FREE PUPPET SHOW ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH

Brockton parents and children are invited to celebrate Family Literacy Month by attending a free puppet show presented by the Pumpernickel Puppets, a nationally recognized puppet troupe. The puppet show will be held Tuesday, November 30th at 6 p.m. at the Family and Community Engagement (CFCE) Resource Center on Crescent Street.
Children of all ages are invited to see the renowned puppeteers present “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” and “The Lion and the Mouse.”
“November is Family Literacy Month, a time for us to support children of all ages in out-of-school learning, engage parents in supporting their children’s education, and engage community partners in supporting and celebrating lifelong learning and family well-being,” said Lela Spekin, Coordinated Family & Community Engagement Specialist. For more information please see our Community Section.

MEDICARE OPEN ENROLLMENT WITH CONGRESSMAN STEPHEN LYNCH

     This Monday Congressman Stephen F. Lynch will host a forum on Medicare Open Enrollment on Monday, Nov. 29 at 10 a.m. at the Dorn Davies Senior Center at the Campello High Rise, 1380 Main Street. Changes to Medicare Part D make this year’s open enrollment particularly important. Representatives from Social Security, CMS Medicare and SHINE will be available answer questions and assist with the open enrollment process.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE

4 MOTOR STOPS OVER THE WEEKEND RESULT IN DRUG CHARGES

     In light of the recent drug bust last week in Brockton and the surrounding area, the business of busting dealers and people who have drugs continues full force with the Brockton PD. Over the weekend in 4 separate Motor Vehicle Stops by the Police. 4 people where charged with various drug charges. All persons are innocent until proven other wise in a court of law. According to the Brockton Police Log the following incidents happened over the weekend.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2010
6:43 p.m. Motor Vehicle Stop at
800 block of Main Street
Nyles Houston, 19, of Brockton was charged with
Possession to distribute Class D Drug
Possession to distribute Class B Drug
Speeding
Operating a motor vehicle unlicensed

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2010
2:57 a.m. Motor Vehicle Stop at
57 North Main Street
Katrina Tucker, 19, of Brockton was charged with
Possession to distribute Class B Drug
Possession to distribute Class E Drug
Possession to distribute Class C Drug
2 counts of default on warrants.

9:42 p.m. Motor Vehicle Stop at
104 Main Street and School Street
Akeem Baptiste, 21, of Dorchester was charged with
Possession to distribute Class A Drug
Drug violation near School/Park
Operating MV with license suspended
Resisting Arrest
Speeding
Fail to Signal

10:05 p.m. Motor Vehicle Stop at
330 Spring Street and 82 Belmont Avenue
Ivon Peraclise Almeida, 23, of Brockton was charged with
Trafficking in Heroin/Morphine/Opium
Drug violation near School/Park.

BROCKTON TAKES BACK SANTA HAT TITLE



photo courtesy of the BROCKTONPOST.COM

 The BrocktonPost
BROCKTON—A sea of red hats filled a portion of Brockton’s downtown Sunday after more than 800 people gathered to reclaim the world record for the most people wearing Santa Claus hats at one time and in one place. For full story and more great photos please see THE BROCKTON POST.

HATS ON TO BROCKTON

    This weekend on Sunday, November 21 at 12pm Brockton is going to try and break the world record for the most people gathered in one place wearing Santa Claus hats. The event will be at the corner of Main Street and Crescent street by the Parking Garage or where you see the large group of people wearing Santa Claus hats. The sign in will begin about 12pm so arrive early and the official count will be at 1pm. The event is being sponsored by the Downtown Business Association and Santa hats have already been given out to about 10,000 students in Brockton and hats are expected to be sold at the event for about $2, if you need one click here for locations to buy them. Participants who enter are automatically entered into a raffle to win a Kindle. See Our Community section for full story.

