A sense of place

Americans are an unsettled people. Census records  (PDF) show that a third to nearly half of us moved at least once in the previous five years. The period 2005-2010 showed the lowest rate,  35.4 percent, in the past 40 years.

Geographical Mobility: 2005 to 2010

Even though the unemployed have a higher mobility rate than the general population, the  collapse of home prices seems to have kept people in place. Most moves, when they do take place, occur within the same county.
We still like to keep in touch. A study of our phone call patterns shows how frequently we call people within certain regions.

The Connected States of America

Worcester makes a lot of calls within the Northeast, but has surprisingly strong phone connections to Florida and southern California and Arizona.
Americans aren't the only ones to move, to shake off our past and plot our futures. A hundred years ago, we had a time of singular convergence. Although there's no record that they ever met, we learn from a BBC story that Hitler, Trotsky, Tito, Freud and Stalin lived in Vienna.

BBC -- 1913: When Hitler, Trotsky, Tito, Freud and Stalin all lived in the same place

None of them was born in Vienna and all changed their names before making the 20th century.

Chasing shadows on Groundhog's Day

It's almost that day again, when something means something in our dreams.

Click to enbiggen and to see the full Pogo strip

Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham has taken up the cause that Massachusetts needs an official groundhog.

Do you know that Massachusetts has been without an official groundhog for centuries? Outrageous!

Abraham's column includes a conversation with meteorologist Mish Michaels about Woodchuck B, whom Michaels believes should be our official mascot. Woodchuck B would be the featured attraction in educational presentations about weather science.

Good idea. We shouldn't forget local gal Laurel and Worcester's Brewster:

Sunday in the Park with Laurel - "The shadow knows . . .", 

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Undocumented radio in Worcester

Just recently, a strong FM station showed up on 103.5. The airchecks are heavily reverbed, so I couldn't make out the station's call sign. I suspect it may be New Vision Radio (with a Facebook page). They are offering to stream their shows online (Windows Media Player) or via phone.

As with others in the city (105.5, 106.5, and, occasionally, 102.9), these stations don't show up in the FCC's tables. (For ease of use, here's a link to Radio Locator. The FCC tables are sometimes slow and tricky to navigate.) The new station is strong and clear just beyond the city's periphery, which is good, because WODS, at 103.3, is a popular oldies station; interference would attract too much attention.

Predictions about the future of the news business

We just finished our WISE course on the future of the news business. For the last class, I made four predictions and told the class that we'd review them in April of next year.
Here they are:

• CNN is toast.


• One or more major magazines will cease print operations because of postal rate hikes. (Newsweek).


• One or more major daily newspapers in the Northeast will cease printing on one or more days per week.


• Worcester will have no local radio news and no one will notice.

Bump Installation Crew gets a new tool

With a hat tip to Jeff Barnard's Bump Installation Crew series, we have this new feature:

The Ohio Department of Transportation has completed a year-long trial of the DuraPatcher. A Mississippi company has created the device that lets a trained worker clean the pothole and install the bump. “The advantage of this is we get a clean, dry hole," said a  a Ohio highway management administrator. The unit can operate year-round.

Problems of a first-world suburban shopper

Signs in the store are informing customers that the Greendale Sam's Club will close and the new club off of Route 146 will open this spring (no date specified).

For most folks in the city, this is a good move. The store is easier to reach once you figure out the on/off ramps. For folks in the northern 'burbs, though, it doubles the distance one has to drive to pick up a year's emergency food supply.

From Holden, it's about equidistant to the B.J.'s in Leominster. Market Basket is in nearby Searstown Plaza, in the case that I'm buying less than a year's worth of something. Of course, there's a B.J.'s near the new Wegmans in Northborough.

But,  Bill Randell has been reporting that Market Basket may be coming to the former Diamond Chevrolet in Worcester, which makes in-city shopping viable again.

All this is necessary, of course, until robots are ready to do our bidding:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="469" caption="Kroger debuts kiosk concept at area college campus"][/caption]

About the political friends of Tim Murray and Deval Patrick

It's pretty rare for the Globe editorial team to deliver such a devastating takedown of a Democrat. In Lt. Gov. Tim Murray’s patronage politics show deeper problem in Mass., the Globe not only slams Murray, but also reminds us that Gov. Deval Patrick's continued support of Murray is bad for government in general.

Tim Murray earned this long before his early morning car crash. His aspirations to make it outside of Worcester brought him to people who, legally or ethically, should never be near a political campaign.

The Globe editorial concludes:

Tim Murray has shown, through his relationship with McLaughlin, that he lacks the judgment and character to make these decisions. And Patrick, who controls all the levers of the executive branch, still sees fit to keep Murray as his personal liaison to municipal government.

Long-time students of Massachusetts politics and government shouldn't be surprised by any of this. All the same, we had hoped that we were better than this.

First Night 2010-2011

Worcester, the trend-setter

It looks like southern New England night get its first major snowstorm this weekend.

Sunday through Monday...the potential exists for a significant
winter storm though significant discrepancies continue between
the operational models and ensemble members. The 12z model runs
have generally trended westward again with surface low pressure
track except for the European model (ecmwf). Two camps exist...the 12z GFS remains
deepest within the western envelope of the gefs and GFS ensemble
means...with good clustering noted between Nantucket Island and the
40n 70w benchmark position Sunday night...as phasing occurs sooner.

via Area forecast discussion National Weather Service Taunton Massachusetts 1035 PM EST Wednesday Dec 15 2010

In other parts of the country, municipalities are discovering what Worcester has known for quite a while - let the citizens clean their own sidewalks and fine 'em if they don't. The Wall Street Journal, New Shovel-Ready Project, reports that not only are cities around the country forcing property owners to clear the sidewalks.
In addition, a recent Massachusetts SJC ruling allows property owners to be sued for failing to clear snow and ice that didn't fall directly from the sky.
So, get your gear ready, folks. Winter's coming.

see more There I Fixed It

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On this day ...

... in 1953, Worcester County was devastated by the strongest tornado ever to hit New England. With winds close to 300 mph, the twister traveled 46 miles across the county, reaching its peak intensity in Worcester.
...
The storm left 94 dead, 1,288 injured, 15,000 homeless and over $53,000,000 in property damage. When survivors emerged from the wreckage, they viewed destruction so complete that many thought it was either a nuclear explosion or the apocalypse.
Mass Moments: Tornado Devastates Worcester

On this day ...

... in 1953, Worcester County was devastated by the strongest tornado ever to hit New England. With winds close to 300 mph, the twister traveled 46 miles across the county, reaching its peak intensity in Worcester.
...
The storm left 94 dead, 1,288 injured, 15,000 homeless and over $53,000,000 in property damage. When survivors emerged from the wreckage, they viewed destruction so complete that many thought it was either a nuclear explosion or the apocalypse.
Mass Moments: Tornado Devastates Worcester

Local candidates need not apply

We're Number 63

#63, I-290, Worcester, MA
Weekly hours of bottleneck congestion: 20
Worst bottleneck: Westbound, Hwy 9/Exit 17
Length of worst bottleneck: .37 mi
Weekly hours of congestion on worst bottleneck: 9
Speed of worst bottleneck when congested: 23 mph
Commuter Buzz: “The MAJOR problem with these Highways is not the roads themselves but the JERKS who drive on it,” one driver posted under an article on the Worcester Telegram & Gazette website about the need for physical improvements on the I-290. “Weaving in and out, riding your butt even if you're going 80, 85 mph.”

America's 75 Worst Commutes - The Daily Beast

C'mon, folks. Our local commute is less worse than Providence's? Boise City's? You're not even trying.

