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Greater Rochester’s Alternative Newsweekly December 20 - 26, 2017 Vol 47 No 16 250 North Goodman Street Rochester, New York 14607-1199 themail@rochester-citynews.com phone (585) 244-3329 fax (585) 244-1126 rochestercitynewspaper.com facebook.com/CityNewspaper twitter.com/roccitynews instagram.com/roccitynews On the cover: Illustration by Ryan Williamson

Men must help fight violence and harassment

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DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

From movie producers and corporate executives to famous actors and our highestranking politicians, sexual harassment and misconduct allegations have dominated the news and ignited an international dialogue on male violence against women.

This mainstream publicity is a vital sign of progress, a turning point in a global movement for justice that has local impact.

Monroe County rates of intimate partner violence are two times the New York State rates. A report compiled by Willow Domestic Violence Center in Rochester shows nearly 5,000 reports of domestic violence in Monroe County last year, nearly 50,000 domestic incident calls to Monroe County 911 dispatch, and nearly 4,000 orders of protection filed.

National data are just as alarming. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls domestic violence an epidemic, with one in three women experiencing an abusive relationship in their lifetime, and 4,000 women killed each year by their male partner. Abuse falls disproportionately on women.

With the Twitter campaigns #metoo and others, women are standing up to say “no more,” and men, we must stand with them. The epidemic of domestic violence and sexual harassment will never end until more men become active participants in the movement.

We must continue battling against the toxic cultures that allow sexual harassment and gender violence to become

Publishers: William and Mary Anna Towler Editor: Mary Anna Towler

commonplace. We must evolve.

Our cultural and legal frameworks have been heavily influenced by historical precedence that sanctions male dominance. Wife beating was codified under the Laws of Chastisement during the reign of Romulus in Rome, when the “rule of thumb” allowed a man to beat his wife with a switch no wider than the base of his thumb.

It has taken far too long to climb out of that mindset. A man could legally rape his wife in New York State as late as 1984. It took until 1999 to make stalking a felony offense in New York.

Jackson Katz, a former football star turned genderviolence activist and author of a groundbreaking text called “The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help,” contends that “every person who knows of a perpetrator’s actions, as well as every person who knows the victim, has a responsibility to speak up or their silence is a form of consent and complicity.”

When men shrug off domestic violence and sexual harassment as “women’s issues,” they are acting in a criminally irresponsible manner. Because men are more often than not the aggressors in most of these situations, all men who honor and respect women should feel a moral obligation to take action.

To truly change the paradigm of violence against

women in our society, men need to assume roles as empowered survivors, resourceful advocates, trauma-informed counselors, determined policy makers, compassionate lawyers, well-trained police officers, committed social workers, loving partners, and more.

So, men, here are some ways you can stand with women and join men to end gender violence: 1) Take time to hear survivors without judging, rejecting, or blaming them.

2) Know that domestic violence and sexual harassment can happen to anyone, regardless of culture, education, or marital or economic circumstances.

3) Recognize that your role is not to rescue but to offer support.

4) Encourage survivors or concerned friends to call the Willow Center 24/7 Crisis & Support Hotline (585) 222SAFE (7233).

5) Most important, do something. Doing nothing is also an action, and bystanders are complicit.

For more ways to get involved visit willowcenterny.org.

GEORGE CASSIDY PAYNE

George Cassidy Payne is a case manager and residential family counselor at Willow Domestic Violence Center in Rochester.

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@ROCCITYNEWS

It seemed so likely that Roy Moore was headed to the US Senate that last week’s news was a little hard to grasp.

To the relief of many of us, though, the winner of the special election in Alabama was Doug Jones, a Democrat whose history includes prosecuting two of the men who bombed an African-American church in Birmingham.

Francesca Iraci Bernie Blocchi Teresa Young

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White Alabama voters aren’t the only Americans who say people like Roy Moore represent their values. That’s how we ended up with Donald Trump in the White House.

We can console ourselves that they were in the minority in Alabama, and that they are in the minority in the country as a whole.

And we can trust that thanks to changing demographics and a more tolerant younger population, the nation will become more accepting, more intelligent.

But right now, Alabama’s remarkable election result contains both good news and a sobering reminder. Doug Jones won by less than 2 percent of the vote. The people of his state, like those of the rest of the nation, are deeply divided. And the most serious, most damaging division isn’t over issues like taxes, health insurance, defense spending, or net neutrality.

We’re divided over core values. Over things we believe intensely and are hard to compromise on. Education is key – education and integration, getting to know other people, being with people of other races and religions and sexual orientation. It’s no accident that in Alabama, as in the rest of the nation, the blue areas are the urban areas – the more integrated, more compact and crowded areas – and the red its more segregated, homogeneous areas.

Hillary Clinton’s “Stronger Together” campaign slogan is a pretty good guiding principle for the country. But as Alabama’s election shows, we are very much not together. And we have a long, long road ahead of us to get there.

ENTREES

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More than 650,000 Alabama voters wanted Moore, not Jones. Sixty-eight percent of white voters – and most white women – went for Moore.”

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Roy Moore’s defeat is being attributed to sexual-abuse accusations, particularly one involving a 14-year-old girl. That issue itself is enough to derail a political candidate, but there were plenty of other concerns about Moore. This is a man who believes homosexual conduct should be illegal, that the Christian Bible should take precedence over US law, that Muslims shouldn’t be permitted to serve in Congress. He was removed, twice, as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court for defying federal courts orders.

And so, for whatever reasons, Alabama voters have given a Senate seat to a man who believes that health care is a right; who supports Obamacare, the Children’s Health Insurance Plan, contraceptive coverage, more funding for Medicaid, and abortion rights. Who supports a living wage, DACA, LGBTQ rights. Who wants sentencing reforms to deal with the disproportionate incarceration of blacks and Latinx. Who respects scientists, believes climate change is real, and supports subsidies for renewable energy.

Still, more than 650,000 Alabama voters wanted Moore, not Jones. Jones’ margin was only 1.5 percent. And the breakdown indicated in media exit polls is simply distressing.

Sixty-eight percent of white voters went for Moore. While most women voted for Doug Jones, most white women voted for Moore. Moore was the heavy favorite of white voters with no college education. And among whites who have a college education, 52 percent of women and 62 percent of men voted for Moore.

As Jones’ supporters celebrated, there was a bit of media buzz about Alabama having sent President Trump, the Republican Party, and the nation “a message.” Maybe so. I’m not sure what that message is, though. If sexual abuse is what led to Moore’s defeat, Republicans will just make sure that’s not lurking in the background of their candidates in the future. The party will still be happy to embrace candidates who are virulently homophobic and racist and who thumb their nose at federal law.

And since black voters were key in Alabama, Republicans will ramp up their voter-suppression efforts.

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Alabama and us: the nation divided

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CITY 3

[ NEWS IN BRIEF ]

Faculty group admonishes UR administration

As an independent investigation continues into sexual misconduct accusations at the University of Rochester, the UR’s Faculty Senate Executive Committee has released a sharply worded statement saying victims of harassment and sexual misconduct “still feel vulnerable” because the administration failed to initiate recommended interim policy changes.

The faculty committee urged the administration to step up protections for victims. Allegations of retaliation should be investigated, it said; complainants should be informed about the outcomes of investigations in detail; and closer attention should be paid to patterns of repeated harassing behavior.

In its response, the administration defended current policies, which it said are “regularly benchmarked against those of peer institutions.” And it said it looks forward to reports from the independent commission (due by January 12) and a related Commission on Women and Gender Equity.

Cuomo releases 2018 proposals

News

Monroe County budget passes

County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo’s 2018 budget is a done deal. It easily cleared the County Legislature with only three of the 29 members voting against it; all of the no’s were Democrats. The $1.2 billion plan includes a major staffing boost in the county’s Child Protective Services; a $1.6 million increase in child care funding, largely from the state; and an additional $1.7 million for preventive services, which have proven to help prevent child neglect and abuse and help keep youth out of the foster care system. The budget also keeps the tax rate at $8.99 per $1,000 assessed value.

State funds will help Buckingham Properties replace a former Genesee Hospital building with offices and apartments.

PHOTO BY RYAN WILLIAMSON

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | BY JEREMY MOULE

Local projects get state funds The Finger Lakes region is getting $63.9 million through the state’s annual Regional Economic Development Council awards.

The funding will cover 110 different projects across the nine-county area served by the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council. The awards are based on an annual strategic plan prepared by the council.

One of the bigger awards – $2 million – is going to the Skyview on the Ridge project. The property’s new owner is overhauling and repurposing the former Irondequoit Mall. CGI Communications is getting $1.5 million to aid in the construction of

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Governor Andrew Cuomo

has been dribbling out the proposals he’ll include in this year’s State of the State address, scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, January 3. The half-dozen proposals released as of Monday include legislation that would prohibit anyone convicted of a domestic violence-related misdemeanor or felony from owning a firearm. He also wants the state Labor Department to evaluate changes in the minimum wage for tipped workers, which is currently lower than for other workers.

its new offices and a parking garage in downtown Rochester.

A $500,000 grant will help Buckingham Properties kick its Alexander Park development back into gear. The company will tear down an unused building on the former Genesee Hospital property on Alexander Street near Monroe Avenue.

In its place, the developer will build a four-story building with office space and apartments, according to the state’s awards book.

Mindex Technologies, an IT and software company based in Henrietta, is expanding and will occupy the firstfloor offices in the new Alexander Park

building. It’s receiving $350,000 worth of state assistance.

Generally, the awards range in size from just over $35,000 to a few million dollars. They cover smaller grants for arts and cultural projects, including some programming around the 200th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’s chosen birthday; various municipal drinking water and sewer projects; and investments in agricultural facilities and programs.

The awards also devote funding to job training, job placement, and workforce development programs.

A few streambank restoration and storm water management projects are included as well.

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There are plenty of Tesla owners in the Rochester area.

But thanks to Tesla’s business model and state restrictions, the closest dealership and service centers is in Toronto. A bill before the State Legislature could make bring a dealership here.

TRANSPORTATION | BY JEREMY MOULE

Tesla bill will get another try Teslas are hardly a rare sight on Rochester’s roads.

But there’s no Tesla dealership in the Rochester region or, for that matter, any part of Upstate. The nearest ones are in major metros such as Toronto, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New York City. And the same holds true of the company service centers that can perform warranty or body work on the cars.

The issue is Tesla’s business model: the company manufactures the cars and owns the stores that sell them. That’s different from how any other automaker sells its vehicles in New York, since they go through independent, franchised dealerships.

Right now, state law limits Telsa to five stores in New York City, so the company is basically prohibited from opening locations Upstate. That, however, could change under legislation sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle and Republican Senator George Amedore.

They introduced the bill earlier this year, but it stalled during the legislature session.

It’ll automatically be reintroduced when legislators return to Albany in January.

The legislation is a little weird in its wording, since it never mentions Tesla by name and instead refers to companies

that exclusively manufacture and sell zero-emission vehicles. But in effect, the legislation would allow Tesla to have up to 20 stores or service centers in New York State, and it will require Tesla or similar companies to have one facility in each of five Upstate regions: the Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany metros, as well as the Hudson Valley.

Local dealers are aware of the legislation, says Brad McAreavy, president of the Rochester Automobile Dealers Association, which hasn’t taken a public position on it. But association representatives are in conversation with the sponsors and legislators, he says.

McAreavy argues that consumers and vehicle manufacturers are best served by the franchise dealership model. And Tesla could quickly expand into the Upstate market by working within that long-established system. It would cost the company little, since the dealer owners would pay for overhead like staff, facilities, and the equipment needed to service the cars.

Tesla has its reasons for using its directto-customer model. In an explanation on its webpage, it agrees it could expand quicker and cheaper if it went the franchise route. But it argues that

traditional dealerships put too much emphasis on the sale of gas-powered autos, and that the model hinders the company’s ability to reach potential consumers before they decide what vehicle they’ll buy. The Teslas, such as this Model S, are out of the reach of for a lot of car company also says it buyers. But the sleek cars have done a lot to boost the profile of wants to expand its electric vehicles. PROVIDED PHOTO service centers in far offers up some numbers to show the greater numbers than its showrooms. effectiveness of traditional dealerships vs.

Practically and directly, the MorelleTesla’s model. New York State has an electric Amedore legislation will let Tesla do that, vehicle rebate program, and since March it’s which means local owners of the vehicles registered 4,233 sales, McAreavy says. Only would have more convenient service and 110 of those vehicles were Teslas, he says. repair options.

But think about how carmakers use But there’s a bigger picture. Right sleek sports cars as marketing tools. now, Tesla’s are luxury vehicles with Something like a Corvette isn’t affordable price tags that top $100,000; the new or practical for a lot of car buyers, but it Model 3 has a $35,000 base price, grabs consumers’ attention and draws it to but the company has run into a lot of the rest of the Chevrolet lineup. manufacturing issues and hasn’t been That’s what Teslas have done and able to ship nearly as many as it expected will likely continue to do, not for any to. They’re sleek and fast, and they’ve specific car brand, but for the whole of done a lot to bust the image of EV’s as electric vehicles. nerdy little lunchboxes on wheels.

The company sells only a fraction of the electric vehicles in New York. McAreavy

EARLY HOLIDAY DEADLINES In observance of CHRISTMAS CITY Newspaper will have early deadlines for the issue of December 26 The holiday deadline for display and classified-display ads and all editorial

4 p.m. on Thursday, December 21 Our offices will be closed on Monday, December 25

For any questions, please contact themail@rochester-citynews.com rochestercitynewspaper.com

CITY 5

CITY HALL | BY MARY ANNA TOWLER

In the new year: a new Council with big challenges Rochester’s city government will enter 2018 with a major change in its legislative branch. A third of City Council’s nine members will be new. And Council will be losing a lot of institutional memory: two of the three members who are leaving – Carolee Conklin and Dana Miller – have each served on Council for 12 years.

Each of the newcomers brings valuable experience. Mitch Gruber is program director at Foodlink and has served on the Governor’s Council on Hunger and Food Policy. Willie Lightfoot is a former County Legislator and has deep experience in community work in the city’s southwest area. And Malik Evans has served on the Rochester School Board since 2004 and was its president from 2008 to 2013.

City Council President Loretta Scott said last week that she expects “a very smooth transition.” Since two of the three newcomers have prior legislative experience, “there will not be as much of a learning curve,” she said.

Nonetheless, the newcomers will be joining a Council with a lot on its plate, in a time of big challenges.

City officials start work on Rochester’s new budget soon after the first of the year, and Conklin, who chairs Council’s finance committee, says they “generally face a structural deficit,” right at the outset.

Finding ways to close that deficit and meet the city’s growing needs is never easy, but next year may be a particularly stressful one for cities like Rochester. While government officials are still analyzing the full impact of the new federal tax legislation, it seems clear that it will put more pressure on New York’s cities.

The budget won’t be the only issue facing the new Council. Among the others: • Possible changes in Mayor Lovely Warren’s administration. Like some of her predecessors, Warren asked all department heads to submit their resignation. That kind of action is often merely a formality; it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t be rehired. But Warren could want to make some changes, and if so, Council would have to approve them.

• Police oversight. In response to police-reform pleas, City Council has started scrutinizing the current oversight system, in which police officers investigate citizen complaints about police conduct.

Reform activists have pushed for 6 CITY

DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

The feds’ impact on Rochester

The city budget, downtown development, and a lot more will be on city government’s plate in the early months of 2018.

FILE PHOTO

independent investigations of complaints.

Scott’s goal is to have Council act on some kind of reform in the spring. And she said last week that she hopes Council will “pull together at least a proposed restructuring” early in the new year to present to the public for comments. “I think we’ll have at least the skeletal plan,” she said.

• Parcel 5 of the former Midtown Plaza property, which fronts on Main Street directly across from the Sibley Building. The site’s future has been the focus of protests since Mayor Lovely Warren first recommended a development plan submitted by the Rochester Broadway Theatre League and Morgan Communities for a new theater and an apartment building at the rear.

The city owns the land, and City Council has to approve its sale. After Warren’s announcement last April, RBTL and Morgan were to flesh out their proposals and give Warren their final plans – including their financial plans. If they were satisfactory, Warren would then ask Council to sell the land.

So far, that hasn’t happened. And Morgan got some negative publicity in September, when the Buffalo News reported that the FBI was investigating a Morgan project there. Since then, Rochester’s City Council turned down a request to loan Morgan $1.5 million for an apartment building at the corner of Court Street and South Avenue.

Council members said that the FBI investigation didn’t influence their

decision on the Court Street project.

Instead, they said, they were concerned about the building’s small amount of affordable housing and why the loan request came up so late in the project’s development. Still, concerns about Morgan could seep into city officials’ deliberation about the proposal for Parcel 5.

