the Board of Health meeting. Welcome to the Board of Health meeting. And pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021, this meeting will be conducted via remote means. Members of the public who wish to access the meeting may do so. There is an online Zoom link at the top of the Board of Health agenda, which can be found on the Board of Health website for people to join. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time via technological needs. In the event that we are unable to do so for reasons of economic hardship and despite best efforts, we will post on the Board of Health website an audio recording of the Board of Health proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting. All Board of Health minutes can be accessed on the Board of Health website. And with that, I will have a roll call. So Maureen. Here. Malek. Steve George. Here. Nancy Gilbert here. And then Lauren and Tim are absent today. And as I said earlier, I double checked with the open meeting laws. A quorum is a simple majority of the members and because we have three attending and there's a total of five, we have a majority. So the first item on the agenda is to review and receive the minutes of the May 5th meeting. So Maureen, it's just you and I. Steve wasn't here. Oh, wow. Can we do that? I mean, is that enough people? No. I think we need to wait. Wait, because Steve can't vote. So we will have to postpone our reviewing and receiving these to our July meeting. Speaking of minutes, Nancy, do you have any recommendations for today's meeting? Jen is having Nancy Schroeder do them, correct? Yep. She's here and she's out there doing a great job. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Nancy. And Jen. Yeah. Thank you. So next, and it's 505, we will have public comment on the agenda topics only and let's see. I don't see. I don't see any hands. Oh, I mean, there are three attendees and I don't see any public comment. Okay. So we will move on to all business and the community health assessment phase three. I spoke with Emily and she's starting phase three and I'm trying to work out with Anita and Lillian setting up a meeting by the end of June that meets with everybody's where they're going to be. So Thursdays afternoons won't work for Lillian. So I'm going to go back and see because there's part of one week that I'm away. So we will have a meeting by the end of June and we'll report in July. So any questions from anybody on phase two? Green Meadow Pool, the update. Susan Malone, thank you for being here. Oh, thank you for the welcome. So we had a very good outcome. It was a little bumpy for a few weeks. But we tried to be patient because there were negotiations going on between Green Meadow and Eversource that were not. They thought everything was all set and it wasn't and they did meet, work it through and finally Sharon, who's the president of Green Meadow, agreed that they would just go ahead and put up some temporary fencing along the carriage lane side of the pool. And I went and I checked and sure enough there it was. It's some dark kind of webbing material. Usually it's an orange color, but they had selected a dark color. And I think it is sufficient as a temporary fix. They don't intend to open the pool this year and they have an ongoing dispute with Eversource around the fencing. And it is still their intention that when they open the pool that Eversource had agreed to replace the fencing with the current code. So I think for the time being, we are all set on the FFA. We can consider that they complied with the order. Susan, I was going to say thank you. Susan, you really stayed on top of this and it was really an important thing. And I appreciate you communicating with everyone frequently. Thanks, Jim. Most appreciated. Thank you. Thank you and I'm glad for everyone that has a positive outcome. I felt so bad for the association. I did because they really had the best of intentions and they had really thought that it was from their past conversations with Eversource that when the board said a deadline that they would not have any problem meeting it. And then when they went back for further discussions with Eversource, they were not met with cooperation. So I do feel bad for them, but the immediate safety issues are resolved. That's great. Whenever I drive down Shays Street or Bay Road, I see they Eversource their massive timbers out with all their machines. And I thought, and they've been out, they've been like that for months, not like, oh, we'll do it and leave. I mean, this isn't going on for. And that goes right through all the backyards of Carriage Lane. No privacy there anymore. Yeah. It's quite dramatic. Yeah. Well, thanks, everybody. Any any other questions for me? Am I all set? No, no. Farmer's luck are going well. Very good. Very good. Great. Okay. Good night, everybody. Good night. Okay, we're going to table the toxic chemical regulations till July because neither Lauren nor Tim are here to present when they're work. Now, because three of us are here, can we still vote on their competent DNA review and vote? Because Steve worked so hard. I want to see his signature. Yeah, Steven