Cover Story
Emerging artists 2012
Much has happened to better serve Rochester’s fledgling artists over the past year. The area’s young, fresh, motivated art scene has expanded to include new pop-up galleries, collaborative art spaces such as The Yards, and 1975 Gallery, which serves fresh new talent as well as local mainstays, has gained a better foothold in the professional…
Brooks talks abortion, debates
Next week, the national Republican Party is set to adopt a platform that calls for a Constitutional amendment banning abortion. And some members of the party support a complete ban, even when a woman’s life is in danger or in cases of rape or incest. During an appearance this afternoon, however, Republican Congressional candidate Maggie…
War is a tax issue
The war in Afghanistan is generating barely a whisper in the presidential election, says an Associated Press article published in papers this morning. The article goes on the say that “Americans show more interest in the economy and taxes than the latest suicide bombings in a different, distant land.” Some dots need to be connected…
NEWS BLOG: Note the context of the Todd Akin ‘rape’ remark
Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comment is getting flack not only from many women and from abortion-rights supporters but even from Republicans – some of whom are calling on Akin to pull out of his Senate race against Claire McCaskill. Akin’s also getting a lot of press. Here’s Michelle Goldberg’s good piece on The Daily Beast,…
Video Game Review: New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)
“New Super Mario Bros. 2” for the 3DS is an interesting title. As a flagship for Nintendo’s current digital offerings it makes sense: it’s the first game to be offered both as a download and at retail stores, so why not start with a traditional Mario platformer? But the only problem is this one relies…
Yogurt, Lake Ontario, and regulations
FILE PHOTO New York’s yogurt boom may have an unseen byproduct: cow poop. It’s not a glamorous subject; agriculture often isn’t. But the yogurt boom is being talked about as a much-needed boost for New York’s dairy farmers. So much so that Governor Andrew Cuomo plans to amend a key set of dairy industry environmental…
NEWS BLOG: Do you take this chief of staff for better, for worse?
Rochester school board members who are upset that Superintendent Bolgen Vargas hired a district critic still haven’t been able to meet with her. The board’s staff tried to coordinate some meetings with Vargas’s new chief of staff, Patty Malgieri, to discuss her role and her criticism of the district when she was deputy mayor. Malgieri…
NEWS BLOG: Ryan’s no libertarian, apparently
Trying to learn more about the Republican VP candidate Paul Ryan, I’ve been gathering links to media reports on him. Here’s one that liberals and conservatives alike may find interesting. Ryan has said he’s a devotee of Ayn Rand, but he breaks from her on key issues of civil liberties, Ben Adler writes in a…
Video Games: Nintendo 3DS XL Review
Just more than a year after the release of the 3DS, Nintendo is rolling out a newer version of the handheld, raising more questions than answers. Did we really need a bigger 3DS? Is it enough of an upgrade to buy another 3DS this soon? And, perhaps most importantly, where am I going to find…
NEWS BLOG: The Romney campaign’s faux anger
The word of the moment for conservatives is outrage. We heard them use it most of the day yesterday, and it’s likely we’ll hear it again today. In a campaign stop in Virginia yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden reminded the crowd that some government monitoring of the banking industry might help to prevent another financial…
CD REVIEW:Grant Geissman “Bop! Bang! Boom!”
Grant Geissman is having a great time making music and one listen to his new album, “Bop! Bang! Boom!,” is enough to prove that the fun is infectious. Actually, it starts even before you listen. All of the album’s artwork is by the great illustrator Miles Thompson who has perfected (or maybe invented) the “cool,…
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Volunteering
All those hours of community service in high school paid off: you’ve been accepted into college. You did your good deeds for the world — and let’s be honest, to brighten up that application — and you’re done. Now it’s time to focus on your future for the next four years, right? Wrong. College is…
Arrested development
Not so fast, you. This might not be one of those times when you can skim the first and last paragraphs of a review to quickly learn whether the writer liked the art in question. Honestly, you could read the whole piece and still not figure it out, which can only mean that you’re about…
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Advice for freshmen
Go to your professors’ office hours. They may seem scary at first, but most of your professors actually do want to talk to you. Make relationships with them now so you can go to them later for letters of recommendation, a fellowship, or an independent study. Rent your textbooks. No matter what you’re studying, textbook…
Feel the H8
Rochester hardcore outfit H8 Machine is a study in balance, as it straddles speed and weight perfectly. Call it muscle, call it dexterity, call it brutally beautiful. H8 Machine came to be in 1995 and rapidly rose to the top of the local scene’s heavy heap with its riff-centric, concussion-rendering music, and shows where the…
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Art Gallery Guide
In case you didn’t know, Rochester is a city practically bursting with art and creativity. Whether you’re an artist yourself, an art enthusiast, or just in need a break from your studies, the Rochester art scene is home to many popular venues — as well as exciting hidden treasures — that will open your mind…
Light of day
George Thorogood roared thoroughly bad-ass to almost 8,000 fans at the final installment of the Party in the Park series last Thursday night. At 62, the Delaware Destroyer still has it, switching from lowdown, gutbucket bluesman a la Hound Dog Taylor to a flashy showman reminiscent of Little Richard. Thorogood offers nothing new, but his…
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Education
I first came in contact with that daunting, incomprehensible piece of paper in elementary school. The vast combinations of letters and numbers seemed like a language I would never decode. Over the years, I encountered it again and again in the form of charts, posters, and projector slides. But no matter how I looked at…
Pittsford housing project moves ahead
The Village of Pittsford is moving on to the next step in its review of a proposed housing development along the canal. Last week, the Village Board finalized its environmental review of a proposal to redevelop the former Monoco Oil property on Monroe Avenue into upscale apartments and a restaurant. Village Board members adopted a…
Malgieri contract under fire by board
TopQuote: Patricia Malgieri has been a strong critic of the school district, and most board members are furious that she was chosen for a key district position. In an interview last week, board member Van White said some board members are considering defunding the chief-of-staff position. Since being named Rochester schools superintendent in April, Bolgen…
Fracking foes take Washington
New York officials could be on the verge of approving fracking in some parts of the state. Statewide media reports have said that the state could release its environmental review of high-volume hydraulic fracturing by Labor Day. But environmental groups have serious concerns about fracking. Earthworks, for example, released a report last month criticizing the…
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Special events calendar
COMPILED BY ANTOINETTE ENA JOHNSON As incoming students will soon discover, the Greater Rochester area is absolutely bursting with special events — this town loves its festivals — and there’s never a shortage of interesting things going on in the region. Below find a selection of some of the major events scheduled to take place…
Bad ads?
