- There are few jobs more demanding or overwhelming than
being the only snowplow driver in town in a tiny hamlet in Maine. The roads
need cleared on a near-daily basis, temperatures typically reside closer to
zero than to the freezing point and you’re the only one who stands between
hundreds of locals and anarchy in the form of being stuck indoors for days on
end. Eventually, the stress of that kind of gig builds and the result, at least
in the case of Parsonsfield, Maine, is that the town’s one and only plow driver
quit after a storm dumped 25 inches of snow on the town on Dec. 30. It was a
stunning loss for a town just beginning the heart of a brutal winter and so
when the next big storm rolled through town, locals had no choice but to pick
up their shovels and take to clearing the roads themselves. Town officials
labeled the lack of a plow driver as an emergency for the southern Maine town
of about 1,900, but the power of the people helped offset that absence as the
town’s roads were almost fully cleared by late afternoon, Select Board member
Tiffany Brendt said. Residents also got help from the Maine Department of
Transportation, local plowing contractors and residents of neighboring towns,
proving that an ice storm that threatens to cripple your region is enough to
pull folks together. "People got together in our town and went out, plowed,
salted, sanded, pushed back the banks, and went back out after the ice storm to
make sure everything was good," Brendt said. "They just did it."
With the cleared roads, the town was able to collect trash and recycling and
while the shovel patrol stands at the ready for now, Brendt said the town is
working on a new long-term snowplow contract so it isn't left without a
snowplow driver again…….
- Fans were rabid in their support of the temporary return
of “Gilmore Girls” and according to at least two key players in the series’
Netflix revival, there’s at least a feint hope for more. The cult favorite show
returned for four 90-minute episodes under the title “A Year In The Life” in
November, with each episode set in one of the year’s four seasons. Virtually
all of the series’ key faces returned, sans the late Edward Hermann, who passed
away in between the end of the show’s run on the air and its Netflix revival.
In his wake, the new episodes caught fans up with the Gilmore family and
characters of Stars Hollow nine years after the show had ended its original run
and if you ask Alexis Bledel, who plays Rory Gilmore in the show, even though
there hasn’t been talk of more episodes, she would consider being a part of it
if it were to become a possibility. “I haven’t heard anything,” Bledel said.
“It hasn’t been a conversation as of yet,” adding that another run of episodes
would come down to “the story” and “the timing.” “We had the fan reunion in
Austin and we picked up momentum [for the revival] from there, and it came
together so quickly, and it really seemed like the right thing,” she said. “I
think most of us are just wanting to tell a good story, and I think that came
together in ‘A Year In The Life.’” Her sentiments have support from Netflix
chief content officer Ted Sarandos, who said he is “open” to the possibility of
a follow-up if series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino wants to do it. After “A
Year in the Life” ended with the cliffhanger of Bledel’s character dropping the
bombshell to her mother that she’s pregnant, there’s definitely lots of subject
matter for more episodes……..
- Ah, the wacky hijinks and shenanigans of coalition
government in Eastern European nations. The power play is on in Macedonia,
where three ethnic Albanian political parties have adopted a joint platform
demanding a larger say in the country's affairs in return for their support in
forming a coalition government. The need for a working coalition arose last
month when national elections gave the ruling conservative VMRO-DPMNE party 51
seats in the 120-member Parliament and 49 to the opposition Social Democrats.
When Albanian minority parties won the remaining seats, they suddenly became a
very popular group, especially the Democratic Union for Integration, a
coalition partner of the conservatives over the past decade, which won 10
seats. Now, the three ethnic parties are demanding that the constitution define
Macedonia as a bilingual country where both Albanian and Macedonian are
recognized as official languages and as anyone in any country united under one
primary language knows, asking the people to denote a second language as official
is one of the best ways to start an all-out brawl. Yet the three parties are
demanding that, as well as a parliamentary resolution condemning past
persecution of the Albanian minority. Before dismissing those demands, it’s
important to note that ethnic Albanians comprise a quarter of Macedonia's
population of 2.1 million, which means that giving them a say in what the
country does - and in what language it speaks - is a matter worthy of deeper
consideration…….
- Winter league baseball in the Caribbean is a chance to
learn, grow and get better for players and managers alike. Unfortunately for
manager Pat Kelly, who has become a YouTube star thanks to his many animated
arguments with umpires, his most recent employer wasn’t really willing to allow
him to learn on the job by making mistakes and growing from them. Kelly was
fired by Licey one day after he made a colossal blunder in a key game for his
team. Kelly headed to the mound after Licey reliever Rafael Soriano gave up two
hits with his team clinging to a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning, deciding to
remove the former major league closer from the game. The only problem was that
when Kelly went to the mound and called for a new pitcher, there were no
relievers warming up in the bullpen and thus, no one ready to come in and help
seal the win against major rival Aguilas. That led to reliever Leyson Septimo,
who briefly pitched for the White Sox in 2012, hurriedly trying to get ready as
he rushed into the game and tried to get loose before he walked the only batter
he faced. That prompted another pitching change, but by that point the rally
was on as Aguilas went on to score five runs and won 5-2. Thanks to this gaffe
and generally lackluster play in recent games, Licey has lost five straight in
a round-robin tournament to determine which two teams play for the league
championship. Licey management elected not to give Kelly, who was a catcher for
three games with Toronto in 1980 and has managed in the minors for more than 25
years, any more chances to f*ck up what remains of the season and fired him,
hoping that its next manager can understand basic principles of the game, such
as having a relief pitcher warm up in the bullpen before being called upon to
get key outs late in a game……..
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