Marineland: Spinning the crisis with Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati

The Toronto Star has an interesting article where they share details of emails that Mayor Jim Diodati and his assistant sent back and forth and how they tried to craft their message about the Marineland crisis. It’s a case study in political spinning — the good and the bad. Last August, Niagara Falls, Ont., Mayor…

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Mayor defends Marineland amid allegations

From the Niagara Falls Review: …In a story published in a Toronto newspaper Wednesday, Demers said the poor conditions and a lack of action by park owner John Holer is what made him quit – and subsequently break a non-disclosure agreement by going public. The public reaction to the report has been significant, with Marineland…

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Investigative Post: Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster

From WGRZ Channel 2 in Buffalo (includes video): Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney interviewed Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster on the impact of the Wallenda walk, the numerous challenges faced by Niagara Falls, and how the standoff between state and Seneca Nation officials is costing the city money that would otherwise be helping to promote…

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Tourism ‘our General Motors’: Falls mayor

From Niagara This Week: Calling the tourism industry “our General Motors,” Mayor Jim Diodati said the city needs to exploit opportunities to stage “blockbuster events” to further increase the number of visitors coming to Niagara Falls. “People poke fun at it, but (tourism) is our General Motors,” Diodati told and audience of 200 at the…

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Schumer Puts Shoulder Behind Wheel To Remove Robert Moses parkway

From WGRZ Channel 2 in Buffalo: The Robert Moses Parkway has long been viewed by some as a “concrete moat” between the city and its riverfront, and thus an impediment to potential economic development. But for just as long, its proposed removal has been mired in red tape according Falls Mayor Paul Dyster. “Sometimes people…

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WALLENDA POLL: ‘We had some monkey business’

From the Niagara Falls Review: Nik Wallenda knew something was up. First he got an email from a fan congratulating him on the support on a Niagara Falls Review website poll. Then, a few minutes later, he got a call from his dad. “He said ‘I’ve been keeping an eye on the polls. I just…

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BALANCING ACT: Review city editor and Falls mayor debate merits of wire walk across Niagara Gorge

The Niagara Falls Review has a nice back-and-forth between their City Editor Corey Larocque and Mayor Jim Diodati: Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda wants to walk a wire across the Niagara Gorge next summer, but the Niagara Parks Commission, whose approval he needs, is cold to the idea. Mayor Jim Diodati is eager to see Wallenda…

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Diodati wants to pitch Wallenda walk to premier

From the Niagara Falls Review: When Premier Dalton McGuinty comes to Niagara Falls later this week, Mayor Jim Diodati will have a message for him: “Let Nik walk.” McGuinty will be in town from Friday to Sunday for the Ontario Liberal Party’s Provincial Council, a post-election get-together at the Scotiabank Convention Centre expected to draw…

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Wallenda won’t give up on falls tightrope dream

From the Niagara Falls Review: Both Nik Wallenda and the Niagara Parks Commission are digging in their heels. Wallenda wants to be the first person in more than a century to walk across the Niagara gorge on a tightrope. The Commission seems determined not to let it happen. The performer was in Niagara Falls Wednesday…

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Protecting the brand: Niagara Falls debates tightrope walk

From CBC News: The pitch by international daredevil Nik Wallenda to traverse Niagara Falls on a tightrope has provoked some local angst over what the historic tourist attraction is all about these days. On one side are those like the city’s mayor, Jim Diodati, who is in favour of bringing the seventh-generation member of the…

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