News

Print Edition: June 16, 2016

Print Edition: June 16, 2016

News, Online Newspaper June 16, 2016 at 10:32 am
Out of control spending by Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster has led to the squandering of tens of millions in casino revenue to plug budgetary gaps and deficits of nearly $8 million in some years. Now he’s proposing raising property taxes by between 17 and 40 percent under the guise of a citywide reassessment.

Reassessment To Result In Tax Increases Between 17 And 40 Percent Citywide

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:27 am

by Mike Hudson When Niagara Falls officials say they’re “leaving $112 million on the table” because they haven’t done a reassessment since 2004, what they really mean is that the money has been left in the pockets of city taxpayers. Don’t look now, those pockets are about to be picked.Read More

Taxes In Most Highly Taxed City Just Aren’t High Enough, Dyster Says

Taxes In Most Highly Taxed City Just Aren’t High Enough, Dyster Says

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:25 am

by Mike Hudson It was barely three years ago. On June 13, 2013, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that a settlement had been reached between the state and the Seneca Nation of Indians that ended a long running dispute over the possible development of private casinos along the NiagaraRead More

Cat Hating Grandinetti Shot Down Again On Anti-Cat Legislation Here

Cat Hating Grandinetti Shot Down Again On Anti-Cat Legislation Here

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:23 am

by Mike Hudson It would be comical if it wasn’t so pathetic. Councilwoman Kristin Grandinetti, rubber stamp for anything her neighbor, Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, proposes, Facebook gadabout and untiring champion for issues having to do with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community is still proposing legislationRead More

Transparency Wins Out Over Unnecessary  Feral-Cat Ordinance Expediency

Transparency Wins Out Over Unnecessary Feral-Cat Ordinance Expediency

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:20 am

by Joe Kissel “I don’t understand the hesitation,” said councilwoman Kristen Grandinetti at Monday’s city council meeting just before changes to the city animal code regarding “community” cats got tabled. “We’ve gone to the SPCA and gotten her expert opinion,” said Grandinetti. “We went over all the language with her.Read More

City Attorney Craig Johnson under attack for being too ethical?

Complaints Against City Solicitor Suit Dyster’s Final Solution To A T

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:16 am

The three complainants who filed charges against former city controller Maria Brown have now also filed them against Corporation counsel Craig Johnson,  reliable sources told the Niagara Falls Reporter. Who are these people? Why do they attack people in the City Hall of Mayor Paul Dyster who attempt to playRead More

Fancy (and slippery) $60 per square foot granite pavers helped an Albany based contractor earn millions as part of the Niagara Falls State Park improvement plan.

Cuomo Pledges $17 Million To Fix Up Park: Crime, Joblessness, Poverty Remain

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:13 am

by Mike Hudson So the Governor of New York State decides to spend $17 million on Niagara Falls State Park – which of course is owned by New York State – and local politicians and the media fall over swooning as though it were some kind of big win forRead More

Robert Moses: Some say he was a bit of a scoundrel.

Exactly What Are We Getting For Our $17 Million, Gov. Cuomo?

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:11 am

by Mike Hudson Oh how the mighty have fallen. Robert Moses, the onetime “master builder” of New York and the subject of Robert Caro’s bestselling 1974 biography “The Power Broker,” would be rolling over in his grave. Last week, as he announced a $17 million shot in the arm toRead More

Do Niagara County Legislators Support Open Government?

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:07 am

by Paul Wolf, Esq. While Buffalo and Erie County have their share of open government and ethical issues, Niagara County seems to be years behind on basic items.  Earlier this year when Wm. Keith McNall became Chair of the Niagara County Legislature he told fellow lawmakers.  “The challenges county governmentRead More

The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia may determine the life and death of the Second Amendment. The survival of.a constitution or any part of it should not depend on the  life of any one man.

The Constitution May Not Save You Or The Second Amendment

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:06 am

by Jim Ostrowski The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said last week that the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms means that there is no right to bear arms in public, a comforting thought for mass shooters in gun-free zones.  The vote was 7-4.  I wondered if I could guessRead More

The Hamister Group, LLC announced that they have officially signed a franchise agreement with Hilton Doubletree for the re-development of the former Ramada in Jamestown, NY. So far plans have been beset with problems.

