iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I hope it works out that way - there is more flexibility without an hour long format restraint. I worry.

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It’s National Black Dog Day! This is my Prudy, a Sheepadoodle.

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I actually just gave an interview a couple hours ago saying the AG needed to be appointed special prosecutor! This is the right move.

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rachbarnhart.substack.com

Through a FOIL, I learned the president of the legislature received the state directive to the legislature to review the jail medical provider in September 2025. That's months earlier than we previously knew. Here is where things stand with the state-ordered review of PrimeCare Medical.

Where Things Stand on PrimeCare Medical

Also, a FOIL response raises even more questions about the legislature President’s handling of the incident.

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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 01/10/2026

NYT's look at thousands of pages of documents shows a young woman whose understanding of what happened evolved, particularly after seeing online forum calling the incident a gang rape.

nytimes.com

The Cornell Rape Investigation: Five Takeaways (Gift Article)

The New York Times obtained more than 1,000 pages from the university’s internal inquiry into accusations by “Jane Doe.” Here are the revelations so far.

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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 01/10/2026

New York's rural towns are struggling to provide ambulance service. Would you pay $332 a year more in property taxes to have a better chance an ambulance will arrive for your emergency?

syracuse.com

An ambulance tax is on the ballot in this CNY town. Will voters pay for full-time EMS?

The tax proposal is the only context on the ballot. It would raise town taxes by nearly 16%.

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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 01/10/2026

I don’t think this DA should be the one presenting to grand jury

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We still don’t have a special committee to review PrimeCare. Doesn’t reflect well on the legislature at all. 2/

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I’m disappointed my amendment preventing a full year renewal of jail medical provider PrimeCare contract won’t be considered in committees. What seemed like an obvious oversight measure is bogged down in details. 1/

President Roman,
I am withdrawing my PrimeCare amendment from consideration at today’s Public Safety
Committee meeting because concerns remain about the appropriate length of future PrimeCare
authorizations.
I want to be clear that I am withdrawing the amendment from today’s committee, not
withdrawing the proposal or the urgency of resolving this issue. I intend to continue working
toward agreement on the length of future authorizations, submit a revised proposal, and request
that it be introduced as a Matter of Urgency at the October meeting of the Legislature.
I recognize your frustration with the number of submissions associated with this amendment, but
I think it is important to put that process in context. My original proposal called for monthly
authorizations. After discussion in caucus, I agreed to change that to quarterly, which required
another submission. I subsequently discovered that I had mistakenly cited the introduction
number rather than the resolution number from 2022, an error that also was not caught in legal
review, and requested a correction. A separate staff error then required another correction.
I do not believe legislators should be expected to have the votes for passage secured before
legislation is submitted. Introduction should be the beginning of the legislative process, not the
end of it. Legislators need to be able to put forward proposals, hear objections, negotiate changes
and determine through that process whether a proposal can earn sufficient support. The fact that
legislation changes in response to those discussions is not evidence that the process has failed. It
is part of legislating.
Our rules make that more difficult because they provide limited ability to work through multiple
competing alternatives at the table. A main motion can be amended, and an amendment can itself
be amended, but an amendment cannot be amended more than once.

with the inquiry at that time. The Commission has since made clear that our review was not
contingent on completion of its other work.
Your decision, that you claim to have made without any input from anyone, cost the Legislature
months in which this work could have been underway. The special committee that is now being
proposed to conduct the review has not yet even been established. We are now less than four
months from the January 14 renewal date because the review was delayed, not because legislators
are still working through the details of my amendment.
We cannot responsibly assume that a special committee that does not yet exist will complete a
meaningful fitness review before January 14. It has not obtained records, heard testimony or
begun its substantive work. Meanwhile, the existing authorization allows another full-year
PrimeCare extension without a legislative vote.
That is precisely why this amendment is necessary. It preserves the Legislature’s ability to
complete the review before PrimeCare receives another full-year authorization.
Because I am withdrawing the amendment from today’s committee to allow additional time to
resolve concerns about the length of future authorizations, the next opportunity to bring a revised
proposal before the Legislature in October is as a Matter of Urgency. Requiring the revised
proposal to begin another committee cycle would push consideration into November, creating
operational risk, and consuming another month of a timeline that has already been compressed by
the decision not to begin the review when the Commission directed us to do so.
The Legislature should not allow the delay in beginning the fitness review to become the reason
PrimeCare receives another full-year extension before that review is finished.
Once I have a revised proposal, I will submit it and formally request that you allow it to be
introduced as a Matter of Urgency at the October meeting.
Sincerely,
Rachel Barnhart – Legislator District 17

