Cover Story
Rare political rancor in Pittsford
A proposed development at 75 Monroe Avenue, a prominent gateway into the village of Pittsford, is at the center of an unusually contentious election.
Daily Choices: What to do on Wednesday, February 27
Lecture, Music, Literature and more
Shale gas drilling moratorium proposed in Assembly
Tomorrow could have been fracking decision day in New York, had the state Department of Environmental Conservation not missed a necessary deadline. Instead, the state’s review of fracking continues. Today, however, a group of Assembly members introduced new legislation that, if passed, would implement a moratorium on drilling in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.…
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 5: Snatch Game Wrap-Up
I’ve said from the beginning that this is the most competitive season in the show’s history. And this week we got that in a sense, because these queens came out swinging with their bedazzled brass knuckles and didn’t stop until the bitter end. Fight after fight after fight. Just ruthless. Not that I’m complaining –…
NAEP scores not bad, not good
Student achievement in reading, math, and science in the nation’s five mega-states matches or falls slightly below the national average, according to a report released last week by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The organization analyzed test scores of children in grades 4 and 8 from 1990 to 2011. NAEP examined educational progress over…
Lej committee blocks gun proposal
A Democratic proposal to strengthen a gun ban in county buildings was voted down by a County Legislature committee last night. The vote was 3 to 2 along party lines — Republicans opposed, Democrats in favor. Members of the public are not allowed to bring guns into buildings owned or leased by Monroe County. But…
Daily Choices: What to do on Tuesday, February 26
Sports: The Rochester Americans take on the Syracuse Crunch tonight, 7:05 p.m., at Blue Cross Arena (One War Memorial Square). Tickets are $15-$20. For more info, call 800-745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Concert Review: Love Canon, Blue Jimmy, Abandoned Buildings Club, and AudioInFlux
For me, the 1980s were the last stand for pop, before music got stupid, vapid, and insipid. That’s not to say that music of the “Me Decade” was for intellectuals. Let’s face it; we’re all a little blinded by science. But it’s amazing how those little Aqua-netted, neon ditties get stuck in your head. People…
WEEK AHEAD: Proposed gun ban, RCSD budget hearing, downtown safety meeting
A County Legislature committee will vote tonight on a Democratic proposal to ban guns from county buildings. The measure will be considered by the Agenda/Charter Committee, which meets at 6 p.m. today at the County Office Building, 39 West Main Street. Under current county policy, members of the public cannot bring guns into buildings owned…
Daily Choices: What to do on Monday, February 25
Recreation: Helmer Nature Center (154 Pinegrove Ave, Irondequoit) will host a Moonlight Snowshoeing or Hiking event for ages 16 and older tonight at 7 p.m. Admission is $5-$7 and includes snowshoe rental and refreshments. For more info, call 336-3035 or visit westirondequoit.org/helmernc/helmer.htm. Music: Lovin Cup Idol is still going strong, and this week your top…
Daily Choices: What to do on Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24
Spesh: The Little Theatre (240 East Ave.) will host the Little RochOscar Party on Sunday, February 24. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the event will be hosted by Nuts and Bolts Comedy Improv. Tickets are $40 – or $35 for Little members – and include treats and a champagne toast at the end of…
Condos and offices planned for Culver Road Armory
Fred Rainaldi, Jr. presented residents and community leaders with plans for a second phase of development at the Culver Road Armory site at a neighborhood meeting last night. The plans, which call for building a 40,000-square-foot commercial building and a five-story, 10-unit residential complex, would fully develop the 10.4-acre site. For the commercial building, Rainaldi…
College Blog: Blogging as a steppingstone
I used to be skeptical about blogging. Having lived in Southeast Asia for most of my life, many people would blog to whine about their petty misfortunes or as a way to earn free endorsements from beauty companies. So it’s not surprising to treat blogging as a mindless entertainment. Think “Perez Hilton” and the first…
College Blog: The issues with online learning
This spring I am going to be taking my first online course. I was a little wary when I signed up because I have always enjoyed the traditional classroom setting. I like getting to know my classmates and being able to ask the professor questions in person if I am confused about something. At RIT…
Irondequoit Tops getting tax breaks, too
