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Why the UN Climate Action Summit matters
The media and climate activists must “name and shame” laggards, says the UN special envoy
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County to tackle hospital billing backlog
Monroe Community Hospital has amassed $3.9 million in outstanding patient bills – debts that the county is now trying to settle by hiring an accounting firm that promises to recoup a third of what is owed. The situation came to light when Democratic county legislators at a Ways and Means Committee meeting of the legislature…
Classical review: SCMR with Michael Wayne
For its opening concert of the season on September 29, the Society for Chamber Music in Rochester turned a snafu into a rousing success.
Council votes to ask state for RCSD financial oversight
[ UPDATED ] Rochester City Council voted this afternoon to ask the state to “establish financial control” over the Rochester City School District and stabilize the finances. Council voted 8-0 in favor of a resolution introduced by Mayor Lovely Warren and Council President Loretta Scott. Councilmember LaShay Harris abstained because she works for the district.…
Moody’s will review City of Rochester’s credit rating
The flap over the budget gap facing the Rochester City School District may affect the City of Rochester’s credit rating. Right now, the city has the highest possible rating from Moody’s, Aa3. But Moody says it has placed the city’s ratings “on review for possible downgrade.”
RCSD faces $30 million budget gap
Rochester schools Superintendent Terry Dade says the district overspent its budget last year by about $30 million. But he and other district officials also say they don’t yet know how that happened and why they weren’t aware of the problem earlier. Related The district’s external auditor discovered the overspending in its year end review of the district’s…
Ruling halts Police Accountability Board referendum
[ UPDATED ] If a court ruling stands, Rochesterians won’t vote on a Police Accountability Board referendum in November. Supreme Court Justice John Ark handed down a decision yesterday that blocks the vote. Ark said a court will need a chance to more thoroughly review the legislation that creates the accountability board. City Council President…
WORLD MUSIC | Karuna: Hamid Drake and Adam Rudolph
“Karuna” is a term meaning compassion in the spiritual path of Buddhism. If you apply that concept to music, it would be tough to find two more sympathetic players than percussionists Hamid Drake and Adam Rudolph. When they play together, it’s as if they are speaking to each other through their instruments. Aside from drums,…
AMERICANA | Amy McCarley
Amy McCarley has a deep alto voice with an affectionate delivery, which she pairs with a combination of fingerpicking and strummed folk-rock guitar technique. Her third studio album, “MECO” – named after a space shuttle program acronym that stands for “main engine cut off” – and observes McCarley’s journey from working as a NASA contractor…
EXPERIMENTAL ROCK | Yamantaka//Sonic Titan
Sometimes disturbing and at other times astonishing, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan is a wildly experimental theatre company/psych-rock cult based in Toronto. Complete with anime-infused black, white, and red costumes and face paint, the collective pushes genre boundaries. The music ranges from progressive metal to psychedelic pop, with thunderous drum crashes, lightning-fast guitar lines, and a wash of…
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL | The False Positives
You can’t put your arms around a memory, but you’ll come awfully damn close when you spin The False Positives’ new single ” Eyes Wide Open.” With its fat slash-and-twang guitar and healthy, stealthy backbeat, the song is utterly righteous. It’ll remind you of The Heartbreakers – Johnny Thunder’s, not Tom Petty’s – especially when…
CLASSICAL | Society for Chamber Music in Rochester
The Society for Chamber Music in Rochester starts its new season this Sunday afternoon with a number of introductions: a local concert debut for Michael Wayne, the Eastman School of Music’s new clarinet professor; an SCMR debut for violinist Willa Finck of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; and what is most likely the Rochester debut of…
FUNK-JAZZ | Four80East
Four80East gives the people what they want: the groove, the whole groove, and nothing but the groove. Co-leaders Rob DeBoer and Tony Grace lay it down on keyboards and percussion, respectively. But they couldn’t do it without the rhythm guitar of Mark Jackson and the infectious saxophone riffs of Mike MacArthur. And bassist Anthony Mackey…
Pittsford village faces budget-busting legal fees over Westport Crossing
The village of Pittsford could have to pay $351,000 in legal fees – about 24 percent of its annual operating budget – related to protracted litigation over a proposed housing and restaurant development on the Erie Canal. A state justice this month granted a request by the plaintiff in the case, a civic organization called…
Feedback 9/25
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. City’s plan…
Urban Action 9/25
