WGBH Radio; The Callie Crossley Show

I'm Cally Crossley This is the Cali Crossley Show. Today we're hitting the rewind button on this week's news from the great lady's front pages to the stories on the small screen and the reporting that went under the radar. It's a hyper local look at the news that was and wasn't. We'll be dropping in on online communities and alternative presses. For a look at the big stories from the small papers where today's neighborhood news becomes tomorrow's mainstream headlines. Well top of the hour venturing from the serious to the sublimely ridiculous with Greg time on tour of the tabloids and a round up of this week's pop culture. Up next on the callee Crossley Show from gumshoe reporting to gossip rags. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi Singh. Still no

change in the 8.3 percent unemployment rate in part because a higher number of Americans looking for work again are being counted in the latest jobless tally. But U.S. employers added two hundred twenty seven thousand jobs last month. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Obama administration sees the job gains as another sign of a healing economy. The U.S. economy has added more than 200000 jobs in each of the last three months. Jobs were added in a broad swath of industries White House economic adviser Alan Krueger notes the unemployment rate held steady in February even as the labor force grew by nearly half a million people. Today's report combined with the past six months report show an economy on the mend. We are digging our way out of the deep hole. The president inherited when he took office employment gains for December and January were also revised upwards by a total of sixty one thousand jobs. Scott Horsley NPR News the White House.

U.S. exports to Europe are taking a hit having fallen seven and a half percent in January. The Commerce Department reports that as imports rose faster than exports the trade gap in January widened to fifty two point six billion dollars. That's the widest imbalance in more than three years. The White House is hosting a conference today on the tens of thousands of lesbian gay bisexual and transgender youths living on the streets across the U.S.. Karl Sicilian who runs a center for LGBT youth in New York where he describes how homeless youth can remain trapped in a vicious cycle very often they're not ready to go out and get jobs. They were thrown out of their homes before they've completed their schools and there's no way to survive outside of prostitution so it's really common for them to sort of forced into that situation. Also today the secretary for housing and urban development announced a new rule that bars anyone operating HUD housing from asking about an applicant's sexual orientation or gender identity. The conference is being held at Wayne State University in

Detroit. The U.S. is pledging to hand over control of its main detention facility in Afghanistan to the government within six months. Under the pact signed today the U.S. will still have access to prisoners at the Parwan site and will be able to stop certain detainees from being released if they're still deemed a threat. Tensions between the nation's recently escalated when copies of the Qur'an Islam's holy book were burned at Bagram Air Base. The U.S. maintains the burnings were an intentional at last check on Wall Street Dow Jones industrial average up 43 points to twelve thousand nine hundred fifty one Nasdaq gaining 23 now up more than half a percent. Two thousand nine hundred ninety three and the S&P 500 up 8 at thirteen seventy four. This is NPR News. Good afternoon from the WGBH radio newsroom in Boston I'm Judy you will with the local stories we're following. City officials in Marlboro say the discount retailer TJX could bring hundreds of jobs to that city when it purchases two

office buildings from Fidelity Investments. Mayor Arthur vigin said the city agreed in principle to a property tax break for t g X. The mayor said the deal could create 6500 new jobs. The Framingham based TJX plans on housing certain Home Office operations at the site. A company spokesman said the properties won't open in till the summer of 2013 at the earliest. A review by the Boston Herald found that state workers have caused more than 2 million dollars in damage to state owned vehicles involved in accidents over the past three years. And according to the Herald at least eight hundred and ten thousand dollars in damages caused by those accidents was billed to taxpayers. Governor Patrick's administration has called for a new policy to hold state workers accountable if they are at fault for accidents in state owned vehicles. The former treasurer of a Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Lynn has been indicted on charges that he stole more than $300000 from the group. Attorney General Martha Coakley office says 65 year old George Robertson of Len allegedly

deposited checks from the VFW into his own account. In sports the Celtics beat the Portland Trail Blazers at home tonight. The Bruins are hoping to skate to a winning streak against the Capitals tomorrow. The Sox take on the pirates in Fort Myers this evening. Well have partly cloudy skies this afternoon highs in the 40s rain and snow tonight turning to all snow after midnight. There could be an inch of accumulation in some locations overnight lows in the 20s. Snow showers to start the day Saturday then clouds and sun with highs in the 30s right now it's 44 in Boston. Support for NPR comes from America's Natural Gas Alliance supplying domestic energy while working to protect the environment. Learn more at a n g a dot us. This is Boston Public Radio. Good afternoon I'm Cally Crossley today we're going over the week's local news with Bill foray managing editor of the Dorchester Reporter Peter Katz is executive editor of The Boston Phoenix. And Seth Daniel senior reporter of the independent news group which

includes the revered Journal. Welcome back everyone. Thank you. Great he see you. We have seen you know while Ceci Let's start with you because you have a particular story that's particularly scary for those of us who work here at WGBH ethanol trains. Yes tell us about it. Oh it's very complex issue it's been going on a long time probably about a year in Revere but it hasn't really made its way out of there even though the proposal says that they're going to take these trains with about 1.8 million gallons of ethanol twice a week down the commuter rail line. And this is an oil company Global oil company out of Riviera based in Waltham. Not a bad company really they're conscientious but this is what they want to do they want to bring in ethanol to mix with gasoline at their terminal in Revere. Like I said it affects everyone from Fort Devons air on the commuter rail line clear into revere and that includes Boston that includes right outside the studio here on the commuter rail tracks. Why don't why are people those who are concerned concerned.

