State Reps Debate – or not
A couple of weeks ago I received an invitation from Adrian Velazquez of the Mass Dems Latino Caucus and a group called Latinx. I assume by that name that they are a bunch of young people.
The email read as follows: “I am writing to extend an invitation to your organization as a co-sponsor for the Candidates Forum Debate for State Representative of the 16th Essex District…” The name of our publication was changed to an insulting title sounding almost like the real one and it was written in italics and bold. You might imagine that I didn’t take it lightly.
I don’t know if they were being sarcastic, insulting or just stupid but calling our publication that way was no way to attract our support and I told them so. Later, Douglas Chavez apologized for the “error,” and I agreed with the condition of being one of the panelists, not just a sponsor but they never responded to my request.
A few days later I wrote again asking for a response as to whether or not we are sponsoring it and this time it was just signed by the “Latino Caucus,” no name given:
“You are more than welcome to co-sponsor and cover the forum. However, we have already a moderator for this event. If you desire to submit a question you are more than welcome to submit it here http://bit.ly/2aXmKzX. (On the name field please add your newspaper name).”
Do they really think that I am going to be limited to one question by email in advance and sit in the audience to cover their circus? Also, I did not ask to be the moderator but a panelist interviewing them. Since I was getting the run around (or these people can’t read), I decided to call Douglas Chavez. He explained that Marcela Garcia, Boston Globe reporter will be the moderator and she will be reading the questions submitted via internet that will be chosen by them.
I still believe that it was a strategy so we would refuse and have El Mundo as sponsor.
Is Lawrence a Sanctuary City?
Every now and then that term is used to describe the City of Lawrence. There are hundreds of sanctuary cities all over the United States and this is not something new. Just because we have a majority Latino population doesn’t mean we are such. In Massachusetts, for example, Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Northampton, Orleans, Somerville (the original resolution passed in 1987, later repealed and replaced with Safe City Resolution), and Springfield.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, “These are cities, counties, and states that have laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, or other practices that protect criminal aliens from deportation — either by refusing to or prohibiting agencies from complying with ICE detainers, imposing unreasonable conditions on detainer acceptance, or otherwise impeding open communication and information exchanges between their employees or officers and federal immigration officers.”
The Center for Immigration Studies cites Lawrence as a sanctuary city but I asked Police Chief James Fitzpatrick to explain the difference between a sanctuary city and the Trust Act agreed to last year.
“There is a stark difference between a Sanctuary City and the Trust Act. Sanctuary City is a term used to confuse the public as to the role of their local police department in federal immigration matters. The local police are not authorized or have the ability to enforce federal law, to do so would violate the U.S. Constitution and Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. Essentially any detainment based upon immigration status by local police could be deemed unconstitutional and/or illegal. The trust acts provide for the local police to assure the public that immigration matters are handled by the federal government. We want to encourage victims of crime to come forward and witnesses of crime to cooperate,” said Chief Fitzpatrick.
The Chief explained on my radio program that the police department will not ask for identification to the immigration status of anyone involved in a confrontation of any kind with the police. If their case should end up in court, they have the jurisdiction to ask those questions and investigate. Also, that the Lawrence Police Department continues to cooperate with immigration officials in the performance of their duties.
Lawrence’s not the only one with lead
Wilmington to replace school water fixtures in response to recent reports of elevated lead in school water supplies elsewhere and recently expanded its testing to all faucets in the town’s public schools.
Wilmington tests the town’s water supply for lead, as required by state and federal regulations, but it can enter the water system when it comes in contact with pipes and fixtures. Recent tests on 92 fixtures indicate water from 23 fixtures in the West Intermediate, Shawsheen, and Boutwell schools have lead levels at or above the Environmental Protection Agency’s “action level” of 15 parts per billion. Some fixtures will be replaced; others will be capped and removed. Additional test results from the remaining fixtures are expected in the next few weeks.
Live longer: Read books
Researchers used data on 3,635 people over 50 participating in a larger health study who had answered questions about reading.
The scientists divided the sample into three groups: Those who read no books, those who read books up to three and a half hours a week, and those who read books more than three and a half hours.
The study, in Social Science & Medicine, found that book readers tended to be female, college-educated and in higher income groups. So researchers controlled for those factors as well as age, race, self-reported health, depression, employment and marital status.
When people want to live longer, they typically eat healthier food, exercise more and cut back on smoking and drinking. A new study shows they might want to add another item to that list: Read more books.
Compared with those who did not read books, those who read for up to three and a half hours a week were 17 percent less likely to die over 12 years of follow-up, and those who read more than that were 23 percent less likely to die. Book readers lived an average of almost two years longer than those who did not read at all.
Unfortunately for news junkies, it doesn’t apply to all reading, only books. Reading newspapers and magazines had a significantly smaller impact on longevity, according to the study.
“People who report as little as a half-hour a day of book reading had a significant survival advantage over those who did not read,” said the senior author, Becca R. Levy, a professor of epidemiology at Yale. “And the survival advantage remained after adjusting for wealth, education, cognitive ability and many other variables.”
