文協講座談鸚鵡籲保護動物、環境

想養隻鸚鵡當寵物？劉耀中，王穎欣上週末在大波士頓中華文化協會（GBCCA）分享親身經歷，勸人別這麼做。指出這不僅是為了愛鸚鵡，更是為了保護環境，愛世界。

            最近才從紐約搬回麻州，依序分別在產品市場行銷，資產管理領域工作的劉耀中，王穎欣，誤打誤撞成為鸚鵡寵養人後，抱著既愛又悔心情，與人合作成立了“貝果鸚鵡保護聯盟（Bagelparrot Conservation Alliance）”，希望為世界上350多種鸚鵡，已有三分之一瀕臨絕種危險的情況，聊盡一分改善心力。

            劉耀中在文協的“鸚鵡的保護與困境”講座中透露，他和女友原本想買隻貓或狗來當寵物，但認為鳥可能比較好照顧，又可愛，鸚鵡還聰明的會學人說話，唱歌。結果買回家後，才發現犯了大錯誤。

            原來，鸚鵡雖小，尖叫起來，聲音響亮得有如747飛機，不但得準備越大越好的籠子，還得讓鸚鵡大多數的時間待在籠子外，每天得喂它吃新鮮有機蔬果，穀類。而且不管是多溫馴的鸚鵡，都會咬人，還會掉毛，聰明得有如猴子，海豚，甚至有如一名五歲的小朋友。

鸚鵡還很會認人，會和他們第一個接觸的人，培養出黏著感，從此不論落腳何方，都會記著以前的那個人，見不著就鬱鬱寡歡的咬自己羽毛。但是一隻鸚鵡，壽命可以長達一百年，寵物鸚鵡卻平均兩年，就因各種原因被出售，交易，或丟棄，寵養鸚鵡，因此其實很殘忍。

在他和女友之間，他們的鸚鵡“貝果（Bagel）“就認定了和他相依。當他和女友相聚時，貝果總是一定要夾在他們兩個中間。他喊女友名字時，貝果也會搶著回答，只有當他不在時，貝果才和王穎欣友好相處。

            在美國，鳥是排名第四的寵物，僅次於魚，狗，貓。美國寵物產品協會估計，單只美國就有大約2060萬隻寵物鳥，每年還有大約2到5百萬的人工培養小鳥進入市場。每年也有大約80萬隻野生鸚鵡被獵捕，8萬隻被合法的運輸出口，但其中90%都在運送途中死亡。鸚鵡做為寵物，因此也價格不菲，至少一千元以上。

除了獵捕之外，鸚鵡等這些頻臨絕種危險的動物，還面對著適居地消失，氣候變化等威脅。

世界上的動物，有一半以上以雨林為家，但世界上48%的雨林，已遭毀壞，僅只非洲一地，就每年失去400萬公頃的雨林。若照這速度繼續下去，到2030年，也就是17年之後，雨林就會完全不見了。

            劉耀中透露，因為養了這隻鸚鵡當寵物，並為妥善照顧而發現這些資訊後，他和女友決定成立“貝果鸚鵡保護聯盟（Bagelparrot Conservation Alliance）”，為保護鸚鵡，改善環境，盡一分心力。

            文協會長周映秋表示，文協的下一場講座為”波士頓美術博物館（MFA）虛擬遊“。查詢詳情可上網www.gbcca.org。

圖片說明：

         文協幹部，杜錦瑜（左起），李留中，劉瑋珊，會長周映秋，候任會長任繼敏等人歡迎講者劉耀中（右二），王穎欣（右三）。（文協提供）

         “貝果”可以站在劉耀中的肩膀上，一連幾小時都不離開。（菊子攝）

         劉泰國（左一）也在會中向劉耀中（右一）提問。（菊子攝）

麻州查理士城出現西尼羅病毒

波士頓公共衛生局（BPHC）昨日公佈，查理士城（Charlestown）已證實發現西尼羅病毒（West Nile Virus）。

            今夏稍早，西洛士百利（West Roxbury），海德公園（Hyde Park），羅森岱爾（Roslindale），以及麥特潘（Mattapa）等地的蚊子池，已發現有西尼羅病毒。

            一名年約四十的波士頓男性居民，最近經診斷證實染上西尼羅病毒，其後治癒。該一居民很可能是在麻州其他地區染上病毒。

            西尼羅病毒傳染給人的最常見途徑是被染有病毒的蚊子咬了，但對大多數人來說，危險性很低。如果出門時噴一噴防蚊劑，一般來說很容易預防。在蚊子活躍的日出，日落時分，出門最好穿長褲，長袖。

            居民有任何相關問題，可電洽薩福克郡蚊子控制項目，781-899-5730，或上網 bphc.org/mosquitocontrol，也可電洽波士頓公共衛生局617-534-5611，www.bphc.org/mbi。

