City Councilor Konnie Lukes, in Worcester Magazine:

It was clearly a publicity stunt geared to embarrass police and the city. I’ll leave it to [the police department's] judgment as to how they handle it.

Police Chief Gemme:

We were made aware that there would be a peaceful protest focusing on poverty and the panhandling ordinance. Based on the communication that we received from Saint Francis & Therese Catholic Worker, we know that the protesters are well aware of the ordinance and we gave them latitude to peacefully conduct their protest.

Our approach to panhandling has been stated publicly. Our focus has been on education and gaining voluntary compliance. If enforcement action is necessary, we will take it . . . But we will not make arrests for the sake of making arrests.

Today, between 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM there were 21 calls for service throughout the city. None of these calls were regarding panhandling. During this time period, we directed our limited resources where they were most needed. We used discretion to monitor the protest, and our decisions were made in the best interest of the entire community.

As much as I’d like to quibble with these words, I’m not going to do that, because the upshot of the city’s actions is so interesting.

This isn’t a case where some people violated the letter of the law but not the spirit.

They violated* the part of the anti-panhandling ordinances which claims to be about traffic safety. And in fact, this was a worst-case scenario for begging on a median. Besides these three men, there were as many as a dozen reporters, photographers, and activists out there with them, scooting by each other and stepping on and off the curb.

By not enforcing this “traffic safety” law, the city’s actions say, “this isn’t really about traffic safety.” Their actions say, “if you were a scruffy bum, you would be endangering yourself and others, but if you are well-groomed and media-savvy, then we can all admit this is nothing to worry about.”

* Brendan tried to explain the difference between laws and regulations on the last 508, and I’m still confused. In this case, the ordinance says that begging on a median only becomes a problem if a policeman tells you to stop. But the city has been handing out flyers claiming that the soliciting is always a violation. It may be a long time before we find out what’s really prohibited.

And also…

BIZARROLUKES:

ME CONDEMN THE PUBLICITY STUNT GEARED TO EMBARRASS POLICE AND THE CITY!! BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THE ORDINANCES. #WORCPOLI

— SEKUL (ə, BIZARRO) (@BIZARROLUKES) February 14, 2013

AF Zamarro writes in with this grand metaphor:

The best analogy for these protests is that of a tired old comedy. You have the over-the-hill actor in Scott Shaffer-Duffy, who takes his role so very seriously and hams up every dramatic opportunity in the threadbare script. Chief Gemme is the exhausted stage manager, who knows that the audience isn’t really paying attention and that he needs to humor the old actor to keep the doors open. And the audience – the audience is tired, and sometimes entertained, but they are never really drawn into the plot any longer. Many audience members are waiting, hoping for an updated script, for the managers, actors, and creative staff to realize that the paradigm has changed and that we need productions that keep with the times.

The reason Chief Gemme didn’t send out squads of goons to cuff Shaffer-Duffy and his tired band of thespians is that he knows the script. He knows that Scott is trying to make a scene, trying to make a statement. But he also knows that no one cares. The audience knows the script, too.

There was a time when acts like this mattered, but that time is past. It’s not the machine that needs work. The machine has become so fat and bloated, largely due to folks like Scott making it so self-conscious of showing up any possible error or weakness that it accounts for all of them, or tries to, and the machine has become the problem by trying to fix everything.

What we need to do is build up people, but folks like Scott aren’t good at building up cultures, just tearing them down. He’s a deconstructionist, and that’s the script he goes by. It’s time for a new script.

I guess he didn’t like it.

In an act of civil disobedience against Worcester’s new anti-panhandling ordinances, three Worcester residents today begged for money on the median in Lincoln Square, directly across from police headquarters. The event was held on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, which Christians mark with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Gordon Davis, a blind anti-discrimination advocate, held a bucket reading BLIND and represented the disabled. Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, a Catholic Worker who has housed the homeless in Worcester for decades, was dressed as St. Francis, himself a beggar. Robert Peters, a long-time Buddhist meditator, dressed in the robes he wears as a lay Buddhist.

