Categories for DailyPost

Oct 19

2023

Ja’ciel discusses diversity in journalism on WBFO

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I’Jaz Ja’ciel, Investigative Post’s Urban Affairs reporter and president of the Buffalo Association of Black Journalists, made an appearance on WBFO’s What’s Next? to discuss the state of Black journalism, both locally and nationally. In the hour-long discussion with reporters Angelea Preston and Thomas O’Neil-White, Ja’ciel spoke about the importance of representation in newsrooms and some of the obstacles that Black reporters face. Having drawn from her own experiences as a native of Buffalo’s East Side, she explained how her background shapes her storytelling. “Growing up, I didn’t see reporters in my neighborhood unless there was, like, a homicide or[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Oct 19

2023

Interview: New leadership at Buffalo teachers union

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For the past four decades, the Buffalo Teachers Federation had the same leadership, the same voice and the same direction. Then, in June, long-time BTF President Phil Rumore retired. In his place is Rich Nigro, who, three months into his first two-year term, is making this prediction: He won’t be staying as long as his predecessor. “There is not a next 42 years,” said Nigro. “I’m not looking at 30 years. I’m not looking at 20 years. Ten years would be pushing it,” the 50-year-old union leader said. The president’s office at the Buffalo Teachers Federation is noticeably different than[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Oct 19

2023

OTB shells out millions for lawyers and lobbyists

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The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. has shelled out nearly $2.2 million for an army of 19 law firms and lobbyists over the past five years in an effort to fend off investigators, lawmakers and plaintiffs. The spending has eaten into the profits sent to the 17 counties and cities that own the public gambling agency, including Erie, Niagara and Monroe counties and the cities of Buffalo and Rochester. From 2019, when expenses started to take off, through last year, spending on lawyers and lobbyists cut OTB’s revenue sharing to municipalities by 10 percent. While some spending could be expected,[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Oct 16

2023

Money running out to help Buffalo students catch up

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Programs that help Buffalo students catch up academically after the pandemic are headed for a “financial cliff” because federal aid is winding down. At stake are more than 300 positions for everything from teaching and after-school programming to school security to mental health counseling. Buffalo Public Schools will face cuts about a year from now, when the remainder of $290 million in Covid-19 relief funding through the American Rescue Plan ends.  “The financial cliff, it’s coming for all of us,” said James Barnes, the district’s chief financial officer. “The funding is going away. That amount of money cannot be absorbed[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Oct 16

2023

Heaney discusses iPost, journalism and democracy

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Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney was the guest Sunday morning on on ​​Sree’s Sunday #NYTReadalong. Guest host Neil Parekh interviewed Heaney on the work of Investigative Post, the rise of nonprofit news sites, the legacy of retired Washington Post Editor Marty Baron and the threat posed to democracy by the decline of daily newspapers. “Government that’s not watched is going to drift towards self-interest, corruption and other malfeasance,” Heaney said. The interview portion of the program begins at 14:50, following Parekh’s overview of  the Sunday edition of The New York Times, and picks up again at 1:20:23.

Posted 1 year ago

Oct 15

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Subscribe to WeeklyPost and get Jim Heaney’s recommended reading in your inbox Sunday mornings. Let’s start with the menu at concession stands at Sabres games, which kicked off Thursday with a dreadful home loss to the New York Rangers. (They lost again last night.) Beer is up to $17 a can – $17.50 if you want craft. Pizza is $9.25 a slice. I could go on, but you get the picture. Season ticket holders get a discount, but still. Delaware North, which recently lost the concession contract for Bills games once the team moves into its new stadium, has promised[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Oct 11

2023

More misdeeds involving Niagara Falls candidate

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Guns gone missing and an order to stay away from a former girlfriend are included in the past of Carlton Cain, GOP candidate for Niagara Falls mayor, who once was a top official in the city’s police department.  Cain said he doesn’t recall signing an administrative order of protection issued by Acting Police Superintendent Michael Trane in 2019.  “I guess if I signed it, it happened,” he said.  The woman in question, who was cooperating with an Internal Affairs investigation of Cain, did not return a phone call from Investigative Post. Trane has not responded to an interview request.  In[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Oct 10

2023

Fire clerk still not working, but getting paid

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Jill Repman was called back to her job with the Buffalo Fire Department last month after seven and a half years on paid leave that cost taxpayers nearly $600,000. She immediately went on vacation, according to city payroll records.  Repman used four days of her accumulated vacation time to extend the paid Labor Day holiday to a full week. The following Monday, she called in sick.  Then she took a couple personal days, followed by another sick day, followed by another personal day. All told, Repman — formerly known by her married name, Parisi — didn’t work a single day[...]

Posted 1 year ago
Investigative Post