Democrats in the Monroe County Legislature want to prohibit the county from spending money on ads featuring county elected officials. | Legislator Josh Bauroth introduced the proposal, which he says was inspired after he saw his own name on a plaque at the Seneca Park Zoo. The plaque is on the new lion exhibit, thanking…
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Health Services
You have arrived at college, your new home away from home for about 10 months out of the year. Everything is new, especially if you’re living on campus. A new room, new people, new places, and quite possibly the newest thing of all: no parents. As great as this newfound freedom might feel, if…
Urban Action 8/15
This week’s calls to action include the following and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) The New York State Coalition of Property Owners and Businesses hosts City Council member Carolee Conklin at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 22, at Eagles Club, 1200 Buffalo Road. Conklin will answer questions on…
Decision pending on Cruz, Lightfoot petitions
Jose Cruz and John Lightfoot will have to wait for a judge’s ruling on their petitions. The Democrats want to run a primary against incumbent State Assembly member David Gantt. But a citizen, Ruth Brooks-Ward, is challenging the validity of their petitions in State Supreme Court. A second hearing on the case was held today,…
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Introduction
I was never a math major, but if my calculations are correct, 18-year-olds starting their freshman year at college this fall were born in or around 1994. Which means you whippersnappers might not fully appreciate the super-cool concept for the cover of this Student Survival Guide, because you weren’t alive for any of the 1980’s.…
Romney and Ryan
“The Ryan selection may be as big a risk for the Obama campaign – and for all of us – as it is for Romney.” Shortly after Mitt Romney introduced Paul Ryan as his running mate on Saturday, The Atlantic’s James Fallows suggested that the choice was good not only for Romney but also for…
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Off-campus fun
You’re finally in college. You’ve gotten a taste of that independence you’ve been craving your entire teenaged life. Feels good, huh? Well, most of the time it does. Sometimes all the stress of college exams, being away from home, and making new friends makes you wish you were a kid again. While City Newspaper hasn’t…
Around the world
To hear baritone Michael Kelly of SongFusion speak about art songs is to hear in spoken words the heartfelt emotion he will pour into his upcoming performance at the Canandaigua LakeMusic Festival this weekend in a program titled “L’invitation au voyage” (“Invitation to a Voyage”). “The song ‘L’invitation au Voyage’ by Duparc speaks so specifically…
Invest in youth now or pay later
“We need to invest now in youth who can be positively impacted so we do not have to pay later.” As I read Mary Anna Towler’s recent article “Facing Facts on Violence” (Urban Journal, July 18), I reflected on how, as a community, we really must openly address and discuss Rochester’s violence. As executive director…
Made in Rochester
While it really qualifies more as old-fashioned common sense rather than a popular movement, locavore eating is all about reducing your carbon footprint by subsisting on the ingredients closest to home. And this philosophy doesn’t just apply to whatever you can pull out of the ground or score from a nearby farm; it also involves…
Feedback 8/15
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. Comments of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. Malgieri and…
STUDENT SURVIVAL GUIDE ’12: Food and Entertainment
I remember my first week at college, when the dining hall seemed like some heavenly, endless supply of food I could just pick up and eat at any time. That feeling didn’t last. Or, rather, it was replaced by a stomach ache after a few weeks of sundaes, pancakes, and grilled-cheese sandwiches. It’s inevitable: at…
Politics as usual
If “The Ides of March,” which appeared in theaters last year, demonstrated some gritty, depressing truths about the political process, in this endless and painful election season it seems perfectly appropriate to observe the other side of the subject in comic form. Certainly the process lends itself to comedy — the recently concluded Republican primary,…
NEWS BLOG: Todd Akin’s magical contraceptive device
Where do these people get their information? And how can they get elected to public office? Here we are with Missouri’s Todd Akin, serving his sixth term in Congress and running for US Senate against Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill. And he’s favored to win. Akin opposes abortion, even in the case of rape. And according…
NEWS BLOG: Fun and games in the presidential campaign
Oh, for heaven’s sake. Can’t the politicians – and the media – grow up? The flap over Joe Biden’s “back in chains” is just WAY too much. As City’s Tim Macaluso posted yesterday, if you look at the context of Biden’s comment, it’s hard to conclude that he was saying Romney wants to bring back…
