星期四, 12月 04, 2014

Mayor Walsh invites Boston’s older adults to call family and friends all over the world for free

Mayor Walsh invites Boston’s older adults to call family and friends all over the world for free
Celebrating a 19-year partnership with AT&T
BOSTON –  To kick off the holiday season, Mayor Martin J. Walsh, in partnership with AT&T, has invited Boston residents 60 years of age and older to visit City Hall and call family and friends living all over the world free of charge. 
On Friday, December 5, from 7:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., callers will be dialing their loved ones in the Piemonte and Curly rooms at Boston City Hall on the 5th floor. Callers have been required to reserve a time but there is still room for walk-ins. Veteran’s from the New England Center for Homeless Veterans have been invited to stop by and make their phone calls. 
Callers are provided with 60 minutes to call as many people as they want, anywhere in the world. In past years, 250 callers have made calls to over 35 countries.  
“Having family in Ireland myself, I know that especially at this time of year it is hard to be away from family,” said Mayor Walsh.  “Therefore, we find that giving people this opportunity to connect with friends and family from their home country is priceless.”
“This event is one of my favorite happenings each holiday season,” said Patricia Jacobs, President of AT&T, New England. “AT&T is thrilled to contribute the technology and the resources to connect family and friends around the world with Boston’s older residents.”
“Even in this era of social media and online connectivity many people don’t have opportunity to connect with loved ones abroad,” said Elderly Commissioner Emily Shea.  “This is a real opportunity for Boston’s older adults to talk to family and friends from their home country.” 
This event is sponsored by AT&T and is organized in partnership with the City’s Commission on Affairs of the Elderly.  Senior callers enjoy transportation to and from City Hall, a delicious breakfast and lunch, and an hour of quality time on the phone with family and friends.  AT&T installs 48 phone lines and organizes 20 volunteers who make the day a success. AT&T has hosted this event for 19 years as a part of their commitment to build strong, connected and thriving communities.

Wah Lum Student Fundraiser 12/ 7


年關近盜賊出 警察呼籲小心財物露白

波士頓警察局A-1區警長鄺志強(Ken Fong)昨(三)日在華埠治安委員會月會中提醒民眾,年關將近,偷盜增多,平時應小心門戶,停洎車輛時也別讓財物露白,惹起賊心。
            昨日的治安委員會議,改在天滿街333號的圓形教堂舉行,並無大事。陳情案之一是騰皇閣東主李衛新報告,將整修騰皇閣,改名“大上海”,預計明年推出一家全新的上海菜餐廳,從早上八點起提供早餐,將聘請真正的上海大廚掌鑊,來自香港的名建築師做室內設計,目前正在申請全酒牌。
            鄺志強以統計指出,和去年同期相比,犯罪數量大減,唯一增多的是汽車偷盜。過去三十天內,華埠一帶發生了兩宗搶劫案,十四宗盜竊案,以及十一宗從汽車內偷盜財物案。有一輛汽車被拖吊,警方開出49張車輛違規罰單,以及237張停車違規罰單。
            鄺志強在報告時指出,其中一宗搶劫案頗為特別。一對夫妻被搶後,有兩名流浪漢趨前協助,還能說出名字的幫警察辨認搶匪身份,讓警方得以迅速逮捕嫌犯。
            根據警方報告,十一月十八日時,A-1區警察持搜索令在華埠夏利臣街(Harrison)和愛丁保羅街(Edinboro)的兩個地點進行搜查。
            鄺志強昨日透露,愛丁保羅街附近出現妓女,老鴇,警方已做偵查,但並未逮捕任何人。根據警方資料,那些妓女其實都是受害者。
            波士頓華人佈道會牧師陳卓明也提出,某個週日早上十一點左右,在教堂附近糕餅店旁,竟有人在車內口交。教會教友聽聞此事,都很震驚。希望警方加強掃蕩這種行為。
            大同村物業管理經理翁麗芳昨日也在會中指稱,大同村靠馬津尼路(Marginal)一帶的籬笆,經常有人塗鴉。早上經過該一地段,也常看見滿地不堪入目的物品,希望警方能協助處理。
            鄺志強指出,大同村可洽請市政府協助用強力沖水機沖洗。
            住在橡木街上的梅大衛,請警方巡邏時加強關注附近的夜間非法停車問題。
            會中,塔芙茨大學社區關係主任魯貝(Barbara Rubel)報告,該校和塔一的生物安全委員會將於十二月十日(週三)下午五點半,在夏利臣街150Behrakis禮堂130室,舉行社區會議,報告生物實驗室相關事宜。華埠主街經理何藹茵報告,今年的波士頓市長聖誕列車,將於十二月五日(週五)下午六點十五分開到波士頓華埠的夏利臣街和益士石街交口。
          
