Update: Salem, Massachusetts Passes Ordinance to License Fortune Tellers

The city of Salem, Massachusetts has passed a new ordinance to license fortune tellers. Under the new rules, anyone who can pass a criminal background check, has lived in the city for a year, and has "five years of experience." What that means seems to me to be a little murky, though. What kind of experience does the the city council mean? Will some association verify it? One of the local "certified mediums" (what's a "certified medium"?) seems to have made a prediction. Barbara Szafranski told WBZT-TV, "“I forsee in the next five years this city just being over run by them." [The "them" is apparently applicants who have only been in the city a year.] But others apparently welcome the new licensing opportunities which they believe will encourage tourism and commercial opportunities. The penalty for practicing without a license? One hundred dollars. Read more here.  Prior to the new ordinance, Salem limited the number of licenses available. The discussion over increasing the number of fortune telling licenses had been lively. Read more here about the debate in a BostonHerald.com article.