Beacon Hill Genuflects to More Drunks on the road

Beacon Hill Prostitution disregards PUBLIC SAFETY!

No debate, no fanfare, no discussion! Just slip it in?

What happened to  Senator Stanley Rosenberg opposition?

Review the costs of:  HAPPY HOUR

FROM MASSterlist:

Casinos’ last-call perk has its share of critics

Public safety officials and casino opponents are among those sounding warnings after the state budget process resulted in the state’s future casinos being able to request the right to serve alcohol until 4 a.m., then start serving again at 8 a.m. Local bars and restaurants say the carve-out puts them at a competitive disadvantage. Dan Atkinson and Jordan Graham of the Herald have more.   Boston Herald

Interesting budget tidbits: 4 a.m. liquor hours for casinos and T pension transfer

Gov. Baker yesterday signed, amended or rejected a number of policy riders within the state budget, two of which caught our attention, via the Globe: “Baker approved language, sought by the casino industry, to extend alcohol service at the gambling palaces until 4 a.m., two hours past what is permitted at the latest-serving restaurants and bars. Baker’s budget message also includes authorization for the state to transfer control of the MBTA employees pension fund into the state’s general pension program, a measure lawmakers have rejected previously.” MASSACHUSETTS DRUNKS ON THE ROAD? Conn. ended push for 24-hour bars at casinos after crash EXPANDED FREE ALCOHOL IS NOT  ''another little change'!  Massachusetts has only Plainridge Slot Barn open at this time and already CHANGES? How many DRUNKS do you want on the road?  Masachusetts is unable to reduce ALCOHOL RELATED fatalities now.  Reported by MASSterlist 04/14/2017: Rosenberg ‘not a fan’ of extending casino last calls to 4 a.m. The House budget unveiled earlier this week has an outside section that would allow casinos to sell liquor to gamblers an extra two hours till 4 a.m. But Shira Schoenberg at MassLive reports that Senate President Stan Rosenberg is “not a fan of the idea,” in his words. "We said we're not going to chip away at the statute because this is how it happens in state after state,"Rosenberg said. "First there's one little change, then another little change and before you know it the commonwealth loses control of the industry." MassLive Conn. ended push for 24-hour bars at casinos after crash State had hoped to collect more slot machine profits DRIVER CHARGED A sailor, Daniel E. Musser, 24, is charged with manslaughter and driving under the influence and faces up to 19 years in prison. By Gregory B. Hladky Globe Correspondent / March 22, 2009 HARTFORD - Officials looking to help solve Connecticut's multibillion-dollar deficit thought they had found an easy way to raise another $5 million a year: allow casinos to serve alcohol 24 hours a day. A sailor, Daniel E. Musser, 24, is charged with manslaughter and driving under the influence and faces up to 19 years in prison. DRIVER CHARGED More hours of bar service would mean more gambling, they figured, which would mean the state could collect more slot machine profits. But the proposal by Governor M. Jodi Rell's administration came to a sudden end at about 3:30 a.m. on March 7, when a car leaving the Mohegan Sun casino turned the wrong way down Interstate 395, headlights off, and slammed into a van full of college students on their way to Logan International Airport. They were scheduled for a flight to Uganda, where they had plans to help out at an orphan age over spring break. Elizabeth Durante, a 20-year-old pre-med student at Connecticut College in New London, was killed. The car's driver, Daniel E. Musser, 24, a sailor from the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, was charged with manslaughter and driving under the influence and faces up to 19 years in prison. The next day, Rell called Durante's death "an unconscionable tragedy" and pulled back her budget proposal to make alcohol available 24 hours at the casinos. "Even though this accident occurred under the laws as they have been for many years, the governor said it does give one pause to question the wisdom of extending liquor service hours at the casinos," Christopher Cooper, Rell spokesman, said recently. "We don't believe the bill is going to move forward this session." Chuck Bunnell, chief of staff for the Mohegan Tribal Council, agreed. "The Tribal Council in general has taken the position that it's time to pause and mourn the loss of this very bright light of humanity," Bunnell said, "that it's not appropriate to have those discussions right now." Bunnell said the tribe was originally "approached on a bipartisan basis" by lawmakers looking for ways to increase state revenue. Lori A. Potter, a spokeswoman for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, said analysts at the tribe's Foxwoods Resort Casino stand by their prediction that extending casino bar hours would result in an increase in state revenue. "It is important to note that it would be impossible to find a more heavily regulated serving establishment in the state of Connecticut than the two casinos," Potter said. Connecticut law requires the casinos' bars to stop serving by 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and by 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. One of the arguments originally used in favor of allowing longer serving hours was that their competitors in Atlantic City serve alcohol 24 hours a day. Legal hours for bars to serve alcohol vary greatly across the United States, according to Steven Schmidt, vice president for public policy at the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association. In Massachusetts, for example, state law allows service until 11 p.m., but local governing bodies can extend the hours to 2 a.m. In states such as New Jersey and Nevada, Schmidt said, local authorities are allowed to set bar closing hours. Charles H. Gartman, one of the students with Durante in the van that night, has difficulty understanding why anyone thought round-the-clock liquor at the casinos was a good idea. "Twenty-four-hour bar service is a little bit ridiculous," Gartman said last week in a phone interview from his New York City home. "You can't trust everyone to drink and drive safely." Gartman, 19 and a sophomore at Connecticut College, has not yet recovered from injuries he suffered in the crash. The five other passengers also suffered injuries, some minor. "Both my legs were pretty banged up, and at first I couldn't walk," he said. "I have pretty severe lacerations on my chin." Nor has he recovered from the loss of Durante, of West Islip, N.Y. Gartman said it was Durante who got him interested in going to Uganda to aid orphaned children. "It was her enthusiasm for helping people," he recalled. Stephanie Hinman, who was Durante's roommate and one of the students on the Uganda trip, finds it ironic that her friend would die at the hands of an accused drunk driver. "Neither Liz nor I ever drank," Hinman said from her home in Norfolk, Conn. "We lived together in the substance-free dorm." In a 2007 interview with a college publication, Durante said she wanted to become a surgeon and work in Africa with Doctors Without Borders. For Janice Heggie Margolis, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Durante's death provided tragic evidence of why casino liquor hours should never be expanded. She said the potential price to society of more fatal crashes is simply too high, no matter how much money might flow to the state. "This is exactly the reason why," Heggie Margolis said. "You can never put on paper the cost of a life." http://archive.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2009/03/22/conn_ended_push_for_24_hour_bars_at_casinos_after_crash/

