watch and listen to the talking news every day at twelve noon and six pm on channel ninety six comcast six finity and channel thirty verizon it can also be heard mondays and tuesdays at four just search for the belmont media podcast network and now on to the talking news shining a new light on the role of d a s by maureen costello hall is on a mission a former prosecutor with the suffolk county district attorney's office and now the director of the racial justice program of the american civil liberties union of massachusetts hall is in the middle of an eleven month campaign to inform every massachusetts voter person and future about the role of district attorneys we need to focus on one of the most powerful people in the system all said to group of seventy plus people who gathered at lexington's temple isaiah on july the th year his organization's pitch what a difference a da makes district attorney's hall said hold the nd most powerful position in the state's criminal justice system they serve as both a judge and jury for more than nine out of every ten criminal cases closing ninety percent with plea bargains da's not judges decide if an individual is charged with a crime they're the ones who recommend bail or leaner sentences and diversions such as drug treatment programs and whole added d a s can use their philosophies to manipulate the political and legal systems but there's one person more powerful than the d whole said and that's you all who have the power to vote paul's campaign began in december and runs until the last poll closes on election day november the th it includes data from the two thousand and seventeen survey of the a c l u of massachusetts administered to six hundred and eighteen registered voters fewer than four of ten people surveyed that's thirty eight dollars a cent did not know the district attorneys of four year old it did officials an answer only to voters fewer than half that's forty eight percent believe the current system is working and eighty four percent believe change is needed to a ball racial imbalance the poll was conducted by anderson rogers research of boston the scales of justice a heavily weighed in favor of whites the connected and the money all said citing that blacks and latinos make up twenty percent of the state's population yet account for more than fifty percent of the prison population you have to believe in the inherent criminality in black and brown folks or you just have to believe in the inherent in justice in the system he said adding that many individuals charge but not convicted of a crime behind because they cannot afford even a five hundred dollars bail he referred to the massachusetts bail fund a program that bailed one thousand  individuals with misdemeanors or nonviolent offenses when those cases finally had their day in court weeks and even months after the individual arrests more than half would dismissed those people who would have otherwise sat in jail holes said jailed individuals jeopardize their jobs housing and relationships he said in an earlier interview district attorney nationwide have long been opposed to criminal law reform he said such as raising the minimum minimum age a person can be tried as an adult from eighteen to nineteen we have to consider who we were  eighteen and who we are now he said advocates including the a c l u a working to remove antiquated and ineffective policies in april governor charlie baker signed the criminal justice reform bill that overhauls much of the system it expunged has some criminal and young adult records as well as adult records for convictions that are no crimes such as marijuana possession it also encourages a sliding scale for bail scott st and campaign coordinator for middlesex county district attorney marian ryan a democrat said ryan believes the what makes a da what a difference a da makes campaign is great and welcomes their ideas ryan is the only massachusetts d a to support the state the senate's version of the criminal justice reform bill ryan implemented a policy last fall to remove remove bale full level and miss to mean of crimes because of the potential caused in warehousing people who cannot afford to pay she is one of five district attorneys that faces a challenge this year massachusetts says eleven da's and all are up for reelection and now over to my colleague thomas thank you bob stores caught selling tobacco to customers under twenty one dollars by joanna cates of a less than a compliance check conducted by belmont's health department on july  palo road and the spirit of gore may for forty eight common street the spirit of gore may was sewing a cigar and the other three stores were selling cigarettes according to belmont health director wesley chin these were the st time violations within a twenty four month period at l c variety power plus gas and the spirit corps may penalized with fines of one hundred dollars it was the nd violation within twenty four months at belmont karkare penalized to the fine of two hundred dollars and suspension of the tobacco product sales permit for seven days however over the last three years belmont karkare has violated the town's to bac tobacco regulations five times three of these violations were committed by the same employee according to chen for the violations were for selling to an under aged individual and one violation was for selling flavored tobacco products he said after a public hearing on july th belmont's board of health unanimously approved the adoption of new regulations prohibiting the sale of tobacco products in belmont at health institutions such as pharmacies they also voted to put a cap on the number of tobacco sales permits in belmont and limited the number of retail tobacco stores including bake shops to two currently there are fourteen businesses in belmont with tobacco sales permits according to chen the four pharmacies in belmont two c v s stores belmont pharmacy and star market do not currently sell tobacco the new regulation will help prevent any changes in the future or any new pharmacy opening a from selling tobacco belmont is joining one hundred and sixty six other massachusetts communities who are already have this regulation chen said the ultimate goal is to reduce the number of permits over time as retail establishments go out of business he said if a business which currently holds a permit to sold and if the permit is not renewed by the new owner in thirty days the permit will be retired permanently reducing the total number of tobacco sales permits  however if a retail business is purchased by a new owner they will have sixty days to contact the board of health to keep their permit active for use at their new business before they retired from circulation according to chin research suggest that adolescent tobacco use rates are correlated with tobacco retailer density quote the theory goes if there are less tobacco retailers in the community adolescent rates of tobacco you should also be lower when compared to a comparable community with more tobacco retailers unquote he said in an email to