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arthur
Senior Member
212 Posts |
 Posted - 10/14/2007 : 07:48:19 AM
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Honoring veterans proves to be an enduring conflict
By Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | October 14, 2007
EVERETT - To George Desiderio, a promise is a promise.
Nearly 50 years ago, an honor roll with the names of 6,500 Everett men and women who served in World War II was dismantled to make way for a new City Hall. The memorial, veterans were told, would be reassembled again in another suitable location.
That location was never found, and pieces of that honor roll remain stored in the basement of City Hall, built near where the memorial once stood. The half-century of limbo gnaws at Desiderio, an 82-year-old World War II veteran who has long lobbied for the honor roll to be rebuilt and feels that time is running out.
Now Everett's decades-old promise is colliding with today's purse strings, not to mention modern legalities, as the city pre pares to dedicate an elaborate war memorial that will bear the names of all Everett residents killed in action since World War I, but will not include the names of the thousands of others, such as Desiderio, who have served. Everett officials say they have only to look at the painstaking - and expensive - process next-door neighbor Medford went through creating a World War II memorial that was dedicated two years ago, checking the accuracy of the 10,300 names listed, including all residents believed to have served, only to hear afterward from other war veterans who asked: What about us?
Medford went back to the drawing board, and about $500,000 later, the city today is dedicating three more memorials - one for residents who served in Korea, one for those who served in Vietnam, plus an additional World War II monument for those whose names were left off the first monument. This time, Medford also has left space on one monument for the names of those who have served in conflicts in the Persian Gulf.
Back in Everett, Desiderio said his community has reneged on a debt to his generation.
"I know other eras had their sacrifices, too," said Desiderio, a former Everett Veterans Services commissioner. "But I say let's get this World War II memorial resolved before we get involved in anything else."
Walter Rice, Everett's current Veterans Services commissioner, who inherited the sensitive issue, said he's tried to do the right thing. It's just that everyone seems to define that differently.
A city-appointed committee made up of veterans from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam decided on a memorial that would list the names of all veterans from Everett who served and were honorably discharged, including those killed in action, from World War I to the present day. They estimated that would entail researching up to 14,000 names and the memorial would be erected in front of the new high school, using $250,000 from the school building project.
But the more Rice researched, the more complex the task became. There was no central database. Searches of several sources suggested there could be as many as 22,000 Everett names, if the city were to honor everyone who served. And a historian Rice consulted suggested that, while the city was at it, it might want to correct a few errors on a couple of its other war memorials, including one that includes the names of people who, it turns out, weren't from Everett. "You haven't heard the tough parts yet," Rice said.
With just a part-time aide, and a deadline approaching, Rice went back to the committee and suggested they revert back to Desiderio's wish of a World War II honor roll for all who served, estimating that would be a manageable 9,000 names.
Then the school building commission came to a different conclusion. Members felt that the memorial should acknowledge all of the foreign conflicts, not just World War II. But they nixed the idea of listing all who have served, for legal reasons.
"If somebody was still alive and had their name on the memorial, and they took issue with the name being there, if it was misspelled or they didn't believe in war memorials, maybe they were pacifists now, then the school building commission thought there might be a liability issue," said Paul Kalous, the project manager.
Ultimately, they opted for a 150-foot-long memorial that features a timeline starting in 1890, the year Everett was incorporated, and includes the names of only the residents who were killed in action during each of the wars and conflicts since Everett's incorporation. Legal advice from the state Department of Veterans Services suggested the city would need a written release from each veteran if it opted to list names of all who served, but could avoid that Herculean task - and potential lawsuit - if it chose only those killed in action, because their privacy rights died with them.
Which does not mean Everett has forsaken Desiderio's dream.
Everett Common Councilor Joseph Hickey, a Vietnam veteran, has vowed to create an honor roll, listing by name all those who served. Hickey is working on acquiring city land and federal grants for the project. "I don't want a living memorial. My name will go on my tombstone," Hickey said. "But I want to do this because of my promise to these guys. The greatest generation deserves their roll call, and I am moving forward and will do that."
Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com.
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arthur
Senior Member
212 Posts |
Posted - 10/14/2007 : 07:50:36 AM
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Everett land sought for River's Edge
By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent | October 14, 2007
The commission overseeing the River's Edge project for Everett, Malden, and Medford plans to pursue the acquisition of a 40-acre site in Everett that was purchased last month by a developer.
The Everett land, until recently owned by General Electric, falls within the boundaries of River's Edge, a decade-old joint venture among the three cities to revitalize a 200-acre industrial area on both sides of the Malden River.
Medford Mayor Michael J. McGlynn, who chairs the Mystic Valley Development Commission, said the agency will seek to acquire the property by eminent domain or straight purchase, noting that it had previously made clear it would do so even if GE sold the land.
"We have a master plan we've worked on for a number of years," he said of the River's Edge blueprint, "and we are in a position now where all the hard work has been done in terms of cleaning up and removal of the old structures. Now we are ready to move forward and build the project, and it's tough for us to deviate from what we've worked so hard on for the past decade."
Malden Mayor Richard C. Howard said that, provided the move had the support of Everett, he believes the commission will "move forward to put the resources in place to bring this within [its] ownership."
Everett Mayor John Hanlon said he backs the commission moving to acquire the land, though he remains open to other options new owners might offer.
On Sept. 27, General Electric sold the 40 acres for $3 million to D & C Real Estate LLC, a joint entity of Central Steel Supply of Somerville and The Duncan Group of Everett. That same day, D & C sold the land for $5 million to Berkeley Green II LLC, an entity formed by Berkeley Investments Inc., a Boston real estate investment and development firm, teaming with Greenfield Partners, a Connecticut real estate fund.
Richard M. Griffin, vice president of acquisitions for Berkeley Investments, said the company's intention is to develop the site.
"We are going to figure out what the highest and best use for it is. We will have conversations with the mayor of Everett and other parties that have been involved in . . . River's Edge to see what their thoughts are. But we are going to move forward with something at some point."
