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Friday, March 4, 2005
Is CVS A Bad Neighbor?
A citizen has been complaining to this CVS in Medford Square because they refuse to shovel or treat the sidewalk in front
of their parking lot. (There are two CVS stores in Medford Square - this is the one on High Street across from the Armory).
This same individual became involved in an accident around the corner on Governor's Avenue when a woman slipped on the ice
near the new construction and hurt herself badly enough that he had to call 911. CVS told him that the sidewalk in front of
their lot was the responsibility of the MBTA. So I went out today and took a look.
Actually I took a little more than a look, because my car overheated and I was forced to wait an hour or so
for it to cool down so I could drive it home. In that time, I walked the entire square. I can tell you that this is the only
major stretch of un-shoveled sidewalk. There are a few bits that could be cleared better, like the area in front of Papa Gino's
and the Chinese stores across from the cemetary, but none of the size of this stretch. In fact, while I walking back to my
car, I saw a woman with two kids in a wagon walking in the street along this stretch, but I wasn't able to get a photo.
So I went and talked to the assistant manager of CVS. As soon as I mentioned the walkway, she got defensive
and abrupt. She said that it was not their responsibility and that the city is supposed to plow it and that I'd have
to call them. She also said I could call the MBTA and they'll come out and clear it.
So I said, "Maybe as a good gesture as part of the community, you could go out and salt it - it runs all along
your property."
She refused. She told me that it wasn't her responsibility, she didn't have enough people on to spare someone
salting the sidewalk (which would take all of 15 minutes), and that it wasn't her problem.
So I looked at her and said, "so that's it then, you won't do anything about it?" And she wouldn't.
So I left thinking, "I gotta blog this."
There are some good folks trying to track down who really is responsible. I have a feeling it's a legal issue.
If CVS clears the snow, they fear they will become liable for any accident that might happen. But I still think they should
do it.
11:46 am est
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Why I Love The Mystic Lakes
Moving Rock
Technical Data: Canon EOS 10D, ƒ8, 1/320 second
Canon 24-70mm ƒ2.8L @ 34mm (54mm effective)
White balance: auto; RAW, ISO 100
10:01 pm est
Fulco Blasts City Council over WWII Memorial
John C. Fulco takes on the issue of the WWII memorial in a more direct way in a letter to the editor in this weeks Medford Transcript. My recent blog was about how ridiculous council president Robert Penta's position was, as written in the Transcript.
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
DCR Plowing Update
 I got another one of those brief breaks from the kids when I could go out and take a look around, and what do
you know, I ran into the Bombardier again. This time, I was able to follow it from the river back through Winchester, and
confirm something I had been worried about. The plow makes two passes, not one. When he's done with his run, he backtracks
over some (not all) of the same areas he's plowed before. Here he is coming out of a nice little grove of trees right near
the Medford/Winchester line. And that's not all. It turns out the Bombardier cannot clear all the trees along the path. As
you can see in the photo below from the fog of snow and the leaves flying around, he whacked this branch pretty
good. Of course, I don't have it in for the plow driver - he's just doing his job, and I respect him for that. But it's clearly
time for me to call the DCR again.
Now, on to the issue of plowing efficiency. School is in session today in Medford, and I think
this proves that the DCR cannot plow all of their territory with the resources they have prior to school openings. But that
should not be the goal. The goal should be for them to plow the important streets within 24 hours of the end of major snowfall,
or something like that. If this stretch of the lakes isn't plowed before the start of school, why plow it at all?
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Katherine's First Joke (With Apologies to the Wiggles)
Stop at the lights
Look both ways
Look both ways again
Wait for the traffic to come to a halt
Then cross the road with a butt
It's just a butt joke, daddy.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Jingle Bells Record Is Official
Medford shatters the previous record for largest continuous Christmas caroling group. (Thanks for RM on Yahoo!Groups:MedfordMass for the catch).
Winthrop Street: Gateway To Winchester
Winthrop Street, Medford, MA (Almost Winchester, though)
Now I've really had enough of Robert Penta. I gave him credit recently for standing up for the tatoo parlour that wanted to open in Medford Square. But the truth is, most of the time
I just can't take him seriously. I think it's time for a change.
The latest "Pentism" involved the story of how Medford is trying to build a new World War II memorial. On the front page, Penta tells Jessie Kawa of the Medford Transcript that he "resents the fact they're [the Medford City Council] weren't" involved in the planning of the memorial (grammatical
errors are Jesse's). He is quoted as saying, "I think the council should have been involved. I think the council should absolutely
apprised. This is too big an issue." (again, grammer not mine.)
But he's not done yet. According to the Transcript he, "doesn't agree with the memorial being on Winthrop Street.
He said the memorial should be somewhere it can be seen and enjoyed by the community not on a roadway that leads out of the
city."
Just so you know, Winthrop Street is a two-way street. I live in West Medford, so most of the time, when I drive
down Winthrop Street, I'm heading into Medford Square. He lives on Summit Road (which is up behind the square off Governor's
Avenue). Probably most of the time he drives it, he's going to Winchester.
And it just goes on and on. "Penta said the city needs to look at other locations before construction on the
memorial begins." Too bad they already cut the trees down at the current selected site, which is shown here below. That's
Medford High School behind the trees, and the Temple Shalom is out of the shot just to the right of the brick and stone wall. Yeah, nobody will
see it there.
Location of the new World War II Memorial and Honor Roll, Winthrop Street
So then Penta is quoted as saying, "If you're going to build something, put it where the people can
see it on a daily basis ... It does not have once ounce or thread to the history of Medford."
Not content to leave well enough alone, he goes on to suggest Royall Park, City Hall, the Medford
Public Library, and the entrace to Oak Grove Cemetary. Oh boy. Where to begin.
