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A step apart
The third annual Nazareth College Arts Center Dance Festival begins this week and lasts through next weekend, bringing a diverse range of dance forms to both stage and lawn. The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off the festival Thursday evening with a Dance Festival Overture led by Jeff Tyzik; the evening will include accompanying dance performances.…
CONCERT REVIEW: Dick Dale, Tombstone Hands, B-52′s, Squeeze
Over the years I’ve had the pleasure to meet and play with some of my guitar heroes. Some of them are original cats from rock ‘n’ roll’s first wave, like Ike Turner, Ronnie Dawson, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Link Wray, and Friday night’s star attraction at Water Street Music Hall, surf-guitar innovator/godfather/legend…
New proposal for Greece Ridge tax breaks
If all goes smoothly, the owners of Greece Ridge Mall will get tax abatements for renovating the mall’s former Bon-Ton space. Today, the county Industrial Development Agency’s board gave provisional approval to a payment in lieu of taxes agreement for the project. Under the 25-year deal, the Wilmorite subsidiary that owns the mall will pay .6…
EDUCATION: [UPDATED] Rochester students slip in math and English
UPDATE: Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas says several factors are to blame for the flat trajectory of student performance on state tests over the last three years. The state tests have become more difficult, he said at a press conference this afternoon, but Rochester students are not getting the extra instruction time they need to…
NEWS BLOG: Greece Ridge Mall on tomorrow’s Comida agenda
When the county Industrial Development Agency meets tomorrow, it will again discuss proposed tax breaks for Greece Ridge Mall. Last month, COMIDA’s board delayed its decision on the proposal. The deal would limit future increases on the mall’s property taxes for 25 years. The Wilmorite subsidiary that owns Greece Ridge Mall plans to redevelop the…
NEWS BLOG: Dukakis on Obama
Do principles matter in the often unprincipled world of politics? That question was recently put to former Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis by Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. Dukakis was a guest on their PRI show, “Smiley and West,” where he discussed the recent Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act…
NEWS BLOG: Slaughter-Brooks race approaching $2 million mark
This post has been updated with clarifications. Republican Maggie Brooks outraised Democrat Louise Slaughter over the past month. But Slaughter has raised more than $1 million during the 2011-12 Congressional election cycle. Brooks, who got a later start on fund-raising, has brought in about $773,000. Tack that amount on to Slaughter’s total and the candidates…
NEWS BLOG: Democracy for sale, part 1
You know this is happening, but still, the numbers shock. On NPR’s Morning Edition today, Steve Inskeep discusses this year’s presidential campaign spending with two political strategists, Mark McKinnon (Republican) and Mark Mellman (Democrat). Among the statistics McKinnon offered: Spending by the Obama and Romney campaigns will reach “a minimum of $4 billion – much…
CONCERT REVIEW: B-52′s at CMAC
BY TODD REZSNYAK If you’ve never seen The B-52’s perform live, you’re missing out on a unique concert experience. The band is all about having a good time, with songs and lyrics that may seem completely off the wall, yet have the ability to burrow right into your pleasure centers. The legendary party band opened…
CONCERT REVIEW: Dick Dale at Water Street Music Hall
Over the years I’ve had the pleasure to meet and play with some of my guitar heroes. Some of them are original cats from rock ‘n’ roll’s first wave, like Ike Turner, Ronnie Dawson, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Link Wray, and Friday night’s star attraction at WaterStreetMusic Hall, surf-guitar innovator, godfather, legend…
NEWS BLOG: Freeh slams Joe Paterno- with “regret”
The report detailing the behavior of officials in the Penn State child-abuse scandal is as welcome as it is shocking. And in releasing his report yesterday, former FBI Director Louis Freeh didn’t mince words. He was obviously furious about what he had learned. That’s a refreshing contrast to the reaction of Penn State sports officials,…
CRIMINAL JUSTICE: RPD releases mid-year crime stats
Robberies, shootings, and homicides are up this year, but Rochester Police Chief Jim Sheppard, who gave his mid-year crime report this afternoon, says the public should consider the historical context. Violent crime, which includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, is up 4.8 percent from this time last year, from 904 to 947 incidents. Murders…
NEWS BLOG: Aldersley wants Lej seat
Former Monroe County Legislator Stephanie Aldersley is pursuing her old seat. Democrat Vinnie Esposito is leaving the Lej on July 20 to take a job as deputy regional director for Empire State Development. Aldersley, a Democrat who now serves on the Irondequoit Town Board, says she wants to be appointed to fill the vacancy. Aldersley…
CONCERT REVIEW: Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at Highland Park
Last night I discovered the distinct difference between Highland Bowl and the Highland Park Festival Site. For whatever reason, me and my wingman Woody thought that the Wednesday Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad concert was at the Bowl. But when we rolled up there was no reggae, there was no dub, there weren’t thousands of…
“So You Think You Can Dance” 2012: Top 20 Perform
