Mother Nature has spared us New Englanders for now as historic Hurricane Irma mercifully sputters to her demise over the Southeast after Harvey’s similarly destructive sojourn.
But natural disasters aren’t the only thing powerful enough to spin Worcester’s world upside down.
In the span of six days we learned that Shack’s clothing store and Elwood Adams Hardware — and their combined 324 years of Main Street history — are not long for downtown.
A gut punch to the city’s soul. Hitch, for one, was whipped into a frenzy over the news.

David M. Hitch
Volume 197