MIT-CHIEF 啟動、招新 (圖片)

TREASURER GOLDBERG ANNOUNCES WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT WORKSHOP IN FRAMINGHAM

TREASURER GOLDBERG ANNOUNCES WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT WORKSHOP IN FRAMINGHAM

BOSTON – Treasurer Goldberg has announced an additional location for the Women’s Economic Empowerment Series. The workshop, hosted by the Treasurer’s Office of Economic Empowerment (OEE) and Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer, is a free program focusing on wage negotiation, money management, retirement and investment strategies for women. The workshop will be held at Framingham State University on Saturday, March 3rd.

“Women face unique challenges when it comes to financial security,” said Treasurer Deb Goldberg. “This Program will provide critical information that will give women the skills they need to be successful in today’s economy.” “Framingham is very excited to partner with Treasurer Goldberg to bring the Women’s Economic Empowerment Series to our community. We welcome this amazing program and hope to encourage students to become financially literate, economically independent as well as empower women to control their futures,” said Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer.  “At Citizens Bank we are committed to helping our neighbors reach their potential, and our communities thrive,” said Jerry Sargent, President of Citizens Bank Massachusetts. “Through our Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money partnership with the Women’s Economic Empowerment Series, women are gaining the confidence and tools they need to budget, save and take charge of their personal finances.”

Women, on average, earn less than men over the course of their working lives because of the wage gap and more likely to leave the workforce to care for family members. Framingham was chosen as part of an expansion to bring economic security workshops to women across Massachusetts to help empower women and give them the tools to reach their full financial potential. The Women’s Economic Empowerment Series will take place on Saturday, March 3rd at 9:00AM in the McCarthy Center at Framingham State University. The program will include financial education workshops and salary negotiation training. Lunch will be provided to participants. For more specifics on the event details, programmatic content, and to register please visit the program’s site here. The Women’s Economic Empowerment Series is made possible by a grant from Citizens Bank.

On day one, Treasurer Goldberg created OEE with the deliberate goal of implementing a range of economic empowerment initiatives that include closing the gender wage gap, increasing access to financial education, improving college affordability, and investing in STEM careers and education. For more information visit http://www.mass.gov/treasury/empowerment or follow @EmpowermentMA on Twitter.

Superintendent Tommy Chang Issues Statement on Idea of Arming Teachers in Response to Mass Shootings

Superintendent Tommy Chang Issues Statement on Idea of Arming Teachers in Response to Mass Shootings

Chang Stands With Mayor Walsh, Calls Idea "Illogical"

