Westport
in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Sunday,
July 12, 2015
photos/EverythingWestport.com except as noted
Quick
Article Index . . .
Massachusetts
House, Senate Pass Comprehensive FY16 Budget.
Westport
Selectmen advance Noquochoke Village development with land transfer.
Westport tress
under attack by gypsy moth and winter moth caterpillars.
Environmental Initiatives Showcased
in State Budget.
|
Massachusetts House,
Senate Pass Comprehensive FY16 Budget. Includes public safety
staffing grant funding for Fall River and RGGI stabilization funds for
Somerset. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday,
July 8, 2015 The Massachusetts
Legislature today enacted a $38.1 billion state budget for fiscal year 2016
(FY16). The spending plan makes important investments to rebuild the
Commonwealth’s essential services and programs, including local aid,
education, economic development, public safety, and health and human
services, and supports the ongoing recovery of the local economy. “This budget
makes targeted investments to lift all families and invest in the future of
the Commonwealth, including some key provisions for the SouthCoast
with investments in regional public safety and human services,” said Senator
Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport). “Helping to
commemorate the Battleship’s 50th anniversary, increasing local aid and
addressing mental health and substance abuse issues, this balanced budget
provides these and many other services throughout the Commonwealth without
raising taxes,” said State Representative Carole Fiola
(D-Fall River). “This
comprehensive budget reflects the priorities of the Commonwealth with
significant environmental investments,” said Representative Paul A. Schmid
(D-Westport). “I am so proud that it supports local agriculture and
our economy, healthy initiatives and programs, and natural resource
protection and sustainability.” “This budget
ensures more funds to area school districts, homelessness programs, regional,
business micro-lending initiatives,” stated Speaker Pro Tempore, Rep.
Patricia A. Haddad (D-Somerset). “It also provides an additional $3 million
for the town of Somerset to assist with tax relief efforts.” "I am
pleased to see the increase in the earned income tax credit included in the
conference committee's budget. It will have a big impact for the working
families in Fall River. I am also very pleased to have advocated for public
safety in the budget. The public safety staffing grant was included with
language to ensure Fall River would receive up to $949,021 total for
the police and fire departments." “I want to thank
Senator Rodrigues for fighting for this vital public safety staffing
funding,” said Fall River Mayor Sam Sutter. “These staffing grants ensure
adequate police and fire staffing levels and keep the residents of our city
safe.” The FY16 Budget
reflects the Legislature’s commitment to local aid for cities and towns,
increasing unrestricted local aid by $34 million and local education aid by
$111.2 million. The budget makes
investments in economic development and workforce training to help low-income
families become self-sufficient, get the unemployed and long-term unemployed
back to work and support sectors of the economy that drive economic growth. The budget includes
an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from 15% of the federal
tax credit to 23%. Increasing the EITC to aid working families was a top
priority for the Senate, whose budget included a similar amendment proposed
by Senator Rodrigues. Senator Rodrigues
commented on the legislature’s inclusion of the expanded EITC by stating,
“The EITC will allow working families to keep more of what they earn,
stimulating economic development and making our tax code fairer. Close to 1
of every 4 taxpayers in Fall River will benefit from the EITC increase. More
than 12,000 people in my district alone, and more
than 415,000 people throughout the Commonwealth will be able to take
advantage of the expanded EITC.” The EITC
expansion will be funded by the elimination of a corporate tax deduction
known FAS-109, which was designed to mitigate the financial statement impact
resulting from the adoption of mandatory combined reporting in Massachusetts
on certain publicly traded corporations’ financial statements. FAS-109 was
included as part of the 2008 corporate tax reform. The elimination of FAS-109
will provide the revenue savings necessary to fund the expansion the EITC
from 15% to 23%. In essence, the expansion of the EITC will effectively help
working families at the expense of eliminating a tax deduction for
multinational corporations that has never gone into effect. The budget makes
