by Tony Farina We have learned that State Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman is expected to impanel a special grand jury in Buffalo on Monday (May 9) with the sole purpose of investigating former Erie County Democratic Chairman Steve Pigeon’s political activities, a continuing probe that follows the seizure nearly aRead More

Here is a question/problem a reader asked: My name is M.A. I had an auto accident in 2014. The other driver was at fault. I went to an attorney who advertises on billboards [I don’t want to mention his name]. My attorney said he won’t charge me a fee unlessRead More

by J. Gary Dilaura Congratulations Donald Trump on doing what you have done before. You did the impossible this time and are now the presumptive Republican Candidate for President of the United States of America! I began calling for the support of Mr. Trump in the Niagara Falls Reporter inRead More

april28cover

“Baby Shawn” Kennedy is a happy 5-year-old boy with a big problem. He is full of life and always smiling, but has been diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a very aggressive cancer located on his brain stem.

Businessman Dave Bieksza, who owns a commercial property at 259 24th Street, has been battling the Niagara Falls Water Board for five years over what the board refers to as an “availability fee,” $20 a month charged to property owners in the city who have no water service.

Although the Dyster administration has had more than five years to come to an agreement with Amtrak and the Underground Railroad Interpretive Center for use of the new, $44 million train station on Whirlpool Street, market the facility to other prospective tenants and come up with a budget to run the place, it has done none of those things.

Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster hasn’t said a word about the $44 million train station he built on Whirlpool Street in weeks, leaving public pronouncements about the project to his associate, City Planner Thomas DeSantis.

When the Niagara Falls Reporter broke the story of city Councilwoman Kristen Grandinetti’s draconian anti-cat legislation here a couple of weeks ago, we had no idea that she would become the target of harassment and threats from cat lovers across the country.

The ways in which the Niagara Frontier, and the city of Niagara Falls in particular, has been ripped off for decades by Albany has been a recurring theme for the Niagara Falls Reporter since the paper was founded 16 years ago.

By the time the Niagara Falls State Park Landscape Improvements plan and south Robert Moses Parkway upgrade are finished sometime next year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will have spent $70 million derived from Niagara Greenway, “Buffalo Billion” and “NY Works” economic development programs. That’s more than $140 for every man, woman and child living in the city of Niagara Falls.

Since The Reporter broke a story about illegal dumping at a city-operated composting facility last week, the State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has launched an investigation into the illegal dumping. On the same day, last Thursday, Department of Public Works supervisors instructed employees to put sweeper dirt in dumpsters rather than atop mounds already at the composting site.

The Judges and Police Executive Conference of Niagara County honored the group’s law enforcement officers of the year last Saturday night at Antonio’s Banquet and Conference Center in Niagara Falls.

Dave Trane has announced he is seeking both the Lewiston Town Board’s appointment as town Highway Superintendent and will be running for the office in the November elections.   The position has been vacant since February with the death of Douglas Janese who was re-elected last November in a narrowRead More

As each academic year nears its end, the Board of Education and District staff celebrate the more than 100 business and not-for-profit partners, as well as parents, grandparents, and other volunteers, who take an active role in students’ education year after year.

The most recent project I’ve been involved with was helping select a new operator for Sal Maglie Stadium. Needless to say, I think the City of Niagara Falls has hit a home run with the new group currently making major aesthetic improvements to the ball park – including plans to erect a new scoreboard and playing host to major youth baseball tournaments.

by Jim Ostrowski The older I get, the more I think that politics is a battle of the dictionaries.  Whoever has the best words, wins. The political movement I have been active in for 35 years is the contemporary revival of the movement that is responsible for most of whatRead More

In reading about Council member Kristen Grandinetti’s boneheaded idea about fining or jailing people who are taking humane steps to manage the area’s feral cat population, I couldn’t help but think that it’s too bad we can’t trap, spay and release Grandinetti somewhere other than Niagara Falls.

Airbnb is a website for people to list, find, and rent lodging. Founded in August 2008 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company is privately owned, and in the business of matching vacationers and business travelers with locals who want to rent out a room, apartment or house.

Last fall, the Niagara Falls City Council agreed to sell a landlocked half-acre city owned parcel to Sheraton at the Falls owner NFNY Hotel Management for $190,000. DiCienzo confirmed that the intentions are to add a water park to the hotel that has in recent years developed a T.G.I. Fridays, Rainforest Cafe, a candy store, and a Starbucks Cafe.