508 #85: Grace Ross

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Brendan Melican and I talk with Grace Ross, candidate for District 4 City Councilor.

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Also: Mike reads a great letter in Worcester Magazine and begins a Clay-Shirky-inspired rant he doesn’t have time to finish.

The “85%” number suggests 2 projects I didn’t have time to mention on the show.

  1. Figure out how the number was calculated, then apply it to our local situation. I’ve measured the T&G against the Worcester blogosphere in the past. How do they compare by this measure>
  2. Figure out if there are ways Worcester’s bloggers can be one of the 17 5%s Shirky suggests we work towards. Along these lines, start guessing how many reporters are needed to cover City Hall, the police, the schools, and so on, and estimate how a nonprofit doing that job would compare in size with other local nonprofits.

508 contact info

In the coming weeks we will be interviewing Bill McCarthy and Rob Diaz. Feel free to suggest questions in the comments below.

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508 #84: Mary Keefe

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Brendan Melican, Tina Zlody, and Worcester City Council candidate Mary Keefe.

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Gary Rosen plans to run for State Rep; Bill Coleman plans to run for U.S. Senate.

Tina talks about the upcoming stART in the Street art fest and last week’s Pecha Kucha night.

Mike recaps his analysis of City Council websites.

Mary is running for an At-Large seat on the City Council.

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More conversation about this episode at Paulie’s blog.
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Worcester City Council candidate websites and signs, 2009

For a blast from the past, take a look at the 2007 candidate websites. More election info at the Worcester Activist wiki.

Please send any comments to pieandcoffee@gmail.com or post a comment. I’ve taken screenshots of the candidate websites I could find, and photos of the candidate signs I’ve walked past when I remembered my camera.
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Worcester area peace calendar, September and October 2009

(Events shamelessly lifted from Michael True’s latest e-mail. Please send your events to pieandcoffee@gmail.com or post a comment.)

There is an antiwar vigil every Tuesday in Lincoln Square from 3:30-4:30pm.

  1. Saturday, September 26, “Rally Against the War in Afghanistan,” Noon-1 p.m., Elm Park, Highland St. and Park Ave. Sponsored by Worcester Peaceworks: Tel. 508-757-5873
  2. Saturday, October 3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., “Stepping Into the Tragic Gap: Nonviolence and Reconciliation with Nations at War,” the annual St. Francis Day Celebration of the Agape Community, Ware, MA with Kathy Kelly, Rabbi Sheila Weinberg, Raymond Helmick, S.J., Skip Schiel, and other activists involved in efforts to resolve the conflict in Israel/Palestine: peace@agapecommunity.org
  3. Saturday, October 10, “Creating Positive Change Through Action,” The Tri-State Youth Conference on Nonviolence at the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester: email: robtlejones@rcn.com Tel: 508-508-344-8166
  4. Saturday, October 17, 9:30-11 a.m.the first public event of the Center for Nonviolent Solutions, Saxe Room, Worcester Public Library, with Colman McCarthy and Congressman James McGovern.

Also: Worcester Veg Events from VegWorcester…

  • On Saturday October 10, Buddha Hut is hosting an all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet as a fundraiser for VegWorcester. It’s $10 for the buffet and 10% of your bill will be automatically donated to VegWorcester. Come anytime between noon and 7pm. (Join the facebook event.)
  • On Sunday October 18, VegWorcester and Worcester Earn-A-Bike are hosting a 20 miles bike ride out to Maple Farm Animal Sanctuary’s annual open house. (Don’t worry, the ride will paced for casual bikers not racers.) There will be food, speakers, rescued farmed animals, tours of the sanctuary, lots of fun. The open house starts at 1pm and our bike ride is leaving downtown Worcester at 9am. More details will be posted on VegWorcester.com soon.
  • On Saturday October 31 and Sunday November 1, we’re carpooling out the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival in Roxbury. We may rent a van and take a big group out to Boston together. Check the VegWorcester blog for news.

35 Worcester religious leaders on pools: “prioritize poorest neighborhoods”

Saying that “The future of Worcester’s pools is a moral decision,” 35 prominent Worcester religious leaders today issued a statement asking the City Manager and City Councilors to “take into account the impact the loss of pools will have on our young people and low-income families” and to “prioritize Worcester’s poorest neighborhoods for pool renovations and rebuilding both as part of the final plan as well as any timeline which will phase-in pools over the coming years.”

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Rev. Jose Incarnacion reads the statement at a City Hall press conference today. Mike Benedetti photo/CC BY.

The statement comes out as the Council prepares to vote on the City Manager’s new plan to focus funds on replacing the city’s nine decrepit swimming pools with a few huge ones.

The statement and signatories are below.
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508 #82: Kate Toomey

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Brendan Melican and Bruce Russell talk with Kate Toomey about running for mayor of Worcester.

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Also: no new info on political sign thefts; discussion of the pools issue and a curious incident with the City Manager; Dianne Williamson’s latest cry for help; absurd self-parody from Jordan Levy. We never do get around to discussing how much any of us can bench.

508 contact info

More conversation about this episode on Paulie’s blog.

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508 #81: Tracy Novick

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panelists are Brendan Melican and Worcester School Committee candidate Tracy Novick.[display_podcast]

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This week begins a series introducing Worcester election challengers. We mostly talk about the School Committee and the elections. Other relevant links and notes:

Just the Novick interview:

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Center for Nonviolent Solutions, Worcester

After more than a year of planning and organizing, the Center for Nonviolent Solutions is fixing to open in Worcester.

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The group “seeks to promote alternatives to violence in resolving conflict at the local, national, and international levels.” They’re having a kickoff event at the Worcester Public Library October 17, and will be housed in an office at the Friends Meetiing.

In my time in Worcester, most of the new projects for explicitly “nonviolent” solutions have been started and maintained by very small, often ad hoc groups. These projects have tended to be reactive and short-term. A larger, institutional group that can manage long-term, proactive projects could be just what we need.