News Briefs

JOIN THE MEDICAL RESERVE CORPS

 The MRC is a national network of volunteers, organized locally to improve the health and safety of their communities. MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals, as well as other community members without healthcare backgrounds. MRC units engage these volunteers to strengthen public health, improve emergency response capabilities, and build community resiliency. They prepare for and respond to natural disasters, such as wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and floods, as well as other emergencies affecting public health, such as disease outbreaks, vaccination clinics, and shelter operations.

 Revere is part of the Massachusetts Region 4B MRC unit, along with 17 other communities surrounding Boston. The regional model enables volunteers to serve in their community or others within the region.

 MRC volunteers have the opportunity to attend free emergency preparedness trainings, including First Aid/CPR, Stop the Bleed, and Psychological First Aid. Additionally, many training courses offer continuing education credits for health professionals.

 The public is invited on Thursday, March 28, from 6  – 7 p.m. at the American Legion Building, 249 Broadway, Revere, MA 02151 to learn more about volunteering and registering with the MRC. If you are unable to attend but interested in volunteering with the MRC, please visit MAResponds.org and register under Massachusetts Region 4b MRC.

METRO CREDIT UNION ANNOUNCES GROWTH AND EXPANSION

 Robert Cashman, President and CEO of Metro Credit Union, announces that Metro has embarked upon major strategic investments in technology, physical locations and talent. These ambitious developments are part of a deliberate strategy to prepare for continuing and projected business growth of Metro’s members and communities. In support of these initiatives, Metro is seeking to leverage the diverse local talent pool to fill critical roles in member service, systems processing, product sales and business development. The Credit Union is seeking to attract top talent that will enable Metro to expand its workforce and deliver high quality service to members.

 Metro currently has a number of large-scale expansion projects in motion:

· The Credit Union is close to completing the initial phase of a multi-year project to upgrade its technology infrastructure. This new intuitive technology environment will offer Metro members the ability to achieve their financial goals within a seamless, interconnected banking experience. Over 100 Metro employees are involved in this comprehensive initiative to choose a new core system, online banking system, debit card processing system and call center phone system.

· With the recent expansion of its Mortgage Originations Team, Metro has opened new sales production offices in Danvers and Boston to focus on expanding mortgage offerings in those markets. Mortgage Originators are located in every Metro branch and throughout Metro’s service territory, providing customized loan solutions to meet the needs of today’s homebuyers.  

· Furthering its commitment to the Boston market, Metro is expanding its Member Service Center and creating new job opportunities with the opening of a satellite Call Center at Metro’s Mass. Ave location.

· Metro is leveraging the expansion of its technology infrastructure to advance its commercial capabilities and expand its Commercial Lending Team, with a focus on delivering valuable resources and customized solutions to business members.

·  In response to growing requests from New Hampshire residents, Metro recently expanded its outreach to include the New Hampshire counties of Hillsborough and Rockingham, adding to the eight counties in Massachusetts that define Metro’s field of membership.

· Metro has selected Mechanica of Newburyport, as its agency of record. The strategic and creative agency is tasked with all communications efforts for the brand, including creative, planning and engagement strategies to broaden and differentiate Metro’s momentum and growth.

 â€œMetro continuously seeks opportunities to provide the best in service to our members,” says Cashman. “These expansion initiatives are designed to provide the capacity we will require to expand our services to meet the needs of our growing membership. We have an opportunity to acquire highly skilled candidates to strengthen our teams as we develop multiple strategic projects in technology and continue to add new locations.”

Run with Councilor Keefe

Councilor Patrick Keefe is happy to announce his continuation of the Revere Running Club.  I am hoping to inspire and help other runners organize throughout the city. 

I have been an avid runner for the past nine years and realize the vast amount of area your able to cover. It is a great way to get ideas and see exactly what the neighborhoods need, from potholes to parking.  It is also a great way to meet your neighbors and instill more community involvement.   Revere has a great running landscape for runners of all abilities with its flats along the beach or Broadway and some great hills off Park Ave or even the ward 4 urban trail.

I will be coordinating 1 run per week on Friday Mornings, kicking off the week of the Boston Marathon.  The hope is to get a group of runners to, participate in the upcoming Revere 5k road race in June.

Runners and perspective runners from all levels are encouraged to reach out and join in.  

Contact Councilor Patrick Keefe at [email protected], or like KeefeforRevere on Facebook for more updates.

