Day: December 4, 2008

Low-fare bus company NeOn has added stops at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Henrietta on its New York to Toronto route, officials announced Thursday. The company is a joint operation of Greyhound Lines Inc., Adirondack Transit Lines Inc. and Passengerbus Corp. Inc.
There are two NeOn round-trip schedules each day between New York City and Toronto, with stops on both schedules at Buffalo Niagara International Airport and stops on the morning schedule in Henrietta.
Tickets are as low as $1 each way, the company said.
“We are excited to continue to work with Greyhound Canada as we expand our new NeOn service to the Buffalo Airport and Henrietta markets,” said Eugene Berardi Jr., president and CEO of Adirondack Trailways.
Scheduling and booking information is at www.neonbus.com.
In October, low-fare bus company Megabus.com announced its plans to expand its service to include Rochester. The intercity, express bus line also planned to add Albany, Syracuse and Niagara Falls, Ontario, all with direct routes from New York City. Service to the new cities began this week.
That firm is a subsidiary of Coach USA and sister company of Gray Line New York Sightseeing.

(c) 2008 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
reprint this article.

Paul O’Dette, professor of lute at the Eastman School of Music and an internationally respected performer and scholar of Renaissance and Baroque music, has received his fifth Grammy Award nomination.
O’Dette, who won a Grammy in 1996, will face two Eastman alumni in the Best Opera Recording category, which is awarded to the conductor, album producer and principal soloists.
Soprano and Renée Fleming (’83) and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey (’01) were also nominated. O’Dette was nominated for “Lully: Psyche,” which he conducted along with Stephen Stubbs.
Last year, O’Dette received a Best Opera Recording nomination for “Lully: Thésée.” He also earned Grammy nominations in 2005 for conducting Conradi’s Ariadne and in 2006 for his solo lute CD “Bacheler: The Bacheler’s Delight.”
Fleming performs the role of Tatiana on the nominated DVD recording of “Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin,” produced by the Metropolitan Opera. She has won Grammys for her albums “The Beautiful Voice” and “Bel Canto.”
Griffey is Jimmy on another nominated DVD, “Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny,” produced by the Los Angeles Opera. He also is up for a Grammy in the Best Classical Album category, which is presented to the artist and album producer, for the same DVD recording.
Several Eastman alumni perform with bands that are up for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Rick Shaw (’81), Bernie Dresel (’83) and Brain Scanlon (’81, ’83) are on Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band nominated recording “Act Your Age,” while Lew Soloff (’65) performs with Carla Bley and Her Remarkable Big Band on the nominated CD “Appearing Nightly.”
Another alumnus, Alan Pierson (’06), is a conductor on the CD “Reich: Daniel Variations,” one of the albums bringing Judith Sherman a classical producer of the year nomination.
The 51st annual Grammy Awards will be presented Feb. 8 in Los Angeles.

(c) 2008 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
reprint this article.

The state Attorney General’s office has settled with Rite Aid Corp. for $1.3 million after its investigation uncovered sales of expired products at stores throughout the state.
The expired products included over-the-counter drugs, baby formula, milk and eggs at 122 Rite Aid stores in New York, including 13 in the Rochester area, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.
“Today, Rite Aid has demonstrated its commitment to addressing the serious health risks posed by expired products and to ensuring that consumers get the quality products they pay for,” Cuomo said in a statement.
Rite Aid has agreed to immediately pay a civil penalty of $1 million and an additional penalty of as much as $300,000 if it does not comply with the terms of the agreement over the next three years, Cuomo said.
Legal action against 148 CVS Caremark Inc. stores, including 15 stores in the Rochester area, continues, Cuomo said. Investigators as recently as Wednesday purchased expired medicines and baby formula from CVS.

(c) 2008 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
reprint this article.

Requests for proposals were issued Thursday for the potential sale and renovation of the Midtown Tower, city of Rochester officials said.
City officials are exploring possible uses for the building as part of the Midtown Plaza redevelopment project.
“This tower has a lot of potential and the right developer with the right vision could convert it into a commercially viable property,” Mayor Robert Duffy said in a statement.
It is also possible the tower cannot be salvaged, city officials said.
“We want to give our talented community of developers, architects and engineers the opportunity to look at this property to see what could be done with it,” Duffy said. “But at the end of the day, it might not be part of the final plan (for the site). We are simply doing our due diligence.”
The 207,000-square-foot, 17-story building sits on some 20,000 square feet at the soon-to-be demolished Midtown Plaza complex.
Informational meetings and tower presentations related to the requests for proposals are scheduled for 9 a.m. on Dec. 17 and Jan. 15, officials said. The tower will be open for inspection by developers until 2 p.m. following both meetings.
Proposals should be sent to the economic development department at City Hall before 5 p.m. on March 2.

