Niagara Falls Review

0:00or have another print disability which makes reading holding a book or turning a page difficult or impossible. The content is copyrighted by the respective publishers. For more information, please visit us on the web at nfradioreading.org. Hi, this is Chuck Stevens. And for the next hour I'll be reading from the Wednesday September 9th issue of the Niagara Falls Review here on the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service. Nothing like the first day of school, students trade summer holidays for classrooms. After weeks without early morning alarm clocks, packed lunches, or last-minute searches for disappearing homework, Niagara families were back to school day routines kicked in Tuesday morning with the hugs and goodbyes lasting a little longer than normal. For families walking over to Oak Ridge Public School, it was a quieter and calmer experience than they were used to as the South St. Catharine School saw its student numbers drop after

1:02the reopening of neighboring Breyerdale Public School. Jennifer Chrysler-Loney dropped off a friend's son at Breyerdale before heading toward nearby Oak Ridge where her own son's began seventh grade. She said both boys admitted to being worried about starting their days without one another. He's a little nervous because now he doesn't know which of his friends will be in class said Chrysler-Loney. And while the year is full of changes, it's also the start of what comes next. Grade 7 is big. I've been telling him you're getting prepped for high school. This is the big time and there's going to be homework and assignments and all that fun stuff she said. Way to encourage her, right? There was also excitement buzzing around the Marsdale Drive Yard as Oak Ridge had its seven portable classrooms removed, expanding the available outdoor space that had even its littleest students commenting how the school grew more grass.

2:05Principal James Williams said the overall vibe of the morning and volume of people was different but everyone seems happy. It's exciting. I think it's hopeful seeing everyone coming in and ready to learn and see their friends. He said we do curriculum but the real mission in September is to have everyone feel they can come in and get to school and feel good coming in in the morning. Across Niagara thousands of students returned to classrooms as English and French language schools opened for the start of the 2026-27 academic year. Prior to the school's renovated school which received about $3 million worth of mechanical electrical and accessibility upgrades. Improvements were also made to the gymnasium and new flooring and AV equipment, the library, backyard playground and other areas. Formerly a junior kindergarten to grade 6 school, Prior was shuttered in 2014 when enrollment

3:06dipped, becoming a space for elementary and secondary student programming. That when enrollment started increasing more than 500 students attended Oak Ridge last year. District school board of Niagara saw opportunity to bring kids back to classrooms at the Caroline Street School. About 300 remained at Oak Ridge and about 220 moved to Briardale. To start its new chapter, a photographer was on school grounds capturing photos of the higher level classes while staff wore t-shirts featuring Briardale's Bears mascot and Red Carpets line the hallways. Principal Carrie Mooney was at Oak Ridge last year as vice principal to help ease the transition for families. She said everything was done to make sure kids felt that they were not missing anything than moving to the new school, including picking its colors and mascot to ensure they felt at home. There's always a mixed emotion. Some of their friends are over there but we worked really hard together to build the

4:07type rather to build a hype to come to Briardale and I think they were very excited, said Mooney, walking through the building that includes a daycare and room to grow. The biggest thing was seeing the kids reaction and the family's reaction coming in. That's the most important thing that gives you the best feedback is seeing them happy walking through the doors. For most elementary schools, the day was a return to routine. American Patton son walked around the house wearing his backpack for an hour before the start of senior kindergarten. We tried to keep it pretty chill for the most part. Go to bed a little early. Pick our clothes out the day before and try to keep it pretty streamlined. So it wasn't too bad, said Patton. At the high school level, school board spent summer preparing to implement changes announced by the Ministry of Education, which include a new financial literacy requirement for students. He returned to final exams and mandatory attendance and participation.

5:12Dennis Morris Catholic High School principal Kevin Timmans said Niagara Catholic District School Board senior staff prepared principals, teachers, students and families for the changes to ensure evaluations and expectations are clear. There was a lot of positive energy in the building and we've been working very hard all summer, especially in the last two weeks in preparation and we're raring to go, said Timmans, adding the school received about 100 new registrants over the summer. Education staff are still working to understand attendance particulars such as exemptions and how to accommodate students who cannot be present because of personal circumstances, whether due to mental health struggles or helping with the care of siblings. We pride ourselves in knowing the story of every student in this building and those conversations are happening between administration and families and students and teachers and students Timman said.

6:12Those are cases where we feel where our strength is and that's supporting those students who are most in need. Niagara Catholic Chief Executive Officer, Giancarlo Vitrone, said there is a direct correlation between attendance, engagement and student achievement. The more engaged you are, the greater value you get in the whole experience he said. Leading the first day of the year as Board CEO, Vitrone said Niagara Catholic spent the summer with a focus on school maintenance and planning for growing accommodations, which will continue through September. The board also hired 74 permanent teachers, one of the largest hiring blocks in the past several years. Vitrone said the board has to be nimble and flexible to allow for changing curriculum and guidelines with the ministry still to define the role of CEO and school board trustees. It seems to be a structure that has worked incredibly well for Niagara Catholic because we adopted it very quickly, he said.

