Cover Story
Bad marks
Yet another report says the Rochester school district is broken
Kress faces pressure from MCC faculty
[UPDATED AND REVISED 11.27.18] Long-simmering tension between Monroe Community College President Anne Kress and the Faculty Senate and Faculty Association has erupted in a strong no-confidence vote by the Faculty Association, the MCC faculty’s union. Of the 502 full-time and part-time teachers who voted last week, 88 percent supported the no-confidence resolution. The vote by…
Theater review: ‘Les Misérables’
Fresh off a two-and-a-half year Broadway revival, RBTL’s current season special, the national tour of “Les Misérables,” features an inimitable cast. Every lead performer is precise, nailing the well-known characters they are portraying.
The search begins for a new superintendent
With Superintendent Barbara Deane-Williams leaving in just over two months, the Rochester school board has begun the search for two people to replace her: a new superintendent and an interim superintendent who’ll run things while the board looks for someone more permanent. Deane-Williams’ contract doesn’t expire until July, but her relationship with the board has…
KIDS | ‘A Very Electric Christmas’
Lightwire Theater returns to Rochester for a third time, this year presenting its “A Very Electric Christmas,” a holiday story told through unique artistry. In a darkened theater, electroluminescent characters come to life to tell the story of Max, a young bird who’s blown off course while flying south with his family. He ends up…
ART | Two shows at Naz
Nazareth College’s Arts Center Gallery is currently exhibiting “Architectural Vessel,” a show of ceramic work by Bryan Hopkins, Richard Hirsch, and Peter Beasecker that stretches the definition and functionality of the vessel. And a student pop-up show opens next week in Naz’s Colacino Gallery. “Art & Social Justice Class Show” will feature a range of…
RECREATION | Ice Skating
It might be tempting to take your workout indoors when the weather turns, but if you want to get some brisk air in your lungs and feel the burn in your muscles, ice skating will hit both marks. The downtown, open-air Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park Ice Rink has officially opened for the…
FILM | ‘L’Chaim: Celebrating Jewish Life’
Created in commemoration of the lives lost in the Tree of Life (L’Simcha) Congregation shooting in Pittsburgh and in solidarity with Jewish people, the Dryden Theatre throughout the winter is presenting a film series, “L’Chaim: Celebrating Jewish Life.” Co-organized by Eastman Museum, the JCC of Greater Rochester, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, the…
HOLIDAY | Holiday Festival of Crafts
This weekend is the last opportunity to catch a show and sale of work by the Rochester Folk Art Guild in the city. The Middlesex-based craft guild has held major exhibits in Rochester for the past 57 years, but going forward plans to hosting events at its East Hill Farm center. This year’s Holiday Festival…
Feedback 11/21
Send comments 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. Reading basics On the problems in…
Activists press state Democrats on mass incarceration
Groups across New York are calling on the Assembly, Senate, and Governor Andrew Cuomo to pass and sign bills that would legalize marijuana, eliminate cash bail, restore voting rights to incarcerated people and parolees, and reform parole and solitary confinement policies.
RPD officer arraigned on assault charge
Rochester police officer Michael Sippel has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge that is based on allegations that he used excessive force in a May incident. Sippel is currently on suspension. Rochester resident Christopher Pate has said that Officers Sippel and Spenser McAvoy stopped and questioned him about a crime they were investigating.…
ORGANIC ELECTRONICA | RootsCollider
Founded in 2007, Rochester’s RootsCollider grew to take the textbook musical mantra and throb of drum & bass and retro-fit it with more conventional instruments to traverse across time and space. What emerged wasn’t a band that rejected the genre’s electronica, but rather an organic re-interpretation of the band’s infinite crush, groove, and style. After…
REGGAE | The Majestics
I only found out a few days ago that Rochester roots reggae-rockers The Majestics played with The Clash during its eight-night stint in New York City. But you don’t need to rely on dropped names to point out that The Majestics, with nary a Jamaican in its ranks, has always played it authentic, fun, and…
METAL | Atreyu
Atreyu is a five-piece metalcore band that has been blowing people’s minds around the world for two decades. Having survived a number of personnel changes and a three-year hiatus, Atreyu is now reunited to tour behind the release of its fifteenth album, “In Our Wake.” Famous for its high-energy shows and sonic blending of classic…
HARD ROCK | American Acid
As a musician, you get to a certain age and you just don’t care anymore. I’m not talking about throwing in the towel or admitting defeat, but prioritizing one’s time in a band and all that minutiae that goes with it. American Acid is comprised of three veteran hard rockers who don’t give a shit.…
REGGAE | Bumpin’ Uglies
Its name will grab your attention; its music will make you want to stay the night. Based out of Maryland, Bumpin’ Uglies is a high-energy rock band that mixes reggae-rap with ska and punk. If Sublime and 311 were to have a metaphorical offspring, it would be Bumpin’ Uglies. Guitarist Brandon Hardesty has a tenor…
JAZZ | No Fast Food
In the early 1970’s, saxophonist Dave Liebman was recruited to play in the band of John Coltrane’s former drummer, Elvin Jones. But that gig was short-lived because Liebman was soon drafted by Miles Davis. Liebman has gone on to win first place in Downbeat and Jazz Times Critics Polls, and in 2011, he received the…
Recipe: Vegan green bean casserole
Try out our vegan and gluten-free take on this favorite holiday side dish, and make several people happy at once.
Amazon’s HQ2: New York pays to buy love
A lesson from the Amazon deal, says a Brookings fellow: “we’re overdue for a national solution to the problem of corporate giveaways.”
Brockport Writers Forum season wraps with memoir
Anne Panning’s memoir on the death of her mother, “Dragonfly Notes: On Distance and Loss,” is written in brief fragments in which dragonflies operate as a vehicle that takes the reader through different places and moments in time.
Film preview: ‘Green Book’
Aiming to be crowd-pleaser, the film’s familiar odd-couple, “we can solve racism if we just learn to understand each other” narrative traffics in safe, comforting answers to the serious issues it seeks to tackle.
Album review: ‘Ennui’
Animal Sounds ‘Ennui’ Self-released animalsoundsband.bandcamp.com You could label Animal Sounds’ style as “indie rock,” but it’s a bit of a misnomer that sells the maturity of the music short. “Ennui” is a fun, but understated record, with the local five-piece band (featuring guitarist Shawn Brogan of Jon Lewis Band) riding the brake and not getting…
Album review: ‘American Record’
The Mighty High and Dry ‘American Record’ Interrupt Records themightyhighanddry.com With Rochester quartet The Mighty High and Dry, leader Alan Murphy has solidified his sound and distinctive point of view within the band’s musical framework. The songs on the band’s new six-cut recording “American Record” are unapologetic, with a profound ache at their core that…
Tom Kohn and Bop Shop Records celebrate 30 years of concerts
Tom Kohn is the proprietor of Bop Shop Records, but over the last 30 years he’s also put on hundreds of concerts and, in the process, gotten close to the artists he loves.
Film review: ‘Boy Erased’
Based on a 2016 memoir by writer Garrard Conley, “Boy Erased” details the author’s experiences being sent to gay conversion therapy after being forcibly outed to his conservative family.
