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Better Business Bureau issues warning on ‘hot toy’ scam

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Every year, there’s always a few “must-have” toys on most kids’ holiday wish lists. The toys sell out fast, becoming expensive and hard to find. This year’s hot picks are ZoGalaxy’s Star Wars toys, Funko’s Pop! figurines, Hatchimals and Magformers. Scammers are using these toys’ popularity to trick parents out of their money.

You are looking for these toys, but they are sold out at every store you visit. So you decide to look online. A quick search takes you to a page that miraculously has the toy in stock. The site may look professional and have original images of the product. It may even offer the product at discounted prices, claiming a “last-minute deal” or “flash sale.”

Unfortunately, many such offers are fake. People order the toy online, but it never arrives. When they try to follow up with the company, they find that the website lacks working contact information or has disappeared.

For example, BBB Scam Tracker has a dozen reports from consumers who ordered and paid for Funko Pop! figures, but never received them. One consumer wrote, “I was told it would ship within 48 hours of the release. I have emailed numerous times and received one correspondence that it would be received by June. The order page tells me there was an error and the website is under construction with a notice, ‘all orders are being fulfilled.’”

Tips to Avoid Toy Scams

Only buy toys from reputable stores and websites. The best way to avoid getting scammed when purchasing toys is to buy them directly from a seller you know and trust.

Don’t be fooled by extra-low prices. Unreasonably low prices are a red flag for a scam on many products. Avoid making a purchase from a retailer you aren’t familiar with just because the price sounds too good to be true – it probably is!

Research before you buy. If a company seems legitimate but you aren’t familiar with it, be extra careful with your personal information. Before offering up your name, address, and credit card information, make sure the company has a working customer service number.

BBB Serving the Heart of Texas recently wrote an investigation that included Orbitoys, a retailer of Funko Toys.

For More
Information

See BBB.org/ShoppingOnline for more online shopping tips. For more about avoiding scams this holiday season, check out BBB.org/Holiday-Tips.

If you’ve spot a scam (whether or not you’ve lost money), report it to BBB Scam Tracker. Your report can help others avoid falling victim.

If you see a questionable ad, report it to BBB AdTruth so we can investigate.

Remembering those lost at Pearl Harbor

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WHITMAN — On the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Whitman American Legion Post 22 and the Sons of the American Legion Squadron 22 gathered at the post on Legion Parkway for its annual salute to the lives lost on America’s “day of infamy.”

Evocative of the early Sunday morning (Pearl Harbor time) attack, color and honor guards saluted the flag, flown at half staff, before firing a ceremonial volley at 8 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 7.

New Post Commander Robert Schirone thanked the representatives from the Whitman VFW, Legion, Sons of the Legion, the Sons Riders and Knights of Columbus. Town Administrator Frank Lynam and Selectman Dan Salvucci also attended.

Frank Mirano, 98, who joined the service a couple months after Pearl Harbor attack had been invited, but Schirone said it appeared the cold morning was not conducive to his being able to attend.

“Again, our nation has assembled to honor its heroic dead,” Schirone said in his prepared remarks. “Under the quiet sod or beneath the murmuring waves, their bodies sleep in peace.”

Schirone said their souls march on in the destinies of veterans.

“Because of them, our lives are free,” Schirone said of those lost on Dec. 7, 1941. “Because of them, our nation lives. … They fought for us. For us, they fell now with one accord, and deepest reverence, we do them honor.”

After he spoke, the gathering observed 30 seconds of silence and a prayer was offered for the repose of those lost — as well as the honorable way survivors continued on with their lives — before the Whitman VFW honor guard fired the ceremonial salute from three rifles, after which a recording of “Taps” was played.

The brief ceremony was followed by a breakfast collation in the post.

Celebrating season of giving

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HANSON — Residents kicked off the holiday season on Saturday, Dec. 7 by breaking bread — er, pancakes, — with Santa Claus at Camp Kiwanee; thanking volunteers who aid the town’s seniors; and lighting the night sky with fireworks and the town’s Christmas tree.

Hanson Fire apparatus also represented the town and Wyman’s Nursery, which provided wreaths for the engines, in the East Bridgewater Holiday parade Saturday morning.

