Mars Rover Hits Middle Age

Memory lapse & misdirection.

That got their attention.

The Amherst Bulletin reports on a Larry Shaffer sound check – to test his microphone he announced that the town's bought another golf course. That brought speculation that it was The Ledges in South Hadley. South Hadley currently has Barry Del Castilo as town manager, Gus Sayer as school superintendent so why not continue the trend?

I'm sure Larry's announcement had a similar impact as Regan's “we've begun bombing the Soviet Union” sound check did. No apologies were issued by the Selectboard, though.

Bailouts

The London Banker offers something to ponder, particularly in light of the recent protests from the White House on executive compensation.

You are there.

Here an amazing image of the Inauguration – 1,474 megapixels worth – using a Canon G10, a robotic camera mount and stitching software. If you were at the event, you might find yourself in the crowd. Be sure to check out Uncle Dick in his farewell appearance.

h/t to Mudflats.

Kulik steps up.

Steve Kulik puts the MMA's reform bill in play. It looks like the charter school provision will definitely bring some opposition from the administration, given what the Globe is reporting.

Budget Blues, part one

I was at the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) annual meeting last weekend and got hear the Governor first hand explain his intended reduction of local aid, which left a lot of us puzzled. The Gov will reduce lottery aid and additional assistance by 9.74% and “hold harmless” Chapter 70 (aid to education funds) since education was a priority. In most communities, school budgets make up well over 50% of expenditures and use far more funds than Ch. 70 allocates, so the Gov's sympathies notwithstanding, schools should expect a reduction in spending this year and next.

The Gov's proposals were greeted with grim faces and some testiness and in a couple of cases he responded in kind. The reality is the proposed FY '09 cut is less than anticipated – we were looking at 10% of all “cherry sheet” aid, not simply a reduction in two categories. (Folks who want to learn more about state aid and cherry sheets should check the Department of Revenue website.) The state also provides a variety of local aid that doesn't show on the cherry sheet: community policing, formula grants to councils on aging, Chapter 90 (the so-called “gas tax” money for roads) and a variety of technical assistance grants, any and all of which we can expect to be reduced with todays scheduled announcement.

He also laid out some proposals that will be helpful: taxing telco properties; a one cent increase in meals/lodging tax that will be distributed statewide through the lottery formula; moving eligible retirees onto Medicaid; reducing the require union vote on switching insurance; changing the funding schedule for pensions. The local option of adding one or two cents to meals and lodging taxes is out there. Missing was any mention of giving municipalities the same level of control over health plan design that the state enjoys or a change in motor vehicle excise amortization.

Sometime this afternoon, DOR is going to post local aid numbers for this and next year. We'll also be scouring their site for data on the telco tax and potential meals/lodging revenues.

The MMA meeting was a bit lackluster this year --the seminar offerings weren't that attractive (at least to me) and attendance appeared to be down. I did run into two members of the Amherst Selectboard (one of who I almost didn't recognize without her laptop). I noted that the water temperature in the Hynes restrooms appeared to be below 120 degrees. Something to look into.

Roberts fumbles the oath.

Chief Justice Roberts remains true to form for a Bush appointee. Heckava job.

No book deal, either.

Ripped off from Pab Sungenis (another St. Bonaventure grad.)

Thanks, George.

Edward Luce in the FT surveys the Bush years and concludes:

On Tuesday Mr Bush will hand over to a man who won a thumping victory by rekindling a dormant American enthusiasm for public service. Mr Obama could not have done it without Mr Bush. Among the epitaphs available, Prof Lindsay’s from his home state of Texas might prove the most enduring. “I can summarise Bush’s legacy in two words,” he says. “Barack Obama.”

Land, lots of land

John Olver, a genuine outdoors guy, has reason to celebrate with the advance of a major public lands bill with a procedural vote in the Senate that sets the bill up for an affirmative vote that lands it on President Obama's desk. The bill will create the New England National Scenic Trail including the Monadnock, Metacomet and Mattabessett trails. The legislation is national in scope and over in Alaska they do get to build a road, if not a bridge, but the state is swapping land with the Feds as part of the deal.

Its sort of standard to remark about Olver's professorial manner but he grew up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania and really does love the outdoors.

Sic Transit Gloria PolitickerMA

Blue Mass Group and Politico both report the demise of PolitickerMA.com. Apparently the whole project has gone under with the exception of the New Jersey and New York sites. The site was doing some original reporting in addition to aggregating the news from other sources. It's unfortunate. OneMassachusetts makes a good effort at collecting news relating to finances, human services and education from Worcester east but we're missing a site with a statewide orientation.

Buffalo Wings

The Globe has a “ Take 10” piece on the best buffalo wings in New England and sadly omits two of the best wing shops around – that being Quickies in Chicopee and Amherst's own Wings Over (Hangar). Being a wings aficionado and having lived in Western New York makes me think this is a topic not left to amateurs at the Globe. Us WNY ex-pats take our food traditions seriously.

The whole concept of buffalo wings has undergone a veritable Darwinian evolution but traces its DNA back to the Anchor Bar, still holding forth, in Buffalo, where tradition holds that one of the owners (Theresa) improvised a snack for her son and his friends one dark and stormy night back in 1964. From those modest beginnings a trend was born. Bar food plays a major role in American culinary history and I think Jane and Michael Stern have done the best job of cataloging and celebrating it along with other local food traditions (aka “vernacular cuisine”).

I've never owned a deep fryer, so making authentic buf wings requires compromise. Sadly, the Frank & Theresa Anchor Bar sauce sold at the Stop & Shop doesn't seem to translate well either, so here's my version of wings:

24+ wings, cut at the joint. Thinner wings actually work better – avoid the oversized Purdue jobs

Frank's Hot Sauce (preferred) or Trappey's Red Devil

Stick of butter (salted)

Allspice (ground)

Dust the wings lightly with the allspice

Bake the wings, preferably in a convection oven, at 375 – 400 until they are browned.

Melt the butter and stir in ¼ (mild) to ½ (hot) cup of hot sauce. Use a pot that has a good, tight fitting cover.

Toss the wings, in small batches, in the butter and sauce. Best accomplished by holding the cover on the pot and shaking it.

Serve with bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks. Maybe some warm German potato salad on the side.

Serves two to three native New Englanders or one Western New Yorker.

Sunday Morning Reading

Clive James “ A Prediction That's a Safe Bet” from the Beeb.

Jame Saft “ We are all Madoff Investors” from Reuters.

Michael Lewis and David Einhorn “End of the Financial World as We Know It” in the NYT.

Frank Rich “ A President Forgotten But Not Gone” also in the NYT.

Toyota

Green Daily reports that Toyota is working on a solar Prius but CNET suggests this might just be some fakery. And in what might be another blow to the Big Three, the first Western Mass baby born in 2009 will apparently have the same name as a Toyota product.

The Muddies

One may wish to wander over to Mudflats, review that was the year that was in the last frontier's politics and then pick your favorites to win the annual Muddie.