Regular visitor Lisa from Rochester sent me this link…
From USA Today:
Starting Feb. 1, U.S. residents who travel frequently by land or sea between the USA and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda can apply for a cheaper, wallet-sized alternative to a traditional passport, which is already required for all air travel outside the USA.
The new passport card, to be issued sometime this spring, will be valid for 10 years for adults, five years for children 15 and younger. The cost will be $45 for adults, $35 for children — vs. the regular passport cost of $97 for adults and $82 for children.
As of Jan. 31, meanwhile, adults crossing U.S. borders by land or sea who don’t already have passports must show both a government-issued I.D. card, such as a driver’s license, and proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
One of the most dramatic events in the history of Niagara Falls took place 70 years ago Sunday, on Jan. 27, 1938.
During the previous few days, high winds had driven unprecedented amounts of Lake Erie ice into the Niagara River - ice that, due to a recent mild spell, was in smaller pieces than usual.
As a result, a massive ice jam, the biggest in many decades, quickly accumulated immediately below the falls. Soon, the gorge was choked with 18 metres or more of ice, raising the water level more than 10 metres higher than usual.
The moving wall of ice became a destructive, unstoppable force.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
A fire at the Monte Carlo casino in Las Vegas Friday shows why other fire departments, including Niagara Falls, need to be ready to battle a blaze in a high-rise building.
“There are a lot of things at play in high rises,” said assistant fire Chief Phil Ross.
“It’s the most taxing type of fire because we may lose elevators, which means walking 30, 40, or 50 stories to fight a fire,” Ross said.
The fire in Vegas was in the 32-storey Monte Carlo hotel-casino. It’s about the same height as the hotel at Niagara Falls Casino Resort.
The Hilton on Fallsview Boulevard, Sheraton Fallsview, Embassy Suites and Sheraton on the Falls hotels are all about the same size. Construction is going on now at the Hilton site to increase it to 58 storeys. As well, Canadian Niagara Hotels has city approval to build a 59-storey hotel on Falls Avenue.
When high-rise hotels arrived in Niagara Falls, there were questions about whether the city owned the right equipment. But in a high-rise fire, firefighters go in and up.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
The use of destination marketing funds, uniting a “fragmented” tourism industry and continuing to market Ontario inside the provincial boundaries and beyond are Tourism Minister Peter Fonseca’s goals for 2008.
On his first official visit to Niagara since being appointed to lead the $209-million ministry, Fonseca took part in a breakfast meeting with the media at the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort on Thursday.
In the hour-long session, he was asked whether he plans to legislate the way communities collect and use destination marketing fees.
This isn’t really tourism-related, but ARN has an interesting article about some of the technology in use at the border:
When visiting Niagara Falls, chances are you’re too enthralled by the beauty and power of the cataract to think of anything else.
Until you cross the U.S./Canada border — then you have to think about the interrogation from customs agents and the video cameras locked in on your vehicle. Or maybe you’re thinking of the technology behind that border-crossing process.
Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet are the foundation of a converged network operated by the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission (NFBC), a joint U.S. and Canadian agency that oversees three border crossings spanning the Niagara River between western New York State and southern Ontario.
Those of you who have been around for a while, know that I was there the day that Danny Glover was first in Niagara Falls for the hotel workers union. He was sitting on the wall of Oakes Garden Theater on Falls Avenue across from the Canadian Niagara Hotels properties.
Well, as has been report all over, Mr. Glover has been convicted of trespassing for events that transpired that day.
From CBC News:
American actor Danny Glover and two union leaders were convicted Thursday for trespassing in a Niagara Falls, Ont., hotel during a labour rally in September 2006.
Glover, known best for his starring role in the Lethal Weapon movies, was not in the provincial court in Niagara Falls when the guilty verdict was handed down. He will be sentenced on Feb. 8.
As I’m sure many of you remember, local documentary filmmaker Jay Cheel is doing a documentary based on Jay Cochrane. I was interviewed in September at Marineland and I previously posted the picture above with details of the interview. Shortly after the interview, he sent me a short preview video that he had put together. It looked pretty good, but he didn’t want it released yet. He is finally getting around to doing some more work on it, and has posted the video online. Jay has several other interviews lined up and I’m looking forward to hearing how they went. If you watch the video, you’ll hear my voice after Mayor Salci is done in the first segment. You then see me standing in front of the whales.
Once on his site, you can click a link to visit Vimeo (the video hosting site). This takes you to a page for Jay Cheel where he has a couple of other videos posted. The video simply called “Untitled” is a mixed bag of several projects he’s worked on. About halfway through the video there are some of the same clips as in the main Niagara Falls demo, but there are also some new clips from Niagara Falls that I hadn’t seen before (Niagara SkyWheel, the former Marvel arcade, pictures of the Falls, etc).
Don’t forget to sign the petition!
This picture was taken a few days ago. There is still no indication on the building that I could see that it is going to be a Build-a-Bear Workshop, but that is what the City of Niagara Falls web site says. Also, the Build-A-Bear Workshop web site shows that there will be one at this address opening March 28.
Last Saturday I received the latest issue of the Falls Avenue Newsletter. They are promoting Valentine packages, as well as new Family Day (a new holiday in Ontario) packages.
To subscribe, visit the main page and enter your name and email address middle of the bottom of the page.
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