welcome to talking news we're delighted to have you with us listening to a presentation by members of the beach street center and jonathan and irene we will be reading local news and happenings from the community newspaper age to purchase tobacco going up belmont passed measure in two thousand and fourteen by jerry twenty and bram berkowitz massachusetts could soon become the third state in the country to raise the legal age to buy tobacco from eighteen to twenty one a measure belmont's board of health passed unanimously in september two thousand and fourteen tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death said mark him of its government relations director for the american cancer society cancer action network we should do everything we can to reduce tobacco use last year whole y e became the first state to raise the tobacco purchasing age to twenty one california's governor signed a similar measure into law in may for the state senate voted april twenty eighth to pass a tobacco omnibus bill that would prohibit the sale of tobacco and nicotine delivery products to anyone younger than twenty one more than one hundred massachusetts cities and towns ever already passed local ordinances restricting the sale of tobacco products or raising the age to legally purchase them we do not yet have data on how the new age limit is impacting youth rates of smoking said wesley chin the months assistant health director we may get a better sense of how the policy is impacting smoking rates when the next youth risk behavior survey is completed since instituting the new policy two stores in belmont him violated the policy according to who stated compliance checks do not use fake i d s to coerce shops into selling tobacco products to those under twenty one gin stated belmont karkare incorporated violated the policy twice in january two thousand and fifteen and march two thousand and sixteen to market violated the policy in march two thousand and sixteen chin also stated that some youth may be traveling to other communities where the age to purchase tobacco is only eighteen but as more communities in the greater boston area such as arlington cambridge and lexington adopt twenty one and over policies the distance you have to travel is increasing in terms of health equity passage of the state bill would work to reduce rates youth rates of smoking more comprehensively and fairly throughout the state he stated some opponents of the tobacco bill argue that if eighteen year olds are old enough to legally vote or serve in the military they should also be allowed to buy cigarettes and other tobacco products the retailers association of massachusetts fears the bill will harm its members who sell tobacco we are opposed to the legislation said ryan carney general counsel for the ram we see it as anti retailer and anti consumer it's discriminatory as it picks winners and losers in a competitive marketplace selling a legal product according to a march two thousand and fifteen report from the institute of medicine ninety percent of smokers had their first cigarette before age nineteen it projects that if the tobacco purchasing age were raised to twenty one nationally there would be two hundred twenty three thousand fewer premature deaths among those born between two thousand and two thousand and nineteen tobacco kills more americans in yulee than car accidents alcohol illegal drugs murders and suicides combined senate president stand rosenberg democrat from him her stated i hope other states around the country follow our lead and i look forward to working with the house and governor baker to move this important policy forward the house is expected to begin debating the tobacco bill in the coming months carney predicted passage of the proposed law would negatively impact the ancillary sales as a person who would typically stop any store to buy cigarettes snacks and lottery tickets would now be more likely to bring his business across state lines we completely understand the public health concerns but the reality is this is not going to result in a decrease of nicotine usage carney said him of it argued that reductions into the eco related health care costs would more than offset any declines in cigarette sales what significantly impacting small businesses is increased health care costs and one of the biggest drivers of increased health care costs is tobacco use so decreasing tobacco use will ultimately decrease health care costs he said it's estimated tobacco use costs massachusetts four billion dollars a year there are significant public health benefits to doing this but there are also significant cost implications positively jonathan woman uninjured after a bizarre accident by  escaped without injury after driving her car up a utility pole and hit injure st leaving the vehicle resting vertically on its rear against the pole according to police chief police lieutenant christian dailly on may thirteenth the woman stated that she was turning right from the brighton street on to hit injure street on her way to work when she when her steering wheel got stuck this in turn caused the woman to lose control her vehicle veering off the road and driving up the guidelines of the utility pole before the undercarriage of the vehicle got caught in the guidelines said daily this left the vehicle resting on a corner of its rear bumper lodged between the road and the utility pole with its wheels completely off the ground facing the sidewalk it also prevent of the vehicle from tipping over and crashing on its side the front bumper appears to have fallen off as it is seen in the photo dot lying on the ground next to the vehicle while the vehicle is leaning against the pole when the light department personnel arrived on the scene they put a cable around the front of the toyota to stabilize the vehicle then the firefighters position