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Several Rochester ministers are calling on County Executive Maggie Brooks to reconsider a reduction in funding for funerals for the poor. Monroe County once picked up most of the bill for those who could not afford a funeral for their loved one. In March, the county started capping its funeral assistance at $1,250. Local ministers said that they are now being forced to help bury the poor. "It also smells like a little bit of racism because we know, now I don't think it was intended, but we know that most of those at the bottom of the economic scale...

DOLORES HIDALGO, Mexico (AP) -- Barely 18, Jose belongs to Mexico's new generation of migrant smugglers -- young, savvy and happy to see Uncle Sam further tighten border security. Why? It's good for business, he says. Jose figures more migrants will seek his help if the U.S. Senate approves legislation to double the Border Patrol and put up a virtual wall of unmanned vehicles, cameras and sensors to monitor the 2,000-mile border with Mexico. Cases are coming to light of smugglers making $1 million or more. And Jose reckons the earnings will rise yet higher if new obstacles go up....

One portion of the state budget that's pretty much a done deal could save you a lot of money. The state plans to drop its share of the sales tax on clothing and shoes under $110 all year long! But how much you save will depend on exactly where you shop. Plan on buying some clothes in the near future, say after April 1? Well you can do it tax free, sort of and no April Fools! Shopper Latasha Dinkins said, “I'll be back to shop!” And you can bet many others will too all year long. It’s a welcome...

ALBANY, NEW YORK (2006-02-27) State Senate Leader Joe Bruno says he's angered by the creation of a new PAC aimed at pushing Republican Senators out of office next fall. The PAC, known as EdPAC, targets Republican Senators who oppose the CFE court decision that orders the state to pay billions of extra dollars to New York City's schools. Senate Leader Bruno, who told a meeting of the state's Mayors that the court order was "lunacy" , says taxpayers can't afford it. And he says he won't let the PAC intimidate him, saying the group's efforts are "unconscionable" . "We don't...

ROCHESTER, NY (2006-02-13) A Hamlin woman died Monday afternoon at Strong Memorial Hospital after she was hurt in a two-car crash Sunday night in western Monroe County. The Monroe County Sheriff's Department says a car missed a stop sign at Hamlin-Clarkson Townline Road and Route 19, and hit a car driven by 51-year-old Maria Lester. Lester was taken to Strong in critical condition, where she later died. The driver who failed to stop was Crombel Cruz-Sipreanas of Redman Road. He was ticketed for leaving the scene and driving without a license. The U.S. Border Patrol. put a detainer on him...

Nine counties in the Rochester and Finger Lakes region will receive $37 million dollars to help diversify the economy, and move beyond its reliance on the struggling manufacturing sector. Rochester was one of thirteen regions selected nationally for the new Workforce Innovation Regional Economic Development -- or W.I.R.E.D. initiative. The area will get $15 million over three years from the Department of Labor. Another $22 million has been pledged by twenty one local partners, including the Greater Rochester Enterprise, Monroe County, U of R and RIT. The money will be used to attract companies and to train workers in several...

Scientists have forced a little evolution in the laboratory, controlling whether a caterpillar becomes green or black. The color of the critter was made to vary with temperature during its development. The experiment reveals the basic hormonal mechanism underlying the evolution of such dual traits, the researchers report in the Feb. 3 issue of the journal Science.

ROCHESTER, NY (2005-11-09) New Clean Car standards are being adopted in New York today. That's in an effort to reduce the amount of Global Warming pollutants that come from cars sold in the state. The Natural Resource Defense Council in New York is commending the Pataki administration for implementing the standards that were first adopted by California in 2004. Theo Spencer is the Senior Project Manager at the NRDC's Climate Center. He says the new standards require better pollution control on new vehicles. They target emmissions of pollutants that are said to contribute greatly to global warming: carbon dioxide, methane,...

SONY Computer Entertainment is likely to abandon its practice of region coding games for its PlayStation 3 console, the head of its South Pacific operation said. Sony's current crop of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles contains technology that blocks the use of illegal copied games. It also prevents the use of game and DVD discs that have been region coded for other markets. However, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia managing director, Michael Ephraim, said the company was unlikely to continue the policy as international television standards emerge.