The volunteers who drive seniors to medical appointments, deliver Meals on Wheels, work the reception desk, and help with the supportive adult day program, sing in the senior chorus, among other projects, were invited to a luncheon at the center Saturday afternoon. A catered meal, with cake was enjoyed while Warren Phillips performed Christmas favorites. Each volunteer received a holiday card signed by the center staff and a pocket planning calendar.

“It’s so wonderful to have you all,” Senior Center Director Mary Collins said. “Take a look around, you are the most important people in this center, I want you to know that. Without you, we would never be able to make it.”

Collins thanked the volunteers for their work on behalf of the staff.

“When I think of my family, I do think of all of you and you make a difference in my life.”

The day was capped off by the town’s seventh annual Holiday Fest on the Town Hall Green.

Craft tables hosted by event co-sponsor Sullivan Funeral Homes and the Hanson PTO provided families with personalized keepsake ornaments and picture frames for the photos with Santa taken by Hanson firefighters.

“It does get a little easier,” Holiday Committee Chairman Steve Amico said of the planning. “What happens is, it all seems to fall together. We have a good corps of people.”

Fire Chief Jerome Thompson, Deputy Chief Robert O’Brien Jr., and Lt. Charles Barends, Police Chief Michael Miksch and Lt. Mike Casey, School Committee chairman Bob Hayes, Amanda Hauck of Sullivan Funeral Homes, Kevin Dykes of the Highway Department, and pastors Kris Skjerli of Calvary Baptist Church and Peter Smith of the Hanson Congregational Church have all been instrumental in planning the event, Amico said.

“Pastor Kris has been unbelievable for the past several years, putting the restaurants together,” he said.

Participating restaurants in town, included Mike’s House of Pizza, The Olde Hitching Post, Meadow Brook Restaurant, Domino’s Pizza and others. The Hanson Kiwanis Club teamed with the Rockland-Hanson Rotary to provide hot chocolate that patrons could add to at a cocoa bar. The Hanson 200 Committee sold souvenir items at a pop-up store in the Nathaniel Thomas Mill, with proceeds going to fund next year’s 200th anniversary celebration of Hanson’s founding.

“We’re going to be joining together with them for the 200th anniversary next Christmas,” Amico said.

Santa received a police and fire escort through traffic, arriving to light the town’s Christmas tree and pose for photos with kids of all ages before a fireworks display capped off the event.

Whitman gets into the holiday spirit next week with the Recreation Department’s annual Christmas party starting at 1 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14 at Town Hall. “Polar Express” will be screened at 1 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15 at the VFW on Essex Street.

Whitman reviews budget study

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WHITMAN — Saying “nothing here is cast in stone,” financial consultant John Madden returned to a meeting of the Whitman Budget Override Evaluation Committee Monday, Dec. 2 to review his draft analysis of the town financial conditions.

“It was what we expected,” said Town Administrator Frank Lynam. “It was what we’ve been talking about.”

The report is posted on the town website whitman-ma.gov.

“Make no mistake, you guys have done a great job,” Madden said. “You’ve gotten to where we are today, when other communities may have decided, ‘You know what? This is too much work. I think we’ll try for an override and see what happens.’”

He lauded what the committee and town government have done to balance the budget and “postpone what appears to be the inevitable.”

Committee Chairman Selectman Randy LaMattina said the panel did have some questions and sought clarification on figures in the report, specifically a 5-percent increase for the schools.

Madden said if department heads have compelling arguments for the Finance Committee, board of Selectmen or other decision-making board to consider for figures outside of his recommendations, that is the decision of that committee or board.

“Something has to give or you prepare to go to the voters with a general override,” he cautioned however, adding the recommendations come from an effort to mitigate the cost and delay the need for such an override.

He said that he recommended 5 percent for the schools, based on what he has seen in other communities.

“I’ve seen lower, I’ve seen higher,” Madden said.

Resident member of the committee Christopher George asked if the figure represented a 5-percent increase in the assessments to the towns or a 5-percent increase in the schools’ overall budget. Madden said it was the figure from the towns’ Article 2 budget.

School Committee member Dawn Byers noted that, as a regional district, more than 50-percent of the WHRSD budget is from state aid and is not giving Whitman a 5-percent increase.

If the recommendation involved a 5-percent increase from Whitman and Hanson individually, as well as from the state, it would paint a different picture, Byers said.

