News Blog

This post has been corrected.

At 4 p.m. on Friday, May 9, the Finger Lakes Women’s Equality Coalition will rally in support of the Women’s Equality Act. The demonstration will take place in front of 2300 West Ridge Road, Greece; State Senator Joe Robach’s office is in that building.

The state legislation covers workplace and wage discrimination, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and accommodations for pregnant employees. It also includes a provision that would move the state’s abortion laws out of the criminal law section and into health codes. Supporters say the legislation would protect women’s abortion rights established under the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.

The local equality group is part of a statewide coalition pushing the State Legislature to pass the Women’s Equality Act, which was proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, by the end of the current session in June.

Last year, the legislation stalled in the Senate. The chamber’s leaders said they were willing to call a vote on all of the measures except the provision regarding abortion. Robach said at that time that he wouldn’t vote for the act if it included the abortion provision. BY JEREMY MOULE 


The first public meeting on the reorganization of the Rochester Police Department is from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, at the Ryan Center, 530 Webster Avenue. Additional meetings will be held on May 13, May 15, May 20, and May 22.

The RPD is changing from two patrol divisions, one on each side of the city, and a smaller downtown section, to a five-section model. One of Mayor Lovely Warren’s campaign promises was to reconfigure the police department in order to strengthen the police-community relationship.


A public meeting on the plan to fill a portion of the Inner Loop will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, in the lodge at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, 353 Court Street. Final design plans will be on display.

The City of Rochester will fill in a stretch of the loop between Broadway and Charlotte Street, making a significant amount of land available for development.

Built decades ago to help people get around downtown, the present-day Inner Loop is the object of much distain by planners and city officials for cutting up neighborhoods and separating downtown from the rest of the city.


A community meeting on the redevelopment of the Port of Rochester is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 8, at the Robach Community Center, 180 Beach Avenue.

The city’s selection of Edgewater Resources to redevelop the port has been controversial. Edgewater’s proposal includes a hotel that could be 13 stories tall, and other buildings of considerable height.

The proposal includes housing, a hotel, and commercial and office space. Critics say the proposal turns a public asset into a playground for the rich, and would irrevocably damage Charlotte’s cozy charm.

City officials say the port is underused and generates no tax revenue. A successful project there would benefit everyone, they say. BY CHRISTINE CARRIE FIEN


The Rochester school board will hold a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, for Superintendent Bolgen Vargas to present his plan to turn around East High School.

Vargas’s plan is an alternative to the recent proposal from School Turnaround to take control of East as an educational partnering organization. Turnaround made its presentation to the board last week.

Vargas has to provide the State Education Department with a plan to turn around East by May 15. Tuesday’s meeting will be held at the district’s central office, 131 West Broad Street.

The board will also meet on Thursday, May 8, for a final review and vote on the budget for the 2014-2015 school year. The budget meeting will follow a brief meeting concerning the relocation of Renaissance Charter School, and should begin at about 5:45 p.m., at the district’s central office. BY TIM LOUIS MACALUSO