POLITICS AND HUMOR



STATE REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL BRADY



ROBERT FORD FOR THE WATER COMMISSION



ROBERT FORD ON RIGHT FOR WATER COMMISSION

    Today at the monthly Water Commission meeting, Chairperson Bruce Malcolm announced that Jody Hickey, who was not in attendance at the meeting gave her letter of resignation to the commission. In an interview with Patrick Quinn Water Commission member, he was aware that Jody Hickey gave her resignation and indicated that it was for reasons due to scheduling conflicts and not being able to make the meetings. Ms.Hickey was appointed by Mayor Balzotti earlier this year and the process of appointing a new member is expected to begin soon.    
     BrocktonBeat is recommending Brockton City resident and recipient of a $17,000 water bill for the empty seat. We believe that transparency and admist the ongoing water billing issues that he would make an excellent candidate for the position. All readers are encourage to contact the Mayors office and endorse Robert Ford for the Water Commission. When asked what would he do if he was appointed on the commission Mr.Ford said "Free water for everybody in Brockton and a chicken in every pot." Mayor Balzotti were waiting.

WATER COMMISSION RESIGNATION

    Jody Hickey has resigned from the Water Commission. BrocktonBeat is at the meeting and will have more after the meeting.

EXCEPTIONAL MENTOR AWARD NOMINATION

      The Exceptional Mentor of the Year Award which is given out by Brockton's Promise will be held on January 27, 2011. The award is given to an adult by the Caring Adults team of Brocktons Promise to individuals in the our community that are recognized for their work that they do with our Citys youth. The nominees are sponsored by youths ages 24 and under by them submitting the nomination form distributed by Brocktons Promise.

    The forms need to be filled out by the youths and returned no later than November 17, 2010 and sent to:

    Amanda Trask

    Plymouth County DA's Office

    32 Belmont Street

    Brockton, Ma 02301

    amanda.trask@state.ma.us
    Fax: 508-586-3578

     You can contact Amanda Task at Brockton's Promise at 508-894-2516 if you have any question or you have trouble downloading copies of the form at BrocktonBeats Records. This is a great program and if you know any adults that work with our city youths give the youths the forms to fill out and help support this great program.

BROCKTON HIGH SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTS 12

The BrocktonPost
BROCKTON--The Brockton High School Athletics Hall of Fame will induct 12 new members during a ceremony at the Shaw’s Center in Brockton during a special celebration Saturday Nov. 20 that will highlight the 25th year of the Hall of Fame honor.
The Class of 2010 inductees include nine athletes, two residents and one coach.
High School Athletic Director Thomas Kenney said in a prepared statement the 12 new inductees embody not only the athletic spirit, but also the educational. For full story please see The Brockton Post.

THE ARNONE SCHOOL GREEN TEAM WON!!

November 15, 2010 - On America Recycles Day, we are pleased to announce that the Arnone School's Green Team has won the America Recycle's Day contest, sponsored by Abitibi Paper Retriever! The team of students and advisors wrote, directed and produced a short video encouraging people to recycle, and their entry garnered the most votes in a national voting drive. Thanks to your support, the Arnone School Green Team has won a $5,500 donation to their school! For full press release and to watch the video please go to BrocktonBeats Community Section.

BROCKTON POLICE LOG UPDATED TO MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2010

     The Brockton Police Log is updated to Monday, November 8, 2010 and can be found at the Brockton Police Section. We will be publishing the log each week and expect to have the prior week available every Friday.

ARE YOU FOR REAL

This happened Friday, November 5th, 2010. Great Job Brockton Police:

2:49 p.m. Bank of America-683 Belmont Street. Parking Violation. 2 vehicles parked in the fire lane. Police used the air horn and 1st vehicle moved. 2nd vehicle given air horn and did not move. Police got out with ticket book and walked up to driver who was in vehicle and stated he would move it now. Police informed that he was being cited and he stated he was busy talking on cell phone and didn’t hear him. A female walked out of store taking the blame that he was parked there. Party cited and parking violation given.

FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING MONDAY

     The Finance Committee will meet this Monday, November 15, 2010 at 7:00 PM in the Council Chamber to consider several resolves. You can find the agenda in our Finance meeting section. For for more on story please see our City Politics Section.

