Paul working for you.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Historical Look Of Templeton Center

Historical Look Of Templeton Center

What is the criteria for determining "the historical character" of Templeton Center?

In a Gardner News article (8/30/16) regarding the construction of the police station in Templeton Center, Chief Bennett stated:

"Bennett said the exterior design will closely resemble an Old New England church or school building. He said he chose this design intentionally so it would fit within the historical look of other nearby buildings situated around Templeton common"



Absentee Ballots



Absentee Ballots are now available for the September 8th State Primary.

You may vote by absentee ballot if you:

  • will be absence from Templeton during the hours the polls are open,

  • have a physical disability preventing you from going to the polling place,

  • cannot vote at polls due to religious beliefs.

You may vote at the Town Clerk's office or have an absentee ballot mailed to you.

Eagle reserve created in Royalston

Eagle reserve created in Royalston

ROYALSTON - An isolated wetland discovered by an Italian immigrant while he was out hunting has become his legacy and a protected home to nesting eagles and many other wildlife.

The J. Angelo Solinas Eagle Reserve in Royalston is a 139-acre sanctuary on the north side of Winchendon Road that includes an American bald eagle nest and resident and visiting wildlife, including a rare juvenile golden eagle, moose, blue heron and many other birds and mammals. The sanctuary is a dream of Mr. Solinas carried to completion by his family and friends.

David Kotker of the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust said Mr. Solinas emigrated to the United States from Italy in the 1960s, moving to Gardner and raising his family. A hunter and outdoorsman, he stumbled on the isolated Royalston wetland and fell in love with it, telling his family it was "God's green earth."

In the 1970s, Mr. Solinas and some friends bought three parcels that make up the 139-acre reserve, with plans to build a camp for hunting, fishing and getting back to nature with family and friends. The land is on the north side of Winchendon Road near Norcross and Stone Roads. It includes 83 acres of a combination of open water, bog, shrub swamp and marsh habitat that extend up toward New Hampshire, five acres of fields and 51 acres of forest.

The creation of the eagle reserve was a way for Mr. Solinas' son Jim to fulfill his father's vision.
Mr. Kotker said the property will be a crown jewel among the many properties preserved by the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust.

"The Wild Rumpus"

Branching out: Stick sculptor gains global following

  • Steven Senne
  • Updated


























In this Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016 photo sculptor Patrick Dougherty carries a step ladder while constructing a sculptural installation "The Wild Rumpus," from branches and sticks on the grounds of the Tower Hill Botanic Garden, in Boylston, Mass. Dougherty’s installation opens to the public Thursday, Aug. 25. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
BOYLSTON, Mass.— The towering, whimsical shapes Patrick Dougherty creates by twisting and weaving sticks together have gained him an international following. Now, the artist who lives in a log cabin near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is back in New England to build two more of his almost cartoon-like stick sculptures.

Since the early 1980s, Dougherty has constructed more than 270 installations around the globe, from Chiba, Japan, and Melbourne, Australia, to Honolulu, Los Angeles and Waco, Texas.

"A good sculpture is something that causes people to have personal associations," Dougherty said in a recent interview. "It sparks all kinds of feelings about things in your own life."

His fans agree. They often say his installations — soaring as high as 30 feet — conjure images of the Garden of Eden, a bird's nest or a walk in the woods.

On Thursday, the artist's newest installation is set to be unveiled at the 132-acre Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts, where visitors can walk the bucolic grounds that border the Wachusett Reservoir and view the sculpture.

A second installation was commissioned by the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, where Dougherty will be the artist in residence. Construction there is set to begin Sept. 4.

"The subtleties and nuances of each site take a while to understand," Dougherty said, describing his creative process. "You want to build a piece that seems sympathetic and something that people feel really compelled by."

Dubbed "The Wild Rumpus," the installation at Tower Hill was inspired by wind whipping through four hilltop spires on the grounds. A "flying wall," as Dougherty calls it, will weave through the spires with varying levels of height and width, reaching 12 feet toward the sky.
In many ways, Dougherty's success at stick weaving happened by chance.

He began working in the medium to repurpose discarded saplings along highways and beneath power lines that were left by maintenance crews. He said his work pays homage to the role of sticks in human culture: a child's affinity for play with sticks, or a tribute to our hunter-gatherer past.

"Sticks have an honored tradition in human development," he said. "There are still so many cultures around the world that use sticks for basket weaving, fishing and craft traditions."

Other New England locations that have showcased similar stick sculpture art include the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, the Peabody Essex Museum and Wheaton College, all in Massachusetts; and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Each project takes three weeks to complete and generally lasts between two and three years, depending on weather degradation. At Tower Hill, Dougherty's installation marks the 30th anniversary of the garden and the 175th anniversary of the Worcester Horticultural Society, the organization that founded and oversees Tower Hill.

As with all of Dougherty's projects, he uses volunteers and site staff to help collect the indigenous materials and construct the sculptures.

Tower Hill volunteer Nancy Degon, 69, from Auburn, Massachusetts, finds the impermanence of Dougherty's art work the most intriguing.

