外交部“回首光華四十與我”徵稿

外交部的《台灣光華雜誌》為慶祝邁向40週年，舉辦「回首《光華》四十與我」的徵稿活動，即日起至11月15日（週日）下午五點（台灣時間）收件，將錄取40名。

            外交部的《台灣光華雜誌》創刊於民國六十五年，歷經時代轉變。外交部希望凝聚讀者對《光華》的深刻記憶，翻閱時的感動，特地以「回首《光華》四十與我」為題，舉辦徵稿活動。

有意參加徵稿活動者，可至臉書蒐尋<光華四十>粉絲頁，點入「光華四十與我徵稿」即可參加。只要在「我        《光華》，因為        」兩處，填入對《光華》的情感、記憶，或是期許、展望的創意感想的詞句，就完成投稿。網友並可分享作品到自己的臉書粉絲頁，為其他網友瀏覽。

徵稿活動歡迎各界踴躍投稿，參加期間自即日起至11月15日（週日）下午五點（台灣時間）止。經評選後，將不分名次錄取四十人，各可獲《台灣光華雜誌》一年份與《博采豐物——2016年光華案曆》一冊。

LEADER OF MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR HEROIN TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION SENTENCED TO PRISON

LEADER OF MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR

HEROIN TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION SENTENCED TO PRISON

 

BOSTON – A leader of a Lawrence heroin trafficking organization that operated in Massachusetts and New York was sentenced today to 13 years in federal prison.

 

Ygoa Almonte-Baez, 48, of Dorchester, Mass., and the Bronx, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel to 13 years in prison, five years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $2 million.  In June 2015, Almonte-Baez was convicted by a federal jury for one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroin and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin.

 

On July 26, 2013, federal agents raided Almonte-Baez’s stash house in Lawrence and seized over 21 kilograms of highly pure heroin.  Agents also found digital scales, grinders, cutting agents and other tools used for processing and packaging heroin for distribution.  Almonte-Baez recorded the sales and related payments for his heroin business in ledgers that showed millions of dollars in heroin sales in 2013 alone.  The same day that agents arrested Almonte-Baez, they also seized over $372,000 in drug proceeds from a courier who testified at trial that he worked for Almonte-Baez picking up tens of thousands of dollars at a time from wholesale heroin customers. 

 

According to the charging statutes, the judge was legally required to impose a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.  Prosecutors sought a lengthier sentence arguing that the 21 kilograms of heroin agents seized from Almonte-Baez was only a small portion of what his organization distributed.  Furthermore, it was of such high purity that it likely would have been diluted by a factor of three before begin distributed in street-level transactions, amounting to approximately 120,000 dosage units. 

 

This case was prosecuted as part of the federal response to New England’s opioid crisis.  A substantial increase in the purity of heroin in recent years, as well as a reduction in its price, has persuaded many individuals addicted to prescription medication to switch to heroin.  Overdoses from heroin have climbed substantially as a result. 

 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Essex County Sheriff Frank G. Cousins, Jr.; and Lawrence Police Chief James X. Fitzpatrick, made the announcement today.  The case was investigated by the DEA’s Cross Borders Initiative and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David D’Addio and Susan Winkler. 

 

MEDICAL WASTE DISPOSAL COMPANY PAYS $677,000 FOR OVERCHARGING MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNMENT ENTITIES

MEDICAL WASTE DISPOSAL COMPANY PAYS $677,000 FOR OVERCHARGING MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNMENT ENTITIES

Illinois-based Company Pays Total of $26.75 Million in Federal-State Settlement

BOSTON – An Illinois-based medical waste disposal company paid more than $677,000 to Massachusetts as part of a federal-state settlement of allegations that the company overcharged government entities millions of dollars for its services.

Stericycle, Inc. has paid a $26.75 million settlement to 12 states, the District of Columbia and the federal government, resolving allegations that the company violated the U.S. and state False Claims Acts.

 “Companies that defraud taxpayers by overcharging for their services must be held responsible,” AG Healey said. “We are pleased to have worked with our federal and state partners to recover these critical funds.”

Stericycle has provided medical waste disposal services to school districts, health departments, colleges, police departments, nursing homes and municipalities. The lawsuit alleged that Stericycle violated state and federal false claims laws by overcharging government customers by automatically increasing its charges up to 18 percent annually in violation of prices set by contracts.

The settlement resulted from a lawsuit by a whistleblower, or “relator” under the False Claims Act, who was a former employee of the company. Under the terms of the settlement, Massachusetts has recovered more than $677,000 to compensate for damages to local government entities that used the company’s services.

