Current News

The annual Lewiston Smelt Festival took place Friday along the village's waterfront. Check out our mega photo gallery for images from the event.

Congressman Brian Higgins has announced the deadline for submitting entries to the Congressional Student App Challenge has been extended to May 30.

Enhancements to the nature trail at Opportunities Unlimited of Niagara's Wheatfield site have been selected as a finalist project in the "Green America Awards" competition.

The City of Niagara Falls will soon be home to a $6 million sports and educational facility, which will offer a number of programs and services for members of the community. Once built, The Niagara Community Center (run as a nonprofit organization) will be located next to Niagara Catholic Junior-Senior High School at 520 66th St.

It may be nestled just outside the small City of Niagara Falls, but Niagara University is offering world-class opportunities to its students. The university is giving college students the chance to live in New York City and intern at CBS Broadcast Center - a dream for any aspiring broadcast journalist.

Whether you love to sail, or like to keep your feet on solid ground, the 15th annual Jack Beatty Memorial Hospice Cruise and Clambake has something for everyone. The Cruise and Clambake is scheduled for July 11, rain or shine, at the Youngstown Yacht Club.

When walking into Blum's Swimwear and Intimate Apparel, one is immediately taken aback at the size and expansive selection. At the front entrance, your eyes are met by the biggest selection of swimsuits you have probably ever seen, and at the back entrance the selection of intimate apparel makes your average department store or big name store's selection pale in comparison.

It all started with a simple idea by Niagara student Jordan Hernandez. Why couldn't Niagara University have an "SNL"-esque sketch comedy show by students, for students? That was how "Tuesday Night Live" was born. "Tuesday Night Live," or "TNL," is the newest standard for student entertainment at NU, and it only seems to be growing.

It is a rarity when a musical artist and venue have the perfect chemistry to mesh together. When it does happen, it is a magical thing. Upstate New York is lucky enough to have one such artist-venue combination, which perennially excites thousands.

Teenagers, specifically college students with a lot of free time, account for a large number of people frequently going to movie theaters. Students are always searching for a movie to see on the weekends.

Ever since the 1950s, television has become a staple in American households. Like all things in this ever-changing world, television - the way we watch it and what we watch - is always changing.

Located in Western New York, the Flower City, or Rochester as it's properly called, is an area drawing in more and more residents. Some are coming from neighboring cities, others from nearby states and even more are students that attend the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Rochester and any of the other area colleges who fall in love with the area and just can't leave.

Spring has finally arrived, and everything is starting to bloom.

With thousands of print articles, television and radio broadcasts produced on a daily basis, the news is everywhere we look. With evolving technology and media, there are multiple ways to consume news through newspapers, magazines, websites and television shows.

From local to national media, stories are designed to shape our public knowledge and perception of our community and the world around us. For Niagara University students, that objective has become more difficult as news stories have become more entertaining and less educational in recent years.

"I feel like they do provide information right away, but some of it is fabricated and dramatized in order to make it interesting to keep readers wanting more," said sophomore Katie Mayes.

We have all watched a TV show in a room surrounded by people. Together you react in fear, shock and excitement. However, have you participated in this same experience virtually?

News outlets learned Friday that Town of Niagara Supervisor Steven Richards resigned his position, effective immediately. It was reported Richards told his fellow board members he was "retiring."

When we last saw Jack Bauer, his country abandoned him. The government, the agencies he had protected so many times, sought his end. He was on the run, and going off the gird.

When Jack Bauer returns Monday, after four years in exile, he will once again risk his life to protect American lives.

Why?

Because he's Jack Bauer.

"24" is about to join a very small, very elite club.

The show and its characters are returning to television four years after the series ended thanks to a 12-part event series, "24: Live Another Day." In doing so, the "24" franchise joins a small list of TV shows that returned with new stories after being canceled.

The Lewiston Event Center (formerly Frontier Lanes) is a perfect example of before and after construction work.

The Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce Water Street Landing as the recipient of the Lewiston Business of the Year Award.

Village of Lewiston residents could have three candidates for mayor on June 17.

Jacqueline Lampman, a 30-year resident, is gathering petitions to run on an independent party line.

On April 22, Lampman lost her bid to secure the Democratic Party endorsement. She was selected to run for trustee, but was set to decline when her party was disqualified April 23.

Lampman wanted to run for mayor, and is now pursuing the office, "Because, in my career, I've risen to positions of authority," she said. "It kind of fit in that that's where I would go."

