Media in the Worcester Mayor’s office is a shit show
Seriously, over the last few weeks I’ve been getting hammered with press releases from Mayor Konnie Lukes’ office and they just don’t make any sense. The only thing that makes less sense than the releases themselves is I can’t find any actual members of the press in the city who are receiving them. Check out this latest message received about an hour ago:
from Racicot, Mary RacicotM@ci.worcester.ma.us
date Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 10:45 AM
subject FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - MAYOR LUKES ANNOUNCES…
mailed-by ci.worcester.ma.usFor Immediate Release:
Worcester, MA
Wednesday, August 27th at 3pm
Mayor’s Office
City Hall – Room 305
455 Main Street
Worcester, MAMayor Lukes announces a new collaborative venture in the City of Worcester.
Mary C. Racicot
Press Secretary ~ Office of Mayor Konstantina B. Lukes
City Hall ~ Room 305 ~ 455 Main Street ~ Worcester, MA 01608
508.799.1153
racicotm@ci.worcester.ma.us
P Think GREEN before printing this e-mail
Really? That’s it? An announcement of a yet to be announced, announcement? Someone is actually getting paid to mail me this shit?
Last week I received three identical messages “For Immediate Release: Mayor Lukes helps fill backpacks for city children!” The first line of which read:
Postponing the start to her vacation, Mayor Lukes will be in Southborough on Friday morning to help fill backpacks donated by Mohan Nannapaneni, a businessman with a passion for education.
Wow. You postponed the start of your vacation, for us proles? How thoughtful, your Shrillness.
We may be doomed fellow Worcesterites, enjoy the ride and complimentary hot dogs. Last one out please hit the lights.
Radio is a sound salvation
I’ll be sitting in on air with the T&G’s Dianne Williamson at 1PM on WCRN 830 AM today. Yet another excellent opportunity to hear me make a complete mockery of my families’ good name in a public forum! And you don’t even need to dust off your old transistor radio, just tune in from the comfort of your cubicle with this handy link.
And don’t forget to tune in at 6:30PM to WTAG 580 where I join the wise and powerful Mike Messina each and every Monday with the goal of solving all the worlds problems, so you don’t have to. Also available as a handy internet stream.
Which team are you on?
The senators said the new guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps “without any basis for suspicion.” The plan “might permit an innocent American to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or on protected First Amendment activities,” the letter said. It was signed by Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
Worcester Magazine Sold
The Holden Landmark Corp., publisher of the Landmark, the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, the Leominster Champion and four other publications has bought alternative weekly Worcester Magazine from Worcester Publishing Ltd.
According to Gareth Charter, Holden Landmark Corp. publisher, Landmark initiated acquisition talks. Charter and Worcester Publishing, which is owned and published by Allen W. Fletcher, “have been actively working on this for much of this year,” Charter said. “We initiated this, and we pushed it in the final stages,” he said.
The future of urban entertainment is green
Apparently I’m not the only one seeing more smart© cars on the road each day, if your not familiar with these adorable little things imagine a shopping cart mating with a Japanese motorcycle; that’s it, but smaller.
I really do like these things and if I didn’t need to travel more than a few miles everyday would probably consider buying one. But I don’t have that luxury, I do however have a confession for current owners. I want to push your car on its side. Bad. I know it sounds terrible and you must trust that I wont act on this impulse, but every time one of these little guys zips past I get the nearly uncontrollable urge to break into a sprint and just tackle the thing. I figured I must be the only one, really how many people could have this problem? Well it seems a few, a quick google search shows the earliest report of this new urban form of cow tipping dates back to spring of 2005.
I’m going to make a prediction here, that by 2018 car tipping will be so prevalent insurance companies wont cover righting tipped cars.
Just in time for the Cheech & Chong reunion tour!
According to a Suffolk University poll, 72% of Massachusetts residents look forward to beginning the process of decriminalizing marijuana.
Of the three questions on the Massachusetts ballot this November, only one question — #2 the decriminalization of marijuana — appears all but certain to pass, according to a poll analysis released today by 7NEWS/Suffolk University. Seventy-two percent favored the proposed law, which would replace the criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana to a civil penalty of forfeiture of the marijuana and a fine of $100. Twenty-two percent opposed the proposed law.
“The public may be signaling that pursuing small-time marijuana users is a waste of taxpayer resources,” said David Paleologos, director of the Political Research Center at Suffolk University. “This issue suggests that there is a Libertarian streak in the thinking of Massachusetts voters.”
Tickets to see Cheech and Chong at the Orpheum in Boston
77.6%
So a good friend who happens to catch all the things I miss in the daily T&G just shot me this nugget from yesterdays NYT wire.
White minority is likely by 2042
Census projections see speedup in switch to new proportionsEthnic and racial minorities will comprise a majority of the nation’s population in a little more than a generation, according to new Census Bureau projections, a transformation that is occurring faster than was anticipated just a few years ago.
The census calculates that by 2042, Americans who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander will together outnumber non-Hispanic whites. Four years ago, officials had projected the shift would come in 2050.