7:16Next up Niagara Falls launching a registry of vacant buildings. A registry has been launched that Niagara Falls official say will support the safety security maintenance of vacant buildings across the community. It follows City Council's direction to take a proactive approach to empty buildings and help prevent properties from becoming neglected or unsafe. Council approved a vacant building by law last December. The registry which is now active provides municipal staff with a way to monitor unoccupied buildings and work with owners to address potential property standards and concerns. Megan buildings continue to be a problem in the city said chief administrative officer Jason Burgess, they can become vulnerable to deterioration, unauthorized access, vandalism, pest infestations, fire and other safety concerns when not properly maintained or secured. A 2024 staff report peg the number of empty structures in Niagara Falls at 114.

8:22Noting that between 2021 and 2024, there were 17 reported fires in vacant buildings that caused more than $3 million in damage. With the homeless population, we get a lot of people who break into these abandoned buildings and reside there which creates other issues. Chris Gallagher, manager of municipal enforcement and security said officials have now identified 124 vacant buildings that we are actioning and that we are sending notices to. We just mailed those out and then we allow 60 days for compliance for them to get back to us. He said, Burgess said the registry will allow for a more streamlined process. It's just a matter of us understanding where the vacant buildings are knowing that the owner is still maintaining minimum maintenance on them and we can inspect them to make sure that the owner is doing what they're supposed to be doing he said. The other upside benefit too is if we know that we have some vacant buildings and the owners

9:25are trying to reposition them, then they get on the radar of our economic development team and we can sometimes match a buyer up with an owner or even someone who's looking to rent space once we know that they're on the list. One of the bylaw owners of vacant properties on which a building is situated are responsible for ensuring the property is maintained and the building is closed off from public access including all doors and windows. Owners are required to register their property within 60 days of the building becoming vacant unless an exemption applies. Property owners may pay a $350 one time initial administration fee plus a thousand annually for each year the building remains vacant. The $1000 allows us to recover the cost of us making sure that our staff are engaged on that property said Burgess. We hope maybe the fee is another little thing that tweaks an owner to keep moving the building along because no one wants to see empty buildings.

10:29More information available at digerfalls.ca Over in Wellen Wellen wants to revisit a court lease deal with the province has been in place since 1999. Dave Johnson, your reporter Wellen is pushing the provincial government to update a nearly three decade old lease agreement for the city-owned courthouse on East Main Street. Mayor Frank Campion and chief administrative officer Jessica Redell said the existing agreement signed in 1999 limits the city's ability to recover actual operating costs and does not account for inflation, life cycle replacement requirements, capital renewal needs, increasing utility costs or modern asset management practices. The city's concerns were raised with Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General during last month's association of municipalities of Ontario Conference in Ottawa. We're trying to see if we can readjust the numbers to cover the costs of maintaining

11:32the building, building said Campion. The most recent cost associated with the courthouse at 102 East Main Street was $720,460 contract with cone elevators and escalators last December to replace aging public and prisoner elevators and including the modernization of controls, cab finishes and safety systems. The elevators were recommended for replacement rather last year. A staff report said from 2024 to the date on the December report there were 16 unplanned service repairs to the elevators costing $42,961. Only cone submitted a bid on the project of $708,000. Cone has the existing maintenance service contract at the courthouse and is familiar with the restrictions infrastructure and operations of the courthouse.

12:36With 500,000 set aside for the work, the city faced a 292,000 shortfall, $220,460 to cover the difference between the budget and bid and $71,539 project contingency fund which came from a capital surplus reserve fund. Built in neoclassical style from 1855 to 1856 at a cost of $100,000, the three-story historic building has been owned by the city since 1974 when it was turned over by Niagara Region. It was designed by Kavass Tully, one of Canada's leading architects and constructed with evenly colored Queenstone lime. In June of 1913, the building was gutted by a fire caused by defective electrical wiring when the flames were extinguished only the first floor and stone exterior were left intact. On the city's website Heritage Wellen calls the courthouse the city's most important architectural

13:40link to its past. Wellen was a village of little significance before its designation as the county seat and the city's fortunes were tied to this designation. However, after the courthouse was constructed, Wellen began to grow in prosper soon over shadowing rival communities like Port Robinson, Fonteil and Cook's Mills at the post. The initial courthouse had a maximum capacity of 72 prisoners, 60 male and 12 female and was staffed by the Jail's governor, Turnkey assistant and three guards. A gallows set up in the jail yard was used for hangings before being moved indoors early in the 20th century. The last execution occurred in January 1958, 99 years after the first one in 1859. You're listening to a reading of articles and features from the Niagara Falls Review on the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service.

