5 Councilors Violate Charter

Ken O'Brien

Councilor Manna

A note of appreciation goes out to Councilor Manna.

During Councilors Forum last night she moved to hold a second meeting of the Council this month next Monday. This would be to comply with the portion of the charter that says. “2-5-1: The council shall meet regularly at least twice in every month." (See video of the Council meeting below, beginning at 2:34:02.)

Not one of the remaining five councilors present would even second her motion. This, despite the fact that every one of them took an oath to “…abide by the Charter…” as demonstrated by the following video from the last reorganization meeting.

Southbridge Landfill Fined $220,000

Ken O'Brien

The Southbridge Recycling and Disposal Park landfill will pay nearly $220,000 to settle claims that improper maintenance and monitoring of a large soil stockpile caused a landslide that damaged adjacent wetlands, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today.

The complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court with the consent judgment, alleges that a portion of the stockpile became unstable and caused a landslide in August 2013, which inundated the banks of a stream in Charlton with up to a foot of sediment and covered more than half an acre of vegetated wetlands with mud and silt, ranging from a fine coating to a half foot of muck. 

Southbridge School Committee Attends OML Class - Learns Nothing

Ken O’Brien

The newly constituted leadership of the Southbridge School Committee continues its pattern of setting a poor example for the youth in their charge.

In this installment of the ongoing soap opera “As The District Burns” we examine the lesson provided on paying attention in class.

Specifically we will illustrate how what one supposedly gains by attending a specialized training is useless if you cannot apply it in “real life”.