Also an issue – and it’s a big one – is whether the RBTL project has enough financial support. Paychex founder and philanthropist Tom Golisano pledged $25 million, and RBTL president Arnie Rothschild has been seeking additional support, both public and private. But there’ve been no announcements about funding commitments since Golisano’s.

Rothschild has said he hopes for some state funding, but that may be harder to get, given the governor’s concerns about the impact of the federal tax bill on New York State. And local officials are likely to be skittish about any local government funding – and about assuming risk with additional big projects, given the financial problems experienced by the Rochester Rhinos.

What should happen if the RBTL-Morgan proposal isn’t fleshed out satisfactorily? Leave Parcel 5 undeveloped for a while, says retiring Council member Carolee Conklin.

After several years of rapid development downtown, Conklin says, the city needs to let downtown “shake out”: let the new developments get completed, fill up, and see what else is needed.

Rochester has benefitted from a variety of federal funding programs, particularly in the areas of community development and infrastructure. “Most of the work on the Inner Loop was paid for with federal dollars,” notes City Council’s finance committee chair Carolee Conklin.

Early versions of the Republican tax bill contained serious threats to some of those sources. “There’s a great deal of concern and uncertainty,” City Council President Loretta Scott said late last week, as it became obvious that the federal legislation would pass. “We’re concerned that it may significantly affect our ability to do the kind of projects we’ve done in the past.”

Negotiations seem to have saved some of that help, including tax credits for low-income housing and infrastructure. The final version of the bill also preserves the historic tax credit, which spurred redevelopment of numerous Rochester buildings.

But the credit will have to be spread out over five years rather than being used in the first year, which may discourage some developers.

Also still a concern: changes related to the refinancing of municipal bonds. Governments do that to take advantage of lower interest rates, and Rochester finance director Charlie Benincasa points to a refinancing in 2016 that saved the city $2.2 million.

The final federal tax legislation still permits the refinancing, but it places restrictions on it and, says Benincasa, “it reduces our flexibility.”

City officials are particularly worried about the changes in state and local tax deductions. The final bill allows deductions up to $10,000, but that cap will hurt owners of more expensive homes, including those in Rochester.

And that could discourage homebuying and lower property values.

It will also result in those homeowners paying higher taxes, which may cause them to press city, town, and state governments to lower local tax rates. And that would mean less money for vital services in cities like Rochester, and for its school district.

rochestercitynewspaper.com

CITY 7

MASKED MEDIA TELEVISION | BY ANDREA HICKERSON

HOW SINCLAIR BROADCASTING USES LOCAL TELEVISION STATIONS TO PROMOTE A CONSERVATIVE VIEW 8 CITY

DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

WHAM 13 General Manager Chuck Samuels: ““Never once has any company told us how to cover or spin local news.”

While social media companies like Twitter and Facebook are under fire for their role in aiding and abetting propaganda during the 2016 election, a television broadcast company – Sinclair Broadcast Group – and its local affiliates are getting an unwarranted pass. And that could have a profound impact on public understanding and opinion.

According to the Pew Research Center, more American adults report getting their news from television than anywhere else, including social media. Sinclair, the owner of Rochester’s WHAM 13, is the largest local TV operator in the US and owns 193 local stations in 89 markets. A proposed merger with Tribune Media would bring Sinclair’s reach to 72 percent of US households and 39 of the top 50 media markets, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City.

Not only does the merger prime concerns that consumers will be exposed to less media variety, but it’s particularly disconcerting because for years Sinclair has regularly forced its station affiliates to run conservatively biased news and commentaries within local newscasts.

Rochester’s top-rated WHAM Channel 13 is no exception. The presence of long-serving, respected anchors like Don Alhart and Ginny Ryan masks a significant, corporate-mandated editorial shift to the right.

WHAM 13 became a Sinclair affiliate in 2012 and immediately began airing Sinclair’s must-run content.

In interviews with over half a dozen current and former journalists who have worked or currently work at each of Rochester’s local TV broadcast stations, we heard expressions of concern, and sometimes anger, that Sinclair’s content is misleading audiences in Rochester and harming the practice of journalism in general by pursuing partisanship over objectivity.

One reporter at a non-Sinclair station said he would refuse a position at a Sinclair station, even if the job was more prominent.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” he said. “It’s your integrity, and you have to be able to sleep at night.”

Chuck Samuels, the general manager at WHAM, agrees that local Sinclair producers don’t have a say over every story that runs in local newscasts. But he is adamant that Sinclair ownership does not influence locally produced news.

“Never once has any company told us how to cover or spin local news,” he says. “If it comes to it, I may not be here any longer. But I don’t see that happening.”

Most critiques of Sinclair have surfaced in national media, perhaps because local Sinclair employees don’t want to badmouth their employer and colleagues at other stations don’t want to malign their Sinclair colleagues.

Perhaps the most prominent critique nationally and, inadvertently, locally in Rochester, came during a July 2 segment on HBO’s “This Week Tonight with John Oliver.”

The piece featured a mash-up of different anchors across the country reading the same introduction to a news

FILE PHOTO

story about Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security advisor.

In the segment, there is a 2-second cameo of WHAM TV anchor Norma Holland reading from what Oliver argues is a conservatively biased script written by Sinclair. The intro and the subsequent segment, also produced by Sinclair, frames Flynn as the target of a vindictive FBI. Chuck Samuels says the clip of Holland was unfortunate. It was “taken out of context,” he says, and purposely “edited to look like commentary.”

It’s true that many media consumers find it hard to distinguish between news and commentary. Audiences look for clues, but often there aren’t any. You might expect a comedian like Oliver or even Fox News and MSNBC to provide editorial commentary, but you might not expect to find national commentary in the middle of a local newscast.

Sinclair, however, is challenging that paradigm by regularly requiring local affiliates, including WHAM, to run two different national commentaries: “Behind the Headlines” with Mark Hyman and “Bottom Line with Boris” with Boris Epshteyn.

Hyman has been at Sinclair for 20 years and has been making commentaries since 2001. Epshteyn was a Trump campaign advisor.

Both segments are labeled commentary, but they appear in local newscasts mixed in with locally produced news, and Hyman and Epshteyn position themselves as unbiased news sources.

For example, in an October 5 commentary, Hyman critiques the Pulitzer Prize-winning website PolitiFact, a fact-checking organization run by the Tampa Bay Times.

“No one’s fact-checking the fact-checkers,” says Hyman, “except us.”

PolitiFact had labeled “mostly false” a claim by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz that two-thirds of the 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act was filled with pork and had “nothing to do with” superstorm Sandy.

Hyman argues that PolitiFact’s reporting is wrong, and he directs people to his website to find links to two more commentaries where he describes PolitiFact as “fabricating info and presenting false claims.”

In an article titled, “Sinclair is targeting PolitiFact.

But you need to know the facts,” PolitiFact responded, disputing Hyman’s evidence. “Our reporting is accurate, and we list all of our sources,” it said.

Epshteyn’s commentaries are also biased. They often echo President Trump’s talking points – for example, defending the president’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and championing the president’s new travel restrictions.

WHAM’s Samuels says stations can choose when to run Sinclair-mandated content within a certain time frame directed by corporate, which means stations can run them during timeslots with low viewership.

And, he says: “It is less than 2 percent of what we do on a daily basis.”

He also noted that editorials inserted into local newscasts are not unique to Sinclair, and that non-Sinclair stations in other markets run editorials.

And, he says, he hasn’t received many complaints from viewers. “If they don’t like the commentaries, they can turn them off,” Samuels says. “But even if you hate them,

continues on page 10

rochestercitynewspaper.com

CITY 9

you should listen.” Viewers, he says, should be exposed to opinions other than their own.

“The company is offering a different viewpoint,” he says.

The “different viewpoints” don’t show up only in Sinclair’s must-run

commentaries. They’re also in mustrun news stories produced by Sinclair corporate or other Sinclair affiliates.

One regular Sinclair must-run feature criticized by John Oliver and others concerns the “Terrorism Alert Desk” based in Washington, DC. Like the Hyman and Epshteyn commentaries, these segments have low production values and feature a single reporter on a non-descript set next to a red screen with the segment’s title, similar to the style of breaking-news updates on other channels.

The segment is a digest of terrorismrelated news from around the world.

ISIS is featured prominently in most segments, many of which are available on WHAM’s website. An October 6 alert featured attacks in Canada and France and visuals of Arabic lettering and police lights.

A supplemental map, “Tracking Terror,” is also available on WHAM’s website. You can hover your mouse over pins on the map to read about individual terrorist activities, such as the December 2015 attack on a holiday party in San Bernardino, California, or the December 2015 arrest of a man planning to attack a restaurant in Rochester.

Notably absent from the list are domestic terrorism incidents such as the mass shooting in Las Vegas and the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, during which a woman protesting the white nationalists’ march was killed.

All of the pins on US locations relate to incidents where people reportedly had ties to ISIS. Another Terrorism Alert Desk segment mentioned that French towns were ignoring a court decision overturning laws banning women from wearing “burkinis” (full-coverage bathing suits favored by some Muslim women) – news that had nothing to do with terrorism but that promotes the stereotype that Muslims are terrorists.

The Alert Desk “promotes an agenda of fear,” says former local Sinclair anchor

Rachel Barnhart, who left television and has since moved on to politics and, more recently, community activism. (Barnhart was the only local journalist willing to be quoted on the record.)

Samuels, however, isn’t concerned about the Alert Desk segments and dismisses suggestions that it feeds a Republican or conservative agenda.

“I don’t get why this would be considered a conservative viewpoint,” he says. “Oftentimes there is interesting info in it.”

Most other local news stations have the option of using content from affiliates if they wish, much as print publications can choose what content to use from the Associated Press, if they are subscribers.

And television reporters interviewed for this article said that while other stations do get mandated content, it’s only a few times a year, usually when corporate has spent a lot of money on a segment. Often these segments are about health or sports and are not of a political nature, they said.

What sets Sinclair apart is that while its local stations can also draw content for their local newscasts from their other network affiliates, Sinclair corporate regularly chooses some of the content for them and mandates its airing.

Notably, even Fox, which owns some local affiliates across the nation, has reportedly never required mustruns like Sinclair. (Since 2014, Fox Rochester WUHF, Channel 31, has shared news and sales operations with WHAM 13 and, therefore, also carries Sinclair content.)

One local reporter said she can easily tell when WHAM is airing a must-run. She even notes changes in the demeanor of the local anchors introducing the segments.

Another tell of a must-run is that the content is national or international, not local.

“It is really concerning,” says Rachel Barnhart. “The product Sinclair puts out doesn’t meet journalistic standards. It isn’t fair, and isn’t good quality.”

Not all local reporters share Samuels’ belief that must-run news stories are

helpful and informative.

Barnhart tells the following story.

In March 2013, she was set to anchor a Sunday evening local news show.

Scheduled during the broadcast was a mandated must-run about a divorced single mother of two, which originated at Sinclair’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, affiliate, and was distributed to other Sinclair stations.

The segment opens with the text “Waste Watch” on the screen as reporter Chris Papst sets up the scene. “Eightythousand dollars is a lot of money,” he begins, “and that’s why this story has a lot of people outraged.”

Next, above the subtitle, “Living the Good Life Off Government Handouts,” we are introduced to a mother enrolled in nursing school trying to transition off welfare benefits.

Moving away from the woman on the screen, Papst explains that he researched all the possible entitlements a single mother of two could receive. This includes benefits for day care, weatherization projects, a cell phone and a land line, legal advice, school grants, and tax credits.

The total is over $80,000.

But the numbers are completely divorced from the woman in the segment.

The audience doesn’t know which of those benefits she uses – if any.

“It was a stereotypical welfare-queen story,” Barnhart says. Papst chose to personify government waste by focusing on a woman and reinforcing a debunked stereotype that blames character traits for poverty.

One of the sources Papst uses to discuss welfare reform is Matt Brouillette, the then president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, a right-wing think tank.

During the broadcast, Papst introduces Brouillette as representing a “government

SINCLAIR REQUIRES LOCAL STATIONS TO AIR MARK HYMAN’ “BEHIND THE HEADLINES” – A CONSERVATIVE COMMENTARY ON NATIONAL TOPICS – ON LOCAL NEWSCASTS.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY RYAN WILLIAMSON PHOTOS: SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP

10 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

return to more issues-based and reform-minded reporting than he was when he wrote the book.

“Sinclair is really, really smart,” he said. “And that isn’t necessarily good for the rest of us.”

In his book, McPherson says broadcast media favors short sound bites over complex storytelling and is therefore easier to pare down to “values” – often a rallying cry for conservatives.

Other research demonstrates how broadcast media’s overreliance on sensational topics like crime and car crashes leads to a more pessimistic view of the world and causes frequent television viewers to overstate the Former WHAM 13 reporter Rachel Barnhart need for public safety and order, another objected to a Sinclair must-run but was told it characteristic of the conservative platform. had to run anyway. FILE PHOTO Fox News is hugely successful in bringing a conservative agenda to market, producing news that feeds and sustains ratings. Conservative watchdog group that emphasizes a safety net and viewers like Fox News because of its conservative not a safety hammock.” content. In response, McPherson says in his Barnhart says she complained to book, some of the other news networks, and WHAM management, and she wasn’t CNN in particular, adopted Fox strategies, satisfied with their response. including adding more punditry.

“They thought it was fine,” she says.

In addition, the conservative movement She found out later that she was not the first has proved adept at marketing its own content anchor to complain about the segment. through the news media.

Unlike Barnhart, Bill O’Reilly was For example, in 2004 the Swift Boat Veterans impressed by the piece and later featured the for Truth peddled a documentary questioning report and Papst on his Fox News Channel presidential candidate John Kerry’s service in show during a segment entitled, “The Nanny Vietnam to Sinclair which reportedly intended to State on Steroids.” require it as a “must run” at all its affiliates.

Management treated this as evidence the Sinclair denied this was the plan. However, segment was successful, Barnhart says.

Jon Leiberman, a Sinclair reporter, spoke out It’s popular to taunt the media as being against the airing and was fired. liberal. In fact, however, some research shows “They were going to have the news that the mainstream broadcast media are department take an active role in framing this becoming more conservative in general. The documentary as a news item,” Leiberman told influence of Sinclair is just a new, brazen chapter.

CNN in 2004.

In his book, “The Conservative Resurgence In the end, Sinclair did not end up running and the Press: The Media’s Role in the Rise of the the entire documentary, but it did show excerpts Right,” James McPherson, a professor emeritus in a special news program. in communication studies at Whitworth Indeed one of the real dangers of Sinclair, University in Spokane, Washington, argues that McPherson says, stems from the fact that media, and radio and cable news in particular, people are more likely to trust local news have been trending conservative since the 1960’s. than national news.

McPherson’s book was published in 2008, but recent research reaches similar conclusions.

And McPherson says he is less optimistic today that journalists can reverse the trend and

said the John Oliver segment educated him about Sinclair. If he were invited When people tune into Fox News, he says, to appear on a WHAM show, as he was they expect the content to be conservative. When earlier this year to talk about an exhibit of people watch local network news, however his photographs of The Who, he said, he they are not expecting a slant. So by having would refuse to go out of protest. conservative content on a trusted local network, “People are powerless unless they boycott, McPherson says, Sinclair is exposing a broader and that would hurt others,” Rachel Barnhart audience to a conservative viewpoint using said, similarly. the “sheen of respectability” of a familiar news The sources, including Samuels, also anchor. But, he says, the news may not meet stressed the need for audiences to seek out basic journalistic standards of fairness, objectivity, news from different news organizations. and accuracy.

In reality, however, consuming more media is a tall order for viewers who generally What can viewers do if they don’t like rely on journalists’ expertise and time to curate what’s happening? what is important news for them.

Reporters interviewed for this story struggled Another option is to teach more to articulate what action they could take to get media literacy in schools. This year the Sinclair to change. Several said they wished senior Washington state legislature passed WHAM employees had the courage to speak legislation requiring schools to create out. Their jobs are likely more secure than those a media-literacy plan. Whitworth of new reporters, who are paid less and might University’s James McPherson is helping hope that Sinclair would eventually move them develop these plans. He is also on the to a larger market. board of directors for a non-profit media “It’s easy to say ‘walk away,’ but you can’t just monitoring organization, Northwest walk away if you have a family,” one reporter said.

Alliance for Responsible Media.

“These jobs aren’t easy to come by.”

Although reporters we spoke with And one source noted that many WHAM were unable or reluctant to talk on the reporters didn’t choose to work for Sinclair; record for this story, most said they’re Sinclair bought the place where they worked. eager for the public to learn more about Derek Dalton, the vice president and Sinclair and its ambitions. general manager of WHEC News 10, stressed It isn’t clear whether the lack of his own station’s commitment to local news. open discussion about Sinclair in But he also noted that it has a different Rochester is due to public ignorance, business model than WHAM. lack of leadership, or the success of local “We are family-owned business, Hubbard stations in framing the conversation Broadcasting Inc.,” he said in an e-mail. “We about local news coverage, taking approach our news and weather coverage with attention away from complicated no agenda other than serving the needs of our questions about media ownership.

