The US Supreme Court will hear a legal challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act beginning on March 27. In anticipation, a local collaborative group that includes representatives of the LGBT, religious, and labor communities will hold a couple of events this week. Under DOMA, marriage is limited to one man and one woman […]
Monroe County Legislature
Posted inNews & Opinion
WEEK AHEAD: Gun group to speak at Lej meeting, RCSD meetings, Skate Park design event
Rochester Personal Defense, a local company that conducts firearms and self-defense training, set up a Facebook event encouraging people to attend this week’s Monroe County Legislature meeting to speak out against new state gun-control laws. As of Monday morning, 86 people have indicated they will attend. The Legislature meets at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March […]
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If MCC flops, will city taxpayers be on the hook?
The lessons of Frontier Field and the soccer stadium have yet to be learned, apparently, says Rochester Mayor Tom Richards. The backers of both projects swore that they could survive on their own steam, only to need taxpayers to bail them out. That history is causing Richards to look at MCC’s planned move to Kodak’s […]
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Morelle steps into MCC fray
State Assembly member Joe Morelle is sharply questioning Monroe Community College’s plan to move its downtown campus. Morelle is not the only local elected official who has been skeptical of the plan; Mayor Tom Richards and County Legislature Democrats have been very critical of it. But Morelle’s involvement is adding to tensions over the plan. […]
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Lej committee blocks gun proposal
A Democratic proposal to strengthen a gun ban in county buildings was voted down by a County Legislature committee last night. The vote was 3 to 2 along party lines — Republicans opposed, Democrats in favor. Members of the public are not allowed to bring guns into buildings owned or leased by Monroe County. But […]
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WEEK AHEAD: Proposed gun ban, RCSD budget hearing, downtown safety meeting
A County Legislature committee will vote tonight on a Democratic proposal to ban guns from county buildings. The measure will be considered by the Agenda/Charter Committee, which meets at 6 p.m. today at the County Office Building, 39 West Main Street. Under current county policy, members of the public cannot bring guns into buildings owned […]
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WEEK AHEAD: White announcement; RCSD budget; State of the Union party; MCC decision day
Rochester businessman Alex White will make an announcement this afternoon regarding the 2013 elections. White, a member of the Green Party, has waged unsuccessful bids for Rochester mayor and City Council in the recent past. “There has been speculation as to my intentions for the local races this year,” White said in a press release. […]
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MCC legislation advances
County Legislature Democrats still have questions and concerns about Monroe Community College’s plan for a new downtown campus at Kodak’s State Street site. Earlier this week, County Executive Maggie Brooks submitted legislation that, if approved, would authorize the county to buy several buildings and part of a parking lot from Kodak. The Recreation and Education […]
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Fee faux outrage
Let me say a word in support of Maggie Brooks. I didn’t vote for her for Congress or for county executive, and this newspaper didn’t endorse her for either one. But I’ve been amused at Monroe County Democrats’ piling on about her latest budget and the fees snuggled away inside it. By the time you […]
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O’Brien to join Dems
Incoming State Senator Ted O’Brien says he’ll conference with Democrats, not the Independent Democratic Conference, when he heads to Albany in January. | “I feel an obligation to conference with the Democrats when I’m elected as a Democrat,” O’Brien said during a phone interview last week. | He said he’s had collegial conversations with IDC […]
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County not increasing size of indigent burial payments
The county is changing the way it covers the cost of providing indigent burial assistance, but it isn’t increasing the amount it gives to applicants. During a County Legislature committee meeting last night, Scott Adair, the county’s chief financial officer, said that officials are budgeting $550,000 to $750,000 in indigent burial assistance payments for 2013. […]
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City socked again
A new fee to cover the cost of indigent burials included in County Executive Maggie Brooks’s 2013 budget proposal would disproportionately affect city residents and is “offensive and reprehensible.”