Regarding the commission's interest in acquiring the site, he said, "We are willing to sit down and talk to them. . . . We are open to anything." But, he said, "our intent is to develop it. We didn't buy it with the thought that we would just sell it to someone else right away."
Berkeley Investments is developing a 92-unit condominium on Boston's Congress Street, and City Square, a mixed-used development in Worcester.
Griffin said the firm previously owned an office building in Medford just outside the boundaries of River's Edge, along with an adjacent parcel on which it planned to build a data-storage facility. But when the telecommunications industry went into a downturn, the company successfully moved to have the overall site rezoned to residential, and subsequently sold it.
Preotle, Lane and Associates, the New York-based master developer of River's Edge, is completing work on a 10-acre park on the Medford portion of the site.
The commission is also awaiting what it hopes will be the start soon of the first building construction for River's Edge, development of 400,000 square feet of commercial space and approximately 200 residential units, also in Medford.
The commission some years ago tried to reach a deal with General Electric in which the company would donate the Everett land to it.
But Howard said the deal could not be struck because the commission was unable to provide GE with the legal indemnification it sought from future legal claims arising from environmental contaminants on the site.
GE, meanwhile, did donate 8 adjacent acres to Everett for a waterfront park.
McGlynn said he did not regard the recent sale of the 40 acres as a setback for River's Edge, and that it might even be a positive since it established a sale value of the land of $5 million, half the $10 million he said GE had previously indicated it might bring.
"If we are going to take it by eminent domain, we've just cut the price in half," he said.
But Griffin said that based on sales of comparable properties in the area, he believes the property could be worth as high as $40 million.
And he said of eminent domain, "I hope it doesn't come to that."
McGlynn said the commission has spoken with Preotle, Lane about the possibility of that firm advancing the funds it would need to acquire the Everett land.
He said the commission would also look to the state for help.
Howard, meanwhile, expressed disappointment that GE did not give the commission a chance to buy the land before the recent sale.
GE spokesman Rich Gorham responded, "The plans and discussion of potential development of this site had been ongoing for several years. . . . We've been involved and collaborative throughout the process and a specific outgrowth of that is the fact that we donated 8 acres to the city of Everett.
"Ultimately we decided to pursue this transaction as the most viable option that both meets the commercial and industrial use parameters that were established," he said of the sale to D & C Real Estate.
He said GE was not aware until several days prior to the closing that the property would be immediately sold by D & C to another entity.
John de Vries, a principal of Central Steel Supply, said his firm had intended to build a steel warehouse distribution center on the Everett site, moving from its current Somerville location.
The Duncan Group, which does finish-coating of aerospace- and construction-industry products, planned to relocate and expand its operations on another portion of the site, according to company president Richard Brooks.
De Vries said the two firms decided to sell the property instead because of the apparent opposition to their plans from the commission and US Representative Edward J. Markey.
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arthur
Senior Member
212 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2007 : 12:45:26 PM
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Preschool program awarded $1.7m
US grant to boost language skills
By Katheleen Conti, Globe Staff | October 18, 2007
At the John Silber Early Learning Center, where most students come from low-income homes with little or no English spoken, gaps in language and vocabulary pose the biggest instructional challenge.
But thanks to a recently awarded three-year $1,738,087 federal grant, the center's preschool reading and language-development programs are about to get a major upgrade, principal Jacqueline Bevere Maloney says.
"Studies show that low-income students come in with 3,000 to 5,000 fewer words in their vocabulary than their suburban counterparts," Bevere Maloney said, and the grant will help address such disparities.
The US Department of Education, in conjunction with President Bush's early learning initiative Good Start, Grow Smart, awarded 32 Early Reading First grants to preschool programs serving at-risk students across the country, including those in Chelsea and Worcester.
Chelsea's preschool program was one of the smallest recognized by the DOE, said Andrea Frickman, grants administrator for the Chelsea public schools. Early Learning Center administrators have been applying for the highly competitive Early Reading First grant for four years, and finally got it this year.
"It's about a 75-page application, and we got all the detail they wanted in the manner that they wanted it. We kept refining our applications," Frickman said. "It's going to be great because we have the Reading First grant in our kindergarten program, and now our prekindergarten curriculum will be aligned."
Out of the 14 prekindergarten classrooms, the grant will be used to enhance reading curriculum and professional development in the center's four extended-day and two full-day classrooms, Bevere Maloney said. Maloney said she has already used the money to hire two literacy coaches, a language development teacher, and consultants from the Hanson Initia tive for Language and Literacy, founded in 2000 by a communications disorders program in the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. The $1.7 million will be spread over three years, she said.
The two coaches, former prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers in Chelsea, will be dealing directly with Early Learning Center teachers, observing in the classrooms and suggesting new methods.
"Coaching takes teachers out of isolation," Bevere Maloney said. "Oftentimes teachers who teach in isolation think they're doing something right, but another set of eyes will now be available to give other suggestions, such as discussions about lessons. It's definitely a learning process for everyone involved."
The language development teacher, also a former Chelsea kindergarten teacher, will work directly with some students in small groups. Students selected to be in the group will be those who lack what Bevere Maloney described as alphabet awareness.
"Poverty is the number one indicator beyond second language because there's an illiteracy factor there," she said. "Hopefully the groups will be fluid, so if [children are] making progress, they'll be moved out."
Preschool instruction in Chelsea began in 1990, and in 1997 was given a central location, where more than 300 children ages 3 through 5 are enrolled. About 76 percent of Chelsea preschoolers come from low-income homes, and 85 percent from homes where English is not the first language, Frickman said.
Superintendent Thomas Kingston, who said he received notice about the award at the start of the school year from US Senator John F. Kerry and Representative Edward Markey, said it is important that Chelsea is "gaining resources to support urban education."
"In the last 20 years there's been a tremendous advance in cognitive science, in how we learn how to read. It's not natural, it has to be taught," Kingston said. "Coaches will also be able to help those children who are struggling for whatever reason break through to whatever is getting in the way of their particular struggle. Early Reading First incorporates all that new science, which isn't a fad by any means. It's a challenge in most urban districts where children don't come with the rich literacy background that some children in suburban districts have."
