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Nov 21

2023

Donate to support Investigative Post’s vital reporting

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Investigative Post needs you. We’re in the midst of our annual fundraising campaign. This is an important time of year for nonprofits, as November and December is when most people do their charitable giving. We’re no different. As a nonprofit, Investigative Post depends on community support. During our nearly 12 years of publishing we’ve established a reputation for hard-hitting, fact-based reporting that makes a difference. We employ the largest investigative reporting team in Buffalo and we play an increasingly important role in our media market. The support of our donors this past year has enabled us to produce high impact[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 20

2023

License plate readers target minority neighborhoods

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Buffalo police have quietly installed license plate readers at 41 intersections in the city, two-thirds of them located in neighborhoods populated predominantly with people of color.  Buffalo police, in response to a Freedom of Information Law request for the department’s policies on license plate readers, wrote that they’re used for “law enforcement investigative purposes only.” While it’s unclear how the department now is using readers, police in the past used mobile readers to issue traffic tickets, at considerable profit to the city.  Unlike many other cities, neither the police nor Mayor Byron Brown, their commander in chief, have made the[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 20

2023

Another claim of misconduct by Buffalo police

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After spending a month in the hospital, a Black Rock man shot by Buffalo police filed a notice of claim against the city Monday, typically precursor to a lawsuit. Jon Battison, 36, was holding a pellet rifle to his own chin in the attic of his home on Tonawanda Street when Officer Kereem Johnson pulled the trigger eight times. One round found the mark, striking Battison near the shoulder.  Police went to the home on Sept. 23 because Battison was reportedly suicidal and had ingested pills. “Suicide by cop,” Battison told police as he lay wounded in the attic of[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 19

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Get Jim Heaney’s entire newsletter by subscribing to WeeklyPost. John F. Kennedy was assassinated 60 years ago this week. It earned Dallas the moniker of “City of Hate.” One could argue the cancer has spread to the entire state of Texas under Gov. Greg Abbott – and beyond. Writes the Guardian: Six decades later, the city has grown beyond recognition and come a long way in grappling with that legacy. But the forces that turned Dealey Plaza into a white hot crucible are arguably more prevalent than ever.  A 24-hour news cycle; gun violence; casual accusations of treason; rightwing extremism[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 17

2023

Neglected building threatens Theater District hostel

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The city’s only hostel, which hosts some 6,000 travelers a year in the Theater District, is facing the prospect of eviction because an adjacent city-owned building is in danger of collapse after years of neglect. Recent inspections by the city and an engineering consultant found the vacant, rear section of the hostel building has deteriorated to the point that it could jeopardize the structural integrity of the hostel. The rear building, which faces Washington Street, is separate but attached to the hostel building at 667 Main St.  Hostel Buffalo-Niagara is across the street from Shea’s Performing Arts Center, two doors[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Nov 15

2023

Finally, answers on sheriff’s helicopter use

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Since 2018, the Erie County Sheriff’s helicopter has rescued 14 people, according to records released by the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office has cited rescues to justify buying a new $10 million helicopter. The records don’t indicate if any of the rescues saved people in life-threatening situations, however. Here’s what records released pursuant to a Freedom of Information Law request from Investigative Post show: In 2021, the helicopter picked up two people from atop a grain elevator when one experienced a medical episode related to diabetes after the pair had climbed to the elevator’s roof, according to sheriff’s records and[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 14

2023

Reading skills of Buffalo pupils rebounding, but still lag

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Reading test scores in Buffalo public schools dropped by nearly a third during the pandemic, with the youngest students being the hardest hit.  Two years later, there’s been significant, but not complete recovery. However, pupils who were in kindergarten and first grade when the district turned to virtual instruction are still struggling to make up for the learning that was lost, according to testing data. “It was catastrophic. It was horrible,” Nicole Herkey, a reading specialist at Southside Elementary, said of the pandemic’s effect on students’ reading ability.  “It was horrible on so many levels that people who were not[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Nov 14

2023

Kennedy has long been spending like a candidate for Higgins seat

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State Sen. Tim Kennedy’s name wasn’t on the ballot last week, but he’s been spending campaign money this year like a man running for something. In the first six months of this year, Kennedy’s state Senate campaign committee doled out $426,000, mostly on consultants and political contributions.  That’s $64,000 more than Kennedy spent in the same period in 2022, the last time he was up for reelection.  It’s twice what he spent in the same time frame in 2020, when his name was on the ballot. And it’s nearly 10 times the amount Kennedy’s Democratic colleague, state Sen. Sean Ryan,[...]

Posted 2 years ago
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