Categories for DailyPost

Aug 15

2023

iPost reporter assumes leadership role

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I’Jaz Ja’ciel, a reporter with Investigative Post, has taken the reins of the Buffalo chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. Ja’ciel was elected president of the chapter in April and has been working to return the 30-member organization to active status after a period of inactivity. That accomplished, she is looking to the future. “It was extremely important to me that our chapter didn’t dissolve because we reflect and represent Buffalo’s diverse communities,” Ja’ciel said. “Our chapter has accomplished great things over the years and I’m confident that our resurgence will take us to even greater heights.” The[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Aug 14

2023

City authority hires Mayor Brown’s son

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The Buffalo Sewer Authority hired a new press information officer in April, but neither the agency nor the mayor’s office will talk to reporters about who he is or how much he’s paid. But payroll records and authority meeting minutes tell the story: It’s Mayor Byron Brown’s son. The minutes of the May meeting of authority’s board directors indicate Byron Brown II was hired in April at an annual salary of $62,665. His home address is listed as 14 Blaine, which is the mayor’s house. The authority’s payroll records show Brown II earning $2,161 as his biweekly base pay when[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Aug 13

2023

Monday Morning Read

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You could have read this yesterday if you subscribed to WeeklyPost. Sign up here, it’s free. Most police departments in New York State are not reporting crime data to the FBI, according to the Marshall Project. Only “41 out of 583 law enforcement agencies in New York successfully submitted data to the FBI through the National Incident-Based Reporting System in 2022. The agencies that reported any crime stats represent roughly 1 in 5 people in the state,” the Marshall Project reported. “Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia had higher reporting rates than New York.” I checked out the site’s searchable[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Aug 9

2023

Niagara IDA extends Amazon tax breaks

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Amazon’s stalled warehouse project in the Town of Niagara won a reprieve Wednesday. The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency, in a unanimous vote, granted the e-commerce giant a six-month extension on a package of $124 million in property, sales and mortgage tax subsidies tied to its proposed  distribution center. That means Amazon has until February 2024 to close on the subsidies the agency granted one year ago for its planned 3 million square-foot facility on Packard Road. Board Chairman Mark Onesi said the IDA could vote on two more six-month extensions, meaning Amazon could have until February 2025 to begin[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Aug 8

2023

Transparency, Roswell Park style

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Last week, the new chair of Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s board of directors pledged the state-funded center to “an unprecedented … level of transparency and accountability,” after the board voted to make public a critical report it has kept secret for over a year. And yet the board took the vote in executive session — a proceeding closed to the public. When asked why discussion of the matter and the vote were hidden from public view, Leecia Eve, the new board chair, told The Buffalo News, “No particular reason.” That’s what continues to pass for “transparency” at Roswell Park.  Even[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Aug 7

2023

No action on Amazon’s warehouse in Niagara

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One year after winning $124 million in tax subsidies from the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency, Amazon has taken few steps to build its promised 1,000-employee warehouse in the Town of Niagara. On Monday, the 217 acres of land along Lockport Road where Amazon plans to build its three-million-square-foot facility remained vacant. No earth had been moved, no stakes were in the ground. No construction equipment was present. In response to the delay, the IDA is now poised to grant Amazon a six-month extension on its subsidy package. The extension — which the IDA’s board will consider Wednesday — indicates[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Aug 6

2023

Podcast: “Book deserts” signal disinvestment

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Investigative Post’s I’Jaz Ja’ciel and Garrett Looker have reported on the state of literacy and access to books throughout Buffalo. Literacy experts say parts of the city’s East Side are “book deserts.” In this latest episode of Investigative Post’s Reporter’s Notebook, Looker and Ja’ciel talk about their months-long analysis of library data and book access. Watch via YouTube or listen as a podcast.

Posted 2 years ago

Aug 3

2023

No more free golf for Chautauqua IDA

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The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency has agreed to make changes to the way it operates after a scathing state review in May found “inappropriate and questionable” spending at the economic development outfit. Those changes, however, come with some consternation from the IDA. While it told state officials it would curtail some of its spending and review some of its policies, it vigorously defended other practices the state Authorities Budget Office critiqued, arguing the agency can’t force it to change.  The IDA, for example, will no longer reimburse an executive for a country club membership where he played golf with[...]

Posted 2 years ago
Investigative Post