NIAGARA FALLS —
A Town of Niagara man has been arrested and charged in connection with last week’s attack on Niagara Falls Junior Welterweight boxer Nick Casal.
Michael P. Vicki, 30, of Portland Street, appeared in Town of Niagara Court on Friday where he pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree assault. Town of Niagara Police Chief James Suitor said Vicki is being held without bail.
“Mr. Vicki came in for an interview this morning and after that interview he was charged with first degree assault, which is a B felony,” Suitor said.
Vicki’s arrest follows an altercation last Saturday on Portland Street where Casal suffered severe injuries after being hit several times by an unknown object. Police believe Casal was knocked unconscious during the assault, but regained consciousness and was driven from the crime scene to his home. He was later taken to ECMC where he was treated for four serious wounds, including an almost foot-long gash on the side of his head.
Hours after the assault, Casal’s father, Ray, told the AP that his son suffered, in addition to the gashes on his head, a chipped tooth and severely swollen, but not broken, arm. Ray Casal said his son was struck 15 times in the head and body.
Initial reports, posted on boxing blogs and websites on Sunday, suggested that Casal had been the victim of a “gang assault” committed by “thugs” wielding “golf clubs” in Buffalo.
Suitor and police investigators later said they believed the attack involved only Casal and one assailant.
On Friday, Suitor said police still aren’t sure what provoked the attack.
“(Vicki) just said Mr. Casal came over and they engaged in a fight,” Suitor said.
Deputies from the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit and officers from the Town of Niagara executed a search warrant at Vicki’s home on Wednesday afternoon.
“We were unable to locate a weapon and we still don’t know what the weapon was, other than it appears to have been a round object,” Suitor said.
The assault came as Casal was preparing to appear at Seneca Niagara Casino for one of the biggest fights of his career. The June 29 event was to be held against Russian Provodnikov for the World Boxing Organization Inter-Continental Title. It was planned to be the main event bout for the evening and was scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2′s nationally televised boxing card, Friday Night Fights.
NIAGARA FALLS, NY – “I would say we’ll know by the middle of next week whether I’ll be wearing one or not,” said Nik Wallenda, referring to whether he will be forced to wear a tether when he attempts to cross Niagara Falls on a tight rope on June 15th.
Such a device would not prevent him from slipping off the wire, but would stop him from plunging 200 feet into the Niagara Gorge should he falter on his 1,800 foot long trip.
Wallenda says in the minds of some of those sponsors, who he declined to name, it’s not so much that the walk across the Falls is any more dangerous than stunts he has previously performed. Instead, it’s more about their fear that if he should fall to his death, it would occur before a worldwide television audience…and that their names would be forever associated with tragedy.
Wallenda also confirmed that the ABC television network, which purchased the rights to broadcast his feat, has also expressed concern about him wearing a safety device.
“They’ve brought it up, that’s for sure,” Wallenda said.
Wallenda, while reiterating his opposition to wearing a tether while fielding questions from reporters on Thursday, said, “It may come to that…but at this point I’ll reiterate that’s not what our family does, it’s not our history, and that’s not the dream.”
Wallenda says he also believes a harness or tether would not only limit his ability to do anything more than just simply walk the wire…but that it might actually add an unnecessary distraction or possibly even an element of danger.
“It would inhibit me in some ways, in order to have that freedom up there…and I’m not used to wearing one, so it’s something else I’ve got to get accustomed to as well.”
Bello Knock, a fellow aerialist who Wallenda calls one of his best friends, joined him on the wire for practice Thursday at the Seneca Niagara Casino, and was asked by WGRZ-TV whether he thought Wallenda should wear a safety device.
“It should be all up to him, because he’s the one walking the wire,” said Knock, who says he never wears a tether either.
“I wish he’d wear a safety harness of some kind,” said Shirley Calhoun of Union Springs, NY, who made a three hour trip to Niagara Falls to watch Wallenda practice on Thursday.
She also says the she wouldn’t think anything any less of Wallenda if he did…nor would it diminish his accomplishment.
“For me it wouldn’t, no, because it’s only going save him from being killed…it’s not going to take away from his feat,” she said.