"That his art is so temporary is interesting to me," Degon said. "It's a reflection on how life is in general. Not everything stays here forever."

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The EpiPen Scandal Is Worse Than You Think: What You’re Not Being Told

The EpiPen Scandal Is Worse Than You Think: What You’re Not Being Told

Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Alice Salles via TheAntiMedia.org,

The EpiPen is a useful device for individuals who suffer from severe allergies. So when news broke that Mylan, the sole maker of the autoinjector “pens” in America, had hiked the prices of its products from $57 each in 2007 to $600 for a package of two in 2016, news outlets had a field day.
Promptly after, politicians seized the opportunity to bank on this crisis by promising to “do something.”

Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton urged Mylan to voluntarily slash the prices of its products while promising that, once she’s elected, her plan to address exorbitant drug price hikes like these” will be finally implemented. This is a particularly empty promise considering Mylan has donated between $100,000 and $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation, which was recently revealed to be peddling influence in exchange for cash.

Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) are also pressuring the manufacturer to disclose more about its pricing. Even Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) — whose own daughter, Heather Bresch, serves as Mylan’s CEO — weighed in, claiming he, too, shares his colleagues’ “concerns about the skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs.”

But none of what these politicians are saying rings true to anyone who’s paying attention. Here’s why.

The Monopolistic Origins of the EpiPen

The autoinjector known as the EpiPen provides injections of epinephrine in cases of serious or even life-threatening allergy attacks. It is derived from another product known as the Mark I NAAK ComboPen, a device created for a monopoly: the U.S. military.

The device was designed by Sheldon Kaplan for Survival Technology, Inc., a company with a long history of working with the Pentagon. Once the ComboPen was created, it was sent to the U.S. military to treat soldiers who had been exposed to nerve agents.

In 2007, Mylan “purchased the generic drugs division of Germany’s Merck KGaA for $6.7 billion,” acquiring the EpiPen brand of autoinjectors. Under Merck, the devices cost $7 each, which resulted in just $200 million in gains each year, a mere 5 percent of Merck’s revenue at the time.
But Bresch saw potential in this simple plastic device and focused on how to make the newly purchased brand something that could be widely used. For her dream to come true, she needed the assistance of experts in the monopoly business. That’s when she turned to the U.S. government for help.

The FDA, Washington, and Crony Capitalism Are All to Blame

Though the EpiPen is not covered by patent protection, Bresch’s close relationship with Washington may have helped her company ensure competition wasn’t an issue.

In an article for the Mises Institute, Jonathan Newman writes that Mylan has been repeatedly protected from competition, and it has repeatedly (and predictably) increased the price of EpiPens in response.”

According to Bloomberg, Mylan has been aggressive in its approach to regulators.

For the past seven years, Bresch has been “[turning] to Washington for help. Along with patient groups, Mylan pushed for federal legislation encouraging states to stock epinephrine devices in schools.”

Recent Surge In Inner-City Heroin Overdoses "Unlike Anything We've Seen Before"

Recent Surge In Inner-City Heroin Overdoses "Unlike Anything We've Seen Before"

Tyler Durden's picture
For the past week, the the city of Cincinnati has been battling an unprecedented spike in heroin overdoses that has left police and emergency responders drained.  Per the Cincinnati Enquirer, in a "normal" week, police and healthcare officials indicate that Cincinnati encounters roughly 25-30 heroin-related overdoses.  That said, within the past 6 days that number has spiked by over 5.5x as 174 overdose cases have been reported by local emergency rooms.

Given the sudden spike in overdoses, local police authorities speculate that the heroin supply has likely been cut with a potent painkiller called fentanyl or the mega-potent animal opioid Carfentanil.  Carfentanil, an analgesic for large animals including elephants, is about 10,000x stronger than morphine and was discovered in July in the region's heroin stream.  Police are still working to find the source of the deadly heroin supply. Per Cincinnati Enquirer:
“These people are intentionally putting in drugs they know can kill someone,” Synan told WCPO. “The benefit for them is if the user survives, it is such a powerful high for them, they tend to come back. … If one or two people die, they could care less. They know the supply is so big right now that if you lose some customers, in their eyes, there’s always more in line.”

"We're working very closely to find the source dealer," said Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan, who heads the law enforcement task force for the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition. He said local, state and federal authorities are combining their forces to investigate the source or sources. "We don't have anything solid to go off of."

"This is unprecedented to see as many alerts as we've seen in the last six days," said Hamilton County Health Commissioner Tim Ingram. He was referring to a surveillance system that alerts the public health department when an unusual number of drug-related emergency-room encounters occur.

"We can’t confirm in the short term if someone’s had fentanyl, carfentanil or heroin – the tests flag only as positive or negative for opiates," said Nanette Bentley, spokeswoman for Mercy Health. Tests could be ordered, but results could take days to weeks to come back, she said.
Further complicating matters is that Narcan, the nasal-spray version of the drug Naxolone, which reverses the side effects of an overdose, is not working anymore, at least not as reliably. Usually one or two doses of Narcan will stabilize a patient but doctors say that patients under the influence of Carfentanil can require up to 5x the normal dosage.

