Hope you do not have a problem with it:
"State House remodeling ambitions grow wider" by Michael Levenson | Globe Staff July 29, 2014
Last year, it was Governor Deval Patrick who announced he was spending $9 million to renovate his office.
Then the Senate unveiled a $20 million plan to completely renovate its chamber after an architectural firm found cracked cornices, leaning columns, and pieces falling from the ceiling.
On Monday, the House, eyeing all the work being planned in the neighborhood, quietly approved an amendment of its own, adding $20 million for a makeover of its chamber.
But while Senate President Therese Murray has in recent weeks detailed the work planned for the Senate chamber, a spokesman for Speaker Robert A. DeLeo declined to comment on why House leaders approved their own remodeling job. The amendment passed the House on a voice vote during a sparsely attended informal session on Monday....
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Related: DeLeo defends $20m expenditure on House renovations
Also see: Statehouse Slush Fund
"Lawmakers agree on deal to tighten Mass. gun laws" by David Scharfenberg and Michael Levenson | Globe Staff July 31, 2014
The new legislation, crafted in response to the 2102 school massacre in Newtown, Conn., would also require the state to join a national database for criminal and mental health background checks and mandate that schools develop plans for students’ mental health needs.
So that was the purpose of that hoax, huh?
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With lawmakers racing to meet the Thursday deadline for passing legislation this session, House and Senate negotiators also reached agreement to establish a sales tax holiday on Aug. 16 and 17 and came to a deal on a separate bill to strengthen the state’s domestic violence law.
Governor Deval Patrick alluded to the time crunch Wednesday when he signed into law one of the major bills that has reached his desk, a measure aimed at curbing harassment outside abortion clinics.
Related:
"A bill aimed at curbing harassment and obstruction outside abortion clinics is on the verge of becoming law, as the Legislature moved with uncharacteristic swiftness following the US Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the state’s “buffer zone” law, which barred protesters from within 35 feet of clinics. The House passed the bill Wednesday, 116 to 35, following the passage of a slightly different version in the Senate last week. Governor Deval Patrick, who pressed for the legislation, is expected to sign it into law when he receives it, which will probably happen in coming days."
Also see: Legislation to curb harassment at Mass. abortion clinics goes to governor
Time to abort.
“There’s a lot of business before the Legislature, which is why I am going to keep my comments brief, and let you all get back to work,” he said, prompting chuckles from House and Senate members who were bracing for late-night sessions.
What are they going to $neak through while we are not watching?
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John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence, said he was disappointed the agreement did not give chiefs the unilateral authority to deny permits for rifles and shotguns, but called the bill a step forward nonetheless.
“It’s certainly a burden on chiefs who are simply trying to save lives, but it’s a compromise,” Rosenthal said. “It does give police chiefs discretion, and the check and balance with the court, which is far better than nothing.”
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Related:
Patrick signals support for gun measure backed by police chiefs
Police chiefs rip change in Mass. gun control bill
Bribery probe costs Smith & Wesson $2m
Sturm Ruger Tumbles as Waning Gun Demand Hurts Profit
"Immigration issues may get shelved; Proposal to house children from across the border clouds bills before lawmakers" by Oliver Ortega | Globe Correspondent July 31, 2014
With controversy swirling around plans to bring unaccompanied immigrant children to the state, Massachusetts lawmakers appear increasingly unlikely to act on other immigration measures before they depart Beacon Hill this week.
Activists and some legislators said the arrival of thousands of children at the nation’s border and Governor Deval Patrick’s proposal to shelter some of them has hardened views on immigration, dimming prospects for legislation that would limit local law enforcement’s role in the deportation of adult immigrants.
“The idea of many more immigrants coming across the border has inflamed the passions of a lot of individuals,” said state Representative Denise Provost, a Somerville Democrat who supports the antideportation bill, known as the Trust Act. “I’ve heard concerns [from some constituents].”
Related: Illegal Immigrant Kids Unwelcome in Massachusetts
Just as I said.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Massachusetts: even more liberal than you thought
So which contradictory version would you like to believe when it comes to the agenda-pushing myth makers, readers?
