Sep 3
2013
Jane Corwin, the Clarence Republican who represents mostly rural portions of Erie and Niagara counties in the Assembly, enjoys the highest net worth and second highest annual household income of any state legislator. A report from New York World, based on a study done by a range of good government groups.
Aug 28
2013
Mother Jones reports on the FBI’s ruthless response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. Wrote a top FBI official: “We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro, and national security.”
Aug 19
2013
The state had promised to cut back on the practice of sending mentally ill prisoners to solitary confinement. Instead, the number of inmates diagnosed with severe mental illness dropped by more than half – and solitary confinements continue. A report from ProPublica.
Aug 1
2013
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s brazen self-promotion is on full display in this report by WGRZ’s Dave McKinley. Keep in mind that in the case of both casino revenue and Peace Bridge plaza expansion, the governor claimed victory when, in fact, the Senecas and Canadians prevailed in their negotiations with the state.
Jul 31
2013
The Guardian reports “a top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals.”
Jul 29
2013
Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney, appearing on WBFO’s Press Pass with Eileen Buckely, discusses the federal government’s unprecedented aggression against reporters and its implication for a democratic society.
Jul 25
2013
The 650-foot smokestack at the Somerset coal-fired power plant in Niagara County billows plumes of smoke carrying greenhouse gases that can be seen on a clear day all the way across Lake Ontario in Toronto. The amount — 3.8 million tons in 2011 — makes the coal plant the top greenhouse gas polluter in New York State. That’s equivalent to the emissions from 712,893 cars annually. Western New York has two other facilities that rank in the state’s top 10 of greenhouse gas polluters: coal-fired power plants CR Huntley in the Town of Tonawanda and NRG Dunkirk in the City[...]
Jul 24
2013
City Hall’s belated effort to collect $22 million in unpaid Housing Court fines is coming up empty. A dry run by a collections agency hired by the city earlier this year that sought about $430,000 from deadbeat court defendants yielded only $59 in fine payments, according to City Comptroller Mark Schroeder. That experience prompted city officials to scale back their expectations of what was collectable from the $22 million in unpaid fines that have accumulated since Mayor Byron Brown took office in 2006. Rather than $1 million, Schroeder said administration officials believe only $40,000 to $80,000 is collectable. “In terms[...]