Over the last 50 years, Lake Ontario's coastal wetlands have been knocked out of balance, strangely enough, by a plan to balance lake levels.
The plan, which dates back to 1963, tries to balance the needs of hydropower facilities, commercial...

How much do we need to know about political candidates' personal lives and beliefs?
Does it matter whether candidates subscribe to a particular religious faith? And if a candidate is active in a particular religious organization - and is a...

Another Rochester neighborhood is worried it could lose its YMCA. The Southwest YMCA on Thurston Road is less than a handful of miles away from where the Collegetown YMCA would be, if that deal goes through.
A few weeks ago we reported that...

FINALLY! Finally, someone has put into words what's been bothering me about Mitt Romney.
Much has been made of Romney's pitch-perfect appearance, and he certainly seems like the candidate programmed by central casting. But there's something...

Before music videos became the industry's 24-hour marketing machine, there were a handful of television shows that mixed music, dance, and live performance. And few held the attention of generations of teens like "Soul Train."
Creator and...

For the country, and for President Obama, this morning's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was really good news. The economy added substantially more jobs in January than had been expected, and the unemployment rate has dropped yet...

I am intrigued and bothered by this LeRoy "mystery illness" case. What's really eating at me is the dismissal by some of the "conversion disorder" diagnosis. And I'm not saying that the victims, families, and their doctors shouldn't...

The enormous support shown for Planned Parenthood this past week has been a big, beautiful bright spot in what has been a troubling period of assault on women's rights and women's health.
First there's been the conflict between the Obama...

At approximately 2 a.m. Thursday, Rochester police officers walked into Washington Square Park and asked a group of seven Occupiers for identification. That much is not in dispute.
But several other details about the evening are. Occupy...

The MCC Board of Trustees meets this afternoon to discuss the college's lease at the Sibley Building.
This story has broadened in scope over the last few weeks. MCC's lease expired last December, and the college and WinnDevelopment - which...

The New York Times seems to have a warm spot in its heart for Rochester.
In their coverage of the Kodak bankruptcy, Times writers have been careful to note that we've replaced many of the jobs that we've lost with the decline of...

Just in from the Washington Post: a federal appeals court has ruled that California's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Proposition 8 was approved by a slim majority of the state's voters in 2008. 
 

According to the League of Conservation Voters, Republican Ann Marie Buerkle has the worst environmental voting record of Rochester's House delegation. And she has the second worst record of all of New York's representatives.
Today, the...

There's a negotiating tactic where one side in the discussion makes an outlandish proposal, knowing full well the other side will reject it. The proposers are really interested in a different offering, which will look much more appealing to...

Jiminy Christmas! For anyone hoping for an Obama victory in November, the Republican presidential competition is proving to be an awful lot of fun.
Yesterday, everybody seemed to think that Mitt Romney had the nomination locked up. The most...

The draw-down of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan seems to be popular with Americans, as well it should be. But apparently that doesn't mean we've learned anything from our involvement there. Nor, apparently, have we learned anything about...

Can't get enough Newt? Well, who can?
Rebecca Gingrich-Jones, wife of Newt Gingrich's gay half-sister Candace, is coming to Rochester in April for Bread & Water Theatre's production of She Said/She Said. Rebecca Gingrich-Jones wrote the...

So now we wait to see how far President Obama will back down on contraceptive coverage.
Many media sources are reporting that the administration will announce some kind of compromise later today. That's a terrible mistake. As I wrote earlier...

 
On Wednesday, you can tell state legislators what you think about the proposed state Assembly and Senate redistricting maps. The legislature's redistricting task force will hold a public hearing on the new plans at the Monroe County...

Hoo boy.... The Republican presidential contest just keeps getting more interesting.
Public Policy Polling is reporting that Rick Santorum led Mitt Romney by 15 points in a survey conducted February 9 and 10.
I'm not making too much of that;...