AG HEALEY REPORT FINDS HEALTH CARE PRICE DISPARITIES PERSIST, BURDENING FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES WITH EXCESSIVE COSTS

AG HEALEY REPORT FINDS HEALTH CARE PRICE DISPARITIES PERSIST, BURDENING FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES WITH EXCESSIVE COSTSFifth Report Examines Efforts to Lower Health Care Spending; Continuing Market Dysfunction Threatens State Cost Benchmark Goals

BOSTON – Despite progress in improving the health care delivery system in Massachusetts, a new report released by Attorney General Maura Healey today finds that widely disparate prices – unexplained by provider quality – persist in health care, resulting in a market where patients continue to utilize higher cost providers, driving up health care costs. 

The effects of this market dysfunction, coupled with anticipated growth in pharmacy costs and utilization of health care services, raise serious concerns about the Commonwealth's ability to meet the 3.6 percent benchmark for 2015.

“Massachusetts has been a leader in health care reform, but challenges remain,” AG Healey said. “Continued cost increases are a burden on families and businesses, and it is clear more needs to be done to address continuing payment disparities that threaten long-term cost containment goals.”

This is the fifth report the AG’s Office has issued in its ongoing work to investigate health care cost drivers. It documents progress in efforts to improve the health care system like promoting the use of “tiered” or “value-based” health insurance products that encourage consumers to choose providers based on cost and quality.  It also shows growth in alternative approaches to paying providers, such as global payments, which encourage providers to deliver care more efficiently.

Many of the fundamentals of the market dysfunction first documented by the office in 2010 remain unchanged. Health insurers continued to pay health care providers widely different rates unexplained by differences in provider quality or other common measures of consumer value. The most highly-paid providers continued to grow their market share, further increasing costs. And global payments, while having positive effects, have tended to lock in historic payment differentials, thus sustaining disparities in the resources available to different providers to carry out their mission.

Specifically, the AG’s Office found:

There has been progress in both consumer-directed and provider-oriented initiatives, but important challenges remain.

• Consumers are interested in obtaining information on the price of health care services but experience challenges in doing so.
• Enrollment in tiered insurance products has increased, but the presence of these products has not resulted in an overall shift in patient volume away from higher priced providers. Current approaches appear hampered by inconsistent incentives for consumers to obtain care at higher value providers.
• Like fee-for-service payments, global payments continue to vary in ways unexplained by patient health need. This results in widely differing dollars available to care for similar patient populations.

Market dysfunction persists, with continued cost and access consequences for consumers.

• Price variation unexplained by quality persists, contributing to providers having different levels of resources to carry out their mission.
• Across the state and within specific regions, higher priced providers continue to draw greater patient volume.
• Projected growth in health care spending underscores the urgency of addressing market dysfunction. Given projected increases in pharmacy costs and utilization of health care services, to meet the state’s cost growth benchmark, provider price increases will need to be limited. If the distribution of price increases follows historic patterns, provider price disparities will likely persist or worsen.

Through rising premiums and other out-of-pocket costs, families and businesses in Massachusetts will continue to bear the negative consequences of market dysfunction, where payments are not well aligned with value. To strengthen efforts to address this dysfunction, the AG’s Office recommends the following:

Simplify and expand demand-side efforts.

• Require clear, easily compared information on the cost and quality of different insurance plans and provider systems for employers and consumers at the time of plan enrollment and selection of the consumer’s primary care provider system.
• Simplify and strengthen how tiered networks are designed, such as by tiering affiliated providers together as a system and increasing the difference in consumer cost sharing between tiers to better reflect the actual cost of obtaining care at different systems.
• Promote consumer access to and understanding of health care cost and billing information.

Consider ways to implement supply side incentives and penalties more evenly.

• Monitor variation in health status adjusted global budgets.
• Evaluate provider performance under the statewide cost growth benchmark in ways that take into account differences in provider efficiency, such that more efficient providers are given more room to grow under the benchmark than less efficient providers.

Monitor and address disparities in the distribution of health care resources.

• Consider forms of directly regulating the level of variation in provider prices and/or medical spending to reduce disparities in the resources available to care for similar patient populations.
• Monitor income and health status adjusted medical spending by zip code on an annual basis.
• Promote the development of population health status metrics that better account for socioeconomic risk factors.

Since 2008, the Attorney General’s Health Care Division has conducted extensive reviews of never before obtained data from Massachusetts health insurers and providers. In prior reports in 2010, 2011, and 2013, the AG’s Office showed, among other findings, how increased health care prices were tied to market clout rather than the value of services provided. AG Healey released the office’s fourth report in June 2015 highlighting the barriers that remain for patients seeking access to mental health care and substance abuse treatment. To view the fifth report, visit the AG’s website.