On Saturday, May 10, Lewiston No. 1 Volunteer Fire Co. will sponsor "Firefighter For A Day '14." The recruiting event is being held in conjunction with "RecruitNY," a program aimed at assisting volunteer fire departments across New York state recruit new members.

Celebrate the Sisters of Mercy with the second annual "Fun with the Nuns" event at the Millennium Hotel, 2040 Walden Ave., Cheektowaga. Join Emcee Danny Neaverth Sr. Wednesday, May 21, from 6-9 p.m. for an evening of "Fun with the Nuns," which includes a "Raffle with a Twist."

When you think about the activities that you can do with your dog, your list might look like this: walk, run, play fetch. With such a short list, you probably cycle through these pretty quickly. Why not shake things up a bit and introduce your dog to something new?

"I'm all for reasonability here; we're not going to nitpick every dime."

So commented John Camp, chair of the Artpark & Company board of directors, following conclusion of a prolonged discussion Monday among the Lewiston Town Board over Artpark funding. Included was a heated debate between Town of Lewiston Supervisor Dennis Brochey and Town Board member Ron Winkley. When it was all said and done, Artpark did get approved for an estimated $100,000 in town funding assistance. But the vote was not unanimous; Brochey, who is on record in opposition, voted a staunch "no."

You'd never know it by the cloud cover, but Friday marked the start of summer in Lewiston. The annual Smelt Festival drew in crowds from across Western New York, with each person hungry for a free sample of the tiny, deep-fried fish.

The Niagara River Anglers were set to batter and fry 400 pounds of smelt, which would be distributed inside white paper boats to festivalgoers.

My first introduction to "Mrs. Killdeer" was along a bumpy gravelly road, about 50 feet from a pond. As I approached it in my car I saw this bird skitter out right in front of me pretending to be hurt, like it had a broken wing or a crippled leg or something. It didn't just fly away.

The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission recently donated $2,000 to the Lewiston Garden Club. The money will be used to promote the annual Lewiston GardenFest, which is slated for June 21-22 along Center Street.

The state fishing season for walleye, northern pike, pickerel and tiger muskellunge opens Saturday, May 3, marking the opening of most of New York's freshwater sportfish seasons, state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens announced.

The Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp. and Niagara County today announced an agreement in principle that would extend the tourism agency's contract with the county for three years, effective June 1, 2014, until June 1, 2017.

The eagerly anticipated premiere date for the comedy series "Girl Meets World" from executive producer Michael Jacobs ("Boy Meets World") has been set for Friday, June 27 (9:45 p.m.), on Disney Channel.

Peregrine's Landing Senior Community of Cheektowaga has collected a generous donation for Ben Sauer. The staff, residents and guests held a basket raffle throughout the month of April, sold candy bars, and collected pop can refunds. The staff celebrated weekly with "Blue" surprises in its life enrichment program and dining services to support his cause.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute has been awarded a five-year, $1.5 million contract to operate the Western New York Tobacco Health System Change Center. It is funded by the New York State Tobacco Control Program and will promote systems changes supporting expanded tobacco-cessation services throughout Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming counties.

More than 220 volunteers from Mount St. Mary's Hospital and Health Center and the Our Lady of Peace Nursing Care Residence were honored at the annual volunteer recognition luncheon Thursday at the Niagara Falls Country Club.

In a dramatic twist, Ryan Seacrest surprised "American Idol's" top five finalists - Alex Preston, Jena Irene, Caleb Johnson, Sam Woolf and Jessica Meuse - Thursday with the option of either eliminating the lowest vote getter, or rolling Wednesday night's vote over to next week, when two contestants would be eliminated.

Niagara Catholic Jr./Sr. High School will hold its "Day of Caring" Tuesday, May 6. The "Day of Caring" is an opportunity for the Niagara Catholic family to give back to the community by helping various nonprofit, religious and civic organizations.

Assemblyman John Ceretto today reacted to news Howard Milstein is expressing interest in buying the Buffalo Bills and keeping them in Western New York. These reports suggest Milstein, who owns undeveloped property in downtown Niagara Falls, could purchase the Bills and build a new stadium on the property.

Ransomville Speedway announced the cancellation of its season-opening program, which was scheduled for tonight, due to the heavy amounts of rain that fell through the middle of the week. Big R reported the speedway grounds are simply too saturated, forcing officials to cancel the 57th season opener.

On April 23, the Niagara-Wheatfield Board of Education met with a very emotionally charged audience to discuss the 2014-15 school budget.

Town of Niagara residents had an opportunity Tuesday to review revised plans for Benderson Development's Military Place plaza on Military Road.