“A Day of Apples and Art,” the first “traveling” event for a proposed New England Museum of Apple and Cider, will be held at Sholan Farms in Leominster, Massachusetts, Saturday, September 4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The day will feature plenty of fresh cider and early season apples, presentations about cider and the early varieties, a demonstration with an antique cider press, plein-air artists painting throughout the orchard, a hands-on painting workshop for children, live music, food, and more. More than one dozen early apple varieties will be available for display and sampling.
“We are thrilled to be launching the museum idea at Sholan Farms,” says Russell Powell, executive director of New England Apple Association and author of America’s Apple, Apples of New England. “The proposed museum will be a way to mark New England’s unique place in the history of apples and to continue to connect families to apple orchards and the new, booming cider industry in the region. It is fitting that it will be in Leominster, birthplace of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed).”
“We are delighted to host this historic event, and we are looking forward to getting people out to our beautiful orchard to showcase the many varieties available this time of year,” says Joanne DiNardo, president of Sholan Farm’s board of directors.
Admission is free and open to the public. Updates will be posted on newenglandapples.org.
The traveling museum will make stops at orchards around New England over the next two years with unique events that celebrate the history and future of New England apples and cider. The proposed museum is a project of the nonprofit New England Apple Association. It will be the first of its kind in the country.
Last August, Gov. Charlie Baker’s test-or-quarantine travel restrictions meant many people were sticking close to home for their summer trips, or left trying to discern the protocols they’d need to follow for, say, a quick border-crossing jaunt to Narragansett Beach.
This year, things are different. Vacation season is back in earnest on Beacon Hill and elsewhere, complete with a heatwave, quiet halls at the State House (that is, even quieter than still-closed building has been for months) and, for much of last weekend, Acting Governor Bill Galvin.
Baker’s weeklong family trip to California overlapped with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito’s own weekend visit to Pennsylvania, leaving the secretary of state officially running the show for a couple days until Polito returned.
Before the week was out, Galvin would have the chance to deploy one of his duties that’s even rarer than stepping into the acting governor role — unveiling the state’s updated population numbers post-Census.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Thursday release of data from its 2020 count tracked a 7.4 percent population increase in both Massachusetts and the country as a whole over the decade. Galvin, the state’s Census overseer, said dramatic growth in cities and other changes means significant adjustments lie ahead for Congressional and state legislative districts.
The exact shapes and boundaries of those districts will be left in the hands of lawmakers, but uneven growth points to the possibility of larger districts out west, where Berkshire and Franklin counties lost residents, and more compact or shifted districts in the eastern part of the state, where large cities got bigger.
Boston, Galvin forecast, could gain another seat in the state House of Representatives.
Before that can happen, though, the city’s voters will choose their next mayor. With about a month to go before the preliminary election, endorsement announcements have been swirling as new ads hit screens and candidates direct their jabs at City Hall.
Acting Mayor Kim Janey instituted a new policy that will require the city’s 18,000 workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing, gradually phasing in the mandate by mid-October.
Though she’s panned the idea of vaccine passports like New York City is pursuing, Janey’s been hinting for a few weeks that this move was coming, and other mayoral candidates were quick to knock its pace.
City Councilor Andrea Campbell called it “the type of decision that should take hours or days – not weeks,” and John Barros labeled it “overdue,” saying Janey should have put the rule in place when City Hall employees returned to in-person work. Councilor Michelle Wu said the city needs “more than half measures,” calling for vaccine regulations for spaces like gyms, salons and restaurants.
No one knows what COVID-19 dynamics will look like in 2022, but the virus and state government’s handling of it is also an issue on the winding campaign trail to next year’s governor’s race.
Two Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls are pushing for changes in how the state communicates information about the pandemic.
Danielle Allen wants to see Baker create an alert system modeled after weather advisories that would monitor risk levels, triggering changes like more testing or mask mandates in schools if infections hit certain levels in a particular area. Former state Sen. Ben Downing called for “Beacon Hill to begin the process of auditing the Baker Administration’s Department of Public Health for their omissions in reporting on hospitalization data by age, race, and other demographics.”
