EXTRA...

Regional tourism approach draws fire; State favors Offshore Oil Drilling; Eat Cambodian on Cape Cod

Offshore oil drilling is favored
In poll, Mass. residents cite cost, dependence

The Minerals Management Service says the entire North Atlantic has 570 million barrels of oil, enough to fuel the country for less than a month

Feeling the crush of high gasoline and heating oil prices, Massachusetts residents overwhelmingly support expanded oil drilling in the United States, including off the state's coastline, according to a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.

The poll, conducted last week, found 63 percent of residents said they favor drilling in restricted oil reserves, such as Alaska or near the shores of Florida and California. Nearly as many - 58 percent - supported drilling in restricted areas off the coast of Massachusetts, while just 31 percent opposed the idea...

In energy legislation passed last month by the US House - but now stalled in the Senate - Massachusetts Congressmen William Delahunt, Democrat of Quincy, and Edward Markey, Democrat of Malden, worked to include language excluding Georges Bank from any drilling. Delahunt said there is so little oil beneath the oval-shaped area that is not worth threatening fishing grounds. Georges Bank is located 70 miles offshore - roughly between Nova Scotia and Cape Cod - and is larger in area than Massachusetts.

According to a 2006 estimate by the federal Minerals Management Service, the entire North Atlantic region, stretching from Maine to New Jersey, likely has 570 million barrels of oil, enough to fuel the country for less than a month... Globe. (File photo from Cape most recent oil spill.)
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State holds $9M in tourism grants as regional bureau draws fire
Towns leaders say regional bureau is "not productive"

By contrast, other regions received varying amounts ranging from $3.4 million for Greater Boston; $808,896 for Cape Cod; $379,011 for Nantucket; $361,074 for Martha's Vineyard.

NEW BEDFORD - The state is holding up distribution of $9 million in grants to 13 regional tourism districts because of dissatisfaction with the Southeastern Massachusetts Convention & Visitors Bureau based in New Bedford.

The state is telling the regional bureau to:

• Improve upon and speed up financial reporting, especially for fiscal 2008, which ended June 30.
• Resubmit an application for 2009 fiscal year funding.
• Step up quality of its work, including marketing initiatives and collaboration with partners.

The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism's scrutiny of the regional bureau comes as the bureau is under fire from mayors of the region's four largest cities for not including them in planning and marketing.

State officials said no other regional travel and tourism organization is in a similar position.

Issues with the regional bureau are to be discussed Thursday in Boston at a meeting of state officials, regional legislators, cities' representatives and the bureau. One key reason for the meeting is the mayors' suggestion that the state virtually bypass the regional bureau and allocate money directly to their cities.

The mayors say the approach by the regional bureau is "not productive"... Standard-Times.
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Cambodian restaurant stirs Cape diners

Mass. deer permits going on sale
   Surplus antlerless deer permits for Wildlife Management Zones 10, 11, 13 and 14 will go on sale Monday at MassWildlife's Southeast District office in Myles Standish State Forest.
   Hunters will be allowed to buy one permit per zone per day for $5 each.
Zone 11 covers most of southeastern Massachusetts except Cape Cod. Zone 13 is Martha's Vineyard and Zone 14 is Nantucket. Zone 10 is northeastern Massachusetts. There are no extra permits available for other zones.

POCASSET - In this Bourne village between Falmouth and the Cape Cod Canal, Bopha Samms runs the only Cambodian restaurant in the area. She explains on her menu what the dream of serving food to others means to her. As a teenager in a Khmer Rouge labor camp, she says, "I thought, one day if I ever have freedom, I will make sure people can enjoy my food."

The appeal of her cooking has been evident since she first opened Stir Crazy nearly 20 years ago, and today the popular 136-seat restaurant has a deeply loyal fan base. Cambodian food, says Samms, is generally less spicy than Thai, although it utilizes "pretty much the same spices and ingredients as Thai food. We use a lot of vegetables, a lot of lemongrass, and garlic. We use very little meat"...

The next morning, she decided to close for lunch. "People had to understand the priority is not just about success, it is the family you have to raise," she says. Business at night doubled.Stir Crazy now has seven employees, including a chef. In rare free moments, Samms bikes along the Cape Cod Canal, and sometimes stops to find a comfortable rock and take out a bottle of soap bubbles she carries to entertain her grandchildren. "I blow bubbles and enjoy the beauty and relax," she says. "Very little things make me happy"...  Stir Crazy is at 626 MacArthur Blvd. (Route 28) in Pocasset, 508-564-6464.  Globe.