Last month, I wrote about a Henrietta Tops store that received tax breaks to move from one plaza on Jefferson Road to another. Now a similar scenario is happening in Irondequoit. Earlier this week, the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency approved tax breaks for the market at 1455 East Ridge Road to move to the…
Daily Choices: What to do on Friday, February 22
Film: New movies opening tonight in wide release include “Dark Skies,” and “Snitch.” Films opening this week at the Little Theatre include “Azure & Asmar,” “Beware, Mr. Baker,” “The Central Park Five,” “The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights,” “Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap,” and “Sound City.” Head here for full…
RPO announces 2013-2014 season
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra this morning announced the programming for its 2013-14 season. This will be the first season since the orchestra’s split with Music Director ArildRemmereit, and as such will feature a string of guest conductors at the podium. One of the primary concerns following the dismissal of Remmereit was whether the orchestra would…
ART BLOG: JGK Galleries’s “Art Roc Show 2013 Showcase”
Blink and you’ll miss the arrival some new additions to our city’s ever-growing art scene. JGK Galleries, located at 10 Vick Park A, is a gorgeous space comprised of three smallish rooms divided neatly while maintaining the feeling of a hip, open loft. The space has been open for about a year and seven months,…
“American Idol” 2013: Sudden Death, Round 2 (Top 5 guys revealed)
On Wednesday we had 10 women competing for five spots, and in the end at least one really talented young lady went home because there wasn’t enough Top 10 berths to go around. On Thursday we had 10 guys perform and had five advance to the Top 10 when only probably three of them deserved…
College Blog: Major Changes
What you intend to major in is an important factor when deciding on a college.
Condoms available in city schools
The Rochester school district will begin making condom availability free to high school students beginning next Monday, February 25. The new condom availability program, which the Rochester school board approved last year, requires school nurses to distribute the condoms. Parents and guardians were notified by mail last October. Parents agree to allow their child to…
ARTS: New legal petition in RPO case
This morning attorney Eileen Buholtz, one of the leaders of the group identifying itself as RPO Community Supporters, announced that she has filed a new petition with the New York State Supreme Court again questioning the legality of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual meeting, which took place on January 23, 2013. The new petition criticizes…
Concert Review: Love Canon at Abilene
For me, the 1980’s were the last stand for pop, before the music got stupid, vapid, and insipid. That’s not to say that music of the “Me Decade” was for intellectuals. Let’s face it, we’re all a little blinded by science. But it’s amazing how those little neon ditties get stuck in your head. People…
Hello recession, we hardly missed you
The countdown to another fiscal Armageddon between Congress and the president has begun. In a week from tomorrow, sequestration will kick in and about $85 billion in federal spending cuts will occur unless Democrats and Republicans can avert the crisis. The cuts will be painful, impacting everything from defense to early childhood education. Rep. Louise…
Daily Choices: What to do on Thursday, February 21
Comedy: “Blue Collar” comedian Ron “Tater Salad” White will bring his cigar-smoking, scotch-drinking standup routine to the Auditorium Theatre (885 E. Main St.) at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Tickets are $39.50-$59.50. For more information, call 222-5000 or visit rbtl.org. Music: Perhaps it’s the pageantry, the performance, the gypsy pride and passion. Caravan of Thieves, an all-acoustic…
Theater: RBTL details ticket-lottery policy for “Book of Mormon”
The Rochester Broadway Theatre League today announced its ticket-lottery process for the upcoming Rochester performances of the national tour of the Tony-winning musical “The Book of Mormon.” The much-anticipated show, running at Auditorium Theatre March 5-10, has been very close to sold out for months. However, 20 tickets will be available via lottery for each…
“American Idol” 2013: Sudden Death, Round 1 (Top 5 girls revealed)
The good news is that we’re spared the endless, obnoxious semi-finals this year. The bad news is we have two weeks of its replacement, a new Sudden Death Round. Each of the next four episodes will feature 10 contestants (still separated by gender) performing in front of the judges and a studio audience in Vegas.…
Video Games: Sony reveals PlayStation 4
In a live steamed press conference tonight, Sony lifted the curtain on its plans for the successor to the PlayStation 3 console; the aptly named PlayStation 4.
