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Received this last night at 1 AM...

Anyone have any input??

"You have two aircraft loaded with passengers sitting on the tarmac that can't takeoff because they need certified weather and your tower is closed. Why would I ever want to fly out of this airport or recommend it to anyone."

Asian Beetle

For all those people in harry T's neck of the woods, you should thank an Asian Beetle for having power today.   Power out everywhere.  

If you want to waste a half hour try to drive Salisbury Street between Flagg and Forest Street. 

Occupy Wall Street and the homeless

Read this  froom NY Post     here is part


The Occupy Wall Street volunteer kitchen staff launched a “counter” revolution yesterday -- because they’re angry about working 18-hour days to provide food for “professional homeless” people and ex-cons masquerading as protesters.


For three days beginning tomorrow, the cooks will serve only brown rice and other spartan grub instead of the usual menu of organic chicken and vegetables, spaghetti bolognese, and roasted beet and sheep’s-milk-cheese salad.


They will also provide directions to local soup kitchens for the vagrants, criminals and other freeloaders who have been descending on Zuccotti Park in increasing numbers every day.

Philly has done it again

Click here

Philadelphia takes steps to end business-unfriendly taxes, fees



key parts

• Kenney said his bill would eliminate the $2,000 to $5,000 in fees that businesses have to fork over to set up shop in the city.
• His bill also would exempt start-ups from paying business taxes for two years if they employ three city residents in the first year and six by the second year.
• "This is kind of a tax abatement to get you through the most difficult years . . . of any business," he said.

Direct Air news

not good
October 15, 2011
August 15, 2011
August 5, 2011

Biden interview

Direct Air

Getting more and more concerned about this airline every day.     Since Direct Air is a public charter, they need to deposit revenues from ticket sales into an esgrow account and the monies are bonded.   If you buy a ticket, your monies are safe.

On the other hand, if you buy a ticket, actually a voucher, through Family Ties since it is not a ticket the monies are not put into escrow and can be spent on daily operations.    Bottom line these monies are not secure.  Top that off with all the bad experiences I have heard about Family Ties, I stronlgly urge you to buy actual tickets from Direct Air to support ORH but not to buy tickets through Family Ties.

Now I am hearing that the international flights may be in trouble and the Sanford rumor has not gone away.  Bottom line the next few months may be very interesting with Direct Air.

Palmer

got off Palmer exit today and saw a sign for a website,  BusinessesForPalmer  .    This is a website of Palmer businesses supporting a casino.

Too bad we did not have something like this for JetBlue to come to ORH? 

Real Housewives of South Boston

Treehouse

JetBlue update

Courtesy from Dave Z from Canal meeting minutes




Logan Airport dominant JetBlue Airways Corp. is seeking to expand it's regional flights from 100 to 150 fights per day . Jet Blue CEO Dave Barger said that Massachusetts Port Authority, overseer of Worcester' Airport ,approached him on the idea of providing service from Worcester. After visiting Providence's TF Green (Warwick, RI) JetBlue decided the RI airport's infrastructure was better prepared with it's highway access and updated navigational aids. New MA Secretary of Transportation Richard Davies stated that the Worcester Regional Airport would not be able to handle JetBlue flights for some time. Davey points out "... given the constraints on access, that the market isn't attractive to JetBlue." JetBlue employs about 2,000 at Logan.

Family Ties

My mom's bday today and one of my aunts stopped by.   She started talking about the airport and how her and two of her girlfriends bought Direct Air Famiy Tie vouchers last year and we never able to co-ordinate anything with the availble flights and the tickets have expired. 

Very limited sample, I know, but my next door neighbor and my aunt--coincidence? 

Middle Class Flight

Let me see if I get this right.  In 2003 or thereabouts, RKG did a housing study and recommended we stop building low-mod income housing since we already exceeded the amount required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.   Instead we should focus on market rate housing.

Did we listen??   No!!  INstead we literally invested hundreds of millions of dollars throught the CDC's to make Worcester the low-no income leader in Massachusetts.    Does today's headline really shock anyone??    Guess what???  We will keep spening more money on about ten more project the CDC's and the South Worcester Neighborhood Center and each one will have a ribbon cutting cderemony.

Ed Warneck answer to question below

THANKS ED!!!


