When the Niagara Falls Reporter broke the story of city Councilwoman Kristen Grandinetti’s draconian anti-cat legislation here a couple of weeks ago, we had no idea that she would become the target of harassment and threats from cat lovers across the country.

The ways in which the Niagara Frontier, and the city of Niagara Falls in particular, has been ripped off for decades by Albany has been a recurring theme for the Niagara Falls Reporter since the paper was founded 16 years ago.

By the time the Niagara Falls State Park Landscape Improvements plan and south Robert Moses Parkway upgrade are finished sometime next year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will have spent $70 million derived from Niagara Greenway, “Buffalo Billion” and “NY Works” economic development programs. That’s more than $140 for every man, woman and child living in the city of Niagara Falls.

Since The Reporter broke a story about illegal dumping at a city-operated composting facility last week, the State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has launched an investigation into the illegal dumping. On the same day, last Thursday, Department of Public Works supervisors instructed employees to put sweeper dirt in dumpsters rather than atop mounds already at the composting site.

Acclaimed singer/songwriter/pianist Christina Custode will perform acoustic arrangements of her original music and will be shooting a live video on Saturday (April 30) at Niagara Community College, 3111 Saunders Settlement Rd. in Sanborn. Custode, a Niagara Falls artist who has won many local and national honors, invites her fans toRead More

The Judges and Police Executive Conference of Niagara County honored the group’s law enforcement officers of the year last Saturday night at Antonio’s Banquet and Conference Center in Niagara Falls.

Dave Trane has announced he is seeking both the Lewiston Town Board’s appointment as town Highway Superintendent and will be running for the office in the November elections.   The position has been vacant since February with the death of Douglas Janese who was re-elected last November in a narrowRead More

by Nicholas A. Pelosino, Jr., Esq. We all know that grandparents do many things for their grandchildren and these meaningful relationships are as varied as the people in them and the families of which they are a part. Grandparents may become caretakers when needed; grandparents can have special teaching roles;Read More

by Jim Ostrowski The older I get, the more I think that politics is a battle of the dictionaries.  Whoever has the best words, wins. The political movement I have been active in for 35 years is the contemporary revival of the movement that is responsible for most of whatRead More

In reading about Council member Kristen Grandinetti’s boneheaded idea about fining or jailing people who are taking humane steps to manage the area’s feral cat population, I couldn’t help but think that it’s too bad we can’t trap, spay and release Grandinetti somewhere other than Niagara Falls.

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.

This week the Niagara Falls City Council tabled legislation introduced by Council member Kristen Grandinetti that would have tightened regulations for cat owners in the city, and made feeding a stray cat a criminal offense. Grandinetti’s bill seeks to amend Chapter 701 of the Codified City Ordinances, which governs ownershipRead More

Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster is a man of many unique abilities. Just this past Monday, for example, he spoke before the city Council for an hour and a half without saying anything at all. “It really was astounding,” said one awestruck witness. “He just went on and on!” Ostensibly, theRead More

  Although the city, state and various charitable organizations have thrown over $1 million at the Isaiah 61 Project since its’ inception in 2012, little has been accomplished to date. Isaiah 61 is a not for profit which receives local and state funding to rebuild rather than tear down vacantRead More

Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster suggested last week that employees might perform better with a veritable sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. Despite running on a platform that touted his leadership skills in assembling a team of the “best and the brightest” during last year’s election, once he wasRead More

In our effort to see Niagara Falls as others see it, we’ve examined both the statistical rankings that regularly appear on internet websites devoted to such things and the views of community leaders whose livelihoods largely depend on making people think things are good or at least getting better (SeeRead More