Earthquake in Ontario-Quebec, Canada felt in Rochester + Buffalo, NY

Did you feel that? The photos on the wall rocked back and forward clicking. Iced Tea in my glass swished back and forward. My apartment seemed to slightly shake. It lasted about 30 seconds to a minute.

Yes, it was an earthquake! "The U.S. Geological Service reports a 5.5 magnitude quake that originated in Ontario-Quebec border 12 miles below the surface at 1:45 p.m., but it was felt as far as Detroit, Cleveland, Rochester and Buffalo." Details are sketchy now, but local news 13WHAM confirms and adds that they have noticed many Twitter and Facebook comments from Rochester. Click on 13WHAM for more local updates. By the way, it was the 3rd earthquake I've felt in my life. All of them small.

A good news article from CBC News Toronto Canada. Just posted by my buddy maniar on Twitter. Thanks Jaffer!

Rochester NY News & Lilac Festival Schedule 2009

Lilac Festival Information 2009 - The festival is Rochester's largest and brings in almost a half a million people each year, including tourists who travel to the area. The park has "over 500 varieties of lilacs and more than 1200 lilac bushes in the parks' 155 acres". It will take place on May 8 to 17 at Highland Park. "Musical acts will include Rickie Lee Jones, Joan Osborne, Dr. John & the Lower 911, Southside Johnny & the AsburyJukes and Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy. The festival and concerts are free." Mark Quinn, superintendent of horticulture for Monroe County says that the Lilacs are "in excellent condition."

I had a wonderful time last year (click here), and even pigged out on wine & food samplings! I particularly liked the free chicken and veggies at "Cooks Pan." and will look for them again. I hope to get a camera and take photos this year. Rochester has hard winters, but makes up for it with a ton of fun festivals! Rochester's nickname is the Flower City. Find out more http://www.lilacfestival.com/ Here is a list of more Rochester festivals, concerts, etc. and here at myrochester.com

Gay Marriage in New York State? - Cross your fingers folks! Today Gov. David Patterson introduced a bill to legalize same sex marriage in New York state. The bill was defeated when the Republicans had control, but now with the Democrats there is a fighting change. I know that my pal Pat Martinez and her partner Lisa Golden have been working hard for this. Read more here.

Time Warner, tisk, tisk! - Time Warner Cable Inc. of Rochester NY is acting greedy. It wants to use metered billing for Internet usage, (similar to gas and electric), where those who use more bandwidth pay more. In this economy? BAD IDEA! There has been a public uproar. Many home businesses work from the Web. Rochester also has a large deaf community who uses video phone as a main avenue of communication. Politicians Rep. Eric Massa and Sen. Chuck Schumer demanded that Time Warner abandon its plan. Time Warner seemed to have backed down, but not really. It is more like a postponement in hope that the community will get use to the idea and accept it. Hm, I think that I'll stick to my slow dial-up for now. It's much less expensive.

Bad News For Buffalo NY, Rochester, and more. - I was shocked when I read it! According to the local news Rochester is doing better then most other cities, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Forbes has a list of "U.S. Cities Where It's Hardest To Get By" They listed 20 on-line and, Buffalo was #5, Rochester was #15. They also have a list of "America's Most Livable Cities".It includes several cities in Mass. and Pa. among others. Hm, should I pack my bags?

Star Trek Movie - I'm a bit of a Trekkie so I had to sneak this in. The movie named "Star Trek" opens May 8. It's "a chronicle of the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members". Here's the movie trailer. Oops, it opens the same day as the Lilac Festival, but I can work that out. I hope this leads to a new series! About time! YAHOO! By the way, Leonard Nimoy who plays Mr. Spock (and is also in the movie) is said to live in my area. He is my favorite Star Trek character of all time. In case he's reading this...I'm no skinny Minnie! ; )

photo credit

Forbes Lists Buffalo, NY with Fastest-Dying Cities

Forbes has listed Buffalo, NY as one of the Fastest-Dying Cities in the U.S. Other cities making the fast-dying list include: Cleveland, Dayton, Canton and Youngstown, Ohio; Flint and Detroit, Mich., Springfield, Mass.; Charleston, W. Va.; and Scranton, Pa.

On the Forbes website, it said "Buffalo has long been synonymous with city-in-decline. In the early 1900s, Buffalo was one of America's 10 largest cities, a burgeoning industrial center. It's been on decline ever since, despite a location that takes advantage of trade with Canada. Buffalo is home to M&T Bank and the Delaware North Companies--one of the major operators of stores in airports."