and Maureen, but Maureen will still be here. But after this one, Steven won't be. So I want to make sure his signature is on the regulations. The one thing would be, I think legally the three of us can vote on it, but I would hope that the other two that couldn't be here today could also sign if they agree. Yes. So what we can do is the three of us can vote on it and then we can have us sign and then we can re-vote. Does that make sense? I would just think if they agree with it. Yeah, we can just agree that if they vote, that they can agree with it at the next meeting and then they can sign. Would that work? Or even before the next meeting, if they, you know, I don't, I don't really know, like, there's a specific rule about that. We can definitely vote to approve it, but whether they could sign just on their say so that they agree with it, they're, they're, they've been involved the entire time. You're not forced to sign just because. No, because they've been at the hearing. Everybody's at the hearing. Yeah. So like the final step, it's just, yeah. Were there any written comments, Jennifer, because there was a comment period that some people could have submitted? Yes, no, there have not been any. And, and thank you, Nancy Schroeder for doing everything, you know, properly through the Hampshire Gazette. And I believe we have one more responsibility after the vote that we'll take care of on our part, but, but the answer is no one, no one. Yeah. Sorry. I had a question about the actual application or whatever it is that people have to register these labs. And do we have a form and all of that for this process? Somewhere in there? And I just wondered if that needed some work to go forward. Is that something I can do? I think probably my guess is there is something on the previous iteration of these regulations. But before I think it was like an application that required somebody to substantively approve it. This is not that they're just required at least at level two. Yeah. At the levels that are there allowed, they just are going to inform or they're going to have to write what it is they're going to do, but it's not a review. Right, it's a registration rather than an application, I guess. Yeah, let me look into that. That sounds good. So I just when I read through that the other day, I just thought of that we need to have something available for that process. Yeah. Or would a letter on file meet that or would a form be better? I think it should. I think a form because you want to know who's responsible, who's doing it, where it is, and just an outline of what it is they're going to do. Okay. Yeah, my guess is there is something that exists that probably would be pretty close to what we need. Yeah, we'll do a little research and come up with some things and show you. Yeah. We also need a effective date when the when the new regulation will go into effect. Since this mostly is academic year things, should we say September 1st or September 1st? 2020. A chance to look at whatever the process is. Okay. Well, if we approve it, I will take responsibility to make the signature page. And I'll go around and get the five signatures if there are five people who want to sign. Okay. And I'll provide, I'll provide Jennifer, you know, a proper searchable copy of the whole thing. In the past, Nancy signed it where we went, the last one, we went up and signed it. Yeah. So if you just get it to the office, Steve. Yeah, but the thing is, I have a little bit best studies about like the how it will be on the website. And I think it's better if I do it because that way there's a page that has some graphic material. All right. Okay. Okay. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. I'm here until a week from Friday, then I'm gone for a little over a week. We'll do it within the next few days, everybody. Okay. So we need to review and vote on the regulations. I reviewed them when Jennifer sent them out. Thank you. And it all seemed fine with me. We agree. So may I have a motion to accept the recombinant DNA biological laboratory regulations as submitted? I'll make that motion. Maureen, do you want to second it? I'll second it. Okay. So all in favor of the DNA biological laboratory regulations, Steve? I. Maureen? I. And Nancy? I. Okay. Right on here. Okay. Mosquito control update, Jen. Okay. So here's an update. The last meeting we had, the board of health voted to join the Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District. And then there was deadlock, it was two to do vote on whether to opt out or not of the state reclamation control board spraying. Because of the wording from the last year's Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District vote to opt in, I had to bring it in front of the town council. So I brought it forward, said the board had approved and the town council agreed to join the Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District. So I'm very happy about that. Really excited about the services they're going to offer. Trapping starts mid-June. So we're talking about what we're going to put on our website so we can really get that information out to people. So I think