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This is what Rochester's Peace Village *should* be www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...

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It’s a good idea to work hard and be helpful when you’re young and don’t have responsibilities.

I actually agree with this. I worked in TV news and was a “one-man-band” when I started out. I often disagreed with news directors about what is news. Sometimes, they were not very nice. But I wanted to succeed and loved reporting stories so I ignored how miserable it all was.

slowboring.com

Feed the lizard

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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 28/09/2026

It's bad when voters don't have choices, and regular people don't have pathways to step up and run. Machine politics has downsides.

investigativepost.org

Buffalo has elections for the Common Council in name only.

Report: Buffalo has elections for the Common Council in name only.

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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 28/09/2026

A big question is whether Stonegarden falls under the vaguely-worded law.

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I said that upfront. Not sure the argument. Some data centers DO use lots of water. This one does not.

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Not true. SOME do use a lot of water - more than a factory. This one doesn't. I mean look at Micron, not a data center, but absolutely insane amounts of water.

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There are data centers that use enormous amounts of water - they have to choose whether to be cooled by water or power. So it's not a con job, you just have to ask how the data center is being cooled.

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Of course. But simply put - data centers are either cooled by water or electricity. This one needs gigantic amounts of electricity such that our rates could rise. It's a huge problem. I think the water claim is true on this project - but it doesn't answer what happens with future projects.

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rachbarnhart.substack.com

The Monroe County Water Authority responded to legislators' questions about the STAMP data center project. That project is actually not a big water user, but what about the next one? MCWA's response has a big hole.

The STAMP data center isn't a water hog. But what about the next one?

The Monroe County Water Authority responded to a letter from legislators.

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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 26/09/2026

Sure - ask them to vote to not allow a full-year renewal of PrimeCare! Thanks!

Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 25/09/2026

Well, if my amendment does not pass, it means the Sheriff will renew PrimeCare in January. It's unlikely, IMO, the review will be completed by then (it hasn't started) — at least not a review that is credible.

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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 25/09/2026

Great news, the legislature president has granted my request that this be a Matter ofr Importance, allowing it to be voted upon Tuesday in committees, and if it gest through, at October's full lej meeting.

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Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 25/09/2026

💙🩷🙏 Keep going, Colleen!

Rachel Barnhart @rachbarnhart.com · 24/09/2026

It appears a cricket has moved into my basement and appointed himself the choir director. 🦗 😕 It’s really, really loud.

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She won’t even commit to not having PrimeCare renewed in January.

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So why would anyone want OPI? The stated reasons are they’re cheap and fast (uhhhhh). But I also suspect certain people know it won’t be the job that needs to be done — I don’t think they want a real review. 2/

We have members of the Democratic Caucus who see a role for the Office of Public Integrity in the review of PrimeCare Medical (which we still don’t have legislation to start). I am VERY opposed to OPI involvement. They don’t have the expertise & don’t work for the legislature. 1/

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Like many of you, I have thoughts about the NHJ essay. It resonated with me on so many levels, as someone who attended RCSD schools and who's been at doors talking to city parents. rachbarnhart.substack.com/p/nikole-han...

Update: Based on caucus feedback, I am resubmitting with one change — PrimeCare would be renewed on a quarterly basis, not month-to-month. The legislature president has not agreed to allow in as a Matter of Importance to be considered at Tuesday's committee meetings.

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