Email journal: July 21, 2006, Worcester The first murder in Worcester this year occurred Saturday night. I went to a vigil for the young man who passed away and then to a community meeting to discuss the tragedy. It was awfully sad meeting the long time girlfriend and the other friends of the man. I thought it was a powerful ceremony and it was good to see the support of many of the tenants of the apartment building at both the vigil and the community meeting. The community meeting brought together church leaders, city officials including members of the police force, and neighbors. The meeting was translated as there were many people at the meeting who were only English or only Spanish speakers. I was impressed at the meeting to hear of all the community programs and opportunities that are available for people in the neighborhood. I hope that more people will take advantage of these opportunities and that this can be a positive that comes out of the tragedy. I am a strong believer that staying active can make a huge difference in the life of a young adult. This week I also attended a press conference and hearing for a convicted sex offender who violated his probation and because of a loophole in the law was not registered as a sex offender. The press conference was an opportunity to bring residents and city officials to show support for legislation that would end this loophole. The mother and grandmother of one of the girls who was exposed to were at the press conference as was Maggie Bish, mother of Molly Bish who was abducted and killed by a predator. Despite the trauma experienced by all of the aforementioned people, they all thought that it was their duty to come together and help to prevent something terrible from happening again. As you can see it was another interesting and intense week with Councilor Haller. Thanks for reading, Abby