BOSTON — Thursday, February 22, 2018 — Today, Boston Public Schools (BPS) Superintendent Tommy Chang issued the following statement in response to comments made by President Trump, who spoke publicly yesterday about arming teachers with firearms as a way to avert school shootings. STATEMENT FROM SUPERINTENDENT TOMMY CHANG: “The mere thought that teachers should be armed in order to ward off violence is utterly illogical and will only result in making our students and teachers less safe. “The real issue at hand continues to be access to guns. In Boston, we have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. We have a Mayor and a Police Commissioner who are fighting federal proposals that threaten to move us backward, such as the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. Just last year, we hosted the New England Regional Gun Summit right here at the Bolling Building to work with our neighboring cities and states on preventing the illegal flow of firearms into our city. “When it comes to school safety, we know that our focus should be on violence prevention and creating a culture of inclusion in all of our schools. We are providing regular training that’s rooted in best practices to ensure the safety of our students if a situation were to occur, not wasting our time training educators how to carry and use a firearm. Our priority in Boston will always be the well-being of our school communities, and bringing guns into schools is simply not the answer.” BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Last month, BPS announced a partnership with the Sandy Hook Promiseorganization, founded by courageous parents who lost children in the Sandy Hook shooting. This free initiative aims to help foster safe and welcoming school climates, along with teaching school communities how to spot the warning signs to prevent a tragedy. Sandy Hook Promise is working with BPS on the “Know The Signs” program, which educates students and teachers on how to identify signals that a student may commit a violent act. 80% of school shooters tell someone of their violent plans, and 69% tell more than one person. 37% of threats of violence occur electronically, and 28% of those are done via social media. 70% of people who commit suicide tell someone of their plans or give a warning sign. 1 million students are harassed, threatened, or cyberbullied. BPS is working with Sandy Hook Promise to develop an anonymous reporting app for students that would allow them to report concerns about safety or threats to commit violence or suicide. BPS is in the early stages of development of the app. It will not be available until at least next school year. During the first week of February, BPS participated in Sandy Hook Promise’s “Start With Hello Week,” which teaches students how to be more inclusive and connected with one another. Because social isolation is a predictor in school violence, this effort helps students be kind to one another and build a more supportive and inclusive environment. Another Sandy Hook Promise initiative which we will implement is Safety Assessment and Intervention, which teaches adults how to identify, assess, and respond to threats of violence of at-risk behavior before a tragedy takes place. Signs of Suicide is another Sandy Hook Promise initiative, which teaches students and educators how to intervene and get help for a student who may be depressed or suicidal. The Boston Police Department conducts presentations with school staff on what to do in the case of an active shooter. BPS and BPD have been doing this for the past three years. All of our schools conduct “safe mode drills” at least twice a year. Two years ago, BPS created an Office of Safety Services to work closely with the Boston School Police Department, which works with school staff to identify any potential safety threats, and to build a collaborative atmosphere with students. In the last year, BPS created an Office of Safe and Welcoming Schools, which provides support teams to help students with their social and emotional needs.

2018北美海產展優異獎入圍者出爐

2018 SEAFOOD EXCELLENCE AWARDS FINALISTS UNVEILED

Winners to be announced at Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America

Portland, ME (February 21, 2018) – The 12 finalists for the 2018 Seafood Excellence Awards, the prestigious best new products competition at Seafood Expo North America, were just announced. Winners of the competition will be presented during the Seafood Excellence Awards ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 3:00pm in the Demonstration Theater during Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America in Boston, MA, USA.

The Seafood Excellence Awards annually recognize the product leaders in the North American seafood market. Each year, exhibitors have the opportunity to submit their new products for consideration. Products are evaluated by three seafood industry experts based on their uniqueness and appropriateness to the market, taste profile, packaging, market potential, convenience, nutritional value and originality.

The 2018 finalists were selected from 84 entries in the exposition’s New Product Showcase and compete for two awards: Best New Foodservice Product and Best New Retail Product.

The finalists for the 2018 Seafood Excellence Awards are:

Acme Smoked Fish Corp.
Blue Hill Bay Smoked Fish Poke Bowl

Australis Aquaculture
Australis Barramundi Hand-Cut Taco Strips

Azuma Foods International Inc., U.S.A.
Lobster Roe Paste

Cedar Bay Grilling Company
Sous Chef Kits – Shrimp Pho Bowl

Cozy Harbor Seafood Inc.
“Lobster Tonight” Lobster Slider Chef’s Kit

Handy Seafood Incorporated
Shrimp Power Bites 

Iceland’s Finest
Iceland´s Finest – Creamy Masago Bites

Kitchens Seafood
Kitchens Seafood Shoreline Feast

MacKnight Smoke House
MacKnight Salmon Crackle – Salt & Vinegar Flavor

Trident Seafoods
Hot & Spicy Alaskan Pollock Fish Sandwich

Trident Seafoods
Wild Caught Alaskan Pollock Skillet Cuts

Thai Union – Chicken of the Sea
Yellowfin Tuna Slices 

Each finalist’s product will be showcased during the three-day event in Boston. 

View all of the entries of the Seafood Excellence Awards.

The Seafood Excellence Awards serve as the North American extension of the Seafood Excellence Global Awards competition, held at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium.  Both Seafood Excellence Awards and Seafood Excellence Global Awards are organized by Diversified Communications, producers of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global and Seafood Expo Asia.

