By Scott Zoback

• SHE'S IN IF HE'S OUT: While State Rep. John Fresolo continues to play the "will he or won't he?" game in the race for the 2nd Worcester Senate seat, several would-be candidates are throwing their names out for his current job, should he run. The latest (and most official) potential contender for Fresolo's Rep. seat is Melissa Murgo, who has pulled nomination papers. "If the seat does open up," she says, she'll be in the race. There's no love lost between Fresolo and Murgo, a former Fresolo aide, and this would be her third attempt at his seat. It's a change from the previous two elections when Murgo ran against the incumbent, losing in the primary both times with about 43% of the vote.

• THUNDER STEALERS: Last year, a few city councilors went after Mayor Konnie Lukes when she proposed selling some city assets as a one-time fix for closing the budget gap. So it was a bit of a surprise to observers when this week Councilors Rick Rushton, Michael Germain, Kate Toomey and Gary Rosen raised the same issue, asking the city manager for a cost/benefit analysis of "the sale of city-owned assets including real estate."

• THUNDER STEALERS, PART 2: The idea-swapping cuts both ways. Last night, Lukes introduced an order to look at instituting a "real" hiring freeze in town, but it was hardly the first time the idea had been raised or debated. The Council had a similar discussion last year, with city manager Michael O'Brien reporting on May 1, 2007, that a March 2007 hiring freeze, "has resulted in a total of 42 vacant tax-levy-funded positions citywide. Of these 42 positions, I am recommending the elimination of 15 positions for a total budget reduction of $611,102."

• NANGLE'S EARLY REVIEWS: Richard Nangle, the former Telegram reporter who "became the news" as a witness for the prosecution in the Larry Cirignano trial is facing his first real test as a spokesman for the Department of Social Services. Nangle is the point person for the state agency in the Middleboro child abuse case, in which a 7-year-old boy was burned on his penis and buttocks with a cigarette by (allegedly) his mother's boyfriend. But Nangle isn't getting all positive reviews from the media outlets for his handling of the case. The Boston Globe took issue with Nangle's lack of information, writing, "It was not immediately clear what DSS did in response to the earlier allegations of abuse. DSS spokesman Richard Nangle has failed to provide any information about the case today despite repeated phone messages and e-mails." And in another unrelated case in Springfield, The Republican ran an article stating, "State Department of Social Services spokesman Richard Nangle confirmed yesterday in a brief e-mail that ‘DSS is investigating,' but offered no explanation, and has not returned repeated calls seeking an interview in recent days."

• CARR GETS QUASHED: Listeners of Howie Carr — the guy who has built a multimedia empire on the strength of releasing information that people want to keep hidden — got something a bit unusual on Tuesday: censorship. Carr was censored for saying two of the nastiest, dirtiest, most verboten words you can say on broadcast radio: Sirius and XM. Carr was reading the news of the Department of Justice's approval of the XM/Sirius merger when his producer bleeped out the name of the two companies. A message board post on bostonradio.org had the exchange: Carr: "Oh, breaking news — Justice Dept. has approved the [silence]. Oh that's good ... [to producer]. Did you bleep that out? I can't report the news?" In many ways, this was the media equivalent of covering your eyes and ears and screaming, "La-La-La-La-La-La, I can't see you! I can't hear you! You don't exist!!"

• BEER, BEER, BEER: The Dive Bar — the bar that has become a phenomenon and single-handedly made Worcester a destination spot for craft-beer lovers from all over with its world-class selection of beers — will be no more. At least, not as we know it now. Instead, meet The Armsby Abbey, a new bar that will open in the Armsby Building at 144 Main St. This isn't a relocation of the Dive Bar. Rather, it's a total reimagination of the craft-beer-bar concept in a new location. The only similarity will be the same team that has brought you the Dive Bar-as-beer-bar experience over the past couple of years. At last Thursday's License Commission meeting, Dive Bar proprietors Alec Lopez, Sherri Sadowski, and Paul Durkee got approval for the new restaurant/bar, which is scheduled to open early this summer. The Abbey will feature a one-of-a-kind selection of draughts, craft draughts and bottles, cask-conditioned ales, and hand-made craft liquors, beyond those of the Dive. Keeping with the theme, the Abbey will also feature a select menu of food featuring locally grown, produced, and harvested products. As for The Dive Bar, it is expected to sell to a new team before the opening of the Abbey.

• THE STUDENTS DON'T DRINK EITHER: It's common procedure at License Commission hearings for universities and colleges to ask for special one-day approval any time they are throwing a special event in a building not specifically licensed by the city; those requests are generally granted as a routine matter. But at Thursday's License Commission hearings, a retired professor protested allowing WPI — which was up for approval for an alumni event — and other colleges permission to serve alcohol at any time, saying universities and libation just don't mix. Ever. "That's a philosophical question we're not going to debate here," said Commission Chairman Kevin O'Sullivan. "Something is wrong with western culture," said the retired prof. o