Well yes so that's yeah that's a complex issue and it's a long one. But to boil it down really it's these trains ethanol is volatile. It's also hazardous material and it's been known in the Midwest if you google it you'll you'll be shocked beyond belief because there's these videos of trains just massively exploding and gigantic like a four or five bombs and a chain reaction and they typically happen in very remote areas sometimes that can happen because of a lightning strike. Driver error derailments it's corn alcohol. So it's it's very volatile and it can blow up and start bring into a residential urban neighborhood which hasn't been done in Massachusetts. You get a little worried because that kind of an explosion right next to you know thousands of people could be deadly and it has been deadly and in Illinois it's killed people there and mass evacuations of neighborhoods on derailments. It's scary and a lot of people don't know that it's coming here is there.

So for the people who have been raising concern about it is there any chance of stopping the train so to speak. Very good question. No one is really sure. If you talk to fire chiefs and the oil company and politicians they say it's a federal issue you can't do anything get used to it. Now there are people environmentalists and concerned citizens people not just environmentalists but people who are worried about public safety more so have kind of banded together and saying no we can stop it and we want to stop it. Oddly enough the only real city government to stand up has been Chelsea Chelsea has voted a resolution against that their city manager is really against it because of homeland security reasons. It also passed by the new FBI building in Chelsea that should be a concern. I would think and it comes at night and there are many at great cross and you could just walk onto all these tracks. Well yes in the neighborhood with the new casino might be cited. I mean point so you're going to you're going to

transport twice a week. Heavily it you know potentially explosive material past the casino I mean my God that would I would think you know drive insurance rates up through the roof. It's something that hasn't even been explored yet there's not a lot of discussion about this yet. It is protected by proprietary for proprietary reasons for business because it's just a proposal quote unquote right now although they say they want to do it this year. Well. Well Bill for E. Are they talking about it in Dorchester. No. This is I mean this is why this segment that you do Keli on Fridays is so so great. I mean this is how we're learning about this and we'll certainly be looking into it next. And I hope other media will as well. It's it's puzzling to me given the uproar we've had over LNG tankers entering the harbor and the very hardline that city government in Boston and elsewhere have taken against LNG tankers of although of course they still do come in.

And to have heard very little about this until Seth's reporting is startling to me I know that part of your reporting shows that for instance Congressman Markey has not really taken a strong position on the way and he's been very vocal on the issue of for instance you know nuclear plant security vulnerabilities to terrorism. So I would I would guess this story's going to going to be going to be one to watch going forward. Well let me turn to my conspiracy theorist over here Peter gets. So what's the political conspiracy going on here why these people who are normally talking are not. The conspiracy is so great and so bad and so total that I don't know I suspects that when someone maybe us checks the campaign finance records you're going to find that global oil has quite legally and quite legitimately spread a lot of money around as well I suspect.

This something insets reporting that suggest to you that Boston Harbor may become a hub of Terminus if you will for shipping. Ethan the all over season so that would have Port Authority implications would also have job into play. Also mentioned in the Abobo those places are usually fairly high tech. I'm surprised that the governor you know that the executive level. I mean. OK if this if the stuff has the comma here that has to go somewhere but I cannot think of a more congested. Yeah intentionally dangerous area. That's what's puzzling me. I mean it's going through all of these areas where there's lots of people living and working bizarre it's curious too is in reporting he mentions that revere has voted on this issue. The electorate four to one against having ethanol trains go through their community. And yet you know it doesn't that seems not to have registered.

Now moving on to a casino referendum which is evidently more important but the voters have spoken there. Well I got a feeling that this is as more people understand what this is and how close it's coming and what's going on. We're going to hear about this a little bit more about speaking of casinos. I mark for E. I'm interested in this single reward to vote. I didn't even realize that there was a chance to have it all sitting. But explain to residents. Yeah Ward vote means vs City. Well it's a little confusing because the legislature in its in its law making ways wrote into the bill that there was an option in which they could take a vote citywide in a municipality like Boston. I think that was like a community over a hundred thousand people. They intended for it to be just award only votes only East Boston in the case of Suffolk Downs would vote along with Revere on whether Suffolk Downs would be cited there. But if the mayor and the

