Charlie Baker Appoints Quinn as Bristol County District Attorney

	Charlie Baker Appoints Quinn as Bristol County District Attorney Boston – Governor Charlie Baker today appointed Thomas M. Quinn III as District Attorney for Bristol County.  The district attorney is responsible for overseeing office operations and his appointment is effective immediately.  Quinn will serve his term until the next district attorney is elected in the next biennial election of November 2016. “Tom is an experienced manager with a solid record that fully qualifies him for the position of district attorney and I am pleased to announce his appointment to this important post,” said Governor Baker.  “Tom has loyally served the entire community and earned their support, demonstrating true professionalism and steady leadership throughout his career.  I am confident that he will continue to dutifully serve the citizens of Bristol County and our Commonwealth.” “I am glad to announce Tom’s appointment as District Attorney for Bristol County and have full confidence that he will continue his career of devoted service to support the people of Bristol County and our state,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “It is an honor to receive this appointment from Governor Baker and I look forward to continuing to serve the people of Bristol County as the district attorney,” said Quinn. About Thomas M. Quinn III: Quinn first worked in the Bristol County DA’s office as an Assistant DA from 1988 to 1997.  He later worked in private practice in Fall River, representing clients through the Committee for Public Counsel Services.  Quinn recently served as First Assistant DA, supervising all prosecution in Superior Court cases in Bristol County Superior Court.  Quinn is deeply invested in his community, serving as a member of the Bishop Connolly High School Board of Trustees, Nativity Preparatory School Advisory Board and the Holy Name Parish Finance Council.  Quinn grew up in Dartmouth and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and Suffolk University Law School. He lives in Fall River with his wife, Sharon, and has three children.

Baker-Polito Administration Establishes Three-Month Regulatory Pause

Baker-Polito Administration Establishes Three-Month Regulatory Pause

Boston – Governor Charlie Baker today announced a 90-day pause on all new regulations to allow for the Administration’s long-term goal of streamlining unnecessarily burdensome regulations on the Commonwealth’s small businesses and job creators. The three month time frame will halt new regulations and those in the renewal process in order to enable the administration to implement new guidance that regulations going forward communicate a clear, desired and effective goal and focus on the development and implementation of the 2016 Fiscal Year Budget.

“If Massachusetts is to succeed in creating new jobs and making state government more efficient, we must tackle burdensome regulations,” said Governor Baker. “Regulations void of a clear and concise purpose increase the cost of doing business and make dealing with state government more difficult. This temporary freeze will allow us to review codes already on the books, ease the unnecessary amount of bureaucratic red tape and focus on crafting the next budget.”

The regulatory pause was outlined in a memo issued to all Cabinet Secretaries today by Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore, who in accordance with Executive Orders issued in prior administrations, has final approval before any regulation is filed.  The three-month period is effective until March 31^st.

“Massachusetts’ looming budget deficit is one of our utmost priorities in the coming months,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “As we begin the hard work of reducing costs and responsibly meeting the needs of the Commonwealth, today’s announcement will help ensure our small businesses are not left behind.” 

As outlined in a memo issued by the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, any new regulation will be presumptively disapproved with limited exceptions for those mandated by statute to be implemented by a fixed date, those substantially reducing an existing regulatory burden, those essential to public health, safety, environment or welfare and those addressing unanticipated matters of importance to the Commonwealth.

The regulatory freeze follows the administration’s announcement on January 9^th to issue an immediate hiring freeze across state government, launch a 100-day agency review for efficiency and cost-savings, and to direct all cabinet Secretaries conduct reviews of all contract amendments made since September 1, 2014 and those currently in the procurement process to determine they are in the best interests of the Commonwealth.

于翔 1/17 於喬丹廳辦音樂會首演天際鴻音

梅紐因國際小提琴比賽首獎得主于翔及年青鋼琴家蔣晴，應中華表演藝術基金會之邀，將於元月十七日（週六）晚上八點，在新英格蘭音樂學院喬登廳 (Jordan Hall)，攜手舉辦音樂會。

青年作曲家徐可為于翔編寫的”天際鴻音“小提琴曲，當晚也將由于翔做世界首演。

中華表演藝術基金會會長譚嘉陵表示，于翔是音樂界當今公認的最有才華年輕小提琴家之一，不僅於2010年贏得梅紐因國際小提琴比賽首獎，還獲巴赫和觀眾獎，此後不斷受邀到世界各地演出，包括柏林，巴黎，北京，新加坡，上海，奧克蘭，芝加哥，匹茲堡和波士頓，他全都去過，還和許多知名管絃樂團合作演出。

