Cover Story
This is a campaign?
So, the 2015 county executive race should be the political brawl of the decade. Term limits prevent Maggie Brooks, the star Republican who’s held the job for almost 12 years, from running for re-election, so the seat is wide open. And two experienced, well-known politicians want to take her place: County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo, a…
Public Market to launch major campaign
The two-year campaign, which could include billboards and bus wraps, will raise awareness of the market’s popular tokens program.
Week ahead: Monday, October 19
Several candidate forums and debates are scheduled this week in anticipation of the November 3 general election. The League of Women Voters, the Children’s Agenda’s Interfaith Collaborative, Greece Baptist Church, and the Interfaith Alliance of Rochester are sponsoring a forum for County Legislature districts 4 and 26 at 7:30 p.m. today (Monday, October 19). The…
Where is the help for children who need it?
A pressing challenge for city schools is working with children who need social-emotional help while maintaining high standards.
RMSC’s “ribbiting” new exhibit
A new travelling exhibit that opened at RMSC offers visitors the chance to explore the immense biological variation within just frogs.
Elect a Democratic majority to the Lej
All 29 seats in the Monroe County Legislature are up for election this year, so no matter which party wins control of the chamber, we’re guaranteed at least a few fresh faces; many longtime legislators face term limits. The Legislature has major issues to tackle over the next few years. Of particular importance will be…
County legislator proposes gun storage law
Democratic County Legislator Ernest Flagler-Mitchell says that people have a responsibility to safely and securely store guns.
Whatever strikes his fancy
Pianist and “From the Top” host Christopher O’Riley to perform with RPO this week.
The Great City Pumpkin Photo Contest
Send us a pic of your carved pumpkin using #citynewspumpkincontest.
LECTURE | Science on the Edge
Caroline Kilmer, of the Stormwater Coalition of Monroe County will deliver a lecture, “Green Infrastructure: Solutions to Stormwater Pollution,” at the Rochester Museum and Science Center on Thursday, October 15, and educate on local water quality and efforts to improve it. The lecture is part of the “Science on the Edge” series, which provides information…
JAZZ | Tribute to Pepper Adams
The great baritone saxophone player Pepper Adams spent his formative years in Rochester, studying music and getting his start professionally in the local jazz scene of the 1940’s. Adams’ biographer Gary Carner will give a talk, show rare video clips and sign copies of his book, “Pepper Adams’ Joy Road,” at the Bop Shop. Drummer…
ART | Sun & Water
The new exhibit at Ock Hee’s Gallery in Honeoye Falls celebrates the work of husband and wife artists and former teachers, Sylvia Farrer and Philip Bornarth. The collection of watercolor paintings features landscapes from around the country, but some viewers may also pick out familiar scenes from Letchworth State Park, the Genesee River, and Lake…
JAZZ | John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble
After graduating from the Eastman School of Music, drummer John Hollenbeck moved to New York in the early 1990’s and began his ascent in the jazz world. He paid his dues with Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Hersch, Meredith Monk, and others, and established The Claudia Quintet and a large ensemble unlike any other. Aside from Hollenbeck’s…
SPECIAL EVENT | Apple Pressing
Beyond the pumpkin spice hype is the faithful and consistent promise of another sweet seasonal drink: fresh apple cider. Among other fall-related outdoors activities, Sterling Nature Center will host an apple pressing event where attendees can help wash, grind, press, and pasteurize apples to make cider, the old fashion way. There will also be information…
ROCK | Tumbleweed Wanderers
While its name implies the kind of band that is influenced by the dust bowl era, Tumbleweed Wanderers is actually a rock and soul quartet with a retro 1970’s vibe. Established in the Bay Area in 2011 by co-founders Jeremy Lyon (vocals, guitar) and Zak Mandel-Romann (who’s no longer in the band), the group began by busking…
FILM | Home Movie Day
