508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican .[display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:08] Brendan’s candidate, Steve Grossman , won the race for MA Treasurer. [4:36] On Monday there was a Tea Party rally, and a counter-rally , in Worcester. [15:30] Mike reads feedback. [17:20] Jim McGovern won re-election as US Rep. Is he our most metal Congressman? [19:00] McGovern didn’t do as well as one might expect...
Nov 06, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican and Chris Warren. [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:45] Worcester Planning Board wants to restrict campaign lawn signs . [5:19] Telegram & Gazette circulation falling fast . [11:30] There’s a new newspaper called “CMP: Central Mass. Pride.” Also, there’s an interesting InCity Times article. [13:20] Brendan received a creative Paul Franco mailing in ...
Oct 29, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week, some fat cats talk about banking reform. [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:00] Music. [3:30] Three “fat cats” discuss banking reform and their support for US Rep candidate Marty Lamb . For a contrasting policy view, see A New Way Forward . [11:55] More music. [18:10] Mike feels bad about people piling on Marty Lamb , since the guy is going to get destroyed in the election . [19:...
Oct 23, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Jen Burt, the Venerable Man Shing, and Brendan Melican . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:00] The first few of more than 1000 Buddhist relics are installed at Worcester’s Linh Son Temple, 16 Ruthven Avenue. They will be on display this weekend only. [6:25] We learn a little about the relics. [11:28] Venerable Man Shing talks about the temple and Buddhism. [20:14...
Oct 15, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Jeff Barnard and Brendan Melican .[display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:10] Jeff has now battled cancer for six months . [3:41] The animal circus is in town; some are protesting it . [4:07] As expected , CitySquare has bought Notre Dame church . [4:50] Aiden Duffy’s art show at FYC opens Saturday, Oct 9, 6pm, 420 Pleasant Street. [5:02] There’s an energy barnraising Sunday...
Oct 08, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panelist is Brendan Melican .[display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:29] There is an “earthy smell.” [2:03] Mike reviews this year’s Mystery Band concert. Here’s a video from an older one . [5:22] City Councilor Joff Smith accused of being soul-less , shorter than 5’10” . [7:20] Two Worcester colleges are still holding out on making “payments in lieu of taxes” to the city, Assumption...
Oct 01, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Peter Sulski , Tracy Kraus, Krista Buckland Reisner, David Russell, Ian Watson, and Brendan Melican . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:00] Rachmaninoff’s Trio elegiaque No. 2. [5:13] The Worcester Chamber Music Society is starting their fifth season tomorrow! [19:10] stART on the Street was pretty great. [20:40] The City Council has avoided filling in the details of t...
Sep 24, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Nicole, Tina Zlody, and Brendan Melican.[display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:32] Demolition of the downtown mall began this Monday, with the jackhammering of a hole in the parking garage. [1:38] We talk about the election results and a T&G article on Marty Lamb’s bankruptcy a decade back. (For more thoughts on financial elitism, see this Glenn Greenwald article .) [6:...
Sep 17, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. Today’s panel is Ken Peterson and Brendan Melican. [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:30] The podchraoladh endorses wheredoivotema.com , your source of Massachusetts voting info. [1:45] Ken is teaching Irish in Webster. A new class starts Thursday. There are also Irish classes in Worcester . [5:56] The demolition of the downtown mall has begun unofficially , and will begin officially next w...
Sep 10, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican and Mike Benedetti. [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:17] The only drug paraphernalia this week is from alcohol. [1:09] Disclaimers. Brendan is working for the Steve Grossman for Treasurer campaign; Mike is considering not voting at all. [1:37] We are a bit disappointed in the campaigning of the Democratic candidates for the District 13 state rep seat. ...
Sep 04, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is David Druin, Melissa Smith, Kyle Moda, Bill Sontag, Tim Lowe, Paul Cotnoir , and Brendan Melican . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:00] Worcester’s Becker College has the #4 undergrad video game design program in the country, according to Princeton Review. (And WPI is #7!) We talk with faculty, students, and graduates about the industry and hopes for a boom in Worcest...
Aug 19, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Tom Khoury, Billy, Laura Suroviak, and Brendan Melican. [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:00] The “Worcester World Cup” soccer tournament is coming up this weekend. The Liberian team will win. [6:30] The City Council is still considering a pit bull crackdown. We still think this is a bad idea. [11:35] The city should crack down on sharks. [12:27] The # of registered do...
Aug 12, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is EPOCA . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats Contact info. [0:34] After years of struggle, CORI reform passed in Massachusetts; the governor signed the bill into law today. The ex-prisoners of EPOCA talk about this. (I haven’t found a really good article on this to link to–please let me know if you find something.) [9:06] PharmaSphere, one-time dream tenant for the South Worcester Industr...
