Today's headlines for August 12

You're listening to WXXI Daily News. I'm Michaela Singleton. Our investigative reporter breaks down the city of Rochester's response to violence following festivals and holiday celebrations this year. A big chunk of the tickets issued to drivers who illegally pass school buses are concentrated in the Greece school district. And later, former President Bill Clinton makes his way to Rochester to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. It's Wednesday, August 12th. Even though shootings in Rochester fell to near record lows this year, gun violence has dominated news headlines this summer. Two deadly shootings following the Puerto Rican Festival on August 1st, seven people shot during a post 4th of July celebration in the East End. WXXXI investigative reporter Gino Finnelli talked to all things considered host, Beth Adams, about the city's response and what community leaders are saying. Gino, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. There's a lot to sort through here, but let me start here. You found that 21% of all shootings in the city so far this year have involved multiple victims. How unusual is this, and what does this say? That proportion, it's the highest it's been in at least a decade. And I think it's important to note that... That's the proportion-wise, but the sheer numbers is still lower. We've had more this year than last year, but compared to 2021, we had 54 compared to the 14 we've had so far this year. So we are doing better in that regard, but at the same time, when you think of shootings, most of the time, they're interpersonal. There's someone who has a problem with another person. It's an argument. It's over money. It might be over drugs. And someone shoots someone else. These incidents that we've been seeing are people firing randomly into crowds, people getting into shootouts at gatherings in the street, and they present a more complicated issue of conflict resolution that the city and the police and the community, there is no easy answer to it, and they all kind of recognize that. Oh, we know that since Mayor Malik Evans took office in what was at 2022, there has been a gun violence state of emergency that gives him the authority to do certain things in response to violence. And he did take a specific action following that post 4th of July shooting in the East End. Yeah, the mayor following that of incident where seven people shot, one stabbed, he put in an order that gatherings of over 10 past 11 p.m. are basically banned. I spoke to the mayor about this, and I spoke to the police captain about this, and their position has kind of been that we don't want to arrest people that are just out having a good time, but we don't want stuff like this to happen. And what's the balance there? The phrasing that the mayor used was not create a totalitarian state, but at the same time ensure that everyone's safe. And I think it's really easy for people in power to say, just go home. But. If you're a teenager and you're out partying and the government and the police tell you to go home, the last thing in the world you're going to do is want to go home. You're going to want to stay out and party some more. So you create this kind of scenario where you either start over-policing to the point that you're arresting people just for being out and in the interest of public safety. Dubiously, too, because if you clear out one crowd, they're just going to find someplace else to go. Or you kind of just say,

You know, say Levy, that people do what they want to do, and this is the risk they're taking when they do it. And I don't think either answer is something people are happy with. Yeah, and, you know, there is a school of thought. It's not a new school of thought. Many people believe that people just need education and jobs and opportunities and things to do that will hopefully address some of the underlying problem. The mayor, he was particularly candid in the interview that I had with him, saying two things in particular of one, I think this administration. has put up somewhat of a focus on trying to, you know, make more job creation for youth and whatnot. But that's not what he's talking about now. It's like this, none of that matters right now. We're talking about people that are opening fire into a crowd of people. His position is like, these are murderers. And we have a 14-year-old girl dead who is just out having a good time. When you talk to city residents and to neighborhood leaders, do they have any ideas about what could be done to make the city safer, anything that they would like to see happen? Yeah, I think the one thing that really bound together all the conversations is that... There isn't really good communication that's happening. There are cops that work over in North Clinton that they know the business owners, they know the community, and they can have these conversations and be somewhat credible. We know you guys are going to have a party. How do we keep this safe? But then it comes to the beat cop that shows up that wasn't privy to those conversations. They don't know who the players are in that community. And then they... act in a way that escalates the situation. So there was a lot of concern talking to the community members about that part of it. And I think the thrust of the conversations that I've been having is there is no answer. Not from a policing standpoint, not from a government policy standpoint, not just from a community standpoint. There is no, we put this policy in place and it's going to fix it. I don't think anyone's under that illusion. I think we're in a very, very complex and difficult situation when it comes to these. And yes, shootings are down, but then you have a higher proportion of them just being completely nonsensical random shootings of people that weren't involved in anything. When it's a teenager just standing on the street dancing, I think we have a lot of reflection to do as a community. That was WXXI's Gino Finnelli and Beth Adams. There's more coverage of this story at WXXI News.org. More than a third of all tickets that Monroe County issued for illegally passing a stopped school bus this past year were in the Greece School District, which is also the county's largest suburb. Here's WXXI's Jeremy Mole to break down the latest results.