The third Democrat in the field so far, Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, collected endorsements from eight of her colleagues in the Legislature and four progressive municipal officials from Boston, Worcester and Lawrence.
While lawmakers take their own version of a summer break this month, several still have their eyes on the looming back-to-school season — and on the Baker administration’s decision to recommend, but not require, in-classroom masking for students in kindergarten through sixth grade, unvaccinated older students and unvaccinated adults in schools.
Public Health Committee co-chairs Rep. Marjorie Decker and Sen. Jo Comerford, who have custody of a bill that would require universal masking in schools, wrote in The Boston Globe this week that Baker should put a stronger school mask mandate in place. And the sponsor of that bill, Sen. Becca Rausch, has been collecting comments from parents and others who want to see students and their teachers mask up this fall.
As various school committees and boards of health vote on their own policies, it’s becoming clear that — at least for now — mask and vaccine rules will be the domain of individual municipalities and employers.
“I think communities are doing exactly what we hoped and anticipated that they would do, which is making the decision that makes the most sense for them,” Baker said Thursday, visiting digital learning company Cengage in his first public event since before his California trip.
The governor touted the state’s high vaccination rates and forthcoming clinics set up with school departments, saying he expects some communities will likely have “north of 80 percent of their kids at the seven to 12 grade level” vaccinated by the time school starts.
For younger students who still aren’t vaccine-eligible, Baker said he anticipates an emergency-use authorization for a vaccine at some point in the fall. The administration’s “strong recommendation” that kids in grades K-6 wear masks reflects the fact that the shots aren’t available to them, he said.
“We’ve also made our pool testing program available, which was a big success last spring — about 1,000 schools participated in it — we’re making that program available to any school district, and any school in Massachusetts, public school, that wants to participate,” he said. “And I think you put all those things together, and we are perfectly positioned to make sure that kids and adults will be safe when they go back to school, and we fully expect everybody to be in person.”
The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on face coverings would now have everybody in Massachusetts — vaccinated and unvaccinated — wear masks in indoor public places. That recommendation, issued late last month, applies to counties experiencing “high” or “substantial” COVID-19 transmission — now the whole of Massachusetts.
The federal eviction moratorium is also linked to those transmission levels, so it applies across each of the state’s 14 counties.
That hasn’t stopped some lawmakers from wanting to put their own state-level ban in place. Eighty-two of 200 lawmakers signed on to a moratorium bill that was the subject of this week’s sole committee hearing.
Holding a hearing in the middle of the traditional August recess is atypical, and could mean the bill or related policies might get pencilled in to the post-Labor Day agenda.
When the fall term arrives at New England Law Boston, it’ll happen without Scott Brown at the school’s helm. The former senator and ambassador to New Zealand resigned after about seven months as president and dean of the faculty, saying it’s time for him to re-enter the political arena.
The former Wrentham Republican now calls New Hampshire home. Even if it’s not the Bay State political arena he’s seeking, he nonetheless might have sights on its regular arenas, bandstands, bars and theaters — his rock cover band, Scott Brown and the Diplomats, has a show planned at Salisbury Beach on Saturday, and is set to hit the Wrentham Town Common later this month.
Deal-seeking shoppers might opt for Wrentham this weekend instead, hitting the outlets there to take advantage of the two-day break from the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax.
Baker had sought to turn the annual sales tax-holiday into a two-month vacation, filing a bill in June that would have extended the tax-free period throughout all of August and September.
Legislative leaders and several other Democrats panned the idea, leaving the bill on ice throughout the dog days of summer. It’s been before the Revenue Committee since July 1, with a hearing not yet scheduled.
A different type of tax may be top of mind for Rep. David Linsky. The Natick Democrat told the News Service this week that he’s on a payment plan with the Internal Revenue Service to pay back “every dime” of his $154,000 owed in unpaid federal income taxes and has already started to chip away at that balance.
State House staffer income is the subject of a trio of new bills from Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven and Sen. Diana DiZoglio. The lawmakers’ package proposes setting a minimum salary of $55,000 for full-time legislative staffers, providing them with yearly cost-of-living adjustments and offering retroactive bonuses to offset pandemic-related work costs.