Aug 07, 2010
From a memorial mass for Gerard LaRochelle at 29 Merrick St, Worcester. Dan Dick was also remembered. [display_podcast] More formats
Aug 01, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats [0:31] Dan Dick died this week; his funeral today. Among other things, Dan was a long-time activist who worked on civil rights, ending the Vietnam War, Catholic church reform, and environmentalism. (There’s a video below of Dan talking about Worcester’s water supply. This week in the T&G were a posthumous letter-to-the-editor , an...
Jul 31, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats [0:56] The George Street Challenge is coming up. [2:15] They’re doing The Taming of the Shrew in Green Hill Park the next few weeks. [3:00] Billy Blue is coming back to Worcester Saturday. [3:30] Gary Rosen thinks Brendan is running for City Council next year. [3:46] There was a Tea Party protest Saturday at which an interloper attemp...
Jul 23, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Chris Warren, Bruce Russell, Jesse Pack, and Brendan Melican . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats [0:25] We speculate about Saturday’s Worcester Peace Festival . [1:30] The Transgender Emergency Fund is raising money with a calendar . [5:55] Brian Goslow walks by. [6:00] Disclosure: Brendan’s working on Steve Grossman’s state treasurer campaign. [6:35] The Brazilian cop who murdered Bre...
Jul 17, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Stephanie Katz, Jen Burt , Colin Novick , and Brendan Melican . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats [0:00] We investigate the “moss animals” living in a Worcester pond. These invertebrates are also known as Bryozoa or Ectoprocta . This species is Pectinatella magnifica . [8:28] According to the cover of Worcester Magazine , the same guy is running for the Republican nomination for US Rep...
Jul 09, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Ian Anderson and Brendan Melican .[display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats This week we begin a series about how people in Worcester are confronting the Bad Economy. If you know someone with a story to share, contact us at pieandcoffee@gmail.com. [0:10] We take a look at what drug stuff is on the ground this week. [2:00] Mike reads a passage from Linchpin by Seth Godin : The death of the fact...
Jul 01, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican .[display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats 508 contact info [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 minut...
Jun 18, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican , Gabe Rollins , and Cha-Cha Connor . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats 508 contact info [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...
Jun 12, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Raianne Richards , Mark Mandeville , Jenny Jade Albert, and Chris Bell stop in Worcester and perform a show, as part of a walking tour across Massachusetts. [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats 508 contact info...
Jun 05, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Jeff Barnard and Brendan Melican .[display_podcast] 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. 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]...
May 28, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican and a mystery guest .[display_podcast] 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. [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 generatio...
May 21, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Jim Henderson , Nikki Erskine , Tina Zlody , and Brendan Melican .[display_podcast] 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. A...
May 14, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Mike and Brendan talk with School Committee member Tracy Novick . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats 508 contact info [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 ...
Apr 30, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Erica Getto and Brendan Melican . [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats 508 contact info [0:30] Erica and Mike think the first annual Worcester VegFest was a triumph. stART on the Street is May 15. [9:36] Brendan thinks that violent incidents in the Tatnuck Square area do not constitute a trend and are not a reason to fear the neighborhood. [16:08] A T&G columnist wrote about their leg...
Apr 22, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week we mostly talk about the Worcester Tea Party .[display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats 508 contact info [0:30] Turns out the skull found in the woods near the city likely was a black woman who “appears to have suffered a brain aneurism.” Update : Skull identified as “Tyra Wilkerson, 36, of Norwood,” missing since 2006 . [2:15] Clark cafeteria workers and their supporters are celebrating a victory in the...
Apr 16, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Greg Opperman and Brendan Melican .[display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , other formats , feed Video : Downloads and other formats 508 contact info A skull was found in the woods near the neighborhood; not much more is known. Some Atlantic Union students eschewed shoes for a day to “call attention to Third World children” . We talk about hookworms and the whole barefoot running thing . As part of the Who Shot Rock & Roll photography exhibit a...
Apr 09, 2010
508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Tim Hart, Pam Toomey, Brendan Melican, and Carly. [display_podcast] Audio : mp3 link , feed Video : 508 contact info We discuss proposed Worcester pit bull restrictions and think they are a bad idea . (You might enjoy this Malcolm Gladwell article about pit bulls.) Clark students continue to support unionization of their dining hall workers; there have been two incidents in the past year when Leominster cops caused trouble in Worcester; it’s Ho...
Apr 02, 2010