MASSACHUSETTS DRUNKS ON THE ROAD? Conn. ended push for 24-hour bars at casinos after crash

EXPANDED FREE ALCOHOL IS NOT  ''another little change'! 
Massachusetts has only Plainridge Slot Barn open at this time and already CHANGES?


How many DRUNKS do you want on the road? 
Masachusetts is unable to reduce ALCOHOL RELATED fatalities now. 




Reported by MASSterlist 04/14/2017:

Rosenberg ‘not a fan’ of extending casino last calls to 4 a.m.

The House budget unveiled earlier this week has an outside section that would allow casinos to sell liquor to gamblers an extra two hours till 4 a.m. But Shira Schoenberg at MassLive reports that Senate President Stan Rosenberg is “not a fan of the idea,” in his words. "We said we're not going to chip away at the statute because this is how it happens in state after state," Rosenberg said. "First there's one little change, then another little change and before you know it the commonwealth loses control of the industry." MassLive

Conn. ended push for 24-hour bars at casinos after crash

State had hoped to collect more slot machine profits

DRIVER CHARGED A sailor, Daniel E. Musser, 24, is charged with manslaughter and driving under the influence and faces up to 19 years in prison.

By Gregory B. Hladky

Globe Correspondent / March 22, 2009

HARTFORD - Officials looking to help solve Connecticut's multibillion-dollar deficit thought they had found an easy way to raise another $5 million a year: allow casinos to serve alcohol 24 hours a day.

A sailor, Daniel E. Musser, 24, is charged with manslaughter and driving under the influence and faces up to 19 years in prison.

DRIVER CHARGED

More hours of bar service would mean more gambling, they figured, which would mean the state could collect more slot machine profits.

But the proposal by Governor M. Jodi Rell's administration came to a sudden end at about 3:30 a.m. on March 7, when a car leaving the Mohegan Sun casino turned the wrong way down Interstate 395, headlights off, and slammed into a van full of college students on their way to Logan International Airport. They were scheduled for a flight to Uganda, where they had plans to help out at an orphan age over spring break.

Elizabeth Durante, a 20-year-old pre-med student at Connecticut College in New London, was killed.

The car's driver, Daniel E. Musser, 24, a sailor from the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, was charged with manslaughter and driving under the influence and faces up to 19 years in prison.

The next day, Rell called Durante's death "an unconscionable tragedy" and pulled back her budget proposal to make alcohol available 24 hours at the casinos.

"Even though this accident occurred under the laws as they have been for many years, the governor said it does give one pause to question the wisdom of extending liquor service hours at the casinos," Christopher Cooper, Rell spokesman, said recently. "We don't believe the bill is going to move forward this session."

Chuck Bunnell, chief of staff for the Mohegan Tribal Council, agreed.

"The Tribal Council in general has taken the position that it's time to pause and mourn the loss of this very bright light of humanity," Bunnell said, "that it's not appropriate to have those discussions right now."

Bunnell said the tribe was originally "approached on a bipartisan basis" by lawmakers looking for ways to increase state revenue.

Lori A. Potter, a spokeswoman for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, said analysts at the tribe's Foxwoods Resort Casino stand by their prediction that extending casino bar hours would result in an increase in state revenue.

"It is important to note that it would be impossible to find a more heavily regulated serving establishment in the state of Connecticut than the two casinos," Potter said.

Connecticut law requires the casinos' bars to stop serving by 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and by 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. One of the arguments originally used in favor of allowing longer serving hours was that their competitors in Atlantic City serve alcohol 24 hours a day.

Legal hours for bars to serve alcohol vary greatly across the United States, according to Steven Schmidt, vice president for public policy at the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association.

In Massachusetts, for example, state law allows service until 11 p.m., but local governing bodies can extend the hours to 2 a.m. In states such as New Jersey and Nevada, Schmidt said, local authorities are allowed to set bar closing hours.

Charles H. Gartman, one of the students with Durante in the van that night, has difficulty understanding why anyone thought round-the-clock liquor at the casinos was a good idea.

"Twenty-four-hour bar service is a little bit ridiculous," Gartman said last week in a phone interview from his New York City home. "You can't trust everyone to drink and drive safely."

Gartman, 19 and a sophomore at Connecticut College, has not yet recovered from injuries he suffered in the crash.

The five other passengers also suffered injuries, some minor.

"Both my legs were pretty banged up, and at first I couldn't walk," he said. "I have pretty severe lacerations on my chin."

Nor has he recovered from the loss of Durante, of West Islip, N.Y. Gartman said it was Durante who got him interested in going to Uganda to aid orphaned children. "It was her enthusiasm for helping people," he recalled.

Stephanie Hinman, who was Durante's roommate and one of the students on the Uganda trip, finds it ironic that her friend would die at the hands of an accused drunk driver.

"Neither Liz nor I ever drank," Hinman said from her home in Norfolk, Conn.

"We lived together in the substance-free dorm."

In a 2007 interview with a college publication, Durante said she wanted to become a surgeon and work in Africa with Doctors Without Borders.

For Janice Heggie Margolis, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Durante's death provided tragic evidence of why casino liquor hours should never be expanded.

She said the potential price to society of more fatal crashes is simply too high, no matter how much money might flow to the state. "This is exactly the reason why," Heggie Margolis said.

"You can never put on paper the cost of a life."

http://archive.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2009/03/22/conn_ended_push_for_24_hour_bars_at_casinos_after_crash/

Slots parlor is too risky for Worcester

By Edward L. Glaeser | Globe Columnist
May 30, 2013

How much would a slots parlor have to pay you to open in your backyard? Worcester is debating that question, as Chicago-based casino operator Neil Bluhm seeks to operate in the city’s Green Island neighborhood. There is good and bad in gaming, but putting Massachusetts’ only dedicated slots parlor into a vulnerable area of Worcester — a city that hopes to emulate Seattle, but is at risk of being Buffalo — seems as dangerous as drawing to an inside straight.

I’m enough of a libertarian to believe in allowing people to gamble, but we must also acknowledge and plan for the downside of that freedom. When gamblers jeopardize their life savings, or blow through funds that should be spent on their children or elderly parents, then losing at the tables becomes more than a private matter. Heads they win; tails, public programs bear the costs of impoverishment. Call me a paternalist, but we should steer gambling away from poor communities — not concentrate it in places like Green Island, where the median household income is about $25,000.

Yet the very poverty that makes such a neighborhood vulnerable to slots-related risks also makes it more attractive to casino developers. Poorer areas have cheap land, such as Worcester’s Wyman-Gordon industrial site, which has been vacant for years and is full of environmental hazards. Poorer places are more likely to be swayed by the promise of a few casino jobs and a modest payment to their local governments. The presence of a large low-income population within walking distance may even provide the casino with a core customer base.

For its part, Worcester should be very wary about embracing a slots parlor. One extensive study of Native American casinos by economists William Evans and Julie Topoleski found that employment rose in communities after casinos opened, but the bulk of jobs went to outsiders. And compared with full-scale casinos, slots parlors are capital intensive, not labor intensive — which is to say, they depend far more on machines than on human workers. An operator that needs workers with skills tailored to specialized machines seems unlikely to hire from the local neighborhood.

Moreover, the work of Evans and others finds considerable downsides to gambling. Bankruptcies and property crimes, such as auto theft, rise after a casino opens. Another study documents that alcohol-related auto fatalities increase in counties where casinos open. Unsurprisingly, several studies find that new casinos increase the prevalence of problem gambling.

The city should recognize that urban success is made by long slow investments.

These problems, which some communities might view as manageable, are more worrisome in Worcester, a former hub of industrial innovation that perpetually teeters on the brink between information-age success and rust belt failure. After losing one-fifth of its population between 1950 and 1980, Worcester has experienced a modest renaissance since then, adding population and economic activity because of immigrants and universities — two pillars of modern urban growth.

Human capital is the bedrock of urban growth, and Worcester’s rich endowment of colleges means that 30 percent of the city’s adults have at least a college degree. Worcester is a gateway city, providing opportunity to the foreign born who are priced out of Boston, and one-fifth of its population today was born outside of the United States.

The future of Worcester depends on attracting the skilled and ambitious, with a pleasant, inexpensive city that is close to Boston’s economic dynamo. How does a slots parlor contribute to that goal?

Rising traffic and crime levels could just as easily make the city less appealing to families and businesses looking for a more affordable, relaxed place.

Massachusetts entered into gambling to raise casino-related revenues that were otherwise going to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, just as Singapore built a massive casino complex to steer some money away from Macau. But savvy Singapore imposed an $80 tax on any of its own residents who wanted to enter the casino, because the city-state was so worried about gambling’s social costs. Shouldn’t Worcester be at least as frightened as prosperous Singapore?

Theoretically, a slots parlor operator could make the city an offer it can’t reasonably refuse. If the slots parlor offers, say, $100 million per year, Worcester should take the deal. That’s enough cash to make noticeable improvements to schools and public safety — and balance off the social costs of gambling. But if, as seems likely, the proposed payment is far smaller, Worcester should walk away. The city should recognize that urban success is made by long, slow investments in education and entrepreneurship, not the shiny spin of a slot machine.

Edward L. Glaeser, a Harvard economist, is director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/05/30/developer-neil-bluhm-proposed-slots-parlor-too-risky-for-worcester/4gOgAMLJx1Qr8WHouLjPLN/story.html?camp=newsletter


[A review of employment indicates Slot Barns employ 1 person for every 3-4 Slot Machines, not considering weekends and 24/7 shifts. Each Slot Machine permanently removes + 1 job from the local economy.]