圖片說明:

            波士頓警察局A-1區警長鄺志強(Ken Fong)在華埠治安委員會中籲民眾小心別讓財物露白。(菊子攝)

            波士頓華埠治安會議昨日在圓形教堂內舉行。(菊子攝)

            波士頓華人佈道會牧師陳卓明(左二)報告華埠街道出現的狀況。(菊子攝)


            騰皇閣東主李衛新(立者)報告,將在騰皇閣舊址開張“大上海”餐廳。(菊子攝)

查理貝克內閣再添一人

麻州候任州長查理貝克(Charlie Baker)內閣人選再添一名麻州議員。昨(三)日傳出,民主黨籍的麻州眾議員卡羅貝索(Carlo Basile)將出任秘書長(chief secretary)。
            現年四十三歲,從2007年起當選為轄區包括東波士頓的麻州眾議員的卡羅貝索,畢業於薩福克大學,2002年擔任麻州汽車監理處(Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles)幕僚長,目前是東波士頓青年會董事,也是麻州議會內的退伍軍人及聯邦事務委員會主席。
            他的“秘書長”一職,必須處理局會董事聘任,也為州長和麻州議會搭橋聯繫。
            維基百科上關於卡羅貝索的介紹很少。
            波士頓環球報指麻州候任州長查理貝克在挑選內閣人選時,帶有他的前任上司,麻州前州長威廉威爾德(William Weld)的影子,指派了多名民主黨人擔任重要的內閣職位,包括他的幕僚長Steven Kadish,經濟及住宅顧問Jay Ash等。
            卡羅貝索是查理貝克指派入閣的第二名麻州眾議員。另一人為被指派為能源及環境事務長的麻州眾議員畢頓(Matt Beaton)。

星期三, 12月 03, 2014

Mayor Walsh appoints new Licensing Board members

波士頓市長馬丁華殊(Martin J. Walsh)昨(三)日指派三名新人進波市府 牌照局。一任六年,任期從今年十二月一日開始。
這三人分別為 Christine A. Pulgini,Lisa S. Maki,以及Keeana Serene Saxon。
波士頓牌照局規範波士頓市內的烈酒,食物,旅館或客棧,兄弟會或宿舍,檯球/台球桌,保齡球,算命者等經營牌照。
            波士頓市長指派三名牌照局新董事,是精簡,改善牌照申請過程的一系列活動之一。
        波士頓市長近月來採取的一系列措施包括舉辦了波市有史以來第一次的hubhack證照許可挑戰,以重新創造波士頓市的網上申請證照體驗;針對一至二家庭屋或小企業業者設立的區域規劃上訴委員會(ZBA)業主自住住宅申請簡化過程;藉由展延公聽時間,電視轉播ZBA會議等加倍公聽會的容量,在市政府和民眾聯繫,分佈在市府不同單位內的機構,安裝數位亭等。
        波士頓市長馬丁華殊在2014年的麻州議會議期內,成功推動了在麻州各地推管經濟成長法。該法容許波士頓自行指派自己的烈酒牌照局。這是1906年以來的第一次。在那以前,波士頓的牌照局董事指派,由州長監管。此外,波士頓還獲准連續三年,每年額外獲發25張酒牌,總共75張酒牌。一年有15張所有烈酒牌照,總共45張,還有5張麥及酒類牌照,總共15張,只限主街區,以及多徹斯特,東波士頓,海德公園,牙買加平原,麥特潘,任務丘,以及洛士百利等地申請,都不可轉讓。

Mayor Walsh appoints new Licensing Board members


BOSTON -- Today, Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the appointments of three new members to the City of Boston’s Licensing Board: Christine A. Pulgini, Lisa S. Maki, and Keeana Serene Saxon. The Licensing Board regulates alcohol, food, hotels/inns, lodging houses, fraternities/dormitories, billiards/pool tables/sippio, bowling alleys, and fortune teller licenses within the City of Boston, pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapters 138 and 140, and the Rules of the Board.