During the 2025-26 school year, the county issued roughly 6,200 tickets to drivers who illegally passed stopped school buses. 2,300 of those were in Greece. That's three times as many citations as were issued in either Brighton or Webster, the next closest districts. East and West Orondicoit are even further down on the list. The county partners with school districts and the firm bus patrol for its school bus safety program. The company installs cameras on the buses free of charge that then capture footage of drivers who pass stop school buses with stop signs deployed and red lights flashing. The school bus safety program began in October 2023 and is open to all of Monroe County suburban school districts. Greece is one of nine districts that have opted in to date. Jeremy Mole, WXXI News. If you'd like to look at the district-by-district breakdown of ticket numbers, you can read up on our website, WXXI News.org. Galasano Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship is holding its commencement ceremony Friday, and the young school has landed a big-name speaker, former president Bill Clinton. Clinton will deliver the commencement address, and the 42nd president of the United States will be preceded at the podium by Bills and Sabres owner, Terry Pagula. Philanthropist and Paychecks founder Tom Galesano established this institute in 2023. Neighbors in one of the poorest zip codes in New York State say it is time to bring back the resources and activities that used to bring people together. Rochester's El Camino neighborhood has soaring rates of poverty and drug addiction. Ramona Colon has lived there for 30 years. She joined a special on the road edition of Connections with Evan Dawson at Ibero American Action League's Community Resource Center to discuss what has changed and what might bring back some better times. My kids, my two older ones, were always outside. They would walk actually to school, school 20, Clinton. It was great. It was very nice to be outside with all the kids playing. Now I have my youngest one, she's 17, and she doesn't like going outside. My daughter, my oldest lives right down the street. She doesn't even like walk. to her sister's house. So you have an adult daughter who lives on the same street as you? Yes. And your 17-year-old daughter won't even walk five houses down? No, no. She doesn't feel comfortable. She doesn't feel safe because of all the drugs and, like, homeless situations that are around, you know, our streets. So she just doesn't like it. She's a homebody. How often do you see needles and drug paraphernalia? Every day.

I have a list of different things that different organizations, Ibero at the center of this, but not just Ibero, have done over the last couple of decades, trying to intervene, trying to create. opportunities for block parties and neighbors to get to know each other. And you were mentioning to me that, you know, you remember some block parties and those kind of things can be really important. Oh, yeah. That was amazing. When Project Hope started, it was amazing. We used to do block parties. We would close the street down and just do hot dogs and hamburgers for all the kids in the neighborhood. We used to do back-to-school activities, like book bags and stuff. We would have the fire department come out. The kids could get on the fire truck and stuff. It was great, but little by little. that all disappeared. Obviously, fundings, you know, it's not the same. It's just, you know, sad that that has all been, like, little by little taken away because I think we need it. We have this full conversation for you to listen on our website, WXXXI News.org slash connections. The state's utilities hope that New York regulators allow them to generate power themselves instead of relying on independent producers. As Samuel King with the New York Public News Network reports, some say that may not be the best idea for rate payers. The state forced utilities to sell power plants in the 1990s to help boost competition in energy markets. Now the Public Service Commission is considering whether to allow the companies to generate wind and solar power. The utilities say it would help meet the state's climate goals and shore up the electric grid. Ari Pesco is the executive director of the electricity law initiative at Harvard Law School. He says it's unclear what the change would mean for energy costs. A lot of this is about, you know, who bears the risk. from projects that don't turn out the way the developer intended. And when utilities build projects, they put the risk on the public. The change faces opposition from the independent power producers of New York, which has launched a six-figure campaign to fight it. There's no timeline on when state regulators could make a decision. In Albany, I'm Samuel King for the New York Public News Network. The owner of the Main Street Armory seeks to bring back music to the historic venue, but he also faces new legal woes. Here's WXXI's Gino Finnelli to explain. The Armory has been devoid of music since John Chirky bought it in 2023. That purchase filed an incident which three women were trampled to death in a crowd surge following a performance by rapper Glorilla. Tricky had originally sought a license to reopen the venue, but City Hall denied that application, citing numerous hazards at his other properties. Tricky again applied for an entertainment license last week. At the same time, a city attorney initiated legal proceedings around a pallet warehouse Tricky owns on Buffalo Road. The city alleged it poses an imminent risk for catastrophic fire. Tricky says he believes all the issues will soon be resolved. He also says he's invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring both buildings up to snuff.

The city and the fire department has seen how much time I have spent doing everything that they've asked me to do over there. The armory is now largely used for volleyball tournaments. Gino Finnelli, WXXI News. Today's weather forecast for Rochester and the Finger Lakes will have sun to start before the clouds and thunderstorms roll in. That rain will be widespread. A high around 80 and the evening low dips to 62. Subscribe to the WXXXI Daily News podcast and I love getting you ready every weekday morning with the latest news. You can always find more stories at WXXXI News.org. Have a fantastic Wednesday.