Cover Story
Sanders’ secret sauce
How a Vermont socialist improbably won a national stage
Vargas out as RCSD superintendent
UPDATE: City’s full, detailed story can be found here: http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/rochester/vargas-is-out/Content?oid=2662571 Rochester city school district Superintendent Bolgen Vargas will be out at the end of December, district sources confirm. The district says an official announcement is coming at 3:30 p.m., and at that time it’ll also release the name of his interim replacement. The city school board…
New York’s carbon emissions dropping
New York’s energy sector has the lowest per capita carbon emissions, 8.1 metric tons, in the US.
Could Medley Centre get a new owner?
Medley Centre could be sold at a tax auction on November 10. But as the public’s learned time and again with that property, predictions are foolish. Bersin Properties owns the dead and decaying mall in Irondequoit, and it still owes the county $1.2 million in property taxes from 2013. The way the whole tax-foreclosure thing…
Events for week of Oct. 26
Ban the Cameras will hold a protest against Rochester’s red-light camera program at 4 p.m. today.
The City Seen: October 23-25
This weekend City took a vintage take on fall. We made a visit on Friday to the Book Arts Fair at RIT, and took in the Rochester Tweed Ride on Sunday. The Book Arts Fair brought together printers, publishers, artists, and more to RIT’s Press library on Friday afternoon. Monumental Press & Type Foundry were…
Cuomo orders transgender protections
Some lawmakers and LGBT advocates have been trying to get the State Legislature to pass transgender anti-discrimination laws for the past few sessions, without success. So yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo bypassed the Legislature to enact those protections. Cuomo announced last night that had issued an executive order directing the State Division of Human Rights to…
Ginna and RG&E submit revised agreement
Rochester Gas and Electric and the Ginna nuclear plant have proposed some new terms for an agreement to temporarily prop up the struggling power plant. The amendments, which were submitted to the state’s utility regulator yesterday, would shorten the length of the proposed agreement and reduce its cost to RG&E customers. Ginna has been operating…
Haunted house review: The Castle of Horrors
For the final days leading up to Halloween, we’ll review and rate a couple of the area’s most creative haunted houses.
Lessons learned from the ‘marshmallow test’
I’ve always been fascinated with the “marshmallow test.” That’s the 1960’s study out of Stanford University where children could have one marshmallow or double their reward if they delayed their gratification for 20 minutes or so. The study has spurred all kinds of psychological theories and predictions over the years, with some suggesting that the…
Legislator calls for zombie registry
Republican County Legislature Tony Micciche released legislation to create a county-wide database of vacant homes.
MAG exhibit highlights Carl Peters and the era of WPA murals
In flourishing civilizations, public art was funded by the ruling class as a marker of how well society was doing. But in America today, arts funding always seems to be first on the chopping block. So it’s rather amazing that during the Great Depression, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal sought to create jobs…
Feedback 10/21
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. Abortion trumps…
ART | Book Arts Vendor Fair
You don’t even need a Kindle anymore to access your digital library — every single device we carry has an app for that. But if you still adore the physical book-as-unique-art-object, Cary Graphic Arts Collection (The Wallace Center at RIT, 2nd floor, Lomb Memorial Drive) on Friday, October 23, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., will…
Urban Action 10/21
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. All are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Forum on childcare support The Rochester Alliance of Communities Transforming Society, a multi-faith organization, will hold a public meeting on expanding the county’s childcare assistance program. It’s at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, October…
COMEDY | Krish Mohan
Indian stand-up comedian Krish Mohan’s “How Not To Fit In” tour shares his thoughts about where he, an immigrant, fits in among American culture. Mohan has performed at many comedy festivals including the Arch City Comedy Festival, Cleveland Comedy Festival, and the IndyFringe Festival. He was also featured in the Chartiers Valley Patch about his…
Where’s Maggie Brooks going?
Maggie Brooks has been a fixture in county government for two decades, acting as Monroe County executive for the last 12 years and before that, county clerk. But in just a couple of months, term limits will force her from office. But Brooks says she isn’t going away — and no one expects her to…
KIDS/THEATER | “The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf”
There are two sides to every story. In “The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf,” the iconic children’s story baddie gets the chance to tell his side — and he may not be so bad. In front of the three little pigs, a judge, and a jury consisting of Little Red Riding Hood, Miss Mary,…
Our 2015 City Council endorsements
This year’s City Council election mostly features well-known Democratic incumbents and practically unknown third-party challengers.
