Man About Canton: ‘Fake News’

Did you know …

Collins Dictionary has made the term “fake news” the Collins Word of the Year for 2017. The word — two words actually — will be added to the next print edition of the publisher’s dictionary. Fake news is defined as “false, often sensational information disseminated under the guise of news reporting.” The term has been used by President Trump, who routinely characterizes news reports as “fake news” in his tweets. The word has contributed to “the undermining of society’s trust in news reporting.”

As recently reported in the Canton Citizen, the Board of Selectmen will file a town meeting article to prohibit retail marijuana sales in the town. Selectmen will ask the town counsel’s office to draft the town meeting measure and prepare an alternative warrant article outlining regulations for marijuana retail shops in case the article is rejected at the town meeting. Canton voted against the statewide ballot question to legalize marijuana in 2016, with 6,000 votes in favor of legalization and 6,851 against. The proposed ban would not prohibit cultivation and use of marijuana in homes, as it is allowed by state law.

The retail marijuana ban article will be co-sponsored by the Canton Alliance Against Substance Abuse and the selectmen. The marijuana bylaw can be prohibited by a town meeting vote as opposed to a ballot question because the town originally voted against the ballot question legalizing marijuana.

This year, there have been three drug-related deaths in Canton and 20 overdose victims that have been treated with Narcan.

There is a bill on Beacon Hill that will allow the police to pull over a driver if he or she is smoking a cigarette in a car where a small child is a passenger and fine the driver of the car $100. There is another controversial bill that will allow police officers to issue tickets for seatbelt violations even if the driver is not stopped for another violation as required under the current law.

Selectmen recently approved a new three-year contract with the AFSCME Union, which covers about 70 employees at the DPW, Town Hall, and Public Library. The contract calls for a 2 percent wage increase for each year.

To reduce marketing calls, consumers can register each of their phone numbers with the Do Not Call Registry by calling 1-866-231-2255.

The average annual amount of precipitation in the town of Canton is 47.5 inches.

Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) recently announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region I awarded a total of $241,728 in grant funding for the Canton Fire Department. This grant will support breathing apparatus equipment for emergency personnel.

Selectmen recently approved a temporary appointment for firefighter Jeff O’Brien to serve as an acting lieutenant and Lt. Thomas Driscoll to serve as acting captain until Fire Captain Ed Frietas recovers from a medical injury resulting from a fall at home. He is expected to return in approximately four months.

MAC recently took his over-75 senior softball team, sponsored by Attorney Glen Hannington, to the United States National Tournament held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, but came up a bit short as they lost in the final inning in the winners bracket and again by one run in the finals of the losers bracket. Hanningtons won the Nationals two years ago.

You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.

That 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=37660

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Dec 1 2017. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.