the citizen herald the board of health also voted on july th to place a restriction on the number of rapes shops retail tobacco stores allowed in town so that there will never be more than two in operation at any given time they being a flavor nicotine products is a growing problem among the youth throughout the commonwealth's age and quote currently the board of health has banned the sale of flavored tobacco products in town however there is one exception and the only place where an individual aged twenty one dollars or above can obtain a flavored tobacco or a nicotine delivery product would be at an adult only specialty store dedicating to only selling tobacco and or baby products he said according to chin access by minors to tobacco products is a major public health program problem nationally in two thousand and seventy two percent of high school smokers and sixty six percent of middle school smokers were not asked to show proof of age when purchasing tobacco products according to chen quote the board of health believes by placing a restriction on the number of retail tobacco stores which is the category under which of apes shop would fall under kids will have less access to flavored bait products said chand the new tobacco regulations will take effect residents concern about the safety of the intersection at marsh and winter streets and a crash history which justifies the criteria for a four way stop selectman authorized the installation of a four way stop for a period of six months at the intersection at their july  th meeting community development director glen clancy said the intersection is such a safety hazard he didn't feel it was necessary to have a public discussion the period of six months will give residents the opportunity to come forward if they have concerns to see how traffic is affected and to determine if it helps improve the safety of the intersection in a recent study of the intersection clancy said the intersection sight distance was found inadequate to make a turn safely from marsh on to winter street he said the st step to making it safer is to add a four way stop according to belmont police from two thousand and fourteen to two thousand and eighteen there have been twenty two accidents at that intersection including six in twenty six thousand  one thousand seven hundred and forty two date in two thousand and eighteen the selectmen also approved four way stops to be installed at the intersections of sherman street and waterhouse road and sherman and dean streets to community path to the selectmen approved the draft of a letter to be sent to the community preservation committee for an off cycle funding request by the community pathic implementation committee for four hundred thousand dollars to design phase one a of the proposed route the portion of the path which includes the underpass tunnel between alexander and concord avenues the massachusetts department of transportation is considering belmont's community path as a project to be considered for funding by the boston metropolitan planning organization transportation improvement program and will include it on the agenda for a project review committee meeting july th the community preservation committee is expected to vote on the off cycle request at its august th meeting three trash and recycling update public works director j market said of july th eighteen thousand eight hundred and forty two carts have been delivered to belmont residents for the new trash and recycling collection program delivery of the carts was delayed due to the extreme heat and torrential rain earlier in the month more than two thousand overflow bags have been sold to date at hollingsworth five and ten also the public works office and hillside garden true value star market will soon be selling over full bags as well said market although there is no recycling market for glass glass containers should be rinsed clean and placed in the recycle carts said market arcot said he has received ninety two applications from residents applying for a smaller thirty five gallon container to qualify residents must be unable to wheel the household cart to the curb for collection and have no one else who can assist them such as a spouse live in family member or a personal assistant for incinerator site options the selectmen reviewed a matrix developed by town staff to analyze the seventeen use suggestions generated from a community meeting on june th for the town owned land at the former incinerator site conquered have the criteria on the matrix included if the use is year round generates revenue has no maintenance cost has no hit traffic impact has no neighbor concerns meets the climate action plan allows public works to continue using it has broad appeal covers the cost of capping by the developer or town is imminent municipal use allows for an additional use in conjunction with the main use or has a positive impact on the town's budget for construction based on the preliminary results the suggestion for an anaerobic digester reach the top of the list next in line was solar hockey rink food leaf composting transfer station park and ride playing fields public works uses bike and skate park dog park pet sematary driving range and open space five high school project at exclusion and traffic committee the selectmen voted in favor of the defects occlusion question to be on the ballot for the state election november th the amount of the debt exclusion is not included in the question but will become public through the campaign in support of the depth exclusion prior to the election over to you bob  august th through august th at the belmont high school track at harris field each day will include a warm run motivational and or educational speaker  stretching yoga and pole lottie's routine led by donna bean of bawdy trio in belmont a snack and a workout to cap off the day participants will also hear a ball what it takes to run marathons and longer across the world all camp proceeds will benefit neurofibromatosis ne a local nonprofit that raises peace a rand seven marathons on seven continents in seven days for the world marathon challenge and became the champion in twenty million one hundred and sixty two thousand and eighteen she is also a veteran of over forty marathons in over thirty states de gale is a veteran triathlete marathon a ultra marathoner and long distance cyclist having completed over one hundred and fifty events including seventeen ultra marathons and one hundred mile runs in the last ten years there is no challenge she is not up to d j o is also a former u type one and since then he has dedicated himself to raising awareness and funds to combat the disease neurofibromatosis northeast is a nonprofit five a one c organization an f neuro fiber of the ptosis is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that causes tumors to form on the nerves anywhere in or on the body at any time and on to my colleague thomas thank you bob council on aging says farewell to departing assistant director the belmont council on aging held a reception on