Categories for Broadcast on Channel 7

Dec 17

2024

Departing OTB chief splurged on travel

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Henry Wojtaszek is going out in style. The departing president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. traveled grandly during his final year on the job, records show.  Consider:  A three-night stay at a swanky hotel on the Las Vegas Strip at a cost of $3,300.  A $1,600 tab — dinner for five — at a top-rated Las Vegas steakhouse owned by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck during that same trip.  An August trip to Saratoga Springs that included a $2,420 tab — dinner for nine — at a farm-to-table steakhouse. And an overnight stay at a four-star New York[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

Dec 10

2024

Buffalo schools replacing lead poisoning risks

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Buffalo’s challenge to address lead poisoning of children includes cleaning up contaminated water sources in city schools. Lead in school water isn’t a result of lead pipes leading from streets or in the buildings, but plumbing fixtures, school officials said. Testing conducted in 2022 and 2023 revealed 237 fixtures, including water fountains, with lead levels above current state limits, Investigative Post found. Lead-contaminated water fountains and cafeteria fixtures — 34 fountains and 19 kitchen/cafeteria faucets and kettles, according to an Investigative Post count — have been replaced districtwide over the past few years, school officials said. “Fixtures that are used[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Dec 5

2024

Report: Jail death “may have been preventable”

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Story updated Dec. 8. Sean Riordan’s death might have been prevented if he was given proper medical care while an inmate at the Erie County Holding Center in 2022, a state oversight commission has concluded. Instead, the holding center staff failed to transfer Riordan to a hospital for alcohol withdrawal treatment, and failed to provide adequate care while he was in the jail, the state Commission of Correction concluded in a newly released report. There were “serious deficiencies” in Riordan’s medical care during his incarceration that might have contributed to his death, according to the report. “Had established medical policy[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Dec 3

2024

Buffalo’s ‘power structure is the problem’

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Government policies pushed by the region’s traditional power brokers — real estate developers, bankers, law firms and other business interests — have been “a disaster for the people of Buffalo,” a new report concludes.  Tax abatements and subsidies are contributing to “a deepening commercial real estate crisis” downtown, according to the report, released last month by Our City Action Buffalo, a progressive community advocacy group that is a frequent critic of the city’s elected officials.  Opposition to affordable housing projects has exacerbated the city’s poverty problems, according to the report.  What’s more, Buffalo is staring at a fiscal crisis engendered[...]

Posted 1 month ago

Nov 13

2024

Cheektowaga’s faded blue electorate

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As goes Cheektowaga, so goes the nation, former Buffalo News political reporter Bob McCarthy likes to say.  The McCarthy maxim held true in 2016, when Cheektowaga voters broke by the thinnest of margins for Republican Donald Trump, and in 2020, when they favored Democrat Joe Biden. This year the results were mixed: The Democratic presidential candidate won the town but lost the race nationwide. However, Republicans made rare and important gains in local races. Unofficial results show Democrat Kamala Harris carrying Cheektowaga by about 4 percentage points, or just shy of 1,700 votes. Her margin of victory in the town[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Oct 2

2024

Nepotism involving OTB boss Wojtaszek

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OTB President and CEO Henry Wojtaszek, left, Chairman Dennis Bassett, center, and Wojtaszek’s son, Jack, right, during a golf outing last month. Facebook photo.  Henry Wojtaszek’s Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. has hired his 23-year old son for a job paying $52,000 annually. The hiring of Jack Wojtaszek comes as the elder Wojtaszek plans to step down as OTB’s president and CEO on Dec. 31. A copy of Jack Wojtaszek’s application for a state gaming license, which he submitted in June, shows the North Tonawanda native works as customer relations specialist at Batavia Downs. Employees in that position are “responsible[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Aug 22

2024

Beach closure blues

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Story was updated at 1:10 p.m. Last weekend was a tough one for Lake Erie beaches. First was a lifeguard shortage that kept Bennett Beach closed to swimmers last Friday. Then came the thunderstorm that chased beachgoers from Woodlawn State Park the next day.  And then, when Saturday’s rains raised E. coli bacteria levels, leading to poor water quality readings, Woodlawn was closed to swimmers on Sunday.  Both beaches were closed to swimmers on Monday, Woodlawn because of water quality and Bennett because it again didn’t have enough lifeguards.  It’s not the best way to enjoy a summer’s day at[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Aug 14

2024

New Tesla deal slashes penalties, ups rent

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New York State officials are prepared to slash penalties on Tesla in coming years, even if the company fails to hire enough workers at its South Buffalo plant and across the state. Under the company’s current arrangement with the state, Tesla must employ 1,460 workers in Buffalo and 2,000 statewide or else pay a $41 million fine. That deal, however, expires this year. According to details of a draft agreement, which could run through 2034, Tesla must employ 1,800 in Buffalo and 3,000 statewide. The current penalty will stay in place through 2029 but will drop to $10 million after[...]

Posted 5 months ago
Investigative Post