THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 22, 2023 Page 17 Welcome the New Year with an Introduction to Zentangle S tart the new year with some mindful drawing at the Malden Public Library on Thursday, January 4, from 6-8 pm. The Zentangle method is an easyto learn, relaxing and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. Lori Champine is a certifi ed Zentangle instructor and will be leading the program, which is geared for people 14 years and older. All supplies will be provided and registration is required. The class is limited to 20, so register early. To register: bit.ly/ ZentangleMPL2024 StonehamBank provides financial literacy resources to local students and community S tonehamBank is excited to announce a new fi nancial literacy education program to students and residents in Essex, Middlesex and Suff olk Counties. Students at six Malden schools and the surrounding communities have free access to Banzai, an award-winning online program and content library that allows users to practice real-world fi nance from their home or classroom using any internet-enabled device. At a time when a solid foundation of practical fi nancial knowledge is critical, these resources will make a huge impact on users. The six schools included in the program are Malden High School, the Beebe School, the Ferryway School, the Forestdale School, Linden STEAM Academy and the Salemwood School. Through the Banzai online courses, individuals try out managing a budget, saving for a goal and dealing with unexpected fi nancial pitfalls. Teachers are able to easily monitor and grade student progress remotely. Other resources include articles, calculators and personalized coaching sessions, explaining everything from the Zentangle Beacon Hill Roll Call By Bob Katzen GET A FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO MASSTERLIST – Join more than 22,000 people, from movers and shakers to political junkies and interested citizens, who start their weekday morning with MASSterList—the popular newsletter that chronicles news and informed analysis about what’s going on up on Beacon Hill, in Massachusetts politics, policy, media and infl uence. The stories are drawn from major news organizations as well as specialized publications. MASSterlist will be e-mailed to you FREE every Monday through Friday morning and will give you a leg up on what’s happening in the blood sport of Bay State politics. For more information and to get your free subscription, go to: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/aPTLucK THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports on the percentage of times local senators voted with their party’s leadership in the 2023 session through December 15. Beacon Hill Roll Call uses 97 votes from the 2023 Senate session as the basis for this report. This includes all roll calls that were not on local issues. The votes of 34 Democrats were compared to Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem (D-Newton), second-in-command in the Senate. We could not compare the Democrats’ votes to those of Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) because, by tradition, the Senate president rarely votes. Nineteen (55.8 percent) of the Democrats voted with Creem 100 percent of the time. The other fi fteen (44.2 percent) Democrats voted with Creem at least 90 percent of the time. The senator who voted with Creem the least percentage of times is Sen. Walter Timilty (D-Milton) who voted with her only 88 times (90.7 percent). Rounding out the top four who voted with Creem the least number of times are Sens. John Keenan (D-Quincy) who voted with her 91 times (94.7 percent); and Barry Finegold (D-Andover) and Becca Rausch (D-Needham) who each voted with her 93 times (95.8 percent). Beacon Hill Roll Call contacted these four senators three times each and asked them to comment on the percentage of times, lower than the other senators, each one voted with the Creem. None of the four responded. The votes of two of the Republican senators were compared with those of GOP Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester). Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) voted with Tarr 85 times (87.6 percent). Sen. Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth) voted with Tarr 100 percent of the time. The third Republican, former state representative and newly elected Sen. Peter Durant (R-Spencer) just joined the Senate on November 29 and was not yet a senator when the 97 roll calls in the Senate took place. Since Durant was a representative before moving onto the Senate, we based his numbers on how many times he voted with House Minority Leader Rep. Brad Jones (R-North Reading) in 2023. He voted 100 percent of the time with Jones. SENATORS’ SUPPORT OF THEIR PARTY’S LEADERSHIP IN 2023 THROUGH DECEMBER 15 The percentage next to the senator’s name represents the percentage of times the senator supported his or her party’s leadership so far in 2023 through December 15. The number in parentheses represents the number of times the senator opposed his or her party’s leadership. Some senators voted on all 97 roll call votes. Others missed one or more roll calls. The percentage for each senator is calculated based on the number of roll calls on which he or she voted. Sen. Jason Lewis 100 percent (0) ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL GIVE WORKERS PAID TIME OFF TO VOTE (H 4217) – The BHRC| SEE PAGE 18 basics of filing your taxes to how health insurance works. These resources are available at stonehambank.teachbanzai. com/wellness. “Thanks to StonehamBank, area students will now have access to a wide array of courses and resources designed to help prepare them for our increasingly complex world,” says Banzai Cofounder Morgan Vandagriff . “We wouldn’t be able to provide these tools without their support.” StonehamBank is working with Banzai to build fi nancial literacy in their communities by investing time, money, industry experience and a variety of bank resources. Now, they’re taking their commitment to education a step further. Through their help, students have access to Banzai learning tools, virtual or in-classroom presentations from a StonehamBank expert, and even class visits to a branch to see it all in person. “We are excited to partner with Banzai,” says Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Management Offi cer, CRA/Fair Lending Offi cer, Gregory M. D'Antona. “A major piece of our community reinvestment is facilitating fi nancial literacy activities, and with Banzai, we’re now able to off er a free, online program for everyone from youngsters to adults. We especially look forward to continuing our fi nancial literacy work with community schools, using Banzai to educate students (and their families).” Banzai resources are used by over 100,000 teachers across the United States. These educational tools align with Massachusetts’ state curriculum requirements, making the program a fun way for students to gain vital skills and an ideal way for anyone in the community to increase their fi nancial literacy. After fi nishing the Banzai courses, users will know how to track where their money is and what it’s for, recognize fi nancial trade-off s and plan for a fi nancially sound future. Teachers interested in using Banzai can visit stonehambank. teachbanzai.com or call 8888-BANZAI. For more information about Banzai, visit banzai.org For more information on StonehamBank, please visit www.stonehambank.com or call 888-402-2265.
18 Publizr Home