What Life Will Be Like After An Economic Collapse

What Life Will Be Like After An Economic Collapse



Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Megan Stewart via SurvivalSullivan.com,
If you have been waiting for a public announcement or news headline to let you know that an economic collapse has begun, you are in for the surprise of your life. If history in other countries and in Detroit, Michigan is any indication, there won’t be an announcement. An economic collapse tends to sneak up on a city, region, or country gradually over time. In some cases, the arrival of an economic collapse is so gradual that most people living in it aren’t even aware of it at first.

Things just get gradually worse, often so gradually that people and families adjust as best they can until one day they actually realize that it’s not just their home or their neighborhood that has been hit so hard financially, it’s everyone. By that time, it’s often too late to take preventative action.
In March of 2011, Detroit’s population was reported as having fallen to 713,777, the lowest it had been in a century and a full 25% drop from 2000. In December 2011, the state announced its intention to formally review Detroit’s finances. In May of 2013, almost two years later, the city is deemed “clearly insolvent” and in July of 2013, the state representative filed a Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition for Motor City. Detroit became one of the biggest cities to file bankruptcy in history.

So we have only to look at what happened in Detroit, Michigan post-bankruptcy, to get an indication of what might soon be widespread across the United States and what is already widespread in countries like Brazil and Venezuela.

Increased and Widespread Hunger

Grocery stores and other businesses will fail one by one or be shut down from the riots and looting. In Detroit, the economic collapse left less than 5 national grocery stores for over 700,000 people. Imagine the lines even if food was still being shipped in on trucks. Small independent corner stores and family owned stores become the most convenient place to shop. These are stores with already high prices who make most of their profit from beer, wine, lottery, and cigarettes.
Now imagine that shipping schedules have been affected by the economic crisis, this would mean longer lines with less certainty that any food would even be available once you got into the store to shop. People in Venezuela are actually dealing with government-run grocery stores and are limited to two days per week they can shop. They still face long lines and total uncertainty of what, if any food, will be left once it’s their “turn” to shop.
One of the ways for you to prepare for an economic collapse and increase the likelihood that your family will be well-fed regardless of what is available in the grocery stores is to grow your own food. For further protection, consider planning and planting a hidden survival garden rather than a traditional garden that would be obvious to neighbors and looters. In addition, you can learn how to identify, harvest, and consume wild edible plants to supplement your food supply.

Sporadic Public Services

Public services, including the school system experience frequent strikes that shut them down for days at a time. Power issues and outages become more frequent and roadways become filled with potholes and other signs of disrepair as preventative measures are shoved aside. The water from the tap, that you pay for monthly, begins to smell funny, so you start filtering it before using it. Garbage collection service is sporadic and you begin to see increased trash along the streets and sidewalks.
Your cell phone is certainly not something you can rely on since you can’t predict when the signal will be available. Although you pay for high-speed internet, actually getting that service on a daily basis is a matter of sheer luck. Increased littering in the streets and lack of regular garbage collection services becomes an issue because the litter now clogs storm drains every time it rains.
In order to prepare for the sporadic and possible shutdown of public utility services, you can research alternative methods for getting what you need. Consider solar or wind power energy, digging a well or installing a rainwater catchment system. Invest in a composting toilet in the event that public septic systems are overloaded or malfunctioning.

Social Unrest

This is another one of those things that just tends to sneak up gradually. Initially, protests warrant our attention because it’s new and different and out of the ordinary. But as the protests become more and more frequent, people stop caring why the protests are happening. You learn to avoid areas where protests are likely to occur. You start taking an alternate route to work or entering your office building through a back door.
Violence and vandalism begin to accompany the protests and roadblocks become part of your everyday routine. Like rush-hour traffic r, you plan enough time to get to work based on the knowledge that the road may be blocked due to a car or building being set on fire the night before. More people will be armed when in public, tempers will be short, there will be increased knife fights and shootings. This will put a huge strain on emergency services personnel such as police, fire, and EMS.
Streets, yards, and even homes are flooding more often now. In addition to the litter, the metal storm drains and even copper pipes from abandoned homes are being stolen for cash. Before long you start to notice that the historic plaques are missing from city monuments, statues come up missing, even doorknobs, anything metal that can be scrapped is fair game for looters and thieves.
One way to prepare for the next wave of riots is to move out of the city to a more rural location. If you can’t do that right now, then it will help to be intimately familiar with your city roads and other transportation routes. Make sure that you have several planned routes to/from work or your child’s school and any nearby grocery stores. In addition to planning alternative routes for daily travel, you should plan and practice several different bug out routes in case you need to leave your home quickly. Consider not only roads but also railroad tracks, subway tunnels, sewer tunnels, and power line easement roads as possible alternative routes.

