Editor's Picks

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9       The Courthouse Analysis: to Change Outcomes we Must First Change Our Way of Thinking   By: Ken Hamilton I am told that there’s an old Arab saying that the camel was a racehorse that was designed by a committee, and so it is with so many things that we do in our fair city.  The Main Street Courthouse is one such case study, and here is the logical, though irrational reasoning of how it came to

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9     BankOnBuffalo, which has achieved considerable growth since entering the Buffalo-Niagara market three years ago, was selected as a regional Banking Choice Awards winner in the same Community Contribution category featuring much larger and longer-tenured banks as additional winners. BankOnBuffalo was selected as a Bronze Community Contribution winner in the Western Region for the Banking Choice Awards presented by American Business Media and Customer Experience Solutions LLC. BankOnBuffalo, with nearly $420 million in deposits and 42 staff members, joined the winner’s circle

Perhaps the great Will Rogers said it best:  “If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” All of us who know and love dogs understand what the great man was saying because I’m sure most of us feel exactly the same way about our best friend.  And that’s exactly why there is much pain in the heart of a 68-year-old Niagara Falls man these days who is still grieving over the loss of his best friend last summer in a tale almost too painful to relate.  But he wants his

By Mike Hudson and Frank Parlato Legendary jazz bassist and Buffalo native Arthur ‘Juini’ Booth will be program director for the Buffalo Institute for Improvised Music and Performance (BIFIMAP), for an event on Tuesday, July 12, starting at 7:30 pm.. Booth will appear with celebrated jazz saxophonist, pianist, professor and improvisationist, Charles Gayle. It will be more than a performance. It is a gathering, open to all, who want to come join two extraordinary musicians, and learn, play with and study the art of improvisation. Or come and simply listen. “Come join and experience how to open up your creative

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9       Bill Myrtle: Tearing down history what bout almost scum houses in city that bums and addicts can get hurt in tear them down oh wait just get a new mayor.   Dan Davis: Make it a history of Deveaux School Museum. Barn Doors and all!   Dan Dusher: It was a state owned building in a state park that the state basically abandoned and allowed the roof to completely blow off in a previous storm. A

BY: Wim Laven As a scientist who researches peace and conflict, I find it important to systematically approach questions and see where the evidence leads me. It is a trait I developed from great mentorship, and a value that was instilled in me by my father from a very young age. He was medical doctor, with a specialty in pediatrics, and later in his career he did forensic examinations for signs of abuse and evaluations for a child death review board. Veracity to the evidence was important because his determinations could dramatically impact child custody, criminal investigations, and prosecution. I

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9     By: Peter Green     The other day a friend and I were driving along Whirlpool Avenue close to the Whirlpool Bridge.  Ahead of us was a car with out-of-state license plates and they were driving like someone who was lost, which so often happens to all of us when we are in a strange city.  We pulled alongside and motioned to speak with the driver.  We asked if they were lost, and they replied they had

Buffalo, NY — A former lawyer and Erie County Democratic Chairman, Steve Pigeon, is facing trial for allegedly raping a nine-year-old relative in 2016. Pigeon, known for his role as an adviser to influential politicians, including former Governor Andrew Cuomo and President Bill Clinton, will face a jury on six counts of rape and sexual assault arising from allegations of a single incident with the girl seven years ago. NY State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller will preside. If a jury convicts, Pigeon, who has held positions of power most of his adult life, faces life in prison. The

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9     By: Ken Hamilton Internet Movie Database (IMDb)’s plot summary of Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed says that the plot of the 1968 TV movie “… reviews the numerous contributions of African-Americans to the development of the United States. From the perspective of the turbulent late 1960s, the fact that their positive roles had not generally been taught as part of American history.” It is sometimes as if the movie was never made.  But even so, as

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9     By: Tony Farina As we reported in the July 30 editions of the Niagara Reporter, State Sen. Robert Ortt was close to making a decision about running for Congress in the 27th District for the seat currently occupied by indicted Rep. Chris Collins who is facing a a federal trial in February on insider trading charges.  Last Saturday, in Lockport and Batavia news conferences, Ortt made it official. “Some people want to go to Washington and bring

