Set your DVR's for CNN Special... All the President's lies

I've tried to stay out of the circus around the President's impeachment hearings but the CNN special may be worth your time. Wednesday at 10 pm, CNN.


here are the urls if you missed the shows

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-plastic-problem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZGS_PaoF9M

Are we paying cops and fireman to read to kids in elementary school?

 As we have heard, FPD is down a hand full of officers and as OT would indicate that there's plenty of slots to fill in both FPD and FFD. I heard last year that the son (who's a cop in Framingham) of one teacher at one school come up with this idea. Little kids are star stuck by shiny medals and uniforms and guns. I don't like the idea of this at all and if this is creating OT for someone, then I'm even more against this feel good program. Like the now defunct DARE program, cops in our schools for other than bike safety should not be glorified.

From the Source:

The ‘Officer Read Aloud’ program which began at McCarthy Elementary School in March of 2019, is expanding to provide a similar experience for Woodrow Wilson Elementary School students

This expansion also adds a partnership with the Framingham Fire Department.

Police officers and firefighters will visit the school and read a book that was special to them as a child or one that they have enjoyed reading to their own children.

Families were sent a letter to introduce the program and students were presented with a discussion on how to ask appropriate questions.

For the Officer Read Aloud partnership and program, a bilingual police officer will visit the school once per month to read to two classrooms, followed by a question and answer session. 

In an email to parents/guardians, Principal Purnima Vadhera encouraged families to speak with their children about the experience, ask them about the books they’re reading, and how they feel about having this time with our local police officers and firefighters.

Literacy Coach Jacqueline Carrasquillo said she was excited to bring this important collaboration with leaders in the Framingham community. 

 “Our hope is Woodrow Wilson students will begin to build, and in some cases rebuild, trust with our police officers and firefighters through this relationship building opportunity,” she said. “Additionally, by incorporating a literacy component, we will continue to foster the importance of reading.”  

“On behalf of the Framingham Police Department, we’re really looking forward to expanding the ‘Officer Read Aloud’ program and partnership to include Woodrow Wilson Elementary School,” said Deputy Police Chief Lester Baker.

“Last year’s program launch with McCarthy Elementary School exceeded our expectations. The Officers responded positively to the opportunity to read and build relationships with the children and we knew it was only a matter of time before we’d be able to visit more schools and with more frequency. We (the Police Department) are really happy to see this happen so quickly. Our Officers continue to do great work, every day, every shift and most of it goes unnoticed.  I can’t thank them enough for their commitment to the citizens of this City,” said the Deputy Police Chief.

Hands Free Driving Bill is law

It took 16 years and countless lives for Beacon Hill and the Governor to finally get this done. This will be a game changer I hope.
The new law carries a fine of 100 bucks for first timer violators, 250 for the second and 500 for any violation after that. A grace period until the end of March before fines are levied, but you can still get pulled over and a written warning will be given.

We have been put on notice.

Bancroft developer pulls TIF request

Citing a tense political dynamic between the Mayor and the Counsel, Justin Krebs managing partner of Washington Square Ventures is quoted in the MWDN " We have chosen to withdraw our TIF request at this time because of the current political environment which borders on the absurd".

It's pretty clear that the project had already begun and Mr. Krebs was asking the city to help his bottom line out. He is hoping that the new Counsel will be more willing to grant his request. Mr. Krebs might want to review the candidate forums the League put on to hear how the candidates answered the question of granting the TIF. I'm not sure the new Counsel will be any more likely to approve it and they shouldn't imo.

According to the experts, tax breaks are used to encourage developers to come to a City and not used after a project has been approved. 

I may be in the minority, but I think that's the worse place for 150 apartments.

are we in danger of losing MWDN?

 This news is terrible for our Town. We need a local paper in a community this large and a region this important to the States economy. The paper went down hill after Rick retired as they never hired an opinion editor and waited to long to get a local unbiased reporter. 

By Don Seiffert  – Managing Editor, Boston Business Journal

Nov 22, 2019, 11:17am EST

Of the 200 daily newspapers at the newly merged Gannett Co. that file print circulation numbers publicly, more than 80% are losing circulation at a faster rate than the national average and 10% are declining at twice that rate or more, according to a Business Journal analysis.

Two of the nine daily Gannett papers here in Massachusetts — the Fall River Herald News and the MetroWest Daily News — are among those losing readers the fastest.

The Business Journal's analysis of the past two years' worth of circulation data filed with the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) could provide clues as to which newspapers Gannett may target with staff cuts, closures or potential mergers with other publications. This week, the $1.2 billion merger of Virginia-based Gannett (NYSE: GCI) and New York-based New Media Holdings Group (NYSE: NEWM) was completed, forming the nation’s largest newspaper chain.

Top of Form

Publication		City                        2019*				2017	Change %	Annualized**
METROWEST DAILY NEWS		FRAMINGHAM		4,924		8,657	-43.1%	-24.6%
Records 1-1 of 1

Bottom of Form

* As of June 30 for both reporting years
** Calculated as an average annual loss in circulation of the two years from June 30, 2017, through June 30, 2019

SOURCE: Alliance for Audited Media

Cloud Database by Caspio

Our weekly police scandal post

 I've written about the Medford PD before. Thanks to the Globe, we know now things were out of hand years ago and the Chief did nothing to stop it. I must say, our cops get 57 an hour for detail, Medford cops are getting 60 and hour and as the Globe points out, many fudged time sheets. 

This culture seems to be rampant and as Tom Nolan said,  "
If I were a chief, I’d want to get ahead of this. You don’t want the US Attorney’s office looking at your department.”

Former Medford police chief knew of major payroll scandal, but didn’t seek outside probe

By Matt Rocheleau Globe Staff,November 24, 2019, 8:24 p.m.

Leo Sacco retired as police chief in Medford last fall after confronting officers. Kate Lagreca

Weeks after news broke last year of a payroll fraud scandal within the State Police force, longtime Medford Police Chief Leo A. Sacco Jr. learned that about a quarter of the officers in his own department were allegedly padding their pay by either falsifying their hours or skipping out on detail shifts.

Following an anonymous tip, Sacco quietly conducted his own months long, informal inquiry and had numerous officers admit to him that they had fleeced a contractor paying for traffic safety patrols at a construction project, according to an internal investigative report obtained by the Globe.

Sacco, the chief of 28 years, called dozens of the officers involved to a meeting at a hotel last fall, said their actions were part of a “cultural and systematic problem,” and told them to stop their scheme, according to the report, which was obtained through a public records request. Ultimately, the chief handed down no discipline, issued no written reprimands, and retired two days later.

News of the potential fraud became public only two months ago, when a probe by an outside investigator uncovered the alleged scam, which involved possible criminal wrongdoing by a mix of patrolmen and their supervisors.

Now, 27 Medford officers have been disciplined and ordered to pay back $17,000 collectively, as the city police department joins a growing list of law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts embroiled in payroll scandals.

“Police chiefs across Massachusetts ought to be — if they’re not already — paying very close attention to what’s going on here,” said Tom Nolan, a former Boston Police lieutenant who teaches criminology at Emmanuel College.

“If I were a chief, I’d want to get ahead of this. You don’t want the US Attorney’s office looking at your department.”