CTV is Exclusive Canadian Broadcaster Partner of Unprecedented Feat
- The thrilling three-hour event begins at 8 p.m. ET/PT with a one-hour
special of the greatest stunts ever, leading into the exhilarating
tightrope walk at 9 p.m. ET/PT -
TORONTO, May 15, 2012 /CNW/ -CTV announced today that it is the exclusive Canadian broadcast partner
of daredevil Nik Wallenda‘s death-defying tightrope walk, live from Niagara Falls, on Friday, June 15. Canadians can follow along with Wallenda‘s every breath-taking step,
in the unprecedented, live two-hour special MEGASTUNTS: MAN ON WIRE: LIVE FROM NIAGARA, airing from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT, exclusively on CTV and simultaneously on CTV Mobile. Kicking off the
festivities at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV is an hour-long special devoted to the greatest stunts of all
time, MEGASTUNTS: THE GREATEST STUNTS… EVER (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times).
On June 15, Nik Wallenda will walk approximately 1,550 feet of tightrope
wire, suspended 173 feet above the raging waters of Niagara Falls, from
the U.S. to Canada – an unprecedented feat that has been banned for
over 125 years. Wallenda, 33, announced the much-anticipated official
date for his historic walk in a news conference at Niagara Falls last
week.
Wallenda’s tightrope walk over Horseshoe Falls, the biggest of the three
falls that make up Niagara Falls, is unprecedented and will be a
culmination of a life’s work for him and his entire daredevil family.
“It’s very exciting. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long
time,” said Wallenda, a seventh-generation member of the legendary
Great Wallendas, a travelling family circus troupe dating back to 1780.
“It’s been a dream I’ve had since I was six-years-old, when I first
visited the falls with my parents. I remember looking across … and
thinking, it would be cool to be the first person in the world to do
this.”
“MAN ON WIRE: LIVE FROM NIAGARA promises to be an incredible, never-seen-before spectacle,” said Phil
King, President, CTV Programming and Sports. “Mobilizing our
entertainment, news, digital, and radio platforms, we will deliver all
the edge-of-your-seat excitement exclusively to Canadians leading up to
and during this must-see live television event.”
Crossing the Niagara River on a tightrope has been banned since 1890.
Thirteen tightrope artists have traversed the gorge throughout history,
notably the Great Blondin, but Wallenda discovered in his research that
no tightrope artist had ever before walked directly over the awesome
and raging cascades. Wallenda, who holds six Guinness World Records,
including the “longest bicycle ride on a tightrope without a safety
net” and the “largest human pyramid on a high wire”, has set his sights
on the unprecedented feat.
In November 2011, Wallenda approached officials in the U.S. and Canada
with a proposal to cross directly over Horseshoe Falls, from Goat
Island on the U.S. side to Table Rock on the Canadian side. Park
Commissions in New York and Ontario, Canada, were extremely skeptical
about permitting a high wire stunt like this, citing worries about the
cost, copycats, security, and Wallenda’s safety, and initially rejected
the idea. But Wallenda was determined and made it his mission to secure
the permissions to achieve this life-long dream.
“I am a very challenge-driven person,” he said. “Don’t tell me it can’t
be done, because I’ll find a way to do it.”
After months of work and a time-consuming negotiation, the Ontario Parks
Commission approved a one-time exemption in February to allow Wallenda
to attempt a single crossing, reversing the 128-year ban on stunts. The
Niagara Parks Commission has specified that such feats can only be
attempted once every two decades.
“My great grandfather taught us to never give up. This is just the
ultimate story of just never giving up,” Wallenda said, adding that the
legal battle was the biggest challenge of his career. “I got two laws
changed that were over one hundred years old … now, guess what… Nik
Wallenda is going to walk across the falls June 15.”
To prepare for his greatest stunt yet, Wallenda trains on land using a
wire identical to the one he will walk on over the falls this summer.
In training, he is sprayed with heavy mist from a fire hose to simulate
the falls’ raging waters, and put up against a wind machine, generating
gusts up to 60 miles per hour. Tourists and fans can visit him in
training at the Seneca Niagara Casino in Seneca, NY this month.
In many ways, Wallenda has been practicing for this moment his entire
life. The 33-year-old Florida native began walking the wire at age two
and learned the ropes from his father, Terry Troffer, a retired acrobat
who serves as his chief-rigging engineer and safety expert. During the June 15 stunt, Wallenda will be able to talk with his father through an
earpiece the entire time.
Though he admits his family is “a little nervous” about this walk,
Wallenda says they are proud and happy that he will get to tackle a
life-long dream.
With the televised June 15 walk, Wallenda is carrying out the legacy of
his great grandfather, family patriarch Karl Wallenda, who fell to his
death at age 73 in 1978 on a tightrope walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
But Wallenda, who has already taken on and conquered the same walk that
claimed Karl’s life, is not worried that he will meet the same fate as
his grandfather.
