3 candidates

I can't take credit for this but thought it was good enough to be blogworthy ;)

Berlin St again

Berlin got paved for the first time in a long time (20 years?) last year, coincident with Dave D's company doing some work for him at his development on Wallace. So Lynch did a nice job (I might add) on Wallace and Berlin last year while they were working on his place. Finally my cars shocks might have a chance to last more than a year or two ;).

Well it turns out our HWY department "forgot" to curb this road in the area of Dark Brook, which you figure, happens from time to time.

Only issue is, THIS road has terrible drainage (actually no storm drains or sewer, with a lot of sand etc running right into Dark Brook) which leads to and is already leading to undermining of the newly paved surface. If you're not familiar with it, "Berlin hill" is a pretty hefty grade and there is a small stream at the bottom of essentially a natural gully.

Our TA was down there the other day it turns out, which is nice. Maybe something will get done about addressing it. Otherwise, all that money the town just spent (with some overruns) will be for a crumbling road.

The core issue is it would have been nice to do storm drains on this road to address some of this. Maybe once the storm water plan comes out we can get some commitment from the town on this because otherwise everything deteriorates rather rapidly. But at least they should address the need at hand or we'll have a bad situation in another year or two.

No charter change for TM

I for one as a TMM am disappointed the charter change isn't on the warrant.

Its been a year, but it looks like it could be ANOTHER year before we vote on this. Another year of business as usual and stonewalling?! Yarg ... the wheels of gubmit don't move very quickly do they? Maybe they'll propose a special town meeting for this and get things moving but don't hold your breath - could be next May before anything happens.

Sorry folks it's Monday ....

Central Mass day at Fenway

Here's a link to register for Central Mass day at Fenway, May 18. Drawing is held next week and is limited to people in our geographic area.

Sox tickets are so hard to come by these days so if you're a fan like me you're always looking for a chance for tickets. Here's your chance to cheer on the champs!

Dump your clear plastic baby bottles

Apparently all the major retailers are for fear of toxins leeching into junior's drink. Time to recycle em I guess ....

Short note of congratulations to Mario Fraioli

Auburn man finishes 51st in yesterday's 112th Boston Marathon!! That's world class!!

Fraioli finishes in 2:30:24
Mario Fraioli of Auburn led the Sunday Telegram’s five “Faces in the Crowd” across the finish line yesterday.

Fraioli, the former Auburn High standout and Stonehill College All-American, ran a 2:30:24, good for 51st overall and 29th amongst American men.

Earth day

This day for what used to be called ecology has actually had quite an effect since it started in 1970. Before the first Earth Day there was no EPA, no Clean Air act, and little focus on protection of drinking water. In the US this really put us ahead of places like Europe which for the longest time had no equivalent of the EPA for environmental considerations like we did in the 1970s. They did eventually when the German Green Party(and later around the world) the brought issues of nuclear proliferation and pollution as well as social injustice to the forefront in the 1980s.

Consider the world before and after in a few examples - with the advent of ban on lead paint and gasoline and car catylyzers (all of which were fought tooth and nail by the big 3 auto makers) our air quality and lead levels (measured in children's blood and environment) were much worse than today. Our cars are more efficient and safer also now.

Bald eagles were near extinction thanks to DDT, and wolves and other species were also endangered. Both of those are now off or soon to be removed from the endangered species list.

With the focus now on global warming thanks to Al Gore's 20 something years of advocacy and Nobel prize we stand at the dawn of a new era in global cooperation, both out of necessity and when you read the data determined self-interest.

What it comes down to according to clever folks like Amory Lovins from Rocky Mountain Institute is that unclean practices usually indicate waste, and an opportunity for saving resources (including money). I think if we're wise we'll get out in front on global warming, energy conservation and cleanup issues locally and as a nation. We can't afford to pollute, squander and waste like in years past.

I'm encouraged by even local candidates who seem to get it on these topics, and when I speak with community activists like Bob Platukis (you need to be online Bob in this day and age!), who has been investigating wind energy for the town. Change does start small, but the effects scale and can make a global difference.

There's still work to do also on the health front - the rise in asthma may be linked to increased ozone levels due to air pollution. There's evidence an increase of smog leads to premature death according to recent information. Being at the crossroad of so many highways we should take note of this.

On a town level, don't forget btw to bring your mercury to the BOH (daily) and other household hazardous materials on Saturday May 3.

Here's a couple more links:

The Freecycle network is a networking site for promoting reuse.
Find recycling centers near you with this link.