At least four people called the police to complain. According to the supporters demonstrating legally on the nearby sidewalk, the only police response was one officer giving the thumbs-up when he drove by.

In a statement, Chief Gemme said that “Today, between 1 and 2 p.m. there were 21 calls for service throughout the city. None of these calls were regarding panhandling.” (I’m not sure what the difference is between a call for service and these calls. Maybe there were 21 911 issues?)

None of the beggars was arrested, cited, or warned. “This is a victory for Worcester,” said Schaeffer-Duffy.

Womag has more pix. The T&G reports “$14.68 collected,” all of which will go directly to those in need.

Facebook is a great thing to “give up” for Lent. It’s not the worst thing I can do with my time, but the line between “connecting with friends” and “spending an hour clicking aimlessly” is easily crossed.

Back when I was a big TV watcher, giving up TV for Lent always seemed like a good idea, but not a very practical one. Even if the time I spent with my family in front of the tube was not “quality time,” it was still a social activity and a shared experience.

Both TV watching and Facebook are strange in that from one angle they’re very solitary, and from another communal. At its worst, watching TV let strangers program my brain as I sat staring; Facebook, at its worst, is an exercise in narcissism.

So since I always feel like “I should spend less time on Facebook,” and since I have no lack of other ways of catching up with folks, I’m giving up Facebook again this year, and replacing some of that newly-freed time with morning and evening prayer. I’ll be on the road a lot of Lent, so I’m putting off deciding what to give up on Fridays in lieu of meat—I’ll try various dietary experiments and see how they go.

Also:

• River Sims of the Temenos Catholic Worker is doing an online Lenten retreat on the Gospel of Luke.
• Susan Stabile is posting materials from this year’s Lent Retreat in Daily Living.

We don’t post a lot of Catholic hierarchy news here, but this is outside the norm.

Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign:

A profoundly conservative figure whose papacy was overshadowed by sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, the pope, 85, said that after examining his conscience “before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise” of his position as head of the world’s Roman Catholics.

Pope Benedict:

I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.

As someone who grew up under the leadership of John Paul II, Pope Benedict’s papacy will always be a mediocre one to me, lacking JPII’s charisma and vision, and marked by his failure to respond to the child sex abuse crisis with anything commensurate to the enormity of that crime.

More reactions via Andrew Sullivan.

Catholic Worker news

Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, is up for sainthood. This has catalyzed an effort among many Catholic Workers to define who she was as clearly as possible, for the benefit of the public at large.

Here’s another thoughtful article along those lines, from the Houston Catholic Worker community: What the New York Times Did Not Say About the Sainthood of Dorothy Day

After she became a Catholic, Dorothy’s whole life was permeated by her Catholic faith. All that she said and did was an expression of that faith. The New York Times said a lot about Dorothy Day, but a reader could easily have missed the profundity of her faith. For example, the article quoted “some Catholics” as saying that “promoting Day’s sainthood cause is politically useful for Dolan and other bishops, at a time when the hierarchy is often described by liberal Catholics as caring more about reproductive issues than poverty.” They neglected to mention the possibility that Cardinal Dolan might be working on the cause for her canonization for his eternal salvation.

Note that there are plenty of parishes in this country, including some right here in Worcester, where Dorothy’s name is sometimes included in the litany of saints already.

Here’s a nice video from PBS on the movement, including action video from St. Joseph’s House in New York City, the community that introduced me to the Catholic Worker.

Watch The Life of Dorothy Day on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

Worcester park news

Here’s a video interviewing some of the people behind the creation of the Winslow Street park.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, Robert Peters, and Brendan Melican discuss Worcester’s anti-panhandling laws and opposing them with civil disobedience.

On a related note, here’s a good 2013 article on Saint Francis.

Audio: Download the mp3 or see more formats.

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You can watch 508 Fridays at 7pm on WCCA TV13.