Transportation

Daily travel is fraught with angry mobs and requires using alternative routes which result in everything just taking longer. Travel by bus, subway, and airline are unpredictable due to increased strikes. Roads go unrepaired as a result of striking workers or budget constraints. Increased bottlenecks on the roads lead to more frequent carjacking and muggings as thieves learn where people will be forced to stop.
More people are forced to travel by bus, subway, or train due to skyrocketing gas prices, thus public transportation services are overwhelmed. There are increased train accidents, bus and subway breakdowns due to lack of investment, corruption, and politics getting in the way of doing things correctly. Strikes, protests, and roadblocks make everything worse. Soon the only way to get anything done involves “paying a little extra” or suffering long and uncertain delays.
Plan for long delays in transportation by not only keeping your car gas tank full of gas at all times but also by stockpiling as much gas as you can safely store. Keep your car well-maintained, keep spare parts and engine fluids stockpiled, and perform preventative repairs. You can also consider an alternate form of transportation such as a motorcycle, foldable bicycle, or even a motorized scooter or boat if your situation warrants it.

Criminal Activity

When an economic crisis is in the making, you will definitely see an increase in criminal activity. People will become desperate to feed themselves and their families. More people will be more willing to cross the line into criminal activity to get what they need. Initially, you will hear about more incidents of violence, looting, robberies, and muggings.
Your neighbor or a family member will be mugged and you will respond by taking additional safety precautions. You’ll check your car before getting into it, you’ll avoid dark areas, carry your keys in your hand. As reports become more frequent, you’ll start to travel only in groups and never alone.
You’ll hear that the woman down the street had someone break into her house while she was sleeping. So you may nag your husband to reinforce the deadbolts and add security bars on the windows. When the neighbor is robbed, your husband will buy several guns and you both will learn to use them. You’ll teach your kids about gun safety and maybe create a plan of action for a home invasion.
Before long, getting mugged or being a victim of some type of crime is as unpredictable and as common as a car accident. You’ll realize everyone in the neighborhood has now beefed up security on their homes. All your family, friends, and coworkers have experienced a mugging, carjacking, or worse.
You’ll have no choice but to accept this new way of life and count on basic safety measures (a form of passive denial) or further learn to defend yourself and remain in a constant state of alert (a very stressful state over time). It’s difficult emotionally, mentally, and physically to remain on high alert 24/7 for any length of time. Most people will revert to a form of passive denial until the next incident happens to them or a family member.
Take time now to learn self-defense moves and make sure you and all family members know how to use both non-lethal and lethal weapons. Keep weapons where you can reach them quickly but where they are safe from curious child fingers. Learn and consider putting into practice some of these 10 deceptive strategies for preppers so you can avoid becoming a target for criminals.

Housing

Streets that used to have a house on every lot, morph into desolate patches of houses as people lose their homes to banks or abandon their homes to move in with family or friends due to lack of finances. Houses fall into disrepair, lawns are overgrown, pests and rodents thrive in empty buildings.
Abandoned homes that aren’t torn down or maintained by the city may be taken over by squatters, some with the best of intentions to clean it up, others who just need a place to sleep, or who are in between drug or alcohol binges. Squatters will modify heating systems to get them to work or customize DIY heating sources which can result in increased house fires and even explosions when things go wrong. As the housing conditions worsen, more people will become ill from prolonged exposure to the elements, to poor living conditions, and to increased insect and rodent infestations.
The best way to ensure that housing for you and your family is stable is to keep up with needed repairs and do what you can to reduce your overall housing expenses. If you can pay ahead on your house payments or pay down on the principal amount, or even pay off your house, you stand a better chance of keeping control of it when things start to collapse.

Unemployment

More and more people you know will experience job loss or layoffs. It may seem easy enough to get another job at first, but as more and more people are displaced, finding a job will become almost impossible. Teenagers will be displaced from jobs that are now being taken by adults.
This means instead of working for the summer and after school, more teenagers will be out on the streets without anything worthwhile to do. The neighborhood might just seem “rowdier” at night and then during the day too. But before long, boredom, frustration, and even anger will set in and the unemployed will join the ranks of the protestors and looters.
Prepare for possible unemployment by saving up an emergency fund and stockpiling food and other supplies so that you can manage through several weeks or even months without steady income. Reduce your monthly expenses as much as possible so you can live on less when money gets tight.

Healthcare

This is one of the areas that many people don’t really consider when they think about an economic collapse but it’s probably one of the most important when it comes to human life and survival. This is especially true for those people who may take daily medications in order to treat a chronic life-threatening condition. Initially healthcare appointments may become more difficult to schedule. It may take longer to get in to see a doctor because quite frankly, more people are getting sick and needing care.
Illnesses from poor diet, from low-quality water, or food that spoiled due to power issues will be more frequent. There will also be more injuries as a result of the looting, rioting, and increased criminal activity. You can expect increased incidents of domestic violence as family relationships are strained and crack under the stress of poor living conditions. Many people will lose access to their healthcare when they lose their jobs, and this will place a strain on public services such as free clinics and emergency rooms.
To prepare for a shortage or lack of accessible healthcare, you can create and learn to use your own first aid kit and learn how to identify and use wild plants and natural remedies to treat minor illnesses and diseases.
There’s really no way to predict the timing of an economic collapse with any certainty and in most cases, an economic collapse will occur gradually without much warning unless you are paying close attention to activity and events going on around you and around the world. The best way to be prepared when it does happen is to start changing your lifestyle now, in the ways discussed above, so that you and your family can survive hard times in the future.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Article Removed From the Huffington Post...