International Home Movie Day on Saturday, October 17 — celebrated in Rochester at Visual Studios Workshop — brings out amateur and professional videographers alike to show off their films and learn how to properly care for them. Film students will also be in attendance to provide film inspections and to project submitted films. The students…
Everything galore
The mid-90’s music scene in Rochester was a blur: a whirling cascade of bands and clubs packed with fans, their iPhone-less hands in the air. Back then, a phone call — on a plain phone — cost a quarter. And it seems that the technology developed to promote bands wound up being their undoing. But…
SPECIAL EVENT | Dance to the Future Party
Well, we don’t have “Jaws 19,” cool hover boards, or self-lacing Nikes, but October 21, 2015 — the day Marty McFly lands in the future in the iconic “Back to the Future, Part II” — is coming up and flat screen TVs with the ability to watch six channels at once is a reality, and…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Under the Stars”
The Fox Sisters “Under the Stars” Self-released thefoxsisters.bandcamp.com Holy shit, this is one revved up party platter in the spirit of 1960’s savage soul. Though secular throughout this sonic spectacle that is “Under the Stars,” The Fox Sisters comes off salaciously sanctified with a relentless and solid backbeat and sensational brass. One spin and you’ll stomp a…
THEATER | “The Beaux’ Stratagem”
“The Beaux’ Stratagem,” a romantic comedy, tells the story of two friends and Londoners, Jack Archer and Tom Aimwell, who flee the city to seek rich brides and a chance to prolong their youth. All under false identities, they must try to win their true loves and protect them from the dangers of the time…
ALBUM REVIEW: “G’won Git”
Bob Bunce “G’won Git” Self-released bobbunce.com Like any other Gary Holt produced joint, Bob Bunce’s latest CD, “G’won Git,” doesn’t fly too far from Mother Earth. It’s not like his wings would melt or anything; it’s just that roots-rock like this sounds best when it’s, well, rooted. Bunce and his family of rootsy cohorts keep this countrified…
ButaPub doesn’t need to be modest
With an extensive spirits list and well-crafted Asian-influenced food, ButaPub is really more than just a pub.
Drone awareness walk
Members of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars are walking from Syracuse to Niagara Falls to make Western New Yorkers aware that the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station is now a drone control center similar to the one that’s been operating for several years at Hancock Air National Guard Base…
Filling the gap before the middle-skills gap
People in the Rochester region need jobs. Employers in the Rochester region need middle-skills workers. Yet thousands of machinist, lab technician, and dental assistant positions — to name a few — go unfilled because employers say they can’t find people with the right education and training. Monroe Community College’s accelerated certificate programs are an attempt…
History, activism, and resilience in the 19th Ward
Gem of a neighborhood.
CLASSICAL | Arvel Bird with the RCO
The Rochester Chamber Orchestra gets its season off to an unusual start with a popular guest artist making his third return visit. The “Celtic Indian” Arvel Bird is a classically trained violinist whose music-making is the definition of diversity. Reflecting his Celtic and American Indian ancestry, Bird — who performs his own compositions on violin,…
JAZZ | RDM (Rosen, Daniel, Marcus)
Drummer Jay Rosen has been a member of a Paul Smoker’s Standards Quartet and Trio X with Joe McPhee and Dominic Duval. He’s also played on recordings by Sonny Simmons and Gebhard Ullmann. Trumpeter Ted Daniel has appeared on recordings by Archie Shepp, Sonny Sharrock, Billy Bang, and Dewey Redman. And multi-reed player Michael Marcus…
Implied forces
Robert Ernst Marx’s sculptures, prints, and paintings are populated with weatherworn humans. They are portraits of nonspecific people and of the intangible things we all carry; they are some of the loveliest depictions of the fragility and resilience of humanity. A new exhibition of Marx’s work opened recently at Rochester Picture Frame, held in celebration…
CLASSICAL | “A Beethoven Sampler”
For the Amenda Quartet, 2015-16 is the season of “Project Ludwig,” as this foursome of longtime RPO string players plays through all 16 of Beethoven’s string quartets. Not an unusual project for a string quartet, but this project has a twist: the group is giving each of its 10 concerts in a different Rochester-area venue,…
Nibbling around the edges of gun violence
Gun violence is a devastating, complicated problem. Federal lawmakers have so far been unwilling to pass comprehensive gun-control legislation, so in that absence, local, state, and federal officials continue with piecemeal efforts to fight gun violence. For example, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sponsors a bill that would make gun trafficking a federal crime. Guns are…
CLASSICAL | Jerusalem Quartet
The 2015-16 Eastman-Ranlet Concert Series opens on Sunday, October 18, with a performance by the Jerusalem Quartet. Individually, cellist Kyril Zlotnikov, violist Ori Kam, and violinists Alexander Pavlovksy and Sergei Bresler have had full and accomplished careers as orchestral soloists, chamber musicians, and teachers. Together, they form an award-winning quartet lauded for their interpretation of…
Feedback 10/14
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. Highland needs…
CLASSICAL | Seaman conducts Brahms 4
As Conductor Laureate, Christopher Seaman has typically made his return visits to Rochester in the spring. This concert season, audiences will find a much earlier arrival when the cherished long-time RPO music director leads the orchestra on Thursday, October 15, and Saturday, October 17. While Brahms’s imposing, magisterial masterpiece “Symphony No. 4” gets top billing,…
Urban Action 10/14
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. All are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Local election debates scheduled Several debates have been organized prior to the elections on November 3. The League of Women Voters and WROC will host a debate on Wednesday, October 21, at Channel…
AMERICANA | The Appleseed Collective
There are plenty of Americana bands around, don’t I know it. Ann Arbor’s The Appleseed Collective obviously couldn’t make up its collective mind and brings dominant styles to the fore: Gypsy jazz, bluegrass, and Tin Pan Alley are all styles the band expertly flies through; styles that don’t necessarily blend well in their dominance. That…
FASHION | Rochester Fashion Week
Rochester puts its most fashionable foot forward in the kick off of the 2015 Rochester Fashion Week, a week of runway shows and fashion events, at the Tents on Main. The week began Tuesday, October 13, with a fashion exchange where participants were encouraged to bring used or new clothing with an opportunity to trade…
HORROR ROCK | Misfits
The Misfits was a serious influence on punk rock when the band emerged from the swamps of Lodi some 30 years ago. Its raw sound and crude, violent B-movie aesthetic helped seal the bands fate. Bands like Metallica, Guns ‘N’ Roses, My Chemical Romance, have all covered Misfits material. But alas, the Misfits can’t take…
Film Review: “Coming Home”
Renowned Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou reunites with his longtime muse, actress Gong Li, in the intimate period melodrama “Coming Home.” Set during the Cultural Revolution, the film follows college professor Lu Yanshi (Chen Daoming), a political prisoner for unspecified offenses against the state. As the film opens, he’s escaped from the labor camp where he…
Film Review: “Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films”
Connoisseurs of trash cinema will no doubt recognize the name Cannon Films, the movie production house purchased by Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. Cannon gained notoriety for churning out an endless supply of schlocky B-movies (peaking at 43 films in a single year) throughout the 1980’s, before flaming out in spectacular fashion. Taking…
Abortion rights limits are indeed attacks on women
Women considering an abortion don’t need lectures. They need the advice of medical professionals. And they need proper, legal, medical care.
Film Review: “Pan”
An awfully bad adventure
Film Review: “The Black Panthers”
In his absorbing documentary, “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” director Stanley Nelson traces the Black Panther Party’s short but complicated history. Founded in Oakland during the mid-60’s by activists Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, the group was a direct response to the violence enacted against African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. To…
Theater Review: Pittsford Musicals’ “Cabaret”
Cabaret before the storm
