Categories for In-Depth

Mar 16

2022

Bills stadium plans are an outlier

Published by

Most modern NFL stadiums operate as year-round destinations. Their development includes shops, restaurants, bars and the like, or they are built in proximity to existing entertainment venues.  While the offerings vary, the goal is the same: provide reasons for people to visit beyond 10 football games a year.  The Bills are demanding a $1.4 billion, 62,000-seat, open-air stadium in Orchard Park. Those plans make no mention of ancillary development common at most other stadiums. What’s more, Town of Orchard Park officials told Investigative Post the team has not spoken to them about any related development. The apparent lack of ancillary[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Mar 2

2022

Cash calls it quits

Published by

Kriner Cash has officially cashed out as Buffalo schools’ superintendent. He’s resigned after leading the district for five and a half years. The district’s Board of Education unanimously accepted his resignation at a special work session tonight. “Both the Board and the superintendent came to an agreement that we were going to part ways,” Board of Education President Louis Petrucci said. The full terms of the agreement aren’t clear — “You can FOIL for it,” several members told Investigative Post — but it is effective immediately. Tonja Williams, who served as associate superintendent of student support services under Cash, will[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Feb 28

2022

State historically not a big funder of stadiums

Published by

Many fans and politicians are expecting, even counting on, the state to put up most of the money the Buffalo Bills want from the public to help finance construction of a new stadium.   The state has played no such role, however, in the construction or renovation of major league stadiums and arenas in the recent past.  The Bills have proposed a $1.4 billion, 60,000 seat stadium in Orchard Park and published reports have suggested the team’s owners want public financing to cover the “vast majority” of the cost.  “That’s certainly a step beyond anything else that’s been going on in[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Feb 20

2022

‘Completely stupid’ burning of toxins

Published by

A Niagara Falls waste incineration plant burned almost 13 tons of firefighting foam over a three-year period, potentially releasing into the air and water insidious toxins linked in studies to infertility, birth defects, developmental disorders, compromised immune systems and cancer.  When questioned by state officials, Covanta Niagara at first denied it. Eventually, the company admitted burning “a small amount” of the material — aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF — but claimed it didn’t know what it was burning. “That is not a small amount,” said David Bond, a Bennington College professor who fought to stop a waste incinerator doing the[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Feb 8

2022

School attendance continues to slide

Published by

Attendance in Buffalo schools has gone from bad to worse this school year. Last year, when instruction was mostly remote, 34 percent of students attended class at what the state considered a satisfactory rate. So far this school year, that number has dropped to 18 percent. Conversely, the share of students with “severe” attendance problems – that is, they miss school at least one day a week, if not more – has jumped from 34 to 40 percent.  District officials said there are many reasons for the increase: Ongoing transportation issues, inclement weather and, especially, an increase in COVID-19 cases[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Feb 7

2022

DailyPost

Published by

Welcome to Daily Post, which we’ll produce Monday through Friday, featuring short enterprise pieces and summaries of full-length stories. Thursday, March 3, 2022 Cash calls it quits Kriner Cash has officially cashed out as Buffalo schools’ superintendent. He’s resigned after leading the district for five and a half years. The district’s Board of Education unanimously accepted his resignation at a special work session tonight. “Both the Board and the superintendent came to an agreement that we were going to part ways,” Board of Education President Louis Petrucci said. The full terms of the agreement aren’t clear — “You can FOIL[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Feb 7

2022

The latest news on The Buffalo News

Published by

Here’s the latest on the tussle over the ownership of the chain that owns The Buffalo News: To recap, Alden Global Capital made a bid late last year to purchase Lee Enterprises, whose newspaper holdings include The News. Lee has resisted in a series of maneuvers and the back-and-forth between the companies has gotten quite nasty.  The latest salvo came last week in the release of the chain’s quarterly financial report in which it described its media holdings as “the fastest growing digital subscription platform in local media.” Net profits were $13.2 million. All is good, according to Lee. Alden[...]

Posted 3 years ago

Feb 4

2022

State paid $1B in OT last year

Published by

It cost New York taxpayers nearly a billion dollars to cover the overtime for state employees last year. That’s part of the findings from a review of state salary data posted Thursday to seethroughny.net, a government transparency website operated by the Albany-based think tank, the Empire Center for Public Policy.  In its analysis of the 2021 state government payroll, the Empire Center determined state agencies paid $953.6 million in overtime during the calendar year. That’s $100 million, or about 12 percent, higher than in 2020.  According to the Empire Center, 228 state employees were paid $100,000 or more in overtime[...]

Posted 3 years ago
Investigative Post