SeafoodSource, produced by Diversified Communications, is the official media for Seafood Expo North America & Seafood Processing North America. As the largest online source for seafood industry news, SeafoodSource will extensively cover the event.

Seafood-industry buyers and processors can learn more about Seafood Expo North America & Seafood Processing North America and register to attend by visiting the exposition’s website, seafoodexpo.com/north-america.

波士頓今天華氏70多度 明天卻可能下雪

(Boston Orange 周菊子整理報導)波士頓這陣子很反常，今天(2月21日)氣溫一度高達華氏71度，昨天也60多度，這種一、二月突現高溫情況，只在1872年發生過，這兩年內卻出現處三次以上。

            天氣暖到讓人難以想像的程度，比平均溫度高了將近30度，非常的不正常。

            更讓人難以適應的，恐怕還是只隔一個晚上以後的明天，在加拿大氣流帶來的冷峰影響下，氣溫可能就降到只有華氏30多度了。

            星期四(明天)的下午，新英格蘭南部還會下點雪，下點雨。有些地方週五、週六繼續冷一陣子。

            一月份時，麻州的華盛頓山才在”地球最冷地”上排名第二，今天竟然過著歷史紀錄中最暖的二月天，人們甚至穿起了T恤。

            不過這種極端的天氣，在未來10天內，大概不會再出現，估計往後的日子也不會太冷。

聯邦資料顯示波士頓移民被捕人數幾乎倍增

(Boston Orange 周菊子整理報導) 波士頓地區逮捕無證件移民個案數量，在上個會計年度中大增近50%。波士頓環球報20日發表一篇長文，認為從聯邦政府這資料，可見川普總統在施壓，執行他的競選誓言。

            波士頓地區的美國移民及海關人員在2017會計年度內，共逮捕2834名美國境內移民，上一年才逮捕1858人。其中不是因為刑事罪被逮捕的人，數目從343增加到1,106，不下三倍。

            關注移民權益者指出，這是川普上任後，政府把注意力從罪犯轉移到違反移民法者身上，全美的逮捕移民數量才增加了30%。不過，逮捕總數仍遠低於奧巴馬在位時的第一個任期。

新英格蘭移民律師協會前主席Susan Church說，現在移民局海關人員騷擾的是最守法，最讓人同情的人，有些還是已經獲准在美居留了許多年的人。

她舉例指出，在新罕布夏州海岸，以及麻州南岸一帶，大約有50名印尼基督徒住在那兒，有些已經住了十幾，廿年。

他們中的大多數人是在1990年末到2000年代，印尼反基督徒暴力橫行時代來到美國的。許多人逾期居留，未及時尋求特赦，還都成了在美國出生子女的父母。不過從2010年起，移民當局准許這些除了違反移民法之外，都很守法的印尼人，在接受移民局定期監管下，留在那兒生活，工作，扶養小孩。

川普上任後，這情況改變了。八月時有人告訴這些移民，30天內必須拿著去印尼的機票回移民局報到。目前至少有一個人被逮捕，拘留了。他們上訴後，這個月，一名聯邦法官發出命令，暫停遣返。

另一個案發生在一月。羅德島州的ACLU說，Lilian Calderon在申請合法永久居民權時，被移民局(ICE)拘留了。

Lilian Calderon現年30歲，她是3歲時被家人從瓜地馬拉帶到美國的，還嫁給了一名美國公民。他們夫婦有兩個小孩，在Lilian Calderon被捕，帶到波士頓拘留中心時，他們才剛和移民局官員面談完，改變移民身分第一步的婚姻的合法性，也得到確認。

民權組織提起訴訟後，上星期Lilian Calderon被釋放了。

羅德島州ACLU執行主任Steven Brown說，在這個案子裏，政府是左手歡迎她，右手卻抓了她。

ICE的2017年執行及遣送行動報告，儘管不包括地方上被遣返移民來自哪個國家的資料，但據說近90%來自墨西哥，瓜地馬拉，洪都拉斯，以及薩爾瓦多。

在2017會計年度內，ICE在全美逮捕了143,470名在美國境內的移民，比前一年增加了30%，而且是從川普上任，他的政府轉移了移民局執法優先順序後才增加的。不過，2009年，奧巴馬上任總統的第一年時，ICE在全美逮捕的人數，卻有二倍那麼多，超過290,000人。