Boston City Council agree then they could extend that vote citywide. And this was the topic of. Kind of a simmering debate over the last few months in the neighborhoods. It's certainly not at a boil yet but the St. Marks area Civic Association last week took it up as their main agenda item and said OK let's bring in some of the city councillors Let's hear from some of the state reps etc.. Tell us why should we vote in Dorchester about something that might happen in East Boston. And there was some back and forth. Some people feel I think you know reasonably that I could see you know we'll have impacts outside of Boston on the both for good and for bad. But in this instance the civic group had a nonbinding vote that said 11 of five actually we think East Boston should be the arbiters of their own immediate neighborhood and that people in Dorchester or elsewhere in the city shouldn't get a say. It's of course something that the city council will likely debate and take up. The mayor has come out very strongly and said no we're not going to do a citywide vote. He would prefer there be no vote at all actually.

Thank you. Yeah OK you know I mean problem is can you remember any of it. So you know we'll see it. Reading the tea leaves at a meeting like this. You know it's it's a little bit premature but there's certainly a buzz out there of from Casino opponents I think they would like to see a citywide vote. It gives them the leverage to push through some of their ideas about whether or not a casino comes. What sort of riders could they put on about jobs about community benefits elsewhere in the city so it's not just Boston getting all the plums out of it. I think you're going to see happening more and more at the neighborhood level. That discussion that debate where you think Peter. Well to me it's a city wide issue. I mean I understand the dynamics of it. You know it has a we have a better chance of getting the casino in Boston if the vote is very smaller if there's no vote at all. And Representative Walsh is also a labor leader from dog just and no doubt understands that and I would be shocked shocked if he didn't have something to do with at least trying to win Florence

that city that St. Mark's vote. I mean that I was there you know. That passes for Foreign Policy in a Boston there. But look at it this way you know people from West Roxbury from Roslindale of from Roxbury from Jamaica Plain from Daw just go we'll all the casino will impact assault positively perhaps in terms of property taxes. Hopefully in terms of jobs but also in terms of the social problems that often the company that. So I think a case can be made that it is a citywide issue. I wouldn't hold my breath you know arguing for that position because I think we'll have just a nice Boston vote. So why South why shouldn't the community that's likely to bear the brunt of all some of the the social issues and other concerns have the ability to get

most of the benefits then and that without the rest of the city jumping on Zach that's exactly what our in our newspaper and revere I mean they're over there applauding this they love it. I think it was reported in the Boston paper this week. From your paper they point to the airport. I say everybody use the airport. We have to bear the brunt of it. This will be the same type of thing. They think there's a lot of medication and has to be done. And obviously as Peter said if you live in Hyde Park I mean in Boston you might as well live on the other side of the world. And also a big thing they point to is the Bay the water. I mean East Boston is on the other side. They divide the schools by that that one piece of water why not the casino as well. All right. Well I want to talk to you some more about some gaming stuff happening in your community. Seth Daniel when we come back I'm Kelli Crossley we're looking at local news that went under the radar with Bill Forry of the Dorchester Reporter Peter Katz of the Boston Phoenix. And Seth

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org slash peptic. Hope you can make it. Celtic music best enjoyed with friends. Join me on Saturdays at 3 with the Celtic sojourn on the 9.7 WGBH. Welcome back to the Calla Crossley Show. If you're just tuning in we're going over the week's local news that went under the radar. Joining me to talk between the headlines are Bill Forry managing editor of the joint Dorchester Reporter Bill. Peter Katz is executive editor of The Boston Phoenix. And Seth Daniel senior reporter of the independent news group which includes the Revere Journal. So Seth we were talking about the single ward vote versus city wide vote with regard to the siting of a casino. Sure. But over in your neck of the woods in Revere they're ready to spend the money. Yeah.

They've had many many mitigation meetings with the community and community groups and local business owners. In fact they're done with those. They want the plan packages what they call a mitigation package ready and sealed and ready to be put in the mail to Suffolk Downs whenever this all comes to be. And what does that mean exactly the mitigation package say a scholarship program for kids at Revere High School. Say clean up your sidewalks outside put some plants out there. Simple things like that. Other more major things would be improvements to intersections traffic lights. There is some pie in the sky ideas as well. You know provide a appear I think was when I appear at Revere Beach as one idea. Well OK I don't know if they've got as much money as people think they do but yeah will spend it yeah. And what is their evidence in other towns and cities across the nation that when you're in the

situation where the town really is in the power position right now before the casino gets hit they get what they asked for. It's that's a that's a good question the only example they've really been going by is a track outside of Philadelphia and it's really apples to oranges because it's more rural So there's different concerns. But one thing they did ask for there was a scholarship program and of course they were glad to give that everybody loves to give money to kids want to go to college. They did get some of the things but one thing that has become evident and you know people are well has attempted to break through this but bring in an outside consulting firm to negotiate with this will be Cesar seizing power. You're right. They they know a lot more and they would probably you know they want the best deal for them. So I think the city needs to get the best deal for itself. I don't know if there's so much in the power negotiating position really. Where you think Bill. Well I think that's part of the argument around a citywide vote in Boston is that it kind of gives leverage to the negotiating team for the city.

