| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| charm |
Posted - 01/11/2009 : 06:39:31 AM
With federal aid, police using more video
By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent | January 11, 2009
When Salem's streets filled with revelers this past Halloween, police kept a close eye on the activity. But it wasn't just officers on the street who did the monitoring.
Using five surveillance video cameras recently installed at different locations downtown, police inside the station were also able to watch the celebrations on computer screens.
"It gave us a really good overview of what was going on in the downtown areas during the entire night," said Lieutenant Mary Butler.
Salem, which also installed three cameras on its common in 2006, is not alone in tapping video technology to fight crime. Chelsea, Everett, and Revere all installed police surveillance cameras in public areas several years ago and are adding more, while Winthrop recently installed some video cameras.
"It's just taking advantage of technology," said Salem Mayor Kimberley L. Driscoll. "We will never be able to put a police officer on every corner . . . but with this technology, we can put our eyes and ears" in places where no officer is present.
"It's one more tool we can put on our tool belt to help us try to thwart any issues," said Winthrop Police Chief David B. Goldstein.
The cameras deployed by police are mounted on poles, buildings, and other infrastructure. Images are transmitted wirelessly to the police station, where they can be watched live or on tape later. Police can pan and zoom in on the images.
Salem funded its cameras on the common through a $100,000 bond authorized by the City Council in 2006. Its most recent cameras were funded with the remainder of that bond and state community policing money.
Regional grants from the US Department of Homeland Security funded 71 cameras in local communities in 2004 and 2006 - 44 in Boston, 10 in Chelsea, 10 in Everett, and seven in Revere. Chelsea added 21 more by using city funds. .
With additional Homeland Security money, 95 more cameras will be installed in nine communities, including nine apiece in Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, and three in Everett.
The nine communities - Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop - comprise the Metropolitan Boston Homeland Security Region. (Revere is placing another 12 cameras at its schools through a separate federal grant).
The regional Homeland Security money, to date totaling $4.6 million, is also paying for the local wireless systems, and a planned wireless network through which the nine communities will exchange video images and data, according to Don McGough, director of the mayor's office of emergency preparedness in Boston.
He said the cameras can be used for homeland security purposes -- protecting critical installations from terrorist activities and natural disasters - as well as monitoring other criminal activity.
The proliferation of surveillance cameras nationwide has generated controversy, with critics contending they infringe on civil liberties.
In Brookline, officials are considering rejecting their cameras in light of that concern.
"This is all part of putting in place mechanisms that we think change the nature of the United States as we have known it as a free society," said Sarah Wunsch, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.
"We've always compared ourselves to societies where the state government, the police, are watching you in public places."
Wunsch also cited studies that she said showed that cameras are not effective in preventing crime.
As yet, there are no signs of controversy in communities north of Boston with police cameras, and officials say they are confident their use is not infringing on civil liberties.
"We are placing these cameras in public places where there is no expectation of privacy," Driscoll said.
Local police also say they have adopted safeguards, including limiting access by officers to camera controls, to protect against violation of privacy.
Salem placed cameras on its common in response to vandalism and other criminal activity there. Butler said the incidents all seemed to cease once the cameras were installed, suggesting they were possibly a deterrent. From that experience, the city decided to try cameras downtown.
Butler said that in addition to helping monitor Halloween night crowds, the cameras came in handy in an incident where police were able to refute allegations of an assault by reviewing videotape taken where the crime was said to have occurred.
Everett Police Lieutenant Paul Landry said his department has found its cameras to be helpful.
"It gives an opportunity for the officer in charge to actually see what is going on on the street," Landry said, noting that he used it himself one night to watch one of his officers chase a suspect on foot on Broadway.
Chelsea and Revere police say that in addition to such monitoring, their cameras have been useful in crime investigations.
Revere Police Chief Terence Reardon said his department's cameras provided evidentiary material in the investigation of the 2007 fatal shooting of Revere Police Officer Daniel Talbot, and in a 2006 fatal hit-and-run case.
"What they do is corroborate facts as given to us by victims and witnesses, to confirm what happened and oftentimes to dispel allegations," said Chelsea Police Chief Brian A. Kyes.
|
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| tetris |
Posted - 01/17/2010 : 09:27:41 AM
Community panels promoting accurate census count
By John Laidler
Globe Correspondent / January 17, 2010
With the 2010 US Census fast approaching, local cities and towns are trying to ensure that no one is overlooked.
Many area communities are forming “complete count committees,’’ groups of public officials and leaders of community organizations that work to maximize local response to the census, particularly among immigrants and other hard-to-reach populations.
“The key is to have an accurate count,’’ said Gloucester City Councilor Paul McGeary, who is helping to organize a Complete Count Committee in that city. “Communities like Salem, Peabody, Gloucester, and Lynn, where significant immigrant populations sometimes get undercounted’’ due to language barriers and other factors.
The decennial census, the nation’s major population count, will get underway in March, when the Census Bureau mails or delivers forms to households across the country with the request that they be returned by about April 1. Census workers will follow up with visits to the homes of those who do not respond.