On Ash Wednesday, February 13, from 1-2 pm, the Saints Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker community will sponsor a protest at Lincoln Square in Worcester calling for the repeal of anti-panhandling regulations passed last week. Signs will be held and the attached leaflet will be distributed.

Robert Peters, a long-time practitioner of Buddhist mediation, will wear a monk’s attire and hold a beggar’s bowl.

Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, a one-time novice with the Capuchin-Franciscans, will wear a Franciscan habit and also carry a beggar’s bowl.

Robert will be on the sidewalk, while Scott will defy the anti-panhandling ordinance by begging on the median strip. Both of them hope to highlight the sacred place begging and giving to beggars has in all the world’s major religions.

The members of the Catholic Worker community have sent the attached letter to Worcester’s police chief, mayor, and all the city councilors describing their reasons for holding this protest. Any funds collected will be given directly to those who who continue to feel the need to appeal for help on the streets of Worcester. For more information, call Claire Schaeffer-Duffy 508 753-3588.

Flyer for this event:

Lift the Restrictions on Panhandling!

As providers of shelter for the homeless, we know that these are very hard economic times. Jobs are in short supply and most of those that are available don’t pay a living wage. Government aid is shrinking. The city of Worcester is refusing to shelter anyone who cannot prove two years’ residency. At our hospitality house for the homeless, we get calls daily from people who literally have no where to go for help. At the same time, all the world’s major religious traditions teach that giving to those in need is a holy act. Jesus said in the Gospel of Saint Luke, “Give to everyone who begs from you.” In Judaism, Tzedakah, (giving to the poor) is not viewed as a generous, magnanimous act; it is simply an act of justice and righteousness, the performance of a duty, giving the poor their due. In the Koran it says, “Give something (even if it is very little) to the beggar or send him away with nice words; because he may be an angel who visits you to see how you use the blessings and bounties that Allah granted you.” Giving (dana) is one of the essential preliminary steps of Buddhist practice.

Saint Francis of Assisi believed that, when one’s needs could not be met by work, begging promoted humility, greater awareness of God’s providence, and an opportunity for others to do good. Hindu holy men and Buddhist monks live exclusively on what they beg. The anti-panhandling regulations in Worcester make the lives of the very poor even more desperate.

Worcester’s chief of police says that panhandlers will be given information on alternatives. We know from experience that those alternatives are in very short supply these days. The anti-panhandling regulations also prohibit little league teams and firefighters from fund-raising at intersections. Politicians claim these regulations are for safety, but no one can point to a single injury related to panhandling. We believe the regulations are another attempt by the city to compel the poor to get out of town or at least out of sight.

Given that Jesus said in Matthew 25 that whatever we do or fail to do for those in need, we do or fail to do for Him, we feel compelled to challenge the anti-panhandling regulations. As a community that subsists entirely on private donations, we are beggars too. If the city wants to arrest someone, let them arrest us.

The members of the Saints Francis & Thérèse Catholic Worker

52 Mason Street, Worcester, MA 01610
theresecw2@gmail.com

A letter to local leaders:

The Members of the Worcester City Council
Mayor Petty
Police Chief Gemme

February 5, 2013

Dear City Leaders,

Peace! As people who have offered shelter to the poor for more than 30 years, we can say from experience that these are some of the hardest economic times. Jobs are scarce, wages are at historic lows, while debt is at a historic high. The gap between the rich and poor is the widest it has been in our lifetimes. At the same time, government is cutting spending. The safety net for the poor is coming apart. The city of Worcester is trying to limit the number of homeless it serves by requiring those seeking shelter to prove two years of residency in Worcester. Here at Saints Francis and Thérèse Catholic Worker, we get as many as a dozen calls a day from women and men who say they have no where to turn for help. God forgive us, but with our space limitations we turn most of them away. Our greatest fear is that some of these people will freeze to death on the street, or take their lives in despair.

In this economic context, it has not surprised us to see more people begging on street corners. We always try to offer what we can mindful of the instructions in the Gospel of Saint Luke to give to everyone who begs from us. We have never met an “aggressive” panhandler. Quite the contrary, people have been more appreciative than the size of our gifts have warranted.