(c) 2008 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
reprint this article.

Monroe County officials on Thursday announced the arrest of a county employee and 14 building trades workers for stealing wages from county coffers.
The arrests were made after an investigation of maintenance and construction workers uncovered alleged fraud and theft of taxpayer resources, officials said.
Alleged crimes include falsifying time cards and billing records at a cost of more than $100,000, officials said. The scope and amount of the thefts may grow as the investigation continues, they said.
“I am outraged at these individuals, who have violated the public’s trust by stealing from the taxpayers of our community,” County Executive Maggie Brooks said in a statement.
“We will continue to work in full cooperation with our law enforcement partners in the sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices to ensure that all involved in these crimes are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The alleged incidents were brought to the attention of county administrators, who referred the matter to the sheriff’s office for investigation, officials said.
“While the investigation is ongoing and the extent of their crimes has not been fully determined, it is clear that the accused have violated the law,” Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn said in the statement
The county employee is listed in the felony complaint as Robert Morone, 52, of Gates. He is charged with stealing $3,706.20, the complaint states.
Morone and 13 others are charged with third-degree grand larceny, the complaint said. The 13 others, their ages, residences and the amounts involved, are listed as follows:

• Filippo Amati, 39, East Rochester, $7,633.88;
• Raymond Arnold, 47, Hilton, $13,185.43;
• Frank Costanza, 62, Conesus, $11,927.52;
• Robert D’Alessandro, 41, Rochester, $9,893.13;
• Nick Fridrik, 29, Webster, $7,111.60;
• David Gerken, 48, Palmyra, Wayne County, $7,688.87;
• Christopher Gorman, 52, Webster, $7,575.42;
• Frank Insalaco, 42, Chili, $3,245.54.
• Mike Lyons, 52, Hamlin, $8,240.02;
• Robert Palazzo, 41, Rochester, $4,354.90; and
• Mark Reynolds, 51, East Williamson, Wayne County, $6,627.10;
• Simeon Roumpapas, 47, Webster, $10.339.81;
• Jamie Speares, 42, Rochester, $9,463.69;

The 15th suspect, Joel Horowitz, is charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, the complaint reads. Horowitz, 61, of Hilton is accused of stealing $1,636.48.
(c) 2008 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
reprint this article.

Pictometry International Corp. has inked an international technology license agreement with Civis Information Technologies of Ciudad Victoria, Mexico.
Civis is an emerging aerial survey, geospatial and information technology company focused on Latin American and Caribbean markets, Pictometry officials said. Civis will use Pictometry’s proprietary image capture and processing technology and market image libraries and software in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The companies did not disclose other terms of the agreement.
The deal expands the Henrietta firm’s international coverage into the Latin American and Caribbean markets.
Civis is one of seven international technology licensees for Pictometry. Other regions covered under licensing agreements include population centers in Europe, the Americas, Australia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
“With this agreement, Latin American commercial, government and consumer navigation markets will be able to bypass film and other outdated technologies previously used in aerial imaging to build better, world class solutions using Pictometry technology,” said Dante Pennacchia, Pictometry’s chief marketing officer, in a statement. “With Civis, we are confident this region of the world will embrace this technology.”

(c) 2008 Rochester Business Journal. Obtain permission to
reprint this article.

Pictometry International Corp. has inked an international technology license agreement with Civis Information Technologies of Ciudad Victoria, Mexico.

Monroe County officials on Thursday announced the arrest of a county employee and 14 building trades workers for stealing wages from county coffers.

Requests for proposals were issued Thursday for the potential sale and renovation of the Midtown Tower, city of Rochester officials said.

The state Attorney General’s office has settled with Rite Aid Corp. for $1.3 million after its investigation uncovered sales of expired products at stores throughout the state.

Paul O’Dette, professor of lute at the Eastman School of Music and an internationally respected performer and scholar of Renaissance and Baroque music, has received his fifth Grammy Award nomination.

Low-fare bus company NeOn has added stops at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Henrietta on its New York to Toronto route, officials announced Thursday. The company is a joint operation of Greyhound Lines Inc., Adirondack Transit Lines Inc. and Passengerbus Corp. Inc.