The town of Penfield is used to challenges. In recent years, for example, there have been floods in the Panorama Valley that made a temporary mess of some homes and businesses — and, some say, highlighted the problems of inappropriate development in a floodplain. (Federal, state, and local officials are on the case.) […]
News
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Primary challenge: the city School Board race
Seven people are running in a Democratic primary for what must surely be the most thankless of all local elected offices, the Rochester School Board. Although there will be Republican, Independence, and Working Families parties on the ballot in the November election, the four winners of the September 9 Democratic primary will have a strong […]
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Vets: wounded once more
After seven quiet decades on a back street of a small town, the Canandaigua VA Medical Center is generating some noise. Actually, it’s a public uproar. And it’s directed at the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, which seems intent on closing the Canandaigua VA essentially to save money to spend elsewhere. The VA […]
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Big man behind the scenes
For close to 30 of his 52 years, John Parkhurst has helped Rochester’s fickle music motor run. On the phone with agents and managers, in the audience with the people, or in the trenches with performers and stagehands, his casual confidence and charm belie the day-in day-out obstacles of the biz. He makes it look […]
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Politician on the verge
In a house on Scottsville Road, just over the river from the University of Rochester where many of them first met, 10 young people discuss the plan. But unlike many of their peers, they’re not going on a road trip or to a concert.
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Fun with numbers
The Rochester Broadway Theatre League has gotten the government funding it needs to buy the Auditorium Theatre, but how’s it going to pay for $2.5 million in renovations? The RBTL thinks it has found a solution. But that solution may be less certain than RBTL hopes. Because of low interest rates, RBTL President […]
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Pricing the Farash gift
At first glance, news that a big-time local developer wants to donate high-profile downtown property to the County of Monroe sounds good. But Max Farash has handed county legislators a dilemma: Is it wise to accept the gift — even if it will cost the cash-strapped county and city money for at least a […]
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Your government at work on the air
Having grown into a cluster of cable channels, C-SPAN has become a semi-official American institution. Not because it offers the most consistently fascinating, exciting programming, of course — but because it engages viewers with what you might call “reality-check” TV. Think of routines like the latest “White House Press Briefing With Ari Fleischer” or “gavel […]
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Alan’s angels
Part two of a two-part series. Read Part one here. In last week’s issue, we undoubtedly introduced many of you to New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, a little-known public figure around here who nevertheless wields an enormous amount of power and influence. Hevesi and his staff of 2,300 are the state’s auditors, accountants, […]
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Fighting terrorism with drug money
County Executive Jack Doyle wants to use grant money designated to help fight the drug war to help fight the war on terrorism when that fight shifts to the PGA Championship at Oak Hill County Club this August. In a May 5 referral to the County Legislature, Doyle wrote that the PGA Championship “is […]
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Debating the county exec debates
This year’s candidates for Monroe County Executive haven’t yet faced off in a public debate. But behind the scenes, the debate between their respective campaigns over what form those public debates will take, and how many there will be, is raging. Democrat Bill Johnson’s campaign manager, Travis Heider, says his candidate is willing to […]
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Voting day at the Church Home
June 27 is a big day for roughly 235 employees at the Episcopal Church Home. At the heart of the nursing home, among the warm wooden beams and Tiffany stained glass windows of the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, these workers — service, maintenance, and clerical employees; licensed practical nurses; certified nursing assistants — […]
