Anyone familiar with the Rochester school district knows that nearly 90 percent of city students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. And that figure hasn't changed much during the last decade.
What has changed is the increased number of...

Well worth the read is David Frum's hard-hitting piece in New York magazine, "When Did the GOP Lose Touch With Reality?"
Frum, a Republican, is a former editorial-page writer for the Wall Street Journal, has worked at the conservative Manhattan...

New York's Department of Environmental Conservation is holding public information meetings on permitting regulations that will govern large-scale water withdrawal in the state. The DEC will hold several meetings this month, including one in...

Eastman Kodak is, in real-estate parlance, ready to make a deal. Kodak officials have been giving guided tours of the buildings they hope to sell to Monroe Community College for MCC's new downtown campus.
Earlier today, some of MCC's Board...

The Rochester school board's superintendent search committee will hold two more public forums this week to let parents, students, and community members share their expectations about the next superintendent.
The first meeting will be held...

I've been looking around for a reason to be optimistic about New York's economy, but I sure can't find much.
Earlier this week, Governor Cuomo announced his plan to boost job growth. One of the highlights: casinos! His vision for a "path forward...

The Rochester School Board has posted on its website a survey pertaining to the superintendent search. The survey, which will be available until Friday, December 16, is intended to solicit feedback from parents, teachers, students, and...

The Rochester school board's superintendent search committee held the first of three public forums on Saturday. The forums are intended to provide an opportunity for parents, students, and community members to share their views about the...

Members of Occupy Rochester stormed the Rochester Riverside Convention Center today (see video), where the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation was holding a program on the city's economy. Featured guests were Mayor Tom Richards and County...

We've measured student performance from almost every angle imaginable, writes Rod Watson, in a column for the Buffalo News.
He cites some familiar turf: student test scores, absenteeism, graduation rates, and administration staff size....

If state officials green-light high-volume hydraulic fracturing, and they probably will, the negative impacts associated with natural gas wells will add up.
And environmental groups say that, as the state has prepared its draft environmental...

By the end of the Bush presidency, it was no longer a surprise when politics stomped all over science and health. But it's dismaying to watch it happening in the Obama administration.
Yesterday Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen...

Starting next week, boaters can no longer discharge on-board sewage into the American side of Lake Ontario.
Today the Environmental Protection Agency approved a petition, submitted by the state, to make the stateside portion of the lake a...

The ads being produced for the GOP presidential contest are turning out to be more interesting than the candidates.
When a friend of mine saw this ad by Texas Governor Rick Perry, he said, "Here we go again."
When all else fails, and apparently...

I hate to keep beating the same drum, but Rochester's children are important, so here I go again:
Thanks to Helen Ladd and Edward Fiske for this morning's New York Times piece, "Class Matters. Why Won't We Admit It?"
Fiske (a former Times...

The Rochester Zoning Board will hold an informational meeting on Thursday, December 15, to discuss the demolition of a historic building at 13 Cataract Street, part of the High Falls Brewing Company complex. The building has been vacant for...

Over the weekend, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an in-depth piece on gas company leasing practices and it's enlightening, if not a little horrifying.
Companies have negotiated leases with landowners in Pennsylvania and West ...

I don't remember the context, but during a job interview many years ago, my interviewer remarked that "Rochester is a river town, not a lake town." What struck my young ears then as incredibly profound now seems a crack about...

If you're looking for something to brighten your day, take a look at a Washington Post online gallery: its selection of the best editorial cartoons of 2011.
The works range from the hilarious to the beautifully poignant. My favorites among...

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina used to be a bit more moderate than many of his Republican colleagues. But lately he been lobbing fireballs like the one Politico refers to from his appearance on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.
Graham...