Cover Story
Found in translation
Storytelling is and always will be a powerful expression of humanity’s ability to reflect upon itself and to connect the disparate parts of its whole. And though slippery tongues divide us more firmly than they ought, language persists as a barrier to our education about one another, and ourselves. Imagine a world in which important…
Burst of school improvement planning
It seems like K-12 education is all about plans. There are lesson plans, plans for School Improvement Grants, plans for School Innovation Grants. There are plans for plans. All this week, the Rochester school district is holding public hearings focused on improving its lowest-performing schools. The meetings are required under the new receivership law, and…
White House releases final Clean Power Plan
The Obama administration has finalized its plan to cut emissions from the nation’s power plants. Yesterday, President Barack Obama and Gina McCarthy, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, released the final rules for the federal Clean Power Plan. Under the plan, carbon emissions from power plants would drop 870 million tons by 2030, according to…
WEEK AHEAD: Events for the Week of Monday, August 3
The Rochester City School District will hold public hearings concerning 13 schools identified by the State Education Department as struggling or persistently struggling. The schools are among more than 140 statewide that require urgent attention because they are not meeting performance standards. They fall under a new state law that places them in receivership, first…
Columbia Care gets marijuana license for Eastman Business Park
Columbia Care has been awarded a state license to establish a medical marijuana growing and dispensing operation at Eastman Business Park. The company plans to lease 204,000 square feet in a Kodak film-manufacturing facility built in 1921. It announced the seven-year lease agreement with Kodak and Eastman Business Park in June. Under the state’s medical marijuana law,…
Romeo chosen to lead county Dems
Jamie Romeo said last night that her first move as the new chair of the Monroe County Democratic Committee will be to reach out to party “stakeholders,” from the volunteers who go door-to-door on behalf of candidates to the donors who provide the cash the organization needs to run. Many Democrats may not know her…
Does a new state education law undermine school boards?
The Rochester school board is grappling with a new state education law involving receivership for failing and persistently failing schools. According to the Regents’ EngageNY website, the intent of receivership is to address the barriers that have prevented some school leaders from turning around failing schools. The barriers include: governance, school leadership, teachers, union contracts, and…
ROCK | Grace Potter
Grace Potter is energetic and electric with powerful pipes and presence. Her words pump clean while blonde locks fly wild around her. She’s equally captivating whether soft and intimate on acoustic or rocking electric with her band, the Nocturnals. This rock troupe hails from cozy Burlington, Vermont, where they began in 2003. Signed to Hollywood…
Sea change in student discipline
Christiana Otuwa spent much of the last school year scrutinizing every potential suspension in the Rochester City School District. Otuwa, who is deputy superintendent of city schools, makes the final decision on whether a student should be suspended. She asks: Does the punishment fit the wrongdoing? Has the student received support services? Is it the…
Urban Action 7/29
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Discussing the local economy The Rochester Business Alliance will present an economic outlook for the Rochester-Finger Lakes area by William Dudley, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, from…
Feedback 7/29
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. Expand UR’s…
ROCK | Glass Animals
This English four-piece from Oxford are cool and groovy with occasional “weird interludes,” to use the band’s own phrase. Glass Animals’ song “Gooey” is likely one you’ve heard, which talks about “peanut butter vibes” and other liquidy mellow things. Drums keep the pulse while a lot of etheric and ambient sounds are layered on top.…
ART | Summer Harvest
Five artists from a range of disciplines will come together at the Ock Hee Gallery to put on the exhibit “Summer Harvest.” The exhibit displays mono prints by Alan Singer, sumi-e and drawing by Dennis Burns, ceramics by Kurt Feuerherm, paintings by Arthur Singer, and photography by Patricia Wilder. Each method offers artistic takes on…
Nouveau Italian 101
The name Del Monte has long been synonymous with hospitality in Rochester, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they have opened a restaurant in College Town in the new Hilton Garden Inn. Grappa (30 Celebration Drive) opened on June 30 and features “upscale, casual, modern, Italian cuisine,” according to Erica Standish, the restaurant’s director…
ART | Images and Objects of Interest: Telling A Story
The exhibit “Images and Objects of Interest” presents a broad range of film, digital images, and found objects from local artist Tim Cosgriff, celebrating the art of narration through photography. Cosgriff has a long-standing impact on the local photo scene; his works have been displayed at the Eastman House, the Central Library, the Memorial Art…
ROCK | Desaparecidos
After dissolving the Bright Eyes moniker and producing a couple commercially and critically unexciting solo records, it’s nice to see poetic songwriter Connor Oberst playing in a rock band, maybe even having fun. Desaparecidos, with its political topics and punk-informed momentum, are the right vehicle for Oberst at this point in his career. Originally forming…
