Buggin Bob in Fort Erie Part 1

Cycling Niagara Frontier

Beginning at the Town of Fort Erie and traveling North along the Niagara Parkway to Niagara Falls, Queenston, Fort George, Niagara on the Lake, Port Weller and along the Welland Canal to Thorold, Welland, Port Colborne and back to Fort Erie. The Niagara Frontier is part of a DVD collection entitled Cycling the World.

Goose Attacks Dog

Face-to-Face Gunpoint Standoff with Avondale Suspect

From the St.Catharines Standard:

It was four minutes that felt like two hours.

Det. Const. Martin Cook doesn’t remember actually thinking anything when the masked bandit pointed the black handgun at him.

He doesn’t recall thinking he could get shot. Or that, after only six years as a Niagara Regional Police officer, he could be killed. Or that he might kill the man who had just threatened to shoot him. There wasn’t time to think. Only time to act. There was only reflex. Instinct. And training.

“It comes automatically. It absolutely does,” Cook said.

He faced the barrel of the man’s gun. Without any forethought or hesitation, the detective drew his own weapon. He barked an order, demanding the man stand down. Just as he was trained to do.

And there it was. Two weapons drawn in the eye blink of a moment that decided life or death.

Does he shoot or not?

Being an Avondale clerk hasn’t been the safest of jobs during the last 30 days.

Every few nights, clerks have been faced by a masked man armed with a kitchen knife. Then, after a few weeks, with a gun.

The bandit was prolific, sometimes robbing two Avondales a night.
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Skateboarding Without a Skateboard

White Oaks Resort Promo Video

QEW Detour Plan ‘fell off the tracks’

From the St. Catharines Standard

Motorists travelling through St. Catharines on the QEW are a mile closer to traffic-jam relief whenever the highway shuts down.

Niagara Region and Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation have arranged a meeting in early June to discuss implementing an emergency detour plan.

The plan, in the works since 2003, would direct motorists off the highway through St. Catharines in the event of a QEW or Highway 406 closure.

Traffic confusion leading to road congestion was evident Tuesday afternoon when the QEW was closed after a concrete slab fell off the Martindale Bridge during rush-hour traffic. The bridge is slated to be replaced this year as part of a massive QEW expansion project through St. Catharines.

St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley, the transportation minister, said implementing the plan has become a priority.

The province and the Region have “agreed to resolve this matter at the earliest opportunity,” Bradley said.

“Our ministry is contacting the Region to see if we can be helpful at all.

“It certainly would be advantageous to have it as quickly as possible. Our ministry’s determined to do it. The Region’s determined to do it. It should be done.”

Niagara Region transportation director Joe Cousins said earlier this week the detour plans were in the hands of MTO staff who had yet to approve them.

In turn, MTO spokeswoman Emna Dhahak said the ministry was waiting on the Region to get the approval of Ontario Provincial Police and Niagara Regional Police.

Cousins said Thursday miscommunication came into play.

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Head Smash in Welland

This teen allows his friends to smash his head with a parking sign at the Rice Road Tim Hotrons in Welland.

Free Hugs in Niagara Falls

This video has no sound.

Funny Student Council Campaign Video

A funny student council campaign video from Centennial Secondary in Welland.