Cape Ann’s state lawmakers have slipped wording into the state budget that would stop any effort to close Massachusetts courthouses — including Gloucester District Court — until at least September, and probably far longer. Read more on the Gloucester Daily Times website→
Gloucester’s legislative team will host a meeting tomorrow evening for people considering joining the fishing industry in Washington, D.C. next week to ask that Congress grant relief from inflexible deadlines for fish stock recoveries. Read more on the Gloucester Daily Times website→
As the Department of Commerce Inspector General’s office investigates the enforcement practices of federal fishing regulators — and as fishermen out of Gloucester and throughout New England brace for a sea change in the industry’s regulatory system — city and local legislative leaders are organizing a community show of support for local fishermen and the…
State Sen. Bruce Tarr — who, along with state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Massachusetts’ federal lawmakers, has pushed for a federal probe into alleged heavy-handed enforcement on the part of NOAA officials — said the latest NOAA enforcement action raises new questions — and concerns. Read more on the Gloucester Daily Times website→
Attempts to put the brakes on Gloucester’s first charter school will not end with the legislative oversight hearing that brought state education officials to City Hall for a grilling by angry residents Monday, Gloucester’s state lawmakers said yesterday. Read more on the Gloucester Daily Times website→
The Gloucester state lawmakers who have worked to bring a legislative oversight committee hearing to the city next week are emphasizing that the hearing will focus on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s handling of the Gloucester charter school application, not the merits of the charter plan itself. Read more on the Gloucester…
The Feb. 26 letter, initiated by Ferrante, a lawyer with a fishing practice who comes from a fishing family, petitioned the congressional delegation to ask the U.S. inspector general to investigate the federal enforcement arm of NMFS. Read more on the Gloucester Daily Times website→
The state Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture yesterday announced the creation of a new subcommittee to focus exclusively on fisheries with the Gloucester delegation acting as chairmen. Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, D-Gloucester, were appointed to lead the subcommittee. Read more on the Gloucester Daily Times website→
State Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante has been assigned to work on the Economic Development and Emerging Technologies , the Natural Resources and the Labor and Workforce committees by the Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop. Read more on the Gloucester Daily Times website→
Ann-Margaret Ferrante takes the oath of office today in the historic chamber of the House of Representatives, under the gaze of the commonwealth’s Sacred Cod in what has become a bittersweet moment for the daughter of an immigrant fishing family. Read more on the Gloucester Daily Times website→