Boston Billards closes Worcester location

Posted by Brittany Durgin

Boston Billards officially announced they will close their Worcester venue on October 9, 2010. A quote from the press release states:

“’After 20 years serving Worcester and the surrounding communities, the economic conditions have become too difficult to continue operation,’ stated company spokesperson Brian Hanify.”

Exclusives

Posted by Brittany Durgin

Here is the weekly report of content you can only find on worcestermag.com:

Stuck on repeat – We can’t stop listening to this week’s WooTown Sounds by Jonathan Edwards. Hear his music here and catch him live this Saturday, October 2, at the Bull Run in Shirley.

Pecha, what?! – Have you heard about the event where you can learn from 10 interesting people and why they’re of interest in less than three hours? Not to mention it comes with a required beer break! Find out aboutPecha Kucha and see photos from the most recent event here.

Getting a degree in….video games?! – One of news stories this week takes a look at Becker College’s game design program. Read our story and see photos from inside a game design classroom.

Call to artists – Worcester has put out a call to artists for their First Night event. Official forms can bedownloaded at the end of our article about the event here.

Film review – This week you get TWO film reviews, but only online. Read our online exclusive review of the film Art of the Steal.

PETA never misses an opportunity

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Never one to miss an opportunity, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has tried to use Grafton Street School’s mercury contamination as a teachable moment.

Heather Robbins Drennen, a graduate of Nelson Place school who now works as special assistant to the executive vice president for PETA, sent a letter to Mary McKiernan, the principal of Grafton Street Elementary School, asking her to take the next step in mercury removal: to stop serving fish in the cafeteria.

From the letter:

I urge you, in light of Grafton Street School’s recent mercury scare, not to overlook the most common source of mercury in schools: fish served in cafeterias. Won’t you please protect your students from mercury poisoning and be kind to animals by pledging to leave fish off Grafton Street School’s lunch menu?

The full letter, after the jump.

A little bit more on the City Manager’s contract extension (updated)

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Now that everyone’s aware that the city council voted last night 10-1 in favor of a contract extension (Rick Rushton’s nay doesn’t mean he was against the extension in general, just a portion of it), let’s dive into what’s in it.

Timeline:

This contract extension wipes out portions of his old contract and supplements others starting at 12:00 am on March 23, 2012 until 11:59 March 23, 2015. If the city council does not want to retain his services beyond 2015 they have to let him know by September 23, 2014.

Back and forth over illegal dumping, 140 characters at a time

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Everyone has a breaking point. Neil Foisy hit his on Tuesday.

City council live blog: 9/28/10

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

What to look for tonight (kvetch/kvell about what happens here):
-Rumor has it the details of the City Manager’s contract extension will come out tonight
-Internal communication on the WRTA union shows management/union still at an impasse
-Joff Smith would still like to see a law school placed in the old courthouse

The meeting technically starts at 6:00, but they’ll be recessing into finance committee executive session right away. The regular meeting should start around 7:00. See you then.

Coakley and McKenna to debate, Baker rolls into town

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

Over the past couple weeks Attorney General Martha Coakley has been campaigning like her job depended on it, now she’ll have to debate like it too. Write-in-turned-ballot-Republican James McKenna has announced that he and Coakley will face off on NECN this Thursday night, from 6:00 to 8:00.

Coakley has put on the ol’ campaigning shoes recently, and seems to be looking at McKenna as a viable threat to her re-election. She was  in Worcester yesterday, spending time at the East Side CDC, took a walk down Shrewsbury St. and stopped in Mac’s Diner. According to the Telegram‘s article, she inadvertently blurted out Worcester’s newest slogan:

At one point, Ms. Coakley appeared surprised that a fancy pastry café, a high-end eyewear store and trendy restaurants shared (Shrewsbury) street.

“It’s like Greenwich Village,” she exclaimed, referring to the trendy Manhattan neighborhood of New York. “Who knew?”

*

Charlie Baker has picked up his Central Massachusetts efforts lately, making a surprise appearance at a Scott Brown/Lew Envangelidis event last week at Coral Seafood and returning to town today. He’ll be at the Boulevard Diner at 12:15.

Chandler gets a challenger

Posted by Jeremy Shulkin

State Senator Harriette Chandler will face a Republican challenger this year for the first time since 2006.

Northborough Democrat-turned-Republican (a trend in local elections this year) William Higgins formally announced his candidacy today, even though his name was on the Republican primary ballot on September 14.

Higgins says he’s implementing a two-term limit on himself, will donate all $80,000 of his salary to local charities and will refuse all donations from registered lobbyists and PACs.

In the past, Higgins has been district campaign coordinator for both Congressman Joseph Early and MA senate majority leader Dan Foley.