Mass. Version of KFP for FSP

[JonM]

Not on what you might call a regular basis.  My calls to action receive what you might call, less than steallar response.

[Kat Kanning]

The paper is off to the printer!  I should have it back in ~7 days.  Thanks so much to everyone who helped with articles and funds! 

I decided to just have it shipped to me, along with the regular version of the paper.   Looking at next weekend to see what's happening.  Lauren and Jim's party is going on.  Maybe we can arrange to meet up with some people on the way down to CT to hand off boxes of papers?

[Kat Kanning]

Preview of the paper:

http://keenefreepress.com/kfp_ma_edition.pdf

[d_goddard]

Preview of the paper:
http://keenefreepress.com/kfp_ma_edition.pdf

My favorite is the "Mommy Massachusetts Says" ad. That is so great!

[Kat Kanning]

Thank you.  Lauren and Roger both tried to help me with the graphics, and I wound up not using what they gave me.  I felt rotten about asking for help and then not using their work.  Sorry guys.   

[Dreepa]

I liked it!!

Karl's article is great.  And what I loved best...... Lloyd's ad!

[Tom Sawyer]

Very nice 

I think this should have quite an impact in Mass.
Looking forward to Letters to the Editor (both for and against).

[Kat Kanning]

I expect more hostility than we get in the Keene area.

[Tom Sawyer]

I expect more hostility than we get in the Keene area.

Heat = Drama = Good

[maxxoccupancy]

You know, as part of my legislative camapaign, I am lit dropping my entire ward of 4400 homes (at least, the part I didn't get from my Selectman campaign last year).  If I had a thousand copies or so, I could drop them off all over Manchester Ward 5.  I have seen so many copies of KFP, but don't remember if they come out this way.

--Max

[Kat Kanning]

Thanks, Max.  How can we get you some papers?  Are you going to the Meet and greet this weekend?

[Russell Kanning]

It might be easier to not get the license and just hope to not get caught.

[Russell Kanning]

I think it will pop when it goes broke or when people stand up to it.

[Atlas]

Nice edition.

[steve22]

On a related issue, the Massachusetts legislature has reversed its previous decision to make seatbelts a primary offense.  Right in the midst of the click it or ticket campaign and before the heaviest travel weekend of the year taboot!

The Massachusetts House, in a dramatic reversal, voted Tuesday to kill a controversial seat belt bill that would have allowed police to pull over drivers and cite them solely for not wearing seat belts.


Police can now cite drivers for not buckling up only if they pull them over for some other reason.

The 80-76 vote is an about-face for the House, which had voted to approve the bill in January by a narrow 76-74 margin. The Senate backed the bill by a wide margin after debating it last week.

The vote to reject the seat belt bill comes just days before one of the busiest driving weekends of the year and in the midst of a "click it or ticket" public education effort designed to encourage drivers to buckle up.

Supporters of the so-called "primary seat belt" bill say it will save dozens of lives and spare hundreds from serious injuries. Opponents argue it will increase the power of the state and erode the civil rights of minority drivers.

Rep. James H. Fagan, D-Taunton, said backers of the bill relied on "false statistics, meaningless dribble" to argue in favor of the bill.

"Let's put this bill to rest with all the other myths and fairy tales," he said.

Rep. Michael E. Festa, D-Melrose, said the bill simply allows the police to better enforce the state's existing law requiring seat belts.

"Either we have faith in the law enforcement community to carry out the law properly or we don't," Festa said. "We will save lives. We will save and prevent tragedies."

Rep. Richard Ross, R-Wrentham, said as a funeral director he was called to the scene of many accidents where people died because they weren't using their seat belts.

In one case, he said a mother not wearing a seat belt died when she was ejected from the car, but her child in the car survived because she had taken the time to buckle him in. He said the accident showed that a decision not to buckle up affects more than just the driver.

"When you see an accident like this and you see an 8-year-old victim who has lost his mom and then offer the argument that that person's choice effected no one but themselves is absolutely ludicrous," he said.

The House initially indicated it might reconsider the vote, then voted against reconsideration, killing the bill for this session.

At least four lawmakers changed their vote on Tuesday compared with the January vote.

Reps. Robert Coughlin, D-Dedham, Jeffrey Perry, R-Sandwich and Kathi-Anne Reinstein, D-Revere all changed their vote from "yes" to "no." Rep. Emile Goguen, D-Fitchburg, changed from "no" to "yes."

Perry said he changed his mind after listening to constituents and reflecting on his own political views. He said he supports seat belt use, but described his vote as a vote for personal responsibility and against big government.

Calls to the other three lawmakers were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Today's vote was a final procedural vote to enact the bill before shipping it back to the Senate for that chamber's final vote. At that point the bill would have gone to Gov. Mitt Romney's desk. A chamber typically doesn't reverse itself during the final enactment vote.

Romney had indicated support for the bill.

It's not the first time the House has moved against primary seat belt legislation. The House deadlocked on a similar bill in 2001, with a 76-76 vote, and in 2003, with a 73-73 vote.

The number of Massachusetts drivers who buckle up has risen over the past five years, but the state still ranks near the bottom of seat belt usage nationally. Twenty-two other states have primary seat belt laws.

In 2000, 50 percent of Massachusetts drivers and passengers wore seat belts, compared with 64.8 percent last year, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics. Nationally, seat belt use overall was a record 82 percent in 2005.