Is the decision by the city’s Underground Railroad Commission to broaden the scope of what was to have been the Underground Railroad interpretive center at the Whirlpool Street train station a tacit admission that Niagara Falls has little if any Underground Railroad history of its own to begin with?Read More

Before the Civil War, the Ohio River meant freedom. Even though it was the primary water route for the still-thriving American slave trade, the river was also the border between the slave states of the South and the free states of the Northwest Territory. This attracted escaping slaves and abolitionistsRead More

The Castellani Freedom Crossing exhibit at the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center and the Underground Railroad interpretive center at the new Whirlpool Street train station won’t just be competing with each other, they’ll be competing with museums all around the country designed to lure tourists interested in former slaves escapingRead More

For Bill Bradberry, history is both an avocation and a passion. A decade ago, he became deeply involved when the Castellani Art Museum at Niagara University undertook its Freedom Crossing exhibit, and when Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster announced the formation of an Underground Railroad Commission to mount an exhibitionRead More

Two years ago this month, Reporter publisher Frank Parlato exposed in these pages what appeared to be a blatant case of bid-rigging perpetrated by the Saratoga Springs, NY-based LA Group, a landscape architecture firm chosen by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to implement portionsRead More

It may be bloody and highly controversial, but mixed martial arts will be coming to New York in the not too distant future, and the popular sport will then face the challenge of lining up promoters to meet the re-quirements contained in the bill passed by the Assembly this weekRead More

It could be more than an office scandal and financial pressures that drove State Sen. Marc Panepinto’s decision two weeks ago not to seek a second-term in the 60th District only days after the Erie County Democratic Committee endorsed him for re-election. Political sources tell this newspaper that his unionRead More

It was in the Sept. 3, 2013 editions of the Niagara Falls Reporter that I broke the story that one of the top prosecutors in the Niagara County District Attorney’s Office was threatening to bring legal action against the county on her claims that she had been discriminated against inRead More

By Andrew Kuylk and Peter Farrell 1970. That was the last time that Canada was shutout from the NHL postseason. Back then it was a 12 team league, Buffalo and Vancouver would be the expansion entrants the following year. The two Canadian teams, Toronto and Montreal, failed to qualify inRead More

A family living in the historic Oliver Street District in North Tonawanda submitted to Artvoice a photograph of their almost two-year-old daughter sitting on their couch. Readers may be able to discern an image on the couch of what appears to be an elderly woman whose countenance might be describedRead More

Niagara University’s Community Kitchen pilot project was awarded a ‘NobleCause’ grant from NobleHour, a community engagement platform. The project was one of 100 efforts across the country recognized and rewarded for raising community awareness, fostering partnerships, and cultivating leaders who take action. In total, the ‘NobleCause’ competition awarded $1,000,000 inRead More

The American Red Cross has a significant need for type O negative blood donors to donate blood for patients. Type O negative blood can be transfused to patients with any blood type and is often used in emergency situations. While less than 7 percent of the U.S. population has typeRead More

Readers of our sister publication, Artvoice, may have noticed in the last edition of Artvoice a full page advertisement which, on behalf of Mr. Gene Dolan, popped the question: “Terry Lynn Fisher Will You Marry Me?” We are happy to report the bride said “yes.” Prospective groom Dolan’s plan wasRead More

Governor Andrew Cuomo deserves credit for his $40 million pledge – announced at the Niagara Falls Conference Center on Monday – to remove the portion of the Robert Moses Parkway that abuts the Niagara Gorge. In recent years activists have been aggressively organizing to remove the elevated highway that stretchesRead More

By Emma Gibbs It did not take long after the recent resignation of Niagara County District Attorney Michael Violante to bring out the “wanabees” to become the County’s next top prosecutor. The first to announce, from what could well be a long list of candidates, was North Tonawanda Democrat CarolineRead More

Does the city of Niagara Falls, which already pays an outside agency around $2 million a year to promote tourism, need to create a new governmental position to promote tourism? And does it need the Tourism Advisory Board, a group of well-meaning and politically connected amateurs put together by MayorRead More

The state audit released on Wednesday that found that the Niagara Falls Water Board and Water Authority had millions of dollars in excess funds sitting around as the city was looking for help to repair water lines on 72nd Street caught Council President Andrew Touma by complete surprise. “I wasRead More

Guest View by Christine Hutten North Tonawanda I am pleased that veterinarians across New York State are coming out in full force to oppose the inhumane practice of cat declawing (Cat Declawing Ban Gains Support Of Veterinarians Around The State 3/http://southbuffalonews.com7/http://southbuffalonews.com6). While most people think of declawing as removal ofRead More

Guest View by Jamie Caldwell Niagara Falls, NY   The city of Niagara Falls has serious issues that need to be addressed.  For each matter this administration overlooks, it’s like, “kicking a can down the road”.  However, our city has kicked so many cans down the road, we have endedRead More

LOCKPORT—Wm. Keith McNall, who became chairman of the Niagara County Legislature in January, added a new title today: law library trustee. The news of McNall’s appointment came in a letter from the chief administrative judge of the New York State Unified Court System, naming the long-time public fixture to theRead More