14:40Not a listen to us pretty easy. On our free mobile app seems to be the most popular nowadays, downloaded at your Apple or Google Play Store with easy access to our Listen Live stream and of course all of your favorite podcast content. Barking dogs, smoke alarm alert, residents to Wellen fire, damaged to Niagara Regional Housing Unit was an electrical and nature David Johnson, the reporter. A working smoke alarm to help save a Wellen woman and her dogs from a victory avenue house fire that started in the living room on Monday. Deputy fire chief Matt Shaw said firefighters responded to 324 victory avenue. A semi-detached Niagara Regional Housing Townhouse on the north side of the street at about 1017 a.m. He said the resident was in the backyard when she heard dogs barking loudly inside. Knowing this was unusual behavior, she went to investigate Shaw said in an email, pond

15:42opening a side door. She was met with black smoke coming from the top of the doorway and heard a smoke alarm sounding. The woman briefly entered the home and saw small flames extending up the wall behind a sofa in the living room. She immediately retrieved her dogs and went to a neighbor's home to call 911. Shaw said when crews arrived 21 firefighters and seven trucks, they quickly enact the fire down and search the residents to confirm there was no one else inside. A fire prevention officer determined the cause of the blaze was electrical, damage estimated at 80,000. Shaw urged all residents to ensure smoke alarms are installed on every level of their home and outside sleeping areas and to test them regularly. Smoaking smoke alarms provide early warning in the event of a fire and significantly increase the chances of a safe escape he said. Our next article from the Niagara Falls Review from the local section fast cars and full

16:44hearts Niagara Club gives a young man with terminal cancer the ride of his life, the reporter Alan Benner. Austin Martell's life has been filled with excitement in the past several months thanks to the kindness and generosity of the community calls home. The 21 year old battling terminal cancer has flown in a helicopter above Niagara Falls with his family by his side. He crews across the region as a passenger in exotic sports cars stayed in the penthouse suite of one of the area's swankiest hotels and ate at the finest restaurants. Car shows have been held in his honor and thousands of dollars have been donated to make the time he has left as memorable as possible. He's done things that most people don't even do in their whole lifetime, said his mom, Carly Long. He loved every minute of everything he received and he's so grateful and so appreciative and just happy and positive.

17:45She said the community's generosity is help bring happiness to her son at a time when he needs it most. We have a lot of good memories because of all these good people that came into our lives long said. She said many of those good people are members of Krifter's Niagara, a club of automobile enthusiasts who have made the young man a focus of their efforts since learning about his struggle with cancer. It's a passion her son shared with club members. We used to go to Toys R Us like every weekend and need get hot wheels and stuff like that long said. He just loved cars from when he was born almost. It wasn't surprising that Martell was pursuing a career as a mechanic and was working for a local shop when it was first diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma about a year ago. Ray St. Jean of Drifter's Niagara said Martell likely inherited his love for cars from his grandfather Dave Long. Dave's grandfather he has a bunch of cars and he was looking forward to spending his

18:49senior years with Austin in the garage working on these cars St. Jean said. But members of the club have been doing their best to make Martell's life a little more enjoyable organizing fundraisers car shows and events in his honor. St. Jean said they also approached local radio station 91.7 giant FM to publicize their efforts in response the radio station set up a go fund me campaign for the family that brought in more than $5,000. I take my hat off to all the people that stepped up especially the car owners St. Jean said adding they made some of Martell's dreams come true. He dreamed of riding around in a Porsche, a Mazza Roddy and a Lamborghini and people we didn't even know stepped up with those cars and brought him out for a ride in them he added. Debbie Costa the director of care at St. Abelers Center hospice Niagara's Palatator of Care

19:52Facility on Ontario Street in St. Catherine's said she first learned about Martell in the spring when she heard St. Jean speaking about him on her car radio. She has known St. Jean since she was a child going up in Chippewa and listening carefully as he shared Martell's story. Austin is a huge car lover exotic cars, fast cars, muscle cars, classic cars the whole nine yards she said. Months later when hospice Niagara received a referral from Martell, Costa knew who he was and what they needed to do to make his time at the care center as memorable as possible. Costa contacted Martell's mother to ask permission to organize a car show to welcome him there. She said Martell's mother replied, oh my god you would do that for my son. Costa then reached out to St. Jean who arrived with about a dozen club members and their shining vehicles to welcome Martell on August 13th.

20:52It was really wonderful she said. Costa called it a whole community effort adding even the patient transfer company that brought Martell to St. Louis Center allowed staff to remain there as long as it took at no extra cost to give him an opportunity to enjoy the car show before getting him settled in his room. St. Jean said Martell spent about 45 minutes outside talking with club members and admiring the beautiful vehicles park there. He said the young man wanted to stay outside as long as he could and get fresh air and look at the cars and talk to people like he's just a regular person because he is a regular person. Doctors of Driftors Niagara returned to St. Louis Center last Tuesday slowly driving by as Martell sat in his wheelchair at the curb to watch the procession of gleaming vehicles. Costa said seeing the joy it brought to the young man and the smile in his face was amazing. Austin was so happy Carly long said he couldn't believe it it made his day.