When we sit down with Caesars and whoever else was at the table for them to say listen you've got to give us the best deal possible because then we're going to take it back to our voters. And if you're the mayor or the City Council who have said we don't want to vote citywide I think you kind of handed over a big chunk of leverage there and you kind of minimize that. It's a very localized mitigation package potentially for East Boston for jobs around there traffic impacts etc. but a related story to me we did last week about the Boston jobs policy shows that you know we crunched the numbers over the last couple years and some of them you know I don't get there yet but I just what it was. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Fenway Park where the city gave you know thinking they drove a hard bargain gave the Red Sox you know war really a lamp sweet deal to close the street and build the extra seats now. I'm not saying those were good things to do but fan

but the Red Sox organization paid only a fraction of what they should have. These guys the casinos will skin the communities alive. And you raise an excellent point about a citywide vote increases the community's leverage and we should get outside people give them a percentage of what they negotiate first where we're going to be dealing with. You know a bunch of pirates. You know they're pros and when we have a coach you can see I separate people from them for a living and they make me feel happy when I leave. All right so more more people more leverage that's the bottom line. Now to get to your point Bill that you're about to get to the bottom part of or not the bottom part but a part of Seth's story has to do with the fact that the gaming commissioners have said it will be for years until anything happens. So we're talking about all this now

but we're talking four years and a lot of people are wondering if the jobs will be too late so. And we're back now to the jobs scenario and you have a related story about the city and its job yeah. Last year the city council basically ordered the BRACA to start posting the data that comes in through the Boston jobs policy Boston resident jobs policy which goes back to the 80s has never really worked because it's a very high threshold 50 it requires construction jobs to hire at least 50 percent. Boston residents 25 percent people of color 10 percent female on job sites. By and large those numbers are are way beyond what happens right. And what we did is we looked at the last couple of years since these these this data has kind of been dumped online through the VRA and analyzed it and looked at what the stats show us and what they show us is that between 2000 and 9 in this past year there was there was a decline actually in the number of minority hires on job sites in the City by

about 10 points 10 percentage points. There was also a decline by a few percentage points. In Boston residents who were hired on job sites here in the city and this is these are projects using public funds these are not private job sites these are city and state federal dollars. So it's kind of disappointing in that regard. The story also looked at how the city's enforcement office the Boston resident jobs policy office is doing some things to try to crack down on flagrant violators of the policy violators flagrant violation and violence that they really can't go after everybody. They feel it would be untenable legally to do it. They also the city also you know I think does not want to discourage business and building but in one instance we found recently Dorchester park that's being renovated for about nine hundred thousand dollars a relatively small job. The work is stopped there and we looked into it and found out that the city actually stopped paying the contractor. New Hampshire based contractor by the way named Sunshine paving

because they didn't have any Boston residents on the job site. Everybody was coming down from New Hampshire and getting paid to work on this job. So the city called them in and said look if you don't fix this we're not going to pay you. And so they've stopped payment to the tune of about three hundred fifty thousand dollars at this point so a pretty significant message being sent by the Menino administration that if you're not going to if you're not going to even try then we're going to crack down on you. By and large. Most companies aren't meeting these thresholds and probably never will. To be honest with you but I think the point of the story was to look at is the city doing enough to crack down on the really bad apples out there. Peter I mean this is an important story any time but right now with the Ferdinand building about to that work starting there people in the community have said before one shovel was turned. They have been talking about just this. There better be some people from Boston working this site. And if not you know what's going to happen that's been the concern. So this is an important story you know it's very important.

You guys did yeoman work on this. I mean I think it's shocking. I mean they should go back in find grounds to sue the other people buy them. People who haven't met the standards bought them from doing work here. If ever there is a time to do it it's now when times are tough and we have maximum maximum leverage I can be sympathetic with the city who's balancing Well my God we've got to provide jobs over here but the people in the neighborhood want that they want now but how do you bring up the building this is a building of and that's physically important but of great symbolic value and that better be staff the right way. I mean I live about a half mile from there and I see I know plenty of men and women in my neighborhood. Who are unemployed who would love a job. And certainly be working on that. So if you want to weigh in.

