Tagged: rochester

The city of Rochester just completed work on its first ever "green roof."

The roof of City Hall's Building B is now home to 8,700 square feet of succulent plants.

"It's basically for storm water management," says Anne Spaulding, the city's sustainability manager, during a rooftop tour. "All of the rainwater - instead of running into the storm system - is consumed by the plants on the roof."

Spaulding says the thick carpet of sedum can reduce storm water runoff by up to 90 percent, depending on the amount of rainfall.

The goal is to reduce the amount of pollutants that flow into the region's streams, rivers and lakes.

Walking into the warehouse of Crazy Dog T-shirts is like walking into a weird library of pop culture references.

Chunk from The Goonies is on one shelf; Baby Carlos from The Hangover sits on another. There’s thousands of shirts stacked across the length of the company’s Village Gate headquarters.

Owner Bill Kingston explains: His company’s bread-and-butter is funny t-shirts inspired by internet memes and blockbuster comedies.

“Hangover, Anchorman - there’s probably eight shirts in here right from Anchorman,” Kingston says. “Concepts like ‘I’m kind of a big deal,’ ‘Milk was a bad choice.’

“Stuff that people find hilarious can be put on a shirt so easily.”

When Delta Air Lines and U.S. Airways agreed to swap gates last May, early word was that many upstate air travelers were in for an upgrade.

Starting Sunday, Delta will offer four new daily flights from Rochester to New York's LaGuardia. Delta says other upstate airports are in for the same.

"Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo," said Delta's Jim Van Woert. "Pretty much the same type schedules - four dailies into LaGuardia, all keeping their Kennedy connection service as well."

For frequent travelers to New York City, the move means Delta jet service from Rochester to LaGuardia will likely replace the U.S. Airways turboprop flights currently offered to LGA.

In Rochester, the swap represents a net gain in daily seats to LaGuardia, according to airport officials.

Other upstate cities, however, might not be so lucky.

“These logs really produced a lot for us,” says Olga Tzogas, pointing to a decaying stump at an “undisclosed location” in Webster, N.Y.

It’s one of six or seven key spots where Tzogas and her crew of self-described “mushroom freaks” forage for gourmet fungi.

“In the fall, this area is just covered with mushrooms - black trumpets, chanterelles,” Tzogas says, pointing to a stand of fallen trees.

“It’s super wonderful.”

A top business official in the Obama administration will be speaking to the International Business Council of Greater Rochester Friday.

The goal is to raise awareness of the federal programs that can help small businesses boost foreign sales.

"We want to make sure small businesses are not left behind," says Fred Hochberg, president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank).