Categories for DailyPost

Feb 11

2025

Preservationist fined for housing code violations

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A cottage at 1029 West Ave.  formerly owned by Bernice Radle. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel Bernice Radle, 38, is a preservationist who finds herself in the awkward position of being fined $13,500 by Housing Court. The reason: She failed to correct code violations on a West Side property she intended, but failed to renovate. Radle, executive director at Preservation Buffalo-Niagara, doesn’t dispute the code violations, but she does question the fines. She said the city’s inspections department, court, or both, have failed to maintain updated records related to the property and for some time sent her notifications to an old[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Feb 10

2025

Censorship, and other problems, at The Buffalo News

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Delivery problems – and apparently the lack of a spine – continue to plague The Buffalo News. Since the weather turned cold and snowy, home delivery has been hit and miss. I still subscribe and there’s probably been a half-dozen days since Christmastime where I haven’t received a paper. One time, it was a multiple-day stretch. Last week, technical troubles forced The News to shrink the size of its print edition.  “A serious technical outage is creating production issues for all Lee newspapers,” Editor Margaret Kenny wrote in Thursday’s paper. “Our IT staff is working around the clock to fully[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Feb 6

2025

Fate of Braymiller Market remains in limbo

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The now-shuttered Braymiller Market at 225 Ellicott Street. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker The future of the downtown building once home to Braymiller Market remains in limbo. For one, Evans Bank is moving to foreclosure on the property as a way to recoup the multi-million dollar mortgage it granted to owner Stuart Green. The bank has begun “pre-foreclosure” proceedings, according to Common Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope. At the same time, the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency is weighing whether to call in a $561,000 loan the city granted to Braymiller Market in 2023. The money, meant to be a lifeline[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Feb 5

2025

OTB still doling out health coverage despite warnings

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OTB Chairman Dennis Bassett and then president and CEO Henry Wojtaszek. Photo by Garrett Looker In defiance of the state comptroller, the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. continues to provide gold-plated health insurance to its chairman and his wife, a dozen former board members and the widows of three others. In some cases, the former board members enrolled in the health plan haven’t served on the OTB board in two decades. Over the last three years, OTB spent an average of $149,000 annually providing the current and former board members with the insurance. OTB’s largess doesn’t end with the board. [...]

Posted 2 months ago

Feb 3

2025

Prospect of huge subsidies for data center at STAMP

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Around 50 people gathered at the Alabama fire hall for a series of public hearings about a data center locating at STAMP. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. TOWN OF ALABAMA — Three data centers vying to build at the STAMP industrial park in rural Genesee County are seeking subsidies worth anywhere from $838,000 to $3.9 million per job. The proposals were the subject of three public hearings Monday at which about two dozen nearby residents voiced their strong opposition. Concerns ran the gamut: Some speakers said data centers — via water runoff and noise — would harm the surrounding environment,[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Feb 3

2025

Trump’s trade war with our northern neighbor

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Donald Trump declared economic war on Canada over the weekend. The Wall Street Journal called it the “dumbest trade war.” The Buffalo News assessed the impact on Western New York – not good – and noted how little fentanyl enters the United State from across our northern border. NPR details the folly in Trump’’s fentanyl claims. CNN details what consumer products will get more expensive as a result. Canada strikes back. Experts discuss the impacts, including the exchange rate. (The American dollar was worth $1.48 Canadian as of Sunday night.) Hockey fans in Ottawa and basketball fans in Toronto boo[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Jan 31

2025

Calling out Jeremy Zellner

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Updated: 3:57 p.m. I write this post staring at the tweet posted below by Jeremy Zellner, chairman of the Erie County Democratic party. In it, he takes our Geoff Kelly to task for reporting on the forum the party hosted on Saturday where eight mayoral candidates were invited to speak to party committee members from the city. According to Zellner, more than 200 committee members attended. The forum kicked off with a question to the candidates posed by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz: Would the candidates promise not to seek the endorsement of the local Republican and Conservative parties?  The[...]

Posted 2 months ago

Jan 30

2025

State investigating claims of ‘Falls wage theft

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The Moe’s and A&W owned by Muhammad Shoaib on Rainbow Boulevard. Photos by J. Dale Shoemaker. The New York State Department of Labor is investigating claims that a Niagara Falls fast food restaurateur failed to pay overtime and withheld tips from employees. Two former employees of Muhammad Shoaib’s fast food restaurants have filed a complaints with the labor department and one has since been contacted by an investigator. Other former employees said they are in the process of filing complaints of their own. In a statement, a labor department spokesperson confirmed that it was in receipt of complaints but declined[...]

Posted 2 months ago
Investigative Post