a key investment in public safety, adopting an amendment filed by Senator
Rodrigues which increased the public safety staffing grants from $3M in the
Senate Ways & Means budget to $4.25M for targeted eligible communities,
including Fall River. In this current fiscal year, Fall River received
$464,034 in police staffing and $484,987 for fire staffing. The substance
abuse epidemic is also addressed by this year’s spending plan, particularly
with the establishment of a bulk purchasing program for Narcan,
an emergency medication to treat drug overdoses. Senator Rodrigues
and Speaker Pro Tempore Haddad were jointly successful in acquiring $3M in
tax stabilization funds for the Town of Somerset to help offset the tax
revenue loss caused by reduced capacity of the town’s power plants. The
budget includes a provision that Somerset submit a report by the end of the
year detailing the need for such reimbursements and the impact of receiving
such reimbursements. Several notable investments for the SouthCoast were included in the legislature’s FY16
Budget: ·
$300,000 to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Bristol County, which provides
key services to child victims or witnesses of violence or sexual abuse; ·
$50,000 to the SouthCoast Regional Network to
End Homelessness; ·
$200,000 to the Southeastern Massachusetts Advanced Manufacturing
Consortium for outreach and workforce training; ·
$100,000 for the Fire Chiefs Association of Bristol County to upgrade
their emergency communications and offer training support to the Regional
Technical Rescue Team in Bristol County; ·
$100,000 for People, Inc. to provide transportation needs and services
of families being houses in emergency assistance hotels or motels in the
towns of Swansea and Somerset; ·
$75,000 for the educational, recreational, and ceremonial programs for
the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Battleship Cove and the U.S.S.
Massachusetts Memorial Committee, Inc.; ·
$75,000 for the Katie Brown Educational Program to teach and address
relationship violence; ·
$6 million for the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative, a youth violence
prevention grant, from which Fall River will receive funding; ·
Prevention of a reduction in acute inpatient mental health care
services and emergency services in the Southeast area, while ensuring
compliance with the Commonwealth’s procurement privatization law; ·
$250,000 in 40S smart growth payments, with Lakeville likely to receive
$144,894; ·
$7M in Shannon Grants, which address gang violence through coordinated
programs of prevention and intervention; ·
$14.2M appropriation for Expanded Learning Time Grants to cities,
towns, and regional school districts, of which Fall River’s Kuss Middle School, Silvia Elementary, and Vivieros Elementary Schools have historically received
funding; and ·
$3.45M investment in the Young Parents Program and $2,000,000 for the
Competitive Integrated Employment Services Program. The budget now
goes to the Governor for his approval. The
debated affordable housing apartment complex has drawn mixed reviews from
proponents and opponents alike. EverythngWestport.com Thursday, July 9,
2015 Westport
Selectmen advanced Noquochoke Village development with last week’s vote to
transfer five acres of land to Westport’s Affordable Housing Trust. The debated affordable housing apartment
complex has drawn mixed reviews from proponents and opponents alike. Now the Westport
Affordable Housing Trust Fund is pleased to report continuing progress on the
development of Noquochoke Village, 50 affordable apartments in seven
townhouse style buildings with a community center on the front portion of the
site to be built on a parcel of town-owned land off American Legion Highway. Documents
officially transferring control of the five acres of land known as the Perry
Farm, and 23 acres of land abutting the Noquochoke River known as the Quinn
property to the Trust as authorized by a 2015 annual town meeting vote are
scheduled to be finalized by the Board of Selectmen at their July 13th
meeting.
The proposed
development at Noquochoke Village is the town's partnership venture with the
non-profit affordable housing developer and property management firm, The
Community Builders. Plans call for
the construction of 50 quality affordable apartments in seven townhouse style
buildings and a community center on the front portion of the site, with the
remainder of the land closest to the river to be protected with a
conservation restriction for passive recreational use by town residents. The
estimated total development costs for the Noquochoke Village are $15,500,000.
In March 2015,
the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) approved The
Community Builders' pre-application for state and federal Low Income Housing
Tax Credits (LIHTC) vital to the success of this development. A subsequent Mass One-Stop+
application for these LIHTC was submitted in April,
and the state agency is expected to approve them by the end of July or early
August 2015, according to Westport Housing Specialist, Leonardi
Aray. A May 5 Westport
town meeting vote approved an appropriation of $280,000 in Community
Preservation Act housing funds to support the inclusion of up to five moderate
income housing units within the 50 planned apartment complex to be
built. After an
unsuccessful percolation test in March, TCB engineers selected an alternate
potential septic system location, shown on revised site plans presented at an
April 30 community update on Noquochoke Village. Successful percolation tests
conducted there in June proved that location would accommodate the proposed
septic system for the development. A suitable location for an on-site
community water supply has also been identified by the developer. For more
information on the Noquochoke Village development, or other programs
available to support new affordable housing construction in Westport, visit
the Trust page on the town website, or contact Housing Specialist Leonardi Aray at 617.270.3912
or e-mail: Leonardi@larayarchitects.com.
Westport
tress under attack by gypsy moth and winter moth caterpillars. Defoliation
extensive on oak, birch, maple, beech, ornamental trees, and some evergreens.
Home owners also have to watch out for other pests in their lawns and
gardens. EverythingWestport.com Thursday, July 9,
2015 Click here to learn how you can
fight back and defeat gypsy moth caterpillars. Click here to watch video and learn
more about controlling winter moth. Click here to find out how one company
can help you with winter moth infestation. As if we don’t
have enough to worry about with our economy, jobs, and budget woes; now
millions of caterpillars have invaded Westport, defoliating thousands of
trees and threatening worse conditions next year.
Inset: gypsy moth caterpillar. It is easy to spot
the gypsy moth caterpillars as most of the males are in their 5th instar and
females in their 6th and they are large; 2.5 - 3 inches! The caterpillars
have started to pupate with many pupating in the leaves and needles on which
they feed. Others can be seen on the trunks of trees and other places. A
person from Mansfield said the oak trees in her area were bare and that she
just noticed the gypsy moth caterpillars all over her house. In Carver,
someone sent a photo of gypsy moth caterpillars eating a young dwarf oriental
spruce. Scouting has not revealed much evidence of sickened, or dead,
caterpillars by the fungus, Entomophaga maimaiga, although some dead caterpillars,
killed by the fungus, were seen on a European beech.
Above,
from the left: winter moth
caterpillar; winter moth; and gypsy moth. The caterpillars
should be done feeding and should begin pupating this week. In a few weeks,
after the adult moths emerge, we can all start looking for the pale, tan egg
masses, which judging by the high number of caterpillars, won’t be too hard
to find. It looks like next year has
the potential to be a big year for gypsy moth. Stay tuned. Sod webworm moths
emerged this week. Look for buff-tan colored moths with a telltale “snout”, flying
in a zigzag pattern over the turf and dropping down, to lay eggs. These eggs
will hatch into sod webworm caterpillars that feed on turf. Continue to
monitor Echinacea, Heliopsis, marigolds and Bidens flowers for caterpillars of the sunflower moth (Homoeosoma electellum).
Rose curculio
weevil has emerged. This weevil has a reddish body with black legs and snout,
which it uses to drill into the flowers and rosehips to feed and lay eggs. The following
insects are active: Asiatic garden beetles, Oriental beetles, Hibiscus
sawflies, earwigs, hemlock woolly adelgid,
White-spotted Pine Sawyer (Asian longhorned beetle
look-alike), golden tortoise beetle, azalea and Andromeda (Pieris) lacebugs, aphids, slugs, snails, stink bugs, four-lined
plant bugs, leafhoppers, lily leaf beetle (adults & larvae), wasps, pine
spittlebugs, hornets, deer flies, black flies, horse flies, deer and dog
ticks. Mosquitoes continue to be a
nuisance; it is a banner year for mosquitoes. Right now, along
with fewer slugs for this time of year, there does not appear to be many of
the usual diseases in the landscape, perhaps, the long dry spell we had
earlier this spring, with almost 5 weeks of little rain, is the reason.
