Month: March 2006

Anti-war rallies, arrests

Ninety people demonstrated against the Iraq War in Worcester Sunday. (Some of the IMC stories say 70, which is too low.)

Clark University held a big anti-war rally Monday. No web reports yet.

Catholic Workers have been an outspoken presence at anti-war rallies in Worcester, Tacoma, Waukesha, Des Moines, and Manhattan (where the activities included civil disobedience).

Keep the anti-war St. Patrick’s Four in your prayers as they serve their sentences.

Ken Hannaford-Ricardi demonstrates against the Iraq War in Worcester, 2006
Catholic Worker Ken Hannaford-Ricardi demonstrates against the Iraq War in Worcester. Indymedia photo.

The PIP and sex offenders

State reps Spillane and Fresolo don’t think the Worcester PIP shelter’s contract to provide “comprehensive re-entry services” to released sex offenders should be renewed. Bob Spillane:

“This is an outrageous situation,” he said, noting the PIP does nothing other than offer nighttime housing.
(Telegram & Gazette, susbscription required)

8 grand stolen from St. John’s Parish

Rev. Madden posted a notice in the parish bulletin at Masses Saturday and Sunday saying: “After a wonderful novena, it is heartbreaking to report that during the 7:15 p.m. Mass on last Sunday, thieves broke into the rectory and stole, $7,844.00.”
(Telegram & Gazette, subscription required)

Things seem to be going great at St. John’s in so many other ways. The article notes that they may be covered by insurance.

Last night Rev. Madden was talking about watching reruns of the cathedral’s Sunday mass on the mighty WCCA-TV. “It’s kind of like watching a game film.”

Ricardo Rivera, RIP

A man walking his dog in Green Hill Park yesterday found the body of a homeless man, the third discovered in the city in five weeks.

Ricardo Rivera, 57, was found dead in the woods near the Stanton Street area, police spokesman Sgt. Gary J. Quitadamo said.
(Telegram & Gazette, subscription required)

The number of known people living on the street has more than doubled with the approach of spring, although the weather has been fierce at times. Yesterday’s low was 18F.

Update: Telegram & Gazette:

The family of the 57-year-old man found dead in Green Hill Park Monday morning said he was not homeless and had been taking medication since he started becoming “confused.”

[…]

Mr. Rivera’s family said yesterday he had lived with them in the city for the past four years or so and had left sometime Thursday night. The family searched for him, but could not find him.

So was he officially a “missing person” at some point? The police say he was known to stay at the PIP. Did his family figure he’d just wandered off again? The newspaper story is sparse on the details.

TV coverage of Coach Williams rally, walk against hate

I got WCCA-TV’s webcast to work on my computer this morning, and discovered that this weekend’s edition of Community Vision features nice spots on the Coach Williams rally (second story) and the walk against hate (third story).

Check it out on Channel 13 in Worcester or on the web: with the in-browser player or by pointing Winamp or VLC player at http://wccatv.com:8010/;stream.nsv

Saturday, March 18 at 9pm; Sunday, March 19 at 3:30am, 9:30am, 5pm, 11:30pm; Monday, March 20 at 11am.

Another man found dead on the street

WTAG-AM reported this morning that a homeless man, Sammy, was found dead in a car in a used car lot in Main South.

It is possible he had been dead for some time.

I didn’t hear the radio report, and it’s not on the local websites, so that’s all I know. This item will be updated.

Friday update: Samuel Acevedo, RIP. The Telegram & Gazette has the story:

Basing their assessment on the condition of the body, police and Mr. Malvey said Mr. Acevedo must have been dead for some time.

[…]

Mr. Malvey said that, in a given week, he finds three or four people seeking shelter in automobiles parked in front of the dealership.

The article confirms that Mr. Acevedo “preferred living on the street,” and that it was challenging to get him to rent an apartment or stay in a shelter.

A situation like this is frustrating. You think, “What could have been done to prevent this?” and there’s no good answer. It’s one thing if a person prefers living in cars to staying at a rough place like the PIP shelter. It’s another thing if a person prefers staying in cars to living in an apartment.

A grooming cornucopia

This morning a local group donated bags and bags of personal care items.

Some of these will go to the homeless folks who pass through our house. The rest will go to other poor people in Worcester.

Toiletries

Patrick, sorting: “Check it out! Electric toothbrush!”

Mike: “You know that scene in movies where they get into the vault, and find the ancient treasure? This is just like that!”

Justin: “But with toiletries.”

Toiletries

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Update: And Roto hits Boing Boing with DNA goodness. An even happier St. Pat’s.

Items

A lot about signs this week.

Darfur: Some updates to the March 29 Darfur demonstration in DC. If you live near DC, and can take the morning off, I hope to see you out there.

More Darfur: You can now see our “Fasting for Darfur” series archived by the Library of Congress/Internet Archive project.

ACLU: Ron “Worcester ACLU” Madnick, on the whole thing of the Catholic Church not supporting gay couples adopting kids:

“If they want to discriminate, that’s fine . . . . The bishops need to understand they need to give up their tax exemption and stop bringing in state and federal money.

“We cannot allow government funds to be used to discriminate against a class protected by the anti-discrimination laws of Massachusetts . . . .”
(Telegram& Gazette)

I don’t know about giving up their tax-exempt status, but I think giving up government money is an excellent idea for my church.
Continue reading “Items”

Coach Pat Williams and the School Committee

This is the real deal.

If you want to support calls for an independent review of accusations of racism in local high school basketball, you gotta be there.

If you suspect that Pat Williams is “the sort of person many parents would want coaching their children — and watching their backs” (Mr. Moynihan, T&G), or that “he also may be . . . someone who deserves not a circle-the-wagons reprimand but something more akin to Teacher of the Year” (Worcester Magazine), you gotta be there.

Thursday, March 16th , 6pm, Worcester City Hall. The rally is at 6pm, followed by the School Committee meeting inside City Hall at 7pm. Updates at Indymedia. Rally sponsored by Saints Francis & Therese Catholic Worker.

  • Support an independent investigation of Coach Williams’s concerns
  • Oppose retaliation against Coach Williams.
  • Speak out against unjust bias of all kinds.
  • Support School Committee member Dr. Ogretta McNeil’s motion to “…review those unacceptable behaviors which consciously and unconsciously may reflect bias….”

Also there will be like 500 members of the teacher’s union demonstrating outside on some other issue. So there will be a big social aspect.