New: A respected UB researcher had been working at the university for years when he made a wrong turn onto Peace Bridge. ICE is now seeking to deport him. Such wrong turns are increasingly landing drivers in ICE detention, Investigative Post found. www.investigativepost.org/2026/01/14/w...

New: A Florida billionaire now holds a controlling interest in Lee Enterprises, the company that owns The Buffalo News. At his other papers, he has, so far, allowed them to control their own affairs. Jim Heaney breaks down what it could mean for Buffalo.

For this week's Monday Morning Read, editor Jim Heaney discusses the closure of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pulitzer-winning paper announced it will shutter by May. Why? Some $350M in profit losses, plus years of bad-faith labor practices. www.investigativepost.org/2026/01/12/n...

Wegmans refuses to say whether or not its using facial recognition cameras at its stores in Buffalo and Rochester. But the store is tracking you in all sorts of other ways. We break down what we know and what the company has revealed. More details here: www.investigativepost.org/2026/01/09/w...

A group of Buffalo residents along with an activist group is suing the City of Buffalo over plans for an East Side police training facility. The suit argues the city didn't due its due diligence before approving the project, which the plaintiffs oppose. www.investigativepost.org/2026/01/08/c...

New: Four East Side residents and an activist group are suing the city over the conversion of a former community center into a police facility. The suit calls the city’s environmental review “fatally flawed" and for the site to become a public park. www.investigativepost.org/2026/01/08/c...

Erie County Democratic chairman Jeremy Zellner is poised to become a state senator come February 4. He'd fill Mayor Ryan's seat following his ascension to City Hall. First, however, you get to vote. We've got all the details on the special election here: www.investigativepost.org/2026/01/07/s...

New: The special election to fill Mayor Sean Ryan's state senate seat has been set for Feb. 3. Democrats are poised to nominate party chairman Jeremy Zellner and Republicans Dan Gagliardo. The winner will fill the seat for the remainder of the year. www.investigativepost.org/2026/01/07/s...

Mayor Sean Ryan has a big budgetary task in front of him. A deficit looms. Complicating matters is the revenue the city can't — or couldn't — collect due to subsidy programs and nonprofits. We've got the numbers: www.investigativepost.org/2025/12/23/s...

For this week's Monday Morning Read, editor Jim Heaney reviews the year at Investigative Post. We saw dramatic growth, surpassing well over a million page views on our site. That total nearly equaled our traffic for the two previous years combined. www.investigativepost.org/2026/01/05/t...

Our top story of 2025: D.J. Granville’s spree of hit-and-run accidents. Geoff Kelly broke the story in March, exposing Buffalo police’s failure to conduct a sobriety test — and the apparent cover-up of the accidents by Sheriff Garcia. Read more here: www.investigativepost.org/2026/01/02/5...

For much of 2025, reporter J. Dale Shoemaker was one of the only journalists in Western NY covering Trump's crackdown on immigration. Arrests are on pace to double, families have been separated and the detention center is overcrowded. Read his roundup: www.investigativepost.org/2025/12/31/c...

For this week's Monday Morning Read, editor Jim Heaney reviews the Ken Burns documentary series on the American Revolution. One key takeaway: the fight for independence was one part civil war, one part revolution, with brutalities on both sides. www.investigativepost.org/2025/12/29/a...

New: Last fiscal year, $20 million in property taxes went uncollected in Buffalo due to governments, nonprofits and tax abatement programs. The incoming Sean Ryan admin is looking for ways to collect some of those funds. First on the list: Albany.

IPost Editor Jim Heaney argues that the costs of locating a data center — both in power needs and tax subsidies — outweigh its benefits. He details the project in his latest column: www.investigativepost.org/2025/12/22/t...

Subsidies for a proposed data center at the STAMP industrial park could be north of $500 million. What's more, the facility will use 500 megawatts of power, drawing so much from the grid it could cause energy bills to spike. We've got the details here: www.investigativepost.org/2025/12/17/s...

