Man About Canton: SOME UPS AND DOWNS FOR SENATOR JOYCE
By Joe DeFeliceDID YOU KNOW…
Things seem to be running hot and cold lately for five-term state Senator Brian Joyce (D-Milton). On the plus side, Joyce says he is delighted that the U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the Judge Rotenberg Center here in Canton, which allegedly uses what has been described as controversial aversive therapies in treating young people who have serious and uncontrollable behavior problems. Senator Joyce has long been an outspoken opponent of the Judge Rotenberg Center’s treatment methods, but for several years, he has been unsuccessful in gaining legislative prohibition of them.
Senator Joyce also spent several years unsuccessfully trying to get legislative support for a law requiring senior citizens to undergo testing before their driver’s license is renewed, and it appears he is finally getting his way. However, in so doing, he may have upset many of those seniors to a point where they may not politically support him in the future.
On the senator’s negative side, he has become involved in a big to-do about the state-run public skating rink in Milton. Since 2004, Senator Joyce has been unsuccessfully pushing for legislation to allow an independent management company to privatize the popular Max Ulin Memorial Skating Rink. He and some others have tried to put the rink management out to bid, but state and local officials, including the Milton selectmen, always managed to block the effort. Senator Joyce publicly maintains that private management will mean better-run facilities and significant cost savings for the state. However, Joyce’s position on this rink issue has triggered waves of bitter unrest and criticism among his constituents who aren’t so sure, and they claim private rink management will bring higher fees and less rink time. The state Inspector General has also stepped into the fray and has asked the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation to give the town more time to put together a proposal to run the rink and also investigate the rink’s controversial free-rent arrangement with the privately-owned Curry College, where the senator used to teach and still has many supporters. Stay tuned.
As MAC told you last week, the Canton Lions Club will hold its 33rd annual Country Breakfast from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. this coming Sunday, March 28, in the Canton High School cafeteria. Proceeds will go to Lions’ charities. In addition to a great breakfast, you can also meet and have your picture taken with the Easter Bunny who will make a special appearance for the occasion. The cost is $6.50 for adults and $4.50 for children under 12.
Comcast Corp., the nation’s biggest cable company, is now spending millions of dollars on a national ad campaign to create their new cable TV, internet, and telephone service name, Xfinity. Comcast, or Xfinity, serves millions of customers in 39 states and the District of Columbia, including Canton.
According to health officials at the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Swine Flu (or H1N1) killed approximately 12,000 people in the United States, but the number could fall short of the 36,000 people who die each year from seasonal flu. Ninety percent of those who died were younger than 65, which was the reverse of a typical flu season.
The National Greeting Card Association reported that about one billion Valentine cards were bought again this year, and as usual, 86 percent of them were purchased by females.
Canton-based Reebok will launch a new TV ad campaign using their new “Ree” catchword on April 12. It will feature Cincinnati Bengals star Chad Ochocinco wearing a pair of their new ZigTech shoes. With $2.7 billion in annual sales, Reebok is owned by Adidas, which is the world’s number two sneaker company behind Nike.
Those of you who drive in this area will be interested to learn that after an absence of several years, Bickford’s Grille has reopened at its former location near the Union Street Rotary in Braintree. It is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
There is a battle brewing among the Board of Selectmen in Stoughton over the pay for their new town manager, former Stoughton District Court Judge Francis T. Crimmins. By a vote of 3-2, Crimmins will be generously paid $158,000 per year, which is $38,000 more than what his predecessor, Mark Stankiewicz, was paid. If you’re following this, Stankiewicz left Stoughton in February to become the town manager in Plymouth.
Finally Canton-based Dunkin’ Donuts recently celebrated its 60th birthday. The giant coffee and donuts chain presently has more than 9,000 locations in 30 countries — including 1,123 in Massachusetts alone — and despite the recession, revenues increased 2 percent in 2009 to $5.6 billion. Dunkin’ got its start in 1950 when William Rosenberg opened the first shop in Quincy.
To one who does not know, a small garden is a forest.
This is all for now folks; see you next week.
Joe DeFelice can be reached at
manaboutcanton@aol.com
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=1826
Posted by Joe DeFelice
on Mar 25 2010. Filed under Man About Canton, Opinion.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
