[ NEWS FROM THE WEEK PAST ]
Possible RGH and Unity merger Rochester General Health System and Unity Health System are pursuing a formal partnership, according to a statement from RGH. It could take months to develop the plans, and as long as two years to get the necessary governmental approvals, the statement says. Rochester General Hospital is home to the fourth largest cardiac care center in New York.
MCH director stays
Monroe County Democrats are seeking more information from County Executive Maggie Brooks about alleged patient abuse at Monroe Community Hospital. State officials issued a report questioning MCH Executive Director Todd Spring’s treatment of an amputee. Spring will remain in the job, according to county officials. Minority leader Willie Lightfoot has been critical of what he says is the lack of accountability at MCH.
Duffy dead last
The political website City & State ranked lieutenant governor and former Rochester mayor Bob Duffy last among New York’s top 100 power bro-
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MAY 1-7, 2013
kers. Duffy lagged behind several publicists and political reporters. Mayor Tom Richards says Duffy’s ranking is not accurate.
News
Dems question picks
Democrats in the Monroe County Legislature criticized two potential appointments to the Monroe County Airport Authority. Charles Stuart and John Perrone serve on or have ties to local development corporation boards that have come under scrutiny by the state Comptroller’s Office. County Executive Maggie Brooks submitted the names, and the Legislature has to vote on them.
Changing how phone books are delivered could mean few piles of unwanted or unused directories. PHOTO BY MARK CHAMBERLIN
Power struggle
State Senator Ted O’Brien and Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle touted a Public Service Commission directive on the Indian Point nuclear power plant. The plant provides electricity for downstate customers, but its permits expire within the next couple of years and may not be renewed. A plan proposed by Consolidated Edison and the New York Power Authority to replace the energy called for upstate ratepayers to help foot the bill. But the PSC said upstate ratepayers shouldn’t have to pay for the project.
ENVIRONMENT | BY JEREMY MOULE
Directory dilemma In San Francisco, if you want a copy of the yellow pages, you have to ask for it. City law prohibits delivery of the phone books to anyone who hasn’t specifically requested them. A similar opt-in system could cut down on the number of unwanted or unused phone books that sit in piles at Rochester-area apartment buildings and office complexes, says Frank Regan, chair of the local Sierra Club’s Zero Waste Committee. And Regan says he and other like-minded club members are planning to start a campaign for a local opt-in law. Frontier Communications publishes two directories, one for
residential listings and one for business listings. The residential phone book is already distributed on an opt-in basis, says Desiree Demanincor, the company’s director of directory services and operations. But anyone who doesn’t want the business directory has to say so. Frontier sells ads in its business directory, which contains white and yellow page listings, so the company wants to make sure as many people as possible see and use it, Demanincor says. Frontier published and distributed approximately 500,000 business directories this year, all
printed on recycled paper, she says. The delivery contractor reported receiving notes from 102 customers asking not to get the books, she says. And if Frontier is notified of unused phone books lying around, it will pick them up, she says. “We want to be a good neighbor,” Demanincor says. Frontier is not the only yellow pages publisher in the Rochester area; Yellowbook also produces a directory. To opt out of delivery of any local phone book, go to www. yellowpagesoptout.com.