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When Renaissance Square is built --- and more than half of the needed $230 million in funding is already lined up --- it will have an immeasurable effect on Rochester's downtown. For good or ill, the project will alter the character of downtown's architecture. Both of the finalists for the design of Renaissance Square --- LMN Architects
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Water flows down the river. Jungle sounds in the background. Thunder. More water rolling over rocks. A man puts a painted canvas into the river. New Age music, more jungle sounds, and monkey chatter. The painting floats by, only to be pulled out, carefully wrung, and taken to a cave where it is smoothed out
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Rick Dollinger takes over the Monroe Democratic Party at a tough time. It has the reputation of being both weak and fractious. Republicans control county government and nearly every suburban town. In the County Legislature, Republicans repeatedly ignore Democratic initiatives, sometimes even ignoring their requests for public documents. Republicans vastly outperform the Democrats in fundraising. Dollinger's predecessor, Molly
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The boys huddle in groups, slouching in their hooded sweatshirts and Carhartt jackets, hands jammed into their jeans pockets. When pressed they'll admit why they came out this snowy Saturday night. "I'm here to see tits," Frank from Dansville says when I sit next to him at the bar at Water Street Music Hall. He surveys
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NO CRISIS $1.4 trillion dollars. This amount of money has now been saved in the Social Security Trust Fund to pay benefits to future retirees. More money is paid into the Trust Fund every year, and it is growing. The money is held
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'The Adventures of a Bear Called Paddington' Theatre Young Kids Enjoy, or TYKEs, is our very own professional theatre for the very youngest audiences. Their premier season continues March 5, 6, 12, and 13 with The Adventures of a Bear Called Paddington. My British sister-in-law brought the Paddington books (by Michael Bond) as well as
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George Beahon wrote more than 5,200 sports columns during nearly a 50-year career for Rochester's Gannett papers. Author Curt Gerling, in his 1957 book Smugtown, U.S.A., called Beahon "the poor man's Red Smith." Smith worked for the New York Herald Tribune and later the New York Times. Many people --- even the 84-year-old Beahon ---
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The first theatrical film of The Merchant of Venice, which took so long to arrive here it might well have been transported by gondola, reminds us of the difficulties accompanying the production of a volatile and controversial work in our time. Whatever its merits, over the span of centuries, and especially in an age
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Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai obviously knows what it is to yearn. Be it a longing for someone or something, or even the wish to be free from such an unbearable desire, Wong's films are infused with a melancholy ache that other filmmakers don't convey nearly as well. And movies like that are my
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Most drummers can trace back to when the beat first hit them and latched on. There are umpteen assorted tales of banged up pots and pans or cardboard boxes and fed-up parents and the undeniable urge to hit, to keep time. Eighty-one-year-old Eddie Israel is a jazz legend who has run with some of
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A mother sent us a letter introducing martial arts instructor Kamae McNeill, "on behalf of... parents and their children whose lives have been touched by Dr. Kamae." With the letter was a binder full of written comments by parents whose kids had participated in McNeill's free, four-day summer martial arts camp. And they all raved. This child-friendly
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The totals: 1,489 American soldiers, 173 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 16,123 to 18,395 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to February 27. American soldiers killed from Feb 23-27: Corporal Kevin M. Clarke, 21; Tinley Park, Illinois | Lance Corporal Trevor D. Aston, 32; Austin, Texas | Staff Sergeant
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The Girls Gone Wild Rocks America Tour at Water Street Music Hall was lame in the extreme and a little embarrassing. It was more like Girls Gone Mild and Guys Gone Desperate. Sure I love, love boobs --- but on my own terms. I wanna earn 'em. It ain't a spectator sport. And
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It's been a winter of tension and pain for many Rochester students and their families. First, there was the deliberation over closing public schools, and the announcement that one, School 37, will close in June. Then, last week, the state announced that it will close two of Rochester's four charter schools.
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The teasing is over, and the campaign for Rochester mayor is under way. No Republican candidates have declared themselves, although attorney John Parinello and County Legislator Chris Wilmot have said they're considering a run. But barring a surprise entry, the Democratic field will consist of three well-known public officials: City Councilmembers Tim Mains and Wade
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'WE'VE MOVED SCHOOLS WITH SUCCESS' Lawrence Jones' letter ("Achievement's not a Small Issue," February 16) expresses skepticism of the City School District's ability to move high-quality schools, terming this a "convenient assumption." In fact, the district possesses an enviable history of doing so. In the past decade alone:
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I'm interested in new, creative theater more than rehashed favorites, so a challenging new play by an unfamiliar, award-winning playwright sounded exciting. Geva's production in a stop-and-stare setting stars an actor I've admired here before. But it's all disappointing. Race of the Ark Tattoo by W. David Hancock pretends to be a flea market sale. Stripped of
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The totals: 1,509 American soldiers, 175 Coalition soldiers, and approximately 16,214 to 18,491 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq from the beginning of the war and occupation to March 7. American soldiers killed from Feb 28-Mar 7: Lance Corporal Andrew W. Nowacki, 24; South Euclid, Ohio | Private First Class Min S. Choi, 21; River Vale,
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Novelist and former Rochesterian Andrea Barrett, for a little light winter reading, is working her way through the collected works of the BrontÎ sisters. It's an exercise she calls "a perverse but very yummy thing." The thoroughness is characteristic. Take, for example, the intricate family tree she drew for her characters. The casual reader may
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"I'll never believe that Kerry didn't take Ohio." That's Mary Ellen Blanchard speaking and tonight's a Thursday, the night she and a half dozen to a dozen local self-described liberals congregate at Monty's Korner to talk politics and down a few drinks while they're at it. Today Democrat Wade Norwood has announced his candidacy for mayor, and