“We can tell immediately about why he lost his life. His biggest
challenge was his age and his physical ability. The wire was also not
put up properly, whereas I’ll be rehearsing and knowing exactly what
I’ll experience,” Wallenda said.
The walk itself is expected to take approximately 30 to 40 minutes and
is expected to draw thousands of spectators on the U.S. and Canadian
sides, and boost tourism to the region leading up to and long after the
historic event.
Wallenda is focused and remarkably at ease, considering the tremendous
risk involved. It’s just between him, the wire and now – the
breathtaking beauty of Niagara Falls.
“It’s peaceful actually. I get in the zone,” he said. “It becomes
relaxing.”
About CTV
CTV, Canada’s Olympic Network, is also Canada’s largest private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range
of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming,
CTV is Canada’s most-watched television network and lead broadcaster of
the London 2012 Olympic Games. CTV is a division of Bell Media,
Canada’s premier multimedia company with leading assets in television,
radio and digital. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE),
Canada’s largest communications company. More information about CTV can
be found on the network’s website at ctv.ca
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) – As daredevil Nik Wallenda works on his high-wire walk, it seems the City of Niagara Falls is cashing in on those watching him practice.
Parking tickets are being issued while Wallenda walks at the Seneca Niagara Casino.
“It is upsetting to me that people are coming form all over the place to see me rehearse and they’ve been getting tickets on the road as they’re watching me. That is upsetting to me,” Wallenda said.
Anita made her third trip from Buffalo to Niagara Falls to watch Wallenda practice on Tuesday. When she heard parking tickets were being given out, she was outraged.
“I think sometimes laws have to be tempered with brains,” she noted. ”Instead of trying to capitalize on people trying to see this once in a lifetime event, in Niagara Falls, on the U.S. side, which is obviously depressed, they should be very happy people are here and treat them with respect so people want to come back and spend money with the local merchants.”
On the daredevil’s first official weekend in the Falls, city police say they gave out about a dozen tickets directly to walk watchers. That’s an increase they say from any other normal weekend in front of the casino.
Police told News 4 a typical ticket runs about $25 and Captain John DeMarco argued his officers have not gone overboard.
“We have an obligation to the city to enforce the parking regulations down there. There are some things we can overlook and there are some things we can’t and won’t overlook,” said Capt. DeMarco.
DeMarco says police agencies are preparing for about 50,000 people, that day alone. They’re also working to make sure each person involved in the walk, and those watching, are safe. DeMarco says there is no terror threat for the region right now. Still, many agencies are working together to mitigate any threat.
Despite the parking woes, for those coming to watch him, Wallenda stated, “I’m thrilled to death that you’re here and this is my home for the next two weeks and you’re welcome to join me in my home.”
There is a free lot at the corner of Rainbow and Fifth Street and paid parking lots across from the casino. Police say they’ll be looking into these concerns and will re-evaluate their plans for this coming weekend.
Join me tonight for a live blog of the Niagara Falls City Council meeting. The work session begins at 4 p.m. and the regular meeting begins at 7.
Read the meeting agenda here and the resolutions to be voted on here.
At the top of the agenda is John Percy, president and chief executive of the Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp. Percy will be giving an update of the tourism agency’s 2011 marketing report.
The agency made the news lately in its efforts to capitalize on the many Canadian travelers who come across the border to shop in American malls, including the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls. The News’ David Robinson outlined those efforts in an article and column. Click on the links to read those reports.
Also scheduled to give an update to the council is David Pfeiffer, president of Man O’Trees, the West Seneca company tasked with reconstructing Lewiston Road. Preiffer has had his disagreements with the city over the delayed project before, and also recently backed out of a plan to redevelop Buffalo’s Outer Harbor.
City officials have been tight-lipped about the project in recent weeks, and went into a rare executive session to discuss their legal strategy. If he addresses the council, this may be one of Preiffer’s last chances to set things straight with the city.
There’s a number of other interesting items on the agenda, as well, so stay tuned.
Join me tonight for a live blog of the Niagara Falls City Council meeting. The work session begins at 4 p.m. and the regular meeting begins at 7.
Read the meeting agenda here and the resolutions to be voted on here.
At the top of the agenda is John Percy, president and chief executive of the Niagara Tourism & Convention Corp. Percy will be giving an update of the tourism agency’s 2011 marketing report.
The agency made the news lately in its efforts to capitalize on the many Canadian travelers who come across the border to shop in American malls, including the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls. The News’ David Robinson outlined those efforts in an article and column. Click on the links to read those reports.