But now the city has passed a complex ordinance prohibiting desperately poor people from asking for help in most locations where they currently make their appeals. After giving them a warning, the police will begin issuing citations for $50 or a requirement for community service. Instead of expanding assistance, the city is placing another barrier to poor people’s ability to survive.

Therefore, on Ash Wednesday, February 13, the first day of the Christian season of Lent, a time when we are called to rededicate ourselves to the works of mercy, we will assemble at Lincoln Square to call for a lifting of the panhandling restriction. From 12 P.M. at least one member of our group will stand on the median strip to appeal for funds for the poor. We recognize that this is a direct violation of the anti-panhandling ordinance. If the city means to arrest anyone, it would be far better to arrest one of us who will be unafraid to challenge this ordinance in court than those impoverished individuals who have been beaten down too much already.

Like each of you in government and public service, we love this city and want to see it become better. Not having beggars on street corners is a goal we too support, but one that ought to be accomplished through economic and educational opportunities, not threats. As government moves farther away from meeting the needs of the poor, all of us are going to have to do more for those in need or face the gaunt expressions of those who have never enjoyed the American dream.

Scott Schaeffer-Duffy
Claire Schaeffer-Duffy
Robert Peters

Last time they voted to “advertise” the anti-soliciting ordinances. This week was the final step of the process. Economou, Eddy, Germain, Lukes, Palmieri, Rushton, Russell, Toomey, and Petty voted yes. O’Brien and Rivera voted no.

The City Manager reiterated his confidence that the city’s lawyers did a good job drafting this and the city won’t lose a lawsuit over it. He also said that outreach workers have talked to frequent solicitors and they know about the ordinances and penalties.

The Council asked for a report in 30 days about how enforcement is going.

The Telegram & Gazette, in an article today, outlined the time-and-place restrictions in this plan, those being the parts that have generated the most controversy yet have not been discussed in public by the Council or mentioned (until today) in traditional media. Since they Council didn’t debate the specifics of the plan, just asked some questions about implementation and reporting, they didn’t use this final opportunity to answer the concerns. Maybe I’m naive, but this still amazes me.

Update: Here’s a photo of a handout on the ordinance. It doesn’t mention the many time and place restrictions. Odd.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we talk Worcester at the Paris Of The Eighties Cafe with Chris Besaw, Gina Migliozzi, Erika Dunn, Martha Assefa, Jen Burt, Asa Needle, Nicole Apostola, and Dante Comparetto.

Audio: Download the mp3 or see more formats.

Video: Downloads and more formats.

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You can watch 508 Fridays at 7pm on WCCA TV13.

[0:00] We talk about the newly-opened Paris of the Eighties Cafe, saving the Palladium, and Juggalos.

[8:15] Worcester foreclosures update from Martha Assefa.

[11:35] Book of the week: Terry Bisson’s collection Bears Discover Fire.

[12:21] Library parking lot discussion continues. Nicole and Dante, fresh from a meeting, fill us in.

[20:15] Nat Needle is releasing a CD of his songs, “Worcester Potholes,” January 31 at Nick’s.

[20:59] How much do you have to like Worcester to get the seal tattooed on your chest?

[25:15] Stone Soup update.

Last night the Worcester City Council voted in favor of its third anti-panhandling plan in recent years. Councilors O’Brien and Rivera voted no; Councilor Germain was absent.

This plan has three parts: discouraging people from running into traffic, discouraging “aggressive” behavior while begging, and banning asking for help in various times and places.

The time-and-place restrictions are the ones that have had me, the ACLU, and other residents up in arms over this plan. Once again, the City Councilors completely ignored the time-and-place restrictions in their discussions. I even began the public comment section by giving chapter-and-verse on these sections, and directly asking them to be addressed, but to no avail. This disregard was even more amazing after Konnie Lukes berated the audience for not reading the ordinances, and then Rick Rushton explained the ordinances completely backwards, saying soliciting on sidewalks would not be affected, whereas an entire third of this plan, conceptually, is about restricting times and places of soliciting on sidewalks. I am a little discouraged but mostly amazed.

