Rochester Turning, a local blog we recommend, frequently offers items about restaurants and other amenities in the city's South Wedge district. We haven't yet been misdirected by their advice on any of these places we've tried.
So, with full credit to the good folks at Rochester Turning for the idea of publicizing additions to the South Wedge scene (and only because we haven't yet read about it on RT): the newest addition to the South Wedge community will be the South Wedge Farmers Market, Thursday nights starting June 14th, from 4 to 8 in the lot behind the Boulder Coffee Company. Boulder Coffee is at the corner of South Clinton and Alexander.
Mayor Duffy will kick off the Market's opening day on June 14th with a "Vine Cutting" ceremony at 4 pm.
This is something that's going to be much more than a place to buy your veggies and fruit. The market will feature local artists, musicians and special events.
For more information contact swfarmersmarket@gmail.com, or call 546-7507.
This is a welcome idea. Let's support the South Wedge Farmers Market with our presence and our purchases.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
South Wedge Farmers Market
Independence Party Switch in LD 10
The Independence Party announced yesterday its candidates for the 2007 elections in Monroe County. In addition to endorsing County Executive Maggie Brooks and District Attorney Mike Green, the Independence Party also announced its candidates for County Legislature.
Of particular interest, given the open seat and the heightened interest in Pittsford as a target of opportunity for Democrats, was the endorsement for Legislative District 10. This is the Pittsford-East Rochester seat now held by term-limited Majority Leader Bill Smith.
For the 10th District, the Independence Party has endorsed Anthony Daniele, the Republican candidate.
What makes this noteworthy is that two years ago, the Independence Party endorsed Democrat Ted Nixon, who's running again this year.
The leadership of the Independence Party is the same as it was in 2005, so there was no change in direction to account for the Independence people dropping Nixon this time around. Maybe they were disappointed by his last campaign, or maybe put off by the trouble Nixon got himself into in the closing days of the last election.
The Conservative Party hasn't announced its candidates yet. It may be that Nixon could be angling for the Conservative nomination. If he got it, that would be a big blow to Daniele. But given Nixon's leadership in the left-wing-on-steroids DFA advocacy group, it seems unlikely that he'd get it, or keep his street cred with the DFA comrades if he did.
Because of the interest in this race among those who follow local politics and the recent interest in Pittsford as a political hot spot, we've been doing more research on the LD 10 race and its candidates than on any other topic we've covered. We'll have more analysis in an upcoming posting.
Friday, June 1, 2007
It's Koon After All -- For State Senate!
This one you can take to the bank. David Koon will run -- but next year, for State Senate, challenging six-term incumbent Republican Jim Alesi in the 55th Senatorial District.
Supplement 6/4/2007:
Apparently Koon called Alesi some time last week to tell him of this personally.
This makes so much more sense for David Koon, and the Democratic Party, than Koon running for Monroe County Executive.
Koon has been a popular vote-getter in what was a Republican Assembly seat (Koon's predecessor was Alesi himself). Running such a candidate for State Senate is a well- conceived component of the state Democratic Party's push to take the Senate in 2008. It's hard to think of a Democrat better suited to do the job in the 55th District than Koon.
And with two Albany insiders running against each other, any potential issue of a "what happens in Albany stays in Albany" character really will stay in Albany and isn't likely to to emerge in the campaign.
Jim Alesi will be difficult to beat, even with the money we can expect the state Democratic Senatorial Committee to devote to this race. The perenially popular Alesi has been a ubiquitous presence in his district -- and that's between campaigns, with no opponent in sight for the next one. Now he'll ramp it up.
Also, Alesi has been one of the top vote getters in the State Senate as a whole. We believe he has been elected with the biggest majority of any Republican State Senator in New York.
Therefore this analysis: Koon as the candidate gets the Democrats into this race for real. But it's a great leap from that to actually topping Jim Alesi in November 2008.