This newly-constituted Licensing Board is the most recent in a series of efforts that the Walsh Administration has made to streamline and improve licensing and permitting operations across City government, to ensure that business owners and entrepreneurs are able to successfully start and grow businesses in Boston. In recent months, Mayor Walsh:

“The changes we’ve made to the City’s Licensing Board and our approach to licensing across the City presents a fresh opportunity to support economic development across our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Walsh. “I’m grateful that Christine, Lisa and Keeana have agreed to serve the residents of Boston in this capacity, and I look forward to seeing their work begin.”

Christine A. Pulgini currently serves as a partner with the Law Offices of Joseph J. Pulgini, P.C., a firm specializing in workers compensation, accidental disability retirement, social security disability, and civil litigation. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. She received her J.D. from New England School of Law, and her B.A. in Communications from Curry College. She currently resides in Hyde Park.

Lisa S. Maki has been an attorney with the City of Boston's Law Department since 2010, representing Boston on legal issues related to employment law, public education, civil rights matters, police misconduct, environmental law, open meeting and public records, state ethics, and labor. Maki previously served as Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Chief Justice Frank J. Williams of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. She currently serves as an adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law School, where she received her law degree. She is resident of South Boston.

Keeana Serene Saxon has served as Deputy General Counsel to the Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development since 2012. She previously served as Counsel to the Department of Housing & Community Development, and as the Director of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight. Saxon is a member and previous Chair of the U.S. Advisory Board for the Rwanda Youth Healing Center, and previously as the Chair of Board of Trustees for Boston Renaissance Charter School. She received her J.D. from Western New England School of Law, and has been admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Judicial Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Saxon is a Roxbury resident.

In the 2014 legislative session, Mayor Walsh successfully advocated for the passage of An Act Promoting Economic Growth Across the Commonwealth (Chapter 287 of the Acts of 2014). In part, this bill gave Boston the ability to appoint its own liquor licensing board for the first time since 1906 – a provision already afforded to every other municipality in the Commonwealth. Previously, Boston’s liquor licensing board appointments were overseen by the Governor. In addition, the City of Boston was also granted 25 additional liquor licenses per year for 3 years, for a total of 75 new liquor licenses. These include: 
  • Five all-alcohol licenses a year (total of 15) that are not geographically restricted within the City and can be transferred by the owner. 
  • Fifteen all-alcohol licenses a year (total of 45) and 5 malt and wine licenses a year (total of 15) that are restricted to Main Street Districts and the neighborhoods of Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Mission Hill, and Roxbury. These are non-transferable.
The members of the new board will begin their 6-year terms effective December 1, 2014.

Mayor Walsh Announces Boston Selected for Prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Grant

Mayor Walsh Announces Boston Selected for Prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Grant

Will support Chief Resilience Officer position to expand Boston’s dialogue around equity

BOSTON -- Today Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced that Boston has been selected as one of 35 cities from around the world to be invited to join the 100 Resilient Cities Network, a project of the Rockefeller Foundation. 100RC supplies its member cities with tools, funding, technical expertise, and other resources to build resilience to the challenges of the 21st century. As part of the scope of the award, Boston will bring on a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO), tapped to create a dialogue around Boston’s segregated past, the impacts that linger today, and finding ways for the City to become more equitable. 

“The long-term impacts of the busing era are still felt in Boston today, and we know that we still see segregation in our neighborhoods and gaps in social outcomes for people of color in areas such as education, public health, and economic security, ,” said Mayor Walsh. “We saw an opportunity here, to take an alternative approach to what resilience means - it’s not just environmental, it can also be social. I want to thank the Rockefeller Foundation and the judges for selecting Boston to join the Resilient Cities Network.”

