Niagara's Information Source
You'll find all of the news, events and general goings on that happen here locally. Parades, community gardens, business openings, police and fire news (even the burglaries and robberies when they happen). If we don’t write about it, we can help you find other sources for news you are wanting. Use the “comment” feature to make these stories truly interactive. We want feedback, we want opinions, we want community action!
A Niagara County coroner has stepped down and he and a fire chief are facing charges for mishandling human remains.
District 4 Coroner Russell Jackman is accused of giving the remains to Vincent Salerno, chief of the Cambria Volunteer Fire Company.
The body reportedly belonged to a man killed in early April in a head-on collision.
Chief Salerno allegedly used the remains to train a cadaver dog.
Jackman handed in his resignation to County Clerk Wayne Jagow on Monday.
The former Niagara Falls city judge who was removed from the bench for jailing people because he couldn’t find a ringing cell phone in his court room has decided to throw his name in the ring for the state assembly.
Rob Restaino, who was also a Niagara Falls School Board member, has announced he’ll square off with John Ceretto for the 145th state assembly district.
Restaino had been a city court judge for a dozen years but he was removed in 2008 after he sent 46 people to jail after the cell phone went off. A commission later ruled that Restaino was a “petty tyrant.”
So Sunday, you’re hanging out, no football on TV yet, so go to the Opportunities Unlimited Golf Raffle and take a shot at winning a trip to California! Lots of other prizes can be had if you miss the big one, but the key is, it is a great afternoon to support a great organization, eat some real food and down a few cold ones. Head to the Sanborn Fire Hall on Buffalo road in Sanborn. Just look for the people with bright striped clothing on and white baseball caps walking into a building where fire trucks are parked!
It’s been an interesting day for the national headlines, which we usually stay from here at The Hub, but two jumped out at us.
— This, first, from The Smoking Gun:
After her live-in boyfriend repeatedly rebuffed demands to have sex, a Florida woman allegedly attacked the man in their bedroom, chased him out of the house, and broke the windshield on his truck, police report.
Stacey Ann Ortiz, a 34-year-old waitress, was busted on a misdemeanor battery charge following the confrontation last Wednesday morning at the Port St. Lucie residence the couple has shared for the last seven months.
As detailed in a Port St. Lucie Police Department report, Ortiz and her beau, 27, quarreled after returning home from a night of drinking at a pal’s house. While Ortiz sought to have sex, her boyfriend wanted to “lie in bed and watch TV.”
— Also, and this one comes via the Watertown Daily Times, Watertown police charged Lisa M. Anderson, 47, of 321 Stone St., Apt. 3, with harassment early Wednesday for allegedly throwing a sex toy at an officer.
The instrument struck Officer Jonathan M. Pitts in the forehead, police said.
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.
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.
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.
The eyes of the world are slated to be on Niagara Falls this June when Nik Wallenda makes his wirewalk above the cataract.
But before he gets here, Wallenda has already drawn some much-needed attention from Albany lawmakers who had long left the park in disrepair.
State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey was at the Niagara Falls Discovery Center on Tuesday, discussing the details of a $25 million improvement project that’s expected to revitalize Niagara Falls State Park, and gathering data in advance of Wallenda’s walk.
Harvey said she’s still working through the details on the Wallenda event, but insisted the team is moving forward.
“We’re sitting down and talking to Nik, and we met with Albany yesterday,” Harvey said. “We don’t know exactly what we’re going to do or how we’re going to do it. We don’t have any definite plans on any front.”
Here’s State Sen. George Maziarz talking with Harvey and State Assemblyman John Ceretto.
According to a release, the $25 million will go toward:
Harvey said it’s important to see Niagara Falls, one of the state’s most recognizable landmarks, restored to pristine condition.
“It’s a symbol. An example. A model,” she said. “It has been in the past and it should be in the present and it should be in the future. We should honor what our forefathers did for us and take it forward.”
A great alternative to cleaning the garage! NU has announced the start up of two new sessions of their CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training courses aimed at preparing the community for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or just having a bad hair day. Today’s Soapbox features the director of the program, Valerie Haseley as she describes the benefits of getting involved and being ready should disaster strike. All the info is noted below, but make sure you listen to the soapbox for April 24 for the real scoop.
FREE Emergency Preparedness Trainings Available in Niagara County Border Community SERVICE of Niagara University will host two free CERT training courses in Niagara County. CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training is a community preparedness course that includes academic and hands-on instruction as well as a disaster training exercise that is designed to prepare you to help yourself, family, and neighbors in the event of a catastrophic disaster. Individuals can make a difference by using CERT Training to save lives and protect property in your neighborhood.
Classes at Wrights Corners Fire Company, 4043 Lake Avenue in Lockport start May 1st from 6:30-9:30 pm and run nine consecutive Tuesday nights culminating with a disaster simulation on June 26th.
Classes at Cambria Fire Company, 4631 Cambria-Wilson Rd in Cambria (Lockport) start May 3rd from 6:30-9:30 pm and run nine consecutive Thursday nights culminating with a disaster simulation on June 28th.
CERT training topics include:·
Disaster Preparedness: Disasters and disaster workers, community preparedness·
Emergency Medical Operations I: Triage and treating life threatening injuries·
Emergency Medical Operations II: Public health considerations and patient treatment·
Fire Safety: Fire chemistry, hazards, safety, and suppression·
Light Search and Rescue: Search and rescue size up and operations·
CERT Team Organization and Incident Command System (ICS 100)·
Disaster Psychology: Impact of disaster on rescuers and victims and its mitigation·
Terrorism and CERT: Terrorism and its goals, CERT protocols for terrorism·
Disaster Simulation Training Exercise: Course Review & Hands-on Exercise
Participants must be at least 16 years-of-age and plan to attend all sessions. To enroll in the course, register online at www.niagara.edu/bcs-enrollment. Please indicate which class you are enrolling in.
For more information, please contact Valerie Haseley, Niagara County Project Coordinator at (716) 205-0076 or vhaseley@niagara.edu. The mission of Border Community SERVICE (Special Emergency Response Volunteer Initiative for Community Empowerment) of Niagara University is to provide emergency preparedness training to citizens and to encourage their participation in opportunities that enhance regional emergency readiness.
A Niagara Falls man was arrested for driving while intoxicated in the Town of Newfane on Sunday after he struck a mailbox as he was being pulled over by police.
21-year-old Jason Braun of 17th Street in the Falls was on Lockport-Olcott Road and a Niagara County Sheriff’s Deputy noticed him swerving.
After being pulled over, he admitted to drinking six rum and cokes, but he refused to take a breath test.
He’s scheduled to appear in the Newfane Town Court on Tuesday.
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