Seems the Globe has no problem with other people ripping off the state, but when it comes to our local heroes....
"Overtime, injured pay help swell Hub's payroll; Mandated raises also blamed" by Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | February 7, 2009
Boston city payroll records released yesterday show that 1,401 police officers - or 63 percent of the uniformed ranks - made more than $100,000 last year. Nearly 500 firefighters, a third of the firefighting force, collected six figures as well.
So what? If there are two public servants I want paid well it is police and fire!
Still a hell of a lot less than the lying, looting legislators and state government pukes!
The numbers of public safety officials breaking the $100,000 mark was just slightly higher than last year. As usual, many of the paychecks were boosted by overtime, police details, and injured pay.
They EARNED IT!!
Five of the top 10 earners in the Police Department supplemented their pay with more than $90,000 each in overtime. The top four earners in the Fire Department each collected more than $100,000 in injured leave pay.
Overall, the city's 2008 payroll, not including schools, was $651 million in 2008, a $20 million increase over the year before. The school department payroll also jumped $20 million, from $605 million in 2007 to $625 million last year.
City officials blamed the increases on raises mandated by union contracts....
Oh, right, BLAME the UNION!! Pffft!
That is SO TYPICAL of the PRO-STATE, PRO-CORPORATE, ANTI-LABOR Globe!!!!
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And if YOU DON'T THINK these guys are EARNING their MONEY, GUESS AGAIN!!!!
"Police fall through ice pursuing suspect; Make it to safety in Concord after answering call" by Matt Byrne, Globe Staff | February 7, 2009
CONCORD -- Two police officers and a state trooper, along with a police dog, fell through the frozen surface of a pond in Concord last night while they were tracking a suspect who fled the scene of an earlier incident, police and fire officials said. The three men, who were from the Concord and Wilmington police departments, and the State Police, fell into the waist-deep water of Warner's Pond while searching for a suspect from an earlier breaking and entering call, said Lieutenant Eric Anderson, a spokesman for the State Police.
The rescue call was received by the Concord police and fire departments at about 6:45 p.m., officials said. After being rescued, the three were transported to Emerson Hospital in Concord where they were treated and released last night, said Bonnie Goldsmith, a spokeswoman for the hospital. The dog, a German shepherd from Wilmington named Kimo, survived....
The officers and the trooper had apparently walked onto a patch of thin ice before they plunged through, said Captain David Curran of the Concord Fire Department. After falling in, the three managed to make their way to an island in the center of the old mill pond, Curran said.
Police dispatched a rescue sled manned by two firefighters in cold water rescue gear to reach the stranded trio. Firefighters evaluated them and returned to shore with the two officers in the worst condition, Curran said. A second group returned to the island for the last officer, whose rescue was assisted by a State Police air boat, according to Curran.
Fire Captain Ken O'Donnell said of the police, "I think they're pretty cold, but they're able to walk. They're suffering from some exposure and some early stages of hypothermia, but everyone's conscious."
And they don't deserve a decent check!
.... Police were still searching for the suspect last night, he said.
They didn't catch the guy?
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How would you like to take a swim, Globe?
WCVB-TVA firefighter worked to bring the dog ashore yesterday after it fell through the ice in Hingham. (WCVB-TV)
"Firefighters rescue dog from icy harbor" by Martin Finucane, Globe Staff | February 7, 2009
One firefighter became exhausted and required medical attention after helping to rescue a dog that fell through the ice in Hingham Harbor yesterday morning....
Wearing cold water rescue suits, firefighters battled their way through ice and slush to reach the dog. Two firefighters went out to the dog, while a third assisted them near shore, said Fire Captain Joseph Mortland.
James Sheard, a firefighter-paramedic, grabbed the dog and brought it most of the way to shore, which left him exhausted, Mortland said. Sheard was treated and released from a hospital, officials said. Fire officials said they perform such rescues so people will not endanger themselves by trying to save their pets. But the rescues are still hazardous....
But they make too much $$$.
Yeah, those guys ain't earning there money; better it go to Hollywood, corporations. and fat-cat state looters.
"Bittersweet outcome in rescue of horses" by Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff | February 12, 2009
Boxford Fire Department, public works, and animal control personnel used a backhoe Monday to get a horse back on her feet after she and another horse fell on ice and were unable to get up. The second horse sustained a broken elbow and had to be euthanized. (Courtesy of Boxford Fire Chief Terry Stockney)
BOXFORD - There was no telling how long the horses had been lying in the icy paddock just outside their stable when they were spotted before dawn. The cold ground had already made them stiff and hypothermic, too weak to move.
Yeah, thanks for all the global warming propaganda.
Scruffy, a thoroughbred, was 43 years old, ancient for a horse. Tia, a chestnut Anglo-Arabian, was 29. Weighing nearly 1,000 pounds each, the prospects for righting and saving them were grim from the start.
"We were all on the same page thinking these horses weren't going to make it," said Boxford Fire Chief Kerry Stickney. "My understanding from talking to the vet is that horses don't like lying on their sides for a long time. They were shivering to beat the band."
What ensued Monday, as dawn broke over Diamond Brook Farm, was a scramble by animal lovers, public servants, and heavy town-owned machinery to save two horses fallen in the snow. It took a team of nine firefighters, three public works employees, two police officers, a vet, and an animal control officer to help the friends and family of the horses' owners bring them to their feet.
The owner, Paulette Straub, urged everyone to keep trying, even as her veterinarian warned her that she might need to put the horses down....
Scruffy had to be put down, and Tia has to learn to live without her companion....
--more --"(Blog author's personal note: My sister works with horses and in fact owns one and helped birth a colt one day when I was visiting, so this article cuts deeper than most. Once again an innocent, sentient being suffers and loses its life)