BHS STORY TO AIR ON CBS NEWS SUNDAY

Press release-Brockton High School’s continued success will be the topic of a CBS Weekend News segment slated to air on Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 6 p.m. A CBS producer spent two days at BHS in October, speaking with Principal Dr. Susan Szachowicz, faculty and students about how the region’s largest high school has defied its demographics to lead urban high schools in academic achievements. As with any story, the piece could be bumped for breaking news, but we invite you to tune in and celebrate the high school’s achievements.

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

SGT. JOHN CHAN AND SGT. TOM MONAHAN

    Brocktonians came out today in force to show our support and honor to those who have served and are in service today that protect our right to live in a great country and let us live in freedom and to pursue our dreams and happiness. We have downloaded the whole Brocktons Annual Veterans Day Parade to watch in the Community Section and are downloading a special section for all the pictures that will be available later today.

DRIVE SLOWER IN THE MORNING AND WATCH OUT

     The Traffic Commission voted tonight in a special meeting in response to a student that was hit in a school crossing last month on Pearl Street in front of the Hancock Elementary School to extend the yellow flashing lights in all school zones. The matter was brought up after the student was hit in the crosswalk when the lights where off. In that accident, speed was not a factor but operator error. For full story please go to our City Politics section.

ARE YOU FOR REAL

This happened Thursday November 4, 2010

10:42 a.m. Disturbance by a drunk at the Family Dollar Store-190 Oak Street. Drunk male is out front and drinking Listerine. He is also harassing people and riding the kids ride out front. Police and ambulance respond and party taken to Good Samaritan without incident.

BROCKTON POLICE LOG UPDATED TO THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2010

     The Brockton Police log has been updated to Thursday, November 4, 2010. The rest of the log will be updated by the end of the week. A new feature we will be offering is ARE YOU FOR REAL. We take the Brockton Police log seriously but at times some of the calls that our police go to they have to scratch their heads and say I cant believe what I am seeing. We will feature log entries that are not violent nor poke fun at individuals by names but show the residents of  Brockton that our police at times they deal with some funny characters and situations and we all need humor these days. As they say laughter is the best medicine.

BROCKTONS ANNUAL VETERANS DAY PARADE

     The City of Brockton will hold the annual Veteran's Day Parade this Thursday, November 11, at 10 a.m.The start of the parade will be the Brockton Fairgrounds at the Belmont Street entrance and will go down Belmont Street and take a left onto Main Street. The Parade will pause on Main Street at School Street for the Brockton Fire Fighters Pipes and Drums Band Strand Theater Tribute. After the pause the parade will continue down Main Street and take a left on Legion Parkway for a ceremony at the monument to honor all the Veterans. For more information about the City of Brocktons Veterans Day Parade contact Veterans Services at 508-580-7850.

.380 AUTOMATIC KEL-TAC GUN VIDEO

     The Brockton Police officer accused of waiving his gun at resteraunt employee's and then denying it but later the Newport police found a round or bullet on the ground happens in only one way with a gun. In order for a bullet to leave the gun it would have to be fired and he did not shoot his gun you would have the casing and a bullet some where but they found the whole bullet and the only way that happens is by what the victims described. He cocked the gun back with a bullet already in the chamber and the bullet ejected from it. This video is the gun that is allegedly used by the Brockton police officer and if you watch the video at 1 minute and 23 seconds you will see the guy cock the gun and a bullet will eject. The police officer did not shoot his gun as some are saying he cocked his gun and the bullet ejected.

BROCKTON PD OFFICER FACES DISCIPLINE AFTER NEWPORT NIGHT GONE BAD

photo courtesy of The Brockton Post

The BrocktonPost BROCKTON—A suspended Brockton Police officer faces two counts of felony assault and one felony count of carrying a weapon while intoxicated in criminal court and was expected for a disciplinary hearing today with Brockton city officials that could result in his termination from the department following a Saturday night Halloween celebration in Newport, Rhode Island that ended in the officer’s arrest for allegedly waving a gun at two restaurant employees. For complete story and more information go to The Brockton Post.

