Featured News

Some of the 64 Pomeranians rescued from squalid conditions in Lockport over the weekend started leaving the SPCA of Niagara for new homes Wednesday.

John Jr. and Frances Herstek are still each other's valentines.

While celebrity marriages today sometimes can be measured in days and weeks, the Wheatfield couple will celebrate 71 years together on Feb. 7.

Assemblyman John Ceretto, R-I-C-Lewiston, will introduce legislation to legalize mixed martial arts in New York. The sport is expected to generate more than $5.2 million in economic activity a year in Western New York, plus additional revenue for the state. Currently, MMA is regulated and recognized by 36 out of 44 states that have athletic commissions, including California, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly led his team to the Super Bowl four consecutive times - a record that will be hard to match for future generations. The Bills, however, lost all four games. Since then, Kelly has never watched highlights of any of those games, he tells "CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood" in an interview to be broadcast Sunday, Feb. 3 (9 a.m.), on CBS.

The issue of grease trap maintenance, or lack thereof, is once again rising to the surface in the Village of Lewiston.

INTERVIEW: An opera singer, a model, a showgirl and a cow-tipper.

No, it's not the start of a bad bar joke, but the resumé of an up-and-coming music star.

Doreen Taylor is all of the above - and a pioneer of country funk, to boot.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Wednesday for Cornerstone Community Federal Credit Union. The newest branch of the largest locally owned credit union in Western New York opened this week at 721 Center St. (formerly HSBC Bank).

VIDEO/NEWS: The Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, C.M., announced Tuesday that he will resign from his position as president of Niagara University at the conclusion of the current academic year.

INTERVIEWS: While science fiction fans (myself included) have been mourning the end of "Fringe" for weeks, the attitude on set was more joyous in the final days of production.

INTERVIEW

Now what?

Fans of "Suits" are on the edge of their seats waiting to see how the hit drama will follow - or top - its whale of a midseason summer finale.

The Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp. has announced the popular daytime game show "The Price Is Right" will once again offer the Niagara USA destination as a prize for a vacation.

INTERVIEW: It's been an interesting on-screen progression for actress Rachel Nichols.

"Continuum" debuts on the Syfy Channel.

Lewiston just can't quench its thirst for history.

The first Lewiston Cocktail Festival will take place on Saturday, March 2.

New York's Department of Environmental Conservation announced this week it has extended the public comment period for a draft permit renewal application on file from CWM Chemical Services LLC to 60 days, and will now close comments on March 29.

CWM, a Waste Management company, currently owns and operates a commercial facility for the treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous and industrial non-hazardous wastes on an approximately 710-acre site on Balmer Road in the Town of Porter.

The Village Inn and Serene Gardens were winners Sunday at the third annual Buffalo Soup Fest, held at the Hearthstone Manor in Depew. Village Inn owner Mike Carr and Sarah Mallare took home the Best Chili award at the event for their Mayan Chocolate Chili, while Satomi and Dr. Joshua Smith of Serene Gardens took home an award for Best Kept Secret.

In an unexpected addition to Monday evening's Board of Education meeting agenda, board President David Goris announced his resignation from the board, stating he no longer has sufficient time to devote to the position.

Niagara County Community College hosted more than 800 students from 22 Western New York school districts at Tech Wars 2013 on Wednesday. Competitions ranged from RC Heavyweight Sumo Robotics to 3D Modeling and CO2 Car Races.

The Buffalo Sabres have announced the team will open its week of training camp practices at First Niagara Center to the public, beginning with a night practice and scrimmage on Monday, Jan. 14, at 5:30 p.m. For the remainder of the week, from Tuesday to Friday, practices will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Assemblyman John Ceretto, R-C-I-Lewiston, applauded several pro-job initiatives in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address and urged the state's chief executive to focus on rebuilding Western New York's economy in 2013 and beyond.

His eyes wide with panic, he darted from person to person in the room trying to find someone, anyone, who could take him away from this scary, noisy place. His raggedy, overgrown black coat was dull, and he obviously hadn't been eating - his frame was little more than skin and bone.

More than 2,000 youth and adults from across the U.S. and Canada will return to Niagara Falls for the Joshua Revolution 2012 conference, "Niagara '12 The Last Trump," from Dec. 27-31. For the first time in six years, the event will be a five-day conference.

