From Today's webinar for:
Massachusetts Selectmen Association/MA Municipal Councillors Association
State Revenue and Budget Outlook
• Some History May Provide Some Guidance: ◦ In the Great Recession, State Tax Revenues Dropped by 10%, and Unrestricted Aid was Cut by More than 25% ◦ Yet Education Aid (Chapter 70) was Not Cut as Deeply Due to Federal Stimulus Aid (ARRA)
• The Key Question is Whether the Federal Government will Provide New Stabilization Aid to Support Local Government ◦ The MMA is Working with National Organizations to Call for AT LEAST $250 Billion in Direct Aid to Cities and Towns During the Coming Recession & at Least the Same for States ◦ This would Provide MA Communities with Nearly $6 Billion for over 2 Years
• Without Federal Aid, the Budget Crisis will be Unnecessarily Painful ….
Now back to Geoff to moderate the Q&A part of our program

Two former allies of Gov. Chris Christie who were convicted for their roles in the Bridgegate traffic jam scandal nearly four years ago and were facing prison terms are not going to jail after all. In a dramatic ruling today in Washington, D.C., the United States Supreme Court overturned the 2016 guilty verdicts in Newark federal court of Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, and William Baroni, the former governor’s top political appointment at the Port Authority. With all nine justices voting unanimously, the court threw out Kelly’s and Baroni’s convictions, thus setting them free to go on with their lives which had been in limbo since the scandal burst into the public spotlight with Kelly's infamous email:  "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee. "Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.Writing for the majority, Justice Elena Kagan said federal prosecutors in Newark improperly applied federal fraud laws in charging Kelly and Baroni with participating in the traffic scheme that reportedly was meant to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for his refusal to endorse the re-election of Christie, a Republican. 

The recreation committee has voted to cancel the spring Templeton Youth Softball season for 2020. This decision was not easy to make but the safety of our children, parents, and coaches is top priority. All registrations will be refunded within the next few weeks.

The committee has also voted to cancel the upcoming Summer Camp Playground for 2020.

The committee voted to keep Learn to Swim on the books as of right now and we will discuss in early June what direction the program will take based on the status of the COVID-19 protocols

Thank You,
​
Scott Dill

At some point, reality has to set in.
from Worcester Telegram:

From Wichita to Webster, police officers and other emergency responders across the country are the highlight of birthday parades for residents under stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But some local agencies, citing increased demand and the need to keep their ranks free to respond to emergency calls, are putting a halt to the procession.

The Holden Fire Department, in a Facebook post Monday morning, declared it would no longer join celebration parades.

“Due to the high demand requesting parades, we feel that it is not fair for us to do some parades and not be available to do others,” the department said.

“While we do feel honored to be requested to help celebrate such an important day for the kids, it has become too much for HFD to keep up with and it would be heartbreaking to not show up for a child/loved one that is expecting us,” the statement continued.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, with people stuck inside and birthday party plans being canceled, some police and fire departments have restored joy by parading past houses, with sirens blaring. In Webster on April 7, a procession of emergency vehicles made its way through North Village apartments, recognizing the 6th birthday of Valentina Garcia, who battles chronic lung disease. Her mother had planned a pool party. Still, it turned out to be a memorable birthday.

In Southbridge, the police and fire chiefs are saying no to the parade route.

Chief Shane D. Woodson said Monday the department was overwhelmed by 20 requests during the weekend. They even had requests for adult birthdays. Police and fire were able to accommodate some but not all requests, in part because of an increase in emergency calls for police services, Woodson said.

Some parents, after being told by police and fire command staff that they would participate in parades, promised their children, only for everyone to be disappointed, Woodson said.

“We made them that promise,” Woodson conceded. “Unfortunately, this weekend, with the weather getting warmer, we were overwhelmed with calls for service, not routine calls, but emergency calls for service.”

Southbridge Fire Chief Paul Normandin said: “It is very unfortunate. It’s very nice to see children and grandparents and parents on people’s lawns and in their homes, waving towards us. It’s important to the Fire Department and public safety personnel in regards to this situation ... And we at this point need to make an operational decision not to carry out in doing these events.

“Obviously, there will be towns around us that will still be doing this,” he said. “Unfortunately we’ve taken the role in the response that we will not do these events.”

from Worcester Telegram:

WORCESTER - Despite being slapped with a $300 fine for defying Gov. Charlie Baker’s ban on gatherings of more than 10 people, Kristopher D. Casey, pastor of Adams Square Baptist Church, said Monday he intends to hold church services again Wednesday and Sunday and has no intention of limiting the size of the gathering.

Casey said he is so committed to holding church services during the ban that he’s willing to get arrested standing up for his constitutional rights and his right to preach the Gospel.

