Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The school budget was targeted for a sizable cut in a minority report by two Finance Committee members at Town Meeting.
There were only three items among the 35 articles on the warrant at Monday night's Town Meeting that generated a lot of discussion: the school budget, changes in local laws regulating taxis and a petition to move the Town Election to Saturday. Finance Committee members John Mroszczyk and Michael Daley, in somewhat of an unusual move, submitted a minority report on the floor of Town Meeting in which they sought a $229,470 reduction in the proposed $34.4 million school budget for Fiscal 2014. The new budget represents a 3.2 percent increase from 2013 and the minority report stemmed from a 7-2 vote by the Finance Committee in support of the school budget. Daley's wife Andrea, who is a Town Meeting member, and other proponents of the measure …
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Danvers High School
60 Cabot Rd, Danvers, MA
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Town Meeting voters were clear in their opposition to changing the date of Danvers' annual town election from Tuesday to Saturday.
If Town Meeting voters had one clear message to send Monday night, it was to keep the Town Election right where it is on the first Tuesday of May. A handful of Town Meeting members spoke on the issue, giving pros and cons for a change, but when it came time to decide, the voice vote in the Danvers High auditorium was resoundingly against making any changes. John Zavaglia had introduced a petition to move the date of the election from Tuesday to the first Saturday of the month with poll hours of 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. He then amended that proposal Monday night to have polls open until 8 p.m. The Finance Committee recommended no action be taken on the proposal. Zavaglia said his chief concern in suggesting the change was safety for students -- …
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Danvers High School
60 Cabot Rd, Danvers, MA
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Monday, May 20, 2013
The Annual Town Meeting is May 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Danvers High School auditorium.
[Editor's Note: The article has been updated to reflect a correction. Due to an editorial error, the breakdown of proposed changes in liability insurance coverage for taxis was incorrectly stated.] In addition to the Fiscal 2014 budget, Town Meeting members will decide a number of other important issues Monday night, including a proposed moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in Danvers, bylaw changes for taxis and moving town elections to Saturday. Town officials are seeking to impose up to a year hiatus on allowing any marijuana treatment centers in town, should any be interested in locating in Danvers, to provide time for a planning process that factors in any issues related to local zoning, land use, public safety or applicable …
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Danvers High School
60 Cabot Rd, Danvers, MA
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The budget is being driven mainly by rising costs and some capital projects, according to town officials. Town Meeting is May 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Danvers High auditorium.
The first item Town Meeting members will vote on Monday is a new town budget. Town Manager Wayne Marquis submitted a request for $100.5 million to the Board of Selectmen in March and that spending plan has been recommended for approval both by the selectmen and the Finance Committee. The new spending plan is a 2 percent increase over last year's budget of $98.4 million, driven mainly by rising energy, retirement and health insurance costs, along with debt service payments on the high school renovation project and operating costs associated with opening remaining portions of the school, such as utilities. Employee health insurance premium costs are projected to increase by 5.5 percent alone, but town officials are hopeful of seeing some …
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
Like pieces of a puzzle that don't quite fit together yet, the Big Three may have been separated at birth, but with each incremental step their destinies seem to grow more intertwined. No, we're not talking about those Big Three - Gov. Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray and Speaker Robert DeLeo - though they play major character roles in this thickening plot. Instead, three bills have come to define the early months of the 2013 legislative agenda and resolutions on tax hikes, local road funding and the annual state budget continue to be elusive and dependent on one another. Patrick spent the early part of his week welcoming British Prime Minister David Cameron to Boston for a few quick meetings and a visit to the Copley …
Thursday, May 16, 2013
A Florida man and Danvers woman are facing charges of statutory rape for alleged sexual assaults two years ago when a teenage relative of the woman stayed with her during school vacation week.
A Florida man and a Danvers woman are accused of raping a female teenager in the woman's home two years ago and are now facing charges in that case in Salem District Court. Luis Rivera, 46, of 5222 Sunset Canyon Dr., Kissimmee, Fla. was arrested by state police Friday afternoon on a warrant from the Danvers Police Department. He was then arraigned on Monday on one count of aggravated rape of a child. His alleged partner in the sexual assault and former girlfriend -- Gaudy Asenjo, 34, of 13 Walcott Rd., Danvers -- was arraigned April 8 on the same charge. Rivera and Asenjo both pleaded not guilty. The victim, who was 14 at the time, is a relative of Asenjo's. District Attorney's office spokeswoman Carrie Kimball-Monahan said Rivera was held…
Monday, May 13, 2013
Keith Lucy, who lost his re-election bid to the Board of Selectmen last week, will be arguing his case to a trial jury.
Former Selectman Keith Lucy will be heading to trial next month in Salem District Court to argue against an assault charge being brought by the Essex County District Attorney's office. The Salem News reports that Lucy and his attorney Michael Smerczynski (who is also the City Solicitor for Peabody, for the record) have decided to not seek dismissal of the charge after all, but rather argue the case at trial. The trial is set for June 26. Lucy, who lost his re-election bid to the Board of Selectmen last week, pleaded not guilty at his initial arraignment in November and denies the allegation. The DA's office took over the case for the alleged victim, John Fratus, after probable cause was found earlier this year. Fratus sought the charge …
Danvers residents have been receiving fake notices in the mail, report town officials.
If you see this notice in the mail, be aware that it's a scam, say town officials. "We’ve been made aware by residents that people have been receiving the attached notice, asking people to send in $83 to take care of an alleged deed issue involving their property," said Town Manager Wayne Marquis in a recent notice sent to local media outets. "We’re trying to get the word out that this is a scam and people should not respond and definitely should not send money," he said. Danvers police also issued a notice, alerting residents to the scam. They said the town is in no way affiliated with "Property Transfer Services" out of Delaware. The letter recommends that homeowners obtain a copy of their current deed and is designed to appear as a bill…
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Fresh off Town Election, the newly organized board unanimously voted to appoint Diane Langlais as its fifth member on an interim basis Thursday night to fill a vacancy.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
Massachusetts' problem is now Virginia's. After a macabre, around-the-clock stakeout of a Worcester funeral home this week by frenzied reporters and furious protestors, the remains of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev were secreted out of central Massachusetts and buried in a small Muslim cemetery in rural Virginia. No cemetery in Massachusetts, or public official for that matter, wanted Tsarnaev's body. And Gov. Deval Patrick just seemed relieved the tense standoff was over. "No. I have enough to do," Patrick said, when asked if he wished he had gotten involved to end the theatrics sooner. The April 15 attacks on the finish line of the Boston Marathon threw Beacon Hill policymakers off stride, quieting the raging debate …
Thomas J Burke
2:23 pm on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
550% of college grads cannot find a job in their field. So it does not make sense to have all these fancy teachers to get kid in to college. I had to quit school at 14 and go to work. When I got back from the war then I took a test and got into Boston College. Enden up with a degree in physics and could never find out what kids learnt in high school. Most learn nothing at a huge expense. Then go … more ›