Dec 19

Dec 19 Looking back at our best stories from 2019

News | 2019

This past year brought issues like affordable housing, homelessness and transit to the forefront. Here on Med City Beat, we made a concerted effort to cover those critical topics — and scores of others — in detail. But as editor, I also made it a priority this year to branch out from our standard beats on government and business to include more science, music and culture. I want to thank our collaborators — notably Bryan Lund, Isaac Jahns and William Forsman — for their contributions; as well as our many members and sponsors for supporting the work we do here on the site. We look forward to keeping you informed in 2020. In the meantime…

Here are our favorite stories from 2019

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Rochester's international grocery stores are hubs for culture, community and culinary delights

For people who come from places where English is the last language on the candy wrapper, a taste of home in Rochester isn’t as elusive as the surrounding cornfields might suggest. A thriving bunch of of international grocery stores dot the map here, thanks to the city’s significant population of communities from around the globe.

What's the best use of Soldiers Field?

As land downtown becomes more valuable by the day, questions have emerged concerning the future of Rochester’s first golf course and surrounding public space: how will Soldiers Field Park change as Rochester grows, and who will the changes affect most?

Rochester as seen through seven decades of popular culture

From the turn of the 21st Century, the outside has been trying to understand what goes on here. What’s the ‘secret sauce,’ they wonder, that makes this otherwise ordinary Midwest town anything but?

Escalating costs drive home the need for more affordable housing in Rochester

As pressure continues to mount on public officials to address the city’s housing crisis, reporter Bryan Lund digs into the roots of the problem to find out whether anything can be done to counter current trends.

Mayo High grad riding the Gravy train to musical fame

It’s been a wild ride for Hauri since releasing his first single. His debut studio album Sensational debuted at No. 52 on the Billboard 200 in mid-June. Over four million people listened to his music on Spotify in the last month, and his top song “Mr. Clean” reached gold status earlier this year.

Young falcon survives harsh spring atop the Mayo Building

Over the past three decades, Mayo has worked with the Midwest Peregrine Society to help restore the falcon’s presence in the region. A total of 57 falcons have fledged from Mayo since the program began.

Planting the seeds for cultural exchange

“We want to empower the community to grow and to share their knowledge,” said Kim Sin, longtime advocate for the city’s Cambodian population and lead organizer of the project. “Right now, where do you go to learn about another culture’s diet?”

Special report: W.W. Mayo at 200

W.W. Mayo would be 200 this year. To commemorate the bicentennial of his birth, we set out to explore the larger-than-life legacy of the man they once called the ‘Little Doctor.’

For the love of language: Local couple encourages others to learn Spanish and travel the world

For the past couple years, García and Fricker have been making trips to various destinations — from Puerto Rico To Mexico — and producing blogs and videos for a language-learning service they launched called Spanish and Go.

Four biotech startups to watch in Rochester

In this article, we profile four local startups that are developing exciting new medical techniques for fighting disease and improving surgical outcomes.

Our 5 most viewed news articles of 2019

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Rochester woman to appear on MasterChef

Shari Mukherjee, a self-taught chef from Rochester, has been selected to appear on season 10 of “MasterChef,” the FOX reality show hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

Mayo Clinic partnering with Oxford University to open clinic in central London

The joint venture, set to open this summer, is the first test in a partnership connecting two of the world’s leading brands in academia and medicine.

Neighboring pubs at odds over street café concept

A proposed ‘parklet’ involving the City of Rochester and Grand Rounds Brewing Company, located at 4 Third Street Southwest, has caught flak from neighboring business owners who say they did not learn about the project until after it received council approval on Monday.

Newsweek names Mayo Clinic the best hospital in the world

The magazine — which has been covering healthcare for the better part of nine decades — recently put out its own rankings of the best hospitals on the planet. Lo and behold, there is a familiar name at the top.

Watch: Viral video shows vehicles getting stuck in a Rochester parking lot

A group of Rochester friends are behind a viral video showing vehicle after vehicle trying — and failing — to make their way out of the snow amid this weekend’s blizzard conditions.

The 5 most engaging stories from our partners

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Travel guide: Flying RST to the Rockies

With 300 days of sunshine, a vibrant arts and entertainment scene, and close proximity to the Rocky Mountains, the Mile High City is among my favorite travel destinations in the U.S.

JED's is giving Rochester an experience to taco 'bout

Whether their mouths water for beef and cheese or spicy aioli and cauliflower, customers congregate here with a shared belief in the excellence of Taco JED’s diverse taco spread.

Let's go crazy: The Revolution, Prince's original band, to close out Riverside summer series

With Sunday’s show fast approaching, we were able to talk with Bobby Z., a Minnesota native and the original drummer for The Revolution, about meeting with Prince, recording Purple Rain, and how the current quintet plans to honor their friend and fellow maestro in the coming years.

Personal experience puts WSU-Rochester student on path toward social work degree

Adejoke Odeyinka remembers everything about her first experience with an American social worker. The year was 2008, and Adejoke and her family had just arrived in Rochester from their native country of Nigeria.

A generation later, this longtime restaurant family still has an appetite for finding new flavors

Running a restaurant, never mind a handful of them, is rigorous work. But for the family behind Championship Dining Group, it’s this labor of love that fuels their creativity — and commitment to satisfying your taste buds.

Hope, delivered daily to RST

In a community known worldwide for hope and healing, the daily delivery of cargo to Rochester International Airport plays a vital role in ensuring patients receive timely diagnostic results and life-saving treatments.

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.