Tag: Politics

Oct 16

2020

He shoved a cop and got away with it – maybe

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Back in June, acting New York State Supreme Court Justice Mark Grisanti shoved a Buffalo cop as police attempted to sort out an altercation between the judge and his wife, Maria Grisanti, and some neighbors. Police body-camera video, obtained and published earlier this week by Law360.com, has drawn considerable media attention. In the video, Maria Grisanti stomps about screaming obscenities at her neighbors and the cops. An officer tackles and cuffs her, prompting the judge — his t-shirt torn and hanging around his waist — to run across the street and try to wrestle the officer away from his wife.[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Oct 12

2020

Chris Jacobs: Trumpster or moderate?

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Editor’s note: This column originally published in Buffalo Spree. Chris Jacobs used to be a moderate Republican who Democrats could think about voting for. No more. Not if you go by his words. The moderate Chris Jacobs made a deal with the devil in accepting the endorsement of Donald Trump during his successful special election campaign for Congress. There was clearly a quid pro quo: Trump endorses Jacobs, who in turn supports the president, no matter how outrageous his policies or behavior. Jacobs underscored his fealty to Trump during an interview with me a couple of weeks after he took[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jul 20

2020

The roots, and consequences, of WNY’s racism

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Note: This column originally appeared in Buffalo Spree. Our nation has a lot of work ahead of it if it is to address the structural racism laid bare by COVID-19, the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed. Buffalo and Western New York have an even heavier lift. Much of the initial focus has been on reform of the Buffalo Police Department, and that’s certainly a good place to start. But the region’s problems run deeper – much deeper. They begin with segregation, which, going back generations, has advantaged whites at the expense of blacks in any number[...]

Posted 4 years ago

May 22

2020

Quintana’s political social distancing

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In this season of social distancing, Robert Quintana, candidate for the 149th District Assembly seat, may have set a new record last month. Quintana, the former two-term Niagara District councilman, is attempting a political comeback by running for the seat held by Sean Ryan, who is running for state Senate. One of his opponents, Jon Rivera, challenged the validity of Quintana’s nominating petition.  Among the allegations, Rivera’s campaign accused Quintana’s daughter of fraud — of faking signatures. Quintana’s response: In a court hearing last month, Quintana claimed not to know his daughter, Keila Sabala, had been collecting signatures for him.[...]

Posted 4 years ago

May 13

2020

$1B to Buffalo under House stimulus bill

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 The disaster relief package House Democrats expect to pass on Friday includes $375 billion in aid for local governments across the country.  About $1 billion of that would be earmarked for the City of Buffalo over two years, according to a breakdown provided to Investigative Post by U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins. If the House bill were adopted as is by the Senate — a nearly insurmountable if, according to Higgins — Buffalo would receive $671.6 million in 2020, within 30 days of the HEROES Act being adopted. The city would receive an additional $335.8 million in 2021. That’s nearly[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Mar 16

2020

Coronavirus throws electioneering for a loop

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On Saturday, as part of the state government’s efforts to suppress the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo used his emergency powers to curtail the petitioning process for candidates aiming to make the ballot in the state’s June primaries. By executive order, that process — traditionally a door-to-door, face-to-face affair performed by a candidate and campaign volunteers — is suspended at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 17. All petitions must be filed by Friday, March 20.  The original deadline for filing petitions had been April 2. The petitioning season opened February 25. To compensate for the abbreviated petitioning period, Cuomo[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jan 15

2020

Geoff Kelly talks politics on ‘Press Pass

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Jay Moran interviewed Geoff Kelly, Investigative Post’s political reporter, on this week’s edition of Press Pass on WBFO. Kelly discussed two upcoming elections involving the state Senate seat being vacated by Chris Jacobs and the Congressional seat that opened up when Chris Collins resigned.  

Posted 5 years ago

Jan 10

2020

Our local politicians are getting worse

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The November local elections are behind us and the national chaos of 2020 is right around the corner. (Like winter, it can’t end soon enough.) This seems like a good time to take stock of our elected officials in Western New York. But first, allow me to hold my nose. I’ve been reporting in this town for more than 30 years, and the quality of our elected officials has never been worse. I’m not talking politicians at the town and village level, as I don’t travel much in those circles. However, it’s safe to say that with sixty-two towns and[...]

Posted 5 years ago
Investigative Post