Posted inNews & Opinion

Crunch time in the Legislature

The State Legislature has a long-standing tradition of passing a slew of legislation on the last day or two of its session. This year, the crunch included bills for a medical marijuana program, an extension of the brownfields tax credit program through early 2017, and a bill to add Family Court judges, including one for […]

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State to intervene in RCSD

The Rochester school district is one of 70 public school districts in New York flagged as a “Focus School District” by the State Education Department, an unfavorable designation given to low-performing districts. Twenty-two Rochester schools have been classified as “Focus Schools” and 30 are “Priority Schools,” designations under the FSD umbrella. The new classifications are […]

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From green space to gathering place

It’s a rare day when citizens approach their government and ask to be taxed. But that’s exactly what the South Wedge Planning Committee is doing.             The group has approached Rochester City Council with a petition and a proposal to create a special tax assessment district. The extra revenue from the district — located around […]

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Gantt vs. ‘shenanigans’

Democratic State Assemblyman David Gantt has introduced legislation that would redefine the relationship between the city school board and its superintendent, giving the super much more power and authority than the position now has, relative to the board. His bill would also rename the superintendency: The person holding the job would heretofore be known as […]

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The march of homophobia

Now hear this. The military does not — I repeat, for those of you daydreaming in the ranks, does not — discriminate against gays and lesbians.             I have this on the word of Danny Francis, education specialist with the regional US Army recruiter command, based in Syracuse. Francis says the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” […]

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