That proposed wage floor would represent a raise for many staffers. As far as windfalls go, though, it would be fairly modest compared to the influx of federal dollars the state and cities will amass from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Mayor Janey this week announced a listening campaign to help Boston plan how to spend about $400 million in ARPA money, similar to the hearing process legislative budget writers are undertaking to determine how to allocate the state’s billions.
The Ways and Means Committee’s hearings started in July and are on hold for the month, with plans to pick back up after Labor Day. Like so much else, those spending questions will still be there on the other side of August.
STORY OF THE WEEK: School mask debates continue to simmer as summer vacations wind down.
SONG OF THE WEEK: Crumple that outdated map in your pocket; the Census numbers are here and it’s time to draw some new districts.
After months of pandemic-induced delays, the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday released the local-level population and demographic data from the 2020 count of the nation’s population, triggering a sprint to redraw the boundaries of the state’s legislative and Congressional districts over the coming months.
The 2020 Census counted 7,029,917 people living in Massachusetts, a 482,288-person or 7.4 percent increase over the last decade that outpaced the 4.1 percent average in the Northeast and equaled the growth rate of the country as a whole. The state’s growth has been uneven, likely requiring the western Massachusetts districts represented by U.S. Rep Richard Neal and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern’s western/central district to be expanded in size to meet the 781,497-constituent target set by Census officials, while the footprint of eastern districts close to Boston may need to shrink or shift west.
Armed with the detailed local data showing population gains in all 10 of the largest Bay State cities — Boston (+58,053), Worcester (+25,473), Springfield (+2,869), Lowell (+9,035), Cambridge (+13,241), New Bedford (+6,007), Brockton (+11,833), Quincy (+9,365), Lynn (+10,924) and Fall River (+5,143) — and decreases in Holyoke (-1,642), Pittsfield (-810), North Adams (-747) and Westfield (-260), the Legislature can truly begin the process of reshaping voting districts to account for shifting population centers with a few sometimes-conflicting priorities in mind, like maximizing minority representation and protecting incumbents.
Outside the 10 most populous cities, Lawrence saw the greatest population growth (+12,766) followed by Revere (+10,431), Everett (+7,408), Haverhill (+6,908) and Malden (+6,813). Secretary of State Bill Galvin said Thursday afternoon that Massachusetts now has nine cities with more than 100,000 residents and Worcester, the state’s second-largest city, has surpassed 200,000 residents for the first time.
“We’ve had significant changes within our state. We’ve seen cities grow dramatically … Many of the suburban communities grow as well,” Galvin, the state’s liaison to the Census, said. He added, “Particularly gratifying was seeing some of the communities that we were most concerned about, where we knew there were significant populations of non-native born persons, being fully counted. So, for instance, the city of Lawrence is now at 89,000, a dramatic gain. The city of Revere had the greatest percentage gain. The city of Chelsea, one of the concerns we constantly expressed, is now at 40,000 people. The city of New Bedford is at 102,000 people. These are all communities that, even to the last days of the Census, we were constantly struggling to make sure people were counted in those communities.”
The only two counties in Massachusetts to shed residents over the last decade were Berkshire (-2,193) and Franklin (-343). Every other county saw population growth, led by the gains of 128,917 people in Middlesex County, 75,913 people in Suffolk County and 66,670 people in Essex County. By growth percentage, Nantucket County led the way with a 40.1 percent gain (an increase of 4,083 people).
That’s at odds with the national trend, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. Across the country, less than half (47 percent) of the nation’s 3,143 counties gained population over the last decade.
Galvin said the new numbers from the Census mean that Congressional districts will include 781,000 people, state Senate districts will include more than 175,000 people and state House of Representative districts will include almost 44,000 people.
“So all of these districts are going to have to change. And there’s going to have to be some significant adjustment made,” Galvin said. “Just to take Boston because it’s the largest city as an example, Boston appears to have gained — did gain — 58,000 people. That means it probably would gain an additional, potentially an additional, seat in the House of Representatives.”
The Special Joint Committee on Redistricting, led by Assistant House Majority Michael Moran and Senate President Pro Tempore William Brownsberger, has already held more than 18 hearings on the redistricting process and is expected to hold more public hearings once its proposed district maps are available.
