Tag: State Government

Dec 19

2018

Move to tighten drinking water standards

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State officials took steps Tuesday to limit the concentration of chemicals that contaminated the drinking water supply in Hoosick Falls several years ago. If adopted, the recommendation would require improvements to around a quarter of public water systems across the state, with initial costs of $855 million. The standards, recommended by the New York State Drinking Water Quality Council, led by Health Commissioner Howard Zucker and Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos, would be the toughest in the nation if adopted. But they fall short of limits recommended by many scientists. At issue are two chemicals – perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Dec 11

2018

Buffalo Billion criminals get off easy

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Hold up a gas station and you’re looking at a minimum of five years in prison. Get napped with an ounce of crack and the mandatory minimum is five to ten years. Engage in bid rigging, and in the process violate the public’s trust and cost taxpayers potentially million of dollars? If you’re Louis Ciminelli, the sentence is 2 years and 4 months. For Alain Kaloyeros, 3½ years. Minus time off for good behavior, of course. And don’t worry about starting your sentence anytime soon. You’re a free man until you and your high-priced lawyers have exhausted the appeals process.[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Aug 31

2018

Heaney discusses anti-corruption bill

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Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney discusses the effort by Assembly Member Crystal Peoples-Stokes to stymie an anti-corruption bill that has languished in a committee she chairs. Heaney spoke with WBFO’s Jay Moran on Press Pass.  

Posted 7 years ago

Aug 22

2018

Buffalo’s roadblock to reform

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A lot of issues scream for reform in Albany: ethics, campaign finance, cash bail. But nothing rivals state contracting practices, not in the wake of the corruption convictions of Alain Kaloyeros and three developers who contributed heavily to Andrew Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaign, including Lou Ciminelli of Buffalo. Yet here we are, 21 months after the indictments, two months after the convictions, with no reform. Yes, Cuomo has proposed a handful of changes, but they satisfy practically no one. Meanwhile, a trio of bills sit stalled in the Assembly, a victim of Speaker Carl Heastie’s willingness to appease the governor by[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Jul 27

2018

Heaney talks ‘Billion on ‘Pressroom

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Editor Jim Heaney discusses a recent story by Charlotte Keith on the failure of the AMRI project to spin off the jobs promised by state officials. During his interview with Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom he also touches on the guilty verdicts in the corruption trial involving the Buffalo Billon and reforms in the state’s economic development programs.

Posted 7 years ago

Jul 12

2018

Buffalo Billion verdicts warrant further action

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Alain Kaloyeros has been known as many things during his career. Dr. K. Near genius. Nanotech guru. And as of Thursday, convicted criminal. Ditto for Lou Ciminelli. Civic leader. Power broker. Philanthropist. And yes, convicted felon. Down the list of defendants we go. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. And, at the risk of repeating myself, guilty. It was a good day for clean contracting, for good government. But the job is far from done. Testimony during the trial established that the governor’s office installed Todd Howe, a longtime Cuomo associate, as the administration’s “eyes and ears” inside the operation that Kaloyeros headed[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Jun 15

2018

What to watch for in Buffalo Billion trial

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 On Monday, Buffalo businessman Louis Ciminelli, will face trial in federal court in Manhattan, accused of taking part in a scheme to rig the bids for the construction work on the huge factory for SolarCity. Federal prosecutors say Ciminelli and other executives at his company worked with Alain Kaloyeros, the state official in charge of Gov. Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion initiative, to secretly tailor the bid specifications so their company would get the contract. Kaloyeros, who is also facing corruption charges, presided over a system of non-profit organizations that were exempt from the usual state oversight, even as they handed[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Feb 28

2018

State audit challenges UB Foundation spending

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The University at Buffalo Foundation spent almost $40,000 on questionable entertainment expenses, operated for three years under an expired contract with the campus, and lacks policies to ensure contracts are competitively bid, according to an audit released yesterday by the state comptroller’s office. The foundation also paid the salaries of two retired university staff members who returned to state employment, while they were also collecting state pensions – allowing them to circumvent state caps on “double-dipping,” the report found.   The private UB Foundation is technically separate from the public university, but has long faced pressure to be more transparent[...]

Posted 7 years ago
Investigative Post