• DFE alerts us all to a new cool site for the SouthWedge. I like the site’s tagline: “Rochester’s Model for Sustainable Urban Revitalization”
• Speaking of places needing revitalization, he’s moving to East Rochester. Maybe he can help us keep tabs on Mayor Koon’s progress there.
• He also discovered that the Campaign for Fiscal Equity is on the case with efforts to stop the F.A.I.R. plan:

This is the same organization that sued New York City and the state for proper funding of students in that city. That agency is already testifying on behalf of Monroe County schools, as you can see in this document (PDF).

• The NY GOP is so freaked out after Barclay’s loss, they’ve hired national GOP’s “lie scientist” Frank Luntz.
• TAP finds a website from NY’s GOP rank-and-file, called Change-NYGOP. Hey GOPers of conscious around Rochester, let us know when you put up the Change-MCGOP site!
• Water Buffalo Press has a funny (and a little gross) take on RBJ’s web awards. The printable part:

Yeah the Monroe County gov site is sweet assuming you do not want any specific details on anything or a means of contacting someone who will actually get back to you.

• WBP also tries to dig into the recent COMIDA grants. I believe these are the same ones stlo7 covered here. When trying to dig into the murky world of giving COMIDA grants to shadowy LLC’s (Limited Liability Corporations), they got a familiar response from the county:

Have you ever attempted to contact a Monroe County governmental agency with a question in hope of getting an answer which you assume would be readily available? The WBP has and the result is always the same: a stupified County employee (being paid with your tax dollars) who brushes the caller aside and takes down name and number stating that someone will be in contact eventually. Rarely is that return call received.

• They take a somewhat narrow view of the whole NYRA deal, where the state-run racing association got a new lease on life:

Hearkening back to days of old and practices supposedly cast aside at day one of Eliot Spitzer’s reign as Governor, the Leg approved the deal cemented only hours earlier behind closed doors by Leg leaders and Spitz. Promises, promises Eliot . . .

Aside from the fact that I’ve heard from many sources that NYRA (and many other state agencies) are staffed, even now, by Pataki cronies who want to see Spitzer fail, let’s talk about Spitzer’s promises for more open government. As I see it, he tried his damndest to open it up last year, but a couple folks threw him under the bus: Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno. Joe’s about to go.

• Not local, but gee whiz, who knew McCain was such an accomplished musician?