LOCAL Rochester community. It is our position Whatever the reasons, Samuels to give fair, balanced, and complete news… our isn’t worried. editorial decisions are all made locally.”

“We aren’t Number 1 for nothing,” William Snyder, a four-time Pulitzer Prize he says. “When we lose the trust of the winning photojournalist and professor at RIT, community is when we’ll no longer be Number 1.”

BORIS EPSHTEYN’S CONSERVATIVE COMMENTARIES ARE MANDATED SEGMENTS ON LOCAL NEWSCASTS OF WHAM 13 AND OTHER SINCLAIR STATIONS. rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 11

12 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

Dining & Nightlife

Above: Lanai's Blue Hawaiian frozen Tiki drink; above right: Green curry sweet potato skewers.

PHOTOS BY RYAN WILLIAMSON

Island hopping on Alexander [ CHOW HOUND ] BY KATIE LIBBY

We often use the metaphor of an explosion as the impetus for big changes occurring in our lives, whether it refers to a relationship, a career opportunity, or just a bunch of little things that have built up and make us want to clear our personal cache and hit the restart button. And then sometimes it’s an actual explosion. In the case of Rico Griffone, it was his food truck blowing up in his home driveway that pushed him to make the move back to Rochester from Poughkeepsie and open Lanai (295 Alexander Street) with partner Casey Walpert who had opened Bug Jar, Mex, and Tap and Mallet.

Griffone and Walpert had talked about opening a place together for years and were

leaning toward Asian cuisine, but they didn’t want to pigeonhole themselves into a specific type of Asian cuisine for the menu.

They decided to tap Griffone’s Hawaiian roots and celebrate the different culinary cultures of Hawaii. Griffone, his mother, and grandmother were all born there.

“Hawaii has a multitude of different cultures, it’s a melting pot, so you get Thai, you get Korean, you get Japanese, Filipino, and that’s where the whole concept came from,” Griffone says. “We’re trying to pull from all these different islands,” he says, adding that the menu is “Asian, with an island flair.”

The Jap Chae ($10) is a Korean dish made from stir-fried sweet potato noodles in a sweet and savory sauce and tossed

with red pepper, carrot, caramelized onion, mushroom, and spinach. Most items on Lanai’s menu can be made vegetarian. You’ll find Griffone’s grandmother’s curry on Tutu’s Curry Wings ($12), which is baked wings tossed in an Indian curry sauce and served alongside a mango chutney dipping sauce — Tutu means grandmother in Hawaiian.

Lanai occupies the former space of Mex Restaurant, which Griffone opened with Walpert. He says that being back has been surreal: “I helped build Mex and worked in the kitchen, when I left I was head chef. So it’s almost like full circle for me coming back — knocking it down, building it back up, and now in an ownership capacity,” he says.

Renovations began after Mex closed last year, and the new space is virtually unrecognizable. Walls were torn down to make one giant space on the first floor and to expose the brick walls that lay behind.

The brand new bar, made of carbonized bamboo plywood for that island feel, extends for nearly the entire length of the first floor. Custom-built high top tables fill the front of the room and the whole space feels much lighter.

In keeping with the Hawaiian theme, the bar has a selection of four different frozen Tiki drinks that will rotate. Right now you can choose from the classic Mai Tai, Zombie, Blue Hawaiian, or Singapore Sling. A selection of non-frozen Tiki cocktails are also on the menu, including the Navy Grog and Dark and Stormy, and the bar has a rotating draft list along with selection of domestic and craft bottles.

“We’re trying to foster a culture of hospitality,” Griffone says. “Rochester can get gray, let’s keep it tropical in here.”

Lanai is located at 295 Alexander Street, and is open Tuesday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

262-3060. rochesterlanai.com.

Quick bites

Branca Midtown (280 East Broad Street) will

celebrate their first anniversary on Thursday,

December 21, from 5:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Highlights include a Negroni fountain, complimentary snacks to mark the debut of the new Apertivo Hour, and rounded off with $1 Miller High Life all night.

Via Girasole Wine Bar (3 Schoen Place) will host a Sparkline Wine and Food Pairing Class on Wednesday, December 27, at 6 p.m. $35 will cover the cost of the class and includes wine and food. The class will be taught by sommelier, Michael Facik. Purchase tickets at squareup.com/market/via-girasole/item/ sparkling-food-and-wine-pairing-classwednesday-december-pm.

If you still haven’t solidified your New Year’s Eve plans, many local bars and restaurants are making sure you’ve got options.

The Old Toad (277 Alexander Street) will host a New Year’s Eve Dinner on December 31 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. The Monte Carlo themed event will cost you $65 for food and beer pairing, or $55 if you want to skip the beer pairing. There will be a complimentary champagne toast at 7 p.m. Call 232-2626 to make your reservation or stop down to The Old Toad in advance.

Branca Basin (683 Pittsford Victor Road) will offer a prix fixe menu on New Year’s Eve for $65. Call 310-7415 or visit brancabasin. com to book your reservation.

The Cub Room (739 South Clinton Avenue) will host New Year’s Eve 2017, Party Like Gatsby from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Reservations are $89 and include a six course tasting dinner, complimentary champagne toast at midnight, and live Gatsby-era music and dancing. Call 3635694 to book your table.

Openings

Brooklyn Ramen is now open at 215 Alexander Street.

Thai Mii Up has opened a second location in Fairport at Eagle Vale Golf Course (4344 Nine Mile Point Road).

Blue Taro has opened at 938 Monroe Avenue. The Vietnamese restaurant occupies the former Le Lemongrass space.

Closings

Jimmy John’s has closed the College

Town location.

Mise en Place (683 South Avenue) is scheduled to close at the end of 2017.

Chow Hound is a food and restaurant news column. Do you have a tip? Send it to food@ rochester-citynews.com. rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 13

Upcoming [ ROCK ]

Music

Bowie Tribute Night. Friday, January 12. Bug Jar, 219 Monroe Avenue. 8 p.m. $5. bugjar.com. [ JAZZ ]

Charlie Hunter Trio. Thursday, March 29. Lovin’ Cup, 300 Park Point Drive. 8 p.m. $15-$20. lovincup.com; charliehunter.com. [ METAL ]

The Iron Maidens. Friday, May 11. Montage Music Hall,

50 Chestnut Street. $20-$23. themontagemusichall.com; theironmaidens.com.

RPO Holiday Pops

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, THROUGH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23 KODAK HALL AT EASTMAN THEATRE, 60 GIBBS STREET $24-$110 | 454-2100; RPO.ORG [ CLASSICAL/POPS ] The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra closes out its Pops concerts for 2017 with a feel-good gala event to get you in the holiday mood.

Jeff Tyzik will lead the RPO in a well-rounded program that features everything from iconic classical works by Bach, Schubert, and Handel to cultural touchstones like Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” and excerpts from the movie “Home Alone.” Tyzik also brings several of his own arrangements to cherished holiday hymns, and guest vocalist Denzal Sinclaire returns to the RPO in this festive sonic smorgasbord. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; and 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday.

— BY DANIEL KUSHNER

Groveland Station FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22 ABILENE BAR AND LOUNGE, 153 LIBERTY POLE WAY 5:30 P.M. | FREE | ABILENEBARANDLOUNGE.COM; GROVELANDSTATION.COM [ STOMPGRASS ] You’ve heard of bluegrass, right? These Livingston County cats play stompgrass, or American fiddle boogie, if you like. But unlike other artists of the genre in this corner of New York, it doesn’t stop there. They get funky and contemporary, so when the blue or stomp kick in, you’ll hold onto it — or your partner — tightly.

— BY FRANK DE BLASE PHOTO BY ERICH CAMPING

Join us for Rob Linton’s 15th Christmas Eve Celebration DECEMBER 24th LIVE from 8 p.m. – 12 a.m.

We take requests, play great holiday jazz, blues and big band music!

ROCHESTER’S 24 HOUR JAZZ STATION STREAMING LIVE 24/7/365 AT JAZZ901.ORG 14 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

[ ALBUM REVIEWS ]

[ WED., DECEMBER 20 ]

The English Project

BLUES

“Volume 1” Self-released theenglishprojectband.com

Swamp Trotter THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21 FUNK ‘N WAFFLES MUSIC HALL, 204 NORTH WATER STREET 9 P.M. | $5 | ROCHESTER.FUNKNWAFFLES.COM; SWAMPTROTTER.BANDCAMP.COM [ INDIE ROCK ] If you ever find yourself pining for the

heady Blogspot days when bands like Local Natives, Volcano Choir, and Yeasayer ruled the indie tastemaking world, Rochester’s Swamp Trotter is right up your alley. With each member acting as a self-described “multi-instrumentalist” and dabbling in a little bit of everything, Swamp Trotter’s latest record, “Old Friend,” is a stunningly varied and intricately composed release.

There are few things in this world that a good five-part harmony can’t fix.

— BY ALEXANDER JONES

Matt Griffo FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22 LOVIN’ CUP, 300 PARK POINT 8:30 P.M. | $5 | LOVINCUP.COM; MATTGRIFFO.COM [ MUSICAL COMEDY ] We’re definitely in need of some comedic relief. Comedian and singer-songwriter Matt Griffo isn’t afraid to work blue to tackle the fundamentals that plague our society. Enter Griffo’s world, where he tells a story from two sides: as a diatribe and as a song played with his ukulele, guitar, and piano or accompanied by a cello. Musically he’s quite adroit. Lyrically he’s hiiiiii-sterical. I mean check out the song about the girl who can carry four glasses of beer at once — you’ll have to find out how.

— BY FRANK DE BLASE

Hanna and the Blue Hearts Duo. Little Theatre Café, 240

Drummer and bandleader Chris “Hollywood” English is a shepherd with his flock playing on ice.

It’s a casual, nonchalant affair all over “Volume 1,” by English’s new band, The English Project. “Volume 1” is funky on the mellow side and mellow on the funky side. It’s seven slices of mostly instrumental joy.

Becoming known for its extrapolated jams, The English Project doesn’t immediately abandon the map, though it’s definitely been set on fire. Spin this record in the search for favorites and you may land on track no. 1, “Four Finger Discount,” with its lowdown and dirty groove. Or it might be the track “Good to Know,” with guest emcee MdotCoop letting fly with his lyrical wizardry.

“Volume 1” is a fine record, although it reaches its altitude rather quickly and stays there for the duration. There is a variety of guests that keep things fresh, but the album lacks a little dimension, which the band is more than capable of achieving. Perhaps I’m biased, with AudioInFlux, when it had English on drums, playing in my head.

Regardless, don’t panic. There may be variety just around the corner: The English Project is already working on “Volume 2.”

— BY FRANK DE BLASE

East Ave. 258-0400. thelittle. org. 7-9 p.m.

Upward Groove. Temple Bar and Grille, 109 East Ave. 232-6000. templebarandgrille.com.

10 p.m.

POP/ROCK

The Dady Brothers. Johnny’s Pub & Grill, 1382 Culver Rd. 224-0990. johnnysirishpub.com. 7 p.m.

Don Christiano. Abilene Bar & Lounge, 153 Liberty Pole Way. 232-3230. abilenebarandlounge.com.

7:30 p.m. $3.

Krypton 88. Record Archive, 33 1/3 Rockwood St. 5-8 p.m.

Prawn, Slingshot, Dakota, People Like You, Queen Moo. Bug Jar, 219 Monroe Ave. bugjar.com. 8 p.m. $12-$14.

Raibred, Astro Collective, and Fordham Road. Funk ‘n

Tart Vandelay

Waffles, 204 N Water Street.

585-448-0354. 8 p.m. $7.

“Flow” Self-released tartvandelay.com

[ THU., DECEMBER 21 ]

Simple beauty just pours out of this EP like a bloodless, self-inflicted wound. In order for someone to take beauty, somebody has to give it. And Rochester’s Tart Vandelay just gives and gives on its new, four-song salvo, “Flow.” What catches the ear right out of the gate is the result of the group’s singer-keyboardist Katie Halligan harmonizing with herself. This always sounds odd to me, and it has a unique ring and reverberation more than if she had intoned with another woman warbling in the shotgun seat.

Though Tart Vandelay has fleshed out its ranks to a foursome since we last heard from it, the beauty and deceptive innocence the band set out to create on earlier duo endeavors remains; the only difference perhaps is there’s a little more control. It shows up in the lush production that rocks sweetly without burying the sound in the distraction of a clichéd or forced atmosphere. You can hear the room Tart Vandelay recorded this EP in — it’s as if they were playing in the walls.

ACOUSTIC/FOLK The Crawdiddies. Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave. 258-0400. thelittle.org. 7-9 p.m.

Jim Lane. Murph’s Irondequoit Pub, 705 Titus Ave. Irondequoit. 342-6780.

8 p.m.

Steve West. Brown Hound Downtown, 500 University Ave. 506-9725. brownhoundbistro.com. 6-8 p.m.

Travis Fitch. 585 Rockin Burger Bar, 250 Pixley Road.

5852470079. 5-8 p.m.

CLASSICAL

Eastman at Washington Square. ,. esm.rochester.edu/

— BY FRANK DE BLASE

community. 12:15-12:45 p.m. continues on page 17

Operation Warm to raise money for Coats for Kids’

th Decemberfrom20 5pm - 7pm

THE BEER MARKET IS

LOCAL 1071 FIREFIGHTERS

TASTING EVENT

RAISING MONEY

ALL MONTH DONATIONS ENCOURAGED! 1401 MT MT. HOPE AVENUE | (585) 244-2337 44-2337 rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 15

Music say that I probably listen to equal parts contemporary music and traditional, older, legends kind of stuff. There’s a lot of great roots music coming out right now, here and internationally. Most of it is influenced in some way by the old stuff, but there are definitely some fresh sounds and new takes on an old sound that’s happening — which is what we are aiming to do: put a new spin on something familiar.

We’ve been described as “neorockabilly” and “pan-Americana,” which are titles that I can get behind. There was a rawness and a novel beauty in a lot of the older stuff that is charming and honest. It’s important to me to hold on to some of that, and not forget to keep it simple sometimes.

Are you just a rockabilly band?

A shot from “Manuel Rivera-Ortiz: India,” on display at the India Community Center through May 31.

Lara Hope and her band, The Ark-Tones. The Hudson Valley-based group is heading to Europe next year and has a string of US dates with the Reverend Horton Heat.

PHOTO PROVIDED

Hope sings eternal Lara Hope & the Ark-Tones FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22 ABILENE BAR & LOUNGE, 153 LIBERTY POLE WAY 9 P.M. | $8 | ABILENEBARANDLOUNGE.COM; LARAHOPEANDTHEARK-TONES.COM [ FEATURE ] BY FRANK DE BLASE

Sure, Lara Hope has a crackerjack band that knows how to flood a dancefloor with its cool, custom bop and swing. And The Ark-Tones know where the traditions stand as they forge fresh tracks to avoid the mildew and clutter.

But what’ll grab you and won’t let go is Hope’s creamy contralto. Whereas a lot of her contemporaries lead off with a gutsy snarl or hillbilly twang, Hope croons.

Hope won the 2017 Ameripolitan Award for Best Female Rockabilly Artist, but The Ark-Tones are so much more than a rockabilly band, mixing its own rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues with appreciative glimpses in the rearview. Still, I’m telling you, it’s that voice. Hope could read from the Old Testament or a phonebook and make it sound sexy.

16 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

What is an irreplaceable component in your band?

The Hudson Valley-based band has put out two albums in its 10 years on the scene and is really starting to make a dent. A European tour is slated for the upcoming year as well as dates in the US supporting the Reverend Horton Heat.

CITY spoke with Hope to discuss it all: community theater, keeping it fresh, and being more than just a rockabilly band. An edited transcript follows.

me such an amazing and thrilling feeling.

I think I was hooked on show business at that moment.

I played in punk rock and hard rock bands in my early 20’s, and was asked to front a traditional rockabilly band around 2008, 2009. I felt like I really found my voice when I started singing and writing roots music.

CITY: Marti Brom, Nikki Hill, Candye Kane, Rosie Flores, Kim Lenz, and now Lara Hope.

Give me a little history. What got you started?

Is there one moment etched in your mind?

Lara Hope: First of all, I’m flattered to be

Just attending the Ameripolitan Awards, let alone winning, was one of the best experiences of my life. To be a part of something bigger than yourself, but somewhere that you feel you belong — as a part of a movement that is so important to you — is just beyond words.

They don’t tell you that you’ve won until they call your name, and put your face on that big screen, and you’ve got to get up there and make a speech in front of a packed Paramount Theater, of people you respect and look up to.

