Comment Archives: stories: News & Opinion: News Blog
Re: “Blumenauer talks up investment in bike-pedestrian infrastructure”
Toby, in past years, you were right - I was part of a very small group riding in Rochester in the winter, and I did not do so consistently. However, that is changing - this year I commuted to work and ran errands almost every day on my bicycle, with studded snow tires. More significantly, I saw many cyclists out on the streets along with me. Not thousands, or even hundreds, yet - but dozens.
Rochester is not Portland, as you point out. We are much more like Minneapolis and Boston, two other very active year-round cycle transportation communities, in our winter challenges. (In fact, I would claim that Rochester is between those two cities in winter cycling environment.)
It is true that for Rochester to be a more attractive year-round cycling city some changes will have to be made.
Snow removal on major cycle routes must be done to accommodate bicycles as well as automobiles. Winter storms here result in snow and ice obstructing the parts of the road that cyclists normally use; we are forced then to occupy (legally, I might add) the same narrowed lanes used by automobiles. I really don't mind, but other cyclists may be intimidated, and automobile traffic is certainly slowed by my presence.
Traffic signals will need to be modified to be able to detect bicycles. While it is "feasible" (albeit awkward, inconvenient, and somewhat dangerous) for a cyclist to request a green light at a traffic signal by going onto the sidewalk and pushing the pedestrian cross button in the summer, it is impossible to do so in the winter when access to the pedestrian cross button is obstructed by a 6 foot wide, 4 foot high snowbank.
Bike-specific infrastructure will require winter maintenance. As with sidewalks, bicycle and multi-use paths must be plowed promptly with the intent that they be open when commuters need them.
So far I have avoided the rather cliche proverb, but I'll say it:
There is no such thing as bad cycling weather, only bad cycling gear!
-Scott Wagner
Re: “Local drone protesters arrested”
j.a.m.
Shame on me! Thanks for catching that.
Tim
Re: “Local drone protesters arrested”
"fermenting [sic] even more mistrust and hostility"?!? Oy. So now we have a problem with drunk droning?
"drones are responsible..." Uh, no. Drones don't kill people — people do. Specifically, Prof. B. H. Obama. Don't blame and harass the operators, who selflessly and patriotically do the work we ask them and pay them to do. If you're going to get up in someone's face, then follow the chain of command to Lafayette Park and share your feelings with the commander in chief.
Re: “Local drone protesters arrested”
Can't you journalists ever get over excluding men from being innocent? The article states "Critics say the drones are responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people, including women and children." Is it any worse to kill innocent women and children than innocent men? Are men's lives worth less? Or is it a given that 'innocent people' only means 'men' and you have to emphasize that innocent people can also be women and children? Why not just say "innocent men, women and children'? That should cover it.
Re: “Blumenauer talks up investment in bike-pedestrian infrastructure”
Rochester is NOT Portland. Even though Portland gets planty of rain, and cyclists there don't mind riding in it, they rarely get extremely cold weather or snow - unlike Rochester. Rochester can be a bike-friendly city as long as it's kept in the perspective that people will only ride bikes about half of the year and only in good weather.
Re: “Blumenauer talks up investment in bike-pedestrian infrastructure”
I heartily support any/every effort to get more people out of vehicles and onto their feet/bikes. I do my darndest to bike to work as often as possible. It's good exercise, as well as giving me time to get me head in the right place.
Anybody who's got eyes and has been paying attention is aware of our growing obesity problem. This would help with that also.
Re: “Was the Atlanta education scandal inevitable?”
Anybody who has read "Freakonomics" already knows that some scandal was/is inevitable. Whoever is invested in the test outcomes is at risk of being corrupted by the pressure. Some will inevitably give in.
What is more surprising than the scandal is the low percentage of cheating. Other career paths with a direct results-to-employment correlation have pretty substantial cheating rates - steroids in cycling or baseball, Wall Street insider trading, bankers and credit default swaps (maybe they were technically legal, but the way they wormed out of being held responsible has to count as scandalous). That only a small percentage of teachers cheat is testament to the quality of people who go into teaching.
Re: “FILM: "Amazing Spider-Man 2" scenes to be filmed in Rochester”
i want to be an extra in your movie the amazing spider man 2. i am thirteen years old and do not have a car but i would still love to be apart of your film. do you have a spot a for a great thirteen year old actress in your movie?
