systemic bribery to gain a foothold in Mexico and that corporate executives covered up the corruption when it was brought to their attention. After being informed of the corruption by a former company executive, The Times reported: Wal-Mart dispatched investigators to Mexico City, and within days they unearthed evidence of widespread bribery. They found a paper trail of hundreds of suspect payments totaling more than $24 million.[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Apr 20

2012

Agent provocateur for our times

Julian Assange resurfaces The WikiLeaks founder, still under house arrest despite not being charged with a crime, has launched a television interview program called The World Tomorrow. That prompted The New York Times to take another shot at Assange, while Salon’s Glenn Greenwald rose to his defense. Judge for yourself. Here is the first show, featuring an interview with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has not spoken on camera since 2006. Good reads Fast Company takes a look at Steve Jobs during his “wilderness years.” Jobs matured as a manager and a boss; learned how to make the most of[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Apr 19

2012

IDA deals trigger backlash

The Erie County Industrial Development Agency has put a moratorium on granting tax breaks to hotels. The Lancaster IDA is having second thoughts about proposed tax breaks for a pizzeria. Labor unions are challenging the hiring practices at a Niagara Falls company that received property in tax breaks in 2010. After years of “full steam ahead,” local IDAs are starting to have second thoughts about business as usual. That’s not to say they’ve necessarily changed their ways – questionable projects continue to get the green light more often than not – but there’s been an unmistakenable swing in momentum. “IDAs[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Apr 17

2012

Online journalism coming of age

The Pulitzer Prize is the measure by which excellence in journalism is measured. Until recently, newspapers won by default. There was no alternative (with apologies to the Emmy Awards). But in recent years, entrepreneurs have established online-only news publications. There are for profits, including Politico, Talking Points Memo and, of course, Huffington Post. There are even more non-profit investigative reporting centers, lead by ProPublica, the Center for Investigative Reporting and its affiliated California Watch, and regional centers including Voice of San Diego and MinnPost, headed by former Courier-Express editor Joel Kramer. These young pups are proving capable of going toe-to-toe[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Apr 15

2012

Taxing questions regarding the Bills

The key study isn’t done, and negotiations have yet to start in earnest, but it’s not too early to start posing questions about who should pay for what to keep the Bills in Buffalo. The teams’ lease on Ralph Wilson Stadium expires in July 2013 season and a story in The Buffalo News on Sunday reports that sources are saying the cost of renovating the facility will run north of $200 million. Given the cost of upgrading the home of the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs ran $295 million and $400 million respectively, that seems like a safe,[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Apr 14

2012

Superheroes, mere mortals and corporations

Planes, trains and automobiles Bruce Fisher has an interesting read this week in Artvoice regard U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins’ call for $1.25 trillion in spending to repair the nation’s infrastructure. With luck, Higgins and his buildup plan could become the national counter to Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. The proposal is bound to encounter resistance, but Higgins will gain some nature stature if it gains traction. Stay tuned. Money to ply politicians, but not to pay taxes More than two-dozen major U.S. corporations paid no net federal income taxes from 2009-11 despite posting billions upon billions of dollars in profits.[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Apr 11

2012

Disclosure dysfunction

Common Council Majority Leader Demone A. Smith, whose wife pleaded guilty to fraud charges last week, has legal problems of his own. Smith’s campaign committee has not paid $1,842 in judgments filed by the state Board of Elections for its failure to file disclosure reports in a timely fashion. In addition, another campaign committee that lists Smith as its treasurer hasn’t paid $1,121 in judgments involving late and missing disclosure reports. Smith’s campaign committee has had problems meeting disclosure requirements since he first ran for public office in 2005. Investigative Post has determined that while the Committee to Elect Demone[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Apr 8

2012

Sabres fans get poor return on investment

It turns out Joe Friday is a hockey fan. Who woulda thunk it, Joe being from Los Angeles and all. Detective Friday realizes that while Terry Pegula owns the Buffalo Sabres, the team’s fan base pays the bills. What kind of return on investment did they get this season? When you consider the Sabres ranked No. 2 for payroll and No. 18 for points, the ROI was among the worst in the league. Only two teams spent more per point. Here are the facts: Team Team payroll for 2011-12 season: $69,830,000. Rank in league: Second highest after the Philadelphia Flyers[...]

Posted 13 years ago