僑委會委員長吳新興拜會薩國外交部長 交流僑務工作

（本會訊）中美洲薩爾瓦多共和國外交部長馬丁內斯（Hugo Martinez）昨（25）日接待中華民國僑務委員會委員長吳新興時表示，薩爾瓦多十分重視與珍惜和台灣的雙邊關係，包括經貿、教育和文化等各個領域層面的交流與互動。

馬丁內斯係於昨日接待來訪的吳新興委員長時做了上述表示。馬丁內斯也提及本年5月前往台灣參加蔡英文總統的就職典禮，對於台灣的經濟發展以及自由民主的制度印象深刻。此外，他也感謝台灣對於薩爾瓦多現階段在農業創新以及科技運用領域所提供的協助。

吳新興向馬丁內斯外長轉達蔡英文總統對於薩國總統Salvador Sánchez Cerén的問侯之意。吳新興也表示，中華民國和薩爾瓦多已有80年之邦誼，台灣十分珍惜兩國的情誼，也希望兩國今後在經貿、農業、科技等領域能夠持續深化交流與合作。此外，雙方對於僑務工作也做了經驗分享。馬丁內斯外長同意提供吳新興委員長關於薩爾瓦多如何處理該國僑民的政策作法以及雙方今後如何就開展僑務工作獲得初步共識。

據資料顯示，薩爾瓦多共有600萬人口，其中一半人口300萬人集中在美國工作，是該國外匯收入的主要來源，因此該國十分重視僑務工作的推動。

吳新興係於昨日前往薩爾瓦多參加中美洲六國暨巴拿馬中華總會、華僑總會聯合總會第五十一屆年會時，前往拜會該國外交部長。

圖說：僑務委員會委員長吳新興（左）拜訪薩爾瓦多共和國外交部長馬丁內斯（Hugo Martinez，右），就雙邊的僑務工作分享經驗。

Baker-Polito Administration Announces Record Energy Savings for Electric and Gas Ratepayers

Baker-Polito Administration Announces Record Energy Savings for

Electric and Gas Ratepayers

2013-2015 Three-Year Energy Savings Plan Exceeded Goals

BOSTON – August 25, 2016 – The Baker-Polito Administration today announced Massachusetts’ Energy Efficiency Program Administrators set an annual record for energy savings in 2015 and exceeded the energy savings benchmarks set by the 2013-2015 Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plan by 20% for the electric goal and 9% of the gas goal. The energy efficiency plan, drafted by the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council and adopted in 2012, set the most aggressive energy savings goals of any energy efficiency program in the nation for gas and electric sales.

“Massachusetts continues to lead the nation in energy efficiency through programs that reduce costs to ratepayers and minimize the impacts of increased demand on our energy infrastructure,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “The comprehensive energy diversity legislation I signed earlier this month will expand financing opportunities for commercial energy efficiency projects, building upon the strong foundation the Commonwealth’s energy efficiency plans have laid for our clean energy future.”

“The Baker-Polito Administration is committed to expanding energy savings for Massachusetts’ ratepayers, as demonstrated by the even more aggressive savings targets in our recently signed energy savings plan,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “The Commonwealth realizes a greater than three-to-one benefit for every dollar invested in energy efficiency programs, proving that energy efficiency is a great investment for Massachusetts ratepayers.”

The 2013-2015 Three-Year Plan set savings goals at 2.5% of statewide electric sales and 1.12% of statewide natural gas sales and in 2015 Massachusetts achieved savings of 3.01% of electric sales and 1.23% of natural gas sales. The current Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plan, approved by the Department of Public Utilities in January 2016, builds upon the success of the previous plan and again sets nation-leading goals for energy savings, setting savings goals of 2.94% of electric sales and 1.24% of gas sales.

“Energy efficiency will play a crucial role as the Commonwealth looks to build a clean energy future by ensuring we reduce costs for ratepayers while meeting our Global Warming Solutions Act emissions reductions targets,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton. “The unprecedented success of the past plan, paired with the nation leading goals set by the current plan, is projected to result in over $8 billion of economic benefits to ratepayers and the reduction of over 2 million tons of carbon emissions by 2018.”

“Energy efficiency programs continue to be the most cost-effective way for ratepayers to reduce their energy costs while helping the Commonwealth meet our shared carbon emissions targets,” said Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Judith Judson. “The record setting savings achieved in 2015 demonstrate this Administration’s commitment to clean, affordable energy for all consumers. We are committed to building upon our progress by expanding opportunities for renters and moderate income households so that all Massachusetts ratepayers can benefits from our shared success.”

