Niagara Falls

Proposed City Wide Reassessment is Another Name for a Tax Increase  

Proposed City Wide Reassessment is Another Name for a Tax Increase  

News, Niagara Falls February 16, 2016 at 12:25 am

“If it cost $10 million dollars more to run the city than it did eight years ago, then charge me.” With those words, retired school teacher, former city Council member and a member of the Niagara Falls Financial Advisory Panel, Frank Soda advocated for what would be in effect aRead More

We told you so! City’s been abusing taxpayer casino cash all along!

Niagara Falls February 13, 2016 at 9:32 pm

Niagara Falls – My goodness, it’s been a frustrating experience, preaching about the wasteful spending habits of the Dyster administration over the past five years while no one listens. But, better late than never, people are finally noticing how Mayor Paul Dyster and council have abused casino revenue and deliveredRead More

Dewatered falls as tourist attraction?  Officials here say yes, history says no

Dewatered falls as tourist attraction? Officials here say yes, history says no

Niagara Falls February 11, 2016 at 1:53 am

  The herd of local officials predicting a boom in tourism resulting from turning off the flow of water over the Niagara Falls is puzzling to anyone familiar with the last dewatering of the natural wonder. The American Falls was reduced to a trickle in 1969 so that geologists couldRead More

Some reasons for opposing the falls  $40 million dewatering boondoggle

Some reasons for opposing the falls $40 million dewatering boondoggle

Niagara Falls February 11, 2016 at 1:42 am

   We smell a rat. That’s the answer the Niagara Falls Reporter gives anytime someone asks why we are questioning the planned dewatering of the American and Bridal Veil Falls when virtually every elected and appointed official involved in the process supports it, and the rest of the local mediaRead More

Former city engineer Curtis says  DeSantis profits from train station

Former city engineer Curtis says DeSantis profits from train station

News, Niagara Falls February 11, 2016 at 1:19 am

      Was city Planner Tom DeSantis’ longstanding desire to build a new train station in the city’s North End driven by any actual need for a new facility or by something else? Is his relationship with Wendel Duchscherer Architects and Engineers merely a professional alliance or something moreRead More

Train station opening nears as operation and maintenance questions remain unanswered

Train station opening nears as operation and maintenance questions remain unanswered

News, Niagara Falls February 11, 2016 at 12:06 am

Over the past seven years the Reporter has posed a series of inconvenient questions regarding the funding, construction and operation of the Niagara Falls Intermodal Transportation Center…the train station. Recently the Niagara Gazette wrote a story that the train station is opening in May and has yet to determine itsRead More

No budget, no contracts, no idea  about train station opening here

No budget, no contracts, no idea about train station opening here

Niagara Falls February 10, 2016 at 11:59 pm

  Niagara Falls – Although the Dyster administration has had more than five years to come to an agreement with Amtrak for use of the new, $44 million train station on Whirlpool Street, market the facility to other prospective tenants and come up with a budget to run the place,Read More

Public outcry prompts city to  rebid Chilton Ave. apartments     

Public outcry prompts city to rebid Chilton Ave. apartments    

News, Niagara Falls February 7, 2016 at 6:12 pm

Niagara Falls – In a bow to public outrage and basic human decency, the Dyster administration has announced a do-over, and will hold a public auction for a four-unit apartment building at 631 Chilton Ave. The 3,160 square foot building, which has assessed value of $37,261 and comes with itsRead More

Health Insurance Veto – Ordinance and Resolution Differences Explained

Niagara Falls February 6, 2016 at 7:37 pm

Niagara Falls  – The council initiative to cut health insurance for future city council members could have been written as a resolution or an ordinance. We have seen no evidence that it has to be written as one or the other. Informed sources say that it could be written eitherRead More

Did Dyster’s veto of council health insurance resolution exceed mayor’s powers?

