Categories for DailyPost

Nov 30

2023

Tonawanda Senecas sue to halt pipeline

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The major industrial park under construction in rural Genesee County has hit yet another roadblock. The Tonawanda Seneca Nation has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several officials, including Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, arguing that they violated several environmental laws in issuing a permit to the industrial park’s wastewater pipeline. The pipeline, which is being built by the Genesee County Economic Development Center through the federally managed Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, required a right-of-way permit from the Fish and Wildlife Service. “We’re asking them to revoke that permit,” Chief Roger[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 30

2023

City will repair building, won’t evict hostel — yet

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Hostel Buffalo-Niagara lives on. For now. Over two dozen board members and supporters of the institution attended an emergency meeting held by the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency Thursday morning to determine the future of the hostel at its current location.  The BURA board voted unanimously to approve renovations to 664 Washington St. — a building attached to the rear of the hostel, which faces Main Street — not to exceed $2 million in cost. The structure, owned by BURA since 2002, was cited earlier this year by both the city and an engineering report for posing extreme safety hazards to[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 29

2023

North Collins supervisor holds out-of-town job

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John Tobia, the supervisor of the Town of North Collins, recently started a new job. In a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. Since October, Tobia has commuted between Boston and his small town of about 1,300, located about 25 miles south of Buffalo. He took the job a month before being re-elected, unopposed, to his third term as supervisor.  As vice president of regional operations for The Norfolk Companies, Tobia’s gone from North Collins anywhere from two to five days per week, he and the town attorney have said. That’s led some to worry that he’s away from the town too[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 28

2023

Spending more on settlements than services

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The City of Buffalo will borrow $43 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman rendered a quadriplegic after a police officer hit her with his patrol car more than three years ago. It is the largest payout for a personal injury lawsuit in the city’s history. The city’s top attorney called it “unprecedented.” A city lawmaker called it “catastrophic.” With interest, the total cost of the settlement could approach $50 million, based on current lending rates for municipal bonds, adding nearly $10 million to the city’s annual debt service over each of the next five years.  That’s an[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 26

2023

Punishment not befitting the crime

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In the wee hours last January, prosecutors say, Jones Woods threw a rock through a window at the U.S. Attorney’s office in downtown Buffalo. No one came. Woods left after 15 minutes, authorities say. Police found him later that day at the downtown bus station on Ellicott Street. After being arrested and charged with criminal mischief, he appeared in City Court the next day and was sent on his way. Ten minutes later, he threw another rock through a window at the U.S. Attorney’s office.  “I knew if I came back here, I would go to federal prison,” he told[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 26

2023

Monday Morning Read

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A subscription to WeeklyPost, our email newsletter, is free. What are you waiting for? There’s been a fair amount of horse race coverage of the competition to succeed Brian Higgins in the 26th Congressional District. Charlie Specht of The Buffalo News named the three leading contenders – Tim Kennedy, Mark Poloncarz and Byron Brown. Where do they stand on the issues? What sort of agenda would they would bring to Washington? Poloncarz is the most progressive of the three and has a solid track record as county executive and before that, comptroller, although there is the matter of him and Kathy Hochul[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 21

2023

Donate to support Investigative Post’s vital reporting

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Investigative Post needs you. We’re in the midst of our annual fundraising campaign. This is an important time of year for nonprofits, as November and December is when most people do their charitable giving. We’re no different. As a nonprofit, Investigative Post depends on community support. During our nearly 12 years of publishing we’ve established a reputation for hard-hitting, fact-based reporting that makes a difference. We employ the largest investigative reporting team in Buffalo and we play an increasingly important role in our media market. The support of our donors this past year has enabled us to produce high impact[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 20

2023

License plate readers target minority neighborhoods

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Buffalo police have quietly installed license plate readers at 41 intersections in the city, two-thirds of them located in neighborhoods populated predominantly with people of color.  Buffalo police, in response to a Freedom of Information Law request for the department’s policies on license plate readers, wrote that they’re used for “law enforcement investigative purposes only.” While it’s unclear how the department now is using readers, police in the past used mobile readers to issue traffic tickets, at considerable profit to the city.  Unlike many other cities, neither the police nor Mayor Byron Brown, their commander in chief, have made the[...]

Posted 1 year ago
Investigative Post