Asian beetle quarantine zone expands. A lot.

The Asian Long Horned Beetle regulated zone has gotten a lot bigger.

Since the Asian Longhorned Beetle invasion first reared its face in Worcester, the hope was the invasive bugs were limited to the northwest corner of the city, where they were originally spotted. But after residents phoned in reports of infected trees on the southern side of the city Saturday, DCR and the city expanded the quarantined area to include all of Worcester and the Western part of Shrewsbury. City Manager Michael O’Brien announced the expansion during a Monday press conference where he stated that the original 33 square mile quarantine zone has expanded to 62 square miles.

What does the regulated area cover now?  Check the link below.

regulated_area_alb_092808

Congressman McGovern supports failed bailout

House records indicate Congressman Jim McGovern voted in support of the failed bailout bill; we’ll have more as we hear his reaction.

Beetle Press Conference

There will be an Asian Long Horned Beetle related press conference today at 3pm at City Hall.  We’ll let you know as we hear more.

Who is Andre Thompson

Andre Thompson, the city man facing charges in connection with the murder of Becker student William Smith is a well known quantity in Worcester over the past couple years, with a rapidly expanding rapsheet for a guy who is only 19.

• In August 2007, Thompson was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
• Later that month, he faced charges of driving without a license and driving improperly.  He was later found responsible on the license count, and fined $100.
• Earlier this year, his cocaine charge was continued without finding, pending several conditions; at the same hearing, charges breaking and entering in the daytime with intent to commit a felony, malicious destruction of property over $250, and four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (rock, beer bottle) were dismissed.

Real Worcester launches

After a soft-launch of sorts for the past month, RealWorcester.com has officially launched. It looks to be an interesting combination of aggregated material from local sources with some original blog content from the usual crew of Worcester bloggers.

It also looks like the site is linking to outside material at this point; during the soft-launch, they had been rerunning full articles from other sites without linkage.

In any case, welcome aboard Real Worcester.

Belated Birthday for 508

We’re about two weeks late now, but we’d be terribly remiss if we didn’t give big props and good wishes to Mike Benedetti for his outstanding work over the past year on the 508 podcast. The weekly show, which turned one with it’s 52nd episode earlier this month, is as close as you’ll find to a Worcester edition of All Things Considered, or other NPR fare and has remained a must-listen since it launched.

Congrats Mike!

Rep. O’Day in support of Question 2

Tomorrow’s Worcester Magazine features a cover story on the battle over ballot Question 2, a binding referendum which would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults.   It’s a passionate debate, with proponents of both sides fervently arguing their case in the feature story.

But there has been little, if any word from state lawmakers on their take on the issue.

In tomorrow’s issue, State Rep. Jim O’Day speaks about why he is in favor of decriminalizing marijuana, and why he is supporting Question 2.  He is the first member of the local delegation, and among the first (if not the first) in the State House to publicly declare his support.

O’Day is clear he would vote against any blanket attempt to legalize marijuana, but says “I can’t remember ever seeing the violence and rage in people who smoke marijuana that I’ve seen in people when they’re drinking.”

Check out the rest of O’Day’s comments, as well as intense arguments from both sides, in tomorrow’s Worcester Magazine.

Unions split over Moore

Not every labor organization is coming out against Michael Moore’s bid for State Senate.

Today, Massachusetts Laborers’ District Council sent us the following letter:

“The Massachusetts Laborers’ District Council of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, AFL-CIO and its 24,000 (twenty-four thousand) members in the public and private sectors throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts proudly  and strongly endorses the candidacy of Michael O. Moore representing Worcester’s Second District, Auburn, Grafton, Leicester, Millbury, Shrewsbury, Upton and Worcester Wards 5-8 to succeed Senator Edward Augustus.

The Laborers’ Union proudly endorsed Michael O. Moore in the Primary election. The Central Massachusetts AFL-CIO and it’s President Joseph Carlson doesn’t speak for The Massachusetts Laborers’ District Council, AFL-CIO who is equally and as proud to be a member the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. The Central Labor Council did not speak for the labor movement in the Primary and does not in the General Election.