Saturday, October 11, 2008

Parking fees increase at MBTA

The MBTA's oversight board voted yesterday to raise parking rates by $2 at all of its lots and garages beginning Nov. 15 as part of a plan to pay back wages owed to union employees.

For many daily riders, the increase will have the same effect as a $10-per-week fare increase, or about $500 per year. Rates currently vary, from $1 per day at ferry yards, to $2 at commuter rail station lots, up to as much as $5 at the four most expensive garages.

"That's doubling it," said Margie Katz, a record supervisor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston who takes the commuter rail to work from the Campello station in Brockton, where daily rates had been $2. "It will be an extreme hardship."
Read the full article here in the Boston Globe

"It's really depressing"

GHS
Posted Oct 10, 2008 @ 10:10 PM
Last update Oct 10, 2008 @ 10:53 PM

MILFORD —

Calling the global economic crisis and financial pressure "the perfect storm" for taxpayers to pass Question 1, which repeals the state income tax on Nov. 4, legislators implored local politicians to rally against it.

"If it passes, we can pretty much shut our doors and go home," said Rep. John V. Fernandes, D-Milford, during a legislative breakfast with the Massachusetts Municipal Association at the Milford Senior Center yesterday.

"We can't sit back on such an important question. The cynicism that drives this means we have to explain to people the seriousness of the consequences. I know people who tend to vote for this who work for local government," Fernandes said.

Fernandes, state Sen. Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge, Ashland Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Mark Purple, and Douglas Executive Director Michael Guzinski, along with others at the forum, believe the question has a very good chance of passing, and it scares them.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here


"some people are just self-centered and narrow-minded"

GHS
Posted Oct 10, 2008 @ 10:34 PM
Last update Oct 10, 2008 @ 10:41 PM

FRANKLIN —

Neighbors are rallying to save a nearby colony of feral cats, contacting national animal rights organizations after learning Highwood Condominiums' board of trustees plans to trap and euthanize them.

Animal Control officers Cindy Souza and Tracey Holmes say the feral cats' feeding station, which they set up with Purr-fect Cat Shelter of Medway in nearby woods is on state land where trapping is prohibited.

"We've kind of stepped back ... It's really up to the people to stand up to the association at this point," Holmes said.

And they are.

Resident Leslie McShane contacted Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, to bring attention to the situation.

"I thought they should know what goes on in small towns that want to euthanize their problems ... instead of reaching out to the community to try and find homes for the feral cats or try to relocate the colony to a friendlier area that they can all survive in," McShane said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here


Thursday, October 9, 2008

"We plan for the worst, hoping it never happens"

GHS
Posted Oct 08, 2008 @ 11:38 PM

MILFORD —

Just outside Milford Regional Medical Center, men covered from head to toe in protective suits, gloves, rubber boots and breathing apparatus had already decontaminated several victims of a mock terrorist attack when Fire. Lt. Patrick Salmon got a message over his walkie-talkie.

A voice on the other end said the state was reporting: "It may be a terror attack with sarin gas," a nerve agent used in chemical warfare.

Around 7:35 p.m., 55 minutes into a drill mimicking a terrorist incident on a commuter train arriving in Franklin, emergency workers were prepping the third and final victim to bring to the hospital.

"So far, it's good. It's dark out, so we had some issues until we got the lights set up, but now we can keep taking patients" if necessary, Salmon said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"members worried about the safety of students, faculty and staff "

Milford Daily News
Posted Oct 09, 2008 @ 12:54 AM

FRANKLIN —

The Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School's board of trustees last week voted to rent the historic Red Brick School from the town for one year.

"I'm feeling very good about it. I've been a strong proponent on using the building," said John Neas, president of the charter school's board.

Neas said the school faces a critical need for space in its building, which he estimated to be about 35,000 square feet.

"We use every inch of space available to us. We have 416 students and a waiting list of 200 students we can't accommodate," Neas said, noting that the board is looking for another school site. (In the best scenario, he said, they might have a new building in five years.)

And every weekday afternoon, charter school students and staff must vacate the building so that St. Mary's Church, which owns the building, can hold religious ed classes there, Neas said.

"That means our school dismisses at 3:10, and we have from 3:10 to 3:45 for after-school activities. That creates some issues for us," he said.

"This is a possibility for us in terms of having space to do those types of things," Neas said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Fiscal 2010 will be "a very challenging year"

GHS
Posted Oct 07, 2008 @ 10:44 PM

FRANKLIN —

In keeping with the same financial forecasts given over the last year, Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting last night told the Finance Committee he anticipates fiscal 2010 will be "a very challenging year."

"Local receipts aren't going to bounce back quickly. Everything is tightening and tightening and tightening," Nutting said in the first Finance Committee meeting of the new fiscal year.

His biggest concern for the fiscal '10 budget is whether there will be a reduction in state aid, he said.

Nutting does not believe Franklin will be "as revenue-rich" as last year, he said, noting that the town's fuel, pensions and insurance costs will continue to escalate, outpacing revenue.

The town will bid for a new electric energy contract this spring, "another big exposure," Nutting said.

Read the full story in the Milford Daily News here