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I was amazed at our local BOS demonstrating a total lack of historical reference regarding the potential bribe by the state to support a tax increase. Signing on a support letter for taxes may mean the rotary will be fixed. Note the term may. Do any members of the BOS remember John Volpe and a “temporary” 3% sales tax? Sure - guys - believe the boys and girls on The Hill. Steve McKinnon has the fiscal sense of knowing you can’t continue to feed the beast in return for promises that are broken. The state is the proverbial “I’ll respect you in the morning.”
And on The Hill a Boston Herald reporter was tossed from a legislative only meeting on (drum roll please) transparency!
Another proposal for further taxes is use of a transponder to “tax” each and all for highway use. Keep on feeding the beast. Daily stories appear - like below - about corruption, political appointees of questionable ethics and qualifications, pension bloated by “playing the system” and mismanagement throughout government yet the cure-all is always the same - more revenue!
Sherri Killins becomes another poster child for ineptness in the flawed Patrick Administration. This one - no surprise - was outed by The Boston Herald for her out of state residency and being enrolled in a n education program while still on the books for 200K a year. Her flacks and those of the administration circled the wagons with tepid responses or no responses from inquiring minds that wanted to know. She finally came to her senses - or was pressured to do so - and resigned. Another chapter in what happens when a one party monolith runs the state. Sorta makes me miss Dukakis.
Jim Braga and his family recently became victims of an unnecessary death. I didn’t know Jim that well except for basketball years ago. When I first met him he was bear like in appearance and my first reaction was purely based on the visual. The guy was a pussy cat and as clean and gentleman a player as I ever met. I had two kids who had him as a teacher and they both spoke highly of him - fair guy, good sense of humor and you actually were engaged in the classroom.
In Boston the School Committee and Mayor are attempting to develop a school choice plan. Forty years after busing destroyed the system they figured it out.
The Massachusetts House rejected a bill that would have allowed law makers at least six hours to read and review a bill before it is brought to a vote. Does this make any sense? Naturally it was the Republicans who voted in favor.
Boston Phoenix is no more. Anyone who went to school or worked in the Boston vicinity would grab a copy of the free paper. Declining ad revenues so it is goodbye.
Patriots are a mystery to me. Why let a proven commodity go to get one for more money that has not come close to the product let go? Goodbye, Welker!
Slowly or is that fastly the new or is it renovated police station will be located on the current site. The Winthrop Atkins area has been rejected for reasons that from what I can determine have no cost analysis to show if it is a real savings. Sometimes one gets the impression that a done deal was in the works from day one. Just get the impression that those involved and thinking of ways of saying no to other options rather than yes.
With an old building especially one that old any historical renovations will have a questionable price tag. IMO it will far exceed any projected costs. Also IMO the FinCom was on the right track of at least bringing up a less expensive alternative.
Chief Bruce Gates got dope slapped in an Enterprise editorial about his inconsistency regarding release of information. Maybe he can work out pent up ire when his new magnificent station has a gym installed.
The casino issue continues to surface and considering the ethnic background of some tribal members maybe the LIT should be in the Azores?
A new police station for half the price. Seems reasonable. The renovation figures for the current hulking wreck come in at 13M and I am sure that does not include wooden windows. Now they have also discovered a potential environmental hazard on the current property that could drive up that 13M considerably higher but that does not seem to have much of an impact on our chief who appears now to want no other site considered. So much for budget constraints.
Our local Historical Commission also would love to see the building restored since they see two things: (1) It is old and (2) on the Historic Register. What they do not see is the cost even without a police station. No doubt this will eventually siphon away as much CPA dollars as possible. Is there anyone that can tell these people no? Maybe at Town Meeting? Naw….they’ll load the hall with supporters for this disaster in the making. This will be the Fung Wah of Middleboro when the final bill is in.
The committee that is in charge (supposedly) of the new police station project should do everything possible to look at significant cost saving alternatives and that may actually mean paying more than lip service to the potential at Starr Mill. A debt exclusion of 6M is certainly more palatable than a debt exclusion of 13M.
I’m from the state so trust me. That is it in a nut shell of the arm twisting to get Middleboro to sign off on support of increase taxes and in return that magnificent rotary will once again be put on the high priority list. Quid pro quo.