SPECIAL EVENT | The Tweed Ride
The 6th Annual Rochester Tweed Ride, on Sunday, October 25, will take participants — decked out in their finest tweed outfits — along a 12-mile ride through the city. Bikers will meet at the Constantino’s Market (40 Celebration Drive) in College Town where the first 75 participants will receive a free Constantino’s sandwich. If weather…
McDermott tries for school board
Matthew McDermott is one of five candidates running for Rochester school board in the November 3 general election. He’s running on the Working Families line. School board races are not head-to-head; the top vote-getters win the seats. So McDermott will be competing against incumbents Malik Evans, Mary Adams, Willa Powell, and newcomer Liz Hallmark. All…
THEATER | Festival of New Theatre 2015
Geva Theatre Center’s Festival of New Theatre 2015 will be held at the Fielding Nextstage from Wednesday, October 21, through Sunday, November 1, featuring exciting new works by a mix of playwrights from across the country and in our own stomping grounds. During the festival, audiences can get a glimpse into the writers’ studios as…
SPECIAL EVENT | Greentopia Futures Summit
Want to get involved in the movement to shift Rochester’s infrastructure toward sustainability, but not sure how? Connect with other like-minded, motivated individuals, and learn how they’re accomplishing great things elsewhere at this week’s Greentopia Futures Summit. On Wednesday, October 21, the conference will be held at Monroe Community College (1000 East Henrietta Road), with…
Bubble tea and sushi are at the center of Bubble Fusion
The origin of bubble tea goes back to the late 1980’s, when a product development manager for a teahouse in Taiwan poured her tapioca dessert into a glass of cold Chinese tea. The drink — which is usually tea mixed or shaken with fruit and with tapioca balls added, or some similar variation — has…
The City Seen: October 16-20
This weekend (really, an extended weekend) was a mixture of new and old with an emphasis on fall traditions. We saw new trends on the runways of Fashion Week of Rochester as well as heard age-old tales of past lives during a Torch Light Tour in Mount Hope Cemetery. On Friday night, we stopped in…
ROCK | Wild Adriatic
Saratoga Springs band Wild Adriatic rocks a solid groove like the Allmans, except with a stronger will to live. Formed in 2011, Wild Adriatic hasn’t wasted any time putting itself in front of bodies and in their ears with three EPs and one LP, besides blanketing the scene abroad on the road. The music has…
FOLK/JAZZ | Jen Chapin
There is no doubt that Jen Chapin is a contemporary singer-songwriter, offering cutting-edge tunes both personal and political. But her superb band consists of two top jazz players: Stephan Crump on bass and Jamie Fox on guitar. The result is a unique mix of genres that nicely fits Chapin’s original songs. Of course, there is…
CLASSICAL | RPO Pops Play Disney
RPO Pops conductor Jeff Tyzik, who brought the music of Broadway to Rochester last month with Megan Hilty, brings us the music of Disney next week — and come to think of it, the two are not all that different any more, are they? “Disney in Concert: Tale as Old as Money” — whoops, “Tale…
SINGER-SONGWRITER | Singer-Songwriter Showcase
Nick Young, Hawker M. James, and Rachel Solomon, all solo artists currently on tour around the country, link up for a special Abilene singer-songwriter showcase. Young is an indie Americana crooner from Avon, with a knack for melodies and pop-ish hooks. He’ll have his full band joining him for this one. Hawker M. James is…
ROCK | The Front Bottoms
As the name implies, The Front Bottoms is kind of a goofy band. There’s a refreshing simplicity and genuineness to the group — catchy, rebellious indie rock with straight-forward lyrics that are whole-heartedly relatable. There’s a lightness to the whole atmosphere the band pumps out, kind of like the members are walking on air and…
CLASSICAL | Zipoli’s “Missa a San Ignacio”
Domenico Zipoli, an Italian Baroque composer and Jesuit missionary, wrote his “Missa a San Ignacio” for use in missions throughout South America in the early 18th century, and so includes grand, reverential movements meant for the organ, choral, and various instruments. As part of “Performing History” — a four-day festival of concerts, masterclasses, and paper…
Dave and Phil Alvin make up for lost time
Dave Alvin’s phone rang. “Your brother’s dead,” the voice said on the other end. “I was in California,” Dave says in the present day, remembering that phone call. “And he was in Spain. It was like 45 minutes to an hour of darkness until I got another phone call saying, ‘He’s in a coma;…
ALBUM REVIEW: “My Friend the Night”
Greg Townson “My Friend the Night” 2-Bit Records gregtownson.com This here is a rock ‘n’ roll mug with a smile on its dial. Greg Townson brings a bright blast of classic, transistor radio pop to his follow up to last year’s “By Your Side.” On “My Friend the Night,” instead of wallowing in the inky noir of…
ALBUM REVIEW: “Solo”
Fred Hersch “Solo” Palmetto Records fredhersch.com When Fred Hersch played a solo concert in Windham, New York, in August of last year, he had no idea he was creating an album. But it was a particularly good night; he was, as he says in the liner notes, “in the zone,” and when he heard the…
Jazz Festival 2016 Club Passes go on sale Friday
Club Passes for the 2016 Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival will go on sale Friday, October 23, at 10 a.m.
Theater Review: “The Duchess of Malfi” at MuCCC
WallByrd Theatre Company, a new Rochester group, stages an updated version of the little-known Jacobean tragedy.
Film Review: “Crimson Peak”
With Halloween fast approaching, it’s the time of year when everyone’s in the mood for a good scary movie. But what terrifies us on screen isn’t a one-size-fits all sort of thing, and what’s currently in vogue when it comes to horror — theaters this time of year always see a barrage of slasher thrillers,…
Film Review: “Goosebumps”
Aiming for a tone somewhere in the vicinity of "Monster Squad" and a more sanitized version of the films of Joe Dante, “Goosebumps” is a kiddie fright flick based on the massive series of Scholastic books by author R.L. Stine — a name that’s likely familiar to any child of the 90’s. Rather than a…
Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and a liberal voter’s dilemma
A question: In politics, when should you compromise, and when should you stick to your principles? We’re watching that issue play out in the Republican Party right now, in Congress and in the party’s presidential campaign. But Democrats – in particular, liberal Democratic voters – have to deal with it, too. At some point, liberals…
Halloween Guide 2015
Still searching for the perfect way to celebrate the Halloween season? Check out our full list of upcoming Halloween events.