Today’s report was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Courtney Aladro and Emily Gabrault, Division Chief Karen Tseng, and Legal Analysts Robert Ciccia and Tara Ruttle of Attorney General Healey’s Health Care Division.

BRA board approves 130 units of housing and selects developer for new hotel on South Boston Waterfront

BRA board approves 130 units of housing and selects developer for new hotel on South Boston Waterfront

Also approves placemaking study for I-90 Allston interchange

BOSTON – The Board of Directors for the Boston Redevelopment Authority last night approved housing projects in Allston-Brighton and Roxbury that will create a combined 128 units, many of which will be restricted as affordable. The $47 million worth of new development is expected to create 131 construction jobs.

Other significant items that were approved include a tentative designation for Harbinger Development to build a 405 room hotel in the Boston Marine Industrial Park and a contract that will allow The Cecil Group to conduct a placemaking study for MassDOT’s I-90 Allston interchange reconfiguration project. 

Last night’s meeting was the first for new board members Priscilla Rojas and Carol Downs. Ms. Rojas was elected Vice Chair of the board, and Ms. Downs was elected Treasurer. 

Below is a summary of the projects that were approved.

Next phase of Charlesview redevelopment in Allston set to move forward at 180 Telford Street

Total Project Cost: $35,000,000

Total SF: 92,806

Construction Jobs: 89

The BRA board approved a third amendment to the Charlesview Development Plan that will allow up to 88 homeownership units to be constructed on Telford Street in Allston-Brighton. The redevelopment of Charlesview, which was originally created through urban renewal in the 1970s, has unfolded over the last several years and will ultimately create 340 new units of mixed-income housing along with new community, commercial, and open space. Much of the new residential neighborhood along Western Avenue is already complete, including the Town Homes at Brighton Mills, which opened earlier this year.

The latest phase, which is being marketed as Telford 180, will be constructed on a 31,500 square foot parcel of land located at the corner of Telford Street and Western Avenue that currently consists of three vacant buildings. The structures will be demolished to make way for as many as 88 homeownership units in addition to a public plaza that fronts onto Western Avenue, a large courtyard for residents, 4,600 square feet of amenity space, and a rowing room. Based on feedback from the community, parking was reduced from 150 spaces to 84 spaces. There will also be on-site bicycle storage.

The project is being developed by DIV Telford, LLC, an affiliate of the Davis Companies. It was designed by architects from Cube 3 Studio.

The Clarion project to add affordable housing along Dorchester’s Blue Hill Avenue 

Total Project Cost: $12,000,000

Total SF: 57,971

Construction Jobs: 42

The Community Builders won approval to construct a four story, mixed-use building with 38 apartments and a two family home along Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury. The project, known as The Clarion, will revitalize several vacant parcels with much needed affordable housing in addition to providing 6,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. The 38-unit building will have a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, while the adjacent two family home at the corner of Blue Hill Avenue and Holborn Street will have two, three-bedroom units. Of the 40 total units in the project, 32 will deed-restricted as affordable in accordance with an agreement between the developer and the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development. The remaining eight units will be available for rent at market rates.

Designed by architecture firm Stull and Lee, The Clarion will also include landscaped public open space at the corner of Blue Hill Avenue and Quincy Street. Residents and visitors will have access to 32 off-street parking spaces and bicycle storage. The Community Builders hopes to begin construction on the $12 million project this fall, with completion estimated by winter 2016.

Harbinger Development receives tentative designation for hotel in Boston Marine Industrial Park

Total Project Cost: TBD

Total SF: TBD

Construction Jobs: TBD

The South Boston Waterfront, already a hotbed of development activity, received another boost as the board of the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (EDIC), the BRA’s sister agency, granted tentative designation to Harbinger Development to construct a 405 room hotel in the Boston Marine Industrial Park. The project, which is still in the early stages, would be built on a 51,000 square foot parcel located off of Summer Street. The hotel would include over 6,500 square feet of restaurant and retail space, 4,000 square feet of function space, and an indoor pool. Harbinger is in talks with Hilton Worldwide to operate the hotel. Perkins + Will is the project architect.

Known as Parcel A, the site is one of two locations in the industrial park that is not limited to either maritime or industrial use. The developer proposes to lease the land under a 70-year agreement with EDIC.

Harbinger has developed several hotels in Boston, including the Aloft and Element, which are expected to open in early 2016 across from the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Hotel Buckminster in Kenmore Square, and the Ames Hotel downtown.

Cecil Group selected to conduct placemaking study for I-90 Allston interchange as MassDOT pursues Turnpike reconfiguration

The Cecil Group will work with the BRA, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, and the Boston Transportation Department on a placemaking study related to the planned reconfiguration of the Allston interchange portion of the Mass Pike. The turnpike project, being led by MassDOT, would realign and straighten a large section of the aging piece of infrastructure and unlock the redevelopment potential of a former rail yard that Harvard now owns.