the traps are set twice during the month in two different spots. So I think that's going to be pretty exciting. They'll be able to tell us what kind of mosquitoes quantify viral load. So I think that's going to be really helpful. This is stuff we've talked about already. Regarding not opting out of state spraying. So I come to you with more clarity. Because Amherst was designated as a high-risk regional town, we're in the red. So if you look at the map, and I've shown this twice I think now, we're high-risk Belcher Town, everything east of us, Pelham, Ware, Gramby, they're red, they're high-risk. We don't have the option of not spraying. The option is, do we have the state spray or do we have our own vendor spray? So Maureen, you had some clarity. Yeah, I knew we couldn't really not do it. I just didn't know how it worked. Whether the state would just come and do it or would the responsibility for it would be on us. And I didn't understand that part of it. So I think not opting out is the way to go. Or opting in to the state plan is the way to go. Yes. So Pioneer Valley Mosquito Control District this year does not have the ability to spray adult side, larva side. But that's their plan to do it next year. So we'll have some more control out of that. But as it stands, that's where we are. And then just a reminder, Hadley and West of us, they're all green. They have the ability to opt out. So if we hear different information coming from our neighbors, really different designation of our town due to our wetlands, our habitat, and past surveillance of us and our neighbors. I'm not sure if I agree with our designation, but that's what we are. So that's the update on mosquito control. The one thing I do want to say about this that if you go to the Amherst web page, the health department web page, or you can Google it, there is a request for exclusion of private property owners and tenants. So you can sign up to have your your property asked as a no spray area. I don't know how that's going to work. But I want everyone to really know about that. That's an important thing. That's all I have on mosquito control. One question is there a material difference? Like let's say that the town says, okay, now next year we'll do it. Does that mean, for example, that the state would do it by air, but the town could do it by trucks going by? Yeah, you know, I don't know the answer to that. I know there has been discussion that helicopters are more accurate. I think we're always going to have some drift and worry about that.  The answer is yes. So you're right. We might have some more control. That's a good point. Is it possible to opt out as a property owner, even if it's a public health emergency? Or is that again, one of those things that's there's overridden in the public health emergency, I think it might be. Yeah, I don't know the answer to that. And there's I think a special thing for organic farms, but I don't remember what that is. Last year there were aspects of that, but I do not recall with accuracy who could opt out or have a say because of organic farming. And if you didn't want your property sprayed, but I do not recall what it was. And it also can change from year to year. Who knows? Well, thank you. I don't see Earl Miller here yet. I don't. I know he got our invite and agenda. So we'll keep it. I'll keep an eye out for keep it. Yeah. And Earl, Earl Miller, if you're here under a different name, raise your hand. I can give you. Jen had brought up the issue of tanning salons and having them licensed and not licensed in town. So I did some research. We've never had a license for tanning salons. There's a lot of research that UV light from a tanning bed is 10 to 15 times stronger than midday sun. There's been an increase in melanoma in teens who quote unquote tan. And I remember hearing students, we had a tanning salon years ago down on University Drive, where Louise used to be, where the hospice shop, I think it was where the hospice shop is, where the laundromat is, something in there. And I used to hear kids saying, oh, I'm going tanning. And they'd go there. But May 6, 2016, in Massachusetts under chapter 31 of the 2016 acts, Massachusetts prohibited anyone under the age of 18 from using tanning salon and devices. And also that law, if you went to tan and you were over 18, you had to sign a form acknowledging the health risks of using a UV tanning bed. And the law was championed by Dana Farber and the Institute of the American Cancer Society. I checked and the only place and I'm not sure Wilberham may have one UV tanning salon, but I'm not sure. There are salons that offer tanning in East Hampton and South Hadley. But I believe it's now they've moved to spray tanning. So it's not the UV beds. I call Cheryl Nina. They didn't answer. I left my name and number, but they never called me back because their ad says tanning. But I do believe it is probably if they do it at all is spray tanning. Nationally, 27 states and Washington DC have laws saying that no one under 18 can use a tanning salon, the UV bed. 14 states have that someone under 18 can do it with guardian permission. Three states have made that minors