Los Flamboyanes polling site relocated to Salvation Army
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The polling site at Los Flamboyanes has found an alternative location after being closed due to construction.
In a press conference held by Monroe County Vice President and Legislator Mercedes Vazquez Simmons on Tuesday, it was announced that voters who previously used the site formerly located at 100 Boriquen Plaza in Rochester will now be able to vote at the Salvation Army located at 915 North Clinton Avenue.
The Los Flamboyanes Apartment location stood as one of the city's largest and most historic polling sites, serving District 22 and the 14605 zip code. It is also known for the largest population of Black and Latino voters.
The alternative site stays within the area for an easy transition.
'The goal was to provide residents with a location they were familiar with, within close proximity to their prior polling site due to lack of transportation for many, and to make certain it is easily accessible to our aging population,' Vazquez Simmons said.
Arc of Monroe event makes voter registration accessible
She is encouraging Monroe County to notify residents and advertise poll site changes in advance, as many voters are left unaware of the changes and their impact on Election Day.
'I understand the polling site closure is due to construction, but the lack of communication about the poll closure is concerning. Once again, voters were not made aware of this change in a timely fashion, which would create confusion and ultimately deny many the right to vote on Election Day,' Vazquez Simmons said in a statement.
The local primary election is scheduled for June 24. When voting, residents can expect to report to the site and utilize new touch-screen voting machines.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
While Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker scored wins during legislative session, cellphone ban, other initiatives fell short
CHICAGO — Entering a legislative session amid questions about whether he'd run for a third term, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker outlined an ambitious agenda that ended with mixed results. In a State of the State and budget address in February that will be remembered mainly for Pritzker invoking Nazi Germany to describe the new presidential administration, there was also a litany of policy initiatives — some of which passed and will now have a tangible impact on Illinoisans and others that went nowhere in the spring legislative session that just wrapped up. 'You don't get everything done in one year. I think the Senate president can back me up on that, and lots of people in the General Assembly,' Pritzker said Sunday at his end-of-session news conference in Springfield, flanked by Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park. 'Sometimes they spend two years, four years, six years trying to get something big done. I think we've been hyper-successful about getting things done in a shorter period of time than expected.' But Pritzker's mixed scorecard also revealed tensions between his agenda and those in the Legislative Black Caucus. More than once, Black caucus members balked at Pritzker's plans as they didn't see their wants and needs fully addressed during a legislative session that focused heavily on fiscal issues and a tight budget. Indeed, while the governor's backing puts political capital behind any policy proposal, that didn't mean it was guaranteed to pass through the sometimes splintered Democratic supermajorities in the state House and Senate. Here are some examples of where the governor accomplished what he set out to do — and a few places where he came up short. What Pritzker said: 'This session, I'll move forward with legislation requiring all school districts in Illinois to adopt a cellphone policy that bans the use of phones during classroom instruction. More focus on learning will bring even greater success for kids across our state.' Status: Did not pass. A coalition of Illinois House lawmakers blocked the measure when it came to the House late in the session over concerns about unequal disciplinary impacts, according to bill sponsor, Democratic state Rep. Michelle Mussman of Schaumburg. Concerns about enforcement disproportionately affecting Black and brown students became more pronounced as lawmakers reviewed the phone restriction alongside another bill limiting police from ticketing students for minor misbehavior, according to Mussman. Legislators were hesitant to pass a statewide school mandate while also debating a measure meant to scale back school discipline practices, she said. Rep. Curtis Tarver, a Chicago Democrat and a member of the Black caucus, told the Tribune in February he worried about the 'unintended consequences' of a phone ban, including inequitable enforcement. The legislation against ticketing and fines passed both chambers and now heads to Pritzker's desk for his signature. A Chicago Tribune and ProPublica investigation found school districts used local law enforcement to fine students, and Black students were twice as likely to be ticketed at school as their white peers, a pattern lawmakers aimed to end. Pritzker's cellphone policy will have to wait for another session when there's more time to work out the enforcement aspect, Mussman said. The measure would have required school districts to adopt guidelines prohibiting students from using wireless devices, such as cellphones