Aries: (March 21 – April 19): Well . . .” begins your mother as she attempts to answer your question, amid fuzzy memories of a balmy night in Cuba, several empty bottles of pineapple rum lying around the bed she had shared with the Captain accompanied by the worst headache she could remember, “I wouldn’t use the word ‘accident.”…. Mon. Am: Start taking non-drowsy antihistamines and change your name to Brian. Taurus: (April 20 – May 20): Your personality is like chocolate – not the smoky, tangy, exquisitely rich and full-bodied type, but the over-sweet, tooth-cracking, factory-processed, made-with-vegetable-oil kind that

Cultural appropriation is at the heart of the City’s looming dispute and may cost taxpayers millions. A dome-shaped building on the edge of Niagara Falls State Park, commonly called “The Turtle,” is at the center of potential litigation involving the City of Niagara Falls and the property’s owners. The dispute revolves around the Niagara Falls Historic Preservation Committee’s campaign to have the 42-year-old structure recognized as a historic landmark. The designation would prevent present and future owners from demolishing or making virtually any structural alterations. The landmark designation would mean that the 1.67 acres adjacent to the most visited state

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9         By: Ken Hamilton In political terms, we often look as the worse governmental corruption being measured in cash; but in reality, the worst corruption in government and all of our own lives has more to do with morality than money.  And without a common morality, which boils down to simply the people and their governments having mutual respect for each other, we all are doomed to fail. Many Americans have seen such moral corruption on

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9     By: Staff Reporter Last week, former state Sen. George Maziarz sent a letter to law enforcement offices, and the Niagara Gazette, accusing his former friend and supporter, Henry Wojtaszek, the CEO of the Western Region Off Track Betting, and his wife — Niagara County District Attorney and judicial candidate Caroline Wojtaszek – of various misdeeds and alleged crimes. In his letter, Maziarz did not provide evidence of any actual crimes. Last year, as Maziarz alludes to in

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9   Flag raising takes place outside McDonalds in the City Market.   Today a flag raising took place at the City Market in Niagara Falls outside of McDonalds.  The event came about after McDonalds reached out to Niagara Falls City Councilman Ken Tompkins to help with the Memorial Day Parade. “They always pitch in with specials and giving us free ice for the water we give out,” said Councilman Tompkins. “They felt it was important to do a flag

by Jim Ostrowski The war on human beings who use, sell or possess drugs (private property), is, from the perspective of reason or morality, dead. Yet, it survives in political backwaters such as Buffalo and in the intellectual backwater of progressivism. The drug war is the classic progressive policy failure. The progressives invented it. They defend it. They sustain it and they prosecute it, while often blaming Republicans for it.  Since it is a progressive program, progressives can never bring themselves to admit its failure.  Any evidence of its failure is simply reinterpreted to justify even greater force, effort and

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9           By: Tony Farina Even at this early stage, and it is not as early as usual because of the changes in state election law, the air is ripe with politics in Niagara Falls, mingling with the lingering bad taste of the gaming war between the state and the Seneca Nation and the uncertainty of when–or even if–the slot payments will begin flowing again after an arbitration panel’s ruling in favor of the state. A

Home equity financing uses the equity in your home to secure a loan. For this reason, lenders typically offer better interest rates for this type of financing than they do for other, unsecured types of personal loans. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, enacted Dec. 22, suspended from 2018 until 2026 the deduction for interest paid on home equity loans and lines of credit, unless they are used to buy, build or substantially improve the taxpayer’s home that secures the loan. Under the new law, for example, interest on a home equity loan used to build an addition

By J. Gary DiLaura, Retired FBI Agent   Columnist J. Gary DiLaura is a decorated Retired FBI Agent and author of the explosive new book “Action…FBI Crime Fighting the Way It Was!” From Abundance to Scarcity – Misguided Policies Decimate US Energy! WE NEED ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE FACTS…! ENERGY AND “CLIMATE CHANGE” ENERGY In 2005 the largest oil reserve IN THE WORLD was discovered…THE GREEN RIVER OIL RESERVE IN COLORADO. Pres Bush ordered 3000 test wells drilled by independent private contractors and announced, after all, results were studied, that it turns out this is the largest oil reserve ever discovered.

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9     -Niagara Falls Policeresponded to the 2200 block of Willow Avenue in the early morning hours of Monday, July 29th, 2019, after reports that a female had attempted to enter a home by kicking the door in. Upon arriving at the scene, police discovered a large amount of blood. Three hours later, police received a call from Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center that a woman had walked into the hospital’s ER covered in blood. As it turns out,

Over the past two years Governor Andrew Cuomo has promised tens of millions of dollars of economic aid for the city of Niagara Falls. So far, the city has received none of it. Not only that, but after having been a regular visitor here, it now appears the governor is distancing himself from involvement with the city and its political establishment.   On August 8, 2014 at a press conference in the Niagara Falls State Park, Gov. Cuomo announced that Uniland Development Co. had been selected to construct “Wonder Falls” at the site of the long-defunct Rainbow Centre Mall.   According to

The federal gift tax applies to gifts of property or money while the donor is living. The federal estate tax, on the other hand, applies to property conveyed to others (with the exception of a spouse) after a person’s death. The gift tax applies to the donor. The recipient is under no obligation to pay the gift tax, although other taxes, such as income tax, may apply. The federal estate tax affects the estate of the deceased and can reduce the amount available to heirs. In theory, any gift is taxable, but there are several notable exceptions. For example, gifts

By Jim Ostrowski Once again, race riots plague America, this time in Charlotte, a relatively prosperous and quiet city in North Carolina.  Not a good sign.  What can I say that hasn’t already been said?  Volumes. My main work as a writer at this point is to discover, analyze and expose the various mindsets that have us trapped in problems, unable to grasp some very obvious and sensible solutions to those problems.  I spent forty years trying to change things through the political process and by writing hundreds of articles that, in my opinion, diagnosed problems and proposed workable solutions.

Demetreus Nix, a man with a troubled past, has once again found himself in hot water thanks to what may be a political vendetta against him.

Click the link below to subscribe to SPECIAL REPORTS from the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9     By: Staff Reporter Baby Amara of Niagara Falls is only 3-months-old. She has no fingers and no toes. She has many deformities to her head and she had to have brain surgery on her skull at only 3-weeks-old at Oishei Children’s Hospital. “The NICU Ward in Children’s Hospital is where Josh Allen’s grandmother Patricia Allen has been named…the same ward that helped save Baby Amara,” said Amara’s “Grama” Gina Healey Veihdeffer. Gina believes this is no coincidence that her granddaughter’s life was saved because

Please click the link below to subscribe to a FREE PDF version of each print edition of the Niagara Reporter http://eepurl.com/dnsYM9     By: Staff Reporter From left, Starpoint Middle School student Connor Church, Principal Dr. Corey Gray, student Sienna Budz, school counselor Kelly Preisch and counselor Andrea Bove present a check for $4,100 on behalf of their school to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center President & CEO Joseph A. Ruffolo. The check represents proceeds from the school’s Crush Cancer event, held earlier this year. The donation will support the Golisano Medical Oncology Center, which opened in July at Memorial

Last month, the 9th homicide of 2023 in the city of Niagara Falls took place on the formerly busy Pine Avenue in the Little Italy so-called tourist district, which has fallen on hard times, along with the rest of the city, over the past decades. Once a thriving thoroughfare of offices, stores and restaurants, including the famous Como which closed just last month, Pine Avenue is now characterized by a mishmosh of discount clothing stores, pawn shops, greasy spoons and the occasional weed dispensary, and is generally not a safe place to be after dark. Although media reports vary, it’s

Somewhere, somebody, dropped the ball.  Big time. That ball contained the hopes and dreams of local politicians, who believed it held a financial windfall in the form of revenue from casino gaming in New York.  Starting in 2002, that shining orb would bounce in every year, and the community would supposedly benefit by allowing the Seneca Nation of Indians to bring their games to these streets. But then the ball wobbled, and the funds stopped flowing.  Gov. Cuomo and his team jumped in and brought the bounce back, or so they believed.  In March 2017, the Senecas took the ball,

by Mike Hudson Following an expose in the Niagara Falls Reporter, the NYS DEC has ordered the city to close down and clean up an illegal dump near the Hyde Park Golf Course off Porter and New Road that the city has been using for years to dispose of street debris, dead animals, tree stumps, building materials and other detritus. The makeshift landfill – formerly wetlands – has not been legally sanctioned and does not have containment mechanisms (like liners or containment walls) that landfills are required to possess. The property was originally owned by the New York State Power

By Tony Farina “There goes another legend,” commented noted Buffalo defense attorney Joel Daniels when he heard of the passing of Niagara Falls plumbing contractor John Gross who died unexpectedly last Monday, Dec. 19, at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital, at the age of 87. John Gross served two different jail terms on corruption charges but he was nonetheless a man who lived a life that endeared him to many people, who despite his legal problems people found him to be a generous and beloved man known for his charitable nature and his wide range of loyal friends. “Simply a great