Press Release: U.S. Senator Brown Endorses Evangelidis For Sheriff

The following press release was sent by Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden), candidate for Worcester County Sheriff.

United States Senator Scott Brown Endorses Lew Evangelidis

WORCESTER - Worcester County Sheriff candidate Lew Evangelidis announced today that he has received the endorsement of United States Senator Scott Brown. The endorsement was officially announced at an event for Evangelidis which Brown attended this past weekend.

In his address to the overflowing crowd at Coral Seafood on Shrewsbury Street, Brown said, “It was my pleasure to serve with Lew Evangelidis in the legislature where he earned his reputation as a reformer. It was important for me to come out to Worcester to support Lew’s campaign because I know the challenges he will face going up against the political machine.”

Brown continued, “I spent a great amount of time in Worcester County during my campaign for Senate and I know the voters will be receptive to a new kind of sheriff who is professional and independent."

Evangelidis said, “Senator Brown’s election to the United States Senate this past January sent a clear message that folks are ready for new leadership that is independent and not part of the old political machine. I truly appreciate Senator Brown’s endorsement and his support throughout the remainder of our campaign.”

Press Release: Back to School -- Evangelidis on Education

The following press release was sent by Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden), candidate for Worcester County Sheriff.

Evangelidis: Sheriff Should be a Community Partner in Educating our Youth

Worcester- Worcester County Sheriff candidate Lew Evangelidis recently announced his plan to bring innovative programs aimed at educating our youth to the Sheriff’s Department. He has repeatedly stated his commitment to be a community partner and active participant in our local neighborhoods and schools.

Evangelidis, a former assistant district attorney and assistant state prosecutor, said, “Having two daughters enrolled in our public schools, one of my top priorities as Worcester County Sheriff will be to bring innovative programs into all the schools in the county to educate our students on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, to avoid a path to criminal activity, as well as the important issues of cyber bullying and online predators.”

Evangelidis continued, “The office of the Sheriff does not end at the four walls of the jail, but extends to the four corners of Worcester County. As Worcester County Sheriff, I will work with our local police departments, school officials and PTA groups to form strong community partnerships to prevent crime and keep our children safe.”

Here are just a few examples of the highly effective, low cost programs that Evangelidis will bring into our schools as Sheriff:

Face2Face Drug Intervention
Young adults often struggle to see the long term effects of drug abuse and the never ending road of addiction. The innovative FACE2FACE drug intervention program will bring the true consequences of drug abuse into every high school in the county. The FACE2FACE program uses state of the art technology to instantly show students what they will look like after only few months of drug abuse. This technology was originally developed to show patients what they may look like after plastic surgery, but was quickly redeveloped to create the FACE2FACE program.

The shocking results of deteriorated facial features can be a tremendous tool in drug prevention and teach students that decisions they make today will have serious affects tomorrow. This program is an inexpensive and effective tool to give students a glimpse into the future after drug abuse.

Cyber Bullying
43% of teenagers reported that they have been victims of cyber bullying in the last year. (National Crime Prevention Council) As your Sheriff I will be committed to bring programs into our schools and communities to help teach students and parents about preventing cyber bullying before it starts. Our goal will be to develop a program to help students understand the consequences of cyber bullying and create safe ways for students to report bullying. I will also work to provide parents with effective tools and guidance to identify cyber bullying, as well as teach them the most effective way to handle instances of cyber bullying.

Back to School: Inmates
As Worcester County Sheriff I will make sure that every high school student hears directly from inmates about the consequences of criminal behavior and importance of good decision making. I will match inmates to specific communities to help the students identify with inmates who used to live in their neighborhood, attend their school and have similar socioeconomic backgrounds.

Youth Self-Defense
As your new Sheriff, I will be committed to bringing youth self-defense programs into schools throughout the county. These programs can be fun for our children to participate in, but more importantly they can save a child’s life.

Friday Roundup: Lamb's voting record in question

Unless something breaks this afternoon, this will be the last update of a busy week of campaigning. Let's start in the Third Congressional District, where Martin Lamb (R-Holliston) got the full treatment from the Telegram this morning. Lamb told reporter Priyanka Dayal that he'd finally had enough:

I got sick and tired of yelling at the TV and preaching to all of my friends and family and decided it was just time to get off my couch and take some action,” he said, explaining why he is running for Congress.

The report also claims that "In previous elections, Mr. Lamb says he has almost always voted Republican, but he conceded he didn’t vote for Ronald Reagan the first time Mr. Reagan ran for president." That does not jive with an earlier Telegram report. Last month, Shaun Sutner reported that Lamb "voted as a Democrat in state and presidential primary elections in 2006, 2004 and 2000."

The earlier story also reported that Lamb "said he has since 1976 voted for Republicans for president in the general election." That would contradict the statement in today's paper that Lamb did not vote for Reagan in his first run for president, unless Lamb was referencing Reagan's primary run in 1976, when Lamb would have been 19 years old.