Although it is difficult to track the academic careers of students who attended preschool in Chelsea due to the high percentage of those who move out of the city, Kingston said that those who remain and graduate from the Chelsea school system score higher than the state average in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test.
"But the issue of a common, solid foundation and literacy is fundamental no matter where children are going to school," Kingston said, adding that the grant-funded coaches will also help teachers "reinforce their best habits and help them acquire new ones, and help them recognize barriers to instruction."
Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com.
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arthur
Senior Member
212 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2007 : 07:18:46 AM
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CHELSEA
Community prepared to act in crisis
Eight groups to mobilize in emergency situations
By Katheleen Conti, Globe Staff | October 28, 2007
Two months after becoming a "sanctuary city" last June, Chelsea was the site of two federal raids on illegal immigrants accused of criminal activity in connection with a street gang and three identity fraud rings.
Local advocates for immigrants, despite their support for raids against criminals, argued that federal officials chose Chelsea to send a message against sanctuary cities, even though US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, officials stated that both raids were part of ongoing investigations.
Now the social justice organization Chelsea Collaborative and its executive director Gladys Vega hope to send a message of their own by creating a "humanitarian crisis plan."
"A sanctuary city is something that's very, very symbolic. What's not symbolic is the power of the people," Vega told a standing-room-only group of mostly Spanish-speaking residents last Monday who gathered at Bunker Hill Community College's Chelsea campus for a presentation of the crisis plan.
The plan, also created in response to a federal immigration raid in a New Bedford leather goods factory last March that led to the arrest of more than 300 workers, revolves around a response team for humanitarian crises, such as large fires or natural disasters, but mainly in the case of an immigration raid. The team consists of eight groups that would mobilize, depending on the crisis. The groups include a legal team, financial management, social services, shelter, donations, evacuations, political action group, and one in charge of media communications.
Although City Manager Jay Ash, who attended the meeting, offered suggestions and input on the plan draft, he was careful to say that the initiative is community-based and not an official act by the city. Ash stopped short of stating he endorses the plan, saying he has not "signed off" on it, but that he endorses the concept.
"It's a significant step forward in making sure that the community - and I mean the community, not the city - is able to respond to a crisis," Ash said in an interview. "The members of the community that have advocated for immigrant rights continually talk to us about their concerns in the way that ICE operations take place. I have not shared all of those concerns. Certainly I believe ICE has been more than responsible seeking the deportation of criminals and gang members locally."
Chelsea police Captain Brian Kyes, who is to become police chief Nov. 8, attended the meeting and called the plan "an excellent idea" that will help quell rumors that permeate the community when federal officials are in town. In August, when ICE enforcement officials arrested 27 Brazilian nationals connected to three identity-fraud rings in the parking lot of a Chelsea supermarket, Kyes said some residents panicked after hearing rumors that immigration officials were rounding up anyone who entered the supermarket.
Because of those rumors, Kyes said the Police Department recently reached out to ICE officials, who agreed to form a liaison with Chelsea police and community organizations to discuss their priorities, mission, and criminal alien focuses, but not the specifics of any operation or enforcement action.
"We agreed to work with the Chelsea Police Department to address and answer any community concerns, specifically regarding ICE enforcement actions," said Paula Grenier, spokeswoman for ICE in Boston. "That could be anything from our priorities to our mission, the job we do, the type of criminals we're arresting. We won't publicly discuss any activity of ongoing investigations or whether there are any investigations planned."
Kyes said in an interview that on the surface he doesn't see any conflicts between the humanitarian crisis plan's mission and that of the Police Department.
He said he also hopes Chelsea residents are able to differentiate the roles of federal immigration enforcement officers and Chelsea police.
Immigration advocates argued that the recent raids in Chelsea sparked fear in the community that could deter undocumented residents from calling the police if they are victims of crimes.
"We won't round up people. We don't have the authority to do that and that's not what we want to do," Kyes said. "ICE always has specific targets when they come to Chelsea - those wanted on warrants for felonies, reentries of those previously deported, and those involved in the sale of illegal documents."
After a PowerPoint presentation given in Spanish at the meeting, residents and immigration activists praised the Collaborative's efforts and focused their questions on how the plan would work in the event of a New Bedford-style raid in Chelsea.
"Perhaps we won't see a New Bedford tomorrow with 300 people, but we'll see it in parts," Patricia Montes, a member of the Latin American immigrant nonprofit organization, Centro Presente, said at the meeting. "What is the message that we're going to send?"
Vega said that the next steps for the plan will be to gather more volunteers, tighten up the evacuation procedures, put together role play or drill simulations, and post details of the finalized plan on the local cable channel and newspapers.
Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com.
© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2007 : 8:25:27 PM
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The owner of the Crow Lane site is the same owner as Wood Waste. The following article was in today's Boston Globe North.
The state Department of Environmental Protection ruled on Oct. 16 that 47,000 tons of soil from Winning Farms, a former horse farm that stretched through Woburn, Winchester, and Lexington, could be used as "daily cover or shaping and grading material" at Crow Lane, and at municipal landfills in Haverhill and Charlton, in Western Massachusetts.
Neighbors of Crow Lane, who have long complained of odors, runoff, and blowing trash from landfill operators New Ventures Associates LLC, are furious about the state's latest ruling.
"I can't understand how a company with all these issues is being allowed to spread this new problem around," said Jim Gaines, who lives about a quarter of a mile from the landfill and worries about potential health effects. "We are becoming the dump for Massachusetts."
The Woburn soil is described in state documents as "urban fill," containing asphalt, brick and concrete, along with demolition debris, including wood, metal, wire, metal piping, ceramic tile, and glass.
"It's not clean fill, but it's not contaminated material," said state environmental spokesman Joe Ferson. "What do you do with the material?"
After several years of negotiations, Woburn health officials reached a deal with West Woburn Development Corp. that would allow the developers to build condos on the site in exchange for donating half the land to the city and removing the questionable soil.
The developers then spent several more years test ing the soil and developing the plan to excavate and remove the material.
"My board made a deal with the developer that the developer would pay for the board's consultant for every moment they are operating," said John Fralick, Woburn's director of public health.
Of particular concern to Woburn residents, Fralick said, is any dust that will be generated during soil excavation and removal because much of the material is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Such chemicals occur naturally in gas, coal and oil, but are also created during asphalt production and the burning of several other products.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has classified certain PAHs as definite, probable, or possible cancer-causing agents. The Centers for Disease Control has concluded that more research is needed.
"If it blows in the wind, nobody wants to breathe in any dust or have the contaminated dust land in their yard," Fralick said.
"That's why you need a strong dust control plan. Some of the monitoring will be done real time, so we will know if we have to shut the project down so no dust escapes."
In its Oct. 16 ruling, the state ordered that all material leaving Woburn would be wetted and covered to "prevent fugitive particles and dust from leaving the transporting vehicle." The order also requires landfill operators receiving the material to "immediately take appropriate steps to abate any nuisance condition(s) including, but not limited to, noise, dust and odor."
In Newburyport, New Ventures already is facing substantial court orders to comply with local and state environmental laws, after authorities have repeatedly charged the company with breaking the rules at Crow Lane during the past two years. The company is responsible for capping and closing the landfill.
In September, a Suffolk Superior Court judge directed New Ventures to place a temporary cap on the portion of the landfill that has generated noxious odors, install three gas-extraction wells to control the odors, and to repair tears in the permanent cap that was installed.
Now, state environmental authorities are reviewing New Ventures repairs and installation plans for the wells, and is preparing a response, said Ferson, the state's spokesman. He also said that Crow Lane many not necessarily receive any of the Woburn soil, but is listed in the Woburn dumping plan to give the Woburn developers "flexibility" in their disposal choices.
The uncertainty, coupled with Crow Lane's history, has Newburyport residents on edge.
"We have little to no faith in the [state's] oversight of this landfill or any others in the state," said resident Terry Berns. "I'm not saying this shouldn't be in my backyard. It shouldn't be in anyone's backyard."
Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Compan |
Edited by - massdee on 10/28/2007 8:26:50 PM |
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arthur
Senior Member
212 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2007 : 06:02:23 AM
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Not all find comfort in sanctuary designation
Neighbors' policy chafes in Everett
By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | November 1, 2007
EVERETT - With Chelsea to the east and Cambridge to the west, Common Councilor James Keane of Everett feels surrounded by sanctuaries for illegal immigrants.
He is leading a controversial charge to strip federal homeland security dollars from the two self-designated "sanctuary cities" and instead send the money to Everett and other neighboring towns. Unlike the neighboring communities, Keane draws an absolute line in the sand: Legal immigrants are fine, but illegal immigrants cost his city money for everything from trash pickup to public safety.
So he pushed through a resolution, approved by city officials last month, that has propelled this gritty industrial city on the Mystic River to the front of a national debate about sanctuary cities. The debate is pitting neighbor against neighbor and city against city.
Sanctuary declarations are largely symbolic, though they vary by city. Chelsea and Cambridge officially welcome all immigrants, including those here illegally, and they discourage federal immigration raids, although they do not interfere with immigration and customs authorities.
But critics say that sanctuary cities encourage immigrants to continue living in the United States illegally and to flout federal laws.
The sanctuary designation is fast becoming grist for politicians. Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson have called for withholding federal money from cities that shelter illegal immigrants. Last year, Colorado passed an antisanctuary law that requires cities and towns to cooperate with federal customs agents on immigration.
"If they feel that strongly that the laws shouldn't be enforced, then they shouldn't have the money that comes with it to enforce these laws," Keane, a 49-year-old mail clerk, said between sips of coffee in Peter's Sunrise Restaurant on Main Street in Everett. "It's that simple."
Jay Ash, Chelsea's city manager, scoffed at Everett's resolution. Chelsea officials said federal immigration raids are not welcome. But police still cooperate with immigration agents when asked and Chelsea has had at least two major raids since it became a sanctuary.
"I thought the resolution was laughable," Ash said. "The Chelsea effort to declare itself a sanctuary city was a symbolic effort to reach out to people no matter what their status, race, ethnicity, to say that we respect the rights of people, no matter what situation they're in."
In Cambridge, which renewed its sanctuary status last year, Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves declined to comment. Everett sent its resolution to US Representative Edward J. Markey, who plans to take no action on it and will instead fight for more comprehensive immigration reform, a spokeswoman said.
Everett and Chelsea are both small, blue-collar cities that have attracted immigrants for more than a century. But they are a study in contrasts in their approach to illegal immigration.
Chelsea became a sanctuary city in June. There is little support for that in Everett. Chelsea community members have taken the step of crafting emergency plans to aid immigrants in case of federal raids; Everett, like most other communities, has not. Call City Hall in Chelsea, and a recording asks if you speak English or Spanish. Everett answers in English only.
Part of the difference is that Chelsea's demographics changed faster. Now it is one of the most Latino cities in the state, while Everett is mostly white.
But from 1990 to 2000, Everett's foreign-born population soared from 11 percent to 22 percent, according to a report by MassINC, a nonpartisan research institute. And the changes are making some residents uneasy.
Keane said he has been trying to determine how much illegal immigration costs Everett taxpayers. Last year, the Common Council passed Keane's resolution calling for a study, but he said the effort has not been undertaken. Property taxes are rising, he said, and he is tired of opponents saying city officials should not tackle immigration issues.
"People keep saying it's a federal issue, but it's the cities and towns like Everett that are paying the price for it," said Keane, who said he has been called a fascist by critics for his views. "It just blows my mind that people don't even want to discuss the issue."
"The city's struggling financially," Keane added. "Anybody who says it isn't, they're not living in Everett. They're living in denial."
He said illegal immigrants, as well as college students and others, inhabit 800 to 900 makeshift apartments in Everett that may pose a fire hazard because of the way they were carved out of larger buildings. The number of police citations for driving without a license - illegal immigrants are ineligible for licenses - has more than doubled since 2004, from 210 to 526 last year, according to police. The count is not broken down by immigration status.
At Peter's Sunrise Restaurant, a popular hangout that happens to be owned by an Albanian immigrant, many support Keane's stance on immigration.
"If they're illegal, they shouldn't be here," said Sumner Green, 77, a retired gun shop owner. "It's made my taxes go up, I'm sure."
Common Councilor Michael Mangan, who backed the resolution, agreed. "If you're going to harbor illegal immigrants I don't think you should get federal funds," he said.
But others say Keane and his supporters are unfairly blaming immigrants for the city's troubles. Even those here illegally contribute by paying taxes, rent, and shopping in town, they say. Advocates also fear that tension over immigrants will affect local businesses, hurt the city in race relations, and foster underreporting to the US census, which affects how much money Everett gets from the federal government.
Already, many residents suspect the city's official population of 38,000 may truly be as large as 50,000, with the recent influx of immigrants from South America, especially Brazil, joining longer-established groups from Africa, Central America, and elsewhere.
City officials said Keane and others shouldn't blame illegal immigrants for Everett's woes.
The fire chief said immigrants are not responsible for a bigger share of fires than anyone else. The volume of trash pickup has stayed constant for the past three years, said Everett's chief procurement officer. City officials and others say local financial prospects dimmed as a result of loss of such major industries as Monsanto.
"People want to blame somebody, but they're blaming the wrong people," said Meg English, coordinator of the Everett Literacy Program, which teaches English to immigrants. "These are not the people who took your jobs away."
Others say immigrants are revitalizing the city. Norwood Street is dotted with ethnic stores, including Brazilian barbecue, a fish market, and a shop that wires money to other countries.
"Let's support each other," said Lazaro Orellana, owner of Mama Blanca, a Latin American restaurant on Norwood Street. "Don't blame the immigrants."
For-sale signs dot the streets where Keane grew up, he said. "This isn't the Everett I grew up in. . . . That's a hard thing to take."
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2007 : 07:45:41 AM
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EVERETT
ERROR ON SCHOOL PLAQUE - The devil may be in the details when it comes to Everett's$65 million high school and its dedication plaque. The plaque on the 325,000-square-foot building contains an error, according to Ward 3 Board of Alderman Stephen Smith, who is also a state representative. The plaque correctly lists October 2007 as the dedication, but then has the wrong names listed for the current presidents of the Board of Aldermen and Common Council. It lists last year's top officers instead of the current officeholders, Joseph McGonagle, president of the aldermen, and Sal DiDomenico, president of the council. "It was pointed out to me by someone who was offended by it," Smith said. The matter has been referred to the board's public service committee, which has invited the school building committee to its next meeting. "It will get fixed," said Smith, who is running for a seat on the School Committee in Tuesday's elections. - Kay Lazar |
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arthur
Senior Member
212 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2007 : 07:13:24 AM
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Mayoral races top the ballots
Two aldermen compete for open Everett seat
By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent | November 4, 2007
A spirited contest for an open mayoral seat in Everett is among races claiming the spotlight as 14 communities across the region prepare to hold municipal elections on Tuesday.
Polling hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the area communities holding elections, which include Chelsea, Lynn, Malden, Melrose, Revere, Saugus, and Winthrop. In addition to electing mayors, voters will make choices on aldermen, councilors, school committee members, and members of several other municipal bodies, including - in Saugus - the Board of Selectmen.
In Everett, Aldermen Joseph W. McGonagle and Carlo DeMaria Jr. are battling for the city's top political post after the two toppled first-term Mayor John Hanlon in a four-way preliminary election on Sept. 18. With the seat now open and both remaining contenders well known in the city, the race is drawing interest.
"We feel real good," DeMaria, who has served five terms as an alderman at large after two as a Ward 2 common councilor, said last week. "It's going to be a real close race, but we've really done a lot of work these last six or seven months" reaching out to voters.
"I bring experience and people know I've been im partial," said DeMaria, who owns four Honey Dew Donut franchises. He wants to "bring pride back to the community" by pursuing creative revenue-raising efforts to lower taxes and fund such projects as cleaning streets and parks, opening a teen center, and developing housing for seniors.
McGonagle, the owner of a construction business, said he also is optimistic about the upcoming election, noting, "I have a very large organization, and a strong business, community presence that are with us to turn this community around."
"I bring business experience, business sense," said McGonagle, who is in his second term as Ward 6 alderman after a term as Ward 1 Common Councilor. He said he is committed to holding the line on spending to ease the burden on residential taxpayers, noting his record of having "fought against budget increases" the last two years.
In all, seven mayoral contests are on tap around the region Tuesday, including in Amesbury, Beverly, Gloucester, Haverhill, Newburyport, and Peabody, in addition to Everett.
Mayors Thomas G. Ambrosino of Revere, Robert J. Dolan of Melrose, and Richard C. Howard of Malden are unopposed in their reelection bids. Malden and Revere both have four-year mayoral terms, while Melrose is implementing one effective this election.
Lynn Mayor Edward J. "Chip" Clancy Jr., and Salem Mayor Kimberley L. Driscoll are both in the middle of four-year terms.
Chelsea, Saugus, and Winthrop, which will hold its second election since switching to a city form of government, do not have mayors.
The key electoral matchup for Winthrop on Tuesday is the race for Council president, which pits first-term incumbent Thomas E. Reilly against former selectman Brian J. Perrin, a Winthrop Police detective lieutenant and lawyer.
In Saugus, all eyes are on a nine-way for five seats on the Board of Selectmen, enlivened by the town's financial crunch and the decision of veteran incumbent Janette Fasano not to run.
In addition to filling seats, voters in five area communities Tuesday also will decide ballot questions.
Among those stirring debate is a proposed $1 million "underride," or property tax decrease, in Amesbury.
Proponents say the tax cut is needed to ease the burden on city taxpayers, but opponents, including Mayor Thatcher W. Kezer III, said it would deal a blow to the city's finances.
