BY FRANK PARLATO Late last year, Buffalo City Comptroller Mark J. F. Schroeder created an online database called Open Book Buffalo. A website, it is updated biweekly, and publishes all of the City of Buffalo’s expenditures and revenue, allowing everyone to see detailed financial information while Buffalo spends some $480 million per year.Read More

Lest anyone think the Niagara Falls Reporter prefers to dwell on the negative, concentrating on the city’s dire circumstances and cornering the local newspaper market on pessimism, try this article from major business network Bloomberg News, which ran a couple of years ago, on for size.   “Niagara Falls’ descentRead More

Frank Parlato Niagara Falls – The spoils pile at 915 North Ave. – which had signs around it warning: “Caution Radioactive Materials Area” –was removed earlier this month, along with the chain link fence surrounding it. The pile had sat on an abandoned lot for more than a year– nearRead More

Niagara Falls, Ontario -With support from government officials, businesses and residents, a campaign called, ‘#Claimthe8th’ has been launched in Canada, with the goal of trying to prove that Niagara Falls and the surrounding regions of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Twenty Valley, St. Catharines and Niagara’s South Coast should be called “the eighth worldRead More

Guest View: By a Longtime Falls’ Resident I’m sending along a picture of the environment I grew up in starting in 1951. I was five years old. The back of the house faced the factories and Buffalo Avenue My family lived on A Street near the chemical factories. The reason for beingRead More

Senator Rob Ortt (R,C,I – North Tonawanda)  issued the following statement regarding the New York State Office of the State Comptroller’s audit of the New York Power Authority (NYPA): “The Comptroller’s audit of NYPA offers a concerning glimpse into the state’s power allocations through ReCharge New York. With the state’s largest powerRead More

The ongoing controversy about whether to close Grand Island’s  West River Parkway to create a bike path can be seen as part of a larger conflict, one that pits longtime residents against more recent arrivals in determining the future of what has traditionally been a semi-rural bedroom community. The lightningRead More

  It was a setup. That’s how longtime Grand Island activist Russ Thompson described the series of events that led to his being charged with felony of false voter registration and using that false registration to cast ballots on Grand Island. Thompson turned down an offered plea bargain, and theRead More

    Roberto Carlos Baldoquin Milan, 41, lived in Indian River County, Florida, home of the orchards where the sweet ruby red grapefruit grows. Milan was not a farmer, but reportedly specialized in banking, documents creation, and handwriting analysis. One day, Milan, perhaps looking to get away from the heatRead More

  Guest View: By a ‘Concerned Grand Island Resident; The town of Grand Island recently elected a new Town Supervisor, Delaware North’s Nate McMurray, VP of Business Development. The North Tonawanda native won by less than 10 votes. He is currently pushing projects to open rural Grand Island to a larger audienceRead More

  Governor Andrew Cuomo came to town recently to announce that New York State was changing of the name of the Robert Moses Parkway to the Niagara Scenic Parkway. This was done perhaps to more accurately describe the parkway for tourists who have used the parkway for 60 years toRead More

  City Hall — A woman in the Niagara Falls’ finance department – we will call her Tammy – who has worked there for several years on what is called “provisional” status, recently flunked her civil service exam. It was the second time she failed the exam. Tammy was appointedRead More

  For many who live in the City of Niagara Falls, life is a daily struggle. Poverty, crime, substandard housing, lack of educational attainment, drug abuse and teen pregnancy here are across-the-board higher than New York State averages. For example, according to US Census figures, 40.6% of children in Niagara FallsRead More

What I want to accomplish as your Superintendent   By Mark Laurrie Superintendent of Schools, Niagara Falls School District   In considering what I want to accomplish as your Superintendent, I sat thoughtfully with the Strategic Goals of the District. Owing to the excellent work done been my predecessors, I believe weRead More

    Niagara County will hold its annual Tax Foreclosure Real Property Live Auction on Saturday, August 13. The auction will take place at the Shawnee Fire Hall at 3747 Lockport Road, Sanborn New York at 10:00 am. Registration will open at 8:00 am, and the auction will continue untilRead More

Despite the fact that no contract exists between Amtrak or any other entity to actually use the facility, city officials are ready to show off the new $44 million Niagara Falls International Railway and Intermodal Transportation Center to the public. A “sneak preview” of the new train station will beRead More

By Jim Hufnagel On January 6, 2015, halfway through an interview with actress Nicole Kidman, NBC late-night host Jimmy Fallon casually dropped a bomb on the city of Niagara Falls, NY. The conversation turned on an appearance the week before by Kidman’s husband, country singer Keith Urban, at a NewRead More

Political operative and former Erie County Democratic Chairman Steve Pigeon faces nine felony counts in a state prosecution involving former State Supreme Court Justice John Michalek who has already pleaded guilty to two felony counts, including taking bribe, and who is expected to be a key witness against Pigeon ifRead More

By Members of Stop the Reassessment Committee Time Warner News was in the neighborhoods yesterday taking photos of stop the reassessment signs and interviewing residents. The link to the Time Warner video is http://www.twcnews.com/nys/buffalo/ news/2016/07/26/niagara-falls-propertyreassessment-.html A reporter interviewed Council Chairman Andrew Touma, and again, he deceived the people. He saidRead More

By the Committee to Stop the Reassessments & Continuous Tax Increases As mentioned in a previous article, Mayor Paul Dyster, with the support of Council Chairman Andrew Touma, deceived the taxpayers by waiting five days after the mayoral election to tell us he was planning to do a citywide reassessment.Read More