WORCESTER, MA—In today’s daily 5 Things You Need to Know feature, ThisWeekinWorcester.com explores five important items and stories that Worcester and Central Massachusetts residents should keep a close eye on.
These five things can cover a whole range of subjects and issues that we feel are pertinent to understanding what’s going on in the city and the cities and towns surrounding Worcester.
In today’s edition — Wednesday, Oct. 16 — The school system got a good chunk of change to install locks and security cameras in the classrooms, the Bravehearts bagged a home run of an award; there’s a debate for school committee candidates coming up, this state has been deemed very energy-efficient and you’re all invited to Census Kickoff at Worcester State.
Worcester Schools Get Part of $7.2 Million in Grants for Security Improvements
Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito hosted At a recent roundtable discussion on school safety at Walsh Middle School in Framingham, Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announced $7.2 million in grants awarded to more than 140 school districts across the Commonwealth to upgrade school security equipment and technology to bolster public safety resources for students and staff.
Worcester Public Schools got $80,000 to install locks and cameras for classrooms. For the full list of grants, go here.
The grant funds will enable schools to upgrade and install crucial security infrastructure, including exterior door locks, surveillance video cameras, school site alarms, interoperable communications systems and active shooter detection systems.
“These investments will provide much needed safety resources to our students and teachers in schools across the Commonwealth,” said Baker. “We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with school officials to understand how we can better protect our schools, and we are pleased to have worked with the Legislature to award this round of grants. We are hopeful that we can continue this discussion as we consider this year’s budget to build on these efforts in more communities.”
FCBL Picks the Bravehearts/GM Dave Peterson for Annual Awards
Commissioner Joe Paolucci just announced that the Worcester Bravehearts were chosen as the Futures Collegiate Baseball League’s Organization of the Year. The Bravehearts earned the league’s top honor for the fourth time in their six seasons (2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019) as they continue to help raise the bar for summer collegiate baseball in the New England region and nationwide both on and off the field.
In addition to the team’s honor, Bravehearts General Manager Dave Peterson was named the Futures League’s William J. Terlecky Executive of the Year. The award was recently named in honor of baseball lifer Bill Terlecky who completed eight seasons as the general manager of the North Shore Navigators before losing his battle with cancer earlier this month.
School Committee Candidates Debate
The Worcester NAACP is hosting this latest candidates debate, this time featuring the candidates for School Committee, on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at the Worcester Youth Center, 326 Chandler St.
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Research Bureau, in partnership with Mechanics Hall, are hosting a series of municipal debates to hear from the candidates seeking public office in Worcester. The debates are all free and open to the public. And you should go.
Massachusetts Is Pretty Darned Good at Being Energy Efficient
It’s National Energy Awareness Month, and Massachusetts is the 4th most energy-efficient state, overall, coming in behind New York, Rhode Island and Utah, in that order. That’s according to a recent survey conducted by the personal-finance website WalletHub.
According to WalletHub, to gauge the financial impact of doing more with less energy — the average American household spends at least $2,000 per year on utilities and another $2,109 on motor fuel and oil — the site compared the auto- and home-energy efficiency in 48 U.S. states. Due to data limitations, Alaska and Hawaii were excluded from its analysis.
Energy Efficiency in Massachusetts (1=Most Energy-Efficient; 24=Avg.)
- 8th – Home Energy Efficiency
- 6th – Vehicle-Fuel Efficiency
- 7th – Transportation Efficiency
Worcester State Hosting Census 2020 Kickoff
Worcester State University will be hosting a Census 2020 Kickoff to raise awareness for the U.S. Census Outreach efforts taking place in Worcester.
The Kickoff will take place on Monday, Oct. 21 from 4 PM to 5 PM.
Representative John J. Mahoney [D-Worcester], Representative Paul W. Mark [D-Peru], Mayor Joseph Petty, City Manager Edward Augustus, members of the Worcester City Council, the Worcester Complete Count Committee, Worcester Interfaith Association, and representatives of the U.S. Census Bureau will be present.
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