Yearly Archives: 2015

Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) announced that Massachusetts has been awarded $63.7 million by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help finance improvements to water projects that are essential to protecting public health and the environment.

The Boston Housing Authority has awarded Community Builders, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, and Urban Edge the developer designation for its Amory Street Development. Amory Street is an elderly/disabled public housing development in Jamaica Plain.  The three accomplished non-profit and local developers have joined together to create the Amory Partners, a joint venture, led by The Community Builders group.

Mayor Sarno reminded residents of the senior citizen circuit breaker income tax credit available when they file their personal income tax returns. In calendar 2013, the last year for which data is reported, some 1174 Springfield households claimed the credit, for an average credit of $718.

Nearly 200 Boston residents participated in the pilot program in the North End and East Boston in the fall of 2014, where feedback was collected through a community participation survey advertised at local farmers’ markets and community events. Because of the success of the pilot locations – where in the past six months, 13,500 pounds of food waste have been diverted – four new sites were chosen to expand the free composting program across the City of Boston.

A Virginia man and woman who recruited participants into a multi-year, multi-property mortgage fraud scheme in Roxbury and Dorchester were sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Boston.

The House Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing on the Protecting America’s Recreation and Conservation Act, a bill that proposes extensive and dismantling changes to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Rep. Tsongas has championed the LWCF and has been one of the leading voices calling for its reauthorization.

The conspiracy began in approximately August 2007 and continued through June 2010, a period that included the height of the financial crisis and its aftermath. Home values in Massachusetts and across the nation declined precipitously, and many homeowners found themselves suddenly “underwater,” with their homes worth less than the mortgage debt they owed.

The Baker-Polito Administration announced a program that will provide homeless veterans with housing services. Under the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, the administration is allocating 65 rental vouchers to chronically homeless veterans who were identified by the local veterans’ committees across the Commonwealth.

MassHousing developed the loan program after finding that VA loans have some restrictions that make it more challenging to use in Massachusetts than in other states. There are relatively few lenders in Massachusetts offering the VA loan.

The City of Boston is committed to connecting Boston's military families with the resources and assistance they are entitled to. Earlier this year, Mayor Walsh released "An Action Plan to End Veteran and Chronic Homelessness In Boston: 2015 - 2018", which outlines the City's strategies to transform Boston's homeless response system in order to end veterans homelessness by 2015 and chronic homelessness by 2018.

The PATH program manages $600,000 in grant funding to help communities expand housing opportunities through community-initiated activities on municipally-owned sites; through changes to land use and zoning; through planning for housing and mixed-use development in specific geographic areas; and through the implementation of strategies identified in DHCD-approved Housing Production Plans

In his 56-page judgment and order pdf format of O'Donnell Judgment file size 3MB, Judge Davis held that O’Donnell is personally liable for $1,285,300 in restitution, plus interest, for orchestrating “sham transactions” to obtain four real estate properties from two charities he created, Bay State Affordable Housing (organized to provide low-income housing) and Save the Star (organized to rehabilitate Taunton’s historic Star Theater). Judge Davis ordered that O’Donnell pay this restitution into a fund established by the AG to be applied, under the direction of the Court, to one or more Taunton-area charities.

EPA alleged that Borrego violated requirements of its 2012 Construction General Permit by failing to install and maintain erosion controls and to carry out required “best management” practices for controlling storm water. The requirements were conditions of the Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Construction.

The Mayor's Carbon Cup was launched in April 2014 and recognizes the commitments of large organizations including hospitals, universities, and commercial building portfolios. There are seven participants to date, which have collectively committed approximately 20.4 million square feet to a 35 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston will contribute 1.2 million square feet to that target.

Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) was joined by Representatives Peter Welch (D-VT), Alma S. Adams (D-NC), and Lou Barletta (R-PA), along with 71 other Members of Congress in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell to urge for the swift release of Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding.