Cover Story
Election Day 2018
For today: Everything you need to know for the upcoming November 6th election day. And tonight: we’ll post results here after the polls close.
Rochester-area election results: Morelle, Robach among winners
Democrat Joe Morelle, who’s spent the past 30 years in elected office, will succeed the late Louise Slaughter in Congress. With all but a few polling sites reporting, Morelle had a commanding lead over Republican Jim Maxwell. He pulled in roughly 58 percent of votes, while Maxwell hovered around 42 percent. The intense, hard-fought race…
Opera review: ‘The Tibetan Book of the Dead’
Eastman Opera Theatre’s new production of composer Ricky Ian Gordon’s “The Tibetan Book of the Dead” is thought-provoking, and most of all, curious.
Dinolfo’s 2019 budget plan includes tax rate cut
Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo’s 2019 budget will knock the county tax rate down by a dime, making it $8.89 per $1,000 assessed value. That’s if the proposal passes, which it probably will, since Dinolfo’s a Republican and the legislature majority is made up of Republicans. The rate has been flat at $8.99 for roughly…
ART | Glassblowing Demo & Holiday Studio Sale
This week’s early bird preview of More Fire Glass Studio’s 20th Annual Holiday Studio Sale offers the chance to get some seasonal shopping done. And as a bonus, you can watch local master craftspeople create stunning objects from molten glass. All glassware is specially priced during the sale, and includes an assortment of handmade ornaments,…
JAZZ | Buffalo Jazz Octet
The Buffalo Jazz Octet is large enough to be hovering on the edge of big-band territory, but the group is small enough to retain the flexibility and inventive spirit of a tight ensemble. That may be because the octet is a western New York jazz supergroup, featuring pianist Michael McNeill, bassist Brian DeJesus, John Bacon…
INDIE ROCK | Carbon Records Dual Release Show
Though Smugtown Mushrooms doesn’t host live music often, it has developed a reputation for high-energy rock shows featuring relevant local bands that don’t toe the mainstream line. Exhibit A is Saturday’s lineup, which features two Carbon Records bands playing a joint album release show presented by The Psychic Garden. The trio Nod has been a…
NY attorney general race: four seek high-profile post
New York’s attorney general represents the people of the state and its government in legal actions, serving as protector, defender, investigator, and prosecutor. The AG’s office can get involved in cases related to Wall Street, the environment, health, civil rights, New Yorkers’ working conditions, and much more. New York’s attorney general has often been aggressive…
New York Senate races are part of a larger power struggle
Taxes, guns, education, abortion laws, economic development: Pick an issue, and the outcome of this year’s state Senate races will inevitably affect it. At stake in the November 6 elections is the Senate’s precarious power balance. Republicans and Democrats are basically fighting over who can win at least 32 seats, which would provide the edge…
Feedback 10/31
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. Keep the…
Comptroller race is about money
New York’s comptroller is in charge of various aspects of state finances, but one of its biggest obligations is serving as trustee for the state’s pension funds. And it’s in that role that the comptroller can put some pressure on private business, either though shareholder advocacy or by choosing where to invest. Over the last…
Urban Action 10/31
This week’s calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) It’s Obamacare sign-up time Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act – New York State Health Exchange begins on Thursday, November 1. Athough open enrollment goes through January 31, 2019, residents who want…
The New York governor’s race: big choices, little attention
New Yorkers have a diverse group of candidates to choose from when they vote for governor this year: a Democratic incumbent who’s pragmatic but often progressive, a conservative Republican, a center-left independent, a Libertarian, and a Green who’s well to the left of everyone. And their positions on state issue are so different that this…
COMEDY | Stand-up Storytellers James Judd & Jen Kober
Even though I suffer badly from secondhand humiliation (empathy fries my nerves sometimes), I can handle it just fine if the firsthand sufferer is able to joke about their experiences. Stories of public embarrassment is the theme of the comedy double-bill being hosted this weekend at Nazareth College Arts Center. The show features award-winning comedians…
FILM | ‘Pressing On, the Letterpress Film’
If the pen is mightier than the sword, then perhaps the printing press is mightier than a machine gun. In celebration of the 500-year-old process of disseminating information, a screening of “Pressing On, the Letterpress Film,” will this week be co-presented by Type High Letterpress, Rochester Advertising Federation (RAF), and AIGA Upstate New York. The…
MUSEUM | ‘Sweet Creations’
The George Eastman Museum’s popular annual holiday exhibit, “Sweet Creations,” returns this week, presenting a display of dozens of impressively designed and decorated gingerbread houses. —opens to the public. The display will be on view through December 12. This year’s showcase features a creation by celebrity baker Kate Sullivan of the Chelsea, New York-based company…
KIDS | Rochester Children’s Book Festival
I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that book fair day was one of the most wonderful days of the school year. The annual Rochester Children’s Book Festival, now in its 22nd year, is like a book fair on magic beans — it’s a day-long, festive affair, and features more than 48 regional authors and…
PLEX residents worry about Vacuum Oil plans
Neighborhood residents had urged City Council to delay rezoning the site of the former Vacuum Oil refinery, which is a brownfield. They’re worried both about the level of clean-up and the plans for future use. But Council has approved the zoning change.
High stakes in Maxwell vs Morelle
Most voters in Monroe County know who Joe Morelle is. He’s spent the past 30 years in elected office, the vast majority of them in the State Assembly. Morelle has had a seat there since 1991 and has served as its majority leader – second in command to the speaker – since 2013. But this…
JAZZ | The Stephane Wrembel Band
As his fingers fly over the guitar frets at breakneck speed, Stephane Wrembel hardly glances down. He makes it look easy, but achieving that brilliant Django Reinhardt sound is anything but. It’s no wonder that in 2011, when director Woody Allen needed the perfect music to capture the zeitgeist of the early-20th century in his…
SOUL | Orgone
Referencing Wilhelm Reich’s theory that orgone energy permeates the universe, Org<ō>ne holds up to its cosmically inspired name. Based out of Los Angeles, the soul-funk outfit is currently celebrating the 2018 release of its newest album “Undercover Mixtape.” Org<ō>ne radiates dirty grooves and a free spirited nature similar to The Meters, sprinkling in highly technical…
AMERICANA | Driftwood
Hailing from Binghamton, Driftwood plays contemporary Americana that reflects a salt-of-the-earth, rust-belt mentality. The band’s three main songwriters – guitarist Dan Forsyth, banjo player Joe Kollar, and fiddler Claire Byrne – mix elements of folk with pop, punk, blues, roots, and everything in between, and it all comes together. Bassist Joey Arcuri fills out the…
CLASSICAL | PEGASUS EARLY MUSIC’S ‘VENICE’
For Baroque music lovers, Venice is famous not only for gondoliers, but also for great composers. One 17th-century Venetian composer who has gradually come into her own is Barbara Strozzi, whose music will be showcased in “Venice,” this Sunday’s concert by Pegasus Early Music. According to Pegasus Artistic Director and lutenist Deborah Fox, the well-connected…
Pipe bombs, shootings, and Donald Trump
President Trump continues to encourage hatred. And yet his apologists insist there is no connection to what unfolded last week.
Review: ‘iQba: Jazz Meets Cuban Timba’
Carlos Averhoff Jr. ‘iQba: Jazz Meets Cuban Timba’ Inner Circle Music averhoffjr.com Saxophonist Carlos Averhoff Jr. has the perfect pedigree to introduce a new strain of Afro-Cuban music to unfamiliar listeners. If you recognize his name, it’s because Carlos Averhoff Sr. was a member of the legendary Cuban ensemble, Irakere. Averhoff Jr. came of age…
Film preview: The Rochester Polish Film Festival
Part II of the 2018 Rochester Polish Film Festival features nine screenings over six days.
Film review: ‘First Man’
Directed with immaculate detail, “First Man” is a stirring tribute to the individuals who dreamed of reaching the stars and succeeded, as well as the sheer force of will and determination it took for them to achieve the seemingly impossible.
Interview: Ricky Ian Gordon
Composer Ricky Ian Gordon’s opera “The Tibetan Book of the Dead” is being revived by Eastman Opera Theatre more than 20 years after its premiere. Gordon recently spoke over the phone about revisiting the harrowing times in which the opera was written.