21:55She said they were overwhelmed by the kindness and compassion of club members it just gets to your heart. Costa said hospice Niagara often goes out of its way to bring joy to people in its care. It recently celebrated Christmas in August for a resident who loved Christmas and was a musician who enjoyed playing Christmas carols. It was one of many Christmas celebrations it has held regardless of the time of year. We have had multiple weddings and special anniversary dinners prepared by our chef with a special table complete with white linens and LED candles and balloons she said. Those are just a few things we were able to provide our residents and their loved ones while they are here. However, she said the events organized with Driftors Niagara from Martell were probably a little more extreme in a sense. But she said events like that also bring a bit of joy to hospice Niagara staff. We deal with death and dying all the time so it's these things that make us feel good

22:57Costa said. St. Jean said the work Driftors Niagara has done for Martell and his family is par for the course for club members. We do a lot of kids stuff for the community a lot of stuff he said. That includes donating thousands of dollars to charities such as help a child smile, through annual car shows or helping thousands of children and their families celebrate Halloween each year. Our club is very community oriented he said. Even while long said her family is not given up hope for her son. He's young and he's a fighter. So who knows right she said even now when he's sleeping if you make a joke or say something about cars he wakes up and says a little joke about it or something he just has a good spirit. And if you've been following the Baluga Whale story here's an update a Chicago aquarium shares health update on marine land Balugas after well deaths. This story from the Canadian press.

24:00A Chicago aquarium says several of the Balugas that were transferred to its site from Ontario's marine land have health issues. Shed aquarium said in a Friday statement it's conducting round the clock supervision in teams are monitoring the whales hydration breathing rates swim patterns social interaction and other behaviors. The aquarium's update comes after it's reported last week that two of the three whales had died at its site in a week span where Balugas from marine land a theme park of course in Niagara Falls Ontario that closed after ran of money. Shed has said that Pikachu one of the marine land Balugas died on August 25th at its site two weeks after being relocated. A 20 year old Baluga named rain that was moved from marine land to the Chicago Park in mid August has also died as well as a 34 year old Baluga that had lived for decades in Chicago.

25:00Amid the spate of deaths the Shed aquarium says there is still uncertainty surrounding the health of the remaining animals and it's awaiting lab results as the park investigates the deaths. Some of the rescued Balugas are showing more encouraging signs than others but several of presented clinical concerns Shed wrote in a statement Friday their condition can change from day to day at times hour by hour. The aquarium said Balugas get most of their hydration through the fish they eat and while some of the rescued whales are eating regularly others are not. As a whole Shed said none of the Balugas rather are where we want them to be from a health standpoint. The marine land Balugas were given a clean bill of health in the days before their relocation with fisheries minister Joanne Thompson responsible for giving the final approval. Marine land which is now up for sale completed the largest collective move of captive

26:01whales the world has ever seen last week shipping 30 Balugas rather and for dolphins to five aquariums in the United States in Spain over several weeks. The final move two weeks ago brought an end to whale captivity in Canada. Before their transfers marine land threatened to euthanize them if it did not get an emergency cash infusion after the federal government blocked an earlier plan to move the whales to China. Multiple whales have died after being relocated in 2021 marine land moved five whales to mystic aquarium in Connecticut two of those whales died within a year of the move in the third died two years after the transfer. Mystic said the whales had pre-existing conditions while marine land said they were healthy when they left. Balugal is totaling a 19 one killer whale and one dolphin died at marine land between 2019 and 2025.

27:06More from the Unackle Falls review let's jump over to the opinion page. We need to face some climate facts. When dire writing an opinion piece El Nino is being supersized before our eyes said United States rather United Nations secretary general Antonio Gutierrez the science leaves no room for doubt the planet is in uncharted waters and those waters are heating up the world is in the danger zone of extreme weather. He's right we are in an even deeper trouble than we thought on the climate front. Zeke house father a leading climate scientist warns 2027 is almost certain to be the hottest year. It will be he said a climate time machine temporarily driving global average temperatures to levels not normally expected until the late 2030s. The UN environmental program based in Nairobi reported the long term heating will reach at least 1.8 degrees Celsius above the pre industrial global average temperature although

28:10there are no good outcomes above 1.5 Celsius. In the United Kingdom environmental minister Angela Eagle issued the kind of warning that the British public hasn't heard since the Second World War. If you've got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you you're going to be a lot better off than if you haven't. It's better than the old normal when nobody in a position of power or influence said anything at all about it the risk of accelerated warming but it still fails to acknowledge the depth of our peril. Some public figures don't even understand the risk others including most scientists know or at least suspect it but don't want to frighten people. Back in the 1980s when scientists first made climate change a priority they really worried only about excess carbon dioxide slowly accumulating in the atmosphere.

29:12Later they added methane and some trace gases to the guilty list but they still visualize the warming process as slow and steady linear as they would say. That linear highly predictable warming is still a major problem and it is very hard to stop it if your civilization's principal source of energy is fossil fuels. But the scientists were also urgently studying past climate changes and they were realizing that changes in the past were often very abrupt and not at all temporary non-linear in their language. It's not one mode of warming or the other it's both operating in different ways. The 44 billion tons of carbon dioxide we put into the air each year causes average global temperature to rise steadily at the rate of about one-tenth of a degree every five years. The non-linear burst of warming we had in 2023 warmed it by three tenths of a degree in one year.

