Archive for 2010

Algonquin Regional High School lost the traditional Thanksgiving Day clash against Westborough 14-0. The T-Hawks failed to convert in the first half on two first-and-goal opportunities. The second one, at the very end of the second quarter, was inches from ending in a touchdown but the Algonquin receiver was just shade of a second too [...]

The last three years haven’t been kind to retailers and every seasonal cycle has brought along the hope that it will mark the turnaround, only to have that hope dashed every time. But at least the Thanksgiging to Christmas holiday shopping period will add mightily to top and bottom line for retailers who are going [...]

This morning I was phone interviewed by the Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll that you often see referenced in the Boston Globe (and consequently in local newscasts, too). The gist of the survey was my view on the state of the economy. How do I think the re-election of Governor Subprime Ameriquest will impact Massachusetts’ economy [...]

Canadian coffee-and-donut-chain Tim Hortons has announced that the company is pulling out of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island (HT Universal Hub), as well as closing two of its restaurants in Maine. In all, Tim Hortons is “closing 36 restaurants and 18 kiosks” according to the Boston Globe. Tim Hortons claims that while “overall business in [...]

A couple of weekends ago I spent two nights at Homewood Suites by Hilton in Victor outside of Rochester, New York. Homewood Suites is Hilton’s entry in the extended stay/temporary housing segment of the hotel industry. I imagine the ideal customer is a low or mid level IT consultant who spends weeks or even months [...]

Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa of Food Network television fame, is barnstorming the country’s Williams Sonoma stores for hugely popular book signing events for her new cookbook How easy is that?. Yesterday she visited the Williams Sonoma store in the Natick Collection mall in Natick, Massachusetts where she signed all available 1,200 copies of the [...]

It’s been a busy year on Google’s Search Engine Results Pages: Caffeine, MayDay, the 6-domain SERP, Instant. Today the roll-out of the new location-based SERP, Google Places, was added to the list of noteworthy changes. You can find a pretty good description of the new Google Places at Search Engine Land. The practical effect of [...]

The Boston University Police Department has posted a letter from the commander of Boston PD District 14 (Brighton/Allston) that asks students in the area to make a bit of an effort to curb “increase in B&E incidents.” Writes Captain James Hussey: Unfortunately one of the things that make the A/B Brighton a great place to [...]

Below are two pictures of house construction in the Greater Boston suburbs. The first was taken in Winchester last spring and is a pretty good example of how that town is slowly filled in. High property prices and a high-ranked school system makes it tempting to turn every piece of a lot into a home. [...]

Picture of a multi-vehicle accident scene on South Border Road in Medford in Massachusetts on Tuesday October 19, 2010.