WORCESTER — Councilor-at-Large Konstantina B. Lukes is resurrecting an idea that City Manager Michael V. O'Brien brought up eight years ago — removing the police and fire chiefs from Civil Service.

WORCESTER — Edward C. Freni, director of aviation for the Massachusetts Port Authority, told a City Council subcommittee last night that despite another loss of commercial flights out of Worcester Regional Airport, the authority still sees the airport as a strategic asset.

What is The Research Bureau (Worcester Regional Research Bureau)?

“We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, which examines public policy issues that are of interest to area officials and residents. We look at subjects like public education, municipal finance and economic development. It's really unusual to see an organization like ours operating in a city the size of Worcester.”

An important lesson emerged from The Research Bureau’s panel discussion Tuesday afternoon at Assumption College on recruiting and retaining quality teachers: Just as with some algebra problems, there’s more than one solution that satisfies the equation.

Commenting on the construction of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in September 1999, an editorial in the Telegram & Gazette took a strong position against a Project Labor Agreement, an arrangement that favors trade unions at the expense of independent building contractors. Titled “Project labor blackmail,” the editorial stated: “The union says the agreement ensures labor harmony and uninterrupted construction. Translation: If you don’t have a PLA, we see to it that there will be interruptions. This utterly immoral arrangement is supported by spineless politicians because many of their campaign contributions come from organized labor.”

WORCESTER — A Research Bureau panel yesterday on teacher recruitment will spill over onto a future School Committee agenda, at least as concerns two new-teacher programs.

The Worcester Regional Research Bureau held a wine and cheese reception March 8 to celebrate its new offices at Assumption College in Worcester. The Worcester Regional Research Bureau is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that conducts research about public policy issues of concern to the greater Worcester region.

WORCESTER — Four municipal employees were honored last night with Thomas S. Green Public Service Awards at La Maison Francaise at Assumption College.

The awards are given annually by The Research Bureau for outstanding contributions to public service.

As I see it Last week, Worcester City Manager Michael V. O’Brien notified the City Council of his intention to suspend enforcement of certain provisions of the city’s Responsible Employer Ordinance. Specifically, contractors who wish to bid on city work will no longer be required to maintain and participate in an apprenticeship training program and will no longer be required to provide health insurance to workers.

Turning crisis into long-term management When it comes to managing the economy, we’ve heard the word “crisis” bandied about for many months. By definition, crises eventually pass, leading to markedly better or markedly worse conditions. If the economic snapshots that emerged from The Research Bureau’s Wednesday morning forum on the economy are accurate, it may be time to replace crisis talk with something more descriptive of what appears to be an era when tax revenues are permanently constrained.