By Tom Dalton, Chris Cassidy and Julie Manganis
Staff writers
October 10, 2008 05:48 am SALEM — Put down your picks and shovels. Today's groundbreaking ceremony for the new state courthouse has been canceled. It was going to be quite a shindig. Gov. Deval Patrick was coming, and so was Margaret Marshall, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Half the city was expected to turn out. But the 2 p.m. ceremony has been squashed. The first explanation was that Patrick had to bow out because he is meeting today with cabinet secretaries and economic advisers to deal with the fiscal crisis. He does have an emergency meeting, but it turns out the governor wasn't the one to cancel the party. The courts called it off, and issued this statement on the eve of the ceremony: "Today we determined that a celebratory event to mark the groundbreaking of the J. Michael Ruane Justice Center would not be warranted given the serious fiscal challenges facing our state and local governments." The ceremony, it turns out, was one more victim of the Wall Street crisis. State officials assure us that calling off the groundbreaking party doesn't mean the state is calling off the $106 million courthouse. "This has nothing to do with the project itself," said Kevin Flanigan, a spokesman for the Division of Capital Asset Management, the state agency overseeing the project. "I can't emphasize enough that the project is going forward as planned." Gas for less Our search this week for the cheapest gas on the North Shore turned up a couple of bargain stations in Salem. Although nobody could top the $3.06 per gallon at a station on Route 1 in Peabody, two local stations earned honorable mentions. A.L. Prime on Lafayette Street and Spiro's Energy on Boston Street were both selling a gallon of regular unleaded for $3.19 earlier in the week. Money anniversary In the midst of all this craziness on Wall Street, Cabot Money Management of Salem is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Rob Lutts founded the company in the fall of 1983 and continues to run it today. He was a natural for the world of high finance. His dad, Carlton Lutts, wrote the popular "The Cabot Market Letter," which his brother, Timothy, carries on today. "I remember as a 10-year-old kid, my father would drag me behind him to visit CEOs of companies and hear what they had to say," Lutts said. "He was looking for the next Xerox all his life, and he still is." Cabot Money Management manages about $400 million. A year ago, that figure was closer to $500 million. "We'll get there again," Lutts said. Big Cheese, Little Cheese At least something's going right for the man once dubbed "The Big Cheese" by law enforcement. Sure, a few people scoffed when reputed Mob boss Carmen "The Cheeseman" DiNunzio requested an hour a day off home confinement to get some exercise. DiNunzio was tipping the scales at 400 pounds and had a litany of health problems. But two months after his request was granted, he does seem to be trimming down a bit. During an appearance Monday in Salem Superior Court, where he's facing gambling and extortion charges, we couldn't help but notice that he had to pull up his pants a couple of times as he stood before the judge. Singing couple When the Sebasco Harbor Resort in Maine announced a "Pure Maine Wedding Giveaway," it asked contestants to submit videos explaining why they wanted to get married in Maine. It got a bunch of good ones, including one from a Salem couple, Sara Scavongelli and Matt Card. Sara and Matt do a takeoff on the "Brady Bunch" television show and sing about how they met at work in Boston and discovered that two of their parents graduated from the same high school in Brunswick, Maine. The Salem couple are one of five finalists. If they win, they get a free wedding at the 550-acre Sebasco Harbor Resort for up to 200 guests. The winner will be picked Oct. 22. To check out the videos, go to the resort's Web site at www.sebasco.com. Spinning for Salem The city will soon make an appearance on one of America's most watched TV shows. "It's one of the prizes on the 'Wheel,'" said Kate Fox, director of Destination Salem, the city's tourist agency. Yup, the "Wheel." As in, "Wheel of Fortune" with Pat Sajak and Vanna White. Some lucky contestant could win a trip to Salem if they manage to get the wheel to stop spinning on the right space. The prize includes a six-night stay at the Hawthorne Hotel, as well as a gift certificate to Victoria Station and tickets to the Salem ferry, the Salem Witch Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum and The House of the Seven Gables. Salem on the tube Salem will soon be getting nearly as much TV time as Barack Obama and John McCain. The "Wheel of Fortune" episode with the Salem giveaway runs the week of Oct. 27. A Haunted Happenings edition of "TV Diner," the restaurant review show on New England Cable News hosted by Billy Costa, is set to air Oct. 18. And the episode of the ABC game show "Opportunity Knocks" featuring a Salem family will hit the screen on Oct. 28. So what happens after the month of October is over? Maybe the massive citywide cleanup would make a good episode of "Dirty Jobs" with Mike Rowe. You know how to party When the city invited you to a downtown block party to celebrate its distinction as one of the top neighborhoods in America on Wednesday, you showed up — and you brought along your appetite and your love of free stuff. A few hundred people gathered on the steps of Derby Square for complimentary pizza and Salem T-shirts. At final tally, the crowd consumed 320 slices of pizza (ranging from pepperoni to the popular steak and Gorgonzola cheese) and snagged a total of 250 T-shirts.
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