Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:16] I'm Joe Catalano with an AM Quincy news update for Thursday, October 15th. While the unions representing Quincy police officers and firefighters have offered to take possession of the controversial statues that were supposed to be installed at the entrance to the new Quincy Public Safety complex, the union say they would pay to have the statues installed and maintained at the C Street entrance to Mount Wollaston Cemetery, right across from the new building. The statues of Saints Michael and Florian are sitting in storage in Randolph after a group of residents successfully sued the city of arguing the statues violate the constitutional separation of church and state. The union say the statues are symbols of support for first responders and would complement the police and firefighters memorials already located inside the cemetery. Mayor Thomas Coke said that he would seek clarification from the court on whether the city could accept the union's offer. The city paid $850,000 for the statues and and the Supreme Court prohibited their installation, sending the case back to the Superior Court for a final decision.
[00:01:30] No hearing date for the case has yet been set.
[00:01:34] Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch will hold a community meeting regarding the future of the former Eastern Nazarene College campus this Saturday.
[00:01:45] In a letter to residents, Koch says he's holding the meeting and Saturday at 10am on the Main campus lawn on East Elm Avenue. In that letter, Koch says there have been many rumors and questions after the City Council rejected a proposal to purchase the campus last spring. He says he'll address some of those concerns at Saturday's meeting and that he has not given up. Koch says what happens at the site is critical for the neighborhood and it is his hope that the meeting will keep everyone on the same page.
[00:02:18] In June, the city council voted 6 to 3 against borrowing $22.5 million to purchase the 27 acre campus, with opponents citing concerns about the city's debt. The city had outlined a plan to use the former campus for senior and first time housing, open space, Quincy College activities, youth sports, after school programming and theatrical performances.
[00:02:44] ENC closed last year after over 100 years in Quincy.
[00:02:51] The Quincy District Court operations will be moving to the former Patriot Ledger building on Crown Colony Drive in West Quincy effective Oct. 26. The state has sent out notice that the District Court and the Norfolk County Juvenile Court, Quincy and Stoughton Sessions are relocating to the Crown Colony Building to allow for the demolition of the existing courthouse on Dennis Ryan Parkway to make way for the new Quincy justice center at that site, demolitions expected to begin this fall. The state is leasing the Crown colony building for five years at a cost of over $6.1 million. Construction of the new Quincy justice center is estimated to cost $187.5 million and is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2030.
[00:03:47] Quincy City Clerk Nicole Crispo is predicting a 50 to 52% voter turnout for the November 3rd state election.
[00:03:56] Crispo says over 11,000 mail in ballots have been sent out and over 4,000 have already been returned. The last day to request a mail in ballot is October 27th and early voting in person begins this coming Saturday. It will be held at Central Middle School Saturday and Sunday from 8:30am to 2:30pm in the gym. Early voting continues at Quincy City hall next week, next weekend and then the following week. October 24th at 5pm is the last day to register to vote in the November 3rd election and then in person. Voting will take place on November from 7am to 8pm at all 31 precincts in Quincy. Crispo is urging voters to study the nine ballot questions carefully and know how they plan to vote on them prior to casting a ballot. Mail in ballots are due back at city hall by November 3rd at 8pm and there is a ballot Dropbox located outside City Hall.
[00:05:00] The former Wheelhouse Diner on Hancock street in Quincy is becoming an ice cream parlor and restaurants. The Board of License Commissioners this week approved a proposal from Jimmy Wong for what will be called Mix you, which will be an ice cream parlor open for business from 11am to 10pm Wong also want approval for a new restaurant called Cafe Quincy to open right next to his ice cream parlor with seating for 50 people. The restaurant will open at 6am it will also have a full liquor license. The wheelhouse diner closed two years ago after 80 years in business.
[00:05:41] A portion of the Southern Artery in Quincy that was just repaved will have to be torn up again. The state is telling National Grid that gas lines serving four homes at Southern Artery and Greenleaf street need to be inspected. The road was just paved last year. It will have to be torn up to allow for the inspections. Ward One Counselor David Jacobs and says the work began this week. It will run through November 4th. The road will be temporarily repaved and then permanently restored in the spring to help Massachusetts schools protect kids from the harmful impacts of social media. Governor Healey announced $1.75 million in funding yesterday. The grants will be used to help schools educate students about online safety, school cyberbullying, protecting their personal information, recognizing misinformation and making healthy choices about social media use. The funding is being made available through a Department of elementary and Secondary Education Grant program.
[00:06:47] Schools can apply for 25 to 30 grants of up to $60,000 each, but the programs must be implemented during the current school year.
[00:06:58] Applications are due November 9th and can be submitted to the state on the website. It's just the latest step Healy has taken to protect young people from the impacts of social media. She filed legislation earlier this year that would require social media companies to implement stronger safety protections for children, and she previously signed legislation banning revenge porn and AI generated deep fakes.
[00:07:27] Thousands of Massachusetts residents are seeking help through Governor Healy's new program aimed at reducing heating bills this winter. Healy declared a state of energy emergency in early October due to high winter energy costs. The heating assistance program offers a one time emergency benefit of up to $680 for income qualified households using home heating oil in just one week. More than 10,000 people have expressed interest in the new middle Income Heating Assistance program.
[00:08:00] Healy also announced the creation of a new Emergency Winter Warmth Fund in partnership with Congressman Joe Kennedy and Citizens Energy Corporation to help families struggling with heating costs this winter. The fund has received an additional $100,000 in new contributions with a additional commitments expected.
[00:08:22] A check of business news this morning. Stocks are down. The Dow dropped 48 points, the Nasdaq lost 511 and the S&P dropped 86. Asian stocks also fell sharply, the dollar fell, the euro was up and oil at $104 a barrel.
[00:08:39] Forecast from the National Weather Service today mostly sunny and breezy with A high of 62. Cloudy tonight and a low 45. Rain tomorrow. A high of 68. Saturday Partly cloudy, high of 52. Sunny on Sunday and a high 55.
[00:08:59] The marine forecast calls for 2 foot waves. Winds north at 15 to 20 with gusts to 25. A small craft advisory is in effect. High tide at 3pm sunrise 6:56 sets at 6:02.
[00:09:15] I'm Joe Catalano with an AM Quincy news update for Thursday, October 15th.