EFSB BEGINS BROCKTON POWER PLANT HEARINGS TUESDAY

The BrocktonPost
BROCKTON--The Energy Facilities Siting Board will begin hearings Tuesday, Nov. 9 to decide changes to plans for the proposed construction of a controversial 350-megawatt natural gas power plant expected to be built on the Brockton-West Bridgewater border.
A spokesman for the EFSB said the first hearing for the board to consider changes submitted by Brockton Clean Energy will be held Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 10 a.m.
The hearing will be held at 1 South Station. The meeting room is on the second floor.
Hearings will also be held Monday, Nov. 15 and Thursday Dec. 2.
All hearings will be held at 10 a.m. For full story please see The Brockton Post.

BROCKTON POLICE LOG UPDATED TO NOVEMBER 1ST

     This week the log was delayed in being updated due to the election coverage. It is now up to date to November 1st and will be updated again next Tuesday as usual. Thank you for your patience.

THE ARNONE SCHOOL NEEDS YOU

     The Arnone School's Green Team has a favor to ask: they entered the America Recycle's Day contest, sponsored by Abitibi Paper Retriever. The team of students and advisors wrote, directed and produced a short video encouraging people to recycle, and their entry was chosen among submissions from across the country as a finalist in the contest. The winning entry will receive a $5,500 donation to their school, so the Arnone Green Team is asking for your vote!
GO TO   http://www.paperretriever.com/infostore/creativityvoting.asp?mode=view&artcat=video  and watch the Arnone School video, which is listed under Dominic S/Arnone’s Green Team/Boston on the video page. Voters can only vote once per email address and voting ends on November 12th!
The Arnone Green Team is a great representative of the Brockton Public Schools and its creativity is apparent in the facts the student included in the message, which they set to a fantastic student-sung rap.
     The Arnone Green Team was founded during the 2009-2010 school year as part of the Smart Start Extended Day Program. The Green Team is made up of Arnone School 2nd and 3rd graders who meet after school to discuss the importance of preserving the environment. Under the direction of Extended Day Site Coordinators Dominic Santo, Sheilah Calhoun and Pam Brown, the team looks for ways kids can get involved in conserving our natural resources for the benefit of all.
      This year, the second and third graders in the project are collecting and recycling paper, cardboard, bottles and cans, Capri Sun Juice Pouches, Chip Bags, and Cookie Wrappers.
To date, the Team has recycled:
· 3.69 tons of paper
· 12,316 Capri Sun Juice Pouches
· 2,071 Chip Bags
278 Cookie Wrappers (Our newest initiative)
     The Arnone School is located on Belmont Street in Brockton and you can view the video by clicking on the above link and choosing the DominicS/Arnone School and vote for them. Get the word out, twitter and facebook everyone you know. We can win this, the kids have done a great job and they deserve the attention and the support of us.

DEMOCRATS HOLD THEIR POWER

REPRESENTATIVE CREEDON

    In an election year when many people said that the republicans are responding and acting like the democrats of 2 decades ago and that the democratic party is out of touch with the people in the United States. Massachusetts seemed to go against the rest of the Nation and choose to stay with their elected officials who have been in office and still voted primarily democratic in the Brockton Area. Many residents thought this would be the year that everything changed from people switching parties to candidates being elected who never had any type of political experience and started to shake things up for the 2 parties. Here are the election breakdown for Brockton and as predicted by the Magic 8-Ball.

Governor                              Deval Patrick
Secretary of State                 William Galvin

Attorney General                   Martha Coakley

Treasurer                              Steve Grossman

Auditor                                  Suzanne Bump 

Congressman                        Stephen Lynch 

State Senator                        Thomas Kennedy
9th Rep                                 Michael Brady
10th Rep                               Christine Canavan
11th Rep                               Geraldine Creedon
Plymouth DA                         Timothy Cruz
Plymouth Sheriff                     Joseph McDonald
Plymouth Commissioner         Timothy McMullen

