Worcester Magazine captures, photographs its very own Asian Longhorned Beetle, then fails to tell us how they promptly incinerated it in a blinding ball of flame, let alone filed a report with state creepy-crawly monitors. Maybe they plan to take him home and love him and hug him and pet him and squeeze him and call him George.

Know your enemy.

Worcester in Olde Englande is waging cyberwar against our own Wormtown for the right to come up first in Wikipedia. So far, Merry Olde Worcester is winning, but it's hard to avoid logic like this (scroll down):

[T]he arguments that Worcester, UK is a county town, has a longer history, or is the origin of Worcestershire sauce are all irrelevant. Similarly, the arguments that Worcester, MA is larger in population, is chartered as a city, or was the site of the first rocket launch are equally invalid. The one and only thing that matters is what article readers are looking for; given that Worcester, MA has over 5,000 more readers than Worcester, UK, it is fairly clear that a vast majority of readers (which would be the requirement for "Worcester" to be located here) are in fact not seeking the city in Worcestershire.

Via Worcesteria.

Meet the beetle. Source.

Beetletown might be a better name for the Commonwealth's second largest city now that voracious Asian Longhorn Beetles have been found there:

... This pest attacks a wide variety of hardwood trees, particularly maples, and is considered a serious threat to the nursery, lumber, wood products, maple syrup, and tourism industries in our state. If it became established over a large area, it could also significantly disrupt the forest ecosystem.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and the City of Worcester are partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and USDA APHIS-PPQ to coordinate a management plan to eradicate this species in Massachusetts. First steps include a survey of the area to determine the extent of the infestation, and regulatory management to prevent movement of host trees and wood out of the infested area. Infested trees will need to be removed and destroyed, and susceptible host trees may need treatment to prevent further infestations. ...

On June 28th, DCR kicked off it's new Park Passport, a stamp book with stamp stations placed in 76 parks across the state (15 parks in the Boston area, including John Paul II, Castle Island, and the Southwest Corridor). Each park has a different stamp, so you have to go to all of the parks if you want to collect all of the stamps. When you complete any one of the 5 regions, you can use the completed passport at the regional office (starting August 15) to receive a t-shirt with the stamp pictures on it for that region.

Secretly Ironic recounts a disappointing trip all the way out to Worcester for a "Jack and Jill night" at the Boston Gun Range, which, despite what its make your eyes bleed Web site and answering machine would have you believe, actually closed several months ago:

... So, then what? Obviously, the four of us drove around past the nudie bars and automotive spring repair shops on the outskirts of town until we hit Worcester Center. We briefly got lost in the Abandoned Warehouse district, and then stumbled upon the Gentrified Abandoned Warehouse district, featuring loft condos (natch), a discount meat store (”We Towed You So” emblazoned cheerfully across the parking lot), and a tapas bar called Bocado. ...

Blue Mass. Group reminds us that today's the anniversary of the deadly Worcester Tornado of 1953.

The name's actually a bit of a misnomer, since the tornado continued down Rte. 9 to almost the Framingham line - one of its last spasms was to flatten the Fayville post office in Southborough.

Play "Beat L.A. !" at http://masscrosswords.com

Police Kill Bear Roaming Worcester Neighborhood.

That would be Worcester, which apparently has an identity crisis like you wouldn't believe.

But ya gotta love a city where people still pitch woo.

Generous tax breaks have made our fair city into the Toronto of the US and made Hollywood faces a not uncommon site around certain restaurants.

So does our Sunset Blvd. stretch all the way to Worcester? If so Perez Hilton may have found our Viper Room, where TV's Topanga, Danielle Fishel, got all Britney last night......