Friday, December 14, 2012
New England drivers still paying well above the national average.
As the Christmas travel season approaches, drivers are on the receiving end of some good news relative to gas prices. According to AAA Southern New England, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas (self-serve) dropped another seven cents this past week, to $3.47. In Easton, the lowest gas prices are around $3.50 with Mutual Oil offering gas for $3.50, Easton Mobil offering gas for $3.56 and Sunoco prices at $3.80. The good news is that price is 14 cents lower than a month ago. The bad news is, New England drivers are still paying roughly 13 cents higher than the national average and a full 20 cents higher than the price of gas in December 2011. According to the gas stations surveyed by AAA, prices in New England ranged from…
Monday, December 10, 2012
With a new law allowing the use of medical marijuana, Easton is considering dispensary zoning options.
The Easton Selectmen voted Monday night to refer the issue of medical marijuana dispensary zoning to the planning and zoning Board. Town Administrator David Colton said the town should take appropriate steps regarding Easton's zoning laws given the new law passed in Massachusetts that allows for 35 marijuana dispensaries in the Bay State. "It’s a good idea that every city and town should look at their zoning to see where you should allow these to open," he said. The new law, which goes into effect Jan. 1 passed on a ballot question last month with 63 percent of the vote. It allows for 35 marijuana dispensaries, including one in each of Massachusetts' 14 counties but no more than five per county. The Massachusetts Department of Public …
Saturday, October 27, 2012
The governor said Hurricane Sandy could hit Sunday night and linger into Wednesday.
Gov. Deval Patrick has declared a state of emergency and held a press conference Saturday afternoon to update to the public about how the state is preparing for the impact of Hurricane Sandy. Sandy is currently a category 1 hurricane rolling up the Atlantic and is expected to turn northwest Sunday afternoon. Impact on New England from the storm is expected by Sunday night and could linger until Wednesday. "While we continue to hope for the best, we are planning for the worst," Patrick said. There may be coastal flooding, severe beach erosion, damaging winds, widespread power outages, and possibly 5 inches or more of rain. "This afternoon I declared a state of emergency commonwealth-wide," Patrick said. "This enables us to cut through some…
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The governor and MEMA unveiled Ping4alerts! Friday.
In addition to the well-known television and rado alerts, the Massachusetts Emergency Management System on Friday unveiled a new tool to kept Bay Staters abreast of urgent news. The latest system is called Ping4alerts! and allows residents to sign up for a free mobile communications application that will send alerts to iPhones and Android devices with immediate information and emergencies and disasters. "This newly added and innovative technology will allow Public Safety entities throughout the Commonwealth to not only alert citizens of an impending problem, but also push out many forms of specific information with detailed steps to help ensure their safety," Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray said at the MEMA Framingham headquarters, where he …
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Ask Gov. Deval Patrick about any topic you like during our live chat at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Gov. Deval Patrick will take your questions live on Patch this Thursday. The governor will spend 45 minutes fielding your questions as they come. Head on over to our homepage from 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Thursday to join our chat. You'll simply have to provide your name, and you'll be able to ask your questions immediately. If you can't make the live chat, leave your questions as comments to this article, and we'll do our best to add them to the queue. We will publish the live chat transcript immediately and a recap first thing on Friday morning. Questions submitted will be subject to moderator approval. No vulgar or libelous comments will be allowed. Because we expect a high volume of questions for the chat session, we will keep the …
Friday, August 3, 2012
The tax break was part of a larger economic development bill the Legislature passed Tuesday.
Time for back to school shopping at Target on Robert Drive? Or a trip to the Wrentham outlets? Aug. 11 and 12 would be a good time to go. As part of the jobs bill passed on the last day of the legislative session, lawmakers in Boston passed a two-day tax holiday. The 115-page bill, passed on Tuesday, included a two-day holiday on the weekend of Aug. 11 and 12 from the state's 6.25 percent sales tax, according to the Boston Globe. Excluded from the tax holiday are restaurant meals, cars, motorboats, tobacco and any item that costs more than $2,500. To offset the loss of revenue, Gov. Deval Patrick set aside $20 milliion in a supplemental budget he filed early last month. Massachusetts was one of 17 states in the country to offer a sales …
Friday, July 20, 2012
The bill both aims to ensure violent criminals stay behind bars while easing prison overcrowding by reducing drug-offense penalties. Easton's delegation voted in favor of the law.
A bill that toughens sentences for violent repeat-offenders passed the Senate yesterday after having been overwhelmingly in the House Wednesday evening. The so-called "three-strikes" law eliminates parole for someone convicted three times of one of 40 or so violent crimes, with at least one conviction having carried a minimum three-year prison term. It passed the House with a vote of 139-14. In the Senate, it passed 31-7. Easton's entire delegation of State Representatives and State Senators supported the bill. Geraldine Creedon, Christine Canavan, Angelo D'Emilia, Brian Joyce and Tom Kennedy all voted 'yes'. The movement to pass the law was fueled, in part, by outrage over two crimes. In one, Woburn police officer Jack Maguire was …
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Should wiretapping be allowed for cases other than organized crime rings?
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Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Lawmen called upon legislators yesterday to loosen the clamps on the state wiretap law to include the violent street-level gangs behind some of the Boston's most unsolvable slayings, the Boston Herald reported today. According to the Herald, under current state law, wiretaps are allowed only in probes of “organized crime." To view the full story in the Herald, click here. Should wiretapping be expanded to include more than organized crime rings? If so, how far is too far? Tell us in comments!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
State health officials want to put restrictions on school bake sales to discourage unhealthy eating habits, but will this hurt fundraising efforts?
Fundraising efforts at Easton Public Schools is about to change. Massachusetts state health officials recently recently approved regulations that would prevent bake sales from being held during school and in the 30 minutes before and after school to discourage unhealthy eating habits. Gov. Deval Patrick has backed down on the regulations after criticism from parents and organizations that say putting restrictions on bake sales would negatively impact fundraising efforts for the schools and nonprofit groups, according to USA Today. Legislation passed in 2010 will still require schools serve healthy snack options in the cafeterias and limit sugary foods. Do you think Gov. Deval Patrick should enforce the bake sale ban to help encourage …
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Collective bargaining for labor unions will take place this year.
All 12 of Easton's labor unions will take part in collective bargaining this winter and spring after selectmen took a vote Monday night not to adopt the State's Municipal Health Insurance Reform Act. Selectmen voted unanimously with one abstention not to adopt the act this year and continue with traditional methods after town administrator David Colton laid out the town's options. "I look at that and I say, we can implement this procedure with the reform act which is very unpopular with the unions, and save $73,000, or we can continue doing what we’ve been doing all along, where we have a better time in collective bargaining," Colton said. Colton didn't recommend accepting the act, largely because he felt the town could achieve the net …
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Joe
12:01 pm on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Why will this be any different than any legal drug store that sells drugs that are abused? Prescription drug abusers go into CVS and other stores on a regualar basis. I don't think that the people who can legally buy the pot will hang out smoking it around the store so I can't see why second hand smoke will be any more of a problem than is experienced with cigarettes. Do people really think that … more ›