Potpourri for a Thursday

Walking Gord on ice

Left the house Wednesday afternoon and made it 50 feet before recognizing my mistake. I went back inside and put on microspikes.

They are rubber on top with chains below connecting half-inch metal triangles. They work great on ice. Along the gorge rim, however, I could have opted for snowshoes.

It’s been so icy even Gord slips.

I’ve spoken to several people who have fallen on ice. I did myself, backward while snowblowing. We have two sets of spikes, Kahtoola and an off brand. Both work fine but the cheap ones are wearing out.

They sell Kahtoola at Gear for Adventure on Maple Road. Here is a link. You can find cheap knockoffs online as well. https://gearforadventure.com/products/kahtoola-microspikes-traction-dev…

The Gazette continues

Laying off Don Glynn was the 2nd worst decision Chris Voccio made, right behind helping Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. to close the Tonawanda News rather than straighten out the books and know North Tonawanda and Tonawanda would become growing, desirable communities.

Voccio, personable as he is, views himself as a minimalist. He was also a corporate shill paid to move around the country and act as hatchet man.

If that is how you choose to make a living, fine, but at least have the emotional intelligence to be more graceful and preserve the institutional knowledge that comes with treating the end of a legend’s career with grace.

The price of eggs

Still just $5 for farm raised, brown eggs from Thymes Right farm at the Lewiston Artisan Farm Market which should be open this Saturday.

Meanwhile, two slices of cake from the Village Bakeshop in Lewiston include an 80 cent egg surcharge.

North Tonawanda

In the last couple months, the Gazette has been making entreaties into North Tonawanda but it is likely too little, too late for CNHI which has only one journalist, Mark Scheer invested in Niagara Falls. Everyone else only comes here for work and doesn’t really care about the community.

It might be a coincidence but the occasional fire or the recent bit of political coverage over Austin Tylec makes little sense.

Niagara Reporter

Another entity slinging mud in North Tonawanda of late is the Niagara Falls Reporter. If you care to read it on Facebook, go ahead, but Mayor Austin Tylec was the target. The Reporter, in its current iteration, is a MAGA entity. Its social media feed seems to be controlled by Donte Richardson.

Tylec, a dynamic mayor with a bright political future, is openly gay. This has caused major problems for NT Republicans but the mayor has succeeded in spite of a GOP dominated council.

Among accomplishments on his watch is the continuing renaissance of Webster Street, better fiscal management and the investment in the replacement of Memorial Pool.

The charge against Tylec was that he had police engage with an internet troll who created a spoof web page.

Republicans have endorsed former Police Chief Tom Krantz for mayor. I knew Krantz years ago and always thought well of him.

Reporter motives

Part of the Reporter trolling the Democrats relates back to it standing for Niagara Falls Redevelopment in its current battle to build a data center in Niagara Falls.

Falls Mayor Robert Restaino wants to build Centennial Park on the same parcel. Centennial Park is a proposed hockey rink a half mile from the tourist area and adjacent to the casino.

Republican-aligned Restaino supporters prefer we refer to the facility as a “multi-use event center” and characterize the proposed project as costing $150 million. I erred at one point and said $250 million. Truth is no one knows. It may be $200 million if the original estimate was accurate.

So far, the city has no feasibility or siting study just “concepts of a plan” and a legal bill alleged to be for about $90,000. (The Express believes it is more.)

Meanwhile, NFR, which Restaino prefers to refer to as “the Milstein Group” because it properly puts the onus on the investor, has little to show for its planned data center proposal.

Restaino is a Democrat. The Reporter, by trolling Restaino, Tylec, and Niagara County Democratic Party Chairperson Chris Borgatti, is hoping to squelch Centennial Park, eliminate Tylec for the crime of being gay, and convince the community the data center is real.