Maid of the Mist decision delayed

From WIVB Channel 4 in Buffalo (including video): The Niagara Parks Commission is buying more time before it decides who will award a lease to operate the premier attraction at Niagara Falls, the Maid of the Mist boats. It has taken the commission more than 11 months to mull the matter, but it says it…

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Ontario, sanitized for your protection

The Toronto Sun newspapers had an opinion piece recently about Ontario, and how the government is trying to “protect us” (they called it a Nanny State). At one point, it uses Niagara Falls as an example: These days, the architects of our bubble-wrapped, peanut-free society have their sights set on the daredevil community. The nattering…

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Cullen miniatures sale approved

From the Niagara Falls Review: The Cullen Miniature Village, which has delighted hundreds of thousands of visitors at its former location in the Durham Region, has found a new home in The Niagara Parks Commission’s (NPC) Botanical Gardens. Oshawa City Council approved the sale after endorsing a decision made that city’s corporate services committee last…

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NPC buys Cullen miniatures

From Niagara This Week: The Niagara Parks Commission hopes some little buildings will become a big attraction in Niagara Falls. Oshawa City Council gave its nod to an offer by the NPC to purchase a collection of miniature buildings and assorted pieces that were once found at Cullen Gardens in Whitby. The NPC offered $113,000…

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NPC buying Cullen Miniature Village for $100k

From the Niagara Falls Review: First a carousel, now a miniature Ferris wheel. The Niagara Parks Commission will be the proud new owner of a three-foot-tall wooden Ferris wheel, part of a 180-piece miniature village collection it is buying for $113,000. The Cullen Miniature Village, once a popular tourist destination in Whitby, will be restored…

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Wallenda’s World

From the Niagara This Week: It’s an interesting time in Niagara Falls. The CAA Winter Festival of Lights are in full swing, the songs of the season echo down Queen Street. But the Niagara Parks Commission is not in a Christmas mood. Playing the grinch to Nik Wallenda’s bid to walk across the gorge on…

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Wallenda taking his case to tourism minister

From the Niagara Falls Review: The Niagara Parks Commission slammed the door on Nik Wallenda Wednesday, but a day later Minister of Tourism Michael Chan opened it up just a bit. Speaking with the Niagara Falls Review Thursday, the Ontario tourism minister invited Wallenda, a seventh-generation aerialist who wants to walk across the Niagara Gorge…

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Minister’s door open: Craitor

From Niagara This Week: The door to Tourism and Culture Minister Michael Chan’s office is always open and the minister will look at ways of increasing tourism in Niagara Falls, Kim Craitor said Thursday. Craitor, who represents Niagara Falls at Queen’s Park and who is also the parliamentary assistant to Chan, made the remarks in…

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Daredevil still dreams of tightrope walk across Niagara Falls

From CTV.ca: Canadian officials may have turned him down, but an American man says he’s not ready to give up his dream of walking a tightrope suspended across Niagara Falls. Nik Wallenda, a stunt artist hailing from seven generations of circus performers, was told by the Niagara Parks Commission late Wednesday that he wouldn’t be…

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Canada nixes Wallenda’s Niagara rope walk

From UPI: Canadian officials in Niagara Falls have denied daredevil Nik Wallenda’s application to walk across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope next summer. Wednesday night, the Niagara Parks Commission voted to deny a permit for the stunt, planned for June, the Toronto Star reported. The plan was for Wallenda to cross from Goat Island,…

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