Moran told the News Service on Thursday that the committee’s third-party vendor is working now to put the latest Census data into a format that meets the committee’s parameters. Once it is, lawmakers will begin diving into the numbers and digesting it with the testimony from redistricting hearings.
But he is also mindful of the Census Bureau’s plan for another data release — the Census says it will be the same data but presented in different formats — by Sept. 30. Moran said the committee has to use official Census data and “given the Census’ credibility in the last year and a half,” he is not considering the data released Thursday to be the official numbers.
“My job isn’t to be first on this stuff, my job is to be correct,” Moran, who led the last round of redistricting for the House, said. He added, “As far as I’m concerned and the House is concerned — and I think you’ll see Senator Brownsberger is in a similar position — our job is to get it right. And we’re going to look at these numbers when they’re in a safe space for us to look at them.”
There could be other proposed maps in the mix as well. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and Republican Sen. Ryan Fattman plan to oversee the redistricting process for the Senate minority caucus and are leaving their options open as they scrutinize the fresh data, a Tarr spokesman said. For the House Republicans, Rep. Paul Frost will serve as the redistricting point person.
“Whether the caucus produces its own proposal will be dictated in large part by what the preliminary maps look like, but we certainly plan to offer our input throughout this important undertaking and will be working to ensure that the entire process remains open and transparent,” House Minority Leader Brad Jones said.
Shortly after the data was made available, advocates with the Drawing Democracy Coalition said they plan to use it to produce the organization’s own “unity map” that would keep communities together and ensure equitable representation for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian-American communities, people of color, immigrants, and low-income communities. The group said it plans to eventually submit its map to the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting.
“Redistricting is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to better ensure authentic representation and open new opportunities for building power for BIPOC, immigrant and low-income communities,” the coalition said in a statement. “Especially as efforts are underway across the country to restrict access to voting, it is more important than ever to ensure that voters can elect representatives of their choice. While today’s release of the redistricting data is several months delayed, the Drawing Democracy Coalition is confident that, along with the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting, we have a strong plan in place to ensure that the process remains fair and transparent and that the new district maps are approved by the November 8, 2021 deadline.”
State representatives planning to seek reelection in 2022 must reside within their district boundaries for at least one year ahead of time, making Nov. 8, 2021 a soft deadline for the new maps that would give candidates a chance to ensure they can be eligible for next year’s election.
Drawing Democracy said it has already received and shared with the Special Redistricting Committee 99 “community of interest” map submissions “providing valuable insight from local residents into what areas of their communities are most important to keep together.”
Once the group’s unity map is drafted, it will go through “extensive legal review” to make sure that it is in compliance with the Voting Rights Act, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, the Massachusetts Constitution and state laws. Drawing Democracy plans to solicit input from its coalition members at five virtual listening sessions, make any necessary tweaks and then present it to the legislative committee for consideration.
“During redistricting in 2011, the final maps approved by the legislature closely resembled the unity map presented by Drawing Democracy,” the group pointed out Thursday in its announcement.
Thursday’s data release from the U.S. Census Bureau follows its April release of congressional apportionment data, which provided total state headcounts to be used to determine each state’s number of U.S. House of Representatives seats and in funding formulas. Massachusetts added 482,288 people since the last Census in 2010, ensuring that its delegation to the U.S. House will remain the same size rather than shrinking by one as happened after the 2010 count.
But that April data was not enough to draw maps of voting districts within states because it did not get into the granular details like where in a state people live, or their age, race and ethnicity.
The redistricting data released Thursday gets down to the individual Census block, counts only residents (the apportionment data also includes “federally-affiliated” people living overseas), and includes race, ethnicity and some housing information. It became available Thursday in what the Census called a “legacy format” that states, redistricting software vendors and groups like the National Conference of State Legislatures are familiar with.
The Census plans to release the same data in manners more accessible to the public by the end of September, including through the data.census.gov platform. Governors, state legislative leaders and any redistricting commissions around the country will get DVDs and flash drives with an integrated data browsing software by the end of next month.
But by then, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law said, “many states are expected to start and potentially even complete their map-drawing processes.”
Are you looking to start your career, make a career change or shorten your commute?