“I think that would be a nice opportunity to fund the schools appropriately, but with 0.45 percent Chapter 70 increase, 5 percent from the towns doesn’t equate to an overall 5-percent budget increase,” she said.

Lynam said the committee hired Madden in an effort to identify where Whitman is and where the town is headed with the regional schools posing a particular challenge because so much of that budget is fixed.

“In fairness, our concern was for you to focus the factors that affect Whitman,” he said. “You have done that.”
Madden agreed that the towns are charged with providing an education to the children of Whitman and of Hanson, as well as some school choice participants, that keep students coming into the district.

“You’ve got to fund an education that keeps people in school and not looking elsewhere,” he said.

George also asked if there was any area in which the town was spending too much money as compared with others. Madden said nothing he has looked at or recommended actually solves individual issues. He said the report identified some areas of concern such as IT, but said it was up to the town as to whether they want to tackle them sooner rather than later.

Selectman Justin Evans, noting the suggestion in Madden’s report that the motor vehicle fine account could be moved into the general fund to defray salary expenses in the operating budget, asked if the town could do that on its own, since the town had petitioned the state to create the fine account in the first place.

Lynam said the town would have to rescind its approval of home rule legislation, but he would investigate the process.

“There’s so many things that would be perceived as negative in that type of revenue process,” he said. “I believe right now the police act in a responsible way to ensure public safety — that’s their job and that’s what they should be doing — they shouldn’t be focusing on hit counts to raise money, and I wouldn’t want to see us going back to that.”

Madden said he suggested the fines go back into the general fund since they no longer cover the cost of vehicle leases.

Lynam said even if the change was not made, the town could look at the revenue coming in against the purchasing needs of the public safety departments and use what remains for general fund purposes through Town Meeting warrant articles.

“We’re not really changing anything,” George said. “It’s an accounting practice in terms of the way things work. … We’re not really talking about any significant changes or reductions for how we spend that money, this is just about best practices from an accounting standpoint.”

Madden said that was basically what he was recommending for budget flexibility and protection from anomalies.

“We have utilized our funding sources to the maximum available,” Lynam said. “That’s where we are today.”

LaMattina noted social media posts to the effect that the town spends too much money and asked Madden for his assessment of Whitman’s spending practices. Madded said that, while free cash has been used to pay debt over the past few years, he considers debt to be part of the budget, and worked hard to do that, but at some point the town will have to consider an override. Other than that, some staffing issues are the only sources of concern Madden said he found, including overtime use.

He was asked if Whitman’s average tax bill is $5,450 in fiscal 2020, up 6 percent from last year and 24 percent in five years, is common or if it seemed high.

“Not necessarily,” Madden said. “I’ve analyzed a community that went up 13 percent in one year.”

He said if the overall budget were to increase 3 percent, it would not necessarily be a bad thing.

“There are a number of things the public doesn’t see that drive a budget,” he said.

Finance Committee member Scott Lambiase said the BOEC has to digest Madden’s report and discuss it with the Finance Committee and Selectmen.

“But we have recommendations on the table, and we have to decide what we want to do with those recommendations — whether we want to adopt all of them, some of them — and then move forward with that,” he said. “Right now, we have a budget to put together and then we have to decide do we want policies to come out of this? Do we want to adopt them? We want to make sure we can stick with them.”

Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green also advocated adopting the Community Preservation Act, which can bring in state funding for recreation, open space conservation, community housing and historic preservation projects.

Brianna Wu challenges Lynch in primary

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By Austin J. Schofield
Express correspondent

The presidential race isn’t the only area seeing Democratic primaries in 2020. In the Massachusetts 8th Congressional District, engineer Brianna Wu is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch for the party’s nomination. The Express recently spoke with Wu to ask her about herself and her campaign.

Q: Where are you from?

A: “I’m from Mississippi, but I’ve lived all over. I’ve lived in D.C., I’ve lived in Mississippi, I’ve spent a lot of time in Colorado, I’ve lived in Silicon Valley – where I got married.”

Q: What would you say your main background is in?

A: “I think it would be generally in tech start-ups, as I’ve started three throughout my career so far. Traditionally, however, I am trained as an engineer, and my specialty is graphical subsystems – so Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenCL, and so on.”