for summoning, quote, reasons can use the tanning beds and they allude to a medical reason. And six states have no restrictions. So I don't know, Jim, how you'd like the board to move forward, but I would be very happy having the board do something and say, we don't allow any tanning salons using UV light here in Amherst. Or do we just know that they're not coming? Because there was one or two when they left after the 2016 law and no one else has come in with one. So there are none in Amherst because at the regulations, it looked like there was a process for inspection of all these UV tanning salons or sites. So we haven't been inspecting anything or doing anything for years or since they went out of business. I've been unaware, could have asked Susan Malone or if any of the inspectors had gone to see them. It was only the broad state regulations. I didn't have any tan regulations. And yeah, so your inspections. So, so let me tell you, I just, I think it's a great idea. This was actually mentioned to me by one of the inspectors in passing. So I said, that's a really, really intriguing idea. So let me bring this forward. So, so it's true. There are none licensed right now. So this would be an opportunity if you wanted to explore it. You know, I could take the next step and see if, you know, at the town attorney says it's something that we can do. I think that would be probably prudent if you want me to. Yes. And I went through a lot of towns and in the Boston area looking because it said Dan versus is forbidding tanning salons. But it was it was for people under 18. I could not find but I didn't go to 300 towns and cities to see what regulations they have. But most of it when they say they don't have it, it was after the 2016 State Act that prohibited anyone under 18. So yeah, if you want to follow up and give us a guide as to what to do because it would be fine with me if we put it on the agenda and wrote something that we don't allow these in town. Likewise, I looked around to the only things I found is Australia and Brazil have banned these things in the whole country. Yeah, I did notice that too when I was looking and I went through and looked at the states. Yeah, I did. It was no there are no bans by state. I had written down all the states but you can imagine what ones. But I was surprised at how many had it that it was a total of 27 states and do you see that under 18 can. In terms of the medical uses, there are certain medical uses for certain types of skin conditions where UV radiation is used a lot of dermatologists or some dermatologists have the ability to provide that but it's an unusual thing. Yeah, and it's in a very much more controlled environment. Right. I remember when I was in college, people bought those tanning lights and burned off their faces. It's not good. I mean, all of us who are over 70s spent a fair amount of time trying to get tan. It wasn't a good thing. Natural like in the sun. Yeah, they sold those reflective things that you could and you saw people holding them up at noon to get more on their faces. That was the 60s ignorance. Okay, so Jen, you can give us more information in July on that. Yeah, a little homework. And I don't see Earl here. After the moment where he was scheduled, so it was like on the agenda for 525. We give him five more minutes or should we I'm emailing him. So, okay. Yeah, because I had emailed him and he said yes, he would was looking forward to it. Yeah, he's been so busy. You want me to go ahead? We'll see. Yeah. And if he comes in, we'll just go back. So directors update? Yes. Okay. So COVID update. Our numbers are coming down. Thank you for that sheet. Oh, good. Good. Yeah, you're welcome. I've heard between 6% and 10% of cases are not being reported. I don't know how accurate that is. That was from the Boston Globe. These are PCR tests only. Maybe there's a proctored antigen test, but most people have rapid antigen tests or they're just not testing. So I'm just going to mention while it's on my mind, people can call their rapid antigen results to the health department. We're not keeping account, but we're helping people with contact tracing or support or I'm always plugging Paxlovid. If we had a high number of people reporting, but we just haven't, we've had one or two. But we continue to monitor our other key public health indicators. We go to Cooley Dickinson to see hospital capacity, acute illnesses. But the other thing I really want to bring everyone's attention to, and we've talked about it before, but is our wastewater testing. So if you go to the Amherst Town webpage on COVID, it'll bring you to a link about the BioBot wastewater testing. And there's some really great graphs there, the way that IT has embedded them. We as a department upload them, and then they get automatically uploaded to the webpage. And I had to really look for this. I really wanted to give an accurate number and I found a research paper. And it really, it said that the virus in wastewater testing is detected 10 days prior, approximately 10 days prior to confirmed cases. So if you look at those trends, you can really see that they proceed about a week to two