For this week's Monday Morning Read, Jim Heaney looks at Bills fandom— and booze. A recent survey has Bills fans among the NFL’s heaviest drinkers, with 16% consuming five or more drinks a game. Put another way: Some 11,400 fans are plastered for games. www.investigativepost.org/.../survey-a...

Collaboration between local police & federal immigration agents is unlawful and violates human rights, a Buffalo Human Rights Center report found. Advocates are urging lawmakers to pass NY For All, which would ban the practice & protect due process. www.investigativepost.org/2025/12/12/c...

Sean Ryan is building his team of leaders. Four deputy mayors, three of them from county government, will each oversee a portfolio of depts, including police/fire, public works, and development. Early signs indicate a major upgrade from the Brown era. www.investigativepost.org/2025/12/08/b...

Medical neglect in New York prisons has led to 30+ deaths in the past decade, a Marshall Project investigation found. Experts say even official death reports obscure the truth, and that prison staff's rampant distrust of inmates has lethal consequences. www.investigativepost.org/2025/12/04/i...

New: Since 2023, the City of Buffalo has received almost $6M to help fight the opioid epidemic. But less than a third of that money has been spent. One frontline treatment provider says much of the spending so far "screams of misappropriation." www.investigativepost.org/2025/12/02/b...

Our reporting requires a substantial amount of time, energy, and support from readers like you. Please consider donating to us this holiday season. Through Dec. 31, every donation up to $1,000 will be matched. You can make a gift through the link below! www.investigativepost.org/donate/

From city cafes to thruway truck stops, there have been few stones left unturned by immigration agents in their raids across the region, resulting in 44 arrests and detentions this month. Of those arrested this year, two-thirds have no criminal history. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/24/d...

Investigative Post is Western NY's only nonprofit watchdog reporting center. We rely on folks like you to do the work we do and hold Buffalo accountable. Our fundraising drive runs through Dec. 31. Donations up to $1K will be doubled. Please give today! www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/14/i...

New: The City of Buffalo is on the hook to pay $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit related to a cop's involvement in a death at Molly's Pub. Such settlements have been a cause of the city's budget deficits in recent years. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/26/c...

New: Editor Jim Heaney weighs in on the recent controversies involving Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino. Most recently, Restaino said publicly he was "ignoring" requests for information from the local paper. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/25/f...

New: Immigration raids across Buffalo and Western New York have resulted in the arrest of 44 people. Seven were arrested by ICE on Elmwood Avenue and Nottingham Terrace. Thirty-seven were detained by CBP in a dragnet operation targeting truck drivers. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/24/d...

Border Patrol isn’t just at the border anymore. The agency now tracks millions of drivers nationwide, using license plate data & algorithms to “identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.” Full story in our Monday Morning Read: www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/24/s...

Attorney Peter Reese is hell-bent on preventing Jeremy Zellner from becoming a state senator. This week, Reese spent $800K to form an independent expenditure committee "dedicated to derailing Zellner's efforts." "I figured a million would be too gaudy." www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/21/l...

“It was a tragedy.” A cop who didn’t believe a teen rape victim failed to investigate the case. When the teen's father was later convicted, the cop got a slap on the wrist. Now she's deputy sheriff. What one case reveals about discipline statewide: www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/19/a...

Investigative Post's annual fundraising drive is happening now. Any amount you give — up to $1,000 — will be matched. Please support independent, investigative reporting for Buffalo. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/14/i...

"I shouldn't have lost my fingers." Chidi Nwagbo, a Nigerian man, attempted to flee Trump's crackdown on migrants. He wound up in ICE detention suffering frostbite. ICE never provided prescribed care. Nwagbo eventually had his fingers amputated. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/18/d...

New: Will Erie County be the bellwether for the 2026 governor's race? If who Elise Stefanik hired on her campaign is any indication — county chair Michael Kracker, Chris Grant and Stefan Mychajliw — it's a strategy Republicans are building their hopes on. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/17/a...

