Articles by: Staff

Artist conception: NTCC CEO John Percy rides high as he hopes to close down or tax the poor people of Niagara Falls who try to make a few bucks renting rooms to tourists in the highest taxed city in the highest taxed state in the USA.

Percy Leads Charge Against Taxpayers Renting Tourist Rooms In Private Homes

Featured, News May 19, 2016 at 9:57 am

by Mike Hudson High-priced hotel rooms are what John Percy’s all about. The globe-trotting Percy, CEO of the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp., typically spends your money — sent to him by Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster — on five-star accommodations when he visits London, Delhi, Mumbai, Prague, Berlin, Geneva, MilanRead More

What’s in a name? Arby’s on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Niagara Falls advertises Arby’s newest sandwich creation, the “Loaded Italian”.
While it is no doubt a delicious and nourishing sandwich, if the nationality for the sandwich was a little different, the result might be a sh-t storm of boycott and protest not a line up of customers for this mouthwatering delight.

Arby’s Loaded Italian?

News May 19, 2016 at 9:56 am

Arby’s has introduced a new sandwich dubbed The Loaded Italian.  The subtle mafia implication aside, is this use of a peoplehood to describe food appropriate? Or is it a misappropriation of a culture motivated by commercial gain?  Sure, reasonable minds can disagree. But substitute the word Italian with Jew, Black,Read More

Grand Island Supervisor Nathan McMurray represents a sea change in the political will of the leadership of Grand Island. Unlike his predecessors, he wants the tolls removed. “Mr. Cuomo, tear down these tolls!” McMurray said at a rally attended by activist Rus Thompson.

Money Grab At Bridges Hurting WNY Says Grand Island Supervisor McMurray, Activist Thompson Toll Removal Effort Reignited, Regional Support Needed!

Featured, News May 19, 2016 at 9:54 am

by Joseph Kissel Where’s the money going? That’s the question newly elected Grand Island Supervisor Nate McMurray wants to know regarding the tolls that have been collected at the bridges since 1929. “This is an old fight,” McMurray said. As such, the veteran warrior of the remove-the-tolls effort, Rus Thompson,Read More

Computerized rendering of proposed city owned - taxpayer funded Tony Hawks skatepark at Hyde Park next to Sal Maglie Stadium.

Skaters, Neighbors Find Own Reasons For Thinking Skate Parks Just Uncool

Featured, News May 19, 2016 at 9:50 am

by Mike Hudson HOLLYWOOD – How cool are skateparks? With a population of 3.9 million, Los Angeles, the birthplace of skateboarding, has just 13 citywide. And complaints from the neighbors combined with apathy and rejection on the part of the skaters themselves make it unlikely that more will open anytime soon.Read More

Here’s a picture of skateboard millionaire Tony Hawk risking death for the edification of what looks to be a couple thousand people in the audience on a beach in Southern California. He likes Niagara Falls, because the yokels who run the city government here are even stupider than their counterparts in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin! They bought his skatepark pitch hook, line and sinker, and now he is considering introducing Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster to the wonders of the Hula Hoop.

Niagara Falls Skatepark To Benefit Taxpayers Out West In California

Featured, News May 19, 2016 at 9:47 am

by Mike Hudson HOLLYWOOD — It’s a nice little angle. And one that’s pulled in the rubes from hundreds of small towns all across America. Most recently it snagged Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster and his Director of Community Development Seth Piccirillo. Tony “The Birdman” Hawk made his bones asRead More

Attorney Joel Daniels left. Dr. Eugene Gosy right

Dr. Gosy Was ‘Last Best Hope,’ Says Daniels

Featured, News May 19, 2016 at 9:43 am

by Tony Farina Dr. [Eugene] Gosy was “the last best hope for patients suffering from chronic pain,” said Joel Daniels this week in describing the difficulties many patients have had finding help since the Williamsville pain treatment center operated by Dr. Gosy was shut down after the doctor’s federal indictment lastRead More

