Free Republic

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — The Trump administration is taking the City of Rochester to court following a controversial encounter between Rochester police officers and federal immigration authorities. A March 24 traffic stop on Whitney Street near Lyell Avenue sparked controversy after Mayor Malik Evans and Rochester Police Chief David Smith claimed the officers involved violated the city's immigration policy by assisting Border Patrol agents at the scene. BACKGROUND: Body camera video released from immigration-related traffic stop in Rochester | Man charged following controversial immigration-related traffic stop in Rochester | Woman's family 'torn apart' by traffic stop involving federal agents in...

Behold the lovely new Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Building at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Complements the nearby parking deck! It’s a cancer research center, designed by HDR Architects, Omaha. Certainly has that American heartland tumor spirit! The promotional literature says, “the COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced the design.” The building is intended to symbolize “hope and progress,” it says. Strange to relate, the percentage increase in cancer cases in the USA from 2021 to 2024 (the latest fully projected year) is approximately 12.6 percent. Could that have anything to do with the Covid-19 vaccines? Perhaps researchers in the Kellen Building...

Sparks fly during interview between Rochester mayor and News10NBC anchor ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Things turned personal after News10NBC sought a response from Mayor Malik Evans Wednesday regarding a one-on-one interview with Border Czar Tom Homan. At a public event to announce the “Party in the Park” lineup, Mayor Evans was available for off-topic questions afterward, according to his assistant. However, when approached, the mayor was less than eager to engage. “Brett has a question. I don’t talk to him, he’s a loser,” Evans said. News10NBC’s Brett Davidsen asked Evans if he had seen his interview with Homan, to where he...

ult charges after cops... 'Good Morning America' anchor reveals family secret discovered on 23andMe after company files for bankruptcy'Good Morning America' anchor reveals family secret discovered on... US News Border czar Tom Homan tells NY sanctuary city cops blasted for assisting ICE that ‘help is coming!’ By Jennie Taer, Vaughn Golden, Carl Campanile and Kate Sheehy Published March 28, 2025, 6:28 p.m. ET 340 Border czar Tom Homan on Friday huddled with a Rochester police union to offer “his unwavering support” after some local cops were ripped by the “sanctuary city’’ for helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a...

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — Kelvin Vickers, the 24-year-old man convicted of killing Rochester Police Officer Anthony Mazurkiewicz, was allegedly caught on surveillance video attacking a corrections officer. Vickers is serving a life sentencing for two separate crimes, including the July 21 shooting that killed Mazurkiewicz and wounded his partner, Officer Sino Seng. MORE: Rochester Police Officer Anthony Mazurkiewicz remembered two years after his death | 'You are an absolute menace': Families, community react to Kelvin Vickers' sentencing | Rochester police officer's convicted killer sentenced to life in prison without parole The officers were shot while on an undercover detail investigating...

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus spoke out against the Continuing Resolution that would allow the government to stay open until September 2025. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass) asserted "we're facing a hostile government takeover and @SenateDems can do something about it. The Trump-Musk spending bill will make our constituents who are unable or unwilling to support themselves hungrier, sicker, and poorer. Listen to your constituents. Do not cede your leverage. Hold the line." Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Tex) said "I stand by the NO vote on the blank check for Trump & Elon. I've got no explanation nor agreement with Senate...

State Democratic lawmakers are trying to pump the brakes on the Hochul administration’s “nearly impossible” green-energy rule requiring more new large trucks to be emissions-free. The proposal, pushed by state Sen. Jeremy Coney Cooney (D-Rochester) and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo (D-Binghamton), would postpone the start of the Democratic governor’s edict until at least Jan. 1, 2027. Hochul’s recent “Advanced Clean Trucks” rule requires manufacturers of vehicles greater than 8,500 pounds to sell an increasing number of zero-emission vehicles in New York, starting with a 7% zero emissions sales percentage in 2025 and ramping up every model year through 2035, to 40%...

During an interview aired on Thursday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) said that she wants people to recognize that Democrats are “all in this fighting to make sure that the cost of eggs [is] not skyrocketing, even though this president said, on day one, he was going to address the economy.” Blunt Rochester said, “[A] lot of times, people say, if you want to see their priorities, look at their checkbook. They’re showing us exactly what their priorities are. When you’ve got 72 million people in this country who are on Medicaid in some way, it might be...

Graffiti in Downtown Rochester reads, “Who will kill Elon?’ ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Commuters on I-490 West in downtown Rochester encountered an unexpected sight on Thursday. Graffiti with the words “Who will kill Elon?” appeared on the 490 off-ramp bridge to Howell Street, seemingly referencing Elon Musk. News10NBC has reached out to New York State Police, the Department of Transportation, and the FBI about the graffiti, as Musk is a federal employee.