and smartwatches, during instructional time, while providing secure and accessible storage for the devices, before the 2026-2027 school year. The legislation also included a few exceptions, such as permitting students to use phones in emergencies. In the end, negotiations around the measure came down to a 'dance' between ensuring local school boards had control over their own policies while also protecting students from 'inequitably applied' policies, Mussman said. Moreover, representatives were unsure how to implement guidance on 'how a phone might be returned if it was confiscated, or what to do if anything was lost or broken,' she added. Also not quite making the mark: Pritzker's push to expand so-called evidence-based funding for K-12 schools by $350 million. The final plan would boost funding by $307 million, cutting $43 million that usually would go to a grant program designed to help school districts with high property tax rates and low real estate values. What Pritzker said: 'I'm proposing that we allow community colleges to offer four-year baccalaureate degrees for in-demand career paths — like nursing, advanced manufacturing, early childhood education, and beyond.' 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Toward the end of the session, Tarver told a Senate committee that the Black caucus had 'significant issues with the bill,' including how it would affect four-year institutions serving a high proportion of Black and minority students, such as Chicago State University. A proposal on direct university admissions, however, passed, meaning high school students and eligible community college students starting in the 2027-2028 school year will automatically be offered admission to public universities if they meet specific GPA standards. What Pritzker said: 'We're going to stop insurance companies from blocking access to mental health. We can do that by banning prior authorization for all behavioral health care. And for rural Illinois families and those who live far away from certain medical care, we'll require insurance reimbursement for reasonable travel costs associated with medical appointments' for some distances. Status: Passed. Building on sweeping health care legislation last year, the General Assembly this session voted on a bill to expand a ban on prior authorization for outpatient behavioral health care, meaning patients will no longer need permission from insurance companies before receiving mental health treatment in many more cases. The same legislation also puts insurers on the hook for travel costs in some instances where closer options aren't adequate. What Pritzker said: 'I'm introducing the Prescription Drug Affordability Act to rein in the unfair practices of PBMs.' Status: Passed. Critics often blame large so-called pharmacy benefit managers, such as CVS Caremark and UnitedHealth Group-owned Optum Rx, for inflating prescription drug costs while pushing independent pharmacies out of business, and Pritzker was largely successful this session in barring these practices, as a bill carrying language to restrict PBM costs passed the legislature with broad bipartisan support. 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Yet an effort to consolidate smaller townships across the state did not gain much traction as neither bill in the House nor the Senate made it out of committee. Pritzker's office said in February that many of the more than 1,400 townships operating across the state — which levy over $750 million in property taxes — provide services that are duplicative or could be managed more efficiently by municipalities or counties. Townships often provide maintenance and services for rural areas, such as road maintenance and transportation for seniors. Still, several Illinois townships have been tangled with corruption, such as the recent federal investigation of Dolton Mayor and Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard over improper spending of taxpayer dollars. The idea of consolidating townships has faltered for a century, partly due to opposition from politicians seeking to preserve their power, as well as concerns that downstate rural areas could lose their civic identity. ____
Los Angeles Times
13 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
How a Community of Architects Is Helping Altadena Rebuild and Protect Its Culture
As the devastating Eaton wildfire tore through parts of Altadena and damaged homes, it also threatened to erase generations of Black homeownership, legacy, and pride rooted in the unincorporated Los Angeles County community. 'There [are] a lot of legacy homeowners who have lived here since the '40s, '50s, '60s. These homes are their primary source of wealth and identity,' said Matthew Trotter, architect and president of the Southern California chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA). 'These aren't just properties. These are people's histories. These are people's memories.' In response to the devastating fires, Trotter and local architects, advocates, and designers came together to form the Altadena Rebuild Coalition to make it easier for more families to return to the area and preserve its historic charm and culture. 'We realized that if we didn't get involved, a lot of these homeowners wouldn't come back, and that would completely shift the demographics and character of the neighborhood,' Trotter said. Many of the volunteers share a connection to the community and want to make sure Altadena wildfire survivors, facing steep rebuild costs and limited support, have access to their fair share of resources. 'Many of our legacy architects and high-ranking members lost their homes,' Trotter said. 'Many of them are from Altadena, so it was actually very personal for us, on top of an opportunity to advocate for communities of color.' Altadena's significance for African Americans dates back to the Jim Crow era, when Black families faced redlining in Los Angeles and needed a place of refuge. It became a center of resilience and freedom where they could build their lives, homes, and legacies. 'That's why NOMA is doing what it's doing through the Altadena Rebuild Coalition. 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Bunche Center for African American Studies, more than half of the homes lost in the Eaton Fire belonged to Black families, despite Black residents making up less than 30% of Altadena's population. Homeownership among Black residents in Altadena is 81%, nearly double the national average. 'Generations of Black families and people of color who have created an incredible cultural impact on Los Angeles have come from Altadena,' Trotter said. 'We're trying to make sure this isn't just another example of a Black community getting erased because systems weren't set up to support them.' Many of Altadena's longtime residents are elders, and helping them navigate recovery and keep the properties they hoped to pass on to their families is a key part of the coalition's mission. 'We've been working with a lot of churches in Altadena and just showing up,' to answer questions, Trotter said. The outreach has been effective because older homeowners take comfort in knowing that the group not only understands what they are going through on the surface, but also the hidden concerns and nuances that are part of the recovery process. 'They're seeing architects that look like them, that come from their culture, and so that's really been helpful for them,' Trotter said. Building on that shared experience and trust has been crucial in supporting homeowners who are overwhelmed and are feeling financial pressures to sell. 'There's a lot of fear,' Trotter said. 'Not only did I lose my home, but now there's all these people coming to us out of the woodworks, and they're telling me that they want to help me, but I don't know if they're actually trying to help me,' he said, echoing concerns from residents. Trotter said the goal is to help families rebuild, but he also acknowledges that some will inevitably sell because the mountains of paperwork, increasing cost, and the stress of it all may not be worth the time and trouble in their personal situation. 'We can't frown upon someone doing what they think needs to be done for the sake of their family,' he said. 'If a family needs to sell... we need to be able to have empathy and hold space for that, no matter how much you may want Altadena to look the same way that you remembered it when you were growing up.' As part of the coalition's program, residents receive a customized 'property package' containing aerial images of their home, zoning data, and a record of past permits. These packages have served multiple purposes for residents, helping them fill out right-of-entry forms, providing documentation for insurance claims and starting the design process for their rebuilds. The coalition is currently assisting 200 families with their recovery and reviewing the packets in phone calls to explain their options. Residents can choose to hire one of the volunteer architects to design their rebuild, relocate using their insurance payout, or take their packet and knowledge to hire someone else. The coalition also offers a directory of architects and designers. Trotter stressed that the goal is to empower residents with the knowledge they need to hire the right person for them. 'We encourage the homeowners to not have anybody bully them into doing anything that they want to do,' Trotter said. They've also been working with city and county officials to streamline design approvals as a way to speed up rebuilding and reduce costs, and have been fielding interest from outside groups wanting to connect with Altadena homeowners. 'There are many philanthropic organizations that have been reaching out to us... There have been some conversations about land banking or land trusts in a way to support people who may want to sell,' he said. But Trotter said he meets all these groups with a level of caution, fueled by the residents' fear that real estate firms or outsiders may try to 'gobble up what they once knew to be their neighborhood.' He said any group he works with or presents to the community of wildfire survivors must respect Altadena's architectural and cultural history, as well as the community's yearning to simply return home. 'We do our best to do our due diligence... we always ask, like, can you do this at a discounted rate? Are you going to be volunteering and helping out in advance to help these individuals, who are residents, get back up on their feet?' Trotter said. 'We're not trying to gatekeep. We're trying to guide people who want to help to do it in a way that supports the residents here.' Even with its emphasis on protecting Black ownership and wealth in the area, the coalition offers its services to every family affected by the fire, regardless of background. 'The majority of Altadena, white and Black, and everyone in between, is interested in going back home. That's the desire of their heart,' Trotter said. Trotter said the multicultural participation in the coalition's meetings and programs reflects his group's mission to preserve Altadena's enduring sense of unity and the community's pride in its history and diverse heritage. 'What's powerful is that these residents, they're real neighbors, and they love each other, and they support each other, and they've got each other's backs,' Trotter said. 'It's not necessarily about making it all Black. It's not about making it all white. It's about returning to what makes Altadena so specifically abundant in diversity.' Visit the Altadena Rebuild Coalition page on the SoCal NOMA website or contact the coalition for support or outreach by emailing altadena@