Land your next job at the WorkNorthCentral Hiring Event! The Hiring Event will be held on Tuesday, September 28th at Great Wolf Lodge in Fitchburg, MA. The event is FREE for job seekers!
Job seekers will be able to take advantage of full day of programming including a Resume Workshop, Interview Skills Workshop, “What are our resources?”, Social Media and Job Searching, a Presentation on Jobs in Manufacturing, a Presentation on Career Counseling, Free Headshots by Habakkuk Media Services – Photography and Portraiture and Prize Raffles through the day.
The WorkNorthCentral Hiring Event will have over 25 employers ranging from banks, healthcare, education, non-profit, manufacturers and many more. To see a full list of the hiring companies or register for the Hiring Event, visit NorthCentralMass.com.
In a partnership with the Massachusetts Office of Business Development and MassDevelopment, the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce will be hosting state economic development officials for one-on-one appointments with local developers, manufacturers and business owners. The meetings are an opportunity to discuss any specific matters related to their business or the expansion of their business, as well as to review state resources available to support business growth and expansion.
Kevin Kuros, Central Massachusetts Director for MOBD and Rob Anderson,
Vice President of Business Development for MassDevelopment will be available at the Chamber office by appointment on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 between 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The appointments are in thirty minute increments and are first come, first serve. The meetings are free and confidential, available on a non-discriminatory basis, and are handicapped accessible.
MOBD helps businesses relocating to Massachusetts and businesses wishing to expand their current operations here. MOBD is responsible for managing the state’s Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP) which provides tax credits for qualifying business expansion projects. In addition, they provide information on other state economic development programs, including the state’s R&D tax credit, the Mass Life Science Center tax incentives, the Workforce Training Fund grant program, the Mass Clean Energy Center programs, the STEP grant offered through the Mass Office of International Trade and Investment and other state resources.
MassDevelopment, the state’s quasi-public finance and development agency provides real estate and equipment loans and other programs to support manufacturers, non-profit organizations and developers of rental housing. In addition, they also manage the state’s Brownfields Tax Credit Program, Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and New Markets Tax Credit Program.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce at (978) 353-7600 ext. 222.
Ms. Joanna Belanger freelanced for Sitka Creations during 2020 and early 2021. Sitka Creations is pleased to announce that Ms. Belanger is now part of our in-house team, as of July 2021.
In early 2016 Ms. Belanger began working in social media while employed at a day spa in Central Massachusetts. Her commitment to working in social media became stronger when she saw the importance of these digital connections during the spring of 2020 as face-to-face connections were greatly reduced because of the pandemic. During this time, Ms. Belanger found creative ways to use social media connections to buoy sales of beauty products for the day spa while services could not be provided because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Ms. Belanger says of Sitka Creations, “I’m feeling very blessed to be working with the Sitka team! I love working with this group of strong, creative, and inspiring women! Sitka Creations has a lot to offer companies that are looking to stand out in both the physical and digital marketplace. I am excited to see what we will produce as we learn from each other and work together.”
Sitka Creations is a design studio that provides creative solutions for businesses through WP website design, graphic design, social media management, web hosting, photography, PR, and content writing. Women-owned and operated, located in Shirley, MA.
Each spring, a number of the region’s most outstanding high school seniors are recognized with scholarships from the Chamber Foundation of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. A total of $52,000 in scholarships were awarded this year. These awards were either endowed or funded by companies and individuals. The Scholarship Committee selected scholarship recipients from among college-bound seniors in the Chamber’s service area. The sole basis for selection was merit – in all aspects of students’ endeavors, from academics and sports to volunteer work and employment.
Since the establishment of its scholarship program, the North Central Massachusetts Chamber Foundation has awarded over a million dollars in scholarships to over 600 students. Many of these awards are made possible through contributions from members of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. Scholarships endowed through the Chamber Foundation are often named in honor of prominent members of the North Central Massachusetts business community whose philanthropy and commitment to the community have helped shape North Central Massachusetts. The Chamber wishes to thank TD Bank and Unitil for their sponsorship of this year’s scholarship program, as well as the many Chamber members who contributed towards the scholarships.