Now that is nerve-wracking and amazing.

included in that sentence with those women who I admire so much. OK, where to start?

Well, I came out of my mom’s womb singing a Dolly Parton song, with a full head of hair. Just kidding — the hair part is true, though. I do remember my first out of school performance: it was a community theater production of “Oliver” the musical. Since I didn’t have boobs yet at the age of 9, I got the role of Oliver, a little boy. I’ll never forget coming out to take my bow at curtain call, and the applause I got from the audience gave

Heck no. In fact, we’ve actually been starting to shy away from calling ourselves a rockabilly band, and using the term “roots rock ‘n’ roll” instead. I think that gives a more accurate sense of what we do. Sure, we play rockabilly music, but we also play rhythm and blues, country, jazz, and have even been called “punkabilly.”

I’ll never break up with rockabilly, but we like to push our musical boundaries and let the music go where it needs to.

You recently won an Ameripolitan Award; how was that?

Is it important for you to listen to the legends to keep it pure, or do you avoid them to keep your sound fresh?

I listen to it all. At this point in time, I’d

My husband, Matt. Really though, it’s hard to find a great upright bass player around here, so, when I found one, I married him.

What’s something you and the band want to do but haven’t done yet?

Touring Europe, but that is happening for the first time in April. We will be spending the month in Belgium and Holland. We’ve got 30 shows booked in 30 days there. I just hope we come home in one piece.

I heard a tour with the Rev Horton Heat is happening this year.

It’s true. We are very excited to be spending two weeks on the road this June with The Rev and Big Sandy.

What are you most proud of?

Some people say that success is being able to support yourself by doing something that you love. While we live very modestly, and are definitely toward the bottom of the financial ladder, I am able to pay my bills by playing music and have done so for the past 6 years. Anything that happens after this is icing on the cake.

Third Thursday Concerts.

Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave. 276-8900. mag.rochester.edu. Every third Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Made possible by Rippey Endowed Trust. Included w/museum admission.

CITY Newspaper presents

Mind • Body • Spirit

Third Thursday Concerts: An Italian Baroque Christmas..

Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave. 276-8900. mag. rochester.edu. 7:30 p.m.

JAZZ

Gian Carlo Cervone & Hanna PK. Mendon 64, 1369 Pittsford Mendon Rd. Mendon. (585) 433-9464. 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Joe Bean Family Band & Christmas Caroling. Joe

TO ADVERTISE IN THE MIND BODY SPIRIT SECTION CALL BETSY AT 244.3329 x27

PHOTO PROVIDED

HIP-HOP | ACE HOOD

OR EMAIL BETSY@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

Abominable Snowband.

Florida-raised rapper and DJ Khaled protégé Ace Hood hit the road in November for his first official 22-city tour as an independent artist. Even with his busy schedule, he dropped his latest bass-heavy single, “Testify,” last week — there’s word that he’s releasing new music while on the road. Ace Hood was first widely known for his collaboration with Future and Rick Ross on the 2013 hit “Bugatti” — off of his “Trials & Tribulations” album — and fans had to wait a while for another album. It took four years, with only brief clues of what was to come, but he didn’t disappoint: his mixtape “Trust the Process” was released in late August.

Superty Dupes, Swamp Trotter.

Ace Hood performs with a slew of special guests on Thursday, December 21, at the California Brew Haus, 402 West Ridge Road. 7 p.m. $20-$25. tecshows.com; soundcloud.com/acehood.

— BY AMANDA FINTAK

Bean Coffee Roasters, 1344 University Ave. 532-7942. joebeanroasters.com.

8-11 p.m. $5.

R&B/ SOUL

Amanda Ashley. Via Girasole Wine Bar, 3 Schoen Place.

Pittsford. 641-0340. viagirasole.com. 7-10 p.m.

POP/ROCK Johnny’s Pub & Grill, 1382 Culver Rd. 224-0990. johnnysirishpub.com. 7 p.m.

Amy Montrois Trio. B-Side, 5 Liftbridge Lane. Fairport. 585315-3003. fairportbside.com.

7-10 p.m.

Funk ‘n Waffles, 204 N Water Street. 585-448-0354.

9 p.m. $5.

[ FRI., DECEMBER 22 ] BLUES

Groveland Station. Abilene Bar & Lounge, 153 Liberty Pole Way. 232-3230. abilenebarandlounge.com.

5:30 p.m.

Rhythm Dogs. Johnny’s Pub & Grill, 1382 Culver Rd. 2240990. johnnysirishpub.com.

5 p.m.

COUNTRY

Nate Michaels Happy Hour Show. B-Side, 5 Liftbridge

Lane. Fairport. 585-315-3003. fairportbside.com. 5-7 p.m.

DJ/ELECTRONIC

DJ Kahncept, Roland Owens, React, Union, Meek, Soyboy.

Bug Jar, 219 Monroe Ave. 8 p.m. $5.

JAZZ

Fred Costello & Roger Eckers Jazz Duo. Charley Brown’s,

1675 Penfield Rd. 385-9202. charleybrownspenfield.com.

Ott & Davis. The Argyle Grill at Eagle Vale Golf Club, 4344 Nine Mile Point Rd. Fairport.

377-2452. eaglevale.com/ argyle-grill. 6-9 p.m.

Trio East. Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave. 258-0400. thelittle.org. 8-10 p.m.

R&B/ SOUL

Vanishing Sun, Lost Wax, The English Project, Eli Flynn.

Funk ‘n Waffles, 204 N Water Street. 585-448-0354. 9 p.m. $10.

COUNTRY

Red Eye Jack. Nashvilles, 4853

W Henrietta Rd. Henrietta.

334-3030. nashvillesny.com.

9 p.m.

JAZZ

POP/ROCK

Heart Tribute. 585 Rockin

Burger Bar, 250 Pixley Road.

5852470079. 8:30-11:30 p.m. $5.

Hey Mabel. The Titus Tavern, 692 Titus Ave. 270-5365. titustavern.com. 8:30 p.m.midnight.

Jumbo Shrimp and Mulletude’s Holiday Bash. Comedy at the

Carlson, 50 Carlson Rd. 9 p.m.

Lara Hope & The Ark-Tones.

Abilene Bar & Lounge, 153 Liberty Pole Way. 232-3230. abilenebarandlounge.com. 9 p.m. $8.

Miller & The Other Sinners.

B-Side, 5 Liftbridge Lane.

Fairport. 585-315-3003. fairportbside.com. 8-11 p.m.

Taran. Nashvilles, 4853 W Henrietta Rd. Henrietta. 3343030. nashvillesny.com. 9 p.m.

[ SAT., DECEMBER 23 ] ACOUSTIC/FOLK Banjo Therapy. Bernunzio Uptown Music, 122 East Ave. 473-6140. bernunzio. com. Fourth Saturday of every month, 9:30-11 a.m.

Fred Costello & Roger Eckers Jazz Duo. Charley Brown’s,

1675 Penfield Rd. 385-9202. charleybrownspenfield.com.

Laura Dubin Duo. Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave. 258-0400. thelittle.org. 8-10 p.m.

Andy Calabrese & Chet Catallo. Via Girasole Wine Bar,

3 Schoen Place. Pittsford. 6410340. viagirasole.com.

7-10 p.m.

REGGAE/JAM

Pearly Baker’s Best. Funk ‘n Waffles, 204 N Water Street.

585-448-0354. 9:30 p.m. $10.

POP/ROCK Bart Man. Johnny’s Pub & Grill, 1382 Culver Rd. 224-0990. johnnysirishpub.com. 8 p.m.

East End Drifters. B-Side, 5 Liftbridge Lane. Fairport. 585315-3003. fairportbside.com.

8-11 p.m. continues on page 20

/

NEWS

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rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 17

HAPPY NEW CELEBRATE OUR 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH OUR 4TH NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY

The Gate House Café will be hosting a

Christmas Eve Brunch

December 24th 10am to 2pm Special Holiday Menu Will Be Coming Soon.

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OPEN NEW YEAR’S DAY! 274 North Goodman Street in Village Gate thegatehousecafe.com • 473-2090

18 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

ALICE IN WONDERLAND THEME! Themed specials all night!

Join us for Midnight Champagne Toast Food & Drink Specials & Snacks

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SERVING DINNER Tues-Sat.

New Year’s Bash!

A fun filled night of live music, delicious food and drink, champagne toast at midnight and more!

6:30-8:30 - An acoustic dinner show to get you warmed up!

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rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 19

Many Wonderful Gifts Still in Stock!

Harmonica Lewinski, aretheyyestheyare, Dangerbyrd. Bug Jar, 219

Monroe Ave. 8 p.m. $10.

Vinyl Orange Ottoman.

Abilene Bar & Lounge, 153 Liberty Pole Way. 232-3230. abilenebarandlounge.com.

9 p.m. $6.

[ SUN., DECEMBER 24 ] ACOUSTIC/FOLK

Acoustic Brunch: Alex Goettel. Funk ‘n Waffles, 204

N Water Street. 585-448-0354. noon.

CLASSICAL

Compline, performed by the Schola Cantorum. Christ

Church, 141 East Ave. 4543878. christchurchrochester. org. 9-9:30 p.m.

[ MON., DECEMBER 25 ] ACOUSTIC/FOLK

Happy Hour with Stormy Valle. Record Archive, 33 1/3

Rockwood St. 244-1210.

5-8 p.m.

ONE WORLD GOODS

A Fair Trade Marketplace Open 7 days a week Call for holiday hours

owgoods.org

PITTSFORD PLAZA 387-0070

CLASSICAL

Tuesday Pipes.. Christ Church, 141 East Ave. 454-3878. christchurchrochester.org. noon.

[ TUE., DECEMBER 26 ] ACOUSTIC/FOLK Crossmolina. Little Theatre Café, 240 East Ave. 258-0400. thelittle.org. 7-9 p.m.

PHOTO PROVIDED

DOOM METAL | THE OBSESSED

Scott Wino has always been somewhat of a man out of time. It’s a fact he readily acknowledges on the legendary, self-explanatory Saint Vitus track “Born Too Late,” crooned with the kind of gallows acceptance you’d expect from the only real metal dude signed to SST Records in the 1980’s.

When he was peeling off slow and low riffs for doom metal forefathers The Obsessed, however, Wino never sounded more at home. Classic songs like “Brother Blue Steel,” “Forever Midnight,” and “Tombstone Highway” sound as old and indomitable as rock itself, legitimized further by a man who carries that same spirit within himself.

The Obsessed plays with Saints & Winos, King Buffalo, The Highest Leviathan, and Rotten UK on Friday, December 22, at Photo City Improv, 543 Atlantic Avenue. 7 p.m. $15; $17 under 21. facebook.com/photocityimprovcomedyclub; theobsessedofficial.com.

— BY ALEXANDER JONES

PSST. Can’t decide on where to eat?

Check with our dining writers for vetted grub.

CLASSICAL

Tuesday Pipes.. Christ Church, 141 East Ave. 454-3878. christchurchrochester.org. noon.

JAZZ

Grove Place Jazz Project.

Downstairs Cabaret Theatre, 20 Windsor St. 325-4370. downstairscabaret.com. 7 p.m. Featuring a different set of Eastman School of Music Students and other area jazz artisans every Tues. $10.

REGGAE/JAM

Dead Night with Roc and Rye Band. Funk ‘n Waffles, 204 N Water Street. 585-448-0354.

8 p.m.

POP/ROCK

North Star String Band.

Johnny’s Pub & Grill, 1382 Culver Rd. 224-0990. johnnysirishpub.com. 7 p.m.

/ FOOD 20 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

Culture

Arts & Performance Art Exhibits

RIT’s Industrial Design seniors presented a unique dining experience as this year’s iteration of its “Metaproject.” The event took place at Good Luck Restaurant on Sunday, December 17.

PHOTO COURTESY RIT PHOTO SERVICES

One hell of a final exam Metaproject 08: “Designing Dining” HELD SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, AT GOOD LUCK RESTAURANT METAPROJECT.RIT.EDU [ REVIEW ] BY REBECCA RAFFERTY

For the last several years, RIT’s Industrial Design department has charged its senior year students with a challenging opportunity to collaborate with designers and design houses for its Metaproject. The program creates industry partnerships for students with different established companies, which in the past have included Umbra, Poppin, and Kikkerland. And it allows students the chance to shine on the professional, international stage, as the department showcases the final products of the Metaproject at New York’s Design Week each May. The latest iteration of the project, “Designing Dining,” which took place last Sunday night at Restaurant Good Luck, wasn’t products designed by each individual student, but a collaborative experience: a four-course meal in a pop-up restaurant within a restaurant, designed by the 16 industrial design students and one interior design student consultant. The event also served as part of Good Luck’s series of Inspired Table dinners, and ticket revenue

helps the students fund the experience and “message it” during Design Week.

RIT Industrial Design chair Josh Owen and project collaborator, Good Luck Coowner Chuck Cerankosky (who is a 2003 graduate of the ID program), and chef Dan Martello worked closely with the students after they were given their directive in the fall.

“We’ve designed everything from toys to the future of office systems,” Owen says of past Metaprojects. “These are kids who are trained as product designers, but the definition of product design has certainly expanded beyond the traditional definition into experience, socially-conscious community work, and systems design. This was an opportunity to test it out on an experience to be consumed and all done in a short period of time.”

Every bit of the evening was carefully curated. Cerulean lights cast a club-like glow on everything as chatter rose over the DJ’s spinning and guests sipped the signature drink, a vibrant cocktail made with Blue Curaçao. Signage in bold, tightly-kerned Helvetica (naturally) decked the walls.

At coat check, the students exchanged guests’ outerwear for a numbered clothespin, and proceeded to adhere the coats to a clothesline and use a pulley system to string them up high across the glass window wall that divides the bar from the dining room. When my plus-one joked that they’d effectively trapped us inside for the duration

of the event — it was far too bitter to go outside unswaddled — I recalled that my smokes were in my coat pocket and winced as I asked them to bring it back so I could get a quick one in.

Assigned seating at two long tables in the dining room had me placed across from my friend, each of us flanked by ID department alum and current RIT staff. The experience was meant to be a form of “communal dining,” but when one diner suggested we get new neighbors by moving around between courses a la the Mad Hatter’s tea party, no one was really having it.

Before each of the courses, there was a performative aspect as the students changed the look of the tabletops by unrolling a runner down the center of the long surfaces.

Each of the materials used were matched to the courses, which subtly alluded to the seasons, moving from spring through winter.

Coasters printed with different phrases were also changed between courses: “a time for growth,” “a chill in the air,” and so on.

A burlap runner preceded the salad course, which was a literal bouquet of greens and edible flowers packaged in paper that diners unwrapped before dousing with dressing served in watering cans. A layer of fishnet was added next, prompting guests to speculate that seafood was coming. And it was, served on upright skewers stood on blocks of wood.

A fun touch — we were given a squirt tube of sauce and asked to write a word on our plates that encapsulates summer — was just one of a few Instagram opportunities.

As diners conversed between courses, another performative aspect was happening on the back wall, where the restaurant’s massive chalk board was covered with white paper. Throughout the meal, students made colorful prints using cut vegetables, and later removed paper letters to reveal “Designing Dining” in negative space.

The third course was a hearty meal of cider-braised chicken, squash, potato puree, and Brussels sprouts, served family-style on large platters that diners passed around. Just before the final course, a heat sensitive black vinyl runner was unrolled, prompting much giggling as guests made hand prints and snapped photographs. Soon we were each served a sort of deconstructed, frozen apple pie: a shortbread cookie on a bed of spiced ice with a vessel of hot caramel to thaw it.

The evening was a compelling, playful, social event, and cohesive despite the disparate elements and the many hands on deck. Owen says he’s not sure how this experience will manifest during Design Week — typically they have a space showcasing the students’ products — but it’s something they’re working out. Not only was the topic a bit of a stretch, but the implementation was a group effort, he says. “These kids really are capable of being expansive in their thinking about how to deliver experiences.”

[ OPENING ] Hedonist Artisan Chocolates, 674 South Ave. Stormymade at Hedonist. Through Dec. 30.

461-2815. [ CONTINUING ] 1570 Gallery at Valley Manor, 1570 East Ave. ‘Tis the Season. Through Jan. 1.

Artwork and crafts by Cheryl and Don Olney. 546-8400.

EpiscopalSeniorLife.org.

Art Museum of Rochester, 610 Monroe Ave. “Beast” Through Dec. 31. Paintings

by Rochester native Alexander Spacher. Thursday 5 to 11 p.m., Friday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. 615-9015. artmuseumofrochester.com.

Bug Jar, 219 Monroe Ave. The Lobby Presents. Through Dec. 31. Art by Flour Pail Kids, Black Cat Horror Memes, and Stormy Made.