The $100,000 study, which is expected to take about six months to complete, will evaluate MassDOT’s current design for realigning the roadway to ensure that it allows for the successful creation of a vibrant new neighborhood in the future.

About the Boston Redevelopment Authority

As the City of Boston’s urban planning and economic development agency, the BRA works in partnership with the community to plan Boston's future while respecting its past. The agency’s passionate and knowledgeable staff guides physical, social, and economic change in Boston’s neighborhoods and its downtown to shape a more prosperous, resilient, and vibrant city for all. The BRA also prepares residents for new opportunities through employment training, human services and job creation. Learn more at www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org, and follow us on Twitter @BostonRedevelop.

Governor Baker Nominates Jennifer Roberts to Massachusetts Land Court

Governor Baker Nominates Jennifer Roberts to Massachusetts Land Court

BOSTON – Today, Governor Charlie Baker nominated attorney Jennifer Roberts, a longtime civil litigator based in Orleans, MA, to the Land Court Department of the Massachusetts Trial Court. The Land Court is the Commonwealth’s adjudicating body on matters involving real estate property registration, foreclosure, taxation and decisions by local planning and zoning boards of appeal.

“Over the course of a legal career in the Commonwealth spanning more than three decades, Jennifer has served with distinction through her representation of clients, authorship on real estate related issues, and leadership posts in local and statewide professional and civic affiliations,”said Governor Baker.

“Attorney Roberts’ significant work on issues affecting the Cape and Islands will be an asset to the Land Court and I am happy that she is willing to serve the Commonwealth in this capacity,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito.

"I am honored to be nominated for a judgeship on a court with such a distinguished history, and am grateful to the Governor for the privilege of being able to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth in this meaningful role,” said Roberts. “I look forward to discussions with the Governor’s Council about this tremendous opportunity to participate in advancing the mission of the Massachusetts Land Court.” 

Judicial nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the Governor’s Council. Applicants for judicial openings are reviewed by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and recommended to the governor.

About Jennifer Roberts:

Jennifer S.D. Roberts has practiced in Massachusetts for 32 years and is admitted to the bars of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts of Massachusetts and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.  Attorney Roberts graduated cum laude from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and earned her law degree cum laude from Boston University School of Law in 1980.  After three years of practice in Manhattan and 13 years in Boston, Ms. Roberts moved to Cape Cod, where she was in solo practice and then of counsel to LaTanzi, Spaulding & Landreth in Orleans, Massachusetts, where she has continued her focus on civil litigation, including matters involving real estate, construction, probate and small business disputes. Attorney Roberts has presented at numerous continuing legal education programs and bar association seminars, has authored continuing legal education publications on real estate related issues, and is a past president of the Barnstable County Bar Association.  Her civic involvement currently includes serving on the Board of Directors for Hope Health, Inc. and the May Institute’s Human Rights Committee. She resides in East Sandwich.

For more information about the Land Court Department of the Massachusetts Trial Court, visit http://www.mass.gov/courts/court-info/trial-court/lc/.

Baker-Polito Administration Welcomes Travis McCready as Life Sciences CEO

Baker-Polito Administration Welcomes Travis McCready as Life Sciences CEO

Travis brings extensive experience with the innovation economy to the Massachusetts Life Sciences sector

Boston – Thursday, September 17, 2015 – Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, and Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash are pleased to welcome Travis to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center as its second president and chief executive officer.

                                

“I congratulate Travis McCready on his appointment today as the next CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center,” said Governor Baker. “The Baker-Polito Administration is firmly committed to deepening the Commonwealth’s nationally leading position in life sciences research, and to broadening the industry’s geographic footprint, and the Life Sciences Center as the Commonwealth's primary vehicle for advancing these goals.”

“Travis’s experience as the executive director of the Kendall Square Association, where he worked to deepen and broaden the reach of the most innovative square mile in the world, is the kind of expertise we need for our life sciences ecosystem,” said Lt. Governor Polito. “I anticipate productive cooperation between the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, academic institutions, the startup community, and established life science firms.”

“Travis is uniquely qualified to lead the Life Sciences Center forward - he is a highly accomplished individual who has run innovation economy and economic development efforts in both Kendall and Dudley Square,” said Secretary Ash. “He has compelling experience in the public, private, institutional and nonprofit sectors. Just as importantly, he knows the key players value of our life sciences industry, and he values the industry's role in feeding the Commonwealth's larger innovation ecosystem, and in growing our state's economy. I look forward to working with him.”

Travis McCready has served as Vice President for Programs at the Boston Foundation since 2013, and served as Executive Director of the Kendall Square Association from 2010-2013. Travis also spent several years at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, serving as both CFO and COO. He has also worked as director of community affairs at Harvard University, and as a private attorney. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University Of Iowa College Of Law. He lives in Lexington with his wife and two teenage daughters.