More than a dozen cars were broken into, and a 2019 silver Kia Sorento with Virginia license plates was stolen from the nearby Cobbles Elementary School parking lot, where churchgoers parked for the Christmas Eve Mass. Parishioners expressed their disbelief. “I mean, this is typically a safe area from what we understand,” said parishioner Mark Elsaesser. “We’ve been coming here a long time. Never seen anything like this happen, especially on the holidays, Christmas time. My wife and I got married here. We’ve had our daughter baptized here, so we’ve been coming here a very long time, and nothing like...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester City Council has passed the Good Cause legislation with a 7-2 vote. Council Vice President LaShay Harris and Councilmember Michael Patterson voted against the measure. Those in favor included Council President Miguel Melendez and Councilmembers Mitch Gruber, Willie Lightfoot, Mary Lupien, Stanley Martin, Bridget Monroe, and Kim Smith. The legislation includes an amendment from the City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester that lowers the property size exemption. Only landlords with one unit are exempt from the new legislation ensuring protections apply to nearly all renters. Rent increases are limited to 7.7%. The move aligns Rochester’s Good...

Rochester, N.Y.— People in Rochester's 19th Ward rallied Tuesday for the Good Cause Eviction law to be passed after they claim a tenant was served an "unjust eviction." Lakeisha Ward claims she was served an eviction notice after raising concerns about the property and taking the issues to the city. MORE:Rochester City Council says new eviction law would exclude 35,000 renters Ward said she's not behind on rent and kept up her rent. Torres Turn Key Property Management LLC said Ward was issued a notice to vacate because the owner has different plans for the property. "I have emails saying...

Hundreds of "Wanted" posters targeting members of the University of Rochester community were found glued to campus buildings and classrooms, according to the Department of Public Safety. The university launched an investigation after discovering the posters targeted Jewish faculty, and staff, including Hillel leaders, with the words "Wanted: Connection to War Crimes" and "Racism. Hate Speech. Intimidation."... "University facilities immediately began working to remove the posters and return the spaces to their usual state," Chief Quchee Collins said."This process is painstaking because of the strong adhesive used to affix the posters, which in some cases caused damage to walls, floors,...

A criminal illegal immigrant has been charged in connection with the brutal slaughter of an entire family residing in a town near Rochester, New York. The illegal alien, identified as Julio Cesar Pimentel Soriano, 34, is reportedly wanted for a 2019 murder in his home country of the Dominican Republic. Pimentel Soriano illegally entered the U.S. through Puerto Rico and used a fraudulent New York ID before entering the mainland. On August 31, the family was killed inside their own home in Irondequoit before the house was set ablaze, according to authorities. Fraime Ubaldo, 30, Marangely Moreno-Santiago, 26, Evangeline Ubaldo-Moreno,...

Julio Cesar Pimentel Soriano, who was wanted in the Dominican Republic for m*rder in 2019, was arrested. Two toddlers and parents Fraime Ubaldo and Marangely Moreno-Santiago were allegedly k*lled by the illegal immigrant. "This was a horrific scene. In almost 32 years of doing this job, I have never seen anything like it," said Irondequoit Police Chief Scott Peters.

Rochester police have arrested the man wanted for the beating death last week of his girlfriend in the Beechwood neighborhood. Police say suspect Walter Balkum had already been arrested for assaulting the woman this spring, and he was wearing an electronic monitor until five days before the killing of Melikah Bruner. Police say a judge removed the monitor at the request of Balkum's lawyer, who argued it impeded Balkum's ability to get a job. The Monroe County judge was Judge Karen Bailey Turner, who was elected to a ten-year term in 2019. Balkum has four prior felony convictions, two for...

Rochester, N.Y. — Teens in two vehicles drove toward a 46-year-old man, prompting him to open fire and shoot one of them Wednesday afternoon, according to police. Investigators said the man approached multiple teens occupying a Kia and Hyundai on Norton Village Lane to "inquire about their presence." The teens left the area in the vehicles, only to circle back and drive at the man, according to police. The man reportedly pulled a legally registered .45-caliber handgun and fired several rounds before the vehicles fled. Police received a call shortly after 3:30 p.m. for a 17-year-old boy shot on South...

UPDATE: Rochester police have released new details about what sounded like a real-life version of Grand Theft Auto that ended in the death of an elderly man. 92-year-old Thomas Chase was killed when a stolen car crashed into his near Elmwood Avenue in Brighton. Police Chief David Smith says Chase was a beloved volunteer in the community. The 17-year-old driver who hit him is on parole for burglary, in a string of smash-and-grab break-ins. Officers checking on a report of gunfire yesterday spotted a teen driving away in a stolen car. The car crashed, there was a foot chase, and...

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has had to defend his stance on Israel after an op-ed he penned more than three decades ago, in which he wrote of being an Israeli army volunteer and disparaged the Palestinian people, resurfaced. “Since he wrote this piece as a 20-year-old student, Gov. Shapiro has built close, meaningful, informative relationships with many Muslim-American, Arab-American, Palestinian Christian and Jewish community leaders all across Pennsylvania,” Shapiro’s spokesman Manuel Bonder told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The Governor greatly values their perspectives and the experiences he has learned from over the years – and as a result,...

Police are searching for multiple people in connection with a shooting that erupted in Rochester, New York’s, Maple Park Sunday around 6:20 p.m. One person, a male in his 20s, was killed in the incident and six others wounded, USA Today reported. Rochester police Capt. Greg Bello indicated police are unsure what led to the shooting and do not know how many people were firing guns. He simply made clear that the shots rang out a time “where everyone was out barbequing, having a good time.” 🚨#BREAKING: Numerous people including possibly children have been shot in a mass shooting at...