Nokia has begun shipping its Linux-based Nokia 770, the so-called "Internet tablet", according to the Finnish giant's direct-sales website. The device lacks the usual Nokia mobile phone technology, relying instead on Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) and Bluetooth to connect it to a broadband connectivity host. The 770 is pitched at consumers who want to access the Internet for emailing and web browsing anywhere in their home.

From mid-November, unregistered mobile phones will not work in Thailand's southernmost three provinces - Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala - as the government pulls the plug as part of its ongoing war against insurgents in the region. The aim is to stop mobile-phone-triggered bombings in the affected provinces. Since January 2004, 970 people have died in increasing unrest in the majority-Muslim region.

Israel's supreme court has banned the use of Palestinian human shields in arrest raids, saying the practice violates international law. The court issued a temporary injunction against the practice in 2002 after a teenager was killed when troops made him negotiate with a wanted militant.

ROCHESTER, NY Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-Rochester) today unveiled a plan that she says will help stabalize gas prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In the last couple of weeks gas prices have increased dramatically, but Slaughter says that doesn't necessarily have to happen. Slaughter has introduced the "Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act." It would temporarily cap the price of gas at 2-dollars 50-cents a gallon. It would also direct the Secretary of Energy to develop criteria for declaring the sort of national fuel emergency that would trigger future price controls. Slaughter says if her plan garners enough support there could...

Troj/Yusufali-A is a Trojan for the Windows platform. Troj/Yusufali-A analyzes the title of the window in focus looking for various words. Some of the words Troj/Yusufali-A searches for are: sex teen xx Phallus jegger Priapus Phallic Penis Exhibitionism If Troj/Yusufali-A finds one of these words in the title bar it will minimise the current window and display the following message in English along with other messages in other languages: YUSUFALI: Know, therefore, that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for thy fault, and for the men and women who believe: for Allah knows how ye move about...

Rochester's Highland Hospital faces a lawsuit for allegedly discriminating against Hispanic employees who claim they were prohibited from speaking Spanish at work. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the suit in federal court Wednesday on behalf of at least five Highland Hospital employees. Each of the employees still works in the hospital’s housekeeping department. Housekeeping supervisor Janette Nunez claims her boss told her she could no longer speak Spanish at work after she asked to translate for one of her co-workers. "He went like this on his desk and said no. You speak English in my office. You are in...

When President George W. Bush comes to the Rochester area Tuesday, not everyone will be on his side. Protestors plan an anti-Bush demonstration at the Liberty Pole in downtown Rochester Tuesday afternoon. Their focus – hammering on the president’s plan to change Social Security.

The Bush Administration's aggressive response to a Newsweek story alleging that US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay flushed the Koran down the toilet in front of Islamic detainees displays the height of hypocrisy. After Newsweek clumsily issued an apology, followed by a retraction, White House spokesman Scott McClellan called on the magazine to "help repair the damage that has been done, particularly in the region," by explaining "what happened and why they got it wrong." Maybe the Bush Administration should do the same, by opening up its secret facilities for inspection to the Red Cross and other third-party observers. We are...

Some good might actually come out of all of these recent data mishaps. Politicians are starting to realize that permitting data brokers like Acxiom and ChoicePoint to buy and sell your Social Security number like a raffle ticket may not be that wise after all. Some members of Congress, like Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, have been warning about the dangers of SSN misuse for years. The surprise now is that some key congressional figures are agreeing.

Anti-smoking groups have charged that tobacco companies, particularly Reynolds American Inc., are luring teenagers into the smoking habit by offering flavored cigarettes and advertising them in magazines with heavy adolescent readership like Rolling Stone, Glamour and Elle.

Prosecutors in the Netherlands have formally charged a Dutch businessman with complicity in genocide for selling chemicals to Iraq's former regime. Frans van Anraat, 62, is accused of selling US and Japanese chemicals which were used to produce poison gas.