Of course The Buffalo News paper has it's own spin on things, and believes that things are on the upswing. "..Buffalo’s unflattering statistics included a population loss of nearly 42,000 since 2000, an unemployment rate of 5.7 percent (compared to national average of 4.3 percent) and a gross domestic product of 1.9 percent ...However, U. S. Census Bureau estimates being released today show the young adult population in all of Erie County is actually increasing...."

Rochester, NY is about 75 miles from Buffalo. There is a saying - "As Buffalo goes, so goes Rochester." I hope not! Unfortunately Rochester has had it's problems too. Rochester has been tightening it's belt. Factories especially have been downsizing. Unemployment here is 5.4% the same as Syracuse, NY. Our population growth is -5.3%. Although things aren't good, we have a younger population.

Mayor Duffy came up with a hair brained idea to solve Rochester's decreasing population. He said that if you worked in the city of Rochester, maybe you should have to live in Rochester. Fortunately his idea was shot down quickly.

Rochester does have it's pluses. Our cost of living is low, and housing is low. In fact Rochester has not been effected as much by the housing slump, as other cities have.

Do you want to know how your city would compare with Buffalo, or any other city? Click here for a cool comparison tool.

Severe Thunderstorms with Hail, Spells Disaster for Upstate NY

HAIL NO! On June 16th the Upstate New York, (NY), area got pounded by rain, and hail during a severe thunderstorms with winds sometimes exceeding 60 mph. The hail ranged in size from pennies to golf balls. It looked like it had snowed in some areas. It was the worst hail storm in years. The state agriculture commissioner will survey hail damage suffered by upstate orchards.

Agriculture officials say apple, peach, strawberry and cherry crops from the Niagara Frontier east to the Hudson Valley suffered extensive damage. Some growers reported losing as much as 75 percent of their crops in the storm, which also damaged corn and other vegetable crops.

Officials in Wayne County, on Lake Ontario just east of Rochester, have called on Gov. David Paterson to declare the county a disaster area.

The storms knocked out power to nearly 10,000 RG&E customers in Gates and Rochester.

It was a strange start to Wegmans LPGA week as hail fell during a weather delay at Locust Hill Country Club.

As for my area, we had a thunderstorms on and off all day, but no hail. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed.


This post was based on readings from...

Newsday.com

Buffalo News

WHEC-TV 10

And another WHEC-TV 10 article

View slide show here

Domino's Pizza Customer Appreciation Day - June 1st

This is a great sale, bargain, savings. Domino's Pizza is having a Customer Appreciation day on June 1st. It's only for one day. You can get a 14" Large 1-Topping only pizza for the low price of $4.99 (plus tax)! Regular price is $10.99. Carry out only. Limit is 5 pizzas. Delivery available on purchase of 2 or more pizzas. I don't know if this sale is nation wide, but it's in the Rochester, New York (NY) area. I got the flyer through the mail, but have not seen any Television ads. If your interested, you might want to call first. Prices my be different in your area. I don't think that you need a coupon. Remember it's for ONE DAY ONLY - June 1st... Happy June!!!

It's Summer In Rochester New York (NY)

My favorite season is spring. Those wonderful crisp days. Sweater weather. Flowers gently budding. That fresh aroma in the air. The temperature should be in the 50's. Well, it looks like we will bypass all that. Our high today was 86 degrees. The high for the next 7 days will generally be in the low to mid 70s with very little rain.

Am I disappointed? A bit, but I am so very glad that we are finally over with all those crazy snow storms. It was a hard winter. I have just put away my snow shovels. I am looking forward to the wonderful Rochester festivals! I just love them! Starting with the popular, beautiful Lilac Festival May 9-18. Take a look at the upcoming festivals & events for Rochester & Upstate N.Y. Of course it wouldn't be summer unless I visited Canandaigua NY, and the breathtaking Canandaigua Lake.

New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who gained national prominence relentlessly pursuing Wall Street wrongdoing, has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a law enforcement official and a person briefed on the investigation....

Continued - The New York Times

UPDATED: (Monday 10th) - MAJOR STORM - ROCHESTER

ONE FOOT OF SNOW IS COMING TO ROCHESTER. It's 11:30 Thursday night. I have just listened to all 3 local weather reports on the news. This is a brief summery of them...

There is a winter storm watch in effect from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning. Approximately 12 inches of snow is coming to Rochester. We will also have some frozen precipitation in the form of sleet and freezing rain. The snow fall total is difficult to predict because the more frozen precipitation, the less snow we will get. They think about a foot. N.W. Monroe county by the lake should get more snow. This storm is similar to the one we got around Feb. 27. This will be a prolonged event Starting Friday into Sunday. Saturday will be the worst day. Actually there are two snow storms in this time period. I have post the links to all 3 local stations below, but as of now they have not updated to reflect the latest forecast.

