Popular media has been promising the world a pandemic for some time now. But here’s a frightening thought: What if the real threat isn’t a genetically engineered superbug or an ambitious avian virus that makes the jump to humans? What if, instead, something neutralizes our most basic defenses so that, for example, strep throat becomes […]
Christine Carrie Fien
I'm City's news editor, which means I oversee all aspects of our news-gathering operation. I also sneak in to an occasional City Council meeting and cover Rochester's intriguing and eclectic neighbors. My family has a long legacy here, and I'm proud to continue to represent.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Perception of city crime, police performance varies depending on who you are and where you live
A survey of 383 Rochester residents conducted late last year found that there is a deep divide between the perception and reality of crime in the city (the full survey can be found below). And the gap widens or narrows depending on the race, age, and income of the respondents, as well as the area […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Overcoming a polluted past
An ambitious and unique development plan has been created by neighbors and organizations for the Plymouth-Exchange neighborhood in the City of Rochester’s southwest quadrant. The city is at the very beginning of a long process to clean up and redevelop the abandoned 45-acre Vacuum Oil industrial campus. But the neighborhood, not content with standing by […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Conversion therapy
The Upper Mt. Hope neighborhood is part of a busy universe right now, with the College Town and CityGate development projects, as well as the construction of a new Route 390 interchange at Kendrick Road. Amid these growing pains, members of the Upper Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association say they are working with City Hall to […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Warren forms Early Education Commission
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren has formed an Early Education Commission to raise funding and support for universal pre-k. Warren announced the commission at the University of Rochester Presidential Symposium this morning. Education was the centerpiece of Warren’s winning mayoral campaign last fall. Citing decades of decline at the Rochester school district, she said she would […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
[UPDATED] Warren’s rough honeymoon
The press pack —a handful of reporters and photojournalists — decides it’s time for the big move: the breach of the third floor at City Hall, where Mayor Lovely Warren resides, fortified behind a wall of staffers and one laid-back security guard.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Review clears Andrew Brown for appointment as city’s top attorney
Rochester City Council is expected to move ahead with the appointment of T. Andrew Brown as the city’s corporation counsel tonight after an analysis (see below) by a local law firm confirmed that the appointment would not raise ethical questions or violate the City Charter. The council meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in council chambers […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Reggie Hill, Warren’s uncle, resigns from city employment
Reggie Hill, uncle to Mayor Lovely Warren, has resigned as the city’s director of executive services. Warren’s appointment of Hill set off accusations of nepotism and was due to be reviewed by the city’s ethics board. The status of that review now is unclear. The resignation is effective immediately. “I want to be very clear […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Warren explains security
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren says the first few threatening calls she received came on her cell phone. “I got a couple of blocked calls,” she says. “‘You don’t deserve to be mayor.’ ‘How long do you think you’ll be around?’ That type of stuff.” She tried to disregard them, she says. And then a local […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
[UPDATED] Warren to reorganize the RPD
Mayor Lovely Warren wants to bring the number of police stations in the city up to at least four, one in each quadrant.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Warren’s lesson in crisis management
Oh, dear. All Mayor Lovely Warren had to do when asked if her driver had been stopped for speeding was say, “Yes. Actually, we were stopped twice.” And then explain how her driver, in his previous job, had been used to exceeding the speed limit, that it was a mistake and it won’t happen again. […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Policing the police
The most tangible thing to come out of the review of the way complaints against the police are handled was the addition of a community advocate to the Civilian Review Board. The advocate’s purpose is to help people through a process that can be emotional, complicated, and lengthy. Members of City Council got a one-year […]