Rochester’s Olympic surprise
The US Olympic Committee is asking 35 cities whether they’d be interested in hosting the 2024 games. And Rochester is one of them. “It came as a surprise,” city spokesperson Mike Keane told me during a phone interview this afternoon. Keane says that while the city appreciates the Olympic Committee’s attempt to be inclusive in…
College Town gets tax package
The Monroe County Industrial Development Agency has approved a package of tax breaks for the College Town mixed-use development. The University of Rochester initiated the project, which would be located on the west side of Mount Hope Avenue between Elmwood Avenue and Crittenden Boulevard. The project will include a Barnes and Noble, a grocery store,…
Irondequoit board backs tax incentives for I-Square
For I-Square, the third time was the charm. Last night, the Irondequoit Town Board voted to support a PILOT – payment in lieu of taxes – for the proposed mixed-use project. Although the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency would provide the PILOT, the Irondequoit Town Board has to approve it. Last night wasn’t the first…
Urban Action 2/20
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Judicial evaluation forum The Monroe County Bar Association will host the first of a three-part series on the judicial evaluation process at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27. The forums are designed to…
METAL | Before the Foundation
I guess Before the Foundation’s Christian message wasn’t apparent until it added a vocalist. Hailing from just down the street in Lakeville, New York, BTF started out as a genre-busting, progressive metal outfit with a sick and thick wall of heavy guitar. It sounds relentlessly menacing and mean with equal appeal to secular metal fans…
“Beautiful Creatures”
With the “Twilight” series mercifully at an end — though there are already murmurings about a possible reboot — movie studios are scrambling to recapture the attentions of those film’s audiences, raiding bookstore shelves and snatching up anything with the words “supernatural” and “love story” on the dust jacket. Warner Bros.’ Southern Gothic romance, “Beautiful…
CLASSICAL | Pegasus Early Music
During this season of Lent, Pegasus Early Music offers a special program this Sunday of the “Mystery Sonatas” of Franz Ignaz Biber, depicting the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The 15 sonatas in the group are also thought to reflect the “15 Mysteries of the Rosary,” causing the work also to be referenced…
MUSIC INTERVIEW: Love and Death
In its mid- to late 90’s prime, Bakersfield, California’s Korn helped forge the nu-metal genre by not only incorporating its heaviest and loudest aspects but also going outside — way outside — to untapped sources like hip-hop and electronic music. The band became huge and earned Grammy Awards in the process. At the very heart…
CLASSICAL | Rochester Chamber Orchestra
Arild Remmereit supporters: here’s your chance to see the maestro in front of an orchestra for the first time since his split with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Remmereit will conduct a benefit concert for the Rochester Chamber Orchestra’s upcoming 50th anniversary season. The bill of fare includes Haydn’s “Symphony No. 49” (La Passione), Grieg’s “Evening…
ART REVIEW: “Silver and Water”
The souls of artists and philosophers are never still; their vigilant senses are buffeted by the urgently calling winds and tides of change that they often detect before others. As such, some artists serve as the most honest of social critics. The current exhibit filling the South, Annex, and Brackett Clark galleries of George Eastman…
COMEDY | Ron White
There’s only one drink that’s appropriate to have before (or during) this comedy show: scotch. Texas-born comedian Ron White famously downs a few glasses of his favorite drink during all of his stand-up sets — sometimes while making his way through a cigar, too. But drinks and smokes aside, White is also famous for his…
KIDS | Black History Month Family Day
Each February, area organizations and institutions offer opportunities to learn more about African-American culture and history through various programs held throughout the month. Visit our online calendar at rochestercitynewspaper.com for more related events, and learn about the black experience the rest of the year by reading James Baldwin’s magnificently articulate writings, or by listening to…
RECREATON | Nordic Hot Dog Days
The Genesee Valley Nordic Ski Patrol is a group of volunteers who spend every weekend monitoring the Rochester Museum and Science Center’s Cumming Nature Center to ensure the safety of skiers. They deserve some recognition, and there’s no better way to honor these volunteers than with…hot dogs. That’s the idea behind Nordic Hot Dog Days,…
SPECIAL EVENT | RochOscar Party
If you’re missing the annual Academy Awards Party put on by the George Eastman House (it was cancelled for 2013 due to renovations taking place in the Dryden Theatre), head over to the Little Theatre (240 East Ave.) on Sunday, February 24, to watch the awards ceremony and celebrate with other cinephiles in our community.…
SPORTS | Native American Winter Games
Why have a regular snowball fight when you can try your gloved hand at a game of snow snake? And why sit around with your fancy heating system when you can gather around a fire in a bark longhouse for storytelling? Experience the harsh Western New York winter as the Seneca people once did at…
Neighborhood needs
Physically, there’s little doubt that neighborhoods participating in the City of Rochester’s Focused Investment program have improved, says Mayor Tom Richards. The real question — and it’s elusive — is whether people’s lives have improved, he says. About five years ago, the city singled out four challenged neighborhoods for intense investment: Beechwood, Dewey-Driving Park, Jefferson…
THEATER | “Romance”
All is fair in love and war…and comedy, actually. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet’s “Romance” is a courtroom comedy that satirizes each character, from lawyers and judges, to Arabs and Jews, to gays and chiropractors. An anti-histamine-popping judge gets doped up on his own medicine, and law and order wither away into utter chaos while…
State releases plan for Hemlock, Canadice
The State Department of Environmental Conservation has released a draft plan outlining how it will manage its land around Canadice and Hemlock Lakes. The DEC will accept comments on the draft unit management plan – available at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/68822.html – through April 15. And it has scheduled a public information session for 6:30 p.m. on March…
DINING REVIEW: Yummy Garden Hot Pot
Yummy Garden Hot Pot on West Henrietta Road allows you to customize your own soup, choosing between various broths, sauces, veggies, meats, and noodles. Just make sure not to overfill your pot.
