Tag: cataract

    Author Craig Davidson gets gritty again, this time with novel ‘Cataract City’

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    From Yahoo! Canada News:

    When Toronto-based author Craig Davidson showed up for a recent interview with a mild shiner and stitches above his left eyebrow, it seemed a more fitting than frightening sight.

    After all, the 37-year-old is known for writing about brutal bouts in books, including the short story collection “Rust and Bone,” which was made into a 2012 Golden Globe-nominated film starring Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, and the novel “The Fighter,” for which he took steroids as part of his research and participated in a promotional boxing match.

    With his new novel, “Cataract City,” he cast his imagination to the blood and gore of underground fighting once again as he wrote a compelling and witty coming-of-age tale of two friends who get caught up in the seedy underbelly of Niagara Falls, Ont.

    It’d be interesting to read the book and see how Niagara Falls is presented.

    Categories: Niagara Falls in Pop Culture, Niagara Falls News Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

    Hotel Proposed for Downtown Niagara Falls

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    From WKBW Channel 7 in Buffalo:

    A vacant Niagara Falls building that once housed Moore Business Forms is being eyed as the site of new hotel.

    That, and another Cataract City hotel is due for a major face lift.

    Indian Ocean LLC, a company run by local hotelier B.F. Patel, is working with the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency on renovating the three-story former Moore Business Forms office – at the intersection of Buffalo Avenue and John Daly Boulevard (Quay Street) – into a 95-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel. The project carries a $6.65 million development price tag.

    See also:

    Categories: Niagara Falls Accommodations, Niagara Falls Developments, Niagara Falls New York, Niagara Falls News Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

    Wayne Newton gets the keys to the Cataract City

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    This was from Friday. I would have liked to have been there but wasn’t able to make it.

    From ArtVoice.com:

    Mr. Las Vegas, Mr. Entertainment, whatever you call him, Wayne Newton was born to be a star. After tens of thousands of Vegas shows in a career that has spanned more than 50 years, Newton will receive a unique honor this Friday at the annual “Niagara Holiday Lights” on Old Falls Street, when he’s given the key to the city of Niagara Falls at 5pm. The 70-year-old entertainer will be in town to perform a string of seven holiday shows in five nights at the Seneca Niagara Casino.

    Categories: Niagara Falls New York, Niagara Falls News Tags: Tags: , , , , ,

    Niagara Falls’ two weeks with Marilyn

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    From Niagara This Week:

    Some 60 years before Nik Wallenda walked a tightrope and focused attention from across the world on Niagara Falls; nearly two decades before the Christopher Reeve’s Superman made his famous flight over the mighty cataract to save a young boy’s life in 1979, Marilyn Monroe brought the bright lights of Hollywood north of the border to Niagara Falls.

    Categories: Niagara Falls History, Niagara Falls in Pop Culture, Niagara Falls News Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , ,

    How did these people survive a plunge over Niagara Falls?

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    From the Toronto Star:

    Death, taxes, Niagara Falls.

    In the old days, those were the only certain things in life — or death — according to the river men who patrolled a thunderous Horseshoe Falls before it became somewhat tamed by hydro companies.

    During the 19th and 20th centuries, thousands of suicide and accident victims plunged over the 52-metre world-famous cataract and none were known to have survived. Even three of the first six daredevils in protective barrels perished.

    Now meet a kinder, gentler Niagara Falls. In the past nine years, three men have miraculously survived the terrible fall — the only three in modern history known to live without a safety device.

    Categories: Niagara Falls Daredevils, Niagara Falls History, Niagara Falls News Tags: Tags: , , , , , ,

    Hotels see rise in room occupancies

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    From Buffalo Business First:

    Hotel room occupancy rates continued to rise through the first quarter of the year, mirroring other local statistics and economic factors that show the hospitality industry is climbing out of its slump.

    According to statistics compiled by Smith Travel Research of Nashville, the occupancy rate in… Niagara Falls, hotel occupancy increased 1.6 percent in March and 1.2 percent for the first quarter. Occupancy in the Cataract City was 41.7 percent this past March, up from 41 percent a year ago and for the January-to-March period, it was 36.9 percent, compared to 36.4 percent.

