Hello Everyone, Welcome to this week’s edition of Ricky’s Corner. Hope you’re all staying warm in what is shaping up to be one of our shorter winters. I am pleased to announce that we have decided to change our establishments name to Ricky’s Pub & Pizzeria.   The story of how I arrived at this name is aRead More

The Dyster administration is back at it again, trying to find an operator for Sal Maglie Stadium. The mayor’s first pass at landing a manager and promoter for the historic, but dilapidated, sports facility didn’t go so well and the Reporter wrote at length about it last year. At thatRead More

          Who is Jeff Laramore? The obscure Midwestern artist selected by the city to design and install a $435,000 piece of sculpture on a deserted Rainbow Boulevard traffic island, directly in front of long shuttered Hotel Niagara, is hardly a household name. According to his officialRead More

Reviewing 20http://southbuffalonews.com2-20http://southbuffalonews.com5 Common Council minutes posted on NT’s website indicates most meetings lasted less than 30 minutes, some less than http://southbuffalonews.com0, only a few lasting 60. In http://southbuffalonews.com2/http://southbuffalonews.com/http://southbuffalonews.com5 minutes, Jean Kroetsch requested more information be included on agendas so she could understand  budget transfers.  Do Council members, Mayor, or CityRead More

  When state lawmakers convened in Albany on Wednesday to kick off the new legislative session, watchdog groups were holding a press conference calling on the governor and legislators to sign a “Clean Conscience Pledge” in the wake of the corruption convictions of the former Assembly speaker and the SenateRead More

   Recently, a local newspaper in Niagara Falls published a year-end story that highlighted the federal indictment of businessman and newspaper publisher Frank Parlato, Jr., basically rewriting the indictment without any response from Mr. Parlato.  I feel it is necessary to respond to that story and to the public inRead More

Last week the notorious conman Shmuel Shmueli was evicted from a Niagara Falls luxury condo at the Parkway Condominiums on Buffalo Ave.––but not until after he stayed in the condo for free for a year. Artvoice previously identified 25 lawyers that Shmueli conned out of legal services. We’ve now discoveredRead More

  Is the real reason why Niagara Falls has gone without a city engineer for 53 of the 96 months that Paul Dyster has served as mayor because he already has one? David Jaros, formerly of Li-Ro Engineers and now of Clark Patterson Lee has managed to get most ofRead More

Every December more than a billion people celebrate the birth of Christ, a child born of immaculate conception who would change the world – whose true father was said to be God, and whose earthly father was an Israeli carpenter named Joseph. Cult of NXIVM leader Keith Raniere’s former partnerRead More

The long-awaited state comptroller’s audit of financially troubled Erie Community College (ECC) is expected to be released very shortly, possibly as early as Friday (Jan. 8) but more likely early next week. We reported Dec. http://southbuffalonews.com0 that the exit conference between state auditors and ECC officials had been held inRead More

Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Flaherty has hit the ground running, and it is clear that he would like to take “acting” out of his title and win a full term on his own in November. Flaherty signaled in his first week in office that he is a seriousRead More

Nor Hillary’s Bullying Of Bill’s Victims To Silence Them By Roger Stone and Robert Morrow The Clintons are criminals and this has nothing to do with any consensual oral sex that Bill had with Monica Lewinsky, martial infidelity or adultery. Like Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton is a sexual predator –Read More

The Niagara Falls Reporter recently featured a cover story detailing how the city council approved the 20http://southbuffalonews.com6 budget in a 4-0 council vote on November http://southbuffalonews.com7 at the close of a budget work session. That budget, along with seven as yet to be disclosed council budget amendments, moved to the Mayor PaulRead More

  http://southbuffalonews.com   It’s pretty small peanuts. Councilmen Charles Walker and Andrew Touma have pulled the chairmanship out from under Kristen Grandinetti more times than Lucy pulled the football out from under Charlie Brown. In defense of his having prevented Kristen Grandinetti from being named council chairwoman, Andrew Touma, said,Read More

A reader sent the following advice along. And while it gives a good primer on how to deal with sources – it also gives us a chilling view of how NXIVM leader Keith Raniere uses his “wealth” and (mis)uses the tools of the law to intimidate and attack his enemies…. OurRead More

  (This essay contains major spoilers about Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation Trilogy” of science-fiction novels.  So if you want to fully enjoy these classics, read them first before reading further.  For the rest of you, we continue below.) A little bit of light reading for Christmas. Keith Raniere’s whole enterprise isRead More

A message from Hunter’s Hope: Hunter’s Day of Hope & Prayer for Children As a foundation we seek to inspire an appreciation to God for all children. Hunter’s Day of Hope & Prayer for Children helps fulfill this primary goal — to remind parents how blessed they are to haveRead More

Rendering of Sculpture for Niagara Falls’ Centennial Circle is unveiled   Niagara Falls Mayor Paul A. Dyster has been working on getting a sculpture placed in what is called Centennial Circle since 2009, planning to spend some $435,000 – plus annual maintenance – to do so. This summer, it looksRead More

Your Sports Scores by Avner Benyamin A number of hard fought games were played this weekend. Here are the results: Washington Redskins* 3http://southbuffalonews.com Cleveland Indians http://southbuffalonews.com8 Atlanta Braves 2http://southbuffalonews.com Boston Celtics http://southbuffalonews.comhttp://southbuffalonews.com Houston Texans 33  Edmonton Eskimos  http://southbuffalonews.com8 Spokane Chiefs 3 Vancouver Canucks 2 Detroit Blackskins 2http://southbuffalonews.com New York Knicks 3 SeattleRead More

The March 24, 20http://southbuffalonews.com5 recorded conversation between Kristin Keeffe and Barbara Bouchey, two inner circle members of Keith Raniere’s love cult, has many candid observations. Two otherwise intelligent women who lost years of their lives under the thralldom of Raniere, make some fascinating statements when they in essence compare notes.Read More