Happy Anniversary

I took over this blog one year ago today. I thought maybe we should mark the occasion by going out someplace nice, but I have to work late tonight.

So, you'll have to make do with a story, likely to be in tomorrow's Rutland Herald, on the Community and Econimic Development Committee discussing the mayor's parking plan. They might also get to Ed Larson's proposals, though Ed told me earlier this week he'd be happy to see those put off to a future meeting to avoid a marathon session tonight.

I'll also be going to the ribbon-cutting today at Forest Park Hickory Apartments.

I love the Rutland Free Library's Twitter feed

Journalists largely use Twitter in the hope of catching politicians saying something stupid, and I haven't had much luck on that front. I do get the odd story idea, though, and the library has started posting links to a lot of neat little literary tidbits.

I love a good flow chart, so I was very happy when they directed me to this npr flow chart on how to pick a sci-fi or fantasy novel.

Of course, no list of genre book recommendations is complete without being nitpicked by some idiot with a blog, so, here it goes:

An alternate-history section that doesn't mention "The Man in the High Castle"? That ain't right. "Chuckle between explosions" is not exactly how I'd characterize Iain M. Banks' "Culture" novels, either, but at least they made the list.

While I have trouble understanding how they could leave H.P. Lovecraft out of the horror section, I can live with it because, as influential as his ideas were, Lovecraft's writing wasn't very good.

(That's right, Lovecraft fans, I said it. Don't give me that "standards of his time" nonsense, either. That time overlapped with Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, the entire Algonquin Round Table and Robert E. Howard. All of them managed to write clean prose that didn't require you to keep the OED close by.)

On the other hand, I couldn't believe I didn't see a single Tim Powers novel in the fantasy section.

A great flow chart overall, though, and it's good to see Neil Gaiman get so much love.

DRP has the Moving Blues

Several days after moving into its new office next to the Chamber, the Downtown Rutland Partnership still doesn't have a landline.

"I can't even believe it," executive director Michael Coppinger said by cell phone.

Coppinger said he had been told the phone lines would be in by Nov. 1.

Meanwhile, Coppinger said the DRP was settling in, adding some color to the walls and expecting signs for the front to arrive later this week.

Late post due to an acute case of the Mondays

I heard back from the union this afternoon, so an account of the South Main Street pipe dispute will appear in, where else, tomorrow's Herald. We're also looking at a late-breaking story on a federal case involving a certain former local doctor.

 

...and if any of the people who read this understand soccer and want to know my thoughts on the big game over the weekend, it's this:

United started the season on fire, then hit a slump and have now choked so massively that I'm still having trouble believing what I saw. Is this what it's like to be a Red Sox fan?

Dear unionized city employees...

I don't know if any of you read this blog. Maybe somebody you know reads this blog and will tell you about this post.

I've been trying to reach your leadership for a story on the dispute over the Main Street pipe replacement. I would much prefer hearing the union's side of it to just publishing the city's, which is why the story hasn't appeared in the paper yet.

Perhaps my messages haven't been getting through. Perhaps I was given the wrong names of people to call. Maybe everyone I've called this week has been on vacation. Each of those sorts of things have happened before. I also know everybody in DPW has been really busy lately and, hey, kudos once again on all the good work.

If one of you reads this and cares how this dispute is portrayed in the paper, give whoever you think should speak with me a little nudge.

Just don't call this weekend. I'll be out of the office, chasing my daughter around and watching the Manchester Derby. I'll be back Monday and would love to hear from someone empowered to speak to the press on behalf of the union.

Have a good weekend, folks...

Parking talk

Today I'm taking a closer look at Alderman Ed Larson's parking proposal -- I expect it will be in tomorrow's paper, but the people who make those decisions haven't made them yet today.

Meanwhile, I came across this column by Matt Yglesias in which he argues against municipally owned parking garages:

Garage-building as a spark for downtown revitalization was a mistake in the first place, and continuing to hang on to these eyesores only holds back places like Baltimore, where the city center is on the rebound.

The piece is focused on cities much larger than Rutland, so I don't know how well his arguments would apply here, but I offer it up as more food for thought.

A view from outside

If there were really people offended by the Governor's "RutVegas" reference when he introduced Bill Cosby, I sure hope they weren't at the Lewis Black show last night.

Opening act John Bowman took talking trash about Rutland to a whole new level. We've been called a "squat, unlovely city" and "the only ugly town in Vermont," but this was the first time I've heard anyone describe Center Street as "like something from a scene in Deadwood."

One zinger that particularly hit home was when he noted the number of people limping around town and asked if something bad happened.

RutVegas

Today's editorial suggests that some people were offended by the Governor referring to us as "RutVegas."

Really? I mean, really?

The column attempts a history of the term. I certainly don't remember it being used in the '80s or early '90s. I was missing for the mid-90s, but didn't really start hearing it until around 1998-99.

As for why -- young people in a lot of smaller cities ironically attach "vegas" to the end of their town's name. It's like referring to your beat-up Plymouth Reliant as "The Davemobile" -- it's like the Batmobile, only it belongs to you (assuming you're Dave) not Batman, and isn't really anything like the Batmobile other than that it's a car.

Since it's a term that young people came up with to show how above-it-all they are, the Governor using it while introducing Bill Cosby shows that it has pretty much jumped the shark.

(Do I have to explain what that means?)

Let's get some more blood out of this town

The big news today, full coverage of which will be in tomorrow's Rutland Herald, is the formal announcement that the Gift of Life Marathon will go for a national blood drive record this year.

The drive gets a lot of attention, but hospitals need blood all year, so it's worth mentioning that the Red Cross is holding a blood drive today, from noon to 6 p.m., at Grace Congregational Church. If you give today, you should be able to give again on the big day.

Keeping busy

That was one of the more packed meetings I've seen in a while. Off the top of my head, in no particular order:

• The various unions want two representatives on the pension board.
• The DPW union does not want the South Main Street water line replacement done by an outside contractor.
• Robert Schlachter remains the city's chief engineer/emergency management person.
• The city police are selling some old communications gear.
• Alderman Larson has a plan to offer free parking in the deck.

I'll be expanding on these and more, here and in print, over the next few days. See you then.