The town decides to change election schedule with a primary factor being cost savings but it seems cost savings only applies to certain areas yet when cost savings is in the potential millions it is bypassed?
On a recent visit to the dump (AKA - Landfill) I was informed that tree parts exceeding six inches in diameter were not allowed. Amazing! But there is an exception - the Town of Middleboro. Yep….they can do as they please but the rest of us? Once again I must mentioned Ray Flynn the former Mayor of Boston who realized you could lose millions and the voters will yawn but if the garbage is not picked up or the streets not plowed the tar and feathers come out.
Certain surrounding towns have decided to set aside days that will have the wood chipper pay a visit. Pile up your storm remains and they will chop it up. Naturally Middleboro is not one of them.
Deval Patrick wants money for a 2B+ rail line to the South Coast. The rail to Middleboro is now $10 each way to Boston and is starting to price folks out of the public transportation market.
"The Big Inch" is a pipeline that was created out of military necessity of having a minor scuffle designated as WW II. Keystone should be considered also in security terms just like "The Big Inch" or the national highway system. Much has already been completed and if and when it is finished it will represent only a tiny fraction of pipelines in this country that carry oil and that pipeline total is 200,000 miles.
Canada has product. They are willing to sell it to us. Energy independence is an important diplomatic tool so that we will have some degree of security from overseas nonsense. The United States is also developing extraction methods that will eventually make us the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world and that is not even discussing the off shore potential of the eastern seaboard.
We need green energy. That is a given. Tidal, solar, wind and other options that may surface. Right now they are expensive and the technology needs to catch up to make it fiscally responsible and it most certainly will. But until that happens this country needs to improve our deliver systems and to construct new processing facilities. Not to do so is myopic nonsense.
What a dismal example of leadership was displayed as Obama took to the bully pulpit just before noon on sequester doomsday. This sounded like campaign talking points and was an embarrassing void in leadership that seems to exemplify what happens in crises situations both domestic and foreign with Obama. When I compare Obama even to his predecessor or to Clinton or Reagan he comes up far short. I'll say it again - my biggest problem with Obama is his lack of leadership - it is a void.
Obama has managed to or attempted to put the budget issue framed in such a way he can say “I told you so” no matter what. Unemployment goes down just think about what it would have been with that 85B tossed into the fiscal kitty. Ditto the stock market. If the reverse happens it will be “I told you so.” What a disingenuous hack.
Marissa Mayer is the new CEO of fast fading web portal Yahoo. Ms. Mayer has a contract that pays over 100M and is proof that some can bust through the famed glass ceiling. Ms. Mayer has also clearly demonstrated she is like many male counter parts and that is being clueless regarding employees by banning telecommuting. My assumption is that Mayer assumes this will result in some massive turn around for Yahoo.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is in charge of the state parks but it appears they also have another duty that recently surfaced with the “Storm of the century” - they also are in charge of clearing the snow from the State House. The DCR doesn’t do it but contracts the work out with the requirement it must be removed - yes, removed - within 12 hours. A spokesperson was not able to tag a dollar figure but my assumption is this is not exactly a low end deal.
I go to state parks quite frequently since I am a trail runner. Franklin is a great one but it has been deserted for years - funding. Massasoit is bare bones. Ames Nowell is essentially closed. Borderland is maintained rather well as is Myles Standish but both still have minimal services. But the snow gets plowed for the State House - no - gets REMOVED! So the politicians get a spiffy reserved and clean space while the Hoi Polloi get a stripped down state park.
My wife - The Lovely Cynthia - and I travel quite frequently. Local day trips, a few night getaways and longer trips of extended stays but we have never been on a cruise. Every time we think about it something in the news convinces us to stay away and Carnival has managed to do just that. Probably the only thing we’d try is an elegant river cruise in Europe. Elegant means too expensive
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The first day of spring training and two Red Sox players already have a slight physical problem and another (Felix Doubront) shows up looking like a blimp.
According to The Herald the number of state employees receiving a six figure salary has gone up 12% in one year….and Patrick wants 1.9B in new taxes?
As Howie Carr calls it “The Boring Broadsheet” is now for sale at about 10% of what the NY Times bought it for. The Globe use to be the paper of record but it is now a shell of its former self - a larger version of The Brockton Enterprise.