an ambulance stretcher and surrounded it and the woman safely drop down from the vehicle and was caught by the firefighters the belmont fire department was actually one the light department was actually police were excellent said steve steve karin's who was passing by daley said paramedics evaluated the woman for demeanor on injured right after the accident belmont police were t that the accident would result in major traffic but allays while police remove the vehicle kerns said he went after the woman after she was safely down from her vehicle to give her a hug somebody up stairs loves you very much karen said he told the wall and maybe today is the day to go play the lottery and graduates to celebrate during all night party more than three hundred seniors will graduate from belmont high school on june five following the graduation ceremonies new grads may attend the forty second annual all night party the party will run from nine pm june five until five a june sixth at the school to twenty one conquered have for more than forty years parents school officials and local community leaders have organized and hosted this event so that graduates can come together to celebrate their accomplishments safely and responsibly the and p is a supervised round the clock celebration of music dancing games prizes souvenirs refreshments and surprises students sign a contract agreeing to stay at the party until the night is over more than ninety percent of the graduating class attends the  party is truly a community effort transforming belmont high school into a secret themed party requires the hard work of many parent volunteers and the support of the wider belmont community parent volunteers plan and staff the all night event as well as assisting by contributing financially to support the party also the newly graduated students purchase tickets to attend the success of the rest partnership with local businesses organizations and merchants whose monetary contributions help pay for food games and music throughout the evening irene student receives young hero award holly kong helps prevent house fire by bramber acquits during a playdate at her friend's house in january third grader holly kang smelled something burning and then the smoke detectors my daughter trained by the student awareness of fire education program instead of venturing to investigate holly ran home and told her mother what was happening it took a little persuasion but her mother eventually came back to holly's friend's house and called her friends parents to let her in together they discovered food burning on the stove and were able to deal with the situation before things got out of hand holly was honored for her actions and when burke elementary school made thirteen receiving the young hero award from the safe program for demonstrating the correct response during an emergency i was very scared said holly who attends the when brook school the safe program is a state initiative that provides resources to local fire departments for fire and life safety behavior education to students in kindergarten through grade twelve the mission is to enable students to recognize the dangers of fire and more specifically the fire hazards tobacco products pose stated firefighter russ vona one of the safe educators in belmont according to fire chief david for sale belmont has been participating in the program since one thousand nine hundred ninety six since that time said for sale the program has expanded to cover all elementary schools in town while the state grant for the program has gotten smaller as the years have progressed cambridge savings bank and deputy failon insurance have stepped up and the senate voted thirty three to four to approve legislation extending to transgender people the same protections against discrimination in public accommodations they would provide to all other minorities the bill now goes to the house for consideration there was hot debate over a few amendments that would have diluted the bill none of which were adopted but the final vote reflects the strong consensus in support of the bill most senators have come to know transgender people through the long fight for the bill and recognize that they have the same needs hopes and desires that all people do most people who have written to me over the past few months i've written in support of the legislation and i thank them for their support but there are also some wrote in opposition to the legislation and i'd like to offer some thoughts here for them public accommodations include hotels hospitals restaurants public trans essentially all the public places you can think of the legislation is about preventing discrimination all those places public accommodations also include sex segregated restrooms and locker rooms and the legislation makes clear that transgender people should be able to use the facilities consistent with their gender gender identity some who oppose the legislation are generally fair full grown men who are predators will now go freely into the ladies  room this fear is entirely misplaced and could only be held by people who really have never met or spoken with a tent transgender person transgender women are not men with wigs they're women whose birth body doesn't match their true inner gender identity they're not like preprint predators in fact sadly all too often they're the victims of predators the testimony that we received in the judiciary committee was that there have been no reported incidents of abuse by predators of transgender and he discrimination laws in the many other states and localities that already have them further our criminal laws already provide adequate tools for prosecution of people who misbehave in restrooms others opposed to the legislation expressed privacy concerns why should a man be allowed in the ladies room to embarrass the ladies