We catch up on various pre-election tomfooleries and talk about likely outcomes next Tuesday. We psycho-analyze the cranks. Then we talk about how the Worcester Common is littered with human remains. Hundreds of skeletons just under the surface. Talk about spooky-wooky.

Anyway… Please vote!! Our election guide went up last night. It starts with the very basics and walks you through it. You don’t need to know anything at all about city hall to follow the guide. It takes five minutes to vote. Low turnout in municipal elections is what keeps us… like this. As the federal government falls apart the city government desperately needs to get its act together. We are all we have, after all. And right now it’s just not good enough. Early voting today, tomorrow and Friday at the library if you can’t make it to the polls Tuesday. Anyway, some links from the episode...

That Joy Williams piece in Harpers on Gene Hackman

Petty’s interview with Manny Jae

Tim Murray resigns from WRRB

“Throughout my time in public-facing roles, the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, under the leadership of Roberta Schaefer, Tim McGourthy, and Paul Matthews, has produced high-quality research and reports that have benefited both the public and policymakers when deliberating important issues. The request by City Manager Batista and the City Council for a report on police oversight protocols, including civilian review boards, is an important public policy matter that merits thoughtful deliberation and debate. To issue a report and recommendation three weeks before a competitive municipal election was, in my judgment, a mistake that does a disservice to the important discussion and debate this issue warrants.

Additionally, the Board of Directors of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau does not receive notice about when reports are being issued, nor are we solicited for input on potential research topics. Accordingly, I have suggested to Worcester Regional Research Bureau Executive Board members, both prior to and after my resignation, that a better description for the Worcester Regional Research Bureau Board of Directors in its current form would be ‘corporators’ or ‘supporters’ of the Research Bureau, as the Executive Board and officers are the primary decision-makers on Research Bureau policy and personnel matters”

The Common is still very much a graveyard

“At one time more than 400 people were buried there prior to 1824. Nearly three decades later, Worcester made the decision to lay the gravestones flat, bury the cemetery in several feet of dirt and ultimately built the ever-expanding railroad over the landIt wasn’t until the 1960s that the old gravestones were rediscovered, when the city attempted to build a reflecting pool. More than 100 graves were revealed and reburied at Hope Cemetery. It is believed another 300 remain untouched, undisturbed and unidentified”

WPL’s Library of ThingsEpitaphs from Worcester Common’s Cemetery

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∿Intro music: original composition “????” by Bill Shaner 10.29.25

∿Outro music: “Great Worcester Song Ever” by Guy by The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities & Towns

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