The 2016-2018 Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plan includes a focus on several key issues facing the Commonwealth, including addressing the growing energy consumption at times of peak demand, advancing innovation in technologies and program delivery, and working with residential contractors to continue to expand the opportunities for delivery of energy efficiency.

In addition, the current plan includes two new initiatives to allow renters and moderate income households increased opportunities to participate in Massachusetts’ energy efficiency programs. A new home energy visit program will assist renters, who don’t have control over all efficiency upgrade decisions in a building, but who benefit from a home visit and instant savings efficiency measures. The moderate income initiative will provide electric and gas customers who have not previously qualified for income-eligible programs with expanded incentives so that they are able to access the benefits of energy efficiency.

The Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Program Administrators are electric and gas utility companies and municipal electric aggregators that develop and implement energy efficiency investment plans for ratepayers as directed by the Green Communities Act. The electric and natural gas efficiency programs, delivered under the Mass Save® brand, provide technical assistance and incentives such as free home energy audits, instant savings measures like power strips and energy efficient lightbulbs, rebates and discounts on advanced technologies, and custom programs for large consumers of energy. They help homeowners, renters, businesses, local governments and institutions use less energy, manage their costs and reduce their carbon footprints.

“Energy efficiency must be a pillar of our state’s energy infrastructure,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Marc R. Pacheco (D-Taunton), founding chair of the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change and vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. “We have a necessity to meet the emission reduction requirements of the Global Warming Solutions Act, and that means we have to lessen our carbon footprint. I am pleased to see these energy savings, and I look forward to further cost reduction as we move forward with a smart, diverse energy portfolio.”

“The numbers released today prove the Commonwealth is moving in the right direction when it comes to promoting energy efficiency,” said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading).  “I commend the Baker-Polito Administration and Secretary Beaton for their continued leadership on this important issue and for their ongoing efforts to reduce the state’s carbon footprint and lower energy costs for the state’s ratepayers.”

“In Massachusetts, we must continually seek energy efficiency as a ‘first fuel,’” said State Representative Thomas A. Golden, Jr. (D-Lowell), Chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy. “I commend the Administration and the Utilities on a job well done and look forward to building upon these accomplishments to further realize the full benefits of energy efficiency.”

“Our energy efficiency success has substantial benefits for our economy, our environment, our health, and the preservation of vital natural resources,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester).  “We know that our utilization of a diversified renewable power generation portfolio coupled with efficiency measures has been working and this underscores the importance of the next phase of our development of a comprehensive statewide energy plan.”

To build upon Massachusetts’ energy efficiency progress, the comprehensive energy diversification legislation recently enacted by Governor Baker establishes a commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. The PACE program, facilitated by MassDevelopment and DOER, will enable commercial and industrial property owners across the state to finance comprehensive energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades that are repaid through a property tax assessment on their building.

Massachusetts has earned the #1 ranking five consecutive years in the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) 2015 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard.  In the scorecard, Massachusetts received the highest mark possible for its utility-managed energy efficiency programs. 

MIT選出的35名35歲以下創新者出爐 9名華人

麻省理工學院科技評論（MIT Tech Review）今年的“35名35歲以下創新者”出爐了，有9名亞裔/華入獲選，再次為亞裔族群締造輝煌佳績。

麻省理工學院科技評論的這一年度活動，共分創新者，企業家，遠見者，人道主義者，開拓者等5個類別，獲選者各別有5到9人。

“創新者”這項，有9人獲選，其中3名華人，包括31歲，設計可監測個人健康護腕的加州柏克萊大學高偉（譯音， Wei Gao）；30歲，設計人工智能介面，使科技能更加幫助人，而不惱人的百度專家顧家維（譯音，Jiawei Gu），33歲，研究出比RAM，閃存（Flash drive）更好記憶體的新加坡設計及科技大學駱戴斯蒙（譯音，Desmond Loke）。

“企業家”這項，有7人獲選，其中一名華人，33歲加州柏克萊大學的Christina Ho，正在商業化很薄，可靈活變化的可印製電池。

“遠見者”有6人獲選，其中一名華人，29歲，卡耐基美倫大學（Carnegie Mellon University）的楊婧（譯音，Jean Yang）。她要讓電腦中的個人資訊更安全。

