Category: Worcester

Worcester panhandling update: city gets sued

My summary of local ACLU head Chris Robarge’s testimony on Anti-Panhandling Plan #3, from Jan 3 of this year:

Stop hating on the Constitution. Nice city you got there, shame if it got sued.

Today: ACLU sues over Worcester panhandling ordinances

The civil suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Worcester, by lawyer Kevin P. Martin claims the ordinances are unconstitutional, violate free speech and the right for people to peacefully solicit donations in public.

Mr. Martin, a volunteer lawyer from the Boston firm of Goodwin Procter LLP, also said in the suit that the ordinances target the poor and homeless. The plaintiffs are listed as Robert Thayer and Sharon Brownson, two people described as homeless city residents; and Tracy O’Connell Novick, a member of the school committee here.

508 #518: A terrible week

508 is a show about Worcester. This week we mostly talk about ‘s body at the Graham Putnam and Mahoney funeral home in Worcester. We talk a little about a drawing of the proposed Worcester slots parlor. We have an interview from the final Dive Bar Thursday Music Night. And we talk about other awful stories you will have to google yourself.

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Crazy weekend in Worcester

Two items from the weekend.

The body of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been at the Graham Putnam & Mahoney funeral home for the past few days. There have been small protests outside from time to time, and a visible police presence. I was shocked when I first heard about this, much less so when I heard that the saintly/cranky Peter Stefan was behind it. The Catholic Worker community is organizing a vigil Tuesday in support of burial of the dead (one of the Christian works of mercy.) More at the end of this post.

T&G:

For some 25 years, Mr. Stefan said, the Main South funeral home has dealt with burying the poor, the unwanted and even murderers. Because of that, Mr. Stefan said he’s even been involved in burials that took place well into the night.

Charles Pierce, Esquire: “Stop making jackasses of yourself in front of the entire nation.”

Dianne Williamson: Innocence, terror lay side-by-side at Worcester funeral home

Also, it’s being reported today that Worcester Bishop McManus “was arrested Saturday night in Narragansett, R.I., charged with drunken driving and refusing a chemical test”.

Bishop McManus released a statement this morning: “On Saturday evening, May 4, I made a terrible error in judgment by driving after having consumed alcohol with dinner. There is no excuse for the mistake I made, only a commitment to make amends and accept the consequences of my action. More importantly, I ask forgiveness from the good people whom I serve, as well as my family and friends, in the Diocese of Worcester and the Diocese of Providence.”

Initial reaction in the diocese appeared supportive.

“Like any brother in our family that this could happen to, I would support him,” said the Rev. John Madden, pastor of St. John’s Church in downtown Worcester. “All of us have made mistakes in judgment. Like he’s said, we can only apologize and make amends.”

Update: In RI court, Bishop McManus pleads not guilty to DUI

Continue reading “Crazy weekend in Worcester”

Marathon Vigil in Worcester today, 4-5pm, Lincoln Square

Updates:

Worcester in solidarity with its Boston brothers & sister... on Twitpic
(Brian Goslow photo)

T&G: Vigil unites local runners in grief and strength:

If not for [Scott Schaeffer-Duffy’s] 18-year-old son Aiden S. Duffy, who encouraged him to run toward the finish line after he pulled a muscle about 20 miles into the race, he said he would have been at the grandstand when the first bomb went off.

“If he had not been with me — 15 minutes slower and I would have been at the grandstand,” he said.

There will be a vigil in Lincoln Square in Worcester from 4-5pm today to remember those injured and killed in the marathon bombing.

We’ll be holding a large banner reading, “Pray for the Marathon Victims/Work for Victory Over Violence,” as well as signs reading “The Marathon Will Go On,” “Runners are Heartbroken,” and the like. If you are a runner and have a Boston shirt or medal, you are encouraged to wear it.

According to organizer Scott Schaeffer-Duffy of the Catholic Worker, “Parking is available behind the old Voke School. It says cars will be towed, but that has never happened.”

For more info call 508-753-3588 or 508-499-9638.

Palm Sunday, 2013

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The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
–Isaiah 50:4

Palm Sunday mass is complicated for a lector. Not only is there an initial entrance into the church with blessed palms, but the Gospel is read like a play, with parts played by the priest, various deacons and lectors, sometimes people selected from the congregation, and even the congregation itself (roaring “Crucify him! Crucify him!”).

When I was first learning to be a lector as a teen, Palm Sunday was my trial by fire. Fr. Ed Bell gave constant feedback in the form of smiles and dirty looks. He always presided over a great mass, and I think his priority was never individual excellence or self-expression, but universal competence. If the details are attended to, the mass will be not only worshipful but nourishing to the heart.

I was a lector tonight at St. Peter’s, and it went great. I appreciated that Deacon Reisinger, in his homily, drew out one of the lessons of Easter, that “hope springs forth,” and connected it to the wonderful event of the election of Pope Francis.

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508 #215: We’re #1!

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Brendan talks about how Worcester is “the snowiest city this winter in the United States”, and talks about his concerns over a possible slot machine casino and hotel in the city. Mike tries to avoid ranting by reading a brief statement on panhandling, then rants about how the city should encourage competition by easing restrictions on food carts.

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Holy Cross Magazine, Spring 2003

I was out of town in 2003, so I never saw this before. Thanks to a friend for bringing it to my attention.

sp03-cov-lgsp03-bk-cov-lg

Front Cover/Back Cover

Andrew Sullivan has been linking to some of the arguments made for war in 2002/2003, as well as the thoughts of those folks 10 years later. I opposed the war at the time (wrote letters, demonstrated), but I don’t take any credit for that. I don’t have superior skills at foreign policy analysis, just a cautious eye when reading the news and a mild bias against violent solutions.

Worcester panhandlers arrested over weekend

Two arrests this weekend, a couple of others earlier last week. Three men begging while standing in traffic, another begging from people entering or leaving a store. One of these also involves a trespassing charge, two others a disorderly conduct charge. (The fourth is a little confusing on that point.) I’m not sure if there would always be a “disorderly conduct” thrown in for arrests like these, or whether standing in traffic is itself disorderly conduct.

Telegram & Gazette: Police start arresting panhandlers

Robert A. Mele, 34, who lists his address as 701 Main St., the homeless shelter, was arraigned Monday in Central District Court for trespassing and violating the aggressive panhandling ordinance after he was found standing on the off-ramp to Interstate 290 eastbound in the Belmont Street area Saturday.

[…]

Michael P. Gorham, 51, of 11 Ellsworth St., Apt. 4, was arrested Sunday — which happened to be his birthday — for disorderly conduct and violating the aggressive panhandling ordinance.

Police said he was aggressively panhandling on Chandler Street and at first was told to leave. Officers saw him again walking in and out of traffic and arrested him. He was arraigned Monday and ordered held on $500 cash bail.

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