Knight and Day

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

The trailer for “Knight and Day” (formerly “Wichita”), the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz movie with scenes filmed at the Worcester Regional Airport is online. I’d love to be able to write “Look! There’s our airport!” but the problem is some scenes were also filmed at Logan.

So, at the very beginning of this trailer is Cruise and Cameron stumbling into each other at one of the two airports. Any ideas on which one it is?

Two more quick notes:

1) Sadly, neither Joff Smith’s cameo as a security guard nor local filmmaker/producer Andrea Ajemian’s appearance as a flight attendant make it into the trailer.

2) I would have been way more excited to see a movie called “Wichita”  than a movie called “Knight and Day.” “Wichita” just sounds so Hitchcocksian.

Clark University Names New President

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Clark has promoted from within, naming David Angel, the school’s Provost since 2003, as the university’s next President.

Angel first joined Clark’s faculty in 1987, and has recently taken up Clark’s green initiative, which aims to make the school greenhouse gas free by 2030.

The press release in it’s entirety after the jump.

Blog Log Digital 12/30/2009

Posted by Tim O’Keefe

Posted by “Bill Randell” on worcesterma.blogspot.com

Best Buy Greendale, I was in their Christmas Eve buying this new netbook and talked to the kid who waited on my about the Millbury move. He told me that they were definately moving but was not sure what they were going to do in Greendale. Told him that if they move to Millbury, like he told me that they were doing, and they have Solomon Pond Mall, there was no way in hell Greendale would stay open. It would make no sense. Although not official, it looks to me that it is extremely highly unlikely that Best Buy in the Greendale Mall will be there in 6 months.

Posted by “Dee Wells” on worcesterismajor.blogspot.com

Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! fröhliche Weihnachten! gioioso Natale! Kala Christouyenna! Zalig Kerstfeast! Feliz Natal! Noeliniz kutlu olsun! miilaad majiid! gëzuar Krishtlindja! C Pождеством Xристовом! glædelig jul! un Crăciun fericit! Mừng Chúa Giáng Sinh!

A Friendly Reminder

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Just a reminder to all you City Council watchers and liveblog readers that there’s no meeting tonight. We’ll be back next week with a new Mayor overseeing the agenda and while it’s his first time up in the tall chair, that doesn’t mean he comes in with a fresh slate–especially after assigning the subcommittees last week. Things may get testy.

North Lake Ave photos

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin, photos by Brittany Durgin

This week’s news story brought up the idea that North Lake Avenue’s slide down a bluff into Lake Quinsigamond might turn the city’s misfortune into its opportunity to build a linear public park in that area. No photos made it into the paper copy, so we decided to put some up on the blog. Pictures after the jump.

City Council Liveblog 12/22: The Christmas Special

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

7:25: Late start due to the Economic Development Meeting earlier–surprisingly not because of the Montvale Historical expansion, but because of a presentation on zoning parts of the city for wind power.

7:30: Eddy brings up his charter change right away. Says that this is only a “technical change.” He also takes a dig at Springfield because apparently when there’s a tie for second place in a district councilor race they have a coin flip at City Hall to decide who fills the vacant seat. I don’t see Casello in the audience, which is too bad because I was eagerly anticipating his address to the council in opposition to the Home Rules change.

7:32: “This charter change was never personal,” Eddy says. “It’s about the office.”

7:34: Germain questions how it goes now, and wants a definition of a “certified candidate that could fill the seat.” City Solicitor David Moore answers that as of now, anyone who received a write-in vote is considered a candidate.

7:36: Germain is against the change. He wants to “keep the transparency” that our government has right now. He says that some people worked hard to knock on doors to earn the write-in votes they received.

7:37: Toomey is “not enamored with this.” She asks “Why the rush?” She continues “The public has been taken out of the process.” She wants Eddy to consider sending this back to committee because she can support the change, but wants the public to be involved.

Montvale Historic District Continues to Continue

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

The Economic Development Committee came prepared to vote on the Montvale Historic District’s expansion that, among other parcels, would annex a tennis court on the property of 1 Montvale Road. In an opening speech, Councilor Phil Palmieri lamented that an agreement couldn’t be reached between the two parties (the District and the homeowners at 1 Montvale) and made it clear that from a legal stand-point the committee couldn’t offer suggestions or amendments to the proposal. After some initial confusion on which one of the three items relating to the Historic District they were voting on, Palmieri, Clancy and Haller voted to send the matter to the City Council tonight for a vote on whether or not it should be advertised. (The votes: Palmieri-Yes, Haller-Yes, Clancy-No.) If there had been one more “No” vote the matter would have been dropped and the District would not have been allowed expansion.

Ok, so here’s what that means: If the measure to advertise the issue passes during City Council (it sounds like it will be voted on tonight) then a notice will be in the paper that essentially says “Hey! In two weeks the City Council will vote on this issue.” At that City Council meeting they will actually vote on whether or not the District will expand.

Here’s the thing, though. The way that the City Councilors vote tonight will probably be an indication of how they will vote in two weeks. If they vote to advertise then that means the district will probably expand. If they vote not to advertise then the district probably won’t expand. Stick around for tonight’s liveblog to see how the never-ending story rolls on.

Big Night on Tap at City Hall

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Last week’s City Council didn’t live up to the hype put forward by their agenda since most of the exciting stuff was tabled until this week. The good news: Tonight’s meeting will (hopefully) be a barnburner.

Last week, Joe Casello’s address to the council was one of the first items of business, but when he arrived at the meeting he was  pushed back a week. Casello was there to speak about Bill Eddy and Paul Clancy’s proposed change to the Home Rule Charter. Obviously Casello–who came in second to Joff Smith in November’s D1 race–is unhappy with the idea. Tonight, Casello returns to make his speech and hear whether or not the charter change passes. Both are within the first three items of business on the agenda. Get your gloves on.

Another City Hall-involved item to watch for will be over before the City Council meeting even starts, but it involves Phil Palmieri, Paul Clancy and Barbara Haller. The three councilors on the Economic Development Committee will finally offer their ruling on the proposed Montvale Historic District and whether or not the tennis court on the property of 1 Montvale Rd. can be annexed. That meeting starts at 6:00.

One final item of importance is that Gary Rosen’s last meeting as a city councilor is tonight. There has been speculation that Rosen is interested in Bob Spellane’s State Rep. seat, and he himself has said that he’d like to pursue spending some time in the media sector. Any bets on how long he’ll stay away from politics?

I’ll have the Montvale Rd. decision up on the blog as soon as it happens, and just like every other Tuesday I’ll be liveblogging City Council. If you’re watching the video of it I’ll be the guy wearing the mouthguard.