Ruth Holland Scott remembers sixth grade as a broken string of recesses. Scott’s teacher at her small, segregated school in Albion, Michigan, often slept through class, Scott says — waking only when students pestered her. “The guys would take these long poles that you used to raise and lower the windows and lift the wig […]
poverty
Posted inNews & Opinion
LGBT poverty bucks stereotype
When I was a kid, one of the boys in my fifth-grade class wore a green shirt with pink stripes. For weeks he was teased and called a queer for wearing pink and green or “fairy” colors. Who knows how the pink and green label got started, but there are hundreds of gay stereotypes. And […]
Posted inCulture
LITERATURE: “Into the Beautiful North”
This year’s selection for the city-wide book club, “If All of Rochester Read the Same Book…” takes readers on a journey from a rural Mexican town in trouble, across the border into an America we see through fresh eyes. “Into the Beautiful North,” which was also selected for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Partisanship, poverty, and paychecks
In his State of the Union address, President Obama issued a challenge: “Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour.” On this he finds support from Governor Cuomo, who proposes increasing the […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
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. […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
POLITICS: Indigent burial legislation defeated
Democratic legislation regarding indigent burials was voted down by a County Legislature committee last night. The legislation sought to address long-standing complaints about the condition of grave sites paid for with county assistance. Advocates for the poor have complained that the graves at Oatka Cemetery are in an area that is not well kept and […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
What I’m reading: Klein on Romney, the poor, and responsibility
The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein may have one of the smartest responses to Mitt Romney’s 47 percent remarks. In a blog post this morning, Klein seizes on Romney’s remarks that he’ll never win over a segment of the population that he says is dependent on the government. In Romney’s words, he’ll “never convince them that […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Rivera’s big vision
Rochester’s northeast quadrant is known for many things. Children living here see more homicides and violence than children in any other Rochester neighborhood. The area is home to about 4,300 students, and more than 97 percent of them are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches. Most of them will move to a new home at […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Xx Files
It’s tempting to gloss over the news because, well, it’s depressing. And hard to follow. All that policy stuff. All those numbers. As a woman, I have a brain which — any Harvard president will tell you — can barely recall my own phone number, never mind conceive of all those facts and figures. The […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
The XX Files
The woman on the line sounded liked she was in her late 50s. She seemed nice, maybe a little tired. I’d later learn why. She said she was conducting a poll about health care for New York State. I know people are chosen at random for polls. But it doesn’t feel random. Especially since […]