Local Weather Links
WHAM 13 Weather
Rochester Homepage.Net News 8
News 10 WHEC

Saturday 11:30 P.M. Update-

If you can stay at home please do so, the roads are treacherous. The official Rochester snowfall as of 5:00 p.m. is 9.1 inches at the airport, 8 to 20 inches across the area. Plus sleet, and freezing rain which makes for slippery road conditions. Winds gusts of 30 to 40 mph.with whiteouts add to the problem. Dozens of accidents have been reported, including 2 teens from Henrietta that died in a weather-related car crash.

The weather caused several cancellations at Rochester airport. We have had scattered power outages. Many local events have been canceled due to the weather. And the storm is not over. We are in the beginning of the next phase, or some say the next storm.

Rochester, and surrounding areas have been hit by all kinds of precipitation- hail, freezing rain, sleet, snow, even thunder, and lightning in the gates area. It just depends what area you live in. We either got hail, or freezing rain here. I could hear it pounding rapidly against the window. There are many weather alerts out, and they are changing all the time. It's best to click the links above for the latest. The worst of the storm is this evening into Sunday morning. According to WROC ch. 8 on T.V. we should get 5 to 8 inches MORE of snow in the Rochester area, 8 to10 inches more near the lake. The storm should taper off tomorrow, but it will be colder. Due to the wind there will be white outs making driving tricky tomorrow. Use extra caution.

When it's all over snow fall totals are expected to be 12-18" in the Rochester area. 18-24 N.W. near the lake, and 8-12 towards the finger lakes. That's according to WHEC news 10. Wow!

SUNDAY UPDATE: 15.7 inches is the official storm snowfall total at the Rochester airport. (Wolcott 15", Hamlin 21", Gaines 24"). Yes, it's over for now, but they say that another storm is coming Friday. UG!

STORM AFTEREFFECTS:
~16,000 in central and eastern N.Y. still without power. "Power has been restored to some areas. The situation is still bad." "Warming centers" are open.

~ Winter weather clean-up begins.

~ Students at Rush-Henrietta deal with loss of two classmates. Their deaths are thought to be related to the storm.

~ Tow truck driver encountered "quite a few accidents", ..."very, very, busy non stop."

Personal note- I've been very fortunate this winter. I have only had one power outage, and that lasted only a few hours. You might wonder why I'm so interested in storms. On March 3-4, 1999, Rochester had a blizzard. We had 24.3" of snow within 24 hours. It was the second greatest snowfall here within 24-hour period. The blizzard was not forecast. I went to work, and was snowed in at work for 36 hours. The facility was good to us, but I much rather have been home. It was no picnic.

cartoon credit

Rochester Weather: "Potential For Major Ice Storm" Plus- 1991 Ice Storm Anniversary

It's difficult to think of an ice storm now. Finally we have a gorgeous day today. The temperature is 60 degrees, sunny, spring is in the air...BUT! Tomorrow, (Tuesday), the temperature will plummet, and we may have a major ice storm. We could get more then half and inch of ice! On T.V. they said that it was not certain, so stay tuned. They also said to be prepared for power, or tree damage. Here is the weather report verbatim from WHEC news 10. You might want to click the link for the most current forecast.

"A winter storm watch is in effect from late Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday.

Low pressure lifting northeastward from the lower Mississippi valley will reach west Virginia by Tuesday evening. This will wrap warmer air over the cold air at ground level and a mixture of freezing rain and sleet will develop during Tuesday afternoon.

The mix of icy precipitation will spread over much of the watch area during late Tuesday afternoon and continue through Tuesday night before diminishing by noon Wednesday.

There cold be ice accumulations of more than a half an inch over the watch area with a significant sleet accumulation as well.

Stay tuned to News 10NBC for updates."

I will be sooo glad when Spring comes to Rochester to stay. We have had more then our share of mixed precipitation storms...ice, ice, and more ice. I'd rather have snow then ice. UG! The photo is of the famous ice storm of 1991 taken at the University of Rochester. Here are more photos of that storm. and more photos plus a first hand account. Ironically this upcoming ice storm will mark the anniversary of the ice storm we had in 1991. Thank God they are not expecting that much ice this time. What is with these major storms in March? I hope that this storm is a dud. Happy anniversary Rochester, and batten down the hatches!... Again!


"ice Strom - part 1" from YouTube (Day after the March 1991 Ice Strom in Rochester, NY)

Weather Alert - Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse - "Major Winter Storm"

I asked some people yesterday if they had heard the latest on the coming snow storm. I don't have cable t.v., so thought that others would be more up so date on the weather. The reply was alway the same, "What snow storm?

Updated at 5:30 p.m Monday night.

