Cover Story
The vinyl word
Once upon a time, from around 1975 to 1995, the Rochester music scene was stuck in analog limbo, with a dubious digital solution waiting in the wings. It was a growing scene that fed off itself: Local musicians put out records, which would inspire their peers to issue their own records to supplement their income…
City Council grills RCSD officials
At a meeting with Rochester City School District leaders Thursday night, City Councilmembers raised concerns about transparency and a lack of confidence and peppered district officials with questions about the district’s finances. Internal and external investigations are continuing into how the district went from a balanced budget that it presented to City Council in June…
Child Victims Act lawsuit targets Brighton town, school district
The Town of Brighton and the Brighton school district have been hit with lawsuits by two women who allege that their coach sexually abused them when they participated in the town’s gymnastics program in the 1970s. The two lawsuits filed by Barbara Shields of Rochester and Annette Miano James of Florida under the New York…
Former City Councilmember Adam McFadden pleads guilty to defrauding after-school program
Former Rochester City Council member Adam McFadden pleaded guilty Wednesday to new felony charges that he defrauded the non-profit after-school program he ran, Quad A For Kids, of more than $131,000. The program serves roughly 500 children in a handful of city public schools and offers a variety of activities ranging from academic help in…
New York to sue IJC over lake levels
The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation plans to sue the International Joint Commission for failing to properly manage water levels on Lake Ontario. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the lawsuit Wednesday afternoon to a crowd of reporters and local public officials on the deck of Silk O’Loughlin’s in Irondequoit, overlooking the water. “The facts of the matter are…
Dade outlines initial actions on district deficit
Superintendent Terry Dade has already started taking steps to erase the Rochester City School District’s budget deficit and bring order to its financial management. He has accepted the resignation of the district’s chief financial officer, Everton Sewell, who headed the district’s financial staff as the district built up a $30 million deficit. Dade referenced Sewell’s…
CLASSICAL CROSSOVER| Time for Three
Time for Three plays refined chamber music covers of everything from Bach to pop music such as Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” and The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.” Based in Philadelphia, the trio has inspired audiences across the globe with its viral anti-bullying YouTube video, “Stronger.” Violinists Nick Kendall and Charles Yang, along with double bassist…
JAZZ | Velvet Gentlemen
At the age of 12, Dan Willis (pictured) was already playing his saxophone and oboe on the Buffalo jazz scene. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music, in 1992 he headed to New York, where he gained a reputation as an adventurous player on sax and EWI (Electric Wind Instrument). For over a decade,…
HIP-HOP-FUNK | Sophistafunk
Sophistafunk promotes strength in unity, with thought-provoking lyrics about societal activism in a crisp rap delivery. Based in Syracuse, the established trio of vocalist Jack Brown, keyboardist-bassist Adam Gold, and drummer Emanuel Washington recently added a new member, saxophonist Tommy Weeks of the Funky Dawgz Brass Band. Sophistafunk takes you on a galactic space ride…
Feedback 10/9
We welcome your comments. Send them to feedback@rochester-citynews.com with your name, your daytime telephone number for verification, and your city, town or village. Comments of fewer than 500 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. Prosecutor Meredith…
ART | ‘Beings’
When an artist draws from life, they attempt to record or capture the essence and specifics about an individual, whether that’s a person, animal, or plant. Taking flora — from trees to flowers — as her inspiration, painter Amanda Parry Oglesbee creates what she calls portraits of individual plants. The silent sentinels, rendered lovingly in…
LITERATURE | Celebrating Joy Harjo
Update: this event’s original emcee, Monty Campbell Jr., has had to bow out. Rochester poet Rich Forster will be the emcee for the evening. I first read Joy Harjo’s poems for a college course on Native American literature; her collection, “She Had Some Horses,” was on the syllabus. Harjo’s writing was not only the first…
FAMILY | ‘Batty About Bats’
This weekend The Strong is hosting a two-day event called “Batty About Bats,” and being that it’s October and superhero culture is more popular than ever, I wasn’t sure if the programming was about the animal or the Caped Crusader. Why not both? Visitors can take pictures with Batman and learn about his strengths and…
ART-LECTURE | Polish Feminist Artists