Worcester Magazine has notes.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Amy Chase, Chris Robarge, and Brendan Melican.

Audio: Download the mp3 or see more formats.

Video: Downloads and more formats.

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You can watch 508 Fridays at 7pm on WCCA TV13.

[0:00] This week’s show is taped at Crompton Collective, a mall of antiques and artisan goods, right off Kelley Square.

[2:16] Palladium saved! (When I told Bruce “Snow Ghost” Russell about this, he said, “Oh yeah. Metal always wins.”

[3:01] Front Street reopened after years of being blocked by a mall.

[5:00] Pulse magazine’s “Ones to Watch” list. As is our annual tradition, we go through the list.

[7:05] Worcester Magazine picked Tornadoes owner Todd Breighner as Person of the Year. Mike thinks this choice was risky and thought-provoking. Chris thinks this was a terrible choice, Mr. Breighner being “the parasitic clown who robbed a bunch of local businesses as he sunk the Tornadoes baseball franchise”.

[9:55] Worcester has a closed coal mine. Also, a door in the City Hall Christmas tree. Much more in the latest Happiness Pony.

[12:02] If you want previews and aftermath news of city government meetings, sign up for our email list.

[15:00] Panhandling. City Council slated to discuss proposed anti-panhandling ordinances next week. With luck, this’ll be the first public forum where elected officials address, rather than avoid, the controversial parts.

Today is Epiphany, and there was an impressive prayer service and blessing of the house at the Catholic Worker on Mason Street. Was there a blessing of the chalk? There was. Was the chalk used to bless the lintels of the house? It was. Was there an intercessory prayer for the collectives of Worcester? There was. Did people look for a bean in some pie? They did.

20 Caspar + Balthazar + Melchior 13

Epiphany always puts me in mind of my great-grandfather Emil, of whom it was discovered, by his family, after his death, that his name had actually been Melchior, a name he had apparently never liked.

Down in DC, Witness Against Torture began their annual days of action today, leading up to the January 11 anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantanamo.

With your blessing may it no longer be the ordinary marker we know so well as the tool teachers use on chalkboards and children use to mark walls and sidewalks with their secret words or joyful games. Make it, for this Epiphany occasion, a special marker for us who use it in faith so that we may mark the doorway of our home with the names of the wisemen – Caspar, Balthasar and Melchior.

This week the Worcester City Council Joint Public Health and Human Services and Municipal Operations Committee met to discuss Worcester’s third proposed anti-panhandling plan. These measures would affect men who stand on street corners holding signs, people asking for a quarter on the street, and kids and non-profits soliciting donations at intersections.

There are three kinds of restrictions in the proposed set of ordinances.

1. The first try to keep people from wandering on traffic islands and in the road.
2. The second try to keep people from being persistent or scary in their soliciting.
3. The third name times and places in which soliciting is banned. These would include after dusk, from people walking, near ATMs, near entrances to buildings, near bus stops, near restaurants with outdoor seating, and any “place of public assembly.”

At the Joint Committee meeting, various representatives of businesses and business groups spoke in favor of some action on panhandling, though not so much the specific proposals. Other people spoke against the proposals, specifically the third kind of time-and-place restrictions, as being objectionable on civil liberties or ethical grounds, or as making Worcester a slightly-less-human city.

The Councilors, Deputy City Manager, and City Solicitor then spoke thoughtfully and compassionately about the first 2 kinds of restrictions and didn’t mention the third at all, before voting (with one dissent) to send these proposals to the full City Council for a vote. (That vote could happen as early as the January 15 City Council meeting.)

When I confronted one Councilor about this after the meeting, the Councilor at first denied that the third kind of restriction was in the proposals at all, then expressed surprise upon seeing that it was.

