First hour: An update from Ukraine, as Russia's invasion rounds its ninth month
Second hour: Discussing current controversy surrounding RG&E
Our WXXI colleague Mikhail Gershteyn joins us again with an update from Ukraine. He's in his home country visiting family and documenting the war. Gershteyn is in Kyiv this week, after spending time in Odessa and Mykolaiv. He says he's finding there are different moods in different cities. Russia's invasion is rounding its ninth month, and Ukrainians are facing a bleak winter; Russian strikes are causing blackouts and reducing Ukraine's power capacity. We hear from Gershteyn and RocMaidan board member Irene Burke about what Ukrainians need. Our guests:
- Mikhail Gershteyn, native of Ukraine, documentary filmmaker, and senior operations technician and external client services manager at WXXI
- Irene Burke, board member for RocMaidan
Then in our second hour, recent controversy surrounding Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E) has led to public demonstrations. On Monday, Metro Justice hosted a rally and press conference to address what it says is a lack of transparency, billing errors, and ineffective customer service by RG&E. The company was scheduled to meet privately with members of Rochester City Council, but those meetings were cancelled by Council. This hour, we hear an update from Rochester City Council Vice President Mary Lupien, and we talk with a member of Metro Justice and RG&E customers about their experiences and goals for how to address the issues they see. Our guests:
- Mary Lupien, vice president of Rochester City Council
- Crescenzo Scipione, fundraising and membership director for Metro Justice
*Note: Representatives from RG&E were invited to join this conversation, but declined.
