Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chris Dwan (he/him)

@somershade.bsky.social

2.1K followers 220 following 4.8K posts

Hyper local in Somerville, MA. FOIA requests & long threads live-tweeting city meetings. Also @fdmts

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · Sep 5

The most important thing to remember about Somerville social media is that most of Somerville is not on Somerville social media.

3 5 51

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 5h

Shifting the problem
Into a single large pile
Maybe we should not

Reposted by Chris Dwan (he/him)

Travis Mason-Bushman @snarkranger.bsky.social · 12h

I like explaining to people (when I am furloughed) that basically everywhere else, if the legislature can't pass a budget the government keeps working and all the politicians get fired.

1 6 13

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

Anyway, I have no particular call to action.

But do check out the google reviews. They're delightful.

11/11

1 1

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

And also, let's go -all- the way through this.

Yes the local invertebrate species list went from ~60 to 3 ... but also it's table salt. It dissolves. Measurements in local waterways and groundwater tables are within contamination limits.

Sure, it's ugly ... but ... um ...

10/?

2 2

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

I started today in a righteous lather about contamination and fouling the land ... but this evening I find myself contemplative.

Apparently Martin Luther's father, back in the 1400's, was a copper miner and piled up a slag heap of his own.

So like ... this is local culture and tradition?

9/?

1 2

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

Driving away from this monstrosity, we started reading about the slag heaps ... and this is where it got weird.

Apparently piling up mining refuse is a time-honored tradition of this part of Germany?

Like ... there's art and bicycle tours.

wildeast.blog/en/mansfeld-...

8/?

Mansfeld Pyramids – How to visit the slagheaps of Mansfeld

The Mansfeld Pyramids are landmarks of the Mansfeld region. The view when climbing the Mansfeld slagheaps is fantastic and you can even find art there.

wildeast.blog

1 1 2

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

There's another one that you can see in the distance - because mining is profitable and there's always some village that can be paid to salt its own earth for the right price.

7/?

1 1 1

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

So yeah, that tiny, almost invisible line at the base is the fence, and the tinker-toy looking trucks are actually earth-movers.

And the company is going to squat over this particular bowl until 2030 because that is what they are licensed to do.

6/?

1 1 2

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

This is me being like, "I'm tired, boss. What even is this thing?"

5/?

1 4

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

Do not be lured into complacency by the sheer ridiculous size of this thing. Those little splotches on top of the hill are actually industrial equipment that moves the salt from the dump trucks up to the top where it spills over the edge in a frankly hypnotic cascade.

4/?

1 3

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

We first saw it from the highway, read the wikipedia article, said "wait, what, shit?" and felt compelled to circle back and get close enough to smell it.

It smells kinda salty?

3/?

1 1 6

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 21h

Mt Kali is made out of sodium chloride ... table salt ... produced as a by product of the potash (potassium) mining that is a major local industry.

K+S (the mining company) adds 900 tons of salt per HOUR ... and is licensed to continue doing so until 2030.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_K...

2/?

Monte Kali - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1 3

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 22h

Today I learned about "Mt Kali" AKA "Mt Kalimanjaro."

It's a monstrous heap of industrial salt that's piled up out back of the adorable village of Heringen, in Hesse Germany.

1/?

4 5 14

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 1d

This exactly: ‘To be candid, I want the bubble to burst.’

I don’t look forward to the reckoning any more than I enjoyed the subprime mortgage or dot com recession/depressions … but the longer we keep lying to ourselves, the worse it’s gonna be.

Jessica Kant @jessdkant.bsky.social · 1d

One curious thing on this site about speaking out against the encroachment of LLMs is that inevitably you get accused of being anti-tech. I don’t hate technology. I’ve used machine learning in my own code before. But I also recognize that oligarchs are so hellbent on pushing this tech for a reason.

5 21

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 1d

My most charitable explanation is that the administration was concerned that the required schedule of hearings and votes would be difficult and distracting with the election … and they punted to the new council next year.

Less charitably, ready/fire/aim syndrome (RFAS).

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

I will leave you with this image of a legendary rap battle in the city of Eisenbach, Germany.

G'night everybody, care for your neighbors, pay attention to your government, and never enter a music contest where the penalty is DEATH for the loser.

Especially with that red haired dude. Damn.

20/20

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

In just one example among many, I have a neighbor on Beacon Street. A friendly woman who greets passers-by from her window, across from Star Market.

If there are vulnerable people in your neighborhood, this is a good season to check in and offer a hand if they ask.

19/?

2 5

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

And, with that, I am at the end of the regular agenda. If there are late items, I will not know about them (until tomorrow).

Also, while I have you - please care for each other.

18/?

1 1

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

Followed immediately by "22 individuals, including 18 residents submitting comments re: ballot question challenge."

Those are both gonna get put on file.

17/?

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

Then there are "3,007 individuals submitting comments re: ballot question."

Usually that sort of item includes "including N residents." I'm sure it was just a lot to check before the agenda got published and the clerk didn't want to get it wrong.

16/?

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

I would note that this is the meeting where, by law and tradition, a representative of DPW comes out dressed in a spoooooky costume, hands out candy, and reads a scroll about Truck or Treat.

It's always fun, and I'm honestly kind of sad to miss it.

15/?

1 3

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

We've got permits requested for HONK, Truck O' Treat, the Pet Spooktacular, and the Pumpkin Smash.

What a great season, what a great town.

14/?

1 2

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

Item 8.4: "City Clerk conveying the selection of Emily Lopez Touchy and Mihika Gogate to the position of City Council Project Assistant."

Now that's something I haven't seen before. I'm interested to hear which projects they will assist.

13/?

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

Not tonight (but maybe tonight? It's always hard to tell from the agenda), we're getting updates on the Pollinator Action Plan and the Open Space and Recreation Plan.

12/?

1 1

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

I do always wonder about the withdrawn items. Never enough to really vigorously check the records ... but I do wonder.

Especially when they're in the section dedicated to the Mayor's requests.

11/?

1 1