Twenty-six scholarships of $2,000 were distributed to the following seniors from throughout North Central Massachusetts:
Luke Boccelli
North Middlesex Regional High School
Awarded: Chamber Foundation Scholarship
Sara Buszkiewicz
Oakmont Regional High School
Awarded: Barbara Silva Scholarship
Patrick Conlan
Leominster Center for Technical Education Innovation
Awarded: Elizabeth & Anthony DiGeronimo Family Scholarship
Vivian Liu
The Bromfield School
Awarded: Workers Credit Union
Kaitlyn Ostrowski
The Bromfield School
Awarded: Chamber Foundation Scholarship
Lindsey Parise
Nashoba Valley Technical High School
Awarded: George R. Wallace, Jr. and Alice G. Wallace Scholarship
Kelly Provencial
Oakmont Regional High School
Awarded: Benjamin Asher Scholarship
Lindsay Romano
Oakmont Regional High School
Awarded: Roderick W. & Donna M. Lewin Scholarship
Jocelyn Rossignol
Clinton High School
Awarded: Patricia S. Alario Scholarship
Lauren Ruggiero
Lunenburg High School
Awarded: Adams Family Scholarship
Kaden Scopelliti
Fitchburg High School
Awarded: UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Scholarship
Edward Siaw
Leominster High School
Awarded: Edward C. J. Healey Scholarship
Vincent Soubbotin
Leominster Center for Technical Education Innovation
Awarded: Chamber Foundation Scholarship
Verda Tetteh
Fitchburg High School
Awarded: UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Scholarship
Hana Valikangas
North Middlesex Regional High School
Awarded: Elizabeth & Anthony DiGeronimo Family Scholarship
Henry Vandermillen
Groton-Dunstable Regional High School
Awarded: Ronald Ansin Scholarshipllllll
Cynthia Wangeera
North Middlesex Regional High School
Awarded: UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Scholarship
Thailee Zarycki
Leominster High School
Awarded: UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital Scholarship
Ardon Zibel
Leominster High School
Awarded: M. Ruth Lee Scholarship
“Congratulations to the students who were awarded scholarships from the North Central Massachusetts Chamber Foundation,” said Roy M. Nascimento, President & CEO of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. “The Chamber is committed to providing these scholarships to local students to continue their education and develop into future leaders in North Central Massachusetts. Thank you to the many local businesses who helped make these scholarships possible.”
The Chamber Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization focused on assisting in the betterment of the region through charitable activities. Funds raised by the Chamber’s Foundation are utilized primarily for education/workforce development initiatives and charitable activities in North Central Massachusetts.
For more information on the North Central Massachusetts Chamber Foundation’s scholarship program or to view a list of the named scholarships, please visit northcentralmass.com or call 978.353.7600 ext. 222.
Victor Rojas, Assistant Director of GEAR UP, has been named GEAR UP Professional of the Year by the National Council for Community Education Partnerships (NCCEP) at their annual conference.
The Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) initiative is one of the largest and most effective programs focused on increasing college and career readiness of low-income students in communities nationwide. GEAR UP targets entire grades of students, partnering with local organizations and business, and matching Federal Department of Education funds with local contributions, allowing projects to support large number of students. The NCCEP leadership awards honors students, family leaders, community partners, and professionals from the GEAR UP community.
The GEAR UP Professional of the Year is awarded to an individual who is committed to the GEAR UP movement and the goal of ensuring that college access and success is available to all students. Through their work with GEAR UP, the awardee demonstrates the passion and perseverance to assist low-income students in their quest to attain a college education.
“As an educator, a soldier, a husband, a father, and proud grandfather, Victor encapsulates the GEAR UP mission,” NCCEP noted in a statement.
“In the past ten years, Fitchburg High School has achieved its highest level of attendance, graduation rates, students earning dual enrollment credits, students passing Advanced Placement tests, and our lowest suspension and dropout rates,” states Fitchburg High School Principal Jeremy Roache. “Mr. Rojas dogged efforts have much to do with those results.”
Twenty co-workers and community members submitted letters of recommendation to the NCCEP in support of Rojas nomination as Professional of the Year, detailing his qualities, accomplishments, and contribution to the success of the GEAR UP students.