THE BLOG

Hillary Clinton’s Health Is Superb (Aside From Seizures, Lesions, Adrenaline Pens)

08/28/2016 01:36 pm ET | Updated 8 hours ago
Hillary Clinton: Stronger Together. How strong? Well, the great woman’s health is excellent, superb even. Her heart and mind one hundred thousand times stronger than the strongest beams of steel that built our great American cities more than a century ago. Her soul a shining exemplar of selflessness, service, and humility, her footing sound... wait, are we talking about the same person here?!

The same Hillary Clinton who recently became the latest unintentional star of YouTube, with a truly endless upload stream of videos purporting to show Hillary Clinton wildly seizing up when several reporters begin questioning her at once? Yes, the same Hillary Clinton who became the star of this Paul Joseph Watson video, attracting 3,554,177 views since it was uploaded on August 4th:


I realize some readers might be wondering after watching Paul Watson’s video... how is she strong, or healthy, after seeing all that?
Look guys, I need to keep my job and platform. A lot of people read the Huffington Post and AOL properties. We all know what happens when you speak a little too much truth about the Establishment-beloved Clintons.
Just ask longtime broadcaster Dr. Drew Pinsky. “CNN has canceled Drew Pinsky’s HLN show, Dr. Drew On Call, just eight days after Pinsky made comments on a radio show questioning the health of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Pinsky’s show, which is six years old, will air for the last time Sept. 22,” The Daily Beast reported.
But what do you think? Is Hillary Clinton strong and wise and healthy? If so, why does Paul Watson and the team at Infowars want to hurt her feelings? They should know better over there: Americans are allowed to vote for anyone they want this election season, and support anyone they want, so long as that person is Strong Hillary Clinton.
Stronger Together. Together, Stronger. Or something.

Meetings the Week of August 29, 2016

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Meetings the Week of August 29, 2016


Tuesday 8/30/16
MART                  Fitchburg                     10:30 am
MRPC                  Fitchburg                     7:00 pm


Back to School! 

Dead man, woman in Ashby identified as former spouses

Dead man, woman in Ashby identified as former spouses

ASHBY — Confirming the death of a man and a woman on Watatic Mountain Road Friday as a murder-suicide, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and Ashby Chief of Police Fred Alden released the names of the deceased Sunday night.

Rebecca Griffin, 51, of Fitchburg, and John Griffin, 55, the resident of the home on Watatic Mountain Road, formerly married, were named in a joint news release. The two divorced around 1990, but Rebecca Griffin would come by her ex-husband’s home to help him with errands and chores, the officials said.

On Friday, their bodies were discovered on the front lawn of John Griffin’s home. According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, both died from multiple sharp-force wounds indicating the use of a knife. The investigation revealed that John Griffin killed Rebecca Griffin outside of the home before stabbing himself, the release said

“This is a senseless and tragic crime,” Ms. Ryan said. “Rebecca Griffin would come to her ex-husband’s home to assist him ... and, sadly, she lost her life in the interest of helping him.”

No EZPass? Mass Pike motorists will get a bill

  • No EZPass? Mass Pike motorists will get a bill




  • »

  • By The Associated Press

    Posted Aug. 22, 2016 at 1:58 PM
    Updated at 6:45 AM


    BOSTON —T he Massachusetts Turnpike's new open-road tolling system is expected to go live Oct. 28 and could increase costs for some drivers under a proposed new rate system, state transportation officials said Monday.
    Under the new system, 24 toll plazas along the 138-mile highway from Boston to the New York border will be torn down and replaced by 16 gantries that arch over the highway and electronically charge vehicles with E-ZPass transponders without requiring them to stop or slow down.
    For those without transponders, the system will take pictures of their license plates and send bills to their vehicles' registered owners.
    The amount of money drivers pay would depend upon where they enter and exit the stretch of Interstate 90 under a toll proposal under consideration. Some trips would cost more, some less.
    State officials say it's not a toll hike because overall toll collections would not significantly change.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Templeton Town Administrator Reports

Templeton Town Administrator Reports

Are NOW Online






Of  financial concern :

Democrat Andrews' fundraiser planned Aug. 29

  • Democrat Andrews' fundraiser planned Aug. 29


  • By Telegram & Gazette Staff

    Posted Aug. 19, 2016 at 8:18 PM


    GILL - A fundraising event to benefit the campaign of Democratic state representative candidate Denise Andrews of Orange will be held Aug. 29 in the Gill Tavern, 326 Main Road.
    Ms. Andrews is seeking the Democratic nomination for state representative in the 2nd Franklin District. The event, hosted by Sandy and Tupper Brown of Gill, will be from, 6-7:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public. The 2nd Franklin District includes Athol, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Templeton, Erving, Gill, New Salem, Warwick and Wendell and precinct A in Belchertown.

