BHSMS Building Committee running out of excuses…
Bill Lovallo, Chair of the BHSMS building committee, took a victory lap at Spring Town Meeting… call it his “Mission Accomplished moment”. Nobody is sure why as the project has cancelled millions in promised development. Yet, he consistently says the project is on budget and on-time. I guess if you repeat something enough you start to believe it.
Finger pointing is surely taking place between Project OPM Tom Gatzunis of CHA and the Building Committee as Townie Talk has heard through multiple sources “they ordered the wrong solar panels”. The project will require expensive retrofitting (where are the funds boys). How did we get here?
The $300M 7-12 Grade School has already seen millions of promised works cut from the project yet not subtracted from the cost. At the start of the project “solar panels” were promised and $2.6m was allocated to fund the procurement and installation of said panels per a source following the project.
As the project kept bleeding money, the building committee demanded $1m from the Town’s ARPA funds or they would kill the solar panels from the project. The bullied Select Board caved and provided the funding. The Town then was persuaded to loan the project $290,600 in anticipated solar rebates that may occur in the future.
Townie Talk will share a soon to be released statement regarding the disturbing situation. This is one of many issues be it the elimination of Harris field West work, lack of parking, eliminating parking and supposed parking availability behind the school. Others have alleged committee members have outright made-up stories of why things are not in the project for which TT is trying to vet.
So is it the lack of experience by the committee that led to the solar debacle or of the OPM. The same OPM expected to manage the new skating rink and new library. Needless to say, “on time and on budget” keeps meaning less and less.
July in review State and National news…
The Statehouse is trying to take more of your money. They are looking to eliminate “married filing separately” from the 9% Millionaire’s Tax recently passed by just 52% of mass voters. The Celtics lost forward Grant Williams in large part because of the Millionaires tax. The bigger issue is NY and California budgets are collapsing as businesses and residents flee because of similar taxes. Read BelmontBriefing for more analysis.
We have Motion Pictures worth seeing again… Indiana Jones (Dial of Destiny), Mission Impossible (Dead Reckoning), Sound of Freedom (true story about child sex trafficking), Oppenheimer (Manhattan Project story that ended WW2), and if you see girls and women of all ages in pink prom dresses, they are likely seeing Barbie: The Movie. Great to have reasons to go back to the theater.
The State Department released a long-awaited report highly critical of the Biden Administration for its failure to see Afghanistan chaos in a rushed evacuation. Remember, Thirteen US troops lost their lives along with 170 Afghanistan’s. So, what better way to spit on the graves of these people by dumping the report on the Friday before July 4th weekend?
Speaking of the “Big Guy” or “Pedo Pete” … not a good month for him. In a positive, he is finally acknowledging his 7th grandchild (Hunter’s daughter) and inflation is slowly easing from nauseating levels. On the WTF side… cocaine was found in a secure area of his White House, he is changing his story of never discussing business with Hunter to saying he was never involved in his business which has prompted the first heroic Democratic Congressman (Himes – D-CT) to agree that impeachment hearings are warranted if its shown Joe was aware of and/or involved with Hunter’s businesses. Joe also lied saying Hunter never profited from China as his boy wonder testified under oath that he did. Gavin Newsome is all but assured the nomination for the Democratic party. How bad is it for Joe… He lost Oliver Stone’s support because Joe is seen as leading the US into WWIII.
As for the Pubs… I can’t keep track, but President Trump has two or three Federal investigations ongoing in a couple states. Is he in trouble… Yes, but at the same time equal and or worse was done and ignored with his old pal Hillary so I can’t see this going anywhere without a full-on civil war over equal application of the law. The President is an overwhelming favorite for the Pub nomination as he has 4 successful years under his belt. His age is a factor that seems to get ignored. Dude has lived off McDonalds for decades… that can’t be healthy.
Biogen made some news having a drug approved (Aducanumab) for treating the underlying disease (Alzheimer’s). It’s not great but it’s a start and gives hope.
Aliens are in the news… not the illegal one’s flooding local hotels and emergency rooms but rather UFO’s and the Government finally starting to pave the way for a bit of transparency. If you have questions the most likely location is in Little Pond.
COVID
Its back based on my unofficial mask count at Market Basket this week. A criminal referral was made against Dr. Fauci for lying to the US Senate about “Gain of Function” funding after a long sought after report was finally redacted. Hard to believe anyone still believes Covid came from a wet market.
Love Boat Trivia….
Which three Love Boat characters are the only regular cast members to appear in every episode of the TV series?
A: Beryl “Gopher” Smith, Isaac Washington, and Captain Stubing
B: Adam “Doc” Bricker, Captain Stubing, and Beryl “Gopher Smith
C: Adam “Doc” Bricker, Beryl “Gopher Smith, and Captain Stubing
D: Adam “Doc” Bricker, Isaac Washington, and Captain Stubing
Which TV show cast members had the third most appearances on the Love Boat after second place “Happy Days” with 98 appearances (mostly Marion Ross and Ted McGinley)?
A: Knots Landing
B: MASH
C: Dallas
D: Brady Bunch
Bonus: Which TV show had the most cast member appearances… a whopping 270?
Mary Tyler Moore show
These Brady Bunch stars never appeared on The Love Boat?
A: Cindy, Jan, Marsha, Greg, Peter,
B: Bobby, Peter, Greg, Oliver, Alice
C: Cindy, Bobby, Peter, Greg, Alice
D: Cindy, Jan, Bobby, Peter, Greg
Which two Seinfeld guest stars also made appearances on The Love Boat?
A: Courtney Cox
B: Debra Messing
C: Teri Hatcher
D: Marissa Tomei
Who was Cruise Director Julie McCoy’s true love?
A: Beryl “Gopher” Smith
B: Adam “Doc” Bricker
C: Marty Chenault
D: Tony Selkirk
It was the most sought-after show to guest star on with 552 celebrity guest appearances. Who had the most appearances in the TV series?
A: Charo
B: Florence Henderson (aka Mrs. Brady)
C: Marion Ross (AKA Mrs. Cunningham)
D: Ted Knight (Mary Tyler Moore show)
Which of these celebrities never appeared on “The Love Boat”?
A: Kathy Bates
B: Milton Berle
C: OJ Simpson
D: Bill Bixby
True or False speed round….
- Passengers paid thousands of dollars to be on the cruise during filming. TRUE
- Dionne Warwick sang the opening theme song on more episodes than Jack Jones. FALSE
- Fred Grandy “Gopher” boarded at Belmont Hill for two years and his roommate was the grandson of President Eisenhower. FALSE (Philips Exeter Academy in NH)
- Vincent Price once guest starred on the Love Boat as a “Detective.” FALSE (Magician)
- Louise “Wheezy” Jefferson played Isaac Washington’s mother. FALSE (Aunt)
- Butkus, Grier, Namath and Reggie Jackson all appeared on the Love Boat. TRUE
- The Professor (not Roy Epstein) but from Gilligan’s Island was the only Gilligan’s regular not to appear on an episode of the Love Boat. TRUE
- Captain Stubing eventually married Florence Henderson on the show. FALSE (Marion Ross)
- Adam “Doc” Bricker was married and divorced 6 times. TRUE
- John Ritter played the “kissing bandit” on an episode. FALSE (Billy Crystal)