<!--Mark Scheer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Mark Scheer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com">mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
A funny thing happened on my drive down Main Street on Thursday.
I didn’t hit a single pothole. Not one.
For those of you out there who haven’t been down Main Street in awhile, I suggest you take the trip.
Start around the post office and head north.
You’ll find the occasional depression when you encounter a manhole, but otherwise you’ll have a smooth driving experience.
After a press conference to announce the re-opening of the new Rapids Theatre, I actually turned the car around and drove back up the strip just for fun.
In some sense, this is what passes as a pastime around here — driving over freshly paved roads again and again to convince yourself that the holes and cracks and crevices are actually gone
Anyway, it was hard not to notice things are getting done on Main Street.
The Public Safety Complex is looking good. The Rapids Theatre is set to re-open with a fresh, retro look. There’s still a lot of empty, boarded-up storefronts, but there are others that appear to be getting made over.
So, any of you out there who have for years lamented the demise of what was once one of the city’s most illustrious thoroughfares, hop in the car and take a ride down Main Street.
You might be surprised by what you see, and feel.
Help wanted for fire victims
Mayor Paul Dyster asked city officials and members of the public this week to do what they can this holiday season to help with an important cause.
As part of the administrative update during Monday’s meeting, Dyster noted that a fundraiser is being held later this month for Kayshaad Johnson and Khasmir Williams, the Falls children who lost their mother and sister when fire swept through their Monteagle Street home on Nov. 14.
The children’s mother, Tajuana Smith, and sister, Kheyarra Williams were killed in the blaze. Smith was raising all three children on her own and was working toward obtaining her nursing degree from Niagara County Community College when tragedy struck. Community members are being asked to support an upcoming benefit for the two surviving children.
“They face a very difficult road in every possible way moving forward,” Dyster said.
The fundraiser is being held at 6 p.m. Dec. 18 at the Quality Inn ballroom, 240 First St. Organizers are asking individuals and business owners to consider donating items, gift baskets or gift certificates for the event. Monetary donations can be made payable to: Benefit for Kayshaad and Khasmir and can be made at any Citizens Bank location. To donate an item or for more information, contact LaShaundria Coleman at 201-8488.
Culinary progress
Dyster also reported that he met recently with Empire State Development Corp. Chairman Dennis Mullen and the pair discussed plans to establish the Niagara County Community College Culinary Institute in the former Rainbow Centre Mall. Dyster told lawmakers city and state officials are in the process of “ironing out” the finer details of a memorandum of understanding with all of the partners in the project, including Rainbow Centre owner and Baltimore developer David Cordish.
“It looks like we’re moving to the finish line on that project,” Dyster said.
Milstein meeting
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, made a splash last month when he announced plans to broker a meeting between Dyster and Howard Milstein, the owner of Niagara Falls Redevelopment. Dyster told council members this week the administration has remained in contact with local representatives from NFR in recent months. He also said the meeting involving Schumer and Milstein has not yet been scheduled, but he would let council members know as soon as it is.