Eversource, National Grid withdraw filings; pipeline co. vows to continue


Spectra committed to pipeline project, utilities withdraw DPU filings

Eversource, National Grid withdraw filings; pipeline co. vows to continue

By Michael P. Norton
State House News Service
Posted:   08/23/2016 03:48:55 PM EDT | Updated:   about 4 hours ago


BOSTON: The company leading the push for a major natural gas pipeline project that would serve New England appeared undeterred Tuesday by news that both Eversource and National Grid this week withdrew related applications for approval of natural gas transportation and storage contracts.
In filings on Monday to the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), Eversource and National Grid cited last week's Supreme Judicial Court decision barring ratepayer financing of pipeline projects, such as the proposed Access Northeast project.

In response to a News Service inquiry, Arthur Diestel, stakeholder outreach director at Spectra Energy, said Tuesday, "We are committed to assuring that Access Northeast remains on track to meet strong demand in Massachusetts and New England to bring to the region the energy that is so desperately needed."

The SJC decision "provides no solution to the energy cost, reliability, and environmental challenges that the New England region faces today," Diestel said. He said in an email that "our work to obtain contract approval will continue throughout the New England states. As we evaluate our path forward in Massachusetts, we remain confident that the Access Northeast project will ultimately provide substantial benefits to consumers across the New England region."

Diestel added, "Without targeted expansion of natural gas capacity, New England energy consumers are at significant risk for ever-increasing energy prices and ever-diminishing supply reliability."

In February 2015, Spectra and Eversource officials announced National Grid was enlisting as a co-developer of the $3 billion effort to expand existing pipelines to bring an additional 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas to the region for electricity generation. They said the project could lead to a more than 20 percent increase in natural gas supply to New England and cost savings for ratepayers.

The SJC ruling represented a blow to Gov. Charlie Baker's efforts to increase the flow of natural gas to the region, and arrived as the administration prepares to implement a new law authorizing the purchase of large-scale hydropower and offshore wind resources.

In a opinion written by recently retired Justice Robert Cordy, the state's top court said the pipeline tariff would "reexpose ratepayers to the very types of risks that the Legislature sought to protect them from" with a 1997 law deregulating the electricity generation market.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Massachusetts AG Renews Attack on Gun Owners

Massachusetts AG Renews Attack on Gun Owners

Friday, August 26, 2016
Massachusetts AG Renews Attack on Gun Owners
Last week, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey added to the confusion caused by her decision to unilaterally ban common semi-automatic firearms by releasing a list of “Guns That Are Not Assault Weapons.” In other words, she decided to independently, once again, confuse law-abiding citizens about a law that has existed for nearly two decades with another “opinion” that has little to do with the law itself.
As we have reported, Healey’s original “enforcement notice”, conveniently released while the Massachusetts’s State Legislature was in recess for the GOP Convention, created confusion among Bay Staters as to whether or not they were in violation of a law nearly two decades old, resulting in a massive upsurge in firearm purchases
In addition to confusing the citizens who she’s supposed to represent, Healey’s new “directive” does nothing to clarify what criteria she is using to justify her new interpretation of existing law. Her list of guns not defined as “assault weapons” includes firearms such as:
  • Any Ruger Mini 14 or substantially-similar model weapon;
  • Any Springfield Armory M1A or substantially similar model weapon;
  • Any of the hundreds of rifles and shotguns listed on this list—Appendix A to 18 U.S.C. § 922, as appearing on September 13, 1994;
Gun owners, collectors and enthusiasts do not need to be told that a Ruger Mini-14, a Springfield M1A and a long list of 1994-era hunting rifles and shotguns do not qualify as “assault weapons.” On the other hand, what the law-abiding citizens of Massachusetts deserve is clarification of the overly vague criteria on which Maura Healey interpreted the law in the first place. Massachusetts Governor, Charlie D. Baker, shares that sentiment. In his July 26 letter to Attorney General Healey, he writes, “…ambiguities in your notice require clarification for responsible gun owners who simply want to follow the rules and for the thousands of gun owners who were told they were following the rules for eighteen years.”
The intent of the 1998 Massachusetts law, signed by Governor Paul Cellucci, made it clear that the definition of an “assault weapon” would mirror the then-current 1994 federal “assault weapon” ban, the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act.  Healey’s recent interpretation of an “assault weapon” goes far beyond the intended definition of the 1998 Massachusetts law and her additional interpretation of what “isn’t” an assault weapon only makes matters worse.
In addition to working with local groups like Gun Owners Action League (GOAL), your NRA continues to explore all legal and legislative options to protect the rights of Massachusetts gun owners. Stay tuned.

Water line woes keep crews busy in Worcester

Water line woes keep crews busy in Worcester

WORCESTER - Residents on Amesbury Street got a surprise Friday morning when their quiet neighborhood road suddenly turned into a river.

This water main break, one of four in the city within 24 hours, was near the intersection of Knight Street and dumped hundreds of gallons of water toward Oakview Street, cutting water service to houses in the area and covering the road with dirt and debris.

Worcester Public Works employee Mike Denault, who was working nearby, said that when he arrived, Amesbury Street was like a river. The water did not get high enough to get into homes, but covered the road.

Crews were also on hand nearby on Plantation Street near Interstate 290, and on Brierway Drive off Massasoit Road in the southern part of the city. Motorists are advised to avoid those streets. Another occurred on Cambridge Street near Camp Street, the only break for which repairs had not been confirmed by Friday evening.

