Categories for DailyPost

Nov 14

2023

Reading skills of Buffalo pupils rebounding, but still lag

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Reading test scores in Buffalo public schools dropped by nearly a third during the pandemic, with the youngest students being the hardest hit.  Two years later, there’s been significant, but not complete recovery. However, pupils who were in kindergarten and first grade when the district turned to virtual instruction are still struggling to make up for the learning that was lost, according to testing data. “It was catastrophic. It was horrible,” Nicole Herkey, a reading specialist at Southside Elementary, said of the pandemic’s effect on students’ reading ability.  “It was horrible on so many levels that people who were not[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 14

2023

Kennedy has long been spending like a candidate for Higgins seat

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State Sen. Tim Kennedy’s name wasn’t on the ballot last week, but he’s been spending campaign money this year like a man running for something. In the first six months of this year, Kennedy’s state Senate campaign committee doled out $426,000, mostly on consultants and political contributions.  That’s $64,000 more than Kennedy spent in the same period in 2022, the last time he was up for reelection.  It’s twice what he spent in the same time frame in 2020, when his name was on the ballot. And it’s nearly 10 times the amount Kennedy’s Democratic colleague, state Sen. Sean Ryan,[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 13

2023

State still spending money on Tesla factory

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If you thought New York was done spending money on the Tesla’s factory in South Buffalo, think again. Documents obtained by Investigative Post under the Freedom of Information Law have revealed a $29 million fund that state officials have allowed Tesla to spend on various projects around the plant.  The state has so far allowed Tesla to spend $1.4 million of the fund. The money has been spent on a new boiler, a rotary screw air compressor and additional truck parking.  There’s another eight projects on the to-do list and $27.4 million available. Requested projects include a new cafeteria, an[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 12

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Subscribe to WeeklyPost and you’ll receive our latest reporting and Jim Heaney’s commentary in your inbox Sunday mornings. Brian Higgins has confirmed he’s leaving Congress in February to take over the reins at Shea’s Performing Arts Center. The move has been in the works for a while, as our Geoff Kelly reported back in September. Higgins, in an interview with The Buffalo News, said Congress is “in a very, very bad place right now.” Yeah, Congress is a mess, but he’s known that for a long time. If he didn’t want to continue, he shouldn’t have run for another term. Once[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 8

2023

Home ownership by Blacks in Buffalo has flatlined

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Despite a plethora of programs encouraging Blacks to purchase their own homes, the ownership rate for African-Americans in Buffalo has barely budged over the past four decades.  Where there has been growth lately, it’s come in the suburbs, according to Census data and federal mortgage loan reports. Concerns about redlining in the city persist, but Black incomes in Buffalo — pegged at about three-fifths that of whites — are largely blamed for the stagnation. “Overall, we can attribute the lower Black homeownership rate to the racial wealth gap,” said Buffalo State University associate professor Jason Knight, coordinator of the school’s[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 8

2023

Poloncarz wins big; mixed bag for parties in town races

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Election Day was good to Erie County Democrats, especially in the top-ticket races. In the year’s marquee race, Mark Poloncarz beat Republican Chrissy Casilio by a resounding 18 points, winning an unprecedented fourth term as Erie County executive. And Democrats preserved their 7-to-4 majority in the Erie County Legislature, as incumbents in three competitive districts handily fended off Republican and Conservative challengers. In town and village elections, however, the results had a more purplish hue, as Democrats and Republicans alike made gains in areas that once were single-party fiefdoms. “In the suburbs, the towns that are flipping are continuing to[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 6

2023

Hochul doubles down on a mistake

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Putting a huge industrial park in rural Genesee County was a mistake to begin with. The site was too rural. It lacked infrastructure. Auto dependent. That was the conclusion of a smart-growth analysis mandated by state law. State economic development officials used a loophole to green light the location anyway, and Steve Hyde and his Genesee County Economic Development Center went to work, thanks to some $43 million in state assistance. For nearly a decade, progress was slow. The site, known as STAMP, or Science Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park, remained fields and farmland. No tenants were to be had.[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 5

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Get Monday Morning Read delivered to your inbox Sunday mornings by subscribing here. Moog, which shook down the Erie County IDA for its 14th subsidy earlier this year, reported a 35 percent jump in profits for the third quarter. Reported The Buffalo News: “The company said it expects its ongoing pricing and simplification efforts to further improve Moog’s profitability in the coming years.” Ken Kruly has last-minute news regarding this week’s general election. Nick Langworthy was one of 24 House Republicans who voted last week to expel George Santos.  The measure failed. Buffalo Rising had an interesting podcast interview with Frits Abell. I find this ironic: politicians complaining we’re[...]

Posted 1 year ago
Investigative Post