Man About Canton: Election News
By Joe DeFeliceDid you know …
In recent years, across Massachusetts and the town of Canton, we have witnessed a dramatic drop in the number of people who vote. Thirty years ago, 80 percent of Massachusetts residents turned out to vote in the November election. This year, in a tight governor’s race, that figure dropped to only 48 percent statewide, while Canton came in at a healthy 58 percent.
Elections are controlled by big money and special interest groups. In the recent ballot petition, big money played a huge part. Gambling companies spent over $14 million to fight the repeal of the casino law. The beverage industries spent over $10 million to keep the status quo on the bottle law, while opponents spent $1.5 million. Voters strongly rejected the repeal of the casino law by over 60 percent, while almost 75 percent of the voters rejected expansion of the bottle law. Across the country, over $4 billion was spent on elections, while in ten senate races, more than $430 million was spent on TV ads. Cash is king when it comes to national and statewide elections, and to some extent, local elections.
Canton state Representative Bill Galvin (D-Canton), who also serves on the Canton Board of Assessors, won his 13th term as the representative in the Sixth Norfolk District. Senator Brian A. Joyce (D-Milton), who also manages a law firm in Canton, won his 10th term in the state senate representing parts of Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth counties, including Canton. Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-Boston), Canton’s congressman, won his eighth consecutive term to the Ninth Congressional District. All three politicians ran unopposed.
Blue Hills Regional Technical High School recently dedicated its new multi-use synthetic athletic field. The new field will be used for football, soccer, and lacrosse. Blue Hills also upgraded its baseball and softball fields with new backstops, dugouts, fencing, and new sod placed on the infields.
Susan McGowan, the longtime secretary to the superintendent of schools and the School Committee, will retire later this school year.
The Canton Council on Aging will hold its annual Holiday Party today, December 11, at 12 noon at the Canton Town Club. Entertainment will be provided, and the meal will be catered by Foley’s Backstreet Grille. Ticket prices are only $8 per person. For further information, call the senior center at 781-828-1323.
The Canton Men’s Club will hold its annual Christmas party on Tuesday, December 16, at 12 noon at the Canton American Legion Hall. The cost is $20 per person and will include a buffet lunch catered by Foley’s Restaurant. Music will be provided by Tom Bruhl and his “one man band.”
There will be a “drop-in retirement cocktail party” for Canton police officer Bobby Schneiders on Saturday, December 13, at the Canton American Legion Hall from 7 to 11 p.m. Drop in and wish Bobby a happy retirement.
The Canton High School girls volleyball team finished its Hockomock League season schedule with a perfect 16-0 record and ended the year 19-2, losing to Hopkinton High in the Division 2 central semifinals.
The CHS boys soccer team qualified for the Division 2 south playoffs for the ninth straight postseason. The CHS girls soccer team also qualified for the state tournament with a 9-6-2 season record.
Money Magazine ranked the town of Sharon number one on its best places to live list for small towns with populations between 10,000 and 50,000. The town’s proximity to larger cities, school system, open spaces, and population were reasons for being selected. Included in the town of Sharon is Moose Hill, which is Mass Audubon’s oldest and largest wildlife sanctuary, and Lake Massapoag (Sharon Lake to us old-timers), a natural spring-fed lake whose name means “large water” in Algonquin. This Sharon town jewel has a beach, boating, fishing, and concerts.
The median price for a single-family home in Massachusetts is $320,000, while the median price for a condo is $304,500, according to the Warren Group data.
According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, Google and its Google X Lab is working on a cancer-detecting pill in its latest effort to push the boundaries of technology. Still in the experimental stage, the pill is packed with tiny magnetic particles that can travel through a patient’s bloodstream, search for malignant cells, and report the findings to a sensor on a wearable device. The effort to develop a better way to detect cancer was inspired by the experience of a Google engineer, Tom Stanis.
A recap of this year’s Thanksgiving Day game won by Stoughton 34-0: Stoughton junior quarterback Jacob Gibbs (8 of 11 for 116 yards) threw three touchdowns while Joey Girolamo (16 carries for 160 yards) had one touchdown (his 20th of the season). On defense, Brandon Swain-Price intercepted three Canton passes as the Black Knights (9-2) rolled. In the last ten years, the least amount of points scored by Stoughton in the Thanksgiving Day game is 25. They have averaged 31.7 points per game and lost only once, in 2012 in overtime 28-26.
The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.
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=27850
Posted by Joe DeFelice
on Dec 11 2014. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion.
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