july th in honor of assistant director lillian hartman who is leaving her position after three years to dedicate more time to her family the beach street center lobby was wall to wall with belmont senior citizens who came to say goodbye to hartman council an aging director nominee fogle said hardman has made a tremendous impact on the beach street center community and will be greatly missed quote we know that little has raised the level of programming here to an amazing amazing assortment of quality programs diverse programs things that i never would have imagined we could do here we are doing here and quote said new fogle she described kind and gracious to everyone quote what we'd like to see here is a welcoming place lula's helped us achieve that goal by being a truly welcoming place she said hartman said she is happy to take a risk and try something new her st stop will be a full time mom and she's not where she's headed after that i will miss the beech tree beach street center and not a tremendously but it makes most sense for me to focus on family for now she and golf by scott souza michael a zildjian was a successful music promoter in los angeles it was theoretically quite the exciting scene for someone who grew up in watertown where he played basketball and football then moved out to california to attend college there were parties there were stars life was about creating an image and pumping up that image no matter how reality based it was or wasn't but zildjian increasingly found it wasn't the life for him it could be entertaining yet shallow and not all that fulfilling i was tired of the ego zildjian said upon accepting this realisation he had to think about what he was going to do about it he drove to arizona to contemplate his life and came up with a number of little philosophies about what was truly important how to make himself a better person and then related it to one of his passions golf golf for instance is a game that's just you the one thousand nine hundred and two watertown high graduate said you have a stick and a ball although there may be wind or noises it's about you you have to walk to get the ball where you want it to go to me life is the same way it's just you all these outside factors that we concern ourselves with really just take away from us focusing inward on the things we need to do to be our very best the epiphany culminated in a dream that he turned into a reality or at least came real darn close to it i had this dream about golf he said that if you visualize the shot commit to the moment of impact then release attachment to outcome that's probably a good routine then i went out and try to the few minutes later and i almost made a hole in one it was then about three years ago that he decided to share his thoughts in book form after a year of writing he recently released zelazny fi on gulf observations on the parallels between life and golf it's like a personal caddy basically for golf and for life he said from his childhood home in watertown during a break in the book's promotional tour as golfers and as people we tend to get in our own way a lot of this book sort of helps guide you through ways to unravel the things that keep us from being our best the book is broken up into eighteen short chapters each representing a hole on the golf course that introduce a life topic with a connection to a golf anecdote or analogy there is then a quiz on how the reader scores when dealing with that topic based on golf scores of eagle birdie par bogey and double bogey a handful of protests on how to become and how better to deal with that topic and some  improvement it's funny he said there's no heavy philosophy there is philosophy but it's light the th hole or chapter titled jerk off tells the story about golfing with a friend who let frustration get the best of him on the course he's always had a bit of an anger issues silje and said he had a bad shot and he flipped out and whipped a club right over my head that really made me stop and think earlier in my life and golf career i' had similar issues like that i realized that doesn't make you play better golf when you get frustrated and angry it doesn't make you better at what you're doing each chapter takes up about ten pages clearing the drills and tips zildjian said the quick read is meant to be a recurring guide that readers can go back to well on the golf course or making their way through life over to you bob thanks a lot max national purple day ceremony will take place on august the th belmont will hold its annual observance and recognition ceremony at the belmont public library at three at three hundred and thirty six dollars concord avenue on tuesday  aug th at ten am the town of belmont officially proclaimed itself a purple heart community on december th two thousand and fifteen and was designated a purple heart community by the military order of the one suffered in combat although membership is restricted to the combat wounded the organization supports all veterans and their families with nationwide programs by chapters and national problem in the bay state by addressing opioid addiction prevention and treatment the bill creates the community based behavioral health promotion and prevention trust fund to support evidence based and evidence informed programs for children and young adults requires providers to check the prescription monitoring program prior to issuing any prescription for a benzo to as a pine prohibits discounts and rebates for prescription opiates requires electronic prescription for all controlled substances with a few exceptions effective january st two thousand and twenty and requires facilities to accept mass health coverage on a nondiscriminatory basis other provisions esta wide standing order for narconon expanding access to this opioid overdose reversing drug without an individual prescription require emergency rooms to have the protocols and capacity to provide evidence based interventions following an opiate overdose including medication assisted treatment and establishes a two year pilot program to offer medication assisted treatment at six prisons and now back to max thank you thomas armenian dinner and music for all one hundred and fifty dollars guests enjoyed armenian culture with friends from all backgrounds at the beach street center on june th for the armenian dinner dance sponsored by the belmont cultural council and the residences at watertown square and organized by the belmont council on aging with the armenian cultural and educational center the c d c i need catering of belmont catered the buffet of chicken kabob rice pilaf salad and pita with homeless volunteers from teaches folk dance at the beach street center and all are welcome to come to her free classes wednesday eleven forty five am to twelve thirty pm back to you bob along with my colleagues thomas and max we thank you listening to the talking news and hope you'll enjoy the show we will be on break for the next two weeks and will return on august the th for another edition of local news happenings around belmont