Central Library, Children’s Center, 115 South Ave. 2017 Art of the Book Exhibit. Through Dec. 31. Featuring the art of the book: artists books and altered books.

A Different Path Gallery, 27 Market St. Brockport. Works

by D Scally and J Retallack.

Through Jan. 4. 637-5494. differentpathgallery.com.

Equal=Grounds, 750 South Ave. Tom Somerville’s Art Exhibit.

Through Dec. 22. 256-2362. artoftrs.net.

Flower City Arts Center, 713 Monroe Ave. From the Seeds of Cucumber Alley. Through Dec. 21. Celebrating 40 Years of Photography. A display photographs by volunteers and staff. 271-5920. rochesterarts. org.; Good Things.. Come in Small Packages. Through Dec. 21. An exhibit and sale dedicated to small, finely crafted ceramic art. 271-5183. rochesterarts.org.

Gallery 384, 384 East Ave. Winsome Winter Wishes. Through Jan. 28. Opening reception Wed. Dec. 20, 6-8 p.m. Featuring live music by Chet Catallo. Art by Wendy Menzie, Margaret Miyake, and more.

Gallery Q, 100 College Ave. Take the Long Way Home. Through Jan. 25. Work by Nancy Topolski and Allen C. Topolski.

Gallery r, 100 College Ave. Patricia Russotti: Marking Matters in Time. Through Jan. 21. Photography and installation by Patricia Russotti.

585-256-3312. galleryr.rit.edu.

Geisel Gallery, Second Floor Rotunda, Legacy Tower, One Bausch & Lomb Place. The Arena Art Group. Through Dec. 30. thegeiselgallery.com.

GO ART! Seymour Place, 201 E Main St. Batavia. Cabel and Zen. Through Feb. 3, 2018.

An exhibit of Photography and Illustration by Jim Burns.

343-9313. ghallock@goart.org. goart.org.

Image City Photography Gallery, 722 University Ave. Holiday Show 2017. Through Dec. 23. Photography by Dick Bennett, Carl Crumley, Steve Levinson, Gil Maker, and more. imagecityphotographygallery.com. continues on page 24 rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 21

Theater

The cast of the stage adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel, “Little Women,” which continues at Blackfriars Theatre through December 31.

PHOTO COURTESY DAN HOWELL/THE PERKINS MANSION

Sister, sister “Little Women” REVIEWED SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16 CONTINUES THROUGH SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31 BLACKFRIARS THEATRE, 795 EAST MAIN ST. TICKETS START AT $31.50 (STUDENTS $20) | BLACKFRIARS.ORG [ REVIEW ] BY LEAH STACY

On opening night of “Little Women” at Blackfriars Theatre, artistic director Danny Hoskins and development manager Mary Tiballi Hoffman took the stage to greet the audience. They asked if anyone was visiting Blackfriars for the first time, and nearly half the audience raised hands. An older man in the front row leaned to his younger neighbor and said, “This your first time here? Oh, you’ll love it.”

“Little Women,” a musical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel, opened on Broadway in 2005 and closed after 137 performances. Though it was nominated for awards, there were no wins. However, Alcott’s beloved tale of four sisters in postCivil War New England has continued to 22 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

take on a life of its own across the nation as high schools, colleges, and local theaters stage the musical.

But consider this stage adaptation a highlight reel of Alcott’s original story. With 21 musical numbers, there’s not adequate time to develop the characters encountered in the 300-plus page novel or even the twohour film versions (most notably, the 1994 offering with Winona Ryder as Jo March).

However, the three-hour musical does give time for splendid performances from the cast.

Even if audiences won’t leave attached to Jo or Professor Bhaer, they might leave attached to the talented humans portraying the roles.

Enter a magnificent Blackfriars cast, directed by Patricia Lewis Browne. In addition to her work as an actress and professor, Browne consistently directs some of Blackfriars’ strongest work, including “Annapurna” and “The Boys Next Door.” Music director Julie Covach and choreographer Mandi Lynn GriffithGurell join Browne to form a powerhouse female creative team that would have made Alcott proud.

The casting decisions for this show are so precise that it seems the creative team is

well-acquainted with the show. Leading the pack as tomboy dreamer-writer Jo March is an astonishing Cassidy Thompson. The recent Eastman School of Music graduate is a humorous force onstage, with an incomparable voice (so powerful, in fact, that her mic seems to have trouble keeping up with her vocals throughout the night).

Current Eastman vocal student Natalia Hulse, who plays Beth, toned down her obvious talent as the quietest of the sisters, but she and Thompson had nearly the entire audience sobbing with “Some Things Are Meant To Be.” As the older sister, Meg, Rebecca Pfohl is a sweet presence onstage, with soaring soprano vocals; opposite Kyle Critelli as John Brooke, the two make a charming pair of young lovers. As spoiled youngest sister Amy, Gemma Vodacek is wildly delightful; her keen timing and strong voice make it hard to believe she’s only a senior in high school (watch that one; she’s going places).

Ruth Bellavia portrays Marmee, the mother of the four March sisters, and she’s at once strong and vulnerable, her musical numbers (“Days of Plenty,” “Here Alone”) an anchor to the show’s oft-syrupy content

(and oh, that voice). As Mr. Laurence, Steven Marsocci has perhaps the smallest role but he makes the most of it — his scenes with Hulse, in particular, brought some of the show’s biggest laughs. Vicki Casarett, as the grand, aged Aunt March is really something to behold. Casarett has a gravelly speaking voice that melts into a rather rich singing voice, and her spunky interpretation of the character is spot-on. Portraying the boy next door, Laurie, CJ Garbin (another high school senior to watch over the next few years) is ever earnest, and his performance of “Take a Chance on Me” flawlessly embodies the angst and hope of young love. Rounding out the show is Carl Del Bueno as an amiable Professor Bhaer. Everything about Del Bueno bespeaks a sense of humor, and he is able to relay that to the audience wonderfully in this role, getting more than a few laughs opposite Thompson.

The set design by Roger Budnik is quaint, with lots of wooden accents and neutral colors that allow the brighter, eye-catching costumes by Diane Spacher and elaborate wig design by Laura Fox to stand out. There’s a round picture frame on the center back wall that features digital projections to accompany the vignette-like scenes (though the seasons are woefully mismatched several times). Clever builtin compartments for hiding props and furniture help scene changes to flow.

It’s been quite a month for the local theater circuit — right now, almost every company has a production running. And while classics like “A Christmas Story” will draw traditionalists, several theaters are getting creative with their interpretation of a holiday show. Maybe the show can have a scene that involves Christmas, and a warm sense of family and home? Or maybe it can simply draw a crowd on name alone? “Little Women” falls into the latter categories, but somehow it works.

When “Little Women” ended, the older man leaned once again to his neighbor, asking: “Did you like it?” “It was great,” the younger patron said. “We’ll be back.”

So yes, there’s a place for new plays and avant garde musicals. But contemporary, crowd-pleasing musicals have a place, too. If a “popular” choice in a season locks in a new generation of theatregoers, bring ‘em on.

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/ JOBS

rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 23

PSST. Unlike Godot, we won't keep you waiting.

Always fresh theater content.

/ T H E AT E R

International Art Acquisitions, 3300 Monroe Ave. Dance With the Sugarplum Fairy. Through Dec. 31. Ballet paintings by Marcella Gillenwater. 264-1440. internationalartacquisitions.com.

Makers Gallery and Studio, 34 Elton Street. A Little Death.

Through Dec. 31. Art by Nicholas Gurewitch. 507-3569.

Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave. Wendell Castle: Remastered. Through Dec. 31. The first to showcase the digitally crafted works of Wendell Castle. 276-8900. mag.rochester.edu.

My Sister’s Gallery at the Episcopal Church Home, 505 Mt. Hope Ave. Visions for the Season. Through Jan. 21. A display of photography by members of Camera Rochester. 546-8400.

EpiscopalSeniorLife.org.

Oxford Gallery, 267 Oxford St. Holiday Exhibit. Through Jan. 13. Holiday themed paintings

by Patricia Tribatone, Anthony Dungan, Rosemary Lyons, and more.

Patricia O’Keefe Ross Gallery at St. John Fisher, 3690 East Ave. ELEMENTS. Through Jan. 5. Recent works by Jappie King Black, Bill Stephens, and Bill Judkins.

RIT Bevier Gallery, 90 Lomb Memorial Dr., Booth Building 7A. After the Ball. Through Jan. 6. Exhibition focuses on selected costumes from the annual Beaux Arts Ball.

Schweinfurth Art Center, 205 Genesee St. Quilts=Art=Quilts.

Through Jan. 7. A display of quilts. 315-255-1553. myartcenter.org.

The Clover Center for Arts and Spirituality, 1101 Clover St. The work of Carl Chiarenza.

Through Jan. 1. Also featuring work by Connie Hindero, Neal McDannel, and Anne Marcello.

473-3200. clovercenteroffice@ gmail.com. theclovercenter.com.

Ugly Duck Coffee, 89 Charlotte St. Sequin Fix. Through Jan. 1.

Art by Lauren Ceike.

Williams Gallery at First Unitarian Church, 220 S Winton Rd. Nature’s Beauty. Through Jan. 15. Photography by Joseph Woody.

PHOTO PROVIDED

DANCE | ‘HIP-HOP NUTCRACKER’ “The Nutcracker” is, of course, a holiday season staple — hell, December already brought the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Rochester City Ballet version, New York State Ballet’s performance, and a traditional take with the “Great Russian Nutcracker.” You wouldn’t be blamed for being a little burnt out. But this final “Nutcracker” performance of the year is bringing some reinvigorating uniqueness. The touring “Hip-Hop Nutcracker” is just that: A completely reimagined “Nutcracker,” updated to modern New York City, set to a hip-hop interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s score, and performed by world class breakers. Directed and choreographed by Jennifer Weber, the artistic director of Decadancetheatre in Brooklyn, and featuring Ann-Sylvia Clark as Maria-Clara and Josue “Beast” Figueroa as The Nutcracker.

“Hip-Hop Nutcracker” will be on stage Wednesday, December 20, at the Auditorium Theatre, 885 East Main Street. 7:30 p.m. $30-$68. 222-5000; rbtl.org; hiphopnutcracker.com.

— BY JAKE CLAPP

Call for Participants [ MON., DECEMBER 25 ] Sing with the Rochester Oratorio Society. 6:30-9 p.m Asbury First United Methodist Church, 1050 East Ave 4732234. rossings.org.

Comedy [ WED., DECEMBER 20 ] The Future Feature Show.

8-9:30 p.m. Comedy at the Carlson, 50 Carlson Rd Headlined by Malcolm Whitfield. Featuring Andrea Springer, Cameron Tiller, and more $9. 426-6339. [ THU., DECEMBER 21 ] Phil Hanley. 7:30 p.m. Comedy at the Carlson, 50 Carlson Rd Thurs.-Sat., Dec. 21, 22, 23, 7:30 p.m. Additional 10 p.m. show Fri. & Sat., Dec. 22, 23 $12-$17. carlsoncomedy.com. [ FRI., DECEMBER 22 ] Matt Griffo. 7:30 p.m. Lovin’ Cup, 300 Park Point Dr. 24 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

PHOTO PROVIDED

COMEDY | ‘THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS’ A handful of comedians, all former Rochesterians, are back in town for the holidays, so they did what comes natural: put together a stand-up show. Hosted by Andrea Springer (who’s working here in Rochester), “The Out-of-Towners” will feature Dewey Lovett, Zach Swan, Dario Joseph, and Nate Clark (all now based in New York City), Tim Almeter (living in Attica), and Mikey Heller, who’s now in Los Angeles as a cartoonist and is a writer for Cartoon Network’s “We Bare Bears.” This will be a cool chance to catch up with some familiar, former faces on Rochester’s comedy scene.

“The Out-of-Towners” will take place Friday, December 22, at Boulder Coffee, 100 Alexander Street. 8 p.m. $5 (all proceeds go to the Verona Street Animal Society). bouldercoffeeroaster.com.

— BY JAKE CLAPP

PSST. Looking for more movie reviews?

Matt Griffo is a musician & comedian who plays funny original songs on piano and ukulele $5. 292-9940. lovincup.com.

The Out-of-Towners: A Holiday Comedy Show. 8-10 p.m.

Boulder Coffee Cafe and Lounge, 100 Alexander St. All proceeds of the event go to Verona Street Animal Society $5. 454-7140. bouldercoffeeroaster.com/.

We’ve got a bonus feature online from Adam Lubitow.

Dance Events [ WED., DECEMBER 20 ] Kizomba Dance Classes. 6:307:30 p.m Roc Kizomba Studios (Fedder Building), 1237 E Main Street $15-$50. 7381782. rochesterkizomba@ gmail.com. rockizomba.com. [ MON., DECEMBER 25 ] International Folk Dance Club of Rochester. 7:30-10 p.m. JCC of Greater Rochester, 1200 Edgewood Avenue Located in JCC’s Dance Studio. Circle line couple dances from around the world. Beginners welcome $7-$8. 315-926-5652. jccrochester.org.

Theater A Christmas Carol. Through Dec. 24. Geva Theatre Center, 75 Woodbury Blvd Through Dec. 24. No shows Monday and select Tuesdays; show times vary $12.50-$84.

Little Women, The Musical.

Wed., Dec. 20, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Thu., Dec. 21, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Fri., Dec. 22, 8-10 p.m. and Sat., Dec. 23, 8-10 p.m.

Blackfriars Theatre, 795 E. Main St $31.50-$39.50. 4541260. blackfriars.org.

/ MOVIES PHOTO COURTESY GOODKNEWS PHOTOGRAPHY

SPECIAL EVENT | SOUL SANTA FOR FAMILIES When photographer Christopher “GoodKnews” Cardwell heard from customers that they wanted an African American Santa for their holiday photos, he listened, and in 2012 started teaming up with Henry “Big Hank” Phelps Jr. Big Hank has been making appearances at community events in the red suit as “Soul Santa” for 15 years, and for the second year in a row, will be available for holiday snapshots at the Mall at Greece Ridge. GoodKnews and the R U Villa retail store at Greece Ridge will host “Soul Santa for Families” through Saturday, December 23. Customers can purchase instant prints for $15 each, and will receive 10 percent discount cards to R U Villa and a raffle ticket for a $100 Christmas shopping spree at the retailer.

Wednesday, December 20, through Friday, December 22, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday, December 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at The Mall at Greece Ridge, 271 Greece Ridge Center Drive. 957-1244; goodknews.me.

— BY REBECCA RAFFERTY

Kids Events [ WED., DECEMBER 20 ] Book and Beast. 11-11:30 a.m. Seneca Park Zoo, 2222 St. Paul St 336-7213. senecaparkzoo.org.

Holiday Christmas in the Barn. Wed., Dec. 20, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Thu., Dec. 21, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Fri., Dec. 22, 6:30-7:30 p.m. and Sat., Dec. 23, 3-4 p.m. Darla Gaioma Bair, 6590 Lake Rd S . Brockport Costumed actors, live sheep, re-enactment of the Christmas story, all presented in the barn 4941795. gbmanor@aol.com. calminthechaos.org.

Special Events [ THU., DECEMBER 21 ] Vegan Meet & Mingle Dinner.

7-9 p.m. 540WMain, 540 W. Main Street $25. 420-8439.

540westmain.org. [ FRI., DECEMBER 22 ] A night of DJ’s. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Firehouse Saloon, 814 S. Clinton Ave. Hosted by DJ SKYwalker 319-3832. thefirehousesaloon.com. [ SAT., DECEMBER 23 ] Pop Up Vegan Bakery. 12-7 p.m. 540WMain, 540 W. Main Street 420-8439.

540westmain.org.

PHOTO PROVIDED

ART | ‘CRAFTS FOR CRITTERS’ We’re in the home stretch of holiday gift-buying — and of opportunities to get those gifts from local makers at readymade vendor events. This week’s “Crafts for Critters” event will benefit Flower City Critters Small Animal Rescue. The organization is dedicated to ensuring the welfare of all small animals — rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and more — and placing them in loving homes. The event will feature handmade copper wire-wrapped stone and bead jewelry

by Designs by Ancelin, which will donate a portion of all proceeds to Flower City Critters to boost their medical and rescue supply fund.

The “Crafts for Critters” benefit event takes place on Thursday, December 21, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Little Button Crafts, 658 South Avenue. Free admission. 3717891; littlebuttoncraft.com.

— BY REBECCA RAFFERTY rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 25

Movie Theaters Searchable, up-to-the-minute movie times for all area theaters can be found at rochestercitynewspaper.com, and on City’s mobile website.

