Coronavirus News

Despite a lot of hype leading into the summer, we haven't seen many streets closed down to car traffic during the pandemic. Many businesses have been allowed to expand their outdoor seating, but there hasn't been a transformation of outdoor spaces like some advocates wanted. Was it a missed opportunity? Or was that unrealistic all along?

We discuss it with our guests:

• Nate Polselli, advocate of new urbanism
• John Urlaub, co-owner of Rohrbach Brewing Company
• Michael Mills, director of the Geneva Business Improvement District
• Mitch Gruber, member of Rochester City Council
  

This fall, Greece Central School District will operate under a hybrid model. Under the plan, most students will be in schools two days a week and then do remote learning for three days, but students also have the option to learn at home 100 percent of the time.

Superintendent Kathleen Graupman says the model was selected after the district heard from thousands of parents and students. She joins us this hour to discuss Greece's plan. Our guest:

• Kathleen Graupman, superintendent of Greece Central School District, and head of the Monroe County Association of Superintendents

The vast majority of people who are diagnosed with COVID-19 have survived the disease, but a growing body of evidence is finding that survival does not guarantee a smooth recovery.

“It’s not just dying that you need to be concerned about,” said Dr. Jeffrey Bruckel, a cardiologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center who has treated COVID-19 patients.

When she was an undergraduate college student, Lesli Myers-Small said she considered going to medical school.

But the superintendent of the Rochester City School District never imagined she would have to understand so much about health and medicine in her career in education.

"It's been challenging," Myers-Small said about preparing for a new school year in the midst of a global health pandemic that is filled with uncertainties.

There's a lot of debate about whether it's safe for teachers to be back in classrooms this fall. But they aren't the only ones who could potentially be at risk in this pandemic.

We talk to local cleaning staff members, food service workers, security officers, and bus drivers about their concerns. Our guests:

• Dan DiClemente, president of BENTE/AFSCME Local 2419
• Wilbert Navedo, bus driver for the RCSD
• Joe Jackson, lead school safety officer at Edison Career ad Technology High School
• Victor Wilson, custodian at Franklin
• Bonnie Ferrari, cook manager for food services at the RCSD
• Jessica Rinebold, lead secretary for the RCSD

There are a number of factors that could lead to a possible eviction crisis. The pandemic has put many people out of work, and now additional federal support for unemployment has run out. Advocates say something has to be done very soon or the crisis will hit Western New York.

Our guests discuss it:

• Alex Turner, eviction prevention representative to the Homeless Services Network, and community resource services program director at Catholic Family Center
• Mark Muoio, program director of the Housing and Consumer Law Unit and the Legal Aid Society of Rochester, NY
• Tina Foster, executive director of the Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County, Inc.
• Emily Benfer, Wake Forest University School of Law