美國的全國聯播“今天”節目，早前也因他是“傑出藝術家”，訪問了他。

在內蒙古出生的于翔，不到兩歲時，就能學唱電視上聽來的歌。分別從河南，四川下鄉到蒙古的于翔父母，發現兒子的音樂天賦，竭力培養，促成于翔十一歲考入上海音樂學院，師從鄭青，2012年取得新英格蘭音樂學院學士學位後，又於2014年獲藝術家文憑，現仍在該校研修碩士學位。

紐約時報譽為才能非凡的鋼琴家蔣晴，當晚將與于翔同台演出。

蔣晴生於鎮江，獲有茱莉亞音樂學院碩士。新英格蘭音樂學院博士等學位，曾在各大鋼琴大赛中獲獎，也曾在卡内基音樂廳，林肯音樂中心演出，合作過的演奏家包括著名的小提琴家帕爾曼、维勒思坦等。

他倆當晚將演出的曲目包括莫扎特的E大調慢板，K.261，C大調 Rondo，K.373，貝多芬的小提琴與鋼琴奏鳴曲 C小調第7號，Op.30二號，德布西的小提琴和鋼琴奏鳴曲 G小調，L 140，以及徐可的天際鴻音，拉威爾的茨岡。

音樂會票價$15-$50，中華表演基金會撥出一百張學生免費票，給十四歲以上學生，有意出席者，可上網索票。六歲以下兒童請勿入場。查詢可洽中華表演藝術基金會譚嘉陵，電話781-259-8195，上網購票網址為http://www.chineseperformingarts.net/tickets/index.htm。

MAYOR WALSH RELEASES COMPREHENSIVE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

MAYOR WALSH RELEASES COMPREHENSIVE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

BOSTON - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today released the Greenovate Boston 2014 Climate Action Plan Update, taking steps to prepare the City of Boston for the impacts of climate change and celebrating the City’s progress towards reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 25 percent by 2020 and 80% by 2050.

"When we’re talking about the environment, we’re talking about economic development, social equity, public health and safety, and community engagement," said Mayor Walsh. "That’s why we bring an environmental mindset to everything we do. Everyone can help make Boston a greener city."   

The Mayor will formally present the Plan along with members of the Climate Action Plan Steering Committee and welcome incoming Chief of Environment Energy and Open Space, Austin Blackmon on Thursday evening at 6:15 p.m.at Artists of Humanity in South Boston. The event will conclude with a performance by the local band, Guster. Under Mayor Walsh's leadership, the 2014 plan lays out a more robust climate preparedness strategy, building on prior reports with an enhanced focus on social equity, public health and safety, economic development and community engagement, and superior data and performance measurement.

For the first time, the Walsh Administration report sets sector-specific GHG and program participation targets, giving Boston residents, businesses, institutions, and government a clear sense of what is needed to achieve Boston’s 25 percent by 2020 GHG reduction goal. The report also takes a first look at what it will take to reach Boston’s longer-term goal of reducing emissions 80 percent by 2050, putting Boston on par with only a handful of cities around the world that are exploring such ambitious goals.

While the 2014 Plan sets ambitious community goals and targets, the City continues to lead by example. In 2014, the City announced it had reduced municipal GHG emissions by approximately 27%, meeting its 2020 goal of 25% seven years early. The City is now exploring a new 2020 goal. The Renew Boston Trust, which was announced in the Mayor’s Chamber of Commerce speech, will further help municipal buildings reduce energy consumption and cut costs.

"This is a bold climate action plan put forth by Mayor Walsh and the City which will require engagement by all of our citizens. The Steering Committee felt that, going forward, greater involvement by Bostonians was key in both the development and implementation of an aggressive climate action plan. All of us have a stake in the outcome, and all of us can make a difference", said Vivien Li, Co-Chair of the 2014 Climate Action Plan Steering Committee.

The City already has many initiatives underway to achieve its 2020 goals and targets, and is making significant progress. For example:

• Almost 36,000 home weatherizations, heating system replacements, and other home energy upgrades have been completed in Boston since 2009 and Boston will need another 36,000 by 2020 to reach the 8% Neighborhood sector GHG goal. The City is working with its partners to expand Renew Boston and other residential energy efficiency programs. For example, Renew Boston, in partnership with NSTAR and Mass Saves, recently launched a new website to connect Boston residents with home energy efficiency products, regardless of whether your rent or own, or the number of units in your building.

• Solar generation eclipsed 11 MW in Boston in 2014. In addition to the plummeting cost of solar installation, City programs such as the new solar map and Race to Solar, which was recently extended until March 2015, are helping Boston reach the 2014 Climate Action Plan’s target of installing another 10 MW of commercial solar by 2020.

