Senator Rob Ortt (R,C,I – North Tonawanda) issued the following statement regarding the New York State Office of the State Comptroller’s audit of the New York Power Authority (NYPA):
“The Comptroller’s audit of NYPA offers a concerning glimpse into the state’s power allocations through ReCharge New York. With the state’s largest power generating facility in our backyard, this issue is of utmost importance to me and to my constituents. It’s one thing to generate power from the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant and disburse it throughout the state under the pretext of job creation; but it’s quite another when those promises of job creation are overstated or not fulfilled. There are plenty of working-class families, small businesses, and non-profits right here in Western New York that could use significant relief from some of the highest energy costs in the nation. If NYPA is unable to ensure job targets are met, perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate where the state is sending its power.”
The Robert Moses Niagara Power Station at right. Somehow stupid elected officials allowed the state to take all the power generated from the Niagara and allow everyone else to use it but the locals here. State Sen. Robert Ortt has noted that NYPA is taking advantage of our stupidity. Will he do anything about it?
By Tony Farina I’ve covered many court proceedings and trials in my more than 35 years as a newspaper and television reporter and I want to make the point at the beginning of this story that whether elected or appointed, some judges are fair and honest and many others fall short of the mark. In other words, the word jurist does not convey skill and knowledge of the law; it is just a role that some serve with distinction, and others do not. By definition, a jurist is a person who has expert or thorough knowledge of the law but
By Tony Farina There are certainly many questions swirling around the mayor’s declaration of a state of emergency in Niagara Falls over trash, blight, and deteriorating streets that was declared back on July 20 and has been extended several times since because, according to Mayor Robert Restaino, the City Council refused to approve contractor agreements. But some observers point to depleted staff at City Hall, like in Public Works and Code Enforcement and other departments, as really self-inflicted wounds that are the underlying reasons work is not getting done in the city. Or is there even more to the story,
The Data Center That Answers Hochul’s Objections There was a time when Niagara Falls did not ask Albany whether it was permitted to prosper. The river was here. That was enough. The town had something Albany couldn’t give it. It used what was here. Water. Power. Work. Jobs. Industry. A future. In 1895, the Adams plant took the river and put it into wire. The current went to Buffalo. It changed the industrial world. Tesla supplied the designs. Westinghouse built the machines. Niagara supplied the falling water. Then industries came. Electrochemical. Electrometallurgical. They came because Niagara offered abundant, inexpensive electricity.
By Tony Farina The City of Niagara Falls, N.Y., boasts one of the world’s greatest natural wonders that people from around the world come to see, but despite incredible tourism numbers of more than nine million visitors a year, the city of now less than 50,000 people is still pretty darn poor. Niagara Falls does not have a tourism problem; it has a tourism-capture problem, and the distinction should be a starting point for a serious new discussion about the city’s future. And ladies and gentlemen, that discussion needs to start now. The question is no longer whether Niagara Falls
