Archive for July, 2010
State starts sending checks tomorrow
By Robert Gavin, Globe Staff | July 30, 2010
The state will begin sending unemployment checks tomorrow to residents whose benefits were cut off during the long congressional stalemate over whether to continue federal extensions through November.
The state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said it will have issued 50,000 retroactive payments by Wednesday, less than three weeks after Congress reauthorized the program and President Obama signed it into law. The agency estimated that about 70,000 residents lost benefits after Congress let the extension program expire in early June.
State labor officials said it may take several days for paper checks to arrive, or for banks and other financial institutions to process direct deposits. Residents who kept claims current by recertifying every week should get their checks soon.
The state will contact remaining eligible workers by phone and mail to help them update claims and get payments processed. The labor office has extended hours at its call centers and encourages people whose benefits were cut off to call 1-888-998-8418. Updates are also available at www.mass.gov/dua/ui.
Congress did not increase the time for which an individual can collect, which, with the extensions, was up to 99 weeks. Those who have exhausted their benefits may be eligible for assistance from other organizations and nonprofits operating across the state. For information, go to the “For Residents’’ tab at www.mass.gov, or call the social services information and referral line at 211, or 1-877-211-MASS.
Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globe.com.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/07/30/restored_jobless_aid_is_on_its_way?mode=PF
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2010
Protects Tenants, Seeks to Prevent Foreclosures
State Representative Cory Atkins (D-Concord) joined her colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives yesterday in passing legislation aimed at protecting tenants in foreclosed properties and helping lenders and homeowners avoid foreclosure.
“In this economy, we need to do everything we can to help keep people in their homes,” said Atkins. “This bill helps tenants and homeowners find new ways to avert foreclosure and keep their families together.”
The bill establishes protections for tenants living in properties that have been taken over by a lender after foreclosure. Under this legislation, lenders must post their contact information – including an address where tenants can mail their rent – within 30 days of foreclosure. A lender cannot evict a tenant for failure to pay rent unless it has provided this notice.
In the event that a property is taken over by a lender after foreclosure, this bill stipulates that tenants can only be evicted for just cause or if the building is purchased by a third party.
The bill extends the right to cure period to 150 days from 90 days in some circumstances. This period, which allows lenders and homeowners a window to work out a new payment plan to avoid foreclosure, gives homeowners time to come up with past due payments on their mortgage before the lender can require full payment of the unpaid balance.
The bill institutes new provisions to govern interaction between a lender and homeowner during the right to cure period. Additionally, the bill allows the 150-day right to cure period to be granted once every 3 years. Currently, the 90-day right to cure period is available once every 5 years.
The legislation also adds new requirements to the right to cure notice that lenders must provide to homeowners.
The bill also establishes a new local property tax exemption for charitable organizations that acquire a foreclosed property with plans to create low and moderate income affordable housing on the property. This provision would exempt the organization from property taxes until it sells or rents the property, but not for more than 7 years after the purchase.
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Farmers Market opens in Acton
July 25, 2010
ACTON
The weekly Acton-Boxborough Farmers Market is open for the season. The market will convene on Pearl Street in West Acton, one block from the intersection of Route 111 and Central Street, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 31. The market has a variety of goods including vegetables, fruit, honey, eggs, meat, and specialty products such as artisan breads, jams, bagels and handmade soaps. — Jennifer Fenn Lefferts
CARLISLE
PUBLIC SCHOOL BID ACCEPTED — Selectmen have accepted a bid of $343,495 from D’Amico Inc. for preconstruction utility work at the Carlisle Public School after the bid was recommended by the School Building Committee. D’Amico was employed for the recent implementation of the school’s waste-water treatment facility. Construction of a new building for kindergarten and Grade 1 students, along with related renovations on the campus, is expected to begin next winter, with an anticipated completion date of fall 2012. — Nancy Shohet West
CONCORD
THOREAU SOCIETY GETS GRANT — The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities awarded a $3,500 grant to the Thoreau Society of Concord. State Representative Cory Atkins of Concord said the society will use the grant to create an online interactive map of Henry David Thoreau’s travels in Massachusetts in the mid-19th century. The foundation supports programs that use history, literature, and philosophy to enhance and improve community life throughout the state. — Jennifer Fenn Lefferts
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/07/25/farmers_market_opens_in_acton?mode=PF
Measure will restore reduced benefits
By Robert Gavin, Globe Staff | July 23, 2010
New federal legislation that extends emergency unemployment benefits through November also fixes a glitch that drastically cut the benefits of workers who took low-paying part-time or temporary jobs while collecting.