With the help of the complete count committees, local officials hope to get the word out to their residents about the importance of getting everyone counted.
Census data is used as part of the al location formula in many federal and state programs. It is also used to apportion seats in the US House of Representatives, a key issue now for Massachusetts in light of its potential loss of one of its congressional seats.
Bruce Kaminski, deputy regional director for the Census Bureau’s Boston regional office, said complete count committees “are very important because they are the trusted voices in the community coming together to publicly support the census.’’
He said the committees also “show the value of the census to the community, for its schools, its transportation network, its public safety services.’’
Lynn launched a complete count committee Wednesday, a well-publicized event at City Hall that was taped for later airing on the city’s cable channel. The kick-off included band and choir performances by Lynn students and remarks about the census by a variety of community leaders speaking in their native languages.
The committee’s other efforts will include distributing literature about the census in different languages in local grocery stores, banks, and other public places, according to Diana Kerry, director of the Public Policy Institute at North Shore Community College and a member of the committee.
Kerry, who is the sister of US Senator John F. Kerry, said the mission is to spread the word - notably among immigrant and other hard-to-count populations, that the census “is safe, it’s easy, and it’s important.’’
Revere has an active complete count committee formed about a year ago.
“We are trying to do whatever we can to get the word out and get an accurate count,’’ said Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino.
City Election Commissioner Diane Colella, who chairs the Revere committee, said the group’s work has included organizing a major kick-off event last June that was later aired on the city’s cable station; distributing fliers; and including census information on the website of the city and other organizations represented on the committee.
Colella, meanwhile, has distributed T-shirts and winter hats with the census logo to the Garfield Magnet School and at a local social agency that serves immigrants.
She said as the census approaches, the committee plans to step up its efforts, including through additional distribution of fliers and having notices about the census read from the pulpit at houses of worship.
“It’s truly a grass-roots campaign,’’ said Colella, who is optimistic “that the residents will understand the importance of answering the 2010 census. A lot of programs they rely upon depend upon their answering the census.’’
After enjoying success with a complete count committee during the 2000 census, Lowell is using one again this year.
The current group’s work included holding a kick-off event in August and bringing representatives from the Census Bureau to speak before neighborhood groups. Participating organizations are also distributing literature, and have given out census T-shirts and backpacks, according to Mike Demaras, the city’s coordinator of neighborhood services.
“We definitely think it’s a very helpful tool,’’ Adam Baacke, Lowell’s assistant city manager and director of planning and development, said of complete count committees, noting that with the help of the 2000 committee, the city saw its census population figure grow after predictions it would fall.
Chelsea formed a complete count committee 16 months ago and “we are about to institute some of the things we’ve been planning,’’ said City Manager Jay Ash.
That will include outreach efforts by the various organizations participating in the committee, and the downtown display of banners about the census.
The approach of the census is evident in other ways in the region.
The Census Bureau recently opened three local offices in the region, to serve the Beverly, Lowell, and Medford areas. It is also working with a myriad of local partners - the Beverly office alone is working with at least 150 - which are governments, nonprofits, or businesses that help raise awareness of the census and assist with other tasks.
And here, as in other parts of the country, the bureau is hiring temporary, part-time census takers, as many as 1,000 for each office.
“Our philosophy is to hire people from the neighborhood,’’ Kaminski said. That helps ensure that when a home visit is required, “a person from the neighborhood is knocking on the door.’’
Anyone interested in applying for a census job can call 866-861-2010.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company. |
| tetris |
Posted - 01/17/2010 : 09:23:26 AM
Community panels promoting accurate census count
By John Laidler
Globe Correspondent / January 17, 2010
With the 2010 US Census fast approaching, local cities and towns are trying to ensure that no one is overlooked.
Many area communities are forming “complete count committees,’’ groups of public officials and leaders of community organizations that work to maximize local response to the census, particularly among immigrants and other hard-to-reach populations.
“The key is to have an accurate count,’’ said Gloucester City Councilor Paul McGeary, who is helping to organize a Complete Count Committee in that city. “Communities like Salem, Peabody, Gloucester, and Lynn, where significant immigrant populations sometimes get undercounted’’ due to language barriers and other factors.
The decennial census, the nation’s major population count, will get underway in March, when the Census Bureau mails or delivers forms to households across the country with the request that they be returned by about April 1. Census workers will follow up with visits to the homes of those who do not respond.
With the help of the complete count committees, local officials hope to get the word out to their residents about the importance of getting everyone counted.
Census data is used as part of the al location formula in many federal and state programs. It is also used to apportion seats in the US House of Representatives, a key issue now for Massachusetts in light of its potential loss of one of its congressional seats.
Bruce Kaminski, deputy regional director for the Census Bureau’s Boston regional office, said complete count committees “are very important because they are the trusted voices in the community coming together to publicly support the census.’’
He said the committees also “show the value of the census to the community, for its schools, its transportation network, its public safety services.’’
Lynn launched a complete count committee Wednesday, a well-publicized event at City Hall that was taped for later airing on the city’s cable channel. The kick-off included band and choir performances by Lynn students and remarks about the census by a variety of community leaders speaking in their native languages.