Working at the Amesbury Street water break, Public Works employee Phil Gagnon said all three breaks came within a short time of each other. He said the Amesbury Street leak may have been caused by a surge through the line caused by the Plantation Street break. He said the city has also been busy repairing leaks to home water services.

"We have to get those leaks repaired due to the drought," Mr. Gagnon said.

Breaks and leaks are more common in the winter and spring due to frost. Although it is unclear why they are happening this summer, Mr. Gagnon said very warm and dry weather this summer may have been a factor.

The break on Amesbury Street was expected to take several hours to repair. A Public Works employee was stopping along the street to tell homeowners they could be out of water for six to eight hours.

 

Copter lifts plane from Quabbin Reservoir sandbar

Copter lifts plane from Quabbin Reservoir sandbar 

A plane that made an unexpected landing Tuesday on a sandbar in the Quabbin Reservoir was removed Wednesday and later flown home by its owner.

A helicopter was used to lift the aircraft from the ground and transport it to where it was repaired.
Various personnel were visible on the sandbar around 2:50 p.m. Then a black helicopter with red markings flew over the site about 4 p.m., and landed near the plane. After about an hour of adjustments, the helicopter went airborne again, and a cable was attached from the helicopter to the plane. The helicopter ascended straight up, and then lifted the plane from the ground before heading north with the plane. State police said Wednesday the owner hired a contractor to airlift the aircraft from the site.

Bryan Camden, operations manager at Orange Municipal Airport, said the plane was brought to Orange by a New Hampshire helicopter service Wednesday night. He said the pilot, Guillaume de Ramel, 42, of Newport, Rhode Island, briefly had some repairs done before taking off in the same plane to return home.

Mr. de Ramel landed the plane on the sandbar at 2:52 p.m. Tuesday. State police said Mr. de Ramel contacted them and said he had landed the plane after experiencing mechanical problems with the 2015 fixed-wing Seawind plane. Nobody was injured in the incident, and there appears to be no evidence of any fuel spills although water testing is underway, state officials reported Tuesday. Mr. Camden said he did not know specifically what the mechanical problem was that prompted Mr. de Ramel to ground the plane on the sandbar.

State police, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority met earlier Wednesday to discuss how to get the plane off the sandbar, which is northwest of Mount L within the boundaries of the town of New Salem. Police said the investigation was continuing as to whether any charges were warranted.

Officials with the DCR, which manages the reservoir and watershed property, and the FAA said state regulations prohibit landing any aircraft on the Quabbin, but the airspace above the reservoir is not restricted.

Mr. Camden said the plane appeared to have little visible damage from the landing, other than perhaps some rock chips in the paint. He said he's sure Mr. de Ramel had to answer a lot of questions from the FAA and state police, but the important thing was that he was able to safely land the plane without injury.

Steven H. Foskett Jr. of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.
*****************************************

 Again, No Rattlesnakes Were Harmed

A plane that made an unexpected landing Tuesday on a sandbar in the Quabbin Reservoir was removed Wednesday and later flown home by its owner.
A helicopter was used to lift the aircraft from the ground and transport it to where it was repaired.
Various personnel were visible on the sandbar around 2:50 p.m. Then a black helicopter with red markings flew over the site about 4 p.m., and landed near the plane. After about an hour of adjustments, the helicopter went airborne again, and a cable was attached from the helicopter to the plane. The helicopter ascended straight up, and then lifted the plane from the ground before heading north with the plane. State police said Wednesday the owner hired a contractor to airlift the aircraft from the site.
Bryan Camden, operations manager at Orange Municipal Airport, said the plane was brought to Orange by a New Hampshire helicopter service Wednesday night. He said the pilot, Guillaume de Ramel, 42, of Newport, Rhode Island, briefly had some repairs done before taking off in the same plane to return home.
Mr. de Ramel landed the plane on the sandbar at 2:52 p.m. Tuesday. State police said Mr. de Ramel contacted them and said he had landed the plane after experiencing mechanical problems with the 2015 fixed-wing Seawind plane. Nobody was injured in the incident, and there appears to be no evidence of any fuel spills although water testing is underway, state officials reported Tuesday. Mr. Camden said he did not know specifically what the mechanical problem was that prompted Mr. de Ramel to ground the plane on the sandbar.
State police, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority met earlier Wednesday to discuss how to get the plane off the sandbar, which is northwest of Mount L within the boundaries of the town of New Salem. Police said the investigation was continuing as to whether any charges were warranted.
Officials with the DCR, which manages the reservoir and watershed property, and the FAA said state regulations prohibit landing any aircraft on the Quabbin, but the airspace above the reservoir is not restricted.
Mr. Camden said the plane appeared to have little visible damage from the landing, other than perhaps some rock chips in the paint. He said he's sure Mr. de Ramel had to answer a lot of questions from the FAA and state police, but the important thing was that he was able to safely land the plane without injury.
Steven H. Foskett Jr. of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Coming to Templeton Soon?