The Trust Act was approved by the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security in March, but has languished since then.
State Senator James Eldridge of Acton, the act’s sponsor, said he does not expect the bill to advance out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Thursday, scheduled to be the last day of the Legislature's session. A House version was sent for further evaluation last month, effectively killing its chances for this session.
Under federal law, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement can ask state and local police to hold immigrants for an additional 48 hours even after they have made bail or been ordered released, so that deportation officers can pick them up.
The Trust Act would authorize police to detain only adult immigrants who have criminal convictions and who have served at least five years in prison. Others would be released.
Similar laws exist in California and Connecticut. In Boston, Mayor Martin J. Walsh has expressed support for a local version of the Trust Act. Somerville passed its own version earlier this year.
Patricia Montes, executive director of the advocacy group Centro Presente, said the Trust Act is the linchpin of efforts to expand immigrant rights, and the current impasse is “deeply disappointing.”
“If this doesn't pass, basically officials are telling us that there’s no interest in pro-immigrant legislation,” Montes said. “And this in a state that supposedly celebrates diversity.”
It's not pro-immigrant, it's pro-illegality!
The latest failure arrives after the Joint Committee on Transportation, dominated by Democrats, rejected a bill in June that would have granted driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, something many states have already implemented.
Shannon Erwin, state policy director for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, an umbrella group of immigrant organizations, said the border crisis will likely intensify opposition against the Trust Act and similar legislation.
“It doesn’t make it easier going forward, for the rest of the year,” Erwin said. “It’s been a real uphill battle to pass any positive immigration bill.”
Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the conservative-leaning Center for Immigration Studies, said passing the Trust Act will be difficult at a time when the federal government seems unable to secure the border.
“The more our immigration policy seems to be out of control — the border crisis is one example — the less favorable people are to policies like the Trust Act,” Vaughan said.
But Eldridge said he wasn’t convinced the governor’s offer to house immigrant children affected the bill’s chances during this session, adding that immigration bills are particularly difficult to pass because of the issue’s divisiveness.
“Unfortunately, it takes a number of years and sessions, and a bill concerning immigration is a bigger challenge in Massachusetts,” Eldridge said.
Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson said the Trust Act would limit communication between local and federal authorities at a time when such contact can prevent terrorism threats and the proliferation of gangs.
“We have to share as much possible information as we have about any risks to our community,” he said....
Related(?): Mosquitoes with West Nile Virus found in Boston
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Wow, that article was so one-sided I'm becoming board:
"Lack of oversight leads to zombie boards, report says" by Todd Wallack | Globe Staff July 30, 2014
Massachusetts is failing to properly staff and track hundreds of state boards, committees and commissions, a Senate panel concluded in a new report released Wednesday, resulting in do-nothing zombie boards that never meet while other panels are paralyzed by vacancies.
The Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight discovered dozens of state panels that haven’t met or produced reports in years, new committees that haven’t been able to start because of empty seats, and other panels that appear to be redundant. The review found 48 boards are likely no longer needed because they have completed their work or outlived their missions, such as one that issued its final report on the future of Boston Harbor beaches in the 1990s.
But the Senate said its work was complicated by the fact that the governor’s website for boards and commissions was missing panels buried inside executive offices or where the governor doesn’t control any appointments. And the information for the roughly 700 boards it did include was “often absent, incomplete, out-of-date and/or incorrect.”
“The Commonwealth’s current system for appointing commission members and monitoring commissions’ activities is inadequate,’” the report found. “Many of the commissions that are on the website maintained by the Governor’s Office are inactive, either because they have accomplished their mission, have not been meeting regularly, or have insufficient membership to assemble a quorum.”
The Senate launched the review last spring after the Globe reported that more than one-third of the seats on state boards and commissions were either vacant or filled with holdovers whose terms had officially expired months or years ago — a figure that took many state officials by surprise. The Globe also found some boards hadn’t met in decades (including at least one with a member who was dead), while others struggled to gather a quorum because of the vacancies.