Elsewhere in the district, Michael Stopa (R-Holliston) has been touting some of his one-liners from the GOP debate Wednesday in Shrewsbury:

"Later, [Stopa] got the biggest laugh of the night when he said that Massachusetts, unlike Arizona, doesn't have to worry about protecting its borders except perhaps with Rhode Island...To make sure "Patches" Kennedy doesn't sneak in."

I'm not sure Stopa will be the next host of Saturday Night Live, but apparently he does have a knack for radio, as he was featured on WCRN-AM's Mike Wade Show last Saturday.

The incumbent was also making news Thursday. Rep. James McGovern (D-Worcester) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton) announced that they will file a provision in Congress to ban the construction of a liquid natural gas terminal proposed for Fall River.

First Congressional District
Rep. John Olver (D-Amherst) was in Pittsfield to announce a $1.25 million grant to aid the completion of the Streetscape Project.

Second Congressional District
Tom Wesley (R-Hopedale) spoke Wednesday night at a Tea Party forum in Holden. The former Navy aviator told the crowd that "I didn't blink with the Russians and I'm not going to blink with Nancy Pelosi."

First Worcester House District
Worcester County Sheriff
House candidate Kim Ferguson (R-Holden) and Sheriff candidate Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden) also spoke at the Tea Party event.

11th Worcester House District
Kevin Byrne (D-Shrewsbury) formally kicked off his campaign Wednesday night.

18th Worcester District
Rep. Jennifer Callahan (D-Sutton) and challenger Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) each weighed in on Bellingham's restrictive lawn sign ordinance.

Weekend roundup: I've been everywhere, man

It's awfully difficult for a challenger to dominate the media cycle against an well-financed, high-ranking incumbent, but Tom Wesley (R-Hopedale) managed to do just that Friday in his Second Congressional District race against Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield). We'll start with the Telegram, where Wesley was the feature of Friday's candidate profile:

Mr. Wesley explained that these are tough economic times and that people have to be careful with their finances. He quickly added, however, that this election is about more than raising money.

“I see it as my patriotic duty,” he said when asked why he was running. “I'm fighting for unborn generations.” termed a lynchpin election, which means in his opinion the American way of life is at stake and people are angry with what has been happening on Capitol Hill.

In addition, Wesley was all over the radio, appearing on Springfield's WAQY-FM and WHYN-AM. He has also continued videotaping while driving.
 
For his part, Neal has received praise from the unlikeliest of sources. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has endorsed Neal's bill to provide for automatic enrollment in IRAs for employees of small businesses:

The Automatic IRA is a conservative, market-oriented solution to help address our retirement savings crisis. It would increase the proportion of Americans who can save for retirement at work from 50 percent to 90 percent, make it simple for small business owners to offer IRAs to their employees, and create low-cost accounts that an employee can understand and use without having to be a financial expert.

Neal's proposal has also been endorsed by the more liberal Brookings Institution.

Elsewhere...

Third Congressional District
Rep. James McGovern (D-Worcester) continues to keep the pressure on Congress and the Obama administration over the cut in food stamp aid that was part of the $26 billion jobs bill:

"President Obama pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015," McGovern pointed out. "It's hard to see how you do that while you're cutting food stamps.''

Fifth Congressional District
In the Sentinel, columnist Peter Lucas calls Tom Weaver (R-Westford) "the most qualified candidate you never heard of."

Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) was in Harvard to tout federal funding for a 220-kilowatt solar power facility at Carlson Orchards.

First Middlesex District
Tony Saboliauskas (D-Pepperell) is part of a group trying to get permission to erect a "Support our Troops" sign on town land in Pepperell.

Second Franklin House District
Earlier this week, David Roulston (D-Greenfield) became the latest candidate to criticize the proposed biomass plant in Greenfield.

Middlesex and Worcester Senate District
The communications director for Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) is taking time off during the fall recess to work for the campaign of Ninth District Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston).

Worcester County Sheriff
Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden) recently visited the Hampden County Sheriff to get some tips on programs for inmates.

Tuesday roundup: Good day to spend in the hammock

Another sleepy August day came and went, with little election news to report around Central Mass. Here's what's new...

Worcester County Sheriff
Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden) spoke in support of James McKenna, a write-in candidate for Attorney General.

First Congressional District
Bill Gunn (R-Belchertown) appeared at a rally in Leominster. DaTechGuy has the video.

Ninth Worcester House District
Rep. George N. Peterson Jr. (R-Grafton) switched his vote on CORI reform from yes to no after a provision to allow for "dangerous hearings for defendants charged with felony firearm offenses" was added to the final bill.

Fifth Congressional District
Both Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) and challenger Jon Golnik (R-Carlisle) were profiled at Yes We Will Lawrence.

37th Middlesex House District
Sponsores of the bill to allow local communities to more easily set up their own local electrical utilities--including Rep. Jen Benson (D-Lunenburg) are lamenting the legislature's inablity to pass the legislation before the end of the session.