Airbnb is a website for people to list, find, and rent lodging. Founded in August 2008 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company is privately owned, and in the business of matching vacationers and business travelers with locals who want to rent out a room, apartment or house.

By Jim Ostrowski What better topic to introduce my new column in this paper than Trump’s visit to Buffalo Monday night?  So there I was, in the press pen, literally walled off from the event with no food, no booze, no nothing.  What a glamorous life the media lead.  MostRead More

Last fall, the Niagara Falls City Council agreed to sell a landlocked half-acre city owned parcel to Sheraton at the Falls owner NFNY Hotel Management for $190,000. DiCienzo confirmed that the intentions are to add a water park to the hotel that has in recent years developed a T.G.I. Fridays, Rainforest Cafe, a candy store, and a Starbucks Cafe.

Buffalo developer Mark Hamister was given “preferred developer” status on a valuable piece of property on Rainbow Boulevard just a few hundred yards from the state park entrance for two reasons.

While the Hyde Park Boulevard speed limit was lowered recently in front of Gaskill Prep, a middle school, from 35 mph to 25 mph, the speed limit past Hyde Park School, serving children Pre-K through 5th grade, remains at 35 mph.

In our business, people frequently come to us as whistleblowers troubled by what they perceive as official misconduct and yet afraid that if they blow the whistle at work they will be retaliated against. It is necessary for us to protect their identities. This week two such people came toRead More

This week, nearly 100 leaders of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America –spread out across Capitol Hill, and visited 200 Congressional offices as part of the North American Building Trades Union Legislative Conference. Participants, who represent workers predominantly in the construction industry, discussed key issues, including: –Read More

While most people consider New York to be a progressive state, many of the rules and regulations imposed by Albany’s notoriously big government seem downright archaic by 21st Century standards. Take the state’s byzantine laws regarding taxicabs. Passed back when John Montana’s taxi monopoly in Buffalo made him look more likeRead More

  Attorney Johnny Destino announced this week that he is running for one of two seats up for election this year on the Niagara Falls School Board.  Destino was a former member of the school board who served from 2010-2015. Destino was appointed by Mayor Paul Dyster to head theRead More

By Bob Restaino   Each year board members for the Niagara Falls School District work diligently to present an on time budget with no increase in the tax levy. Budget preparation is among the most important tasks of the board. Critical thinking and inquiry into the educational goals of ourRead More

By Matt Ricchiazzi There are two seats up for election on the City of Niagara Falls’ school board, which will be held on May 17th. The full slate of candidates is still in flux, with a crucial filing deadline of April 27. As a body, the school board has immenseRead More

By Gia Arnold The Niagara Falls City School District election will be held on Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Not only will the annual budget be voted on that day, but there are also two [out of a total of nine seats] for the School Board up for re-election. Incumbents Robert RestainoRead More

While some media outlets still cling to the fantasy that do nothing Buffalo developer Mark Hamister will one day build a boxy, truck stop style hotel on one of the choicest pieces of property in the Niagara Falls tourist district, more are coming to the realization the Reporter reached onRead More

According to informed sources in the Buffalo development community, Mark Hamister is about $6 million short of the mark in financing for his much-hyped $35.7 million Niagara Falls hotel project on Rainbow Blvd. that was trumpeted by state and local officials more than three years ago as the city’s bestRead More

You’ve got to hand it to Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster. He chose a city engineer, Ali Marzban, who was unlicensed to practice engineering anywhere in The United States. And he picked as his preferred hotel developer Mark Hamister, who not only had never built a hotel before but lackedRead More

By Carmelette Rotella Being a member of the Niagara Falls Board of Education has been a tremendous challenge and responsibility.  I am pleased with what we have been able to accomplish but realize that there is much more to do. I am seeking re-election because I believe it is essentialRead More

As you read this, work on the state’s $50 million upgrade of Niagara Falls State Park, expanding parking, food service and gift shop facilities, is being rushed to completion in anticipation of the estimated eight million tourists who will come to visit Niagara Falls this summer. Meanwhile, the city ofRead More

Former Councilman Michael Gawel says it is time for new leadership at the helm of the Niagara Falls City Republican Executive Committee and he will be challenging current GOP Chairman Vince Sandonato for the top job at the reorganization meeting in September. Gawel, who has been a highly visible figureRead More