Alan Khazei for Massachusetts Senate
Massachusetts will choose a Senator in two weeks. I hope that choice will be Alan Khazei. Technically, it is a primary election, but given that we have 4 qualified Democrats, I can't see how a Republican could pull any kind of surprise upset. So the reality is that the primary is the election. We have a rare opportunity to choose someone who will make a difference. The front-running candidates have established impressive records of public service. They have served the Commonwealth and their constituents well, standing up for what they believe in and protecting the interests of those they serve. But

Dave Atkins Media v2.0
At the end of last year, as I started Dave Atkins Media!, I made a conscious decision to limit my "organizational activities" to avoid being sidetracked into non-productive activity. I spent about 2 hours making a website and elected to operate as a sole proprietorship with an excel spreadsheet as my general ledger. I used Freshbooks online invoicing to track my hours and bill my clients. Then, I landed the contract job at Mass.Gov and dove into that... I'm going down to Needham Bank this morning to open a business account. Then I will turn in my d/b/a certificate

Small and Big Steps for Walkability
I'm excited that our Pedestrian and Bike Safety Committee was able to work with our town to secure almost $3700 in reimbursement funding to buy bike racks. And our monthly meetings are defintitely raising awareness about Pedestrian and Bike Safety issues and beginning to build a coalition of people in town who share a desire to make improvements. But it is really inspiring to read this story of how a group in California, over the course of a year, obtained $800,000 in grant money to improve sidewalks in their n

More Experience with COBRA Health Insurance for Unemployed
The fact is, when you are laid off, you can lose your health insurance immediately, despite the so-called protections of COBRA. The only thing COBRA does is entitle certain qualififying persons (most people who are laid off) the opportunity to continue their health insurance under the same group plan they were eligible for when they were employed. I've blogged here before about how to maintain health insurance while unemployed--essentially, you should 1) elect COBRA immediately because

Copenhagen Rolls
Here is a short video of some serious critical cycling mass in Copenhagen, Denmark... I'm wrapping up a final list of bike racks for our town to obtain through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's (MAPC) Regional Bike Parking Program. Today is the deadline to order bike racks which are then reimbursed by this program. Our town administrator and school officials are excited to get the racks and hopefully, this will be another small step towards increased biking and walking in Westwood. Here's one of the racks we hope to replace/improve: