Beaconomics
Upstate’s anemic recovery
|
The unemployment rate in the Rochester metro fell to 4 percent in September, half the rate at the peak of the recession in 2009, and below pre-recession levels. Is this good news?
Government & Politics
Monroe County’s unseen blue wave
|
Monroe County has been undergoing a major shift in party enrollment that clearly favors the Democrats. So, what explains the Republicans’ grip on the county executive’s office?
Justice & Public Safety
A legal immigrant’s long road
|
I am one of the lucky ones. I get to live in the United States, a country my parents taught me to idealize for its education systems and freedoms. Still, I am terrified to cross the border.
Community
The hands of time
|
When Midtown Plaza opened, Dale Clark’s Clock of the Nations represented the heady spirit of the times. Clark, who died in March at age 94, outlived Midtown, the nation’s first downtown indoor mall.
Community
Is RMAPI misunderstood?
|
Since the high-profile launch of the Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative three years ago, its efforts have been dogged by misconceptions, Director Leonard Brock says. Can he change the narrative?
Beaconomics
Union membership continues to plummet
|
The Current Population Survey conducted by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Labor shows unionization at 29 percent nationally and 36 percent in New York State as of 1964. By 2017, the national average had fallen to 11 percent and New York State to 24 percent.
Policy Wonk
Autonomous vehicles: The revolution is upon us
|
All of punditry has been caught off-guard by the neck-snapping acceleration of autonomous vehicle adoption. The level of investment in AVs across a number of firms is very significant. The question is no longer “if autonomous vehicles?” but “when?”
Government & Politics
Janus v. AFSCME: What now?
|
The Janus decision concludes that requiring an agency fee that supports collective bargaining is compelled speech and a violation of the First Amendment. What now?
Community
Rochester: STEM City, USA (and Arts too!)
|
While few would dispute the importance of creating and attracting STEM graduates, some argue that solely measuring STEM degrees represents an incomplete way to take the measure of the growth and vibrancy of a city.
Health & Science
The Private Practice Squeeze
|
Faced with rising costs and declining payments, a growing number of doctors in private practice are quitting the fight. Remaining private practitioners increasingly are driven by economics to form or join large group practices.