How many donut shops do we need?
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
I like to thank all of the folks who have so far participated in the little food drive we've conducted. The drive is still on and if you bring in a donation you can receive two tickets to Big Time Wrestling's show at the castle of Knights in Chicopee on Dec. 1.
Apparently the idea of getting a copy of Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" was a good incentive to donate food items, as there were not too many copies when I received the phone call.
You see, I had requested a screener of the film to review in my DVD column. Paramount surprised me by sending a box of 100 copies with no explanation. I just thought it was a special promotion and I dreamed up a way to make good use of the copies.
Fast-forward over two weeks later and I received a phone call from the company that sends out the DVDs to reviewers. It seems they wanted the copies back. I said I would send back what I had, but most were used as in our food drive.
I asked what was the big deal as DVDs are not expensive to reproduce and I was told these were special copies. In fact, the reason I had to send them back is that they were copies promised to Gore himself.
Somehow my address sticker was placed on the package instead of the former vice president's.
So all of you who have a copy, now have a story to go with it.
So if by chance due to clipping service or Internet search the Veep reads this column, I want him to know his copies helped people in western Massachusetts feel a little more secure this holiday season.
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Just how many Dunkin' Donuts does one area need? That's the question facing folks over in West Springfield who have been trying to decide if the town needs another donut shop along Route 20.
Residents are concerned that another DD will make traffic even worse along the Westfield-West Springfield corridor.
The decision from the Planning Board has been along time coming and Board members will need the wisdom of Solomon to come up with a solution that satisfies both sides.
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The news that the Holyoke Health Center will be undertaking a major expansion into Chicopee is welcomed news.
Having the supermarket building on front Street occupied by a positive addition to the community is the kind of good news that just keeps happening in Chicopee.
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In Springfield, there are a few truths that have come out of the trash fee issue.
Truth number 1: No one wants to pay for a service for which they thought they had already paid.
Truth number 2: No one wants to pay more for anything.
Truth number 3: The good people who set in motion the legal process to over-turn the trash fee had no idea what the short and long-term ramifications of their act would be. I willing to bet that none of them want to see anyone laid-off or see the Putnam High School renovation project put on the back burner, both of which are completely possible reactions to the legal action.
Truth number 4: The Finance Control Board (FCB) completely botched the job of explaining why the fee was necessary and how the fee would work.
You see, I think the majority of people in Springfield can afford $90 a year. Many people mindlessly spend $90 a year through any number of ways.
Yes, there are exceptions and they should be made on the grounds of financial status. If you really can't afford $90 and can prove it, then you shouldn't have to pay it. We give property tax exemptions to the elderly on a fixed income and I would think we could have used similar standards to exempt people from the trash fee.
Having the money to spend isn't as much the point as convincing people why it is necessary to ask for the money in the first place. Here the FCB dropped the ball in a major way. As is the habit of the Board, they did something that was simply to be accepted by the residents without question.
They got out the sealing wax, melted some of it on the proclamation and pressed in the signet ring. It was law! Release the doves! Huzzah!
Well, the residents have revolted to this particular ordinance.
Remember when the city imposed a fee to drive into Forest Park? I might be wrong, but not many folks complained about it because people understood the necessity of the fee in insuring the park's future.
In commenting on Shay's Rebellion western Massachusetts' gift to the rest of the formation of a republic Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."
We all need to know what the outcome of any revolution should be, though, before we start one.
This column represents the opinions of its author. Send your comments to mdobbs@reminderpublications.com or to 280 N. Main St., East Longmeadow, MA 01028.
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