April 1 IS THE application deadline for the Seniors Property Tax exemption

Seniors can receive a discount of $502.06 on their April tax bill.  Residents who turned age 65 as of July 1, 2018 have until April 1 to apply for the exemption. 

To qualify, an applicant must have owned the property in Revere on July 1, 2018, used it as a principle domicile on that date, and have owned that property as a principle domicile for at least five years prior.  Applicants may also have owned another property in Massachusetts as a principal domicile for the previous five years.  Applicants whose income exceeded $57,000 in calendar year 2017 are not eligible. 

Applications for the Senior Tax Exemption program can be obtained at City Hall in the Mayor’s and the Assessors’ office, or can be downloaded from the City’s website www.revere.org. 

CHA Names

Dr. Wang Chief

of Psychiatry

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), an academic community health system serving Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-north region, has named Philip Wang, MD, DrPH, as its new Chief of Psychiatry. Dr. Wang is a nationally renowned administrator, researcher and educator whose career has been dedicated to improving the lives of people with mental illnesses.

Dr. Wang will manage the department’s clinical operations for both inpatient and outpatient services, including efforts to strengthen its coordination and integration with primary care and other clinical services. In addition, he will oversee the Department’s academic programs, including training and research. As an appointing department of Harvard Medical School (HMS), CHA has a diverse and vibrant faculty that has established a standard of excellence in teaching.

“Mental and behavioral health services are a key component of CHA’s mission,” said CHA’s Chief Medical Officer Assaad Sayah, MD. “Dr. Wang has excelled in building systems that can aid vulnerable groups, and we are excited he is bringing this expertise to lead and enhance our nationally recognized Department of Psychiatry.”

Dr. Wang most recently served as the deputy medical director and director of research of the American Psychiatric Association. In this role, he was responsible for developing and expanding practice resources for the more than 37,000 psychiatrists of the association. Preceding this position, Dr. Wang was the deputy director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). There, he assisted in overseeing 1,300 NIMH staff and approximately $1.5 billion spent annually on basic, translational and clinical research focused on prevention, recovery and cures.

Additionally, Dr. Wang has served on the faculty at HMS, including mentoring residents and clinical fellows on their research projects. He has authored publications in leading medical journals and conducted national and global psychiatric epidemiology studies and pharmacoepidemiologic research as well as clinical trials to test new interventions. Dr. Wang was a member of the APA DSM-V Task Force and has consulted on several APA Work Groups that developed evidence-based treatment guidelines.

Dr. Wang completed his undergraduate degree in biochemistry, medical school, psychiatry residency and chief residency, as well as a master’s and doctoral degree in epidemiology, at Harvard. He will join CHA in September 2019.

CHA is an academic community health system committed to providing high quality care in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston’s metro-north communities. CHA has expertise in primary care, specialty care and mental health/substance use services, as well as caring for diverse and complex populations. It includes three hospital campuses, a network of primary care and specialty practices and the Cambridge Public Health Dept. CHA patients have seamless access to advanced care through the system’s affiliation with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. CHA is a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate and is also affiliated with Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine.

Revere Republican committee to meet

The Revere Republican Committee will meet on April 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the community room in the Revere Police Station.

Guest Speaker will be Chanel Prunier, executive director of Renew MA Coalition.

Prunier is also the former National Committeewoman for the Massachusetts Republican Party.  She will be discussing very important topics, such as the Roe Act Infanticide legislation proposed on Beacon Hill, and the illegal immigration crisis going on at the federal level. 

Prunier will also speak to the changing of the guard at the MassGOP and the revisions that the new Chairman Jim Lyons has brought to the Massachusetts Republican Party.  There will be a lot to discuss: contenders are already announcing their intention to run for President, campaigns will be forming committees, the Presidential Primary will be held in just over 10 months, the Republican Convention five months after that, and the Presidential Election on Nov. 3, 2020.  It is not as far away as it might seem, we need to plan now. 

DA Rollins Releases Comprehensive Policy Memo

Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins this evening announced the release of a 65-page policy memo that defines her bold vision for her office and provides specific instructions to her staff on handling the low-level, non-violent offenses that she pledged to divert, dismiss, or otherwise resolve without incarceration.

“This document is a memo to my staff, but it also fulfills a commitment I made to the community we serve,” District Attorney Rollins said. “This is a roadmap to a criminal justice system that works equally for everyone, based on research, data, and input from across the spectrum of stakeholders.”

District Attorney Rollins distributed the memo to her staff earlier today in advance of this evening’s general announcement. While parts of it lay out office-wide goals to minimize the impact of the criminal justice system and reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities, it also contains specific guidelines for addressing some of the most common – but least serious – offenses that prosecutors handle in Suffolk County’s nine district and municipal courts.

“We start with a presumption that, in most cases, these charges don’t need to be prosecuted,” District Attorney Rollins said. “Dismissal, diversion, treatment, and services are much more often the appropriate outcomes.”

District Attorney Rollins thanked her staff, and in particular her executive staff and transition team, for their assistance in drafting, revising, and formatting the unprecedented policy guide – a process that utilized the expertise of prosecutors, defense attorneys, retired judges, and returning citizens in equal measure.

“I’m grateful to all of them for their input,” she said, “but most of all I’m grateful to the people of Suffolk County for placing their trust in me and supporting my mission.”

Lynn YMCA Hires Senior Branch Executive for Growing Campus

The YMCA of Metro North Lynn Campus is excited to announce that Andrea Baez of Winthrop will be joining the team as the Senior Executive Director.  Baez succeeds Audrey Jimenez who has accepted the position of Executive Director of Mission Advancement for the organization.  Both will begin their new role on April 1.

Mrs. Baez comes to the Lynn YMCA after serving as the Executive Director of the Dorchester YMCA for the past four years.  President and CEO of the YMCA of Metro North, Kathleen Walsh, notes, “Andrea has been an exceptional performer in the Dorchester community where the Y is thriving, we look forward to her energy, creativity and passion for the organization as she joins our team.”   Baez also served as Director of Operations at the Roxbury YMCA as well as an Association Childcare Director.  Baez graduated with a degree from Salem State University as well completed the YUSA Executive Director Learning Institute in 2015.  Baez is part of the National YMCA Women’s Leadership Network, a member of the Boston Police Department Task Force on Race and Social Justice, a member of the Dorchester Board of Trade Board of Directors as all as co-President of the Codman Square Neighborhood Council. 

Baez adds, “I look forward to expanding the work that is already happening…as well as growing our member and participant base, I truly believe the Y has something for everyone, they may just not know it yet”.  Andrea will serve as the Senior Executive Director for the Lynn Y Campus.  This includes the existing YMCA as well as the new 70,000 square-foot YMCA that is now underway. The new Y will sit directly in front of the existing Y and will include a Y Early Learning Academy, a natatorium featuring a lap pool, a teaching pool and a splash pad, a café and teaching kitchen, three community rooms, a 11-lap per mile indoor track, a 14,000 square-foot health and wellness space, a gymnasium and an indoor playspace for children!  The current Lynn YMCA will serve as a youth development center and will host the Out of School time Y Academy, the youth center drop in program, the music studio and an amazing menu of youth focused activities.  The campus including the new Lynn Y is anticipated to be open by the late spring of 2020. 

The YMCA will be scheduling a series of receptions to welcome Andrea Baez.  Please check the Lynn YMCA facebook page details.  Baez is a lifelong resident of Winthrop where she lives with her husband and two children.

REVERE MAN CONVICTED, SENTENCED TO STATE PRISON FOR ILLEGAL GUN EXCHANGE

 A Revere man had been convicted by a jury and sentenced to state prison in connection with an illegal transfer of a handgun, Attorney General Maura Healey announced.

Paul Collins, 65, of Revere, was convicted last week after a five-day jury trial in Middlesex Superior Court on charges of Trafficking in Firearms (one count). Judge Michael Ricciuti sentenced him on Wednesday to two and a half to three and a half years in state prison.

Collins was an Associate Probation Officer assigned to the Framingham District Court for eight years. In May 2016, while not having either a valid Firearm Identification (FID) card or a License to Carry (LTC), Collins gave Andrea Fazio, of Framingham, his loaded Berretta .25 caliber handgun. Fazio allegedly then gave that handgun to another associate, Carlos Santos, of Framingham.

In May 2016, Santos was arrested by the Framingham Police Department, who found on Santos a number of drugs and the loaded handgun owned by Collins. Santos also did not have an FID or LTC. Collins, Fazio, and Santos were later indicted by a Statewide Grand Jury in 2017.

Andrea Fazio’s case is pending before the Middlesex Superior Court. Santos pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in the House of Correction in November.

This case was referred to the AG’s Office by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Joshua Pakstis and Ed Beagan of AG Healey’s White Collar and Public Integrity Division, with assistance from Victim Advocate Amber Anderson, the Framingham Police Department, and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office.