Worcester Catholic Workers get community service for antiwar “rosary arrest”

Ken and Scott after their hearing

Two Worcester Catholics were sentenced to community service by Judge Timothy S. Hillman in Worcester District Court today.

Ken Hannaford-Ricardi and Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, members of the SS. Francis & Therese Catholic Worker community, were previously found guilty of the petty offense of disobeying a US Marshal when they refused to leave the lobby of the Worcester federal building while praying the rosary for an end to the Iraq War this past March 19.

At the original trial, they had been sentenced to pay the minimum fine of $250, but for personal reasons they refused. Their three co-defendants, Michael Benedetti, Sandra McSweeney, and Roger Stanley, accepted the fine.

At today’s hearing, Assistant US Attorney Karin Bell asked the judge to levy an even heavier fine on Schaeffer-Duffy, who has “a lengthy criminal history.” She said that “a convicted defendant does not have the right to come before this court and say what he will or will not do,” and that “these defendants have chosen the lifestyle they have chosen.”

Rather than increase the fines, Judge Hillman vacated the fines, processing fees, and assessments, changing their penalty to community service. Hannaford-Ricardi will spend 25 hours volunteering at the United Way, and Schaeffer-Duffy will spend 40 hours at the library.

It’s interesting to note that on the list of “Shelters for adults in the area” hanging on the bulletin board in the probation office, the third shelter listed is the Catholic Worker, where Schaeffer-Duffy lives and Hannaford-Ricardi volunteers.

Election items

Catholic Anarchy: Why I decided to vote
Iafrate:

Voting in the united states is indeed participation in a corrupt system. Critics of voting are indeed right that casting a vote is, in some sense, to be complicit in that system. There is a real danger, though, in believing that abstaining from voting will make us less complicit with this death-dealing system. While I believe Christians must witness to “the wider culture,” to imagine that we are completely separate from that culture, and that we play no role in making it and perpetuating its good aspects as well as its bad aspects, is an illusion.

Worcester voted….
Against eliminating the income tax 71.7%
For Obama 67.7%
For marijuana decriminalization 66.9%
For the dog racing ban 57.5%

I know that Adam voted against the proposed farm animal care reforms in California, but I’m happy it had enough support from others out there that it passed.

Catholics and the vote
Rocco Palmo lays out the scene:

In record numbers described as “breathtaking,” the nation — and, by the looks of it, the church — have spoken… and they’ve made Joe Biden the First Catholic of the United States.

This post has the details:

Bishops and apparatchiks, you might just want to avert your eyes… not much “good news” here.

I’m looking forward to working hard to oppose or change many of the new administration’s policies, especially the first part of next year. More on this in a few days.
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508 #59: Overwhelming and substantial

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Bruce Russell and Brendan Melican.

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FROM THE COMMITTEE ON TRAFFIC AND PARKING – Request City Manager and the Economic Development Office provide City Council with OVERWHELMING evidence that provides the Standing Committee on Traffic and Parking SUBSTANTIAL facts that economic development would be a net gain and public safety would be held in balance in making Millbury Street a two-way street

Back in May, we sort of joked about the City banning knives; now the City is actually trying it.

Bruce, author of the Snow Ghost Book of Scary Jokes (pdf), comments on this week’s Womag “People in the Street”.

Brendan predicts Question 1 (eliminate the income tax) will barely fail, Question 2 (marijuana decriminalization) will pass handily, and Question 3 (ban dog racing) will narrowly pass.

The InCity Times came out against Question 2:

Marijuana decriminalization would embolden the punks and pukes of the neighborhood.

Brendan sees Spellane and Fresolo holding onto their state rep seats, and Moore winning state senate.

The show finishes with a conversation with Scott Schaeffer-Duffy about an upcoming hearing to determine the penalty he’ll pay for his “rosary arrest.”

But first Mike talks more about Mystery Band. Below, his band I Am Sexy Russian Girl ;) performs “Glenn Gould Goes to Leningrad”:

Typically quirky Glenn Gould video:

As it happens, this week’s “Open Source” is a wonderful conversation about Bach with Andrew Rangell, and features a major digression about Gould.

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“Rosary trial” sentencing hearing Nov 6

Two of the five found guilty of disobeying a federal marshal earlier this year, in connection with praying a rosary for an end to the Iraq War at the Worcester federal building, have a hearing scheduled at Worcester District Court this November 6 at 10am before Judge Hillman.

Anyone curious is encouraged to attend.

