A casual observer might not have called it triumphal or even worthy of comment, but for governmental observers and watchdogs several important things took place Monday at Wheatfield’s town board meeting.

Department heads: Paul Siegmann of the Highway Department, Rich Donner of Water & Sewer, Mike Klock (above photo) from inspection, Assessor Bridget Grawe. Nearly all of them were present Monday.

But that’s not the new part. For some time now, Wheatfield has been leading the county’s major municipalities in having department heads speak regularly at council meetings.

This time, though, instead of remaining [...]

Lately, we’ve heard a lot about “fake news” and “alternative facts.”

But there’s another type of dubious journalism that’s not even in the vernacular yet.

I’m talking about “junk news,” and we get too much of it in Niagara County, served to us by the corporate media at the expense of issues that are being kept in the dark — stories that might actually advance the status quo in Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, Lockport, Wheatfield and everywhere else in Niagara County.

So instead of news coverage the establishment media doesn’t want you to see, we get served up plate after plate of arrests, house fires, DWIs, [...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: The council stopped this practice during the last quarter of 2016.

Derelict buildings throughout the city continually confront residents as well as tourists that stumble off the main drag. Other buildings are occupied but sadly dilapidated and many of these are owned by out-of-town landlords.

It’s downright depressing.

But not so in the common-council chambers at Niagara Falls’ City Hall.

There, a constant loop of beautiful images of the Falls plays on twin monitors, reminding council members of what helps pay the bills here.

But everybody knows that already.