Investigative Post's annual fundraising drive is happening NOW! Amounts up to $1,000 will be matched if you donate from now until 12/31. The journalism we publish can't happen without support from folks like you. Please consider making a donation today. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/14/i...

An 18-year-old migrant worked her first shift cleaning the Bills Stadium. Then she was arrested. Officials had revoked her work permit & status that same day without her knowledge. “She has no criminal history anywhere in the world,” her attorney said. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/13/b...

New: On Sept. 19, the after the Bills beat the Dolphins at home, a young migrant woman who had been hired to clean Highmark Stadium was arrested by ICE. It was her 1st day on the job. She was then held at the Niagara Co. Jail for nearly 2 months. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/13/b...

Please note: Our planned book club event to discuss Steven Brill's "The Death of Truth" has been postponed. This event will be rescheduled soon. Stay tuned. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/10/b...

"The United States is not an autocracy today," the New York Times wrote. "But it has started down an anti-democratic path, and many Americans . . . remain far too complacent about the threat." A new editorial outlines the twelve benchmarks of autocracy: www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/10/c...

"Zero accountability, zero consequences, just overtime sheets to pad their pensions." In an email to officers and city officials, a Niagara Falls cop blew the whistle on internal corruption, alleging "fraudulent" overtime, nepotism & misuse of state funds. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/05/n...

New: Our latest investigation found a pattern of medical neglect inside New York's largest ICE prison. We detail a dozen cases here. One detainee arrived with frostbite and was never properly treated. He later had his fingers amputated. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/06/a...

JOIN US TODAY for a FREE presentation and panel discussion on how Trump's immigration enforcement has affected Western New York. We will discuss our reporting & then we'll hear from a panel of local experts. Unitarian Universalist Church on Elmwood. 7PM. www.investigativepost.org/2025/10/24/p...

New: From Cheektowaga to Niagara County, Democrats scored major wins in last night's election. And Sean Ryan will officially become Buffalo's new mayor. We have the results and analysis: www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/05/r...

NEW: Today, we turn a magnifying glass on one corner of Buffalo's West Side, an intersection that illustrates much of what's wrong with the city's inaction on housing, vacant lots and negligent property owners. The corner once held promise. www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/04/5...

PLEASE JOIN US: On Wednesday, Investigative Post will host a presentation and discussion on ICE and immigration issues and how that plank of Trump's platform has affected Western NY. Unitarian Universalist Church, Buffalo. 7PM. Free. See you there! www.investigativepost.org/2025/10/24/p...

"If the gambles of the tech bros don't pan out, we're in for a recession, if not depression," Jim Heaney writes. Why you should pay attention to tariffs, the A.I. boom, and the other big risks Trump is taking in this week's Monday Morning Read: www.investigativepost.org/2025/11/03/o...

James Gardner has paid nearly $400,000 out of pocket on his mayoral campaign in the last three months. Associate Editor Geoff Kelly breaks down the numbers and why Gardner's big push makes sense for his long-shot campaign, on our site and live for WKBW: www.investigativepost.org/2025/10/28/5...

Everyone entering the U.S. will soon be subject to facial recognition scans, the DHS announced this week. Citizens can opt out, though the agency warns this could mean travel delays. But non-citizens can't — and their photos will be stored for 75 years. www.investigativepost.org/2025/10/30/u...

New: The federal government quietly announced this week that it's begun rolling out a facial recognition system for all airports and border crossings into the US. Citizens and non-citizens alike will have their photo taken and compared against a database. www.investigativepost.org/2025/10/30/u...

When voters head to the polls on Tuesday, they may be surprised to find they have few choices on their ballots. In less than half of all races across the county, there's only one person for voters to choose. www.investigativepost.org/2025/10/29/l...

Voters head to the polls in less than a week to choose a new mayor of Buffalo. Sen. Sean Ryan is the favorite, but the other candidates are raising money too. Here's how the numbers break down ahead of election day: www.investigativepost.org/2025/10/28/5...