FESTIVAL | Park Ave Summer Art Festival
The Park Ave Summer Art Festival is held one weekend at the beginning of every August, filling Park Avenue from Culver Road to Alexander Street with artists and craftspeople selling their wares. More than 350 artists, craftspeople, and exhibitors from the US and Canada will line the 1.25-mile stretch, and 40-plus food vendors will add…
Fun-kaay
Keyboard extraordinaire Tony Gallicchio was minding his own business, playing the funk with his band Funknut, when an opportunity arose. The Rochester-based reggae super group Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad was looking for a replacement keyboard player. Gallicchio took a shot and landed the gig. The thick, funkified sound that he brought got tempered with the…
FESTIVAL | Afrikan American Festival
A.B.O.V.E.’s 8th Annual Afrikan American Festival will be a day full of music, dance, spoken word, poetry, vendors, and a health tent. Serena Young, Brownskin, Ignite, Tamra Cherubin, Paradigm Shift, and Judah Sealy will provide the festival’s live music. For children, there will be inflatables, carnival games, soccer, and coloring and jump-rope contests. The Afrikan…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Home”
The Grand Ole Radio “Home” Self-released Here’s the smile from a stranger set to music — music from a simpler time. The Grand Ole Radio has taken storied country music that — though it’s in a heartbroken vein — still manages to uplift and re-affirm. It’s a mellow, acoustic affair that sparkles with love and…
THEATER | “There’s Always Time for a Cocktail”
Coming straight off a New York City run, Mrs. Kasha Davis brings “There’s Always Time for a Cocktail” back home to the Jewish Community Center (1200 Edgewood Avenue). This play follows the life of performer and writer Ed Popil’s own transformation from a young boy in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to the title of “Celebrity Housewife Mrs.…
JAZZ | Victor Wooten
Bassist extraordinaire Victor Wooten rose to fame with Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, but he packs more than enough power on his own. Watching Wooten on stage, it’s clear that his bass is an extension of his being. You’d have to go back to the great Jaco Pastorius to find a bassist capable of coaxing…
ALBUM REVIEW: “I Didn’t Know About You”
Gabe Condon “I Didn’t Know About You” Self-released gabecondon.com Rochester jazz guitarist and phenomenational-supercala-wondercat (yes I made that up, but not until the record compelled me) Gabe Condon wastes no time with the fleet-fingered flurry and scat on the opening cut on his new CD, “I Didn’t Know About You.” Condon’s tone is clean as he dominates…
COUNTRY | Lydia Loveless
I first caught Lydia Loveless upon Wayne “The Train” Hancock’s urging. Consequently, I listened to her with honky-tonk ears, or at least with some degree of rural expectation. When I saw her live, she played alone, accompanied by her lone guitar and a bold assertiveness amidst a noisy crowd. I admired her for her lack…
POP | Sirsy
Don’t confuse pop with bubblegum. Sirsy is a hook-heavy duo that rocks the pop with maximum hip-shake appeal and without the typical cheese. Melanie Krahmer beats the drums and sings while Rich Libutti lets fly with Big Star hooks as sleek as Krahmer’s getaway sticks. Inventive, irresistible, and fun. I just love rock duos. Don’t…
ROCK/COUNTRY | New Riders of the Purple Sage
Back in the day, New Riders of the Purple Sage played a sort of Robin to The Grateful Dead’s Batman as both bands occupied the same psychedelic haze. With The Dead calling it a day, New Riders of the Purple Sage — consisting of original member David Nelson, longtime member Buddy Cage, and a few…
The mortgage drought
Despite the economic recovery, African Americans and Latinos continue to lack equal access to homeownership in Rochester and Monroe County, says a new report from the Empire Justice Center, “The River Runs Dry II: The Persistent Mortgage Drought in Rochester’s Communities of Color.” An analysis of local lending practices from 2010 through 2013 showed that…
Plaza scrutiny begins
Neighbors of the Palazzo Plaza site have concerns about the proposed Brighton development. Traffic is heavy on that part of Monroe Avenue, and the plaza will only generate more of it, they say. The development also has the potential to make the area inhospitable to pedestrians and cyclists, they say.
Film Review: “Southpaw”
Whenever a famous actor undergoes a major physical transformation in preparation for a role, there’s a tendency for the details of their process to overshadow any actual acting involved, as though the ability to employ a personal trainer and dietician is the true indicator of what distinguishes a great performance from the rest. These types…
Theater Review: “Avenue Q” at the Kodak Center
At first glance, the set of “Avenue Q” looks a lot like a rundown version of “Sesame Street.” There’s a brownstone façade and a stoop. There’s laundry strung between a few second story windows. But there’s also quite a bit of graffiti on these city walls — and most of it is swear words and…
Film Review: “Paper Towns”
For most of us, there is The One. (And I don’t mean that in a “Matrix”-y way, nerds.) You fall completely under his or her alluring spell, and even if there’s no fairy tale ending for the two of you, your time in their orbit inspired you to be daring and be vulnerable and be…
Diplomacy’s promise: the Iran nuclear deal
The accord with Iran could tamp down the nuclear arms race – and it could do a lot a lot more than that.
