Categories for Co-produced with WGRZ

Apr 3

2014

Buffalo’s decade-long dust bowl

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The Weaver family and their neighbors on Peabody Street may be the only people in Buffalo who don’t look forward to warm weather. That’s when concrete crushing kicks into full gear at Battaglia Demolition, a construction and demolition processing facility that abuts their homes in the gritty Seneca Babcock neighborhood about a mile southeast of downtown. “I can’t open my windows because of all the dust from the rock crushing,” Jan Weaver wrote to the state Department of Environmental Conservation last fall. Between 80 to 200 diesel trucks a day rumble down Peabody Street loaded with concrete, scrap metal and[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Mar 27

2014

Chippewa Street is a red blight district

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Last week I wrote about the overflowing trash bins up and down Chippewa Street that greeted fans in town for the NCAA basketball tournament. That did not make it an unusual week for the downtown entertainment strip – actually, it was a typical one. The truth is, Chippewa is dirty, smelly and uninviting most of the time. I know because I walk the street five, sometimes six days a week. I park workdays at WGRZ on Delaware Avenue and walk up Chippewa to my office on Pearl Street. I retrace my steps on the way home in the evening. In[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Mar 21

2014

Belated Chippewa Street cleanup

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Rain washed away the stale beer and vomit and city crews finally emptied overflowing trash receptacles along Chippewa Street on Wednesday after Investigative Post and WGRZ pointed out the poor impression conditions were leaving on basketball fans visiting Buffalo for the NCAA tournament.

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 27

2014

City Hall scandal over anti-poverty funds

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Our partners at WGRZ have broken a number of stories recently about Buffalo’s misuse of block grant funds and the failure of federal regulators to hold city officials accountable. The latest story by Jeff Preval includes an interview with Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney, who has covered the issue for more than 15 years.

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 27

2014

Cuomo’s costly Peace Bridge purchase

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  The property was a mess — contaminated, mired in debt and depreciating in value — but Gov. Andrew Cuomo wanted it bad. As it turns out, as much as $27 million bad. To buy the abandoned Episcopal Church Home, a property considered essential to an expansion of the Peace Bridge plaza, state government under Cuomo’s direction paid a premium and inherited a costly environmental cleanup. The Cuomo administration also orchestrated moves that cost state and federal taxpayers millions more. The final tab hasn’t been tallied, but it could run as high as $27 million, for a property appraisers hired[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 25

2014

Heaney’s take on IBM announcement

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Gov. Cuomo’s announcement of a $55 million state investment to attract IBM to downtown Buffalo is pricey, but less so than the two previous Buffalo Billion projects that have been rolled out, Investigative Post editor tells WGRZ.

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 19

2014

Peace Bridge: Radioactive roadway?

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West Side residents have long complained about trucks crossing the Peace Bridge because of diesel fumes that have been linked to respiratory illnesses. They now have another reason to be uncomfortable with truck traffic: rigs carrying high-level radioactive cargo. Federal authorities in May gave approval for a company to truck spent nuclear fuel over the Peace Bridge. They say there haven’t been any leaks or other problems involving similar shipments elsewhere. But some experts and activists are concerned the route approval is a prelude to shipping highly radioactive liquid waste. This would be unprecedented for North America, let alone the Peace[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Feb 12

2014

Carl Paladino is a RINO

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RINO is a four-letter word to Carl Paladino. It’s short for “Republican In Name Only.” Paladino dismisses many mainstream Republicans as RINOs for failing to subscribe to his Tea Party-flavored politics, committing the sin of compromising with Democrats or contributing to their campaigns. Republicans donating to Democrats is supposedly so repugnant to Paladino that he organized a protest outside a fundraiser Dec. 16 that was co-hosted by GOP heavy hitters to benefit Congressman Brian Higgins. Paladino held a sign for part of the demonstration that read: “No Funding For Dems.” The fundraiser put one of its organizers, Anthony Gioia, who has[...]

Posted 11 years ago
Investigative Post