Noelle E. C. Evans

Tuesday marked Trans Visibility Day, and amid coronavirus precautions and social distancing, a group of transgender men of color still found a way to celebrate the day.

It’s not the march that was planned, but there are balloons - arranged in a display of floating pink, white, and blue balloons at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park. 

One attendee, Zenith Sulton, says people are encouraged to write messages on the balloons in honor of Trans Visibility Day.

Three prominent U.S. feminists in the 1800s -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Lucretia Mott -- learned what women's equality could look like through personal contact with Native American women.

Historian Sally Roesch Wagner of Syracuse is the author of “Sisters in Spirit,” which chronicles the influence of Haudenosaunee women on early U.S. feminists. 

She says that the three women witnessed the mirror opposite of their own society in Haudenosaunee culture.

Siana McClean is an immigration attorney and the regional American Immigration Lawyers Association representative. She works with detainees at the Federal Detention Center in Batavia. Her drive to the court involves crossing the U.S. Canadian Border. 

But since March 16th, she hasn’t been making the trip. She's worried about the coronavirus. 

Schools have been closed since Monday. On Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo mandated that all non-essential travel be put to a halt, and for employees to work from home with the exemption of healthcare workers and others whose work is deemed essential. That includes Monroe County's Child Protective Services.

Deputy Monroe County Executive Corinda Crossdale says that so far there are no indications that child abuse and exploitation are increasing as social distancing requires families to stay home.

Calls to Willow’s domestic violence hotline spiked on Friday and again on Monday. Over 40 calls came in Monday. That’s more than double the usual rate.

Meaghan de Chateauvieux with Willow Domestic Violence Center says she believes there is a strong correlation between those calls and concerns of having to stay home. 

She says her team is working to adjust to new demands to help survivors of domestic abuse amid concerns of a pandemic.

Dan is a volunteer with Rochester Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA. Because the group is anonymous, he doesn’t share his last name.

Dan says he’s depended on AA meetings over the last 39 years of his sobriety.

"The meetings themselves are at the center of my recovery because I depend on them to stay in touch with the mindset of recovery," he says.

However, as facilities are closing to help mitigate the spread of novel coronavirus, AA, Narcotics Anonymous, and various support group meetings have been put on hold.

Constellation Brands is facing renewed challenges over a controversial brewery in Mexicali, Mexico. On Saturday, the Fortune 500 company’s “greenfield” project will face a new test: a public consultation in Mexicali.

The Victor-based company produces wines, liquors, and beers, like Corona. Rumors spread some weeks ago that because of fears of catching the novel coronavirus, fewer people were buying Corona beer. That wasn’t the case after all.

Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra held its first livestreamed performance Friday morning for classrooms whose field trips were canceled due to coronavirus concerns and precautions.

This week, the RPO had to cancel a series of interactive, educational performances around the concept of voting for fourth- through sixth-graders. According to Marie-Andélina de la Farrière with the RPO, more than 5,000 students in 250 classrooms participated in the live-stream in more than 50 schools.

Volunteers of America is announcing more housing opportunities in Rochester for people who are homeless.

The VOA expects seven new supportive housing units at Cooper Union to be ready by 2021. The building, on State Street in downtown Rochester, is currently home to 44 such apartments.

Tenants will receive rental assistance and extensive case management support. Rent will be 30%  of their income. If the tenant does not have any income, rent will be free.