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Tim Louis Macaluso

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CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Terror in the courts

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 10th, 2010

Americans are divided on whether suspected terrorists should be tried in military or criminal courts. And after making the case for trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the Manhattan criminal courts, even the Obama administration appears to be changing course on the trial of the alleged mastermind of the September 11

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EDUCATION: Brizard pushing for major changes

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 10th, 2010

Rochester Schools Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard will unveil a sweeping plan this week that would close eight of the city's lowest performing schools, and open three new schools. Brizard also wants to reconfigure the district's high schools by taking out the middle grades - seventh and eighth - and moving them into

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URBAN ACTION: 3/10-3/17

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 9th, 2010

This week's calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Mayoral control breakfast The Rochester Business Journal will present "The Pros and Cons of Mayoral Accountability" from 7:30 to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 23, at the Rochester Plaza Hotel.

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EDUCATION: [Updated Wed., 3/10] City graduation rates fall

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 9th, 2010

The Rochester School District's four-year graduation rate has dropped back below 50 percent. The New York State Education Department's latest data shows the rate for the 2008-2009 school year fell to 46 percent. That is a drop of 6 percent from the 2007-2008 school year, when the graduation

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MAYORAL CONTROL: Unions call for picket, boycott of Mayor's Ball

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 5th, 2010

The Rochester Teachers Association Local 616, BENTE/AFSCME Local 2419, Rochester Police Locust Club, AFSCME Local 1635, and Local 1071 are calling for a boycott and picket of the Mayor's Ball on Saturday, March 20. In a letter signed by RTA President Adam Urbanski and BENTE President Dan Clemente, union leaders

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EDUCATION: District gives four city schools greater independence

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 5th, 2010

Freddie Thomas High School, World of Inquiry No 58, Children's School of Rochester No. 15, and Dr. Charles T. Lunsford School No.19 have been chosen by the city school district to become "autonomous" schools. The four schools will operate beginning in September 2010 with a greater degree of autonomy

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NEIGHBORHOODS: Park unites neighbors against dealers

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 3rd, 2010

The view from Conkey Park is a boarded-up building, an empty lot, and a small convenience store. On a February afternoon, about a half-a-dozen young men work in pairs selling drugs on Conkey Avenue, near the park. They scurry over to cars on both sides of the

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ACTIVISM: Do-gooders to unite at summit

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 3rd, 2010

Though there are, according to most accounts, as many as three-dozen political, social, and faith activist groups in the Rochester area, some say the groups have traditionally had difficulty working together. Leaders from several of Rochester's activist groups hope to change that, and they have organized a special meeting to find

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URBAN ACTION: 3/3-3/10

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 2nd, 2010

This week's calls to action include the following events and activities. (All are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.) Public input on mayoral control The City School Board will hold a public hearing on Mayor Bob Duffy's proposal to consolidate the Rochester School District with city government at

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Rochester School Board seeks parent involvement

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 2nd, 2010

The Rochester School Board wants to add parents to the board's committees, to get their perspectives on school-district policies. One parent will serve on each of the board's five committees. They'll be able to ask questions and offer advice, but they won't have a vote. Only parents or legal guardians of

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Gay rights, Roy Ashburn, and hypocrisy's hold

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 10th, 2010

Another conservative with a record of voting against LGBT rights comes out. California State Senator Roy Ashburn told a Bakersfield radio station this week that he is gay. But he only made the announcement days after he had been arrested for driving while intoxicated. Ashburn had been at a Sacramento gay

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The Dems' tattered brand

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 10th, 2010

How do they do it? How do Republicans manage to come up with a strong message to counter Democrats, repeat it a million times, and reshape the national conversation? They may have done it again with health care. In a piece for thedailybeast.com, James Othmer gets some of the country's top ad execs

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Health care: Orrin Hatch's dire warning

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 8th, 2010

It's come down to the wire for the Democrats to get a health care bill passed. Democrats are saying they will have a bill in front of the president before Easter, and Obama is pushing his party to come together soon. Their only option at this point, apparently, is to go

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GOP fundraising turns to scare tactics

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 4th, 2010

Top Republicans are busy distancing themselves from some fundraising materials - with good reason. A 72-page document, found in a hotel where a GOP fundraiser was being held, spells out their strategy for raising money: with small donors, play to the fears of the Obama Administration; with large ones, play to

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Adam is the man

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 4th, 2010

The most powerful man in Rochester these days is Adam Urbanski. The longtime-head of the Rochester Teachers Association has the power to stop all of the resistance to mayoral control in a snap, Mayor Bob Duffy said in an interview yesterday. Duffy said he had made a deliberate appeal to both Urbanski

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The longest year

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 3rd, 2010

A year ago today I was dealing with prostate cancer. The cancer was advanced, so my only option was a radical prostatectomy to remove the gland and nearby lymph nodes. My PSA-levels have been normal since the surgery. And I have made it through my first year cancer free. But I'm reminded daily

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Rhode Island school's teachers get the boot

Tim Louis Macaluso on March 1st, 2010

As Rochester's parents, teachers, and students grapple with Mayor Bob Duffy's plan to make the city school district a department of city government, a Rhode Island schools superintendent is taking a different approach to solve a familiar problem. Rhode Island's Central Falls High School has been one of the state's perennial

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Dick Cheney's attacks

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 24th, 2010

Okay, it's not polite to speak ill of the very ill. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has apparently had another heart attack. Though it's been called "mild," this makes five for Cheney, which can't be good by any measure. That said, Cheney still makes the news for the things he

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With health care, Republicans don’t make house calls

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 24th, 2010

If you wonder exactly what the Republicans believe about health-care reform, you might take a look at a transcript of a Chris Matthews interview with Representative Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican from Michigan, on Tuesday, February 23's "Hardball" on MSNBC. Matthews can be a badger in an interview, and yeah, he leans

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Goodbye RG&E?

Tim Louis Macaluso on February 23rd, 2010

Every so often a new device comes along that seems innocuous, but then transforms the way we live. Almost any antique store is filled with such items: bed-warming stones, scrubbing boards, porch milk boxes.... And where would we be without remote controls or cell phones? Bloom Energy, one of the most hyped

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