Yeah well we've had some of our cities outside of Boston say revere Everett. I can think of maybe Chelsea have the same residence requirements and they're always disappointing to me I've covered them. They're usually the members on the board that enforce it are our union presidents along with politicians. They meet in these these meetings no one attends but Samy and and they're like oh well they don't have anybody from from Revere they don't have anyone from ever. Let's not be too hard on him you know and it seems like they tried and then they just shake hands and they leave and there's no fine. They haven't stopped payment is they didn't Boston it'd be nice to see. Yeah some teeth you know it's in force these like it goes back to the rule of law. And that's really what it is we're passing it. Let's do it. Can the wife of an unemployed cop endure in one of these boards that she had to look a little differently and when I read this story I think to myself there seems to be a lot more. Force behind for example the requirement that you have to if you're building housing

there has to be some part of that that's affordable units and so a lot of these big developers have come in and they've got a great plan and they say well some part of that's got to be this way you don't get to build it. And it's also it's a link to to get to accessing capital and federal grants and stuff like that you have to do those sorts of things. It would be nice to think that Boston wouldn't put out a bid without a requirement that you're going to try you're going to at least make a good faith effort to hit these marks. And they in fact do. Yeah but only some companies do it well Suffolk construction does it pretty well and they're one of the big ones they are the big one. They built the Kroc Center on Dudley Street and the Salvation Army trucks and which is the biggest community center in the region's beautiful beautiful building. They met all their marks on hiring and I think that gives hope for the Ferdinand building because again this is a high profile project that just like the crux of the city has invested its own. Capital and political capital into. I think there's going to be a high level of scrutiny on that project so.

You mean if I when I tell the IRS only a couple of weeks that well I tried to pay my taxes. I don't know why. Yeah good one Peter. You're listening to eighty nine point seven WGBH an on line at WGBH dot org I'm Kelly Crossley. We're looking at local news that went under the radar with Bill 4A of the Dorchester Reporter Peter Katz of the Boston Phoenix. And Seth Daniel of the Revere Journal. So Peter Katz is speaking of a lot of people being sort of off on their perception. You got a piece about Scott Brown in fact two of you have a priest look at Scott Brown standing. And some might be surprised to know that in the Boston Phoenix you're saying it's no accident that he's winning re election to the Senate. Talk to me about the piece Scott Brown is working his tail off and he is proving to be as he was it wasn't a fluke that he won the last election. The Brown campaign emailed this piece out 2000 some people want to have you out there editorially.

I usually am writing against Scott Brown. Yeah. David do their very good job listening. Scott Brown is Tip O'Neill style politician he pays attention to the little details. And for example he's he has filled Ted Kennedy shoes as being the go to public official for Irish people aware of visa problems saw family problems as matter of fact the woman I believe who was Ted Kennedy's immigrant specialist is still you know on Scott Brown staff. He's gone to bat for the fisherman. He's talking about post offices that are going to be closed. These are not sexy issues he's making noise at community meetings about why low cost heating oil isn't being to live it more. But then when you go macro and you take a look at how he's voted in the Senate I think this is a

bit of blue smoke and mirrors but never the White House never the last there were only you know there are only two Republicans the women from Maine who were seen as more moderate than Scott Brown this so. And let's point out that Olympia Snowe from Maine endorse Scott Brown's campaign you know simply. Yeah you know so I mean she's a very very good point. You know what she's leaving but you know I've been amazed since. I've been amazed by the number of people down here who hold her in such high regard. I mean that's my point. The fact that she's leaving makes Scott Brown more important to the region more important as it is a moderate who is independent in to hear him characterize it at least and can be a pivot player in the Senate in a way that frankly ideologues on either side can't be. In Washington though I would I would say that there are those who would not think of Scott Brown as an the Limpia Snowe kind of moderate but I'm just putting that out there that there are some that suggest that the

border line here is this is trouble for the Elizabeth Warren griping even though I know it and your piece points out something that I think a lot of people heard the poll that he was ahead of her but maybe they didn't know that four firms looked at this and came out with the same information. Now you've got a piece talking about Scott Brown's visiting Revere. Yeah. It's the same thing as as as Peter alluded to. He's he really he really resonates with people. This was at a veterans post in a very small one about you know very small veterans post and he resonated he wore his Carhart jacket when he got there. He knew important issues about revere complimented the mayor he didn't have to be cued. He didn't arrive in an SUV with tinted windows as we're used to seeing our congressmen to write in. And he was down to earth he listened to the minute. You know he let one woman who was a widow. Whose husband had died for some injury he got in the Korean War. He let her talk for like the most 15 minutes it was

therapeutic for her and he listened he did and he's good at that and that's why people when they leave his presence they say oh you know he's a senator you know. And more you know lots of people well not lots but some people listen but they don't do anything but that's enough for you Do you think that before do you think that the fact that he appears to be being as constituent friendly as all of you have suggested in these pieces makes a difference. Well I think it does make a difference I'm not sure. I'm not really sold on that. Honestly I've seen him in Dorchester once it was a very orchestrated event with a bunch of kids. It was it was very sweet and camera friendly. But it wasn't anything tough and Lizabeth Warren spent a Dorchester two or three times held forums taken tough questions. I respect out a lot more frankly. I mean he's the sitting senator he hasn't had a single town for him in that I know of in my neck of the woods. He hasn't been responsive frankly that I know of the issues going on in my neighborhood and I say that you know we had a really bad interview with him we talked to his office and we've made requests of his office and biologically and so but

