Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign I'm Joe Catalano with an AM Quincy news update for Wednesday, August 6th. The group of Quincy residents who are suing the city over plans to install two statues at the entrance to the new police station are asking a judge to stop the statue installation until the case is resolved. The residents are seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the 10 foot tall bronze statues of St. Michael and St. Florian from being installed on the new public safety complex on C Street while the case is heard. The city is asking the court not to issue the injunction and to dismiss the entire case. The the residents claim the statues violate the separation of church and state as defined in the Massachusetts Constitution. The city argues that the statues are the patron saints of police officers and firefighters and they do not view them as religious symbols. The statues cost $850,000 and were only made public after an anonymous tip to the media.
[00:01:22] The next court date is August 19th. The new building is slated for completion in in October.
[00:01:29] The expansion of the Pine Hill Cemetery in West Quincy is running behind schedule. Mayor Thomas Koch says the bulk of the work is done. However, the expansion of the Veterans section is still a work in progress. The project is adding seven and a half acres which will create 13,600 new grave sites. The project includes new roads, walkways, parking areas and landscaping. Plots are being sold on a pre need basis and cost about $5,000. Cremation niches are also for sale for $2,000. The entire project costs $16.4 million. A completion date is still not clear.
[00:02:14] Motorists can expect delays along a portion of the Bergen Parkway in Quincy for the rest of the week. The Quincy Traffic Department says a repaving project is underway along Bergen Parkway between Quincy street and the Quincy Adams T station. Crews will be working today through Friday from 9am to 5pm Milling and then repaving the road. The road will remain open, however, there will be lane reductions as the work zone shifts between the north and southbound lanes through throughout the day.
[00:02:49] Six ponds that are typically packed with people in Plymouth are completely empty because they're filled with dangerous bacteria. No boaters, no swimmers, no beachgoers, all because of Cyanobacteria bloom, also called blue green algae in the water. The town has posted an advisory to let people know to keep out of the water and because it could cause harm to both people and pets. Along with Billington C. Russell Mill Pond, Great Herring Pond, Big Sandy Pond, Clear Pond and Little Herring Pond, I'll have the cyanobacteria bloom governor Healy yesterday signed the supplemental spending bill she first filed in early April, including the Legislature's additional have a take it or leave it pay raise proposal for bar advocates who've been refusing to take court appointed cases.
[00:03:47] Also included in the new law is $60 million to fund home care services for older adults, nearly 43 million for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition Program, 28.9 million for settlements and judgments and 15 and a half million to help the Department of Transitional Assistance earnings roll out electronic benefit transfer chip cards. The $259 million mid year budget did not include investments in legal representation for indigent defendants when the governor filed it. But a work stoppage among private attorneys who take cases as bar advocates has since led some criminal defendants to have charges against them drop. House and Senate negotiators added the proposal to just before the final votes last week. The new law seeks to address the work stoppage in two ways. First, it would provide bar advocates with a $20 an hour raise over two years, compared to the $60 an hour raise that some bar advocates were seeking over two years. It also includes $40 million for the committee for Public Council Services to hire about 320 additional public defenders, eliminating the need for as many independent contractor bar advocates. Many bar advocates, a group that has accounted for as much as 80% of the public defense work in Massachusetts courts, have said that the $20 an hour raise is inadequate.
[00:05:22] The law also enshrines a new policy requiring that private bar advocates sign biannual contracts with the state to establish minimum coverage and and availability, and includes language that would consider any agreement between private bar advocates who refuse to compete for or accept new assignments unless rates are increased as evidence of a violation of the state's antitrust laws.
[00:05:51] Manett Community Health center in Quincy continues to celebrate National Health Center Week. Today, the public is invited to their North Quincy headquarters on West Squantum street at 11:30 for an event that will include a new pharmacy announcement and the presentation of their inaugural Community Crusader Award to Helen Fatsis in recognition of her contributions, volunteerism and support for MANIT and many other causes and initiatives in Quincy and beyond. Some light refreshments and some tours will follow a brief program at 11:30 this morning.
[00:06:32] A check of business news this morning and stocks are down. The Dow dropped 61 points, the Nasdaq fell 137 and the S&P lost 30.
[00:06:41] Asian stocks, mostly higher after discouraging signs about the US economy sent Wall street shares declining. And investors are sifting through a slew of corporate earnings reports to assess how businesses may have been affected by President Trump's tariffs. The dollar was higher. The euro was down. Oil at $65 a barrel.
[00:07:06] Sports Red Sox beat the Royals 6 to 2. They're back at it at Fenway tonight at 7:10.
[00:07:13] Forecast from the National Weather Service today, mostly cloudy and a bit of haze from the Canadian wildfires. High of 79 for tonight, partly cloudy, low 61 tomorrow. Sun and clouds at a high 79 Sunday on Friday with a high of 84 and a sunny 84 on Saturday.
[00:07:35] Out on the water, waves 1 to 2ft. Northeast winds at 5 knots, becoming easterly this afternoon. High tide 10:04am Sunrise 5:42 sets 7:56.
[00:07:48] I'm Joe Catalano with an AM Quincy news update for Wednesday, August 6th.