Though three of the defendants were willing to pay the $250 fine they were given, two others, Ken Hannaford-Ricardi and Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, refused the fine, citing personal circumstances and conscience. At this hearing Judge Hillman will reveal the consequences of their refusal, possibly by jailing them.

Continue reading ““Rosary trial” sentencing hearing Nov 6″

Workshop: Respecting transgender people living in shelters

“Implementing a Policy of Respect for Transgender People Living in Shelters”

Held at the SS. Francis & Therese Catholic Worker, 52 Mason St, Worcester, 7pm, October 29, 2008.

This is specifically for people who find themselves helping this segment of the population. In my experience, a lot of shelters are thrown for a loop when it comes to trans people.

One of the facilitators says, “This is not Trans 101. This is intended for people who already have a basic understanding of who trans people might be, and who are already committed to everyone’s basic right to dignity. It’s kind of nuts and bolts (what do I do about bathrooms, bedrooms, incidents w/ other residents, etc).”

Newspapers down 4.6%; T&G down 5.6%

Daily newspaper circulation in the US was down 4.6% for the six-month period ending in September, as compared with that period in 2007:

According to ABC for the 507 newspapers reporting in this period, daily circulation slipped 4.6% to 38,165,848 copies. For the 571 papers, Sunday dropped 4.8% to 43,631,646 copies.

The Boston papers fell more like 10%; the Worcester Telegram & Gazette kept pace with an only 5.6% drop:

At the Telegram & Gazette, which like the Globe is owned by New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT), weekday circulation fell 5.6 percent and Sunday circulation fell 7 percent.

The previous reporting period had similar results; see Newspapers down 3.5%; T&G down 4%.

This is, as usual for the T&G, not good news, but is much better than the 2 reporting periods in 2007, when T&G circulation was dropping at 2 times faster and 5 times faster than the national average.

For better or for worse, newspapers have become necessary for the functioning of public life and politics in this country. There’s no reason why digital media couldn’t fill that role, but it’s not happening around here. I don’t care so much about the circulation losses as the job cuts that accompany them. The T&G had a hard enough time reporting on Worcester five years ago; there’s no sign that fewer staff are generating more and better journalism.

I hope that on an upcoming 508 podcast we can talk to a T&G person about the challenges there. Too often we’ve resorted to unfocused griping about that paper’s prospects; a measured, adult conversation would be nice.

By coincidence, I came across two relevant links yesterday.

37signals say Target micromedia: “When it comes to spreading a story, the mainstream media isn’t as important as the micromedia. Being written up at the right blogs has had way more impact for us than the press we’ve gotten in big-circulation publications.”

Nice interview with novelist/journalist/visionary Bruce Sterling. “What should newspapers do?” “The simplest solution is die.”

508 #58: Worcester, block-by-block

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Gabe Rollins gives a guided tour of the downtown block bounded by Franklin, Main, Federal, and Portland Streets.

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WoMag: Aware of all Internet traditions? and other items

Tomorrow’s 508 podcast is pre-recorded, so I’m going to vent today about a sub-head in this week’s Worcester Magazine “Worcesteria” column:

ALL YOUR EMAILS BELONG TO US

Which is neither an elegant title nor an accurate reference to ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US. Overzealous copy-editing? Zoback nods?

City Council to Vote on Taxing Military Bases & Anti-War Resolution Oct. 28
Indymedia story.
Continue reading “WoMag: Aware of all Internet traditions? and other items”

Technical difficulties

The site was down awhile yesterday afternoon, and was down again this morning. Routine upgrades.

Thanks to all who complained! It’s great to know that so many people read the site and care about it.

One reader contributed this Word Cloud of recent P&C posts while waiting for the site to return:

Man, too much podcasting, not enough Catholic Worker stuff of late. I’m working to fix that.

Bob Waldrop blogs the collapse


“Shoe” panel via The Daily Panel

Oklahoma City Catholic Worker and occasional Pie and Coffee contributor Bob Waldrop is blogging about the impending financial collapse and ways to deal with it.

At times like these, I’m very interested in what the counterculture has to say. It’s like Kaihsu wrote about the people likely to survive tough times: they included “(what we now call) ‘the poor’ and . . . the hippies. These are resourceful people who are self-sufficient and resilient, who have not been absorbed into the globalized monetary economy.”

Dorothy Day:

The only way to live in any true security is to live so close to the bottom that when you fall you do not have far to drop, you do not have much to lose.

(Another writer who’s been blogging about the survival value of local economies and Community Supported Agriculture, but who comes from a totally different angle, is John Robb.)