• Co-generation, a means of local energy production that uses steam to generate both electricity and heat, is a key carbon reduction strategy within the Large Buildings and Institutions (LBI) section. The 2014 Plan sets a target of having 15% of energy use for the LBI sector come from co-generation. The City and Boston Medical Center were recently awarded a $3.6 million grant from the Commonwealth to build a new 2 MW co-generation plant that will provide local, clean energy for the hospital and help the hospital maintain its operations in the event of a power outage.

• The Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) is enabling the City to better understand commercial energy use and set specific energy targets along with better assistance and services to help business reduce their energy bills. The first year of reporting (2014) provided encouraging results, with a compliance rate of over 85% and initial data showing that Boston buildings have an average Energy Star score of 74, which is well above the national average. A full report with sector-level BERDO data will be release at the end of the month.

• Vehicle fuel economy improvements, which are largely the result of new federal standards, are leading the reduction of emissions from the transportation sector, despite more jobs and vehicle miles traveled in Boston. As part of Go Boston 2030, the City’s mobility visioning and planning process, the City will set a Boston-specific fuel economy target, as well as strategies to help achieve it.

The Plan’s Climate Preparedness section continues to emphasize the need for regional collaboration. The Regional Climate Preparedness Summit, hosted by UMass-Boston this spring, will help catalyze these efforts. Local efforts include the Living with Water design competition, which is currently underway, and citywide efforts to coordinate resiliency planning through the new Chief Resilience Officer.

The Mayor has declared January 15th Guster Day in Boston to honor Guster's local roots and commitment to the environment.

波士頓市長馬丁華殊市情咨文放眼2030年

波士頓市長馬丁華殊十三日晚在交響樂廳發表他上任以來的首次市情咨文，說現在，談未來，強調要打造繁榮，健康，創新的波士頓，為2030年，波士頓市慶祝四百歲生日做準備。

            面對著大約2500名州市政要及民眾，馬丁華殊細屬上任一年來的許多成就，但表示自己並不以此為滿，他還要改善教育，支持創新，建造可負擔住宅，幫助遊民，事情還很多。

            他說自己上任以來，既聽，也學，更領導，政策制定都放眼未來，以2030年，波士頓慶祝四百歲生日時為目標。

當晚他宣佈了許多新政，以教育，住宅及創新為主要方向，包括要新設學校樓宇局，推出“創業樞紐（StartHub）“項目，聘請一名全職的“創業凱薩（start up czar）“，挪出250塊市有土地建可負擔住宅，讓“主街”改頭換面，給耆英及殘障人士30%的水費折扣。

他也鼓勵市民發揮想像力，給市府提建議，讓市政府廣場這一大片土地能更好的被人們利用。

            在教育上，馬丁華殊要草擬十年計畫，確認每個鄰里社區的需要，還要設立“波士頓學校樓宇局”，更積極爭取經費，繼去年為洛士百利（Roxbury）建成新的科技工程及數學（STEM)學校後，下一個計畫目標是芬衛（Fenway）的波士頓藝術學校（BAA），以及華埠的昆市高中（Quincy Upper School）。

            另外兩項是和Eos基金，波士頓公校系統合作，在三到五所學校，試驗性的推出“兒童儲蓄戶口（CSA）”，為總共約五百名入讀幼稚園的小孩開設戶口，存入一百元的種籽金，鼓勵家長為子女將來進大學繼續存錢。從2015到2018年的實施成績如果很好，再全面推廣。

            波士頓市還和軟體公司SAP等機構合作，制定一個高科技管道，讓查理士高中生在求學期間就修讀企業界認可的邦克丘社區學院學分，共可免費修得三十個大學學分，為進大學及就業做準備。

            在支持創新上，包括前述的與SAP軟體公司合作，馬丁華殊宣佈了六項新政。他要設“創業樞紐”，成立“分析辦公室（Office of Analytics）”，讓民眾可用手機付路邊停車費，還要聘用一名全職的“創業凱薩”來幫助市民創業。波市居民以後有急事要找市政府，市長熱線也改為更簡單的3-1-1。

        在住宅上，波市鄰里發展部（DND）將找出250塊市有土地，並撥補助以鼓勵發展商參與發展， 確保房價可負擔，或適合中等收入家庭，但會有50年後才可出售的限制。波市計畫撥款二千萬元來推動建可負擔住宅，要求麻州議會協助通過兩項法案，包括為中等收入家庭提供抵稅優惠，要求可負擔住宅信託基金為低收入耆英建住宅。

