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East Rochester re-dedicates newly renovated outdoor pool

On Tuesday, the East Rochester Board of Education was joined by members of the local community for an official ribbon cutting and re-dedication of the Kate Gleason Memorial pool on Tuesday, June 18.

The outdoor pool has been a summertime attraction for ER families since it first opened to the public in 1949.

It was paid for by the Kate Gleason memorial fund, named after one of ER's greatest pioneers of engineering, architecture, and banking.

"I hope this great legacy and gift she brought to all of us will continue for many generations to come," said school board president Kim Jackson.

The pool's new features are a water-powered chair lift and fiberglass stairs to provide extra help for swimmers stepping into the pool.

The adjacent pool house building was also redesigned and renovated for better accessibility and a more effective use of space.

Courtesy www.MPNNow.com

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Fairport Baptist Homes to hold Step Up for Seniors Walk

Fairport Baptist Homes to hold Step Up for Seniors Walk

Fairport Baptist Homes will hold its first annual Step Up For Seniors walk through Fairport on September 14.

The goal of the program is to connect the community with seniors. The walk will start at Fairport Baptist Homes and go through the village of Fairport to the canal, with one- and two-mile options.

Registration is free and begins on Friday, June 14.

Fairport man charged with DWI

A Fairport man will answer to DWI charges after he was arrested in Wayne County on Friday.

Deputies say Vinh Q. Pham, 54, was driving west on State Route 31F when a deputy saw him cross the centerline and enter the eastbound lane before returning back to his lane.

Pham was arrested for driving while intoxicated and failure to keep right.

Report: Monroe County most fiscally stressed in NYS

The state comptroller's office says Monroe County is listed as the most fiscally stressed local government in New York State.
 
Two dozen communities in New York have been designated as such through the comptroller's new Fiscal Stress Monitoring System. The list includes eight counties, three cities and 13 towns.  

The comptroller judges municipalities by things such as cash on hand, patterns of operating deficits, population trends and tax assessment growth.

The comptroller says he hopes the early warning system will motivate elected leaders and their constituents to become more efficient, more creative and more forward thinking with resources available.

Local filmmakers win NYS Emmy Awards for baseball documentary

Local filmmakers win NYS Emmy Awards for baseball documentary

Have you ever wondered who came up with the signs umpires use in baseball?

That’s exactly what local filmmakers sought to discover in their award-winning documentary, “Signs of the Time,” which recently took home three New York State Emmy Awards.

The film explores the somewhat controversial origins of umpire signals by telling the story of two men credited with inventing baseball signs. It features interviews with former major league ballplayers and present day baseball experts.

“Signs” is the first full-length feature film produced by Fairport-based Crystal Pix Productions. Owners Ray and Caroline Manard have built their business around corporate work and assisting with others’ documentaries and short films in the past.

But this wasn’t quite as fulfilling as having more artistic control, as Ray Manard explained.

“We had never done a film of our own from start to finish,” he said.

How does their garden grow?

How does their garden grow?

 Any dedicated gardener will tell you the best garden is one that's a work in progress.

"It's an ongoing labor of love, and we truly love it," said Jan Coon. "It's like an addiction, but a good one."

She and husband David's garden on Watson Road in Fairport will be among six different stops on Saturday's garden tour hosted by the Women's Council, a volunteer service organization that supports the Rochester Museum and Science Center.

The fourth annual event plans to draw hundreds of guests to walk through, admire, and enjoy.

The Coons have a five-acre farm and have been gradually adding to their garden over the last decade. Their slice of flora has drawn some attention from the public, dubbing it the "traffic stopping garden," as Jan Coon explains.

"I had somebody run into my mailbox while someone was looking at my garden," she said with a chuckle.

State education department releases 4-year graduation rates

The numbers are scary, and unfortunately, nothing new in Rochester. But a new report released by the New York State Education Department breaks down the graduation rates across the state, and just as in previous years, Rochester is among the worst.

The report looks at "on-time" graduation rates which is considered by August of a student's fourth year. In August 2012, only 48.6% of seniors graduated on time. That's practically unchanged from the year before with a rate of 49%. Buffalo saw a 7% drop in on-time graduates, bringing their percentage slightly below Rochester's at 47.8%. And in Syracuse, a little over half of students graduated on time.