The committee’s other efforts will include distributing literature about the census in different languages in local grocery stores, banks, and other public places, according to Diana Kerry, director of the Public Policy Institute at North Shore Community College and a member of the committee.
Kerry, who is the sister of US Senator John F. Kerry, said the mission is to spread the word - notably among immigrant and other hard-to-count populations, that the census “is safe, it’s easy, and it’s important.’’
Revere has an active complete count committee formed about a year ago.
“We are trying to do whatever we can to get the word out and get an accurate count,’’ said Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino.
City Election Commissioner Diane Colella, who chairs the Revere committee, said the group’s work has included organizing a major kick-off event last June that was later aired on the city’s cable station; distributing fliers; and including census information on the website of the city and other organizations represented on the committee.
Colella, meanwhile, has distributed T-shirts and winter hats with the census logo to the Garfield Magnet School and at a local social agency that serves immigrants.
She said as the census approaches, the committee plans to step up its efforts, including through additional distribution of fliers and having notices about the census read from the pulpit at houses of worship.
“It’s truly a grass-roots campaign,’’ said Colella, who is optimistic “that the residents will understand the importance of answering the 2010 census. A lot of programs they rely upon depend upon their answering the census.’’
After enjoying success with a complete count committee during the 2000 census, Lowell is using one again this year.
The current group’s work included holding a kick-off event in August and bringing representatives from the Census Bureau to speak before neighborhood groups. Participating organizations are also distributing literature, and have given out census T-shirts and backpacks, according to Mike Demaras, the city’s coordinator of neighborhood services.
“We definitely think it’s a very helpful tool,’’ Adam Baacke, Lowell’s assistant city manager and director of planning and development, said of complete count committees, noting that with the help of the 2000 committee, the city saw its census population figure grow after predictions it would fall.
Chelsea formed a complete count committee 16 months ago and “we are about to institute some of the things we’ve been planning,’’ said City Manager Jay Ash.
That will include outreach efforts by the various organizations participating in the committee, and the downtown display of banners about the census.
The approach of the census is evident in other ways in the region.
The Census Bureau recently opened three local offices in the region, to serve the Beverly, Lowell, and Medford areas. It is also working with a myriad of local partners - the Beverly office alone is working with at least 150 - which are governments, nonprofits, or businesses that help raise awareness of the census and assist with other tasks.
And here, as in other parts of the country, the bureau is hiring temporary, part-time census takers, as many as 1,000 for each office.
“Our philosophy is to hire people from the neighborhood,’’ Kaminski said. That helps ensure that when a home visit is required, “a person from the neighborhood is knocking on the door.’’
Anyone interested in applying for a census job can call 866-861-2010.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company. |
| Linda M |
Posted - 01/10/2010 : 08:54:31 AM
SOMERVILLE
Crackdown on parking raises fears
Businesses, residents worry about access
By Travis Andersen, Globe Correspondent | January 10, 2010
Somerville parking officers began ticketing cars without residential permits on most city streets last week, prompting long lines for stickers, a sharp rise in the number of citations issued, and frustration among local residents and business owners.
Prior to last Monday, drivers needed a $15 residential permit to park on about two-thirds of all city streets. Every street now requires a permit, except for 20 main thoroughfares that are open to nonresidents for two-hour stretches.
The city began issuing warnings on the newly affected streets on Dec. 21 and spent months publicizing the expansion, which was scheduled to take effect in August but was delayed so a parking task force of residents, city officials, and business leaders could tweak the rules.
Many drivers appear either to have missed the memo or waited too long to get a permit. Last Monday and Tuesday, parking officers wrote 606 tickets, according to city records, compared with 189 on Dec. 21 and 22. Violators are fined $50 for each offense.
Lines at the Traffic and Parking Office spilled out the door last week onto Holland Street, with residents scrambling to get permits. The office extended its hours until 7 p.m. last Monday and Tuesday - and opened on two Saturdays before Christmas - to accommodate the rush.
But some residents still walked away empty-handed, including Justin Ashton, a hybrid vehicle entrepreneur who lives near Union Square. He said he first tried to get a permit in late December, then came back at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday and left when he saw that he’d never make it through the line before closing.
He stood outside the office on Wednesday afternoon, after striking out again. This time, he said, he had to get back to work and couldn’t wait in line, adding that he hasn’t received a ticket yet. “It’s getting down to the wire,’’ he said.
Elizabeth Graham, a social worker who lives in Winter Hill, recently moved from a street that required a residential permit before the expansion, so she has had her sticker for a while. But she came to the office on Wednesday to buy two visitor permits, which cost $5 each. Nonresident visitors can use one pass in the same vehicle for two days each week.
Graham didn’t think she’d need the visitor passes when she moved, but her street now falls in the residential expansion zone.
“I think it’s the city’s best way to make revenue,’’ she said. “I’m not terribly happy about it.’’
