Feb 24
2012
Feb 24
2012
Feb 23
2012
A fair number of folks I’m talking to in economic development circles aren’t entirely sold on Andrew Cuomo’s plan to spend $1 billion to jump start the Buffalo economy. For starters, a lot of the details have yet to be worked out. There’s skepticism over the governor’s motives. And there’s his apparent intent to throw a lot of money at companies willing to relocate to the region, which has the makings of good photo ops but a poor return on investment. But Cuomo is showing a willingness – indeed, an eagerness – to abandon the mindset behind the failed policies[...]
Feb 23
2012
The governor wants all the development in the city. Or not. He’s focused on just a couple of big projects. Or maybe more. The answers vary regarding Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans for $1 billion in state incentives to rally the local economy, depending on who is doing the talking. And a lot of people are talking. Mayor Byron Brown. State Sen. George Maziarz. Assemblyman Sean Ryan. Among others. Investigative Post interviewed the two local officials who have spoken directly with Cuomo about his intentions and who are among those charged with translating into action his $1 billion pledge of economic[...]
Feb 23
2012
Heaney discusses plans for Investigative Post, the state of the media and the price of beer at Sabres games.
Feb 22
2012
Feb 22
2012
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to invest $1 billion of state incentives in an effort to revitalize the region’s economy is even bolder than the “B as in billion” suggests. Bold, but potentially flawed. Cuomo is alone among the nation’s 50 governors in targeting that kind of money at a regional economy. “To have a governor willing to spend $1 billion in one metropolitan area is truly exceptional these days, given states’ fiscal conditions,” said Greg LeRoy, a national expert on economic development subsidy programs and executive director of Good Jobs First. Moreover, Cuomo wants to break from current economic development[...]
Feb 22
2012
I’ve had a quote from Carl Bernstein taped to the front of my computer terminal for the better part of 20 years that reads, “Reporting is not stenography. It is the best obtainable version of the truth.” They were words I worked by as I toiled at The Buffalo News and a mantra of sorts for my new venture, Investigative Post, non-profit investigative reporting center focused on issues of importance to Buffalo and Western New York. I’ve never been a fan of the “he said, she said” brand of journalism practiced by many reporters and taken to its lowest form[...]
Feb 22
2012