Niagara Falls February 5, 2016 at 4:26 pm

Niagara Falls Mayor Paul A. Dyster recently vetoed a council resolution that would have ended free health insurance for all future council members. However, did the mayor violate the separation of council and mayor powers by issuing that veto? Informed sources have shared their thoughts on this matter with theRead More

Engineers to get nearly $5 million  for design work on Goat Island bridges

Engineers to get nearly $5 million for design work on Goat Island bridges

Niagara Falls February 4, 2016 at 12:38 am

    Greenman Pedersen, the Albany based engineering and construction firm overseeing the Peace Bridge project in Buffalo, is also in line to receive a healthy chunk of the $4.9 million design contract for the Goat Island bridge replacement project. The firm signed off on a 131-page preliminary Design ReportRead More

Chilton apartments given away to  Insider: Bad deal or just stupidity?   

Chilton apartments given away to Insider: Bad deal or just stupidity?  

Niagara Falls February 4, 2016 at 12:19 am

  The facts are in. Only two possibilities remain. Either the purchase of an apartment building located at 631 Chilton Ave. by an appointed volunteer city official with close ties to the Dyster administration represents some sort of shady deal, or the Department of Community Development and its youthful head,Read More

Will Dyster roll, roll, roll the heads at city hall or won’t he?

Niagara Falls February 4, 2016 at 12:01 am

Six weeks ago the Reporter broke a story as to how Mayor Paul Dyster had served his department heads with letters requesting their loyalty in writing along with an updated resume. The department heads had to submit the resume if they hoped to keep their job for 2016. Other mediaRead More

The Reporter has consistently led the way on train station coverage and analysis

The Reporter has consistently led the way on train station coverage and analysis

Niagara Falls February 3, 2016 at 10:33 pm

It seems that the Reporter has become – maybe it always was – the Rodney Dangerfield of news reporting. Especially political news reporting. And this in spite of the fact that this paper consistently covers, breaks and editorializes on the uncomfortable issues that are routinely ignored or wished into theRead More

Dyster’s claim that health care benefits are necessary to attract council candidates is ridiculous

Dyster’s claim that health care benefits are necessary to attract council candidates is ridiculous

Niagara Falls February 3, 2016 at 10:22 pm

Last week the Reporter broke a story detailing how Niagara Falls Mayor Paul A. Dyster had vetoed the recently passed council resolution ending the perk of taxpayer paid health insurance for future council members. While the mayor’s killing of the cost saving resolution has puzzled reporters and the general publicRead More

Dyster preserves gilt edged  benefits for Council members

Dyster preserves gilt edged benefits for Council members

News, Niagara Falls February 2, 2016 at 3:46 pm

It’s enough to make one wonder what happened to the servant part of public servant. Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster last week vetoed a resolution by the city Council that would have ended the gilt edged health care benefits Council members receive for their part time jobs. Dyster said theRead More

Keep an eye on Chemours Closing: Excuse to treat frackwater, hike taxes, water rates

News, Niagara Falls January 31, 2016 at 2:16 pm

Niagara Falls -Keep an eye on the Chemours closing. Chemours plans to close its Niagara Falls plant by the end of this  year, eliminating about 200 jobs at the Buffalo Avenue factory. The Niagara Falls plant makes reactive metals for specialty chemicals industries such as pharmaceutical, pulp and paper andRead More

When was the last time you did it?

When was the last time you did it?

News, Niagara Falls January 31, 2016 at 1:14 pm

There was a time when husbands and wives did it frequently. Lovers thought it was incredibly romantic to do over and over again. Sometimes they did it all night long and from city to city. When was the last time you did it? Ride the train, that is. Mayor PaulRead More

Dyster veto stops Tompkins’ council health insurance cost saving measure

Dyster veto stops Tompkins’ council health insurance cost saving measure

News, Niagara Falls January 28, 2016 at 11:56 am

    Niagara Falls – It didn’t take long for freshman councilman Kenny Tompkins to get a close up look at Mayor Paul Dyster’s veto pen. And from what we’re told Mr. Tompkins is not pleased at seeing the mayor – with a stroke of his seldom seen veto penRead More

Trademarking history: Glynn, Jacobs become owners of American heritage

News, Niagara Falls January 28, 2016 at 2:34 am

    On June 30, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill creating the nation’s first federal park at Yosemite, in northern California. Now Delaware North owner Jeremy Jacobs Sr., who ran concessions in the park from 1993 to 2016, says a trademark he filed makes him the owner ofRead More

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