This week’s call to action includes the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.) Book talk on press freedom Friends and Foundation of the Rochester Public Library will present a discussion of David McGraw’s book “Truth in Our Times: Inside the Fight for Press Freedom in the…
FAMILY | ‘Discover Your Superpower’
A new interactive exhibit opens at The Strong this weekend, with hands-on activities that emphasize why we find heroes heroic: teamwork, problem-solving, and justice. “DC Superheroes: Discover Your Superpower” includes a series of educational displays and fast-paced challenges, such as racing (virtually) against The Flash and solving puzzles to defeat villains. An opening celebration weekend…
SPECIAL EVENT | Vertex Late Risers Alternative & Gothic Garage Sale
The annual Vertex Late Risers Alternative & Gothic Garage Sale returns this weekend. Billed as “the garage sale for people who like to sleep in,” the event is one part flea market where you can shop the clothing and collections of other subculture-loving folks, and one part craft fair with handmade jewelry and other artwork.…
RECREATION | Beerie Canal Bike Tour
Though the series title makes it sound kind of exclusive, “A-List Adventures” is simply focused on bringing folks together who are curious to learn more about the environments and dining culture in Rochester. Each curated event has some element of recreation, pulling participants outdoors to explore the city and the Finger Lakes region. But of…
Two years after Maria, survivors make Rochester home
Hurricane Maria touched down in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, and in the months following it, thousands of families relocated to Rochester. Many of them are still here. Karla Reyes Ríos, a mother of three from San Juan, recalls Maria as powerful, dangerous, and chaotic. “Wow, the water – you could swim in the…
LITERATURE | Sonja Livingston reading
I was first introduced to Rochester native and essayist Sonja Livingston’s frank, lovely, philosophic writing with her 2009 book, “Ghostbread,” in which she brought readers into the inside of growing up poor. She’s since produced “Queen of the Fall: A Memoir of Girls and Goddesses,” and “Ladies Night at The Dreamland,” which is a love…
We’re listening at CITY
Something extraordinary happened at CITY last week. For the first time in 48 years, a name other than Mary Anna Towler was printed under the title of editor in the masthead. That name was mine.
Album review: ‘Triple Helix’
Anat Cohen Tentet ‘Triple Helix’ Anzic Records anatcohen.com Over the last two decades Israel has been such a strong breeding ground for jazz musicians, it’s become the new New Orleans, the Big Uneasy. Among Israel’s top musical exports is perpetually poll-topping clarinetist Anat Cohen. “Triple Helix,” her new album with her wonderful Tentet, finds her…
Sublime subs at Calabresella’s
“Few things trigger involuntary drooling for me like anticipating a well-crafted sub of Italian meats.”
Film preview: ‘Judy’
It’s a portrait that’s both clear-eyed and generous. In Renée Zellweger empathetic portrayal of the wounded and wobbly Hollywood icon, she imbues “Judy” with the heart and soul of the beloved performer.
Art preview: ‘Current Seen’
In the past year or so, several groups of culturally-focused individuals and institutions have been organizing some new approaches to inject fresh energy into solving this puzzle. The newest of these hopeful endeavors, “Current Seen,” kicks off in earnest on October 4, pulling together loads of artists, curators, institutions, and venues to present more than…
Beef Gordon: making pop music weird again
Beef Gordon is different than most Rochester musicians. He’s technically a singer-songwriter, but you won’t find him strumming a guitar. Instead, Gordon is more of an offbeat crooner, accompanied on the stage only by a microphone and prerecorded keyboard tracks.
Album review: ‘Sphereology Volume One’
Andrés Vial ‘Sphereology Volume One’ Chromatic-Audio andresvialmusic.com The opening track of Montreal-based pianist Andrés Vial’s “Sphereology Volume One” may cause jazz listeners to do an aural double take. “Bluehawk” strongly recalls pianist Ahmad Jamal’s recordings of the late-1960’s, but in this case Vial’s piano is matched by Peter Bernstein’s guitar. Like Jamal, Vial and Bernstein…
Frank reviews ‘Crazy for Dick Tricks: A Dirk Darrow Investigation’
Some go for the laughs, some for the magic. And though I like both of those immensely at the hands of our film noir-ish host, one Tim Motley, it was his mastery of the language that got me here this year having caught him at the 2018 Fringe Festival. Motley offers up some palatial palaver.…
Leah reviews ‘Shotspeare’
A long line of energetic audience members stretched from the entrance of the Spiegeltent nearly to Main Street on Tuesday night. It was only 8:15 p.m., but Fringe Fest attendees were ready to turn up for opening night of “Shotspeare,” which returns for the second year with nightly shows through Saturday. During each performance, the…
David reviews ‘The Geriactors Present’
I don’t think the Fringe Festival gives an award for Most Charming Production, but if they decide to, the Geriactors’ tribute to Byron Wilmot had better be in the running. The performers and the material, by a local playwright who died suddenly in 2014, fill an hour with genial amusement, and occasional bemusement. One of…
