Should FPD be buying hybrid cruisers?

 In the interest of saving money and a cleaner Framingham, today's Globe has a piece about Hingham's police department buying hybrid cruisers. Police chief David Jones reports that the Town has saved 34,600 in fuel costs over a year.

If you remember 2 years ago, our PD wanted to replace older cars with new ones. Not once did they justify the purchases, but Christine Long had a personal conversation with Chief Trask. That was it... just on her word. 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/01/25/metro/hinghams-switch-hybrid-police-cruisers-cuts-fuel-costs-emissions/

  Hingham’s seven new hybrid police cruisers use almost half as much fuel as their old gas-powered counterparts — saving a projected $34,600 in fuel costs over a year, according to the police chief.

“It’s a really incredible reduction,” Chief David Jones told selectmen at a Jan. 13 budget meeting.

He said the hybrid vehicles also emitted approximately 55.5 fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide over the past six months.

“In a time when costs continue to rise across the board, it is especially important to find ways to save money in any way we can,” Jones said. “These vehicles not only result in a cost savings for the town but are also much better for the environment, and will hopefully lead to additional hybrids being purchased for use by town employees in the future.”The town bought the 2021 Ford Police Interceptor Hybrid vehicles last year to use as patrol cars. Each hybrid vehicle cost about $3,500 more than an equivalent gas-powered one, Jones said.

That means the projected fuel savings more than covers the approximately $24,500 extra the seven hybrids cost, he said. The hybrid vehicles used approximately 46 percent less fuel, Jones said.

He calculated that over six months, the hybrids saved the town approximately $17,300 — or roughly $34,600 if calculated for an entire year.

Material on the Ford website says the hybrid vehicle is well-suited to law enforcement since police cruisers spend a lot of time idling, a time when the electricity from batteries can take over.

Johanna Seltz can be reached at seltzjohanna@gmail.com.

Eastleigh gets the green light

 Last year or so, a local attorney took Framingham Planning Board to land court in an effort to stop a marijuana grower from growing on Doug's farm. Everyone including yours truly applauded Doug's effort to save the family farm from growing condos. 

The ambulance chaser lawyer was representing ill-informed, NIMBY's, some from Southborough and a few from Framingham's elite north west corner, where the deer and the cantaloupe play. One even said she was concerned that the wildlife would be harmed by the smell of marijuana growing inside a building. Reefer madness is alive and well in Northwest Framingham.

You can read what the judge ruled on each complaint. 

But we don't know why Doug suggested a few weeks ago, the grow was not going to happen. 

The Sauce never pushed Doug for an answer and the Patch and Daily News has not done anything yet.  Perhaps now that Charlie is Mayor, he could convince the Mayor to buy the farm. 

The case number is 20 MISC 000395

https://www.masscourts.org/eservices/search.page.3.2?x=BxDAjdsTXNxucuJmXSdtBA

The latest bad covid news

From the City:

While the number of positive PCR test results dropped to 701 among Framingham, thousands of rapid antigen tests administered in private homes were not reported and are therefore not included in the city’s total confirmed cases, which now total 16,596.

In the last 14 days, PCR tests administered to children aged 0-19 posted positive results at twice the rate as other age groups.

In the last week, there were 7 fatalities due to COVID, bring the city’s total fatalities to 270.

Vaccination efforts continue in the city through the Framingham Vaccine Equity Working Group and other community providers. Currently 93.8 percent of residents aged 50-64 and 88.5 percent of residents aged 30-49 are fully vaccinated. However, 38.8 percent of children aged 5-11 are fully vaccinated. 

Framingham Public Schools added 313 cases over the week ending Jan. 19, according to district data. The highest numbers were detected at the high school (46) and Walsh Middle School (43).