It’s the battle that almost wasn’t. After failing to win the Democratic Party’s nomination for a school-board seat last year (he finished fifth in a race for four seats), Domingo Garcia intended to shelve his political ambitions for good. There’s little doubt now that some in his party wish he’d stuck to that plan. This […]
Krestia DeGeorge
Posted inNews & Opinion
City school district tackles the budget — again
It’s a position no one would envy. For the second time in this year’s budget cycle, Rochester school district officials are having to cut their budget, and more jobs and programs are on the line. Critics, including Mayor Bill Johnson, State Assemblyman David Gantt, and some business-community leaders, have repeatedly charged that the […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Water wars
When David Ziemba answers the phone at his Wanakena General Store, he simply says “Wanakena,” as though he’s picking up the phone on behalf of the entire community. In a way he is. Behind the counter of his shop, the soft-spoken Buffalo transplant sits at both the geographical and emotional center of this quiet Adirondack […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world
To many New Yorkers, it was no shock to hear that their state legislature is dysfunctional. And not just dysfunctional, but the most dysfunctional in the nation. To the Democratic and Republican leaders of the legislature, though, the indictment — contained in a study by the BrennanCenter for Justice at New YorkUniversity’s School of […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Lesson plan
Next time a city school closes, critics will be harder pressed to cry foul. At least that’s what RochesterCitySchool District officials are hoping. In an effort to diminish the affect of politics on school operation — especially as the school closing process gets underway — district officials are cooking up a strategic plan. Or, to […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
The pressure’s on
It’s not going to be pretty. Faced with a projected 2005 budget deficit of nearly $55 million, County Executive Maggie Brooks has lived up to one campaign promise: to gather recommendations for county savings from a handpicked Budget Advisory Team. But some of the team’s key recommendations — like multi-year budget planning and stabilizing the […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
From the ground up
For John Billone Jr., incorporating environmental values into his commercial practices is no conflict at all — it’s simply good business. The Flower City Management developer had this in mind when he began making plans to renovate the Medical Arts Building at 277 Alexander Street as a mixed-use facility. The 10-story building, constructed in 1929 […]
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Water watch: striving to keep the Great Lakes ours
Who owns the Great Lakes? Or perhaps more to the point, who gets to use them, and who decides that? Last week, the Council of Great Lakes Governors (the governors and Canadian premiers of the Great Lakes area) released proposed agreements that tackle those questions. The documents — part of an international agreement known as […]
