No-bid contract for concert producer costs taxpayers

Reporter Mike McAndrew of The Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) used interviews, emails, contracts and other documents to show that the operators of New York's State Fair contrived the justification to award a lucrative no-bid contract to a national concert producer. The reporting pokes holes in the reasons cited by public officials when they circumvented state law on competitive bidding for Live Nation's contract to book concerts at the fair. The story shows that New York taxpayers are paying more under the deal.