“Victor is always committed to making sure 100% of students are receiving the support that GEAR UP promised. His work goes above and beyond,” noted Peter Chirichiello, GEAR UP Director. “When the school day is over, he is helping everyone with their college applications and financial aid forms. Even when our students were in sixth and seventh grade, he would stay late and make home visits. GEAR UP is not a job for Victor, it is a way of life.”
Born in Puerto Rico, Rojas moved to Fitchburg when he was very young and without speaking any English. Despite this hurdle, he excelled as a student in the Fitchburg Public School system, and went on to become the first in his family to graduate from college, earning his bachelors from Fitchburg State University and his Masters of Education from Cambridge College.
He became involved in the GEAR UP Program in 1999 when it was first introduced in Fitchburg. In addition to the countless students he has impacted, he has personally trained and mentored dozens of college access staff. His experience coupled with a strong sense of duty and responsibility has helped to build an entire cadre of dedicated college access professionals who are culturally competent, willing to go the extra mile for students, and who fully understand the importance of this work to the entire community.
“I have had the pleasure of working and supervising many passionate professional educators, but Victor stands in a special place amongst his peers. I have known Mr. Rojas for over twenty years and have witnessed, firsthand, his innate ability to build strong relationships with our students and extended families,” noted Craig Chalifoux, Director of Finance and Operations for Fitchburg Public Schools. “His passion is outweighed only by his compassion for families and the incredible obstacles they face as they enter the financial aid process and try to understand how this is even a possibility for their child. Victor is kind, understanding, and presents a sense of great hopefulness for families and students as they face longstanding institutional bias and systems that are set-up to disenfranchise so many of our families.”
“Victor is known as Mr. GEAR UP. He has worked on every GEAR UP grant at our institution since the very first grant in 1999,” added Shaunti Phillips, Academic Counselor. “Having walked the same path as many of his students, Victor is able to lead and guide them to be the best that they can be and achieve their dreams.”
“For years I have heard stories about Victor Rojas’ impact with students at Fitchburg High School. I have come to know first-hand how much Victor has transformed lives over the past twenty years,” says Fagan Forhan, Assistant Dean, K-12 Partnerships & Civic Engagement at MWCC. “Every time we are at a community event former students approach him to share their successes and tell the rest of us how much he helped them.”
Visit mwcc.edu to learn more about the GEAR UP Fitchburg program.
Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito announced the departure of Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Secretary Thomas Turco, III. Secretary Turco is retiring after more than 30 years of public service. The Administration also announced the appointment of current Undersecretary for Law Enforcement Terrence Reidy as Acting Secretary of Public Safety and Security.
“Since taking office, our Administration has been deeply committed to ensuring the safety and security of the residents, families and communities of the Commonwealth, and we are grateful for the leadership of Secretary Turco in pursuing that goal,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Tom has played an invaluable role in many major efforts to deliver a safer Commonwealth for all, including working with law enforcement, legislators and community justice leaders to deliver landmark police reform legislation. We appreciate his expertise and commitment to public service, and look forward to continuing to work with Acting Secretary Reidy.”
“Over the past three years Secretary Turco led the team at the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and its agencies with purpose and dedication, and we wish him well in his retirement,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “His commitment to supporting the public safety of our local communities was unsurpassed and his thoughtful leadership was invaluable to our Administration. I want to thank Secretary Turco for his years of service and welcome Acting Secretary Reidy to this new role.”
“Public safety depends on all of us working together to build a culture of preparedness, responsiveness, and care for those in our communities,” said Public Safety and Security Secretary Thomas Turco. “I would like to thank the residents of the Commonwealth for their support of our work, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor for their confidence in me and my colleagues across our agencies whose collective partnership has advanced our vision of excellence. Knowing how our team will rise to this occasion empowers me to make this decision to spend time with my family who have been a source of unwavering support to me in my life of public service.”
“Serving on Secretary Turco’s leadership team at EOPSS has prepared me for the task of succeeding such an effective leader,” said Undersecretary for Law Enforcement Terrence Reidy. “I am honored to be appointed Acting Secretary of Public Safety and Security and lead a talented group of world-class professionals. Together with our partners in the Administration, Legislature, and local communities, we will fulfill our mission to sustain and increase public safety.”