The legislation, passed by the House yesterday and signed into law by President Obama, restores benefits for an estimated 2 million Americans, including 70,000 in Massachusetts, who lost them after the extension program expired in early June. The extensions allow laid-off workers to collect for up to nearly two years. The Senate passed the bill Tuesday after a long partisan stalemate.
The law will also help workers who would have had benefits reduced because they took part-time or temporary jobs to supplement their unemployment checks.
As the economic downturn has dragged on, laid-off workers seeking to renew benefits for a second year were penalized for performing some alternate work while looking for a permanent job. When they did renew, their benefits were recalculated based on low pay from part-time or temporary work.
Earlier this year, for example, the Globe interviewed a carpenter who had benefits cut by 70 percent because he took a construction job that lasted three weeks. A transportation worker who took a six-week job with a lawn service lost 60 percent of his benefits when he renewed his claim after a year.
The fix, which applies to workers who would lose more than $100 a week, or 25 percent of their benefits, means that many who accepted part-time or temporary work will be able to continue to collect full benefits after a year. The provision, however, is not retroactive, and will only help workers who renew their claims after the bill takes effect.
Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed and other Democrats initially proposed that the provision be retroactive. But concerns over costs that held up the larger unemployment bill forced them to scale back the fix, according to Reed’s office.
With the US jobless rate hovering near 10 percent, Congress has wrangled for months over the extensions and other stimulus spending measures. Senate Republicans blocked action, concerned about the burgeoning federal deficits.
Democratic leaders stripped out several measures, including $24 billion to aid struggling state governments, and eventually won the support of Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both Republicans. That, plus the appointment of a new Democratic senator to replace the late Robert Byrd of West Virginia, was enough to break a GOP-led filibuster, bring the unemployment extension bill to a vote, and pass it.
Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, a Republican, voted against the bill.
Massachusetts has a 9 percent unemployment rate and more than 300,000 jobless workers. State officials hailed the approval of the extensions.
“On behalf of the thousands of Massachusetts people still in search of work, I thank the Congress, and especially our own delegation, for passing them this lifeline,’’ Governor Deval Patrick said in a statement. “This extension will help them bridge to better times.’’
Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Joanne Goldstein said it will probably take a “bit of time’’ to send out the retroactive checks because of the complexity of calculating the payments for 70,000 people with different benefits and were cut off at different times. “We are going to do it as quickly and accurately as humanly possible.’’
The state has set up a phone line to answer questions for those who had benefits cut off in recent weeks. The number is 1-888-998-8418. Updates will also be available on the at www.mass.gov/dua/ui. Go to the claimant section.
State officials are advising claimants to continue to certify weekly benefits and have extended hours at telephone claim centers to 7 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globe.com.
By Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff | July 19, 2010
Struggling New England homeowners looking for lower mortgage payments from Bank of America Corp. will be able to meet face-to-face with counselors as part of what the lender says is an effort to improve services.
Today, the nation’s largest servicer of home loans will open an office in Dedham dedicated to helping homeowners seeking loan modifications as a way to stave off foreclosure.
Glenda Gabriel, Bank of America’s neighborhood lending executive, said the new office is part of a national effort to better assist homeowners who complain their refinancing documents get lost and their pleas for help are not heard.
The office will be staffed with seven counselors who will meet with borrowers by appointment only; another five will travel to other New England communities to work directly with borrowers. While preparing for the official opening, counselors have been working with some customers since May.
“We understand we haven’t always met the service levels our customers deserve,’’ Gabriel said. “We apologize for this. We have made great strides in meeting this demand.’’
The bank’s announcement was met with a mix of skepticism and hope by housing advocates.
Bank of America has 478,811 borrowers nationwide who are at least 60 days behind on their mortgages and eligible for loan modifications under the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable Program, created last year. So far, the lender has approved 62,969 permanent loan modifications, according to a May report by the federal government.
The loan modification office is “a positive step,’’ said Bill Minkle, executive director of the Ecumenical Social Action Committee Inc., a Jamaica Plain nonprofit that works to help homeowners. “We have had a lot of communication problems with Bank of America for a long time. “
Lewis Finfer, executive director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, a faith-based community organizing group in Boston, said anything Bank of America can do to improve its service is commendable. But, he added, “They still should be judged on their record of performance that is not great.’’
