Cover Story
Victory over climate change
James Hansen sat in front of members of the US Senate and told them that the Earth is warming and that human-generated greenhouse gas emissions are to blame. Back in 1988. Hansen was director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies at the time and had been studying global warming and the greenhouse effect since…
Talks may decide Vargas’s future
It’s unclear whether Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and the school board will recover from a dispute over the superintendent’s powers, or if Vargas will even fulfill his contract with the school district.
Report: microbeads passing through waste water plants
Plastic microbeads are passing through Monroe County’s two major waste water treatment plants — the Van Lare and Northwest Quadrant facilities — and into Lake Ontario, according to a new report from the State Attorney General’s Office. The county participated in the study. Monroe County’s facilities aren’t the only ones with this problem. The AG’s…
Funke: No tax break on yachts
Senator Rich Funke wants to sink the state’s sales tax break on yachts. Thanks to the 2015-16 state budget, anyone who buys a yacht or private plane would only pay sales tax on the first $230,000 of the price. Proponents say that the measure will help create jobs. “I’ve got a tough time swallowing that,…
WEEK AHEAD: Events for the week of April 20, 2015
James Hansen, retired director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, will give the keynote address at the Rochester Sierra Club’s annual Earth Day environmental forum, which starts at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21. Hansen has spent three decades warning US and global leaders, as well as the public about the threat of climate…
Gillibrand wants schools to emphasize manufacturing
Historically, the US economy has been built on making things: cars, shoes, satellites, buildings and the steel beams that go into them, and so on. But a massive shift has occurred. Companies shipped assembly lines off shore, and the remaining domestic factories became more automated. But the manufacturing industry still contributes $1.8 trillion to the…
Abilene and Record Archive announce 3-day bash
Della Mae, Jennifer Westwood and the Handsome Devils, and Hayes Carll to headline at Abilene Bar & Lounge.
Warren: no more busing students through downtown
Citing ongoing violence in and around the downtown transit center, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said today that students should no longer be bused through the center. The latest incident, which occurred early this morning, resulted in the arrest of a 16-year-old city resident and injuries to a female bystander. The suspect, Ezekiel Panton, faces two…
Education in crisis: it has come down to naming teachers
Rachel Larson, a parent of a student at School No. 12, made a strong appeal to Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas yesterday. Larson’s son opted out of state-mandated tests under way this week, and Larson asked Vargas to stand up to the State Education Department by not giving the controversial tests. “I want you to…
Frankel, GOP trade barbs
Former Brighton Supervisor Sandra Frankel says that her political career has followed a pattern: the first time she runs for an office, she loses, but the second time, she wins. That was the case when she ran for Brighton school board, and then when she ran for Brighton supervisor — a job she held for…
Landfills may be center of New York’s next fracking battles
New York fracktivists have for years pushed officials to ban state landfills from taking out-of-state fracking waste. The state hasn’t acted, even though the Department of Environmental Conservation decided not to allow high-volume fracking in New York. But the other night, the Albany County Legislature voted to ban landfills in the county from accepting the…
Sandra Frankel to make second bid for county exec
Former Brighton Supervisor Sandra Frankel will announce her bid for Monroe County executive at a press conference today (Wednesday, April 15). It will be Frankel’s second stab at the job. She ran a lackluster campaign against Republican incumbent Maggie Brooks in 2011, losing by 14 percentage points. But term limits prevent the popular Brooks from…
Virtuoso vespers
Deborah Fox, Pegasus Early Music’s artistic director, says it has long been a dream of hers that the organization perform Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, a work she has loved since she first encountered it a couple of decades or so ago as a lute student. This weekend, Fox’s dream comes true at the Hochstein…
Eats with the Hatter
Quaint is probably the first word that comes to mind when trying to describe The Mad Hatter Tea Room. A relatively small house converted into a restaurant, there is plenty of charm, with old hardwood floors and friendly service that does well even in the cramped quarters. And that doesn’t just mean the dining area;…
JAZZ | Jeff Beal: “An Evening of Film and Film Music”
Since graduating from the Eastman School of Music in 1985, Jeff Beal has written evocative music for television shows like “House of Cards,” “Monk,” and “Ugly Betty,” and for films including “Pollock” and “Blackfish.” In “An Evening of Film and Film Music,” three-time Emmy Award-winner Beal and others will conduct The Empire Film Music Ensemble,…
METAL | In This Moment
In This Moment has grown from the stomp and thunder of a nu-metal band with a screaming coquette up front to a brazen theatrical display with a goddess at the helm. Formed in 2005 by singer Maria Brink, the band initially seethed on stage with little or no production other than its brutal metal fronted…
ROCK | Pianos Become The Teeth
Pianos Become The Teeth is a lush, post-rock band from Baltimore that’s done a lot with its sound over the years, so it’s a little hard to pin these guys down. Probably the most noticeable evolution over the seven years the band has been putting out music is lead singer, Kyle Durfey’s vocal style. What…
AMERICANA | Girls Guns and Glory
Girls Guns and Glory kick up some high energy honky-tonk and early rock ‘n’ roll. You’d think lead singer, Ward Hayden’s southern twang plants him in Tennessee, but the foursome hails from Boston. In eight years together the band has moved at a steady clip, notching up to 200 shows a year and releasing 5…
CLASSICAL | Vocal competitions
There is little better than watching vocalists go head-to-head, and you have two opportunities to choose from this weekend. First, the Rochester Oratorio Society (ROS) will present the ninth consecutive iteration of its highly popular Classical Idol. Contestants will compete for a cash prize as well as performance opportunities with ROS and the Rochester…
METAL | Death Angel
If you follow the metal family tree back far enough, you’ll probably come across Death Angel. The group formed in San Francisco in 1982 and became a vital part of the important Bay Area thrash metal scene — along with Exodus, Testament, and Metallica (after it moved to the area in ’83). Death Angel toured…
SPECIAL EVENT | Record Store Day
Since 2007, Record Store Day has celebrated the spirit of independent record stores. And it just gets bigger and bigger. If you got coal in your stocking, Easter chocolate makes you break out, if your valentine gave you a one way ticket on the adios express, or you just love music, then Record Store day…
ART | “Musicians: Photographs by Bob Cato”
RIT’s University Gallery will throw an opening reception for “Musicians: Photographs by Bob Cato” on Thursday, April 16. The exhibit features contemporary large format prints, some never before published, from Cato’s archive of photos, negatives, and slides. Over the course of 50 years in graphic arts and design, Cato worked for magazines like “Glamour” and…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Holding Court”
The Cash Box Kings “Holding Court” Blind Pig Records cashboxkings.com The word “retro” is an unfair pigeon hole and strikes more as an accusation or back-handed compliment. It also limits the contributions of artists that fill the gap between today and yesteryear. Let’s just call it “classic,” whaddaya say? With its new Blind Pig pleasure…
COMEDY | John Witherspoon
It’s not easy to play the comic relief opposite actors like Tracy Morgan and Eddie Murphy, but John Witherspoon has proven himself more than equal to the task. With roots in stand-up, Witherspoon has starred in films like the “Friday” trilogy, “Boomerang,” and “Hollywood Shuffle,” and racked up TV credits in “The Boondocks,” “The Wayans…
Sweet dreams
When Peter Griffin announced on “Family Guy” that Guster is the sweetest band of all time, those weren’t empty words. Guster — Ryan Miller, vocals and guitar; Adam Gardner, vocals and guitar; Brian Rosenworcel, drums and percussion; and multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds — makes music that appeals to the masses. And the band itself is one…
DANCE | The Peking Acrobats
The Peking Acrobats have performed for Western audiences since 1986. The physical prowess of these Chinese acrobats is complemented by lively choreography, with contortionism and cycling flowing seamlessly into gymnastic maneuvers. The Peking Acrobats (with guests JIGU! Thunder Drums of China) will join the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for two days of rapid-fire visual and auditory entertainment.…
ALBUM REVIEW: “New Folk”
Evan “New Folk” Self-released evansongs.bandcamp.com I find that a lot of singer-songwriters commit to either plugged-in electric or unplugged acoustic, and rarely cross over, if ever. Rochester, by way of Wisconsin, musician Evan aptly does both at the same time. On his latest — and third — CD, “New Folk,” Evan comes out swinging with…
FILM | Fast Forward Film Festival
On Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18, get into the spirit of Earth Week with the first Fast Forward Film Festival. This event challenged local filmmakers to create a short film (under five minutes in length) to raise awareness for an environmental cause of their choosing. On Friday, the Little Theatre will host a…
Feedback 4/15
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SPECIAL EVENT | Mansions in our Neighborhood
The Park Avenue and Meigs Street neighborhood has been home to quite a few swanky cribs in its day. Learn more about these plus-sized, elegant abodes at Mansions in our Neighborhoods, a presentation at the Century Club hosted by the Park-Meigs Neighborhood Association. Presenting at this special historical inquiry is Don Hall, former director of…
Fiber growth speeds up
If any Ontario County community seemed poised to get a high-tech fiber optic Internet system, it would have to be Victor; it’s a fairly wealthy Rochester suburb that’s seen plenty of development. But in this case, assumptions don’t match reality. The tiny Village of Naples in the county’s rural southwest tip is actually the first…
THEATER | “Irene”
When the musical “Irene” opened on Broadway in 1919, Pultneyville’s Gates Hall was already well over half a century old. Now, almost a century after its premiere, “Irene” is coming to Gates Hall this weekend in a rare production by the Hall’s resident company, the Gatesingers. A nationwide hit in the 1920’s and revived on…
More than this
An already stylish studio and gallery shared and operated by Rick, Robin, and Margot Muto, AXOM Gallery is becoming even more so with the integration of a design showroom. With a formal opening of AXOM Objects coming up in May, Robin has already begun showcasing a variety of elegant and useful modern objects — from…
Urban Action 4/15
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Lessons from St. Paul The Rochester Regional Community Design Center will present “New Currents in a River City,” a talk by Christopher Coleman, mayor of St. Paul, and Tim Griffin, director of urban…
Artists speak: “First Comes Trust”
The seriously moving work of 13 senior RIT photojournalism students is currently on display in the William Harris Gallery (Gannett Hall, third floor, Rochester Institute of Technology, 70 Lomb Memorial Drive). The exhibition, “First Comes Trust,” is the capstone event for their study in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, celebrating a year-long documentary…
Clinton for president?
In an election with so much at stake, is she really the best the Democrats have? And can she get elected?
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 7, Episode 7: Snatch Game
It’s the episode we’d been waiting for all season, Snatch Game! Eight queens remained for what was sure to be, to say the least, an entertaining episode. We started last night after Kandy Ho’s elimination (Bye, Girl!), and Max still refuses to give up the gray but told the queens that she’s going to make…
Film Review: “Danny Collins”
Sorry to have to say this, but late-career Al Pacino is sort of cheesy and mildly creepy. I guess I’d pinpoint the evolution as beginning two decades ago with his Oscar-winning role in “Scent of a Woman,” which he seemed to take as a mandate to overact forthwith. Sure, he’s made some decent flicks in…
