Categories for Co-produced with WGRZ

Nov 11

2015

Housing firm has checkered history

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A landlord working with Buffalo State College to build off-campus student housing has a history of renting apartments with leaky ceilings, electrical hazards and insufficient heat. Take 353 Bird Ave., for example. The ceiling in the downstairs dining room has been stained for a couple of years from a leak that tenants believe comes from an upstairs toilet. The ceiling has collapsed on at least two tenants during that time, including Elizabeth Coffie. “It looked like colored rain and the smell was awful,” she said. Rather than fixing the problem, she said, the landlord simply replaced the ceiling tile. The[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 9

2015

Impressions of new superintendent

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Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney told Steve Brown that Kriner Cash made a favorable first impression during their interview last week. “He’s no-nonsense, he’s knowledgeable, he’s taking on the job with a sense of urgency and I think he made it very clear that he’s here to get a job done and he’s not going to put up with a lot of guff,” Heaney told Brown on Sunday’s installment of Outrages & Insights. Brown asked Heaney if Cash can succeed. It depends, Heaney said, on whether recent changes made in state education law are interpreted to grant the superintendent the[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 2

2015

State, Cheektowaga agree on Scajaquada plan

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Cheektowaga officials and the state have finally agreed on how the town will begin to address its sewer overflows. The problem is, it took seven years to end the dispute. Investigative Post reported the state Department of Environmental Conservation last month had rejected the town’s sewer plan for the second time in five years. DEC officials said the town was not taking enough steps to reduce problems on private property, such as roof downspouts and sump pumps connected to the sewer system. These connections are prohibited by town ordinance because they can flood the sewer system with rain water and cause[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 1

2015

Dino Fudoli’s tax defiance

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Dino Fudoli contends the federal and state government effectively seized 12 acres he owns off Transit Road by declaring it wetlands in 2009. Not that he’s gone to court to press his case. Rather, he’s simply stopped paying his property taxes. For the second time. His delinquency was the topic of my coverage three years ago, and again last week, as I reported the Lancaster town supervisor owes nearly $19,000 on two properties he owns in Cheektowaga. Whether Fudoli pays a price politically will be determined Tuesday, when he stands for re-election. Steve Brown and I discuss Fudoli’s transgressions on[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 29

2015

Dino Fudoli is a tax delinquent – again

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Lancaster Town Supervisor Dino Fudoli has once again fallen behind in paying his property taxes. Investigative Post reported three years ago that Fudoli owed nearly $17,000 in property taxes on three houses and two vacant parcels he owned in Cheektowaga and Alden. He paid those taxes about a month after our story broadcast. Public records show Fudoli has fallen behind again in paying taxes on two of the aforementioned properties, both located in Cheektowaga. He owes $14,908 on 12 acres of vacant land off Transit Road near Rehm Road. The land was designated wetlands in 2009, effectively eliminating his ability[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 26

2015

Child abuse unit an election issue

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The performance of the department charged with investigating claims of child abuse has become an election issue in the race for Erie County executive – and for good reason – Jim Heaney says in the latest video edition of Outrages & Insights. Charlotte Keith of Investigative Post broke a story in July that resulted in the performance of Child Protective Services becoming an election issue. She documented heavy workloads and delays in completing investigations. Heaney told Steve Brown that CPS was troubled prior to the election of Mark Poloncarz as county executive four years ago and the department has shown[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 19

2015

Peace Bridge expansion talk premature

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Talk of a renewed effort to begin planning for a second span at the Peace Bridge is overblown, Jim Heaney told Steve Brown on Sunday’s weekly installment of Outrages & Insights. Heaney said his sources tell him the Peace Bridge Authority is focused on its $185 million capital improvement plan that will take another four years to complete. Any serious consideration of a second span would likely be put off until the bulk of that work is done, he said. Heaney noted that bridge traffic has steadily dropped since the 9-11 terror attacks. Increased wait times are not the result[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 14

2015

Updated Buffalo Billion diversity numbers

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Figures released Wednesday by developer LPCiminelli show diversity hiring goals are being met on the construction of SolarCity’s plant at Riverbend. The goals call for minorities to work 15 percent, and women to work 5 percent, of hours on the project. The numbers released Wednesday show 16 percent of the hours to date been worked by minorities and 6 percent by women. The disclosure comes after Investigative Post reported that the minority hiring goal on the project was lowered from the 25 percent originally announced to 15 percent. State officials now say the higher goal was only “aspirational.” The change in the goals[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post