“Boston’s application stood out to our judges for its sophisticated sense of resilience,” said Ryan Whalen, Director for Initiatives and Strategy at the Rockefeller Foundation. “The selection committee was struck by the range of challenges that the city continues to face, and how city government here understands the ways in which these challenges all feed into one another. I’m pleased to announce that Boston will be joining the 100 Resilient Cities network.”

The CRO will report directly to the Mayor and will support policy discussion, and planning efforts in the City through this social resilience lens. The CRO will also work with external stakeholders towards a shared vision on economic development, transportation, housing, climate change, and the arts. The position will continue to be shaped following today’s announcement. Upon appointment the CRO will serve a 2-year term.

Boston is now part of a global community of cities working together to become more resilient. In addition to grant funding for the CRO position, Boston will receive technical support to develop a resilience strategy that reflects the city’s distinct needs, and the support and services the City needs to work towards implementing that strategy. As part of the network, Boston will obtain access to a variety of platform partners in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. These partners will offer tools in areas such as innovative finance, technology, infrastructure, land use, and community and social resilience. Finally, Boston will be linked together in a global network to learn from other participating cities’ challenges and successes.

Momentum from last year’s inaugural 100RC challenge made this year highly competitive, spanning over 90 countries across six continents. Boston was chosen from more than 330 applicants on the basis of willingness, ability, and need to become resilient in the face of future challenges. Other cities announced today by the Rockefeller Foundation to join the 100RC are:
  • Accra (Ghana)
  • Amman (Jordan)
  • Arusha (Tanzania)
  • Athens (Greece)
  • Barcelona (Spain)
  • Belgrade (Serbia)
  • Bengaluru (India)
  • Boston (USA)
  • Cali (Colombia)
  • Chennai (India)
  • Chicago (USA)
  • Dallas (USA)
  • Deyang (China)
  • Enugu (Nigeria)
  • Huangshi (China)
  • Juárez (Mexico)
  • Kigali (Rwanda)
  • Lisbon (Portugal)
  • London (United Kingdom)
  • Milan (Italy)
  • Montreal (Canada)
  • Paris (France)
  • Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
  • Pittsburgh (USA)
  • San Juan (USA)
  • Santa Fe (Argentina)
  • Santiago de los Caballeros (Dominican Republic)
  • Santiago (Chile)
  • Singapore (Singapore)
  • St. Louis (USA)
  • Sydney (Australia)
  • Thessaloniki (Greece)
  • Toyama (Japan)
  • Tulsa (USA)
  • Wellington (New Zealand)
Member cities were selected upon the recommendation of distinguished judges from around the world, including former president José María Figueres Olsen of Costa Rica, the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Donald Kaberuka, Chairperson for the Board of Governors on the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, Dr. Isher Ahluwalia, and the President and CEO of the Asia Society, Josette Sheeran.

MASSACHUSETTS CLEAN WATER TRUST ANNOUNCES AAA RATING


MASSACHUSETTS CLEAN WATER TRUST ANNOUNCES AAA RATING
Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s Reaffirm Trust’s “AAA” Strength

The Massachusetts Clean Water Trust (Trust) today announced that the Series 18 “Green Bonds” to be issued next week have been assigned an “AAA” rating by Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s.  These bonds are being issued to fund $231 million of water infrastructure projects throughout Massachusetts.  
  
“The confirmation of our AAA rating for our upcoming bond sale is testament to the financial professionalism demonstrated at every level of government here in the Commonwealth,” said Sue Perez, Executive Director of the Trust. “We received this rating because our department, the Commonwealth and our borrowers, local cities and towns, each demonstrate strong financial management that supports the repayment of these bonds.”

During the week of December 8, the Trust is expected to sell $231,095,000 in “Green Bonds.”  On December 9th, individual retail investors from Massachusetts will have the first opportunity to purchase these bonds that benefit Massachusetts communities. For further information on the “Green Bonds,” please visit www.buyMAcleanwatertrustbonds.com.
  
The Clean Water Trust provides subsidized loans to cities and towns for clean water and drinking water infrastructure development.  Since its establishment in 1989, the Clean Water Trust has loaned over $6 billion to improve and maintain the quality of water in the Commonwealth.  An estimated 97 percent of Massachusetts’ citizens have benefited from the Clean Water Trust’s financial assistance.
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