“On behalf of the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs, I would like to extend our collective congratulations to Secretary Turco on his retirement,” said President of the Major City Chiefs, Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes. “Tom has been a phenomenal leader who we have benefited from. His wisdom, guidance, and ability to make the most difficult decisions has made the Commonwealth a safer place. His legacy will continue in our law enforcement community for years to come.”
“As Boston Police Commissioner, I experienced an extraordinary collaborative fusion under Tom Turco’s leadership,” said Retired Boston Police Commissioner Willie Gross. “Like Coach Belichick, he leveraged the strength of each local, state, and federal partner – challenging each to do their job and contribute to a shared mission. I thank his family for supporting Tom in his work to make the Commonwealth a safer place for all.”
Under Secretary Turco’s leadership, the Baker-Polito Administration has made several advancements on key public safety and security issues for people and communities across Massachusetts. Key accomplishments include:
Collaborated with the Legislature and key stakeholders to develop, codify into law, and implement the foundation of the comprehensive 2020 police reform bill.
Increased opportunities for implementing body cameras, including creating grant opportunities for municipalities and a dedicated program for more than 1,500 troopers within the State Police.
Supported the Commonwealth’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by helping to coordinate a statewide effort to distribute personal protective equipment and other critical supplies to first responders and other frontline workers.
Led state-wide election security planning to ensure that residents could safely exercise their right to vote in the election as well as free speech.
Developed the first-of-its-kind “Faith-Based Organization Safety and Security Toolkit,” an e-learning course for all houses of worship, faith organizations, law enforcement organizations, and first responders in the Commonwealth, and a similar workbook for large public venues.
Supported funding for the Department of Fire Services to redevelop a former Department of Corrections site and create an academy in Bridgewater.
Recruited and swore in 450 new State Troopers and oversaw the recruitment of the most diverse State Police class in history.
About Terrence Reidy:
Terrence Reidy has served as Undersecretary for Law Enforcement within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security since 2019, where he has provided strategic leadership to the Massachusetts State Police, the Municipal Police Training Committee, and the Office of Grants and Research. In addition, Reidy served as a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Hate Crimes. Drawing on his prosecutorial experience collaborating with community leaders, he oversaw the creation of a hate crime resource guide for Massachusetts schools and partnered with police to ensure that every department in the Commonwealth has a trained, dedicated civil rights officer.
Prior to his work at EOPSS, Reidy was an Assistant Attorney General in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and Assistant District Attorney in Worcester and Suffolk Counties. His experience included supervising the Attorney General’s Enterprise, Major Crimes, and Cyber Crime Unit and the Worcester District Attorney’s Gang Unit. In Suffolk County, Reidy was promoted from District Court Prosecutor to Superior Court where he served in the Gang and Safe Neighborhood Initiative Units. In these roles, he developed collaborative relationships with federal, state, and local law enforcement as well as residents and community groups.
Beyond his work in government, Reidy dedicates time to volunteering as a coach for several youth sports organizations. He completed his undergraduate studies at Colby College and earned his juris doctor from New England School of Law.
LEOMINSTER, MA—Aging Services of North Central Massachusetts (ASNCM) is pleased to announce the promotion of Julie Arena to Clinical Nurse Director.
Lori A. Richardson, Chief Executive Officer of ASCNM stated, “Julie brings extensive nursing clinical experience and proven interdisciplinary focus that will be a benefit to programs throughout the agency. She is laser-focused on providing quality services to our consumers. We are excited to have her in this new role.”
Ms. Arena received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University in Boston Massachusetts. Arena’s promotion comes after serving four years at the agency.
“I am incredibly humbled to have the opportunity to expand my role at the agency and look forward to continuing my work with the amazing ASNCM nurses. It is exciting to be a part of an agency that is relentless in its vision, values, and mission” said Julie Arena, Clinical Nurse Director.
To learn more about the Aging Services of North Central Massachusetts—including programs and services being offered, ways you can donate or volunteer, or to learn more about this historic rebrand, please visit www.AgingServicesMA.org or contact David Ginisi, Chief Marketing Officer, at (978) 466-1571 or by email at .