Tesla Motors may finally be turning the fiscal corner on profitability. Their electric is amazing - especially the price. The roadster can easily (and quietly) go 0-60 in under four seconds but the price tag is north of $100,000.
When I start up trail running after the defrosting takes place I’ll probably need a chain saw. A real mess in the woods.
My daughter just returned from a trip to the Azores and loved it.
The Chinese are hacking into our computer systems but the bust to do is to spam them to death.
The authorities closed down a “massage parlor” in West Bridgewater since it was a front for prostitution. There were local and state police, Homeland Security and ICE involved in this operation. Amazing use of resources.
Returning home Monday AM there was multiple wrecks on I-495. The State Police were siphoning off traffic onto R105 to connect to the rotary for a bypass but didn’t have anyone at the lights directing traffic. Not sure whose responsibility it was but the smart thing would be having someone at the junction of R28 and R105 to get that push on since virtually all were taking a left hand turn. Fortunately I was going to the right and had a clear lane. Just another example of the simple things not being done.
Middleboro seems to be at the focal point of “Middle Earth” all too often. The latest is a machete wielding significant other of an arson suspect.
In Brockton - the garden spot of Southeastern Massachusetts - a pig has been sent to a gulag in Halifax thanks to its propensity to escape and wander the streets. On its last venture it was propositioned three times before animal control captured it.
Now that Xmas trees no longer represent a significant collection issue maybe Mr. Bagas can sent the trucks over to Auburn Street for a clean up? I would suggest several very, very large trucks.
The Republicans continue to froth over Obamacare and rightfully so. The program is growing exponentially and will create several new battalions of lawyers to deal with this soon to me most layered of bureaucracies. However I would say look in a mirror boys and girls of the GOP since this hydra is the end result of your own decades of stonewalling. That so many Americans have limited or no insurance access has long been a blight.
Some dissipation of that junk yard (AKA - Storage) depot n the corner of Jackson and Lincoln streets has taken place. Is it a sudden desire on the part of the owners to beautify or the high price of scrap?
Is the economy improving? I’d say “yes” but what exactly does improving mean? Like seeing your blood pressure at 148/88 and it goes down to 140/82.
Gas prices have taken another surge and some of the blame is not on supply but the ability to refine product. The United States needs updated refineries or new ones and just maybe “The Big Zero” can issue some Executive Orders to make it happen.
Unemployment benefits are taxable but welfare is not. Another reason it may pay not to work.
Once again the rotary - not the ones holding an auction - has reared up with the state doing a song and dance that would make the staff at Burt Wood jealous. I could see this being a problem for a few years but it has been one for decades. I guess that round and round means little but a multi-billon dollar train to the southern hinterlands does.
About that train. The cost estimate is around 2B but in state dollars that will soon expand to 4B and maybe 6B? Why not just provide chauffer service?
The locals McDonald’s has finished making their drive thru resemble the rotary and the next project is a rebuilt of the store. IMO they should make a land purchase on Clark Street and have three lanes so that one lane could be dedicated to a right turn only. Nightmare pulling out into traffic.
Streets seem to be plowed rather well around town.
There is hardly a limit on what our local Community Preservation Committee can spend of CPA funds on a project. It is up to their collective discretion and in my opinion that is a serious flaw that needs to be addressed. Already there is talk of tapping into CPA funds for the police station and that could mean some serious outflow. The CPC could easily spend 60% of their funds on this project or none at all. My suggestion would be for the CPC to impose a cap on what a project can receive in a year based on a percentage of total CPA funds available. Say a limit of 15% or 20%? This would be a built in protection so that disasters such as the one in Bridgewater could be avoided. Also an applicant could always return the following year and make a request. Big ticket projects can turn into a money pit.
The reliance is upon the CPC to judiciously examine all proposals and recommend them to Town Meeting. Rarely does a CPC reject a proposal and rarely does a TM reject a CPA funded project. In fact very few projects actually turn into boondoggles That is what I have discovered in by usual diligent research. The Middleboro CPC appears cautious in the vetting process and hopefully that will continue and continue especially when the town comes forward in begging mode. But I have not found a CPC that has any self imposed limits or cap.
