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Page 18 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021 Beacon Hill Roll Call By Bob Katzen A note from Bob Katzen, Publisher of Beacon Hill Roll Call Join me this Sunday night and every Sunday night between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. for my talk show “The Bob Katzen Baby Boomer and Gen X Show.” Jump in my time capsule and come back to the simpler days of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. My guest on Sunday, February 14th on my WMEX 1510 AM Radio and online show will be Jay Gordon, a nationally known Elvis expert who hosted a renowned weekly nationally syndicated radio show “Elvis Only.” The show was all about the music and life of the King of rock ’n’ roll. Jay was also a disc jockey at the former Oldies 103 Radio, WZLX and many other Boston radio stations. His knowledge about and love for Elvis is unsurpassed. 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 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 senators’ roll call attendance records for the entire 2020 session. The Senate held 330 roll calls in 2020. Beacon Hill Roll Call tabulates the number of roll calls on which each senator 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. In the Senate, 84.6 percent (33 senators) have 100 percent roll call attendance records. Only six senaVARIANT | FROM PAGE 2 ants emerging. This is an evolutionary survival of the fi ttest situation” Linas also said the spike protein found in B117 is much more potent than the spike protein in the original COVID-19 virus. “This is what makes the virus more infectious — it is better at getting into host cells,” he said. In addition, Linas agreed with Bruno-Murtha regarding the effi cacy of the vaccines. “The good news is that the same things we do to prevent COVID will also work against tors have missed any roll calls. Beacon Hill Roll Call contacted these senators who missed roll calls and asked them for a statement. More senators have 100 percent roll call attendance records than in recent memory. This can be attributed to the fact that most senators were not at the Statehouse and participated in these Senate sessions remotely from their homes because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of senators who had 100 percent roll call attendance records in the prior four years was 28 in 2019; 20 in 2018; 24 in 2017; and 17 in 2016. The senator who missed the most roll calls is Sen. Nick Collins (D-Boston) who missed 12 roll calls (96.3 percent attendance record). “My wife and I were overjoyed to welcome our second daughter into the world last June,” said Collins. “As a result, I was unable to cast votes in person for several days. Eleven of the 12 votes I missed were while I was on paternity leave. It was incredibly important to be with my wife and daughters in those precious moments. The fi nal missed roll call was for a land conveyance in the town of Dunstable, taken at 4 a.m. at the very end of the session as I was caring for my newborn.” Sens. Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville) and Mike Rush (D-West Roxbury) each missed fi ve roll calls (98.4 percent attendance record). “On January 16, [2020] I was home with the fl u,” responded Jehlen. “There were fi ve roll calls that I missed [that day]. It’s the only session I missed.” “I was out of state on offi cial orders, training with the U.S. Navy from January 10, 2020 to January 19, 2020,” wrote Rush. Former Sen. James Welch missed two roll calls. He could not be reached for comment. Sens. Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport) and Barry Finegold (D-Andover) each missed one roll call. “I was in session participating in the debate on the climate change bill and I don’t remember missing a roll call,” responded Rodrigues. Finegold did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call for a comment. 2020 FINAL SENATE ROLL CALL ATTENDANCE RECORD The percentage listed next to the senator’s name is the percentage of roll call votes for which the senator was present and voting. The number in parentheses represents the number of roll calls that he or she missed. Sen. Brendan Crighton 100 percent (0) HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been fi led. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session. During the week of February 1-5, the House met for a total of six minutes while the Senate met for a total of eleven minutes. Mon. February 1 House 11:03 a.m. to 11:05 a.m. Senate 11:11 a.m. to 11:16 a.m. Tues. February 2 No House session Wed. February 3 No House session Fri. February 5 No House session No Senate session No Senate session Thurs. February 4 House 11:02 a.m. to 11:06 a.m. Senate 11:27 a.m. to 11:33 a.m. No Senate session Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com B117,” he said. “The vaccines we have now are eff ective against B117.” Dr. Mark Siedner, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said B117 is estimated to be 50 to 60 percent more contagious than the original strain of COVID-19. “This virus is becoming increasingly predominant,” he said. However, Siedner said safeguards are now in place to prevent a shutdown similar to what happened last spring. “The protective measures that keep us safe don’t change, social responsibility doesn’t change,” he said. “I don’t foresee us going back in time; we should not be where we were a year ago.” However, Dr. Richard Ellison, an infectious disease specialist at UMass Memorial Medical Center, was not as optimistic about the vaccines’ to ability to guard against B117. “We don't have any good evidence at all,” he said. “It’s defi - nitely very worrisome.” Ellison also called attention to the havoc that B117 has already caused in the United Kingdom. “What we saw in England could realistically happen here,” he said. S y Senior ni r How to Choose a Sa e a BY JIM MILLER t Ch Medical Alert System Dear Savvy Senior, I am interested in getting my mom, who lives alone, a medical alert system with a wearable pendant button that will let her call for help if she falls or has a medical emergency. What can you tell me to help me choose one? Too Many Choices Dear Too Many, A good medical alert system is an eff ective and aff ordable tool that can help keep your mom safe and living in her own home longer. But with all the diff erent products and features available today, choosing one can be challenging. Here are some tips that can help. Three Key Questions Medical alert systems, which have been around since the 1980s, provide a wearable help button – usually in the form of a neck pendant or wristband – that would put your mom in touch with a dispatcher who could summon emergency help or contact a friend or family member as needed. To help you narrow down your options and choose a system that best fi ts your mom’s needs, here are three key questions you’ll need to ask, along with some top-rated companies that off er these products. Does your mom want a home-based or mobile system? Medical alert systems were originally designed to work inside the home with a landline telephone, which is still an option. But since fewer and fewer households have landlines these days, most companies today also off er home-based systems that work over a cellular network. With these systems, pressing the wearable help button allows you to speak to a dispatcher through a base unit located in your home. In addition, many companies offer mobile medical alert options, too. You can use these systems at home, but they’ll also allow you to call for help while you’re out and about. Mobile alerts operate over cellular networks and incorporate GPS technology. They allow you to talk and listen to the operator directly through the pendant button, and because of the GPS, your location would be known in order for help to be sent. If your mom doesn’t leave the house very often, she may not need a mobile system, but if she is still active, she may want added protection outside the home. Should her system be monitored or not? The best medical alert systems are monitored, meaning that the help button connects you with a trained operator at a 24/7 dispatching center. But you also have the option to choose a system that isn’t monitored. With these, when you press the help button, the device automatically dials a friend or family member on your programmed emergency call list. These products can often be set up to call multiple people and to contact emergency services if you don’t get an answer from someone on your list. Should you add a fall-detection feature? Most medical alert companies today now off er the option of an automatic fall detection pendant for an additional fee of $10 to $15 per month. These pendants sense falls when they occur and automatically contact the dispatch center, just as they would if you had pressed the call button. But be aware that this technology isn’t full proof. In some cases, this feature may register something as a fall that isn’t. The alarm might go off if you drop it or momentarily lose your balance but don’t actually land on the ground. Top Rated Systems Here are four top companies, rated by Consumer Reports that offer home and mobile monitored medical alert systems: Bay Alarm Medical: Fees range between $20 and $40 per month; BayAlarmMedical.com; 877-5229633. GreatCall’s Lively Mobile Plus: The device costs $50 plus a $25 to $40 monthly service fee; GreatCall.com; 800-650-5921. MobileHelp: Monthly fees run $20 to $45; MobileHelp.com; 800809-9664. Phillips Lifeline: $30 to $50/ month, plus a onetime device/ activation fee of $50 to $100; Lifeline.Philips.com; 855-681-5351. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior. org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. Seni nior ior

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