The problem is aggravated by the fact that Massachusetts appears to have far more boards than other states its size, according to a Globe survey of a dozen other states, making it difficult to keep track of them all and fill all the vacant positions.
The governor’s office, which controls the majority of board appointments, didn’t immediately offer a comment. But Governor Deval Patrick has previously said it is worth considering eliminating some state boards and commissions.
Patrick administration staffers said they do the best they can to track state boards and fill vacant positions, but it’s a struggle because the vast majority of board seats are unpaid and require significant hours to attend meetings, often during the day.
“It’s ponderous and slow work because not everyone wants to serve on those boards,” Patrick said in April. Some seats are also controlled by state lawmakers and other officials outside the administration.
The latest review also made a number of recommendations to address the problems, including:
* Requiring the governor’s office and departments to review whether commissions are riddled with vacancies, struggled to gather a quorum, have not met in a year, or are no longer needed;
* Creating a sunset review commission to determine whether boards or commissions should be dissolved because they are redundant or defunct;
* Streamlining the background check for new board members;
* Giving the governor more flexibility to fill seats when he can’t find someone meeting all the detailed requirements specified in state law;
* Reappointing holdover members to new terms if new members can’t be found;
* Making greater efforts to update the state’s boards and commissions web site, as well as to add panels that are currently missing;
* Posting meeting agendas, minutes, and reports for all commissions online;
* Changing the law to automatically eliminate special commissions after they have issued their final reports.
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Also see: House, Senate negotiators agree on Super PAC bill
"Last tasks for the Legislature" July 31, 2014
UNFORESEEEN BUDGET SHORTFALLS are a reality of fiscal life. And with the Legislature due to be off campaigning this fall, Governor Patrick has asked for special, broader powers to make emergency trims, if necessary, to budgets across the state bureaucracy; otherwise, the governor would be obliged to make all the cuts to budgets he directly controls. If the Legislature grants Patrick the authority he seeks, he could then spread the reductions among his own executive offices and the operations of the secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, treasurer, and comptroller, as well as to public universities and colleges, the county sheriffs, and an array of commissions. Having a broader base for budget reductions would allow for lighter cuts in executive branch agencies like, say, the Department of Children and Families.
Patrick wants to bequeath his successor a budget that’s in balance. There’s likely a legacy-preservation motive there; no governor keeping his political options open wants to leave a deficit behind. But it’s also sound fiscal management. The Legislature should either grant Patrick’s request or be prepared to return to session to make cuts on its own.
CHANGING ZONING LAWS could unleash more construction of just the kind of housing that Massachusetts needs most: reasonably priced homes that are close to transit stations and city centers. As the Legislature races to finish its session, lawmakers have several important items of business left to approve, and a pending overhaul of the state’s stifling zoning rules should be one of them.
The Commonwealth’s current zoning laws only make housing prices worse, because they make it easy to build expensive suburban McMansions while throwing up obstacles to transit-oriented development in cities. The proposed revision would give cities and towns new tools and incentives to permit housing in neighborhoods that are most capable of absorbing it, while also giving them tools to reduce the amount of unwanted sprawl.
The cost of housing in Massachusetts is a nothing less than an economic albatross holding the state back. Passing the zoning reform would be a first step to changing that.
INCREASING SOLAR ENERGY is a top priority, and a bill that would provide incentives to more businesses and industrial properties to put up solar panels is still awaiting approval on Beacon Hill. The bill would endorse the Patrick administration’s goal, set last year, of generating 1600 megawatts of power from solar by 2020, and would help it along by increasing the number of large customers who can cut their bills by erecting panels and then selling excess power back to the gird. In return, utilities would be able to charge a minimum distribution fee to customers who otherwise would pay nothing. It’s an artful compromise between green energy boosters and the utility companies that also protects ratepayers; anyone whose monthly bill comes to more than the legislatively established minimum — which negotiators say will be between $5 and $10 — won’t see any increase at all.