Let's start with Royall Park.
Royall Park (Royall House in the background)
Looks pretty appealing, eh? OK, it's fenced off. Completely. Has been as long as I've been around.
And there's no parking nearby. And although the site is steeped in the glorious history of the Royall House, it's a history of the American revolution and slavery. But more importantly, no one ever goes in there.
I mean, seriously, have you ever seen anyone in Royall Park? The Main Street gates are locked for crying out loud. I grew
up in South Medford, and I could count on one hand the number of times I've been in Royall Park.
No one goes to city hall either, unless they have a reason to, which is pretty rare.
The Oak Grove cemetary is a terrible idea. Put a WWII memorial in front of a cemetary and the association
is with death - nice. Also, I should point out that the main entrance to Oak Grove is actually closer to Winchester than the
current location for the memorial, but I guess when Robert Penta drives down Playstead Road, he's not traveling towards Winchester.
The library is actually not a bad idea. There are other memorials there, but it has parking and foot
traffic and all the right elements. The problem is, they've already decided upon the location and cut down a stand of trees
on Winthrop Street. So it should stay there, and Mayor McGlynn is not going to move it. (A side note, the Transcript
is not helping by printing a callout box on the home page entitled, "where should it go," and asking people to send in suggestions
for where and why. What's the point when McGlynn's not going to move it?)
Then Penta comes out and says that he doesn't think we should build it at all. "The city
cannot afford $500,000 right now. We're bleeding from the seams. What's the rush? We've waited this long."
So he resents not being involved, wants to dictate where it will go, and doesn't want
to do it all in the same article.
But the most ridiculous part is the very last paragraph.
Penta said he has dealt with a number of issues throughout his involvement in city government, but
that this memorial has generated the second most phone calls he has ever received. He said there are several people in the
community who don't agree with this project and urges them to speak out.
So that's like five phone calls?
11:02 pm est
More Plowing
You can just skip this post if the thought of me talking about DCR plows bores you to tears. Anyway, an astute reader
pointed out that a plow had gone through the bank of the Mystic on Route 16 between Auburn Street and Winthrop Street (that's
the area that starts at Wild Oats/UHaul and proceeds towards Medford Square). I would have been content just to blog that
and go on with my life, but I had a moment to swing by this afternoon and this is what I saw. Apparently the DCR is now plowing
the fields so the geese can go to flight school or something.
And I found myself parking the car, getting out, and taking pictures, because there were a number of things about this
scenario that are different than the Mystic Lakes.
- There isn't even a trail here. This is an open field.
- The plow (I'm almost certain it was the DCR Bombardier - it leaves telltale tracks) wandered across the field in search
of a path. The path is not close to the street, but it veers around a bit on account of the trees.
- It's common to see Canadian geese in this area, but they are clearly attracted to the plowed area.
- For most of this run, there is a sidewalk on the other side of the street
Like the Lakes, I contend that this is not a student pedestrian path to anywhere. It's not like West Roxbury, with busses
dropping students off close to school and they have to walk this path the final few blocks. And while the environmental impact
of the plowing is far less here than the lakes because there is only grass underneath, I wonder what the impact of attracting
all the geese to open grass is? I know the geese are generally considered a pest (and responsible for water quality problems
as well).
Do you see any people here? Have you ever seen any groups of people walking along this stretch trying to get somewhere?
Did they do it for the geese? Am I underestimating the DCR?
But the funniest thing to me is the sight of the geese all lined up in the wonderfully cleared grass. At least
someone is benefiting from all this plowing. It's a good thing they can't vote.
Winchester, Massachusetts: A Paragon of Diversity
So the whole family trucked off to visit a school for Katherine this morning. Because of the story I'm about to tell,
I won't name the school. But we had the usual tour - we sat in on toddler and pre-K classes, and had a lot of face time with
the executive director.
At the end of the tour, she asks if we have any questions. I said, "you know, this is a very white school. Can you tell
me about your philosophy around diversity?" She then points out that 10 or 15% of the students are asian, which I had noticed
and appreciated. Kara thinks it's because of foreign adoption - that Winchester parents are seeking asian adoptees because
of cultural characteristics they desire (intelligence, responsibility, ethics, etc.). I suppose that's racist as well, but
on we go with the story.
So then she says, you know, we mostly get Winchester families in here, and to be honest, there aren't a lot of minority
students in Winchester. We encourage exposure to diversity by having parents talk about their experiences, usually after having
taken their kid on a trip (to China, for example, which seems to happen often). But frankly we don't have any established
program, and the families really aren't asking for it. She pointed out that they do have a diverse teaching staff.
Then she went on to say that Katherine would really get experience with different races and cultures in Medford when she enters
the public school system.
Now, this is in no way a condemnation of the school - we're going to send Katherine there anyway, with some reservations.
But we can provide better exposure to diversity than the school can, which was not our first choice. What I find interesting
about it is how pathetic it is that two towns right next to each other can differ so drastically. Winchester is (generally
speaking) rich and white, and Medford is working class to middle class and diverse. If Katherine was going to the Winchester
public schools, she probably wouldn't get a much better exposure to diversity than at the pre-school. But in Medford, as the
director subtlely pointed out, she's going to see much more.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Brief Update to Plowing/Abbott Story
A couple of random notes.
I mistakenly wrote that a snow plow had hit the four students in West Roxbury. It was not a plow, it was a pickup truck.
I've changed all the blog entries to reflect that.
Also I should point out that I contacted the Friends of the Fells because I was looking for permission to reproduce a letter they've sent out in protest over Kathy Abbott's resignation as
well as Mitt Romney's policies towards the park system, but my email has not been returned.
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