Pie and Coffee

Thursday night was another community meeting, about another proposed social services site, this time at 2 June St. Indymedia has pix and audio.

Stately, plump Lee Hammell:

When Rev. Bachelder said that residents could still talk individually to SMOC officials after the meeting, Carol Enterline of 4 June St. used the opportunity to yell at Charles Gagnon, chief operating officer, “It’s not fair. I will be the neighbor from hell.”

She said no one will buy her house with the SMOC facility next door.

Opponents got at least some good news, when SMOC Executive Director James T. Cuddy announced that the proposed facility will hold 19 bedrooms, not the 29 originally announced. But even that brought criticism that the Framingham-based non-profit social services agency did not tell a consistent story.

Those who couldn’t be there might get some sense of the thing looking at the absurd flier (PDF) handed out in the days beforehand.

There’s a lot of things I love about Worcester, but the propaganda you get around here continues to be third-rate.
Continue reading ““I will be the neighbor from hell””

Worcester Telegram & Gazette
(Appeared the next morning)

NECN
(Nightly news. The headline is “Senator Kerry in Worcester to talk business.”)

WCCA
(Appeared that afternoon.)

Worcester Independent Media Center
(First IMC pix posted within the hour.)
Continue reading “Kerry: Who got the story?”

Locals holding signs reading “Bring the Troops Home” met U.S. Senator John Kerry at Worcester’s Broadway Diner this morning. Despite Kerry shaking several of their hands, many remained frustrated with his lackluster efforts to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Paul Giorgio and John Kerry. Photo: Kevin Ksen.

Many local bigwigs were there. The response from passers-by was very positive.

This sign was too big to hold tight. Photo: Kevin Ksen.

My Photos.

Kevin’s much better Photos.

Video: Demonstrator Michael True (AVI)

Worcester Indymedia has more coverage.

At a February 2005 visit to Worcester, Kerry called for military expansion.

(WCCA has some video of Kerry talking about public access funding at an event later in the morning.)

A reader writes:

remember that Wayfinding grant a ways back?

turns out it’s a “matching funds” grant

the City will vote on Tuesday to appropriate $50K to match the grant funds!

City Manager Michael O’Brien:

June 13, 2006
TO THE WORCESTER CITY COUNCIL
COUNCILORS:

I respectfully recommend that Nine Thousand One Hundred Thirteeen Dollars and Twenty Eight Cents ($9,113.28) be transferred from Account #91C780, Citywide Capital Equipment, and appropriated to Account #14C707, Signage Program. This transfer, in addition to the $40,886.72 available balance in the Signage Capital Account, is needed to provide the $50,000 in matching funds to the Worcester Cultural Coalition for the “Worcester Finding Your Way” wayfinding initiative, per the request of Julie A. Jacobson, Assistant City Manager for Economic & Neighborhood Development.

Respectfully submitted,
MIchael V. O’Brien
City Manager

Jule Jacobson, Assistant City Manager:

The $50,000 in required matching funds to be provided by the City can be allocated from previously approved, allocated, and unexpended funds remaining in an expired signage account that was established to fund a signage program several years ago.

Pictured: Screwed-up sign on Main Street.

Geno’s has instituted an English-only cheesesteak-ordering policy.

As a mitigating factor, “Vento said his staff is glad to help non-native speakers order in English and has never turned someone away because of a language barrier.”

Does Geno’s have any bilingual workers? If both customer and worker speak the same language, doesn’t it slow down business to force them to translate their order into English?

The article only talks about language problems vis-a-vis immigrants; what about foreign tourists?

And what, exactly, is the point of this policy, anyway?