奧巴馬任期後幾年，逮捕人數下降是因為活躍份子及移民支持者把奧巴馬形容為”總遣返總官(Deporter in chief)”，移民局縮小了優先執勤範圍。

根據聯邦數據，在奧巴馬的八年任期內，ICE的逮捕人數，從292,545降到110,104。

東北大學專精移民政策的法律教授Rachel Rosenbloom在一封電子郵件中說，在2014年11月時，奧巴馬宣佈了一套行動準則，排定了逮捕，遣返罪犯，對國家安全有威脅的人，以及最近跨越邊界者的優先順序。這些步驟導致他任期最後兩年的逮捕人數下降。

她說，現在執行情況又回升到2013，以及2014的瘋狂程度，而且看起來還會上升。

川普上任後的第二個月，國土安全局就發出備忘錄，基本上丟棄了奧巴馬政府訂定的優先順序，使得任何違反移民法行為變得都一樣。川普政府還更重視在境內執法，而不是在邊界，曾經說那非常重要。

ICE在一份報告中說，去年在邊界遣返的比率下降了17%，顯示了重心放在境內的威攝效果。

根據ICE報告，包括康州，緬因州，麻州，新罕布夏州，羅德島州及佛蒙特州的波士頓地區責任(Boston Area of Responsibilit)，遣返數據去年增加了44%，達到1942人。

BOSTON ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF PERFORMANCE PARKING PILOT

BOSTON ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF PERFORMANCE PARKING PILOT

Performance parking pilot shown to improve parking availability, congestion, and road safety