The Cost of FREE BOOZE and Pretense

NoPlainvilleRacino shared a link.

March 6

 

"Of course, an increase in drunk driving is a point often cited by casino opponents. Still, that paragraph sent me to Google, where I came across a 2010 study on the matter in the Journal of Health Economics. “Results indicate that there is... a strong link between the presence of a casino in a county and the number of alcohol-related fatal traffic accidents,” reports the study, which was performed by economists form the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, and the College of Charleston. Specifically, the study found that alcohol-related fatal accidents jumped by 9.2 percent in counties with casinos."

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2011/12/12/massachusetts-casino-drunk-driving/

 

 

 

 

ABCC: Casinos shouldn’t prompt ‘happy hour’ rule changes

ABCC: Casinos shouldn’t prompt ‘happy hour’ rule changes

January 31, 2013

 

By

Donna Goodison / Boston Herald

 

Don’t expect any free or two-for-one drink specials at your local pub when casinos are finally built in Massachusetts.

The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission is recommending the state maintain its 29-year-old “happy hour” regulations and prohibitions.

Its report follows five public hearings last year to solicit feedback from citizens, liquor license holders, public safety officials and others, the “overwhelming consensus” of which was that changing the existing regulation would substantially compromise public safety and foster a poor business climate, according to the ABCC.

“Public safety was a key factor in conducting this review, and the overwhelming sentiment is that scaling back the ‘happy hour’ regulation would compromise the lives and well-being of the residents of the Commonwealth,” state Treasurer Steve  Treasurer [sic], who oversees the ABCC, said in a statement. “The regulation is supported by bar and tavern owners, the law enforcement community, and public safety officials, who all believe that it has played a substantial part in preventing unthinkable tragedies.”

Under the state’s casino bill, the ABCC was charged with studying whether the happy hour law should be updated to level the playing field for liquor-serving establishments since gambling resorts will be able to offer free alcohol to their customers.

[Not all states permit FREE ALCOHOL to be served in Gambling facilities.]

Adopted in 1984 in part to prevent intoxicated people from being over-served and driving under the influence, the state’s happy hour law prohibits bars and restaurants from serving free, discounted or two-for-one alcoholic drinks.

The Massachusetts Restaurant Association and prominent restaurant and bar owners spoke out in opposition to easing the current regulations.

But the Restaurant and Business Alliance — a new trade group started by Phantom Gourmet CEO David Andelman — pushed for “flexibility” in the regulations, which require bars and restaurants offering drinks specials to keep the lower prices in place for a full calendar week.

“The (ABCC) conducted extensive research and sought comment from the hospitality industry throughout the commonwealth,” ABCC chairman Kim Gainsboro said in a statement. “Each hearing showcased the dedication and commitment to community on the part of small business owners and, after reviewing comments pertaining to economic fairness and public safety, we feel that we have provided the governor, treasurer and the Legislature with a complete and accurate report.”

http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/01/abcc_casinos_shouldn%E2%80%99t_prompt_%E2%80%98happy_hour%E2%80%99_rule_changes

Mass. alcohol regulators say happy hours should remain banned

02/01/2013

By Todd Feathers, Globe Correspondent

Repealing the state’s happy hour ban would be economically and socially detrimental to the Commonwealth and would not substantially protect restaurants from losing business to casinos, according to a report by state alcohol regulators.

Some lawmakers had floated the idea of rolling back the happy hour restriction as a concession to liquor license holders, who have opposed a provision in the 2011 Gaming Act that allows casinos to serve free alcoholic drinks in their gaming areas.

But the report, issued Thursday by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, found that many restaurant owners feared the changes would create a “race to the bottom,” in which establishments would try to undercut each other’s prices to the extent that their business models would no longer be viable.

“It was kind of this false premise that if you allowed restaurants to have happy hours it would level the playing field [with casinos],” Massachusetts Restaurant Association President Stephen Clark said.

“But restaurants can’t subsidize free drinks like casinos.”

The ABCC has banned businesses with liquor licenses from offering lower-priced drinks during happy hours since 1984, after a woman in Braintree was killed by a drunk driver who had consumed seven beers at a happy hour event.

Treasurer Steven Grossman, whose office oversees the ABCC, said the happy hour ban is an important factor in upholding the state’s reputation and protecting its citizens.

“I think it has served us well, and I think it is a very important public safety issue,” he said. “I am fully supportive of [the report’s] conclusions.”

Offering free drinks is a common practice among gambling establishments [not all states permit FREE ALCOHOL], which make most of their profits from the games they run and can therefore afford to offer drinks and other services as perks for customers. [COMPS]

The Gaming Act provision specifies that free alcoholic beverages can only be served on a casinos’ gaming floors, and not in restaurants or hotels that may be attached to the casinos.

“ABCC still has oversight at casinos,” Grossman said. “Casinos still have to serve in a responsible way.”

Restaurant owners know that any time a new source of entertainment enters the area they must find ways to make up for the business they will inevitably lose, Clark said.

“From the very beginning we wanted casinos to play by the same rules as restaurants,” he said. “But happy hours would create a race to the bottom and would actually hurt the industry.”

http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/02/01/mass-alcohol-regulators-say-happy-hours-should-remain-banned/SSKktmznhrKSpFoudQwntM/story.html

 

The Road to Hell

The carnage on these roads was ignored until the Taunton/Genting proposal.

How many millions will it cost Massachusetts taxpayers to subsidize wealthy
Malaysian casino investors?

Drivers refuse to slow down on Route 24

Holiday weekend nets 10 drunken drivers on Route 24, Interstate 195

By Justin Graeber

Enterprise Staff Writer

Posted Sep 05, 2012

BROCKTON —

The state police have been stepping up weekend patrols on Route 24, but drunk drivers and speeders don’t seem to be getting the message.

In the sixth week of the “patrol surge” on Route 24 and Interstate 195, state troopers said they made 10 arrests for drunk driving, 14 arrests for other charges, issued six criminal citations and 263 non-criminal citations.

One of the arrestees, Aengus Dlouhy, 44, of Dartmouth was charged with his sixth drunk driving offense. Dlouhy was arrested on Interstate 195 on Friday night. Two of the drunk driving arrests happened on Route 24.

This raises the total of drunk driving arrests to 55 since the surge began in early August. Of the 55 arrests, other than Dlouhy’s, 44 were for first offense, seven were for second offense, two were for third offense and one was for fourth offense.

Speed was also a factor in many of the citations. This weekend, three operators stopped for speeding were clocked at speeds of 104, 107, and 110 mph.

The surge deploys 11 additional patrols on Route 24 and Interstate 195 from 8 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday and again from 8 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday.

In addition to the drunk drivers, the six-week totals for the increased patrols include:
56 other arrests,

42 criminal summons issued,

1,640 citations written for various motor vehicle violations.

The extra patrols will run through September.

Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/answerbook/brockton/x326766484/Holiday-weekend-nets-10-drunk-drivers-on-Route-24#ixzz25bNC9kju

DEADLY BY DESIGN: Tight curves, short ramps, high speeds make Route 24 a dangerous highway to drive

By Erik Potter

The Enterprise

Posted May 30, 2010

From 2006 to 2008, nearly 2,400 people crashed their cars, trucks and motorcycles on the 25-mile stretch of Route 24 that runs between Randolph and Berkley.
Eight of those people died.

Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/cops_and_courts/x1015942137/DEADLY-BY-DESIGN-Tight-curves-short-ramps-high-speeds-make-Route-24-a-dangerous-highway-to-drive#ixzz25bPGEUsN

6 More Drunks!

We're all appreciative of the sudden interest and heightened patrols of regional roads, but doesn't this tell you something???

Massachusetts lacks adequate funds to properly patrol its highways on a regular basis.

And a proposed Genting/Mashpee Wampanoag Gambling complex in Taunton that provides FREE ALCOHOL, allows DRUNKS to depart the premises intoxicated will exacerbate the problem.

And Massachusetts is considering extended "HAPPY HOURS" to bars and restaurants??

Route 24 patrols continue to net drunk drivers

By Justin Graeber

Enterprise Staff Writer

Posted Aug 21, 2012

BROCKTON —

Six more drunk drivers were caught on Route 24 as a result of stepped-up weekend patrols by the state police.

For the past four weekends, state police have increased patrols and enforcement on Route 24 in the wake of several fatal accidents in a short time span.

Thus far this year, troopers have made 33 drunk driving arrests, 32 non-OUI arrests, and issued 24 criminal summons. Troopers have written a total of 1,094 motor vehicle citations during the four weekends of the surge, according to the state police.

This weekend, in addition to the drunk driving arrests, troopers made 12 other arrests and issued five criminal summons. Additionally, troopers wrote 338 citations for motor vehicle violations.

Last week’s patrols netted more drunk drivers (10) but less citations (262).

Additionally, the State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section stopped 16 speeding trucks on Route 24 last week and conducted 23 commercial vehicle inspections. The truck team took two trucks out of service, one for faulty brakes and another because the driver had a suspended license.

Truck team troopers wrote 38 citations to truckers.

The additional patrols, which complement regular patrols from the Middleborough and Dartmouth Barracks, will continue through the end of September.

Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x1055169683/Route-24-patrols-continue-to-net-drunk-drivers#ixzz24HNS7Yvx



Four hospitalized after crash on Route 24 in Raynham

By Justin Graeber

Enterprise Staff Writer

Posted Aug 22, 2012

RAYNHAM —

Four people were sent to the hospital, one by medical helicopter, after a crash on Route 24 Tuesday night.

The crash occurred around 8:23 p.m. on the southbound side of the highway, south of exit 14, according to the state police.

Three cars were involved in a chain-reaction crash, and the accident happened in the left travel lane, police said.

Three people were taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton by ambulance, and a person in the third vehicle in the was flown to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. That
person's injuries were described as non-life-threatening.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x186674522/Four-hospitalized-after-crash-on-Route-24-in-Raynham#ixzz24HTWef72

Tour bus crash north of NYC sends 24 to hospital

Tour bus crash north of NYC sends 24 to hospital;
police say driver going too fast on wet road

By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, July 4

NEW YORK — A casino bus careened out of control outside New York City on Wednesday, sending 24 people to the hospital with minor injuries and recalling a collision last year that killed 15 casino-goers just two miles up the road, authorities said.

It appeared the driver had been going too fast for the wet conditions, said New York State police Sgt. John Maasz. The bus company, Star Tag Inc., has received four citations for unsafe driving in the last two years and every recorded inspection resulted in vehicle maintenance violations. Most recently, in May, authorities caught one of its motor coaches going at least 15 miles per hour over the speed limit, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The bus was on an early morning route from Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut to Chinatown in Queens when it struck a center median barrier on Interstate 95 in New Rochelle, veered right over three lanes, then slid about 500 feet along an outer barrier before stopping.

Charges were not immediately filed, pending an investigation, Maasz said. Of the 24 people on board, the driver — who was ejected from the bus — was the most seriously injured. All were sent to hospitals, but none had serious injuries.

The accident happened about two miles south of the site of the March 2011 crash that killed 15 people on a bus bound for New York City’s other Chinatown — the one in Manhattan. At that time, about 30,000 Chinese New Yorkers were boarding discount buses traveling from Chinatown to casinos each week.

The bus involved in Wednesday’s crash served a similar clientele. Many of the passengers were able to communicate with police only through hospital interpreters, Maasz said. Foxwoods lists Star Tag vehicles on an online list of “Asian Buses.”

Messages left for a Foxwoods representative and for Star Tag were not immediately returned.

The crash comes about a month after government safety officials swooped down on more than two dozen curbside bus operations that mostly ferry passengers in the busy East Coast transportation corridor, closing them for safety violations in the largest single federal crackdown on the industry.

The crackdown was prompted by fatal accidents in New Jersey and Virginia last spring and the March 2011 New York crash, in which the bus flipped onto its side and struck a pole.

That crash was probably caused by the driver’s lack of sleep and a bus company that provided too little oversight, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The driver, Ophadell Williams, was charged with manslaughter and has pleaded not guilty. His attorney has said his client is not responsible for the accident.

Federal regulators shut down the bus operator, World Wide Tours of Greater New York, after that accident.
___
Associated Press Writer Michael Hill in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/police-investigating-tour-bus-crash-north-of-new-york-city-that-sent-24-to-hospital/2012/07/04/gJQAozVRNW_story.html

Governor Deval Patrick's Legacy

Governor Patrick NEVER discussed Predatory Gambling while campaigning and pretending a new false image of 'transparency.'

Yet, once in office, he genuflected to the Gambling Industry and now pretends 'Destination Resort Slot Barns' make fiscal sense, while he negotiates behind closed doors.

While he focuses on the 'pretense' of numbers, included in the 2010 legislation that passed both houses (without having been read), was FREE ALCOHOL, a Give-Me to the Gambling Industry.

Drunks continue to gamble, wager more, are more likely to sign on the dotted lines for those loans to continue to feed cash sucking machines. And they're more likely to leave the Slot Barn drunk, making each of us an innocent target - any hour, any day, 24/7/365.

So, once out of office, moved on to greener pastures, Governor Deval Patrick will leave a legacy of DRUNK DRIVERS behind, along with the casualties of those drunks.



"Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign begins today

CAPE COD - Several Cape Cod police departments, including the Falmouth and Dennis Police Departments, are participating in the drunk driving crackdown "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over". The campaign begins today and continues through Labor Day Weekend. Around 200 Massachusetts police departments will be participating this year.

Patrol officers will be searching for impaired drivers on Cape Cod roads. According to participating departments, all drivers found to be driving impaired will be arrested.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2009, 108 people died in Massachusetts in crashes involving a drunk driver.

Not only is drunk driving dangerous, it can be costly. First offenders may face loss of license and jail time. Offenders are impacted financially as well, by insurance rate increases, attorney fees, court costs and loss of time at work.

More information is available on the state highway safety division website here.

Source: Falmouth Police Department; Dennis Police Department.

CT Slot Parlors: Good Neighbors? Think Not!

When I saw TWO WOMEN GET INTO FIGHT IN FOXWOODS LADIES ROOM, I was disappointed that it wasn't the punchline of a joke, but rather 2 women fighting in a Foxwoods Resort Casino restroom.

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The blogger's comment?

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EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: Does either Connecticut casino (Mohegan Sun Casino, Foxwoods Resort Casino, MGM Grand at Foxwoods) need this kind of PR?

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For years, both casinos have failed to accept their own social responsibility and ensure that patrons leaving their wildly profitable sovereign territory were sober.

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Were either slot parlor a commercial entity, their liquor licenses would have been revoked years ago and the judicial system would have compelled compliance.

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MADD has focused on changing the laws and reducing the numbers of intoxicated drivers on Massachusetts roads with which I'm familiar.

CT MADD reports -- In Connecticut 101 people were killed in 2007 in alcohol related crashes, down 12% from the previous year.

It appears that Connecticut's Attorney General may have some impact on changing the business behavior of the slot parlors --

HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Monday said tribal casinos are not immune from state laws pertaining to liquor sales.

Blumenthal submitted an amicus brief to the state Appellate Court asking the court to overturn a recent trial court ruling that exempted tribal casinos from certain liquor laws.

Blumenthal filed the brief in support of Emily Vanstaen-Holland and her mother, Susan Holland, who are suing the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority and others in connection with an accident in which Emily Vanstaen-Holland, a pedestrian, was struck by someone allegedly intoxicated after drinking at Mohegan Sun.

Sometimes, financial liability is the only thing that makes a good neighbor.

Too bad the blogger isn't worried about these folks and the others killed after feeding the slots --

In March, a 23-year-old Navy sailor, who later reportedly told police that he had four or five drinks over the course of the evening at a Mohegan Sun club, struck a van carrying seven students headed to Boston's Logan Airport.
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Elizabeth Durante, one of the traveling students, died at the scene. Less than a month later, a local construction worker, who had been drinking at the same bar, struck and killed a 59-year-old Willimantic woman.

When you make your money from predatory gambling, you're worried about bad pr?