            馬丁華殊也特別談到幫助遊民，指出去年十月八日決定關閉波士頓通往長島的橋樑，他個人感到非常難過，因為他曾經每隔一週就到長島去，分享他的恢復（recovery）經驗。他也曾經不斷攔阻預算刪減，以保護庇護所的服務項目。為此，波士頓市將設立“恢復服務辦公室（Officer of Recovery Services)。

            馬丁華殊還以弗古森(Ferguson)和紐約市發生的事件為例，指出一旦論及種族及階層時，波士頓實在還有很多該做的事，波市將在今年內和洛克菲勒基金合作，舉辦全市性的對話，以期市民能不分彼此的互相扶持。

            麻州州長查理貝克（Charlie Baker）當晚原定出席盛會，但臨時因病取消行程。昨日一早，州長辦公室也發出通知，取消了昨日的預定行程。今（十五）日也只排出了副州長的行程。

圖片說明：

            波士頓市長馬丁華殊（Martin Walsh）在交響樂廳發表他的首次市情咨文。（菊子攝）

            波士頓市長馬丁華殊（Martin Walsh）在交響樂廳發表完他的首次市情咨文後，走下台到女朋友身邊，還飛吻給熟人。（菊子攝）

            駐波士頓台北經文處和波士頓市政府關係顯然比往年好。處長賴銘琪（右），副處長陳銘俊（左）獲邀出席。（菊子攝）

            目前在波士頓市府職位最高的華裔之一，消防局副局長黃瑞瑜（中）和同事們一起坐在前排。（菊子攝）

            華人前進會榮譽主席李素影（右起），行政主任駱理德，以及陳秀珍，劉衛恒等人聯袂出席市情咨文發表會，坐在藍區。（菊子攝）

            陳毓禮（右），陳家驊，梁潔瑩，蔡倩婷等人結伴到交響樂廳，出席波市長市情咨文發表會。（菊子攝）

            剛上任麻州企業發展助理卿的范文南（右二）和妻子Mary Troung（左二），在會場遇見紐英崙中華公所主席阮鴻燦（中）等人。（菊子攝）

剛上任麻州企業發展助理卿的范文南（左起）和妻子Mary Troung，在會場遇見波士頓老人局局長阮惠。（菊子攝）

            麻州眾議員黃子安也應邀出席大會，坐在嘉賓席。（菊子攝）

波士頓試行用手機付路邊停車費

波士頓市長馬丁華殊十三日晚在發表他的首次市情咨文時，做了多項宣佈，其中搏得全場熱烈掌聲的是即起實施用手機付路邊停車費。

波士頓市府昨（十四）日再進一步公佈細節，說明這用手機付路邊停車費的軟體應用程式名叫“波士頓停車（ParkBoston）“，由“停車護照（Passport Parking）公司”提供，昨日起在後灣區，波士頓公園附近的八條街試行運作，一切順利的話，再逐步推廣到全市的八千個路邊計時收費錶。

這八條街在波約斯頓街（Boylston）南邊，畢肯街（Beacon）北邊，達特茅斯街（Dartmouth）西邊，以及查理士街（Charles）東邊。

民眾把軟體下載到蘋果或安卓系統的手機後，一旦停在貼有“波士頓停車”標記的位置，就可以進到應用程式裏，輸入錶上的貼紙號碼，以及車牌號碼，希望停洎的時間長度，信用卡號等資訊。停車者仍須遵守大部份計時收費錶最多只容許人停車兩小時至四小時的規定，每次使用還需多付十五分錢的手續費。

“停車護照“公司的總部設在北卡州的夏洛蒂（Charlotte），在波士頓之前，還為芝加哥，內布拉斯加州的歐馬哈（Omaha, Neb.），亞利桑納州（Ariz）的圖森（Tucson），英屬哥倫比亞的維多莉亞（Victoria,）等地提供類似服務。

波士頓環球報科技版指出，波士頓並不是麻州第一個使用這類手機付停車費的城市。尚莫維爾市（Somerville）去年推出了由另一家公司提供的服務，軟體名稱叫做“移動停車（ParkMobile），容許使用手機的停車者在市內每一個計時收費停車錶龐遙距付費。該公司在波士頓，底特律都設有辦公室，為市鎮及停車場提供有需要才用，或預付的停車收費服務。該公司目前在聖路易（St. Louis)，康州的新海港（New Haven），新罕布夏州的Keene，以及賓州的州立大學（ State College）等六百多個地點營運。

民眾可上網查閱更多詳情，park.boston.gov，或查看錄影帶bit.ly/parkboston。

圖片說明：

            波市府所提供地圖，顯示目前可用手機付路邊停車費的幾條街。（圖由波市府提供）