The story itself is forgettable, scaring the ‘native’ population has been a pastime in the US since a few hundred thousand of my closest relatives piled onto a boat off the coast of Ireland and started sailing West. What is absolutely amazing yet totally predictable is the 64 (and counting) comments.
My favorite and one of the erliest in the thread:
I got news for you we don’t have to wait untill 2042. We whites are already the Minority , all you have to do is drive through downtown Worcester or any large town in America. Either that or just look at the Court records . We need to start enforcing deportation laws NOW.
-In Auburn
OK, I don’t have time to personally educate every mildly retarded, white trash buffoon who thinks the Worcester suburbs are some sort of cultural high water mark. So if any of you happen to cross paths with one of these douche bags can you please inform them that Worcester is 77.6% white according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey. So if you have a problem with anything in Worcester, blame 77.6% of it on Whitey and the rest on District 2 City Councilor Phil Palmeri.
Thank You.
Who are they and what do they make?
A few people have asked me recently both here on RBDN and in the real world where they can find out things like the number of people the City of Worcester employes or what they get paid. There’s no easy answer to that with out a course on public records requests, but a quick and dirty solution has been available for awhile from the Boston Herald.
Have fun kids.
The street vendor war continues
The continued discussion of how to regulate Worcester street vendors Tuesday may have been the most exciting City Council meeting Worcester has had in some time, but not in a good way. It was a ridiculous exercise in just how juvenile, provincial and poorly informed some of our elected and appointed officials are. In particular, Mayor Lukes and Councilor Palmieri went out of their way to embarrass themselves and the City of Worcester. The eye rolling, face making and insults hurled at colleagues and constituents, you have to wonder if these two even realize people actually watch the meetings at home. Foolishness aside, the opposing armies in this debate have defined themselves and in effect, speak for themselves. It’s actually quite interesting when you look at the lists, as they break out into rather obvious personality types.
Representing Team Bat Shit Insane:
-
Mayor Konnie Lukes
At-Large Councilor Joseph Petty
District 2 Councilor Philip Palmieri
District 3 Councilor Paul Clancy
District 4 Councilor Barbara Haller
District 5 Councilor William Eddy
Two things jump out here. First and most obvious, all but one of the district councilors are in favor of eliminating street vendors from Worcester. These are the people whose entire voting constituency could fit into your average elementary school auditorium. And there is also some overlap between the district councilors and the other demographic at play in this group, people who are likely to be found at an early bird special. If we were to only focus on food vendors here, the group that want’s to get rid of vendors using a late night public safety argument is also the group that hasn’t seen last call in 20 years, if ever. Think about who that, these are the folks defining how you should be allowed to enjoy your city and they’re also the people who are least likely to experience your city outside of normal business hours. The one unexplained exception is my district councilor Bill Eddy. I still can’t wrap my head around what he’s doing on this side of things. Best guess, a bad sausage at the St Patrick’s Day parade in ‘93 and he’s holding a grudge.
Representing people who get out of the house every now and then:
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At-Large Councilor Michael Germain
At-Large Councilor Gary Rosen
At-Large Councilor Frederick Rushton
At-Large Councilor Kathleen Toomey
District 1 Councilor Joffrey Smith
Oh look, the one district councilor in this list is the one district councilor who you’ll actually see out in the city after the sun goes down. What’s most interesting about this crew, none of them seem to be against regulating street vendors. They’re just asking someone, anyone to explain the what and whys of regulating street vendors. An important distinction and one we don’t see enough in Worcester. Simply going to the Chief of Police and asking him if there is a Public Safety component to street vending is not the same as getting a fully fleshed explanation of what exactly that public safety component is. Any idiot could come up with a heat map of arrests for a given area and make an argument there is a risk to the public in said area. Explaining how they got to that conclusion takes a little work. Which brings us to our final waring faction…
People who don’t actually have anything to say but are more than willing to talk into a microphone:
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Worcester Police Chief Gary Gemme
City Manager Mike O’Brien
City Solicitor David Moore
These guys were astounding on Tuesday night, collectively they took up a majority of mic time but literally said nothing. No numbers, no statistics, no maps of affected areas and even reports requested by the Council for this meeting were nowhere to be found; they came with nothing. Nothing but continued assurance that they actually do know how to redevelop an urban area. The Chief gets an extra special prize for the quote of the week…
“The city of Worcester changes after midnight.”
Yes Chief, it actually changes into a city in more than population designation. A place where people actually get out of their cars, off of their couches and interact with other citizens for better or worse; the city is starting to come to life. We’ve been waiting over two decades for that change, please stop fucking that up.
Might as well be Jack Bauer then
I always believed technology was going to redefine what it meant to be politically active. Lower bars for entry, give voices to the disenfranchised and reintroduce entire demographics to the electorate.
In some ways it has. But mostly it’s just accelerated American national politics progression to full fledged side show.
Case in point, President Obama is using twitter to make sure you (and at least 57,882 others) are the very first to know who his VP pick is. Sweet! But all I really want to know is what Michelle had for breakfast.
