Categories for News

Jan 7

2025

Geoff Kelly named associate editor

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Geoff Kelly is the new associate editor at Investigative Post. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel Geoff Kelly has been promoted to associate editor of Investigative Post. Kelly has covered government and politics since joining Investigative Post in April 2019.  “Geoff has an encyclopedic knowledge of government and the community at large,” said Jim Heaney, Investigative Post’s editor and executive director. “He’s also got a wealth of editing experience, which will suit him well as he steps into our No. 2 position.” He succeeds Susan Schulman, who shared management of the newsroom until her retirement last month. Heaney and Kelly will share[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 31

2024

Dabney appointed to Buffalo Housing Court

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Buffalo Housing Court, Part 17 of Buffalo City Court. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel After months of speculation, Buffalo City Court Judge Phillip Dabney Jr. has been named the city’s new Housing Court judge. Dabney, 55, was a fill-in judge for Housing Court several times this year and that experience  prepared him for being appointed to the position for the coming year, said Eighth Judicial Administrative Judge Kevin Carter. “I’ve heard that he’s been doing a really nice job. He seems to be serious about it. He also wants to do it, so that’s an important factor,” Carter told Investigative Post.[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 24

2024

OTB accuses whistleblower of ‘public smear campaign’

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Western Regional Off-Track Betting’s Batavia Downs. Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp has filed a counterclaim against a former executive turned whistleblower who maintains he was fired after he agreed to cooperate with investigations into alleged wrongdoing at the public benefit corporation. OTB’s counterclaim, filed Nov. 27, alleges that former Chief Operating Officer Michael Nolan breached his “fiduciary duty and duties of loyalty and confidentiality” to the organization while engaging in a “public smear campaign” designed to draw negative attention to WROTB and its outgoing CEO and President Henry Wojtaszek. The countersuit accuses Nolan of conspiring with his attorney, Steve Cohen,[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 23

2024

Scanlon proposes police use of Braymiller

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The now-shuttered Braymiller Market. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. Acting Mayor Christopher Scanlon wants the city to rent the former Braymiller Market building for use by the Buffalo Police Department, according to documents filed Monday with the Common Council. Scanlon is requesting lawmakers approve a one-year lease between the city and owner Stuart Green, who has defaulted on a loan from Evans Bank used to buy the property in 2021. City records indicate Green purchased the property for $7 million. He still owes approximately $5 million to the bank, according to Fillmore Common Council Member Mitch Nowakowski. The city’s proposed[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 23

2024

Scanlon campaign violated ethics laws

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Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. Chris Scanlon, Buffalo’s acting mayor, hasn’t yet formally declared his candidacy for a full four-year term, but already he’s stumbled over laws prohibiting incumbents from using their offices to promote their campaigns. Scanlon last Thursday held a fundraiser — checks payable to his campaign committee — at developer Doug Jemal’s Seneca One building in downtown Buffalo. Invitations to the fundraiser were mailed in envelopes that used the mayor’s second-floor office for a return address. That’s a violation of local, state and federal laws that prohibit public employees from using their offices for political purposes. Investigative Post[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 19

2024

Braymiller Market has closed

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Braymiller Market moments before closing for good Wednesday evening. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. Braymiller Market, the only grocery store in downtown Buffalo, has officially closed its doors. On Wednesday evening, a person could be seen loading goods into a delivery van. On Thursday morning, the store was dark. An employee on Wednesday confirmed that was the market’s last day of operation. The closure means the business is now in default on a $561,000 city loan, a matter that’s sparked a clash in City Hall. At question is whether or not the city will demand its money back from store[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 17

2024

Departing OTB chief splurged on travel

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Henry Wojtaszek is going out in style. The departing president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. traveled grandly during his final year on the job, records show.  Consider:  A three-night stay at a swanky hotel on the Las Vegas Strip at a cost of $3,300.  A $1,600 tab — dinner for five — at a top-rated Las Vegas steakhouse owned by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck during that same trip.  An August trip to Saratoga Springs that included a $2,420 tab — dinner for nine — at a farm-to-table steakhouse. And an overnight stay at a four-star New York[...]

Posted 3 months ago

Dec 16

2024

Judge Carney exits soon-to-be-changed Housing Court

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Buffalo City Court. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel After 30 years on the bench, the last 14 presiding over Buffalo’s Housing Court, Judge Patrick Carney has hung up his robes, making way for what could be significant changes in the way Housing Court operates. While Carney’s current term runs through the end of December, the retiring judge said last Friday was his final day in the courtroom. Although Carney’s successor has not been officially named, City Court Judge Phillip Dabney will fill in for Carney through the end of the year, according to Eighth District Administrative Judge Kevin Carter. Carter declined[...]

Posted 4 months ago
Investigative Post