508: A Show About Worcester

508: A Show About Worcester

By 508NewsNews Commentary
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508: A Show About Worcester episodes

  • Even More Advice (508 #330)

    508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we talk about Mike True, Paul Ropp, Konnie Lukes, who’s pulled nomination papers, HOLDEN MAN, housing, apps, transit, housing, church, weed, surveillance, and the tenth annual New England VegFest.

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    Michael True, 1933-2019, RIP

    After 30 years on City Council, Konnie Lukes opts not to seek re-election in Worcester

    Worcester City Election 2019: Who’s on the ballot?

    HOLDEN MAN gets probation for running illegal gambling operation

    Baker-Polito Administration Highlights Housing Choice Bill in Easthampton

    New app provides info on recovery, mental health resources in Worcester

    Boston Surface Railroad Company

    Worcester Planning Board OKs two more recreational pot shops

    How to hide from the AI surveillance state with a color printout

    53 min
  • Worcester School Committee 2019 Election Issues (508 #329 w/Tracy Novick)

    508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we ask, “What do you want Worcester School Committee candidates to be discussing as they compete for votes?” Our guest is Tracy Novick, legendary former School Committee member and 2019 candidate.

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    We’re formulating the questions we’ll ask School Committee candidates this year. The first draft is below. These questions aren’t finalized; your suggestions are welcome.

    1. Why are you running, and how have you been active in public life in Worcester up till now?
    2. Worcester is owed in excess of $100,000,000 due to the state underfunding our school system previously. What do these candidates propose in order to retrieve the monies rightfully owed our city and how long before Worcester is repaid in full?
    3. What’s important for people to know about the academic outcomes of our schools? What’s important for people to know about discipline in our schools?
    4. What do you think about sex education?
    5. What’s your experience with education policy? What in your life has helped you understand how your decisions would affect our 25,000 students?
    6. Who’s your favorite character on The Wire?
      7. 45 min
    7. Freak the Man Freely (508 #328)

      508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we talk about the late Bishop Rueger, transit plans, more Worcester apartments, Airbnb economics, volunteer opportunities, plastic bag bans, hard drugs, and the Didache.

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      Bishop George E. Rueger dies at 89

      WRTA administrator Dennis Lipka has a laundry list of goals to improve city’s transit system

      Vacant building on Worcester’s Chandler Street is sold for apartments

      Evidence that home-sharing doesn’t raise rents

      Piedmont Neighborhood Cleanup

      Are Plastic Bag Bans Garbage?

      Investing Time and Resources in Happiness

      The Didache

      35 min
    8. Earth Day (508 #327 w/Grace Sliwoski)

      508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we talk with Grace Sliwoski of the REC about Earth Day cleanups, the Midtown Mall, extremely-low-income renter households, rat park, and the holy mountain.

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      50 min
    9. 508 #326 (w/#325)

      508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we talk about the Worcester School Committee, the Midtown Mall, transit, infrastructure, and the Four Unrelated People. The audio version includes episode #325, recorded March 8, 2019.

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      Agenda #5 School Committee March 21, 2019

      Feature: It takes a village: Tenants see opportunity in Midtown Mall

      Misgivings aired on redevelopment plan for Midtown Mall in Worcester

      Bus fare will not increase, says Worcester Regional Transit Authority

      National Grid faulted for Worcester development delays

      Zoning law on apartment occupancy faces challenge

      Ed Augustus on track to become Worcester’s 2nd longest-serving manager

      Worcester settles suit with ex-employee Brittany Legasey after judge finds politics played role in firing

      Dennis Lipka takes the reins at WRTA

      Courthouse project boss praises Worcester for putting ‘arms around us’

      Nonstop bus service launched between Worcester and New York City

      Is This the End of Recycling?

      Overdoses in Worcester continue to rise, but opiod deaths decline

      Williamstown, Worcester nursing homes on federal list of worst facilities in the country

      High, low points in report on Worcester lakes, ponds

      1 hr 14 min
    10. Affordable Housing in Worcester (508 #324 w/Eleanor Gilmore)

      508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we talk with Worcester urbanist Eleanor Gilmore about problems and solutions around affordable housing and gentrification in Worcester.

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      Show notes:

      Measuring Housing Affordability: Assessing the 30 Percent of Income Standard

      Worcester gets ‘aggressive’ on affordable housing

      Does Upzoning Boost the Housing Supply and Lower Prices? Maybe Not.

      Boston has always been no fun. So a crackdown on beer gardens isn’t a surprise

      A Plan to Solve the Housing Crisis Through Social Housing

      Why America’s New Apartment Buildings All Look the Same

      Yuppie Fishtanks: YIMBYism explained without “supply and demand”

      Producing Affordable Housing in Rising Markets: What Works?

      Can Gentrification Be Inclusive?

      50 min
    11. Amanda Kidd Schall (508 #322)

      508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we interview Amanda Kidd Schall of the Worcester Arts Council, master picture framer at Framed in Tatnuck, sometime Clark University art professor, visual artist, and long-time Worcesterite. Topics include the Worcester arts scene, local funding, great art in Worcester, recent news from the Catholic clergy abuse crisis, money laundering in contemporary art, John Wick, and Hamlet.

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      • (0:00-6:00) Worcester and its arts scene.
      • (1:53) “Everyone is very supportive of each other, it’s more of a ‘build each other up’ community than a competitive, fighting-over-resources kind of community. And I think that’s what makes it really special compared to other cities and other places.”
      • (6:00-21:00) Local arts funding.
      • (10:33) “We’re going to take art and put it in a public place? People are going to light it on fire and throw it in the street.”
      • (21:00-26:00) Great art in Worcester: Monet’s Waterloo Bridge, the floor mosaic, and Toby Sisson at the Art Museum; the Worcester County Light Opera Company.
      • (26:00-35:00) This week’s news from the Catholic clergy abuse crisis.
      • (35:00-40:00) Money laundering in contemporary art.
      • (40:00-48:00) Great art in Worcester, part 2: Hamlet at Clark University.
      • (44:30) “Now Amanda’s going to talk about the time she was tricked into watching Green Room.”

        • 49 min
      • Unwooable (508 #321 b/w #320)

        508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we talk about Conan O’Brien, policy choices in a post-woo society, and clear-bag recycling. The audio version of the show also includes a previously-unreleased radio episode from late 2018 on municipal finances.

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        0 min
      • Megan Myers of the Worcester Blades (508 #319)

        508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we talk with Megan Myers, professional hockey player, captain of the Worcester Blades, and assistant coach of the Becker College women’s hockey team, about hockey, the Worcester Ice Center, newly-opened weed stores, Doctor Who, Marvel + Netflix shows, and Liam Neeson.

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        40 min
      • Unlimited Weed Licenses (508 #318)

        508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we navigate technical difficulties and talk about snow removal, how Worcester can best regulate marijuana, weed as a 2019 campaign issue, Smokey and the Bandit , Taken vs. The Grey, Massachusetts tourism, regulating Christmas tree sales, and the local response to the Catholic clergy abuse scandal.

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        43 min

      About 508: A Show About Worcester

      From the publisher's feed

      A show about Worcester, Massachusetts.