Categories for In-Depth

Sep 19

2024

Developer Doug Jemal, back in the news

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An advertisement featuring Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen hangs on the side of the Statler Hotel. Photo by Garrett Looker. Developer Doug Jemal is in the news this week over his company’s installation of a huge ad posted on the side of the Statler Hotel in the heart of downtown Buffalo. Jemal’s company didn’t obtain the necessary permit for the 11-story ad, featuring the likeness of Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Jemal is unapologetic, telling The Buffalo News that installing the ad was the “right thing to do.” Jemal, known for sometimes playing by his own rules, was the subject of[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Sep 10

2024

Jail deaths substantially higher than reported

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At least 57 Erie County jail inmates have died since 2005, a much higher number than previously reported. The death rate has barely budged in nearly a quarter century. Indeed, it has ticked up since Sheriff John Garcia took office, taking over from a predecessor widely criticized for the number of jail deaths on his watch. Forty-four prisoners, or one inmate every 4½ months, died under former Sheriff Timothy Howard, who became sheriff in June 2005, after five inmates had already died earlier that year under the previous sheriff, Patrick Gallivan. With eight deaths since Garcia took office in January[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Jul 18

2024

Mayor’s staff growing in numbers and cost

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When Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown prepared his first city budget, he allowed for eight employees in his office, including himself. He had a communications staff of one.  Those jobs were scheduled to cost taxpayers $571,806, not including healthcare and retirement benefits. The actual cost was less — just under $500,000 — because he didn’t fill all the positions. This budget year, which began July 1, the mayor’s budget allows for 19 staffers. The Office of Communications and Intergovernmental Affairs has grown to seven budgeted positions.  Combined, the salaries for those 26 jobs add up to $2,453,665. That’s nearly three times[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Jul 2

2024

Buffalo daycare center has history of complaints

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Mary’s Little Lambs Child Care Center. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel.  This story was updated July 2t 12:53 pm. An East Side daycare center whose owner was recently arrested and charged with shoving an employee has been cited for 20 violations in the past 2-1/2 years, a few referencing allegations of possible maltreatment or inadequate supervision of children. State inspectors since 2022 were called to investigate complaints at Mary’s Little Lambs Child Care Center eight times prior to the June 11 incident, when owner Mary Goodwill was charged after allegations she used physical force against a teenage staff member. Another employee[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Jun 27

2024

Hochul, Schumer pressured regulators over STAMP

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Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part package. Our second story is here. In the drive to build a massive industrial park in rural Genesee County, the offices of Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer pressured regulators to issue approvals for the project that ran afoul of environmental laws and policies, ignoring an indigenous nation’s legal rights along the way. Investigative Post found that: Aides to Hochul pushed top officials at the state Department of Environmental Conservation to work more quickly. Schumer aides intervened with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And a string of state[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jun 6

2024

Charters outperform urban public schools in reading

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The reading skills of young students who attend charter schools in and around Buffalo are slightly better than those attending urban public schools, an Investigative Post analysis has found. The results of 2023’s testing showed 30 percent of third through fifth grade students at the 19 charter schools tested in Erie and Niagara counties could read and write at or above grade level, according to the New York State Education Department.  That compares with 25 percent of students in the same grades in Buffalo public schools. “There’s more we want to achieve for our kids, clearly,” said Fatimah Barker, executive[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jun 5

2024

Erie County making headway on foster care

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Illustration by Christine Ongjoco. This story is being co-published with The Imprint, a national nonprofit news outlet covering child welfare and youth justice. Where Kin Come First: The Imprint’s first-ever analysis of how often New York counties place foster children with relatives found huge gaps across county lines. This story reveals how counties that prioritize kin are keeping children within family networks. Part two of a two-part series. Read part one here.   In 2018, when her young nephew was found wandering outside alone, Krystal Henderson got a call from the Chemung County social services agency. Would she and her husband[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jun 4

2024

Falling short on foster care

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Illustration by Christine Ongjoco.  This story is being co-published with The Imprint, a national nonprofit news outlet covering child welfare and youth justice. Where Kin Come First: The Imprint’s analysis of New York child welfare agencies’ reliance on family and friends reveals where children end up depends a lot on geography. Part one of a two-part series. Six years ago, the federal government made a dramatic shift in the way it funds foster care. Instead of only paying states after they removed children from parents accused of abuse or neglect, local authorities could be reimbursed to avoid family separation through[...]

Posted 9 months ago
Investigative Post