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Friday, May 18, 2012

Concord Featured in Metropolitan Planning Council Trail Implementation Toolkit

MAPC Celebrates Bike Week with release.

  The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) today announced the release of a new Trail Implementation Toolkit. Concord is featured in this online resource, available at mapc.org/resources/trail-implementation, which aims to help local planners and trail advocates develop trails more quickly and more cheaply. The Toolkit uses local examples from the Greater Boston region to demonstrate successful grassroots and outside-the-box tactics for development, construction and maintenance of walking and bicycling trails. MAPC’s Trail Implementation Toolkit highlights creative strategies for trail development, such as piggybacking on road and public works projects, or working with the Iron Horse Preservation Society, which is a nonprofit group …

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Dolan Lands Two Endorsements in Race for Third

Concord Democrat Mara Dolan, a candidate for the opening 3rd Middlesex State Senate seat, announced endorsements from state Rep. Tom Conroy and U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano.

  In the race for the open 3rd Middlesex State Senate seat, Concord Democrat Mara Dolan is getting a little help from her friends.  One of three Concordian candidates for the seat, opening upon the retirement of Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln, Dolan this week picked up endorsements from two lawmakers from the region.  The first, announced Monday, May 14, came from state Rep. Tom Conroy, D-Wayland. In a press release, Conroy calls Dolan a friend and said he hopes to serve together with her in the legislature. "We need more elected officials in Massachusetts like Mara Dolan,” Conroy said in a statement. "She is committed to good government, and has a sense of the right priorities — Democratic priorities — including job creation, affordable and high …

Monday, May 14, 2012

Supporters Come Out for Goodwin State Senate Campaign Kick-Off

Joe Kearns Goodwin is running for the Democratic nomination for the 3rd Middlesex State Senate Seat. State Rep. Cory Atkins endorsed Goodwin at the May 12 campaign kick-off event.

  Around 100 supporters stood in front of Joe Kearns Goodwin as he took the microphone following the endorsement of State Rep. Cory Atkins, D-Concord, to deliver remarks at the Saturday afternoon event. Their reasons to support the Concord Democrat ranged from long-term familiarity with the candidate to support for the platform he detailed in the speech. "One of the most amazing and gratifying things was that I knew about half the people in the crowd," Goodwin told Patch. "I feel immensely proud that the people who know me are here but we need to keep working to get more people engaged." Goodwin, 34, is running in a crowded race for the seat being vacated by Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln. The Democratic race includes Lexington resident Mike …

Craig della Penna

1:57 pm on Monday, May 14, 2012

Amen, good Reverend. Revenue increases every year. Yet we're perpetually in crisis mode, needing even more "revenue." Can someone please explain why our government needs to grow faster than the economy of the state?   more ›

Friday, May 11, 2012

Concord's Goodwin Kicking Off Campaign with Ice Cream, Endorsement

At an ice cream social to officially kick off Joe Kearns Goodwin's campaign for state senate in the 3rd Middlesex District, state Rep. Cory Atkins, D-Concord, will endorse Goodwin as her pick to replace retiring state Sen. Susan Fargo.

  Joe Kearns Goodwin, a Democratic candidate for state Senate in the 3rd Middlesex District, is holding an official campaign kickoff/ice cream social this Saturday, May 12, at the home of state Rep. Cory Atkins, D-Concord. In addition to hosting the outdoor affair, Atkins is endorsing Goodwin for the seat long held by retiring state Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln. Atkins has known Goodwin for years. He grew up with her son, Dean, and took a semester off from his undergraduate studies at Harvard to run Atkins’ first successful campaign for state representative in 1999. “That’s only a small piece of it,” said Atkins, who is serving as Goodwin’s campaign chair in his first bid for elected office. “I’d be attracted to Joe anyway, as would a lot …

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Selectmen Welcome New Member and Talk Town Meeting Follow-Ups

Monday night's Selectmen meeting had the board welcome their newest member and discuss several follow-ups to Town Meeting.

  Monday night, the Board of Selectmen said goodbye to dutiful town official, Gregory Howes, as he stepped down after two years of service on the board. In his place, Steven Ng, an architect, was happy to sit in on his first meeting. The board also had another shift in its internal makeup as Elise F. Woodward passed the torch of chairman to Selectmen Carmin Reiss. Town Meeting Follow-Up: Bottled Water Ban Selectmen spent a good amount of time Monday night discussing several updates to Town Meeting articles as they begin to take shape. The highly debated single-serving PET bottled water ban is moving forward as Town Clerk Anita Tekle has submitted the official passing of the article onto Attorney General Martha Coakley in hopes of her …

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Jonathan Pickering

9:26 pm on Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Edit: "[...] Gregory Howes, as he stepped down after two years of service on the board." should read "[...] Gregory Howes, as he stepped down after two [terms] of service on the board." My apologies to Mr. Howes. He was a Selectmen for two terms (six years) not the two years as written in the article. In addition to his time on the Board of Selectmen, Mr. Howes also served with the Board of …   more ›

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Brown and Warren: Is It Just Politics As Usual?

It’s been an interesting week in the U.S. Senate Race between Democrat Elizabeth Warren and incumbent Republican Scott Brown.

  First it was revealed that Harvard University once touted Warren’s marginal Native American heritage as proof of their faculty’s diversity. That story was followed up with another revealing one that Warren had listed herself as a minority professor between 1986 and 1995 in the Association of American Law Schools desk book, a major reference for legal professors.  On Tuesday it was revealed that Brown, who ran for office vowing to kill President Obama’s health care law (and who has since voted three times to repeal it) took advantage of a key provision in it: the provision that allows him to keep his elder daughter on his congressional health insurance plan. Meanwhile, both candidates downplayed their wealth this week as they revealed …

Reverend E. Raleigh Pimperton III

5:58 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012

Hardly a worthy comparison. Brown merely obeyed the law, even if he did not favor it. Pocahontas Warren has distorted her past, to seek benefit by playing the race card. Reverend E. Raleigh Pimperton III   more ›

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Walden Woods Project Looks to Protect 35 Acre Landfill Near Walden Pond

The question of building solar panels on the capped landfill has been shelved for a later Town Meeting.

  The Walden Woods Project has offered the town of Concord $2.8 million to buy the development rights of a 35-acre former landfill in the woods near Walden Pond, while the town would still own the land. The landfill is capped and is now a grassy field, which the town uses for snow disposal. Now, the town is interested in putting large-scale solar panels on the cleared grassland to generate energy for the municipal light department. “For the past 22 years, our organization has been conserving 2,680 acres of Walden Woods,” Executive Director of The Walden Woods Project, Kathi Anderson said. “This grass area abuts with reservation land and is visible from Route 2. We want to preserve this. This is the face of Concord.” The Concord Landfill is…

Friday, April 27, 2012

Possible Cat-astrophe Averted – Article 45 Voted Down

The much talked about Cat Bylaw, Article 45, was shot down at last night's Town Meeting along with the vote to hire an animal control officer and to create guidelines for responsible pet ownership.

  Inspired by arguments with her neighbors over an outdoor cat killing off neighborhood birds, Town Meeting last night had petitioner and presenter Lyda Lodynsky bring up three articles that dealt with controlling the pet and wildlife populations in Concord. Lodynsky brought Articles 44, 45 and 46 before the town describing the articles as one package when she detailed, “these three articles are designed for the public good,” intended to remedy, “outdated procedures and antiquated language in our current laws.” No Animal Controller Officer Lodynsky's three articles began with Article 44 – Hiring of a Concord Animal Control Officer. Lodynsky noted that there needs to be a permanent person responsible for not just dogs (Concord has a part …

Stephen Langdon

6:25 pm on Saturday, April 28, 2012

It is frightening that the vote was so close even though the right result was achieved   more ›

While Bottled Water and Cats Take Center Stage, Town Meeting Quietly Passes Push for Solar Power

Concord moves toward greener living and more sustainable energy solutions.

  As local and national news stations focused on Concord Town Meeting's vote on the single-serving PET bottled water ban and the cat bylaw, three interesting, environmentally progressive articles were passed on the recommendation of the Selectmen, other Town officials and environmentally progressive citizens. Articles 35, 36 and 37 all deal with giving the Selectmen money and the means to both purchase and lease several large areas of land for solar power generation in order to move Concord towards greener living and more sustainable energy solutions. Article 35 – Authorization of Lease of Former Landfill Site for Solar Power Generation Article 35 was passed first. This article allows the town to enter into a long-term lease of municipal …

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Bottles Banned

Concord's annual Town Meeting voted Wednesday night to ban the sale of single-serving PET water bottles.

After nearly two hours of debate, attempted amendments and a recount, Concord Town Meeting voted to ban the sale of single-serving PET (polyethylene terephthalate) water bottles of less than 1 liter (34 ounces). Although passed by Town Meeting, the bylaw has to be signed into law by Attorney General Martha Coakley in order to start its enforcement at the beginning of next year. The Presentation Petitioner and resenter Jean Hill was joined by Jill Appel and Francesca Gentile, who took turns speaking about the troubles surrounding single-serving PET water bottles, focusing mainly on the their wasteful properties and the fact that they are untested and potentially dangerous to one's health. Another key point in their argument was by passing …

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Katy G.

10:18 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Detroit needs all of the industries it can get. After years of being run by corrupt politicians and union thugs the city is literally in ruins. If you want to shut down an industry in Detroit because you think it's unfair to its citizens, why don't you take a good look at this and think about the consequences: http://twistedsifter.com/2011/02/ruins-of-detroit-yves-marchand-romain-meffre/#.…   more ›

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