Deval Patrick has decided in his infinite wisdom that Massachusetts residents can pay even more in taxes. Already our road costs per mile are a notch away from being the highest in the nation while New Hampshire among the lowest. The primary factor being “administrative costs.” So that means a possible sales tax and gas tax increase to address transportation issues and - of course - the billions that the governor wants to spend on commuter rail to New Bedford and Fall River and - naturally - a line from Pittsfield (yes - it is part of Massachusetts) to New York City. I doubt if the famed Middleboro Rotary is on his agenda.
The proposed tax increases also have their usual “For the children” component meaning more for education. This is the poorly veiled attempt at emotional blackmail since the last thing we need is some rag covered tikes sitting in a classroom of eighty other rag covered tikes without heat, computers, pencils and no other potential services.
Fees are the other area that politicians love to exploit. I’m all for a fee to serve in the legislature. You are elected to office you pay a fee. You are elected to office you have to pay for a bond (not Adam) incase any skullduggery takes place on your watch - a remote possibility. So I doubt that will happen but your auto inspection may be doubled. Why do repair shops continue to do it if it is time consuming and those machines so expensive? Well the usual takes place: “You are going to need new ball joints!” “You need new wipers!” “You have a light out!” Amazing how much is discovered wrong or in need of repair.
Is Auburn Street finally settled? A court order was issued for the mess to be handled and the way the courts have operated with some of this crap I hope the Judge is Roy Bean. Just maybe this will be the start of public usage for the area and not to run a junk yard.
Obama in his inauguration speech had a line in the sand drawn for Republicans and even some of the more conservative elements in his own party. His focus for the bully pulpit appeared to be on his social agenda with no real specific on how to pay the bills.
Tom Brady is a very good quarterback but no longer a great one. He has morphed into a combination Brett Farve and Peyton Manning with spectacular numbers and then pedestrian ones in the playoffs. His performance against Baltimore was dreadful.
U.S. Attorney General Carmen Cruz plans on continuing the efforts of her department to grab a Tewksbury motel despite a rebuke of a judge that dismissed the case. Another example of prosecutorial reach or more clearly a money grab in which the feds can share the bounty with the locals.
Regionalization - I hope I have that big word right - is now in the news as the governor is targeting local housing authorities in an attempt to consolidate and save 10M. The real motivation is Chelsea. Chelsea has managed to corrupt the process in a sting of well documented and highly published mis-doings with the end result is everyone suffers.
There are 200 housing authorities in the state and with the consolidation that brings the number down to six. I’m sure the concern is over local control which should be somewhat extinguished by the new plan. I doubt if it will pass.
The local CPC has moved forward on the acrimonious UU pipe organ issue. On to TM for that one when some ire over the representative of the applicant will surface.
While in New York City I came upon a rotary that smaller than the Middleboro Rotary but obviously far more congested. Both Central Park West and North funneled into it but the rotary had three marked lanes and a light system that allowed for actually some fairly controlled madness. I have also seen a similar design in Hilton Head and used it several times. Works well. Maybe the answer here?
I had seen in the paper the potential of CPA funds being used on the police station. Is this a back door around what should be standard maintenance, overrides or debt exclusion?
The drive thru and the local McDonald’s makes the rotary look sane. Why they designed it like that is beyond my limited comprehension. At least I can still get a large soda for a buck.
Some strides have been made to make scenic downtown Middleboro presentable - most notably our “theater district” - but there is a long way to go. Too many store fronts look like 70s design gone bad.
Truchhi’s bakery has great cup cakes and they are only a $1.49.
I’m sure the BOS will make some sort of determination on stores selling pot. My suggestion is to make it as restrictive as liquor and lottery sales.
When did the History Channel become the Pawn Channel?
In New Hampshire a charity event sponsored by the Chief Police Association is offering a variety of guns as prizes. I guess sensitivity training is not taught at the academy.
Mark Pacheco has announced a run at another term. Guess the Probation Department hearings have stalled.
1/14 was Blue Monday or the most depressing day of the year. Seems that it is the day in which seasonal disorder is most pronounced. I really think it is all the Xmas credit card statements arrive.
Apple stock is on another downward trend. A real “bargain” at $500 a share.
The Patriots managed to win a playoff game with the vastly overrated Tom Brady so now Baltimore comes to town. Of course the pronouncement is Baltimore is “Old and slow” so as an “Old and slow” person I will have a bit of sympathy for them.
The Ravens got their nickname thanks to Edgar Allen Poe’s connection to the city.
The Boston Braves were once known as “The Beaneaters.” I imagine the clubhouse resembled that famed campfire scene from “Blazing Saddles.”
Nature areas in other towns have occasional bridges and boardwalks in areas that are difficult to muddle your way through. In Middleboro we have none. I’ll let BB start a grass roots efforts since I am far too lazy.
Be interesting to see how Obama applies executive orders in his second term. I believe Harrison was the only president not to issue one. Of course this will infringe upon Congress (in their view) and the occasional turf war will ensue.
Will be interesting since the debt ceiling is designed to provide money Congress has already authorized to spent or has spent. No bills get paid. I'm sure SS folks will appreciate that. Wait until Congress discovers there is no office help, free cafeteria and the trash is not being picked up. I'll probably miss the Smithsonian and National Parks the most.
Why is housing rehab grants limited to downtown?
The Second Amendment used as a vehicle for illogical thought. The NRA - I hope - has a class action suit filed against it for the slaughter they help perpetuate. Now if the defenders of “The Second” wish to use that as a basis for their arguments I’m all for a return to the glory days of the late 1700s. Back to the flintlocks. Keep yer powder dry, boys! You want the Second then live with it under the parameters it was written.
Arm the custodians! Barney Fife lives! Pick up the trash, kid, or get pistol whipped!
How bad was in for the gun nuts? Even the NY Post and NY News - two conservative papers had NRA flack Presser on the front page with the headline “Gun Nut” followed by “NRA Loon In Bizarre Rant On Newtown.” I guess to the NRA the gun is just an innocent victim.
The idiots who run the increasingly insane National Rifle Association are so wrapped up in protecting widespread ownership of guns at any costs that they defy logic, promote stupidity and offer ridiculous solutions to the increase of violence in schools.
I took at informal poll via the internet of teachers and former teachers regarding their having to lock and load in the classroom. I also asked to have it sent to other teachers and at this point it is 17-0 AGAINST arming teachers.
We can have guns for self defense - thank you SCOTUS - but what happens when they get loose? Get stolen? I’ve seen stricter control getting on a plane than getting a gun. They are everywhere. Owners are careless and a four year old ends up with it. Family disputes are easily settled. Forget Death With Dignity just take the quick way out. High capacity magazines are only for one purpose - annihilation
A clever mass murderer can use many options to bring havoc but one option we can eliminate from the equation is guns.
How many armed robberies occur in Japan? Germany? Canada? How many schools in those countries have armed guards?
During our recent 3” blizzard I saw folks shoving snow into the street and clearing their cars in the street. My understanding is this is some type of violation of a newly minted ordinance. Maybe they should make a pilgrimage to Auburn Street to dispose of snow - after all it is not a street.
Are the BOS meeting every Monday in January? I have a Xmas tree to get rid of.
Congressional raises. It was stupid. Dumb. Poor decision. The country is a mess and Congress can't get crap done and they get a freaking raise! Obama should have killed this weeks ago. I don't care if it is Bush (choose one), Clinton, Reagan or Obama it was terrible PR and has just ticked people off. A dumb arse move! And while I have the soap box where was the leadership in Congress on this?
Seemed like the fiscal resolve was originating in the Senate. Article I section VII covers this. They are proposing. All the twist of linguistics and parliamentary maneuvering. Not really unusual. House will then look at it and modify it (much will already be decided with a mutual drunk and debauchery) and then the House will magically come up with a bill with a few changes and send it on to the Senate. Eventually it will pass and then the legislature and executive will gut it.
My predictions are notoriously accurate such as a Red Sox pennant in 2012 or BB writing a worthwhile read so look for equities and earnings to sky rocket in 2013.
Kansas now has a law limiting cat ownership to a max of four. Many places have dog limits since at a certain number you must have a kennel license. My wife - The Lovely Cynthia - would have to cull her herd of cats. Little furry vermin - the cats - not Cynthia.
Towns are moving to restrict dope shops. I thought the original intent was to block dopes which would make my blog extinct.
