Local officials regulate dogs and kennels.

Because Belmont has been considering a new animal control law, I’ve been receiving some state law questions. State law vests authority for regulation of animals with local officials. General Laws, Chapter 140, sections 136A through 172 defines local authority over both kennels and individual dogs. Here are a few relevant sections. Section 136A defines terms, …

Congestion near Fresh Pond Parkway

The following statement was released jointly by State Senator Will Brownsberger, State Senator Pat Jehlen, Representative Jon Hecht and Representative Dave Rogers. Update 2/11/2016: Contract Awarded If you commute inbound from Belmont, Watertown or West Cambridge, there is one problem you always have to solve — how to get past the congestion on Fresh Pond …

Proposed MBTA Fare Increases

Today, I attended a briefing on the MBTA’s proposed fare increase with Transportation Secretary Rich Davey and MBTA Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Davis.  The MBTA is considering increasing fares in response to last year’s transportation fiance overhaul that directs the MBTA to generate an increasing share of its own revenue.  As part of last year’s …

Waverley Square Bus Service During Construction

From the Belmont Town Engineer, Glenn Clancy, in response to the question of where to get on the bus during the next couple of months of construction in Waverley Square. Church Street will be temporarily a one way from Trapelo Road to Lexington Street. Buses will enter Church from Trapelo Road, pull down Church Street …

NDAA 2014

From the Tenth Amendment Center at this link: http://tracking.tenthamendmentcenter.com/issues/ndaa/?doing_wp_cron=1397427336.5003750324249267578125 “The federal government, under the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF), claims the power to arrest and detain people within the US and deny them access to courts, attorneys and more. In short, this is little more …