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Christine Carrie Fien on March 10th, 2010
Taxpayers will be protected. The stadium will revitalize the Brown Square neighborhood. Attendance will be strong. Other groups will clamor to use it.
The number of false, broken, and partly-realized promises attached to the Rhinos' soccer stadium is staggering.
Why didn't anyone see this coming, you say? Actually, they did.
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Christine Carrie Fien on March 3rd, 2010
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released the following statement this morning.
The state initiated an audit of the Rochester Rhinos stadium project in June 2008 to determine whether $19 million in state grant money was used properly. The money was meant to help fund the stadium's design and construction. The city took
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Christine Carrie Fien on March 3rd, 2010
Following an alleged brutal Halloween beating in 2009, the woman went to Family Court to get an emergency order of protection against David Johnson, a top aide to Governor David Paterson. The order was granted and, at a later date, extended. The extension was necessary because the woman, who has
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Christine Carrie Fien on March 3rd, 2010
City officials are taking neighborhood planning to a broader level.
For about the past decade, the city has been divided into 10 sectors, and each one developed its own guiding plan to tackle neighborhood issues and priorities. Now, teams are using the sector plans to create broader plans covering the city's
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Christine Carrie Fien on February 24th, 2010
You may not instinctively group autism with cancer, AIDS, and heart disease. But people afflicted with this often-misunderstood disorder will most likely require some level of assistance throughout their lives. The time, money, and personnel required to provide a lifetime of care make autism one of the country's top public-health
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Christine Carrie Fien on February 17th, 2010
The city's grand vision for remaking Broad Street is taking incremental steps forward with the temporary closing of the Broad Street bridge. And work will begin soon on a draft environment impact statement for what is being called the Historic Erie Canal Aqueduct and Broad Street Corridor project.
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Christine Carrie Fien on February 3rd, 2010
I crashed into Britny Horton - literally - on the steps of City Hall the night of the first big protest against Mayor Bob Duffy's plan to consolidate the city and the school district. We were two of about 200 in what I've come to call the "mayoral control mosh
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Christine Carrie Fien on February 3rd, 2010
A series of fistfights in the vicinity of the Liberty Pole downtown has resulted in approximately 10 arrests and drawn a substantial police response. Some of those arrested are juveniles, a police spokesman says, and some are adults over age 16.
"We believe that they're fights that stem from the schools
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Christine Carrie Fien on January 27th, 2010
Every street in the neighborhood had them: 8 1/2-feet tall black iron posts with gothic lettering spelling out "Browncroft" on all four sides. But vandals, collectors, and time robbed the neighborhood of nearly all of the posts, which date back to Browncroft's founding in the early 20th century.
The posts used
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Christine Carrie Fien on January 25th, 2010
In a 10-page draft document outlining his case for mayoral control, Mayor Bob Duffy pledges a return to neighborhood schools and to boost the graduation rate to 65 percent within 5 years.
The document is marked "confidential" in red ink on the cover, which features a color photo of Duffy with
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Christine Carrie Fien on March 9th, 2010
City Corporation Counsel Tom Richards says that Marina Auto Stadium, formerly PaeTec Park, will require an ongoing operating subsidy. The stadium got a $420,000 subsidy last year, but that was supposed to be a one-time thing. And of course, we were told back before the stadium was built that taxpayers
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Christine Carrie Fien on March 5th, 2010
An anti-Joe Morelle robocall is making the rounds [see Morelle's response below]. Members of City Council mentioned the call at a meeting last night, and Council member Carolee Conklin played the recording for a City Newspaper writer.
"Joe Morelle raised our taxes and increased our fees 37 times. That's over $11
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Christine Carrie Fien on February 19th, 2010
Bill Pritchard not only left City Council last year, he left the entire city. On the local blog Smugtown Beacon, Pritchard writes that he is now a resident of Penfield. Pritchard was vice president of Council when he decided not to seek re-election last year.
Pritchard's comments concern the mayoral control
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Christine Carrie Fien on February 12th, 2010
Molly Clifford attended City Council committee hearings yesterday afternoon - her first appearance since her controversial appointment as director of fire administration. Clifford was impressive: her answers to Council's questions were immediate, intelligent, and well-informed - she's obviously done her homework. It was the first time a woman represented the
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Christine Carrie Fien on November 30th, 2009
City Council could approve the installation of red-light cameras at up to 50 city intersections this month. Council members will begin discussion of the matter at a meeting this week.
Mayor Bob Duffy is asking Council to authorize an agreement with Redflex Traffic Systems in Phoenix, Arizona to install, operate, and
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Christine Carrie Fien on November 6th, 2009
The Creative Wellness Center is hosting a retrospective of artist Sonia Gutowski's work. The opening is tonight (Friday, November 6), from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Center, 320 North Goodman Street, Suite 201. Admission is free.
Gutowski, who has been in Monroe Community Hospital recovering from a stroke, will be
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Christine Carrie Fien on October 21st, 2009
There are big changes coming to the Rochester/High Falls International Film Festival. First: a new name. The festival will now be known as 360 | 365. Executive Director John Richardson says the new name represents the organization's growing year-round presence and appeal to all audiences.
When the festival began eight years
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Christine Carrie Fien on September 10th, 2009
From outsider to magic man in four years. The Democratic Party knows the superstar it has in Mayor Bob Duffy - who did not get the party's endorsement during his first run - and is milking the Duffy brand dry to sell the party's slate of primary candidates.
Today, Duffy announced
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Christine Carrie Fien on September 9th, 2009
Actually, a more direct translation is "pubic hair," which is SO MUCH BETTER.
A member of City Council is alleged to have hurled an expletive at last night's meeting. I didn't hear it. I was distracted by the guy in the hall outside screaming about his First Amendment rights.
Usually that means
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Christine Carrie Fien on May 6th, 2009
I hesitated writing this because I was afraid that it might encourage Glenn Beck to come cry on my doorstep. (Flash back 40 years and tell me that nub wasn't getting creamed for his milk money on a daily basis.)
The same network that promoted the heck out of those tea
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