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THE TRUTH IS ALWAYS FAIR
Crogan’s long ordeal finally over... but it was a ....
DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 07, 2015
VOL. 15, NO. 50
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NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Mike Hudson
Crogan Prosecution Further Evidence
Of Political Influence on Justice System
The media firestorm that accompanied the arrest of local promoter Rick
Crogan on felony charges in June has
pretty much turned out to be much ado
about nothing. Crogan pleaded guilty late
last week to a charge of petit larceny, a
misdemeanor.
He was sentenced to perform 50
hours of community service and given a
one year conditional discharge by North
Tonawanda Judge William R. Lewis.
In October, Crogan paid $10,000 in
restitution as part of the plea agreement.
Formerly the head of the Main Street
Business Association, Crogan left that organization to launch the Niagara Falls
Music & Arts Festival, a for profit enterprise. The festival was a huge success,
drawing 18,000 people in 2013 despite
the fact that no big name musical acts performed.
When Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster offered Crogan $30,000 to help underwrite this year’s festival, Crogan turned
him down flat. And that may have been
the beginning of his problems.
Up popped a woman named Becky
Marchetti, who had worked as a volunteer
on the festival. A strong supporter of Dyster, Marchetti is also involved with Niagara Rises, an organization that has backed
the mayor and accepted city money in the
past. Marchetti went to police claiming
Crogan had taken $15,000 in festival
money donated by a local business and
spent it on himself, an allegation Crogan
vehemently denied.
He was charged with third- and
fourth-degree grand larceny and first-degree scheme to defraud, all felonies, after
what authorities said was a four-month investigation.
Dyster immediately announced the
arrest on his Facebook page along with
No good deed goes unpunished in Niagara Falls. Promoter extraordinaire Rick Crogan produced two of the most successful concert
events in Niagara Falls history without a dime of taxpayer money,
but his independence insulted the sensibilities of certain maligners. A witch hunt ensued.
what he said was a mugshot of Crogan
following an alleged arrest on unknown
charges in Longwood, Fla., in Seminole
County, way back in 1996.
Perhaps coincidentally, the Seminole
Tribe of Indians owns the Hard Rock
Cafe, competitors of Crogan for outdoor
festivals and music events in Niagara
Falls.
Florida police records show Crogan
was never convicted of any crime in connection with the purported 1996 mug
shot.
Reaction from Dyster’s Facebook
friends was swift and pretty brutal.
Dozens commented that the mayor was
attempting to convict the festival promoter without the benefit of a trial.
“Let me clear--the City has not supported the festival financially, but lots of
good people have a lot of time, money
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER
“The Truth is Always Fair”
CHAIRMAN & EDITOR IN CHIEF
Frank Parlato
PUBLISHER
Peter Mio
MANAGING EDITOR
Dr. Chitra Selvaraj
SENIOR EDITOR
Tony Farina
PHONE: (716) 284-5595
P.O. Box 3083, Niagara Falls, N.Y. 14304
Phone: E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.niagarafallsreporter.com
All contents copyright © 2014 Niagara Falls Reporter Inc.
and effort invested in making this event a
success,” Dyster responded lamely. “It
has been and I hope will in the future be
a positive thing for the City. The volunteers associated with the festival are trying to keep something positive happening
here regardless of the outcome of this situation. I shared this post because I was
hoping someone could shed some light on
previous history.”
To this day, Dyster has not revealed
where the purported mugshot came from,
but there can be little doubt that the Crogan investigation was politically motivated.
While the Hard Rock Café has never
had to account for the more than
$700,000 in taxpayer funding it has received for its downtown concert series,
and Idaho promoter Mark Rivers was
never asked to account for the $480,000
in public money he got to stage his disastrous 2011 Holiday Market fiasco here,
Crogan’s personal bank records, along
with those of the festival were seized and
examined by a forensic accountant.
Unsurprisingly, Dyster was a vocal
advocate of both the Hard Rock concert
series and the Holiday Market. And right
up until Crogan turned down his offer of
a public subsidy, he was also a strong supporter of the Niagara Music & Arts Festival, a fact underscored by an enthusiastic
letter he wrote that was entered into evidence at the sentencing by Crogan’s attorney, Joseph L. Leone Jr.
It’s an old saw among prosecutors
that you can indict a ham sandwich, but
they know better than most that getting a
conviction is a different matter entirely.
Still, to have three felony counts reduced
in a plea agreement to a single count of
petite larceny, a charge that would be
brought against someone who took a pack
of cigarettes from a convenience store, is
virtually unheard of.
For his part, Crogan said he accepted
the deal only to spare his family the ordeal
of a lengthy jury trial. The future of the
festival is uncertain at this point, he
added.
“We have not decided on anything on
the status of the festival right now,” Crogan said outside the courtroom.
Judge Lewis said he was impressed
by materials submitted to the court on
Crogan’s behalf, including more than two
dozen letters attesting to Crogan’s character.
“I believe that your client is a good
citizen who made bad choices,” Lewis
said in court.
The strange case of Rick Crogan offers further evidence that, in Niagara Falls
at least, it’s not what you do, it’s who you
are.
And where’s the justice in that?
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Crogan succeeded where others failed
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Instead of being praised and honored
for creating an event that “set the night
on fire” in Niagara Falls, Crogan was attacked by people with political influence and charged with three felonies
that prosecutors later learned they
could never prove. When Crogan
wouldn’t back down, they dropped the
felonies and gave him a single shoplifting charge. The judge gave Crogan a
conditional discharge.
All this pain and suffering for Crogan,
who really did nothing wrong, but
maybe accidentally mislead a few people into thinking his operations were
not for profit.
But let’s be clear, no one delivered any
money to him under false pretenses
and no one lost any money.
This should have never been prosecuted.
At the end of the day, Renewal by Andersen got plenty of advertising and a business write-off. Andersen wrote checks to Crogan’s
for profit business and clearly should have known his was not a
not for profit. It is characteristic of Rick Crogan that, despite doing
a great deal of good for the community, for which he should be
praised not condemned, he took his chastisement in stride, sought
to review his own mistakes- which were slight - and apologize for
these (see below). The malicious people who went after him and
tried to destroy his work are, in this publication’s view, far more
culpable...
An Apology From Rick Crogan
I would like to personally reach out to
the community, my friends and my family.
Those who know me, know I am the type
of person that takes responsibility for my
actions and that is what I have done. I
made the decision to accept a plea deal
after careful consideration. I had to make
the decision that was best for my family ,
my own personal health and the good of
the community.
Were things done wrong? Yes there
were and I have learned from my mistakes
and I have tried to make them right.
There are many things that contributed to this happening and I so sorry
that they got to where they ended up. I
have let down so many people but I hope
you all understand I never did anything intentionally or out of malice or greed. I
know now what I did wrong and I take full
accountability for those actions and ask
that the community forgive me.
I will continue to work whole heartedly for our city and I hope people will
begin to trust me again. They will see my
intentions have always been for the good
of the community and the betterment of
our city.
I want to thank everyone that knows
me and believes in me. I am humbled
daily when people I don't know stop me
on the streets to let me know that they support me and tell me that I need to stay
strong, believe in myself and keep working hard for our city. That is what I plan
on doing. Thank you again for your continued support and continued trust.
Richard "Rick" Crogan
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NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Mike Hudson
Casino Cash Could be Used as Spur
For Genuine Economic Development
New York residents pay the highest
average state and local taxes in the nation, averaging $9,718 per year, a whopping 39 percent higher than the national
median. And if you’re unfortunate
enough to live in Niagara County, and
Niagara Falls in particular, you’re paying
the highest taxes in the state.
If you’re working and own property,
that is. Well over half of Niagara Falls
residents are on the receiving end of the
equation, living on government benefits
covered by those paying the nearly $200
a week surcharge imposed by the state,
county and city governments for the privilege of living here.
That tax burden, which is even worse
for businesses than it is for individuals,
is the single largest factor driving people
away from New York and Niagara Falls
in particular. Seriously, why would anybody who had a choice pay 39 percent
more to live in a place where the weather
is miserable, the crime rate is spiraling
out of control and half the population is
living on food stamps?
They wouldn’t. Which is why the
population of the city drops by around a
thousand each and every year, a number
that has remained fairly consistent for
more than half a century. They go to
Florida or North Carolina or Nevada,
lured as much by the low tax rates as by
the balmy weather.
Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster,
who claims membership in the genius society Mensa, has offered up a novel approach to the problem: He has raised or
attempted to raise taxes during most of
his five years in office and squandered
more than $100 million in revenue from
the Seneca Niagara Casino on a number
of windmill tilting projects that have
brought no relief whatsoever to the city’s
beleaguered taxpayers.
Dyster argues that the casino cash
can be used only for economic development. His idea of economic development
has included free rock concerts by
washed up bands no one would actually
pay to see, a wintertime holiday market
that cost $500,000 to stage and generated
no revenue whatsoever, an Underground
Railroad museum that’s been funded to
the tune of nearly a million dollars in recent years and shows no sign of being
open anytime soon and a multimillion
dollar train station to serve the dozen or
two Amtrack riders who come and go
each day.
After spending $100 million, Dyster’s economic development policies cannot lay claim to having created a single
permanent, well paying job.
Apparently not occurring to the
mayor despite his high IQ is an economic
development approach that would almost
certainly result in the immediate creation
of jobs and lure hard working, taxpaying
residents back to the city: Using the
casino revenue to cut taxes.
Overnight, Niagara Falls could go
from being perhaps the highest taxed municipality in the nation to the lowest. It
would be a story the national media
would eagerly cover, and entrepreneurs
seeking tax relief would flock to the city
from all across the country.
No longer would Seth Piccirillo, the
city’s community development director,
have to pay recent college graduates to
relocate to Niagara Falls, they’d come
here on their own for the newly created
jobs.
And the city’s lending arm, NFC Development, would no longer need to dole
out millions of taxpayer dollars to shady
campaign contributors and political sycophants seeking to open saloons or remodel apartments, because private
investors would be willing to put up their
own cash for such enterprises, knowing
they’d turn a profit.
The value of real estate, which has
fallen even faster than the population
numbers, would skyrocket once the onerous tax burden was lifted. No longer
would the state Parole Board send registered sex offenders and other felons to
Niagara Falls because of the availability
of cheap housing.
All that said, what are the odds of
Mayor Paul Dyster using casino cash to
create a tax friendly enclave in Niagara
Falls that would solve the myriad problems now confronting the city?
Slim to none, and Slim just left town.
Because Dyster doesn’t trust the free
market, and believes that government is
the solution to, not the cause of, the social
and economic problems faced by the city.
A child of the 60s, he’s a firm believer in
the socialist concept that big government
is better government, and that City Hall
knows best when it comes to spending
people’s hard earned money.
He thinks that he and his appointees
know best when it comes to developing
business in the city, despite the fact that
no one at City Hall has ever developed a
business in real life.
So long as he is mayor, Niagara Falls
will remain one of the highest, if not the
highest taxed municipalities in the entire
country. Hardworking taxpayers will
continue to flee, and business people will
continue to shun the city as though it
were diseased.
Which is a shame, because it doesn’t
have to be that way.
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
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Falls Taxpayers can Learn a Casino-Cash Lesson From Sesame Street
Anna M. Howard
Niagara Falls - When one considers
the condition of city government in particular, and of local politics in general, it’s
only appropriate to use a children’s television program in order to illustrate a
teachable moment regarding Mayor Paul
Dyster’ abuse of taxpayer casino cash.
There is a sing-song learning lesson
on the Sesame Street show called “One of
these things is not like the other.” It features for example three objects such as an
apple, a banana and a shoe as the host
sings: “One of these things is not like the
other one of these things does not belong.”
On Sesame Street the visuals are easy
to grasp because they’re prepared for a
pre-school audience.
In the Dyster administration the
casino cash visuals are quite tricky with
those visuals appearing to be exactly
alike, one to the other, with only Paul
Dyster able to solve the difference.
Woe to anyone – elected official,
media, resident – who tries to tell the
mayor, he’s wrong in his assessment, because the mayor will then spout nonsense
about “I’m the casino cash gatekeeper…
I won’t allow state law 99-H to be violated!”
Consider these three items: Isaiah 61
allocation for a condemned fire hall,
Community Missions allocation to defray
a tax lien, and city public safety overtime
allocation.
Which one of these three was rejected
by Dyster as not based in economic development and therefore ineligible for
casino cash funding?
Answer: public safety overtime.
Yes, Mayor Dyster considers a casino
cash award of $500,000 to fix up an old
Mayor Paul Dyster says he decides what is proper use of
casino cash for economic
development. And lowering
taxes just is not the plan.
firehouse for the not for profit housing rehabilitation program operated by Isaiah
61 and a cash award to Community Missions of $150,000 to help relieve an IRS
lien to be matters of economic development.
In Dyster’s world using casino cash
for police and fire protection is not economic development
It gets even more confusing.
Also considered casino cash eligible
as matters of “economic development”
are tree trimming, tree stump removal, rebidding the train station, constructing the
train station, new automobiles for Code
Enforcement, police overtime in the
tourism district, parking consultants, pot
hole machine rental, repaving the city hall
parking lot, and the building of cart paths
on the golf course, to name but a few.
New Yorkers pay the highest average state and local taxes, at a wallet-busting $9,718 per year; that’s 39% higher than the national median. Even when adjusted for cost of living, New York still comes in
dead last.
Just this week the mayor added the
$23,000 purchase of police body cameras
to his list of eligible casino cash expenditures based, he claims, on economic development.
So, no overtime for police and fire
with casino cash, but overtime for police
in the tourism district is okay and police
body cameras are also acceptable casino
cash expenditures.
We aren’t going to debate the pros
and cons of police body cameras, that’s
not the subject of this article. We’re questioning the absolute capriciousness, the
pure whimsy, with which Dyster approaches the taxpayer casino cash account.
Confused?
That’s because Mayor Dyster wants
you to be confused.
As long as the casino cash is confused and the legalities of the spending
are unsettled law then he's free to refer to
himself as “the gatekeeper of the casino
cash account.”
Nowhere in all of this foolishness is
the Dyster administration hypocrisy more
on display than in how the city controller
and mayor first funded and then defunded (2011) and then re-funded (2014)
the positions in the city’s economic development department.
Prior to 2011, the economic development positions were paid for by casino
cash. In 2011, Dyster declared that this
was inappropriate use of casino cash and
that salaries should not be funded.
This year he said that casino cash
should fund economic development positions.
This funding and de-funding of the
city hall economic development positions
is the smoking gun that proves, beyond
question, that the casino cash expenditures are written on the wind and solely
in the control of Paul Dyster.
With the adoption of the 2015 city
budget it became clear that Mayor Dyster
sees the taxpayer casino cash as his
money to do with as he wishes.
We now see, more clearly than ever,
that he will continue to operate what in reality are two parallel, but never intersecting (unless he wants them to intersect)
city budgets: one based on city casino
money and the other based on “regular”
city money.
While the one budget suffers and
taxes rise, the other budget is used to pay
for train station re-bids, parking studies,
new cars for city hall, awards to not for
profits and other unsettled expenditures
all carried out with Caesar-like authority
by Dyster.
It’s time to call a foul on the mayor
and demand an end to his absolute control
of the taxpayer casino account.
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NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Dyster: “I’m The Gatekeeper of Casino Funds!”
Anna M. Howard
Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster thinks he is the
“gatekeeper of the casino cash.”
I know this because he said so on the Tom Darro
show last Wednesday.
Allow me to explain why the mayor is wrong.
First, there are no gates at city hall. The mayor’s office on the first floor has a door and inside sits the mayor.
One floor above the mayor is the city council office.
And, directly down the hall from the mayor’s office
is the Council Chambers, where the council meets and
deliberates before voting on items of city business.
Many, if not most, of those items awaiting a council
vote are from the mayor: such as casino cash expenditures that require council approval.
The approval of casino cash expenditures are, a collaborative effort, a blending of two branches of government: the legislative Council and the executive Mayor.
So, the mayor can’t spend casino cash without authorization of the city council.
That council authorization should be by no means a
rubber stamp. It should arrive after deliberation and the
voting process.
Like love and marriage, or a baby and a baby car-
riage, the mayor and the council go together on casino
expenditures…or they don’t go at all.
While the mayor would have us believe that the
casino cash is “mine all mine” to be divvied up as he
sees fit via a routine procedural council vote that guarantees his profligate ways, the reality is quite the opposite.
The casino funds are “city funds” that move to the
city like bed tax, property tax, sales tax, state or federal
appropriations and so on.
The office of the mayor has no special hold or authority with regard to these casino monies…no more so
than the usual responsibility to spend the funds honestly
and in good faith with total transparency and with the
support of a majority of the elected five members of the
council.
During his Darro performance the mayor went one
step further to illustrate how he believes he is indeed the
“decider in chief” when it comes to casino dollars.
The mayor said, “the casino cash is like a family
trust fund and I have to guard it.”
No, Mr. Mayor, you aren’t the attorney for the Ford
Foundation, you were elected to serve as mayor until
such time as your term ends or you resign.
A trust fund is a trust fund and a casino cash account
is a casino cash account.
That’s why they’re called by different names.
As Malcolm X famously said, “You can put a shoe
in an oven but that doesn’t make it a biscuit.”
Mayor Dyster’s use of the language is troubling.
Troubling not because it’s manipulative and heavyhanded, but troubling because his remarks betray a fundamental misunderstanding of mayoral powers…the
mayor is over-reaching and he thinks we don’t notice.
The casino cash resulted from the “city” losing 52
acres of prime downtown land and their convention center. The city’s “take” from the Seneca Niagara casino is
25% of the state’s 25% of casino slot revenue. That is
city taxpayer money.
No, Mr. Mayor you are not the “gatekeeper” and you
are not a “trust fund” attorney and you do not have unilateral powers to spend casino dollars, because the very
process you use to spend those dollars sends you through
the “gate” of the city council…a gate the council can figuratively close in your face if they choose.
And then you’d be unable to spend those casino dollars.
Mr. Mayor, let’s have less talk about gate keeping
and lawyers and trust funds and more talk about cooperation, transparency and what’s good for the residents of
Niagara Falls.
Another Skrlin Masterpiece: Budge It
The artist continues his masterful use
of language as a double edged sword. In
this case he is posing "budge" against
"budget" while presenting comical yet realistic - in terms of the two power positions they hold within Niagara Falls City
Hall - images of the City Controller and
the Mayor. How better to illustrate the
perceived relationship between the all
knowing, all powerful, all controlling
Controller and Mayor than to feature her
happily aboard the Mayor as she directs
him to the "money" to the "cash" to the,
as it were, the "love" that has so sadly
driven Paul Dyster's City Hall...at great
expense to the residents as they most recently were handed tax increases by the
Mayor and Controller. The artist is saying
that the city government has given in to
the craven drive for money and personal
power which comes at the cost of both
good government and taxpayer dollars.
Like a monstrous turtle (note the Frankenstein Monster head of the mayor) that
moves slowly but inevitably toward the
brink of the falls the entire sad scenario is
in the reins (or is it cleverly "reigns") of
the city controller.
--Rockwell Peabody
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
2015 Budget Wrap-Up
Glenn Choolokian
Niagara Falls Councilman
Now that the 2015 city budget
process is behind us, there’s one thing that
we – residents, media, elected officials –
can agree on: the process was a glaring
example of bad government and poor
communication.
Non-transparency, shifting financial
information and a working document that
the mayor withheld from the council for
37 days guaranteed that the end product
would be costly to the residents through
increased taxes and mismanaged taxpayer
dollars.
While the confusion over the budget
was constant throughout its preparation, I
want to note that steps were taken to limit
that confusion and improve the budget as
received by the council from Mayor Paul
Dyster.
After receiving the mayor’s budget I
contacted my council colleagues and requested that we discuss ways to improve
the mayor’s document. For days I emailed
and spoke to my fellow council members
regarding the need for us to act quickly in
light of the 37-day delay.
After we got together I presented
more than 80 budget resolutions. The
only way a proposed mayoral budget can
be changed is through such resolutions. I
was sincerely trying to improve the
budget that the mayor handed us: a budget
with job cuts, services threatened, and big
tax increases.
At the end of this difficult budget
process the council adopted many of my
resolutions. Many of those resolutions involved the use of casino funds to address
problem areas.
I won’t use this column to debate the
mayor’s use of casino cash except to say
that until the mayor and council work together to write a casino cash spending
plan, the confusion over what is and isn’t
acceptable as a casino cash expense will
only increase.
Having said that I believe the mayor
has no intention of writing a casinospending plan because he seems to enjoy
the confusion regarding these funds. That
confusion gives him cover as he disburses
the cash.
The Dyster administration is suffering not only from a serious fiscal deficit
but also from an unacceptable transparency deficit.
How can the council improve the
budget, and how can the residents understand the city finances when the deficit
and budget numbers are a moving target
that begin their confusing movement in
August before coming to rest as the
budget is approved in December?
Monday morning budget quarterbacks like to say “The budget figures are
available to the council any time they
want them and they have no excuse for
being confused!”
Recent city budget history has shown
that the city deficit, city revenue, and the
delivery of the working budget by the
mayor has been an exercise in non-transparency and administrative irregularities.
At the end of the day I believe this nontransparency is practiced to frustrate the
good intentions of the council and the interests of concerned residents.
Which brings me to the 2013 audit of
city finances by the New York State
Comptroller. That audit was the result of
hundreds of hours of work performed by
the Comptroller’s staff out of Buffalo.
Chief among the audit recommendations was that the city should stop using
“one-shot” gimmicks to close operating
deficits. The audit reported that the city
was paying out more money than it was
taking in and had created a recurring
structural deficit.
After the audit was delivered the
Dyster administration refused to fix the
problem and to this day is still using oneshot gimmicks to close the repeating
deficit. If that weren’t bad enough the
mayor keeps handing out overtime, raises
and stipends as if it was Christmas. And
on top of this he’s built more parks, created more over-head, and still has not addressed how he will fund the operation of
his train station.
In the meantime the mayor continues
to hire consultants while contracting out
increasing amounts of law and engineer
The evolution of the Niagara Falls taxpayer....
work. Incredibly, he now wants to open
his own animal shelter!
Transparency, communication, a
casino cash-spending plan and the good
advice of the NYS Comptroller are all we
7
need to improve our finances.
This city is failing and it’s failing in
the face of a casino cash windfall.
It looks like Mayor Dyster didn’t get
the memo.
8
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Frank Parlato
It was a year of breaking stories, railing against injustice and taking on the big
shots.
That's what the Niagara Falls Reporter
does.
Every year.
Over the course of the year we exposed some wrongdoings that got addressed, some that got partly addressed
and some that continued on their merry
way despite exposure that in a cleaner
more transparent kind of government with alert people - would have died from
the sunlight.
Throughout the year we harped on
general injustice. The growing fascist state
that is America, the lack of respect for its
people, the lack of understanding of freedom principles that made this nation great.
And the ignoring of them - while creating
the nanny big government state which is
destroying America.
We believe in freedom.
Among the topics we wrote about is
the legalization of the plant known as marijuana - based on freedom principles. The
repeal of the monstrous SAFE Act, which
curbs the people's second amendment
rights with a form of arbitrary and capricious meddling by government into the
people's right to bear arms. We wrote
about the First Amendment and of lowering taxation. One of our stories was "Income Equality Another Name for
Communism" and we railed against the
DREAM Act and Cuomo's plan for taxpayers to pay for college for convicts.
And we got into the topic of jury nullification, where the jury can veto laws on
a case by case basis. We started our series
in March with "Jury Nullification, legalization of marijuana and high taxes."
But our main work was local coverage.
We inveigled against the stupendous
waste of money that Niagara Falls Mayor
Paul Dyster seems to love. After all, Niagara Falls get some $20 million per year in
casino cash and it is broke.
The headlines tell the story - of the almost one million words we wrote this
year:
Among the headlines were: "City
Rolls Through Casino Windfall in Short
Order; Dyster Administration Squandered
Millions" (April1) "There But For the
Grace of the Casino Goes Dyster" (Sept 2)
"A Simple Plan: Use Seneca Casino
Money To Reduce Property Taxes, Period!
(Sept 2) "Niagara Falls Needs a Casino
Cash-Spending Plan...Yesterday”(Sept 9);
"Gaming Industry Future Uncertain While
City Pins Hopes on Comeback; Competition Stiffens for Seneca Niagara As New
Casinos Open Just About Everywhere"
(Sept 16) "Controller's Report Reflects
Drop in Casino Cash", "Casino Revenue
Cut by $1.4 Million; Dyster Wants $1.5
Million for State", "Dyster Use of FastDisappearing Casino Funds Shape Shifts
From Economic Development to Day-to
Day Expenses" (Nov 4).
Occasionally the Niagara Falls council would listen and refuse to heap casino
The Year 2014; It was a Very Good Year
The Reporter frequently criticized Mayor Paul Dyster’s use
of taxpayer money to throw
concerts and beer parties.
money on Dyster's hare brained schemes,
but for the most part it was a waste of ink:
the majority of the council are not convinced that tax reduction is economic development.
We also harped on the new train station, saying it is unneeded. We alone of all
media revealed that only about nine passengers come to Niagara Falls per day and
we alone took the position that this is
hardly justification for building a $45 million train station. While the other media argued for Dyster saying that most of the
money is provided by federal and state
money to build the new train station, we
pointed out that the city still has to kick in
millions to build it and will have to pay
millions more to maintain and operate it.
We predict that the train station will be a
huge, empty and expensive to maintain
building and may perhaps be one day shuttered.
We wrote about it frequently:
"Groundbreaking Event for Train Station
Attracts 150; Number at ceremony far exceeds expected ridership (June 10) "Train
Station Just Wasteful Foolishness" (June
17) and "Dyster Poetic As He Exaggerates
New Train Station Impact."
Throughout the year we fought Covanta Niagara's expansion plan to bring
New York City garbage to Niagara Falls
by the trainload.
The Reporter broke the story of how
rats were besieging the LaSalle neighborhood and many believed that Covanta
garbage was the reason. We broke the
story of the rats, exposed how Covanta
was getting huge tax breaks, and, as one of
our stories’ headline read, "Despite the
Spin, Covanta Is a Polluter." We predicted
Covanta will expand further, with more
air pollution and more rats. Some of our
stories: "Dead Babies, Pollution, Rat Infestation, All Part and Parcel of Covanta's
Business... But They're Giving us $25k for
a Park" (May 6) "Rats Invade, Torment
Neighborhood in LaSalle" (Sept 16) "Dyster Plays King as Rats Take Control in
LaSalle" (Sept 23) "Covanta Expansion a
Done Deal? Magic Eight Ball Says YES!"
(Oct 7)
We had better success against Quasar's
plan to spread human manure on farms in
Niagara County. In this we were aided by
thousands of people who protested it. We
wrote "Quasar Trying to Feed Us a Load
of Equate, Company Wants to Spread
Sewage Extract on Farm Fields" (Apr 08)
"Quasar Hires Top Environmental PR/Crisis Management Firm," "Company Faces
Opposition over spreading human manure
on local farms." (May 6) and other stories.
Throughout the year, we poked fun at
Dyster and his love of beer with stories
such as "State of the Art of Beer," "The Art
of Beer Coming Soon," All Beer All the
Time in Dyster-World" "Beer, Football and
Facebook, Mayor's Interests like College
Student" and "Dyster At and On Oktoberfest - and its Beer".
When we read an interview with Dyster saying he gave his phone number out which we knew to be untrue - we gave it
out for him. On March 11 we wrote, "Reporter Provides Dyster's Home Phone
Number to Man with a Problem," and on
June 24 "Dyster's Cell Phone and Private
Email Addresses Revealed So He Can be
the Man of the People He claims."
And we pointed out how, while the
rest of the free world loved Nik Wallenda,
Mayor Dyster sought to (successfully )
keep him from developing in Niagara
Falls. We wrote: "Nik Wallenda: Beyond
Paul Dyster" and "Was Dyster Really
Against Wallenda?" (Feb 25) "Niagara
Falls Let Wallenda Get Away, And for that,
Darien Lake is Happy" (April 15).
In January we took a contrarian position with our story on Robert Elder: "On
Elder Sex Abuse Case, Slow Down He
May Be Innocent"
Elder a former council candidate was
accused (and we believed falsely) by a
young girl of fondling her. We did some
investigation and discovered it appeared to
be a lie. We wrote it as we saw it. Later in
the year the charges were dismissed
against Elder. On September 9 we had the
pleasure of publishing "Elder Exonerated
of Child Sex Charges Just as we Thought."
We hit again with "Petrolgate" a scandal about how Lewiston town officials
kept gas thefts by two policemen a secret.
We not only exposed the thefts but named
the two officers involved and what their
penalties were: One was fired and the
other suspended for 45 days.
Early in the year we also were first to
break the story that Niagara Falls was
ranked as One of the Most Dangerous
Cities in America by Neighborhood Scout,
and later broke the story that it was ranked
as the most dangerous in the state by My
Life.
We had our share of shocking stories
like "Teacher Convicted of Attempted
Statutory Rape Gets Job at Niagara Falls
Water Board" and "Child Protective Services Keeps Mom Away From Terminally
Ill Daughter" (Feb 11) the latter which was
the inside story on how a young girl with
cancer was denied the right to see her
mother. Last week, we reported on how it
all ended, "Bureaucratic Indifference,
New York Style Contributes to Little Girl's
Suffering, Death" with the death of the 8year-old and how she might have been
saved by medical marijuana.
And in February, while pipes were
freezing on 72nd St in LaSalle and Mayor
Dyster was making it sound mysterious,
we went over there, checked it out, talked
to contractors and figured it out: When the
Dyster administration did the road work,
they did not bury the water lines below the
freeze line. Our stories "Frozen Water
Lines on 72nd Street Caused by Another
Botched Engineer-less Dyster Road Job"
and "Frozen Water-Gate... Icy Deception
Real Blame for Frozen Lines Belongs to
Water Board" did not fix the problem but
it at least stopped Dyster from blaming it
on everyone but himself.
Throughout the year, we wrote about
sex offenders in Niagara Falls - which has
the highest percentage of registered sex offenders in New York with stories as (Mar
11) "Man Shares Concerns Over Sex Offenders Living in LaSalle" (May 6) "More
Sexual Predators on Chilton Avenue? Dyster Props up Population Once Again"
(May 27) "More New Sex Offenders Than
College Grads Under Piccirillo, Dyster
Plans" (July 22) "Sex Offender Epidemic
Reporter Reviews It’s Coverage for the year
Growing Larger Here With Every Passing
Day" (Nov 18) Pescrillo's Chilton Ave.
Warehouse For Sex Offenders Now
Strictly a Money Maker"
Our hard hitting stories on the dereliction of the Lewiston Town Board under
the leadership of former supervisor Steven
Reiter was widely credited for the sudden
resignations of two board members Ernie
Palmer and Mike Marra.
On Mar 4, we predicted that William
Conrad would replace Palmer: "Conrad
Seen As Possible Favorite Among Candidates to Replace Palmer".
Among our breaking stories on Reiter
-which for the first time got the former supervisor on the record explaining his theft
of gas from the people of Lewiston were
(Feb 25) "Former Supervisor May Have
Stuffed His Pockets With More Than Gas"
(Mar 4) "What Else Did He Steal? Comptroller's Office Looking Into Reiter" (Mar
11) "State Auditors Looking at Joseph
Davis Park, More Than $1.5 Million
Spent, Much of it Missing, (April 8) "New
Scandal Hits Lewiston; Worker's Use of
Diesel Fuel Questioned, His Job Terminated" .
While the stories were entertaining,
and the former supervisor a colorful and
lovable rogue, it did not mean too much.
People shook their heads and laughed and
waited for out next edition.
Then we sunk out teeth into something more meaty in Lewiston: The
planned Senior complex on Reiter's
mother's land happened to have been rezoned (by Reiter) and was, we suspected,
sure to be other than what was promised.
We wrote a series of stories: We began
with (Mar 25) "Modern Lawsuit Names
Reiter, Town, in Battle over Zoning of Reiter Land; Washuta Seeks Injunction to
Halt Senior Complex As Illegally ReZoned". From there we wrote about it almost every week, finding out new facts:
(April 1) "New Revelations in Reiter Modern Lawsuit Make the Entire Matter
Curious; Reiter Said He Had No Ownership Interest but Documents Say Otherwise" (April 22) "The Story Behind
Lewiston's Bridgewater Estates … Reveal
More Reiter Subterfuge" (April 29) "Reiter, 19 Percent a Liar? Who's the Owner?
Timeline Shows Sloma, Reiter Deeply Involved In Bridgewater's Raft of Surprisingly Lax Approvals" (May 6) "Plot
Thickens as Reiter's Planned Senior Housing in Lewiston Looks More Like Low Income Housing Project" (May 13) "The
Scam At Reiterville Worsens as Facts
Emerge, Media Catches On" (May 20)
"Judge Asks Pointed Questions About Reiter's Involvement in Bridgewater Project," (May 27) "Bridgewater Lawyer
Claims Reiter Not an Owner But Facts,
Common Sense Tell a Different Story"
(June 3), "Crucial Day Coming for
Bridgewater, Zoning Board Can Send Developers Packing" (June 10) "Lewiston
Bridgewater Project Set for Town Zoning
Showdown" (June 17) "Bridgewater Site
was Pre-70's Gas Station and Body Shop
Yet No Environmental Study!" and finally
we wrote the death knell story on June 24,
"Future Looking Bleak for Bridgewater".
It was bleak. Town Board Cancels Bridgewater SEQRA Approvals, Developers
Must Start From Scratch! (July 1)
The ill advised project was withdrawn.
Sometimes no matter how often we
write about it, no one in power pays attention. Take the case of the overrated maybe - never- to-be-built Hamister hotel.
Not only did we not stop the city from
giving away a multi-million dollar piece
of city-owned land to corporate welfare
developer Mark Hamister for a mere
$100,000 and not only did we rightly predict that Hamister would downgrade his
hotel, but it did not matter: the government
gave him more money and no one seems
to have caught on that the taxpayers got
the shaft on this one.
That did not stop us from trying. We
wrote "All Quiet on the Hamister Front,
Too Quiet" (May 20); "Hamister Hotel
Project Just a Hyatt? Developer Announces Even More Delays"(June 24);
"Hamister's Proposed Hyatt Place More
Appropriate Near Airport," (July 1)
"Hamister's Hotel Not Quite a Game
Changer"; (July 15) "Hamister's Hyatt
Place Still Not a Done Deal"; "WGRZ
10
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Reporter year-end review (cont): win some, lose some....
Joins Reporter and Gets it; Hamister Hotel
Doubtful." (Oct 7); "Hamister Hotel Project Scaled Back, No Comment From Dyster, Cuomo," (Oct 28) and "Hamister
Project Falls Short of Hype".
Keep in mind the jury is still out.
Hamister is more than a year late in getting
started. It remains to be seen whether he
builds next year or at all.
Then there was the scandals at the
state park. The Reporter is the only publication that calls out the Niagara Falls State
Park for being a business in competition
with the city, and favoring Albany interests
over the city, while pretending to be a partner with the city.
We broke the shocking story about
how the Niagara Falls State Park was
being "improved" by tearing out the old
limestone paths and installing $60 per
square foot granite only available from
one supplier in Albany. "Prospect Point
Improvement Plan Includes Use of Overpriced Granite" (Mar 4) "Granite-Gate
Part 2 Saratoga Husband and Wife Team
Develop and Execute Plans for Expensive
Granite in State Park" (Mar 25), "Saratoga
Springs Reaps Big Rewards From Niagara
Falls State Park Project" (April 29) and
other stories told a tale of waste if not corruption.
Other stories condemned the park’s
plans such as "New One-Way Robert
Moses South Parkway Plan Directs Motorists to State Park, Avoiding City and its
Businesses" (April 1) "De-Olmsteding
Park Promotes Short Stays" (June 3) "Reporter Calls on State Park to Restore Public Access to All of Three Sisters Islands"
(Nov 18) and many others.
Then there was the story of how Gov
Andrew Cuomo gave the Maid of the Mist
owner a $100 million gift of taxpayer
money when he handed a 30 year lease to
the politically connected James Glynn.
We wrote plenty on this: "Sleek, Modern Hornblower Fleet A New Standard in
Niagara Basin, Elderly Maid of the Mist
tubs harken back to 1970s", "Ontario gets
Millions While New Yorkers Settle for
Broken Down Boat Ride in Deal", "Hornblower Appeal to be Heard Sept 3, Seeks
to overturn Glynn no bid Maid of the Mist
deal", "Politicos Here Love Maid of the
Mist Deal That Cost Taxpayers Millions in
Revenue", were some of the stories we
wrote this year. Another was "State Park
for Sale: Glynn Gets More Than Half the
Total Revenue in the Niagara Falls State
Park," (June 3) and "Hornblower Lawyer
'We Will Pay $100M more than Glynn!'"
(Aug 5).
One of our biggest victories of the
year was breaking the story of the State
Parks Police plan of building new barracks
right on the gorge. The resultant outcry
from the people and other media following
our story stopped the project.
We broke the story with "New State
Parks Police Barracks to Mar Niagara
Gorge, Proposed Building Mockery of Development Plans", (May 27). Later we
wrote: "Plans Halted for Parks Police Barracks" (June 17).
Over the summer, we took on Artpark
The Reporter opposed the Covanta plan to bring in NYC garbage.
and their ridiculous need to burden taxpayers with their concerts. With the help of
Lewiston Supervisor Dennis Brochey, we
scored some success as Artpark's subsidies
were reduced.
Our stories included "Tax, Drugs and
Rock and Roll - Brochey Calls Out Artpark (Apr 29) "Fight Continues Over Subsidizing Artpark & Company", "Ringo
Starr Concert is Subsidized by the Town"
(June 24) "Megadeth slated to Perform at
Artpark Next Week, Decadent band to be
subsidized by Lewiston, State" (July 8)
"Erie County Business Leaders Run Artpark like Some Private Club," (July 8).
In July we broke the inside story on
George Maziarz's sudden retirement and
wrote the comprehensive "Maziarz Retirement Marks End of Era in Niagara County
Politics (July 15).
We opposed Mayor Dyster's mania to
fund with the people's money concerts by
Hard Rock and other concert promoters.
In this we scored some victories, thanks in
large part to councilman Andrew Touma
who wouldn't support giving the billion
dollar Hard Rock Corp. the taxpayers'
money.
"Dyster Attempt to Revive Hard Rock
Concerts Shot Down by City Council
(May 13) "Taxpayers Sing the Blues as
Dyster Squanders Their Cash" (July 8)
"Dyster Hastily Pulls Funding Resolution
After Touma Puts $10K Cap on Blues
Funding" "Fuzzy Math Behind Dyster's
Argument to Throw Public Money at
Blues Concert" (July 22) "Taxpayers to
Foot Bill for Dyster's New Year's Eve
Hard Rock Gala (Dec 9) were some of the
stories we loved to write.
A series of stories on the city budget
started in October when Mayor Paul Dyster was supposed to deliver his budget. We
continued to criticize Dyster on his lack of
a spending plan for casino cash and his
lack of transparency on all budget matters.
"Exploding the City Budget and Finance Myths," "Dyster's Disappearing
Budget Demands Explanation," "The Reporter Offers to 'Restructure' City Finances" and "No Rhyme or Reason to
Justify Dyster's Casino Cash Spending",
were some of our favorite stories.
One of our more popular stories this
year was the revelation of the true reason
why former Lockport Mayor Michael
Tucker resigned suddenly. "Former Lock-
port Mayor's Resignation Alleged as an
Attempt to Reign in Scandal" broke on
May 13. Our next story "Lockport Woman
Describes Sexual Degradation at Hands of
Ex-Mayor, Says Tucker used office to coerce sexual gratification" (May 20) was
equally well read.
Like many stories which are more entertaining than change-oriented, this one
quickly ran its course.
We "discovered" cartoonist Gerald
Skrlin, who rose to celebrity, as it were,
when a cartoon of his lampooning Acting
City Controller Maria Brown got Acting
Mayor Kristen Grandinetti and Brown so
upset that they tried to have the distributor
of the cartoon arrested. While the offending cartoon was not published in other
media, naturally the Reporter published it,
despite it being what some might call in
bad taste.
We reported on crime, from the very
serious to the minor, almost laughably stupid criminality that often happens here.
Mike Hudson's This Week in Stupid Crime
was a popular column throughout the year.
We published guest views from a series of distinguished local residents and
opinion makers such as Councilmen
Glenn Choolokian and Robert Anderson,
Memorial Hospital CEO Joseph Ruffolo,
NF School Supt. Cynthia Bianco, political
writer Roger Stone, Hornblower CEO,
Terry MaCrae, and Hornbower lawyer
Richard Jacobs, attorney Robert Restaino,
Former Councilman Sam Fruscione, ExFBI Agent J. Gary DiLaura, former City
administrator Tom Lizardo and many others.
We broke the story of Dyster's
planned reelection campaign when we reported his first ultra private fund raiser at
the Red Coach.
The Reporter also did a series of stories on the streets of Niagara Falls: "Prostitutes Interviewed While at Work" (Nov
4) "Police Work in the 'Most Dangerous'
City" (Nov 18) "Drug Culture Seen
Through the Eyes of Local Addicts" (Dec
03) were among our best read stories of
the year.
We also wrote about the travesty at
Jayne Park with "Me Dyster, You Jayne
Park, Will Mayor revisit Unpopular Plan?"
(Aug 5) "Jayne Park Plans Not Final But
City is Moving Fast Forward to Spend
Grant" (Aug 19) "Sunday in the Park with
Paul, The Mayor Discovers Cayuga Island
in Time for Reelection" (Sept 2) and other
stories on the decimation of the once beautiful local park in order to blow off some
grant money.
We also broke the story of Dyster's reverse sized garbage totes and his new trash
plan.
It led ultimately to the council allowing residents to have larger totes for refuse.
Some of our stories were "Dyster
Garbage Plan Utter Trash" (June 3) "Possible Solutions to the Flawed Garbage
Plan" (June 17) "Garbage Plan is Set, City
Forging Ahead for Aug 1 Deadline Without Regard to the People's Protests" (July
1) "Complicated New Garbage Ordinance
To Penalize Landlords, Small Business"
"Dyster trash plan and enforcement dumps
on residents" (July 8). "Big Brother In
Your Garbage Cans? New Totes Have
RFID Chips to Monitor Recycling" "What
Kind of Green is Dyster's Garbage Plan?"
"New Recycle Totes: Big Green and
Insatiable" (July 22).
From the start, we criticized Community Development Director Seth Piccirillo's bizarre plan to have taxpayers pay
recent college graduates to live in Niagara
Falls and predicted it would be a dismal
failure. On April 8 we got the pleasure of
saying "I told you so" with our story "Bold
Initiative to Pay People to Live Here Attracts Just Seven Lost Souls."
We did a lot of one shot stories that
had big impacts such as "Lewiston Residents Paid for Tango, Moonwalking, Abacus, Records Show" (June 3); "Failed
Parking Lot at Joe Davis Leads to Investigation," (July 1); "Albion Gun Shop
Records Taken, Gun Owner Arrested, as
SAFE Act Enforcement Barrels Down"
(Sept 2); "Bid Rigging in Lockport? RFP
for Voting Booth Storage Seemed 'TailorMade' to Favor Ulrich" (September 9);
"Isaiah 61 Storefront Condemned, While
Dyster Does God's Work With Casino
Cash," (Sept 23) "Isaiah 61 Founder Slips
Out of Town After City Approves Casino
Cash Deal", (Oct 7) "Muslim Center,
Mosque May be Coming to Wheatfield …
at Location of Suzanne's Fine Dining,"
(Oct 21) and "Water Board Bigwigs Take
Pay, Benefits Hikes Back to Where They
Really Live", (Nov 4).
Finally we tried to explain the budget
process to the residents of this city.
Stories such as "With $9 M Deficit,
Cuts Won't Come Easy", "Late Budget
Should Come as no Surprise Neither
Should Size of Deficit", "Dyster Deficit by
Any Other Name Means Higher Taxes"
"Oh, Budget How do I Cut Thee... Let Me
Count the Ways" and "Reporter Proposes
to Solve City Budget Woes”.
The Reporter wishes to thank its able
writers - Mike Hudson, Tony Farina, Anna
M. Howard, Chitra Selvaraj and James
Hufnagel and of course its readers.
We had a pretty good year.
Stick around.
Next year promises to be even better.
12
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
13
16
DAILY PROGRAMS O/N BOCES
**There are no fees for these programs.
**ADULT BASIC EDUCATION/HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY
This course is designed for the adult learner interested in completing their High School Equivalency diploma. It is also recommended for anyone who has been away from school for a long
period of time or for those who feel they need prior preparation for
the TASC Exam. The course reviews the basics of English, Mathematics and Reading. Applications are available at the Community Education Center. The course and TASC exam are free of
charge. New York State has selected a new high school equivalency test called the TACS™ to replace the GED® as the primary
pathway to a NYS High School Equivalency Diploma.
Stephanie Bevacqua
Call for information: 286-0768
**ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE FOR THE FOREIGN
BORN
Developed for the adult learner to read and speak the English Language.
Joan Caldwell
Call for information: 286-0772
**NATIONAL EXTERNAL DIPLOMA PROGRAM (NEDP)
This is a non-instructional program that incorporates a variety of
assessment techniques, which are designed for the adult learner
who has acquired academic skills through life experiences. The
techniques include home projects, performance assessments, interviewing and documentation review. NEDP provides competent
adults with the opportunity to earn a regular, High School diploma.
Qualifications: 21 years and older.
Erica Kopp
Call for information: 278-8154
Stephanie Bevacqua
Call for information: 286-0768
CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANT PROGRAM
The program consists of ten weeks of instructional classes held at
the Niagara Falls City School District Community Education Center. The clinical instruction is held at Our Lady Peace Nursing
Home. You will receive a New York State certification upon successful completion of the program. Cost to be determined.
Qualifications: 21 years and older with no high school diploma
Terry Josker
Call for information: 731-4176 ext. 4445
SPECIAL INTERESTS
SO YOU WANT TO BE A CLOWN – PART I
Come one, come all. This
hands-on, interactive class will
have you on your way to becoming a great clown. Get introduced to the art of clowning by
exploring the history of clowning
and learning about the different
types of clowns. Discover your
own clown persona and receive
helpful hints on putting together
a fascinating costume and the
art of developing your clown face
using grease paint. Other items
covered but not limited to, are:
balloon animals, basic magic tricks, plate spinning and juggling.
(Minimum of 5 students required.)
Beverly Eiler NFHS Weds., 5 weeks, 1/14 – 2/11, 6:30 – 8:30
pm $35.00
SO YOU WANT TO BE A GREAT CLOWN - PART II
This class is designed as a continuation of Clowning – Part I for
students that would like to expand their knowledge and skills.
In this class we will continue with
balloon animals, magic tricks,
juggling, puppetry, storytelling,
skits and performing at birthday
parties. Students continue to
learn skills enabling them to become a great clown. At the end
of this five-week session, all
clowns will participate in a graduation ceremony, enabling all students to show off their skills in front of family, friends and other
clowns. Supply costs vary depending on the skills the students
want to pursue. (Minimum of 5 students required.)
Beverly Eiler NFHS Weds., 5 weeks, 2/18 – 3/18, 6:30 – 8:30
pm $35.00
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS
If learning how to use a computer is something you have been putting off, this is the class for you! This class is designed as an introduction to computers for beginning students ...like you! Class
17
starts with “Here’s the on button.” You will become familiar
with the very basics that include
parts of the computer, how to
use the mouse, games, searching the Internet & email. Class
size will be limited to a small
group for more one-on-one help
and instruction. (Maximum of
7, minimum of 5 students required for each class.)
Carol Hartwig CEC 205 6
weeks, Tues. Jan. 13 – Feb. 17
3:00-5:00 pm
$45.00
Fitness program targeting upper
and lower body, abs, legs and buttocks – plus cardiovascular workout
(bring hand weights).
Susana Nicholas
CEC (60th
St.) Gym
Tues & Thurs 7:008:00 pm $45.00
SWIMNASTICS
Have fun getting fit with stretching, toning, water exercise in the
pool. This program is suitable for those with or without swimming
background. Experience increased flexibility, stomach, and cardiovascular benefits. (Limit 12)
Each class is $30.00.
FITNESS ACTIVITIES
GOLF FOR BEGINNERS AND INTERMEDIATES
The grip, stance, and basic mechanics of swing
taught along with club use, rules, etiquette, and
procedure of play and other facets of golf. Bring
a 2’ x 2’ rug sample (mat), a wood #5, 6, or 7
iron club and 6 or more wiffle balls. Please wear
soft sole shoes. (Minimum 6, Limit 12 students).
Tom Etopio
at CEC (60th St.) Gym
7:00-8:00 pm $30.00
TOTAL BODY WORKOUT
Mon.,
Susana Nicholas
Susana Nicholas
Susana Nicholas
Susana Nicholas
Susana Nicholas
Susana Nicholas
Susana Nicholas
Susana Nicholas
Susana Nicholas
CEC Pool
CEC Pool
CEC Pool
CEC Pool
CEC Pool
CEC Pool
CEC Pool
CEC Pool
CEC Pool
Mon 10:00-11:00 am
$30.00
Mon 11:00-12:00 pm
$30.00
Mon 6:30-7:30 pm
$30.00
Tues 9:00-10:00 am
$30.00
Tues 10:00-11:00 am
$30.00
Wed 11:00 am-12:00 pm $30.00
Wed 6:30-7:30 pm
$30.00
Thurs 10:00-11:00 am $30.00
Thurs 11:00-12:00 pm $30.00
AEROBIC DANCE (DANCE IT)
Is there a closet dancer hidden deep inside you? Join
Dance It, and set her free!!
Dance It’s a well-balanced,
whole body workout that allows you to strengthen your
cardiovascular system, using
all the muscles in your body.
The up-beat, inspirational
music carries us through the
movements needed to release our everyday stresses. This program is geared for dancers and non-dancers who thrive in an atmosphere where FUN is a big part of fitness.
Susana Nicholas CEC (60th St.) Gym Mon & Wed 5:30-6:30 pm
$45.00
Susana Nicholas CEC (60th St.) Gym Tues & Thurs 6:00-7:00
pm $45.00
WATERWALKING
Exercise your entire body with added benefit of water resistance.
One-half hour equals two hours of street walking. (Limit 10)
Susana Nicholas
Susana Nicholas
CEC Pool
CEC Pool
Mon. Noon-1 pm
Wed. Noon-1 pm
$30.00
$30.00
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
It Took a While, but Cuomo Bans Fracking
Tony Farina
It took six years, but at the end of the day Gov.
Andrew Cuomo has risked the wrath of the energy industry and made permanent the ban against hydraulic
fracturing in New York.
The experts in health and conservation under
Cuomo were in agreement that there was an absence of
reliable health studies or proof that drillers can protect
the public as well diminishing economic prospects associated with fracking.
Hydraulic fracturing is a well-stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a hydraulically pressurized liquid to extract shale gas, tight gas, tight oil,
and coal steam gas. While the energy industry supports
fracturing for its economic benefits, opponents have
raised concerns about the environmental impact of the
process including contamination of ground water.
According to poll figures, New Yorkers are
about equally divided about fracking, but Cuomo has
supported his health commissioner’s view that he
wouldn’t want his family to live near it [fracturing] and
19
suggested it could be like secondhand smoke, which
studies have found to be harmful.
“If the state health commissioner [Howard
Zucker] doesn’t want his kids living there, then I don’t
want my kids living there and I don’t want any New
Yorker’s kids living there. I am not going to put health
at risk for jobs. I’m not going to make that choice.”
While Cuomo has come under fire for his decision from business interests in the Southern Tier, some
of whom may see his decision as one based in politics,
he has won praise from environmentalists who say he
made the right decision for the safety of New Yorkers.
The decision by the governor certainly plays
well among his liberal followers in New York and
maybe beyond the state’s borders as many believe he
still harbors presidential ambitions down the road.
Dyster Press Release May Signal Intention to Overturn Frackwater Ban
Frack waste water treatment not banned by Cuomo decision
James Hufnagel
There's no doubt that Gov. Andrew
Cuomo wanted fracking in upstate New
York. He wanted fracking so bad he
could taste it.
Fracking is practiced in dozens of
other states, particularly presidential
election swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. It wouldn’t have looked good
on a presidential candidate to be banning
the practice outright.
Last year’s State Energy Master Plan
draft, prepared by the Cuomo administration, indicated that fracked natural gas
will play a key role in the state’s energy
portfolio over the next decade.
Fracking probably could have provided a short-term windfall of jobs and
tax revenues in certain economically-depressed southern tier counties, gold rushstyle. Like most gold rushes, it would
have meant five or ten years of prosperity, and ruined land and water for good.