“人道主義者”這項有5人獲選，其中無華人。

“開拓者”這項，有8人入圍，其中4名華人，包括34歲，研究身邊沒乾淨30水時怎麼辦的南京大學朱佳（譯音，Jia Zhu）；30歲，研究能夠彈出來的納米結構，使得形狀微小物品也能很容易製造的清華大學張毅輝（譯音，Yihui Zhang）；33歲，研究如何完美印製塑膠太陽能細胞的伊利諾大學刁英（譯音，Ying Diao）；32歲，研究如何用更有效率的碳納米管來取代矽晶體管的IBM研究員曹慶（譯音，Qing Cao）。

其他的創新者有約翰霍普金斯大學的Muyinatu Bell，研究聲光成像，以形成更清晰影像，更早，更準確的發現癌症。她的實驗室計劃於2017年時，使用這一技術。

麻省理工學院電腦及人工智能實驗室的Dinesh Bharadia，發現了在同一頻率上傳輸，收取數據的方法。他從MIT休假一年，加入設在德國的荷蘭初創電信公司Kumu網路（Kumu Networks）。

麻省理工學院科技評論將於十月十八至廿日，舉行本年度的“新興科技會議”，屆時將介紹這35名35歲以下的創新者。

Governor Baker Nominates Three to the Massachusetts Superior Court

Governor Baker Nominates Three to the

Massachusetts Superior Court

BOSTON – Governor Charlie Baker today nominated Michael K. Callan, Karen F. Green and James Gavin Reardon to the Massachusetts Superior Court.

“I am proud to nominate three well-qualified candidates to serve on the Massachusetts Superior Court,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Mike Callan, Karen Green and Gavin Reardon will bring a strong worth ethic, professional demeanor, and tremendous experience with the Massachusetts legal system to our Superior Court bench if confirmed by the Governor’s Council.”

“Superior Court Justices are an integral component of the criminal and civil legal communities which they preside over,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “These three nominees are prepared to work hard in order to serve both the Commonwealth and their respective counties with dignity and pride, if confirmed.”

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

"I am grateful to the Governor for nominating these three outstanding lawyers, with their excellent credentials and varied backgrounds and experience, to the Superior Court,” said Superior Court Chief Justice Fabricant. “I am confident that, if confirmed by the Governor's Council, each of them will contribute greatly to the Court's mission of providing quality and timely justice to the public." 

The Superior Court is comprised of 82 justices in 20 courthouses across all 14 counties and is a statewide court of general jurisdictions that handles a broad variety of civil litigation in matters of contract, injury, civil rights, and others with amounts in controversy exceeding $25,000. In addition, the Court oversees criminal matters including homicide, sex offenses, robbery, and financial fraud. Approximately 65% of the cases are civil lawsuits and the remaining 35% are criminal proceedings.

For more information about the Massachusetts Superior Court, visit http://www.mass.gov/courts/court-info/trial-court/sc/

About Michael K. Callan

Attorney Michael K. Callan has over two decades of legal experience, currently serving as a partner at Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy, P.C. in Springfield, MA, where he handles a variety of complex civil litigation for the firm, including corporate, business and construction disputes, as well as zoning and large tort cases. He also currently serves as Town Counsel to Longmeadow, Ludlow and Hampden.  A graduate of Boston College, where he earned magna cum laude honors, and of Boston College Law School, Mr. Callan worked as a clerk for the Superior Court after law school. Attorney Callan has done extensive volunteer work, including six years as counsel to the Suburban Amateur Football League; four years as President of Longmeadow Youth Football Association, Inc. and several years as counsel to Longmeadow ABC, Inc., an organization devoted to promoting opportunities to inner city youth. He also volunteers, providing legal guidance to patients at the Noble Hospital, Lawyer for the Day in Hampden County Probate Court and Springfield School Volunteers Program. Callan is a lifelong resident of Western Massachusetts and currently resides in Longmeadow.

About Karen F. Green

Attorney Karen F. Green is currently a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Boston where she concentrates on complex business litigation, including white collar criminal investigations and litigation. She has more than three decades of legal experience in both the private and public sectors and has participated extensively in numerous bar and community activities. Ms. Green began her career clerking for US District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity, Jr. in Boston, before working as a Litigation Associate, Junior Partner and Senior Partner at Hale and Dorr. Ms. Green also worked as an Assistant US Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Civil Division at the US Attorney’s Office, as Chief of Staff to Governor Bill Weld, and as Deputy US Attorney. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard/Radcliffe College, where she earned a degree in Sociology, and a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. Born and raised in Somerville, MA, Ms. Green is the daughter of a police officer and currently lives in Brookline.

