Water Damage Restoration in Rochester, NY

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — U.S. ports from Maine to Texas shut down Tuesday when the union representing about 45,000 dockworkers went on strike for the first time since 1977.

Workers began walking picket lines early Tuesday, picketing near ports all along the East Coast.

However, not every port is part of the strike.

What You Need To Know

The International Longshoremen’s Association has three major port systems — Atlantic, Pacific and the Great Lakes.

Each port system negotiates its own contract separately from the others.

Only one of the three is on strike — and that’s the Atlantic.

The ports of Ogdensburg and Oswego are not part of the Atlantic. They are in the Great Lakes section, and therefore, not on strike.

Dock workers there on the job and the ports are ready, preparing and welcoming potential new business that could be created from the strike.

“We're basically a bulk port — grain export and other and aluminum,” said Port of Oswego Authority Executive Director and CEO William Scriber.

The Port of Oswego has its own contract with the International Longshoremen’s Association until 2028.

So dock workers there are not part of the massive strike halting the shipping industry from Boston to the Gulf of Mexico.

“Listening just to reports, and reading, I think this could go on for several weeks," Scriber said. "But it depends on really the carriers who are negotiating contract with the ILA."

He says while Oswego cannot accept containers, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway waterways are ideal options for shipping.

“We’re the first port on the system in the Great Lakes," Scriber said. "So, it's an easy run through the locks to us and then turn around, go right back out. Where it takes days and, really, honestly, more money to go through the other lock systems and the other four lakes, we're basically your first off ramp or first on ramp. It's easier, cheaper and quicker. So that's why we would be probably looked at as an alternative. There are ships wanting to come in and deliver cargo [that] they couldn't in Baltimore, in New York.”

Scriber says the pressure is on because the strike is coming as the holidays loom.

“I wouldn't expect this to go on too long," Scriber said. "But if it does, all those projects and items that they can't put in Baltimore, New York – Oswego [is] here. [We are] ready. We're open for business. And we want your business."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rochester’s first sober bar is fully up and running.

AltBar opened its bottle shop in June at 1947 E. Main St. in North Winton Village. But because it lacks parking, owners Meg and Bob Hartman had to get a special-use permit from the city to operate the bar side of the business.

“I had no idea it would take as long as it did,” said Meg, who manages the establishment day-to-day.

Having secured it, about a month ago they started serving AltBar's unique selection of cocktails and mocktails and nonalcoholic wine and beer to the sober, sober-curious, people looking to cut back on their alcohol consumption, and expectant and new moms.

The customer base is “all over the board,” Meg said. “It’s really cool.”

Something to know: AltBar’s cocktails contain nonalcoholic spirits made from distilling botanicals and extracts. However, they can be triggering for some alcohol-abstainers.

“Some people are like, ‘I don’t want any of it. I don’t want to be around it.’ And I don’t want to be the reason they have a problem in their recovery,” she said.

Which is why AltBar serves mocktails, made only with syrups, juices, tea, clubs soda, etc.

On the nine-drink late summer/early fall cocktail menu, customers seem to favor three (all $11):

∎ Slow Burn, “which is like our margarita,” she said. It features nonalcoholic tequila and orange bitters, lime juice, agave syrup and a lime-salt rim.

∎ Archivist Sour, which uses nonalcoholic gin, raspberry syrup and lemon juice and is topped with Fee Foam (a dairy-free alternative to egg-white foam).

∎ Changing Leaves, “which is like an Amaretto sour,” Meg said. It’s made with nonalcoholic amaretto, bourbon and bitters, simple syrup and lemon.

Among three mocktails, one has emerged as the favorite: Golden Hour ($9), which is honey fig tea, fig rosemary syrup, ginger beer and lemon.

“It’s so good,” Meg said. “It’s a very fall-flavored drink.”

AltBar is a soothing place to sip it.

With a lot of elbow grease, the Hartmans have transformed a plain, cold rectangular box into a warm and welcoming venue, taking what started as a pop-up business to the next level.

“We wanted it to feel cozy and tavern-ish,” she said.

An artist friend helped her settle on the olive green wall color.

“I painted everything,” said Meg, who lives with Bob and their two young children in Riga. “If I never touch another paintbrush again, I will be happy.”

On the walls are works by local painter Molly Darling.

Meg’s mom stained the hand-made shelving opposite the bar that holds bottle-shop offerings, while her dad and Bob, whose full-time job is vice president of product design and strategy at MVP Health Care, installed it.

The original hardwood floors, tin ceiling and crown molding have been freshened.

The bar is custom-made, but nearly everything else in the place was thrifted from Goodwill or Facebook Marketplace, including a beverage cooler and two vintage gold upholstered chairs near the entrance.

On the wall behind the bar, crates work as storage and display.

A nook in back offers table seating and board games donated by customers.

Regular hours are noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Parking is on the street. At some point, a wheelchair ramp will replace the two-step entry, but the inside of the bar is ADA-compliant.

Up next at AltBar

The official grand opening is at noon this Saturday, Oct. 5.

Starting Wednesday, Oct. 9, by customer request, AltBar will host a trivia night from 6 to 8 p.m.

Snacks are on the way too, the kind that don’t require preparation or refrigeration, because AltBar doesn’t have a kitchen.

And another local artist, Sarah Rutherford, is going to create an interior mural.

Eventually, Meg would love to be open on Sundays, too, and she hopes to host private and corporate events and holiday parties.

“This is a great place for that, because there’s no liability to worry about,” she said.

She also is eager to partner with other local bars and restaurants “to help them figure out how to include some of this stuff in their menus. There are some that do it really well already, and there are others that are like, ‘I didn’t know this existed. I didn’t know how I could add these to my menu.’”

Meanwhile, she’s working an espresso martini for AltBar’s late fall menu.

“We’ll probably have pumpkin something,” she said. “Everyone loves a good pumpkin drink. Maybe it’ll even be a pumpkin espresso martini. I haven’t quite gotten there yet.”

Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — New York state is sending the National Guard to help those affected by Hurricane Helene.

What You Need To Know

On Sunday, soldiers, generators and helicopters took flight to the Carolinas. The team left from Rochester.

Sixteen New York Army National Guard Soldiers and three Chinook helicopters are helping the victims of the hurricane in North and South Carolina.

Those Chinooks are helping reach those areas that are completely isolated because of the flood waters.

The CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter is a mighty machine.

“If you go as far as the rotor system, that’s what we go by, so it’s 100 feet long by 60 feet wide,” said CH-47 pilot, Commander of the Army Aviation Support Facility in Rochester and Aviation Operations Officer for the 42^nd Infantry Division Lt. Col. Eric Fritz.

He described the features of the Chinook.

“Floors are designed to load pallets so they can load pallets with a forklift," he said. "There's also a winch that's up front that you can use to help pull the pallets in if they're unable to utilize a forklift.”

There are seven Chinooks at Rochester’s Army Aviation Support Facility in Rochester. Three are now deployed. They are heavy lift helicopters that provide general airlift assistance in moving people and cargo to support the North Carolina National Guard.

“Right now, because a lot of the areas are stranded [and] because of the washed away roads and bridges and this has the capability to carry a lot more cargo and packs than pretty much any other cargo in the United States,” said Lt. Col. Fritz.

The Chinooks are so large, each can hold 33 passengers and as much as 18,000 pounds of cargo.

On Sunday of the Chinooks and the soldiers took flight on the mission with less than 24 hours’ notice.

“I would say it's, pretty, pretty commendable," he said. "We had 16 soldiers that received the call on Saturday at 3 p.m. They dropped everything they were doing. They got here Sunday morning and were on their way to North Carolina by 1:30 in the afternoon on Sunday.”

This is what they train for.

For now, the mission will last seven days, but, if necessary, the team will stay longer.

You’ve probably seen those Veo scooters and e-bikes parked around Rochester once a rider has reached their destination. Now the company wants to make it a little easier for people to vote.

Veo is offering a $5 promotion to help voters reach the polls on Election Day. Riders can enter the code VOTE24 in the VeoRide app now through Nov. 5.

What is Veo?

Last summer, the city partnered with Veo to launch a fleet of 500 scooters and 200 e-bikes.

“The bike- and scooter-share system gives people another mobility option to connect them to jobs, education, health care, shopping, and all the other places they need to go,” said Jesse Peers of Reconnect Rochester at a news conference announcing the service. “And this is especially important for the quarter of the city households that cannot afford to own a personal vehicle and rely on biking, the bus, or other means to get around.”

How to ride Veo

Veo’s Safety Tips

More:The pilgrimage of voters to Susan B. Anthony's gravesite continues. What to know

Where to find election results 2024 for Monroe and surrounding counties

Polls in New York will close at 9 p.m. and we will post the election results as they become available:

As a Rochester native, Justice Marbury entered the world of journalism to create work where voices like hers were heard—the voices of minority communities. Marbury covers small businesses, neighborhood concerns, and the interesting people who live in Rochester's 19th Ward. As the 19th Ward reporter, she has helped implement community outreach ideas by asking what people in various communities want to read about themselves in addition to regular news. Contact her on Instagram @justice_marbury and by email at jmarbury@gannett.com.

A second straight unseasonably warm day in the Rochester region could bring favorable conditions Thursday evening as thousands of costumed children head outside to trick-or-treat.

Initially forecasters predicted a soggy Halloween evening, with rain to start just as children begin their annual collection of candy and other spooky-themed trinkets. However, much of the rain should hold off until after trick-or-treating hours end, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.

Halloween 2024 forecast in NY

While there is a slight chance of rain between 4 and 9 p.m. Thursday, the Halloween forecast calls for heavier and more widespread rain later on Thursday night and early Friday morning as a cold front moves into western New York, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo.

There's a 15% to 25% chance of rain in the late afternoon and evening in Rochester, said Weather Service Meteorologist Aaron Reynolds. "But after 9 p.m. chances for rain will ramp up significantly - up to 90%. It will be wet."

The day - like Wednesday - is predicted to be unseasonably warm in the Rochester region, with a potential high in the upper 70s, about 20 degrees above normal high temperatures in late October, Reynolds said.

Halloween will also be rather windy in the Rochester region. Wind gusts around 30 mph are predicted for Thursday, he said.

Record high Wednesday in Rochester NY

Wednesday's unseasonably warm day tied the date's daily record high in Rochester of 78 degrees, set in 1946, according to the Weather Service. Thursday also has a chance to break Rochester's daily record high of 80 degrees, set in 1971.

The normal high for the last days of October in Rochester is 56 degrees.

Weather for past Halloween nights

Last Halloween was chilly - with a high of 47 degrees for the day in Rochester, according to the Weather Service. In 2022, the day was far warmer - with a recorded high of 61 degrees.

The day's high was 55 degrees in Rochester on Halloween in 2021 and was 45 degrees in 2020.

Rochester NY weekend forecast

After Halloween, the temperature in Rochester will return to more seasonable weather, with a predicted high in the mid-50s on Friday and Sunday and flirting with the upper 40s on Saturday, according to the Weather Service. Currently, Monday appears to be slightly warmer but soggy, with a predicted high of 60 degrees.