Niagara Falls Blog

From the Niagara Falls Review:

The $34-rebate cheque Akron, Ohio, residents Betty and Carlo Palmieri will receive after their weekend getaway to Niagara Falls doesn’t make or break them.

But it is a nice bonus for the retirees, who travel to the city every year.

“Actually, we bought other stuff with that rebate,” Betty said outside Niagara Duty Free Tuesday afternoon as they made their way home.

“It’s not much, but it does give us more money to spend while we’re here,” Carlo agreed.

To get a rebate of $34, the Palmieris would have spent $575 on accommodation and take-home items, both of which qualify for the GST rebate.

Things like food and gas - items consumed while in Canada - aren’t part of the program.

With only a few weeks left in the final part of the 2006 tourist season, this will be the last summer tourists will be able to claim their federal tax back as they return home.

On Monday, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Treasury Board chairman John Baird announced $1 billion in programs would be scrapped over the next two years as the government works to reduce its debt load.

From Canadian Business:

On a bright, warm April day in Niagara Falls, Ont.–one of the first truly fine days this spring–Bob Masterson, president of Ripley Entertainment Inc., confidently told guests at the grand opening of his company’s Great Wolf Lodge that completion of the resort was just the beginning. For decades, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum had been a stalwart attraction in the town’s Clifton Hill tourist area, but it had become a faded icon of kitsch until B.C. billionaire Jimmy Pattison purchased the entertainment company in 1985 and gave it a much-needed shot in the arm…

But even as Masterson was enthusing about the plans, Pattison, the man with the money, was in the Great Wolf lobby giving a more cautious view of how things might unfold. He candidly told other journalists that a decision on building the aquarium had been put on hold indefinitely, thanks to concerns raised about the potential impact of a new U.S. border security law. Designed as a response to the concerns surrounding the 9/11 attacks and ensuing “war on terrorism,” the new regulations would force anyone wanting to enter the United States–including American citizens–to show a valid passport or some other secure travel document instead of just a birth certificate.

Pattison later elaborated on his misgivings to Canadian Business.

From the Niagara Falls Review:

Joshua Green is head over heals - literally.

The 21-year-old Niagara Falls resident has a unique talent that he loves showing off to astonished tourists along Clifton Hill. “I know it may seem like I’m a crazy kid who is going to break his neck someday, but there is a lot of training and practice that goes into each trick,” the self-taught street acrobat said in between backflips along the limestone wall at Oakes Garden Theatre. “I know the consequences and I know how to avoid them.”

From Niagara This Week:

Hollywood actor Danny Glover travelled all night from California to show support for unionized hotel workers Saturday only to be threatened with arrest for his efforts.

Glover, who is best known for his role in the Lethal Weapon movie series, has been involved with the Hotel Workers Rising campaign, which highlights the often poor working conditions in the hospitality industry, for some time now.

He arrived in Niagara Falls early in the afternoon to attend a solidarity rally by Unite Here Canada, a union which represents hospitality and some trade workers, to protest the management’s treatment of employees at the three hotels owned by Canadian Niagara Hotels: Sheraton on the Falls, Brock Plaza and the Skyline Inn.