In a February 21 press release, Monroe County Clerk Maggie Brooks reacted to the state’s decision to close its Department of Motor Vehicles office in Sibley Centre on East Main Street, effective April 1 — making Rochester the only major city in the state without such a service downtown. “While any change can be […]
News
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Mayor Norwood?
We still don’t know whether Bill Johnson is going to run for county executive or fill out his term as mayor. But if he jumps ship, one thing is certain: City Councilmember Wade Norwood wants to be mayor. And he thinks he’s got a decent shot. “I will be a successful candidate for mayor […]
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EC to the rescue
Part one of a two-part series. Should a rape victim be forced to carry the rapist’s baby to term? If a pill, taken shortly after the assault, can prevent pregnancy with minimal side effects (nausea, sometimes vomiting and a headache), and make an abortion unnecessary, should such birth control be made readily available? Morally, […]
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State budget hits parks: fees, fie, foe, fum
Crunched accordion-like under pressing deficits, the state budget process is making a lot of interest groups wheeze. Governor George Pataki insists he won’t raise taxes as the state faces a $12 billion shortfall next fiscal year, and he’s committed to tax cuts already scheduled; the promise or threat will soon constrict things like the public […]
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Molly Clifford in the hot seat
Longtime Democratic Party activist Molly Clifford succeeded Ted O’Brien as chair of the Monroe County Democratic Committee last December. Unlike O’Brien, who served in the position in a more-or-less part-time capacity, Clifford will helm the county party full-time. She’ll need every minute she can spare. The 37-year-old Clifford, whose most recent paying job […]
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It’s a stretch: Elmwood Avenue’s growing pains
Like all the recent construction nearby, Strong Hospital’s new main entrance gives symbolic weight to plans for Rochester’s economic future. There’s a symbolic turnaround, too. Strong used to put its face more toward Crittenden Boulevard; now it faces Elmwood Avenue. This is painfully evident at rush hour, when Strong and the nearby University of Rochester […]
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Crime: the means and the ends
A bullet has a life of its own. Sometimes even enough to drive journalists to lyricism. Take this word-portrait by Los Angeles Times reporter Paul Dean: “The bullet left the heart, went into the left lung and exited… [The] slug stretched and displaced for milliseconds the heart muscles, valves, and chambers, forming what trauma […]
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Details, details: the philosophy of joint-policing
Americans didn’t much notice the death of philosopher Ivan Illich in Germany December 2. A priestly soul with the long view, Illich was a connoisseur of internal contradiction. In Deschooling Society, for example, he wrote that traditional schools teach people “to confuse process and substance” and to assume that “the more treatment there is, […]
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The great divide: behind the School Board anger
The Rochester School Board entered the new year with one of the deepest — and angriest — divisions in recent history. And while to outsiders the rancor may seem rooted in personality differences and power struggles, the division is more significant than that. All seven School Board members are Democrats, but some of them […]
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If we build it, we will pay
For professional sports teams, making a bad deal can lead to a disappointing season or two (witness the Bills’ decision to trade a first-round draft pick next year for the abysmal Drew Bledsoe). But when a municipality makes a bad deal on a sports stadium, the disappointing results can play out for years. That’s […]
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Of questionable utility
Time was, if you wanted the scoop on Rochester Gas and Electric, you could look in your own backyard — not only at the poles and wires near your home, but also the corporate headquarters on East Avenue. But today you have to travel, figuratively, to Ithaca, where RG&E’s corporate owner is headquartered. The […]
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Jail in a recession: the all-you-can-eat diet
It’s like the Ice Storm all over again — this time in public services. Yes, the county legislature restored some social-service funding to next year’s spending plan. The restorations are connected to a hard-won but slight increase in the county property tax rate. The modest tax hike won’t make up, though, for a decade […]
