Crystal Pina | Worcester, Massachusetts

Local radio station 96.1 WSRS and Francis Harvey & Sons contractors are giving away a $10,000 bathroom makeover to a local deserving family. The winner will have a new bathroom put in their home. 

To vote, go to WSRS. Watch the videos and vote for the family that you think needs the bathroom the most.  

Edit: The winner is (drumroll please) The Berthiaume's! They will never have to shower with birds flying overhead again.

The following locations in and around Worcester, MA feature free WiFi hot spots - places with wireless 802.11b Internet access.

Worcester
Acoustic Java - 932A Main st
Crowne Plaza Hotel - 10 Lincoln Square
Victory Bar and Cigar - 56 Shrewsbury Street
Caffe Dolce - 154 Shrewsbury Street
Clark University, Robert H. Goddard Library - 950 Main Street

Holden
Sweets and Java - 1207 Main Street

Oxford
Udderly Delicious Ice Cream and Bakery - 273 Main Street

Shrewsbury
Panera Bread - 50 Boston Turnpike (White City Shopping Plaza)
Black Diamond Coffee 307 Grafton St., Rte. 140

The MBTA has added WiFi to at least one coach on every train between Worcester and Boston on a trial basis.

There are several places that offer WiFi that I didn't list here because they aren't free. I'd like to show my support to the businesses that are offering it free.

Come on Worcester businesses! We can do better than this.

One of the draws to living in Worcester is it's colleges and universities. There used to be a billboard by the Shrewsbury St exit of 290-E that listed 10. It's not there now, but the colleges still are, save one.

Living in Worcester, it's not a matter of "if" I go to college, it's "where". And having that many colleges in such a small area means that you may find people from age 16-76 in class next to you!

Quinsigamond Community College offers many pathways into four-year colleges and universities. For instance, with a 3.0 GPA and an Associates Degree from QCC, you are guaranteed admission to Massachusetts State Colleges along with a 1/3 reduction off of in-state tuition. A graduate with a 3.7 GPA is eligible for a $10,000 Presidential Scholarship at Clark University.

Another reason to choose Worcester when buying a home - Clark University offers FREE TUITION to residents who meet the University's admissions requirements and who have lived in the Main South neighborhood for at least five years.

A) Worcester State College

B) College of the Holy Cross

C) Becker Jr College

D) Assumption College

E) Quinsigamond Community College

F) Worcester Polytechnical Institute

G) Clark University

H) Colleges of the Worcester Consortium (not a college, sort of an extension of them)

I) College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

J) University of Massachusetts - Worcester

It's 39 degrees in Worcester today. Yesterday it was 55. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 31 (brrrr). It's no secret that the weather in New England can change on a dime. What's that saying, "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute, it will change", lol.

I've lived in New England all my life so I'm used to it. I was born in New Bedford where we were so close to the ocean that the salt air caused the snow to melt within a few days of falling. I moved to Worcester when I was 15. And I lived there until I was 40. Being farther inland, Worcester's snow didn't melt as quickly as it does in New Bedford. Worcester typically is about 5 degrees colder in the winter than the coast. It's about 10 degrees warmer in the summer, too.

I live in Ware now. I had never heard of Ware until I moved here. There's signs on the higway in Worcester at the Belmont Street exit that says Route 9 West will take you to Ware. I don't know how many times I went past that sign and it never sunk in that Ware is a real place.

The temperature in Ware is not much different than in Worcester. We get more snow, though. Ware is set in the Pioneer Valley. There's mountains all around us. So we end up with a foot of snow when Worcester gets about 6 inches.

Yesterday's 55 degree weather on February 19th made sure all the snow melted. No crocuses yet, but it felt like spring.