Cover Story
Sun gods: Why solar power isn’t just for hippies anymore.
A growing number of homeowners, businesses, and institutions in New York and across the country are adopting solar.
Commission sends Lake Ontario levels plan to US, Canadian governments
The International Joint Commission has sent a report to the United States and Canadian governments recommending its Plan 2014 for managing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River water levels. The two governments have to approve the plan before it can go into effect, and the commission expects to receive responses from the US and Canada in coming months.…
Last-minute deal saves second phase of schools project
Facing a midnight deadline Tuesday for bill amendments, negotiations reportedly went into the night.
Farewell to jazz great Jimmy Scott
With the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival getting under way this week, it’s fitting to acknowledge one of the greatest jazz vocalists of the 20th century, Jimmy Scott. He was hardly a household name, but he should have been. Scott, who died last week at age 88, was small in physical stature, but is often…
Film Review: “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
Released in 2010, the first “How to Train Your Dragon” movie has proven to be a singular entry in Dreamworks Animation’s filmography. The studio’s animation division is “The House That Shrek Built” through and through, and the majority of its output has been modeled on that first massive success: jokey tales laden with pop culture…
![[UPDATED] Warren to legislators: Don’t approve funds for second phase of schools modernization](https://i0.wp.com/www.roccitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/warren-lovely03_sidebar.webp?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1)
[UPDATED] Warren to legislators: Don’t approve funds for second phase of schools modernization
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and City Council President Loretta Scott sent a letter to the State Legislature today, slamming the first phase of the $1.2 billion modernization project in the Rochester school district. And they say they are opposed to the Assembly bill seeking $435 million to begin the project’s second phase. The letter says…
Week Ahead: Disability advocates protest; open forums with Vargas and the school board; lake levels plan due
Disability rights advocates from Rochester will hold a vigil and press conference at Senator Joe Robach’s office, 2300 W. Ridge Road, from noon to 5 p.m. on Monday, June 16, over the Nurse Practice Act. The press conference is at 1 p.m. Advocates want state lawmakers to amend the act to implement the Community First…
Film Review: “Citizen Koch”
Recalling the days of the Great Depression, when social and economic conditions inspired a number of gifted photographers and filmmakers to document the American experience, in our time the nonfiction film appears to be undergoing something of a renaissance. The contemporary documentary often confronts subjects ignored by the bland and timid mainstream media — revelations…
“Game of Thrones” Season 4, Episode 10: The Children
Color me conflicted. There were some totally kickass parts of tonight’s S4 finale, but they were sandwiched between a bizarrely timed opener and yet another botched ending. The overarching lesson I’ve learned from this season is that even when the showrunners have all the best material with which to work, they still have a serious…
Hunger risk rises in Rochester area
Nearly 13 percent of Monroe County residents are at risk of going hungry, according to a recent report from Feeding America, a national food bank network and advocacy organization. Rochester’s Foodlink, which is part of Feeding America’s food bank network, distributed some local figures from the national organization’s Map the Meal Gap report yesterday. Across the 10…
California decision a game-changer
No matter how you look at it, yesterday’s decision by a California Superior Court Judge was a serious blow to teachers, their unions, and their anti-reform allies. In Vergara v. State of California, Justice Rolf Treu ruled in favor of nine parents, saying that the current set of laws that protect teachers discriminates against low-income…
SPECIAL EVENT | Juneteenth
Juneteenth is the oldest celebration of the ending of slavery in the U.S. The first festivities took place on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Grander landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and the slaves where free. On Saturday, June 14, the 12th Annual Juneteenth Historical Commemoration Parade and…
Film Review: “The Rover”
Director David Michôd’s bleak, post-apocalyptic neo-western, “The Rover,” begins with a title card explaining that it takes place in Australia 10 years after “the collapse.” No more detail is given about how or why this collapse occurred, and it isn’t really necessary. It’s enough to know that all that remains is the dregs of society,…
SPECIAL EVENT | Rochester Real Beer Expo
For lovers of good beer, or simply a good party, the Rochester Real Beer Expo will turn the South Wedge into a haven of food and drink. The event, held by the Business Association of the South Wedge Area, brings out more than 80 unique craft beers. Local businesses will sell food for those looking…
SPECIAL EVENT | “I Like it Umlaut: An International Derby Event”
For those whose first and last taste of the world of roller derbies came with 2009’s “Whip It,” Rochester’s Roc Stars is offering what’s slated to be an exciting refresher course when it faces off against Sweden’s Crime City Rollers in an international roller derby bout. The Roc Stars is part of the Roc City…
Black events need support
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. It was on June 19, 1865, that Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a…
CD Review: “How to Train Your Dragon 2” Soundtrack
Composer John Powell’s score to “How to Train Your Dragon 2” musically achieves what we hope from all sequels: incorporating established themes while expanding them with new elements that are just as strong. It’s a delicate line to tread, but it’s one that Powell faces with aplomb. The now-familiar melodies from his Academy Award-nominated score…
Feedback 6/11
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. For our print edition, we select comments from all three sources; those of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in…
SPECIAL EVENT | The Sound ExChange Project
Why look and listen, when you can join the orchestra. Comprised of a core of Eastman School of Music graduates, contemporary classical group The Sound ExChange Project explores alternative ways of presenting and creating music to re-invent the concert experience. The group’s upcoming event is designed to add sound to Rochester Contemporary Art Center by…
Name-change notices can endanger trans people
For transgender people who are transitioning, an official name change is often part of the process. And in New York, when people get permission from the courts to change their names, a notice is typically published in a newspaper. The notices contain identifying information, including people’s original names, new names, addresses, and birthplaces. But the…
FILM | “More Than This: The Roxy Music Story”
As a part of its monthly film series, the Alternative Music Film Festival presents “More Than This: The Roxy Music Story.” The film tells the story of influential English art rock band Roxy Music. Formed in 1971, Roxy Music created a sound and style that influenced an entire generation of British music, inspiring the glam,…
UR has new sex misconduct policy
The University of Rochester has updated its student sexual misconduct policy to be clearer about consent and incapacitation, says Morgan Levy, director of equal opportunity compliance and Title IX coordinator for the UR. “Those are two areas where we felt that our students needed more clarification,” she says. “There were perspectives out there in the…
FOLK | Mutual Benefit
Folk band Mutual Benefit produces unique, laid-back tunes using a wide variety of instrumentation and sounds. Lead by Jordan Lee, the band employs the use of lush strings and found sounds to create full, rich arrangements that perfectly encapsulate its leader’s vulnerable lyrics. In October 2013, the band released its first full-length album, “Love’s Crushing…
Can you crowdsource prosthetic limbs? Yes, you can.
The story of a South African carpenter who accidentally sawed off most of his fingers inspired Jon Schull, a research scientist at Rochester Institute of Technology. But it wasn’t the accident; it was what came after. Over the Internet, the carpenter was able to connect with an American prop maker to create a 3D-printed prosthetic…
ROCK | Bill Kirchen
Singer-guitarist Bill Kirchen is stopping at Lovin’ Cup Bistro & Brews on his summer East Coast tour. Starting out as a member of country-rock group Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen — who rose to fame with its cover of the Rockabilly staple “Hot Rod Lincoln” in 1972 — Bill Kirchen has since created…
Ring in on Great Lakes plan
Public comment is being taken now on the second phase of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which is a federal program to improve the health of the lakes. The initiative has been operating for four years. The new draft plan covers fiscal years 2015 through 2019. First-phase projects focused on cleaning up toxic pollution, preventing…
CLASSICAL | Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival
The prospect of listening to great music performed in a beautiful natural setting — and perhaps with a bottle of wine within easy reach — is hard to resist. You can spend much of an upstate New York summer so employed, starting with the first concert of the Finger Lakes Classical Music Festival, which will…
Urban Action 6/11
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Jalil Muntaqim’s supporters to rally locally Peace workers will hold a rally to seek parole for Jalil Muntaqim at 3 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, at the corner of South Avenue and Bryon…
COUNTRY/ROCK | Hank III
Hank Williams III is the yin and the yang, the heaven and the hell, and one of the precious few who embrace country music’s long-abandoned rebel spirit. This real life hellbilly does it all while channeling both the look and tone of his grandfather, Hank Williams I. It’s downright haunting. Hank III typically divides his…
The ‘war on coal’ and the war on the planet
Americans have grown stupefyingly good at denying reality, no matter how strong the scientific and medical evidence. And special interests have become experts at obscuring the evidence with a thick smog of catchy phrases and deceitful ads. So we now have the latest attack on Barack Obama: the charge that he’s conducting a War on…
JAZZ | Sultans of String
This trio’s home is Canada; its music’s home: the world. The Sultans of String astonishes with its talent and dexterity as it takes stabs at Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz. The last time the group was here, it was an SRO show. Get there early. Sultans of String play Saturday,…
DINING REVIEW: Sultan Lebanese Cuisine & Bakery
In the shadows of the monstrous construction of the College Town complex and numerous chain establishments, the small stretch of Mt. Hope Avenue between Elmwood Avenue and I-390 has been a hotbed of independent restaurant activity over the last year or so. In the span of less than a mile, you can now find cuisines…
POP | Diana Ross
Diana Ross is probably one of the top two or three greatest artists in Motown history. As a member of the Supremes, Ross and her group blended pop with R&B so well that nowadays both genres feel out of place without one another. When Ross left the Supremes for a solo career she continued her…
The ska’s the limit
Though most bands adhere to a genre — or at least get lumped in somewhere — it seems the overwhelming majority strive to be classified as having their own sound, unique from the others that crowd the road to Xanadu. However few bands achieve that autonomy. Like it or not, they are what they are…
ART REVIEW: “The Ground” by Tate Shaw
A story more than a decade in the piecing, Tate Shaw’s artist book, “The Ground,” is a beautiful meditation on time, the land, the many powers of water, and the efforts to make sense of our varied experiences in this world, and our place within it. Through August 2, Spectrum Gallery is hosting an exhibit of…
ALBUM REVIEW: “No Fools, No Fun”
Puss N Boots “No Fools, No Fun” Blue Note Pussnbootsmusic.com Puss N Boots’ album, “No Fools, No Fun,” came across my desk and the New York Dolls fan in me squealed like a 9-year-old girl. But my red-patent leather remembrances ended abruptly there. What came out was a lilting, folky, lazy Saturday afternoon, with a…
DANCE | Stop the Violence Dance Alliance
Stop the Violence Dance Alliance — run by Garth Fagan Dance in conjunction with the Carlson MetroCenter YMCA and the Rochester City Police Department — provides after school enrichment for city kids. This includes dance classes led by Fagan dancers, yoga, music appreciation, nutrition, life skills, social problem solving, and job readiness. A core group…
ALBUM REVIEW: “When Words Fail”
The David Weiss Sextet “When Words Fail” Motema Music Davidweissmusic.com We hear the events on the news with such regularity that the effect can be numbing. But what if you knew the family of a child killed at the Sandy Hook School? What if the man pushed into the path of a subway train in…
FESTIVAL | East End Music Festival
Rochester’s annual East End Music Festival is approaching fast and fans of local music and food should take notice. This year’s festival includes four stages and 12 bands, including the Dave Matthews tribute band Big Eyed Phish, electro-funk stalwarts RootsCollider, and pop-rock locals Cherry Bomb. The festival will host a Food Truck Rodeo featuring offerings…
“Edge of Tomorrow”
A collection of uninspired trailers sold “Edge of Tomorrow” as a derivative, effects-driven science-fiction action thriller, and to be fair, it is — calling to mind everything from “Aliens” to “Starship Troopers” melded into a high-concept premise inspired by “Groundhog Day.” But what those trailers drastically undersold is how much fun the film is and…