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Open seat in northern Atlanta suburbs draws crowded field for special Georgia Senate election
Five candidates for Georgia state Senate District 21 participated in a candidate forum. From left, Lance Calvert, Stephanie Donegan, Brice Futch, Steve West and Brian Will. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder. Georgia's state Senate will have a new face when lawmakers return to work next year, and seven people are vying to be the one posing for photos under the Gold Dome when the dust settles. The spot opened in this off-year election after Alpharetta Republican Sen. Brandon Beach stepped down following his appointment to serve as U.S. Treasurer under President Donald Trump. Election Day is scheduled for Aug. 26. Senate District 21 includes much of Cherokee County and some of north Fulton County. With seven candidates on the ballot, it's likely that none will win an outright majority, and the most probable outcome is a runoff between the top two vote getters regardless of their party. The runoff is planned for Sept. 23. Beach has been a stalwart ally to Trump – he was a leader in backing the false idea that the 2020 election was rigged and in pushing back against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' criminal case against Trump – and his former district rewarded him for his devotion. Beach, who had served in the Senate since 2013, won just over 70% of the vote against his Democratic opponents in 2024 and 2018, the only times he faced a challenge from the other party. In 2024, Beach slightly outperformed Trump in the district, earning 81,481 votes, good for just over 70%, compared with Trump's 78,544, or about 66.5%, according to data from the Georgia Secretary of State's office analyzed by the Georgia Recorder. So it's no surprise that six of the seven Senate hopefuls are running as Republicans. Five of them came to Canton Monday for a forum hosted by the conservative Americans for Prosperity and answered questions about their commitment to principles like smaller government and lower taxes. Policy-wise, there was not a whole lot of space between the candidates at the forum. Each said they support legislation expanding school vouchers, reducing or eliminating the state income tax and reducing government regulations – though the candidates did express some disagreement on accomplishing those goals. Lance Calvert is the founder and owner of a Canton-based maintenance and repair business for retail and restaurants who says he wants to help repair the country. 'God's going to fix this country, but he's got some people that he needs to participate with him. Trump got this thing started, whether he knew or not to begin with. But there's a lot of people who've been called forward, and they're going to answer the call, we're gonna do this. We're going to turn this country around.' While some candidates proposed a gradual approach to reducing the state income tax, suggesting a state equivalent to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, Calvert advocated for a quick and direct approach. 'Eliminate it. We've got the money,' he said. Income taxes account for about half of state funds, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, with sales taxes making up the second largest revenue source at about a quarter. Stephanie Donegan, an entrepreneur and business strategist, said she's seen the effects of rising prices for things like health insurance and will support conservative fiscal policies she says will help people keep more of their income. 'I love Georgia, I love the people of Georgia, and what I've been seeing is that what the people in Georgia have been asking for and need, we have not been getting. I truly believe I am that person who can do it. I can clearly sit up here among a group of amazing men, but men nonetheless, and still have a voice,' she said.' Responding to a question about outreach to Latino voters, Donegan, who is Black, said Republicans have not done enough to reach minority voters. 'If we're not careful, we're going to become a blue state,' she said. 'We are purple. We have a lot of people moving in here from blue states, from Philadelphia, New York, California, and if we don't get people to understand that they have a place in this party and why they should vote for these conservative values, we're going to lose this state, and that's going to be a shame.' Brice Futch, a Cherokee County firefighter, said he'll push for expansive conservative policies, including replacing the state income tax with a consumption tax on goods and services purchased as well as expanding Georgia's school voucher program. 'I believe the next step is ESAs, education savings accounts,' he said. 