    Categories: Niagara Falls Accommodations, Niagara Falls New Year's Eve, Niagara Falls New York Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

    Sea Lions Receive Unique Eye Surgery, Aquarium trying for Pepsi grant

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    I heard about this originally this morning on the Buffalo NPR station.

    From WKBW Channel 7 in Buffalo (includes a video):

    In Niagara Falls, the term “Cataract City’ takes on new meaning after two sea lions become the first in the area to receive a unique eye surgery.

    Thousands of guests come to the Aquarium of Niagara every year to see the sea lions. The problem was, the sea lions couldn’t see them.

    Although not mentioned in either story, this got me thinking about the news a couple of weeks ago about the Aquarium being in the running for a Pepsi grant. Someone emailed me a link to a Niagara Gazette article:

    The Aquarium of Niagara is hoping a boost in public support will help it win a competitive $50,000 grant to create a living coral reef.

    The grant being administered through the Pepsi Refresh project allocates funding to different organizations, individuals or ideas based on the number of votes the project receives in a one-month period.

    Aquarium Director of Development Gay B. Molnar said the aquarium hosts 235,000 visitors annually and is in dire need of votes from residents across Niagara and Eric counties.

    If awarded, the grant would aid in educating visitors about environmental and economic importance of reefs, establish a coral research and propagation/reproduction program and educate visitors about how recent climate changes are a severe threat to the existence of coral reefs — all in an 800-gallon living reef exhibit.

    The person who emailed me this went on to say:

    I wanted to make you aware of an issue/store happening on the USA side of the Falls. I think it would be worthwhile to post it to your blog…in an effort to get as many people aware of it as possible.

    I just thought it would be very beneficial for readers to be made aware of this.  As you can see from the story, 10 attractions will be getting $50,000 grant based on the number of votes. To have readers in Buffalo/Niagara be made aware of this and try to push the NF aquarium up to get one of the grants would be a good idea.

    Any funding/money that comes into our area for attractions can be nothing but a good thing.

    Categories: Niagara Falls Attractions, Niagara Falls New York, Niagara Falls News Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Greetings from Niagara Falls

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    From the Tonawanda News:

    This is, by far, the shortest distance I have ever trekked to do a travel story.

    Yet even though the Ontario portion of the cataract is only about 70 blocks from where I live, it is pretty much another world.

    Not to knock the natural beauty of the U.S. side of the falls, but from the States, Canada’s side looks more … well … fun. All those bright lights and tall, shiny buildings just call to onlookers.

    So in that spirit, the first installment in the News’ new travel series will take a look at Niagara Falls, Ontario, from a tourist’s point of view. Trying to simulate a family’s budget, we capped ourselves at $80 for the day. So no, that meant that we couldn’t go to the casino.

    Categories: Niagara Falls Travel, Niagara Falls Trips Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

    March 30, 1848: Niagara Falls Runs Dry

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    I saw a few people tweet about this yesterday, but didn’t get a chance to retweet or blog about it.

    From Wired.com:

    1848: Niagara Falls stops. No water flows over the great cataract for 30 or 40 hours. People freak out.

    The falls were already a tourist attraction by 1848, and villages had grown up on both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the river to accommodate the sightseeing throngs. Residents also built waterwheels to harness the Niagara River’s power to run mills and drive machinery in factories.

    An American farmer out for a stroll shortly before midnight on March 29 was the first to notice something. Actually, he noticed the absence of something: the thundering roar of the falls. When he went to the river’s edge, he saw hardly any water.

    Came the dawn of March 30, people awoke to an unaccustomed silence. The mighty Niagara was a mere trickle. Mills and factories had to shut down, because the waterwheels had stopped.

    The bed of the river was exposed. Fish died. Turtles floundered about. Brave — or foolish — people walked on the river bottom, picking up exposed guns, bayonets and tomahawks as souvenirs.

    Was it the end of the world?

    Categories: Niagara Falls History, Niagara Falls News Tags: Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Falls, other landmarks will go dark Saturday

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    From the Buffalo News:

    The cataracts at Niagara Falls, normally illuminated at night by floodlights, will go dark from 8:30 to 9:30 Saturday in honor of Earth Hour, a worldwide effort to draw attention to climate change. The event urges individuals, businesses and organizations to turn off all non-essential lights.

    Categories: Niagara Falls Events, Niagara Falls News Tags: Tags: , , , ,
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