Archive for the ‘Updates’ Category
According to the most up to date forecasts, Hurricane Earl is now expected to pass within 20 miles of Nantucket as a Category 3 hurricane. It will bring with it hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall to the Cape and Islands, and tropical force-winds with hurricane force gusts to Buzzards Bay, Plymouth, and the southeastern coast of Massachusetts as far north as Hull. We expect strong rip currents and high seas throughout the weekend.
We expect the full impact by late Friday night and to last until early Saturday morning.
Based on the current forecast, I have declared a state of emergency for the Commonwealth. I have mobilized the National Guard, and have requested a federal emergency declaration from the President.
We are doing everything possible to keep people safe. We have pre-positioned water and other commodities, equipment, and personnel on the Cape and Islands. Public shelters have been designated and are being supplied. Extra utility crews and repair equipment will be pre-positioned to respond to service interruptions. Debris clearing crews will be on scene to respond as quickly as possible.
The level of communication and coordination among the state agencies, and between state, federal, and local agencies has been exceptional.
I urge you to take the following steps and precautions:
· If you are traveling to or from the Cape and Islands this weekend, be off the roads and inside by Friday afternoon through at least Saturday morning. If you plan to start your travel on Saturday, check media reports for travel conditions before you start out.
· If you commute or work in the affected area, plan your travel accordingly.
· If you do not live in the affected area in a low-lying area prone to flooding, plan to shelter in place. That means stay indoors, with windows and doors closed, have a day’s supply of water and non-perishable food, a flashlight and batteries, and any necessary medications. If you live in a low-lying area that is prone to flooding make plans to relocate to a safe place or, if you have no alternative, to shelter in a public shelter.
· Please check on elderly or disabled neighbors to make sure they are provided for.
Do not panic. We are well prepared and well coordinated. But take this seriously and be prepared. Mother Nature can change course quickly and we will do everything possible to keep you informed with new information as we get it.
You can turn to www.mass.gov/mema for additional information. Thanks and take care.
Governor Deval Patrick
Verizon sent the following helpful information and Verizon contact numbers to municipalities statewide to help residents and communities deal with telecommunications related issues over the next several days as we prepare for Hurricane Earl.
You may see the customer check list below, Verizon’s toll free number 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966) and website www.verizon.com/support posted on municipal websites and public access channels.
The Verizon network is a complex collection of assets, from buildings to transmission facilities to vehicles and people, and Verizon’s regional control center is preparing for possible flooding, power outages and downed trees and wires from Earl’s aftermath. For example, generators are being fueled and tested and portable equipment like trucks and specialized gear is being moved from low-lying areas, where possible. Building sump pumps are also being tested, and drains and gutters cleared. Verizon teams are also reviewing the inventory of supplies like utility poles, cable and other equipment and are planning for staffing of essential positions.
The telecommunications network, like your home, requires power to function properly. If commercial power goes out, backup batteries and generators in Verizon’s central switching offices or field facilities keep power flowing so customers’ phones ring even when the lights go out.
Verizon suggests customers prepare for Earl by taking the following steps:
Customer Check List
•If you rely solely on cordless phones in your home, you should consider getting an inexpensive hard-wired phone that plugs directly into your home’s wall jacks. Cordless phones will not function without commercial power, but corded phones will work in the event of a loss of commercial power.
•Remember home answering machines won’t work without power, but Verizon voice mail service – which is powered by the network – will work and can serve as a convenient family message board.
•Charge all battery-powered devices before the storm hits, including wireless phones and PDAs, laptop computers, personal entertainment devices (like MP3 players), flashlights and radios. And check your supply of batteries.
•Many people keep all of their contact information in their PCs or wireless devices. Make contact lists and create communications plans for loved ones before the storm hits. If you are evacuated or are otherwise unreachable, make plans to communicate via wireless calling, text messaging, the Internet or other alternatives available at relocation sites.
•Top off all vehicle and generator fuel tanks before the storm – gas pumps also rely on commercial power.
•Check your local emergency-readiness authorities for their recommendations and advisories about the situation in your area. Be sure to check back with them if the situation gets worse.
•If you live in a flood-prone area, protect sensitive equipment like computers and TVs by getting them as high above ground as you can so when service comes back up, you’ll be back in business quickly.
To Report Service Related Issues
Customers can contact Verizon at 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966) or online at www.verizon.com/support to report any service-related issue. For any emergency needs that you feel need immediate attention please contact me directly on my cell phone (508) 849-7081. If for some reason I cannot answer your call immediately, please leave the number of the constituent you are calling about on my voicemail, along with any details you have about the constituent’s issue, and I will get back to you as quickly as possible.
Acton-Boxborough Regional School District:
AB Acton Routes (ABRHS, RJ Grey)
AB Boxborough Routes (ABRHS, RJ Grey)
Acton Public Schools:
Early Schedule (Douglas, Gates)
Late Schedule (Conant, McCarthy-Towne, Merriam)
Concord Public Schools:
- Bus Schedules 2010 – 2011
The Department of Developmental Services is conducting a new application process for parents of young children with autism to apply for the Children’s Autism Waiver Program.Applications are due between September 20th and October 1st. Information and applications can be found at http://www.mass.gov/dds.
Source: MoveOn.org political action email update
Target, the retail giant, just became one of the very first companies to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allowing unlimited corporate cash in elections.
Target has spent over $150,000 in the Minnesota Governor’s race backing state Rep. Tom Emmer, a far-right Republican who supports Arizona’s draconian immigration law, wants to abolish the minimum wage and even gave money to a fringe group that condoned the execution of gay people.
Target must think customers won’t care. They’re wrong: We do care, and we need to let them know that we want Target—and all corporations—out of our elections.
Will you send a message to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel telling him that you’re not going to shop at Target unless they stop trying to buy elections? Click here to add your name to the petition:
http://pol.moveon.org/state/target/?id=22226-17967198-g1jaqFx&t=2
Once we get 150,000 signatures, MoveOn members in Minnesota will hand deliver the petition to Target headquarters.
The stakes are much higher than one candidate and one company. Other CEOs are in “wait-and-see” mode following the Citizens United decision, according to a former Federal Trade Commission counsel quoted on NPR.3 If we don’t push back hard, this will just be the tip of the iceberg. Other corporations will learn that they can pour money into elections to buy the outcome they want—without paying a price with their customers or shareholders.
We all knew Citizens United would benefit candidates who stand up for corporate CEOs instead of everyday people. But you wouldn’t expect a company like Target to jump in and try to buy an election so quickly. After all, Target made its name by being thought of as the more progressive store in the wake of numerous WalMart scandals.
That’s why MoveOn members are following up on actions of groups like Human Rights Campaign and the Alliance for a Better Minnesota by telling Target that we won’t shop there unless they stop trying to buy elections.
Please add your voice now:
http://pol.moveon.org/state/target/?id=22226-17967198-g1jaqFx&t=3
Governor to sign the Autism Insurance Legislation
Please join Representative L’Italien & Senator Berry
Tuesday August 3rd at 2:30pm @ Fenway Park
Please enter through GATE E SECTION 32
Parking lots around the park are as follows:
The Trilogy parking garage on Kilmarnock St.
The Landmark Center garage on Fullerton Street.
The 1330 Boylston Garage on Boylston Street (on the Jersey Street side.)
There are also a number of open-air lots on Boylston Street.
Please forward the updated gate and parking information to whomever you feel will be attending
In the meantime should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jen Barrelle at Jennifer.Barrelle@state.ma.us or X 7793
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/
