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星期二, 3月 19, 2024
吳弭市長籲市民關注4月15日為"波士頓團結日"
2024波士頓馬拉松5公里賽 將有19國逾百菁英競跑
(Boston Orange編譯) 波士頓體育會 (BAA) 3月18日宣佈，波士頓體育會邀請里(B.A.A.
Invitational Mile)，以及由Point32 Health贊助的5000公里賽，訂4月13日舉行，將有來自19個國家的100多名優秀運動員，在公開組，輪椅組及半殘障組中競逐。
這場波士頓馬拉松5K賽的總參賽人數將近一萬人，將是2024年第128屆波士頓馬拉松賽一系列活動中，第一場有獎牌的比賽活動。
波士頓體育會執行長Jack Fleming表示，今年的波士頓馬拉松賽將有4萬多名運動員參加，而波士頓5公里賽和邀請賽，將有志在參加於巴黎舉行的奧林匹克賽和殘奧會的美國最快跑者，以及國際跑壇明星參加。
一年前的波士頓5公里賽十分刺激，在冠軍抵達終點線後的10秒內，有13人衝過了衝點線，這些人中的前五名跑者，包括加拿大的Ben
Flanagan，肯亞的 Edwin Kurgat 和Alex
Masai，今年都將再度參賽。
美國優秀跑者，Cooper Teare、Zach Panning和Drew Hunter，估計今年也會跑在最前面。
2021年奧運會障礙賽銅牌得主Ben Kigen，鑽石聯盟障礙賽的去年贏家Simon Koech，以及5000米世青賽銀牌得主Merhawi Mebrahtu，今年也將出現在5K賽起跑點。
女子部分，USATF 5K全國冠軍和BAA表現優異隊成員Annie Rodenfels處於領先地位。2024 年美國隊奧運馬拉松運動員 Dakotah Lindwurm、前美國馬拉松賽紀錄保持者
Keira D'Amato、多年來都是美國波士頓馬拉松頂尖跑者的 Nell Rojas， 以及 B.A.A. 團隊跑者 Abbey Wheeler、Bethany Hasz Jerde 和 Megan Hasz
Sailor都將一起參賽。
2023年的櫻花10英里賽冠軍，烏干達的
Sarah Chelangat，前 NCAA 越野賽和
10,000 米冠軍 Mercy Chelangat，也都要參加比賽。B.A.A.半馬拉松冠軍，埃塞俄比亞的Fotyen Tesfay也將回到波士頓，尋求再次奪冠。
輪椅組部分，賽道紀錄保持者暨六屆波士頓馬拉松冠軍，瑞士的Marcel
Hug，將和美國的Daniel Romanchuk 和
Aaron Pike競爭。2018年的波士頓5K冠軍，巴西的Vanessa de Souza是女子輪椅組的最愛。參加過很多年殘疾人田徑比賽的El
Amine Chentouf（T12，視力障礙）、Brian
Reynolds（T62，下肢損傷）和Marko
Cheseto（T62，下肢損傷）將爭奪獎金和領獎台位置。這將是賽事歷史上規模最大的職業殘疾人田徑賽場。
波士頓體育會邀請里 (Invitational Mile)部分，去年冠軍Krissy Gear今年將回來衛冕。去年的前5名中，有4人會回來參賽。2022年的NCAA室內里 (Indoor Mile)冠軍Helen Schlachtenhaufen也會參加。
麻州貝爾蒙高中體育選手學生Ellie Shea，去年在波士頓體育會邀請里中跑出第10名的成績，今年將挑戰專業組。
麻州本地跑者，有著3分52秒94成績的Johnny Gregorek，2022年3000米世青冠軍，埃塞俄比亞的Melkeneh Azize，以及盧森堡國家冠軍，哈佛大學的Vivien
Henz，今年都將在波士頓體育會的這場邀請賽中初試啼聲。
波士頓馬拉松賽跑道沿路8個市鎮的學生體育運動員，也將參加學術里 (Scholastic Mile)，中學1公里賽 (Middle School 1K.)。
星期一, 3月 18, 2024
Healey-Driscoll Administration Releases 2024 State Workforce Agenda
Healey-Driscoll
Administration Releases 2024
Agenda outlines state’s workforce development vision, goals, and
strategies to meet the needs of jobseekers and employers to promote a strong
economy
BOSTON - The
Healey-Driscoll administration today released
“In Massachusetts, our greatest
strength is our talent. This plan provides a blueprint for how we can best
support our incredible workforce and employers, while also expanding
opportunities for those who are unemployed, underemployed, or facing barriers to
accessing jobs,” said Governor Maura Healey. “We crafted this plan by
bringing together business, labor, education and other stakeholders to ensure
that we were advancing strategies that will benefit all of us.”