SEC charges Chelsea after city self-disclosed bond offer problems


On Wednesday, the SEC, which regulates Wall Street's financial markets as well as municipal bond offerings, announced that Chelsea was among 71 governmental debt issuers subjected to enforcement actions.
The small city between East Boston and Everett faces no financial penalty and long ago implemented the reforms called for by the SEC sanction, according to Chelsea Treasurer/Collector Robert Boulrice.

"Sanction's an awfully strong word," Boulrice said. Despite a heading declaring it a "cease-and-desist order" that is "imposing remedial sanctions," the actual enforcement in the SEC document appears relatively mild - which is by design.

"We encourage eligible parties to take advantage of the favorable terms we are offering under this initiative. Those who do not self-report and instead decide to take their chances can expect to face increased sanctions for violations," SEC Enforcement Division Director Andrew Ceresney said in March 2014, announcing the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative.
The city's treasurer for nine years, Boulrice said he learned of the voluntary disclosure program at a treasurer conference in June 2014, and heard the alternative - maintaining the discrepancy was immaterial - could put cities at great risk.

"It seemed to be extreme. You know, fines and then a whole lot of reporting and auditing. It just seemed to be extremely severe for missing a deadline," Boulrice said. He said, "Upon the advice of bond counsel, I chose to self-disclose."

Fluoride Warning Issued for Infants

Fluoride Warning Issued for Infants





Thursday, August 25, 2016

Templeton Issues Rabies Advisory


Templeton Issues Rabies Advisory

The Board of Health has issued a notice that a positive case of rabies in a wild animal has occurred.

To date, rabies has not been detected in any domestic animals.

Please vaccinate your pets for rabies.

Signs of rabies:

Overly aggressive behavior

Friendly or fearless behavior

Animals that may appear intoxicated

Animals that may appear lethargic or lying  down

Please do NOT touch any wild animal. If you notice an animal acting strangely, please call Templeton dispatch center 978-939-5638.

Save the Date! Save the Town!

Save the Date! Save the Town!
 September 13, 2016

On Tuesday night, the Planning Board voted 4-3 in favor of reopening the public hearing process regarding the elementary school in Templeton Center.

The public hearing will be on September 13, 2016 at 6:30 pm.

So in order to avoid a costly delay for the elementary school project, here's a thought-

Many of the issues of siting the elementary school at Templeton Center concern the traffic and parking problems and their attendant safety issues for the children. Why not do an experiment?

Take 100 cars ( 50 for staff and 50 for parent drop off) and 12 school buses and do a dry run. Have the buses stop and pretend to off load 30 students per bus and then leave the area.  Film it and review any possible means of correcting any problems before it is implemented. Proponents of the project could use this experiment to allay any concerns about potential problems regarding traffic and safety of the children.

Will this experiment cost money? YES! But it is cheaper than a year delay if the Planning Board rejects the proposal put in front of them by the school building committee. One year's delay is estimated to cost $1,200,000 to the project.
 
 

Social Media Policy? Something to consider!

How The Fed's Facebook PR Campaign Went Terribly Wrong



Tyler Durden's picture
Over the weekend we reported that just days after the Fed's launched its first Facebook page last Thursday, in an attempt to mollify the masses with this odd public relations gambit in which the Fed tried to pass off as "one of the people", the result was... "not what it had expected." Overnight, even American Banker chimed in, reported that "when the Federal Reserve Board finally launched its own Facebook page last week, the response was as swift as it was predictable. The page was quickly overrun by critics, who angrily denounced the central bank as a tool of Wall Street and accused it of working against the American public. "The Federal Reserve is the root of all problems in the United States," Luke Peets, a libertarian, wrote in a response that earned nearly 500 likes on its own and was typical of the commentary on the page."

Ironically, while the Fed racked up "likes" for the page,  topping 11,000 by Monday afternoon leading many to wonder just which Bangladeshi clickfarm Janet was printing money for to burnish the Fed's image, the comments it received were universally negative, leaving some - like this website for example - to wonder how long it would be before the central bank would decide to retreat.

Amusingly, American Banker pointed out something spot on: just like everything else it does, the Fed had zero real world experience when it came even to its first foray into FaceBook, which also explains why this PR attempt was such a debacle:
The Fed’s move surprised more than internet trolls, however, but also social media experts, who questioned what the central bank was trying to accomplish and its overall commitment to social media. To some, the page appeared to take a particularly clueless approach.

All of the postings — eight by deadline — were either press releases, speeches by officials or general explainers on the nature of the Fed system. Essentially, the Fed is using Facebook as one more way in which it releases its standard public relations material.

That fundamentally misunderstands the nature of Facebook, which is a social network designed for interaction and conversation — not the simple spouting of PR.
The Fed is "checking a box," said Frank Eliason, the head of customer experience for Zeno Group and formerly head of global social media at Citigroup. " 'We were told we should be in social media.' This is the biggest mistake I see." Perhaps just like the Fed "was told" to lower rates to zero and print money 7 years ago, and realize in retrospect that all those "conspiracy theorists" who had slammed its policy as destructive and clueless, had been spot on.

Meanwhile, the farce continued: