Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Stinky School Wednesday

Who farted?

"The Martin Luther King Jr. K-8 School in Dorchester was evacuated briefly Tuesday morning after an odor of gas was reported in the building. Students returned when officials determined there was no danger, authorities said. Firefighters detected carbon monoxide in the Lawrence Avenue building and found the problem to be a mechanical issue, according to Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald. Boston Public Schools spokeswoman Denise Snyder said students were moved to another school while the odor was investigated, and then returned to the King school for classes."

"Lynnhurst Elementary School students and staff were evacuated Tuesday morning because of a gas leak across the street, Saugus fire officials said. At about 10:30 a.m., a Department of Public Works employee lifted a manhole on Walnut Street, adjacent from the school, and smelled gas, Deputy Chief Michael Newbury said. Firefighters arrived and used gas meters in the school building. Staff and students were placed on buses and taken to the Saugus High School gymnasium at about 11 a.m., and the Lynnhurst school remained closed for the rest of the day. Newbury said National Grid was on the scene at 3 p.m. to fix a broken pipe."

Possible skulduggery?

"Franklin High School was inspected and cleared Tuesday after a bomb threat was reported to police, officials said. Franklin police and fire, along with the State Police Bomb Squad, responded to a call at 12 p.m. at the school, Police Chief Stephan H. Semerjian said in a statement. All Franklin schools were placed under administrative lockdown while students and faculty of the high school were evacuated, officials said. There were no reports of any injuries, and no devices were found, police said. Students from the high school did not return to classes."

Smells like a stinky psyop or drill reported as real to me! 

At least the kids got the day off.

So where do you kids want to go to lunch?

"Once-glamorous Park Plaza gets a $95 million makeover" by Taryn Luna, Globe Correspondent  March 11, 2015

And the schools are allegedly short how much? 

(You can talk about that over your plate of public school gruel)

When the Statler Hotel, now the Park Plaza, opened in 1927, it was the largest hotel in New England and the first in the country to offer in-room radios. For decades, the union property was the epicenter of Boston’s Democratic political scene, frequented by presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy, who sat under Baccarat crystal chandeliers at events in the hotel’s opulent Versailles-style ballroom.

But over time, travelers complained the historic property had descended into what one called “hotel hell,” with peeling wallpaper, cigarette-holed blankets, and faulty air conditioning. Now, the once-grand Park Plaza slipped in the rankings to a lowly 71st among 77 Boston hotels on the travel website TripAdvisor.

Now a new owner, Sunstone Hotel Investors, is in the middle of a massive $95 million lobby-to-roof renovation to transform the outdated property into a modern hotel with historic charm.

Industry experts say hotels are booming because more people are traveling to Boston, from business travelers in the flourishing biotechnology and technology industries to university-bound guests and convention visitors. An influx of international tourists is also arriving at Logan Airport.

Prompted by the strong economy, dozens of hotels have completed recent renovations as a way to raise rates and compete with other properties.

And yet there is a massive homeless problem in Bo$ton.

*******************

The hotel was built by Ellsworth Milton Statler, one of America’s first hoteliers and a developer known for state-of-the-art amenities.

Boston’s elite flocked to the hotel’s glamorous opening gala, wowed by the Spanish Renaissance motif, gold-leaf coffered ceilings, and floor tiles imported from Spain. The radio system broadcast the evening’s entertainment: four orchestras and performances by a soprano and a quartet. 

I've $lowly come to the realization that the once critically-acclaimed Globe is now just that -- a rag for the elite of Bo$ton. No wonder I'm so sick of it's $tench.

As a hotel with a union workforce, the Park Plaza was the place Democratic politicians rested their heads while in Boston, and it was a popular campaign party spot on election nights.

That was a long time ago.

Its famous guests included the likes of Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, Barack Obama, and Fidel Castro, as well as cinema greats Judy Garland and Spike Lee. Microsoft founder Bill Gates slept there, as did legendary athletes Muhammad Ali and Larry Bird....

Did you read what Churchill said, and I simply can't countenance the other two war criminals that followed him.

--more--" 

It's “definitely no longer a luxury grand dame anymore.”

So how is the view?

Hey, it's all for charity, right? 

I recommend the shark off the menu

Talk about it being a rich man's (and women)'s paper!