“Teamwork and collaboration are
priority areas in our administration when it comes to addressing the state’s
challenges and delivering services and resources to our residents. This plan is
a great example of how that approach can help everyone involved, from employers
and jobseekers to all our stakeholders throughout our workforce system,” said Lieutenant
Governor Kim Driscoll. “The state will use this workforce agenda as we work
to unlock more opportunities for our residents and employers so Massachusetts can
continue to thrive.”
“The Healey-Driscoll
Administration’s workforce agenda outlines our vision and strategy to attract,
retain, and develop a strong workforce over the next 5 to 10 years, and it’s a
unified approach across state government and workforce partners. The plan includes
strategies founded by values and principles to close the skills gap and bring
discouraged and disconnected people far too often left on the sidelines back
into the labor market to build a robust talent pool for employers across
industries and regions statewide,” said Labor and Workforce Development
Secretary Lauren Jones. “We look forward to working with so many partners
and stakeholders to implement our plan to build the future talent that we need
to drive a competitive and more equitable Massachusetts.”
This Massachusetts Workforce
Agenda, embedded within the WIOA State Plan, is the result of a comprehensive
planning process with internal and external stakeholder engagement, listening
sessions, forums and planning discussions, and an extensive public comment
period and drove collaboration across state government and workforce partners.
Beginning in the spring of 2023, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce
Development and the MassHire State Workforce Board engaged with internal and
external partners across Massachusetts to help form the foundation for the
vision and mission, goals, and strategies outlined in the plan. Stakeholders
spanned multiple organizations to incorporate feedback that ultimately shaped
strategies to attract, retain, and develop talent in Massachusetts while also
strengthening the state’s workforce infrastructure systems. Additionally, in
the fall of 2023, the Workforce Skills Cabinet convened seven regional sessions
with members from workforce development, academia, business, labor, and local
and state government officials.
The Healey-Driscoll
Administration also supported a public comment period through virtual, open
discussions late January to early February 2024 to finalize the workforce
agenda and WIOA State Plan.
“Workforce
Development is critical to helping Massachusetts employers find the skilled
workers they need and connecting all residents to good jobs,” said Joanne
Pokaski, AVP of Workforce Planning and Development for Beth Israel Lahey Health
and Chair of the MassHire Workforce Board. “This plan sets a roadmap to an
equitable, inclusive and thriving Massachusetts economy.”
Focus Areas
The Healey-Driscoll
Administration’s Workforce Agenda focuses on 4 key areas:
Talent
Attraction and Retention
Massachusetts must reduce barriers
to employment as a critical strategy that will increase labor market
participation, especially among underrepresented and underserved populations,
and foster a more equitable workforce.
Key Strategies:
·
Strengthen work supports: Launch a
stipend initiative for low-income participants in sector pathway models to
incentivize enrollment, completion and employment and reduce barriers to
training and employment (such as costs for caregiving, transportation, digital
access and equipment, and more).
·
Increase access to transportation to work: Connect
jobseekers and workers via MassHire career centers to local transportation or
limited WIOA subsidies for transportation to work.
·
Reduce the cliff effect: Implement
a statewide project to address cliff effects, initiating first with a pilot to
reform benefit disincentives and provide economic mobility for
participants.
·
Subsidize housing costs: Refer job
seekers accessing MassHire career centers to local housing assistance
organizations. Additionally, provide support for individuals in shelter to gain
employment as a catalyst to exit shelter.
·
Increase worker retention: Promote
the Workforce Training Fund for eligible employers to reskill or upskill
incumbent workers and as a hiring and retention strategy. For employers who may
not be eligible to access grants from the Workforce Training Fund, explore
other grant programs through the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund to
support reskilling or upskilling incumbent workers.
·
Promote ESOL for Work: Leverage
Workforce Training Fund grants for employers to increase use for ESOL training
among incumbent workers and as a hiring and retention strategy.
·
Incorporate a Whole-of-Government Approach to
Caregiving: Work collaboratively across government including EOLWD, Executive
Office of Education, and Executive Office of Economic Development among other
agencies to take a whole-of-government approach to ensuring affordable,
high-quality child care in Massachusetts. Additionally, EOLWD will partner with
the Massachusetts Caregivers Coalition with a renewed focus on increasing
awareness of child care, senior care, and other caregiving resources in the
workplace.
Talent Development
It is imperative that workforce
strategies align with industry hiring demands expressed by employers today and
projected by employers for future in-demand occupations across the state. To
strengthen its talent pipelines, a collaborative workforce system needs to
prepare future talent and create upskilling pathways for workers through
effective education and training models that will fuel priority industries and
occupation.