If “So You Think You Can Dance” was a kid, it’d be a full-blown fourth grader. Our little dance show is growing up fast – we’re on Season 9! — and like a kid, things are changing year by year. We have a Top 20 again, and the best 10 guys and 10 girls are…
POLITICS: Carbone to run for vacant Lej seat
Democrat Vinnie Esposito’s County Legislature seat isn’t even officially vacant, and already a November election battle is taking shape. Republican Joe Carbone announced his candidacy this afternoon at County Republican headquarters. Carbone, a podiatrist who lives in Irondequoit and has his office in the town, ran against Esposito last year. Esposito is resigning from the…
NEWS BLOG: Private charter company to run Michigan school district
A falling tax base and high student needs has a lot of school districts in poor areas struggling. NPR’s All Things Considered offered a look yesterday at what has resulted in one of those districts. When the district in Muskegon Heights, Michigan – one of that state’s poorest – continued to have less money than…
NEWS BLOG: County’s capital plan passes- with MCC move
Last night the County Legislature passed a plan for construction and infrastructure projects for 2013-2018. The Capital Improvement Program includes Monroe Community College’s proposed new downtown campus. The plan, which doesn’t allocate any funding, calls for $32.5 million in county funds for the downtown campus. College officials want to move the Damon City Campus from…
NEWS BLOG: Taking the community to task
I suspect we may hear more from Lorenzo Williams. Williams, a former Rochester school district teacher who recently moved back to the city, had some tough words for the community last night. The setting was a meeting hosted by the Rochester school board to get public input on the temporary — perhaps permanent — closure…
Tears to a heathen’s eyes
The Indie Music Channel brought its Indie Music Revolution Festival to Water Street Music Hall this past weekend. The event boasted a cornucopia of young talent, including plenty of stuff from the home team. I caught Methanol Friday as the band blasted its big rock with hooks. This group has really settled into a solid…
Troubled city
And there they were, the three words I’ve been thinking for a couple of weeks now, but didn’t dare say: “long, hot summer.” Most people, I think, associate them with the race riots of the 1960’s — or the 1958 Paul Newman film. The New York Post used them last week in a story on…
IDA’s, by the numbers
TOPQUOTE: Colin O’Malley, organizing director with Metro Justice, says (COMIDA) tax breaks mean less money for school districts and local governments. So if the jobs don’t materialize or don’t pay particularly well, that raises questions about the value of the tax breaks to the community. “There’s very little follow-up after the deals are brokered,” he…
RCSD submits new evaluation plan
The latest evolution in teacher evaluations ironed out between the Rochester Teachers Association and the city school district is extremely complex. And it’s hard to tell if it will provide much clarity about teacher performance. “It makes a bad system less bad,” says RTA President Adam Urbanski. But failure to reach agreement to implement the…
Pocket park planned for Monroe
Fred Rainaldi Jr. says putting a pocket park at the corner of Monroe Avenue and Amherst Street, next door to the former Show World adult video store, will help transform the appearance and “vibe” of the area. The final design isn’t ready yet, Rainaldi says, but park elements that are being talked about for the…
Sibley sale is close
WinnDevelopment could close on the Sibley building next month. Chris Fleming, senior project director with the Boston-based company said Monday that the closing could happen in the second half of August. | Fleming said the historic building would be converted to mixed use with retail on the first and second floors, office space on floors…
Always reforming,not always improving
“The kind of improvement that will make a difference for students requires much more than a rigorous teacher evaluation system.” The teacher evaluation bill, passed by New York lawmakers on June 21, will give “limited public access” to teacher evaluations. Evaluation scores (not the names of teachers) will be posted on the State Education website.…
Putting China back in Chinese food
In 2009, Chef San Lee made a clean break with the past, closing his successful restaurant China Garden in Henrietta and, as his son Brandon put it, “taking a break” from more than 30 years of restaurant cooking. The chef took a vacation and started to consider what he wanted to do next. The elder…
Feedback 7/11
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Woody’s Roman holiday
Although his work exhibits his fascination with foreign directors, like Ingmar Bergman, Fritz Lang, and Federico Fellini, Woody Allen now shows signs of becoming himself an international filmmaker like those he admires and imitates. His last several pictures have been set in Britain, Spain, and France, and now, in “To Rome With Love” he employs…
Gun crazy
“There’s something wrong with your love story, baby,” the drug queenpin purrs to her pretty blonde captive over an alfresco dinner of lamb chops and menace, and we’re inclined to agree. The involuntary guest, Ophelia (Blake Lively), has already brought us up to speed on her polyamorous relationship with two drug-dealing best friends in the…
Savage surf
With its blurred staccato of rapidly picked notes, its rhythmic thunder, and the roar of its reverb-drenched volume, the music of surf-guitar godfather Dick Dale is full-on primal, savage, and untamed. It’s the call of the wild, the scream from the jungle. It’s big, bad, and menacing. This master of the Stratocaster’s rhythm, volume, and…