Five other loan-modification offices have been opened by Bank of America in other states since September. It’s part of an effort by national lenders to reduce the number of foreclosures, said Brad Dwin, a spokesman for Hope Now, an organization of counselors, mortgage companies, and investors that works to help homeowners. “It definitely addresses any type of communication issues,’’ Dwin said.
Alex and Mary Jo Gulino of Uxbridge said they have already benefited from the Dedham Bank of America office. Mary Jo Gulino said she and her husband spoke with counselors there a few weeks ago after months of pleas for assistance proved fruitless. Following a meeting that lasted less than an hour, she said, they received a new loan offer a few days later that reduced their interest rate from about 8 percent to 2 percent for five years, shaving about $800 off their monthly payment. The interest rate will not go above 4.5 percent during the 30 years of the loan, she said.
“We were afraid we were going to lose our house, and now it’s a relief to be able to open the mail and not be afraid of what’s in there,’’ she said.
The office will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information call 781-251-4000.
Jenifer B. McKim can be reached at jmckim@globe.com.
July 18, 2010
ACTON
Acton Memorial Library is offering four computer classes for next month to teach beginners basic skills such as using e-mail or filling out online forms. Each class will be held on Wednesdays from 1 to 2 p.m. at the library. The Aug. 4 class will focus on using a mouse; Aug. 11, using the Internet; Aug. 18, beginning word processing; and Aug. 25, setting up an e-mail account. To register for the class, call the reference desk at 978-929-6543. — Jennifer Fenn Lefferts
CARLISLE
HIGHLAND REBIDDING RECONSIDERED — Following a controversial decision last month to wait several months before opening the Highland Building stabilization project to rebid, the Highland Building Committee has changed its position and is redrafting its request for proposals this month. The committee’s goals are to set a bidding deadline for August and to present the School Committee with a recommendation at the first meeting of the school year in September. The earlier decision was made after the committee received only one bid on the project, but further discussion and input from townspeople prompted the committee to avoid further delay. The committee is making changes to the proposal to make the project more attractive to bidders, including changing the anticipated time frame from 12 to 20 weeks. — Nancy Shohet West
CONCORD
INFORMATION ON AFFORABLE HOUSING UNITS — An informational session will be held next month for residents interested in affordable housing units at Lalli Woods in Concord. The session will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 12, at 141 Keyes Road. Applications are available now and will be accepted through Sept. 10. The lottery will be held Sept. 21. There are six units available at Lalli Woods, 1241-1251 Elm St. There are two two-bedroom units for $154,700; one two-bedroom unit for $226,900; and one three-bedroom unit for $299,900. For information, contact the Sudbury Housing Trust at 978-639-3388. — Jennifer Fenn Lefferts
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/07/18/computer_classes/
Posted in: Articles on 07/16/2010 | No Comments
by Marilyn Harte
Charles Schweppe (on right) takes a turn reading from the Declaration of Independence. About 30 people gathered to read the Declaration on July 4. (Photo by Mollie McPhee Ho)
It was Sunday morning, July 4, 20 minutes before noon, when people began to arrive at the Revolutionary War Memorial for the reading of the Declaration of Independence and the reading of the names of those 16 Carlisle Minutemen who marched to Concord to fight the British at the Old North Bridge on April 19, 1775, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
Already on hand was Carlisle Minuteman Captain Scott Evans playing the fife and ready to read off the 16 names. State Representative Cory Atkins had arrived early and looked on while the organizer of the event, Cynthia Schweppe, with her son Charles Schweppe, handed out copies of the Declaration of Independence which would be read after the First Religious Society church bells rang at noon.
By noon, more than 30 townspeople and a few visitors had assembled at the War Memorial holding their copies of the Declaration with designated sections for each to read. Following the tolling of the bells and the reading of the names of the Minutemen, people in attendance were invited to call out the names of any of their ancestors who had fought in the Revolutionary War. Several names were shouted out, including Seba Gaines’ ancestor Colonel James Barrett of Concord, one of two commanders of the area Minutemen.
Then Cynthia Schweppe and her son commenced the reading of the Declaration, followed by a sentence or two each from a circle of townspeople. Near the end of the Declaration, Selectman Peter Scavongelli and Charles Schweppe read lengthier segments, finally concluding with Representative Atkins reading the closing sentences. And as participants were heading for home, there was a heartfelt expression of pride in taking part in this opportunity to celebrate America’s Independence Day.
http://www.carlislemosquito.org/
In light of the recent discovery of the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) in Jamaicaway, Boston, on Thursday, July 15th Senator Chandler and Representative O’Day of Worcester organized an information briefing to help legislators learn more about and spread the word about the Asian Longhorned Beetle.
