Page 14 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2021 SCAMS | FROM Page 4 ment agencies domestically and abroad and educating taxpayers about scams. COVID-19 scams should be reported to the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or submitted through the NCDF Web Complaint Form. The NCDF is a national coordinating agency within the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division dedicated to improving the detection, prevention, investigation and prosecution of criminal conduct related to natural and manmade disasters and other emergencies. Taxpayers can also report fraud or theft of their EIPs to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). Reports can be made online at TIPS. TIGTA.GOV. Taxpayers who receive unsolicited emails or social media attempts to gather information that appear to be from either the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS, should forward the message to phishing@irs.gov. Taxpayers are encouraged not to engage potential scammers online or on the phone. To learn more about COVID-19 scams and other fi nancial schemes, visit IRS.gov. Official IRS information about COVID-19 and Economic Impact Payments can be found on the Coronavirus Tax Relief page, which is updated frequently. ~ LEGAL NOTICE ~ Estate of: Date of Death: CITATION ON PETITION FOR FORMAL ADJUDICATION To all interested persons: A Petition for of requesting that the Court enter a formal Decree and Order and for such other relief as requested in the Petition. The Petitioner requests that: of be appointed as Personal Representative(s) of said estate to serve on the bond in administration. Like us on Facebook advocate newspaper Facebook.com/Advocate.news.ma Doctors and community activists call on Baker to prioritize COVID-19 vaccine access for black and immigrant frontline communities M ore than 250 medical professionals and community activists are urging Governor Charlie Baker, Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel to end the neglect of Black and immigrant communities during the COVID-19 vaccine response. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.” As Black and Latino residents have been left unable to protect themselves at work or at home, the “arrival of eff ective vaccines should prompt our state to use this tool to prioritize their protection as Rhode Island is doing,” said Dr. Regina LaRocque, an adult infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School. Black and Latino residents have suff ered three times the age-adjusted death rate from COVID-19 of white residents. “The devastating death toll of these communities in the spring did not prompt improvements in state policies for workplace safety and housing security, and they are again suff ering BEACON | FROM Page 11 tion company. His book is available on Amazon. All proceeds from the sales of the book benefi t Boston Children’s Hospital—one of Jordan’s favorite charities. There are many ways you can listen to the show from anywhere in the world: If you have a smart speaker, simply say, “Play WMEX on RADIO.COM” • Download the free RADIO.COM app on your phone or tablet • Listen online at: www.radio. com/1510wmex/listen • Tune into 1510 AM if you still have an AM radio • Visit us at www.bobkatzenshow.com THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll call votes in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports local representatives’ roll call attendance records for the 2020 session. The House held 332 roll calls in 2020. Beacon Hill Roll Call tabulates the number of roll calls on which each representative was present and voting and then calculates that number as a percentage of the total roll call votes held. That percentage is the number referred to as the roll call attendance record. The fi rst 22 roll calls from Janudisproportionately in the second wave,” said Dr. Julia Koehler, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School. “The now documented arrival of the hyper-infectious virus variant in Massachusetts means we will have accelerated infection rates wherever the spread of the virus is not being eff ectively prevented by current distancing, ventilation and workplace safety measures, in addition to universal mask wearing,” said LaRocque. “Workplace safety measures have been lacking,” said Yessenia Alfaro, the community engagement director at La Colaborativa (formerly the Chelsea Collaborative). As a result, specifi c frontline workplaces were found to be signifi cantly associated with increased COVID-19 rates in more than one Massachusetts study. While most violations likely are not reported for fear of retaliation, the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards still logged violations reported at more than 1,000 companies and gathering places between May and December, concentrated in hotspots that are Latino and Black cities and neighborhoods. ary to March were held as usual in the House chamber. The other 310 roll calls were held after COVID-19 hit and most legislators voted remotely from their homes. In the House, 66.6 percent (106 representatives out of 159) did not miss any roll calls and have 100 percent roll call attendance records. Thirty-four percent (53 representatives out of 159) have missed one or more roll calls. The representative who missed the most roll calls is former Rep. Angelo Scaccia (D-Boston) who missed 114, resulting in a 65.6 percent attendance record. Scaccia could not be reached for comment but sources tell Beacon Hill Roll Call that Scaccia missed many roll calls because he was devoting his time to his wife who had been ill for several months and eventually passed away. Rounding out the top fi ve representatives who have missed the most roll calls are former Reps. Jose Tosado (D-Springfi eld) who missed 73 roll calls (78.0 percent attendance record); Randy Hunt (R-Sandwich) who missed 54 roll calls (83.7 percent attendance record); Tom Petrolati (D-Ludlow) who missed 51 roll calls (84.6 percent roll call attendance record); and Hank Naughton (D-Worcester) who missed 25 roll calls (92.4 attendance record.) Residential crowding in response to rising rents was a serious problem in Eastern Massachusetts before the pandemic. Now, once a worker becomes infected at work, the likelihood of the worker infecting others is, of course, drastically higher in an apartment with 15 residents rather than fi ve residents. “Illegal evictions throughout this past summer forced Chelsea residents to crowd together even more,” said La Colaborativa CEO Gladys Vega. “Allowing Massachusetts’ eviction moratorium to expire has likely accelerated COVID-19 transmission in immigrant and Black communities. Many residents of immigrant communities avoid medical care for fear of ICE. No measures were taken to reassure them. “We found so many sick Chelsea residents in our food line,” said La Colaborativa COO Dinanyili Paulino. “We now want to help offer our community members the vaccines. We need to use all the tools in our toolkit to block transmission where it is occurring most intensely,” said LaRocque. “So many doctors, medical students, dentists and nurses are ready to volunteer in vaccination teams immediately.” Rounding out the top 10 were current Reps. David LeBoeuf (DWorcester) who missed 22 roll calls (93.3 percent attendance record); Patrick Kearney (D-Scituate) who missed 20 roll calls (93.9 percent attendance record); Rady Mom (D-Lowell) who missed 17 roll calls (94.8 percent attendance record); Bruce Ayers (D-Quincy) who missed 12 roll calls (96.3 percent attendance record); and former Rep. Aaron Vega (D-Springfield) who missed ten roll calls (96.9 percent attendance record). Beacon Hill Roll Call contacted these ten legislators and asked each one for a comment on his attendance record. Only fi ve responded: Current Reps. LeBoeuf, Kearney and Ayers; and former Reps. Naughton and Vega. Former Reps. Scaccia, Tosado, Hunt, Petrolati and current Rep. Mom did not respond. I was mobilized by the National Guard for COVID relief from April through June.» responded Naughton. “The number reflects one day that I was not able to attend a session due to a medical emergency and other times my votes were not recorded due to cellular service issues,” said LeBoeuf. BEACON | SEE Page 15
15 Publizr Home