Scouting ways out of the culture war
Joel Helfrich was once a Boy Scout, eventually earning enough merit badges to reach Scouting’s highest rank: Eagle Scout. His experience with the Scouts while growing up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Pittsford was wonderful, he says, yet last year Helfrich renounced his affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America. Helfrich returned all of his scouting…
FOLK | Magpie
With more than 25 years in the game and nods from icons like Pete Seeger, Terry Leonino and Greg Artzner — known collectively as Magpie — are the quintessential folk duo. Through simple acoustic instrumentation (mandolin and guitar) and lovely harmonies, this Kent, Ohio duo covers virtually every era of folk music, and tells stories…
Daily Choices: What to do on Thursday, February 26
Sports: The Rochester Americans take on the Syracuse Crunch tonight, 7:05 p.m., at the Blue Cross Arena (One War Memorial Square). Tickets are $15-$20. For more info, call 800-745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com. Music: Not sure what a Kora is? Or curious to hear a French trip-hop cellist? You’ll want to make sure to check out…
Signs missing
Each one of the 31 red-light cameras in the City of Rochester is supposed to have an accompanying sign posted nearby, warning motorists of the presence of the cameras. But at a meeting last week, City Council members Adam McFadden and Elaine Spaull said they’ve noticed red-light intersections without signs. “We were told they all…
ALT-FOLK | Caravan of Thieves
Perhaps it’s the pageantry, the performance, the gypsy pride and passion. Caravan of Thieves, an all-acoustic troupe that combines guitars, violin, string bass, and an array of whatever percussion instruments the members can grasp, bang, or thump around with on stage, wears its street performance history on its well-dressed, top-hatted, and period-attire vested sleeves. Throw…
Obama’s second term
At this early stage, it’s hard to predict what kind of president Barack Obama will be over the next four years. He seems to be abandoning, at last, the hesitancy and timidity of his first term. And in the long list of initiatives in his State of the Union address last week, he gave us…
CLASSICAL | Eastman Horn Choir
Let the sound of brass awaken your soul. The 26-member Eastman Horn Choir will perform this Sunday at the historic St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church. Founded in 1968, the Eastman Horn Choir places emphasis on Renaissance music, but also encourages modern composers to write new works for multiple horns. “Eastman at St. Michael’s” is a…
“A Good Day to Die Hard”
The fifth film in a franchise that began way back in 1988 demonstrates Hollywood’s faith in the repetition of formulas and its concomitant tendency toward depletion of imagination. The new movie in the “Die Hard” series, “A Good Day to Die Hard,” deploys just about all the elements that distinguished its predecessors, including Bruce Willis,…
POST-ROCK | Alberto Alaska
Where in the world is Alberto Alaska? On Friday evening, you can catch this wintry five-piece at its “True North” EP release party at Lovin’ Cup. The Fredonia/Rochester-based group creates a meltdown of atmosphericand progressive styles that’s typical of the post-rock genre. Alberto Alaska is a young band that can build a song into a…
Golden years tarnished for many seniors
If you’re in your late 20’s or early 30’s and you haven’t seriously planned how to save for your retirement, you might want to forgo the latest cell phone or Apple gizmo. You’re probably going to need that money, and a lot more of it. For the first time since the 1940’s, a majority of…