Movies

Brockport Strand 93 Main St, Brockport, 637-3310, rochestertheatermanagement.com

Canandaigua Theatres 3181 Townline Road, Canandaigua, 396-0110, rochestertheatermanagement.com

Cinema Theater 957 S. Clinton St., 271-1785, cinemarochester.com

Culver Ridge 16 2255 Ridge Rd E, Irondequoit 544-1140, regmovies.com

Dryden Theatre 900 East Ave., 271-3361, dryden.eastmanhouse.org

Eastview 13 Eastview Mall, Victor 425-0420, regmovies.com

Geneseo Theatres Geneseo Square Mall, 243-2691, rochestertheatermanagement.com

Greece Ridge 12 176 Greece Ridge Center Drive 225-5810, regmovies.com

Henrietta 18 525 Marketplace Drive 424-3090, regmovies.com

The Little 240 East Ave., 258-0444 thelittle.org

A new hope

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (PG-13), DIRECTED BY RIAN JOHNSON NOW PLAYING

[ REVIEW ] BY ADAM LUBITOW

The latest chapter in the “Star Wars” saga has arrived, and fan reaction has been divided, to say the least. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, “The Last Jedi” settles much of the speculation and theories set up by 2015’s “The Force Awakens,” but the answers it provides won’t necessarily satisfy the diehard fans. They do, however, leave plenty of opportunity to steer the series into excitingly uncharted territory.

How much you value comfortable familiarity in

Movies 10 2609 W. Henrietta Road 292-0303, cinemark.com

Pittsford Cinema 3349 Monroe Ave., 383-1310 pittsford.zurichcinemas.com

Tinseltown USA/IMAX 2291 Buffalo Road 247-2180, cinemark.com

Webster 12 2190 Empire Blvd., 888-262-4386, amctheatres.com

Vintage Drive In 1520 W Henrietta Rd., Avon 226-9290, vintagedrivein.com

your tales from a galaxy far, far away will likely determine how much enjoyment you get from the newest installment.

As the film opens, the struggling remnants of the Resistance, led by General Organa (the late Carrie Fisher), are on the run from the evil First Order and the sneering General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). Hotshot pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and his faithful droid sidekick BB-8 are on the front lines of the battle, but his impulse for reckless heroism causes him to clash with both Leia and her second-in-command, the enigmatic Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern).

Former stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) teams up with a spunky maintenance worker named Rose Tico (appealing newcomer Kelly Marie Tran) to set off on a dangerous mission to find a code breaker who might be able to turn the tide of the Resistance’s losing battle.

Finally, in the most compelling storyline, Rey (Daisy Ridley) has tracked Luke Skywalker down to the remote planet of AhchTo in the hopes of convincing the Jedi master

to train her to better wield her natural gift with the Force. Meanwhile, her mysterious connection to conflicted would-be villain Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) grows ever stronger, even as he falls further under the sway of the nefarious supreme leader Snoke (played by motion-capture master, Andy Serkis).

Much in the way Han Solo provided the foundation on which “Force Awakens” rested its story, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) steps into that role for this installment. Hamill plays an angrier, more bitter version of his iconic character than we’ve seen before, and Johnson uses him to teach his characters not to be beholden to their heroes, and explore the ways they deal with their own failures as well as those of their mentors. “The Last Jedi” continues the series’ themes of hope and sacrifice, and the characters are challenged in ways that inject a messy humanity into the film.

Carrie Fisher had finished filming her role before her death, and though “The Last Jedi” provides plenty of great moments for her character, it’s clear the next film was going to put Leia in the foreground, and it’s heartbreaking to know that will never come to pass.

The film isn’t without flaws: the middle section following Finn and Rose’s mission has some pacing issues. I loved seeing the planet of Canto Bight, a high-class den of scum and villainy built on the dirty money of war profiteers — and there’s clear thematic intent to what it’s seeking to accomplish — but the entire sequence could have done with some tightening.

Daisy Ridley in “The Last Jedi.” PHOTO COURTESY WALT DISNEY PICTURES

A VIDEO SERIES ON ROCHESTER'S RICH COMMUNIT Y OF ARTISTS ONLY AT ROCHESTERCITYNEWSPAPER.COM

26 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

Beauty and the beast “The Shape of Water” (R); DIRECTED BY GUILLERMO DEL TORO OPENS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22 [ PREVIEW ] BY ADAM LUBITOW

The already infamous Porgs get more screen time than they probably need, but damn, if they aren’t adorable. But they also fill a purpose, as Johnson adds creatures to fill out the film’s universe, reminding us that there’s a whole universe of beings who exist outside and separate from the film’s central conflict.

And perhaps the most important thing Johnson does with “The Last Jedi” is expand the plot in ways that keep the franchise from solely being the story of the Skywalker clan. There’s a rather populist message throughout the film — that greatness can come from anywhere, not just those with legendary lineage.

Working with cinematographer Steve Yedlin, Johnson also delivers the most gorgeous-looking Stars Wars movie we’ve ever had. There’s an attention to composition, color, and shadow that’s somewhat uncharacteristic for the franchise, and which results in some indelible, jaw-dropping images. From its suspenseful opening battle to one of the series’ most spectacularly staged lightsaber battles, “The Last Jedi” features some of the strongest action the franchise has seen.

It’s already proved itself to be one of the more divisive entries in the franchise, and perhaps that’s understandable for a film that implores its viewers to let go of the past and accept new possibilities. Thankfully, Rian Johnson carries it off with wit, imagination, and a clear affection for the material. With J.J. Abrams set to return for Episode IX, I only hope he continues down the path Johnson left for him.

Guillermo del Toro’s genre-hopping “The Shape of Water” is a swooning love story, a valentine to classic cinema, and a celebration of anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider. It’s also the story of a woman who falls in love with an amphibious fish monster. Like “Amélie” meets “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” it’s a movie seemingly designed to hit all my buttons, highlighting influences from fairy tales, old Hollywood, and horror in equal measure. But the resulting film feels like something only del Toro could create.

Sally Hawkins plays Elisa, a mute woman who works as a cleaner in a top secret government research facility.

Living in a tiny apartment above a rundown movie palace, she leads an existence of regimented routine — established in an opening montage that shows her daily morning ritual of waking up, preparing her meal, and

Sally Hawkins in “The Shape of Water.”

PHOTO COURTESY FOX SEARCHLIGHT

getting ready for work, with a short digression for a bit of self-pleasure in the bath while she waits for her eggs to boil.

Elisa’s closest friends are her neighbor Giles (a heartbreaking Richard Jenkins), a closeted struggling illustrator who pines for the handsome counterman at the local diner, and her fiercely loyal coworker Zelda (Octavia Spencer).

One day, a new project arrives at the science lab, a monstrous “Amphibian Man” (as he’s named in the credits), captured in the rivers of South America.

Intimidating government agent Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon) arrives along with the creature, and while the scientists set about poking and prodding to learn what they can from the beast, he’s tasked with keeping him from falling into the hands of the Soviets. By any means necessary.

Perhaps recognizing a fellow lonely soul, Elisa has an immediate curiosity toward the creature. She begins by offering him a hard-boiled egg, then playing her jazz records for him, and teaching him basic sign language. The two form a connection that quickly blossoms into something more. Before too long, she’s plotting a way to break him out of the facility and set him free — like a decidedly adult version of “Free Willy.”

Hawkins is mesmerizing, in one of the finest performances of the year.

Silent, but endlessly expressive, she conveys so much emotion without uttering a word. Doug Jones, del Toro’s go-to creature guy, plays the amphibian man with a dancer’s grace. The director shoots him in a way that makes us understand Elisa’s attraction — I suspect the film’s going to inspire some unexpected feelings in viewers, and we’re all just have to accept that.

The film is set in Baltimore in the

early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War. It’s a time when America was all about bold design and bright visions of the future, but those gleaming surfaces covered an ugly rot at the heart of our society. Working from a script he cowrote with Vanessa Taylor, del Toro turns “The Shape of Water” into a story for the misunderstood and marginalized.

He understands the wide gulf between talk of American values and how they tend to be put into practice. More often than not, they’re used as a weapon to beat down anyone seen as “other.”

Where Eliza sees something miraculous in the creature, Strickland only sees “an affront.” This country has a way of making life hell for anyone who isn’t a straight, white male, and the film underlines how Strickland’s hatred of the amphibian man are just an extension of the daily discrimination faced by Zelda and Giles. The messages isn’t subtle, but let’s be honest, this is 2017 and the need for subtlety went out the window a long time ago.

As you might expect for a Guillermo del Toro film, it also looks stunning.

Incorporating every shade of green you can imagine, production designer Paul D. Austerberry never loses sight of the heart and soul that the technical artistry is meant to support.

A tender and evocative romantic fable, “The Shape of Water” is a sensitive monster movie in the tradition of “King Kong” and “Frankenstein.” A moving tale overflowing with empathy for the damaged, lonely beings of the world, it’s the type of bold, visually dazzling storytelling that only the movies can provide. And it’s absolutely magical.

rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 27

Classifieds For information: Call us (585) 244-3329 Fax us (585) 244-1126 Mail Us City Classifieds 250 N. Goodman Street Rochester, NY 14607 Email Us classifieds@ rochester-citynews.com EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

All real estate advertised in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act, which makes it unlawful, “to make, print, or publish, any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.� Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under the age of 18. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertisement for real estate which is in violation of the law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. Call the local Fair Housing Enforcement Project, FHEP at 325-2500 or 1-866-671-FAIR. Si usted sospecha una practica de vivienda injusta, por favor llame al servicio legal gratis. 585-325-2500 - TTY 585-325-2547. www.vnsnet.com or call 274-4385 to get started!

HAMILTON BEACH - food processor $12. 585-225-5526

Miscellaneous

KID’S BIKES - one with training wheels $8 each or BO 585-2255526

DISH NETWORK- SATELLITE Television Services. Now Over 190 channels for ONLY $49.99/mo!

HBO-FREE for one year, FREE Installation, FREE Streaming, FREE HD. Add Internet for $14.95 a month. 1-800-3736508 (AAN CAN)

TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS - A complete set of NY State, For hiking, hunting or finding your house on them! $8 each or BO for set. 585-746-7054

GOT LAND ? Our Hunters will Pay Top $$$ To hunt your land. Call for a Free info packet & Quote.

1-866-309-1507 www.BaseCampLeasing.com SAWMILLS From only $4397.00MAKE & SAVE MONEY with your own bandmill- Cut lumber any dimension. In stock ready to ship. FREE Info/DVD: www.

NorwoodSawmills.com 1-800-5781363 Ext.300N

Adoption PREGNANT? CONSIDERING ADOPTION? Call us first. Living expenses, housing, medical, and continued support afterwards.

Choose adoptive family of your choice. Call 24/7. 877-362-2401

HOLIDAY SERVICES Irondequoit United Church of Christ Our Home is Your Home Sunday, December 24

10 AM ONE Worship 5 PM Celebra on Candle Light Service 10 PM Tradi onal Candle Light Service with handbells

Employment

AIRLINE CAREERS START Here –Get trained as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. Call AIM for free information 866-296-7094

OPERA GUILD OF Rochester needs a volunteer to assist with newsletter publication, and event helpers for the annual recital and opera presentations.

For details see home page at operaguildofrochester.com.

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER Assistant Dean for Academic Engagement - Librarian III. Rochester, New York. Represent libraries locally and nationally.

Assess program effectiveness throughout library system. Lead, plan, and improve portfolios. CV to Kelley Kitrinos, University of Rochester, Rush Rhees Library, Rm. 231B, Rochester, NY 146270055.

SENECA PARK ZOO Society seeking volunteers and docents for ongoing involvement or special events. Roles available for all interests. Contact Volunteers@ senecazoo.org to learn more.

Volunteers BECOME A DOCENT at the Rochester Museum & Science Center Must be an enthusiastic communicator, Like working with children. Learn more at http://www. rmsc.org/Support/Volunteer Or call 585-697-1948 CARING FOR CAREGIVERS Lifespan is looking for volunteers to offer respite to caregivers whose loved ones have been diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s Disease. For details call Eve at 244-8400 CATHOLIC FAMILY CENTER is seeking a volunteer with graphic design experience to help with fliers and signage for multiple events this summer and fall.

Flexible schedule. Please contact cgill@cfcrochester.org or call 2627044.

Contact Urban League Of Rochester today to become a mentor to the youth in our community! Email Charisma Dupree at cdupree@ulr.org to get started.

MEALS ON WHEELS needs YOU to deliver meals to YOUR neighbors in need. Available weekdays between 11:30 AM and 1:00 PM? Visit our website at

ST. JOHN’S HOME s looking for volunteers to transport residents on Tuesday mornings to and from Catholic Mass within our home.

Please call volunteer office at 7601293 for more information.

Apartments for Rent MAPLEWOOD PARK AREA Bright, clean, spacious two-bedroom upper, EIK, W/W, appliances, W/D, on-street parking, near shopping, buslines. No pets. $600/mo. plus utilities. 453-9768

644 Titus Ave (585) 544-3020 www.irondequoitucc.org

The Historic Parsells Church

Join us this season!

Weekly Sunday Services at 11:20 am Christmas Worship Service, Sunday, December 24th at 11:20 am The Rev. Marlowe V.N. Washington

Automotive #1 ALWAYS BETTER CASH PAID for most Junk Cars, Trucks and Vans. Any condition, running or not. Always free pick up and usually same day service. Call 585-305-5865 DONATE YOUR CAR to Wheels For Wishes, benefiting Make-A-Wish.

We offer free towing and your donation is 100% tax deductible.

Call 917-336-1254 Today!

For Sale BROTHER COMPACTRONIC 300M Electric Typewriter, Brand New $49.99 Les at 585-410-1409 EXOTIC HOUSE PLANTS, indoor, 10 plants 2 for $3 585-4905870

28 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

Serving the Beechwood/Culver neighborhood for over 120 years!

Temporary worship site for services:

Covenant Methodist Church 1124 Culver Rd., Rochester, 14609

Visit our website for photos and audio: www.parsellschurch.org cont. on page 30

HomeWork A cooperative effort of City Newspaper and RochesterCityLiving, a program of the Landmark Society.

Find your way home with TO ADVERTISE CONTACT CHRISTINE TODAY! CALL 244-3329 X23 OR EMAIL CHRISTINE@ROCHESTER-CITYNEWS.COM

K-D Moving & Storage Inc.

46 years of experience in office & household moving and deliveries

Big or small, we do them all

473-6610 or 473-4357

Cape Cod Charm in Charlotte

Greece; 3065 Mt Read Blvd. $84,900 Townhome, part of Pine Ridge Townhome development.

Features; Private Driveway, ATTACHED GARAGE, Bright/Open floor plan, Living room w/cathedral ceilings, skylights & corner fireplace. Updates; 2007 thermopane windows/sliding glass patio doors.

New counter tops 2013. New Furnace, A/C, & Water Heater (2016). All kitchen appliances included.

Patio doors lead to large private fenced-in patio.

Remax Realty Group 585-218-6802

23 Arlington St. NY D.O.T.#9657 USDOT 1644177NY

www.KDmoving.com

Ryan Smith

NYS Licensed Real Estate Salesperson 201-0724

RochesterSells.com

Find your way home Real Estate Section

63 Elmtree Road

Cape Cod houses have been part of the American landscape since the early 18th century. And it’s easy to see why. Cape Cods are warm and cozy with little wasted space, and they happily exist at the seashore, in a rural setting, or on an urban street like the one at 63 Elmtree Road. Two latticed porches flank the steep front gable of this charming completely renovated 1935 house—one is the front entrance and the other a shady yet private retreat. The stunning custom wooden gate that spans the driveway hints at the design delights awaiting you inside.

Three front-facing leaded glass windows, hardwood floors, crown moldings, and a wood-burning fireplace with an embossed hood accent the living room. A unique peaked archway, one of many on the first floor, opens to the adjacent dining room that has the same neutral décor and hardwood floors.

The spacious sunny yellow eat-in kitchen is the “heart of the home.” White cabinetry, appliances, and under-cabinet windows keep the space light and bright. A large island provides ample workspace for all the family cooks. A dining area overlooks the deck and backyard. Custom bookshelves and cabinets make the den an inviting spot to curl up with a good book. A half bath with mosaic floor tile completes the first floor.

The same attention to detail evident on the first floor continues in the three bedrooms upstairs—each with lots of storage. The

cathedral ceiling, skylight, and steel gray accent wall add light and drama to the master bedroom. The focal point of the second bedroom is its dormer with a colorful stained glass window. The third bedroom, adjacent to attic storage space, is painted a fresh green and doubles as a home office. A tiled full bath and a linen closet complete the second floor. The basement has plenty of space for the house’s mechanics, the laundry, and a workshop. Outside, a brick walk leads from the side entrance past a colorful island garden to the one-car garage. More colorful gardens surround the fully-fenced backyard making it a serene spot to spend a summer afternoon.

