Cover Story
The march of the charters
PULLQUOTE: “We believe that learning should be fun, but that doesn’t mean it’s a laugh riot.” PULLQUOTE: “I absolutely believe in celebrations for achievement. And I tell [parents], ‘When I celebrate your child’s success, you need to be here and do it with me.'” BOX: This is the first in an occasional series on charter…
VIDEO GAMES: EPIC MICKEY 2 COMIC-CON TRAILER
Can’t attend Comic-Con yourself? Today, along with the Comic-Con panel announcement for the upcoming “Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two,” Disney revealed the opening movie for the game, “A Story Begins,” which you can check out right here for the first time. “Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two” will be released…
NEWS BLOG: Health care ruling causes GOP messege scramble
One of the most interesting outcomes of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act is how unusually off message the GOP has been. Their talking points have been like marbles rolling in all directions. While talking about Governor Mitt Romney’s promise to repeal the ACA, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal referred to the law…
NEWS BLOG: Industrial development agencies, by the numbers
Last year, the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency (COMIDA) approved more projects than any other IDA in New York, says a report from the state Authorities Budget Office. But those projects have not resulted in the most private investment. COMIDA approved 40 projects, totaling $81.7 million in private investments and approximately $1.5 million in various…
NEWS BLOG: Vargas’s contract asks for less
Few things in business are as deadly as overplaying it. Overplaying a sales pitch is for the clumsy amateur, the unconfident, and the unprepared. Underplaying it, however, is entirely different. Underplaying takes skill. And there’s some risk involved. You’re essentially asking for less, and promising little. But you have to deliver more than what’s expected.…
NEWS BLOG: Joe Robach may go unchallenged (and other election updates)
In May, local Democrats and Republicans held their annual nominating conventions, where they endorsed candidates for office. Since then, a few more races have solidified, while the county clerk’s race hasn’t. It’s likely that Democrats won’t put up a challenger against Republican State Senator Joe Robach, whom the Republicans nominated for reelection to his 56th…
JAZZ FEST 2012, DAY 9: Gov’t Mule, Locarno, Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars
So, we’ve reached the end: the last day of this year’s Jazz Festival. It’s been a long ride, but there was still a lot going on Saturday night worth talking about. First up was theSierra Leone Refugee All-Stars. Now, for better or for worse I try to leave politics aside when looking at a musical…
JAZZ FEST 2012, Day 9: Raul Midon, Joanne Brackeen, Arun Ghosh
While tapping guitar chords with his left hand and keeping up a steady beat on the bongos with his right, Raul Midon turned to the Kilbourn Hall audience Saturday and said, “I want you to notice there are no looping machines up here.” He didn’t need any. He picked, strummed, and slapped percussively on his…
JAZZ FEST 2012, Day 9: The Sadies, Chic Gamine, Trombone Shorty
I’m always ready to go toe to toe with hammerheads who bitch and moan about the Jazz Fest’s non-jazz content. But the fact that Jazz Fest kingpin John Nugent colors outside the lines and books a band like, let’s say,The Sadies — that is a jazz move. And in the last nine days I’ve been…
CONCERT REVIEW: Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, Kip Moore at CMAC
It was well past 11 p.m. when Tim McGraw walked off stage at CMAC Friday night, ending four hours packed with country hits from McGraw, Dierks Bentley, and Kip Moore. In that time, the temperature had risen past 100 degrees and oxygen felt limited. Fans thronged every inch of the stage to the ramps, and…
JAZZ FEST 2012, Day 8: Roy Haynes, Jean-Michel Pilc, Orlando LeFleming, Ryan Truesdell
I guess there’s something positive about being in your 80s and having someone call you immature. I’m sorry, but that was my impression of legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes at Kilbourn Hall Friday night. He joked around, tap danced twice, and seemed to be seriously trying to pick up a woman in the audience. Even…
JAZZ FEST 2012, Day 8: Norah Jones, Jimmie Vaughan, Bridge Trio
Started off entirely on the jazz tip tonight as I took in The Bridge Trio at Max of Eastman Place. The group was impressively tight and impeccably dressed as it ventured in and out of the riffs and shapes each musician created. It was righteously crisp and quite cool. Headed over to the East and…
JAZZ FEST 2012, DAY 8: Rochester Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, Robi Botos Trio, Po’ Boys Brass Band
Well, every night can’t be a face-melting, accordion-fueled dance party. After the zydeco chaos that was Thursday at the Jazz Fest, Friday night I operated on the more traditional and laid-back end of the jazz musical spectrum. First up was the Rochester Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra under the Big Tent. Another big band from Rochester (in…
NEWS BLOG: Fast and furious theatrics
The day before Congress voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, an article published by Katherine Eban in Fortune Magazine essentially gutted the rationale for the move. Fortune is hardly a left-leaning pub, so it’s certainly worth the read in light of what is happening. Republicans went after Holder because he refused to…
NEWS BLOG: Does Supreme Court health-care ruling jeopardize civil-rights laws?
