Posts Tagged ‘local media’

Snow decided to visit Fitchburg…

Posted: February 24, 2010 by datechguy in local stuff, oddities
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And we got hit with a fair amount of it this morning. Really wet heavy stuff.

I had a little digging this morning but a whole lot less than I should have since my neighbor across the street decided to snowblow the heavy wet stuff out for me. This person doesn’t just have the milk of human kindness, he has it homogenized and pasteurized.

Can you believe he did all that work for me?

I was actually in a hurry to get to Romano’s since he had agreed to let me film him actually making sausage, however because it was so slow by the time I got there he had already made it.

The freshest sausage you can get.

Next week I’ll be sure to get there at 9 a.m. I’ll also see if I can catch him making the corned beef for St. Patrick’s day. He has hundreds of pounds of it already on order from customers.

When I got outside I was surprised to see a cameraman filming across the street from the place.

Live from the Romano's parking lot!

So knowing me what do you think came next, you guessed it…

What I think is even more interesting than that 120-1 ratio between film shot and film left on the cutting room floor would be the editing process. How does one decide which 60 seconds are the best 60 seconds for a broadcast?

The Sentinel & Entrprise Chooses sides

Posted: February 7, 2010 by datechguy in local stuff, opinion/news
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And they choose the right side in the Planned Parenthood Fight:

It may be difficult, despite the sustained and growing public outcry, to prevent the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts from opening a branch on Main Street in Fitchburg, or somewhere else in the city.

But that should not prevent city officials from trying, particularly if the non-profit organization sticks with its plan to open on Main Street, something we have said is a terrible idea for a city trying to lure more upscale businesses and Fitchburg State College students to the downtown.

They apparently share the same opinion of the city solicitor that I have:

We find Ciota’s suggestion that city officials could open themselves up to a lawsuit if the City Council passed this resolution laughable at best.

To suggest that Planned Parenthood could successfully sue city officials because the City Council passed what is essentially a non-binding resolution that carries no legal weight — if that’s what Ciota is suggesting — is absurd.

This is America, and if the City Council wants to pass a resolution saying its doesn’t want Planned Parenthood opening up in its city, more power to it.

and they let the mayor have it:

And we were also surprised that Mayor Lisa Wong did not attend the portion of the City Council meeting dealing with Planned Parenthood, and believe that she had a responsibility to tell residents how she felt about the issue. She later told us she’d rather see the agency locate somewhere else in the city.

The paper knows that this fight isn’t over. The people need to know that too.

The “two” local papers cover the city counsel meeting…

Posted: February 3, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, opinion/news
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I put the “two” in quotes because the Telegram is out of Worcester. From their story:

Dianne Luby, executive director of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the grant her agency has received will allow it to “be part of the public health solution.” Though the teen birth rate in Fitchburg is 17 per 1,000 — lower than the state average of 49 per 1,000, she said — the city’s demographics make it ripe for a family planning program. The grant wouldn’t allow for abortions and the office wouldn’t have surgical equipment, she emphasized.

One thing that I found frustrating at the meeting is nobody on the counsel asked “what demographics”? What makes Fitchburg ripe for their services when the rate is way below the state avg and has been dropping?

The Sentinel’s coverage noted something else interesting:

Those who had originally wanted to draft a resolution against Planned Parenthood two weeks ago, but ultimately voted to take no action, cited legal advice by City Solicitor Michael Ciota, who said a resolution may be unconstitutional and could make the city vulnerable to legal recourse.

Ciota said the City Council must protect the constitution of the United States, which gives women the right to have an abortion.

“I am concerned finally that even if (a resolution) were not to open the door to liability in any immediate sense, the expressions of the individuals in this chamber which form the government of this city can,” Ciota said.

The counselors reaction to Mr. Ciota’s representations were the real story of the night and I’ll be discussing that in later posts on the subject.

Although it is not yet up FATV routinely puts up the city counsel meetings online. They will be broadcasting and re-broadcasting it on local TV as well.

How good was the reporting? There is a lot that was left out that I believe was significant but these were not meant to be essays, fact that the meetings ran so late might have been an issue since both papers run in the morning and deadlines looming.

As I continue to post on this I hope to add some insight that time and space might not have permitted for them.

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