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Connections
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
Connections

The biggest local stories of 2025

By Gino Fanelli,
Megan Mack, Julie Williams
Published December 30, 2025 at 2:02 PM EST
Six people gather around a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left has very short dark hair and is wearing glasses, a grey sweater, blue pants and black shoes; a man front right has a brown beard and is wearing headphones, a green knit cap, glasses, a white and brown plaid button-down shirt, black jeans and black shoes; a man back far left has short brown hair and is wearing headphones and a grey sweater; a woman back near left has long brown hair and is wearing a red sweater; a man back near right has short brown hair, a brown beard and is wearing a black sweater; a woman back far right has very short blonde hair and is wearing glasses and a black turtleneck.
Julie Williams
/
WXXI News
(foreground) Samuel King, (background) Brian Sharp, Noelle Evans, Jeremy Moule and Racquel Stephen with guest host Gino Fanelli on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Tuesday, December 30, 2025
A man with short light brown hair, mustache and beard, wearing glasses and a green jacket
John Schlia
/
WXXI News
Gino Fanelli

It has been quite a year. From a sweep of big wins for local Democrats, to the Trump administration attacking Rochester's sanctuary city policies, dull moments have been hard to come by.

WXXI News staff join guest host Gino Fanelli for a look back at the highlights in local news and things to watch out for in the coming year.

In studio:

Connections
Gino Fanelli
Gino Fanelli is an investigative reporter who also covers City Hall. He joined the staff in 2019 by way of the Rochester Business Journal, and formerly served as a watchdog reporter for Gannett in Maryland and a stringer for the Associated Press.
See stories by Gino Fanelli
Megan Mack
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
See stories by Megan Mack
Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams