Wednesday, June 19, 2013
The U.S. Senate candidates have one week to go before voters head to the polls.
Gabriel Gomez and Edward Markey spent their final debate before next week's U.S. Senate election clashing over their records and who has the better vision for both their commonwealth and their country. The debate, taped in Boston, broadcast on several local networks and moderated by veteran city newsman and Boston University professor R.D. Sahl, was the last of three contests before voters head to the polls to fill U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's former seat. No matter the issue, be it taxes, gun control, abortion, national security and their own personal and professional histories, the two men found disagreements at every turn. Each candidate could agree on one thing: they believe the other candidate's ideas are "old and stale." …
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Debate to air on WCVB Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Another U.S. Senate election for Massachusetts is drawing to a close, with the two candidates set to square off one final time before voters head to the polls June 25. Democratic Congressman Edward Markey of Malden and Republican businessman and former U.S. Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez will hold the last of three debates Tuesday evening in the race to fill the seat formerly held by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The debate will air live from 7 to 8 p.m. on WCVB (Channel 5). The debate will be moderated by R.D. Sahl of Boston University. The two previous debates for the candidates were held in Boston and Springfield. Recent polling has suggested an edge for Markey in the race. Both candidates have received visits from high-profile …
Saturday, June 15, 2013
If the special election was today, who would you choose as our new U.S. senator?
A week from Tuesday, Massachusetts voters will decide who to elect in the special election to fill the seat vacated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. We want to know - if the election was today - who would you vote for? Candidates Democrat Ed Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez have been pullling out all the stops in the last two weeks as the latest polls show the gap is narrowing between the two. After weeks of relative quiet, the negative ads have started to clog the airways and both candidates have had high-profile folks stumping for them. Rudy Guiliani was in town last week putting his support behind Gomez and President Obama came to Boston this week showing his support for Markey. So tell us, if you had to vote today who would …
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
His was not the story of Deval Patrick, or Mitt Romney or Bill Weld. Argeo Paul Cellucci started local on the Board of Selectmen in his beloved town of Hudson and worked his way up: state representative, state senator, lieutenant governor, governor, ambassador. He was the Calvin Coolidge of his time, according to former Minority Leader Richard Tisei, and Democrats, Republicans and Canadians, alike, loved and respected him for it. Cellucci passed away last weekend after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease at the age of 65, and on Thursday he became the 13th public figure to lie in state under the State House rotunda. The memorial service and public viewing for the former governor drew a who's-who to Beacon Hill, including Romney, Michael …
Friday, June 14, 2013
Patch offers mosquito prevention tips, and the map below shows the number of West Nile cases last summer.
After a particularly tough year for the West Nile virus in 2012, state health officials are bracing for what could be another busy summer for the mosquito-borne illness. Although, with so many factors playing into the problem, the track of West Nile is not an easy one to predict, said Kevin Cranston, director of the Bureau of Infectious Disease for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. “We can’t pin down all of the elements that go into why one season is bad and another season is not,” Cranston said. But if this summer is similar to last summer—marked by extended periods of very hot weather—some parts of the state could see a high number of cases as occurred in 2012. To give residents a sense of West Nile’s prevalence in the …
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Wakefield Rail to Trail Chair Dot Halpin provided an update on the ongoing effort to build a bike trail through Wakefield and Lynnfield.
The chairwoman of Wakefield’s Rail to Trail Committee wants residents to know that members are still working on making a local bike trail a reality, even if progress has been slow. In an email this week to Wakefield Patch, Dot Halpin reported that for the first time, the Rail to Trail committee will not have a presence at the town’s annual Festival by the Lake, which takes place this Saturday, June 15 after being postponed by rain last weekend. “The reception of the public has always been so positive and supportive whenever we make our presentation. The number one question is always, ‘When is this going to be a reality? Believe me, we have not gone away,’ wrote Halpin. The phase that we are in right now is that our Town officials and the …
Town officials cut the ribbon to open up the new Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department building on June 10.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
The state may approve 18 more giant lighted boards as a way to boost revenue. Is it worth the money if the light burns all night long?
Are you ready for digital billboards on state land across the commonwealth? How about in your town or city? The Department of Transportation wants the glowing house-sized signs on its property across the state, and the revenue they'll bring to the state, according to The Boston Globe. Under the current deal signed with Clear Channel, the state would get a cut of each billboard's revenue—either 25 percent or $90,000 per year, whichever is higher. But other states negotiated more lucrative deals. Current state law allows these digital billboards, but prohibits any animation. So you won't see the latest Geico lizard ad or anything like that, but you may see a rotating set of images. It also requires the sign's owner to set aside time for …
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
It could have been a turning point in the race, the moment when the lights flicked on and the much-anticipated contest finally lived up to expectations for a U.S Senate race. Would Congressman Edward Markey finally slam the door on Gabriel Gomez and dash the GOP's dream of Scott Brown redux? Could Gomez shine, narrow the polls and entice national Republican donors to start paying attention? Instead, all anyone wanted to talk about Thursday morning was the thrilling Bruins double overtime victory in Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference finals. Tuukka Rask as a write-in? At long last, Markey and Gomez shared the same debate stage. In fact, they were so close to each other in the WBZ studios they practically shared a podium. It was all Markey…
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
The specter of deceased citizens collecting welfare benefits haunted the marbled halls of the State House this week as Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray tied up the loose ends dangling on his six-and-a-half years with the Patrick administration and Attorney General Martha Coakley sued the Obama administration for allegedly putting fishermen on death row. Other than that, the arrival of steamy days in Boston ushered in a post-Memorial Day and budget week lull at the State House with the governor out of town, politicos watching two special elections and committees plodding forward with bill hearings while lawmakers wait for word from on high about their next big votes. Congressman Ed Markey and Republican Gabriel Gomez also continued sniping from a …
Tyler Jozefowicz
4:14 pm on Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Gomez has no public sector experience. We know that. Looks like he has a dismal private sector performance as well , no management positions or skills. Gomez participated in relatively few deals and never earned a promotion to partner. He shifted to a lower marketing role at his firm. Translation , a demotion. A Globe review of Gomez’s nine years at Advent Int’l found that Gomez was directly … more ›