Categories for DailyPost

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 7 months ago

Aug 21

2024

Lawmakers ask for state probe into OTB buyouts

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OTB President and CEO Henry Wojtaszek. Photo by Garrett Looker. Two Western New York lawmakers — state Sen. Sean Ryan and Assemblywoman Monica Wallace — have asked the state’s Attorney General and Inspector General to investigate buyouts for three executives of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., arguing the packages are illegal. Citing a law Wallace helped pass in 2019 that bans so-called “golden parachutes” for leadership of public authorities, the lawmakers argue in a five-page memo to the Attorney General and Inspector General that the buyouts violate that and/or other state laws which prohibit gifts and large buyouts to[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Aug 21

2024

Buffalo high school break-in was apparently an inside job

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Bennett High School on Main Street in North Buffalo. Photo by Garrett Looker. The sons of Buffalo school board president Sharon Belton-Cottman broke into Bennett High School last Tuesday, according to a Buffalo police incident report.  Khalil and Jamaal Cottman — both coaches at Bennett last year — entered the school through a rear window after one of the men climbed over a gate, according to the report. After entering the school, one of the brothers opened a door to allow unknown individuals to enter. The group then went to the gymnasium and stayed for three hours before leaving, the[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Aug 20

2024

The militias of the Radical Right

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Private paramilitary activity is illegal, in New York and across the nation.  Nevertheless, there are more than an estimated dozen militias active in the Empire State, and countless more elsewhere in the United States. These militias believe they’re entitled to use violence to advance their agenda, which is aligned with America’s Radical Right. Western New York is home to perhaps the movement’s most infamous figures, Timothy McVeigh, whose bombing of a federal office building in 1995 killed 168 people and injured 680. That bombing helped expedite the growth of the militia movement. ProPublica reported last week on one of the[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Aug 16

2024

Infographic: Wealth and poverty in our communities

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Poverty remains a problem in upstate New York cities. Latest Census Bureau estimates show poverty is twice the state rate in the largest upstate cities and median household incomes are barely half of statewide earnings in some of the urban centers. Median is defined as half are above and half are below. Highest median household incomes — all upwards of $100,000 — in Erie County, according to 2022 estimates, are in Clarence, Grand Island, and Orchard Park. The lowest  — all in the mid to low $40,000 range — are in Buffalo and Lackawanna as well as the Cattaraugus Reservation,[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Aug 15

2024

Four judgeships, four cross-endorsed candidates

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New York State Assemblyman Michael J. Norris. Photo provided. Story updated 1:35 p.m. today. A New York state assemblyman from Niagara County, who struck immunity from prosecution deals as part of criminal investigations in the past,  is in line for a new job as a state Supreme Court judge.  Assemblyman Mike Norris, R-Lockport, said in an interview earlier this month that he intended to seek reelection this year, but the Niagara Gazette learned Wednesday that he is one of four state Supreme Court nominees cross-endorsed by Republicans and Democrats this week. Niagara County Republican Committee Chairman Richard Andres confirmed Wednesday[...]

Posted 8 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 8 months ago

Aug 13

2024

Summer fun drops student reading scores

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Students board a school bus outside of Buffalo’s Waterfront Elementary. Photo by Garrett Looker. Educators call it the “summer slide.” In the spring of 2023, almost 41 percent of Buffalo students in kindergarten through third grade were reading at — or above — grade level. But when those students returned to school in the fall — as first through fourth graders — some of their reading skills had fallen: 34.5 percent reached their benchmark. The 6-point drop is the summer slide, a few points steeper than the typical loss in recent years. And, an Investigative Post analysis found, it primarily[...]

Posted 8 months ago
Investigative Post