Cover Story
The speed wars
When Time Warner Cable announced recently that it’s raising cable Internet rates, customer complaints were inevitable. And once the grumbling started, it became clear that many customers believe that they are going to pay more a month for less-than-stellar Internet connections. “Other people around the world do not pay close to what we pay for…
Old tree reaches the end of its life
Sometime within the next few weeks, the City of Rochester will take down the oldest and largest black oak in Washington Grove, a stand of old-growth trees adjacent to Cobbs Hill Park. The tree is actually one of the largest black oaks in the country. When a tree like this gets cut down, it can…
Seneca Nation eyes Rochester for a casino
Is the Seneca Nation of Indians ready to roll the dice on Henrietta? Late Tuesday morning, the Seneca Nation sent out a press release saying that it had retained a Flaum Management subsidiary to “organize and coordinate gaming and hospitality development in the Town of Henrietta.” The announcement caught some Henrietta officials by surprise. Town…
Music teachers fight for time
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas promised city students and parents that he would increase the district’s offerings in arts, music, and sports. How well that is working depends on who you ask. District officials say that programs in arts and music in particular are more widely and evenly distributed to all schools than they used…
More questions on solitary confinement and inmate mental health
Last year, a pair of publications criticized the use of solitary confinement in New York’s prisons. A report from the New York Civil Liberties Union and an article in The Nation said that officials’ often impose the punishment arbitrarily and excessively. A new article, published last week by ProPublica, questions state prisons’ use of solitary…
Concert Review: Scion’s Bonzai 2013 at Main Street Armory
As the summer comes to a close, the time for music festivals is winding down as well. On Saturday, radio station The Zone 94.1 squeezed in its annual Scion’s Bonzai, a music festival celebrating radio-friendly modern rock. “Keep in mind that we only came here to have a good fucking time with you!” yelled Kaleo…
“True Blood” Season 6: Unpacking the finale
Season 6 of “True Blood” ended last night, and like the season overall it was a bizarre mix of highs and lows. I had serious problems with the show for the first quarter of the season, but then it seemed to get its act together for the middle portion before sinking to arguably series lows…
WEEK AHEAD: Rochester school district meetings
The Rochester school board’s financial committee will hold a meeting at 5:30 p.m. today, with the full school board present. That meeting will be followed by the school board’s regular monthly meeting at 6 p.m. The majority of resolutions involve approvals for hiring full- and part-time staff before school begins. Both meetings will be held at…
Albany is going to fix urban schools
First it was mayoral control; now we may be looking at Albany control of some urban school districts. The very idea is almost laughable. We’re talking about Albany, New York, frequently described as the most dysfunctional state government in the country. But New York Education Commissioner John King is pushing for a bill that would…
Westport Crossing developer sues Village of Pittsford
The developer of the proposed Westport Crossing project in Pittsford — better known as 75 Monroe Avenue — is now suing the Village of Pittsford to stop it from applying a section of its local laws. Although the suit deals only with this development, it could ultimately have a broader effect, preventing village residents from…
Poverty is a factor in urban education
Mention poverty’s effect in any discussion of urban education, and the reaction is often dismissive. Officials from the highest levels of government on down the local level frequently say that referring to poverty is an excuse for low student achievement. Willa Powell raises the poverty issue in a recent article on the New York State…
Lej Dems, county administration react to Moody’s downgrade
Democratic Legislator Paul Haney says that Monroe County has real financial problems and that a recent action by Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade it’s bond credit rating “has certified” as much. The financial analysis company downgraded the county’s rating yesterday, and this afternoon County Legislature Democrats held a press conference to address the action. Haney…
ART REVIEW: “State of the City: Street-ish”