BOSTON - Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced the results of the City of Boston's year-long performance parking pilot in the Back Bay and Seaport neighborhoods. The parking pilot, which adjusted parking meter rates in order to reduce congestion, increase roadway safety and make finding an on-street parking spot easier for drivers, was proven to open up more parking spaces for residents and business customers, and reduce congestion caused by illegal parking. In the Back Bay, there was an 11 percent increase in available metered spaces, and a 14 percent decrease in double parking. In the Seaport, there was a one percent increase in parking availability, and a substantial decrease in illegal parking. The performance parking pilot also increased parking availability for neighborhood residents, as illegal parking in a resident spot declined by 12 percent in the Back Bay and by 35 percent in the Seaport. "Our goal in Boston is to create streets that work for everyone -- whether you walk, bike, take public transportation or drive in our city," said Mayor Walsh. "Creating equitable, accessible streets is a key goal of our long-term transportation plan, Go Boston 2030. The 2017 performance parking pilot has shown it's possible to adjust meter prices and change our roads for the better, leading to less congestion, and more parking spaces for our residents and businesses, helping neighborhoods thrive." "The performance parking pilot program has proven to be an effective tool to reduce congestion, improve safety, and open up more parking in our busiest neighborhoods," said Boston Transportation Department Commissioner Gina N. Fiandaca. "This program makes better use of our limited curb-space and helps our businesses districts and neighborhoods thrive by making sure drivers can easily find a spot and that pedestrians and cyclists are not adversely impacted by double parking." The Performance Parking pilot tested two approaches to parking management through the 2017 calendar year. In the Back Bay, the City priced the entire neighborhood at $3.75 per hour for the whole year. In the Seaport, the City priced each block independently and changed the price every two months based on the number of available spaces. If on average no spaces were available, the price would increase slightly, or decrease if too many spaces were open. This pilot marked the first time meter prices have been adjusted in Boston since 2011, when they were raised to $1.25 per hour. Over the course of the pilot, the data collected revealed that the approach taken in the Back Bay was more successful at opening parking spaces and reducing congestion. All additional revenue as a result of the program will be reinvested into street, sidewalk, and transportation infrastructure projects in those neighborhoods and around the City. "We greatly appreciate that the city has given performance based parking serious study and testing. As the Co-chair of Go Boston 2030 and a collaborator in preparing a recent Boston Parking Study, the recent pilots building off of these reports have shown that performance based parking is an effective tool in managing a scarce amount of spaces," said Rick Dimino, A Better City CEO. "This innovative approach can increase parking availability, improve customer access in business districts and decrease cars circling looking for a space. We look forward to the city deciding how these successful results can be used going forward." With results of the pilot now available, the Boston Transportation Department will analyze the results and determine whether the program should be expanded to other parking meters throughout Boston. Parking meters are currently located in the Back Bay, South Boston, Downtown, South End, North End, Fenway, Allston, Cleveland Circle, Charlestown, and Longwood neighborhoods. As the results are analyzed, the pilot will continue in Back Bay and the Seaport. The performance parking pilot ties directly into major planning initiatives of the Walsh Administration, including Go Boston 2030 and Imagine Boston 2030. In 2017, Mayor Walsh released Boston's Go Boston 2030 Vision and Action Planthat directs the City of Boston's transportation agenda for the next decade and beyond. The plan is comprised of 58 transportation projects and policies that are designed to expand access to a variety of connected transportation options, improve traffic-related safety on Boston's streets, and ensure reliability of service for the City's residents, commuters and visitors. Within Go Boston 2030 is Vision Zero, Boston's commitment to focus the city's resources on proven strategies to eliminate fatal and serious traffic crashes in the city by 2030. Thirty percent of street traffic is made up of drivers searching for street parking, which the parking pilot was proven to reduce. Additional Go Boston 2030 projects include Boston's Neighborhood Slow Streets program; an expanded bike share program; and installation of protected bike lanes. The Performance Parking pilot was a collaboration between the Boston Transportation Department (BTD), the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM),  and the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) to study the relationship between parking price and demand for parking. More details are available on boston.gov. About Go Boston 2030 Go Boston 2030 is the City of Boston's long term mobility plan. It envisions a city in a region where all residents have better and more equitable travel choices, where efficient transportation networks foster economic opportunity, and where steps have been taken to prepare for climate change. Whether raveling by transit, on foot, on a bike or by car, people will be able to access all parts of Boston safely and reliably. A list of projects and policies have been developed that are being implemented as early action projects in the near term, and a set of long term projects and policies are intended to be implemented over the next 15 years. About Imagine Boston 2030 Go Boston 2030 complements Imagine Boston 2030, Boston's first citywide plan in 50 years. Imagine Boston 2030 will guide growth to support our dynamic economy and expand opportunity for all residents. The plan prioritizes inclusionary growth and puts forth a comprehensive vision to boost quality of life, equity and resilience in every neighborhood across the City. Shaped by the input of 15,000 residents who contributed their thoughts to the plan, Imagine Boston 2030 identifies five action areas to guide Boston's growth, enhancement and preservation, and is paired with a set of metrics that will evaluate progress and successes. To learn more visit, imagine.boston.gov.

Elizabeth Warren to Host Town Hall in Holden on 2/25

Sunday: Senator Elizabeth Warren to Host Town Hall in Holden, MA on Sunday, February 25

Boston, MA - On Sunday, February 25, Senator Elizabeth Warren will host a town hall in Holden, MA. Warren will take questions from the audience and discuss her work standing up for working families of Massachusetts against powerful corporate interests. This will be Warren's 20th town hall in the last 12 months.  The event is free and open to the public. We ask the public to please RSVP at our website: http://elizabethwarren.com/holdentownhall2018.

WHAT:    Senator Elizabeth Warren Hosts Town Hall in Holden, MA

WHEN:   Sunday, February 25

   11:00 a.m. (doors open), 12:00 p.m. (event begins)

WHERE:  Wachusett Regional High School

     1401 Main Street, Holden, MA 01520