Niagara's Information Source
The theft of copper piping has been one that’s ramped up in Niagara County in recent months, but here’s a new twist:
Dozens of bathtubs were reported stolen Monday from the underground parking garage of a Niagara Falls hotel that is being renovated.
The Days Inn on Main Street reported that a total of 34 old tubs that were being stored in plain sight in an underground garage are all missing.
The tubs are valued at approximately $80 apiece.
Due to the overwhelming amount of people outside of Niagara Falls inquiring about Niagara’s Rising Stars’ auditions, Flood the Falls, Inc. has decided to extend the talent search to all of Niagara County residents 13 years of age and up. Also being extended is the deadline for video submissions, so those newly qualified individuals/groups have sufficient time to enter the talent search. The new closing date will be May 18, 2012. Email floodthefalls@yahoo.com, or stop by the NF Public Library for more information. Be sure to
He still remembers it like it was yesterday. As if he’d fired up the flux capacitor and stepped back to that very time.
Lewiston’s Gerry Gismondi remembers when the Four Seasons Cinema just off Military Road in the Falls first ran “Back to the Future” in all its glory, with Michael J. Fox sporting his puffy vests and skateboards.
Gismondi’s family has long run the theater and he remembers the original reception the movie got was lukewarm at best.
“But then, word caught on,” Gismondi said. “And there were people all over the place.”
Now, to signify the end of Parkinson’s Awareness Month, the theater will again be showing the classic teen flick, all week, starting on Friday. All money pulled in from tickets sales will go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for the disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today.
Gismondi said the movie had the longest run of any at the theater, and he hopes a new generation of fans will come out to enjoy the experience.
“Think about it, kids don’t even know much about the movie,” he said. “It’s the kind of movie the parents remember really well, but the kids who come back and see it again will love it, too.”
Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects one in 100 people over age 60. While the average age at onset is 60, people have been diagnosed as young as 18. There is no objective test, or biomarker, for Parkinson’s, so the rate of misdiagnosis can be relatively high, especially when the diagnosis is made by a non-specialist.
Estimates of the number of people living with the disease therefore vary, but recent research indicates that at least one million people in the United States, and more than five million worldwide, have Parkinson’s.
“It’s a good cause,” said Gismondi, who runs the Amendola Property Management group with his brother Greg, aside from playing in the popular local band Full Moon Social. “And a great movie.”
Police released a report on Tuesday of an incident that took place over the weekend on Saunders Settlement and Shawnee roads in which a man who struck an ambulance employee was tased three times, then repeatedly yelled “Obama wants a fight.”
Lewiston Police and Niagara County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call that Marlo Jackson struck an Appleton woman who works for Rural Metro in the back of an ambulance.
Jackson — who was listed on the police report as a 6-foot-4, 385-pound black male — was alleged to throw the ambulance employee across the bench seat after becoming aggravated while en route to a mental health evaluation.
Police tried to calm Jackson down, although he was using just one-word answers to questions. That’s when police told Jackson they were going to escort him out of the ambulance by handcuffing him, at least until the situation was sorted out.
Although he was originally calm, when police went to put a second set of handcuffs on Jackson due to his size, the man pulled his secured hand away from the officer, and began pushing him into the road in the line of traffic.
That’s when another officer used the taser on Jackson, hitting him in the chest and left hand.
Jackson dropped to the ground on the shoulder of Saunders Settlement Road, then rolled three feet down into a ditch.
Although police repeatedly asked him to remove his arms from under his body, Jackson wouldn’t do so, and that’s when he was hit with the taser again in drive stun mode, this time with minimal effect.
When he finally calmed down after being stunned a third time, police helped Jackson to a sitting position, and asked if he could breath. That’s when he responded “Obama wants a fight” for approximately 10 minutes.
Originally, he wouldn’t stand up, and the four officers now on the scene couldn’t lift him, but he finally calmed and was eventually taken by ambulance to Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted to the psychiatric center.
Police then filed paperwork with the Town of Cambria Court to secure a warrant for his arrest.
Doug is helping several good causes in the community while juggling a great job and growing a family. Proud to be here, and we’re proud to have him (unless you have to feed him.)
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MAY
Tuesday 1st,
-HPBPA monthly meeting, NFFD Headquarters 3115 Walnut, 6pm.
Saturday 26th,
-Niagara Falls Veterans Memorial Day Parade, meet 10:30am at the City Market.
JUNE
date TBD
-HPBPA monly meeting, on the agenda-Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County is currently working on a work site wellness initiative, and will discuss their initiative and overall goal to make Niagara Falls a healthier place.
Saturday 16th,
-NFPD Law Enforcement Fundraiser, for NFPD Honor Guard, at Sal Maglie Stadium 11am to 7pm partnering with NF Block Clubs, HPBPA will have a table set up.
In the fall of 1901 Annie Edson Taylor took a trip that she thought would bring her fame and fortune.
WIVB-TV is reporting that a suspended Niagara County Sheriff’s deputy who was accused of rape will likely get the charges dismissed later today.
The station reported that Kevin Rohde is expected get a conditional dismissal of all charges. The Lockport native pleaded guilty to child endangerment in a 1999 rape case when he was still a juvenile.
If that’s the case, Sheriff Jim Voutour will need to decide whether Rohde can return to duty.