Four young artists are the stars of “Street-ish,” a show of contemporary work that is informed by street art and culture, though was created within a studio practice. Now in its sixth season, this edition of Rochester Contemporary’s “State of the City” exhibition series was co-curated by RoCo’s Executive Director, Bleu Cease, and Memorial Art…
MUSIC PREVIEW: Screaming Females
As punk itself has risen from the underground and righteously staked its claim to part of mainstream culture, so has New Brunswick trio Screaming Females emerged from sweaty, beer-soaked New Jersey basements. In a town where punk bands grow on trees, what is it about Screaming Females that will make you want to sit under…
POP/ROCK | 2013 Bonzai
What type of music do you like to listen to? It really doesn’t matter much, as this year’s iteration of Bonzai probably has you covered regardless. There’s 10 Years for fans of the metal, Panic! At the Disco for the pop rockers, Dropkick Murphys for the punks and Celts, Reel Big Fish for the skanking…
FOLK | Old-Time Fiddlers’ Fair
Now you play pretty good fiddle boy, but give the devil his due. You may not get a chance to see a fiddle of gold this weekend, but you will be able to check some fast-flying bows at one of Western New York’s largest showcases of traditional music. With four stages, more than 100 musicians,…
ELECTRONIC | Keto, Whos7
It might be a mostly local dub night, but that doesn’t mean it hits any softer. Local favorites Keto and Whos7 have the reins tonight, and to be sure they’ve got the practice and the skill so that you’re going to be drawn down into the basement by the hypnotic wub wub wub of their…
INDIE FOLK | Brian Wheat
Brian Wheat creates a distinctive brand of alternative folk that’s been affectionately referred to as “porch-swing rock.” Since 2005, this Buffalo-born troubadour has toured the world playing everywhere from clubs and festivals to hostels and island villages. Wheat has cultivated a comprehensive sound, influenced by 50’s pop, classic rock, and country. His ardent melodic approach…
CHOW HOUND:Wines and spirit
“It’s the unpretentious transmission of genuine excitement that’s crucial.” Janine Wasley has worked in the restaurant industry since she was 14, and when she came across the above sentence some years ago in a wine magazine, it made an indelible impression. Those words now serve as a daily reminder of her approach to service at…
ROCK | Don Mancuso
Every Wednesday this summer Rochester rock icon Don Mancuso and a rotating selection of friends perform at NOLA’s on the lake. Mancuso is best known for his long-time association with another Flour City rocker, Lou Gramm. Mancuso and Gramm were members of the 70’s rock band Black Sheep, but when Gramm moved on to superstardom…
The Pythodd lives again
Mention jazz and most Rochesterians will immediately think of the yearly Jazz Festival. But for others, particularly those who lived in the Third Ward neighborhood during the 1950’s, the Pythodd Club on Clarissa Street was the height of cool. Filmmaker Tina Chapman DaCosta has captured the club’s history in her documentary film “Remembering the Pythodd.”…
REGGAE | Personal Blend
This fiery Rochester-based six-piece delivers a dub-infused reggae-rock experience. The group claims bands like Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, and Long Beach Dub All-Stars as major influences, but its final product is definitely on a shelf of its own. Personal Blend has caused quite a stir with its high-energy, dance-crazed performances, so get ready to do some…
Plastics plague Ontario, too
Researchers have already confirmed the ubiquitous presence of tiny plastic pieces, called “microplastics,” in several of the Great Lakes. Now a SUNY Fredonia professor says that she’s found microplastics in Lake Ontario, too. This summer, SUNY Fredonia associate professor of chemistry Sam Mason led a group of University at Buffalo students in collecting samples from…
ANTI-FOLK | Billy Mack Collector
Singer-songwriter Billy Mack Collector claims that he writes “happy songs about being uncomfortable,” and his off-beat, anti-folk tunes certainly fit that description. Popular anti-folk artists such as Kimya Dawson, Regina Spektor, and Paul Baribeau led a rebellion against traditional folk music years ago, oftentimes accomplishing this feat by combining the genre with others (most notably…
Finding the readers within
Jose Valentin, a small boy with big brown eyes behind thin wire glasses, liked the summer reading clinic at Nazareth College so much that he never missed a day. On the one morning he was late because he missed his bus, his teachers immediately began to worry. But staying home was not an option. Valentin…
