"Dr. Rus doesn't put himself into a box. Yes, he's an ordained minister. Evangelical at that. But he's not closed minded (as are some in the religious community). This open mindedness makes him an excellent newsman. I've found Dr. Rus to be an asset when I was at CNN Radio and I find him an asset now as I bring him in to talk to my worldwide audience on Paltalk.com."

Gary Baumgarten -- Director of News and Programming, Paltalk.com
Blog: www.garybaumgarten.com

April 9, 2009
Rochester, NY…Safe?

Rochester, New York A Best Place To Walk?

justmytwocents_walking_shoes

Prevention Magazine has ranked Rochester, New York…
As one of the top 25 best walking cities!

Say what!? The best walking city? How in the world did they come up with that rating? In its May issue, the healthy lifestyle magazine rated Rochester and the surrounding suburbs 17th on its list. The area also received an honorable mention for safety, low crime rates and pedestrian fatalities. Just in case you’re wondering, San Francisco was ranked number one, followed by Boston, New York City and Philadelphia.

Okay, who are they trying to kid here.

For anyone living in Rochester, New York, they know this is a joke! Maybe the suburbs are safe, but Rochester? Really? Rochester, New York? The city with a high crime rate. The city that’s installing cash-grabbing-intersection cameras because people like to run red lights. The city that decided to put a soccer stadium in the red-light district of town?

A great walking city…really?

Read on …

Shoveled into: Crime, New York State,
Snowed under by Dr. Rus at 7:17 am | No comments
 

September 19, 2008
Teens Killing Teens

Preparing for the morning news run today two headlines jumped off the page at me;

  • Teen Gets Maximum for 2007 Shooting
  • 15 Year Old Shot and Killed

The headlines are about teens in Rochester, New York. I find it somewhat ironic that the same day two stories involve violent crimes involving teens in the City of Rochester, the latest FBI Crime Statistics report for 2006-07 says the following about New York State;

  • Crime in Monroe County, which is where Rochester is located, declined by 9.3%. That’s more than two times greater than the statewide drop of 3.7%
  • New York has become the fourth safest state in the nation and the safest large state in the country
  • New York has had a reduction in overall crime for 17 consecutive years.

The numbers may say crime is in decline, but with what I cover day in and day out, I’d like to find out exactly how the FBI are arriving at those numbers. Especially in Rochester where it seems violent crime is up. Not only does violent crime seem to be up, but it also seems like teens killing teens crime is up.

Read on …

Shoveled into: Crime, New York State,
Snowed under by Dr. Rus at 7:41 am | No comments