The Wednesday short list of stupid
Half-Assed state agency websites
After reading today’s T&G story on the increase of local coyote sightings I figured I would wander over to the MA Department of Fish and Game website to do a little research on coyote population growth since the 1996 trapping ban in the state. Well as reality would have it that is impossible since the department website only lists three mammals as living in the state.
* White-tailed Deer
* Black Bear
* American Beaver
Of note; it would appear humans are no longer living in Massachusetts. Shame, they were an entertaining species.
link
Median family income
After being called out, repeatedly, for being misinformed about the cities median incomes, I’ve finally figured out why everyone believes me to be wrong… the city is making shit up. I’ve found at least two places where the city of Worcester is using what appears to be the county median family income instead of the city median family income without making that very clear. One is page two of this presentation which has us at $71,000. The other was in the cities most recent economic development email which lists the area median family income as $72,800. Both are about 20k over the actual city median family income. The key is the use of the word area in that last one. Since there is no such official number (the census bureau American community survey looks at city/county/state) it would seem that the city is cherry picking which towns they want to fold in to pad the city median. It’s important for anyone who actually takes Worcester’s future seriously to note that fudging reality doesn’t actually help us.
Adult zoning
Today’s T&G also has a story on reworking the cities adult zoning regulations. Debate over the merits of burlesque aside… does anyone ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, the reason why people always want to stick a strip club or porn theater into a city like Worcester is because there is a genuine market for such business? Just a thought.
link
Comments
8 Responses to “The Wednesday short list of stupid”
Leave a Reply
Come now! Let’s be fair; it says, “As more web pages are developed, more information will be made available.” And I’d hope that the Mass Wildlife folks (wildly underfunded, BTW) are out actually taking care of wildlife rather than working up webpages on them!
The list is here
That’s a list, I’m looking for data.
See, I would hope the Mass Wildlife folks are using their budget, however limited, for cataloging findings and making that data accessible to the public.
I am happy to hear about the coyote sightings, though I haven’t had the luck to see one myself. As Edward Abbey said, “Any animal that kills sheep can’t be all bad.”
Brendan,
Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what they have to do with their funds? How much property they have to cover, how many various responsibilities they have…there’s NO WAY that counting coyote sightings should be anywhere near the top of their list. It wouldn’t be safe!
As a side note: if you compare the sightings map to an open space map, they don’t match up. Savvier coyotes in wooded areas, maybe?
An article from February quotes Mass Wildlife regarding their estimate of the state-wide coyote population of 3000 to 5000…
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x1775764633
The coyotes have apparently come into my neighborhood (crow hill area), whereas the sightings last year were down around the other end of hamilton st, around lake ave. I’m wondering if the idea of a stabilized coyote population in the state may need to be re-examined.
Tracy,
It’s impossible to do their job effectively without data so we have to assume it’s there. Any data they collect with public money should be made easily accessible to the public, that’s all I’m saying. If there are population changes happening with a large species I think thats good information to have out there. From this story back in September it would seem there are such changes taking place with our coyote population and it’s not just a matter of ’seasonality’ as suggested in yesterdays T&G story.
Worcester has a healthy population of Cougars…so I hear.
The process of government in Worcester is one that can leave you to feel inferior, paranoid, or even crazy. It is not healthy, it is toxic. It is not supposed to be this way. Wrong information, failure to respond for request for information, to shear arrogance, this city’s government works very speciously. Check out the assessments. The real-estate market is at an all time low and yet, the city claims high values just to get the revs up. Where is the outcry on the council floor, not even questions. These thugs just do what they want because they can get away with it. Hey if your ordinance violates constitution rights, just stall until you have time to change the ordinance to avoid a law suit. How many individuals can do that?
Keep us stupid, waiting and believing we are crazy. That is how Worcester stays on the move.