15th Annual International Sand Sculpting Festival Schedule see page 11
Vol. 20, No. 29
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Friday, July 20, 2018
First Annual Malden Road Race 10K
PHOTO FINISH: Ed Baker (left) was the first man to cross the finish line and Amanda Nurse the first woman to cross the finish line in the first Malden Road Race 10K, held Sunday morning. The race welcomed more than 1,000 seasoned and casual runners. See more photo highlights on pages 12 & 13. (Advocate photo by Katy Rogers)
City’s Community Preservation Local officials call for an end to National Grid lockout program moves forward By Barbara Taormina ed to authorize a strike, they By Barbara Taormina he Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is now accepting full applications for
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projects, and committee members are hoping to continue the program’s highly successful roll out. For the past several months the committee has been accepting and reviewing preapplications for Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding to determine if projects proposed by community members and groups fit the program’s allowable uses. “We are thrilled that all of the 19 proposed projects are eligible for CPA funding,� the committee announced on its Face-
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book page. “We look forward to working with these groups on the next step of the process – completing the full application form.� The project proposals cover everything from restoring monuments and memorials to promoting fitness to enhancing High Rock and Waitt’s Mount, two of Malden’s most spectacular open space resources. Malden has roughly $1.2 million in CPA funding, which is raised through an annual 1 percent surcharge on property taxes. The current CPA kitty represent two years of local tax receipts which are bolstered with a contribution from the state’s Community Preservation Trust Fund. CPA guidelines require the city to spend or set aside funding for projects in three core categories: affordable housing, historic resources and recreation and open space. Projects in each of those categories must each received 10 percent of the city CPA money, but the remaining 70 percent can be used as the city sees fit. CPC Chair Julianne Orsino
CPC | SEE PAGE 6
ity Council President Debbie DeMaria has joined a growing number of local officials calling on National Grid to end a lockout of about 1,200 employees in the wake of a breakdown of contract negotiations. “National Grid is a power company. It is also powerful. I implore you and the other members of National Grid’s executive team to allow good faith negotiations with your employees, which will end a prolonged and dangerous lockout,� wrote DeMaria this week in an open letter to National Grid. “This is a question of dignity, safety and basic humanity,� she said. Late last month, National Grid opted to initiate a lockout of its gas division employees after new contract negotiations between the company and the United Steelworkers Union Local 12003 and Local 12012, which represent the workers, hit an impasse. At issue are changes to employees’ health-care benefits, pensions for new employees and contract work. Although the unions vot-
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agreed to keep working under their old contract, which was signed in 2016. But National Grid rejected that offer, claiming it would not be productive nor in the best interest of its customers. Instead, the company decided on a lockout which has been described as a “preemptive� measure to avoid any interruptions in service. “As a consequence of that decision, while employees are not working to serve our customers, who pay for their salaries and benefits, they also are not receiving paychecks and their [healthcare] benefits have lapsed. They may elect to continue on National Grid’s plan at their own expense,� wrote Marcy Reed, executive vice president for U.S. policy and social impact at National Grid, in an article in CommonWealth magazine. Since health-care benefits were cut off on July 1, several stories have emerged about workers struggling to maintain medical treatment for family members with serious and life-threatening illnesses. National Grid has launched
LOCKOUT | SEE PAGE 5