The governor’s order says violations shall result in a warning for a first offense, and that violators may receive a civil citation and fine of up to $300 for a second offense. For subsequent offenses, violators may be subject to criminal penalties including a fine of up to $500, imprisonment, or both.

“I’m going to have church on Wednesday. I will happily accept the $500 find on Thursday. And then I will have church again on Sunday,” Casey said. “I’m not going to be the only pastor to be here. So if they feel that they need to arrest me, there will be somebody else to stand up and preach the Gospel.”

Adams Square Baptist Church can hold 300 to 325 people. Forty-six attendees were counted leaving through the front door of the church at 266 Lincoln St. after a service Sunday. On April 26, 56 people reportedly attended a Sunday service that Casey led at the church, drawing condemnation from city officials.

Casey, who planned to attend a Liberty Rally in Boston on Monday to urge the state government to allow businesses to reopen, confirmed that Police Chief Steven M. Sargent hand-delivered him notice of a $300 fine Monday morning for defying Gov. Charlie Baker’s ban on gatherings of more than 10 people for a second time Sunday.

“I don’t want to get fined, but I have to stand up for our constitutional rights and I have to stand up, more importantly, for what God has led me to do and say and preach and that’s the Gospel,” Casey said. “The Bill of Rights and the Constitution don’t go away because there’s a quarantine. They don’t go on vacation. They’re there all the time. So, we’ve got to stand up for it. And if nobody is willing to stand up for it, generations of people behind us will suffer the consequence.”

Casey said the church has received numerous small donations from people all over America to pay the $300 fine.

“People are excited about someone standing up and protecting our rights,” Casey said. “It’s not just Baptists. It’s rabbis and priests. It’s bishops. It’s people from all over America calling me and saying, ‘Thank you for taking a stand. I stand behind you.’ ”

Casey said extensive cleaning measures and safety practices, including temperature checks and mandatory wearing of face masks and rubber gloves, have been put in place at the church.

from Worcester Telegram; more conflicting statements from government:

WORCESTER — The city hopes to allow reopening of Walmart store that had a COVID-19 outbreak in the next couple of days, but it won’t open Monday, City Manager Edward M. Augustus said Sunday.

City officials said 81 employees of the Walmart Supercenter at 25 Tobias Boland Way have tested positive for COVID-19. That includes 58 of 391 employees who were tested Thursday and Friday, plus 23 other employees who tested positive before that.

“The store has been professionally cleaned,” Augustus said during Sunday’s press briefing at City Hall. “And the goal is to allow the store to open sometime in the next couple of days. It won’t be tomorrow. But we will let you know when the store will be cleared for opening.”

Dr. Michael P. Hirsh, the city’s medical director, said his team is very close to getting the Walmart up and running again.

“There’re some stray employees that were on leave and weren’t around to be tested on Thursday and Friday,” Hirsh said. “And we want to make sure that they’re tested so that we know that they are not going to be the ones that start an outbreak in the group that we have as negative. Once we know that, and we’re again going to do another inspection from our division in inspectional services, then we should be able to get this store back online.”

Hirsh said it was very unlikely that a customer in “a normal shopping experience” would have close enough contact to catch COVID-19 from someone who has the coronavirus that causes the disease.

“You have to be there 15 minutes in that person’s presence,” Hirsh said. “If you’re doing a routine kind of shopping you’re probably not going to have that kind of close contact. So we would not fear that many people would turn positive from a shopping experience at Walmart.”

What next, Governor Baker gonna think he can tell me to get hair cut?

BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker took a step toward preparing the public for what he said life might look like in Massachusetts when this period of staying at home to avoid COVID-19 infection ends, ordering all citizens to wear masks or facial coverings in public if they can’t socially distance.

Then he pulls a typical government response:

Asked specifically about joggers and bicyclists, Baker said if someone is running early in the morning and confident they won’t encounter other people they might be able to exercise without a mask, but if they go running during the afternoon when more people are out they should probably cover their face.

Huh? Last time I lived under institutional rules, military, if word came down the order of the day is now, say, sleeves rolled down, that was it, it was not an option, it was not, you should probably. . . .

When it comes to this latest suggestion from Baker, I fall back to one of his earliest comments; "I do not believe I can, nor should, I order people to stay indoors, inside their homes." Since his order contains possible $300.00 fine, what they gonna do if it is one of the 300,000 unemployed people whose benefit application is on hold; what are they going to do when the hear the words "I am not going to pay, I cannot pay"

Here in Templeton, majority of the board of selectmen and the town administrator want to quote a state law, but then not follow it; MGL chapter 41, section 108. Word is Gardner Court house closed for cleaning, corona virus. Again, many mixed messages from the governor; I wonder how many of those millions of masks that came from china are bad, KN95 reported on news that they don't work, but then governor and MADPH tells us a bandanna will work.