Also scheduled to give an update to the council is David Pfeiffer, president of Man O’Trees, the West Seneca company tasked with reconstructing Lewiston Road. Preiffer has had his disagreements with the city over the delayed project before, and also recently backed out of a plan to redevelop Buffalo’s Outer Harbor.
City officials have been tight-lipped about the project in recent weeks, and went into a rare executive session to discuss their legal strategy. If he addresses the council, this may be one of Preiffer’s last chances to set things straight with the city.
There’s a number of other interesting items on the agenda, as well, so stay tuned.
Nik Wallenda speaks to the media after a meeting with officials from the state’s parks department, in anticipation of a high wire walk across the gorge to Canada, at Niagara Falls, New York in this August 3, 2011, file photo. (REUTERS/Doug Benz/Files)
This undated publicity photo of the Flying Wallendas shows Helen Wallenda, lower left, husband Karl Wallenda, Joe Geiger, top, and Herman Wallenda, right. Thirty-six years after two members of the Flying Wallendas fell 25 feet to their deaths in a tightrope stunt, a new generation is returning to perform the same act–without a net. (QMI Agency)
This 2007 file photo shows Jay Cochrane skywalking from two special made towers over the Fallsview tourist area of Niagara Falls, where he walked twice a day for ten weeks. Cochrane would like to team up with Nik Wallenda to do a wire-walk in Niagara Falls in 2012. (QMI Agency)
Nik Wallenda was in Niagara Falls August 4, 2011, to meet with local officials to discuss his proposal to wirewalk across the Horseshoe Falls. (QMI Agency)
Mario Wallenda, who is paralyzed from the waist down due to a 1962 high-wire accident at a circus in Detroit, rides his “skycycle” across the Chicago River, 100 feet above its surface, September 19, 2006. (REUTERS/John Gress)
Nik Wallenda leaves Niagara Falls city hall. He was in Niagara Falls August 4, 2011, to meet with local officials to discuss his proposal to wirewalk across the Horseshoe Falls. (QMI Agency)
Nik Wallenda was in Niagara Falls August 4, 2011, to meet with local officials to discuss his proposal to wirewalk across the Horseshoe Falls. (QMI Agency)
Nik Wallenda was in Niagara Falls August 4, 2011, to meet with local officials to discuss his proposal to wirewalk across the Horseshoe Falls. (QMI Agency)
Nik Wallenda looks over the American and Horseshoe falls. He was in Niagara Falls August 4, 2011, to meet with local officials to discuss his proposal to wirewalk across the Horseshoe Falls. (QMI Agency)
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati and Niagara Parks Commission chairwoman Janice Thomson congratulate American aerialist Nik Wallenda after the NPC commissioners gave Wallenda the green light to walk across the Niagara gorge on a tightrope. (QMI Agency)
Highwire walker Nik Wallenda is seen on a wire high above Newark, New Jersey in 2008. Wallenda, 32, is hoping to walk across the Niagara River Gorge near the Horseshoe Falls. (QMI Agency)
Call him Wobbly Wallenda.
In a video posted on ABC News’ website, Nik Wallenda, who is slated to tightrope walk over Niagara Falls June 15, appears to almost slip off the wire while a crowd gasps from below on a walk above Baltimore, Maryland’s Inner Harbour on Wednesday.
Wallenda appears to wobble and catches his fall with a shin near the end of the walk more than 30 metres above.
“I made it…My heart jumped into my throat,” Wallenda said later of the slip, reported ABC News.
The Niagara Falls Road Bridge in Thorold will re-open to traffic on May 18, after a four-month project to rebuild the 65-year-old span, said Mayor Ted Luciani.
The $1.8-million project to rebuild the bridge was paid for by Ontario Power Generation, in exchange for handing ownership of the bridge to the city of Thorold. OPG also provided a lump sum to offset future maintenance costs for the bridge.
The city acknowledged the closure in January of the bridge spanning the OPG intake canal was inconvenient for residents of south Thorold, limiting residents’ access to Allanburg Road.
“We’re pleased to have a newly reconstructed Niagara Falls Road Bridge,” said Luciani. “I am sure it has been a long four months for the residents of south Thorold, and we thank them for their patience while the new bridge was under construction.”
The project was completed on time and on budget by contractor Aecon. Project administration was provided by Associated Engineering, while the city’s engineering department supervised the work.
There will be a ribbon cutting at the bridge on Friday at 1 p.m.
