Last night with the Reporter’s deadline rapidly approaching, a veritable bombshell was dropped on us, courtesy of the Buffalo News.   A “former Ceretto employee” blew the whistle on illegal activities that allegedly took place in Assemblyman John Ceretto’s office which included, according to the breaking News story, campaign meetingsRead More

  The Echo Club at 341 Portage Road in Niagara Falls, a five-story stone building steeped in history and allegedly the home of spirits from long ago, will reopen its doors this week, beginning Friday (Oct. 14), just in time for the Halloween season with a full plate of entertainmentRead More

  “It may be the start of something very positive,” according to Niagara Falls Council Chairman Andrew Touma Wednesday night after a public forum attracted an enthusiastic crowd of at least 100 people about the possibility of bringing in a discount grocery store to the Highland Avenue neighborhood. Sponsored byRead More

As we reported last week, Niagara Falls city lawmakers were surprised by the hefty city hall pay raises for administrators contained in Mayor Paul Dyster’s proposed 2017 spending plan, and as Council Chairman Andrew Touma said on Wednesday, “it is not the right time for substantial pay raises,” given theRead More

Mayor Paul Dyster’s $91 million proposed budget for 2017 includes some hefty raises for several staffers, including his own secretary, and is coming under fire from from a former city economic development chief who called the proposed salary hikes “a slap in the face” to the taxpayers of the cityRead More

If all goes according to schedule, opponents of the West River Greenway Connector Trail, the $2.5 million state and federally-funded initiative to close the West River Parkway and convert it into a bike trail, will meet tonight at 7 p.m at Grand Island High School, 1100 Ransom Road, in the main auditorium.Read More

So what’s up with the state acquisition of the historic Hotel Niagara, the legendary Niagara Falls hotel at 210 Rainbow Blvd. in Niagara Falls? USA Niagara, one of the state’s development agencies under Empire State Development, which played a big role in the state-backed Hamister Hotel project, acquired the once-grandRead More

Opposition to Grand Island bike path heats up as Public Meeting to be held next week A group of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) -inspired residents on Grand Island appear to be gaining momentum in their efforts to halt New York State Parks’ plans to convert the virtually unused WestRead More

The Northpointe Council’s methadone clinic in Niagara Falls, which only a few short months ago was on track to move to a Sixth Street site that some residents were resisting, will remain at its current location at the Trott Access Center on 11th Street thanks to bipartisan efforts of severalRead More

The average reader might suspect that we photoshopped the above vintage photos of Niagara Falls on this page – but we didn’t. They’re real images of real people perched at the precipice of Niagara Falls before areas such as Prospect Point, Three Sisters Islands and most of the entire perimeterRead More

We recently had a conversation with Harvey Albond, a gentleman who has seen the ups and downs experienced by the city of Niagara Falls over a period spanning nearly the last six decades. Mr. Albond, 88, served as City Manager for Niagara Falls for two terms, the first 1959-60, andRead More

Whirlpool State Park is undergoing some changes – in our opinion, not for the better. One of the original Olmsted/Vaux parks along the Niagara River, in addition to Devil’s Hole and, of course, the Niagara Reservation which encompasses the iconic waterfall, Whirlpool is a tourist favorite. It affords stunning viewsRead More

In the absence of primary challenges, this year’s general election match-ups for candidates running for state legislator seats representing the city of Niagara Falls were not in question. Of the two races, incumbent State Senator Robert Ortt will run unopposed in November, affording voters no choice in the matter. WhenRead More

A remarkable publication from 2013 entitled “Station Program and Planning Guidelines”, put out by the passenger rail concern Amtrak to assist municipalities in the design, planning and construction of new “intermodal transportation centers” (aka train stations), raises continuing questions about the practicality of the $44 million facility recently built onRead More

The 2013 Amtrak “Station Program and Planning Guidelines” document specifies numerous requirements for any municipality contemplating construction of a new rail passenger station. Notwithstanding its imposing height and size, and the fact that it spans an entire city block, the new Niagara Falls International Railway Station and Intermodal Transportation CenterRead More

The chief engineer formerly in charge of the NYPA Niagara Power Project hydroelectric facility at Lewiston, NY, last week responded to a Sept. 1 Artvoice article revealing the presence of what was termed a sinkhole next to its associated reservoir. Although the presumed sinkhole, first discovered during a routine inspectionRead More

Promising transparency and a new path that provides hope, faith and trust in government, businessman JC Seneca of the Cattaraugus Territory announced today that he is running for president of the Seneca Nation of Indians in the election scheduled for Nov. 1. Seneca, 56, chairman of the One Nation Organization,Read More

It appears the planned citywide property reassessment in Niagara Falls, the first in 14 years, is not necessarily a done deal just yet after many taxpayers voiced strong opposition to the plan at last Tuesday’s public hearing in council chambers. “People were obviously concerned,” said Council President Andrew Touma onRead More

Just in time for the new school year, the NYS DOT installed speed limit signs on State Route 61 (Hyde Park Blvd.), lowering the speed in front of Hyde Park Elementary School to 25 mph. The roadway has a 35 mph speed limit elsewhere, except in front of Gaskill PrepRead More

The city of Niagara Falls is like the civic equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield, in that it gets no respect, no respect at all, least of all from the governor’s office.   On April 7 of this year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the kick-off of what he called his $100 millionRead More