Author: Mike

South Bend Catholic Worker DOESN’T lose zoning vote

Update: The South Bend Catholic Worker has a good chance of winning its zoning battle. The article cited below says that they “lost” yesterday’s zoning vote because it was a tie vote. But all this really means is that it will go to another vote at the next Common Council meeting, when the missing councilor will be there and break the tie.

When I was in SB a couple weeks ago, the feeling was that few people in power were willing to support the CW. So this tie vote represents powerful momentum. One hopes that they can work something out with those neighbors who oppose the zoning change, and get a 9-0 council vote on the compromise solution.

Here’s the story, via WNDU-TV:

A public hearing was held on whether to re-zone a Catholic group home and took nearly four hours Monday night. Ultimately, it was defeated due to a tie vote.

A tie vote is much better than people were expecting.
Continue reading “South Bend Catholic Worker DOESN’T lose zoning vote”

Task force recs “would violate federal law”

Headline in today’s Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Social service plans decried: Worcester taken to task.

WORCESTER— A Washington, D.C., mental health legal advocacy group says the recommendations of the Mayor’s Social Service Task Force would violate federal law if they were adopted.

The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, since 1972 a national legal advocate for people with mental disabilities, produced a legal analysis that said the recommendations, released Oct. 10 by the 14-member task force appointed by Mayor Timothy P. Murray, would violate the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 if adopted as city zoning or funding policy. People with disabilities and social service agencies would then have standing to sue in federal court under the Fair Housing Act, according to the group, formerly known as the Mental Health Law Project.

The text of a memo from Bazelon with their legal analysis follows.
Continue reading “Task force recs “would violate federal law””

An Interview with Zack Berger

A few years ago, Zack Berger and Celeste Sollod self-published Zack’s Yiddish translation of “The Cat in the Hat,” Di Kats der Piyatz. Following the success of that book, they’ve come out with Zack’s Yiddish version of “Curious George,” George der Naygeriker. We caught up with Zack via e-mail.
Continue reading “An Interview with Zack Berger”

How to make 2,000 crosses

2000 crosses on Worcester CommonTo mark the deaths of 2,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, 2,000 white crosses were made and installed on Worcester Common. Here’s what we learned about making crosses.

Step 1: Materials

Ideally you’d find some scrap latticework, or some white, waxed corrugated cardboard. If a cemetary-supply company sells crosses cheap in bulk, that would be even better.

I was stuck using wood.

I used “pine strapping,” boards 1″x3″x8′. I could haul 50 boards in my minivan at a time.

I cut the boards in half widthwise, then into 1-foot sections, then cut these in thirds by thickness. I used a table saw. Some of the cuts were tricky.

Mike Leslie: You’re cutting the house in thirds?

Mike Benedetti: I’m cutting the halves in thirds.

The pieces are thus about a foot long, 1.5 inches wide, and 1/3 inch thick. (Actually, they’re a little smaller, because as you know a 1×3 board is not 1-inch by 3-inches. You knew that, right?)

One person with one saw can cut enough wood for 2,000 crosses in three solid work days.

Continue reading “How to make 2,000 crosses”

Items

Today: Homeless camp, South Bend CW zoning update, Pit Stop Ploughshares, Dwight Smith talks, Massachusetts parish comes out against Iraq war, Darfur, artists abroad.

Stopping plastic shopping bags

James and Abby Hannaford-RicardiThe Saints Francis & Therese Catholic Worker community here in Worcester worries about plastic shopping bags. They fill up landfills, clog storm drains, and litter the city.

The worst part is, nobody even needs them.

A few sturdy cloth bags can do the job as well as plastic (or paper) bags, and can be used over and over for years.

Making the transition requires two steps:

Step 1: Get the cloth bags. The Catholic Worker is making this step easy for dozens of Worcester shoppers. We’ll be giving out homemade canvas bags Nov. 9 to shoppers at the Big Y supermarket on Mayfield Street. These were made possible by generous donations and lots of sewing work.

(See also our instructions on sewing canvas shopping bags.)

Step 2: Change your shopping habits. This one isn’t too hard, either.

My parents live in a 2-story house, with the kitchen upstairs. My father made the transition from plastic bags by either using a couple of cloth bags for small shopping trips, or by putting groceries straight from his shopping cart into his car. He’s set up a sort of pantry downstairs by the garage, so he can move the groceries from the car to the pantry easily. He moves the groceries upstairs as needed.

At my own house, we always used some cloth bags, but always used plastic bags, too. Then we made a chart listing how many plastic bags we were using, how many paper bags, and how many times we used cloth bags.

Using plastic bags became a cause for shame. If you used a plastic bag, someone would look at the chart and say, “Hey, who used a plastic bag today?” It became competitive, and our plastic bag use quickly dropped to zero.

Here’s an article previewing the project in the Catholic Free Press: Canvas shopping bags to replace plastic.

Update: See our articles on making your own shopping bag out of canvas or old plastic bags.

Pictured: James Hannaford-Ricardi outside Big Y, rejoicing at his new canvas bag while his mother, Abby, looks on.

Remembering 2,000 US dead in Iraq

Two thousand U.S. troops have died in Iraq. In Indiana, where I am travelling, there are some statewide rallies planned for the weekend to use the 2,000 number to call for an end to the war/occupation. I think it is important to remember our fallen troops locally as well.

A memorial was held today at Worcester Common with 2,000 white crosses. Many photos at Indymedia.

The photo below is from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette of yesterday’s Lincoln Square peace vigil, held weekly since 9-11-01.
Lincoln Square, Worcester
Continue reading “Remembering 2,000 US dead in Iraq”