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Dec 9

2015

Audit: Urban League bilked taxpayers

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An audit by the Erie County Comptroller has confirmed allegations leveled a year ago by social workers at the Buffalo Urban League that their employer charged the county tens of thousands of dollars for work never performed. Among the abuses: bills claiming some employees worked as many as 170 hours in a single day. The audit also found the Urban League tried to stonewall investigators and retaliated against the whistleblowers who brought the problems to the comptroller’s attention. All eight have now left the agency – either fired or effectively forced out of their jobs. The Department of Social Services,[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Dec 9

2015

Our Battaglia Demolition report on WBFO

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Dan Telvock reports on how state and city officials have failed to follow through on promises made over a year ago to clean up operations of a construction and demolition debris facility that’s the subject of a decade-long dustup with residents of the Seneca-Babcock neighborhood.

Posted 9 years ago

Dec 8

2015

No action in Battaglia Demolition dust up

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State and city officials have failed to follow through on promises made over a year ago to clean up operations of a construction and demolition debris facility that’s the subject of a decade-long dustup with neighbors. As a result, Seneca-Babcock residents said they endured yet another summer of dust, noise and diesel truck fumes from Battaglia Demolition’s operation off Seneca Street. Battaglia Demolition collects concrete, bricks and other construction and demolition debris. The facility also crushes concrete and brick, which residents say stirs up clouds of dust that settle on their properties. In addition, up to 200 trucks a day[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Dec 7

2015

Buffalo’s East Side awaiting a rebound

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While Buffalo is recovering, there is plenty of room for improvement, especially on the city’s East Side. That was the consensus of a panel discussion moderated last week by Jim Heaney of Investigative Post, who shared his impressions with Steve Brown on the weekly edition of Investigative Post. Panelists said the East Side lacks organizations with the capacity to manage redevelopment initiatives. The relocation of African American residents away from development hotspots was cited as another problem.  

Posted 9 years ago

Dec 4

2015

Heaney on Alcoa’s latest subsidy deal

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Susan Arbetter of Capitol Pressroom interviewed Jim Heaney on Thursday about the recent deal in which New York State agreed to increase its already generous subsidy package to Alcoa’s plant in Massena. The interview runs from 22:03 to 36:58.

Posted 9 years ago

Dec 3

2015

Chemours closing Niagara Falls plant

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Niagara Falls is losing not only 200 jobs but one of its riskiest air polluters with the announcement Tuesday that the Chemours Company is closing its plant on Buffalo Avenue the end of next year. An Investigative Post analysis of federal Environmental Protection Agency this summer  showed the Buffalo Avenue plant’s air pollution poses the second-greatest risk to public health of any manufacturing plant in Niagara County because of its release of chlorine. In addition, a review of Occupational Safety and Health Administration data found the Niagara Falls plant had the worst worker safety record of any of the dozen plants in Niagara County[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Dec 2

2015

Buffalo’s incomplete, inequitable rebound

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Has Buffalo really gotten its mojo back? That was the question posed by Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney during a panel discussion Tuesday at Allen Street Hardware attended by an overflow crowd of 80 people. The panelists were Newell Nussbaumer, editorial director of Buffalo Rising, Rocco Termini, president of Signature Development, and Henry Taylor, professor and founding director of the Center for Urban Studies at the University at Buffalo. They did agree that the Queen City has made strides, but most of its work still lies ahead, and not everybody is sharing in the recovery. Much of the night’s discussion[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Dec 2

2015

WBFO report on iPost event

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Avery Schneider of our partners at WBFO reports on Investigative Post’s panel discussion Tuesday that posed the question: “Is Buffalo really getting its mojo back?” Panelists included Henry L. Taylor of the University at Buffalo, developer Rocco Termini and Buffalo Rising Editorial Director Newell Nussbaumer. The panelists agreed that Buffalo has recovered to a degree, but that much work remains, especially on the city’s East Side.

Posted 9 years ago
Investigative Post