Man About Canton: Little Black Boxes

Did you know …

In a very interesting article in the Boston Globe, it was recently quoted that about 96 percent of new vehicles sold in the United States have a “little-known piece of equipment in the innards of a car” — the event data recorder, commonly known as the black box. The recorder captures only the few seconds surrounding a crash as the airbag deploys, but in those few seconds, it captures and records speed, brake position, seat belt use, and other data. The black box sits under the center console. If the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has its way, all new cars as of September 2014 will have the “black box.”

By the way, now you know how they were able to tell the exact speed (108 mph) that former Lt. Governor Tim Murray was driving — plus the fact that he did not have a seatbelt on — when he crashed his car on I-190 in Sterling, even though he told police he was not speeding and had his seatbelt on. Big Brother is really watching us when we think he isn’t!

MAC congratulates George and Marla Jenkins on receiving the “Peggy Simons Care and Compassion Award” for their dedication to family, community, and people in need. George and Marla received the award at the annual Catholic Charities South event recently held at the Blue Hill Country Club in Canton. The award is named in honor of another well-known Canton resident, the late Peggy Simons, a former nurse at the Mass. Hospital School who served on both the Finance Committee and the Recreation Department.

The U.S. Senate, in a 59-40 vote, finally approved the nomination of Gina McCarthy as the Environmental Protection Agency’s top administrator. Gina began her career in 1980 as the town of Canton’s first full-time health agent. She was the assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation before being nominated by President Barack Obama to lead the EPA.

Canton’s Oladunni Oladipo recently sang the national anthem before the Red Sox/Yankees game and also performed God Bless America in the seventh inning. The event took place at the game on Sunday night, July 21, which the Red Sox won in extra innings 8-7.

Attorney Mark Bobrowski has been hired by Canton to represent the town in fighting a 40B development of 276 apartment units on the Canton/Milton town line. All the buildings will be in Milton, but some of the property extends into Canton.

According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, the original State House dome, completed in 1798, was made of wood and began leaking almost immediately. To stop the water, the legislature approved the purchase of copper from the Paul Revere Foundry in Canton, which was used to sheet the dome. In 1874, the dome was gilded, and it has remained that way ever since.

According to the Labor Department, an estimated 45,000 federal employees work in Massachusetts.

The town of Stoughton is having a tough time trying to fill 25 vacancies on various town boards. The vacancies include two openings on the Board of Assessors, two seats on the Board of Library Trustees, a vacancy on the Planning Board, and two slots for two alternate members for the Zoning Board of Appeals. The town of Stoughton is not alone in facing vacancies on town boards; many towns in the state, including Canton, have openings to fill. Canton has 20 vacancies to fill on various town committees and boards.

They say that the economy is getting better, but unemployment recently rose to 7 percent in Massachusetts to reach the highest jobless rate since November 2011. The United States’ unemployment rate remains at 7.6 percent.

Governor Deval Patrick recently nominated Milton attorney Thomas L. Finnigan to fill a vacancy on the Stoughton District Court created when Judge Francis T. Crimmins left to become Stoughton’s town manager. If confirmed by the Governor’s Council, Finnigan will serve as associate justice of the Stoughton Court, which handles cases from Avon, Canton, Sharon, and Stoughton.

The Canton A’s semi-pro baseball team finished third in the tough Cranberry Baseball League this past season. It was one of its highest finishes in years. They made it all the way to the championship playoff game before losing to top-seed Braintree.

The spongy yellow cakes known as Twinkies are back in supermarkets — only they are a wee bit smaller and only 135 calories per cake. According to the new owners, they will also have a longer shelf life, up to 45 days. The new owners are not using unionized workers, meaning their labor costs are lower.

In the opinion of MAC and many others, oil prices fall or increase based on what happens in the world around us. The United States still imports millions of gallons of oil per day from overseas and will be subject to global events, especially in the Middle East. China and India are developing countries that are growing at a very fast pace and will need more and more oil in the coming years. Add those countries to the mix, along with the Middle East problems, and MAC doesn’t see oil prices dropping.

The Brockton Enterprise, in a recent front-page story entitled “Heroin overdoses soar,” states that over a recent three-week period in Stoughton, there were nine heroin overdoses, two of them fatal, according to Deputy Police Chief Robert Devine. Devine said the overdoses could be due to a possible “bad batch of heroin in town.”

Canton resident Mark Prisco is the new chief probation officer for Norfolk County’s Juvenile Court. He is overseeing more than 700 juvenile cases from the area’s district courts.

Remember that the happiest people are those who are too busy to notice whether they are or not.

This is all for now folks. See you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

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Posted by Joe DeFelice on Aug 15 2013. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.