About James Gavin Reardon

Attorney James “Gavin” Reardon, Jr., who has over thirty years of legal experience, currently owns and operates his own firm, Reardon Law Firm in Worcester, MA, and is “Of Counsel” to the Worcester law firm of Milton, Laurence and Dixon. He is a graduate of Trinity College and Georgetown University Law Center and began his career working at Reardon & Reardon, with his father, before establishing his own practice in 1999. Gavin Reardon has significant experience in both criminal defense and civil personal injury litigation. He is certified by the Committee for Public Counsel Services to represent indigent criminal defendants in murder cases and by the Criminal Justice Act Panel to represent indigent clients charged with crimes in Federal Court. He lectures in the field of law office technology and electronic evidence. He is a long time Co-Chair of the Worcester County Bar Association Law Office Technology Committee. A resident of Shrewsbury, where he lives with his family, Attorney Reardon is also a past president of the Worcester Bar County Association and is a Region 10 Delegate to the Massachusetts Bar Association and a long-time member of the MBA Executive Management Board.

RED SOX FOUNDATION TO HOST “FENWAYOGA” 9/24

RED SOX FOUNDATION TO HOST

“FENWAYOGA” EVENT SEPTEMBER 24 

WITH NATION’S LEADING YOGA STUDIO

Proceeds to Benefit Foundation’s

Red Sox Scholars and RBI Youth Baseball & Softball Programs

BOSTON, MA – The Red Sox Foundation will host an outdoor yoga class at Fenway Park on Saturday, September 24, benefitting two of the foundation’s cornerstone programs, the Red Sox Scholars Program and the RBI Youth Baseball and Softball Programs.

“FenwaYoga” will be taught by CorePower Yoga, the nation’s leading studio that roots an intensely physical workout in the mindfulness of yoga. Local Boston instructor Tim Samp will lead up to 250 participants along Fenway’s warning track in CorePower Yoga’s signature C2 class, a vinyasa flow that strengthens, balances and detoxifies the entire body and mind. The class begins at 9 a.m. and is open to participants with all levels of yoga experience, with a minimum fundraising commitment of $125 per person in order to meet the overall goal of $100,000. Prizes will be awarded to the top three fundraisers.

“FenwaYoga is an incredible opportunity for the Boston community to practice yoga at an iconic venue that they normally wouldn’t have access to,” said Tim Samp, Boston Area Leader, for CorePower Yoga. “We are thrilled to bring our signature C2 class to the field at Fenway Park and support the Red Sox Foundation programs.”

Those interested in signing up for the FenwaYoga event can register at fenwayoga.com.

The Red Sox Scholars Program provides college scholarships, tutoring, mentoring, and enrichment programs to academically talented, financially disadvantaged Boston public middle school students. The RBI Youth Baseball and Softball Program serves more than 2,000 inner city teens each summer using the sport to promote healthy choices and valuable life-skills. 

About CorePower Yoga

CorePower Yoga strives to show the world the incredible, life-changing things that happen when an intensely physical workout is rooted in the mindfulness of yoga. Through a variety of yoga classes, convenient times and more than 150 studio locations, CorePower Yoga provides a highly intense and incredibly mindful form of fitness.

CorePower Yoga classes are taught by passionate and encouraging certified yoga instructors who take a typical yoga practice and crank it up to 11. In addition to yoga classes, CorePower Yoga offers transformative Yoga Teacher Training programs to empower students to advance their individual practice or become instructors. The beautiful, spa-like studios are built with green practices in mind and operate to meet the highest standards of service and quality. For more information, visit corepoweryoga.com.

Boston Children’s Museum Receives Implementation Grant From the National Endowment for the Humanities for Native Voices Exhibit

Boston Children’s Museum Receives Implementation Grant

From the National Endowment for the Humanities for Native Voices Exhibit

Grant Supports a Three-Year Tour for

Native Voices: New England Tribal Families Exhibit 

BOSTON, MA – August 24, 2016 – Boston Children’s Museum recently received an Implementation Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for its Native Voices: New England Tribal Families exhibit supporting a three-year tour. This tour will feature new interactive elements in the already popular exhibit, as well as new materials that will help host museums engage with their local Native communities and develop cross-cultural partnerships that can extend beyond the tour.