George Ross, owner of Ross Real Estate on Broadway, is livid. He said many of his brokers live outside the city, and now they can’t park on streets near the office. In addition, he said, they’ll have to worry about getting tickets when they’re on the road showing properties.
“We should get a new mayor,’’ he said.
The city offers 12-month realtor permits for $50, which allow brokers to park their cars anywhere in the city while showing properties. General business permits are available for $150, and the city offers stickers for other groups including nonresident artists, landlords, and those attending places of worship.
But some business owners located in residential zones fear their suppliers will be ticketed when they drop off inventory, according to Stephen Mackey, president and CEO of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce.
He said the chamber has six members on the parking task force pushing hard for loading zones for affected businesses, among other changes to the program.
“We’ve been on top of this from the get-go,’’ Mackey said.
City spokesman Tom Champion said in an e-mail that businesses already can apply for loading zone permits through the city Traffic Commission. “Loading zones are granted on the basis of need, and clearly, needs change over time,’’ Champion said.
The need for all manner of permits has risen dramatically in the months leading up to the expansion. Champion recently told the Globe that the city issued more than 3,200 residential permits in the final three months of 2009, compared with about 1,300 during the same period in 2008.
Last Monday and Tuesday, the city issued 2,506 residential, visitor, and special permits, according to Champion. “That’s a lot of permits.’’
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
THIS WILL BE COMING EVERETT'S WAY |
| Tails |
Posted - 01/02/2010 : 4:13:11 PM
No worries...these are trying times and I hope our "leaders" that we elected into office will not just sit idly by allow this to happen, from a known terrorist country. This should be stopped at no matter what the cost.
Don't we have these resources in our own country? |
| justme |
Posted - 01/02/2010 : 08:09:05 AM
We're on the same page Tails, I misunderstood your statement. When you said the mayor & city council should speak against this, I took it to mean against Mayor Menino trying to stop the tankers. I should have known that wasn't what you meant.............. Sorry! |
| Tails |
Posted - 01/01/2010 : 7:42:47 PM
The Mayor, along with every city council member should write to the coastguard vehemently opposed to this. I understand that Distrigas signed the contract before the Christmas day “almost” tragedy (thanks to passengers on the plane, not security or the airline) but, what about the shoe bomber??
Distrigas signed the contract after the shoe bomber incident and he was from Yemen.
When is this country going to wake up? These countries are housing terrorist that are planning attacks on us, and we are going to allow one of their gas tankers right into Everett?
Yemen admitted just a few days ago that “hundreds” of terrorist are in their country planning attacks on Americans.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6970574.ece
Because of the recent events….Mayor Menino is right, at this time, it should be docked off-shore or look elsewhere.
I think the threat is real and no one should sugar coat it. This article says an explosion on an LNG tanker has the potential to be approximately equal to "a small nuclear explosion".
These terrorist are not dumb, they know exactly what they are doing, and I’m disturbed by the “bad people everywhere” comment from the mayor. The mayor may not be able to stop it, but that sounded to me like he did not care.
http://www.surfermag.com/features/oneworld/lngarticle/
|
| justme |
Posted - 01/01/2010 : 6:42:09 PM
I'm not sure what the mayor, or anyone else, can say that would make anyone feel comfortable with a ship from Yemen delivering natural gas. I know I'm not too happy about the idea and I don't think I'm alone.
I have no issues with the facility but I have serious concerns relative to new deliveries originating from a location we know is a training ground for people who want to destroy this country. How much damage can blowing that ship up in Boston Harbor cause? |
| Tails |
Posted - 01/01/2010 : 09:50:08 AM
I hope Mayor DeMaria and the entire City Council speaks out adamantly against this....
Mayor seeks to block tankers
Wants Yemen gas delivery offshore
By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | January 1, 2010
Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday he will ask Boston’s lawyers to see whether the city can block Yemeni tankers from delivering liquefied natural gas into Boston Harbor, calling such deliveries “wrong.’’
“We’re in extraordinary times that call for extraordinary measures to ensure the safety of our city,’’ the mayor said in an interview. “They cannot be coming into a harbor like Boston, where there is less than 50 feet between the tankers and residential areas.’’
Menino and several other public officials said they would press for the tankers’ cargo - destined for an LNG terminal in Everett as soon as next month - to instead be unloaded away from the city, in light of the failed Christmas Day attempt by a Nigerian man, who trained in Yemen, to blow up a US airliner over Detroit.
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, who had called the plan to bring in the tankers “a matter of grave concern,’’ said yesterday he would contact the state’s top public safety official - Kevin M. Burke, the secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety - to look for ways to halt the deliveries.
The Globe reported yesterday that shipments of liquefied natural gas from Yemen are scheduled to arrive for the first time in Boston as early as February. Coast Guard officials are reviewing the plan and said yesterday they have not yet decided whether the shipments will be allowed to enter the harbor and dock at the LNG terminal in Everett.
“Their paramount concern is the safety and security of the Port of Boston,’’ Coast Guard spokesman Jeff Hall said of the security team reviewing the plans.
Concerns among Menino and other local officials have intensified since the failed plot last week, which renewed fears that Yemen has become a haven and training ground for extremists.