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
"..narrative Warren's campaign is using is that of someone who will represent people who feel disenfranchised: like they don't have a voice in city government."
Like city residents who are Republicans
Re: “Scouts in a changing America”
Scouting was never about sex or sexuality, heterosexuality, homosexuality or other. Radical homosexual activists with an agenda tried to force the BSA, a private organization, to accept their views. It started with attacks on the BSA in San Francisco and spread from there. It got so bad the Boy Scouts were even booed at the Democratic National Convention in August 2000. Even when the Supreme Court ruled that the BSA, as a private organization, could exclude anyone they wanted to, the activists persisted. (You know how persistant these types are; they are same people who disrupted mass at St. Patrick's in New York, throwing condoms and even desecrating a communion host.)
It's sad that there seems to be a need to expose children to adult topics at earlier ages these days. Does sex need to be part of teaching boys about camping, hiking, and swimming? Should the BSA be required to develop a policy and discuss abortion rights? Let's have one place where kids can still be kids.
If there was ever a place for 'don't ask, don't tell' its in scouting. If you are truly interested in helping the scouting program, why do you need to make your sexual preference known? What purpose does it serve other than to push an agenda where it has no place. If you don't like the BSA rules, don't join.
Re: “EPA critical of Keystone XL review”
EPA is right. This pipeline is not worth the risk.
Re: “EPA critical of Keystone XL review”
The project is only vital for a more rapid decay of our environment.
Re: “EPA critical of Keystone XL review”
Ideological extremists and assorted crackpots have succeeded in tying up this vital project for far too long. Enough already with this insanity! America desperately needs the jobs, and the world needs the Canadian oil—which it is going get no matter what. Abolish the EPA, ship the most offensive environmentalist kooks off to Gitmo, and get on with it. Drill, baby, drill!!
Re: “Scouts in a changing America”
A primary aim of scouting is to inculcate a virtuous character. Obviously it would be completely counter-productive to install adult leaders who espouse an immoral lifestyle.
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
By the way, the Warren campaign's charges are bunk. Last time I looked, the process for selecting a political party’s nominess, whether by a caucus for mayor or via voters participating in a state’s presidential primary, was designed to award the nomination to whoever obtained a majority of the votes. Naturally this meant that, should one candidate obtain that majority before all caucuses had met or before all states had held their primates, then unavoidably the votes of the later groups would be rendered superfluous.
So when a candidate wraps up their win early is this the result of racism or some other evil attempt at disenfranchisement or to discourage voter participation? Of course not. It’s simply a matter of timing. You want your vote to count? Then work to ensure that your caucus or your state primary is held early enough to have an impact. As Ben Franklin said, “You may delay, but time will not.”
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
Ms. Fien - Thank you for the clarification. But I see that you didn't update the article itself and so unless someone reads your comment here they will receive an inaccurate view of the event.
Shouldn’t the statement now read,...
“The loss might even work to Warren’s advantage by reinforcing her campaign narrative of being an “outsider”: the candidate of the people versus the candidate of the city’s business interests.”?
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
GARY WALKER?! LOL. Does that mean I get to share his salary now? Actually, I campaigned for Bill Johnson 2 years ago -- not something Gary Walker would have done (at least not if he wanted to keep his job).
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
Interesting change of messaging. From Morelle's original press statement:
"The OVERWHELMING support for Mayor Richards expressed by the City Democratic Committee is an indication that the people of Rochester STRONGLY APPROVE of his leadership these past two years," (emphasis added)
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
MJN, I should've been clearer. What I meant is that Richards is clearly the choice of the party machine, and the narrative Warren's campaign is using is that of someone who will represent people who feel disenfranchised: like they don't have a voice in city government.
Chris Fien
City news editor
Re: “Blumenauer talks up investment in bike-pedestrian infrastructure”
I fall somewhere between Toby's pessimistic myopia and Scott's over-achieving optimism. . . but I did get to ride all 12 months this year. I will ride any day it's going to be dry on the ground. Could be 12 or 92 degrees, as long as it's not going to be wet/slushy - I'm pedaling.
There were definitely days this winter when a wider road would have been appreciated by both myself and the car traffic passing me (or trying to).