Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Guyer-E News Summer 2009

Guyer Attends Urban Farm Tour

(Boston)- State Representative Denis E. Guyer (D-Dalton) announced his participation in an urban farm tour hosted by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Tuesday.

The tour, led by Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture Scott Soares, began at Allendale Farm, the last working farm in Boston. Guyer then went to the Food Project in Dorchester, an organization that instills the value of local and sustainable agriculture to Boston area teens. The group had lunch at Hayley House in Roxbury a non-profit job training cafe that uses locally grown produce. A trip to the Copley Square Farmer’s Market, which features local produce and farm products sold directly by farmers to consumers, followed. The day concluded at the Serving Ourselves Organic Farm, a project which gives vocational training to homeless men and women living at the Long Island Shelter and provides over seventy-five percent of the food for its kitchen operation, which feeds 500 people a day.

“Today, as part of my role as Vice-Chair of the legislature's Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, I was fortunate enough to get a firsthand look at the many ways in which agricultural changes lives for the better within the Commonwealth,” said Guyer. “This tour provided evidence of the amazing things that are happening in Massachusetts Agriculture.”


Guyer has been active in the farming community throughout his term in the Legislature, including helping to secure numerous grants for farms in the Second Berkshire District, as well as helping to local organizations dedicated to furthering farming.

For pictures from the Food Project in Dorchester click here
For more information visit The Food Project, http://www.haleyhouse.org/cafe/home.htm ,Serving Ourselves Organic Farm, & Allandale Farm


DTC Extends Deadline for Regional Investigation of Telephone Service Quality – Last Chance to Submit Comments about Verizon Telephone Service!

Over the years, the Connect has heard from many residents, local officials and businesses about problems with the quality of their telephone service, such as, static, clicking, humming, and noise during wet weather. If you have had experiences like these, NOW IS THE TIME TO HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD. Earlier this year, tremendous support was expressed for the MA Department of Telecommunications & Cable (DTC) to conduct a regional investigation of Verizon’s telephone service quality. As a result, the investigation is now underway, and has recently had its public comment deadline extended to August 14, 2009. As part of the investigation they are collecting testimony about Verizon telephone service quality in western Massachusetts. Statements that describe your personal experience with Verizon telephone service quality are an essential element of this investigation. In particular, statements that are submitted as part of the evidentiary record (which can be done by mail with an affidavit or at the public hearing, if you so choose) are particularly important in determining the outcome of this investigation. The last public hearing will be held on Monday, August 3, 2009 in Chester, MA. If this issue matters to you, it is very important that you attend the public hearing or submit comments by the Friday, August 14, 2009 deadline. The DTC Public Notice is posted online at http://www.pioneervalleyconnect.org/newslinks.html.

PUBLIC HEARING:Hampden County: August 3, 6-9 pm, Town Hall, 15 Middlefield Road, Chester, MA ADDRESS TO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTS BY AUGUST 14th DEADLINE: Catrice C. Williams, Secretary of DTC, Two South Station, 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02110(If you choose to submit your comments in such a way as to be part of the evidentiary record, please see the public notice for further details.)


For more information… A website for WesternMA Connect is in development. Until completed, the websites of www.bconnect.org or www.pioneervalleyconnect.org and contact information for the former Connects will continue to be utilized. For more information about WesternMA Connect, please contact: Sharon Ferry, 413-496-9606 or sferry@bconnect.org, or Jessica Atwood, 413-774-1194 x101 or jatwood@frcog.org. To unsubscribe from this email update, please email bconnect@rnetworx.com.

2009 Massachusetts Recreational Trails Program Grant Round is now OPEN!

Please visit the Recreational Trails Program website for updated grant guidelines, application materials, and paperwork guidelines: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/stewardship/greenway/regionalGrants.htm Also, the most recent rounds of RTP Grant Awards are now posted on the website. Please take a look at the 28 projects which have been funded this year as well as past grant round awards.
Contact Amanda Lewis, Recreational Trails Program Coordinator with any questions atamanda.lewis@state.ma.us or 413-586-8706 ext. 19.