This week the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies will host two celebrated feminist artists from Kraków, Poland. Fiber artist and activist Monika Drożyńska, who focuses on socially-engaged art in public spaces, and painter-performer and activist Cecylia Malik, whose work blends…
SPECIAL EVENT | Antiracist East-West Walk
The work of one of Rochester’s historic heroes remains unfinished, but contemporary citizens can come together to see it through. Modern applications of Frederick Douglass’s vision for racial equality include Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s ideas in his book, “How to Be an Antiracist,” which should be on everyone’s reading list. But locally, this weekend you…
LITERATURE | ROC Small Press Book Fair
The most dangerous event in Rochester — to me, anyway — returns this weekend. The 7th annual ROC Small Press Book Fair, hosted by Visual Studies Workshop, features dozens of vendors selling all manner of printed materials as well as readings throughout the event. I say it’s “dangerous” because each year I attend with a…
AMERICANA | Driftwood
Sometimes music fans are eager to pigeonhole a band: These fans see musicians playing string band instruments and they figure, “OK, string band.” In the case of Binghamton’s Driftwood, they’d be right — but only to a certain extent. For all intents and purposes, Driftwood is a bluegrass band playing old-tyme instruments such as banjo,…
JAZZ | Joe Policastro Trio
You might hear an occasional Thelonious Monk tune and an original composition or two, but what separates the Joe Policastro Trio from other jazz combos is the rest of its repertoire. You might hear pop tunes like “1999” by Prince, “More Than a Woman” by The Bee Gees, or “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young. Or,…
Album review: ‘One Time..’
Papa Herb and The Sol Vibration ‘One Time’ Self-released herbheins.com You might as well give into where Herb “Papa Herb” Heins is gonna take you with his new album with The Sol Vibration, “One Time..” It’s hard to keep it cohesive and not repeat yourself, but Heins offers eleven tracks with variety and some serious…
Is this Rat-chester? Not so fast.
Thirty Rochester civic groups say the city has a rat problem. But the data is mixed.
Film preview: Witness Palestine Film Festival
Each year the Witness Palestine Film Festival turns our eyes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and to a place where barriers have caused incalculable harm over the course of decades. The festival presents a series of films, talkbacks, and events that seek to foster change and cultivate empathy.
Film preview: ImageOut Film Festival
Rochester’s LGBTQ film festival, ImageOut, is back this week for its 27th year. Running for 11 days, from October 10 through October 20, screenings will be held at both the Little Theatre and the Dryden Theatre.
Bites for barkers at Bones Bakery
Cooper and Penny have a date at Bones Bakery, a dog-centered spot in the Park Avenue neighborhood. They review the Puppacinos and Dognuts, as well as some human food.
![[UPDATED] Behind the RCSD budget crisis: pressure and gimmicks](https://i0.wp.com/www.roccitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/news3-1_1_.webp?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1)
[UPDATED] Behind the RCSD budget crisis: pressure and gimmicks
Auditors from the state Comptroller’s Office have begun scrutinizing the Rochester City School District’s 2018-19 budget to figure out how the district spent an estimated $30 million it didn’t have – an endeavor the state predicts could take six months to a year to conclude. Meanwhile, on Tuesday Superintendent Terry Dade is expected to update…
Album review: ‘Arka’
The Moho Collective ‘Arka’ Self-released themohocollective.com The Moho Collective is back, baby, opening its new instrumental EP “Arka” with “I’m a Real Boy.” It’s all funky sledgehammer drums and guitar, giving the finger to the apocalypse as the music careens out of your preferred listening device. This record shows off the band’s staggering talent and…
Rochester’s comprehensive plan heads to City Council
The City Planning Commission last night recommended approval of Rochester’s new comprehensive plan. City Council is expected to consider the plan at its November 12 meeting.
Why we pulled the Kali Watkins piece
What was said needed to be said. Whether the author was the best person to say it, however, has come into question.
Interview: Amy Helm
Singer-songwriter Amy Helm — daughter of The Band’s late drummer Levon Helm — does little to keep a lid on her joy, even as she tosses plenty of bittersweet heartbreak into her lyrics. She’ll play Three Heads brewing on October 10.
State DEC wants comments on Genesee River cleanup plan
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has released a proposed plan to clean up parts of the Genesee River that were polluted by Eastman Kodak operations decades ago. It will host a public meeting on the proposal from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 23, at the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County’s…
