Monday, September 20, 2004
Romney Vetoes $76 Million In Supplemental Budget
Governor Romney is vetoing about 76 million dollars from a proposed 724 million supplemental budget approved by state lawmakers last
week.
Retroactive pay raises for state employees at public colleges and universities totaling 32 million dollars are among the items eliminated
from the spending plan.
Other vetoes include 15 million in additional Medicaid spending and five million for first time homebuyer assistance for teachers.
Romney also vetoed a section of the bill allowing students to opt out of dissecting animals in biology classes.
He let stand another section requiring the state to spend federal abstinence education dollars in the classroom rather than on television
advertising.
The budget also included 150 million dollars in school building assistance funds and 137 million for the state's rainy day fund.
Country Charm Restaurant To Close
After next week, no more yummy corn beef and cabbage, as a northern Berkshire landmark will soon be gone.
The Country Charm restaurant in Cheshire is set to be demolished after 33 years at its Route 8 location.
The Berkshire Eagle is reporting today that owner Trent Gaylord said he expects to demolish the restaurant and begin building
luxury homes on the five lots he owns at the restaurant's 5 State Road location.
He said he intends to sell the homes individually.
The restaurant will close September 26th.
Three Men Arrested In Fight At Gringo’s Parking Lot
Three men were arrested Friday night after a fight broke out in the parking lot at Gringo's bar in North Adams.
Police arrested 24-year-old Anthony Mazza, the third, of Pownal, Vermont; 20-year-old Richard Ehrhart of New York State; and
29-year-old Warren Winarski of 76 East Street, in Adams.
All of the men were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.
14 Arrested In Western Mass. Drug Probe
Fourteen people have been arrested in a Western Massachusetts drug investigation.
The suspects were arrested on Friday and face charges including distribution of cocaine, ketamine, Ecstasy and marijuana.
They are
being held at the Berkshire County House of Correction.
Great Barrington Police Chief William Walsh said the investigation began after an increase in drug-related violence earlier this year.
Four other people also are being sought in the case.
Police in seven other Western Massachusetts communities, as well as the Berkshire County sheriff's department and state police were
involved in the operation.
Town Submits Its Own Plan For $36 Million Resort
The small town of Adams is bidding to take over development of a thousand acres of state-owned land at the base of Mount Greylock.
The 36 million dollar resort proposal includes campgrounds, lodging and a 22-hundred-seat amphitheater.
Residents in the western Massachusetts town have become increasingly frustrated with stalled state development plans. They
submitted the only entry by this week's deadline for proposals.
State officials expect a decision on the town's bid by November.
For nearly two decades, environmentalists and developers have locked horns over the future of the rolling meadows with their
spectacular views of the state's highest peak.
The state took the property in 1985 with hopes of creating a public-private cross-country ski resort to revive the local economy.
State Unemployment Rates Edges Up To 5.4 Percent In August
The unemployment rate in Massachusetts edged up one tenth of a point last month to stand at five-point-four percent.
That was the same as the national jobless rate in August. The last time the state and national unemployment rates matched was in
January, when both stood at five-point-six percent.
The state Division of Employment and Security says the number of jobs in Massachusetts declined by about 43-hundred last month,
giving back some of the eleven-thousand,500 gained in July.
The number of jobs in the Bay State is still more than 25-thousand higher since bottoming out in February.
Education and health services gained 300 jobs last month while financial services made strong gains in August with 600 new jobs. The
professional, scientific and business sector were off by 800 jobs.
Pownal To Vote On U-S Forest Service Land Purchase
Residents of Pownal will decide this November if the U.S. Forest Service will buy four-thousand acres of land in town.
The land is now owned by the city of North Adams, Massachusetts.
This week the Pownal Select Board passed a ballot item that recommended the town hold three public information meetings on the
issue in October.
The Forest Service has said it will not buy the land without Pownal's approval.
A representative from the Trust for Public Land, which supports the purchase, says there is a time limit on the deal. She says North
Adams has had another offer on the land but did not know who the other buyer was.
Vermont Land Trust To Buy Land Along Lake Paran
The Vermont Land Trust is preparing to close a deal that would protect land next along Lake Paran in North Bennington.
The organization has received a 248-thousand dollar grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to purchase two pieces
of land next to the Lake Paran recreation area.
All together, 56 acres of land will be acquired.
The purchase will protect land from the park west along the the north shore of the lake and part way up Paran Creek.
The Vermont Land Trust hopes to complete the deal around Thanksgiving.
Pittsfield Man Sentenced To Jail On Sexual Assault
A Pittsfield man gets significant time in the slammer for sexual assault.
A jury deliberated for eight hours yesterday before returning with the verdict for 41-year-old Felipe Fowlkes -- who has several
aliases.
He was convicted of rape of a child and kidnapping -- stemming from a July 4th, 2003 incident in Pittsfield.
He'll spend 12-15 years in state prison.
North Adams Woman Charged With Hit And Run
A North Adams woman is charged in a hit-and-run accident after a late Friday night incident on Ashland Street.
Police pulled over 17-year-old Erin Halton of West Main Street, after a caller reported that a car matching the description of her's,
struck a parked vehicle and drove off.
McDonald Wants More Board Input On Administrator Selection Process
A plea from one board member to allow everyone to have more input the next time around -- as the town of Adams goes back to
the drawing board to find another town administrator.
Selectman Ed MacDonald said, after voting to break off negotiations with Dennis Luttrell, that he wants to see the entire board
have a greater hand in the process.
The board will discuss next week, in more detail, what the next step is to find another new administrator.
Romney, Reilly Hoping Auto Insurance Issue Drives Voters
Governor Romney and Attorney General Tom Reilly are staking out early ground on the issue of auto insurance rates well ahead of the
2006 governor's race.
Romney is calling for changes to the system to encourage more competition, which he says will lower rates.
Reilly is taking a more direct route. His office is trying to reverse a two-and-a-half percent hike in the 2004 auto insurance rates.
Insurance companies say they're being scapegoated for political gain. They claim state regulations are scaring off insurers, making it
harder for them to do business here.
Political analysts say auto insurance can be a good political issue because the rates affect so many people directly.
Massachusetts is the only state where auto insurance rates are set by the state, giving politicians a better chance to claim credit for
lower rates.
Bush Has Secret Post-Election Plan For Guard Call-Ups, Kerry Says
Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry says President Bush has a secret plan to call up more National Guard and Reserve troops
right after the election.
Kerry issued the charge while campaigning yesterday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as he criticized the president of glossing over a
worsening conflict in Iraq.
The Bush campaign calls the allegation -- quote --"false and ridiculous."
Republicans said Kerry was making a baseless charge to cover up his inconsistent positions on Iraq.
But Congressman John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and ranking member on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee,
said he had learned of the call-up through conversations with Pentagon officials.
He said that the Bush administration plans to call up large numbers of the military Guard and Reserves beginning in November.
A Pentagon spokesman says no increase in the forces in Iraq is expected.
State Records Third Equine Encephalitis Case
Massachusetts has recorded its third case this year of Eastern equine encephalitis -- the most cases it has seen in one year since 1990.
The latest to be diagnosed with the rare viral illness is a Middleboro man identified in broadcast reports as Danny Francis. He went to
Jordan Hospital last week and was later transferred to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston, where he is now recovering.
This summer's two other Eastern equine victims -- a 64-year-old surveyor from Brockton and a Holbrook teenager -- died from their
infections. The disease generally kills up to half of its human victims.
Swamp-rich southeastern Massachusetts offers prime breeding for mosquitos, and historically has been the area first affected by
encephalitis -- although fewer than 50 cases have been reported in the Bay State since 1950.
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