it's not a personal. So you know it's I'm not I'm not I'm totally Well yeah. But having said that I'm not surprised by these poll numbers and it's because of the fantasy factor I think that people in the state have to it's first of all somebody who's only been in for two years. There's a give the guy a chance. Dynamic with that. And then there is that that almost on a stand for having a Republican somewhere in the lineup you know we had one in the governor's office for 16 years don't forget Scott Brown's pretty much the only game in town when it comes to that and he is you know he's not Olympia Snowe forgive me for having alluded to that but he's certainly moderate. And this state has an appetite for that so I do think it's an uphill climb for Warren. One thing she does have that Martha Coakley certainly didn't have. She has some excellent grassroots activist types in the field in places like Dorchester and I suspect in RIVIERE and elsewhere who you know 10 times better than what Martha Coakley fielded a couple years ago so she has a stronger base but they're also in typical Democratic and liberal fashion very

self-critical and very critical of her. And when she appears at these forums they poke holes in her. Well I think that the real the end result of that is they make her a better candidate. OK. Has Elizabeth Warren been in Revere. She's she has she's been to Chelsea a lot she's been to revere and I do have to say though she doesn't come off as well there. And I don't really know. Maybe her politics are what she stands for people like to shake her hand but then I've read it in the Dorchester Reporter and I could sense that happening in our communities as she comes across as a professor giving them a lesson. And you know what people people who are like blue collar workers they just don't want that in there really turns them off and they just you know when can we leave this place. Well boy this is going to be a race to watch I'll tell you that. Thank you all very much. We've been talking local news with Bill for a managing editor of the Dorchester Reporter Peter Katz as executive editor of The Boston Phoenix. And Seth Daniels senior reporter of the independent news group which includes the revered Journal. Thank you all for joining us today and skillfully Coming up we're

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world. Bidding closes March 24th and every bid supports the reach and resources of WGBH programs and stations sponsored by Landry in our Cari oriental rugs incorporated and circle furniture for full listings visit auction dot WGBH dot org. Great question has a great question and that's a great question. It's a great question. Rick great question and fresh air feel here unexpected questions and unexpected answers this afternoon at 9.7 WGBH. It's rag time a view of the week's pop culture happenings. It's an examination of the salacious the ridiculous and everything in between. But this being public radio we'll conduct our review with the help of some highbrow analysts. Our pointy head of pop culture Rachel Ruben and Thomas Connelly. Rachel Reuben is the chair of the department of American studies at UMass Boston and Thomas Connelly is a professor of English at Suffolk

University. Welcome back you too. Hello again. Where to begin. Let's begin somewhere fun. This week it might have passed and people didn't pay attention to it. But I think it's an important anniversary to note. Oreo cookie celebrated 100 years. This is a very important in my life and I think it was so important to Al Yankovich Weird Al as we know him that he did a tribute to the Oreo in 1990 Here it is. The first sign that you get a good. Meal that same. Lol. I love that song and I love that cookie time.

Well I like Oreos too although it's a lot of imitators now we have Newman I was when I was a boy we had something called Hydrox But you know this is 100 years ago. This is a convenience food you know prepackaged cookie which took the country by storm. There had been the famous you need a biscuit in the airtight sanitary package made the Cracker Barrel obsolete as they sing in The Music Man. But these packaged cookies were. I still with us as a demonstration of the sweets are much more than dry crackers for revolutionising to use an old fashioned term homemaking and the idea that you can take these with you and now I guess Kraft is the multinational corporation that owns Oreo. They boast that it's all over the world. Speaking just of my own experience it's not widely available in Central Europe and I'm often asked to bring them really as a present as a very very much longed for treat. So it's also I don't think it has the ick. People don't

associate it like Coca-Cola but internationally. Oreo is seen as an American treat and I'm sure they'd be very glad to hear that. But it's and you know that you know lick it or dunk it I know that although I think it's a very sick I must admit I do like to eat them sometimes I don't have big sweet tooth but these are they are good I mean especially with milk 100 years Rachel for oreo and by the way they drove Hydrox out of business you know that time remember yeah. Cookie monopoly when I was growing up in the 70s I never ate Oreos because they still have the Lard of them and we can do that but that the term Oreo was really important in my childhood and you know that is that people wanted to use it in school right as a as a derogatory term for the person who was you know black on the outside and white on the other. Person white identified it it wasn't an inversed term because you know there was this understanding that white people are you know allowed to appropriate other cultures you know. You don't need a special term for it you know it's just sort of the

