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Aug 23

2016

Charlotte Keith discusses Buffalo Billion program on WBFO

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On WBFO’s Press Pass, Investigative Post’s Charlotte Keith talks with Jay Moran about her recent story on a Buffalo Billion program at Daemen College that is not living up to the hype. The state committed $4.5 million to create a training program in film production at the college, which is partnering with a new visual effects company. The plan was that graduates would go straight into jobs with the company but so far, very few have found full-time work.

Posted 9 years ago

Aug 22

2016

iPost adds reporter via NY Times

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Investigative Post has added a third full-time reporter to its award-winning staff. Daniela Porat joins the staff after a seven-month stint at The New York Times, where she worked with the newspaper’s investigative and computer assisted reporting teams. Her reporting there included a front page story on gun violence in America. Prior to The Times, she worked as a researcher with Vice HBO. Her reporting has also been published by ProPublica and The Miami Herald. Porat, 27, is a bilingual native of Venezuela who grew up in Toronto. She graduated in 2015 from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Aug 22

2016

Looking for lead (in all the wrong places)

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Neighborhoods on the city’s East and Lower West Sides are “ground zero” for the worst lead poisoning problems in all of Upstate New York. Lead paint is considered the culprit, but the crisis in Flint, Michigan, has raised questions about the safety of the drinking water in cities like Buffalo. The testing program used by Buffalo to determine whether drinking water is safe does not target the minority neighborhoods where the lead poisoning problem is concentrated, an analysis by Investigative Post has found. Instead, the city has focused on predominantly white neighborhoods in North and South Buffalo that report few,[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Aug 10

2016

Record losses at SolarCity

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SolarCity posted a record net loss of $250 million for the second quarter of this year, according to financial statements filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Losses for the first half of this year stand at a staggering $533 million, putting the company on pace to lose more than $1 billion for 2016. Losses last year totaled $710 million. SolarCity’s financial woes are one of the reasons it’s in line to be taken over by Tesla, the electric car manufacturer. Noted entrepreneur Elon Musk is chairman of both companies and their largest shareholder. Tesla has its share of financial problems,[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Aug 4

2016

Untested waters at two Erie County beach bars

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Authorities steered swimmers away from a Southtowns beach more than 30 days last summer because of unhealthy levels of bacteria in the water. But adjacent beaches owned by two popular waterfront bars remained open to patrons because the businesses lack permits that require testing of the water and closure when fecal matter and other bacteria are detected at dangerous levels. One of the bars, Turtle Joe’s Sand Bar, appears to be in violation of the state beach code. Whether Mickey Rats Beach Club is in violation is open to interpretation. Owner Richie Alberts obtained what he maintains is a waiver[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Aug 1

2016

Heaney talks subsidies on ‘Pressroom

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Jim Heaney, in a wide-wide ranging interview with Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom, discusses the lack of transparency around state economic development programs and a dubious $125,000 grant made to an ice cream parlor under the Buffalo Billion. The interview, which broadcast July 28, runs from 22:20 to 36:43. Heaney will turn the tables on Arbetter when he interviews her Sept, 13 in front of a live audience at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Tickets are just $10 and can be purchased here.

Posted 9 years ago

Jul 20

2016

500 gallons of waste oil pollute Cayuga Creek

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Add another blemish to the long history of environmental degradation of Cayuga Creek. An estimated 500 gallons of presumed waste oil contaminated the creek between Sunday and Monday mid-afternoon, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. That’s equivalent to dumping a dozen normal-sized barrels of waste oil into the creek. “Cayuga Creek is an already impaired system, and this waste oil spill is one more assault to a creek that has been struggling to recover for decades,” said Jill Jedlicka, executive director of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, whose nonprofit had reported the spill to the DEC on Monday. The DEC said in a statement[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Jul 15

2016

More honors for iPost’s Charlotte Keith

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The New York Association of Black Journalists has selected Charlotte Keith’s story on employment practices at the construction of the $750 million SolarCity plant in Buffalo as the best online spot news story in its annual journalism competition. Keith has written a series of stories about the relative lack of minority workers in the Buffalo construction trades. Her reporting triggered a move to boost minority employment on the SolarCity project and other construction work around the region. In addition, Investigative Post sponsored an event in May featuring Keith that educated the community on how to promote diversity in the building[...]

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post