Several commentators have been highlighting an important but largely overlooked aspect of yesterday’s Supreme Court health-care ruling: the decision related to the expansion of Medicaid. Under the Affordable Care Act, states are encouraged to expand Medicaid coverage; to make it attractive for all states to do that, the federal government will pay the full cost…
JAZZ FEST 2012, Day 7: Colin Stetson, Ruthie Foster, Pokey LaFarge
It can be somewhat difficult to consider your parents as human beings, as individuals with hopes and dreams and desires of their own. Well, as uncomfortable as it may sound, I watched my mother fall in love with bass saxophonist Colin Stetson Thursday night. Stetson is one of those acts at this year’s Jazz Fest…
JAZZ FEST 2012, Day 7: Daryl Hall & Keb’ Mo’, Bjorn Thoroddsen
The stage was set up in an unusual way for Daryl Hall and Keb’ Mo’s appearance Thursday night at Kodak Hall. Surrounding the back and side walls of the stage was a faux-wood recreation of the music room where Hall hosts “Live From Daryl’s House.” The webcast features a wide variety of musicians who come…
JAZZ FEST 2012, DAY 7: Dwayne Dopsie, Terje Rypdal, Barrel House Blues Band
You have certain expectations when a band has the word “hellraisers” in its title. So, Rochester, let me tell you a little story about Dwayne Dopsie & The ZydecoHellraisers. The band came out on the Big Tent stage Thursday night jamming, but with accordionist and front man Dopsie nowhere to be seen. His saxophonist jumped…
NEWS BLOG: Democrats need to stand up – proudly – for health-care bill
There’ll be a lot learned over the next few days, and a lot written, about this morning’s Supreme Court ruling, but one thing’s clear: Republicans want to make this a key issue in the presidential and Congressional campaigns Conservative groups are furious. (“The US Constitution died today,” says a press release from Americans for Limited…
NEWS BLOG: Report says gas industry got first look at proposed fracking regs
The state Department of Environmental Conservation shared parts of proposed fracking regulations with an industry attorney they were released to the public, says an article published this morning in the Albany Times Union. The Times Union article is based on e-mail exchanges between state officials and a law firm working for the gas industry. A…
EDUCATION: Vargas gets $195,000 contract
The Rochester school board, by a vote of 6 to 1, has agreed to enter a four-year contract with Bolgen Vargas to lead the school district. The vote was held at this evening’s school board meeting. Vargas will be paid $195,000 annually, about a $20,000 bump from his current salary. The contract begins on July…
Supreme Court upholds Obamacare
Reports from the New York Times, SCOTUSblog, and MSNBC say that the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote has upheld the Affordable Care Act. The law, which has become known as Obamacare, is President Obama’s signature piece of first-term legislation. The court’s decision appears to interpret the law’s requirement to purchase health insurance as a…
JAZZ FEST 2012, Day 6: Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, Ffear, Yvette Landry
Perhaps it was his comedic timing and wit, or maybe it was his genuine charm. Or maybe it was his crisp blue suit. But wait…could it have been the bluegrass? Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers put on a simply amazing show full of humor and instrumental dexterity. And both the laughs and musical…
JAZZ FEST 2012, Day 6: Eliane Elias, Kneebody, Osian Roberts, Steve Fishwick
Eliane Elias wowed the crowd at Kilbourn Hall Wednesday night in a show filled with sambas and bossa novas from her native Brazil. For decades Elias has been known as a formidable pianist; in recent years her singing has become an equally important part of her music. She sang songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim and…
JAZZ FEST 2012, Day 6: Bill Evans Soulgrass, Shirantha Beddage Quartet, Russell Scarborough Soul Jazz Big Band
If there’s a shortcut to my musical heart, it lies with the Celtic-leaning instruments: the fiddle, the banjo, the accordion. They aren’t often seen in jazz music, but one act Wednesday night took that shortcut and ran down the path. Bill Evans Soulgrass exists in a magical place where the roads to many different styles…
NEWS BLOG: FMP project to break ground on Thursday
The first time I heard about the city school district’s facilities modernization project was during a meeting with former Superintendent Manny Rivera. He was so enthusiastic and spoke with such urgency that it seemed like it would be only months before the mammoth $325 million project to renovate and modernize Rochester’s schools would break ground.…
CONCERT REVIEW: Sarah McLachlan and the RPO at CMAC