Located in the Charlotte neighborhood, this lovely cape is close to the Port of Rochester and Ontario Beach Park where you can catch a ride on the 1905 Dentzel Carousel and then stop for ice cream at Abbott’s. For history buffs the 1822 Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse is open for tours. Restaurants abound on Lake Avenue, the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare, and many houses of worship are nearby.

The 1,924 square foot house is listed at $155,900 with taxes of $3,844. Call Sandy Maluta of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services at 752-0921 for a tour.

by Bonnie DeHollander.

Bonnie is a Landmark Society volunteer.

IN PRINT AND ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS

ROCHESTERCITYNEWSPAPER.COM rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 29

EMPLOYMENT / CAREER OPPORTUNITIES NOW HIRING Administrative Leasing (Affordable Housing) Show and lease apartments to prospective residents, process, approve or deny rental applications in accordance with the Tenant Selection Plan, Marketing Plan, Compliance Programs and all applicable laws and regulations.

Send Resumes to hr@rcgltd.net EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Join our sales team!

City Newspaper is seeking a confident, enthusiastic, high-energy person for advertising sales. Sales experience essential; media sales experience a plus.

Send resume to: btowler@rochester-citynews.com

Mary Cariola Children’s Center is hiring staff to work in the residential, community and school programs. These opportunities are both Part Time and Full time.

• DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL / RESIDENTIAL AIDES • TEACHER AIDES • SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS Additional positions posted at www.marycariola.com

LO L HE / JOBS

30 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

Mary Cariola is a NYS licensed school for students with disabilities, serving students Pre-K to 21

1000 Elmwood Ave., Suite 100, Rochester, NY 14620 (585) 271-0761 Follow @CariolaCareers on social media

HOLIDAY SERVICES

HOLIDAY SERVICES

cont. on page 32

At Christmas time As we welcome The One who inspires us We wish Peace on Earth for All May the prayers of the People Spoken in the words of many faiths Rise up to The Creator And bless us every one.

Rochester-Brighton

All are welcome!

We invite you to join us for

CHRISTMAS SERVICES Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24 4:00 pm Children's Service with Eucharist

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE - 7 PM

Carols, thoughtful words and celebration for all ages

Reception following

DOWNTOWN CHURCH | 121 N. Fitzhugh Street

Weekly Sunday worship at 11am • downtownpresbyterian.org/holiday

8:30 pm Carols for choir, congregation and organ 9:00 pm Festal Eucharist Christmas Day, Monday, December 25 10:00 am Holy Eucharist with Baptism Sunday, December 31 10:00 am Christmas Lessons & Carols with Eucharist

2000 Highland Avenue (corner of Winton Road) • stthomasrochester.org Wheelchair accessible • Hearing loop • 585.442.3544

rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 31

I’m very pleased with the calls I got from our apartment rental ads, and will continue running them.

Your readers respond — positively!”

- M. Smith, Residential Management

HOLIDAY SERVICES

Jam Section

Mind Body Spirit

BRIAN S. MARVIN Lead vocalist, looking for an audition to join band, cover tunes, originals and has experience with bands 585259-3717

MAKE THE CALL TO START GETTING CLEAN TODAY. Free 24/7 Helpline for alcohol & drug addiction treatment. Get help! It is time to take your life back! Call Now: 855-732-4139 (AAN CAN)

CALLING ALL MUSICIANS OF ALL GENRES the Rochester Music Coalition wants you! Please register on our website. For further info: www.rochestermusiccoalition.org info@rochestermusiccoalition.org 585-235-8412 GROOVY, JAZZY, FUNKY new group in search of a Keyboard player. Playing Winehouse, Badu, daft punk. Practice in Irondequoit Mondays @ 6.

2ndstreetsymphony@gmail.com

Financial Services DENIED CREDIT?? - Work to Repair Your Credit Report With The Trusted Leader in Credit Repair.

Call Lexington Law for a FREE credit report summary & credit repair consultation. 855-6209426. John C. Heath, Attorney at Law, PLLC, dba Lexington Law Firm. (AAN CAN)

Invites you to join us this Christmas Season!

Sunday, December 24,2017 10:00 am “The Nativity Scene” Luke 2: 1-20 Pastor Anthony Selvaggio Monday, December 25, 2017 10:00 am Looking Back Matthew 1: 1-17 Rev. Jantina Cornelison Sunday, December 31, 2017 10:30 am Looking Ahead Phillipians 3:1 Rev. Jantina Cornelison

Christmas Mass Schedule The Southeast Rochester Catholic Community of Blessed Sacrament, St. Boniface and St. Mary's Invites You to Join Us for Our Christmas Liturgies!

Christmas Eve – Sunday, December 24 4pm at Blessed Sacrament 5pm at St. Boniface 6pm at St. Mary’s 10pm at St. Mary’s Christmas Day – Monday, December 25 9am at St. Boniface 10am at Blessed Sacrament Blessed Sacrament 534 Oxford St. 271-7240

St Boniface 330 Gregory St. 271-7240

St Mary’s 15 St Mary’s Place 232-7140

www.southeastrochestercatholics.org 32 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

Thinking about peace & social justice?

Looking for a quiet place?

Try Quaker meeting.

2750 Atlantic Avenue | Penfield, NY 14526 www.rochestercrc.org

Sundays at 11:00 am

Mary Magdalene Church

Rochester Friends Meeting 84 Scio Street (downtown) Rochester NY 14607

1008 Main St., East Rochester, NY 14445

Rev Denise invites you to join us Sunday Dec 17 at 10:00 Family Mass with Na vity Play

Christmas Eve- December 24 3:30 Christmas Carols in the Sanctuary 4:00 Christmas Eve Mass Mary Magdalene Church is an inclusive church in the Catholic Tradi on. All are Welcome to Our Communion Table and to full par cipa on in sacramental life.

Rev Denise Donato: revdenised@gmail.com marymagdalenechurch.org

325-7260 • rochesterquakers.org

Legal Ads [ NOTICE ]

[ NOTICE ]

Notice of formation of AHV HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/3/2017.

Office location, County of Monroe. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 375 Averill Ave., Rochester, NY 14620. Purpose: any lawful act

Chianfoni & Brockler, LLC filed Articles of Organization with the New York Department of State on November 29th, 2017. Its office is located in Monroe County. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent of the Company upon whom process against it may be served and a copy of any process shall be mailed to 984 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620. The purpose of the Company is retail herbal store.

[ NOTICE ] 243-245 Augustin LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 10/16/17. Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to Po Box 30071 Rochester, NY 14603 General Purpose [ NOTICE ] 750 PANNELL ROAD, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Sec’y of State (SSNY) on Nov 3,2017. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to 9 Little Spring Run, Fairport, N.Y. 14450. Purpose: any lawful activities. [ NOTICE ] Articles of Organization with respect to Ambassador Transportation, LLC, a New York Limited Liability Company, were filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York on December 1, 2017.

The County in New York State where its office is located is Monroe County. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent of Ambassador Transportation, LLC upon whom process against it may be served, and the post office address to which the Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process against Ambassador Transportation, LLC served upon him or her is 7272 W. Henrietta Road, West Rush, New York 14543. There are no exceptions adopted by the Company, or set forth in its Operating Agreement, to the limited liability of members pursuant to Section 609(a) of the Limited Liability Company Law of the State of New York. Ambassador Transportation, LLC is formed for the purpose of operation of a limousine service and for all other lawful activities that may be conducted by the Company. [ NOTICE ] C3 Evolution Group, LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 10/5/17. Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to 1325 Klem Rd Webster, NY 14580 General Purpose

[ NOTICE ] Daniel Green Construction, LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 11/27/17. Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to Daniel Green 74 Sheffield Rd Rochester, NY 14617 General Purpose [ NOTICE ] Enalas Holdings LLC filed articles of organization with the New York Secretary of State on 11/30/2017 with an effective date of formation of 11/30/2017 and a name change to Fulcrum Holdings LLC effective 12/4/2017.

Its principal place of business is located in Monroe County. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent upon whom process may be served. A copy of any process shall be mailed to 14 Vantage Dr., Pittsford, NY 14534.

The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful activity for which Limited Liability Companies may be organized under Section 203 of the New York Limited Liability Company Law. [ NOTICE ] GADIR LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 11/7/2017.

Office in Monroe Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 550 Latona Rd., Ste. D-419, Rochester, NY 14626, which is also the principal business location. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. [ NOTICE ] GRAY-BLEIBERG INVESTMENTS VIII, A CALIFORNIA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP filed an Application for Authority with the Department of State of NY on 10/19/2017. Jurisdiction: CA, and the date of its formation is 6/1/1991.

Office location in NYS: Monroe. The Secretary of State of NY (“SSNY”) is designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served.

The address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of such process is: c/o Andrew Tickle, 793 S. Goodman St., Rochester, NY 14620 The address in its jurisdiction if required or the office address: 793 S. Goodman St., Rochester, NY 14620. A

To place your ad in the LEGAL section, contact Tracey Mykins by phone at (585) 244-3329 x10 or by email at legals@rochester-citynews.com copy of the Arts. of Org. may be obtained from CA Secretary of State, 1500 11th St., Sacramento, CA 95814. The list of names and addresses of all general partners is available from the Secretary of State. The purpose of the LP is any lawful act

agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 195 Pearson Ln, Rochester, NY 14612.

Purpose: any lawful purpose. [ NOTICE ]

J. Madeline’s Quilt Shoppe LLC, Arts of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 11/27/2017.

Cty: Monroe. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to Attn: Manager, 73 Parkmere Rd., Rochester, NY 14617.

General Purpose.

Notice of Formation of GDK Consulting LLC Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) on 10/11/2017. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 315 Westminster Road Rochester, New York 14607. Purpose: any lawful activities.

[ NOTICE ]

[ NOTICE ]

KAD Specialty Foods LLC, Arts of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) 10/18/2017. Cty: Monroe. SSNY desig. as agent upon whom process against may be served & shall mail process to 17 Lianne Dr., Rochester, NY 14626.

General Purpose.

Notice of Formation of 151 Saratoga, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/27/17. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, c/o Sammy Feldman, 3445 Winton Place, Ste. 228, Rochester, NY 14623.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

[ NOTICE ]

[ NOTICE ] Maayan LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 11/6/17.

Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to 550 Latona Rd #D419 Rochester, NY 14626 General Purpose [ NOTICE ] Medy LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 11/6/17.

Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to 550 Latona Rd #D419 Rochester, NY 14626 General Purpose [ NOTICE ] Normandy River Estates, LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 11/8/17. Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to 1120 Sw Shorebrook Dr Normandy Park, WA 98166 RA: Aveon Realty Management, Inc. 32 Hampton Oval New Rochelle, NY 10805 General Purpose [ NOTICE ]

[ NOTICE ] Notice of formation of 845-491 SOUTH & GOOD HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/3/2017.

Office location, County of Monroe. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 375 Averill Ave., Rochester, NY 14620. Purpose: any lawful act [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of Aerial Imageworx, LLC Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 09/26/2017. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 10 Briar Patch Rd, Rochester, NY 14618 .

Purpose: Photography. [ NOTICE ]

Notice of Form. of GT4 PROPERTIES, LLC (the “LLC”). Art. of Org. filed with Secretary of the State of NY (SSNY) on 11/8/16. Office location: Monroe County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC c/o United States Corporation Agents, Inc., 7014 13TH AVE, SUITE 202, BROOKLYN, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of AUTOMATED BOOKS, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/20/17.

Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Bernadette S. Davis, 5B Myrtlewood Drive, Henrietta, NY 14467.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

[ NOTICE ]

Notice of Formation of Autumn Winds LLC Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 11/08/17. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail

Notice of Form. of YELLOW BULL, LLC (the “LLC”). Art. of Org. filed with Secretary of the State of NY (SSNY) on 11/16/17. Office location: Monroe County. SSNY has been designated as

[ NOTICE ]

copy of process to 116 Janes Road, Rochester, NY 14612. Purpose: any lawful activities. [ NOTICE ] Notice of formation of CRAZY MO GUITAR LLC. Art.of Org. filed Secretary of State of NY (“SSNY”) 11/14/2017.

Office location: Monroe Co. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 80 Guinevere Dr., Rochester, NY 14626. Purpose: any lawful purpose. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of DAJ V, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/15/17.

Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: David A. Julian, 1358 E. Ridge Road, Rochester, NY 14612. Purpose: any lawful activity. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of DO Enterprises of NY, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/20/17.

Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o The LLC, 59 North Main St., Hoyeoye Falls, NY 14472. Purpose: any lawful activity. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of Elite Mind Technologies, LLC Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 11/13/2017. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 4566 Hemingway Hwy, Hemingway, SC 29554.

Purpose: any lawful activities. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of FLATIRON FARM, LLC Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 8/24/17. Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to 508 RUSHHENRIETTA TL RD, W. HENRIETTA, NY 14586 . Purpose: any lawful activities. [ NOTICE ] Notice of formation of GRAY CABIN LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/13/2017.

Office location, County of Monroe. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 1111 Ogden Parma Townline Rd., Spencerport, NY 14559.

Purpose: any lawful act [ NOTICE ]

Notice of Formation of JAMES CARS OF GREECE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/17/17. Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to Frank W. Tessitore, O’Donnell & Tessitore LLP, 76 Bedford St., #38, Lexington, MA 02420.

Purpose: Any lawful activity [ NOTICE ]

Notice of formation of MDM MAC Properties Farmington LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/6/2017.

Office location, County of Monroe. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 1000 Sanford Rd. N, Churchville, NY 14428.

Purpose: any lawful act [ NOTICE ]

Notice of Formation of JG AG & TURF, LLC Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 8/25/17. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 508 RUSH-HENRIETTA TL RD, W. HENRIETTA, NY 14586 . Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of NAPWEST LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/2/17. Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 186 Vineyard Drive, Rochester, NY 14616.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

[ NOTICE ]

[ NOTICE ]

Notice of Formation of JPC Property Group LLC. Art. Of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 11/13/2017.

Office Location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to 51 Belltower Lane, Pittsford, NY 14534. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of formation of NBREW ENTERPRISES LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/13/2017. Office location, County of Monroe. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 689 Regina Dr., Webster, NY 14580. Purpose: any lawful act

[ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of KATCom, LLC. Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 11/24/17.

Office in Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 320 Washington St N, Suite 101, East Rochester, NY 14445. Purpose: any lawful activities. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of Kedimar LLC, Art of Org filed with Sec’y of State (SSNY) 12/1/2017.

Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to Northwest Registered Agent, LLC, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Office 40, Albany, New York 12207 [ NOTICE ] Notice of formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC).

Name: Spring Street Holdings LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on November 21, 2017. Office location, Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to: P.O. Box 30278, Rochester NY 14603 Purpose: any lawful purpose. [ NOTICE ]

[ NOTICE ] Notice of formation of NBSS Enterprises, LLC (the “LLC”). Articles of Organization filed with the NY Secy of State (“SOS”) on 11/17/17.

The office of the LLC is in Monroe County. SOS is designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SOS shall mail a copy of such process to 63 Thatcher Rd., Rochester, NY 14617.

The LLC is formed to engage in any lawful activity for which an LLC may be formed under the NY LLC law. [ NOTICE ] Notice of formation of Ogden Heavy Equipment, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/26/2017.

Office location, County of Monroe. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, c/o 4 Turner Dr., Spencerport, NY 14559.

Purpose: any lawful act. [ NOTICE ] Notice of formation of River Fox, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/19/2017.

Office location, County of Monroe. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 54 Valley View Dr.,

Brockport, NY 14420.

Purpose: any lawful act. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of ROC HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTER, LLC Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 11/17/2017. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to ELISSA L JOHNSON 32 WEBBER CIRCLE ROCHESTER, NY 14626 . Purpose: any lawful activities. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of STONEWOOD PARK, LLC Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) on 11/14/2017. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 2300 BUFFALO ROAD, Rochester, New York 14624. Purpose: any lawful activities. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of SWAN DIVE 289, LLC Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) on 11/14/2017. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 289 Alexander Street, Rochester, New York 14607. Purpose: any lawful activities. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of The Law Offices of Kevin D. Fitzgerald, PLLC Art of Org filed with Sec’y of State (SSNY) 12/7/2017.

Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 7 Caywood Lane, Fairport, New York 14450.

Purpose: Practice of law. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of TL Properties, LLC, Art of Org filed with Sec’y of State (SSNY) 11/3/2017.

Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 292 Hamlin Center Road, Hilton, NY 14468. [ NOTICE ] NOTICE OF FORMATION OF TOMANDA PROPERTIES, LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of NY (“SSNY”) on 12/12/2017. Office in Monroe County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to TOMANDA PROPERTIES, LLC, C/O THOMAS S. GRAFF, 31 TYNEDALE WAY, NORTH

cont. on page 34

rochestercitynewspaper.com CITY 33

Legal Ads CHILI, NY 14514.