Key Strategies:
·
Support Priority Populations. As part of
a talent development strategy, Massachusetts needs to create programming and
pathways to move people off the sidelines and into the labor market. This
approach should especially consider priority populations including discouraged,
underemployed, and unemployed residents, as well as individuals disconnected
from the Massachusetts labor market.
·
Promote Targeted, High-Growth Industries and
Employer Needs. Massachusetts has a tremendous opportunity to strengthen and scale
effective strategies, programming, and resources to develop untapped talent
especially by identifying targeted needs expressed by employers statewide and
in regions across the Commonwealth
·
Address AI and the Future of Work. Massachusetts
must align workforce strategies with the state’s economic development plan's
focus on artificial intelligence (AI)
Leadership by Example
Massachusetts has a tremendous
opportunity to strengthen and scale effective strategies, programming, and
resources to develop untapped talent especially with the Governor and Executive
Branch leading by example and the Commonwealth as the largest employer in
Massachusetts.
Key Strategies:
·
Promote skills-based employment practices across state government
that prioritize skills and experience over educational background, ensuring
that unnecessary educational requirements are not included in minimum entrance
requirements or job postings (Governor Healey signed Executive Order
627 on January 25, 2024 instituting skills-based hiring across
executive departments and agencies)
·
Build upon hiring strategies to pursue employment opportunities
for veterans and individuals with disabilities through newly created
partnerships with non-profit organizations and internal agencies, like the
Executive Office of Veterans Services and Massachusetts Rehabilitation
Commission
·
Consider a campaign to encourage private sector employers to train
and hire diverse, untapped talent especially focused on individuals with
disabilities, veterans, and people of color;
·
Implement the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s equity assessment
to address persistent inequities in the labor market and create opportunities
that are inclusive, fair, and representative of Massachusetts’ diversity.
Workforce System Infrastructure
Massachusetts needs to modernize
and strengthen the infrastructure and coordination across the MassHire public
workforce system to improve support for jobseekers and employers.
Key Strategies:
·
Modernize and strengthen the infrastructure and
coordination across the MassHire public workforce system: The
Healey-Driscoll Administration intends to identify capital budget resources to
support the replacement of MOSES—the MassHire database—followed by securing a
contractor through a competitive RFP process to:
o Realign
MassHire service delivery to hybrid model
o Redesign
the online presence of MassHire based on user centered design principles that
follow an individual from “job loss to job gain” aligned to MassHire services
for companies through a new, accessible single “front door” for employers
o Connect
systems between state agencies
·
Improve “front door” experiences for both
jobseekers and employers. As part of MassTalent, it is imperative for the
Massachusetts workforce system to ensure both jobseekers and employers can
navigate, with ease, the range of resources by industry and occupation,
especially focused on high-growth industries statewide.
·
Increase engagement of the MassHire State
Workforce Board. The Massachusetts State Workforce Board serves as a convening body
to influence and support the WIOA State Plan and also serves as a resource for
the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development to engage regional
workforce partners to advance recommendations of the WIOA State Plan and
Governor’s workforce agenda.
To read the full plan and
download a copy, visit the EOLWD website.
Healey-Driscoll Administration Files Fiscal Year 2024 Supplemental Budget to Maintain Vital Programs
Healey-Driscoll Administration Files Fiscal Year 2024 Supplemental Budget to Maintain Vital Programs
Bill proposes to address health and human services staffing, early
education access, and services for victims of violent crimes
BOSTON – The Healey-Driscoll administration today filed a supplemental budget for Fiscal Year 2024 that would put additional money into human services staffing and programs, address caseload-driven shortfalls in food security spending and make clarifying technical updates to streamline the implementation of existing statutes.
This legislation directs targeted resources at the state’s most time-sensitive deficiencies, using available federal reimbursements and other resources to minimize the net cost to the state and to manage Fiscal Year 2024 spending responsibly. The bill proposes $534.7 million in gross new spending at a net cost to the state of $88.5 million after offsets.
“This budget bill represents necessary spending mid-way through the fiscal year to maintain critical
services and programs and some of our most vulnerable residents,” said Governor Maura Healey. “It is both affordable and time sensitive given the need to provide assurances to our seniors, mothers with infants, and victims of crimes that the programs and services they rely on will be fully supported and staffed for the remainder of the year."
“In addition to needed mid-year funding, this legislation proposes important statutory changes that will
streamline the procurement of electric vehicles and charging stations, allow for new long-term ice rink leases and ensure that the state leaves no federal ARPA money on the table,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll.
The bill proposes $61 million
($45.8 million net) for a Critical Health and Human Services and Workforce
Reserve to cover projected deficiencies in Fiscal Year 2024 related to the
continued need for direct care staffing to respond to health needs in our nursing
homes, group care settings, state hospitals, and Soldiers’ Homes, as well as
other patient health and safety supports.