default. So you know it's just another another it's like a kind of cultural influence that that the cookie has had people won't get the term unless they know what it looks like. And often you know it's still very very popular by the way and there are so many variations of it. I guess Oreo sanctions this because people use it in ice cream and cakes and everything. I may be wrong but it seems to me the Oreo Cookie Ice Cream was the beginning of the explosion of the number of flavors outside of Baskin Robbins and Howard Johnson's. Yeah I tell you it's really make a high crust out of them. Yeah it's very interesting. Well you know it's always a good time to go into outer space and no time to do that again because Star Trek is back. We talked about last episode and now they're going to make a movie out of it. Rachel Ruben tell us about it. Well this was an episode that you know was written adapted it badly and therefore shelved for forty five years. The thing that I think is particularly interesting

about the remaking it at this time is it's really being remade by a sort of fan based filmmaker collective. And on the web so that you know two things have happened this sort of there's this collaboration of producers and consumers in creating the final product here. And then there's a sort of switch in the medium of how it's going to be watched people see it online. There's a very big you know that some of these are very good actually that this this outfit has put out and sometimes members of the original Star Trek cast will have a little cameo appearance is normally playing villains which is you know kind of humorous and touching at the same time. I think it's interesting that you know the people have been writing about this say that this new New Voyages is the name of the group Star Trek New Voyages the group of the fan filmmakers are not some like in your backyard Let's roll the videotape. No no no. They're really quite sophisticated so we don't have the resources to work with. Yeah they are sophisticated. So are you excited about.

I'm very excited about this and I urge any classic Trek fan to do some research on the back story of this. I mean the way that the permutations of this script I mean the First Folio bad quarto Shakespeare has nothing on the way this script has evolved and I'm particularly interested in the fact that. You know for almost 50 years ago Milton Berle was the selected actor to play the villain and drawing on his famous you know drag routine. They planned on having one of his villainous iteration to be in drag but you know seriously you know not playing it for laughs and if you know Milton Berle's career you know that you know his first movie role always leave him laughing was a serious role he's playing a nasty really unsympathetic comic. And a brawl himself thought of himself as a very serious actor. Oh and it's clear he was disappointed that this project not the right nasty and sympathetic for you that maybe he was acting out his life. Yes that's an interesting piece of history I didn't know how well. Well I'll be looking forward to it we'll see what they can do I mean some of these franchises every iteration of them

is done well really attracts a whole new different crowd and so I'm really looking forward to it. All right Julie Taymor some may know her as the person behind. So many fabulous Broadway musicals and she was behind the musical Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark which was fraught with all kinds of controversy she is now in court answering a counter-suit just to the producers have described her as all kinds of crazy. First let's hear a signature song from Spiderman Turn Off the Dark. Thanks. Good. OK that's a bunt song. And in her filing Julie Taymor has particularly gone after bondo and edge for criticism and she says they failed to attend rehearsals. She has emails asking them to deliver improved

lyrics and music. And you know don't blame it all on her is the bottom line Rachel is what she's saying. Well I mean the one thing I have to say is it does sort of make my day for anybody to sue Bondo at any time for any reason. I find him you know spectacularly hard to take. It is kind of funny to see you know people trying to decide the blame right don't blame it all on me because this is sort of the most famous disaster of recent years on the stage. Although you know there was movement toward the end that made it look like the musical was actually going to end up being a success. And a funny actually yeah yeah I know that sold out every night yeah the fans just ignored critics right. And just when it didn't matter at all I'm particularly delighted by Julie Taymor characterization as Bono. The beer soaked bimbo be decked a deal of time showing up literally unable to look up from the table. Yes and also it really shows the current state of Broadway production where it really doesn't matter that the player musical is the ad trickle. It's got to be

a package. It's got to be a hit making machine or a ticket selling machine and you know artistic integrity has nothing to do with it. And I think Julie Taymor realized that far too late. But you know she was brought on simply for her name her brand name recognition from The Lion King. And nobody really cared. You know they figured the Spider man. We call it Spider man. The seeds of the fall and that's exactly what's happening there right. OK. Well another retro look we talked about Star Trek and the fan filmmakers. There is now a move to make a musical out of the 1978 film Animal House. In case you don't remember Animal House here's a clip. This is favorite college in 1962. You know 1962 had to be the best year of my life. I was a member of Delta town. But deltas What a great bunch of guys.