Dr. Scapegoat, I Presume? Gosy Indictment Signals Feds Expanding War on Drugs, Freedom

Dr. Scapegoat, I Presume? Gosy Indictment Signals Feds Expanding War on Drugs, Freedom

Featured, News May 19, 2016 at 9:41 am

by Jim Ostrowski The war on human beings who use, sell or possess drugs (private property), is, from the perspective of reason or morality, dead. Yet, it survives in political backwaters such as Buffalo and in the intellectual backwater of progressivism. The drug war is the classic progressive policy failure.Read More

Wheatfield Sewer Sludge Ban Upheld; Could Be Model For Rest Of The State

News May 19, 2016 at 9:39 am

by Joseph Kissel It took 10 months, but Supreme Court Justice Frank Caruso’s decision to uphold Wheatfield’s ban on fertilizer made with sewer sludge could prompt other laws like it across the state. “Many other municipalities would like to pass similar laws but they’ve been sitting on their hands,” said WheatfieldRead More

An Equate lagoon. Anyone care for a swim?

A Primer on Quasar’s Equate

Featured, News May 19, 2016 at 9:37 am

by Frank Parlato ‘Equate,’ the brown, blackish, mulch-like product – with a piquant taste and curious smell – is made up of about 60 percent human excrement, mixed with other undissolved solids that once went happily down the drain after leaving someone’s toilet. Brought to you by Quasar, a Cleveland, Ohio-basedRead More

Are politics behind the prosecution of Rus Thompson for five felonies for voter fraud? He only voted once in Grand Island but was allegedly living in .Niagara Falls at the time.

Politics Behind Rus Thompson’s Voter-Fraud Charge, Says Wife Julianne

Featured, News May 19, 2016 at 9:32 am

by Joseph Kissel Rus Thompson says he can’t talk about it, but as he said during his Sunday “remove the tolls” address at Fisherman’s Park in Grand Island, anybody else can. Thompson was recently charged with five felony counts of voter fraud when he filed an affidavit ballot to voteRead More

Ask the Judge

Ask the Judge

News May 19, 2016 at 9:30 am

JUDGE FRANK R. BAYGER Are billboard lawyers fishing for big injuries with big insurance coverage only? Dear Judge Bayger; I want to thank you for providing a forum where people who have concerns can get their questions answered. My car was recently hit by a car driven by a collegeRead More

Remember I Wrote Recently; “Obama – Be Alert For Outrageous Executive Orders!”?

Remember I Wrote Recently; “Obama – Be Alert For Outrageous Executive Orders!”?

Featured, News May 19, 2016 at 9:28 am

Well here we go…He “Directed” (not an Executive Order yet, but close!) schools to allow transgenders to use whatever bathroom they feel comfortable using! North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed NC House Bill 2 requiring citizens to use facilities that correspond to their biological sex then Obama’s DOJ sued NorthRead More

Print Edition 5.12.16

Print Edition 5.12.16

News, Online Newspaper May 12, 2016 at 1:07 pm
When Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster goes to his Great Reward, the words “development genius” will appear nowhere in his obituary. Instead, it will just say “politician.”

Dyster, DelMonte, Hoyt, Schoepflin: The Team To Lead Us To Prosperity?

Featured, News May 12, 2016 at 12:32 pm

by Mike Hudson Together, they are responsible for the economic future of the $100 million dollar business that is the City of Niagara Falls. Three term Mayor Paul Dyster, USA Niagara Chair Francine DelMonte, Empire State Development Corporation Senior Vice President for Regional Economic Development Sam Hoyt and Empire StateRead More

“I’m clean officer!”  Nick Melson hams it up for the camera. Bright, personable, energetic, Melson is expected to be named as the new Niagara Falls city administrator, perhaps as early as this month.

City Administrator Owens On Way Out The Door?, Melson To Replace?

