Representative Don Humason



1,000 PLACES IN MASSACHUSETTS Westfield Evening News column By State Representative Don Humason, Jr. July 24, 2010 Only seven days until the sands run out of the hourglass of the current Massachusetts Legislative session. The House is expecting to be in full formal session next week from Tuesday until midnight on Saturday, July 31, when the session ends. The state Senate will likely be in session many of those same days as well. I wanted to remind readers of a recently passed state law: The “slow down, move over” law requires motorists in the Commonwealth to, well, slow down and move over into the next lane whenever they see a police officer or emergency vehicle stopped on the side of the road or highway. There have been several terrible accidents recently where Massachusetts State Police officers have been struck on the side of the road while they had a vehicle pulled over. As long as I’m doing reminders, I would urge folks to check their drivers license and automobile registration to be sure you know when they expire. My license was up for renewal by the end of this month. Since I knew I had to be at the State House almost every day I was trying to figure out when I would have time to go into a Registry of Motor Vehicles office to renew. When I went online to www.Mass.Gov/RMV I found out I was eligible to renew online. It only took me about five minutes. Unfortunately, it cost $50 but the license lasts five years. You can also sign up at the RMV website for an automated email reminder of when your license is set to expire, which I highly recommend. The Registry doesn’t mail notices anymore…so much for customer service. My Chief of Staff, Sarah Latour, and I will be holding public office hours at the Westfield Boys & Girls Club on Monday, August 2, from 10:30 – 12:00PM. We will be available to meet with Westfield constituents to discuss state issues in the Board Room at the Boys and Girls Club. I like to provide the people of Westfield with as many opportunities to meet and speak with me as possible. Office hours at different locations around the city are a great chance for me to listen to the concerns of those I represent. I’d like to thank Bill Parks and the Club staff. Sarah and I are also available to meet with constituents at my district office located at 64 Noble Street in Westfield. The number is 413-568-1366. No appointment is necessary, but calling ahead is recommended in case we are out at meetings or in Boston at the State House. You can get more information about me, including contact information, recent press releases, photos, and old columns at my website www.DonHumason.org. According to the State House News Service this week, “Governor Deval Patrick traveled to Iraq and Kuwait Wednesday, meeting with troops and talking with commanders. In a statement, the administration said Patrick was joined by four other governors on the Pentagon trip. Patrick left Andrews Air Force Base Tuesday, landing at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait Wednesday before changing planes and heading to Baghdad International Airport, the office said. Patrick and other governors lunched with soldiers at Camp Victory then went on a call with LTG Kenneth Hunzeker, deputy commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. Then the governors had dinner with troops at Al Faw Palace. Over 1,100 National Guard troops are deployed in the region, Patrick's press office said...” The State House News Service also reported that “Chief Justice Margaret Marshall’s decision to retire to spend more time with her ailing husband caught even her Supreme Judicial Court colleagues off guard...Justice Roderick Ireland, appointed in 1997, nearly a year after Marshall’s appointment, will become the court’s senior member upon Marshall’s departure, which she said would come at the end of October, or as soon as her successor is nominated by Gov. Deval Patrick and confirmed. “Marshall acknowledged that her tenure would forever be tied to the opinion she authored in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which paved the way for legal gay marriages in Massachusetts, but she professed that she didn’t view it as a history-making decision at the time.…Marshall was the second woman to serve on Massachusetts’s high court, and the first to hold the position of chief justice.” Finally, the Special Commission tasked with coming up with the 1,000 places to visit in Massachusetts released its list (with a few minor glitches). The only two sites that made the list in Westfield were Stanley Park and the Crane Pond. To see the other places, go to http://www.massvacation.com/1000/1000_places.PDF. Have a great week! * * * Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of the Westfield Evening News. Representative Don Humason and his Chief of Staff Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us Website: www.donhumason.org * * * Please feel free to forward this column to your family, friends, and associates. If you do not wish to receive an email copy of my Saturday Westfield Evening News column, please reply and let me know. I will then take you off the list. Sorry for any inconvenience. * * *
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1,000 PLACES IN MASSACHUSETTS

Westfield Evening News column
By State Representative Don Humason, Jr.
July 24, 2010

Only seven days until the sands run out of the hourglass of the current Massachusetts Legislative session. The House is expecting to be in full formal session next week from Tuesday until midnight on Saturday, July 31, when the session ends. The state Senate will likely be in session many of those same days as well.

I wanted to remind readers of a recently passed state law: The “slow down, move over” law requires motorists in the Commonwealth to, well, slow down and move over into the next lane whenever they see a police officer or emergency vehicle stopped on the side of the road or highway. There have been several terrible accidents recently where Massachusetts State Police officers have been struck on the side of the road while they had a vehicle pulled over.

As long as I’m doing reminders, I would urge folks to check their drivers license and automobile registration to be sure you know when they expire. My license was up for renewal by the end of this month. Since I knew I had to be at the State House almost every day I was trying to figure out when I would have time to go into a Registry of Motor Vehicles office to renew.

When I went online to www.Mass.Gov/RMV I found out I was eligible to renew online. It only took me about five minutes. Unfortunately, it cost $50 but the license lasts five years. You can also sign up at the RMV website for an automated email reminder of when your license is set to expire, which I highly recommend. The Registry doesn’t mail notices anymore…so much for customer service.

My Chief of Staff, Sarah Latour, and I will be holding public office hours at the Westfield Boys & Girls Club on Monday, August 2, from 10:30 – 12:00PM. We will be available to meet with Westfield constituents to discuss state issues in the Board Room at the Boys and Girls Club.

I like to provide the people of Westfield with as many opportunities to meet and speak with me as possible. Office hours at different locations around the city are a great chance for me to listen to the concerns of those I represent. I’d like to thank Bill Parks and the Club staff.

Sarah and I are also available to meet with constituents at my district office located at 64 Noble Street in Westfield. The number is 413-568-1366. No appointment is necessary, but calling ahead is recommended in case we are out at meetings or in Boston at the State House.

You can get more information about me, including contact information, recent press releases, photos, and old columns at my website www.DonHumason.org.

According to the State House News Service this week, “Governor Deval Patrick traveled to Iraq and Kuwait Wednesday, meeting with troops and talking with commanders. In a statement, the administration said Patrick was joined by four other governors on the Pentagon trip. Patrick left Andrews Air Force Base Tuesday, landing at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait Wednesday before changing planes and heading to Baghdad International Airport, the office said. Patrick and other governors lunched with soldiers at Camp Victory then went on a call with LTG Kenneth Hunzeker, deputy commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. Then the governors had dinner with troops at Al Faw Palace. Over 1,100 National Guard troops are deployed in the region, Patrick's press office said...”

The State House News Service also reported that “Chief Justice Margaret Marshall’s decision to retire to spend more time with her ailing husband caught even her Supreme Judicial Court colleagues off guard...Justice Roderick Ireland, appointed in 1997, nearly a year after Marshall’s appointment, will become the court’s senior member upon Marshall’s departure, which she said would come at the end of October, or as soon as her successor is nominated by Gov. Deval Patrick and confirmed.

“Marshall acknowledged that her tenure would forever be tied to the opinion she authored in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which paved the way for legal gay marriages in Massachusetts, but she professed that she didn’t view it as a history-making decision at the time.…Marshall was the second woman to serve on Massachusetts’s high court, and the first to hold the position of chief justice.”

Finally, the Special Commission tasked with coming up with the 1,000 places to visit in Massachusetts released its list (with a few minor glitches). The only two sites that made the list in Westfield were Stanley Park and the Crane Pond. To see the other places, go to

http://www.massvacation.com/1000/1000_places.PDF. Have a great week!

* * *

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of the Westfield Evening News. Representative Don Humason and his Chief of Staff Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us Website: www.donhumason.org

* * * Please feel free to forward this column to your family, friends, and associates. If you do not wish to receive an email copy of my Saturday Westfield Evening News column, please reply and let me know. I will then take you off the list. Sorry for any inconvenience. * * *