Since the ALB was discovered in Worcester in August 2008, entire neighborhood landscapes have been transformed as 25,000 trees have been removed over a short amount of time to fight the spread of the beetle. Thus far, the city of Worchester has started the re-planting process, but there is a great amount of work yet to be done.
Now that we have learned that the beetle has spread, we would like to make sure that everyone in our community is aware of the issue in the hopes of keeping this environmental epidemic to a minimum. As a state, we’re in for a long protracted battle against the ALB, and we all must be as informed as possible in order to best protect our communities, our Commonwealth, and New England at large.
Together with Commissioner Rick Sullivan of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Commissioner Scott Soares of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, you can acquire free materials to place in town halls, libraries, schools, and distribute to community groups that summarize the dangers and the successful eradication efforts of the ALB, and most importantly how to immediately report any sightings.
For order requests of free materials including the DVD, Lurking in the Trees, which presents Worcester as a town that could be anywhere in America, filled with people who are seeing the devastation of forest pests on a personal level and rising to the challenge of protecting the entire region’s vital natural resources, email info@lurkinginthetrees.org .
You can also visit the site http://www.mass.gov/agr/alb.htm and print and post copies of the information below:
Asian Longhorned Beetle Information
Contact: Jennifer Forman Orth, Jennifer.Forman-Orth@state.ma.us – 617.626.1735
The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), discovered in Worcester, MA in August 2008, is an invasive pest of hardwood trees, including maple, birch and elm. The spread of this pest would cause serious negative impacts to the maple sugaring, nursery, tourism and forest product industries, as well as to our state’s forest, park and street trees. The Division of Crop and Pest Services, through the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) Program, provides public outreach and screening of potential Asian longhorned beetle sightings in order to prevent the further spread of this invasive pest.
The following Asian longhorned beetle information resources are available:
• Report a potential Asian longhorned beetle sighting (or call toll-free: 1-866-702-9938)
• Massachusetts Asian Longhorned Beetle Cooperative Eradication Program website (Latest Regulated Area maps, host lists, etc.)
• ALB Outreach Tools (printable fact sheets, Powerpoint presentation, photos and graphics)
• ALB Newsletter
As always, please be in touch with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
CORY ATKINS
14th Middlesex
617-722-2692
Rep.CoryAtkins@hou.state.ma.us
By Chloe Gotsis/ Staff Writer
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jul 16, 2010 @ 09:39 AM
Chelmsford —
Students at the Parker Middle School will soon be the recipients of green friendly energy from a 30 kw solar panel system planned for its roof.
Town Manager Paul Cohen said the Green Communities Division of the state Department of Energy Resources notified him this week that the town is receiving a $187,224 grant to fund solar panels at the Parker Middle Schools.
“The Division reviewed the Town of Chelmsford’s grant application and has determined that the proposed activity/activities meet the eligibility requirements of the Green Communities Act and are viable, well developed projects,” read the letter DOER sent to Cohen. “…The Green Communities Division looks forward to working with the Town of Chelmsford on your grant project.”
The grant is part of the $8.1 million in grant funding Chelmsford is now eligible for since it received Green Community status from the state in May.
The Green Communities program evolved from the Green Communities Act of 2008, intended to encourage towns to move toward clean energy by meeting five guidelines: Adopting zoning bylaws for renewable energy facilities, creating an expedited permitting process for those facilities establishing energy use benchmarks and a plan to reduce it by 20 percent, purchasing fuel-efficient vehicles and adopting the Stretch Energy Code for new buildings.
Chelmsford Town Meeting adopted the Stretch Code in April and the town’s zoning requirements already complied.
According to the letter, the regional Green Communities regional coordinator will be contacting the town for the next steps including developing a scheduling plan for the project.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/chelmsford/newsnow/x1814120220/Chelmsford-to-recieve-state-grant-money-for-solar-panels-at-Parker-Middle-School
Great News!
We just received word moments ago from Rep. Wolf’s office that a modified form of the Updated Bottle Bill was reported favorably out of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. It is now being sent to the Senate.
Thank you so much for your advocacy, which most certainly made a difference!
Cory Atkins
Vice Chair, House Rules Committee
14th Middlesex District
State House Room 166
Boston, MA 02133
617-722-2692
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