I don’t know what bothers me more. Barry Finegold again getting whacked for a STUPID Printing Issue or Debbie Silverstein dismissing it as ‘Not the biggest topic.” No one is saying its the biggest Deb but it is the 2nd time in 4 years that he has screwed up and got caught. Will you overlook laws that you don’t think are a big deal? Isn’t that attitude what we DON’T WANT on Beacon Hill?

Marie Sweeny has a nice post in RICHARDHOWE.COM about being on the cape and a memory from her childhood she shares with us. Hope you enjoy the Cape Marie.

Lynne from LIL can’t catch a break. She posted about a link that might not be secure on the Doherty site and you would have thought she let out National secrets. Doherty has rabid supporters and Lynne makes no bones about her support for Eileen but come on guys give her a break she was making an observation. Her and I don’t agree on much but this time she is 100% in the right.

Speaking of Eileen I spoke with her the night of the debate and she has already spoken with Rep. Murphy about the Cities Home Rule Petition. Rep. Murphy believes many other cities and towns will have submitted their own Home Rule Petitions by the time the Legislature is back in session and that the issue of Plan design will have to be addressed as a whole rather then by a city by city basis. All the Cities and town want is the same set of rules that the State already enjoys when it comes to health Insurance.

I found it interesting that Eileen and Chris are very close on most issues and it looks like they campaign is shaping up as experience versus change. Eileen has experience in elected office and Chris is the voice for change. To me this race is shaping up to be one that will be closer than people originally thought.

The Spinners are getting in on the Political games. John Kerry Bobblehead Night is Monday Aug 23rd ( I wonder if it comes with a toy yacht) while Scott Brown Bobblehead Night is Monday Aug. 30th (Hopefully not from his Cosmo modeling days)

Who has the quicker trigger for jumping on an issue? Dave Conway who wanted to call for a special meeting before any dollar amount is confirmed or Paul Georges who wanted to delay the Duty Asst. position until he could find a way to make sure they were Union jobs ?

The Dracut Police Saga is as long as the Lowell Investigations…never ending. The officers hearing were postponed again.

The Veterans Park in Dracut is a great place. Whether your just going for a nice walk or bringing the kids to cool off in the water or spending the day with a picnic basket. The concession stand is also 1st rate.

No matter the reasons he did what he did, it was sad to hear the FDIC sanctions on Bob Houde formerly of the Lowell Co-Op bank. I remember Houde’ as a Park Instructor with Kathy Kane at McPherson’s Park when I was a kid and Jimmy Rourke was a lifeguard. Those were the good old days!!!

If you’re not familiar with the man in the photo, someone suggested I post a picture of myself for a change. Must be so people know who to avoid when I’m out…I’m better off on WCAP then City Life…I have the face for radio.

Jim Buba was born in Peabody and raised in Salem, MA, the sixth of eight children. He graduated St. John’s Prep in Danvers, and attended Salem State College and Bunker Hill Community College before joining the United States Air Force in 1974, where he became a linguist reporting analyst in the Middle East Area of Operations assigned to the National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, MD, USAF installations in Greece and USAF/RAF Cyprus.

Jim was honorably discharged in 1985 and opened an automotive machine shop in Glen Burnie, MD, rebuilding engines and stationary power plants for private and commercial accounts.

He returned to Salem in 1991 to care for his mother and re-entered academia in 1993 studying Meteorology, Civil and Environmental Engineering as well as Hazardous and Solid Waste Management at UMass Lowell earning a Bachelor of Science, Earth Science – Meteorology in 1997.

He was employed by Analytic Science and Engineering Corporation out of Burlington, MA and was assigned to Hanscom AFB where he provided computer support, administration and network security operations for the Air Base and U.S. mutual assets at nearby MITRE and Lincoln Labs. In 1998, Jim was attached to NATO HQ in Brussels, Belgium to perform Year 2000 migration strategic planning and implementation. He resigned a position as a Letter Carrier for the United States Post Office in Lawrence, MA, in order to pursue this public office.

Jim has three children and three grandsons and currently lives in the Pawtucketville neighborhood of Lowell with his second wife of nine years. He loves to keep busy, always has and always will and enjoys carpentry, chemistry, mechanics, golfing, and fishing.

To all Pawtucketville Citizens Council, Centralville residence and Friends

Centralville Neighborhood Action Group will be having a very important meeting on Monday August, 30th at the Dom Polski Club on Coburn St. at 6:30pm,. Representatives from the City’s Engineering Department as well as Mark Young, Water Department will be in attendance to discuss “Levee repairs” in the Rosemont Section and Beaver Brook Section of Centralville.

Neighbors from Centralville, as well as Pawtucketville are strongly urged to attend this very important and informative meeting. Many people may or not know, the current levee system was installed by the “US Army Corps of Engineers back in 1940, and are in dire need of updates and repairs; and must be brought up today’s standards. FEMA has identified that some Centralville residents behind the levee system are in an unprotected flood zone, therefore it is important they attend this meeting for more information.

For more information,call Pat Hunt at 978-459-9357

This title came from watching the meeting with my 5 and 6 year old tonight. With five tv’s in the house the only one they wanted to watch was what ever one I turned on the “boring” meeting. I had to watch the meeting from home this evening instead of at city hall due to scheduling problems which proved to be difficult with two girls who have the summer stir crazies. You know the drill…she hit me, she looked at me funny, she touched me, change the channel, etc… So Gerry can fill in the blanks if I leave out any major points. There did not seem to be any major shockers this week and the meeting only went from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. (smack in the middle of my children’s bewitching hours)

1. The committee is waiting anxiously to see if they will be receiving 3.5 million dollars in Race to the top funding and how it can be spent. Not sure if it will just be for teachers or if the library specialists will be included. May hear by next Wednesday or Thursday.
2. The duty assistant position will be drawn up and impact bargained with the teachers union. As Dr. Scott said this could be a “long journey”. I am sure Mr. Georges is not going to just roll over on this one after the recent paraprofessional layoffs and I am not sure I would blame him on this. I know in the private market people are laid off all the time and replaced with non-benefited part timers. It does not make me feel better that it happens however. I will have to read the job description before commenting more.
3. The Varnum School was handed back to its rightful owner this evening. Maybe the city should have asked for a security deposit? Mr. Leary did ask, “Will it be shiny and clean when we give it back to the city” and Mr. Lang responded “Spic and Span”. The neighbors and taxpayers in the area will be glad to know that it will be finally cleaned. However if they look at the condition of the old Butler School they may not be too optimistic.

Kim Scott