News Niagara Reporter Thomas J. Prohaska went to Niagara County District Attorney Michael Violante's office on Friday to ask about the Wilson case.
A secretary kept Prohaska from speaking with Violante. “He can’t see you because it’s a sealed case," our reporter was told.
ESPN.com has published a story late this afternoon with today's news on the two Wilson baseball players' case.
Click here to read our continuing coverage on buffalonews.com.
Here's a link to today's Inside the News blog post on the Wilson case.
--Aaron Besecker
Niagara Falls' newest tourist attraction came under court order.
A ninth-floor observation deck at One Niagara on Rainbow Boulevard opened Friday after a judge ruled that the building could temporarily sidestep the city's approval process.
A story in today's Niagara & Region section explains how building manager and co-owner Frank Parlato Jr. received court permission to open the top floor.
It's not the first time Parlato has taken an alternative route to opening the building. In 2007, he struck a deal with city officials to allow him to bypass the city's Planning Board for several months so that he could operate through the tourist season while he worked to bring the building up to code.
The building plunged back into regulatory limbo last year after the city revoked that site plan approval, but allowed its certificate of occupancy to remain. It has not issued proper approvals for the ninth floor.
Some see the building as an eyesore. Others see it as one of the few options open for tourists outside of Niagara Falls State Park and the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel.
What do you think?
-- Denise Jewell Gee
A discussion about state aid for the City of North Tonawanda's Department of Youth, Recreation, Parks and & Senior Citizens is among the items on tap at tonight's Common Council meeting in City Hall, 216 Payne Ave.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m., with an agenda review at 5:30 p.m. Both are open to the public.
Take a look at the full agenda, which is subject to change, issued Monday by the city clerk's office.
If you go to the meeting or want to talk about what happened, check back with us at the Niagara Views blog, leave a comment and discuss with other readers what took place.
ESPN has put a blurb on its Web site about the coaches in the Wilson case seeing their charges dropped.
The item also has links to the network's previous video and written stories on the case.
--Aaron Besecker
Controversies are simmering over casino revenue.
A potential lawsuit still looms over Niagara County's cut of local casino revenue after state legislation pushed by Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Lewiston, redirected the money to Niagara Falls.
Now, a second row could be brewing. Niagara Falls Councilman Sam Fruscione said Monday he plans to ask the City Council next week to freeze casino revenue for the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp. until it hands over more details about its budget.
The city could face financial penalties if it fails to disburse the casino revenue to the NTCC within 35 days of receiving it from the state.
Here's how the latest casino revenue payment from the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls breaks down:
The Seneca Nation of Indians now pays 22 percent of its slots revenue to the state on a "semi-annual basis" in exchange for exclusive rights to operate full-scale casinos in Western New York.
According to the state's Division of Budget, the Seneca Nation in April paid the state $39.3 million of the slots revenue from the Seneca Niagara Casino. It also paid $15.3 million from the Seneca Allegany Casino and $3.6 million from the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino.
Of the Seneca Niagara Casino slots revenue, the City of Niagara Falls is slated to receive $10.07 million this week, City Controller Maria Brown said Monday.
The city then has 35 days to pay out portions to four local agencies: a project to construct a new terminal at the Niagara Falls International Airport will receive $705,176. The Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp. is slated to receive $604,436. Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and the Niagara Falls School District will each receive $554,067.
The city has also dedicated the following amounts: $2.36 million will be used for half of the casino revenue in the city's 2009 budget for debt, public safety and loss of tax revenue for the casino property; another $1 million has been set aside for the HOPE VI project to construct new public housing; about $1 million has been dedicated for special projects; and $850,000 will be used for economic development, Brown said.
That leaves about $2 million left for Niagara Falls to spend as officials see fit.
-- Denise Jewell Gee
More than 14 months after they were arrested, the charges against two Wilson high school baseball coaches were dropped this morning.
News Niagara Reporter Thomas J. Prohaska broke the story on buffalonews.com. Read the latest version here.
Also check out a story published June 22 that detailed how the case against the coaches had changed over time.
--Aaron Besecker
State environmental regulators have approved a proposal for a thinner cap on CWM Chemical Services' landfill in Porter.
The move allows the hazardous waste facility to accept more waste without increasing the landfill's height or acreage.
CWM has requested permission from the state to expand by building another landfill, a move that can't be granted until a plan to guide disposal of hazardous waste statewide is completed.
Read News Niagara Reporter Thomas J. Prohaska's full story on the issue.
--Aaron Besecker
State lawmakers introduced a bill earlier this month that would tax hazardous waste landfilled at CWM Chemical Services in Porter.
The proposal estimates the creation of an additional $3 million in annual revenue, 10 percent of which would come to the Niagara County Health Department.
Read today's full story on the issue.
--Aaron Besecker
As Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, continues to push the New York Power Authority to give the region what he says would be its fair share of profits from the Niagara Power Project, officials in Niagara County are saying the same things they said to the Power Authority during years of negotiations in the power project's relicensing process.
The Lewiston plant, the transmission lines, the underground conduits for the hydropower facility - they all call Niagara County home.
Read the full story.
It was an argument that got them a 50-year settlement valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Higgins, who earlier this month released a proposal calling for Western New York get 36 percent of the Power Authority's annual profits, was widely praised for his efforts.
But his proposal that would give Erie County roughly 60 percent of the local share, while Niagara would get 40 percent, needs to be tweaked, several elected officials from Niagara County said.
"Simply put, at the end of the day that plant is located in our confines," Lewiston Supervisor Fred M. Newlin said in today's story in The Buffalo News. "Not to say Erie County isn't deserving of its fair share, but it has to be put in proportion, when considering where the actual location of that plant is."
Higgins told me he is open to discussing the matter with Niagara County officials.
Here's a list of his specific funding proposals.
-- Aaron Besecker
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