Purpose: any lawful activity. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Formation of Tuxedo Corner, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/17/17.

Office location: Monroe County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 9 Bramblewood Circle, Rochester, NY 14624. Purpose: any lawful activity. [ NOTICE ] Notice of formation of WILY HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/1/2017.

Office location, County of Monroe. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 375 Averill Ave., Rochester, NY 14620. Purpose: any lawful act [ NOTICE ] Notice of Qualification of Plaza Street Fund, IX, LLC. App. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/29/17. Office location: Monroe County. LLC formed in Missouri (MO) on 11/21/17. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the MO address of LLC: 9237 Ward Parkway, Ste. 230, Kansas City, MO 64114.

Arts. of Org. filed with MO Secy. of State, 600 West Main St., Jefferson City, MO 65101.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity. [ NOTICE ] Notice of Qualification of Rochester-Dewey FDS 715464, LLC. App. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/6/17. Office location: Monroe County. LLC formed in North Carolina (NC) on 3/6/17. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Capitol Services, Inc.,

To place your ad in the LEGAL section, contact Tracey Mykins by phone at (585) 244-3329 x10 or by email at legals@rochester-citynews.com

1218 Central Ave., Ste. 100, Albany, NY 12205.

NC address of LLC: 106 Foster Ave., Charlotte, NC 28203. Arts. of Org. filed with NC Secy. of State, 2 South Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27601.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SS shall mail a copy of any process to PLLC at 2401 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618. LLC’s purpose: any lawful activity.

[ NOTICE ]

Steven Braun, LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 11/9/17. Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to 3 Red Plank Way Rochester, NY 14624 General Purpose

Notice of Qualification of WATCO SUPPLY CHAIN SERVICES, L.L.C. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/29/17. Office location: Monroe County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/21/14. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Freight brokerage services and any other lawful activity. [ NOTICE ] RED BARN MANAGEMENT, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Sec’y of State (SSNY) on Nov 9,2017. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to 9 Aldwick, Fairport, N.Y. 14450. Purpose: any lawful activities. [ NOTICE ] Rochester Property Services LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 2/12/16.

Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to 228 Miramar Rd Rochester, NY 14624 General Purpose [ NOTICE ] ROXANNE A. LOWENGUTH, DDS, MS, PLLC (PLLC) filed Arts. of Org. with NY Secy. of State (SS) on 9/12/17. PLLC’s office is in Monroe Co. SS is designated as agent

[ NOTICE ]

[ NOTICE ] The Vaeth Group LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 9/27/17. Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to 20 Mt Eagle Dr Penfield, NY 14526 General Purpose [ NOTICE ] Value Management Solutions, LLC (LLC) filed Arts. of Org. with NY Secy. of State (SS) on October 12, 2017.

LLC’s office is in Monroe Co. SS is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SS will mail a copy of any process to 145 Culver Rd., Suite 100, Rochester NY 14620. LLC’s purpose: any lawful activity. [ NOTICE ] Vibebin LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 10/3/17.

Office: Monroe Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to 379 Broadway #2A Brooklyn, NY 11211 General Purpose [ NOTICE } Notice of formation of Klein and Coh LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/09/17.

Office location, County of Monroe. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Alyssa Cohen, 110 Covington Rd, Rochester, NY 14617. Purpose: any lawful act

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34 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017

[ NOTICE OF AUCTION ] Erie Station Storage, LLC Notice is hereby given that the undersigned will sell at public auction pursuant to New York state lien law section 182 beginning on Tuesday, January 9th, 2018 @ 11:55am and ending Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018 @ 2:00pm. The auction will take place online at Bid13.com.

All sales are subject to prior claim. The lien holder reserves the right to reschedule or adjourn the auction and reject any/all bids.

The personal property described as furniture heretofore stored with the undersigned by Karen King Unit #311.

All sales are final. Cash only. [ Notice of Formation ] 17 Lockwood LLC (“LLC”) filed Articles of Organization with the NY Sec. of State (“SSNY”) on 11/8/17. Office location: Monroe County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall forward service of process to 417 Sundance Trail, Webster, NY 14580. Purpose: any lawful activity. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION ] NOTICE OF FORMATION of Borderland Advisors LLC, Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on November 3rd, 2017. Office location: Ontario County.

SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him is C/O the LLC, 66 Cobble Creek Rd. Victor, NY 14564. Term: perpetual.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity for which LLC’s may be organized under the NY LLC Law. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ] The name of the LLC is CP 671 Park Ave LLC. The Articles of Organization were filed with the NY Secretary of State on 11/3/17. The LLC office is located in Monroe County. The NY Secretary of State is designated as the agent of the LLC upon whom process may be served, and the address a copy shall be mailed is 135 Corporate Woods Ste 300 Rochester NY 14623.

The LLC is managed by a manager. The purpose of the LLC is any lawful business. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ] The name of the LLC is NP 671 Park Ave LLC. The Articles of Organization were filed with the NY Secretary of

State on 11/7/17. The LLC office is located in Monroe County. The NY Secretary of State is designated as the agent of the LLC upon whom process may be served, and the address a copy shall be mailed is 135 Corporate Woods STE 300 Rochester NY 14623. The LLC is managed by a manager.

The purpose of the LLC is any lawful business. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LLC ] 49 Bay Street, LLC has filed articles of organization with the New York Secretary of State on 11/3/2017, with an effective date of formation of 11/3/2017.

Its principal place of business is located in Monroe County. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent upon whom process may be served.

A copy of any process shall be mailed to 49 Bay St., Rochester, NY 14605. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful activity for which Limited Liability Companies may be organized under Section 203 of the New York Limited Liability Company Law. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LLC ] 898 Ridge Road LLC filed articles of organization with the New York Secretary of State on 7/17/2003, with an effective date of formation of 7/17/2003.

Its principal place of business is located in Monroe County. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent upon whom process may be served.

A copy of any process shall be mailed to 8 Skytop Lane, Pittsford, NY 14534. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful activity for which Limited Liability Companies may be organized under Section 203 of the New York Limited Liability Company Law. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LLC ] 960 East Ridge Rd, LLC filed articles of organization with the New York Secretary of State on 12/11/2017 with an effective date of formation of 12/11/2017.

Its principal place of business is located in Monroe County. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent upon whom process may be served.

A copy of any process shall be mailed to 104 Angels Path, Webster, NY 14580. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful activity for which Limited Liability Companies may be organized under Section 203 of the New York Limited Liability Company Law. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LLC ] Joseph R. Properties L.L.C. has filed articles

of organization with the New York Secretary of State on 10/11/2017, with an effective date of formation of 10/11/2017. Its principal place of business is located in Monroe County. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent upon whom process may be served. A copy of any process shall be mailed to 100 Timarron Trail, Rochester, NY 14612. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful activity for which Limited Liability Companies may be organized under Section 203 of the New York Limited Liability Company Law. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LLC ] Moonlighting on Edisto LLC filed articles of organization with the New York Secretary of State on 12/7/2017 with an effective date of formation of 12/7/2017.

Its principal place of business is located in Monroe County.

The Secretary of State has been designated as agent upon whom process may be served.

A copy of any process shall be mailed to 21 Hillsboro Rd., Rochester, NY 14610. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful activity for which Limited Liability Companies may be organized under Section 203 of the New York Limited Liability Company Law. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF TAG ALLIANCE, LLC ] Art. of Org. filed with SSNY 11/3/2017 Office Location: Monroe County. SSNY is designated Agent of LLC to whom process may be served.

SSNY may mail copy of process to 91 CLARDALE DRIVE, ROCHESTER, NY 14616. Purpose of LLC: Any lawful activity. [ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF THE GARDENS AT FIELDSTONE 1-38.11 LLC ] The name of the Limited Liability Company is The Gardens at Fieldstone 1-38.11 LLC. Articles of Organization were filed with the New York Secretary of State on 11/8/2017. The office of the LLC is in Monroe County. The New York Secretary of State is designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The Secretary of State shall mail a copy of such procesds to 2833 Ridge Road West, #26461, Rochester, NY 14626.The LLC is organized to engage in any lawful activity for which an LLC may be formed under the NY LLC Law.

[ NOTICE OF FORMATION OF WILBOS, LLC ] Wilbos, LLC (the “LLC”) filed Articles of Organization with NY Secretary of State (SSNY) 11/1/17. Office location: Monroe County, NY. Principal business location: 3 Fitzmot Glen, Pittsford, NY 14534.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 3 Fitzmot Glen, Pittsford, NY 14534. Purpose: Any lawful activity. [ NOTICE OF SALE ] SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF MONROE BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., Plaintiff -against- JAMES F. STEWART, JR., LINDA J. STEWART, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated October 12, 2016, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Monroe County Hall of Justice, 99 Exchange Blvd, Lower Level Atrium, Rochester, NY on January 11, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. premises situate in the Town of Irondequoit, County of Monroe and State of New York, known and described as Lot No. 19 of Irondequoit Village, Section 1, Ellinwood Drive, as shown on a map thereof filed in the Monroe County Clerk’s Office in Liber 144 of Maps, Page 5. Said Lot No. 19 is situate at the Northwest corner of Ellinwood Drive and Sandcastle Drive and is of the dimensions as shown on said map.

Section 77.17 Block 2 and Lot 27. Said premises known as 95 SANDCASTLE DRIVE, ROCHESTER, NY Approximate amount of lien $238,746.24 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney.

Index Number 11134/2013. LARA R. BADAIN, ESQ., Referee David A. Gallo & Associates LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 99 Powerhouse Road, First Floor, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577 File# 9026.70 [ SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS AND NOTICE ] SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF MONROE Index No. E2017000484 TOWER DBW V TRUST 2015-1, Plaintiff, v.

ROBERT N. RUSCHER; WILLIAM J. RUSCHER A/K/A WILLIAM J. RUSCHER, JR., if living, or if he be dead, his

wife, heirs- at-law, next of kin, distributees, executors, administrators, assignees, lienors, creditors, successors-ininterest and generally all persons having or claiming under, by or through said WILLIAM J. RUSCHER A/K/A WILLIAM J. RUSCHER, JR., by purchase, inheritance, lien or otherwise of any right, title or interest in and to the premises described in the complaint herein, and all creditors thereof, and the respective wives, or widows of his, if any, all of whose names and addresses are unknown to Plaintiff; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE and “JOHN DOE #1” THROUGH “JOHN DOE #100”, Defendants.

TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the amended complaint in the above-entitled foreclosure action, and to serve a copy of your answer on Plaintiff’s attorney within thirty (30) days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal service within the State.

The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may answer or appear within sixty (60) days of service hereof.

In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the amended complaint.

Monroe County is designated as the place of trial. The basis of venue is the location of the subject premises.

Dated: December 6, 2017 TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication, pursuant to an Order of Honorable Daniel J. Doyle, a Justice of the Supreme Court, dated November 27, 2017, and filed with supporting papers in the Monroe County Clerk’s Office. This is an action to foreclose tax liens encumbering the property known as 226 Hilltop Road, Town of Greece, New York and identified as tax account no.: 060.34-1-24 (the “Tax Parcel”). The relief sought is the sale of the Tax Parcel at public auction in satisfaction of the tax liens. In case of your failure to appear, judgment may be taken against you in the sum of $7,135.81, together with interest, costs, disbursements and attorneys’ fees of this action, and directing the public sale of the Tax Parcel. PHILLIPS LYTLE LLP Anthony J. Iacchetta Attorneys for Plaintiff TOWER DBW V TRUST 2015-1 28 East Main Street Suite 1400 Rochester, New York 14614 Telephone: (585) 238-2000

Fun [ NEWS OF THE WEIRD ] BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

People Different From Us Chengdu, China, street barber Xiong Gaowu offers a most unusual service at his roadside location in Sichuan province.

For $12, Xiong will scrap the inside of his customers’ eyelids using a straight razor, according to Reuters. Xiong suggests being “gentle, very, very gentle” when performing eyelid shaving, or “blade wash eyes,” as the technique is known in Mandarin. A Chengdu ophthalmologist, Qu Chao, says shaving may unblock moisturizing sebaceous glands along the rim of the eyelid, leading to a more comfortable and refreshed feeling. “If he can properly sterilize the tools that he uses, I can see there is still a space for this technique to survive,” Qu added.

Uncontained Excitement Traffic slowed to a crawl on I-95 in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Nov. 21 as President Trump’s motorcade arrived for the Thanksgiving holiday. Author and sportswriter Jeff Pearlman was among the delayed drivers, but things turned weird when “these people (kept) getting out of the car dancing,” he posted in a Twitter video. WPTV reported that Pearlman recorded the people two cars in front of him emerging from their car and twerking on the highway, then jumping and dancing around enthusiastically before getting back in the vehicle.

Compulsion A 35-year-old Indian man employed a unique method for dealing with his depression: swallowing metal. Maksud Khan was rushed to surgery at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India, after developing severe abdominal pains, according to Metro News. An

endoscopy showed that Khan had “coins, nails and nut-bolts in his stomach,” said Dr. Priyank Sharma, who led the surgical team. In late November, surgeons removed 263 coins, 100 nails and other metal items, including razor blades and dog chains, from Khan’s stomach. His family had no idea he had been ingesting metal, and Khan promised doctors he would never eat metal again.

Unclear on the Concept In Iowa, autumn is breeding season for deer, when the animals can get a little wacky and try to cross roadways. It’s also the time of year when the Iowa Department of Transportation begins fielding questions from drivers asking why deer crossing signs aren’t erected at safer spots for deer to cross. “This sign isn’t intended to tell deer where to cross,” the Iowa DOT helpfully posted on its Facebook page on Oct. 24, according to the Des Moines Register. “It’s for drivers to be alert that deer have been in this area in the past.” State Farm Insurance reports that Iowa drivers have the fourth-highest likelihood in the U.S. of hitting a deer. Coincidence?

Rocky, an enterprising 7-month-old border collie in Devon, England, took the command “bring the sheep home” a little too literally in early November when he herded nine sheep into his owner’s kitchen. “I was in the kitchen and heard a noise,” Rocky’s owner, Rosalyn Edwards, told the BBC. “I turned around and the sheep were just standing there. It was funny at the time, but then there was quite a lot of wee, poo and mud everywhere.” The sheep stood around for a few minutes, then allowed themselves to be shown out the front door.

[ LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION ON PAGE 32 ]

[ LOVESCOPE ] BY EUGENIA LAST ARIES (March 21-April 19): You’ll make new connections in the most unusual places.

Traveling and getting together with people you haven’t seen in some time will bring back flutters and feelings that will remind you of what you want to see happen in your personal life. Love is in the stars.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Share your emotions and make it clear what your intentions are, and before you know it you will be making romantic plans with someone special. Show off how debonair and outgoing you can be as well as how efficient and responsible, and you will win the heart of someone special.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You’ll have no trouble attracting partners, but you may have a problem when it comes to commitment. Your desires will be fulfilled, but if you are truthful you will have to admit you have doubt that you are ready, willing or able to settle down yet.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): You just want to have fun, and you should. Playing the field can be exciting and open your mind and your heart to interesting experiences, which will help you make wiser choices regarding love and romance when the time is right. For now, enjoy the moment.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You will be sought after by all sorts of interesting suitors, but before you decide to settle for one, take a closer look at the person behind the happy-go-lucky attitude that attracts you. Walk away from anyone who sports bad habits, indulgence and a lack of discipline.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You may know what you want in a partner, but finding it won’t be easy. Being misled by someone who is trying to please you for all the wrong reasons is apparent. Slow down until you have clear vision and can think with your head instead of your heart.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Intellectual stimulation is required.

Don’t let anyone pressure you into something that isn’t quite right. Hold out for the person who can offer the qualities and common interests that make you happy. Settling for less will leave you feeling regret and the desire to search for more.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You need someone as unique and experimental as you. Don’t feel the need to hide what you like or what you want. The more open you are, the easier it will be to find someone who shares your personal dreams, hopes and wishes. Honesty will promote romantic success.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You’ll have trouble picking and choosing between the many people who spark your interest. Don’t judge anyone on his or her outer appearance.

Let personalities grow on you, and you will discover the inner beauty in someone who is compatible and who will become very special to you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You’ll attract someone looking for a secret affair. Before you jump into an intimate encounter, find out more about the person’s background, connections and current situation.

Don’t start something with someone who is looking for less than what you are willing to put up with.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Get involved in community events and love will blossom.

Your enthusiastic, outgoing and innovative nature will attract someone who is just as exciting as you. Love is in the stars, but so is excessive behavior, so remember to go slow if you want to make a good impression.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Don’t be fooled by someone professing to be exactly what you are looking for. You’ll be easily misled by smooth talk and false impressions. Look for ulterior motives, and don’t be afraid to speak up and question anything that doesn’t appear to be truthful. Protect your heart.

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36 CITY DECEMBER 20 - 26, 2017