The U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department said on Friday, continuing its nearly eight-year streak of monthly gains. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at a very low 3.9 percent.

The Genesee Brewery  in Rochester does this a couple of times a year…they will close all of the shifts at the facility in High Falls, and more than 300 employee volunteers will then work on various community revitalization projects, everything from planting new trees to picking up trash.

That’s what Carlos Rojas was doing when I saw him with his orange plastic bag, using some long tongs to pick up debris along the Genesee Riverway Trail.

And Rojas isn’t exactly part of the rank and file at the brewery. He is Chief Financial Officer for Florida Ice & Farm Company, also known as FIFCO. It is the Costa Rican-based corporation that owns North American Breweries, the parent company of the Genesee Brewery.  He says these types of community activities are very important to the company’s overall corporate philosophy.

The ribbon was cut on the redesigned passenger security checkpoint at the Greater Rochester International Airport Wednesday morning.

Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo unveiled the new checkpoint as part of the ongoing renovations

"Not only does it look better, not only does it feel better, it functions better as well and that’s incredibly important."

The new space has six lanes, which is the same as before, but they are now wider and more flexible.

There is more information about layoffs facing some Tops supermarket employees in the wake of the decision to close 10 stores in New York State.

A notice posted on the State Labor Department website, shows that 277 workers are facing layoffs at stores on Lake Avenue and North Winton Road in Rochester, Pittsford/Palmyra Road in Fairport, and Pyramid Mall in Geneva.

There is no indication yet how many employees might be affected at a Tops store which is closing in Lyons.

Wegmans is partnering with a high-tech company to offer a new option for people who are blind or have low-vision.

The Rochester supermarket chain is working with a California-based tech company called Aira, a firm that uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality to remotely assist people who are blind or have low vision with a variety of tasks.

Fifteen students in RIT’s Industrial Design program will spend this semester designing products for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street. It’s part of the university’s annual Metaproject, which pairs students with a different industry partner each year.

Ontario County health officials say that Deep Run Beach in the Town of Gorham and Onanda Park Beach in the Town of Canandaigua have reopened their swimming areas.

Sandy Bottom Beach on Honeoye Lake remains closed for the swimming season due to algae blooms.

Officials say that it is safe to swim and boat in areas of the lake without visible algae. Blue-green algae occur naturally in bodies of water in low numbers, but during prolonged hot weather the algae can become abundant.

Tops Markets is announcing plans to close 10 stores it says are underperforming as part of its effort to restructure and emerge from the Chapter 11 bankruptcy it filed for earlier this year.

The stores identified for closing include three in the immediate Rochester area:

• 710 Lake Ave.
• 175 N. Winton Road.
• 6720 Pittsford/Palmyra Road, Fairport.

The founder of a business that has been a fixture on Park Avenue for nearly 50 years has died.

George Gines, the original owner of Jines Restaurant, died Sunday at the age of 84.

Mr. Gines immigrated to Rochester from Greece when he was 20 years old and opened the family restaurant in 1971, before Park Avenue was the kind of destination it is today.

Two years ago, James Klenk of Freehold, N.J. suffered a heat stroke and went into renal failure after several days sorting and unloading heavy boxes in the back of a UPS truck. He had been a driver for UPS for 14 years and almost died that day.

Klenk is one of countless workers across the country enduring symptoms of heat stress. High temperatures can pose health threats on a daily basis, including confusion, fatigue, and dehydration. More extreme heat can lead to heat stroke and organ failure, depending on a worker's environment and how quickly treatment is administered.