If one goes to the Templeton Town website at Templetonma.gov and click on town contracts and agreements, you can find the animal control agreement with Winchendon, MA. You will see it expired June 30, 2020. I inquired with the Templeton Town Administrator; his response was "Police Chief (and I’m not quite sure he had the authority so am checking) signed a one-year ACO"

Also, on the ethics liaison front, time flies; after the June 22, 2020 election, there is a 30 day time frame to submit paperwork that you have taken ethics test and have signed form, stating you have copy open meeting law, understand it, etc. and every two years, you are required to do it again. That is the responsibility of ethics liaison. I goofed and did not submit within time period. I caught it, did those things and brought it to town hall. That is an important requirement and task, to ensure all who are suppose to do it, actually follow through. The Town Administrator was appointed ethics liaison, so that seems to be another task not complete.

One reason for where we are with police issues:

Telegram & Gazette - August 4, 2020.

WORCESTER – A former city man accused of assaulting a police officer last year during a melee at the Beer Garden is suing the Police Department after obtaining a video that contradicts the police report the officer filed in court.

Prosecutors dismissed all charges after reviewing the video, which captured a materially different version of events than the one K-9 Officer Shawn Tivnan swore to in his report.

“If the video hadn’t existed, it would have been their word against mine,” 24-year-old Christopher Ayala-Melendez said Tuesday. “It would have changed my life.”

Ayala-Melendez was arrested outside the Beer Garden at 64 Franklin St. on Oct. 26, the night a large fight led police to make the rare ask that all hands on deck report to a call.

Tivnan alleged that the man – who, according to the lawsuit, lived at an apartment at 60 Franklin St., and was trying to get home – assaulted him. The video tells a different story.

“This case shows how easy it is to become ensnared in the criminal justice system,” said Hector E. Pineiro, the man’s lawyer.

According to the official report Tivnan filed in Central Court, the 11-year officer was standing next to another police officer with his police dog when a man later identified as Ayala-Melendez “pushed past officers” and was yelling toward arrestees.

The man refused lawful orders to leave, Tivnan alleged, offering a detailed description of a confrontation in which he alleged Ayala-Melendez “broke free” from his grasp, “came at” him and his dog “aggressively” and “assaulted” the officer.

Tivnan alleged he had to deliver a “palm heel strike” to gain control, at which time the dog bit Ayala-Melendez, who, despite being bitten, “refused” commands to go the ground, and had to be converged upon by officers.

One of those officers, Brett J. Kubiak, partially corroborated Tivnan’s report, writing that Ayala-Melendez “refused” commands to lay down and “continued to swing his body violently” while being bitten by the dog.

Both officers would have been asked to testify to such in court, it appears, had Ayala-Melendez not dug up video himself that shows a vastly different story.

“I was just trying to go home,” Ayala-Melendez, a foreman for a moving company who said he’d never been arrested before, told the Telegram & Gazette on Tuesday.

Ayala-Melendez told the T&G, and the video confirms, that he was not pushing past or yelling at officers when he walked up to an officer and pointed in the direction of his apartment building.

Ayala-Melendez said he pointed at the building because he and his girlfriend, who can be seen next to him in the video, had been out for a walk, and were trying to ask whether they could go home.

Ayala-Melendez told the T&G that no one gave him any orders or accused him of doing anything wrong. He said that shortly after asking about his building, he was tugged to the left by Tivnan, at which point, he said, his memory is a blur.

The video shows Tivnan grabbing Ayala-Melendez almost immediately after he pointed to his building, at which point the dog bites the man, who stammers and is quickly taken to the ground by police.

The video shows the man’s girlfriend walking toward him after he is bitten, at which time a police officer pushes her to the ground.

Ayala-Melendez said he sat in a jail cell for more than an hour before being booked, wondering what was going to happen to him. He was not taken immediately to the hospital – which his lawyer said violates Police Department policy – and a booking tape shows him alleging excessive force while being processed.

Ayala-Melendez said he went to the security desk at his 60 Franklin St. apartment building the day after being released, and he and staff there were able to find the video that depicts what occurred.

Ayala-Melendez said he was “outraged” when he read the officer’s version of events. His defense lawyer gave the video to prosecutors for District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., who, on June 16, asked a judge to dismiss the charges, citing “a review of the currently available evidence in this case, including police reports and video surveillance tapes.”

Early declined to comment on the case through a spokeswoman Tuesday, noting the case is “before the court in civil litigation.”

The case has been filed in federal court in Boston.

Police also declined to comment, citing the litigation. They confirmed that Tivnan is still a K-9 officer.

Early’s spokeswoman declined to say whether Early had placed Tivnan’s name on any list of officers found to have credibility concerns.

Such lists, known as Brady or Giglio lists, are under scrutiny in the wake of calls for police accountability following the death of George Floyd. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan released her list recently after a public records request.

Early’s office Tuesday declined to say whether he maintains such a list.