It's their time at an orgy. It's called Pop Art. OK never been a fan of this so I mean it doesn't have much meaning to me but apparently this is probably going to be one like Spiderman it's going to drum in. I wonder I wonder because I don't know if there's the broad swath through the population of entertainment seekers who like Animal House and who even right now are probably shouting toga toga toga would want to see a Broadway show also. The plot of Animal House is so episodic that kind of musical you know is going back to the one thousand twenty as I mean more power to them I mean I'm always in favor of any kind of you know live theater but I just I just don't see how this is going to work. I mean the musical interlude that comes to my mind is when John Belushi destroys the guitar of the black turtleneck clad I gave my love a cherry singing folk singer on the stairs of the frat house. I mean that to me sums up why this is not suited for the musical stage

or for show tune fans. Well you know what's interesting Rachel is that some other pieces you think I couldn't imagine being a musical like illegally blonde they turn it they add something. Right that's them you know right now yeah. Some some movies right now that are in the works as musical besides Animal House are Woody Allens Bullets Over Broadway. Back to the future. The movie Ghost and you know somewhat more perhaps more cynically Whitney Houston's body guard. So it's like the thing that's like fascinating to me is there's just switch of direction we're not going from stage to screen anymore we're going screen to stage in a very big way. And you know I I think that I don't know the sort of on appropriateness for at first glance it almost seems like part of the appeal. You know I mean there's like it's all sort of in quotation marks like it's somewhat iron ised which I guess you know it's a musical it's going to be. So I don't think it has to

necessarily seem like a good fit. I think like the goofiness is part of the deal here. Yeah I mean the Addams family was critic proof or just an argument as far as movies into musicals. This is standard operating procedure now if you if you are a. You have an idea for a musical and you go to the William Morris Agency where I see many of these big there what they said was it a movie. That's that's that's that's where it's at right now. Diner that's not what this is you have to hold the whole you answer them. Well I always think it hangs on the song so think about some good songs then. Yeah I mean you can you got to like you know an early 60s like grease figure they can cash in that will say. Speaking of retro and not in a good way I mean that house pants this is a British company that makes trousers. They decided to add a label into the pants ratio which suggests that men this is in the part where it tells you how to take care of the garment that men should just get their girlfriends or wives to take care of to wash and clean these pants when I really first of all I just need to say I wish that were retro I wish that

were retro like they put it out there they're big obnoxious about it. But think of how many times you could walk through a grocery store the cereal aisle say you know mom approved the laundry aisle mom approved you know those little baby wipes things say moms like this best. I mean that's that's the default. So they put it out there and it's not even out there particularly explicitly quite well when they say on the label or give it they're giving you the laundering directions and it says dry clean only and what is it is this or give it to your woman it's her job give it you want. But if you sell the Clorox and it says moms like this best what they're saying is give it to your woman it's her job. Well there also it's maybe also a payoff to the fact that most women do the shopping so that's why they're trying to appeal to them but this is just but really no let me do the laundry Well that's true too. Well speaking as someone who has been doing his laundry since he could reach the buttons that's how it was in my house all those you know hair Yeah exactly I mean this is this is these the lack of sufficiency was some of my fellow men this is revolting Anyway

I like the responses on the other instructions that came up like yeah and remember you know this is not belong on the floor or my personal favorite. Remember I meaning I the pants look better with your shirt tucked in me. Those were some good there was a woman columnist that discovered this because her boyfriend a pair of pants and they were both shocked and she wrote about it and these people seem to have no shame and I don't know what they're going to do about it but I'll be curious to know if they remove that label. What did. I mean don't send me an e-mail program. Yes I know you're offended really. Yeah I'm really big time offended and I wish I would have you know to date a man would. Well he didn't know they were in there. OK all right so other people are offended by the Real Housewives franchise and they may be concerned that some of them went on strike during this time of tough on Miss because the schedule changed that these were the Housewives of New York City and here's a clip of Ramona from The Real Housewives of New York City. She was the instigator of the strike this is season 4.

I asked Sonia to join me today. I trust her opinion and we like hanging together and we're like Frick and Frack just as hard on her because like you know going this is what many women in the world around them in the caucus might want you know. Thank you guys. I give David Meister of a lot of credit because he's sticking his neck out there. He'll run away. Either. Way. He's letting Ramona walk the runway again 30 seconds from each of you. I wonder if they'll start filming the strike and this will be sort of like the anti Housewives like the anti pokes in the Middle Ages. I'm happy for anything that reminds us that it's labor. Right those are persons working that and because of this let the reality label slapped on it were forgive we forget that it's labor and because it's we it's entertainment we like to forget that it's labor but it reminds us that there was a working person. That's right and they're just because theyre Housewives theyre still working too thats another thing this year is like our third way we forget that its like I just want to say that they say they went on strike because they changed the schedule which was you know not something a professional company should do let's point that out but I also want to say something that my

friend would say at this instance which is this is a high class problem. Come on. Yeah OK these are the Real Housewives of New York City. All right so what's that. That wraps up another edition of our review of this week's pop culture news. Rachel Rubin is the chair of the department of American studies at UMass Boston. Thomas Connelly is a professor of English at Suffolk University thanks you do you can keep on top of the cow across the show at WGBH dot org slash Kelly Crossley follow us on Twitter or become a fan of the callee crossing show on Facebook. Today Show was engineered by Chelsea mirrors. Oh no I'm sorry I was interviewed by Alan Matheson produced by Chelsea Myers will Rose live and Abby received a sorry alan the Calla Crossley Show is a production of WGBH Boston Public Radio.