So... is it a good thing or a bad thing that the Obama-Clinton race continues?It's possible that it could be a very good thing, if the candidates keep their mind on what's good for the country rather than what's good for them.The voter turn-out and the public attention to politics are good for the country. Long campaigns like this one can give all of us, regardless of political affiliation, a chance to look beneath the ads and the sound bites, to think about the challenges facing the country and weigh the candidates' experience and vision.If Obama and Clinton ramp up

Party in the Park will not take place at the High Falls Festival Site this year, according to Lorie Lachiusa Barnum, the city's director of cultural affairs. A Rochester Gas & Electric hydro power project slated to begin in the High Falls gorge in May has bounced the free concert series to a new, yet-to-be-determined location.That new venue won't be the recently renovated Manhattan Square Park, which previously housed the series. "Our event outgrew it," Barnum says of the downtown location. "The size of the crowd and the size of the stage needed for our level of acts."The city is

Topic: sex in themedia. We're worn out with the Paterson stuff. It's nobody's business whether he and his wife have been faithful. And maybe, we figure, he really did need those hotel rooms for early-morning meetings. His house may be just outside Albany, but he's blind. Somebody would have to drive him to those meetings.However: it is somebody's business whether he used taxpayer money for personal or partisan use. In a 4-0 vote, our newsroom says the Paterson story won't go away, and can't. Topic: the Judas taunt. Hot debate here on whether the always-fascinating James Carville was right to

One of the ways Macintosh has lagged (and this is coming from a fan boy) is in providing decent backup solutions. Apple took a stab at fixing the software side of the problem when it released its latest major OSX upgrade, Leopard, by including a simple-to-use, powerful backup application called Time Machine. But it works best with a dedicated hard drive, and it requires a hard-wired connection to your Mac. If you already had a wireless network device that could be connected to an external hard drive for file sharing, this was a disappointment.You can sort of understand the preference

The MCC prez: We'll have a reporter at this afternoon's Monroe Community College Faculty Senate meeting. On the agenda: discussion of the selection of a new MCC process. A good number of MCC faculty members are upset about the addition of two non-educators - one of them a former Republican County Legislator - to the list of finalists for the presidency. The meeting is supposed to start at 4:30; we'll post as soon there's something to report.Meantime, Channel 13's Rachel Barnhart has posted a nice little tidbit on her blog, which all of us should have figured out before now.

The Democrat and Chronicle did an enormous public service this morning by publishing a group of Speaking Out pieces by area African-American clergy on "race and religion in America." The Revs. Gay Byron, Marlowe Washington, Kenneth James, and Adrienne Phillips addressed the topics of black-liberation theology, the vilifying of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and the mission and the voice of the black church. Barack Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, has taken a lot of heat for pointing out the United States' own violence abroad a few days after 9/11 and for saying, "the chickens have come home to roost." Kenneth James urges

In today's Times: Nicholas Kristof discussed what he calls the "bloody" Democratic battle and the odds against Hillary Clinton being able to win the nomination. In the end, writes Kristof, the Clintons' legacy may be that they'll have "the same effect on Mr. Obama this November that Ralph Nader had on Al Gore in 2000."Poll watch: CNN is reporting that Hillary Clinton's "negatives" have been increasing as the hostility in the Democrats' campaign has grown. Obama's negative rating is staying the same.Speaking of polls, though: I'm as obsessed with this presidential race as anybody, but polling people now as to

Several media outlets are warning that President Bush is spinning a way-too-simple explanation of the escalating violence in Iraq. Bush describes brave Iraqi government forces pitted against "militia fighters and criminals." But on baltimoresun.com, Frank James quotes Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies as insisting that this isn't a battle between good and evil. It's a power struggle between Shiite factions, says Gordesman. "No one should romanticize" the head of one of the factions, Moktada al-Sadr, says Cordesman. But nobody should romanticize the leaders of the Iraqi government, either, he says."The current fighting is as much

A column by D&C writer Denise-Marie Santiago this morning about the disappointing administration of County Executive Maggie Brooks, nicely articulates what some of us around the newsroom have been thinking. Brooks could have used her considerable gifts to heal the partisan wounds inflicted by the Doyle administration. Instead, she's kept up the same divisive tactics as her predecessor: FAIR, the public defender debacle, the gay-marriage appeal, and the brewing brouhaha over the MCC presidency. Whether Brooks is acting on her own or, more likely, at the behest of Republican chair Steve Minarik, makes little difference. She could've used her household

The county's FAIR Plan and a smaller-than-expected increase in state aid are forcing Monroe County's suburban school districts to deal with budget shortfalls. In one of the most drastic cases, the Gates Chili district is closing an elementary school, which has seen declining enrollment. The other choice was to raise the district budget by $1 million and tap reserve funds. Local media reports show the varied ideas of other districts:The Penfield school district is considering several proposals, one of which would include no cuts, a 2.5 percent tax increase and a $3 million increase in the tax levy. All options

Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser in the Carter administration and an Obama supporter, lashes out in today's Washington Post against President Bush and Senator John McCain's stand on the Iraq war. "The case for terminating the war is based on its prohibitive and tangible costs, while the case for ‘staying the course' draws heavily on shadowy fears of the unknown and relies on worst-case scenarios," writes Brzezinski. "President Bush's and Sen. John McCain's forecasts of regional catastrophe are quite reminiscent of the predictions of ‘falling dominoes' that were used to justify continued U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Neither has provided any

The tension builds, yes? Will the MCC board majority really have the nerve to ignore public opinion and choose Bill Smith as the school's next president?One of my news sources said this morning that he figures the board will do the right thing - that there's just too much opposition. But board member John Parrinello's suggestion that the board "abort" the search process doesn't give me hope. The board is meeting on Thursday. We may get an inkling then as to whether a majority of board members are willing to break Steve Minarik's hold.If they're not?It's encouraging to see Rochester Business Alliance CEO