Question 1- Exempt alcohol from state sales tax              YES

Question 2 -Repeal housing comprehensive permit law    NO

Question 3- Reduce sales tax to 3%                                NO

Rep.Canavan

Congressman Lynch









Rep.Brady





DA Cruz



Senator Kennedy



Sheriff McDonald





SHIP-JUMPING, BITTER BATTLES MARK 2010 ELECTION CYCLE

The Brockton Post
BROCKTON—When polls close at 8 tonight, it will mark the end of an election cycle that has been one for the record books—possibly in voter turnout and surely for the testy nature of several of the races and the ship-jumping that likely sunk former State Treasurer Timothy Cahill’s run for governor.
Brockton City Councilor-at-Large Jass Stewart, a Democrat, said the election cycle has been interesting—battles he hopes will end once ballots are cast today.
“There used to be a time when the idea was to destroy each other, and that’s what we’re seeing. It’s an election, but there used to be a time when that campaign came to an end when the election was over,” Stewart said. For full story please see The Brockton Post.

DOES ONE VOTE COUNT

     Every time elections come I use to ask myself does my one vote really count. The knowledge I have now and what I had seen in the 2000 Presidential election is yes. I was living in Florida at the time in Broward County, that was one of the contested hot spots for voting recounts. I came up to Massachusetts to visit my family and I was watching the election that night with my brother-in-law and we were talking and saying figures it boils down to a state that I lived in.

     He asked me if I put in an absentee ballot and I am ashamed to say that I didn't. I didn't think it mattered, my one vote. I went to sleep that night and I remember they declared Gore the winner in Florida and when I woke up I was shocked to hear that Bush won Florida.

     It came down that President George Bush won the state of Florida by only 537 votes and I was one of those votes because I normally vote democratic. I will never forget that and it finally answered my question, does my one vote count and yes it does. So I am off to my precinct to vote and I know my vote matters.

HAVING A PET ADDS YEARS ON YOUR LIFE

      In Brockton we all see them on the streets, the kittens that run away from us as soon as we go near them. They are all over this city and the Animal Protection Center does its best to provide homes to these cats and kittens when they are brought to them. Each week in BrocktonBeats Community section we will feature pets that are up for adoption at the Animal Protection Center. These are just some of the animals that they have for adoption and you can go to their website and find out more information on the adoption process and what type of services that they offer. The Center has cats, dogs and even birds up for adoption. So even if you cant adopt a pet, you can help in other ways by donating money or even donating animal food. Call them up first to see what they need. By the way studies have shown that people who have pets live longer.

BROCKTONBEAT SHAKES THE MAGIC 8-BALL

     BrocktonBeat has shaken its Magic 8-ball and here are the answers the Magic 8-ball gave. We took the ball and asked if the candidate would win or not and we took the first answer it gave. This is for real and  here are the answers.               

CANDIDATE                     ANSWER

GOVERNOR
Deval Patrick                   Outlook not so good
Charlie Baker                   Ask again later
Tim Cahill                         Better not tell you now
Jill Stein                            Very Doubtful

ATTORNEY GENERAL
Martha Coakley                Signs point to yes
Guy Carbone                    Don't count on it
Jim McKenna                    My sources say no

SECRETARY OF MASSACHUSETTS
Bill Galvin                          Without a doubt
Bill Campbell                     Reply hazy,try again
Jim Henderson                   My reply is no

STATE TREASURER
Steve Grossman                 Signs point to yes
Karyn Polito                        Very doubtful

STATE AUDITOR
Suzanne Bump                    It is certain
Mary Connaughton             Cannot predict now
Nat Fortune                        My reply is no

FEDERAL DISTRICT 9
Stephen Lynch                   Yes
Vernon Harrison                 Don't count on it
Phil Dunkelbarger               My reply is no

STATE 10TH PLYMOUTH DISTRICT
Christine Canavan              Without a doubt
John Cruz                            My reply is no

STATE 11TH PLYMOUTH DISTRICT
Kristine Abrams                   My reply is no
Geraldine Creedon              Without a doubt

PLYMOUTH COUNTY DA
Timothy Cruz                       Yes
John Shea                           Outlook not so good

PLYMOUTH COUNTY SHERIFF
Joseph D McDonald            Without a doubt
Thomas Chambers              Outlook not so good

PLYMOUTH COUNTY COMMISSIONER
Timothy J. McMullen            Cannot predict now
Sandra M. Wright                Cannot predict now