Just putting this out there

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin was in town yesterday to talk about the census. But because today is Friday, this is what I kept coming back to:

City Council live blog 2/23/10 version 1.0

7:14: We’re off. J.O’Brien is celebrating the Dominican Republic. It’s celebrating its anniversary.

7:19: The Caffrey Award: Each year it’s given to citizens who “work for the greater good of the entire community” says O’Brien. James and Norma Connolly are the recipients this year [Nicole: founders of Elm Park/PREP Plus neighborhood group]. Haller is delighted that they won the award. She says that Jim and Norma fought the same fight for collecting unpaid landlord fines (similar to what Germain brought to the council last week). She says they show that we can reclaim our neighborhoods and make them safe.

7:22: Petty says the city is “well served” by the Connollys. The son of the Caffery award namesakes also express his gratitude and congratulations.

City Council live blog forum: sing its praises or air your grievances

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

As you’ve probably already seen in the post below, we tried something new tonight with our live blog of city council. Rather than keeping it on the WordPress page where it would only be “live” in the one instant I pressed the update button–which, to be honest, was probably about three or four times over the course of a two and half hour meeting–we decided to use something called Cover It Live.

Cover It Live allows me to post what I write when I write it, rather than needing to hit “update” or refresh the page. It also allows live blog readers to post their own comments in with the live blog, rather than in a different thread below it. It’s all very conversational, and pretty much works like a big chatroom where everyone’s invited.

It will take some getting used to, especially on my part, as it can be distracting making sure everyone’s comments makes it there promptly (sorry if that didn’t happen to any of you) and reading peoples’ comments all while keeping up with the council, but I’ll get used to it with some practice.

An unofficial poll taken during the live blog showed that 100% of readers liked the new format, but I have no idea how many people voted. So let’s use this comment thread as an opportunity to say if this new format should stay or go. Also, let us know if you had trouble viewing it, and maybe a tech-savvy reader can navigate you to what I consider the pinnacle of the live blogging experience.

UPDATE: A couple weeks ago when we linked to the Boston Globe’s use of this format in a live blog with Gov. Patrick I wrote how excited it would be to use it. Thanks to Brittany Durgin,  our new media specialist, dreams really can come true.

City Council Live blog 2/23/10

Click Here

We’re trying something new this week. You’ll be able to see my comments in close to real time, and you’ll be able to place your comments within the live blog as it happens. Click on the link above to get started.

The live blog will be saved, so tomorrow (or any other day) you’ll be able to click on the above link and see the full transcript, just like any other week.

Tell us what you think about it tomorrow. Was it awesome? Was it a pain? Was your computer too slow to load it? Was City Hall’s wireless too slow for me to load it?

Spirit of Knowledge charter school passes Board of Education vote

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Worcester’s newest school, called Spirit of Knowlege, will be open next school year. At a meeting today in Malden, the MA Board of Education voted in favor of creating a new charter school here, but scrapped the plans for one in Lynn.

We haven’t gotten numbers on how the vote split, but we do know that board member Paul Reville recused himself as he is also on the board of Worcester’s All Saint’s Church, a possible site of the Spirit of Knowledge school (and past location of the Nativity School of Worcester).

The new school will serve grades 7 through 12 according to their website, but the initial lottery is for grades 7 to 9.

A Worcester delegation consisting of Mayor Joe O’Brien, School Committee members Tracy Novick (and her daughter) and John Monfredo, WPS CFO Brian Allen and WPS Superintendent Melinda Boone all carpooled together. City Councilor Kate Toomey was also at the meeting.

So…some people are really mad at Scott Brown

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

MA Senator Scott Brown’s “yes” vote on yesterday’s jobs bill (one of five Republicans to break ranks) has gotten some people pretty steamed.

A couple from the “Twitterverse”:

Was Right. Scott Brown Is Not A Conservative – Another Progressive RINO like McCain, Lindsey & Romney

Is being labeled “an independent thinker” more important than being labeled “a principled man”? Scott?

My personal favorite:

Congratulations to Comrade Scott “Marxist” Brown on Voting For Bolshevik Jobs Bill.*

*Apparently this one may have been written as a joke, but it’s been re-tweeted by angry twitterers who are taking it seriously.

What’s worse is the @scottbrown tag where many people are directing their anger doesn’t even belong to the Senator, but to a guy who lives in New Zealand. (Senator Brown’s is @scottbrownMA, in case you were wondering.) The way Twitter works, for those of you not on it (I’m on it and I’m not even sure how it works most of the time) is if someone writes @ to your tag, even without ever seeing your profile, you get to see their message.

City Council Agenda: Google’s ultra high-speed broadband internet, the Philadelphia Plan and the persecuted Pit Bull

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

The last couple city council meetings have been fairly short and generally easy-going; a lot of referrals to subcommittees and praising of city employees.

This week, though, things will get exciting.

On the docket for tomorrow’s meeting is a number of current events, including Lukes’ query into taking over CitySquare by eminent domain, improvements to the Belmont/Rt. 9/Lake Ave intersection–which I like to think of as an extension of the new Burns bridge project Lt. Gov. Murray keeps talking about–and some discussion about the budget.

MA Dept. of Agriculture to offer training session for spotting ALB

The Massachusetts Dept. of Agriculture and the USDA will be at the First Baptist Church on Park Ave and Salisbury St. on Wednesday, Feb. 24 to train people in spotting the signs of Asian Longhorned Beetle infestation. Admission is free and the first 50 registrants get a free ALB t-shirt.

The full press release with more info after the jump.