In both Gloucester and Salem, voters will be asked whether their cities should adopt the Community Preservation Act, the state law that allows cities and towns to raise money through a property tax surcharge and matching state funds to support community preservation projects.
Saugus voters will decide whether to establish a charter commission, and elect members who would serve on it.
In Winthrop, voters will decide whether to reduce from 99 to 25 the minimum number of seats a restaurant must have to be issued a liquor license.
Amesbury also has two ballot questions asking whether the city should seek special legislation, one of those to create a tourism fund, and the other to limit the city's eminent domain powers.
A nonbinding question asks whethers voters support maintaining a public library in the city, and whether, in addition to studying the idea of retaining the library in its present site, they would like to study the idea of relocating it to another site.
Other area mayoral races include a showdown in Haverhill between two-term incumbent James J. Fiorentini of Haverhill and former four-term mayor James A. Rurak.
In Gloucester, City Council president Jim Destino and School Committee member Carolyn Kirk are vying to succeed retiring Mayor John Bell.
In Newburyport, first-term Mayor John Moak is competing with challenger James A. Stiles, a community volunteer and first-time candidate.
Kezer, bidding for a second term in Amesbury, has opposition from District 6 Municipal Councilor Alison M. Lindstrom.
Six-term Beverly Mayor William F. Scanlon Jr. is vying with challenger Euplio "Rick" Marciano, who has run previously for council (and is also running for councilor at large this year). Scanlon served five terms, lost in 2003, and was elected again in 2005.
Peabody's three-term Mayor Michael J. Bonfanti has opposition from first-time candidate Barbara J. Guillette.
© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2007 : 08:03:31 AM
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Wide worries over oil prices
Analysts say burden could spur recession
Globe Staff / November 8, 2007
The price of crude oil is poised to cross the $100-a-barrel threshold, raising the prospect that the burden on consumers and businesses could be the final straw to tip the US economy into a recession.
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How the oil market got to this historic milestone - with prices nearly doubling from their 2007 low of $50.48 and more than tripling since 2003 - is a twisting tale of hurricanes, speculators, refinery constraints, and geopolitical jitters. Many fear the fallout, long cushioned by robust growth, soon may be felt in everything from rising gasoline and heating bills to higher air fares to reduced corporate earnings.
"This is definitely a major threat to the economy," said Brian Bethune, economist for Global Insight, a research firm in Waltham, who warned that sustained per-barrel oil prices in triple digits could shave as much as 0.5 percent off an already slowing gross domestic product next year. "We're getting down to a critical stall speed."
That could mean consumers scaling back on holiday shopping to offset soaring prices at the gas pumps, or businesses hiring fewer workers and passing higher energy prices on to customers.
Bad weather, which drives up energy demands, or international tensions that put oil supplies in jeopardy could send prices even higher - and make a downturn even more likely, said Jim Burkhard, managing director of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "If we get a cold winter, we could see $110 a barrel," Burkhard suggested. "In our view, if prices stayed at that level for six months to a year, that would contribute to a significant economic slowdown."
Oil closed at $96.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday, down 33 cents, after climbing to an all-time high of $98.62 earlier in the day. The mixed reaction from investors followed release of a government report that showed oil inventories shrinking, though less than expected. Analysts said it was only a matter of time before the crude price hits $100 a barrel.
"This ship will right itself at some point," said Sarah Emerson, managing director at Wakefield consulting firm Energy Security Analysis, who said the severity of the economic impact will depend on the duration of the run-up. "But in the meantime we'll be dealing with very high prices."
Gasoline prices, which have lagged crude oil increases in recent weeks, are expected to move up as the holiday travel season approaches. And increases in home heating prices are likely to disproportionately hurt Northeastern states like Massachusetts, which burn more oil and natural gas than other parts of the country.
The state's commercial sector may be less vulnerable than elsewhere, however, because of its concentration of energy-efficient financial services and other white-collar industries. "Massachusetts is frugal in terms of the energy it consumes," said Phil Guidice, commissioner of the state Division of Energy Resources. "We're not a heavy industrial economy anymore." Guidice said high oil prices could have the beneficial long-term effect of spurring conservation and more investment in alternative energies, like solar, wind, and biomass.Continued...
Oil's spurt toward triple digits comes as the Federal Reserve board struggles to stimulate the economy through interest rate cuts to avoid a recession, defined as a significant decline in the gross domestic product and other economic measures lasting more than a few months. But the economy faces multiple challenges which, in addition to surging oil prices, include a weakening dollar and problems in the housing and subprime mortage markets that have taken a toll on low-income homeowners and Wall Street financial firms.
Breaking the $100-a-barrel barrier may be "an inevitable rite of passage," as Bethune put it, at a time when developing countries such as China and India are importing record usage of oil to feed their rapid industrial expansions. But this year's spike in prices, the largest in percentage terms since they quadrupled in the early 1970s, was driven by a mix of factors more complex than simple supply and demand.
Oil refineries, squeezed by narrower profit margins, have been reducing capacity worldwide even as demand has grown, leaving the supply chain much tighter than it has been in the past. "There's very little buffer in the system," Emerson said. "We're in a situation where we're running refineries harder and we've outgrown our capacity."
The situation was aggravated last spring when refineries on the Gulf Coast were closed for maintenance delayed by their efforts to recover from Hurricane Katrina. And aware that traders are sensitive to any global event that threatens the flow of oil, from the standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions to the saber rattling of Venezuela president Hugo Chavez, speculators have contributed to the price run-up by snapping up oil futures, essentially betting that prices will rise.
Hitting $98.37 put the crude oil price in sight of $100 a barrel. Adjusted for inflation, that level remains slightly below the peak attained in 1980, which would be equivalent to $101.70 today.
The fact that the US economy has withstood the impact of rising prices so far "highlights in dramatic fashion how different the oil market and the whole world economy is today compared to the last two decades," said Burkhard at Cambridge Energy Research Association.
