CHEER: Ask and you shall receive. It also helps to voice your concerns to public officials and pass around petitions, at least it did for Langdon Road residents in Lewiston who have been unhappy since May with 55 mph speed limit signs on the roadway. Prior to that, the road had been unmarked, which led to issues with drivers going way too fast on the road. The 55 mph signs didn’t help and residents wanted the speed limit lowered. State DOT officials agreed and have lowered the speed limit on a 1.2-mile stretch between Porter Center and Dickersonville roads to 40 mph. “Here is a situation where the neighbors all got together, reached out, and were successful,” Town Supervisor Steve Broderick said. Those traveling the road should be watching for Lewiston DPW workers to install new speed limit signs. Once those are up, we expect police to keep a keen eye out for speeders on the stretch of roadway.
• CHEER: It doesn’t seem all that long ago that you’d turn a TV to a local station and at some point, relatively quickly, you’d hear a very familiar jingle and the singing of “Everyone loves Marineland!” That’s not the case anymore. The now-closed attraction doesn’t have too many fans, largely for the way it’s treated its star attractions over the years. It’s only gotten worse in recent months as Marineland officials have threatened to euthanise 30 beluga whales and four dolphins if someone didn’t take them off their hands. Getting them out of there is better for all parties involved, as 20 whales — one killer whale and 19 belugas — have died at Marineland since 2019, based on internal records and official statements collected by The Canadian Press. We were happy to report this week that Canadian officials have a “solid plan” for moving the marine mammals to several parks in the U.S. — Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut and SeaWorld. Marineland had given Canadian officials a deadline of Jan. 30 to approve the export permits, otherwise it would go ahead with its backup plan to euthanize the belugas and dolphins. This is actually the second attempt to ship the whales and dolphins out. In October, Canada denied the park’s request to send the whales to the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park in China, with officials at the time stating that sending them to China “would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have endured.” We’d heartily agree that these animals shouldn’t be in captivity anywhere, but if it has to be so, we’re all for shipping them out of Marineland as soon as possible.
• JEER: Speaking of travelers from Canada, while we may be getting some belugas and dolphins, we’re still very troubled that their human counterparts are making trips to the US less and less frequently. Figures released by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office last week show three million fewer Canadians crossed the border into upstate New York through the first 11 months of 2025. Hochul blames the 21% decline on President Donald Trump’s handling of tariffs and his repeated suggestions that the U.S. should annex other countries, Canada included. She noted that half of the decline in visitation occurred during traditional peak tourism months from June through September. Shawn Weber, owner of Wine on Third on Third Street in the Falls, said figures he obtained from the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission show that the area’s three international bridges — Rainbow, Whirlpool and Lewiston-Queenston — saw a reduction in bridge crossings from 2.95 million at the end of 2024 to 2.46 million at the end of 2025, for a decline of 492,093. “Half a million cars down is something,” he said. We’re seeing the effects of that lack of traffic first-hand in Niagara County.