There is a winter storm watch in effect from Tuesday morning through Wednesday evening.

Rochester has been hit with so many midweek storms of the mixed precipitation type, that I think we have stopped listening. Most storms have been mild to moderate. This one is different, it's a "major snow storm", and will be long in duration. It will be mostly snow, and lots of it! 10 to 16 inches of snow near Rochester city, within 36 hours. Localized tallies of 16" to 20" in parts of Wayne, Northern Monroe, and Northern Orleans near the lake, within 36 hours. (Mostly mixed participation south of Rochester.) It will start around daybreak tomorrow, and go into Wednesday night. Although predominately snow, we may have a little sleet too. It will also become cold. All information is from news 10 on t.v., here is the web link ...

whec news 10

Buffalo and Syracuse have similar forecasts, see....

wkbw tv buffalo
wtvh tv cbs syracuse

Windstorm Rips Through Rochester and Buffalo Closing Thruway

Rochester got slammed today with high winds, and damage. It started at 5:30 A.M with rain, then sleet, and snow. We didn't get much snow, but it was a slippery mixture, and white outs. Temperatures plunged 20 degrees. Winds up to 72 mph. Unlike the brief windstorm that hit 3 weeks ago this has been an all day event. Buffalo got the brunt of it, see links below.

* A 55 Mile section of the Thruway has been closed from Henrietta to Buffalo due to icy roads, and "white outs".

* Nearly 17,000 without power in Rochester.

* Two-dozen of outlying schools are closed or delayed.

* Many accidents have been reported.

* Debris - downed trees and limbs, downed wires.

* Some streets close down.

* 15 foot waves on Lake Ontario.

Buffalo got hit harder then Rochester- Floods occurred, Most schools closed, 70,000 without power, down trees and much more. See link below.

The Buffalo News

Democrat and Chronicle News

NYS Thruway Closes

Good new in Rochester, NY!

Many good things have been happening here in Rochester, N.Y. I will start with the most recent, and go backwards.

1) Gov. Spitzer promises that Rochester will get a big chunk of money for revitalization.

Governor Spitzer's State of Upstate address was given on Wednesday in Buffalo, NY. In his address he elaborated on how he wants to spend the $1 billion Upstate Revitalization Fund he proposed last week.

Rochester would get a big chunk of the money:

* $65 million for the demolition of Midtown Plaza
* $50 million for a new building at the University of Rochester to house the Clinical and Translational Science Institute
* $2 million in grants for developers who are transforming aging downtown Rochester buildings into loft apartments and condominiums
* More state police patrols in urban areas as part of Operation Impact
* More direct aid to distressed upstate cities, including Rochester

You can read more at... 13 WHAM
Here is the full text of the Governor's speech... The Albany Project

2) Three of the areas hospitals plan to expand. The U of R, RGH, and Unity Health.

U of R .... The University of Rochester plans on having a new building constructed, where it will house research for clinical and translational science. Therefore, more great scientists, and great researchers, and great students will come to the U of R. It's a science that will develop treatments, care and cures for common illnesses. With that comes business. The Clinical and Translational Science Building is expected to bring 600 jobs to Rochester, along with another 800 in construction. Governor Spitzer promise $50 million in state funds, on top of $40 million from the feds.

You can read more at... 13 WHAM

RGH... Rochester General Hospital gave details of plans to expand. It would add 70 beds to the hospital in a new six-story addition that would be built where the main entrance is now located. The existing inpatient facility would be modernized to double the number of private rooms.

Rochester General's proposal differs from those at Strong Memorial and Unity Health, and what it could mean for people seeking treatment. RGH's proposal is the smallest of the three hospitals’ expansion plans.

You can read more at... 13 WHAM

Unity .... State Approves Unity's plan for homelike nursing facility

Unity Health System officials are set to build the area's first cottage-style skilled nursing home when the state approves. Part One of its $144 million expansion plan.

Unity officials announced Tuesday that they've received approval to replace the 35-year-old Park Ridge Living Center, located on the hospital's third floor. By next year, residents in the facility will be moved into four freestanding duplexes, each with 20 private rooms and baths, family-style dining areas and a courtyard. Construction of the $23 million duplexes behind the old center should begin this summer.

You can read more at... Unity Health

3) Bravo to Mayor Duffy, (former police chief), for activating "Zero Tolerance" against crime in Rochester.

In October 2007 Mayor Robert Duffy cracked down on crime by activating "Zero Tolerance". Since Zero Tolerance started October 5, only five people were murdered in Rochester, (as of Jan 1st). The total number of homicides were reduced slightly in 2007. Recently Duffy received funding to continue Zero Tolerance until March.

You can read more at.... MSNBC
And.... WHAM 1180