Hamister’s Stalled Jamestown Hotel May Also Benefit From Cuomo Bailout

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:02 am

 by Mike Hudson Niagara Falls isn’t the only municipality in Western New York so desperate to portray itself as economically viable that government officials are willing to throw money at a snake oil salesman like Mark Hamister in a forlorn effort to get him to develop something. Down in Jamestown,Read More

Embattled Airbnb Hosts In Niagara Falls Aren’t Shutting Down

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 10:01 am

by Joseph Kissel Niagara Falls is the only tourist destination in the world that gets 8 million visitors a year and is broke. Here’s another reason why. At the beginning of the summer tourist season, the Code Enforcement Office for Niagara Falls sent out “cease and desist” letters to allRead More

The legendary Italian actress Claudia Cardinale will be walking the red carpet Saturday night in Niagara on the Lake to attend the first North American screening of Sarah Jessica Parker’s new movie, “All Roads Lead to Rome,” a part of the Niagara Integrated Film Festival.

World Class Film Festival Destined For Niagara Frontier Seems Likely

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 9:58 am

by Mike Hudson Talks currently underway between the principals of the Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival and the Niagara Integrated Film Festival held in St. Catharines, Ont., are aimed at consolidating the two events, creating a new and unique cinematic showcase that would be truly international in scope. “The filmmakersRead More

Crooked Hillary Clinton, dba  , Sec of State, Endorsed by king (with a small k) Obama

Crooked Hillary Clinton, dba , Sec of State, Endorsed by king (with a small k) Obama

Featured, News June 16, 2016 at 9:55 am

by J. Gary DiLaura Obama is providing more evidence of two things I’ve been alleging regarding the king (with a small k). First, he had no intention of “honoring his oath” to our Constitution because he IS a Muslim and he, himself, committed so many criminal acts as president thatRead More

Print Edition 6.9.16

Print Edition 6.9.16

News, Online Newspaper June 9, 2016 at 11:00 am
For years Hamister has promised to start building his ever cheaper hotel.

Will Taxpayers Bear The Burden Of Building Mark Hamister’s New Hotel?

Featured, News June 9, 2016 at 10:56 am

by Mike Hudson The story of Mark Hamister and the little hotel he’s been trying to build in downtown Niagara Falls for the past three years gets stranger with each passing month. Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has benefited from Hamister’s campaign contributions in the past, announced that theRead More

For years Hamister has promised to start building his ever cheaper hotel.

Hamister Project To Get In The Way Of Better Use Of Rainbow Blvd. Land?

Featured, News June 9, 2016 at 10:54 am

by Mike Hudson The problem in Niagara Falls isn’t that there aren’t enough hotel rooms. From luxury accommodations at Carl Paladino’s beautiful Giacomo Hotel or the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino to the Niagara Falls Boulevard Strip, where rooms can be had for well under $50 a night, there isRead More

Clifton Hill offer night and daytime excitement after one sees the falls.

Hamister Hotel Deal A Sad Tale Of New York Politics Gone Wrong

Featured, News June 9, 2016 at 10:49 am

by Mike Hudson How in the heck is this not fraud? The Hamister hotel deal has been cooked up since Day 1, by a so-called developer from Buffalo and his political cronies in Niagara Falls, Albany and Washington D.C. The murky 2012 process under which Mark Hamister was chosen asRead More

West Seneca Boots Sex Offenders: What’s Wrong With Niagara Falls?

West Seneca Boots Sex Offenders: What’s Wrong With Niagara Falls?

Featured, News June 9, 2016 at 10:42 am

by Mike Hudson What are local government officials to do when the state starts surreptitiously sending dangerous registered sex offenders to live in their municipality? To hear Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster tell it, there is nothing that can be done about it. Dyster, who once quipped that sex offendersRead More

Brown Not Likely To Stay On As City Controller Vote Will Not Likely Take Place At Next Council Meeting

Brown Not Likely To Stay On As City Controller Vote Will Not Likely Take Place At Next Council Meeting

Featured, News June 9, 2016 at 10:40 am

by Joseph Kissel Although it’s rumored Maria Brown doesn’t want to keep her job as city controller due to all the political wrangling necessary to keep it, there’s no resolution likely to be presented at Monday’s city council meeting to remove her from it. Brown and the city are stillRead More

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