With Sanford being in close proximity to Orlando and also Lakeland ,our newest destination situated within same distance on the opposite side of Orlando, I can see someone jumping to a conclusion and starting a rumor like this. However, I can assure you, at this time there are no plans to discontinue our service between Sanford and Worcester. Will that always be the case? Who can say... many moving parts (sales, cost factors, service, etc)


I appreciate your interest to get the facts ... please feel free to call or email me with any comments or questions regarding our service. Regards,


Ed Warneck

Harrisburg, PA files bankruptcy

Click here


Seeking to stave off a state takeover of its beleaguered budget, the city of Harrisburg, Pa., authorized filing for a rare municipal bankruptcy late Tuesday.


Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania capital that previously defaulted on its debt, cited a “continued erosion of its finances,” in the resolution approving the filing.
According to Bloomberg News, Pennsylvania lawyer Mark Schwartz filed Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection documents by fax late Tuesday in federal bankruptcy court. Schwartz didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. An official at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said the court had not yet received a physical copy of the filing, which is required

Direct Air pulling out of Sanford?

I have heard now from three different people that Direct Air is pulling out of the Orlando (Sanford) marketplace.    Yesterday I sent an e-mail to Ed Warnick at Direct Air asking him if this is true.  Stay tuned.

Herman Cain Face the Nation

Philly Plan

Whether you like it or not, you need to agree that any substantial private development in the City of Worcester involves a TIF already so why not make a formal process. Target certain areas or certain parcels and lay out what you get if you develope the property and keep it on the commercial tax roles:

• lock in assessed values for a certain period of time
• waive all permitting and water/sewer connection fees

This would make it much easier to market these parcels with pre-approved TIF (Philly Plan), for current owners to proceed knowing these perks are in place without have to try and negotiate them on their own and take the politics (union labor) out of the equation.

ESPN Classic

Catching Hell

Boys of Summer

Two must sees...

Philly Plan

The only substantial developments we have had downtown have included a TIF.  After  reading the newspaper today, I believe more then ever we need to establish a formal Philly Plan in the City of Worcester versus having to each one as a new negotiation.

If we had a formal Philly Plan in place:

1. streamline the process
2. take the politics out of the process (union versus non-union)

Occupy Wall Street website

Click here

from the site

"Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants."

Rockford

Have not checked on them in some time, click here.   They still have free parking and four airlines.

Direct Air Sanford

I have heard now from two different sources that Direct Air is pulling out of Sanford?   Anyone else out there hear this?

Hell yeah I like beer

If you can’t stand the song, fast forward to find…

•Jon Lester (1:42)
•Josh Beckett and John Lackey (2:06), (2:32), (2:40)
•Tim Wakefield (2:09)
•Clay Buchholz (2:23)

Herman Cain on Wall Street protesters

JetBlue

We had a mention a couple weeks back from Boston that JetBlue may be looking at ORH.  Don't know about the rest of you but kind of disappointed about the response from the leadership and marketing agencies that represent Worcester.   Time is now for us to show how badly we want JetBlue and that we would support them.

The ideal situation would be shuttles to LaGuardia where you could then catch planes direct to anywhere, but that may be long term.  How about some leaisure direct flights to Florida??   If the rumors I am hearing that Direct Air is leaving Sanford is true then that leaves Orlando wide open.  

Boomerang

Highly recommend great book

Central Falls RI bankruptcy

Jahn you got to read this

Click here

Cain & Clinton

Herman Cain 999

Plan

College Square Howard Johnson

Remember that?   Great location for parents visting their kids at Holy Cross and right by the highway. If around today, it would be paying say conservatively $60,000 per year.  

Imagine if we had targeted this property with a "Philly Plan" maybe we could have kept it on the tax rolls, instead, it was bought by Holy Cross, torn down and pays nothing. 

Philly Plan

Whatever happened to this proposal?

The more I follow this real estate tax rate arguement, I really don't think a vote against the lowest residential rate with a slightly reduction in the commercial base has minimal impact to solidifying our commercial tax base or attracting new commercial business.  

Jahn, I don't care what you say the Philly Plan is the thing we need to concentrate on.  Target and publicly identify 50 under-valued under-utlized properties for commercial development:

• lock in assessed value for ten years
• waive all permitting fees
• waive all water/sewer connection fees

If we were to do that, this will actually increase the tax base and decrease the spread in the rates organically and provide relief to current tax-payers (both commercial and residential) over the long haul.