In the News
In the wake of a June crash that killed seven motorcyclists and exposed the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles’ failure to process thousands of out-of-state violations, US Representative Seth Moulton is proposing a bill that would support better collection and interstate sharing of driver data.
Moulton’s State and Federal Electronic Data Records to Improve Vehicle-operator Eligibility Reporting Systems Act — or SAFE DRIVERS Act — is intended to keep roads free of drivers like 23-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy of West Springfield.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton said Columbia Gas should lose its license to distribute in the Bay State after a major gas leak forced the evacuation of hundreds of people in Lawrence — sparking new fears after last year’s Merrimack Valley gas disaster.
Moulton is one of several members of the state congressional delegation who voiced renewed frustrations with the utility company Friday after a Level 1 gas leak — the most severe — was caused by contractors who inadvertently closed a gas valve, puncturing an active gas main.
ROWLEY — The Fire Department was recently awarded $160,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for 24 sets of breathing apparatus.
The money is part of the roughly $13 million in federal grants disbursed to fire departments across the state through FEMA’s Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response, Assistance to Firefighter Grants and Fire Prevention & Safety grant programs.
Congressman Seth Moulton, D-Salem, praised the grants in a statement.
Gloucester’s firefighters will undergo significantly more training over the coming year if the City Council backs a low-level match for a $424,055 grant from the federal government.
Fire Chief Eric Smith said the new $424,055 grant, announced Thursday by U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey and by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, will provide for extensive training for firefighters to operate the department’s ambulance and other emergency vehicles, to drive and run a pumper truck and to operate an aerial ladder.
LYNN — More than 400 homes will be deleaded thanks to a $9.3 million grant from the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), the largest grant of its kind the city has received.
Administered by the Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development (LHAND), the Lead Abatement Program was created to make homes safer for low-income families.
From 2009 through 2018, Lynn received $9.1 million in HUD monies to make more than 600 homes safe. The all-in cost to delead one home can reach as much as $15,000, say experts.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton may have thought it was time for 79-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to step aside last summer.
But the Salem Democrat hailed her decision to launch impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
“It’s the right decision and it’s about time,” he told the Item.
Despite an early morning telephone call from the president pleading his innocence, the California Democrat stuck with her decision to commence the inquiry.
LYNNFIELD — One month after U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton ended his failed candidacy for president, fewer than a dozen residents attended a Town Meeting he held at the Summer Street Elementary School on Saturday.
The intimate setting allowed voters to ask Moulton questions, leading to discussions about climate change, his short presidential campaign and the current government leadership. One attendee asked him about Rep. Joe Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) Saturday morning announcement to run against Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) in the 2020 Democratic Primary.
“No comment,” he said.
Two Bay State congressmen are vowing to probe how a nurse at the Bedford VA Medical Center could reportedly water down doses of morphine for a dying veteran who may have suffered in his final hours because of the drug-tampering.
“Our veterans deserve the excellent care that they have earned by their service — and this incident, even if it’s rare, is unacceptable,” U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch said. “So we’ve got to review our protocols and make sure that we’re not missing something, that we’re not leaving a veteran unnecessarily vulnerable.”
At a time when the Pentagon is preparing itself for a clash with a well-funded and equipped military power, lawmakers are warning that support for special operations deployments should not go away, and even more investment should be made in mental health care for special operations forces as well as other troops and veterans.
Director of suicide prevention organization cites lack of volunteers.
For decades, a sign on the Sagamore Bridge has counseled travelers to call the Samaritans suicide prevention organization if they are feeling desperate.
But what if no one picks up the phone?
That has been the experience of a West Barnstable woman who said she has called the two phone numbers listed for the Samaritans on Cape Cod and the Islands several times in recent weeks — only to have the phones ring multiple times and then disconnect.