I’ve emailed the other Joint Committee members about this, on the chance that they’d also voted on a proposal they hadn’t read, but there’s been no comment from them.

I hope that the Councilors and Solicitor will discuss the time-and-place restrictions when this comes before the full Council, because some of the phrases in there sound kinda extreme to a layman (“all . . . places of public assembly”) but might have a less-extreme legal meaning.

Here’s the text of my remarks to the Council, followed by some Twitter notes from the meeting. If you’d like to see a less-snarky collection of notes, Worcester Magazine also live-blogged it.

I appreciate your interest in traffic safety and encouraging politeness, but I’m concerned that this ordinance tries to keep people from asking for help in any public place where other people might actually be. I hope you’ll oppose such restrictions.

The ability to ask for help, and to respond one way or another, is key to a healthy society, and to those of us trying to be Christians, key to God’s plan for our lives.

The downsides to these proposals, in terms of civil liberties and basic social relationships, are clear.

What are the potential upsides? At first glance, there are none. They don’t do anything about poverty or addiction. Maybe a couple guys will stop panhandling. Most of them will not. Maybe people who ask for help once in a great while will be discouraged by these laws; people who do it every day won’t be. As several Councilors have pointed out, a lot of this seems to duplicate existing ordinances.

Now no City Councilor has explained at a public meeting, based on facts and commonsense arguments, how these ordinances would end the nusance of scruffy men on street corners. And I hope some of you will do that tonight.

But really, I’d like you to consider that every human interaction has potential for abuse, and there are plenty of laws written against those abuses. Please don’t overreact to this situation by restricting our freedom to reach out and connect.

(The Councilors did spend some time talking about whether this would deal with “the nusance of scruffy men on street corners,” and went to great pains to make clear that it would not. Hence the comments from some locals that “their attitude was, this won’t really change anything, but then it can’t be all that bad either, so why not vote for it, right?”)

###

• At Worcester City Council panhandling mtg. Manager has turned out local biz assoc heads to support the restrictions.

• First public cmt: Richard Kerver. Talking about bikes. No connection to panhandling.

• Second cmt: N. Worc Biz Assoc. Panhandlers make us look bad.

• Public cmt: Sarah Loy. No new laws. Leave panhandlers alone.

• Public cmt: Mike Benedetti. Lincolnesque plea to stop hunting fruitflies with shotguns.

• Public cmt: Chris Robarge of ACLU. Stop hating on the Constitution. Nice city you got there, shame if it got sued.

• Public cmt: Bloggin’ Bill Randell. Panhandlers and people asking for donations hurt your business.

• Public cmt: Gadflin’ Jo Hart. We need more traffic enforcement. Stop teaching schoolkids to beg, you lousy New Englanders.

• Chris Horton, anti-forclosure/unemployment. Panhandlers tell us a story about an ongoing crisis.

• David Bentley: High school beggars worse-behaved than habitual signers.

• Kevin Ksen: This stuff will impact people soliciting for regular biz. This cd make tag days unregulated.

• David Coyne: wearing nice sweater. Most religions highlight right to beg and obligation to respond.

• Worc Chamber of Commerce. Don’t push panhandlers nearer to businesses and homes. Wants no-begging zones larger/numerous.

• Living Earth: Keep these people out of our lot/building. (Shopped hnds times, nvr seen this!)

• Konnie: Does calling the cops solve this problem? Living Earth: yes.

• Nicole Apostola: City’s #s say many panhandlers have mental illness/addiction. Will a couple new regs deter them?

• Nicole: City has all sorts of stuff in its anti-homelessness plan. Want to implement some of that finally?

• Deb Ekstrom/CHL: I am a humanist, agree with Jewish Coyne/Xian Benedetti that compassion key.

• Joe Geneva: Recently was at risk of homelessness for 1st time. Options lmt/confusing.

• Konnie: Are you OK? Joe: I’m good.

• Ronnie: I saw a guy busking. This must stop. I’ve been homeless 11 yrs, HOAP never helped me.

• Konnie chairing. Public comment done. Can city’s lawyer address civil liberties angle?

• Bill Eddy: I want to interrupt you for no reason.

• Nicole Apostola ‏@niccommawoo: What I’m hearing is that we need an aggressive jaywalking ordinance.

• City Solicitor Moore: We can regulate solicitation vs communication.

• Moore: since traffic ordinances require police for intervention, lot of flexibility in enforcement there

• Moore: All solicitors are equal here.

• Deputy City Manager: our social worker program was successful. Let’s continue that model. These ordinances are part of larger picture.

• Nb. The collection of ordinances at hand are a real dog’s breakfast. Amazed they are considered part of any “picture.”

• Economou: why do we still have panhandlers? DCM: I dunno. Addiction.

• Germain: Restates above questions/answers.

• Germain: everyone thinks we’re banning panhandling. This won’t make it disappear.

• Moore: “it doesn’t hurt” if you have redundant laws.

• Eddy: People have a right to panhandle. People have responsibility to poor. This stuff here is public safety.

• Eddy: maybe Little Leaguers need to beg on store property.

• Rivera: I’m not pro/anti panhandling, I’m frustrated we’re hopping between issues

• No Councilor has explained how these ordinances would solve problem of aggressive panhandling

• No Councilor has claimed any of this will reduce visibility of panhandling.

• No councilors have addressed the parts that ban place of begging rather than behavior

• Rivera: what we are doing makes as much sense as me thinking my pen is a car.

• Konnie downplays impact of these ordinances.

• Nicole Apostola ‏@niccommawoo: Lukes also says that there are larger issues “beyond the scope of this conversation” but doesn’t feel like addressing the real issues.

• Konnie joins those councilors asking audience to show them understanding/compassion.

• Konnie: let’s ask the Council to pass this.

• Joint Committee votes for City Council to consider ords, only Rivera dissenting. Not this week tho.

• Just asked a Councilor, “what about the part that establishes 100s of no-panhandling zones you didn’t discuss?” “The what? Oh.”

• SEKUL (ə, BIZARRO) ‏@BIZARROLUKES: THERE AM LARGER ISSUES BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS CONVERSATION ABOUT PANHANDLING. BUT @BIZARROLUKES AM ONLY PAWN… IN GAME OF LIFE.

• Nicole Apostola ‏@niccommawoo: #WORCPOLIPROBLEMS Deciding which earth-shattering problem you’ll solve this year: livery, panhandling, or food trucks.

• Mike Murray ‏@michaelbrazell: Solution to Worcester’s panhandling problem is to give every panhandler a hotdog steamer. They’ll be evicted in no time #WORCPOLIPROBLEMS

Here is an unrelated and awesome video.

You will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
–John 16:20

Today, as usual for the fourth Sunday of Advent, Worcester Catholic Workers and friends gathered to Christmas carol. We numbered a mighty 21 this year, and visited a nursing home and people around the neighborhood.

It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word,
and that war and destruction rule forever—
This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
his name shall be called wonderful councilor, mighty God,
the Everlasting, the Prince of peace.
–Daniel Berrigan

Items

From now until Epiphany, if you download a Christmas album from Michael Iafrate, he’ll donate all the money to the Catholic Peace Fellowship.

Dorothy Day is on the road to official sainthood–the Catholic News Service has a series of videos about her. “Anarchist. Protester. Advocate for the poor. A saint for our time?”

Finally, Christmas is a cozy time, and Bilbo Baggins’s house is one of the coziest places in literature, so you may enjoy: Food in The Hobbit.

I’ve been doing a lot of housecleaning this weekend, especially sorting through old boxes from previous moves that haven’t been opened in some months.

Tonight I found my old copy of Advent Meditations from the Writings of Henri Nouwen, which is terrific.

I have found it very important to let go of my wishes and instead to live in hope.

Exactly what I needed to hear my housemate read tonight.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican, Shane Capra, Bruce “Snow Ghost” Russell, Jen Burt, and Holly C.K. Jones. Not on this week’s show: the now 3 North High altercations.

Audio: Download the mp3 or see more formats.

Twitter | Facebook | Subscribe with iTunes | Contact Info

You can watch 508 Fridays at 7pm on WCCA TV13.

[0:20] 1970 Worcester power chart, revisited.

[0:30] Robert Stoddard, the Telegram & Gazette, the John Birch Society, and the Koch Brothers.

[1:47] 508 viewers put us over the top in the T&G Living section online poll.

[3:30] Asa.

[3:40] City pitbull crackdown crackup. Also: panhandling. Is there a connection between these and the much grander class of wicked problems?

[8:43] Footage from the opening of the City Hall ice rink.

[11:30] Eating ice.

[11:41] The Christmas Dimension.

[12:09] Lead. Get it out of your yard. Fight crime.

[17:10] Lynn Goldsmith’s New Kids on the Block. Mike’s book of the year.

[18:20] Is Worcester a city of 58,000? What is the difference between geography and cartography? Will we have a guest on the show who can clarify these issues? In the meantime, here’s a great 2010 census map.

Not much to report this week. Christmas preparations, both logistical and spiritual, continue.

Isaiah:

A voice proclaims:
In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!

Every valley shall be lifted up,
every mountain and hill made low;
The rugged land shall be a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.

Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

San Francisco Catholic Worker River Sims meditates on the flipside of that joyful voice, the crucifixion:

I have a wound that is hurting from being stabbed, not the first . . . following the cross puts you in the line of fire.

Teilhard de Chardin, who River quotes:

Once we have fully grasped the sense of the cross, we are no longer in danger of finding life sad and ugly. We shall simply have become more attentive to its barely comprehensible solemnity.

Just noticed that in my photo of the St. Peter’s Advent wreath, the second purple candle is directly behind the unlit pink one. We apologize for the confusion.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican, Jen Burt, Nicole Apostola, and Colin Novick.

Audio: Download the mp3 or see more formats.

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You can watch 508 Fridays at 7pm on WCCA TV13.

[1:30] City Hall ice rink opens.

[5:35] Weed at the City Council.

[9:40] School funding/auditing discussion at the City Council. Some or all of this discussion may be inaccurate.

[21:30] Kevin has some open meeting concerns.

[22:28] Stone Soup anniversary party this weekend. They are trying to raise $10,000 more to fund the addition that’s being built as part of the rebuilding.

[24:14] Who Rules Worcester?

[30:46] More school funding thoughts from Brendan.

[31:57] Nicole remembers Jeff Barnard.

[33:17] WAFT fundraiser coming up. Worcester will remember people who have died homeless on December 21 as part of the nationwide “Longest Night” memorial.

[34:33] Jen’s book pick: Paths Towards Utopia. (Mike kept hearing this as “Pass the Utopia.”)

This Advent is the first anniversary of the new translation of the Catholic mass. I was planning to write something here about how the transition has gone perfectly in the parishes I’ve attended. Then today at mass, the priest forgot a line in the Gloria. Oh well. Let’s see where we are in another year.

I enjoy experimenting with Advent prayer guides, but this year I’m keeping it simple and just following along with Give Us This Day, a daily prayer book I already use. I’ll also be listening to any Advent talks that Susan Stabile posts.

Other items:

• In re Dorothy Day: Hallelujah! The Conservative Catholic Hierarchy Taps an American Anarchist for Sainthood
• Amazing: Africa for Norway

This month in Happiness Pony we reprinted a 1970 chart called “Who Rules Worcester” that shows, in a rat’s nest of lines, who served on the board of what local institution.

(For a giant-size version of the chart, click here.)

We’d like to create a chart (with a less sinister spin) describing some of the power relationships in the Worcester of today. If you’d like to help, please suggest some connections below:

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Santa Claus preceded by two angelic heralds, one muted, the other blinded.

Getting a jump on the season in West Virginia.