Because of production efficiencies and a more diverse global economy that includes India and China, Burkhard said it takes only six-tenths of a barrel of oil to produce $1,000 in real economic output today, versus nine-tenths of a barrel in 1980. "We simply need less oil to produce the same economic output today," he said.
A. Denny Ellerman, a senior lecturer on energy economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, said he anticipates oil prices will retreat from the $100 level as production increases, demand drops, and capacity is expanded, following the same cyclical pattern that sent prices tumbling after oil shocks in the 1980s. "In real terms, $100 is about where we were in the peak year of 1980," said Ellerman.
Others say the oil price trajectory will depend on a range of factors, including weather, changing demand in global markets, and developments in the Persian Gulf. "I don't know if $100 is a target we bounce off of or a target we sit on for a while," Emerson said.
Bethune said oil traders have built a "geopolitical risk premium" of $20 to $25 a barrel into the current price of crude oil, reflecting their calculation of the likelihood that instability in hot spots like Iran or Turkey could interrupt oil supplies. "We don't think this price is sustainable, but that doesn't take away the short-term pain," he said.
Robert Weisman can be reached at weisman@globe.com.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2007 : 08:41:48 AM
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| I told everyone in my house to make sure they have lots of sweaters handy. It's going to be a chilly winter indoors and out. |
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arthur
Senior Member
212 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2007 : 07:55:31 AM
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Home / News / Local EVERETT
Mayor-elect is off to running start
Email|Print| Text size – + By Kay Lazar
Globe Staff / November 11, 2007
Carlo DeMaria Jr., Everett's mayor-elect, isn't wasting any time.
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Barely 12 hours after DeMaria, the city's alderman at large, captured the top job in Tuesday's general election, he said he'd already set up meetings for this week with area mayors to get a feel for how they are handling several key issues.
"I just want to talk about working together as area mayors on development in the city, just making the city as safe as possible and talking about their issues with public safety, and what policies they have instituted to save taxpayers' money," DeMaria said.
One big-ticket item DeMaria said he would especially like to explore with other mayors is whether to join the Group Insurance Commission, a state-run health insur ance program that can save cities and towns significant sums on their insurance coverage for municipal employees. He said he also intends to pursue "aggressive" recycling campaigns to reduce hefty trash disposal fees and, additionally, will encourage "clean" development plans by Wood Waste of Boston owner William Thibeault for roughly 30 acres near his property on Revere Beach Parkway.
Thibeault, who is suing the city, was a DeMaria campaign supporter.
"He's got a master plan to develop it all and in that plan is tax dollars and it's clean development," DeMaria said. "He has an idea to bring in retail outlets like Lowe's and Loews Theaters, and he has had a major hotel chain contact him about moving down there."
DeMaria, 34, defeated his Board of Alderman colleague and president, Joseph McGonagle, 48, by 313 votes, winning 13 of 18 precincts. The final tally was almost a mirror opposite of September's preliminary election, when McGonagle captured 13 precincts and bested DeMaria by 385 votes in a four-way race that ousted Mayor John Hanlon.
Now, DeMaria, who chided Hanlon during the primary for bloated budgets and payrolls, says Hanlon's support in the general election gave him the winning edge.
"It was huge," Demaria said. "Yeah, people were upset with him for taxes going up, but that wasn't all his fault. He paid off a lot of debt from the prior administration and . . . he funded the pension system that was neglected for years."
Hanlon, who came in third in September's election, said he sent out letters to the roughly 1,700 people who supported him in that race, urging them to back DeMaria. And, he said, he spent all Election Day on the phone, reminding them to vote. Just 44 percent of the city's roughly 17,700 voters went to the polls. DeMaria captured 51 percent of the vote, to McGonagle's 47 percent.
"I thought Carlo would win," Hanlon said. "But I thought he would win by more."
City Clerk Michael Matarazzo, who served 18 years on the city's council and has been involved in politics for 30 years, said this election was anything but textbook.
"There was no political feel out there about exactly what was going to happen or where the momentum was," Matarazzo said. "It changed daily."
Matarazzo said the last time he was so stumped about the outcome of a race was in 1990, when he worked as a field director in William Weld's 1990 gubernatorial campaign.
In Everett, where politics can be a bruising sport, this mayoral race was marked by allegations of foul play.
In the closing weeks of the campaign, McGonagle said his tires were slashed, a campaign worker's windshield was smashed, and that two young women who were canvassing neighborhoods in late October were intimidated and "harassed" by a male who grabbed their clipboard and demanded to know what they were doing.
A police report filed by McGonagle and the two women on Oct. 23 identifies that man as DeMaria.
Two hours after that report was filed, police records show that DeMaria came into police headquarters to file a "rebuttal," denying the allegations and stating that he was accompanied at the time of the alleged incident by two people who would "attest that he didn't do what was alleged."
Asked about the alleged incident after the election, DeMaria declined comment.
"I think it was them who played dirty from day one," he said. "I want to move on. I have been preaching a new beginning for the city."
Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 11/15/2007 : 12:48:58 PM
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Former House speaker ousted from job after going against Everett mayor
November 15, 07 12:06 PM
By Kay Lazar, Globe Staff
George Keverian, the former House speaker who was a giant in Boston politics for two decades, has been abruptly ousted from his post as director of assessors in his hometown of Everett.
Keverian, 76, said he was hand-delivered a letter Wednesday from Everett Mayor John Hanlon that ordered him to immediately clean out the office he has held for 12 years and turn in his keys at City Hall.
No reason was given for the dismissal. Keverian said he believes he was fired because he supported a candidate not backed by Hanlon in the mayoral election Nov. 6. Hanlon was knocked out of the race in September's primary, the first time in recent memory an incumbent Everett mayor did not survive the preliminary election.
"I am told I may have some rights because he violated my First Amendment rights, and that he can't remove me from my job for endorsing someone," Keverian said today in a phone interview.
Keverian served 24 years in the House of Representatives and was speaker from 1985 until 1990. Everett has since named a City Hall hearing room after him and an elementary school.