“They need to seriously look at offloading those ships in the outer harbor,’’ said John Leo McKinnon, an Everett city councilor and chairman of the city’s public safety committee. “If we’re going to be taking in ships from Yemen, a known terror site, we have to make sure people feel comfortable.’’
In addition to the Christmas Day episode, McKinnon cited the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the southern Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed in that attack.
“These two incidents should make people more edgy,’’ he said.
And state Representative Eugene L. O’Flaherty, Democrat of Chelsea, reiterated his past calls for an offshore facility. But he said he recognizes the importance of the Everett plant, which “is necessary for the economy.’’
“Where it’s located is a potential disaster for the city of Boston and surrounding communities,’’ he said. “It’s something that should be brought to everybody’s attention.’’
The local officials suggested that the gas be unloaded in the outer harbor, either on a facility built in the water or on one of the harbor islands. Both possibilities have been discussed in the past, when the potential threat of LNG tankers was first raised several years ago, but were eventually dropped.
Past studies have concluded that a liquefied natural gas leak in Boston Harbor could catch fire and even explode, threatening people more than three-quarters of a mile away.
Officials for DistriGas, the company responsible for the shipments, have taken issue with some of those assertions about risk. A 2004 study commissioned by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was based on dangerously flawed assumptions, and its recommendations were “scientifically unsupported and premature,’’ Francis J. Katulak, DistriGas’s senior vice president for operations, told the federal agency at the time. Thus, he said, it was impossible to know the real hazards of a potential liquefied natural gas release from a tanker.
In the most recent debate about safety, attention has focused on the use of an offshore facility to unload the tankers, far away from Boston neighborhoods. There is an offshore natural gas facility in Gloucester and another is scheduled to begin operating soon, a Coast Guard spokesman said.
But those plants operate differently from the Everett facility run by Distrigas of Massachusetts, said Carol Churchill, a company spokeswoman. While the offshore facilities vaporize the gas and inject it directly into pipelines, the Everett plant unloads the gas in liquid form and stores it in tanks. It then distributes the gas as needed, supplying 20 percent of the natural gas used in New England - or more on a cold day, Churchill said.
If the gas now delivered in liquid form was instead vaporized, the pipelines could not hold it all, she said.
“We appreciate the suggestion that this might be possible,’’ Churchill said. “New England needs this natural gas. The constraints of the pipeline system that exists are what make the Everett facility so critical.’’
She said the company is doing everything possible to make sure the shipments from Yemen pose no risk to the residents of Boston and the surrounding communities.
“The only thing that has changed is the country of origin,’’ she said. “The ships are the same we’ve used in the past. The crews and officers are going to be similar to the ones we’ve used in the past. And there will be additional safety checks between the time the ships leave Yemen and arrive in Everett. We have an excellent safety record and we intend to maintain that excellent safety record in years to come.’’
Shipments currently come from Trinidad and Egypt. In the past, they have originated in Abu Dhabi, Australia, and Algeria. She said the company contracted with YLNG, a Yemeni company, which built a state-of-the-art facility in Balhaf, Yemen.
But Yemen is facing renewed scrutiny from US counter-terrorism officials. Some say LNG tankers from the country are especially worrying because of a 2004 memoir by former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, who wrote that officials had “learned that Al Qaeda operatives had been infiltrating Boston by coming in on liquid natural gas tankers from Algeria.’’
Burke, the state’s public safety secretary, said yesterday that next week he will arrange for DeLeo to receive “a full security briefing’’ from the Coast Guard.
“The main monitor will continue to be the Coast Guard,’’ said Burke, who has said he has expressed his concerns about the dangerous cargo to the Coast Guard’s captain of the port. “He has been very clear about how important safety is to him. He is not going to take any risk.’’
© Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/01/menino_wants_to_block_yemen_tankers/?page=1
|
| card |
Posted - 12/10/2009 : 08:06:34 AM
Police, fire get $5.5m in stimulus funds
A stimulus round brings $5.5m here
By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent | December 10, 2009
An infusion of $5.5 million in federal stimulus money is providing a boost to area cities and towns struggling to meet their public safety staffing needs.
The funding recently awarded by the state will pay for hiring, rehiring, and retaining local police officers and firefighters, and to help departments meet overtime and per diem costs associated with maintaining shift levels.
“We’re very grateful to have received the money,’’ said Salem Police Chief Paul F. Tucker, whose department plans to hire a new officer with the $69,478 it was awarded.
“We are 18 positions short right now from where we were five years ago,’’ he said, calling the addition of a new officer “a small step in the right direction.’’
Statewide, 35 police departments were awarded $6.2 million and 85 fire departments $11.6 million. In this region, 10 police departments will get a combined $1.1 million, while 22 fire departments will receive $4.4 million.
The police award is through the US Justice Department’s Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program. It follows $15.8 million in stimulus funds the federal agency awarded through that program to 147 Massachusetts municipalities earlier this year, and $28.9 million in stimulus money the state awarded in August to 13 communities through the Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services program.
