Category: Worcester

508 #141: Conspiracy theories

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican. We talk about The Pulse’s “Ones to Watch” list; last year we did an in-depth analysis. We revisit the “travel spending scandals” of city employees. Today is Orthodox Christmas. The weather in Nairobi is better than the weather in Worcester. There’s a Worcester Magazine article about the PharmaSphere phiasco; Bill Randell has some critical thoughts, as do we. (For more background than you probably want, watch our episode on the South Worcester Industrial Park.) The City of Worcester has a list of Social Media & Information Sharing resources; we recommend the police Twitter feed. Also, there was a Dianne Williamson column Brendan liked.

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508 #140: Tax rates and other thrilling adventures

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Nicole Apostola, Kevin Ksen, and Dee Wells. We talk about the dual tax rate, the T&G blog article, the Crompton Park skating rink, the lack of bidders on the old courthouse, city employee travel expense controversies and government transparency, and good stuff in Worcester.

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Items

Want to help with this week’s 508 show? Make a short video (3 seconds to 3 minutes) that has to do with Worcester, Christmas, the holidays, or whatever is preoccupying you this week. Send it to me. I’ll edit the ones that go best together into a show, and link to the rest.

The video will be posted to the net and cablecast on WCCA TV13.

How to contact the 508 show.

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Fr. Madden wins Worcester human rights award

Father John Madden, pastor of St. John’s Church in Worcester, has won the Worcester Human Rights Commission’s Eleanor T. Hawley Award for outstanding contributions to the field of Human Rights.

According to the City Manager’s letter on the subject:

From serving more than 3,000 meals annually, to housing men in recovery from addiction, a free medical clinic, English as a Second Language classes, to the church’s ministry to Vietnamese residents, Father Madden protects and respects each and every person’s human rights.

The St. John’s soup kitchen has been one of the best around, and a fantastic manifestation of the Catholic Worker spirit in the city. (Fr. Madden spend a number of months living at the New York Catholic Worker house before helping found the soup kitchen at St. John’s.)

We used to write about St. John’s and Fr. Madden much more often around here; we should get back to it.

Hilda Ramirez of the Youth Center also received this award. Congrats to them both!

508 #137: Jeff Barnard

This week’s show is a “highlight reel” of the late Jeff Barnard’s appearances on the show. Produced by Mike Benedetti and Nicole. Co-hosted by Brendan Melican. Featuring Jacob Berendes, Kevin Ksen, Anne Lewenberg, Nat Needle, Bruce Russell, and Scott Zoback. Like the episodes from which it was compiled, this show has a tremendous amount of complaining about the newspaper.

This program will be cablecast on WCCA TV13 in Worcester at 7pm tonight, and on the homepage at wccatv.com.

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Clips from episodes 10, 19, 37, 38, 40, 42, 46, 47, 50, 51, 100, 114, and 131.
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Jeff Barnard, RIP

Jeff
Jeff Barnard: December 8, 1948- November 28, 2010

Just got word that my friend Jeff Barnard passed away today after a long battle with cancer.

Like so many newcomers to Worcester, I first got to know Jeff though his writing on Wormtown Taxi. We became friends after many a Friday morning talking for hours on the phone for the 508 show, and after all-too-few hours talking face-to-face over a coffee or a beer.

I will remember his generosity, eloquence, and good humor.

We will miss, you, Jeff.