Metro ink – 3.15.06
SPRING CLEANING Paul Noto knows all about big cleaning jobs. He’s the operations manager for the city’s environmental-services department. And this week, his department begins working on one of its more unusual assignments: cleaning the Genesee River. Each spring, environmental workers begin removing debris that collects in what the department calls “the river pool” —…
Cost of war – 3.15.06
The totals: 2309 US soldiers, 206 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 33,638 to 37,754 Iraqicivilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to March 10. 2981 Iraqi police and guardsmen have been killed since January 2005, according to an estimate compiled from news reports. 16,653 US soldiers have been wounded…
Courting the country Democrat
Being a Democrat in rural America, even in a deep blue state like New York, isn’t always easy. The nation’s rural outposts have never been completely hospitable to the type of progressive, liberal agendas that thrive in urban areas — for a whole host of reasons, reasons whose roots stretch back to pre-Revolutionary days. Instead…
Reader feedback – 3.15.06
Getting out of Iraq, dealing with Hamas
10 Riverside St.
Buy Yourself a Present in Historic Maplewood The home at 10 Riverside St. in Historic Maplewood will celebrate its 100th birthday in about seven years. The house has witnessed many celebrations over the decades, beginning with its construction as a likely wedding present for Julia E. Gorsline, whose parents lived in a mansion on nearby…
Animals have human souls
There is an audible “Oooh!” of expectation as the lights dim and the curtain rises. A stunning sun ascends and the powerful voice of PhindileMkhize rings out. Pounding percussion introduces a parade of animals down the aisles. Children scream gleefully, witnessing a life-sized elephant stomp its way toward the stage. It’s all-encompassing: Technicolor sights and…
Rail to trail: Creating an urban green space
A man and his dog have been walking along a portion of the abandoned CSX railroad track that runs parallel to Conkey Avenue and Hollenbeck Street. On this blustery February day, the pair are no longer visible, but their footprints remain etched in the snow. It is nothing but a detail, a small one at…
Family valued – 3.15.06
The Family Valued film awards Now that you’ve had a week and half to calm down from Hollywood’s annual bluster-fest, we here at the Family Valued Garage and Taqueria though you’d like to know what our kids thought about the year in movies. Ellyn Rolleston’s (age 15) Best Movie Made from a Great TV Show…
In the name of the father and the son
Ted Nicolosi is a guitar wizard. And, at a quiet 13 years, he lets his guitar do most of the talking. His fingers move swiftly over his Ovation’s neck as he weaves in and out of complex scales and runs. He makes it look easy. As half of the father-son duo Shared Genes, Ted first…
Nelida y la Americana
Some spots seem cursed for businesses. When Katherine McGee looked across the street from the Yangtze at the shack on the corner of Church and State, perhaps she was too new to the area to know she was looking at one. Well, so much the better for us. McGee, or la Americana, as some customers…
Omigod, omigod, omigod
You know, I thought I was over assumptions. Still, I went to see Nine Inch Nails last Thursday and was pretty sure of what I was gonnasee. Well I scene it and a whole lot more. Word has it the crowd at Blue Cross Arena topped out at 5500. There was plenty of the black-leather,…
Just ask Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben
It looks like something you’d see on PBS, with self-important talking heads, dramatic voiceovers, and vintage photos lovingly caressed by the camera, but writer-director Kevin Willmott’sCSA: The Confederate States of America is an audacious mockumentary that induces both laughs and squirms as it explores the last 150 years in a country where the South emerged…
Walking knee-deep in decadence
Continuing to mine the past for subjects to dress up in frills, lace, and periwigs, the motion picture industry, perhaps inevitably, has now dug up the 17th century poet, playwright, and pornographer, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. (How’s that for the daily press’s beloved local connection?) Though probably not exactly a familiar name these days,…
The attack on Roe
“Why aren’t you writing about the Patriot Act?” a reader asked recently. We could fill this newspaper every week with worries and protests about the Patriot Act… and the environment… and Iraq… and now Iran…. (I learned long ago to watch for the little hints that Bush-Cheney and company toss out in their speeches. Was…
