This week’s preview highlights the action in the sky from day to night, and live music on the ground, from Baroque to noise.
Lake Ontario
Posted inNews & Opinion
As Lake Ontario rises, IJC looks to deviate from Plan 2014
Lake Ontario’s water level is higher than average and expected to continue to rise for weeks.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Charlotte residents and businesses seek a community vision
Charlotte, that appendix of a neighborhood at the northern tip of the city, has a dilemma: It’s in the city, but it doesn’t feel like it is. It’s a beach community, but it doesn’t always feel much like that, either. After the summer’s burst of activity, the area becomes quiet by November. Charlotte’s residents hope […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Shells spell distress
Much of the sand at Ontario Beach is currently covered in grey and white shells. They’re everywhere; it’s like walking on a carpet of walnuts. The shells are from dead zebra mussels, an invasive species that first appeared in Lake Ontario in the late 1980’s. (Some are also, more than likely, shells from the similar […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Controversial plan for Lake Ontario approved
A bi-national agency has adopted a controversial new plan to regulate water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River: 16 years after it started developing it. And one federal representative is already vowing to fight it. The International Joint Commission announced this afternoon that it approved Plan 2014, albeit an amended version. The […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Dems want Monroe County to ban the beads
Democrats in the Monroe County Legislature want to ban the sale of personal care products containing microbeads within Monroe County. Legislator Dorothy Styk of Perinton introduced the legislation, which will be considered by the Legislature’s Agenda/Charter Committee on September 30. Erie County has passed similar legislation, and Albany and Chautauqua counties are considering bans of […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Who’s worrying about the water?
Much of California is coping with a severe, multi-year drought. The state’s water supplies and reservoirs are depleted, urban residents are now required to limit their water use, and many farms in the state are losing their crops. By comparison, the Rochester region is hydrologically gifted. Lake Ontario provides people, farms, and businesses with massive […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
AG wants to ban the beads
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is once again pushing for legislation that would ban the use of tiny plastic particles in cosmetics, facial scrubs, and other personal care items. Schneiderman announced this morning that he’s resubmitted the Microbead-Free Waters Act to state Assembly and Senate leadership. He first proposed legislation last year, and the Assembly passed […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Webster eyes water project
In the late 1990’s, local officials and Xerox leaders explored the possibility of pumping cold water from Lake Ontario to Xerox’s Webster facility to use in place of the company’s air conditioning and manufacturing cooling systems. The system could have reduced the company’s energy use, officials say, and saved money. The complex and experimental project […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Honeoye Falls braces for new limits
The Village of Honeoye Falls will use a $30,000 state grant to study the future of its waste water treatment plant. Officials expect that the plant’s treated water will eventually be subject to new limits on the amounts of phosphorous and copper it can contain, says village administrator Greg Emerson. Village leaders say that they […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Marina may miss a season
A hiccup with the developer will likely set the marina project at the Port of Rochester back a season, says Mark Gregor, manager of the Environmental Quality Division for the City of Rochester. About half of the marina basin has been excavated, he says. The city and The Pike Company mutually agreed to close out […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Restoring the balance
Invasive species have mucked up Lake Ontario’s food webs; many scientists, environmentalists, conservationists, and anglers have observed the disruptions themselves. Take the alewife — a species of herring — which entered the lake in the late 1800’s via the Welland Canal and never left. In time, the more aggressive fish pushed out the native lake […]