CLASSICAL | Gateways Music Festival
Pianist and music educator Armenta Adams Hummings founded the Gateways Music Festival in 1993 to give performance and networking opportunities to students and professional musicians of African descent. Gateways’ home every other year since 1995 has been Rochester; the Eastman School of Music hosts the festival’s final concert, and throughout the course of the event…
Feedback 8/14
We welcome your comments. Send them to themail@rochester-citynews.com, or post them on our website, rochestercitynewspaper.com, our Facebook page, or our Twitter feed, @roccitynews. For our print edition, we select comments from all three sources; those of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in…
THEATER | Give to Live
Thirty years after the initial cases of the AIDS virus were discovered, humanity is still fighting the disease and searching for a cure. As with many devastating diseases, AIDS sufferers are largely out-of-sight, out-of-mind, with very few exceptions. On Saturday, August 17, an all-star cast will share their love of theater and their many talents…
The test score rage: rhetoric versus reform
Well, that gave everybody something to talk about, didn’t it? State education officials released school-district scores on standardized tests last week, and the news was awful. Only 31 percent of the state’s students met or exceeded the “proficiency” standard for math. And only 31.1 percent of them met the English standard. And among the large…
FESTIVAL | Spokes & Ink
The Genesee Center for the Arts & Education will host the third annual Spokes & Ink Bike and Poster Fest on Sunday, August 18, at 713 Monroe Avenue at Wilcox Street. The festival celebrates art, music, community, and cycling, and proceeds benefit the Genesee Center, a nonprofit community arts center. The free festival kicks off…
The real story
Reuters reports that Chesapeake Energy is dropping its court fight to extend gas-drilling leases in parts of New York. At issue were some Chesapeake leases in the Southern Tier, many of which, Reuters said, “were agreed to long before a boom in hydraulic fracturing swept the United States.” | The article says that landowners in…
SPECIAL EVENT | Beard & Moustache Championships
While scanning social-media outlets the other day, I came across a headline that seemed like it might have been posted by The Onion, but it wasn’t. The article described how the profits of America’s razor industry are falling, and that the hipster beard epidemic is being blamed for blunting the biz. This isn’t really, truly…
Urban Action 8/14
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Healthy child care training Clean and Healthy New York and the Child Care Council will hold a series of training sessions for child care providers that follow the guidelines set forth by the…
THEATER | “Almost, Maine”
Though central in our focus as social creatures, love and attraction are no different from any other element of human life — their appearances and departures are almost impossible to predict and are ever shifting, contingent upon many complicated matters. “Almost, Maine” is a romantic-comedy by John Cariani, built of nine short plays that explore…
DANCE | Funky Town Disco/Dancing with the Borinquen Stars
Two local dance companies will host fun fundraising events this week. Rochester City Ballet will take you to Funky Town on Friday night, while Borinquen Dance Theatre will have you Dancing with the Stars on Saturday. Dust off your disco duds and dance your way to Canandaigua’s Inn on the Lake (770 S Main St.,…
‘Elysium’
After the success of his highly unusual 2009 science-fiction film, “District 9,” Neill Blomkamp now moves into the big time, Hollywood version, with another excursion into the genre, “Elysium.” Instead of a cast of relatively unknown players, the director this time benefits from the luster and the talents of a couple of big stars —…
COMEDY | Drew Carey
Drew Carey’s career in comedy has ranged from his anti-hero character in the popular “Drew Carey Show,” opposite the grinningly evil boss played by Craig Ferguson, to his appearance in “Fuck: A Documentary,” to hosting the American version of the hilarious improv show, “Whose Line is it Anyway?” and more recently, as host of the…
‘The Act of Killing’
Straddling the line between documentary and narrative, exploitation and exposé, the haunting “The Act of Killing” sees filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer ask the leaders of the notorious Indonesian death squads, responsible for the mass murder of more than 1 million civilians in 1965-66, to recount their most brutal crimes, then allow them the opportunity to re-enact…
