Tariff Troubles & Tunnel Visions

🌊 Wednesday, February 25, 2026

All the news that's fit to get wet

☁️ Weather — NY Side

Currently in Niagara Falls, NY: Around 28°F and overcast, because February has decided to keep its personality consistent right through to the bitter end. Wind chills are making it feel closer to 18°F, which is the universe's way of saying "maybe work from home."

The good news: no major storm system is barreling toward us today. The bad news: "no major storm" in late February Western New York still means "grey, cold, and spiritually challenging."

March is knocking on the door. Whether it wipes its boots before coming in is another matter entirely.

🔗 National Weather Service Buffalo

🍁 Weather — Ontario Side

Currently in Niagara Falls, ON: A brisk -3°C with a wind chill that has convinced every Canadian in the region to finally admit that yes, it is actually cold. Light snow flurries are drifting across the Horseshoe Falls, making it scenic and miserable in equal measure — a true Niagara February special.

The forecast ahead is a classic Ontario late-winter shuffle: slightly above freezing, then not, then maybe, then "oh look, freezing rain, how delightful."

If you're visiting the Falls this weekend, layer up. The mist will find its way through every gap in your jacket like it has a personal grievance with you.

🔗 Environment Canada

🗽 NY Side News

Tariff Tensions Rattle Niagara Falls Small Business Community

With the Trump administration's tariff measures on Canadian goods continuing to generate uncertainty, Niagara Falls, NY business owners — many of whom depend on cross-border supply chains and Canadian visitor dollars — are watching developments with the nervous energy of someone who just saw a "bridge delay: 2 hrs" sign on a Friday. Local chambers of commerce on both sides of the Rainbow Bridge have been in contact, and the general mood in the hospitality and retail sectors is: cautiously worried, actively talking. (WGRZ)

Niagara Falls City Council Eyes Budget Amid Infrastructure Pressure

The City of Niagara Falls, NY is navigating another tight budget cycle, with infrastructure — roads, water systems, and yes, the potholes that have been quietly eating cars on Pine Avenue since November — front and center in community discussion. Councilmembers are weighing state funding options as residents continue to submit 311 complaints with what officials diplomatically describe as "enthusiasm." If there were an Olympic event for pothole documentation, Niagara Falls would be in medal contention. (Niagara Gazette)

Homeless Services Under Strain as Winter Stretches On

Community advocates in Niagara Falls, NY are raising the alarm that shelter capacity and warming center resources are stretched thin as this prolonged cold snap refuses to pack its bags. Local nonprofits including those working with the Niagara Gospel Mission have been coordinating overflow services, but workers say demand continues to outpace resources. If you've got extra coats, blankets, or nonperishables, calls to local shelters are being welcomed. (Niagara Gazette)

Niagara Falls Looks to Tourism Season with Cautious Optimism

City tourism officials are beginning early-season outreach to travel groups and tour operators, hoping to lock in bookings ahead of what they're projecting to be a decent summer — assuming, of course, that the border remains easy to cross and the dollar situation doesn't scare off Canadian day-trippers. The Maid of the Mist is scheduled to resume operations in late April, at which point the Falls will once again be everyone's favourite open-air car wash. (Niagara Gazette)

Lockport's Historic Flight of Five Locks: Restoration Conversation Continues

Up in Lockport, community stakeholders and preservation advocates are continuing conversations about the long-term future of the Flight of Five, the Erie Canal lock system that is both a genuine historical marvel and a very good excuse to eat fudge downtown. State heritage funding timelines remain a recurring discussion point. Lockport remains quietly excellent, as it always has. (Lockport Journal)

🏒 Sabres Update: Still Hunting Points in a Tight Race

The Buffalo Sabres have been grinding through their February schedule with the grim determination of a team that knows exactly how thin the margin for error is. With the trade deadline in the rearview, the front office made some moves to add depth, and the fan base — seasoned veterans of hope management — is doing its best impression of cautious optimism. Every point matters. Every game at KeyBank is loud. We believe in the process. Or at least, we believe in JJ Peterka. (Buffalo News)

🍁 Ontario Side News

Ontario Businesses Brace for U.S. Tariff Impact — Niagara Firms Speak Out

Canadian businesses across Niagara Region are increasingly vocal about the real-world consequences of U.S. tariff measures, with manufacturers, wine producers, and tourism operators all flagging concerns about cross-border economic friction. Niagara-on-the-Lake's wine industry — which depends on both American tourists and integrated supply relationships — is watching the Canada-U.S. trade situation particularly closely. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been predictably loud on the subject, which at least means the issue is getting attention. (CBC Hamilton/Niagara) (Niagara Now)

Niagara Falls, ON Council Debates Homelessness and Encampment Response

Niagara Falls City Council continued its ongoing and genuinely difficult conversation this week about how to address encampments and homeless populations in the city's core, a debate that has grown more urgent as the shelter system faces capacity pressures. Community advocates are pushing for a compassion-first approach; some residents and businesses in affected areas are frustrated with the pace of solutions. As with many mid-sized Canadian cities right now, there are no easy answers — just hard conversations being had a little more publicly. (Niagara Falls Review) (Niagara Now)

Niagara Region Releases 2026 Budget Update — Transit and Roads in Focus

Niagara Region's 2026 budget process is moving forward, with transit service expansion and road rehabilitation among the headline items drawing both support and scrutiny from area municipalities. Niagara Falls and St. Catharines residents have been particularly engaged on the transit file, where service improvements on key corridors are being weighed against the perennial question of who exactly pays for what. The phrase "levy increase" has appeared in approximately four hundred community Facebook comments this week alone. (St. Catharines Standard) (Niagara Now)

Niagara-on-the-Lake Prepares for Shaw Festival Season Announcements

NOTL is beginning to buzz — quietly, elegantly, over a glass of Riesling — as the Shaw Festival prepares to ramp up its 2026 season programming announcements. The festival remains one of the region's biggest cultural and economic engines, drawing visitors from across North America who come for the plays and stay for the fudge and the impossibly charming main street. Early buzz suggests an ambitious season slate. Details forthcoming, presumably at a very tasteful press event. (The Lake Report)

Welland Canal Ice Management Operations Ongoing

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation and Transport Canada have been conducting routine winter ice management operations along the Welland Canal, keeping infrastructure ready for the return of commercial shipping in the spring season. It is not, on the surface, a glamorous story. But if you've ever watched a thousand-foot laker glide silently through Thorold at 6 a.m., you know there is nothing more quietly magnificent. The canal will be back in full operation soon. Niagara is ready. (Niagara Now)

📅 Events — Both Sides of the Border

• Wed, Feb 25 | Open Mic Night — Hard Rock Cafe Niagara Falls, ON. 8:00 PM. Local musicians, original material, good energy, and the slight chaos that makes open mics worth attending. (Hard Rock Niagara)

• Thu, Feb 26 | Fallsview Casino Gaming & Entertainment — OLG Fallsview Casino Resort, Niagara Falls, ON. Ongoing nightly. The Avalon Theatre continues its winter programming — check the OLG Stage calendar for current headliners. (OLG Fallsview Casino)

• Thu, Feb 26 | Niagara Falls, NY City Council Meeting — City Hall, Niagara Falls, NY. 6:00 PM. Your chance to ask publicly about those potholes. We believe in you. (City of Niagara Falls NY)

• Fri, Feb 27 – Sun, Mar 1 | Winter Weekend at Niagara Falls State Park — Niagara Falls, NY. The park is open year-round and the Falls are genuinely stunning in winter ice conditions. Dress like you mean it. (Niagara Falls State Park)

• Sat, Feb 28 | Lewiston Council of the Arts: Gallery Events — Lewiston, NY. The arts community in Lewiston keeps the creative fires burning all winter. Check current exhibition programming. (Lewiston Council of the Arts)

• Sat, Feb 28 | Youngstown Winter Market — Youngstown, NY. Local vendors, community spirit, and the specific joy of buying homemade jam when it's cold outside. (Village of Youngstown)

• Sat, Feb 28 – Sun, Mar 1 | NOTL Historic Walking Tours — Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON. Self-guided and group tours of one of Canada's most preserved 19th-century towns. Because some of us like history more than skiing. (NOTL Tourism)

• Sun, Mar 1 | Fallsview Indoor Waterpark — Niagara Falls, ON. Open daily. In case you need a reminder that water can be warm and fun and not trying to give you frostbite. (Fallsview Indoor Waterpark)

🌉 Across the Border

Here we are, late February 2026, and the twin cities of Niagara Falls are doing what they've always done: staring down a complicated world with a magnificent waterfall behind them and a bridge between them that neither side is quite ready to give up on. The tariff conversation is real, the budget pressures are real, and the cold is very real — but so is the organic, unruly, binational identity of this region, which has survived wars, recessions, depressions, and the inexplicable success of approximately forty Clifton Hill attractions. Spring is six weeks away, tourist season is three months out, and somewhere under the ice, the Maid of the Mist is dreaming of April. We'll get there together — one border crossing, one pothole, and one more February flurry at a time.

🌊 The Falls — "We cover both sides so you don't have to cross in this weather."

📸 Feature photo by Daniel Mainye on Unsplash