Episode Transcript
[00:00:16] I'm Joe Catalano with an AM Quincy news update for Thursday, August 7th. A Braintree pedestrian is dead after being hit by a pickup truck in Randolph Tuesday night. Police say 49 year old Leonard McStevens was struck by the pickup truck on Route 139 Mazeo Drive in Randolph just after 9 Tuesday night. McStevens was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The Driver, a 28 year old canton man, remained at the scene. No charges have been filed as the incident remains under investigation.
[00:00:51] A Chelsea Mann pleading guilty in federal court in Boston to the 2024 armed robberies of banks in Weymouth, Jamaica Plain and Hyde Park. 30 year old Kewan Kelly pleaded guilty to three counts of ARM bank robbery. A US District Court judge scheduled sentencing for November 12th. Kelly admitted to robbing a Bank of America in Weymouth last July at gunpoint while masked. A teller gave Kelly $15,000 in cash after he threatened to kill everyone and blow up the bank.
[00:01:28] Kelly committed similar hold ups at a Rockland Trust branches in Jamaica Plain and Hyde park last July. Investigators identified Kelly from surveillance video and fingerprints found on a getaway car. Kelly faces 25 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
[00:01:49] City of Quincy has been approved for a $6.3 million loan for sewer and drain improvements. The Massachusetts Clean Water Trust Fund approved the loan this week at an interest rate of 1 1/2 percent. The trust, in collaboration with the state DEP, helps communities build or replace water infrastructure to ensure the safety of public drinking water. The Quincy loan is for fiscal year 2025.
[00:02:20] Water at all Quincy City beaches and all of Wollaston beach is safe for swimming this week. Results of the latest water tests taken on Tuesday indicate safe bacteria levels in the water at all 13 city owned beaches and the entire stretch of Wollaston Beach. If bacteria levels exceed safe levels, signs are posted warning people to swim at their own risk. The Quincy Health Department tests the city owned beaches and Wollaston beach is tested by the state. The weekly beach water testing takes place between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
[00:02:59] West Nile virus was identified in a mosquito collected in Middleborough. Symptoms of the virus tend to include fever and flu like illnesses, the virus has a more significant effect on people over the age of 50. To avoid mosquito bites, officials recommend applying insect repellent or wearing long clothing and avoiding peak activity hours of mosquitoes. Residents should also drain standing water from around their homes, install screens and take other steps to mosquito proof their homes.
[00:03:34] Motorists can expect delays along a portion of the Bergen Parkway in Quincy this week. The Quincy Traffic Department says a repaving project is underway along Bergen Parkway between Quincy streets and the Quincy Adams T station. Crews will be working through tomorrow 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 throughout the day.
[00:04:08] Massachusetts is launching a transformative initiative to address its housing crisis by repurposing surplus state owned properties. Governor Healy has released more than 450 acres of unused land, aiming to create up to 3,500 new housing units across the state. The move is part of a broader strategy to accelerate development, reduce costs and meet the state's urgent housing needs. One of the first projects is unfolding in downtown Brockton, where developer Joseph Gonsalves, president of New Vision Enterprises, is converting a long vacant state unemployment office into a mixed use residential and commercial building. The building, over 100 years old and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will be renovated in collaboration with the National Park Service and the Massachusetts Historic Commission to preserve its architectural integrity. Project is expected to take 12 to 18 months for pre development, with construction to follow. Ed Augustus, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities, explained that the initiative stems from an executive order by Healy directing agencies to identify surplus property suitable for housing. The Affordable Homes act, signed into law last August, gives the governor expanded authority for five years to bypass lengthy legislative processes and previously delayed land transfers by 12 to 18 months.
[00:05:44] Employees of the Committee for Public Council Services, including lawyers and social workers, are pushing to unionize and hope to have the issue on the ballot next year. Supporters argue that as state workers, they deserve the right to form a union like others have. Public defenders and the head of Service Employees International Union Local 8, filed a ballot question with the Attorney General's office to allow CPCS workers to form a union. Public defenders cite pay as just one reason for wanting the right to unionize. Expressing concerns about retaining talented individuals. The ballot petition aims to change state law and collective bargaining to define CPCS as a public employer, a change supporters have sought for years.
[00:06:35] The Committee for Public Counsel Services currently has 384 trial lawyers, 91 non trial lawyers and 12 lawyers on the senior management team. Under a new law signed by the governor, they plan to add 320 new lawyers over the next two years. Meanwhile, Bar advocates who staged a work stoppage over low pay are separate and would not be included as they are private lawyers who are subcontractors. However, other CPCS workers including social workers, administrative assistants, investigators and IT staff would be included.
[00:07:13] CPCS has reserved comments until they see the full extent of the proposal. This is the first of several steps, with the next being the attorney general certification of the question by September 3, followed by another signature gathering effort.
[00:07:31] Jack of Business News this morning. Stocks are higher. The Dow rose 81 points, the Nasdaq's up 252, and the S&P added 45. World stocks advanced and financial markets appeared to show scant, if any, reaction to President Trump's higher tariffs on exports to the United States that took effect early this morning. The dollar's down. The euro rose oil dollar 64 a barrel.
[00:08:00] Sports the Red Sox lost to the Royals 7 to 3 last night. They're off to the west coast for a series with the San Diego Padres beginning tomorrow night at 9:40.
[00:08:11] A national weather Service forecast for today, mostly Sunny, high of 80 degrees for tonight, clear and a low of 60. Tomorrow Partly cloudy and a high of 83. Sunny 84 on Saturday and Sunday about 90 for a high on Sunday.
[00:08:29] The boater waves about a foot, a northeast wind at 5 knots becoming easterly later today in a high tide. 10:52am Sunrise 5:43 sets 7:55.
[00:08:41] I'm Joe Catalano with an AM Quincy news update for Thursday, August 7th.