Featured, News May 12, 2016 at 12:26 pm

by Mike Hudson Reliable City Hall sources told the Niagara Falls Reporter that controversial City Administrator Donna Owens will be leaving the job she’s held since 2008. Her replacement is expected to be Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster’s secretary, Nick Melson, one source said. Owens was hired following what DysterRead More

Following an expose in the Niagara Falls Reporter, the NYS DEC has ordered the city to close down and clean up an illegal dump near the Hyde Park Golf Course off Porter and New Road that the city has been using for years to dispose of street debris, dead animals, tree stumps, building materials and other detritus.
The makeshift landfill – formerly wetlands – has not been legally sanctioned and does not have containment mechanisms (like liners or containment walls) that landfills are required to possess.
The property was originally owned by the New York State Power Authority, but was deeded to the City after the 2007 relicensing of the power project. But the DPW began using the site long before – under former Mayor James Gallie, city sources told the Niagara Falls Reporter for an article that appeared on April 21.
Following the Reporter publication with pictures showing the site - said to be used for only compost - filled with all manner of illegally dumped street material including needles, used condoms, plastic, concrete, metal, and more, The DEC inspected the site and made tests.
Within three weeks the site has been closed and this week concrete bollards have been installed by the city to prevent the site from being used as an illegal dump site.
The city will now have to take its street sweeping debris to the Modern landfill in Lewiston and will a have to remove an estimated 100,000 yards of street sweepings already on site in addition to an estimated 500,000 yards of other illegally dumped debris to Modern at a cost that is estimated to be as much as $1 million.
It may be more if testing requires special hazardous waste removal procedures.
Department of Public Works Director John Caso blamed individuals and private contractors for some of the mess. 
“People are sneaking onto the site in the middle of the night and weekends to dump,” Caso said. “Then there are fly by night contractors who don’t want to dispose of construction debris properly because it costs money. We realize there are a lot of shingles on the site.”
Now the state Department of Evironmental Conservation has stepped in. The city’s illegal dump covers acres of land, and it has been in use for a decade at least.

State Orders City To Clean Up Illegal Dump, High Cost Expected

Featured, News May 12, 2016 at 12:24 pm

by Mike Hudson Following an expose in the Niagara Falls Reporter, the NYS DEC has ordered the city to close down and clean up an illegal dump near the Hyde Park Golf Course off Porter and New Road that the city has been using for years to dispose of streetRead More

State DOT to Niagara Falls Tourists: “Get Out of Town!”

State DOT to Niagara Falls Tourists: “Get Out of Town!”

Featured, News May 12, 2016 at 12:21 pm

by James Hufnagel If the politicians are so determined to “remove” the Robert Moses Parkway, at a total cost of over $60 million, why is there state Dept. of Transportation signage all over downtown Niagara Falls directing motorists to it, in effect urging people to traverse the city as ifRead More

Ahlas Seek Seat On Lewiston Village Board

Ahlas Seek Seat On Lewiston Village Board

Uncategorized May 12, 2016 at 12:07 pm

Keith “Casey” Ahlas is running for Trustee on the Village of Lewiston Board in the election to be held on Tuesday June, 21st. Ahlas was selected as a candidate during a recent caucus of Democrats from the Village. Ahlas has been a resident of the Village of Lewiston for fourteenRead More

Rotella: Community Involvement in Schools  Critically Important

Rotella: Community Involvement in Schools Critically Important

Featured, News May 12, 2016 at 12:05 pm

by Carm Rotella As we moved through the budget process this year, the needs of taxpayers, parents, and students had to be considered.  Our commitment to students is to ensure that every student graduates globally competitive and ready for tomorrow’s careers.  The funds required to offer a high quality, equitableRead More

The Constant Battle For Open Government

Featured, News May 12, 2016 at 12:02 pm

by Paul Wolf, Esq. As a concerned citizen I spend time educating myself about what is going on in the Buffalo/Niagara area. I read newspapers, blogs, and follow the meetings of local government bodies. It is truly amazing how much time and effort it takes to obtain basic information andRead More

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