30:14The linear warming accumulates and once in a while that warming triggers some non-linear event. It took a year to figure out what the trigger for the 2023 jump was changes in a warm ocean current that caused further changes in low-level ocean cloud cover. But the point is that A, we couldn't predict it and B, it didn't fall back again when that El Nino ended. And here we are again. This El Nino, like the last, is just responding to the heating we have caused. Yes, it's the biggest in 500 or a thousand years, but that's just because we have made the whole planet hotter. While this extra dose of heating trigger another big non-linear jump in the planet's temperature, well nobody knows, but it is stupid or reckless for us to act as if it could not happen again. We are trapped on the up escalator and we need to stop the warming now. We cannot do that just by cutting our emissions.

31:16This is absolutely necessary for the wrong run, but it's far too slow to avoid possibly catastrophic warming in the short run. The only thing that can give us fast cooling is geoengineering, various techniques for reflecting some of the incoming sunlight that warms the planet. The techniques exist in principle they need to be put into practice. This piece written by Gwen Dyer, he is a London-based independent journalist. You know, listening to a reading of articles and features from the Niagara Falls Review, on the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service, content is available on demand by the way at all major podcast platforms like Apple Music or Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. Nice piece from the opinion page Niagara Voices written by Joe Barkovich, Summers End, meant Bittersweet, Goodbyes. I have fond memories about going up on King Street in the late 1950s and early 1960s, some have to do with going back to school. Back then as summer wore thin,

32:20haircut and school supply shopping rituals replaced almost daily batten ball and glove rendezvous at the Courtage Field Ball Diamond. The lesson for some of us boys of summer was hard to swallow. Get ready to say goodbye to the holidays. So it was that on late August or early September, Saturday mornings you went to Pete Santones Barber Shop near the corner of Fifth Street for your back-to-class haircut. As your satin pizza or brother Mike's swivel barber chairs, you could count on being schooled in local politics. It happened whether you wanted it to or not. In a nose-trying time, sitting still became the ultimate personal challenge. Pete was the rive of Crowland Township and politics of the day in Crowland and neighboring Wellen were always hot-button issues, whether it was near election time or not. More desirable Wally and Pete's or Mike's hands was listening to an assortment of neighborhood sports gurus chewed the fat about the Wellen Crowland combines and how the

33:21senior hockey team would do on the ice that hockey season. You've heard of the term hot stove league. Well, this was the hot barber chair league. Proud to say I learned something about the meaning of community from our back-to-school shopping tradition. The way I remember it back to school shopping had to be local because local businesses had to be supported first. According to the ultimate arbiter, that was mom. For all I know, she may have coined the popular expression shop local. First up was always Morrison's at the corner of King and Sixth. It was brand new back then, a proud addition to the Crowland business community on this stretch of King Street that had been a model in a lesson in diversity for years. I remember owner Bill Morrison as congenial and convincing the latter pertaining to recommendations on what and what not to wear. Bill may have missed his life's calling a staff member at Vogue or GQ Magazine. He could eyeball you from two or three feet away, build in need of tape measure for

34:24the size of your waist, and was equally adept about next size for a new shirt, even shoe size when it came to a new pair of soles. Unless, of course, you asked to be measured. Next stop was usually the raw store for a look-see and what the downtown Wellen department store was featuring then over to Smith's stationery on Division Street for crayons, pencil crayons, lunchpale, paper, and the like. That was it, three stops and we were done, well more or less. There was always something that needed to be added to the list. There was something too that left us melancholy this time of the year because of the sense of ending that was ahead. Summers demise and back to school meant things like no more classics illustrated comics, reading a marathon of those, walking across the real-way swing bridge near the end of six street to fish beneath it, cycling with friends, too far off destinations like Port Colburn's Nickel Beach, and watching movies from lawn chairs on warm summer nights set the Wellen

35:28Drive-In. All in all though, a good time of life that was rich in experiences and memories, stand by me if you agree. Joe Barkivich, a member of the Niagara Vs Community Editorial Board. Next up from the Niagara Falls Review from the local page, Rotary Connecting volunteers with nonprofits in a new database program. The Rotary Club of St. Catharines is playing matchmaker but not in the way you might think. The club is helping to connect nonprofit organizations and volunteers to find the best match based on availability, duration and desire. Rotary launched its volunteer matchmaking program last week after nearly a year of beta testing it, offering it first to Rotarians. Jackie Van Langfeld, Rotary Volunteer matchmaker, co-chair, said the idea was born shortly after a conference on attracting volunteers where her co-chair, Aman Osmami, developed the concept. We discussed how interesting it was,

36:32there were so many agencies looking for volunteers but can't find them she said. Organizations don't have the bandwidth to reach out to volunteers so they rely on newspaper, online and radio to advertise for an event. Van Langfeld said organizations seeking volunteers need only apply and Rotary can run their needs through the volunteer database. All they have to do is sit and wait for an email to say they have a match for a particular project she said. Van Langfeld said Rotary was in no rush to launch the database as success was paramount. We took a long time and we waited until we hit 50 volunteers in the database to start our first project. She said, tackling overgrown gardens for hospice Niagara was that project. Van Langfeld said the process to find matching volunteers is simple. People in the database have indicated the types of events they want to do and the roles they would like to play she said.

