Niagara Reporter-
Did Parkway Removal speech trigger Power Project Terror Drills?
On Wednesday, Sept. 21, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms blew up two buses and an unidentified third vehicle at an unused quarry on Rochester Road in Gasport, as part of a demonstration of what things look like after they’ve been blown up. Later in the day, an active-shooter training exercise took place at the Niagara Power Project, involving New York Power Authority security officers and the Niagara County Sheriff Department Emergency Response Team. The local media prominently ran photos and videos of the SWAT-style teams, resplendent in body armor and shouldering assault rifles, storming key
Old Trolley Tracks spell Headache for Buff Ave. Repaving – City less than candid in bidding process?
A local contractor in the process of repaving a section of Buffalo Avenue in the city, abandoned the job due to an impasse with the Dyster administration over cost overruns, but as of press time has resumed the project, the Reporter has learned. Accadia Site Contracting of Depew, NY was milling the eastbound lane of Buffalo Avenue from 85th Street to the LaSalle overpass (in the area of the LaSalle library) when it struck ancient trolley tracks that ran underneath the street. Striking the hidden and long-forgotten rails resulted in damage to the $600,000 milling machine utilized by Accadia to
Hochul to Delaware North? Stay Tuned
When William Hochul Jr. announced earlier this month that he was resigning as U. S. Attorney for the Western District of New York effective Oct. 28 after serving as the top federal prosecutor in the 17-county area since 2010, it caught many local attorneys and others by surprise. The announcement seemed to come out of the blue, leaving many to wonder why he was leaving and what was next for Hochul, who was described by defense attorney Rodney Personius, himself a former assistant U. S. attorney, as a “phenomenal courtroom prosecutor, the best I’ve ever seen.” Hochul, 57, said little
Niagara Falls 2017 Budget Hearing set for Nov. 1
A Public Hearing for the 2017 Proposed Budget for the city of Niagara Falls will be held in the City Hall Council Chambers on November 1, 2016 from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. In reviewing Mayor Paul Dyster’s tentative budget, we came up with the following questions: 1. Has there been any progress signing up Amtrak and their $192,000 annual rent for the new Niagara Falls International Railway Station and Intermodal Transportation Center, as projected in the Mayor’s 2017 budget? 2. The budget is balanced thanks to a nearly $3 million general fund transfer. Is this a sustainable strategy for
Assemblyman Ceretto, Mayor Dyster Retaliate, Withhold Tesla funding to punish Reporter writer
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 meetings held in the Assemblyman’s office, where invitations to a fundraiser were allegedly created on government computer and printer and mailed using state postage, as well as the alleged use of an office phone to solicit campaign donors. Talk about an October surprise. It wasn’t that long ago that
Historic Echo Club to Reopen on Friday With Lots of Entertainment on Menu
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 entertainment on tap for one and all. “I adore this city [Niagara Falls] and I’m so excited and looking forward to seeing people come here and come alive for this building,” says owner Deborah Sirianni, who made the decision to reopen the Echo Club full time just a few months ago
Discount Grocery Store Targets Highland Ave. Area
“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 by the Highland Community Revitalization Committee at the Doris Jones Family Resource Center on Ninth St., the presentation by Robert Guenther, owner of Super Price Choppers on Genesee St. in Buffalo was,according to Touma, well received . Touma said the discount grocery store could be opened within a year if all goes well,
Dyster Pay Raises Hitting Brick Wall With Lawmakers
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 the city’s shaky financial condition and a brand new $43 million empty train station that still lacks a contract with Amtrak and will be a drain financially on the city until there is a deal. While he stopped short of saying the proposed raises are dead, Touma said lawmakers have been
Hefty Pay Raises in Dyster Budget Come Under Attack
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 city during these difficult times. Ralph Aversa, who is also a former city councilmember, posted his own review of the Dyster spending plan on Facebook, singling out the following pay upgrades contained in the proposal: – mayor’s secretary, on the job for less than a year, increased by 43 percent from
Grand Island Bike Trail Plan to be Examined by West River Road Residents at meeting this evening
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. As we reported last week, a backlash from some West River Road residents against the project, which was originally approved by various government agencies going back to 2013 and has been the subject of public meetings and information sessions over the past two years, is taking shape. We published photos
Suspicious Developer Seeks Background on Hotel Niagara RFP
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-grand Hotel Niagara, built in 1924, for $4.4 million last March from Henry Stinson after his predictions of grand renovations never came to pass. USA Niagara’s Christopher Schoepflin, who rarely says much that isn’t scripted, is now the Western New York regional director of Empire State Development at a salary of
The Great NIMBY’s Want West River All to Themselves
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 West River Parkway into a beautiful bike path along miles of the glorious west branch of the world famous Niagara River. These residents, who, to a man and woman, live on West River Road, claim they object to the state’s proposed bike path for various reasons such as safety and the