Region

Michael Smolak of North Andover’s Smolak Farms Receives Senate Honors as DiZoglio Takes Rostrum

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Michael Smolak of North Andover’s Smolak Farms received special honors last Thursday within the Senate chambers at the State House. Sen. Diana DiZoglio, seated in the Senate president’s chair, read a resolution she filed commending Smolak for his lifetime dedication to farming and agriculture in Massachusetts. She said, in part, his farm combines agriculture, education and entertainment for children and families to learn about how their food is grown. He has held positions with the Massachusetts Fruit Growers Association and the Massachusetts Farm Bureau and preserved 107 of his farm’s 160 acres in cooperation with the state Agricultural Preservation Restriction program. Sen. Joseph A. Boncore of Winthrop, who was presiding, invited DiZoglio to take the rostrum.

Haverhill

Legislative Committee Testimony Reports Marijuana Host Agreement Exploitation

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Advocates, lawmakers and former regulators urged a legislative committee on Tuesday to provide more oversight of required contracts between municipalities and marijuana businesses, arguing that the system continues to be exploited by some cities and towns, which creates a barrier for small and minority owned businesses to get started in the industry. A suit against the City of Haverhill, filed by downtown marijuana retailer Stem and its president, Caroline Pineau, played prominently before the Committee. The issue of host community agreements has been one fraught with tension as people in the industry have argued for years that negotiations are often “one-sided,” with communities controlling all the leverage. The result, according to testimony given to the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, are agreements that often violate the limits put on how much cities and towns can charge marijuana businesses for traffic, public safety and other impacts they have on a community. The committee held a hearing Tuesday on nine bills focused on host community agreements, returning to an issue the House tried to address with legislation it passed last February, before the COVID-19 pandemic put most other issues on the back burner.

Homepage Featured

State Settles with Nevada Companies for ‘Heartbreaking’ and Illegal Practice of Leasing Dogs

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Families that risked losing their adopted dogs to repossession are being reimbursed $126,000 after Attorney General Maura Healey’s office went after two Nevada companies for the practice which is illegal in Massachusetts. The reimbursements settle state claims against Credova Financial and Nextep Holdings that were filed in Suffolk Superior Court. Healey’s office said the companies violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act and other state laws by originating and holding leases for hundreds of dogs. “Getting a dog can be a significant emotional and financial investment for many families, so when the dog is used as collateral in a lease, the end result can be expensive and heartbreaking,” said Healey. As part of the settlement, the companies will transfer full ownership of dozens of dogs to families, return any amounts collected since Jan.

Homepage Featured

Gov. Baker Expects Full Reopening by Aug. 1; Outdoor Mask Rule Easing Begins Friday

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Never mind the light at the end of the tunnel. After Gov. Charlie Baker’s reopening announcement Tuesday, Massachusetts can now see the end of the tunnel itself. The governor told Bay Staters to mark their calendars for Aug. 1—by that date, Baker is expecting to have rescinded gathering limits, removed all industry restrictions and allowed 100 percent capacity again across all industries. “We hope that with more vaccines and a continued success in stopping COVID we can take this step earlier, but it will depend on everyone continuing to get vaccinated and doing the right things,” the governor said during his Tuesday press conference.

Beacon Hill News

This Year’s High School Juniors Able to Skip MCAS Without Graduation Consequences

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It’s official. This year’s high school junior class doesn’t need to take or pass MCAS tests to graduate, under a change approved this week by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. As WHAV reported at the beginning of the month, Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley recommended the temporary change. It is one of a series of pandemic-influenced shifts the state has made within its standardized testing program since COVID-19 first shuttered school buildings last spring. Students are typically required to pass 10th grade English and math MCAS exams in order demonstrate competency in the two subjects and graduate.

Haverhill

Housing Organization Honors Rep. Vargas for Role in ‘Significant Zoning Reforms’

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Haverhill state Rep. Andy X. Vargas and Lynn Sen. Brendan Crighton were honored last week for leadership on affordable housing, housing production and roles in passing, what were described as, “the most significant zoning reforms in a generation.”

Vargas and Crighton were awarded the 2021 Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association’s Housing Hero Award. “As the chief sponsor of housing production legislation last session in the House, Rep. Vargas helped pass the most significant zoning reforms in a generation, including multifamily zoning requirements for MBTA communities, abutter appeals reforms and Housing Choice,” said Rachel Heller, CEO of the Association. She added, “These provisions will create thousands of new homes across Massachusetts…”

The Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association is a Massachusetts housing advocacy and programming organization. Its mission is to encourage the creation and preservation of housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income families and individuals and to foster diverse and sustainable communities through planning and community development. Vargas said he “wouldn’t be a member of the House today, were it not for my family being able to find safe, stable and affordable housing in Haverhill when I was 6 years old.

Haverhill

Mallory Strain Joins Rep. Andy Vargas’ Office as Legislative Aide

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Mallory Strain recently joined the staff of Haverhill state Rep. Andy X. Vargas as legislative aide. Strain graduated from Suffolk University where she studied economics and government. “Mallory’s experience working with small businesses combined with her data analysis skills will greatly assist Haverhill, as my office continues to work with our community partners to develop a resilient post-pandemic economy,” said Vargas. Previously, Strain worked as a program assistant for Manomet, an environmental nonprofit headquartered in Plymouth. Manomet works with scientists, government and businesses to create a more sustainable environment.

Education

Education Commissioner Riley Recommends No MCAS for This Year’s 11th Graders

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This year’s 11th graders would not be required to take the state’s MCAS assessment under a plan Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley expects to present to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for approval. Riley announced Thursday that he intends to recommend changes to the graduation requirements for the class of 2022 that would modify the competency determination for English and math so those students would not be required to take the test, a move the education department said was “in recognition of the missed testing opportunities when schools were closed last spring.”

State education officials previously announced a series of modifications to this year’s MCAS program, including shortening the tests for third to eighth graders and postponing the exams until a later point in the spring than they are typically administered. While the Baker administration and some advocacy groups have described the common assessment as a key tool for measuring learning loss experienced during the pandemic’s disruptions to schooling, others, including teachers unions and some lawmakers, have called for canceling the tests this year. Twenty-nine of the 40 state senators sent Riley and Gov. Charlie Baker a letter Wednesday asking this year’s tests be delayed until fall. The department also plans to extend the timeline for administering the tests for high school sophomores and third- through eighth-graders through June 11, and will offer remote administration of English and math exams for grades three through eight to accommodate families who have chosen to keep their kids learning remotely.