Page 2 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2023 City to consider zoning changes for childcare centers Council approves $137K for Liberty Park upgrades By Barbara Taormina The City Council voted to hold a public hearing on April 24 for a proposed zoning amendment that would ease the rules for childcare providers in Revere. Tom Skwierawski, the city’s director of Planning and Community Development, explained to councillors that the need for more aff ordable and accessible childcare emerged in a 2021 Workforce Development plan. Planning and Community Development staff worked with an advisory committee that held community meetings and determined that a zoning amendment that would align zoning regulations closer to state regulations would be a major step forward. Under the current zoning regulations, local childcare centers are capped at four children per site and require a special permit from the City Council. The ANGELO’S FULL SERVICE 1978-2023 Celebrating 45 Years in Business! 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Also, childcare centers would be able to open and operate by right in 12 of the city’s 19 zoning districts. Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri also pointed out that current zoning requires a parking space for every child that attends a childcare facility. “That really blew my mind because I’m not sure how many of them are driving to a childcare center to be taken care of,” said Silvestri. Skwierawski said proposals for zoning amendments must be presented with a petition signed by 10 registered voters. He brought the council a petition with 100 signatures. “This really was a community project that we led, but it had the support of the community,’ said Skwierawski. In other council news… The City Council unanimously approved spending $137,000 from the Community Improvement Trust Fund to upgrade Liberty Park in Ward 6. CFO Richard Viscay said the money was the city's share of a matching grant from the state PARC program, which was created to help communities acquire and renovate parks and recreational facilities. The total cost of the Liberty Park makeover will be $500,000. Viscay said the money will cover the removal of old, outdated playground equipment, removal of asphalt and mulch and the installation of new equipment, a pickleball court, a gaga pit, safety equipment and new seating. "Liberty park is tucked into the neighborhood in a safe, confi ned area," said Ward 6 Councillor Richard Serino who added the Planning Department worked with the neighborhood on the redesign. BBB Scam Alert: Celebrity impersonations get more sophisticated with AI technology T o trick you, scammers need to earn your trust fi rst. What better way than by posing as a popular celebrity? Recently, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Scam Tracker received numerous reports involving products supposedly endorsed by wellknown and trusted celebrities. With the rise in deepfake scams and ever-improving artifi cial intelligence (AI) technology, these phony endorsements are more convincing than ever. How the scam works: You see a post on social media of a celebrity endorsing a weight loss product, health supplement or another product. In the post, photos show the celebrity using the product, or a video features their voice talking about the amazing results they’ve seen. It sounds too good to be true, but the photos and video look so real! Also, the social media account appears to belong to the celebrity. For example, one consumer reported ordering “Oprah Winfrey’s keto gummy bear supplements” after seeing a phony endorsement. They explained: “The ad showed Oprah’s face and featured her explaining the product and off ering a fi rst-time buyer discount of buy one bottle for $49 and get a second one free. I clicked on the link and put in my order. The next morning, I received an email stating my order had been processed for $198!” The company denied the customer a refund and shipped the product anyway. Upon arrival, the customer found the gummies were from a company that had no affi liation with Oprah Winfrey. Before you make a purchase, take a minute to reexamine the post and social media account. The photos and videos are most likely fake. If you make a purchase, you’ll lose money (often more than you expected) on a product that is substandard or doesn’t exist. How to spot fake celebrity scams: • Get familiar with deepfake technology. Scammers use deepfake technology to trick people. They take real video clips and photos of a person and use them to create new videos and audio clips. Deepfake images and video can be surprisingly realistic. See this BBB article for tips on spotting deepfakes: https://www.bbb.org/article/ news-releases/27157-bbb-tiphow-to-spot-a-deepfake-andavoid-scams • Understand how AI generated images work. With AI image generators, you can type in a few words describing the image you want created, and the AI generates an image based on your text. It’s valuable technology, but scammers can abuse it to create images to back up their stories, products or outright lies. The point? Don’t assume a photo is proof that something is trustworthy. SCAM | SEE Page 8 Prices subject to change FLEET
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