All – Page 160 – Everett Leader Herald

Casino Expansion Includes Dedicated Card Room Space

By Leader Herald Staff

Encore Boston Harbor casino. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission announced last week it is carefully discussing whether or not to allow the planned expansion of table gambling from the Encore site on the former Monsanto property

to a site across the street on property not part of the footprint where gaming is allowed by right.

Some months back, Encore announced it was going to build an entertainment venue with thousands of seats and a parking garage.

The MGC learned Encore is hoping to have a dedicated gambling area at that new site.

The caveat – the new site is not approved for gaming.

Only the former Monsanto site is approved for gaming. As part of the original deal that brought Wynn Corporation to Everett in 2013.

The question is, can gaming be allowed across the street at the new entertainment facility?

According to the MGC, that is exactly the question being looked into by commissioners and by MGC lawyers.

Such a question is not expected to excite much negativity on the part of the MGC.

The MGC tends to be a flag waver for whatever Encore wants to do.

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City could face a world of hurt; Legal fees could total $millions

By Josh Resnek

For five months, there had been only silence coming from the top echelons of city hall about the Federal Investigation into racism and discrimination in Everett that had been announced last June by US Attorney Rachael Rollins.

US Attorney Rachel Rollins As is typical of such investigations, the US Attorney’s office does not comment on ongoing investigations and had not commented on the Everett investigation.

The institutional belief that this was just another smokescreen for an investigation that would yield nothing became a prominent feature of idle talk among city hall denizens over the months.

Then came the sudden Monday night appearance at the city council meeting of Assistant City Solicitor Keith Slattery and the city’s counsel, Attorney Linda Ricci of Greenberg Traurig seeking the payment of a $500,000 legal bill that had been run up since the day after the Federal investigation had been announced last June.

This came as a total surprise to the unwitting city council.

So too did the likelihood of another $500,000 invoice to be paid coming on the heels of this first invoice for the same amount.

Bottom line, the city is facing well over $1 million in legal fees to defend itself against allegations of racism and discrimination – and the case has not really begun in its fullest iteration.

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November 22, 1963

It is impossible to imagine for those of us who lived through the assassination of John F. Kennedy, that 59 years have passed since that fateful day in November.

The photo used with this editorial has been with me since 1963.

For many of us Baby Boomers just starting out in our lives, JFK’s death at the hands of an assassin’s bullet in Dallas, Texas was all about things to come.

The nation was veering off its path, descending into an era of social revolution and violence, promiscuity and liberalism and all the while the Vietnam War was heating up, preparing to take a generation of our youth before we finally came to our senses and stopped the war.

All of us who remember JFK, who recall that time in our lives when we were riveted by his speaking ability, his handsomeness, his Irishness, his wit and his charm, have always hoped for another JFK.

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A Blatant Example of Racism and Discrimination

The efforts by the administration and its mouthpieces on the School Committee to deny Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani an extension of her contract reeks of racism and discrimination.

At a time when the city has just had to ante up $500,000 for legal fees regarding the US Attorney’s investigation into racism and discrimination in Everett for the past five years, it seems so out of the orbit of good government to be playing games with the superintendent’s contract extension.

A vote taken at Monday evening’s School Committee to allow a discussion about the possible extension does little to change the deal.

Does anyone in government, or at least the four members of the School Committee who voted against the Monday measure feel that maybe, just maybe, the US Attorney’s office is watching such shenanigans?

We don’t think so.

Yet it is impossible to properly convey the feeling that the administration’s anti-Tahiliani stance is part and parcel of the racist tendencies of this administration and of its followers on the School Committee.

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I Was Jonesing For A Delicious Treat Not Too Heavy But Just Right

By Josh Resnek

As many of our readers have come to understand, my eating habits can be considered peculiar. But they are not.

What I am devoted to in my eating existence these days is to eat only what I want, when I want it, in smaller servings made fresh every time.

There is one other caveat to my eating habits.

I only want to eat dishes that taste delicious.

I don’t need a large serving of anything.

I prefer smaller servings of something delicious.

OK, now that that is out of the way, let me describe what I ate for lunch Tuesday afternoon.

I went to Whole Foods and got 6 slices of Parma prosciutto sliced thinly.

I suppose there is better – and most likely to be bought either in Italy or a fine butchery in France.

Then I bought a container of fresh mozzarella and a small container with perfectly tasting ripe cherry tomatoes.

In the bread aisle I searched for just the right bread as I was jonesing for a small sandwich.

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