City Council Liveblog 1/13

7:18: Sorry we’re a few late; some tech issues here.

The first main items deal with Haller, Petty, Toomey and Lukes’ calls for tougher civil – and potentially criminal – penalties for certain offenses of marijuana violations.

ACLU head Ronal Madnick calls for the items to be filed, saying the voters knew what they were voting for and the council shouldn’t go against them. “The citizens are not misinformed….There is no need to change the law.”

Another citizen, Mr. Purty(sp?) goes the opposite way. He wants tough laws to “protect constitutional right to not have marijuana smoke forced into the lungs…” and to protect minors.

“If a pot smoker does not keep his smoke private and contained, it does become a public offense.”

Petty says until the state steps up, the city needs to issue better definitions. He compares it to the open container law, and says the council will wait a month or a few before sending it to committee.

HEY! GO FIGURE! Rosen says he doesn’t smoke pot!!! Still, he sees the reality. “I don’t see a problem in Worcester…I don’t think [new rules] are necessary.”

Haller says her committee will hold meetings on the issue before making final recommendations.

So things you wouldn’t be able to smoke on a sidewalk without additional civil penalties, if these initial suggested rules are eventually passed: Weed.

Things you would: Cigarettes, Cigars, Pipes, Cloves, Salvia, Sage, Rosemary, Muellin, Ginger…

Unum feeds the rumor mill

Telling us nothing new beyond “we’re thinking about it,” Unum Group told employees today that it is thinking about moving to CitySquare.

But more and more, it looks as if the relocation (first broached years ago) may become a reality. City sources have been more confident in recent weeks about the likelihood of an eventual move.

Of course, an Unum move would put the long-delayed CitySquare back on a semblance of track, giving it the trigger tenant needed to release public funds for demolition.

The news comes days after CitySquare developer Berkeley Investments announced it was backing out of a deal to take over development of the NorthPoint project in East Cambridge.

UPDATE: The Unum memo, below the jump.

Blog Log Digital 1/13/09

Our weekly (and, as of late absent) look at the best of Worcester-centric blogs from the past 7 days.

Posted by “Cascading Waters” on who-cester.blogspot.com: Massachusetts has two requirements for time in school: the well-known 180 day rule (which also requires districts to schedule 185 days, including an automatic 5 snow days), and the lesser known 900/990 hour rule, which came in under Ed Reform in 1993. This requires that schools spend 900 hours in elementary and middle school, and 990 hours in high school in “time in learning.” That leaves out lunch, passing time, recess, etc. etc. (If you’ve wondered why recess time seems to be getting shorter and shorter, there’s your answer, incidentally.)