WORCESTER — Though the local permitting process for the project seemingly crawls along, officials at CSX Corp. are hopeful that their $100 million plan to expand the company’s freight yard behind Union Station will be completed by 2012.

The report, “Benchmarking Public Safety in Worcester,” authored by The Research Bureau, generated an article by a columnist and a letter to the editor by the head of the local American Civil Liberties Union.

Kudos to the Worcester Police Department for having near zero misconduct among the ranks last year.

The Research Bureau's seventh annual report on public safety in Worcester points to a few areas of concern — primarily with the safety of the city at night — even as the overall message is a positive one: Worcester remains safer than most other midsized cities in New England, and the public continues to express strong satisfaction with the service and professionalism of the city's police officers and firefighters.

WORCESTER — Though Worcester police officers generally get good marks for their work, a significant number of residents feel unsafe walking alone in their neighborhoods at night, a recently released survey by The Research Bureau shows.

In a column that appeared in this space on March 15, 2009, I compared transportation reform in Massachusetts with a soccer ball kicked around on a muddy field endlessly while nobody is scoring.

Chamber of Commerce onboard with CSX plan The board of directors of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce has come out unanimously in support of CSX Corp.'s plan to expand its freight yard in Worcester.

The view from inside the Heart of the Commonwealth isn't always and everywhere pleasing, but those who live and work in Worcester should know that the city is holding its own in comparison with much of the country.

Like lemmings blindly running toward the abyss, members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives rushed into a major expansion of state-sanctioned gambling.

Today is “D” day for more than 4,000 members of the class of 2010 — approximately 375 of them in Central Massachusetts — to try to pass the MCAS science and technology exam to receive their high school diploma with classmates.