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[0:00] Mike was out of town this week.

[0:48] We attempt to say something interesting and informed about public sector pension liabilities, using the ongoing Mark Rojas fiasco as the hook.

[10:58] Mike, Rick Rushton, and hundreds of others ran the first Worcester Half-Marathon. (Councilor Rushton beat Mike by 5 minutes; such is life.)

[14:45] Worcester Magazine has revamped their website, now running on Broadcast Interactive Media. We favor Wordpress.

[18:36] No T&G paywall yet.

[19:00] Mike doesn’t like Inside Worcester. Thanks for asking.

[20:02] Mike explains what he knows about “We the People.”

[24:10] We talk a little about the Gulf Oil Spill and local seafood consumption, referencing this WoMag piece.

[26:12] Yeah there are PCBs, asbestos, etc. in the old Crompton Park Pool materials.

[27:39] Mike liked Jeff Barnard’s post Nothing Left to Complain About?

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[1:08] Worcester police officer Mark Rojas’s personnel records and poetry were finally released to the T&G.

[3:03] Gabe has looked at the population densities of various cities and their metro areas to figure out 1) why he’s not excited about Austin 2) why Worcester has had such trouble developing its dense urban core.

[15:27] We flip through Worcester Magazine (new look for the website!) and the InCity Times.

[17:35] A cop car gets towed.

[17:48] Mike finds the T&G and WoMag calendars too general to be helpful.

[19:10] City Park Grille: “Why???? WHY!?!?!?!?!?”

[20:17] Gabe to new WoMag editor Danny Cross: “Who is your target demographic?”

[21:19] Ailing Worcester blogger Jeff Barnard was profiled in Dianne Williamson’s column this week.

[22:40] Brendan notices a missing security camera.

[23:50] Cha-Cha’s band is playing the Hotel Vernon Saturday night.

[24:24] Somebody is hammering something.

[25:19] Mike speaks to “general negativity on the internet.” Everyone becomes unaccountably positive.

[27:26] Mike is going to see the opera. (Update: He loved it. You too can see Worcester Opera Works’ production of Die Fledermaus Saturday or Sunday.)

Screw you, Worcester. I’m gonna have a great summer.

My confirmation sponsoree Patrick Duffy is all over the news this week.

This weekend he’s competing in the 2010 USRowing Youth National Championships, June 11-13, 2010, Cincinnati, Ohio. Here’s him and Evan on cable access talking about it:

Also, there’s an article in today’s Worcester paper about him graduating high school and getting into Harvard. I am so proud of this kid.

(Pat’s parents are Scott and Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, who founded Worcester’s SS. Francis & Therese Catholic Worker and occasionally post to P&C.)

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Audio: mp3 link, other formats, feed

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508 contact info

If you would like to boycott 508, please contact us at pieandcoffee@gmail.com.

Various epic Worcester stories climaxed this week. [0:30] Unum signed a lease to became the “trigger tenant” for CitySquare, and Massport agreed to take over the airport.

[6:10] Also, the MA House passed CORI reform.

[9:40] The Worcester movie “Boy Band” will premiere locally next week.

[10:40] Mike looks at InCity Times issues from before and after Dianne Williamson called for a boycott of the paper, and finds, if anything, more ads now. Two contributors, Jim May and Doug Chapel, have said they are leaving the ICT.

[14:33] Brendan notices the many local construction projects are stimulus-funded.

[16:25] There is a new president of the local teacher’s union.

[18:15] A bear was captured in Worcester and died.

[20:48] The T&G website, as we have often discussed, has problems.

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If you would like to boycott 508, please contact us at pieandcoffee@gmail.com.

[1:18] Brendan and Mike went to stART in the Street. They speculate about Alec Lopez shirts.

[4:34] Mike talks about youth-led lead-safe landscaping in Worcester and wonders about levels of brain damage between generations.

[6:48] Our mystery guest talks about the life and legacy of Ronnie James (Padavona) Dio and the horns.

[11:29] A girl at Melican Middle School is a finalist in a contest to design a Google front-page doodle. You can vote in the contest.

[13:43] The InCity Times has threatened legal action against a critical blogger over “copyright.” Brendan complains about the InCity Times. The only person or advertiser we’ve confirmed has left the paper recently is frequent contributor Jim May.

[22:44] Jordan Levy complains that Councilor Palpatine is being a bully over this CSX expansion thing. Brendan supports the expansion.

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508 contact info

If you would like to boycott 508, please contact us at pieandcoffee@gmail.com.

[1:18] Brendan and Mike went to stART in the Street. They speculate about Alec Lopez shirts.

[4:34] Mike talks about youth-led lead-safe landscaping in Worcester and wonders about levels of brain damage between generations.

[6:48] Our mystery guest talks about the life and legacy of Ronnie James (Padavona) Dio and the horns.

[11:29] A girl at Melican Middle School is a finalist in a contest to design a Google front-page doodle.

[13:43] The InCity Times has threatened legal action against a critical blogger over “copyright.” Brendan complains about the InCity Times. The only person or advertiser we’ve confirmed has left the paper recently is frequent contributor Jim May.

[22:44] Jordan Levy complains that Councilor Palpatine is being a bully over this CSX expansion thing. Brendan supports the expansion.

Audio: mp3 link, other formats, feed

Video: Downloads and other formats

508 contact info

If you would like to boycott 508, please contact us at pieandcoffee@gmail.com.

[0:57] Jim is running independently for Secretary of the Commonwealth. He taught Mike to podcast back in the day.

[10:55] stART on the Street is coming to North Main on May 16 from 11am-5pm. Art and music, free of charge.

[15:50] This week, the Worcester City Council declined to discuss a boycott of Arizona.

[24:25] Mike ran the course of the upcoming Worcester Half Marathon.

[25:50] You can submit a city census form online.

[25:35] We recap this week’s InCity Times boycott/fiasco.

Just the interview with Jim:

Just the song “Dio”:

Three years after voting unanimously to divest from Sudan over the violence in Darfur, tonight they voted, 7-4, that discussion of a similar city boycott of Arizona over the recent immigration law would not be “germane” to the business of the council.

Of the 7 voting to not even discuss the Arizona issue, 6 (if memory serves) were OK with the Sudan divestment–Haller, Clancy, Palmieri, Lukes, Toomey, and Petty. Eddy also voted against discussion, but I don’t think he was on the Council for the Sudan vote.

It’s interesting to note that one of the 3 Worcester residents who spoke in favor of the Sudan vote in 2007, Joe O’Brien, is now the mayor and a supporter of the Arizona boycott.

Related from Jeff Barnard: Worcester City Council and the Arizona Boycott

Related from Worcester Magazine: Liveblogged notes from the meeting

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[0:00] We start by talking about school funding, principal firing, and union negotiations.

[10:33] Brendan notices some anti-drug-dealer graffiti on a log.

[18:35] The T&G reported a circulation decline this week, and is planning to charge for some online articles. We discuss whether this matters and how Worcester’s bloggers are doing in picking up some of the slack.