More on The Salvation Army

Alright, so last Sunday, the Telegram published a lengthy, front-page story (in partnership with the New England Center for Investigative Reporting at Boston University), about the local Salvation Army. The article focuses on the house that the army provides for Majors. Michael J. and Carol Ann Copeland, who lead the Worcester center. The Salvation Army purchased the house for $350,000[1].
It's a nice house in a nice area, about a quarter mile from where we live. It is, as Major Copeland described, "... a place where you can kind of get away from things, recoup. So when you come back you're renewed and refreshed."
The major goes on to say, "Because of some of the people we deal with, often we're not sure of their backgrounds. We certainly don't want to be so accessible that somebody shows up on our front door in the middle of the night."
We're also not far from the state police barracks. One time, a few years ago, one of our neighbors came running to our door, exclaiming "A Puerto Rican escaped from the state police barracks." That's a rare event. The area is generally very quiet and, well, white.
I don't begrudge anyone finding a good, safe place to live, nor do I think that it's a problem that the Salvation Army provides housing to its key employees. Churches have provided parsonages to their clergy for centuries. That's fine.
Similarly, I have seen the good works of the Salvation Army. They do the hard work that most of us would never dream of doing.
One aspect, though, is problematic. The Telegram story reports that "the $350,000 colonial was the only suitable house he could find in a good school district after more than a year of looking. The major said that city schools are not acceptable for the children of Salvation Army officers."
It's nice that the town gets a shout-out for its schools, but it shows little support for the schools where the children of Army's clientèle must attend.
And, then, the former mayor jumps in with a barrage of bad facts and misdirected anger.

From Salvation Army « The Official Blog of The Jordan Levy Show

1. See Its vs. it's: avoiding dorky grammar mistakes
2. The Salvation Army of Worcester has annual budget of $5 million. Because The Salvation Army is a religious organization, it is exempt from filing detailed IRS Form 990, so budget information is not generally available to the public. The 2009 report is here.
3. AskOxford: When should I use 'less', and when should I use 'fewer'?
4. The Salvation Army states in its annual report that "Eighty-two cents of every dollar spent, or $2.5 billion, went toward program services; the remainder was accounted for by management and general expenses of $375 million and by fundraising costs of $169 million." That's about 18% for overhead. The Better Business Bureau reported that, in 2006, 16% was spent on overhead Charity Review of Salvation Army (National Corporation). 

All the facts, indeed.

First Night last night

We sent the old year on its way with funny hats, light sabers, and a bus ride.
Needing our hats, Sandra, Tess, Lily, Cassie, and yours truly visited the Celebration Station at the Worcester Art Museum and made hats of colored paper and silver stars. Suitable attired, we went out on a balmy (compared to last year) night and slipped/slided/slud along snowy sidewalks to the various venues.

• Peter Gross and His Amazing Flying Rodents were less than amazing. (Tip: if you're gonna invoke a copyright and tell people to turn off their camcorders, don't be lazy and name one of your animals after a Beatles tune. While not a copyright violation, it doesn't command the respect for creativity that the copyright laws are designed to promote.)
  
• Always a favorite, Improv Kids shows sharp and talented young minds at their best.

On our way back downtown, it was Cassie who convinced us, with all of the moral force that a five-year-old can bring, that we needed light sabers. 

• We oohed and aahed at the athleticism and youthful good looks of the New England Trampoline Show Company.
  
• The Airborne Comedians were the stars of the night, combing lawn-furniture juggling with, well, whatever the heck it is that they do.
  

We stopped for a while and held a three-way saber fight in front of City Hall.

Holding to a long-standing family tradition, we sang our New Year's song while waiting for the shuttle bus to take us back to the museum parking lot. The chorus is

We want the bus.
We want the bus.

The refrain is

We want the bus.
We want the bus.

One of our new year's resolutions is not to write more songs.
Home by 10, we watched a bit of Stooges and to bed by 11. "See you next year," I told the girls as they settled into our guest room. In our room, I was asleep by 11:30. Sandra tells me that the kids weren't.