That’s why Cuomo's first policy position
on fracking, years ago, was to prohibit it
on hundreds of square miles of New York
City watershed. “But if the rednecks of
Tioga and Steuben counties want to
frack, let ‘em frack,” the governor can be
imagined saying.
When the Reporter first broke the
story in July of 2011 that the Niagara
Falls Water Board was planning to import millions of gallons of produced
water from gas wells (“frackwater”) for
treatment and discharge into the Niagara
River, we were aware of two trips Water
Board Executive Director Paul Drof had
made to Albany to meet with Cuomo’s
people on the proposal.
A full year later, it was learned from
a Water Board insider that Drof had, in
fact, made multiple trips to Albany, and
the logistics of importation and processing of frackwater at the Buffalo Avenue
plant had reached an advanced stage of
planning.
All these clues, and others, led many
to believe that the governor was going to
allow fracking on some limited basis. So
last week's decision came as something
of a surprise.
There are three reasons Cuomo jilted
the frackers. The first was the enormously effective and diverse coalition of
opponents, including farmers, teachers,
parents, sportsmen, health professionals,
local elected officials, scientists and even
wineries, applying
unrelenting political pressure.
The second was the proliferation of
town and village “frack bans”, and the
courts’ finding them constitutional, making drilling in New York State far too
risky and economically unfeasible.
The third was the long-awaited NYS
Dept. of Health report released last week,
that details fracking’s deleterious impacts
on respiratory health, drinking water,
earthquake activity and climate change,
as well as soil contamination, noise and
air pollution, distressing increases in both
traffic fatalities and birth defects. The
body of evidence against fracking is
large and growing, and peer-reviewed
science doesn’t lie. Apparently, even
Gov. Cuomo couldn’t stomach the idea
of significant portions of upstate becoming an environmental Hooverville a few
short years from now when the natural
gas is depleted and the oil and gas men
And who will volunteer to take
the first drink?
have all gone back to Texas and Oklahoma.
Democrats all over the state, particularly those who consider themselves
“moderates” (such as those who lost US
Senate seats last month in the Republican
landslide), broke their longstanding silence on fracking practically within minutes of the Governor’s announcement.
Public officials who had kept silent on
fracking, expressing no opinions or leadership over the entire four years Cuomo
mulled over his options, suddenly came
to life, heaping effusive praise on the
governor. It was like a Christmas miracle
– a week early!
For example, Mayor Paul Dyster that
afternoon issued a press release which
read, in part, “(We applaud) New York
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision to
ban the natural gas extraction technique
known as “hydraulic fracturing,” “hydrofracking,” or simply “fracking,” for
short.”
Actually, “hydraulic fracturing” has
been practiced all over New York and
other states for many years prior to the
development of “High volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing”, the technique at
issue.
It goes on: “The City Council unanimously passed an ordinance in March
2012 banning… the treatment, storage,
transfer, and disposal of fracking wastewater in the city’s wastewater treatment
plant, one of only two locations in Western New York said to be capable of treating the material. Fracking wastewater is a
mix of water, sand, and potentially unsafe chemicals which is used to blast
through layers of underground rock in
order to access natural gas deposits.”
Pointing out that the Niagara Falls
wastewater treatment plant is “one of
only two locations… said to be capable
of treating the 'material' (i.e. highly toxic
and radioactive fracking wastewater)” is
neither necessary nor relevant to the subject of the press release, which is a state
ban on a specific natural gas drilling
method. And the “’potentially’ unsafe
chemicals” include over thirty listed carcinogens.
In fact, Mayor Dyster has been consistently noncommittal over the years
when it comes to the desirability of the
Water Board accepting and “treating”
fracking wastewater.
With fiscal distress the watchword
for the city for the foreseeable future, and
steep tax increases on its residents and
businesses looming ahead, is it possible
the Mayor, with his council majority, is
poised to overturn the city’s ban on
frackwater importation?
20
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Progress Hinted in Probe of Hit-Run Death of NT Student
Tony Farina
There are still no arrests but aroundthe-clock police work by the Niagara
County Sheriff’s Dept. may soon crack
the veil of secrecy surrounding the tragic
hit-and-run death of a North Tonawanda
teenager last month that has left his
school and the community grieving at
his loss.
“We’re still looking for
clues but we are making headway,” said
Niagara County Undersheriff Mike Felicetti on Monday night (Dec. 22) concerning the probe into the hit-run death
of 16-year-old Ryan Fischer on the
evening of Nov. 20 on Krueger Road in
the Town of Wheatfield. Felicetti’s
statement is the first hint that authorities
are making progress in the case.
“One Niagara County resident has put up $5,000 in reward money
to go with the $1,000 of Crime Stoppers,
Inc. money to help find the driver of that
car,” said Felicetti. Fischer died from
his injuries shortly after being taken to
Erie County Medical Center by ambulance.
Authorities believe the car
that struck Fischer may be a white or
light silver sedan, with right front passenger side damage. Fischer, a popular
North Tonawanda High School student,
was walking with a female friend shortly
after 7 p. m. on Nov. 20 on Krueger
Road when he was fatally injured by the
hit-run driver.
Grief counselors and social
workers have gone to North Tonawanda
High School to work with students on
the terrible tragedy that took the life of
their classmate who was described on
Facebook by the mother of a friend as a
“friendly, funny, and hard-working
young man. He loved his family and
friends with all his heart and was very
protective. He will live forever in our
hearts. He will be missed.”
Undersheriff Felicetti said police have been working tirelessly to
break the case, and while he stopped
short of saying an arrest was imminent,
he did say that the investigation is making headway and he urged anyone who
may have information to contact the
sheriff’s department at 438-3327 or 4383394.
Ryan FIsher, 16, was the victim of
a hit and run. Somewhere, the
driver lurks, conscious of his or
her brutal, cowardly crime.
If the whole world stands
against you sword in hand,
would you still dare to do
what you think is right?
“Because God has made us for
Himself, our hearts are restless
until they rest in Him.”
― Augustine of Hippo
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Craft is Wrong About Lewiston
This letter is in response to Ron
Craft's letter in the Niagara Falls Reporter of Dec. 16. Mr. Craft states that
somehow the Historical Society was involved in the welcome center in Lewiston that no one wanted, including the
chamber of commerce. He also stated
that the same group used $1 million of
Greenway money for their own recognition. What he fails to do is get the facts
correct. First of all, the organization he is
writing about is the Historical Association of Lewiston. Secondly, the association he incorrectly named, had nothing to
do with the welcome center in Lewiston.
Some members did some volunteer work
at that building, but was done strictly as
an individual for the Village of Lewiston,
not the Historical Association. He went
on to mention the Lewiston Council of
the Arts and the Lewiston Jazz Festival
as recipients of tax dollars over the last
five years. However he fails to mention
the amount of money that goes to the
Chamber of Commerce, which exceeds
the Arts Council, or the Sanborn Historical Society on a yearly basis. He apparently likes those two organizations. Mr.
Craft moved to Lewiston to run his antique shop in Lewiston because the quality of life here. The quality of life here is
because organization such as the Historical Association, the Lewiston Jazz festival, and the Council of the Arts, not to
mention the other volunteer organizations
in Lewiston. It amazes me that a shop
owner on Center Street would complain
about supporting organizations that bring
people past his store to visit the Freedom
Crossing Monument, or the thousands
that view the Lewiston Art Festival, not
to mention the thousands that enjoy the
Lewiston Jazz Festival. Of course, if
those were to one day go away, he would
complain the politicians ran all " his customers" out of the area. I do understand
that those who attend the festivals we
have in Lewiston don't patronize all the
shops and restaurants that we have here
when they attend a festival. However I
know many of them return on a different
date to visit the shops, eat in the restaurants, and yes visit the monuments and
museums.
Also, the Historical Association
has never had a stand on Chemical Waste
Management. If a past or present member
has had an opinion not in favor of CWM,
that is considered a personal opinion, and
has nothing to do with the Association.
The Greenway money he speaks of that
came to the Association not only came
from the town, but also the Niagara
County Legislature. Mr. Craft, Greenway funds are not intended to replace
taxes, nor can they be used to fund programs normally funded through taxes.
The Historical Associations projects
funded with Greenway funds were gifts
to the Village and Town of Lewiston, the
Tuscarora Nation, and future generations.
For those who do not know Mr.
Craft's recent history, he was appointed a
Trustee on the village board to finish the
Letters to the Editor
term of Ron Winkley. After serving the
remainder of Mr. Winkley's term, Mr.
Craft ran for that seat on his own as an
incumbent. He failed in his election bid,
and has been a critic of everything in
Lewiston since that day. Mr. Craft, don't
assume what you hear in a coffee shop is
always correct; the people that volunteer
in this community do so to make Lewiston a better place to live, not because of a
hidden agenda. Perhaps he should follow
the code of ethics from the Lions Clubs
organization he is so fond of: "Be careful
with my own criticism, and liberal with
my praise; to build up, and not destroy."
Robert Welch
Lewiston resident.
---------------Activist Thanks Cuomo for
Banning Fracking
What better gift could Governor
Cuomo have given the citizens of New
York this holiday season than the assurance that the dirty drilling practice
known as fracking will not be coming to
the Empire State?
Across the country, this rolling environmental disaster has been poisoning
families, destroying rural and wild landscapes, and deterring our critical transition to a clean energy economy.
Thankfully, after five years and more
than 100,000 face-to-face conversations,
New Yorkers Against Fracking has
helped shaped the conversation so that
this fundamental threat to our land, air,
and water has been deemed too significant of a risk to public health to permit.
Despite the power of the oil and gas
industry, Gov. Cuomo has chosen to respect the many communities concerned
about the potential impacts of fracking
and the latest science that backs them up.
As cities and states across the country consider this issue, we urge them to
show the same courage and foresight to
reject fracking and protect health in
2015.
Heather Leibowitz, Director
Environment New York
-------------
Body Cameras
Prevent Mistreatment
The massive public reaction to the
tragic deaths of three black teens at the
hand of white police officers has led to a
national call for use of
body cameras to record and prevent
any future mistreatment of suspects.
There is ample precedent. Animal
protection activists have used body cameras to document egregious atrocities and
safety violations by
workers in the meat, dairy, and egg
industries. The resulting videos have led
to a number of corrective actions, as well
as felony
convictions, meat recalls, and even a
$500 million civil settlement.
How ironic then that agribusiness interests in seven states (Idaho, Iowa,
Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North
Dakota, and Utah) have now
enacted "ag-gag" laws imposing severe penalties for using body cameras in
their agricultural facilities. The language
is typically drafted by
the anti-consumer American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
Let’s hope that other vested interests
do not impose similar restrictions on the
use of body cameras by law enforcement
officers.
