Connections With Evan Dawson

We begin our series of interviews with candidates for Rochester City Council. There are ten candidates vying for five at-large seats. Our goal is to talk to all of them prior to Election Day about their background, platforms, and priorities for office.

More than a decade ago, a couple of young entrepreneurs moved to Rochester and created the city's hottest new date spot. It was called Chocolate & Vines, located in the Neighborhood of the Arts. The owners had heard about Rochester and the relatively low cost of property in Monroe County, and they launched their idea almost on a whim. Now, Chocolate & Vines is closing.

The Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative is working toward a wage enhancement goal. The aim of the Level Up Champions program is to increase the starting wage to $15 an hour for 10,000 Rochester residents this year. So far, about 50 employers have raised their stating wages, affecting more than 6,500 workers. Experts say low wages are a leading cause of poverty.

We talk with the incoming president of Houghton College. Wayne D. Lewis, Jr. will be inaugurated on Friday as the college's sixth president. He comes to Houghton from Belmont University in Tennessee, where he served as dean of the School of Education. Prior to that, he served as the commissioner of education for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He also has a background as a teacher in K-12 schools.

The rate of vaccination among Black Americans is significantly lower than the rate among white Americans. Our guests explore the reasons for mistrust and the ongoing challenge of changing hearts and minds in our community.

The Pittsford Central School District is responding to several racist incidents involving students. One involves a video in which a white student is seen brandishing an air-soft gun and threatening to kill Black people. Sheriffs deputies say the video is months-old but was circulated recently. A second incident involves white middle school students making racist remarks via text and on social media. Officials at the district say a student walkout is planned for this morning.

How can members of law enforcement better interact with people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities? We hear from participants of a recent event with the Arc of Monroe and the Advocacy Alliance. We talk with members of law enforcement about police training techniques, and we hear from people with disabilities and advocates about their perspectives and experiences.

The performance "Listen to Your Mother" is back on stage next month. We preview this year's event, which highlights the impact of mothers and motherhood.

Do vaccine incentives work? By mid-summer, researchers were concluding that vaccine incentives were not making much of a difference. From lottery tickets to free beer, state and local government tried just about everything. But a new analysis from McGill University indicates that incentives are now one of the most useful tools for increasing vaccination.