Q: So, you are formally trained as an engineer, and you’ve also worked in the tech industry establishing start-ups. Where did the interest in politics come into play?

A: “Well, I was adopted into a family of extremely right-wing republicans who were hyper-political. I grew up on a diet of Rush Limbaugh, Fox and others to a ridiculous degree. My father was a lieutenant commander in the navy — he used that career to break away from a life of poverty in Mississippi — and so my family had the kind of politics you would expect of someone from Mississippi of that generation. Therefore, I always had that interest in politics, but it was around the time that, frankly, George Bush started sending my friends off to die in Iraq — that really changed me.”

Q: What motivates your primary challenge of Stephen Lynch?

A: “I have been angry at Stephen Lynch for a long time. I think he is fundamentally out of step on Massachusetts’ values. I urge you to look into why he got into politics in Massachusetts in the first place. It was because he was angry at gay people for participating in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. In the ’80s, he got drunk and assaulted some Iranian students who were protesting American policies. [The Boston Globe reported in 2001 that the charges in the incident were dropped and that Lynch had struggled with alcohol abuse at the time. Fifty-two American hostages were held hostage in Iran from Nov. 4, 1979 to Jan. 20, 1981 leading to a great deal of anti-Iranian fervor in the U.S. — editor]

For a long time, I have been frustrated with Lynch and the leadership he has shown. I think that, in the Trump era, that disappointment in even more morbid. I’ll give an example; we have an ad out today that is of Stephen Lynch literally yelling at the constituent asking him to do something on impeachment. He’s like, ‘yeah, yeah, it’s not going to work, you’re just going to get him reelected.’ So I feel like there is fundamentally a leadership vacuum here in District 8, and if you go and compare that to Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, such amazing leaders, and then we have this guy that seems so out of step with everything we stand for. I can accept that he has less progressive social policies than most people, but what I can’t accept is the feckless leadership style that he enacts. If there’s a fight to be had, Stephen Lynch is not the person who’s going to fight.”

Q: Where do you part on specific issues?

A: “I think women’s’ rights is a very big one. Stephen Lynch, for the longest time, was anti-women’s’ reproductive health care access — he stood against that forever. He was against it and then he tried to run for senate and lost, and that’s when he changed his view. I’ve been dead solid consistent on this. I don’t just say I believe in women’s rights. I’ve had bricks thrown through my window for women’s rights. I’ve gone up against the worst figures in the Republican party over women’s rights. I’ve had to get Katherine Clark to intercede with the FBI for me over my position on women’s rights during Gamergate. So, that’s something that I feel very strongly about.

“I also think there’s this. There’s a teacher strike in Dedham, as we speak, because their healthcare costs are so out of control that even in an affluent neighborhood, teachers aren’t being paid enough to get healthcare. Stephen Lynch has failed, fundamentally, at bringing money from DC back to Massachusetts. We pay far more than we get back. So when our roads are crumbling, you need to ask, where are our Department of Transportation grants? When our T is literally catching on fire, my question is, where is Mass. and our fair share of that federal money? He has not been effective at bringing money back to the district because he is not willing to fight.”

Q: Where do you feel Rep. Lynch has fallen short?

A: “I think that’s one of the big ones. There are many on social policy, and its also important to say that, for all of Lynch’s talk about unions, unions are far worse off today in our state than they were when he was elected. Participation in unions is down 4 percent in just the last few years. Its plummeted. And take National Grid — how long were those guys out there protesting in the cold last year? A really long time. I was out there — I never saw him; so I think Stephen Lynch has marketed himself very effectively as a pro-union guy but when you look at the reality, its not there.”

Q: Lynch is a former president in the IronWorkers union. How do you view what he has done for these workers? What is your view on them?

A: He takes it for granted. I think a lot of these battles, he doesn’t show up. My team and I were with Stop & Shop workers during their strike. Was Stephen Lynch there? I didn’t see him. He sat that one out. I’ve never seen him out with National Grid, or with the hotel workers striking in downtown Boston. He sure wasn’t at that teachers rally in his own district just a few weeks ago. So, this is what I would say. Steelworkers are incredibly important, and I want to have their back, but, we need to look at where Massachusetts is today. The top two fields, as far as revenue, in Massachusetts are Biotech and Tech. And we are having very serious talks in both of these fields about our need to unionize and I am working with those people day in and day out on those unionization measures. When it comes to media, I sure have never seen Stephen Lynch on twitter talking about Vox’s union. I know the leaders for that rwally well. So, my dream for union participation in district 8 is: I don’t think we need to be separating Vox media people and steel workers. We are all in this together and I think white collar tech workers need to get over the elitism that makes us think we don’t need to stand with teachers and other kinds of workers. I think when it comes to working on wider issues for the wider 21st century economy, Stephen Lynch has fundamentally failed.”

Q: What are the most important issues facing the 8th District in your view?

A: “Basically, there are two buckets. There’s the kitchen table, economic discussions that keep a lot of families awake at night. I am a software engineer and my husband is one of the senior IP people at a major Biotech company. We just managed to afford a house this year. That’s how expensive it is. There are spiraling health care costs. Stephen Lynch wouldn’t even vote for Obamacare, much less more aggressive measures. He’s not there. As far as people in this district, I am talking economic issues that focus on them like a laser.

“The other bucket is a grand vision of where Massachusetts is going to be 100 years from now, and this is where I am ridiculously qualified to take us. Stephen Lynch is flat out terrible on tech and biotech issues — this is my field; this is my husbands’ field. So, when we are talking about bringing tech and biotech jobs into the state, one of the things that really disturbs me about Massachusetts is, we spend all this money on education, as we should, but we are a brain drain state. People come here and attend college, and then they go back to Silicon Valley or New York or Austin, Texas and they take those skills elsewhere. That is because our leaders in this state have failed to keep start-ups and talent in this state, starting the companies of the 21st century. I know how to get us there, and Stephen Lynch doesn’t.”

Q: Lynch chairs the Joint Committee on Commerce and Labor. What committee assignments would you aspire to if elected?

A: “There is a committee in congress right now that is not being taken as seriously as it should be; that is the science, space and technology committee. This committee controls patents, it controls communication standards, it controls encryption standards, it controls a wide array of tech standards and we are embarrassingly ignoring this committee. When we think of Facebook and their negligence causing our democracy to be damaged immensely – that is something that this committee has the power to regulate. There’s a videogame called ‘Total Spectrum Warfare,’ and the idea behind this game is that the wars of the 21 century are not fought with guns and bullets and bombs and missiles, they’re fought by controlling an enemy’s economics, their power system, their shipping infrastructure, their media infrastructure, their water infrastructure – this is where the U.S. is vulnerable. You could take out power to a majority of this country if you were to aim a missile at a very particular two-mile area of our power grid, and we don’t have a plan for that. It is a fact that Russians hacked our nuclear powerplants. We don’t have a plan for that. So, when it comes to the kinds of wars and attacks on our democracy in the 21st century, I am serious about being on the forefront of that committee addressing it.

“We have a role to play in the U.S. safeguarding our democracy. I come from Mississippi. We had more people serving per capita than any other state in America. I saw a lot of my friends die in Iraq and when I think of all the brave men and women that have given their lives so that we can vote, it makes me furious to see Congress failing to safeguard our elections in common sense ways. We have got to take this seriously, and Stephen Lynch is fundamentally a part of that problem.”

Q: Before we wrap up, is their anything else you’d like to touch on?

A: “Yes. The demographics in this district have changed immensely since he was elected just after 2000. Please understand how he got elected. We were attacked on 911 and he was a part of the backlash against that and in that moment, we went with the most conservative choice. Stephen Lynch’s base has traditionally been South Boston, so when you look at what this district looks like today, almost 20 years later, what are the differences? It’s much younger, it’s more diverse racially – Asian voters are almost 11percent of our district the last time I looked. We have areas like Brockton that are fundamentally falling apart. He’s not there. Stephen Lynch has kept power by focusing on this one small area of district 8, which is massive. We’re going to go out there, we’re going to talk to the people in Brockton that don’t even know who Stephen Lynch is because he never shows up. We’re going to talk to them and win their vote. The truth is, Stephen Lynch has taken the seat for granted for a long time and it’s time he had a real fight.”

