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Add Maggie Brooks to the list of opponents of the House version of the Violence Against Women Act. The original legislation, which was approved in 1994 and is reauthorized each year, was designed to help protect women who are victims of domestic violence. On Wednesday, the House passed a version
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It turns out New Yorkers aren't terribly fond of the Tea Party or the Occupy movements, at least if you go by yesterday's Siena College poll. As a general practice, I'm skeptical of poll results and I urge others not to take them too seriously. But I found these
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No surprises came out of last night's Monroe County Democratic Committee convention. The party nominated its incumbent State Assembly members to run for re-election; Ted O'Brien received unanimous support to run in the State Senate's 55th District; and Justin Rooney was nominated to run in the State Senate's 61st
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It was a chaotic Wednesday night in the 55th State Senate District. Incumbent Republican Jim Alesi announced, via YNN's state political program Capital Tonight, that he won't seek re-election. He was facing a potential primary anyway, due to fallout from a lawsuit he filed against two constituents, as well
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One of the big questions about high-volume hydraulic fracturing is how to dispose of the waste fluid from fracked wells. Government, industry, environmentalists, and communities have considered whether the fluid can be treated, injected into deep wells, or even landfilled. A new report from Environmental Advocates of New York
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Much of what Maggie Brooks does is under the microscope now, as she balances her job as county executive with her Congressional campaign. As Brooks started her speech to the Rochester Rotary Club this afternoon - the club was having its monthly luncheon - she subtly acknowledged that fine
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New York's industrial development agencies can give businesses a break on several different taxes, including property taxes. Well, it turns out that those breaks can be a problem when local governments try to comply with the state's new property-tax cap. That's what the state Comptroller's Office says, anyway. The office
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Congressional candidate Maggie Brooks may not be divulging much about her positions on federal issues, but she's made her position known on the Affordable Care Act. Brooks put her name to an April 30 op-ed in Roll Call (subscription required) - she shared the byline with two other Republican
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A couple of recent reports from hydrogeologist Tom Myers form a direct challenge to drilling industry arguments that hydraulic fracturing doesn't contaminate underground water supplies. Myers analyzed federal findings that fracking contaminated an aquifer near Pavillion, Wyoming, and concluded that they were sound, Natural Resources Defense Council senior policy analyst Amy
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In a recent story on climate change, I wrote that the Rochester area is already seeing changes in precipitation patterns. Specifically, the area is already seeing more downpours than in the past without seeing a significant increase in overall precipitation; the downpours are not only more frequent, but
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Here's a fun bit of trivia about one of the photos accompanying City's article on Magnum this week,specifically the camera that Magnum photographer Donovan Wylie is holding: there's a very good chance that the sensor in the camera was made by Kodak. I figured the camera he was holding
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Republicans on a County Legislature committee rejected a proposal last night that would have given members of the Democratic minority a better chance to get their proposals voted on by the full legislature. Democratic Legislator Joshua Bauroth's proposal would have guaranteed that every legislator could have at least one piece of
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It's come to this. Minority party legislators in the state Assembly and the County Legislature have introduced proposals aimed at getting their bills to a floor vote. In the Assembly, Republican Mark Johns introduced a bill that, in his words, would "allow each member of the Legislature, during each
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Since 2003, Senator Joe Robach has received more campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association than any other state politician, reports the New York Daily News. In that same period, reports the Daily News, the NRA pumped more money into New York than it did into any other state. The
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On Saturday, or shortly after, the public will be able to see how House and Senate candidates are faring with campaign fundraising and spending. The candidates face an April 15 deadline to submit their quarterly campaign finance reports to the Federal Elections Commission. The reports will cover the period
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Since February 1, former Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority board chair Bill Nojay has been serving as chief operating officer of Detroit's city-run transit system, the Rochester Business Journal reports. (The story is here, but the RBJ requires a subscription to access it.) And guess how he
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New York legislators are on their merry way toward legalizing casino gambling in the state. They say it will create thousands of jobs, revenue for the state government, and even better regulation of gambling. But I have to wonder if gambling supporters in the state aren't overselling the benefits.
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New York's trout season started yesterday and, as in years past, local anglers were making some good catches. But in the not-too-distant future, trout anglers may be faced with a different scenario. In New York, trout are one of the species that will probably be affected by climate change.
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Our mild winter could mean a spring and summer where algae blooms are a bigger problem than usual in Lake Ontario and other local waterways. Last night, Color Brighton Green held a presentation on local water quality issues. Charles Knauf, the department's chief water quality analyst, told the crowd that algae
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The Obama administration is preparing to release its proposal to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, reports the New York Times. I have mixed feelings about the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal. It would effectively prevent the construction of new coal-fueled power plants because of the proposed emissions limits, which is
