Posts Tagged ‘fitchburg’

How big is this story?

Posted: December 22, 2009 by datechguy in local stuff, opinion/news
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I don’t know but I have a sneaking suspicion that what is not said in this story is even more significant than what is:

Mayor Lisa Wong directed the city solicitor to hire a consultant to investigate a wide-ranging array of issues inside the police department, according to a letter dated Sept. 14, 2009.

what kind of issues?

Included in the list is “the use or misuse of internal disciplinary personnel files,” as well as the “thoroughness and effectiveness of, internal affairs investigations of the conduct of police officers.”

She also said the investigation should focus on “to what extent officers, especially higher ranking officers, have by action or inaction interfered with or otherwise impeded the effective management and administration of the department by the Chief of Police,” and “whether the conduct of any officer violated the Police Department Rules and Regulations, the Police Manual, and/or the General Orders of Policies and Procedures of the Fitchburg Police Department.”

I’ve talked about the problems our city has with gangs and drugs. Is there more than meets the eye? We will find out.

I don’t mean to gloat but…

Posted: December 21, 2009 by datechguy in personal
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…how light were our snow amounts? My oldest did the front walk and sidewalk using a broom because there wasn’t enough for a shovel.

Ok Maybe it’s gloating a little but after last year we had that coming.

Bah Humbug! No Christmas Lights for Fitchburg

Posted: December 11, 2009 by datechguy in elections, local stuff
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The mayoral election is over and Mayor Wong won by 30+ points, that is a mandate and a half. Her first decision since the election. No Christmas decorations for Fitchburg! Even the Sentinel & Enterprise is not on board with this one:

Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong — who earlier this year decided to save money by turning off more than 60 percent of the city’s streetlights — announced last week that the city would not put up Christmas lights or other holiday decorations, and instead encouraged residents to donate money to the Fitchburg Senior Center.

“We’re going to focus more on getting people out to the downtown, and getting people to donate, and less on the holiday display,” said Wong, following a Wednesday press conference.

Her announcement likely stunned and angered many residents and business owners, as it did us, even as it comes in the wake of many puzzling decisions made by the mayor during her first term.

Even worse our hated rival next door Leominister is doing even better.

The timing of the announcement must have been particularly infuriating for Fitchburg residents because it came at the same time Leominster officials announced they were spending $20,439 to install their Christmas decorations, including new energy-efficient LED light strands.

That’s gotta leave a mark! The comments have been, shall we say, lively?

My take, if the city has decorations in storage that are not lights there are no reason why they can’t at least go on the common, but I can see see her point, if we can’t afford street lights which are a matter of safety, I really couldn’t justify the Christmas lights which is a matter or morale. (and mayor they are Christmas lights, not holiday lights.)

Two really sad things about this. If we didn’t have to have the city counsel primary to get one guy eliminated that would have saved more than enough to put up the lights and have cash left over.

In addition thanks to Ted Kennedy refusal to resign and a State Legislature desperate to give Harry Reid one more vote for obamacare we are paying for two extra elections, this weeks primary (can someone explain to me why that couldn’t have taken place in November on election day?)and Next months election to replace him. The cost of either one would have paid for the Christmas lights.

Ironic, The Champion of the little guy Ted Kennedy’s final legacy for those little guys who voted for him year after year is to help keep Christmas dark. Fitting isn’t it?

Trisonic Universal Adapter: Amazon Review

Posted: November 26, 2009 by datechguy in amazon reviews, local stuff, oddities
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My review of the Trisonic Universal Adapter for use with well just about anything electric is available at Amazon.com here.

The way I ended up with it was slightly amusing. Because my son’s car was going in the shop again (I hate power windows) I had picked him and Amanda at College (not a girlfriend just a best friend which is a shame because I think she would be PERFECT for him.) and the thought hit me that I needed a power supply for the Ipod speaker that he had picked me up when he got his job. They were very nice at the Shack but when I got home I found that she had given me the wrong device (not really her fault the package was mislabeled).

I decided to exchange it at once and on the way had a sudden urge to check out a store called NY BLING BLING. It is an interesting little place run by two fellows who seem to be of mixed Spanish and Indian origin. It has almost everything from earmuffs, to cell phones to a lot of jeans and of course bling. It caters primarily to the large Central/South American population in town, how large a Uruguayan Consulate just opened in town that makes two consulates (Finnish and Uruguayan) in a city of 35,000.

I have found over the years that it tends to have basic things I can’t find elsewhere, plus I’m partial to any secular business that sell framed pictures of the Madonna and Child, Our Lady of Guadalupe and other pictures that would have matched the religious portraits on my grandmother’s bedroom wall. Sure enough they had this device that exactly met my needs for a 1/3 of the price.

It’s bulky but right now cheap is a big selling point.

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