Published: May 09, 2008 07:09 pm            

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: It's no wonder

The ever-vigilant Paul Gromosiak made a good point about a recent quote in this newspaper by U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter. The quote referred to the newly designated National Heritage Area giving Niagara Falls “the prominent distinction that one of the seven wonders of the world deserves.”

Except it’s not one of the world’s natural seven wonders, Gromosiak points out.

According to various Internet sources, that distinction belongs to an enormous mountain between Nepal and China, an enormous canyon in Arizona, an enormous waterfall in Zimbabwe, an expansive coral reef system in Australia, a giant volcano in Mexico, a natural harbor in Brazil and a celestial phenomenon only visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

If Wikipedia is to be believed, “seven wonders” lists also include the Medieval world, the underwater world, the industrial world and the modern world.

Niagara Falls? It ranks among Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s seven Canadian wonders, along with such distinguished company as the Canadian Rockies, the canoe and the igloo.

— Dan Miner



He’s got the power

Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster is getting accustomed to thinking on his toes.

And he’s not bad with the one-liners either.

The mayor was among the guest speakers at Friday’s ceremonial ground breaking for the new $2.4 million Niagara USA Visitor Center. Just before starting his speech, the podium’s microphone cut out. While a technician moved quickly to fix the malfunction, Dyster attempted to yell out his comments to the close to 100 people in attendance.

Unsuccessful, the mayor shrugged and yelled out “Is someone here from the power authority?”

Seconds later, the juice was back on.

— Rick Forgione

        

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