Arts & Culture

More than 5,000 horses have died from racing or training on U.S. race tracks in the country since 2014.

And over a six-day span this month at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack, there were four equine deaths.

That’s according to Patrick Battuello, the founder of Horseracing Wrongs, a nonprofit organization that he said is committed to ending horse racing in the United States.

He said the horses are bred for speed, are subject to intensive training at 18 months of age and are forced to run at breakneck speeds with a person perched on top of them, wielding a whip.

As many folks are aware, the Netherlands is totally cool with your recreational use of marijuana. Denmark? Not so much. And here was Mikaela Davis, driving the rental car on her European tour a couple of weeks ago, with guitarist Cian McCarthy in the passenger seat, when they were waved over at the Danish border by the cops.

Several projects designed to create play spaces for thousands of kids will receiving funding from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation's "Built to Play" initiative, in conjunction with the non-profit organization KaBOOM!

One of the projects includes space along an existing art trail in Batavia that will feature interactive musical instruments, and a musical-themed mural. The project from the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council, or GO ART!, is called "Play Me a Tune Garden," and should be completed by the end of August.

VERNON, N.Y. (AP)  An upstate New York town has rejected the appeal of its denial of a permit to hold the Woodstock 50 music festival.

The Town of Vernon's planning board made its unanimous decision Tuesday night, exactly a month before the festival's start.

The town denied a permit application last week for a festival Aug. 16-18 at the Vernon Downs racetrack and casino.

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. said he was pleased with the decision, citing "inadequate planning and a dangerously truncated timeframe."

Fashion designer and philanthropist Diane von Furstenberg has been added to this year’s National Women’s Hall of Fame inductees in Seneca Falls.

Furstenberg is the 11th member of this year’s inductees; the other 10 were announced earlier this year.

ROC Pride 2019 is officially underway.

Opening ceremonies were held Monday night at City Hall, where Rochester's Pride flag was raised.

Tamara Leigh, Out Alliance’s director of operations, said the weeklong celebration pays homage to the people who pushed the LGBTQ rights movement forward after police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York City 50 years ago.

"It's very important to us and the Prides around the country to make sure we pay close attention and give special reverence to those people," she said. "As we celebrate, we also remember."