Jacob Schermerhorn

2 weeks ago | rochesterbeacon.com | Jacob Schermerhorn

The race for three seats on the Rochester City School District Board looks strikingly different today than it did just a month ago. Instead of a seven-candidate contest in the June 24 Democratic primary, the number has fallen to four: current RCSD board president Camille Simmons, and board hopefuls Kareem-Ba McCullough, Vince Felder, and Heather Feinman.

2 weeks ago | rochesterbeacon.com | Jacob Schermerhorn

Following an undercover investigation, Housing Rights Initiative, a housing watchdog group, recently filed one of the largest housing discrimination complaints in New York history. The investigation was conducted statewide in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, White Plains, and Suffolk and Nassau counties, an effort HRI says is key to expanding its impact.

3 weeks ago | rochesterbeacon.com | Jacob Schermerhorn

A new historical work reveals many connections to issues of incarceration and inequality in Rochester today. “A Continuous Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Martin Sostre,” is a political biography of Sostre, a Black Puerto Rican man who became a “politicized prisoner” and jailhouse lawyer in the 1950s and 1960s. “He was a remarkable figure.

3 weeks ago | rochesterbeacon.com | Jacob Schermerhorn

The Rochester City School District is one step closer to passing its largest budget yet.  On Monday, the 2025-26 school year budget draft was approved by all five present members of the RCSD board of education. The spending plan goes to City Council next month for final approval. “Adopting an annual budget is one of the most critical responsibilities of this board. I want to assure our community that we do not take this responsibility lightly,” RCSD board president Camille Simmons said at the vote.

3 weeks ago | rochesterbeacon.com | Jacob Schermerhorn

Rochester’s Police Accountability Board was dealt a staggering blow this month when a complaint filed by the Rochester Police Department’s officers’ union, the Locust Club, was upheld by Judge Joseph Waldorf. The state Supreme Court justice’s decision effectively curtails PAB’s data access, investigative, and subpoena powers. An appeal of that decision, brought by the city of Rochester, was filed but could take months to conclude.