OK, you heard it here.

What is the difference between a steelhead trout and a rainbow trout? Around here in our watershed you could say they are the same, and people like to call them all "steelhead." Maybe it just sounds better. Genetically, they are both the same.

Ransomville Speedway reports that, in an effort to provide unity between two regional racetracks, both Ransomville and Canandaigua Motorsports Park will be offering a "Friendship Pass" to each of its competitors for the 2012 season.

The program will be allowed for Ransomville Speedway's Sportsman and Street Stock Division along with the Canandaigua Motorsports Park Sportsman and Pure Stock classes only. Each driver who chooses to use the Friendship Pass will be allowed to get a "buy one, get one free" pit pass. Each race team will be able to use the program for up to three of its members, which will allow six persons from each team to benefit.

The Coyotes had a great run exceeding the expectations of many and finishing their spring season 9-1-1. The team is comprised of players from Niagara Falls, Niagara Wheatfield, Lewiston, Amherst and Grand Island.

Niagara Hospice has announced the creation of the DiMino Lower Niagara 5K Series.

If you know a young person who would like to learn a new sport, why not consider sailing? Sailing is a lifelong sport, and there is no better time to learn it than when you are young.

On March 24, Presti Karate Centers hosted its 12th annual Kid's-only Karate tournament. A total of 150 children, ages 6 to 18, competed in weapons, kata and sparring.

The fourth annual "Run with the Rapids 5K Run/Walk" will be held on Saturday, May 19, in downtown Niagara Falls. This USA Track & Field-sanctioned race benefits the Downtown Niagara Falls Business Association.

The NC Coyotes Midget 16U team followed a victory in the Gene Harrington Spring Classic Tournament at Hyde Park Arena with an incredible ride to the finals of the New York state championships.

New York state operates 12 fish hatcheries throughout the state, raising muskellunge, walleye, brook trout, brown trout, lake trout, rainbow, Coho and Chinook salmon.

The 2012 Wheatfield Blades Squirt Minor AAA team won the Western New York Amateur Hockey League Championship by beating the Depew Saints, 4-1, at Cheektowaga Town Rink.

Congratulations to the Holy Ghost girls varsity basketball team for winning the Lutheran School Basketball League Championship.

The Niagara team from Gleason's School of Gymnastics level 5 team took second place overall in the Nickel City Classic meet held in Orchard Park on Feb 12.

New Seneca Hickory Stick loyalty card on sale now

The racing season is just eight short weeks away for Ransomville Speedway, which will celebrate its 55th season of operation. The Friesen family will enter their 40th as track operators at the famed one-half Niagara County oval.

As with all racetracks, sponsorship remains a valuable part of the weekly operations. We are blessed to have great companies to work with at Ransomville Speedway. Certainly one of the factors that make my job so enjoyable is the great people I work with from the sponsors, to the drivers, and the fans - they are second to none.

The Bud Bakewell Bruins won the Western New York Amateur Hockey League Bantam Major AA playoff championship for 2011-12.

Students from the Lewiston Dance Center try on their costumes for the upcoming yearly revue, "Dancin' 2012" taking place this spring at the Niagara Falls High School Performing Arts Center.

Congratulations to the St. John Eagles boys varsity basketball team for winning the Lutheran School Basketball League Championship.

The Niagara-Wheatfield Amateur Athletics Youth Wrestling Club helped out some area food banks and the City Mission by holding a canned food drive at a recent tournament at the high school.

Even though the weather was pretty decent compared to other years, there were 88 hearty contestants in the 28th annual Lower Niagara River Anglers Steelhead Contest held on Feb. 18. The contest is held yearly in honor of Roger Tobey, who was a hard-working volunteer in fisheries management.

The Niagara-Wheatfield junior varsity and varsity girls basketball players were big winners off the court, raising more than $1,000 for the American Cancer Society.

The Lewiston-Porter varsity wrestling team successfully defended its 2011 Section VI and Class B tournament championships. The Lancers have two wrestlers traveling to Albany for the New York State Wrestling Championships.

VFW Post 7487 recently presented Dennis Brochey of Dennis Brochey's Automotive with a check for $1,000.

The Lewiston Dance Center's competition/performance team, the Lewiston Dance Ensemble, has recently toured the county.

Stephanie Senn signed on to play goalkeeper for the Kent State University women's soccer team next year, but if the Golden Flash need someone to play one of the other 10 positions, the Grand Island High School senior is ready.

For the second year in a row, the Niagara University Skating Club was awarded the club trophy for first place at the Skaneateles Figure Skating Invitational competition

The Niagara-Wheatfield boys' swimming and diving team recently posted its second consecutive undefeated season and won the Niagara Frontier League title.

The Empire State Winter Games, a multiple day sporting event, took place Feb. 2-5 in Lake Placid.

The Niagara University women's hockey team is holding its annual "Pink the Rink" game on Friday, Feb. 3, when they host Mercyhurst University at 7 p.m.

All four of the women's hockey teams in the College Hockey America conference are taking part in the sixth annual "Skate for the Cure" fundraiser. The program was started to help raise awareness and funds toward the fight against breast cancer. In an effort to "pink" Dwyer Arena, the hockey team will wear custom-made pink jerseys and encourage everyone in attendance to join them by also wearing pink.

Throughout the winter around here you regularly see boats on trailers coming on and off the Moses Parkway, and up and down Center Street heading for the Lewiston Landing.

Kallie Banker became Grand Island High School's all-time leading scorer in basketball during a win at Niagara Falls on Jan. 19.

Grand Island basketball player Kallie Banker is on the verge of setting a GIHS record for scoring.

From the time I wrote the bobcat article until now, a lot of people have come up to me and said, "Gee, I think I've seen one of those things, too."

The Niagara County Coyotes PeeWee Minor team recently took home first place honors in Cleveland during the Rock-n-Roll Cup Ice Hockey Tournament.

For the past 24 years, insurance agent Joel Holka has presented a football award to local high school athletes.

The Niagara team from Gleason's School of Gymnastics levels 5 and 6 recently participated in Graffiti meet held in Niagara Falls.

Mild January weather this week lured out a few hardy visitors to the Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Club on Creek Road for a round of golf.

The Lewiston-Porter Athletics Department has the national signing intents of three high school students.

The Lewiston-Porter Lancers junior varsity club hockey team won the first-ever Cheektowaga JV Christmas Tournament

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Bureau of Fisheries is offering a new, full color map/brochure free of charge for individuals who fish in the freshwaters of New York. The "I FISH NY Guide to Freshwater Fishing in New York State" provides information on more than 320 lakes and ponds and 112 river and streams.

"Research shows one of the primary reasons people do not fish more often is because of a lack of information concerning where to fish," said Kathy Moser, assistant commissioner, DEC Office of Natural Resources.

Johnson's Fudge stand stood just a few feet back on Lower River Road between Lewiston and Youngstown, but how many knew Johnson's Boat House was on the river below?

I never knew that, and when asking around not too many of the surviving old-timers didn't know it either. Several years ago, river man and commercial fisherman Art King gave me a manila folder with some old stuff in it before he passed away, and I kept it as a treasure from Art. It had some old papers, old New York and Ontario fishing licenses, a 1950 New York state fishing syllabus, and an old, undated, Johnson's Fudge Company/Boat House six-page booklet. In there was even an old Ontario beer rationing coupon book with eight coupons left and it is dated "valid until Oct. 31, 1944," but that is another Niagara story for later.