May 21
2012
“For the sake of accountability, the success of future legislation, and the respect of voters who backed the governor’s calls for reform, he must shed his penchant for backroom deal-making” the paper says in an editorial.
May 21
2012
May 20
2012
Jim Heaney of Investigative Post interviews Robert Bennett, state Regent for Western New York, on a range of education issues. Bennett in the interview: Takes issue with Phil Rumore’s characterization of the dispute between the Buffalo Teachers Federation and the state Department of Education over teacher evaluations. Bennett said the evaluations are mandated by state law and there is no room for negotiation. He also said union concerns about the impact of low-performing students with high absentee rates on teacher evaluations are overblown and that standardized test scores account for only 2 out of 100 points on the evaluations. Contended[...]
May 20
2012
May 18
2012
Legislation proposed by Assemblyman Sean Ryan to rein in town industrial development agencies has failed to gain traction. A report from NPR’s Innovation Trail.
May 17
2012
May 17
2012
Investigative Post and WGRZ 2 On Your Side team up to document Demone Smith’s history of not filing campaign disclosure reports on time and failure to pay more than $4,000 in fines.
May 17
2012
The New York Board of Elections has slapped a campaign committee controlled by Common Council Majority Leader Demone Smith with another fine for failing to file financial disclosure reports. The most recent fine of $1,121 is at least the seventh assessed against Smith campaign committees. The fines total $4,084 and the committees have yet to pay any of them, including one that dates to March 2008. Smith, in an interview Tuesday, said he is working with the Board of Elections in an effort to reduce the fines. “We’re trying to get them lowered,” he said. However, John Conklin, a spokesman[...]