Ayala-Melendez’s lawsuit alleges seven counts, including excessive force, malicious prosecution and violation of his civil rights. It alleges the conduct occurred as a result of a culture of impunity in which officers knew they would not be punished for misconduct.

Ayala-Melendez’s lawyer, Pineiro, says the episode is a case in point for why body cameras should be worn by police officers. He has frequently accused police of fabricating accounts, including in a voluminous 2018 complaint to Early.

The T&G is suing the city of Worcester for records relating to that complaint. The city has argued they should not be released - noting some correlate to civil lawsuits Pineiro filed - and has criticized the T&G in court documents as requesting them under the “guise” of watchdog journalism.

City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr., who has declined to speak publicly about the T&G lawsuit, said through a spokesman Tuesday that he was not aware of the Ayala-Melendez case.

Ayala-Melendez, who said he sped up a move to Chelsea in the wake of his arrest, has had trouble sleeping, had nightmares and been afraid of police officers and dogs since his arrest, his lawsuit says.

Ayala-Melendez told the T&G it was difficult to see his name sullied in online commentary after the charges were announced, saying he was lumped in with others directly involved in the fight.

“People were making me out to be a villain who attacked a dog and an officer,” said Ayala-Melendez, adding that even his own parents did not fully believe he had done nothing wrong until they saw the video.

“You always hear the comment made saying, ‘Police are not going to arrest you if you are not doing anything (wrong),’” he said. “But in this case, that’s what happened.”

Pineiro said he believes police internal investigators are looking into the arrest, but that based on past experiences with the department, he is not confident a full inquiry will be conducted.

Pineiro alleged in the lawsuit that officers being investigated are often allowed to submit written statements rather than be questioned in person, while those who make the complaints are “subject to adversarial interrogation” by WPD officers.

Pineiro said many complainants have criminal charges pending against them, and elect not to speak to investigators, which he said often results in officers being cleared of wrongdoing.

Ayala-Melendez said an internal affairs investigator called him a couple months after his arrest, but that with his criminal case still open, he referred the officer to his lawyer.

“I really didn’t want anything to do with the Police Department after (what happened),” Ayala-Melendez said, adding that he does not know whether police ended up speaking to his criminal lawyer.

That lawyer, James J. Gribouski, did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.

Pineiro alleged multiple Police Department policies were violated in the case with respect to the use of the dog. He said the department lists use of a K-9 dog as a higher use of force than anything other than a firearm in its K-9 policy, and he wrote in the lawsuit that Tivan’s actions might be viewed very differently had a more conventional weapon been used.

“If Officer Tivnan instead of deploying K-9 Mattis had opted to use any type of knife or sharp instrument to cut or slash Ayala Melendez in manner similar to the injury K-9 Mattis caused, such conduct would amount to the crime of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon,” he wrote.

By Stephen Landry / slandry@thegardnernews.com

GARDNER — The Gardner Fire Department has received more than $240,000 in federal grant funding to purchase new breathing equipment.

The funding, which was announced by U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan on Aug. 5, was awarded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s fiscal 2019 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program.

Fire Chief Richard Ares said the last time his department had purchased critical equipment of this type was in 2007, when it did not have enough funding to buy the apparatus for each firefighter in the station.

“As a result, half of our officers have one brand of equipment and the other half have a different brand,” Ares said. “If any of our firefighters ever have an emergency with their units, they should be thinking about how to quickly protect themselves, not having to worry about which brand of equipment they put on while rushing out the door. This grant allows us to ensure that we are protecting the safety of our employees and helps keep them safe when they run into these dangerous situations.”

Mayor Michael Nicholson applauded the announcement of the grant, saying that the city’s first responders have been going above and beyond in their duties — particularly during the current pandemic — and deserve to have the equipment they need to keep them safe.

“This type of equipment usually has a lifespan of 10 years, and we are well over that on our current equipment,” Nicholson said. “This type of equipment is necessary to keep our firefighters safe, and I’m proud to see us be able to update our existing inventory.”

Capt. Craig Osowski said that self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) technology has become much more advanced in the years since the department last purchased the equipment.

“These are the biggest life-saving tools we have, aside from our radios,” Osowski said, adding that because every member of the department will soon have the same brand of air tank on their backs, both their response time and safety will be vastly improved. “Currently, we have different brands right now, so you have to keep in mind that each one operates a little differently, but now there will be no more wondering which pack do I have on today — these new packs are state of the art.”

Today’s SCBAs, which cost more than $6,000 each, contain Bluetooth technology, voice amplifiers and thermal-imaging cameras, according to Osowski.

“Everything is wireless and built into these packs,” he said.

Officials said the department expects to receive the new equipment within the next five or six weeks.

Since 2001, the AFG program has helped firefighters and other first responders obtain critical equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training and other resources necessary for protecting the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.

“There’s no question that the Gardner firefighters who show up to work each day and go above and beyond the call of duty are local heroes,” Trahan said. “They and their loved ones deserve to know that when they show up to work each day, they’ll have the equipment they need to do their jobs as safely as possible and return home after each shift. This federal investment will help deliver that assurance, and I’m happy to help deliver these funds to the department.