The Patio latest Rosen project honored with Metro South Chamber award

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The Patio at McGuiggan’s Pub in Whitman center is the latest Richard Rosen project to earn a Metro South Chamber of Commerce Economic Impact Award. Rosen, of Rosen Realty Inc. and the Rosen Family Restaurant Group, accepted the award during the Chamber’s 106th Annual Luncheon on Nov. 20 at the Teen Challenge Center in Brockton.  It was the third Rosen project in nine years to receive the Chamber’s Economic Impact Award. In 2010, the award was given to McGuiggan’s Pub, which opened in restored commercial space in Whitman Center.  A 2013 award was for the conversion of the vacant First Baptist Church in the town center to a multiple-unit residence. The glass-walled Patio at McGuiggan’s opened this year.

Hanson recycle deal struck

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HANSON — New Bedford Waste Services will extend its recycling contract with the town for two weeks — sending a truck to empty full containers at the transfer station Wednesday, Dec. 4 — while lawyers for the company and the town iron out a contractual dispute.

That impasse, which led to unpaid bills by the town, had been halted. At issue was whether emails advising the town of increased fees under the “uncontrollable circumstances” clause of the contract were sent by the company or received by the town.

NBWS President Michael Camara met in a joint session with Selectmen and the Board of Health on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

He said the uncontrollable circumstance was the solid waste disposal crisis in the state since China stopped accepting recyclable waste in 2017 — a time when they were handling 55 percent of global recyclables, including 4,400 containers a day from the United States.

“If we could absorb the losses, I wouldn’t be here tonight,” Camara said.

Selectman Jim Hickey suggested it was improper to discuss whether the town would be shopping around for a better rate from another company in Camara’s presence as some members of the two boards had begun discussing.

“I think its rude to talk about other companies in front of this gentleman when he just said, in good faith, he’ll pick us up for the next two weeks,” Hickey said. “I would rather have a quick contract signed to get us through Christmas … at the new rate and let the lawyers go through [the issue].”

The Board of Selectmen agreed that it was an idea worth running by Town Counsel for an opinion.

Without at least the two week agreement, Hanson residents would be unable to recycle.

Health Board Chairman Arlene Dias said they did receive an email the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 27 saying that, because the town had underpaid the bill, NBWS was not going to pick up Hanson’s recycling.

“What they were billing was not the contract price,” Dias said. “Each month we paid the contract price, and that’s been going on for two years.”

Camara countered that the “uncontrollable circumstances” clause permitted the increase, to which Dias said Town Counsel Jay Talerman disagreed with Camara, and said the suspension of service is in violation of the contract with Hanson.

The contract originally charged the town nothing, unilaterally opting to charge $65.98 per ton in October 2017.

“Such increase was done without reasonable or proper notice and is, itself, a questionable practice under the contract,” Talerman wrote in a letter read by Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “While the town reserves the right to challenge such [an] increase, it nevertheless made ensuing payments in good faith so as to ensure the provision of complying in recycling services.”

Talerman said at no point since October 2017 did the company advise the town of increases in recycling costs, but bills received have been in excess of $65.98 per ton. Talerman concluded that the town was paying the proper amount of $65.98 per ton, rather than the $93.75 per ton — including a surcharge — demanded by NBWS.

“So we’re at a standoff,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett.

Camara said another family member — MBWS is a family-owned business — sent emails explaining the increase.

“I find it astounding that you would believe that somebody would be sending an email to our town telling us that you are going to suspend services if we don’t increase, and if we want to have a conversation — and that nobody here at Town Hall responded,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

“We’re billing you market rates, we’re not making a dime on it,” Camara said.

“I appreciate the situation you’re in,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “But to unilaterally, without discussing … According to our attorney, we don’t owe you anything.”

Hickey asked why the board was discussing the issue when it was between the lawyers.
Camara had explained to the board that China’s decision came after that nation’s president saw a video of Chinese workers — men, women and children — burning plastic, “people choking in factories, because they couldn’t breathe … things they couldn’t recycle being dumped in streams and rivers or put outside and burned and the nasty materials were going into their crops and fields where their animals were grazing,” Camara said. In the effort to recycle since then, other nations such as Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam at risk of similar contamination.

Massachusetts banned waste-to-energy facilities 20 years ago, Camara added, adding that his industry is advocating for the lifting of that ban as well as expanding landfills.

Camara’s firm founded Zero Waste in 2013 with the goal of handling recycling and municipal solid waste (MSW).

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if the company had considered a redundancy plan in case things ever changed with China.

“China was it,” Camara said. Disposal issues have also become an issue as state landfills close and companies have to look out of state to dispose of solid waste.

“There’s no more safety valves,” he said. “Currently, we’re exporting trash to New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.”

Trash is baled, wrapped in leak-proof, water-tight bags and trucked out to stack it in those states.

“So they’re literally building mountains out there in other states,” observed Selectman Wes Blauss.

“Yes, we are,” Camara said. “It’s sad that the state of Massachusetts doesn’t have a backup plan.”

“Honestly, it seems like you’re getting it from all sides,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “It’s not our intention to add to that, but you know where we’re coming from.”

Whitman OK’s sewer funds

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WHITMAN — In the end, it took less time for voters at the Monday, Dec. 2 special Town Meeting to complete the work of acting on the four-article warrant than it did to achieve a quorum.

When voter number 150 entered the Town Hall Auditorium just before 8 p.m. — the session was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. — she received a warm round of applause.

Less than 23 minutes later, voters had transferred funds to pay an engineering bill for repairs to Hobart Pond; accepted another transfer to fund accrued vacation time for former Police Chief Scott Benton; and OK’d an appropriation to pay for sewer bills to Brockton and the engineering, consulting and permitting costs involved in repairs to Whitman’s sewer force main. A fourth article calling for a transfer of $7,209 from the law account to the Animal Control account was passed over.

A $900,000 appropriation from sewer-water retained earnings to pay $121,676.23 in additional sewer bills to Brockton as well as $88,083.70 for preliminary work on a sewer repair expected total of about $8.2 million.

Lynam said the sewer bill was the result of renegotiation of a contract with Brockton begun in 2015 and tentatively agreed on within the last month.

The cost includes capital costs Whitman has not paid in the past and is now responsible for, and the remainder of the transfer will fund the planning and design for a new 16,000-foot pipe in the ground to replace a pipe that has failed twice already.   

The Hobart Pond article transferred $4,500 from the Norfolk County Agricultural H.S. in the May 1019 annual Town Meeting to pay a prior year’s bill to Collins Engineers Inc., for their work

A resident asked why the transfer was necessary and if it would be repeated in the future. The funds were intended to cover funds owed an engineering firm that helped the town repair a breach in the Hobart Pond dam.                                             

“Each year, we have to make an appropriation the first Monday in May to pay for whatever students are going to Norfolk Aggie,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam explained. “We don’t necessarily know who’s going until June.”

Lynam explained the town always has to estimate that two students will attend the school for budgeting purposes. This year there was one surplus student and the line was a “reasonable place” from which to transfer money. A 90-percent threshold was required to pass the article, and voters passed it with 97 percent voting in favor.

A second transfer — of $15,500 — from Norfolk Aggie involved in the 2019 Town Meeting vote, as well as a $22,818.57 transfer from the 2019 law account to fund the police chief salary line for the balance of fiscal 2020.

Lynam amended the article to correct a misprint in the warrant from $37,918.57 to $37,318.57, but a voter pointed out that the figure still didn’t add up until it was further amended to $38,318.57.

A voter asked, once the amendment was approved, if it was designed to pay unused sick leave time, which Lynam said was not the case. He explained the transfer would settle up accrued, unused vacation time and noted that the Board of Selectmen had recently voted to limit the carryover of unused vacation time to no more than nine days per year.

Fire officials launch safe cooking campaign

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Cooking is the leading cause for home fires and injuries, and so State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey and Chief Dennis Condon, president of the Fire Chiefs’ Association of Massachusetts (FCAM) are urging residents to use caution while cooking in a statewide cooking fire safety public awareness campaign. This campaign has two main messages to prevent home fires: Stand by Your Pan to prevent cooking fires and Put a Lid on It to safely put grease fires out.

“Cooking is the number one cause of fires in Massachusetts, but they spike during the winter holiday season,” said Ostroskey “Leaving pots and pans unattended can be a recipe for disaster. So it is important to always stay in the kitchen when cooking.”

The Department of Fire Services has developed public services announcements (PSA’s) to educate the public on the importance of standing by your pan in the kitchen. They feature firehouse chefs from Holyoke and Methuen talking about cooking safety and sharing their favorite recipes. Lt. Maria Pelchar from Holyoke provides us with her recipe in Spanish. The PSA’s serve up two key messages on cooking safety in these television and radio spots: “Stand by Your Pan” to prevent fires and “Put a Lid on It” to put out a stovetop fire.

“Safety is the key ingredient in any recipe. The leading cause of fire injuries to everyone and especially to seniors is cooking,” said Condon, “which is why it is important to put a lid on a stovetop fire.” He suggests keeping a pot lid or cookie sheet handy when cooking.

Important cooking safety tips:

• Stand by your pan, when cooking. Never leave food, grease or oils cooking on the stovetop unattended.

• Put a lid on it. In the case of a pan fire, slide the lid on it to smother the fire, and then turn off the heat. Do not move the pan until it has cooled off.

• Water or fire extinguishers will not work. They will only spread the fire.

• Never move a burning pan. You can be badly burned or spread the fire.

• Wear short or tight-fitting sleeves when cooking, because loose fitting clothing can easily catch on fire.

• If your clothing catches fire, Stop, Drop, Cover and Roll to put out the flames.

According to the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS), there were 9,816 residential fires in Massachusetts involving cooking in 2018, which resulted in one civilian death, 46 civilian injuries, 29 firefighter injuries and an estimated $5.4 million in property damage. Cooking is also the leading cause of injuries to older adults (people over the age of 65).

Some public housing authorities have started installing smart burners on stoves that limit the temperature burners can reach. They get hot enough to boil water but not hot enough to ignite a piece of paper. Another safety device that can be installed is an in-hood fire extinguisher. They contain an extinguishing agent in a small can installed by magnets in the hood over the stove. There are many examples of these devices putting out stove top fires in Massachusetts. The cleanup is minimal compared to a fire.

State and local fire officials are asking the public’s help in reducing the number of cooking fires this holiday season. “We’re challenging the public to reduce cooking fires this year by remembering to stay in the kitchen when frying, boiling and broiling, and checking on baking frequently,” said Ostroskey.

For more information, please visit mass.gov/cookingsafety.

On thanks and giving

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By Stephanie Spyropoulos
and Tracy F. Seelye
Express staff

WHITMAN — Gratitude and a positive attitude is what the Conley Elementary School gathered to celebrate this week as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches in their recent assembly.

On Saturday, Nov. 23, that spirit of giving found W-H student athletes, members of the Whitman Police Department and members of the community volunteered to help serve Thanksgiving dinner to about 360 seniors from Whitman and surrounding towns at the Whitman Knights of Columbus.

Conley School also collectively gathered a donation to present to the Whitman Animal Shelter for $1,000. The highest ever in the Conley School, which by the jaw drops — students could not believe themselves — that their spare change had such grand accumulation over the last months.

Principal Karen Downey assisted by fifth-grade student Destin Rodriquez held the check and took a peek at the total before they announced their final amount.

The school has gathered their coins and cans with full meals to serve approximately 30 families in need in the Whitman area. Volunteers from the Whitman Food Pantry accepted donations and thanked the Conley students and staff.

In celebration of the season and giving to those in need the community at Conley left the cafeteria with both teachers, and students feeling blessed and thankful with a palpable feeling of excitement and positive energy.

Several students read from gratitude lists, which they created in conjunction with their classroom time and lessons. The students also assisted in presenting the baskets to the Whitman Food Pantry, which were then loaded into cars to take to the pantry in time for the holiday.

The K of C served up roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, winter squash, peas and onions, and a dinner roll plus dessert for the 47th year.

“The first one was in 1972,” said Whitman Council on Aging Director Barbara Garvey. “I couldn’t be here because I was graduating from Abington High School.”

Garvey noted the seniors were dining with more than 350 others as a “nice time to make new friends and visit old friends.”

“The members of the Whitman Knights of Columbus have always been very kind and generous to this community as a whole and, in particular, to our seniors,” Garvey said. “They and their volunteers give countless hours of their time, effort and resources not only today, but through the entire year to make this undertaking possible. It’s massive, as you can see.”

Garvey thanked the K of C and all the volunteers on behalf of the Whitman Council on Aging and all those attending Saturday’s dinner.

The Rev. Robert Collen led the blessing before the volunteers served it in nine minutes and 36 seconds.