Hanlon did not return a phone call seeking comment.
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arthur
Senior Member
212 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2007 : 05:33:38 AM
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Long wait expected to become US citizen
Delays spur concern over voting eligibility
By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | November 21, 2007
Immigrants will face a significantly longer wait to become US citizens because applications surged more than expected before hefty fee increases took effect July 30, Boston's chief immigration official said yesterday.
The delay has raised concern among immigrant advocacy groups that thousands of immigrants might not be eligible to vote in the 2008 presidential elections because they must be US citizens to go to the polls. It has also stirred anxiety among immigrants who are still awaiting word from the government.
Nationally, 784,601 people applied for citizenship before the fees increased this year, compared with 458,964 during the same period the previous year, a 71 percent jump, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Denis Riordan, Boston's district director for the agency, said "processing time will increase and increase, to be frank, significantly."
It is too soon to know how long the process will take, he said, partly because thousands of applications are still sitting in boxes. But he said it will certainly take longer than the current seven months, both in Boston and nationwide. In January, it took four to five months to become a citizen in Boston.
Riordan said national officials are scrambling to come up with a plan to minimize the delays, from offering overtime to hiring more employees.
In Boston, he was already planning to add at least eight officers to a 40-person staff handling these and other cases. Each officer can handle as many as 1,600 citizenship cases a year.
"We are not going to stand by and let that backlog increase significantly," Riordan said. "Whatever it takes to get the job done, we are prepared to do."
But the delays are already unleashing a wave of uncertainty across the region. Immigrants had rushed to beat the fee hikes, which rose from $400 to $675, and then heard nothing for months.
Now they are calling help lines, scouring their bank statements to see whether the government has cashed their checks, and shuffling through their mail for letters from the government. Some worry that their applications are lost.
"Some applicants are nervous because they would have expected to have received the notification for an interview at this point, and have not," said Thomas Keown, spokesman for the Irish Immigration Center in Boston. "It's a stressful process for people anyway, but with a delay of this size they get more nervous."
Immigrants are especially concerned about missing out on the 2008 elections, according to advocates. Immigration has become a pivotal issue in the upcoming election, with presidential candidates clashing over what to do about the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country.
Immigrants must be legal residents to apply for citizenship. But many citizens and noncitizens alike rallied in recent years to seek change in immigration law, holding signs at local demonstrations such as "today we march, tomorrow we vote."
"The longer a person takes to become a citizen, the fewer voters you have on the rolls," said Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. "When we're faced with a national election that determines the next president, the last thing we should be doing is keeping people from voting."
Patricia Montes is a coordinator of community organizers with Centro Presente, a Cambridge-based nonprofit that helps immigrants apply for citizenship. Montes applied to become a citizen just before the fee increase.
She said she only received her appointment to be fingerprinted a few weeks ago, and she is worried that she won't be eligible to vote.
"More than anything I want to vote," said Montes, a journalist with a college degree who arrived from Honduras four years ago. "I believe in democracy. I have few opportunities to participate in the civic life of this country without being a citizen."
Riordan said the agency would try to work quickly, "with or without a national election coming up."
To apply for citizenship, immigrants must fill out an application, pay the fee, be interviewed and tested, and undergo background checks. Applicants must be legal residents for five years, have a basic command of English, and adhere to the US Constitution. Finally, they must attend a swearing-in ceremony.
In raising the fees, the government was seeking to raise an additional $1 billion to improve services and cover costs for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which processes 6 million to 8 million immigration-related applications a year, from work authorizations to asylum and legal permanent residency, called green cards.
But immigration officials said the agency is being buffeted by a "perfect storm," including an average 66 percent increase in agency fees and a federal decision to increase the number of people who could apply for green cards through work, which deluged their office with 800,000 unexpected applications.
The magnitude of the increase in applications caught immigration officials off guard, Riordan said. The fee increases were announced in February, though the final costs weren't released until May.
"We've had fee increases in the past," he said. "But this surge is unprecedented. Maybe people are more aware of the immigration debate and the importance of citizenship," Riordan said.
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 11/22/2007 : 08:34:11 AM
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* Home /
* News /
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Globe North Letter
The Boston Globe
Keverian wins praise, thanks
Email|Print| Text size – +
November 22, 2007
Please explain to me what is happening in this city.
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Scenario: Take a man, born of immigrant parents, who grew up in Everett, graduated from Everett High School as valedictorian of the class of 1949, and then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University.
Take a man who, while serving our country in the Army in Alaska, topped the ticket at home on the Common Council. He then moved on to the Board of Aldermen and through hard work and much door-knocking, became the state representative for our district. Again, through hard work and dedication, he managed to become speaker of the House of Representatives - quite an accomplishment for one man to attain.
George Keverian has become a "landmark" in Everett. The meeting room on the third floor in City Hall bears his name. Our city government has also honored Keverian by having a school named after him. Keverian has helped many residents in Everett both financially and with emotional support. He is a gentleman from the old school who deserves our utmost respect.
Take a man who was fired from his position at City Hall. He was handed a letter and escorted from the building. Is this his "thank you" for a life of dedication to the city of Everett? No, this is shameful and a disgrace.
We all realize that when a new mayor is elected, he will bring in his own people. This is fine. We also realize that politics is a nasty game. True friends are few and far between. Why was he let go and why under these conditions? Couldn't his dismissal have waited until the end of the current administration's term? Have we forgotten in this game of nasty politics how to be humane?
I thank you, Mr. Keverian. I have never interacted with you either professionally or personally. However, I am grateful that you have played such a large part in the history of Everett. Hold your head up high. There are a lot of us out here who appreciate what you have done for us and what you have accomplished.
Kay Conway
Everett
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Court4Fred
Advanced Member
1201 Posts |
Posted - 11/22/2007 : 08:39:46 AM
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| Thank you to Kay Conway. This is a beautiful tribute to Speaker Keverian, and raises the question of the appropriateness of his firing and treatment. |
Edited by - Court4Fred on 11/22/2007 08:45:54 AM |
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todays globe part two
