By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives – Nov, 2016 Leading up to the beginning of a new formal legislative session in January, I’m focusing in on which bills will be priorities for me to file, re-file and co-sponsor. My column over these next months will be focused on a number of those bills. This month’s column […]
By: Al Kaprielian – Oct. 2016 Fall is now officially here and many of the trees are changing color. Peak color will occur around the middle of October. The summer was hot and mainly dry. Temperatures averaged out hotter in August compared to July. It was a great summer for the beach and vacations. However, […]
By: Al Kaprielian – Sept, 2016 With September now here we can say good bye to meteorological summer, which is from June through August. This year August proved to be a very hot month. This was due to a strong upper level HIGH PRESHA system in the Atlantic Ocean known as the Bermuda high. This […]
By: State Senator Kathleen Ives – Sept, 2016 In August, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court made an important ruling, determining it to be unlawful for electric distribution companies to pass along to ratepayers the costs associated with the construction of new, privately-owned natural gas pipelines, through what some have referred to as a “pipeline tax.” […]
By: Al Kaprielian – August, 2016 Good EVENING! Summer weather finally arrived in July. A heat wave occurred with three or more consecutive days of 90 degrees or higher. July is the hottest month of the year. The reason for the heat was an intense Bermuda (subtropical) high pressure system in the Atlantic Ocean. This […]
Welcome to July and the summer of 2016. YAYY! The month of July is considered to be the hottest month of the year. This occurs a month after the summer solstice. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year. Time will tell if July is the hottest month this year. In some years, […]
By: Al Kaprielian – June, 2016 After some cool days in May we saw a return to true summertime heat on Saturday, May 28. Boston reached 92 degrees on that day, which tied the record of 92 degrees set back in 1931. Fitchburg reached 97 degrees on that day. Many areas reached into the 90’s […]
Methuen residents and business owners will save more than $900,000 annually thanks to the newly created Methuen Community Choice Power Supply program. The City of Methuen and Colonial Power Group, Inc. announced that they have entered into a two-year agreement to bring significant energy cost-savings to the city’s residents and small businesses through this initiative. […]
By: State Senator Katy Ives May, 2016 Kinder Morgan, a Houston, Texas-based energy infrastructure company, submitted its first letter related to their Northeast Energy Direct Project (NED Project) to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on September 15, 2014. It detailed a plan to construct 177 miles of new pipeline from Wright, New York to […]
By: Al Kaprielian – May, 2016 After seeing some warm April days with temperatures in the 70’s to low 80’s, our weather has turned noticeably cooler as we moved into May. In this article we will be explaining why, and also some other weather features that can occur during the spring months. This past […]
By: Tom Duggan – March, 2016 Salisbury residents Stacie and Mark Warcewicz, owners of The Meadow at Red Ridge Farm have filed a lawsuit against the Town of Salisbury for illegally placing unenforceable restrictions on their business license. The Warcewiczs say that after years of holding weddings on their property with full consent from the […]
By: Al Kaprielian This winter continues to differ greatly from last winter with warmer temperatures and less snow. This winter is an El Nino winter where the cold artic air has a difficult time staying for a long period of time. El Nino occurs when the South Pacific Ocean is warmer than normal. El Nino […]
By: Al Kaprielian – Jan. 2016 As December neared the end, we finally saw our first winter storm with snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain. December 2015 will go down as the warmest December on record ever for Boston at number one. On December 28th, the average temperature was 46.4 degrees, which is 11.3 degrees […]
By: Linda Dean Campbell – Dec. 2015 Before Thanksgiving, the Massachusetts House passed two important pieces of legislation. One of these bills will make significant changes to our antiquated public records law. The other will lift the cap on solar energy production to take advantage of existing solar projects and expiring federal tax credits. Both […]
By Christine Morabito – December 2015 What we have is a problem of energy inequality. In terms of energy costs, Massachusetts residents pay the highest prices in the nation – three to four times as much per kilowatt hour for electricity. We are so accustomed to paying this exorbitant amount, that we rarely question it. The […]