By Scott Zoback

• NO SLOGAN DAY: Worcester, "The Heart of the Commonwealth," has been named "The City that Reads" and "The City on the Move," although some prefer us to be "Moving in the Right Direction." And we've been implored to "Choose Worcester," the city with "No Place for Hate" because it's the "Right Place, Right Time." And those are just a few of the official ones, to say nothing of Wormtown/War-town's alt-monikers, including "The City that Breeds," "The City that Bleeds," and "Paris of the ‘80s." We think it's time for a stop to this nonsense. And so, in conjunction with Worcesterite.com, we declare next Thursday, May 29 to be "No Slogan Day." Thursday night, we'll be down at The Dive Bar on Green Street, celebrating "No Slogan Day" with amazing live music and even better craft beer. Slogans are a Worcester epidemic that need to be eradicated, and Worcesteria and Worcesterite.com are proud to be doing our part.

• TRUCKS, NOT TRAINS: It's clear at this point that city councilors will raise just about anything they can think of to put public pressure on rail company CSX in the name of getting more commuter rail trains to Worcester. The latest target? "Their wallet," said Councilor Rick Rushton on Tuesday. Rushton sponsored an item that would ask St. Gobain and other major Worcester companies to refrain from using CSX for transport where possible. Instead, said Rushton, they should use "alternative" transportation. Further, Rushton and most of his colleagues called for asking other communities along CSX lines to do the same with their local companies. Those "alternative" modes weren't discussed, but it's an intriguing counteraction to CSX's frequent commercials declaring themselves the environmentally friendly alternative to trucking transport.

• ALL ABOUT EQUALITY: If you listened to District 1 Councilor Joff Smith on Tuesday night, you would think his neighborhoods were getting the shaft. There he was with Councilor Bill Eddy, complaining about fire response times to upper Salisbury Street, and calling for any possible solution, including a one-truck station in the area or a mutual aid arrangement with Holden. And then there he was, rising as block grant allocations were about to be approved, questioning why his neighborhoods got only about $25,000 of the $4.5 million in Block Grant funding. It wasn't proportional, claimed Smith. Councilor Paul Clancy quickly rose to give Smith a parliamentary chew-out, saying that the distributions are calculated by the number of eligible neighborhoods. In other words, Smith's district simply doesn't have as many as say, Barbara Haller's. Still, Smith maintained that Great Brook Valley deserved more. And Councilor Gary Rosen, chairman of the committee that facilitated the allocations, said that if Smith wanted to come testify during the process next year, he would be welcome. The hidden subtext in Clancy and Rosen's remarks? It was a message to Smith to bring up issues like this before the literal last second, regardless if his complaints were correct. Still, Smith stood alone among his colleagues, voting against the distributions.

• FINANCIALLY DEPENDENT: Michael Germain's insurance background is turning out to be pretty useful for the rookie councilor, allowing him to be involved from the get-go on key city financial issues. On Tuesday, it was a new idea on how to save money on city medical insurance. He's calling for a "dependent audit" by a private vendor to look at how many dependents of city employees are being inappropriately covered by the city's plan. Germain claims that a significant number of dependents — up to 20% — could be ineligible, and that the city could be looking at $1.4 million to $2 million in savings. "At worst," said Germain on Tuesday, "the vendors guarantee a return on investment."

• PHIL, BOB, AND A ROUND OVER GOLF: Councilor Phil Palmieri and Department of Public Works Commissioner Bob Moylan have a history of occasional snippiness; bring something controversial like the Green Hill Golf Course up, and it comes out in full force. So it was at this week's budget hearing. Moylan had been answering some straightforward/soft questions on the golf course going forward, if an upcoming alcohol-serving tournament would be a good "test," etc. Then there was Palmieri. He asked how many tournaments there were; Moylan said he didn't know 100%, but he would guess "about 15." "So it could ... be 50?," asked Palmieri. Moylan said, incredulously, no, it was less. Then, in a roundabout way, Palmieri asked if the existing clubhouse has the facilities for food and beverage. "Now I'm the one who doesn't understand the question," responded Moylan. Palmieri: "Is there a clubhouse?" Moylan: "We both know there is." The back and forth went on, until Palmieri asked if cutting the golf pro would hurt the course, and what his responsibilities entail. Moylan said it would absolutely hurt the course, and that a pro is needed; Palmieri said he was only asking about responsibilities and that Moylan could "make his own [judgment]" on the need for a pro."

• YOU WORK WHERE YOU LIVE: Should new city hires come from town? Councilor Mike Germain says residents should, at a minimum, get preferential treatment. On Tuesday, the Council's Economic Development Committee requested the city manager report on the feasibility of such a program; this could be a hot-button issue when his report hits the floor, as there have been quiet grumblings in some circles about city employees and administration officials who live outside the city borders.

• BRING ME A SHRUBBERY: The round-about/rotary/circle that they call a square is just about finished. There's little left to do in the Washington Square reconfiguration, aside from getting the new parcels ready for construction and out to bid. But the latest change may actually make it a little more difficult to get around. When they began taking apart the old rotary and ripping out the bushes, we were amazed at how much easier the driving experience became, now that you could see around the circle. So it wasn't the SIZE of the round-about all these years, it was the ridiculous shrubbery. But last week, construction workers installed a field of shrubbery in the center of the circle, making it a bit more difficult to see straight across. Guess we'll have to use those alien hieroglyphics now. o