The other states that joined the settlement were California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, along with the District of Columbia, and the federal government.

This matter was handled for Massachusetts by Assistant Attorney General Eric Gold of AG Healey’s Health Care Division, along with Assistant Attorney General Gillian Feiner, Chief of the False Claims Division.

WARNER CHILCOTT AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY TO HEALTH CARE FRAUD SCHEME AND PAY $125 MILLION

WARNER CHILCOTT AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY TO HEALTH CARE

FRAUD SCHEME AND PAY $125 MILLION

Former President Arrested Today in Boston

 

BOSTON – Pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott has agreed to plead guilty to health care fraud and pay $125 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of the drugs Actonel®, Asacol®, Atelvia®, Doryx®, Enablex®, Estrace®, and Loestrin®, and various formulations of these drugs. 

 

In a related development, former Warner Chilcott President W. Carl Reichel was arrested this morning in Boston for conspiring to pay kickbacks to physicians.  Reichel will make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Boston today at 2:30 p.m. 

 

In addition, in recent weeks, three former Warner Chilcott district managers pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and criminal HIPAA violations, and a Springfield, Mass. physician was indicted for taking kickbacks, criminal HIPAA violations and obstruction of justice.

 

“Doctors’ medical judgment should be based on what is best for the patient, and not clouded by expensive meals and other pharmaceutical company kickbacks,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.  “Pharmaceutical company executives and employees should not be involved with treatment decisions or submissions to a patient’s insurance company.  Today’s enforcement actions demonstrate that the government will seek not only to hold companies accountable, but will identify and charge corporate officials responsible for the fraud.”

 

“The Justice Department is committed to protecting the integrity of physician prescribing decisions and ensuring that financial arrangements in the healthcare marketplace comply with the law,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “The Department will continue to hold companies and responsible individuals accountable when they use improper incentives, like those alleged here, to promote their products.”

“Pharmaceutical companies and their employees have a significant responsibility to sell and market drugs in an ethical and legal manner,” said Special Agent in Charge Harold H. Shaw of the FBI’s Boston Field Office.  “This settlement and the related indictments reflect the commitment of the FBI and our government partners to aggressively investigate companies and individuals who fail that responsibility and seek to profit from fraudulent activities.”

“Placing financial gain above the legitimate needs of patients is deplorable,” said Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Paying kickbacks and even providing instructions on how to defraud Medicare are practices that will not be tolerated.”

 

“These types of health care fraud investigations have great impact on VA operations because the settlement will return funds to VA for the continued care of our nation’s Veterans,” said Jeffrey G. Hughes, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General.  “The VA OIG will continue to work with its law enforcement partners and the Boston U.S. Attorney’s Office to combat fraud in the health care arena.”

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH TRANSATLANTIC POLICY LAB FOR CITY OF BOSTON'S RESILIENCE STRATEGY

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH TRANSATLANTIC POLICY LAB FOR CITY OF BOSTON'S RESILIENCE STRATEGY

Partnership is a Product of Boston's Relationship with 100 Resilient Cities - Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation

BOSTON - Thursday, October 29, 2015 - Today, Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced in collaboration with 100 Resilient Cities - Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) that the Transatlantic Policy Lab (TAPL) will convene a social equity lab in Boston to assess the ways inequalities in income and opportunity affect Boston's shared resilience and develop policy recommendations to reduce these inequalities. "Every resident of Boston should have access to the wealth of opportunities in this city every day so we can remain competitive and be able to thrive in the face of an emergency," said Mayor Walsh. "This study will provide vital assessments of our equity gaps to help reduce the impact of potential threats on our communities, and I'm looking forward to reviewing the results and taking the next steps towards becoming an even stronger city, for ourselves and our children." Boston is one of only two cities worldwide, along with Athens, Greece, to be selected as pilot sites for the TAPL's work with 100RC. The TAPL will convene 16 experts from the United States and the European Union to work in conjunction with the host cities in efforts to reduce income inequality and inequality of opportunity. This process will be conducted in close cooperation with members of the Walsh Administration, with input from the local community being an integral role in the process. The TAPL social equity lab is provided to the City of Boston by the 100RC as part of their Platform of Partners. The 100RC Platform consists of private sector, public sector, academic, governmental, and non-profit partners who provide access to important resilience-building resources at no direct cost to the 100RC member cities. The TAPL, established by the Bertelsmann Foundation in collaboration with the Open Society Foundations and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, has been engaged as one of 100RC's platform partners. As part of the social equity lab, the TAPL will review existing research on Boston's equity gaps and engage community partners, residents, and City agencies to develop policy recommendations that will be incorporated into Boston's Resilience Strategy. The Resilience Strategy will support Boston's ability to become more prepared for, able to withstand, and bounce back from the 'shocks' -- catastrophic events like floods, infrastructure failure and acts of terrorism -- and 'stresses' -- slow-moving disasters like persistent racial and economic inequality, lack of affordable housing and unemployment -- which are increasingly part of 21st century life. The social equity lab is part of an ongoing effort led by Mayor Walsh's newly appointed Chief Resilience Officer, Dr. Atyia Martin, who is overseeing the development and implementation of a comprehensive Resilience Strategy for the City. In just over seven weeks, Dr. Martin has held over 50 meetings with community and faith-based organizations, City agencies, and business groups to set for the stage for Boston's Resilience Strategy Launch, which officially began on October 28th in partnership with 100RC and with support from HR&A Advisors, Inc. "Boston faces equity challenges, like many cities worldwide, and this process is an important part of ensuring we continue to grow as a thriving, healthy and innovative city," said Dr. Martin. "Assessing our resilience is necessary to meet Mayor Walsh's goal for a socially and economically healthy city, from the bottom-up. I'm excited to partner with the Transatlantic Policy Lab and 100RC to make this possible." "Partnerships like the one between Boston and the Transatlantic Policy Lab are a crucial component of 100 Resilient Cities' offering to member cities," said Liz Yee, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Solutions at 100 Resilient Cities. "We're proud to provide best-in-class tools and services to foster resilience building efforts at no direct cost to our member cities, and excited to leverage the solutions and learnings from this engagement to identify where these approaches can be scaled to address similar challenges in other cities, and encourage the market to develop solutions where there are existing gaps." The social equity lab complements Boston's overall resilience initiative, which includes a unique focus on social resilience in a city affected by historic and persistent divisions of race and class. As part of this initiative, Dr. Martin will support all of Boston's major planning efforts, working across City departments and with external stakeholders, and has been particularly tasked with fostering a citywide dialogue on the root causes of Boston's divisions and inequities, helping the city to unite and build collective capacity for change. The two-year position is fully funded through 100RC. About 100 Resilient Cities - Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities - Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) helps cities around the world become more resilient to social, economic, and physical challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. 100RC provides this assistance through: funding for a Chief Resilience Officer in each of our cities who will lead the resilience efforts; resources for drafting a resilience strategy; access to private sector, public sector, academic, and NGO resilience tools; and membership in a global network of peer cities to share best practices and challenges. 100RC currently has 67 member cities. For more information, visit: www.100ResilientCities.org. 100RC recently launched the third and final round of the 100 Resilient Cities challenge, where cities can apply to become part of the final cohort of cities in the global network of 100 cities. For application information, visit: www.100ResilientCities.org/challenge.

中華公所下屆職員首批候選人出爐 陳家驊問鼎主席

陳家驊（右一）曾獲塔醫頒給“創造奇蹟”獎。（檔案照片，周菊子攝）

(Boston Orange 周菊子波士頓報導) 紐英崙中華公所今年的職員改選，初露曙光，陳家驊、翁宇才，朱蘇珊，黃立輝，李翠屏等五人組成的團隊，率先於10月27 日遞出表格，參加選舉。

            紐英崙中華公所近年一直動盪不安，繼龍岡親義公所雙胞案後，接著又出現

海僑協會，世界廣東同鄉總會會籍遭遇挑戰狀況。由於涉事各方堅持己見，中華公所處理議案自有其特殊形式，前述兩案一直懸而未決。

            由於中華公所目前擁有泰勒街90號中華公所大樓，共約204戶住家的大同村，以及現由中國超市租用的喜露街50號等三棟物業，名下資產逾千萬元，坊間一度出現中華公所到底屬於中華公所董事會，或是屬於大波士頓華人社區的質問，中華公所到底由哪些人管理，也漸受矚目。

            李氏公所理事李奇舜為解決中華公所內常見的派系爭端，曾提出中華公所職員輪值制的建議，並經選舉小組研究過後，交董事大會表決，但未通過，今年底的選舉，因此仍將依照舊制舉行。

            中華公所主席阮鴻燦也在9 月份的董事大會中宣佈，今年的中華公所職員改選，訂十月三十日截止接受提名，十一月廿四日開下一次董事大會，介紹候選人，十二月一日（週二）的早上9點至下午6點，辦理投票。