Powdery mildew was observed onPhlox paniculata and Cornus florida. Tip dieback is showing up on Kwanzan
cherry and might be caused by a brown rot fungus, (Monilinia sp). Red thread is showing up on lawns. The white
spore-covered Azalea leaf galls (Exobasidium vaccinii) are now bigger than a golf ball; remove and
place them in the trash. The following weeds are in bloom: Linaria vulgaris (Yellow toadflax),
milkweed, Achillea, oxeye daisy, clover,
fleabane, Lonicera japonica, Queen-Anne’s-lace. Multiflora rose
has ended bloom. Invasive weeds, like burning bush, Oriental bittersweet,
autumn olive and multiflora rose, are forming seeds, and now is a terrific
time to remove or shear back the plants to reduce seed dispersion. Mosquitoes
continue to be a nuisance; it is a banner year for mosquitoes. We are
starting to see the results of the northern migration of monarch butterflies.
Monarchs, along with fritillaries, silver-spotted skippers and other
butterflies, were reported in West Bridgewater and Hanson, MA. Beneficial
insects like hoverflies, lady bug beetles and green tiger beetles are also
active. Information provide by UMass Cooperative Extension for The Center for Agriculture, Food &
the Environment. Gardeners Hotline: 413.545.0895 Southeast Region (Hanson) June, 2015 Report EverythingWestport.com Wednesday, July 8, 2015 The free admission festival invites the Tiverton community to join them
to enjoy music from Mali, Ecuador, and Maine; food from the local Wampanoag
culture; and fair trade art whose purchase supports the livelihoods of
Indigenous communities around the globe. An attendee has called it “the best place to get unique global gifts
while supporting indigenous cultures with fair trade!” according to a
release. Since 1982, Cultural Survival’s Bazaars have provided a market for
thousands of artists and cooperatives spanning six continents and over sixty
countries. Each year the Bazaars generate about half a million dollars for
Indigenous artists, performers, and projects benefiting Indigenous
communities worldwide. Attendees can enjoy craft-making demonstrations, free
concerts, and one-on-one conversations with representatives of dozens of
different Indigenous cultures. This
festival is an opportunity for Tiverton residents to view and purchase
one-of-a-kind pieces of art they might not find elsewhere. It will be held on
Saturday, July 25th and Sunday, July 26th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. “Our art is hardly seen in the northeast; the Bazaars allow us to share
our heritage. I am able to sell my art and the art of two different coop[erative]s that support over 40 Wixarika-Huichol
families who don’t have a market in Mexico,” said Cilau
Valadez, a world-renowned Huichol artist from Mexico. This year’s festival will include two new artists and community
representatives from this community.
Featured this year will be Maasai jewelry
(Kenya); Nipmuc wood flutes and carvings (US); wire sculptures (Zimbabwe);
Maya paintings and jewelry (Guatemala); Tibetan scarves, jewelry, and books
(Tibet); Algonquin/Abenaqui bone and antler
sculptures (US); Mohawk and Cheyenne jewelry (US); Acholi jewelry (Uganda);
and dozens of others. Many vendors represent cooperatives that make it
possible for children to attend school and provide a singular source of
income to women. Whether working with ancient techniques or modern materials, the
artists produce unique pieces and intricate designs that fascinate viewers.
One attendee said, “It’s like a trip around the world’s bazaars.” About Cultural
Survival: Cultural Survival is an international NGO whose mission is to advocate
for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and support Indigenous communities’
self-determination, cultures and political resilience. Environmental Initiatives Showcased In State Budget. Westport
gets a boost in Horseneck beach funding, programs that promote availability
of healthy, locally grown food in schools and other institutions. EverythingWestport.com Sunday, July 12,
2015 Massachusetts
lawmakers enacted a $38.1 billion state budget for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16)
this week that prioritizes environmental initiatives, including funding for
local agricultural programs and natural resource preservation. Joint Chairs of
the Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Senator
Anne M. Gobi (D-Spencer) and Representative Paul A. Schmid (D-Westport)
advocated for increased funding for environmental agencies and programs
throughout the budget process this session. “The FY16 budget includes an
additional $2 million for state parks and recreation across the Commonwealth,
making money available for public beaches such as Horseneck Beach in
Westport.” - Westport State Representative Paul Schmid Highlights
include a 5% increase from FY15 for the Department of Agricultural Resources,
sponsored by Representative Schmid. Important programs such as Farm to
School and Buy Local efforts, which increase access and availability of
healthy, locally grown food in schools and other institutions, are included
under this funding increase. Senator Gobi advocated for Buy Local
efforts during Senate debate and was successful in passing an amendment for
the funding. Also included is a $90,000 appropriation for the apiary
inspection program which helps protect the honey-bee industry and greatly
benefits our fruit and vegetable industries. “This comprehensive budget
reflects the priorities of the residents of my district as well as the
Commonwealth,” said Schmid. “I am so proud that various regional organizations, such as the
Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership, will be able to benefit
from this increased funding and my constituents will have greater access to
healthy food.” "Protecting
and enhancing our natural resources while also promoting agriculture are
critically important and the targeted investments in this budget will
help," said Gobi. The Department of
Conservation and Recreation, responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of
public land, saw an overall increase of $4.9 million over FY15 funding.
This includes an additional $2 million for state parks and recreation across
the Commonwealth, making money available for public beaches such as Horseneck
Beach in Westport. Lawmakers also
agreed to double levels for stormwater management,
bringing funding to over $800,000. The Governor has
ten days to veto or change language and sections of the budget. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Click here for the complete Fair
schedule of events! Their
2015 Fair is dedicated The 2015 fair is
dedicated to Dottie Bettencourt. Dorothy, a farmer’s wife, passed away in
2014. Dorothy was a fair member and attended the fair every year.
She especially enjoyed watching her husband and sons competing in the tractor
pulls. We will always remember her having a smile. Westport’s
perennial agricultural fair will always be our fair, a standing testament to
our roots and our heritage as a farming community. And
the candied apples and fried dough aren’t bad either. Whether
you go for the tractors or the livestock, woodsmen or flower arrangement
competition, Rosie’s racing Pigs, chicken barbeque or magicians and escape
artists, there is something for everyone at the Westport Fair. Hey,
everyone loves a fair. Click here to discover the little
known history of the Westport Fair! Visit the Westport Fair’s website now. Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Wednesday night. Click here to see
more.
Left: ground-pounding tractor
slab pulls. Center: Carousel
horses. Right: Westport’s Jim Wood
judging produce. Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Thursday night. Click here to
see more.
Left: powerful Mass Mini
Pullers. Center: Dana Perkins, Ventriloquist. Right: the
Fair’s famous saucy sausage man! Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Friday night. Click here to
see more.
Left: Milking out before the
judging. Center: Dartmouth’s the Gambler yanks up the frontend on a strong
pull. Right: The Better Daze Band performs under the big tent. Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Saturday. Click here to
see more.
Left: The Goat Ropers round ‘em up in the Entertainment Tent. Center:
Ed Brightman cuts ‘em up
in the Woodsman Competition. Right: Steve Medeiros offers ‘em up at the annual baked goods auction. Images
from 2012 57th annual Westport fair - Sunday. Click here to
see more.
Left: Magician Darren Young bends steel utensils with mind-blowing psychic power. Center: Powerful, turbo-charged
diesel superstock tractors put on quite a pulling
show on the main track. Right: kids get in the act with
garden tractor pulls in the center ring. © 2015 Community Events of Westport. All rights
reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
