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 11

2012

Investigative Post launching interview segment with WGRZ

In addition to co-producing investigative stories, Investigative Post and WGRZ 2 On Your Side will broadcast weekly interviews with newsmakers that will air on Daybreak Sunday. Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney will conduct the interviews. This Sunday he puts questions to Phil Rumore, president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation. Rumore has lead the BTF since 1981. He and the union are currently embroiled in a dispute with state education officials over proposed teacher evaluations. In their interview, Heaney quizzes Rumore about the quarrel over evaluations and a number of other topics, including whether the BTF president intends to seek another[...]

Posted 13 years ago

May 9

2012

Coppola elected Investigative Post board president

Lee Coppola, whose career has included stints as an investigative reporter, journalism school dean and federal prosecutor, has been elected president of the board of Investigative Post. “Lee has been a practitioner and champion of investigative reporting his entire career. I’m very excited to have someone with his depth and breadth of experience leading our board,” said Jim Heaney, editor and executive director of Investigative Post, a non-profit investigative reporting center focused on issues of concern to Buffalo and Western New York. “Being elected president of the board of directors is an honor I will try to uphold by helping[...]

Posted 13 years ago

May 7

2012

Byron Brown’s bridge over troubled water

Momentum is building to do something with the Outer Harbor and just days after a group of community activists called for developing its 120 acres into a park Mayor Byron Brown make a pitch for City Hall to play a role, perhaps a big one. The Outer Harbor is state land, controlled by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority. The NFTA wants to get out of the real estate business, which has begged the question, who would assume responsibility for developing the property? Some think the task should fall to the Erie Harbor Canal Development Corp., a subsidiary of Empire State[...]

Posted 13 years ago

May 5

2012

Heaney interview on WGRZ

Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney discusses a proposal to redevelop the outer harbor as a park, without significant development, and how much the public should pay to finance improvements to Ralph Wilson Stadium to retain the Buffalo Bills.

Posted 13 years ago

May 2

2012

Notes on the news

My take on recent developments: There’s a movement afoot to redevelop the outer harbor into a park. Doing so would give Western New Yorkers a grand 120 acre playground in the summer – and a 120 acre wasteland in the winter, and a good part of the spring and fall, too. Should a good chunk of the 120 acres provide the public access to its waterfront? Absolutely. Can that be done while still accommodating development that could not only attract visitors year-round but add to the city’s tax base? Absolutely. Are the two objectives mutually exclusive? Absolutely not. Nearly everyone[...]

Posted 13 years ago

May 2

2012

WGRZ investigation of IDAs

Assemblyman Sean Ryan: “We shouldn’t be subsidizing part-time jobs at donut shops.”

Posted 13 years ago

Apr 29

2012

Is Apple rotten to the core?

The New York Times on Sunday published yet another damning investigation on the business practices of Apple. Among the key findings: Apple has exploited the tax code, both here and aboard. According to The Times: Apple’s headquarters are in Cupertino, Calif. By putting an office in Reno, just 200 miles away, to collect and invest the company’s profits, Apple sidesteps state income taxes on some of those gains. California’s corporate tax rate is 8.84 percent. Nevada’s? Zero. Setting up an office in Reno is just one of many legal methods Apple uses to reduce its worldwide tax bill by billions[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Apr 28

2012

Buffalo will have to wait

We’re No. 51 The Federal Communications Commission voted Friday to require the four major television networks and TV stations in the 50 largest markets to report details on political advertising that will be posted in the FCC website. Buffalo-Niagara Falls turns out to be the 51st largest market, meaning stations in WNY are among 160 smaller markets that have until July 2014 to comply. The near-term objective is to promote transparency regarding the estimated $3.2 billion that is expected to be spent on TV advertising this election year. But the new rule requires disclosure of all political advertising, including air[...]

Posted 13 years ago