Departments receiving money in this region are Chelsea, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Revere, Salem, and West Newbury.
The fire money is coming from discretionary funds Governor Deval Patrick set aside for the purpose. Local recipients are Andover, Beverly, Billerica, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Danvers, Dracut, Everett, Gloucester, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Methuen, Peabody, Revere, Saugus, Tewksbury, and Winthrop.
In a previous first round of the fire funding, the state in October awarded a combined $8.3 million to 15 fire departments, including Lawrence and Methuen.
Lowell Fire Chief Edward Pitta said his department’s recent $518,567 award “will be very helpful to us.’’
The department had applied for about $703,000 to replace nine firefighters who retired last fiscal year and whose positions were not filled due to budget constraints this fiscal year. While the actual award was less, Pitta said it is enough to fill six or seven of the jobs, providing sufficient staffing to keep an additional truck on line for most shifts. Currently, the department on a rotating basis removes up to three trucks per shift depending on staffing that day.
“The more trucks that are in service, the safer for everyone,’’ said Pitta, who hopes to have new hires start within the next month. (Those new hires who have not attended the state’s firefighting academy would need to enroll in the next available class).
The Chelsea Police Department plans to hire an additional officer with its $89,833 stimulus award. The funding follows the department’s receipt of $755,892 in stimulus money in October through the federal COPS program, which allowed the city to save the jobs of two officers targeted for layoffs and to fill one officer vacancy.
“We’re extremely pleased,’’ Police Chief Brian Kyes said of the latest award, calling it “an important step toward our goal of a 100-person department.’’ Chelsea, which now has 96 officers, has set that goal based on its population and crime trends.
Revere Fire Chief Eugene Doherty said he expects the department to hire three additional firefighters and to shore up its overtime with the $297,240 it was awarded.
The city had applied for $395,000, enough to fill five vacant firefighter jobs and a vacant administrative position, and to supplement the overtime budget. Doherty said while the actual award would only likely cover the three firefighter hirings and the added overtime, he welcomes it.
“It really bails us out,’’ he said, noting it will allow the city to reduce its need to rotate trucks off line due to staffing constraints.
Doherty is hopeful the city can secure additional federal funds to retain the three new jobs after the award expires, and possibly to add others. But if not, he expects pending retirements would allow room in his budget to avoid laying off anyone hired now.
The Lawrence Fire Department received $198,272 after being awarded $537,033 in the first round of fire funding.
The city used the initial award to retain eight firefighters then in the process of being laid off. Fire Chief Peter Takvorian said the latest award would shore up the department’s overtime budget, which could enable it to open one of its two currently closed neighborhood stations.
And he said if $271,000 in city supplemental funds earlier designated for the fire department is released, some of the stimulus could all be used to rehire two laid-off workers - a fire alarm dispatcher and a fire alarm electrician.
“This absolutely is a big help for us,’’ Takvorian said of the two stimulus awards, which he said would “help fill some of those gaps created’’ by cuts in the city’s state aid.
Lynn plans to use its $778,305 stimulus award to supplement its overtime budget, said Acting Fire Chief James Carritte. He hopes that should enable the city to return its Ladder 4 truck, based in Wyoma Square, to full service. The truck has been mostly out of service due to staffing constraints in recent months, leaving the city with two available ladder trucks per shift.
“We are very happy,’’ said Carritte. “I very much believe we should have three ladders available in the city whenever possible.’’
John Laidler can be reached at laidler@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
|
| card |
Posted - 11/15/2009 : 08:07:57 AM
Job gains difficult to quantify
Projects get $412m in stimulus funds
By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent | November 15, 2009
The federal economic-stimulus program has meant an infusion of dollars for public and private projects across the region, though getting a clear idea of its effect on jobs is not a simple task.
The US government released figures recently that showed nearly $4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act had been awarded to Massachusetts governmental entities, businesses, and nonprofit groups as of the end of last month, and put the number of jobs created or saved through the spending at 12,374.
But a Globe review of the figures last week found the jobs number was exaggerated. Its report cited instances in which recipients were given credit for more jobs than they had created, some through inaccurate counts or reflecting projects not yet started.
The $787 billion stimulus law has generated $411.9 million in funding for area communities, according to the US website tracking program, www.recovery.gov.
Leading the way among local recipients are Andover, with $66.1 million; Lowell, with $62.4 million; Lynn, with $34.7 million, and Lawrence, with $33.6 million. The least money flowed to Nahant, which has seen only $85,200. The website lists stimulus awards for all public and private projects within a community, not just those undertaken by the municipality. In some cases, state and federal projects represent a major share. Of the $66.1 million going to Andover, for instance, $57.1 million is for a project to modernize the Internal Revenue Service processing center on Route 133, the website reports.
Businesses receiving a boost from the program include Bethany Homes Inc., which manages subsidized senior housing in Haverhill. The company was awarded two rental-assistance grants totaling $586,120 from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development that, according to the federal website, created or saved a combined 17 clerical and maintenance jobs.