The supplemental budget also includes $228 million (no net cost to the state) in investments supported fully by federal Home and Community-Based Services resources from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to promote innovative services that enhance the quality of life and independence of people in their home and community.
Another $29.7 million would go toward early education and care subsidies to ensure that providers are able to maintain access for all income-eligible families in need of child care, $5.1 million would support increased demand for the Healthy Incentives Program, which provides fresh, healthy food options and supports our local growers, and $2.1 million would be used for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition services to fully support the current caseload of recipients.
Other key appropriations include:
· $175.5 million for supplemental payments to safety net hospitals through the Medical Assistance Trust Fund, which are wholly offset by federal reimbursements
· $20 million in repurposed ARPA funding for a bridge to stabilize critical victim service programs throughout the Commonwealth and ensure continued access to trauma-informed services in light of decreased federal funding through the Victims of Crime Act
· $5.6 million to reimburse municipalities for tax abatements associated with veterans, widows, persons who are blind, and seniors
“This funding is both necessary and affordable at this time to maintain critical services while we continue to monitor revenue collections and spending across state government. We are confident that the state can afford to make these investments in our health care workforce, food safety net and other important programs, and the administration has worked hard to minimize the impact to the state budget by maximizing other resources, including federal dollars,” said Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew J. Gorzkowicz.
Additionally, notable outside sections of the budget include:
· Allowing the Operational Services Division (OSD) to jointly procure electric vehicles and charging stations, which will further empower OSD to assist in the state’s efforts to electrify fleets at the state and municipal level.
· Permitting the Department of Conservation and Recreation to enter into new long-term leases, up to 30 years, for the operations of ice rinks that are presently under long-term leases with upcoming expiration dates.
· Providing technical updates to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s statutes to ensure alignment with best practices.
· Amending several ARPA-supported programs to repurpose $19.4 million in unspent funds – largely from completed programs that came in under budget – to ensure the state has sufficient flexibility to obligate ARPA funds before federal deadlines.
To access the Governor’s filing letter and the supplement budget click here.
$5.6 million to reimburse municipalities for tax abatements associated with veterans, widows, persons who are blind, and seniors “This funding is both necessary and affordable at this time to maintain critical services while we continue to monitor revenue collections and spending across state government. We are confident that the state can afford to make these investments in our health care workforce, food safety net and other important programs, and the administration has worked hard to minimize the impact to the state budget by maximizing other resources, including federal dollars,” said Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew J. Gorzkowicz.
Additionally,
notable outside sections of the budget include:
Allowing
the Operational Services Division (OSD) to jointly procure electric vehicles
and charging stations, which will further empower OSD to assist in the state’s
efforts to electrify fleets at the state and municipal level.
Permitting
the Department of Conservation and Recreation to enter into new long-term
leases, up to 30 years, for the operations of ice rinks that are presently
under long-term leases with upcoming expiration dates.
Providing
technical updates to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s statutes
to ensure alignment with best practices.
Amending
several ARPA-supported programs to repurpose $19.4 million in unspent funds –
largely from completed programs that came in under budget – to ensure the state
has sufficient flexibility to obligate ARPA funds before federal
deadlines.
To
access the Governor’s filing letter and the supplement budget click
here.
星期日, 3月 17, 2024
紐英崙遡源公所五頭瑞獅齊舞迎龍年 慶新春 談歷史
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| 紐英崙遡源公所龍年春宴，五頭瑞獅齊舞。(波士頓僑教中心提供) |
慶祝會由美東國術會胡青白鶴派的五頭祥獅舞動，拉開序幕。紐英崙遡源公所主席鄺炎彬、鄺元傑先後致歡迎詞，答謝詞，期許宗親和嘉賓，在觥籌交錯中聯絡情誼，加強合作，攜手為社區服務。
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| 左起，鄺國添、鄺炎彬、鄺國彬等人和獲得獎學金的宗親子弟合影。 (波士頓僑教中心提供) |
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| 紐英崙遡源公所主席鄺炎彬致詞。左為另一主席雷展灝。 (伍振中堤供) |
當晚的出席嘉賓還有波士頓僑教中心主任潘昭榮。也應邀上台致詞的紐英崙中華公所主席雷國輝則是自己人，具遡源公所永遠顧問身份。他的兒子雷展灝是今年的3名主席之一。
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| 波士頓經文處處長廖朝宏致詞。(波士頓僑教中心提供) |
當晚的文娛節目有台山鄉親聯誼會婦女舞蹈團表演「牧羊女神」，方柳君夫婿的吳皓醫師獻唱，以及開放現場出席者上台的卡拉OK等，會場氣氛十分熱絡。
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| 2名表演舞蹈的宗親也是獎學金得獎者之一。 |