It has been a busy few months since I crowned Lewiston's newest peach queen back in September. Not only have my classes at Niagara University been challenging and time consuming, but my ongoing fundraising efforts for the Arthritis Foundation have kept me a busy young lady, as well.

Phil Arno, owner of WBBZ-TV, is offering a schedule of entertaining and inspirational holiday programming.

It may be the off-season for area golfers, but that doesn't mean the folks at the Niagara Falls Country Club have been quiet.

Live interactive event features host Ryan Seacrest and judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban; to stream on www.americanidol.com and www.livestream.com.

Call it an early Christmas present.

Fourteen brave men and women unwrapped certificates of completion Friday, as the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy held its 54th graduation ceremony - its third on the campus of Niagara University.

The Grand Island Neighbors Foundation and volunteers brought pallets of donated food to the Knights of Columbus hall on Whitehaven Road for unboxing, sorting and distribution to needy Island families at Christmas.

Director of Transportation Jack Burns called the approval of a proposal for a new transportation center on Baseline Road "a good day for Grand Island."

Drones are likely to be the answer for a new mission for the 107th Airlift Wing at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

INTERVIEW/PHOTOS: John Cena and the WWE recently spent a weekend at the Naval Station Norfolk (Virginia). They visited with troops and families while filming "WWE Tribute to the Troops" presented by Slim Jim.

NBC's "The Voice" crowned Cassadee Pope as the winner of the popular vocal competition series' third cycle in Tuesday's live results show and season finale, earning her the grand prize of a recording contract with Universal Republic Records.

Assemblyman John D. Ceretto, R-I-Lewiston, an outspoken opponent of the New York Thruway Authority's plan to raise tolls by 45 percent on commercial trucks, applauded the Thruway Authority's board for averting the hike after implementing several cost-saving measures.

DeMarco Ogletree, a cashier in the nutrition and food service department at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, earned the $2,000 Eva M. Noles Scholarship Friday, Dec. 7, at the fifth annual Eva M. Noles Scholarship and Community Recognition Breakfast at RPCI.

Big changes may be in store for a prominent stretch of the Village of Lewiston.

The Buffalo-based Ellicott Development has purchased 756, 784-790 Center St., and adjacent vacant land on Onondaga Street (bordering North Eighth Street) from HoganWillig PLLC. Current tenants of these properties include The Country Doctor, Grandpaws Pet Emporium and Smith Brothers Pizza.

Ellicott Development CEO William Paladino signed the property transfer and has served as the point person on the $1.4 million transaction. The sale was finalized Nov. 7. William's father, former gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, founded Ellicott Development, a property management, leasing and development firm, in 1973.

Plans for a new recreation/community/senior center and a donation from an area hazardous waste landfiller were the newsmakers at opposite ends of an otherwise routine Lewiston Town Board work session Monday.

Emery Simon and Harold Hibbard recently purchased Frontier Lanes. They have renamed it the Lewiston Event Center, and plan to make full use of the almost three-acre property.

Over the course of 40 years, master technician Dennis Brochey has worked on more than 100,000 automobiles in his Center Street automotive shop. At the end of this month, he'll hang up his wrench.

The cities of Niagara Falls and Salamanca continue to be hampered by population loss, decreased property values and a significant decline in revenue, according to two fiscal reports issued Monday by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The reports are the first in a series of fiscal profiles on cities across the state.

The reports detail the impact of the ongoing dispute over casino revenue on the two Western New York communities. The cities are home to casinos operated by the Seneca Nation - the Seneca Niagara Casino and the Seneca Allegany Casino. Niagara Falls and Salamanca have not received their "local share" of casino revenues since 2009, when the Senecas halted gambling compact payments to the state.

Imagine a street lined with flames and filled with chaos as dozens of Lewiston's citizens run barefoot through the night trying to escape attacks from British forces.

If you're the type of person whose Christmas spirit doesn't start to glow until the Grinch fibs to Cindy Lou Who, Charlie Brown props up his scraggly tree, Ralphie gets warned about shooting his eye out, or the bell rings on George Bailey's tree, Theatre in the Mist has just the ticket for you.