again this concern reflects a lack of direct contact with transgender people a trans gender woman is a woman for all behavioral purposes the last kind of objection i heard from is charitable why should we be making ninety nine percent of the people uncomfortable to accommodate such a small minority polling suggests that at this point a growing majority of sister jennifer people are comfortable with transgender people but more importantly america is all about protecting its minorities our constitutional commitment to protecting minorities is what keeps us from splintering as a country the discomfort that some people may feel with transgender people pales compared to the daily discrimination that transgender people at the end of the day the practical considerations are very clear the idea that a transgender woman should use the men's locker room is absurd it would subjects them to humiliation and very real risks the alternative as they should have is that they should have to go to in special facilities just for them is unacceptable it would make them second class citizens the final turn of that we turn all restrooms and changing facilities into single user unisex facilities is not at all feasible and third graders celebrate colonial day fare thee well was heard in the halls of wellington elementary school on april thirteenth as third graders celebrated colonial day their classrooms were altered to host colonial era activities and games thanks to a generous grant from the foundation for belmont education the third grade was able to step back in time for the first colonial day held at the wellington elementary school third graders came to school wearing colonial style clothes with bonnets and hats wearing aprons and buckles on their shoes students were surprised to find their teaches looking authentic in colonial costumes and bon parent volunteers were also enthusiastic participants in more realistic costumes to help create a colonial atmosphere once the scene was set the children moved from classroom to classroom trying different colonial era activities that would have been typical during that period in one classroom parents help children dip strings in to contain is of warm wax to make candles after several dips students began to see the candles take shape in another room parents help children hammerton punched decorations then it was on to calligraphy on parchment paper with quill pens and ink which took considerable concentration in practice when students needed to get up and move around parents led them in colonial era games with wooden hoops jacob's ladder wooden pin bowling and throwing and catching who the games were tricky but help students understand how simple and fun these wooden toys can be the day was a success because of the participation and willingness of the parents and teachers and the enthusiasm of the colonial third graders irene students shine at annual pops concerts the belmont high school cafeteria was transformed for the annual tonight pops concerts showcasing the talents of the b h yes concert orchestra wind ensemble chamber singers metrical singers jazz collective combined choirs jazz choir symphonic band and concert band proceeds from the events benefit parents of music students the nonprofit volunteer run organization has contributed more than twenty five thousand dollars to the belmont public school music program during the two thousand and fifteen two thousand and sixteen school year funding to help pay for visiting and resident artists ensemble coaches scholarships improvements to uniform collections purchased brand new choral risers replaced drum line instruments for the marching band installed recording systems and acquired a city side super road on us twenty two thousand dollars city side subaru of belmont has done a top twenty two thousand six hundred dollars to the foundation for belmont education as part of the subaru share the love program city side subaru selected the f b a for a second year as the local nonprofit organization to benefit from the subaru share the love for this year of america donated nearly twenty million dollars to national  local charities a record total in the eight year history of the campaign we are delighted to have been the sponsor of f b i eve for a second year share the love and excited that the amount generated was almost doubled the response from the community validates the wonderful work the f b i does for education in belmont we look forward to continued support for them in the future said rick quite dealer and principal of city side subaru in addition to the traditional share the love program city sides or brew generously offered an additional discount all belmont public schoolteachers in addition to other staff members who purchased a car during the promotion city side subaru is one of f b s investors in education businesses that donate more than five thousand dollars annually to the foundation they have also been the primary sponsor  annual dan sharman memorial run since it was established in two thousand and thirteen city side subaru has done it and more than thirty thousand dollars to the f b the this year the support from city side subaru is amazing and hill the belmont citizens farm would like to thank the volunteers who turned out last saturday to work on the lone tree hill conservation land toting bright orange buckets and grabbers they collected twelve large bags of trash and two boxes of recyclables at the pleasant street end of the property at the other and volunteers haul will barrows full of wood chips along the entire length of the pine alley raking it into place to help prevent soil erosion and making it more comfortable to walk on this was our fourth annual cleanup a vent and we have grateful to all those who supported our effort thank you for joining us for this episode of talking news please join us next week