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Meanwhile, across the way at the executive:
"State prison chief Luis S. Spencer was forced to resign, officials said Thursday, because he delayed an internal investigation into an incident at Bridgewater State Hospital, a prison already under fire for its response to a patient’s death at the hands of prison guards. Public Safety Secretary Andrea Cabral said Thursday that the decision to ask for Spencer’s resignation was made in part because he “slowed down” the internal affairs inquiry. Cabral said that Spencer would be replaced temporarily by Thomas E. Dickhaut, the acting deputy commissioner for prisons, and that Patrick is seeking a permanent successor. Dickhaut is a former superintendent of the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley."
Related: Next prison commissioner must embrace reform, independent oversight
Also see: Not Over Troubled Bridgewater
It's a dangerous place.
"8 charged in E. Bridgewater home invasion" by Kiera Blessing | Globe Correspondent July 30, 2014
Eight suspects were arrested in connection with an armed home invasion in East Bridgewater early Tuesday morning after a manhunt involving several police departments, a SWAT team, and a K-9 unit that stretched into the afternoon, officials said.
“There was chaos here yesterday,” said East Bridgewater Police Chief John Cowan.
East Bridgewater police received a 911 call at 3:18 a.m. Tuesday reporting an armed home invasion at a house on North Central Street, said Cowan. The suspects fled — some into a wooded area — prompting the manhunt, which lasted until 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
East Bridgewater police received assistance from a number of departments, including those from Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, and Brockton, Cowan said.
At 8:55 a.m., East Bridgewater police called for assistance from the South Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council SWAT team when they “knew there was a possibility of . . . armed people in the woods,” Cowan said. A K-9 unit training nearby was also brought in.
A string of arrests took place during the manhunt, including one at 3:52 a.m., followed by three or four made between 6:08 and 6:29 a.m., Cowan said. Another was made at 9 a.m.
Eight arrests were made in total, Cowan said, including the final suspect, who was apprehended in Norwood on Wednesday. Cowan said there was at least one more person of interest in the case.
Algier Griffeth, 18, of Brockton; Steeve Jean, 27, of Leominster; Stevenson Desauguste, 29, of Everett; Pompesky Aspil, 42, of Brockton; Ashley J. Smith, 22, of Randolph; James Hilaire, 19, of Randolph, and Yoffique C. Stapleton, 22, of Dorchester were arrested. The eighth suspect’s name was not yet available.
The suspects bound “at least one or two people” with zip ties, Cowan said. One victim, Shawn Raymond, was allegedly pistol-whipped. Cowan said at least three or four others were in the home at the time.
It did not appear there were any other injuries.
Items “belonging to both the victims and the suspects” were recovered during the manhunt, Cowan said.
The seven identified suspects were arraigned in Brockton District Court Wednesday. All seven pleaded not guilty to a variety of charges, including kidnapping with a firearm, home invasion with a firearm, kidnapping a child, armed kidnapping, and armed assault in a dwelling....
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Also see:
3 advisers to Patrick quit amid energy dispute
Gants sworn in as SJC chief justice
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
"Liquor license, opioid bills pass Legislature; Flurry takes place at end of session" by Michael Levenson | Globe Staff August 01, 2014
Boston would be granted 75 new liquor licenses, helping to spread the local restaurant boom beyond the downtown core, under a bill approved early Friday as lawmakers scrambled to finish major legislation on the final night of their formal session.
As frenzied lawmakers worked past a midnight deadline, they also passed a bill designed to combat the state’s opioid crisis, including controversial provisions that curtail insurers’ ability to deny coverage for addiction treatment.
Other measures sent to the governor would tighten the state’s already stringent gun laws, and suspend the state sales tax on Aug. 16 and 17....
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By the time the turn in came I had stopped reading the paper because Al-Jazeera reported that Obama is bringing ebola to the United States. Add another article to the list of impeachable offenses, and it truly looks like the year 2014 is the genocidal end game for global elites. The people of planet earth have become to unruly, and the resources are needed for luxurious lifestyles. Of course, what will they do without people to loot and kill anymore?
Bill would seal police reports in domestic violence cases
They snuck that little-noticed measure through.
Place is still filthy.