            陳家驊等五人，27日向中華公所遞交提名表格，28日以電子郵件向媒體宣佈，已組成團隊，角逐下一屆中華公所職員席位。

            根據提名表，這五人的參選職位依序為，陳家驊主席，翁宇才中文書記，朱蘇珊英文書記，黃立輝財政，李翠屏核數。

這五名候選人中，現為麻州住宅投資公司企業發展主任的陳家驊，參與中華公所事務，出任董事，已不下三十年；翁宇才，黃立輝都是中華公所的現任職員，職務依序為財政，核數。李翠屏畢業於麻州大學，主修會計，現為李氏公所財政。朱蘇珊在Edward George 
律師樓當律師。

坊間雖有中華公所現任職員中的李嘉玲也將組隊參選的傳聞，但此說還未證實。

昆市今年大選 亞裔選民出席投票率影響大

(本報記者菊子昆士市綜合報導) 昆士市共和黨與民主黨10月26日晚在昆士高中舉辦“候選人論壇”，再給選民一次機會觀察、思考，手中神聖一票該投給誰。11月3日亞裔是否出席投票，可能是梁秀婷當選與否關鍵。

            昆市今年的選舉，將決定誰來當首名一任4年市長。當晚的市長候選人論壇，也撥出將近1小時給市長候選人發言。

            昆士市內的不同團體，從今年8月起，陸續辦過不下7次候選人論壇或辯論。目前在位，競選第 5度連任的市長柯奇（Tom Koch）和曾經當過6年昆士市長的費林（William Phelan），當晚已是不下第4度對陣。

            儘管昆市坊間不少人認為今年的市長選戰，兩名候選人勢均力敵，彼此攻擊對方的“所謂事實”，都有不盡詳實之處，哪個人對昆市未來更好，實在不容易分辨。不過，麻州州長查理貝克（Charlie Baker），昆市愛國者報（Patriot Ledger）卻依序在10月16日及10月24日，先後宣佈背書支持柯奇連任。

            10月26日晚的論壇，依序由代表民主黨、共和黨市黨委會的Alicia Gardner及Christine Cedrone主持，提出的問題包括昆士中心的重建，物業稅漲幅，鴉片及海洛英問題，昆士醫療中心的關閉，市內建住宅的施工熱，去年冬天昆市的鏟雪預算，昆市中心地鐵站停車場關閉後狀況，昆士醫療中心土地未來用途等等。

            其中好些話題，包括物業稅，在前幾次辯論中不斷重複出現過。昆市愛國者報在28日刊登的一篇文章中表示，根據該報分析麻州稅務局資料，柯奇和費林兩人的加稅紀錄其實差不多，任內都加了平均29%左右。

昆市單家庭屋平均稅額，在費林的6年任內，從2,978元，增加到3,846元，漲幅29%。在柯奇任內的過去7年，從3,846元增加到4,981元，漲幅也大約是29%。

            在5選3的不分區市議員候選人部分，一名熟悉昆市政情者向本報指出，候選人中有兩名在位者，其中當晚擺出中文宣傳單，獲有班特利大學榮譽博士學位的方安（Joe Finn），應篤定當選，其餘的候選人，實力相當。政壇新人梁秀婷有無機會，得看有多少亞裔願意出來投票支持。

            他指出，儘管在昆士市總人口中亞裔已佔約25％，但出席投票率低，仍是亞裔在昆市爭取政治力量的致命傷。上一次選舉，在昆市其中一個亞裔人口多至數千人的選區，竟然只有200名亞裔出席投票。

            昆市愛國者報指出，市級選舉的選民出席投票率一向低。在2005年市長將同額當選的那年，投票率低至25%，2001年，費林從席茲（James Sheets）手中奪過市長寶座時，投票率高達47％。今年的選舉結果，也將更加看哪個候選人能鼓動最多選民出來投票支持。

          

圖片說明：

            角逐昆市市長寶座的柯奇（左），費林（右）在論壇中難得的同時面帶笑容。（菊子攝）

            昆士市5名不分區市議員候選人，同時面對選民。左起，方安，麥法蘭，狄波納，梁秀婷，麥卡西。（菊子攝）

            梁家的吳廣兆（左起），梁新霞，梁小鳳等人，26日出席論壇，支持家族中小妹梁秀婷競選。（菊子攝）

            梁秀婷在台上發言，聲音清晰，有力。一名德國城居民會後向她竪拇指。（菊子攝）

            左起，狄邦納，梁秀婷，麥卡西是爭取昆市不分區市議員席位的挑戰者。（菊子攝）