Tuesday night, Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan, performing with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, brought down the house at the Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua (CMAC). For a good two hours McLachlan sang from more than 20 years of songs, ranging from classics we know by heart (“Adia,” “Building a Mystery”) to selections from her…
NEWS BLOG: Collins, Long win primary races
David Bellavia won MonroeCounty in the 27th Congressional District Republican primary, but he lost district-wide. FormerErieCounty Executive Chris Collins will be the Republican Party’s candidate against incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul. Erie and NiagaraCounties, which is where many of the district’s voters are concentrated, went heavily for Collins. Bellavia’s support tended to come from the rural…
A taste of Chinatown
Those who dined at South City Garden won’t notice any significant changes in the interior of White Swans. The dining room still has a vaguely Miami nightclub-café sort of feel to it, with a smattering of Chinese figurines — dragons, a laughing Buddha, a frog with coins in its mouth — and bamboo plants scattered…
Feedback 6/27
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 Bug…
The rail splitter and his axe
Two of the most frequently filmed characters in the history of cinema, Abraham Lincoln and Count Dracula, probably deserve some common treatment, which might explain both the original novel and the blockbuster adaptation of “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.” The Rail Splitter, after all, knew something about wooden stakes, those sovereign remedies for vampirism, and his…
The kids are alright
The filmography of Wes Anderson is not like a box of chocolates, because at this stage of the game you pretty much know what you’re gonna get: a tale of how parents don’t understand their children told through meticulously whimsical production design and a soundtrack teeming with often obscure 60’s pop. Anderson’s second film, 1998’s…
Harp condition
If heaven has an orchestra of harp-strumming angels, someone should probably take a head count. Twenty-year-old Mikaela Davis began playing the harp in third grade. Since then she has studied with Grace Wong, the principal harpist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and she now attends the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. She has…
Dispatches from the Jazz Blog
I’ve often wondered if Diana Krall was as cool as she comes off, or just bored. I’m here to say she’s cool, daddy-o. As Krall strolled out of the backstage darkness at Kodak Hall and over to the piano on Friday night, every Raymond Chandler description of a woman poured out of me like sweat.…
Bug Jar breakdown
The Bug Jar may have to change the way it operates as a result of a shooting death outside the club last week. City Hall asked the owners of the iconic bar to temporarily close after Deavoughn Hernandez-Ruffin of Rochester was shot and killed following a fight inside the club. Some people have focused on…
Tax shopping
PULLQUOTE: Do property tax breaks for retail make sense? The answer isn’t simple, though critics and some researchers generally say they don’t. Tax breaks for retail often amount to government subsidizing one store or restaurant at the expense of another, they say. The County Industrial Development Agency has some thinking to do. After the Greece…
Lead picture improves
Last year, Monroe County had fewer reports of children younger than age 6 with elevated levels of lead in their blood. | Specifically, the number of children with blood-lead levels of 10 micrograms per deciliter dropped from 290 in 2010 to 222 in 2011, according to statistics released recently by the Coalition to Prevent Lead…
The loneliest number
Edward Albee might not be the most accessible playwright, but he’s found a kindred spirit in local director Michael Arve. In the past few years Arve has staged three of Albee’s most well-known works — “The Zoo Story,” “A Delicate Balance,” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” — and he and producing partner John Borek…
What I saw in Detroit
“Detroit is simply a particularly stark example of what happens when a nation decides that cities are no longer important.” It’s risky to visit a city for a few days, see only part of it, and then draw conclusions. But you can’t visit Detroit – as we did earlier this month for our alternative news…
News from Week Past 6/27
Demolition began on the old Cataract Street brew house. The building was the subject of a fierce preservation battle earlier this year, but in the end, the city agreed to let North American Breweries tear down the historic building to construct a museum, microbrewery, restaurant, and other amenities on Cataract Street in the city’s St.…