'With that, the full amount of money that is given to the student over the life of the student would be loaded on a debit card. Parents would take their debit card and go to the education institution of their choice. If they decided they want to homeschool, they could also use that for homeschool curriculum as well. I also think it needs to apply to local funding and not just state funding.' Georgia's current school voucher program is available to students in low performing schools and provides funds based on the state's share of the cost to educate that student, with the local share of the money staying in the local district. Though Monday's discussion centered on economic policies, Futch also pledged to be a strong voice on cultural issues. 'I believe you have to look at broader moral values,' he said. 'If you want somebody that's going to stand up and introduce legislation to outlaw puberty blockers in 2026, I'm your guy.' A ban on the drugs that doctors prescribe to some transgender youths to delay the onset of puberty has been proposed but hasn't passed. Georgia prohibits gender affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender minors. Steve West, the CEO of a metal fabrication company, stepped down from a seat on the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners to run for the seat. 'I want to run for the state Senate so I can go down to represent our district and cut taxes, bring business in, keep Georgia the best place to work, the best place to do business. You can tell I'm one that doesn't speak very well. But I love the county. I love District 21. I've been a life-long resident of this district.' West, who was first elected to the commission in 2014, said he may not be the slickest orator, but he says he has a record of serving the community and proposed ending the state film tax credit. 'I'm not the guy that wants to have his picture put in the paper every day. I want to be the one that goes down and fights for District 21 on the issues that we're talking about tonight,' he said. 'I want to go down and look at doing away with funding Hollywood and putting that money back into the income tax. Take away the income tax, quit funding Hollywood. Let's look at deregulation so we can get projects done.' Brian Will, an entrepreneur and author, resigned from a seat on the Alpharetta City Council to seek a place in the Senate. For a Republican candidate, Will took several unorthodox positions on popular conservative programs, including the school voucher program and eliminating the state income tax. In each case, Will supported the concept but found fault with how state leaders implemented them. He said he supports the voucher project but said not enough people can take advantage of it and fully funding it would be too expensive. He said eliminating the state income tax and instituting a consumption tax would harm low-income Georgians who spend a greater portion of what they earn. 'This is why we need Georgia DOGE. We've got to go find out where the money went, who got it, for what, and how much, and then start cutting what we're spending and come back and lowering the taxes.' Will also had different ideas on the bill sometimes billed as Georgia DOGE, the Red Tape Rollback Act supported by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, which passed the Senate this year but stalled in the House. He argued the proposal would create more red tape. 'Simply put, we have 150,000 rules and regulations in the state of Georgia. We have 100 different agencies. Each agency is going to be required to go through every single one of those rules to determine if that rule costs more than $3 billion to implement over a five-year period. Now I've done math on this. I've done some research on it. It'll take us about four years to get through every single rule to figure out if it's a good rule that doesn't cost money. The problem now is that the clock starts again. We have to do this every four years.' One Republican candidate qualified with the Georgia Secretary of State's office to appear on the ballot but did not participate in Monday's forum. Jason Dickerson did not respond to a request for comment, but according to his qualifying documents, Dickerson is a Cherokee County investment manager. On his campaign website, he describes himself as 'A conservative Republican businessman – not a typical politician.' Attorney Debra Shigley is the sole Democrat in the race, who announced her candidacy last month. Members of her party are likely hoping that a crowded Republican field will split the conservative vote and put her into a runoff at a time when turnout could be low and Democrats are riled up to vote. In a phone call, Shigley said voters in the district are not happy with what they are seeing from the government and she's hoping to convince them she can help be a part of the solution. 'I know what it's like to be a hardworking Georgian raising a family and wanting to make sure that they have every opportunity in front of them. I have been raising my kids here in the district and I never thought I would get into this arena, but as a mom, as a lawyer, as a small business owner, I just felt I could not stay on the sidelines because what we're seeing here in our own community as well as in the state and even in our country is not going in the right direction, and something's got to change.' Reporter Maya Homan contributed to this report SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
