By Josh Resnek
The Morris Street Fire
It takes a ride over to Boston, to the Mass General Hospital’s burn ward on the 14th oor of the Ellison Building, to come in contact with the harsh new reality Everett firefighter Scott Dalrymple is dealing with.
He is confined to bed, probably for the next 6-8 weeks.
He is wrapped with pounds of gauze to cover his burnt hands and arms and his head.
Here’s the deal.
Firefighters get scorched each time there is a fire.
It is more rare for firefighters to be caught in a situation where their gear is burning through to their skin and sometimes down to their bones.
Dalrymple’s skin was burned off.
Where I come from, this is about as serious as it gets for a human being.
Now skilled surgeons are performing multiple skin grafts to bring Dalrymple back to the way he was before he ran into the burning home on Morris Street. “I’ll be able to use my fingers and hands,” he said during a visit I made to his bedside on Monday afternoon.
He said he had never been alone since being admitted ten days ago – and that nearly every one of his brothers in the fire department had been in to see him. Incredible really, the firefighters’ brotherhood.
In a day and age when so much about our politics and our lives seem not to matter, the firefighters’ brotherhood remains strong.
Dalrymple may be burned but he is a happy man and his wife Brenda is a happy woman.
He is alive. He will get well. He will soon be a Lt. and will most likely be placed in a Fire Prevention position. He could have died right there in that burning house on Morris Street.
Turns out Scott Dalrymple is a tough guy, and a good guy, and a family man and above all, a proud Everett firefighter.
The MGC Investigation
There is an old adage that goes quite properly with the Gaming Commission’s belief it is conducting an exhaustive investigation into whether or not Wynn/Encore is suitable to hold a gaming license in Massachusetts.
The old adage goes like this: the Gaming Commission would do much better investigating itself than Wynn.
Why?
Because the Wall Street Journal did all the investigating that the Gaming Commission needs to have done to have made a decision and to announce it.
One wonders what the hell the Gaming Commission is investigating?
What will the Gaming Commission tell us that we don’t already know?
Steve Wynn resigned in shame. The company lawyer just stepped down or was likely thrown out – and $14 million a year, she was definitely asked to leave. The company lawyer lied to the Gaming Commission during the initial licensing circus. The new company president also knew about all of Steve Wynn’s secrets but told the Gaming Commission none of them. Then the local Wynn group suffered the news of a sexual harassment case led by a former employee, and now comes a former owner of the land the casino and hotel are being built on basically living by this credo: admit nothing; deny everything; blame it all on someone else. He is claiming he is owed $18 million by Wynn and is using an alleged handshake on the deal with local Encore president Rob De Salvio as his reason to sue Wynn. Can you imagine a $18 million handshake with DeSalvio.
I mean I know he’s a sharp guy but could you depend on him to keep his word over an $18 million handshake!!
In the meantime, Wynn Resorts has cleaned its act up a bit, hired three new board of directors, all women, has acknowledged it needs to do better with employee relations. Under Steve Wynn, if you complained, you got fired and then blackballed. If you didn’t want to do his nails while he was naked… well…what use is there in going on.
The Gaming Commission, according to those who know, will not make its report during the summer.
The Gaming Commission is behind schedule, as if an investigation of this magnitude could be completed within a given time frame.
What is the Gaming Commission deciding?
Is it going to pull the license or leave everything alone?
I am told there are two commissioners who want the license pulled.
Commission chair Steve Crosby is in a x because he apparently can’t control the commission.
Whatever they are deciding to do, I hope they do it soon because a lot of people who need their jobs at Encore are praying everything remains the same.
Every one of them, including DeSalvio should be praying night and day.
#metoo/Everett
For those of you who don’t understand the heading #metoo/Everett is apparently the Everett incarnation of the national womens movement seeking to eliminate sexual harassment in our nation and highest priority for our preK-12 schools,” MTA President Merrie Najimy said in a statement. “It’s up to the Legislature to find the revenues that are needed. Quality education is too important to put off for another day.”
The House bill aims to deliver new funding to school districts over five years to help cover help cover special education and health benefit costs, and trigger research on costs associated with educating non-native English speakers and low-income students.
The Senate bill calls for officials to annually determine an implementation schedule for all four of the commission’s focus areas to identify those guilty of it.
A message from the Everett division of this national movement has been sending around a flier – throughout the city – indicating that the women and men of Everett should be demanding the resignation of the mayor, and worse, that there will be a rally in front of city hall at 10 a.m. on September 4.
The flier is unsigned…but we take note of it because so many of them are being sent in the mail to residents all over the city.