EXTRA...

Summer worker shortage; Fighting for local control of Community TV; Carradine's pierced belly-button

Cape suffers worker shortage:
Visa delays hold up seasonal staffers

An already labor-starved Cape Cod is facing yet another challenge this year when it comes to hiring enough summer employees to work at its hotels, restaurants, landscaping firms and other businesses. Employers say the bureaucratic process for hiring seasonal immigrant workers, who must come to the country with H-2b visas, was tougher and slower this year than in the past.

The result: Delays in issuing visas, higher application costs and fewer desperately needed workers...  “It’s been a really difficult situation,” said Bill Zammer, owner of four establishments on the Cape, including the Coonamessett Inn and Flying Bridge restaurant in Falmouth.  Zammer said he eventually got the workers he needed this year, but he had to spend more money on visa application appeals and some immigrant workers arrived later than normal in the season...  Read the rest of this Herald story here.  Leave a comment
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Locals fight to keep control of licensing cable TV companies

As the Legislature focuses on a bill that would seize from municipalities the authority to approve cable TV licenses, local opposition to the proposed law is growing. That resistance is expected to be on full display Tuesday when a legislative committee holds a public hearing on the bill, which would allow telecom companies to bypass local governments before entering their cable markets.

The Massachusetts Municipal Association, which advocates for cities and towns, has formed a task force to fight the initiative, known as the Massachusetts Cable Choice and Competition Act. Introduced in January, the proposed law would allow cable operators to bargain directly with the state for access to cities and towns...  "Towns are going to start asking themselves, 'Is it more important that I take care of police, fire, and teacher salaries, or is it more important that I fund the public-access channel?' " said Terry Duenas, executive director of the Cape Cod Community Media Center and chairman of MassAccess, a nonprofit association of public access channels. "Budgets are not easy."  ead the rest of this Globe story here.  Leave a comment
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Not the retiring type
A group of aging iconoclasts still gets a kick out of an indie film like 'Chatham'

CHATHAM -- Chain smoking cigarettes in his tiny trailer, David Carradine stripped off his pants and shirt, revealing a silver necklace, a pierced belly-button, and a faded tattoo of a dragon wrapping around his back.

"It won't get indecent," he promised, changing into his turn-of-the-century sea captain's costume for his role in "Chatham," a film shot on Cape Cod for 24 days this March and April.  Rattling off anecdotes about his recent trip to Marrakech, Pauline Kael's praise for his acting, and his Uncle Leonard, who lives in nearby Cotuit , the 70-year-old actor paused to reflect on his 44-year film and TV career that has ranged from "Kung Fu" to "Kill Bill."  Read the rest of this Globe interview here.