37:33Volunteers simply tell them that they want what they want to do and the Rotary Club runs the request through a database to find a match. Since launching last week Van Langfeld said the interest in the program has been exciting and it opens up opportunities for both organizations and volunteers. It's going exactly the way we had hoped she said. She said not everyone has the same volunteer capacity nor desire to tie themselves in the long term. The program allows them to pick and choose when and how to volunteer and to inquire about organizations with specific positions needing volunteers. It doesn't tie them in longevity to a particular cause but it could if they wanted it too. That's the beauty, beauty rather of it Van Langfeld said. A lot of them are one time events and if they keep going with it because that nonprofit has something that occurs every month, great. So we've done a good job matchmaking not just for the one event but in the long term. Van Langfeld said

38:37a couple of upcoming and ongoing positions include delivering food into schools and homes to tackle food insecurity and planting trees. She stressed only nonprofit organizations can apply. Nonprofit organizations seeking volunteers can apply at request volunteers. That net net net lif y dot app volunteers can register at rotary volunteers netlify dot app. Checking in in the grimsy, grimsy the project is now a month past deadline. Whether and a lot of big rocks have slowed down downtown grimsy reimagined projects. Water made in sewer work. I'd say we're about 25 or 30 percent of the way through," said a Brandon Wartman, Grimsby's director of public works, explaining the end date of the project, has been moved to November 30 from October 31. The first phase of the 91, or rather 9.1 million project, began at July 6. Wartman said

39:42heat, smoke heavy rain and rocks the size of small car, have slowed the work. Martin Reed, an engineering technologist and drainage superintendent with the town, said digging up roads and putting down new pipe has been difficult. The rocky nature of the soil, not only those large boulders, but just in general the sheer amount of rocks and cobbles and large stones, makes it very difficult to utilize an excavator, he said. He said workers also ran into an absolute mess of utility cables on the south side of Elm Street that they had to work around. Work on Elm Street is now finished with the exception of the intersection at Mount Road, which will get done in the coming weeks, Reed said. Crews are now working along Main Street east toward Robinson Street. New pipe has also been laid along Mount and Street between Elman and Maine, and at the Christie Street mountain and Maine intersections. Phase 2 will close Main Street from Christie

40:43to just past Elm between Spring and Fall of 2027. More friendly Niagara Falls review from Arts and Life, Brain Boosting Foods to Add Your Shopping List. New research suggests that a structure program that combines regular exercise with a brain-friendly diet may help improve memory and thinking skills in older adults who are at a higher risk of dementia. The two-year-old study followed more than 1,000 adults aged between 60 and 77 across Latin American countries who had risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking or older age. Half the participants completed supervised exercise, four times a week, received personalized brain-healthy nutrition advice, and took part in cognitive training, social activities and regular health monitoring. The comparison grew meanwhile received general health advice and attended four one-hour meetings over the two years.

41:48Researchers found that those following the structure program performed better in cognition, episodic memory, executive function and procession speed tests suggesting that lifestyle changes may help protect cognitive health. We consulted some experts to find out what foods we should be adding to our shopping lists to boost our brain health. Here's their top recommendations. Brazil Nuts. Nuts your new go-to brain-boosting snack. Healthy fats give brain cells structure and function, so I would recommend adding nuts to your shopping list, suggest Leslie Reed, register dietitian and nutritionalist. She recommends Brazil Nuts in particular because, as well as containing all the healthy fats, they also are rich in selenium, which is a powerful antioxidant that's great for the brain. Have no more than three Brazil Nuts per day because they're pretty powerful, advises read, have them raw as a snack or chop them up and mix them in with

42:53yogurt. Chick-peas, getting enough protein is also vital for brain health. We want to make sure we eat enough good protein sources because proteins are broken down into amino acids and amino acids are the building blocks of all of our cells explains Reed. She adds that amino acids play a particularly important role in neurotransmitters which transport connections to the brain. Many people think of protein shakes, meat and eggs when it comes to protein, but chickpeas are a great underrated source. Tins of chickpeas are a really good source of protein, which are pretty cheap, says Reed. You could roast them, add them to a salad or blend them up and make them into hummus to have with bread or a dip with vegetables. Next up blueberries, one color of the rainbow that we are often missing from our diet is dark purple. And purple foods like blueberries are another great thing to add to your

43:58shopping list. Blueberries are bursting full of brain-boosting properties, including flavonoids. Research suggests that, ethyrosyamins reduce brain inflammation, stimulate the growth of new brain cells and improve blood flow rather to areas responsible for memory and focus. Said Priaeocanath, registered nutritionist and nutritionist resource member. In addition, another chemical called Quasuritin is a natural anti-inflammatory compound that helps protect brain cells from damage caused by everyday oxidative stress. Frozen blueberries are great because they last much longer than fresh ones. You can add them into smoothies, have them with porridge or blitz them with some yogurt recommends canath. And of course, our old standby griefy leaf vegetables, green leafy vegetables, such as kale and spinach are rich in magnesium, high in

44:59B vitamins, and are really good at supporting your energy production and nervous system function. They are also very high in vitamin C and offer that antioxidant protection, so are really good for brain function. Leafy greens are incredibly versatile and can be incorporated into your diet in many different ways. You could steam them, add them into curries, soups, and casserole dishes. You could also add them into a keish or into a green smoothie. Oily fish research suggests that higher omega-3 intake has been linked to lower levels of beta-amoloid proteins that are associated with Alzheimer's disease. She notes that oily fish, such as sardines and salmon, is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids. I would recommend aiming for at least two portions of oily fish a week to get that omega-3 support. Can fish is particularly great because it contains the softened bones of the fish, which will give an extra boost of vitamin

46:04D in calcium. However, if you prefer buying fresh or frozen fish, you could make it make a curiotimate or grill it. Then there's dark chocolate. The more cocoa dark chocolate contains, the better it is. Dark chocolate contains flavonoids. It's a whole list of them that you can't pronounce that can support cognitive function and also improve the blood flow to the brain. She recommends choosing a dark chocolate that is at least 70% cocoa. I would recommend eating a square of dark chocolate a day after your evening meal. An EVO-O extra virgin olive oil contains anti-inflammatory properties that can help support vascular health, which is central to brain health. I would recommend drizzling a little bit of extra virgin olive oil over a salad. Next from the Niagara Falls review from the Canada and World page,

47:05carny warns of tough times ahead. There's always a cost to action, but it doesn't come close to the cost of standing still. The PM says, Canada's pivot away from the United States will come at a cost but the alternative would be far worse. Prime Minister Mark carny said on Tuesday, carny made the remarks in a video released just hours after his government made good on a promise to implement retaliatory tariffs on the United States. Those tariffs respond to American duties imposed last month by US President Donald Trump after the two countries cannot come to an agreement to settle some outstanding trade irritants. Carny spent much of the video laying out Canada's response to Trump's protectionist trade policies, including expanding trade with other countries and building more capacity domestically. But he said it won't be easy. That pivot will come at a cost. There's always a cost to action, but it doesn't come close to the cost of standing still.

48:07The video is the latest in a series, carny's launched last spring to update Canadians on his government's policies and this response to US trade actions. Carny said the goal of these policies is to make Canada stronger and more resilient, so no country can ever hold us hostage and that we can live how we want to live. Carny cut off trade talks with the United States last month. The two sides failed to reach a deal before US President Donald Trump's deadline for imposing new 50% tariffs on nearly 28 billion in Canadian goods. In his video address, Carny again accused the US side of trying to introduce measures that would have restricted Canada's ability to trade with other countries and its ability to promote and protect the French language and culture. Over the weekend and on Tuesday, Federal Conservatives amped up their calls for Carny to release the full details of the deal his government rejected and for Parliament to be recalled earlier than the schedule September 21st

49:11return date. We're asking for the Prime Minister to be straight up. We know it's not easy to negotiate with the US President, but the best way to keep everyone united and rolling in the same direction is to be upfront about the costs, the decisions and the plan going forward, conservative leader Pierre Pallevay said at a news conference in Regina on Monday. The only people who haven't seen the deal are the Canadian people. They deserve to see it so they can judge what we are fighting for and what we're fighting against. Responding to Carny's video on Tuesday, Pallevay said Canadians already are struggling with the high cost of living. How much tougher can things get for the 2.2 million food bank users, the people defaulting on mortgages, the small businesses closing in the people who can't afford homes. Pallevay said in a post on X. Open Parliament released the deal, revealed costs to families and small businesses,

50:12and saved jobs and money for our struggling people. Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney praised Carny's video address for striking a good tone. I don't agree with every policy approach, e.g. regarding China as a reliable trade partner, and believe the government is still falling far short of deregulation and fiscal reform, Kenney posted on X. But this is such a positive contrast to what's coming out of the White House. Trump has used openly for nearly two years about turning Canada into a US state and as repeatedly referred to the Prime Minister as governor. In January 2025, before being sworn in for a second term, Trump ruled out using military force but said he would consider using economic force to make Canada part of the US. Canada's reciprocal tariffs took effect Tuesday in response to Trump's latest round of 50% tariffs, targeting dozens of products, including honey, hockey sticks, milk, and cheese.