Native Voices was developed by Boston Children’s Museum in close collaboration with many New England Native tribal members.  Native Voices presents first-hand accounts of aspects of daily life that respect Native perspectives and talents, and honor both traditions and contemporary practices and adaptations. The success of this collaborative model is applicable across the country, and host museums can use this model to incorporate voices from their local Native communities outside New England into the exhibit.

“Native Voices is the result of years of collaboration with members of New England Native communities around sharing their contemporary culture, lifestyles and values.  National Endowment for the Humanities is the gold standard of humanities support, and we are honored to have been selected,” said Alexander Goldowsky, Senior Vice President of Exhibits and Programs.  “We are thrilled to enrich it further through contributions from more museums and Native communities.”

Native Voices introduces children 5-12 years old and their caregivers to five indigenous communities from New England. Hands-on activities, compelling immersive environments, evocative collections objects, and engaging first-person media present stories of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy of Maine, the Narragansett of Rhode Island, and the Aquinnah Wampanoag and Mashpee Wampanoag of Massachusetts. The exhibit showcases and contextualizes Boston Children’s Museum’s distinguished Native American collection and builds on the Museum’s decades of collaboration with tribal communities and scholars to present authentic perspectives.  With initial funding by NEH in 2009, Native Voices traveled to children’s museums through 2015 and is now on view at Boston Children’s Museum with the new exhibit enhancements.

The Native Voices main messages speak to the audience of children and their adult companions.Native Voices communicates that many New England indigenous communities continue to live, maintain, and evolve their cultural and contemporary traditions and identities; and that young members of these communities balance observance of traditions while being fully engaged in modern youth culture.

“We are delighted that Boston Children’s Museum has re-invested in this important exhibition, which has already proven to be successful with more than 1 million museum visitors in nine cities across the nation,” said Karen Mittelman, Director, Division of Public Programs. “The National Endowment for the Humanities applauds this project’s imaginative, hands-on approach, excellent scholarly team, and deep and thoughtful exploration of indigenous communities.”

Each host museum will also receive educational materials and public program templates to facilitate local collaborations. The tour will begin in January 2017 and will travel to six sites in the United States through 2019. 

Governor Baker Signs Animal Safety and Protection Legislation

Governor Baker Signs Animal Safety and Protection Legislation

BOSTON – Today, Governor Charlie Baker ceremoniously signed An Act preventing animal suffering and death (S. 2369), which prohibits the confinement of animals to vehicles where they are subject to danger from extreme weather conditions, limits the length animals can be tethered outdoors, and enables first responders and bystanders to assist in their rescue.

“While we hope and expect no one should ever have to act to save a pet or child from such dangerous conditions, we understand those situations unfortunately do arise and lives can depend on a quick response,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “I am pleased this legislation gives first responders and bystanders the tools to take reasonable actions to rescue pets in imminent danger.”

The legislation allows animal control officers, police or firefighters to enter vehicles to rescue an animal and allows citizens to act similarly in rescuing an animal in imminent danger after first calling 911. All first responders will be given immunity from civil or criminal liability and violators will be subject to fines for such conduct.

“This legislation helps ensure the well-being of the pets that many of us consider companions and family, strengthening state laws that prevent the mistreatment of animals in the Commonwealth, ” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito.

“Too many animals have suffered from neglect, whether in a dangerously hot car or chained outside for interminable lengths of time, this bill is an important step in ensuring that in addition to our empathy they have the weight of our laws to defend them,” said Senator Mark Montigny (D – New Bedford) Assistant Majority Leader and Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules, the Senate sponsor of the bill. “This legislation will ensure that reckless and abusive owners face stiff penalties and empower local authorities and the general public to contribute to the wellbeing of our four-legged friends.”

"Most of us treat our pets like family members -- some even better. However, for the poor animals that are neglectfully left in hot cars or tethered inappropriately, this new law is for them," said Lori Ehrlich (D – Marblehead) the House sponsor of the bill, "For the safety of those who cannot save themselves, I'm proud to have proposed and helped pass this bill."

The legislation reduces the number of hours each day during which a dog can be tethered outside from 24 hours to 5 hours, limits tethering to 15 supervised minutes during the hours of 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and prohibits any outdoor tethering during severe weather. The bill increases the fines for second offense tethering violations from $100 to $200 and $300 to $500 for subsequent offenses.