Nelson Gustavo
Niagara Falls
----Kane Praised
Thanks a lot Niagara Falls Reporter
for publishing the article on John Kane. It
was great to see your words. He deserves
all of them. My great thanks as a reader.
Chaz Kader, Akwesasne
21
21
Ceretto Keeps Word, Files Campaign Disclosures
Walker Now Only Elected Official in WNY to Not File
Lewiston's councilwoman elect, Beth
Ceretto, a member of the Independence
Party closely aligned with Republicans,
was identified in a Niagara Gazette story
two weeks ago as having failed to file her
campaign disclosure forms with the NYS
Board of Elections.
She told the Gazette she would pursue
the matter of filing adding, "I'm going to
have someone else complete it for me."
Last Friday she did as she promised
and filed all five of her legally required
disclosure reports. Ceretto, who was
elected this year, was a few months late.
Last week, prior to her filing, the Niagara Falls Reporter brought a little light
to bear on her and the only other elected
official in WNY to not file campaign disclosure forms - Niagara Falls Councilmember Charles Walker.
Walker is nearly two years late. He
was re-elected in 2013.
And as of press time he has still failed
to comply.
Following our story, Walker was
asked on the Vince Anello WJJL radio
show when he would file his campaign
disclosure reports and the councilman said
he was working in it.
This was not unlike the answer he
The Chief Resident of the University
at Buffalo’s Obstetrics and Gynecology
Residency Program is joining the medical
staff at Niagara Falls Memorial’s
OB/GYN Center.
Meaghan M. Aalto, M.D., will begin
working at Memorial next summer. An experienced teacher and researcher, she also
has been honored for clinical excellence.
Dr. Aalto is a graduate of McGill University, Montreal, and Ross University
School of Medicine in Dominica, West Indies, where she received highest honors.
She has been a primary investigator at the
University at Buffalo, a research assistant
at Rotman Research Institute, Toronto, and
a study coordinator at Montreal General
Hospital, Montreal.
Her research has been published in
several peer reviewed journals including
Surgical Science and Journal of Robotic
Surgery.
Beth Ceretto filed her disclosures.
Charles Walker is working on it.
gave last July to the Niagara Gazette.
Walker said he was going "to sit down
this week or next week to get that figured
out."
This was not unlike what he told the
Buffalo News in the fall of 2013, when he
said, "he would check with the two people
helping to manage his campaign about the
unfiled paperwork."
Walker has been a councilman for 17
years.
Internet records suggest he has not
filed disclosure forms for more than a
decade.
Campaign disclosure forms show who
donated to a candidate, how much they received and how the candidate spent the
money.
By failing to file disclosure forms,
Walker is in violation of New York State
election law. According to New York State
Election Law 14-126 (1) "Any candidate
who willfully and knowingly fails to file
required forms can be fined $1000 per failure." In addition (EL 14-126 (4) provides
that a candidate can be charged with a misdemeanor.
Walker is now distinguished as the
sole elected official in WNY who has not
filed his campaign disclosure forms.
Dr. Aalto to Join OB/GYN Center at Falls Memorial
Meaghan
M.
Aalto,
M.D.,
will
begin working at Memorial
next
summer.
Dr. Aalto is a recipient of the Mauricio’s Young Professional Award and the
Buffalo Gynecologic and Obstetric Society Award for academic and clinical excellence. She is a member of the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Arnold P. Gold Foundation,
which works with healthcare professionals
to instill a culture of respect, dignity and
compassion for patients and professionals.
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Mad Dash for Council Chairmanship is Shaping Up
Anna M. Howard
Niagara Falls City Council Chairman Charles Walker,
now in the first year of his fifth four-year term, is sitting
on something that fellow council members Kristen
Grandinetti and Andrew Touma are believed to covet: the
chairman’s seat.
Grandinetti, presently in the first year of her second
council term, and Touma, now in the first year of his first
term, have never served as council chairman.
Both current councilmen Bob Anderson and Glenn
Choolokian have served in the past as chairman with
Choolokian putting in his time in the big chair just last
year.
Walker, the current chairman, has served as chairman
in the past, previous to his current term.
In 2014 Walker snatched the chairman’s gavel from
Grandinetti’s hand, in a last minute crafty ploy, as
Grandinetti, the only female council member was been
poised to ascend to the chairmanship.
Reliable sources within city government informed the
Reporter at the time that Ms. Grandinetti was quite upset
as to how Walker did an end-around her by gathering the
supporting votes of Anderson and Choolokian in order to
block her from the big seat.
Sources now tell us that council freshman Andrew
Touma has written to his fellow council members respectfully asking for their support to make him chairman for
2015.
How does this sit with Kristen Grandinetti?
Will she stand idly by as the gavel, for the second
Who will be the next council chairman? L-R
Kristen Grandinetti, Andrew Touma or Charles
Walker?
consecutive year, is slipped from her hands? She is concluding her fifth year as a council member and has yet to
sit as chairman.
Touma, in spite of only one year of service, and in
light of one or two well-intended errors he may have
made this year, has presented himself as one of the more
vocal and involved council members.
In contrast Ms. Grandinetti has appeared to be more
concerned with those things that have nothing to do with
administering the city budget and guiding the city, such
as, Planned Parenthood, women’s rights, gender equality
and the ilk. Admirable as he her work in those areas may
be she brings nothing to the city government table by im-
mersing herself in those social activist areas.
So, while she has five years on the job compared to
Touma’s one year, Touma has made more noise and raised
more questions in 12 months than Grandinetti has in 60
months.
Just saying.
Add to this the fact that Ms. Grandinetti has damaged
herself by consistently, some would say blindly, supporting the mayor in everything he recommends. In fact she
is so supportive of Dyster that we scratched our collective
head here at the Reporter and we can’t think of a single
issue or occasion where she took serious issue with Mayor
Dyster.
Given that fact alone we believe that Touma, based
on all the evidence at hand, would make the better choice
for chairman.
Having said that the choice for chairman will be
made by the five council members with, as odd as it
seems, Anderson and Choolokian, being in the catbird
seats, poised to make either Touma or Grandinetti the
chairman for 2015…as long as Touma, Walker and
Grandinetti remain split as to which of them gets to hold
the gavel.
For all of 2014 Anderson and Choolokian have been
at the consistent short end of the 3-2 voting block, but
they now have the power to select the next chairman.
Politics is strange and what we now see with the selection of the 2015 council chairman is about as strange
as it gets, but no one ever said politics – let alone Niagara
Falls politics – wasn’t odd and unpredictable.
Alzheimer’s Association Offers Free Workshop in Niagara Falls
Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal
part of aging. It is a progressive and fatal
brain disease that is the most common
form of dementia.
“The Basics: Memory Loss, Dementia
and Alzheimer’s disease” is a workshop
presented by the Alzheimer’s Association
Western New York Chapter for anyone
who would like to know more about the
disease and related dementias. Complete
Senior Care at 1302 Main Street in Niagara Falls will be hosting this workshop
from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 28, 2015.
Workshop information includes:
• Symptoms and effects of
Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia
• How Alzheimer’s affects the
brain
• Causes and risk factors
• How to find out if it’s
Alzheimer’s disease
• The benefits of early detection
• How to address a diagnosis of
Alzheimer’s disease
• Stages of the disease
• Treatment
• Hope for the future
• Ways the Alzheimer’s Association WNY chapter can help
VATICAN CITY- One of the largest
Franciscan religious orders, the Order of Friars Minor, founded on the teachings of St.
Francis of Assisi more than 800 years ago,
announced it is on the brink of bankruptcy
after admitting some of its monks embezzled
funds from its accounts.
The Italian news magazine Panorama
on Friday (Dec. 19) reported that tens of millions of dollars were missing from the Order
of Friars Minor and had been invested in offshore companies.
Panorama claimed Swiss prosecutors
had seized Franciscan accounts in Switzerland because the account holders had allegedly invested in illegal operations that
could include arms and drug trafficking.
Brother Michael Perry, the American
head of the order, said an internal inquiry
was begun in September and revealed “a
number of questionable financial activities
that were conducted by friars entrusted with
the care of the patrimony of the order.”
In a letter posted on the order’s website,
Perry said the order was in “grave, and I underscore grave, financial difficulty, with a
significant burden of debt.”
The letter, addressed to all friars and
published in both English and Italian, said
the order’s general treasurer Father Giancarlo Lati had resigned but gave no further
details.
The Order of Friars Minor is one of several branches of the Franciscan order
founded by St. Francis in the Italian town of
Assisi in 1209.
It is active in 110 countries and had
more than 14,000 members.
The workshop is free and open to the
public, but because seating is limited,
reservations are requested by calling
1.800.272.3900.
Franciscan Order on Verge of Bankruptcy After Financial Fraud is Uncovered
23
24
Kristen Grandinetti, fresh off her “I
can’t breathe” rally, is now going to hold
her “I can’t keep my mouth shut” rally
to be followed by her “I can’t seem to
get elected as council chairwoman”
rally.
We understand that with Dyster’s
$20,000 cash retirement incentive in
place that there’s been non-stop retirement parties at city hall with little work
getting done. In other words it’s business as usual.
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
More Jokes on City Hall
room physicians had to pry the disc
jockey’s lips from Dyster’s hindquarters.
Cayuga Island residents tell the Reporter that the Jayne Park plan has made
a complete mess of the park. Well,
$280,000 doesn’t buy what it used to.
If Dyster succeeds in opening his
own animal shelter then it will be official: Niagara Falls will have gone to the
dogs.
Heard at a council budget meeting:
“Councilman Walker looks like he’s
dead.”
“Nah, he’s just sleeping. Again.”
Heard at a council meeting:
“Donna Owens looks like she’s
sleeping.”
“That’s because she’s sleeping.”
Dyster wrote on his Facebook page
as to how he was tragically conflicted
over having to choose between cheering
for the Buffalo Bills and the Green Bay
Packers while sitting in his executive
box at Ralph Wilson Stadium. It’s tough
being Mayor Paul Dyster.
The theme music of the 2015 budget
“players” is as follows:
Maria Brown – “I did it my way”
Paul Dyster – “Mr. Cellophane”
Donna Owens – “The tears of a
clown”
Charles Walker – “Dazed and Confused”
Kristen Grandinetti – “Thick as a
Brick”
City Residents – “The Sounds of Silence”
Tom Darro and Paul Dyster were
rushed to the hospital immediately following the appearance of the mayor on
Darro’s show last week. Emergency
Paul Dyster told Darro “I’m the
gatekeeper of the casino money.” That
title is not to be confused with his other
two titles of “Grand Poobah of Outer
Slabovia” and “Supreme Beer Judge of
the Free World.”
US Executions Drop to Lowest
Level in Two Decades
Mayor Dyster was really, really
upset that he had to withdraw his resolution to give the Hard Rock $27,000 of
taxpayer money for a New Year’s Eve
Party. Looks like he’ll have to find a different taxpayer-sponsored event at
which to announce his reelection campaign.
By KEVIN JOHNSON
WASHINGTON (RNS) the 35
people executed in the U.S. this year
marks the fewest in two decades, according to a year-end report by the
Death Penalty Information Center.
The center, which opposes capital
punishment, also found that the 72
death sentences issued in 2014 represents the fewest in 40 years.
The declining numbers come as
several states and the federal government are locked in disputes over their
use of lethal injection drugs. The state
of Oklahoma halted executions for the
remainder of 2014 after a botched execution in April. The federal government, involved in a legal challenge to
its lethal injection protocol, has not
used its execution chamber since
2003.
Texas — the nation’s perennial
leader in carrying out the death penalty
— was no longer alone at the top after
17 years. It tied with Missouri for the
most executions, with 10. Meanwhile,
the seven states that carried out executions this year marked the lowest number in 25 years.
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Mike Hudson
The Santa hat caper
City police arrested Antonio Dwight
Porter, 50, of 2202 LaSalle Ave. last
week on shoplifting charges. The unemployed and tattooed Porter was picked up
after a short foot chase on Portage Road,
running from the Dollar Tree store,
which was the scene of the crime, towards the Trott Vocational building.
Porter made it easy for police. A tall
black male dressed all in red with a black
vest was a description few could match.
His booty, $19.44 worth of batteries
and a red Santa hat, apparently designed
to match the rest of his outfit, was recovered by officers.
Porter was charged with petit larceny, possession of stolen property and
obstruction for his brief and unsuccessful
run. After being booked, he was held in
lieu of $1,500 bail.
Toy dog stolen, abandoned
Jose Antonio Irizarry, 29, of 610
24th St., was arrested on shoplifting
charges after trying to steal a toy dog
from the Super Walmart outlet on Military Road over the weekend.
When he realized he’d been spotted
by one of Walmart’s crack loss prevention specialists, he fled the scene, dropping the cuddly stuffed pooch, valued at
$79.88 and was scene getting into a red
Ford Explorer, which then pulled out
onto Military Road.
This Week in Stupid Crime
Cops spotted the vehicle and pulled
it over at the Ollie’s Plaza. Irizarry folded
immediately under questioning.
“I’m going to tell the truth,” he said.
“I was going to take something, but I saw
they were watching me and I dropped it.
It was stupid.”
Stupid indeed. Irizarry, who is gainfully employed, was charged with petite
larceny and issued an appearance ticket.
The toy dog named Zoomer, will end up
costing him far more than if he’d have
just paid for it, and, since it was returned
to the store, the child he’d likely planned
on giving it to won’t even get to see it.
Don’t you just love how Christmas
brings out the best in us all?
The Grinch stole Christmas
Police were called to a residence in
the 600 block of 15th Street last week
and arrived to find a 38 year old woman
sobbing on the front lawn. She told cops
that when she went to bed the night before, a lighted, 8-foot-tall inflatable Santa
Claus and a 6-foot tall inflatable snowman were spreading Christmas cheer on
her front lawn. When she got up the next
morning and went outside to have a cigarette, both were gone, the tent stakes that
had secured them to the ground now forlornly scattered about the lawn.
Cops knocked on doors only to find
the houses were mostly vacant or nobody
home. They drove around the neighborhood, hoping to find some sign of the
missing Santa and snowman, but came
up empty.
The madness.
A missing C-note
Pedro Torres, an employee of the 7Eleven store on Niagara Street, was
caught by a store surveillance camera
pocketing a $100 bill from out of the till.
The store manager lured Torres back to
the store with an offer to allow him to
pay the money back, then called cops to
have him arrested instead.
Torres admitted to stealing the
money.
25
“It was stupid,” Pedro told the arresting officer. “I owed someone money, but
I was going to pay it back. I’m really
sorry. It was really stupid.”
Torres, 27, of 635 25th St., was
booked on a charge of petit larceny and
jailed in lieu of $250 bail.
Needless to say, he no longer works
at 7-Eleven.
So just remember, boys and girls.
The creeps they stay active on these cold
winter nights. Merry Christmas to all and
to all a good night.
26
NIAGARA FALLS REPORTER DEC 23, 2014 - JAN 06, 2015
Ask Dr. Ann
Dr. Ann Aswhipe PHD
All the world over, people are seeking advice on the problems that confront
them, hoping that someone kind and
knowing will guide them to make the
right decisions. Generally the people
who write to a perfect stranger who
writes is newspaper column are among
the least intelligent and therefore are
likely the ones who need the most help.
If you have a problem write Dr. Ann
Aswhipe, PO BOx 3083, Niagara Falls
NY 14303, or email
[email protected].
DEAR Dr. Ann: I have been married
21 years. I have a 17-year-old daughter.
For the past year, my family life has
been a living hell.
My wife and daughter refer to me –and all men –- as "stupid." At first, I
took it as a joke, but it has escalated to
the point where I can't open my mouth
without hearing, "You men are so stupid!" If I ask what's for dinner, it's,
"Don't be so stupid. Look for yourself."
If I ask the time, it's, "Men are so stupid.
You don't even know how to tell time!"
My wife and daughter enjoy their
"jokes" and even do "high-fives" to congratulate themselves on their cleverness.
I have asked them to stop, but they say I
am "too sensitive." I started keeping a
diary of their remarks. I was told I was
stupid 35 times in four weeks!
I love my wife, but I can't stay in
this marriage if they continue to insult
me. It is poisoning my relationships. Before this, my daughter was a good kid.
She is now a little monster with my
wife's blessing. I suggested that we get
counseling. My wife said no and told
my daughter, who then accused me of
being the "oppressor."
Dr. Aswhipe, what should I do?
Vexed Hubby in the Falls.
DEAR Hubbie: You are clearly one
stupid fellow to tolerate this kind of behavior. Don't bother going to counseling, you can't fix stupid.
DEAR Ann: I am a great-grandmother with a unique hobby. A large
number of four-leaf clovers grow in my
yard. I pick them and give them to people who are sick, or mail them to friends
just to let them know I care.
I picked 14 of them and mailed
them in a card to my favorite author,
Stephen King, when he was injured.
Most people seem to enjoy them, and I
hope he did.
My friend says that people will
think I'm strange or superstitious, but I
think most of us like to know someone
cares and is thinking of us.
I have never had anyone refuse a
bouquet of four-leaf clovers, but maybe
they are just being kind. Do you think I
should stop sending them? –- CURIOUS in Lewiston
DEAR CURIOUS: I'm quite sure
that any person who receives a bouquet
of four-leaf clovers from you thinks you
are a perfect idiot. I flushed the ones
you sent me right down the toilet.
DEAR Ann: Please tell me how
many times it is necessary to say "God
bless you" after someone sneezes continuously. Must you "bless" someone
every time he or she sneezes, or is it OK
to stop at one? I work in an office full of
sneezers -– and I'd really like to know.
–- Perplexed in Ransomville
DEAR Perplexed: You must proclaim "God bless you" after each sneeze
no matter how many times a person
sneezes. If a person sneezes too quickly
to insert a “God bless you” in between
each sneeze, keep count and say “God
bless you” the exact number of times the
person sneezed when they finish. Keep
count. That's real important.
Cuomo Wants Taxpayers To Pay for Medicaid Sex Change Operations
Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved a
new policy last week requiring New
York taxpayers to pay for Medicaid recipients' sex-change operations and
other transgender services. State officials estimated the services to cost taxpayers an extra $6.7 million a year.
Some critics of the administration said
the cost will be more than $10 million
per year as out of state transgender individuals relocate to New York for free
sex change operations.
There are presently 353 men (who
want to be women) and 308 women
(who want to be men) on Medicaid and
who secured a diagnoses of persistent
gender dysphoria (not feeling one’s gender identity is consistent with their physical sex), which is what is needed to get
taxpayers to pay for sex change operations or hormone therapy.
The proposed new Medicaid regulations would require a medical professional to document that a patient not
only has persistent gender dysphoria but
received hormone therapy for at least a
year, has lived a minimum of one year
in their preferred gender role and has received mental health counseling.
Sex-change operations — which include testicle removal, breast augmentation and mastectomy — range from
$15,000 to $60,000 plus hormone maintenance and counseling services.
Taxpayers will pay, through higher
property taxes in the counties they live
in, for this new Medicaid plan but only
for transgender people who are over 18;
patients must be 21 to get taxpayerfunded surgery that results in sterilization.
“New York state has always been
"Male and female created he
them; and blessed them, and
called their name Adam, in the
day when they were created,"
Genesis 5:2.
a progressive leader and ensuring that
all New Yorkers — regardless of gender
identity — are treated fairly will continue this legacy,” Cuomo said.
New York joins Oregon, Massachusetts, Vermont, Washington, DC, and
Maryland in requiring taxpayers to pay
for sex change services to residents who
can't pay for it themselves.
Michael Silverman, director of the
Transgender Legal Defense & Education
Policy, objected to Cuomo limiting the
transgender services to adults while excluding youths.
New York’s $55 billion Medicaid
program is the costliest in the USA contributing in large part to New York State
being the highest taxes state in the USA.
The public will have 45 days to
comment on the proposed Medicaid regulation.
New York State also recently revised its birth certificate policy to allow
transgender people to step back in time
and “correct” their birth certificates to
reflect their chosen biological sex.
Impress Your Friends: Math Trick Always Works
Wow .. it works!
I love math tricks and this one really
works and will only take you about ten
seconds!
Amazingly, it really works and will
reveal your all-time favorite movie.
I'm pretty good at math, so I did it
in my head, then on paper, and finally
on a calculator just to confirm my numerical capabilities.
Each time I got the same answer,
and sure enough it IS my very favorite
movie EVER!
DO NOT cheat. DO YOUR math,
THEN compare the results to the list of
movies at the bottom
You will be AMAZED at how scary
true and accurate this test is
1. Pick a number from 1-9.
2. Multiply that number by 3.
3. Add 3.
4. Multiply by 3 again.
5. Your total will be a two digit
number. Add the first and second digits
together to find your favorite movie (of
all time) in the list of 17 movies below:
Movie List:
1. Gone With the Wind
2. E.T.
3. Blazing Saddles
4. Star Wars
5. Forrest Gump
6. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
7. Jaws
8. Grease
9. The Obama Farewell Speech
10. Casablanca
11. Jurassic Park
12. Shrek
13. Pirates of the Caribbean
14. Titanic
15. Raiders of the Lost Ark
16. Home Alone
17. Mrs. Doubtfire
Now, isn't that something?
This world is the great gymnasium
where we come to make ourselves
strong. ― Swami Vivekananda