Items

Fresno CW says hello to George Washington 2.3 million times
City of Fresno to Pay $2.3 Million to Settle Homeless Case:

On June 6, 2008 the city of Fresno agreed to a $2.3 million settlement in Kincaid vs. Fresno to compensate for its policy of destroying the property of the homeless in unconstitutional raids.

[…]

Liza Apper of the St. Benedict Catholic Worker, who was an expert witness for the plaintiffs, was named by the court as the “Settlement Administrator” in today’s settlement.

BTW, it was great to see Liza again at the CW gathering.

Avast!
We’ve occasionally written about what a great time the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling folks seem to have. Now here’s proof:

We played cat and mouse wargames with that ship for a while, in order to get at those whalers before they could harpoon any more baby whales (they kill baby whales!). Then, later that day, our cat and mouse games paid off, as I spotted a harpoon boat on my radar (I call it my radar now because I put so much time and effort into fixing it, and it keeps beeping and making noise and everyone wants to shut it off all the time, and I was the only one who had the faith to keep using it, and the clunky little bugger was the one that picked up the harpoon boat!).

If you read the whole series, you’ll note that one person gets shot, but not injured.
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How to: commemorate the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

August 6 is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. August 9 is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

One year in South Bend we held a Nagasaki commemoration and our signs were confusing to passersby. A short, clear sign might be NAGASAKI / 1945 / MOURN THE DEAD.

Here’s a leaflet with a Catholic focus you can customize.:

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Worcester, 2004

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South Bend, 2006

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Worcester, 2009

If you have constructive suggestions, or this info is helpful, please post a comment.

508# 46: You will live another year

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Tina Zlody, Jacob Berendes, Jeff Barnard, Brendan Melican, and Bruce “Snow Ghost” Russell.

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Tina finished a triathlon; Jacob went to the George Street Challenge.

Start on the Street is coming up; so is a Cosby Show project at HBML.

Councilor Germain has been feuding with the police chief.

Mike had two bar experiences, one in which a guy got stabbed, the other in which a city councilor did not sing Johnny Cash.

Missoula Oblongata brought their play “Last Hurrah of the Clementines” to Worcester.

We talk about CVS blight and the giant who lives in the downtown AT&T building.

Jacob says the name of Webster Lake.

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Rosary trial: necessity denied

Our motion for a “necessity defense” in our upcoming federal trial for praying the rosary has apparently been denied.

Telegram & Gazette:

A federal magistrate judge has denied a motion for a “necessity defense” for five people in the Catholic Worker Movement charged with obstructing the U.S. District courthouse when they prayed there for an end to the war in Iraq.

The group had argued that it was necessary to violate the law to prevent a greater evil.

We haven’t received official notice of this yet; I’ll update this post when we do.

Update: “Religion Clause” has a blog post and what seems to be the PDF of the decision, filed a week ago. Meanwhile, nothing’s come in the mail yet.

Second update: Apparently the T&G reporter got word of this through an electronic court filings service they use. And apparently the court is not going to mail us a copy of this ruling.

Scott Schaeffer-Duffy and I explored some of the legal issues in a podcast this morning. You can download the mp3 or see other formats.

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If you’d like to support this effort, you can meet with the defendants today (July 29, 2008) at the weekly peace vigil in Worcester’s Lincoln Square, 3:30-4:30pm. We hope you can attend our trial, September 23, 2008 at the federal courthouse in Worcester.

Mason Street Musings

I took a call one afternoon from a friend seeking a bed for a woman named “Nancy.” For once, we had not only one empty bed, but three, so I said, “Certainly.” When Nancy arrived, clad in a skirt, blouse, hat, and purple wig, I was surprised to see she had a prominent Adam’s apple, a five-o’clock shadow, and a deep bass voice. Although we have had an enormous variety of guests over the years, people of different nationalities, religions, characteristics, and, on some occasions, sexual preferences, we have never had a man dressed like a woman.
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508 #45: Art heist

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

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The Worcester police want $4K before sending records about Officer Mark Rojas to the Telegram & Gazette. Also this week: “At least six city police officers are under investigation for fraudulently claiming overtime pay for time spent testifying in court cases.”

There was an art heist in Elm Park.

Some good things in Worcester: the American Antiquarian Society, the Latin Festival, the Worcester World Cup, the Dive Bar’s new patio, and Jeff Barnard’s recovery.

Worcester Magazine had a nice article on street vendors this week. We finish the show with some audio interviews with vendors.

Choice snippet of the proposed vendor regulations:

For purposes of this provision a threat shall include the assemblage of any number of people in the traveled portion of any public or private way within three hundred feet of the vendor, peddler or merchant.

mp3 link, other formats, feed, low-fi versions