51:16Canada's tariffs ranging from 15 to 50% target only products that were on the US list and matched the dollar value of the exports, 27.8 billion. I don't believe in escalating the conflict that's not constructive, Carny said, in his video address. But our tariffs are necessary to protect our workers, protect our companies, and our communities. We can't let American goods into Canada tear a free while they charge our companies to export them. Meanwhile, Trump said Tuesday he is directing the federal agency that oversees government procurement to remove all Canadian origin products from its award schedules after Ottawa's retaliatory tariffs came into effect. In a post on social media, Trump says the Canadian government, including Canadian provinces, have banned American small businesses and companies from selling into their government procurement markets. He claimed that is not reciprocal and it is a Canadian trade scam. Trump seemed to be

52:21referring to Ottawa's buy Canadian policy, which was launched after the President target Canada with tariffs and threats of annexation. The United States also has a buy America policy that prioritizes domestic purchasing in key sectors. Our next story, from the safety page online harms, top threat to kids report says, online harms now constitute the top threat facing children in Canada. A head of bullying, poverty, and child abuse, children's first Canada said Tuesday in a new report. It is the first time online harms have been in the top 10 list of threats the report said, we've seen how now it's permeating the lives of every kid in Canada from birth all the way through adolescence. This is no longer a conversation just about teens on social media said Sarah Austin CEO of Children's First Canada. In the past year alone, we've seen

53:21particularly the rise of AI amplified harms she added. The report says kids are coming into contact with the AI toys and algorithmic driven content before they even learned to read. It sides multiple risks related to the online environment, including cyber bullying, child learning, sexual extortion, AI facilitated abuse and mental health impacts. Last year's shooting in Tumblr Ridge, British Columbia, which has led to dozens of lawsuits focused on the shooter's use of chat GBT was a defining moment for a debate around online safety in Canada. The report says it notes that over the past decade, police reported incidents of online child sexual abuse have increased by more than 300 percent while the Canadian Center for Child Protection processes more than 100,000 reports of online child sexual abuse and exploitation each month.

54:22Meanwhile, the emergence of violent online networks such as 764 has promoted or rather prompted law enforcement agencies to warn that Canadian children are being actively targeted through gaming platforms, social media and messaging apps. The report says the federal government added 764 to its list of terror entities in December 2025. It described a group as a decentralized transnational network of online and nihilistic violent extremists. It said members of the group use social media and gaming platforms to lure, groom and extort youth to commit violent and sexual acts including self-harm. The report argues Canada has regulations and safety standards in place for other children's products including food, medicine, pajamas and toys and that tech companies should not enjoy an exception. Children's first Canada is calling on the federal government to strengthen

55:27and pass the digital safety bill and introduce earlier this year. Bill C34 would force social media platforms to at least temporarily block access for kids under 16 and regulate the companies behind social media platforms and AI chatbots by imposing on them a duty to act responsibly among other measures. We're very glad to see that it goes beyond social media to include AI chatbots, but we know that kids don't just exist in those two platforms, Austin said. And in France, Steve Steeve's four Renoir paintings, two of them are still missing, two thieves sliced through offense, climbed through a window and stole four valuable Renoir paintings Tuesday from a small museum on the French Riviera, but abandoned two of the artworks as they fled. Investigators launched a national search for the perpetrators. The whole operation took less than three minutes and targeted the most valuable works in the

56:29Renoir museum in the town of Canes, Sermier, the regional prosecutors office said. The theft conjured up painful memories of these spectacular heist of Crown Jewels at the Louvre Museum in Paris last year and revived calls for better security and better funding for the many cultural sites, large and small that dot Francis landscape. Canes, Sermier, Mayor, Ryer and Mouson estimated the value of the combined Renoir works stolen Tuesday at $10.5 million in US dollars, but art thief theft experts warned they will be extremely hard to sell. The Renoir museum is housed in the last home of painter Pierre Auguste Renoir, where he lived before his death in 1919. It's the most famous attraction in Canes, Sermier situated between Canes and Nese on the Mediterranean coast. The well-equipped and well-informed thieves entered the Renoir museum via the garden, based in told reporters at the scene. They sliced through a fence

57:33with an electric knife or a saw, entered the museum through the ground floor, and then cut the clips securing the artwork frames. The song said and remarks carried by local broadcaster Icy Azure. The museum's alarm system went off at 5.48 a.m. local time, and police arrived five minutes later, the mayor said. Their swift arrival forced the burglars to flee and haste, and helped limit the scale of the theft the mayor said in a written statement sent to the associated press. Two of the stolen works were found that dropped in the museum garden, Renoir's portrait of Madame Pichon, and at Cocoa Reading, the prosecutor's office said in a statement. The two still missing our portrait of Madame Colona Romano and young women at the well. The museum was closed Tuesday while the investigation unfolded. You've been listening to a reading of articles and features. From the Wednesday September 9th issue of the Niagara Falls Review, we read from the Niagara

58:35Falls Review every Saturday at 7 p.m. Your reader has been Chuck Stevens. Thank you for listening. Coming up next in the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service is off duty. At 9 o'clock, the sports illustrator at 9 o'clock is the athletic from the New York Times. Stay with us for these readings and more. You're listening to your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service. I volunteer radio readers broadcast daily readings of newspapers, magazines, and books. For nearly 40 years, radio reading has served people who are blind or have a print disability throughout Western New York and Southern Ontario's Niagara Peninsula. Our broadcast signal is provided at no charge by WNED. Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service Studios are located at 1199 Harlem Road. Please spread the word about your Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service. For more information, call 716-821-5555.

59:56The following program is intended for listeners who are blind, have low vision, or have another print disability.