Another move by Baker - Polito to collect taxes at all costs;

Baker - Polito team at work:

By Michael Bonner | mbonner@masslive.com

The New Hampshire Department of Justice announced it will review the the taxing methods of states like Massachusetts during the coronavirus pandemic.

The move was prompted by an emergency action taken by Massachusetts on July 21 that requires residents in other states who were working in Massachusetts before the pandemic to be subject to Massachusetts’ income tax while they work from home.

Normally, income tax is based off of the location a person works. During the pandemic, many New Hampshire residents, who normally commute to Massachusetts for work, are working from home, meaning their location of occupation is in a state that doesn’t collect income tax.

“We need to maintain that New Hampshire advantage at all costs,” New Hamshire Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement. “We will take immediate steps to stop any attempts to impose income taxes on Granite Staters in a manner that violates the law or the New Hampshire or United States Constitution.”

I am hoping NH prevails on this issue.

Free speech in education? Apparently not, if it goes against the narrative of the administration.

Maybe we need body cameras for teachers and in the classrooms:

we could then watch what tax dollars are paying for.

North Paulding High School in Dallas, Ga., about an hour’s drive from Atlanta, was thrust into the national spotlight this week when pictures and videos surfaced of its crowded interior on the first and second days of its first week back in session. The images, which showed a sea of teens clustered together with no face coverings, raised concerns over how the district is handling reopening schools during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Facing a fierce online backlash, Paulding County Schools Superintendent Brian Otott told parents and guardians in a letter that the images “didn’t look good.” But he argued that they lacked context about the 2,000-plus student school, where masks are a “personal choice.”

Hannah Watters, 15, wore a mask as she captured the inside of her school. On Wednesday, she ended up with a five-day suspension for violating the district’s student code of conduct, BuzzFeed News reported. The rules bar students from using social media during the day or using recording devices without the permission of an administrator.

See, it is not just in Templeton, Phillipston:

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

Published: 8/4/2020 5:00:30 PM

ORANGE — Eight votes prevented the ratification of a Proposition 2½ override Monday, seven weeks after a roughly $4.6 million budget for the joint middle/high school was adopted at Annual Town Meeting.

Residents voted 367 to 360 against ratification, which required a simple majority.

A vote in the affirmative would have provided funding for the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School assessment. A motion was made at the June 15 Town Meeting to increase the Finance Committee’s recommended budget by $339,722, but that vote was contingent on the override’s passage. This rejection means there will be a reduction in the assessment.

Two-thirds of the school district’s towns — Orange, New Salem, Wendell and Petersham — must approve the district’s budget for it to be adopted. Wendell and Petersham approved it, while New Salem residents voted to reduce their town’s assessment by $123,680. If Orange voters had passed the override, however, three out of the four towns would have approved the budget, more than satisfying the two-thirds majority necessary for adoption, and New Salem would have been obligated to contribute its share as a result.

On Tuesday morning, Mahar School Committee Chair Peter Cross said his committee was slated to meet at 4 p.m. that day and he estimated there was roughly a 50% chance its members would come with a revised budget. He said Orange’s assessment would be level-funded if roughly $430,000 is cut, which is what Orange and New Salem residents voted for at their respective Annual Town Meetings. He also said this will make eliminating positions “hard to avoid.”

The meeting’s main topic will be Mahar’s reopening plans — fully remote learning, in-person education and a hybrid of the two.

Finance Committee Chair Keith LaRiviere said he predicts this matter will have to be resolved at a Special Town Meeting at either Orange or New Salem in the next month to month and a half.

“Since our request (going into Orange’s Annual Town Meeting) was to level-fund their assessment, at least in theory, they should come back with a budget number that is lower,” he said. “I hope that they do that. There’s no guarantee that they will, but I hope that they will.”

LaRiviere said he was not shocked by Monday’s outcome and what surprised him was the vote margin.

“I’m surprised that the vote was that close. I had hoped that the override would pass, but the voters in Orange are pretty well-known for not approving override requests. So, I was kind of expecting that it would fail,” he said, adding that it seems to happen “more often than not.”

Cross, on the other hand, did not see the rejection coming. He also said he stood with signs advocating for ratification outside the polling location at Mahar from noon, when polls opened, to 1 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., when polls closed.

“I was hopeful,” he said. “It’s hard to lose a close one like that.”

There was a 14% voter turnout, according to Orange Town Clerk Nancy Blackmer.

Right now, the end of year expenditure report shows Insurance and Benefits having an ending balance of $141,304.00 left over after paying all the expenses; this is the third year in a row that there has been a six figure leftover amount - which rolls into unassigned balance (commonly referred to as free cash) Seems there is a pattern of putting in front of town meeting more than needed appropriation for insurance and benefits. I do not think it wise to try and appropriate to the penny, but 3 years in a row you have at least 100 thousand dollars left over, something needs adjusting. (Note: there was end of year transfers out of insurance and benefits too)

You can find this information on the Templeton Town website.