Bridge to this century
The
US Army Corps of Engineers considers the Hojack
Swing Bridge a “hazard to navigation” and wants it removed. But the bridge,
which once carried trains across the Genesee River near Lake Ontario, has
defenders who rightly view it as a work of art.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย On Wednesday, December 11, at 7
p.m., at the Dugan Center (15 St. Mary’s Place), there’ll be a public
discussion on ways to save and re-use the bridge. (The discussion is sponsored
by the Allan King Sloan Family Fund, the Bridge Project, the local Landmark
Society, the Downtown Community Forum, and the local chapter of the American
Society of Civil Engineers.) Advocates point to examples elsewhere: For
example, several steel bridges in Cleveland’s harbor area function as decorative
elements in what’s now an entertainment district.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Speaking of spans: The City of
Rochester is looking for someone to buy (for $1!) the Electric Avenue pedestrian bridge, providing the buyer will put it
to good use somewhere. This steel bridge, which carried walkers over a track
bed, is in good shape, says the Landmark Society. Interested parties should
contact City Hall project manager Thomas C. Hack, e-mail hackt@ci.rochester.lib.ny.us.
Eden
on Thurston
The
Rochester Presbyterian Home is newly
proud: It’s now the only adult home in New York State’s to be certified as an “Eden Alternative.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย “Edenization,” says an RPH news
release, means re-envisioning adult homes as “habitats for human beings rather
than facilities for the frail and elderly.” Besides good old-fashioned caring,
Edenized homes have lots of plants, animals, kids, and other everyday things
that make a house a home.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย There’ll be a reception to mark the
achievement on Friday, December 6, 6 p.m., at the home, 256 Thurston Road.
Info: 235-9100.
While
you were out
Other
than the mass death and dismemberment of hundreds of thousands of turkeys, it was a relatively slow news week in the
Rochester region. Health insurance costs are still skyrocketing, the state
Legislature is still a smug country club, and the city school board is still a
den of vipers. Oh, and Tom Golisano still ain’t governor.
On
December 2, Golisano submitted updated campaign finance reports to the state
Board of Elections. The tally for his self-financed 2002 gubernatorial run:
more than $73.9 million. The
Independence Party candidate and Paychex CEO beat New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg in the race to spend the most cash on a non-presidential election. Of
course, unlike Bloomberg, the G-man lost his election, big-time, for the third
time in a row. Nevertheless, Golisano’s not ruling out a fourth quixotic bid in
2006, and says he’ll continue pushing for an initiative and referendum process
in New York (though he hasn’t pledged any cash toward that end, yet). Such a
process would allow citizens to bypass the state Legislature by collecting
signatures to get measures on state-wide ballots, which would then be voted on
by the people and, if passed, made law. Governor Pataki embraced the idea
during this year’s campaign, but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver still doesn’t
like it. And without his support, it’s a dead duck.
Speaking
of the state Lej, the Senate and Assembly proposed that taxpayers give them $206.7 million next year for
legislators’ staff, travel costs, office space, and other expenses. While that
sum isn’t an increase over last year’s Lej budget, it also isn’t a decrease in
the face of an overall state budget deficit that may reach $10 billion for the
fiscal year beginning next April. The state budget director has already called
upon state agencies to cut their budgets by five percent. Meanwhile, a roughly
$4 million remodeling and renovation of legislative chambers, lobbies, and
offices is underway, including new paint jobs, carpeting, and floor tile.
BlueCross
BlueShield of the Rochester Area announced it was increasing its premiums an
average of 12.9 percent next year,
the fourth consecutive year of double-digit increases for most Rochester-area
residents.
Feeling
sick yet? Well, try digesting the fact the city school board is still
preoccupied with a nasty internal dispute over proposed bylaw changes that
could oust the current president a
year before her term is up and strip the position of what little meaningful
authority it has. The details of this flap aren’t nearly as compelling as, say,
the district’s finances, which are still a mess, and the reality that most
students still aren’t learning too good. The board has scheduled a “discussion”
and vote on the bylaw changes for December 5.
—
Compiled by Chris Busby from news reports, interviews, and wishbone fragments.
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2002.