Pam Perron, finance clerk with Bethany Homes, said she questioned whether the stimulus money could be credited with those jobs, noting that it helped to fund contracts the company likely would have received anyway, as it has in past years.
“These are contracts we normally get. They are just paying for it with stimulus money,’’ she said. “I wouldn’t really call it stimulus money at all. They just labeled it that way.’’
But other recipients say the money is providing an employment boost.
Physical Sciences Inc., a research and development operation in Andover, was awarded $116,751 by the National Institutes of Health to help develop a monitoring instrument for cancer treatments that use low-intensity lasers.
Steven Davis, executive vice president of its applied sciences division, said the money will pay for a new researcher to work full time on the project, and help retain two other jobs.
“It clearly is being used to create employment and also to try to speed up the research,’’ he said of the grant.
Physical Sciences received a separate National Institutes of Health grant for $56,313 to help with its development of an instrument to examine retinas for early signs of age-related macular degeneration, a key cause of blindness in older adults.
While the funding was not credited with any new or retained jobs, Davis said it has the strong potential for indirectly boosting employment, since the development of the optical instrument would create jobs in manufacturing and medical research centers.
Pathways for Children, a Gloucester early education agency, received a $91,435 stimulus award for its Head Start program from the federal Administration for Children and Families.
The money is helping to pay the salary of a teacher who would otherwise have been laid off, according to Sue Todd, Pathway’s president and chief executive officer, as well as provide expanded staff training, pay for several teachers to add certification, and cover a one-year, 1.17 percent cost-of-living raise for teachers.
Todd acknowledged that the figure for the number of jobs created or saved by the grant - 3.59 - may seem inflated, based on how the money is being used, but said that her agency simply followed a formula provided by the federal government.
“Quite frankly, we struggled with the way to report this. The feds have acknowledged it was confusing,’’ Todd said, adding that reports due in January are expected to “reflect a much more realistic assessment of jobs created or saved.’’
But she said there was no doubt in her mind that the stimulus money is helping: “Any time there can be an investment made in training and in enhancing even to a modest degree professional teaching salaries, it benefits the children.’’
Endicott College in Beverly received $34,929 from the US Department of Education, a grant that the federal website lists as having created or saved the full-time equivalent of four student work-study jobs.
Donna Couture, the college’s treasurer, said the stimulus money is part of an overall $200,000 federal allocation Endicott received for its work-study program, which provides employment on campus to students with financial need.
She acknowledged that Endicott received nearly as much - $190,000 - in US aid for the work-study program last year, before the stimulus program was launched. But Couture said she believes the stimulus money was valuable this year as well.
“If not for this $35,000, maybe our allocation would have been less and we would not have had those funds available for our students with financial need.’’
|
| tetris |
Posted - 10/15/2009 : 08:06:53 AM
Even though the assistant city solicitor got named the Ethics Commission liaison, it looks like the City Clerk's office gets a lot of the work.
Gotta love the last line of the article; I guess we're not the only ones that think that way. |
| charm |
Posted - 10/15/2009 : 07:14:56 AM
Ethics law brings wave of confusion
By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent | October 15, 2009
City and town clerks are concerned that the paperwork imposed by the state’s new ethics law is posing a burden on their offices.
The legislation, which took effect Sept. 29, requires that clerks annually provide all municipal employees with a summary of the state’s conflict of interest law and collect receipts from those employees. Dec. 28 is the deadline for employees to receive the summary.
The law also requires municipal employees to take an online training program on the ethics law every two years and that clerks collect forms certifying they have done so. The state Ethics Commission recently extended the training deadline from Dec. 28 to April 2. Similar training is required of state and county workers.
Some local clerks say that while they welcome the intent of promoting greater awareness of the conflict of interest rules, the work they are being asked to do will be time-consuming and potentially costly.
“It’s adding to our already very large responsibilities that we have as city clerks. It’s just another one of those reg ulations that make it very difficult for local governments,’’ said Lowell City Clerk Richard Johnson.
A key issue for clerks concerns the definition the state has given for the municipal employees covered by the law.
Woburn City Clerk William Campbell noted that the definition, encompassing any paid or unpaid person performing services for or holding an office in a municipality, is broad enough to include board members, snow plow operators, traffic consultants, election poll workers, and even school volunteers.
While lists of regular employees are readily available, “How do I capture all of these other people who do things large and small for the city?’’ asked Campbell, a former president of the Massachusetts City Clerks Association.
Moving the training deadline to April 1 helped, Campbell said, but he maintains “the whole issue should be delayed until they can define what an employee is in a more realistic manner.’’
Beverly City Clerk Frances A. Macdonald, also a past president of the state clerks association, said she has heard a lot of concern and unhappiness from fellow clerks about implementing the new law.
She said the issue will be discussed at the organization’s meeting next Thursday.
Macdonald agreed that the definition of municipal employee is “very vague,’’ and is concerned that it includes poll workers.
“It’s hard getting them now,’’ she said of recruiting those election workers, many of whom are seniors. “If they realize they have to come in to take [the training], it may turn some of them off.’’
David Giannotti, a spokesman for the State Ethics Commission, said his agency has been getting “a lot of feedback’’ from clerks on the new law “and we are trying to be sensitive to the concerns that are being raised.’’
He said to try to help clerks comply with the rules, the office has advised them they can use e-mail to distribute the summaries, and that group training sessions can be offered for poll workers, for whom individual online training might not be practical.
“Conflict of interest law can be complex,’’ Giannotti said. “Making this kind of training mandatory will hopefully educate our public employees so that they will have better information to do their jobs and comply with the law.’’
Pam Wilmot, executive director of the public watchdog group Common Cause Massachusetts, noted that many of the people fined for violating the conflict of interest law are low-level municipal employees who “don’t understand what is expected of them. That is why having education about the requirements of the law is so critical.’’
She said the delay in implementing the training requirement “will give the commission time to clarify who needs to take the training and perhaps craft it more narrowly’’ so that the training provided on the local level is focused on municipal issues.
Needham Town Clerk Tedi Eaton, president of the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association, said there are many concerns being voiced about implementing the new law.
But she believes the issues will be resolved.
“This is going to take some time . . . to work out the kinks in it,’’ she said.
Peabody City Clerk Timothy Spanos said he is working with the city’s Human Resources Department to comply with the new requirements.
Spanos said the added work comes at a time when his and many other clerk’s offices are busy preparing for municipal elections and the special election for US Senate.
“It’s a mandate,’’ he said. “I’m not happy about it, but we have to do it. I think there should have been a little more thought put into the law before it was implemented.’’
Topsfield Town Clerk Beverly Ann Guarino agreed that the new law is time-consuming for clerks and believes it is being put into effect too hastily. But Guarino sees the public benefits outweighing any inconveniences.
“There are a lot of people who have looked the other way as far as ethics,’’ she said.
|
| massdee |
Posted - 10/06/2009 : 08:59:13 AM
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/10/three_face_char.html
Three face charges for allegedly stealing hundreds of Verizon Blackberrys
By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
Three people are now facing criminal charges after they allegedly stole hundreds of Verizon Blackberrys and sold them over the Internet, earning themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit profits, Middlesex prosecutors alleged today.
Wayne Deleveaux, 22, of Everett is the alleged ringleader who relied on the assistance of Shartieya Lambert, 23, also of Everett, to obtain the Blackberrys by using fictitious names and, in some cases, invoking the names of legitimate companies.
The three then allegedly sold the telecommunication devices to a third person, Nihat Ozdemir, who is accused of re-selling them on e-Bay, Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said in a statement today.
“This was an extensive scheme,’’ Leone said in the statement announcing the indictments. “We thank Verizon for first discovering this scheme and then contacting authorities immediately…’’
According to prosecutors, Deleveaux was indicted on five counts of larceny over $250 for being a “common and notorious thief.’’ Lambert is charged with two counts of larceny over $250 and Ozdemir, 44, of Watertown, faces charges of receiving stolen property valued at more than $250.
An arraignment date for the three in Middlesex Superior Court has not yet been set. All three have previously been charged in Cambridge District Court where they pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.
Deleveaux is being held at the Middlesex Jail was while Lambert and Ozdemir were both released on personal recognizance, prosecutors said.
According to Leone’s office, the three people have been under investigation for the past several months by police in Cambridge, Somerville, and State Police with information provided by the Verizon Wireless Corporate Security investigators.
In July, police searched a storage facility allegedly rented by Deleveauz and Lambert and recovered “large amounts of cash,’’ Verizon Blackberry phones, bank documents and other Verizon equipment. Police also allegedly recovered stolen Blackberrys from Ozdemir.
Leone estimated the alleged scam had a value in excess of $600,000.
"Deb" |
| massdee |
Posted - 10/04/2009 : 12:52:12 PM
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2009/10/04/everett_haverhill_lowell_methuen_and_revere_get_parks_money_from_state/
5 local cities get state aid for parks
October 4, 2009
Five local cities recently received a combined $740,000 in state grant money to improve parks.
The funding is part of $8.9 million distributed to 12 Massachusetts communities through the state’s Gateway City Parks initiative, said Kate Plourd, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, which administers the program.
The grants target communities with more than 35,000 people and household incomes, per capita incomes, and educational attainment levels below the state average.
Haverhill received $400,000 to acquire land for a trail network along the Merrimack River. Lowell received $250,000 to produce design and construction documents for the third phase of the Concord River Greenway and a preliminary design for renovation of South Common. Everett, Methuen, and Revere received $30,000 each to draft open space and recreation plans.
Grants are administered on a rolling basis. The next round of funding will be distributed once a sufficient number of projects have been approved, Plourd said. Other north of Boston cities eligible for future Gateway City Parks grants include Chelsea, Lawrence, Lynn, Malden, and Salem.
Brian Benson
"Deb" |
| massdee |
Posted - 09/15/2009 : 10:33:44 AM
Here's a link to the Massachusetts Public Record Law.
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf?PHPSESSID=6fb495f388f4e65ad16867c5292fef19
"Deb" |
|
|
