LYNN NEWS ROUND-UP
JULY 13, 2020
See our other COVID-19 related posts by clicking here.
City Meetings scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday, July 14, 2020):
City Council Subcommittees: 4:15pm
City Council Meeting: 5pm
Conservation Commission: 6PM
Lynn Zoning Board of Appeals: 7PM
Watch all of these meetings on our Government Channel on TV (Comcast: 22 or Verizon: 38) & online (via our website or Facebook page).
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PUBLIC WILL NOT BE ALLOWED INTO THE COUNCIL CHAMBER FOR THESE MEETINGS. PLEASE READ HOW THE PUBLIC CAN INTERACT BY CLICKING HERE.
Protest concerning City of Lynn’s FY 2021 Budget planned for tomorrow at City Hall before City Council meeting
Local organizations Lynn United for Change, Essex County Community Organization (ECCO), North Shore Juneteenth Association, & New Lynn Coalition are all collaborating on a protest outside of Lynn City Hall tomorrow at 5pm.
Also at 5pm the Lynn City Council is scheduled to meet about the City of Lynn’s FY 2021 Budget. The total proposed budget is $375,433,035 and details on the budget can be found by clicking here. As noted above: due to COVID-19 restrictions the public will not be allowed into the council chambers. Please click here to read how the public is being encouraged to participate in public hearings.
A description of the event, as posted on their Facebook event page, is below:
The Lynn City Council is considering a proposed budget this Tuesday. It includes $22 million for the police department, an increase of $2 million from last year!
The budget does nothing to address the systemic racism of the police and criminal justice system, and it fails to respond to community demands for change.
In the wake of massive protests around the country in response to the murder for George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Lynn residents are demanding that racial justice become a focus of the city budget.
• We demand a 10% reduction in the police budget, with those funds reallocated to support an unarmed community based crisis response program.
• We demand that the City Council and Mayor table the budget, commit to funding peace over force and addressing institutional racism, and include the community in the budgeting process.
• A crisis response program could handle nonviolent 911 calls and other urgent situations that require de-escalation and care, rather than intervention from armed officers of a police force with a track record of institutional racism.
Join us in front of City Hall to raise your voice and demand real change.
Please wear a mask/face covering and maintain a distance of 6 feet from others. More details will be posted on this page soon.
MBTA Statement Regarding RIDE Service
As Teamsters Local 25 and Veterans Transportation, one of two providers of paratransit service for the MBTA, continue to negotiate a labor contract, the MBTA is today advising customers of its paratransit service The RIDE to expect delays and/or service interruptions due to lack of drivers.
The MBTA is advising customers to only schedule essential trips because drivers are limited. Customers are asked to consider alternative transport options, such as a local taxi, Uber, or Lyft. If a customer is having a medical emergency, please contact 911. Customers have the option to cancel or rebook their trips by contacting The RIDE call center at 844-427-7433.
The MBTA strongly urges Teamsters Local 25 and Veterans Transportation to continue negotiating. It is the MBTA’s hope that this situation resolves soon. The MBTA is committed to providing this essential service to our most at-risk, vulnerable customers.
The MBTA apologizes for this inconvenience.
“Stop The Spread” testing in Lynn
Free mobile COVID -19 testing will be available in the parking lot across from the Sacred Heart Church in Lynn 10AM-4PM from Monday July 13th through Friday July 17th. Courtesy of Health Innovations.
COVID-19 testing is also offered by Lynn Community Health Center 7 days a week. You do not need to be a Lynn Community Health Center patient to be tested. Go to the Lynn Community Health Center website at lchcnet.org for hours of operation and details.
Read more about testing in Lynn by clicking here.
Updates from state government
- As of Sunday night, DPH reported a total of 105,629 cases of COVID-19. The state has now confirmed a total of 8,110 deaths from the virus.
- Massachusetts state courthouses will physically reopen to the public for limited purposes on Monday, with most business still conducted virtually. Entry will be limited to persons attending in-person proceedings, persons conducting business with a clerk’s, register’s or recorder’s office, persons meeting with probation, and persons conducting business at other open offices in the courthouses, according to the Supreme Judicial Court.
- Wednesday is the deadline for Massachusetts residents to file both federal and state 2019 income tax returns, postponed from the normal April 15 deadline because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The later deadline falls in the new fiscal year and questions remain around how much revenue the state will ultimately take in for fiscal 2020, which ended on June 30. Returns must be filed electronically or postmarked by midnight Wednesday to avoid penalties.
- Senate Republicans insisted on more time to analyze and negotiate the branch’s nearly week-old police reform legislation, and the minority caucus again postponed consideration of the 73-page bill during a rare Saturday morning session. Debate might now start on Monday, when the Senate is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. For the third consecutive day, Sen. Ryan Fattman made the motion to delay consideration, citing “the spirit of more time and the spirit of more dialogue.” The Sutton Republican’s two prior motions had been to table debate, although Saturday Fattman invoked a different request that will require the bill’s nearly 130 amendments to be published in the printed calendar for Monday’s session.
From Mayor McGee’s office: The Lynn Public Health Department has confirmed that as of today, the number of active, confirmed positive COVID-19 cases is 531 with 10 new cases today. 3,110 Lynn residents have recovered and 104 have died. The total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Lynn since March 21, 2020, including those who have died and recovered, is 3,745. Please visit the new City of Lynn COVID-19 Data Dashboard which is updated daily.
Free mobile COVID-19 Testing will be available in the parking lot across from Sacred Heart Church on Boston Street from 10:00AM-4:00PM from Monday, July 13 through Friday, July 17th. You can also make an appointment for a COVID-19 test at Lynn Community Health Center by calling 781-581-3900.
Please visit http://www.ci.lynn.ma.us/
We will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 through the City website (www.lynnma.gov), social media, and the Smart 911 emergency notification system (sign up at www.smart911.com).
If you have a news story that you would like to share, please contact us via email or call 781-780-9460.
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