Categories for DailyPost

Nov 29

2022

More subsidies for high-end apartments

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Industrial development agencies were initially in the business of creating or retaining jobs. Their mission these days includes finding new uses for old buildings. The Amherst IDA last month approved $1.88 million in tax breaks for a project that does neither. The planned construction of apartments and retail space at 5877 Main Street in Williamsville will create only two permanent jobs. And the older building that was located on the site — Milos Restaurant — is slated for demolition. A four-story building will go up in its place. The first floor will include Excuria Salon and Spa and retail space.[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 28

2022

Monday Morning Read

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The felony convictions of Louis Ciminelli and Alain Kaloyeros will be reconsidered by the Supreme Court this week, as reported yesterday by Jerry Zremski of The Buffalo News. Their lawyers will argue that prosecutors went too far in their application of federal fraud and bribery statutes.  Regardless of the technical merits, this much is clear: Ciminelli’s company, in league with Kaloyeros, played dirty in the drafting of bid specifications to develop Tesla’s solar panel manufacturing plant in South Buffalo. As I reported in 2014, the original bid documents required bidders to have been in the development business in Buffalo for[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 25

2022

Investigative Post’s groundbreaking police coverage

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Geoff Kelly wrote a couple of blockbuster stories for us over the past week involving allegations of racism in the Buffalo Police Department. One was based on depositions given by retired police commanders in which they acknowledged use of the N-word by officers and a failure to properly train, supervise and discipline cops working on special street units. The other story was based on a federal lawsuit in which officers accuse their captain of making racially derogatory remarks about Black officers and justifying racist attitudes among whites. These revelations were shocking, to be sure. But given Investigative Post’s reporting on[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 22

2022

Lawsuit: Police captain went on racist ‘rant’

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A Buffalo police captain told officers she supervised that Black cops were more likely to cheat on their wives than white cops. The captain said she’d be suspicious if she saw a Black man in her neighborhood. She claimed white police officers suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from working in Black neighborhoods, but Black officers did not, because they were more accustomed to violent crime. The captain told Black officers they should try to understand how the criminality of Black people justified some racism. These claims are detailed in a lawsuit filed Monday evening in federal court by two Buffalo police[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 17

2022

Thanks to WNY, Amazon subsidies hit $5 billion

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A $124 million subsidy package given to Amazon by the Niagara County Industrial Development agency this summer helped the e-commerce giant reach a milestone: $5 billion in total government subsidies. That total came from 309 subsidies in 38 states since 2000, according to data compiled by Good Jobs First, a nonprofit that tracks corporate tax breaks. Washington, the state where Amazon is headquartered, gave the company the most subsidies, a total of $824 million. Illinois ranked second with $732 million, followed by New York at $671 million. Those subsidies went towards facilities ranging from warehouses to offices to film and[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 15

2022

Disturbing police testimony demands action

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The toxic culture that permeates the Buffalo Police Department is now in the open. The use of the N word by cops. A lack of training to stop police from doing the wrong thing, and lack of accountability when they do. The allegations aren’t being leveled by department critics. Rather, they’ve been described, under oath, by police themselves, including those in supervisory positions. Shocking? Yes. Surprising? No. Investigative Post has been reporting on problems within the department since 2016. A lack of proper training. A failure to investigative citizen complaints against officers. The unconstitutional practices of special street crime units.[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 14

2022

Testimony: Buffalo cops use of N word not uncommon

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A retired Buffalo police lieutenant testified in April he’d heard his colleagues use racist epithets when dealing with Black members of the public.  “Probably every officer” had used the “N word” at one point or another, according to retired Lt. Thomas Whelan, a former supervisor with the department’s controversial Strike Force unit.  He admitted he’d used it himself. “Have I ever said it?” Whelan said in a deposition for a lawsuit accusing the City of Buffalo and the Buffalo Police Department of racially discriminatory policing. “Yes, I have, obviously. I’m a human being.” Racist language.  Loose oversight and discipline.  Little[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 13

2022

Monday Morning Read

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Get Jim Heaney’s recommended reading Sunday mornings by subscribing here. The national political press once more dropped the ball this election season. Too much focus on the horse race, not enough on the issues. I mostly stopped reading the converge after Labor Day. This essay in Popular Information, a new website I’ve come across, summed it up nicely: More and more political coverage treats elections like a horse race, even though this approach has repeatedly proven useless. Prediction-based coverage comes at a high cost because it crowds out the coverage that voters actually need. To make an informed decision, voters need[...]

Posted 2 years ago
Investigative Post