Worcester Jailhouse Blues

It’s no news that the Worcester County House of Corrections is overcrowded and in need of some serious changes.
What is news is a recent report from the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division that lays out in glaring detail just how bad things are (or were, until recently) for inmates at the jail.
On [...]

Meeting Over

We’re outta here.
We’ll be back later tonight/early morning with a first-ever: A full story from this Thursday’s paper, available now.  You don’t want to miss this one.

Adult Zoning Ordinance

100% officially, no doubt….ordained.  This is the final action.
8:41

Motion to File

Very symbolic move here.
The Research Bureau report that has been panned by councilors in the past week was scheduled to be sent to Finance Committee just now; immediately, three councilors shouted out “FILE” when it came up.
It’s the circular file vote, the equivalent of ignoring an incoming call or blocking an IM: It means the [...]

Rail Summit reaction

Clancy says that after Friday’s DCU summit, he’s pretty sure there’s “no urgency” from MBTA or CSX to get anything done. And Palmieri finally raises the issue that no college students were able to attend.
“Eminent domain should be the first order of business…we should challenge CSX immediately.”
And Councilor Rick Rushton raises the issue of [...]

Local lottery tickets

Here it is..the Joff Smith order of the night.
Local lottery tickets, says Smith, would give us more control over funding, rather than relying on the state.  (It would also, of course, mean taking on the costs of manufacturing, managing, and advertising).
He also wants the City Manager to work with the delegation to change the funding [...]

Clancy, the Gatekeeper

Another great Clancy remark.
The committees are all supposed to be bringing their respective goals in for discussion.  It was decided weeks ago; no one complained.
Now, after Gary Rosen brought up his committee’s, Councilor Clancy is saying another path should be taken.  He’s asked for his Municipal Operations committee to be in charge of setting all [...]

Operation Yellow Box

Councilor Barbara Haller is upset that the first yellow box was installed with little notice to the councilors.  She would have preferred the citywide roll out they were promised, or at least some preknowledge.
“The intention of the manager…was transparency,” says Haller, talking about a report on tonight’s agenda that called for a phased-in Yellow Box [...]

Economic Development report

For whatever reason, these councilors don’t like to talk as much as they once did.
The Economic Development report has passed through, essentially undiscussed, for the second straight month.
7:12

Charter rate increase

An old face:
Former Councilor Juan Gomez is in the chambers, bringing up some complaints from customers affected by the recent Charter promotion–
And he’s withdrawn the order, saying the complaints are being addressed!
7:10