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The Rochester Beacon
Commander Mark is still drawing after all these years
Though the medium may have changed, artist and educator Mark Kistler is still drawing and teaching young audiences with as much verve as 40 years ago. In livestreams he releases on YouTube, Kistler teaches exercises from his many art books and interacts with viewers. With his big white beard, he laughs when recalling how recently, one asked in his chat, “Why is Santa Claus teaching drawing?”
Starting with safety
On Sunday, The Firing Pin, an indoor shooting range, gun shop and training center, will host a pistol safety training course at the Kodak Center. The eight-hour session, which does not include the handling or firing of a gun, will cover entry level safety such as firearm laws and regulations, conflict descalation, suicide prevention and other basic information.
The plight of private practice doctors
Facing flat or declining insurance payments while overhead costs rise sharply, the dwindling number of Rochester-area doctors in private practice see themselves in a virtually impossible financial bind. Dealing with subpar reimbursements from Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, a payer that typically accounts for more than half their income, has...
Bull’s Head revitalization plan previewed
Melissa James-Geska stood at the St. Mary’s Campus of Rochester Regional Health, where she was born, as she outlined updates for the Bull’s Head revitalization project. One of the oldest neighborhoods in southwest Rochester, where West Main, Genesee, Brown streets and Chili and West avenues converge, Bull’s Head is in the process of getting new life.
A portal for learning about racism and local history
Kesha James remembers when she signed up for training on redlining and racism in Rochester. A Rochester City School District teacher, working on her administrative degree in urban education and urban leadership, James was curious. She found that the presentation, given by Shane Wiegand, then a fourth-grade teacher at the...
The risks of relying on BMI
Holly Russell M.D.’s suite at Highland Family Medicine does not routinely weigh each patient when they arrive for a follow-up visit. In her practice, she goes beyond the traditional body mass index, considering behavioral aspects. The link between weight and health is complicated, she believes. Weight bias and a...
An urgent plea for Medicaid reimbursement reform in nursing homes
I write to highlight a critical and timely issue affecting the care of seniors and individuals with disabilities in our community. In collaboration with like-minded statewide organizations, Rochester’s nursing home leaders, including myself, are urgently calling for reforms to New York’s nursing home Medicaid reimbursement policies. Considering Governor Hochul’s newly proposed budget calling for $1 billion in cuts for Medicaid funding, I am even more alarmed on behalf of our elderly.
Enterprise Center aims to create more success stories
In a recent business pitch competition, the Enterprise Center at PathStone, an affiliate of PathStone Corp., awarded three women entrepreneurs a total of $8,000 in prizes to use toward the advancement of their business. The organization plans to continue working with minority entrepreneurs and homeowners, growing its business portfolio from $6 million to $25 million over the next five years.
Economic diversity on campus
Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the use of affirmative action in the college admission process. In response, local higher education institutions made public pronouncements about their commitment to racial and socioeconomic diversity. “Our undergraduate Arts, Science and Engineering enrollment has been increasingly diverse, and holistic admissions processes...
Rochester Beacon again exceeds NewsMatch goal
The Rochester Beacon once again surpassed its goal for NewsMatch, the nation’s largest grassroots fundraising campaign for nonprofit news. From Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, the Beacon raised nearly $25,000 from individual contributors—$5,000 more than its goal. This is the fifth year in a row the Beacon has...
D&C news staffers report on their own plight
A half year has passed since the Democrat and Chronicle’s unionized newsroom last asked for public support. From the reporters’ point of view, not much has changed—at least not for the better. Last week, a new cri de coeur came from the D&C editorial staff in the...
The city’s new ‘chief operating officer’
As the new year dawns, issues continuing to face the Mayor Malik Evans’ administration include a stubbornly high rate of auto thefts, a lack of housing for the poor and homeless, a long-troubled school district and one of the highest poverty rates of any U.S. city. Named deputy mayor...
The “Realist” artist in the Roc
When people hear the name Chi TheRealist spoken and not read, they often assume the moniker is “Realest,” as in, “the most real.” But that’s not the intention at all. “In high school, we learned the term optimist, pessimist, and realist, right? So, I kind...
Fear and loathing in 2024
For months, national polls have made one point very clear: Most Americans do not want a rerun of the 2020 presidential election, pitting Democratic President Joe Biden against the Republican incumbent he defeated, Donald Trump. But with less than a week until the 2024 election season officially starts, Biden and...
Project Ride gears up with $1.4 million funding
With $1.4 million in funds, Beyond the Sanctuary has put Project Ride in motion. The project will help low-income county residents overcome transportation barriers to get to jobs. Through a collaboration with Monroe County’s Department of Human Services, Project Ride offers various services including financial assistance for vehicle repairs, maintenance...
Excell, UR center launch collaboration
Excell Partners and the University of Rochester’s Center for Health + Technology have joined forces to streamline and accelerate the development of life science startups. CHeT conducts, plans, manages and implements large multi-center clinical research studies. The center’s technologies and outcome measures have played a role in conduct of research and in the evaluation of new therapies, officials say.
No (immigrant) student left behind
As the winter break ends and students return to their classes, I worry for Afghan children attending schools in the United States, including Dewa, a sixth grader in Upstate New York. The 11-year-old and her family arrived in the U.S. on a Humanitarian Parole visa after fleeing Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
The color of a vintage sound
While it may sound like a quarterback’s cadence, the members of Blue 22 say their band name has absolutely nothing to do with football. “I always liked the simplicity of ‘Maroon 5,’ you know?” says Dom Spinelli, who provides rhythm guitar and vocals. “It’s just a color and a number. I thought that was kind of cool.”
Artists sought to work on creative economy plan
With a vibrant creative economy in mind, the city of Rochester and Monroe County are looking for artists from underrepresented and underserved communities to serve on an Artist Engagement Team. The team will work to develop and implement community engagement strategies for an arts and culture plan for Rochester and...
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