Cuomo budget calls for legal pot, tackles taxes and health care
Governor Andrew Cuomo has taken a very direct step toward legalizing recreational cannabis use in New York: He’s included a plan to do it in his budget proposal. Cuomo just wrapped up his annual State of the State and budget addresses to lawmakers, and legal cannabis was just one of a long list of policy…
Legislature passes GENDA, election reforms
The state Senate, for the first time, has voted on and passed the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which would extend state anti-discrimination protections on things such as housing and employment to transgender people. The Assembly passed the bill today as well, marking the 11th time it has voted it through. The bill will now head to…
Change is coming to the city school district, one way or another
At a forum hosted by state education officials, members of the public sounded off on their concerns about the Rochester school district. And the officials made it clear that they’re not going to stop pushing the district to change.
ART | ‘Nouveau 19’
Many treat New Year’s Day and the weeks the follow as a time for reflection and taking stock of ourselves. How people see themselves is an endlessly fascinating subject. A group exhibit, titled “Nouveau 19, Self-portraits for the New Year, is hosted in Nancy Valle’s Anderson Arts studio this month, and presenting 30 self-portraits in…
KIDS-THEATER | ‘Corduroy’
Theatre Young Kids Enjoy (TYKEs) continues its 15th season this weekend and next with its staging of “Corduroy,” a production based on two award-winning children’s books written and illustrated by Don Freeman. The story follows a bear named Corduroy as he searches for his missing button while ducking and dodging a department store night watchman.…
BLUES, BOOGIE-WOOGIE | Hanna PK Duo
Man,I tell ya, it’s often hard to capture that pop ‘n’ sizzle electricity of a live show. Likewise, it can be tough for a musician to copy the precision and control of a studio performance. Well, I’ve seen Hanna PK about a half dozen times, and she always plays forthright and steady, though perhaps a…
ROCK, AMERICANA | Friday in America
Everyone’s got a band in their collection that makes it alright. Mine is Rochester-based Friday in America. Here is a band whose hip resolve and casual delivery sometimes leaves the listener suspicious: “Can one band be this laid-back?” That isn’t to say the band is lazy. This five-piece mixes all the good stuff and packs…
INDIE ROCK | Weakened Friends
A trio of hipsters from Portland, Maine, Weakened Friends performs angsty pop rock with quizzical vocal melodies, distorted guitar riffs, and untamed energy. Since its formation in 2015, Weakened Friends has released two EP’s and a full-length album, earning Portland Music Awards’ Best Indie Act in 2017. Guitarist Sonia Sturino sings with an exasperated, shriek-like…
FUNK | Lettuce
Based out of New York City, Lettuce blends funk with elements of soul, blues, psychedelia, hip-hop, and contemporary jazz. Celebrating eight releases since its formation in 1992, Lettuce continues exhilarating audiences around the world with its avant-garde funk fusion. Always ready to throw a party, Lettuce concocts arrangements full of catchy melodies, danceable grooves, and…
Tensions, challenges rising on Rochester school board
The Rochester school board elected its leaders on January 2, but the meeting didn’t go smoothly, with long-simmering tension between the newest board members and more senior members erupting in public. And there’s little indication that things between them will improve any time soon. The board elected Van White as president for the fifth consecutive…
Feedback 1/9
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. Comments of fewer than 350 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. The events…
Urban Action 1/9
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Workshop examines feminism RocCity Coalition and Rochester Young Professionals will hold a workshop on “Intersectional Feminism” on Thursday, January 10. The workshop will examine gender identity, feminism, and inter-related systems of power and…
Rochester energy efficiency campaign begins
Buildings are one of this country’s biggest energy users, accounting for roughly one-third of energy consumption nationwide. And for several decades at least, climate activists, utility companies, environmentally-minded architects and construction firms, and government bodies have pushed for more energy-efficient structures. The situation is no different in the City of Rochester. That’s why the city…
SPECIAL EVENT | Natural History Exhibition
There may be few signs of life out in the winter wonderscape, but this week you can visit a 12,000 square foot wildlife exhibit filled with exhibits of more than 30 live animals. The Foundation for Animal Rescue and Education is pairing up with Little Ray’s Nature Centers and ZooAmerica to present the first annual…
SPECIAL EVENT | ‘Winter Warmth: A Soup(er) Benefit’
Cat Clay’s popular annual soup social event benefits the Healthy Sisters Soup & Bean Works, a non-profit organization that helps prepare women in recovery to re-enter the workforce. Each year the event donates 100 percent of proceeds and raises thousands of dollars for the organization. For a $20 donation, visitors choose one of hundreds of…
RECREATION | Winterfest
It’s easy to want to spend your spare time Netflixing and avoiding the chill. But it’s good to get out of doors and revel in the winter with other community members. Monroe County’s 24th annual Winterfest at Mendon Ponds Park. The festival is free to attend, and includes face painting, crafts, sled dog races, Nordic…
The missing pieces of the Aquino Report
Dan Drmacich, a former principal of School Without Walls, is coordinator of the Rochester Coalition for Public Education. The recommendations of the state-appointed Distinguished Educator, Dr. Jaime Aquino, to the Rochester City School District could result in a more effective bureaucracy and some superficial gains for students. However, without focusing on the family, neighborhood and…
RoCo’s new screening room features ongoing video art series
A new space within Rochester Contemporary Art Center is dedicated to screening video art programs curated by artists from other Great Lakes cities.
Divinity school development plans move forward
Developer Angelo Ingrassia’s Spot on Development company is working with city officials to try make Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School’s 22.5-acre campus into a Planned Development District. While Ingrassia wants to create new housing units on the site, there are no plans to develop the property’s south lawn “at this time,” according to an announcement…
Album review: ‘Doomed to Bloom’
Justin Roeland ‘Doomed to Bloom’ Self-released roeland.bandcamp.com With the release of his third full-length album “Doomed to Bloom”- out on January 18 – Ithaca multi-instrumentalist Justin Roeland has delivered a dazzling collection of folk rock gems that also satisfy the trend in indie music toward psychedelic pop. “Doomed to Bloom” is filled with slow-burning songs…
Rochester police, schools and public participation
Several meetings of critical importance to Rochester and its residents will be held over the next few weeks. The public should show up.
Café SOL, SKYWAY share space in Center City
The unique space shared by the two businesses is one of only a few in town that makes a drastic shift from a daytime business to serve as a spot for nightlife in the evenings.
Film preview: ‘On the Basis of Sex’
Felicity Jones portrays Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a brilliant woman who stuck to her principles, but who could be shrewd when necessary. It’s tough going, but nonetheless Ginsburg persists.
Album review: ‘Presence’
Brad Whiteley ‘Presence’ Destiny Records bradwhiteley.com Pianist Brad Whiteley has worked with a diverse array of artists from Regina Spektor to Dave Liebman, not to mention his role in the pit band of Broadway’s “Avenue Q.” Somehow, Whiteley has found the time to compose and arrange 11 superb tunes, and he wastes no time in…
Interview: Cory Wong
Cory Wong’s approach to the guitar is melodic and gentle, more like a conversation between an audience’s ears and his Strat. Wong brings his funky sound to Rochester’s Flour City Station on January 22.
Film review: ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’
Based on James Baldwin’s 1974 novel, the film is at once a gorgeous, aching love story and an unflinching gaze into the failings of our justice system.
Film review: ‘Mary Poppins Returns’
Pitching itself somewhere between a remake and a sequel, “Mary Poppins Returns” doesn’t desecrate the original’s legacy, but it doesn’t fully distinguish itself either, charming as it is.