weeks ahead of COVID cases. So we're really happy with that program. Thank you to DPW. They're doing four tests per week, sending them to BioBot. BioBot is also supporting other towns in the state. So you can see Amherst, but you can also see Hampshire County, you can see Massachusetts. So that's been very reassuring to see. One case point for BioBots, not helpful, but really looking at those trends is wonderful. Steve, do you have any thoughts on wastewater testing? No, I've said I was very impressed by what's on the website now. It's very scientifically good, but understandable language. So that's great. That's great. You know, and just considering surveillance, I'll be interested to see what the Department of Public Health does this fall. You know, when we talk about these case numbers, you know, it's a pandemic, we've been really following them. I like putting our daily numbers up, because I really know there are people that really look at our daily numbers and put them into their tables. But at some point, are we going to stop posting these sort of crude numbers? So there may be a time that it comes to that. You know, right now, COVID is not seasonal. It's not like flu. Hopefully it'll come that way, but we're still seeing surges outside of what you would normally see. So I can tell you that right now, 60% of our cases are the BA 2.12, but the BA four and five are 7% in New England. So we'll be watching that and see how that that goes. But you know, I just want to also say that we're six times higher than we were last time at Memorial Day. So that's that's higher, obviously. So I just think back to that time, I just don't know if we were all thinking the same thing that maybe we're just going to sort of skate through this. But fortunately, the numbers are coming down. They definitely are coming down. Yeah. And there was that uptick through graduation. Yeah. And it's nice. You can see, you know, if you looked at wastewater, you can really see that it preceded that those case counts. I think that's what I want to say about COVID cases. Just other COVID updates. We continue with our vaccine clinics. Thursdays, our vaccine clinics, four to three to five, we're doing about 60 case patients or so. Second boosters, first boosters, finish your first series. And then we're rallying our troops to do the the little ones six months to to four years. I really think this is a time that the local boards of health can help. I don't know what pharmacies are going to be able to do. They're allowed to do younger. But I believe they're staying to an older age group. So there's some training that we sent out to our vaccinators. And then one of our pediatrician vaccinators has agreed to do some education. So, Maureen, I'll just ask you, are you comfortable vaccinating that age group? I wrote back to Lillian to say, tell me how to do it.  I, but I'm willing to learn. And I think, you know, it's, it's not so much like how you put the needle and wear, but like, how do you get the baby to be called? There's a lot too. Or the toddler or whatever. So having my only experiences with my own children and sometimes it was easy and sometimes it was hard. Yeah. Well, we have Dr. Scott Cochran. Oh, yes, yes. And so we're going to arrange some education. So we really thank him for that. I don't know. We've been a Pfizer kind of group, but also Moderna is offered Moderna's two shots Pfizer's three. So we haven't decided what we're going to order. But it hasn't neither been approved. You know, we just are waiting patiently through the process. But I'm really happy about that. And on to antigen tests, we don't have the PCR, which we miss greatly, but we have antigen tests. We have the National Guard delivering more next week. That may be our last delivery of free. I hope that's not true. But we, we, we love our antigen tests. They're a great public health tool. We've had a lot of sort of confusion about, about the interpretation. But you know, one, one sort of sort, advertising I saw was if it can detect, you can infect. So assume if it's, if it's positive, assume it's, a yes, you're your trend, you're able to transmit, but if anyone has any questions, please give us a call. And then I just learned tonight, you all may know this, but for a fee, your, your antigen test, your eye health that you can get here for free free can be proctored and it can be official. So if you want it needed a PCR some confirmation, if you pay $25 to iHealth, they can give you an official test result. So people may have known that but I just I just found that out. So that's what I have for a COVID update. I'm going to move on unless there's any other questions. Item D sorry, it's the second item under director's update. The Board of Health packet are going to start being posted on the Board of Health webpage. I thought I had it all set to go in so you could click on a folder and then open up the packets, but it didn't get stacked that way. But I really want to be transparent, open meeting laws. So that's what's going to happen. But I wanted to ask that I do believe the meeting minutes, will those continue to be private? I just don't know if they need to be seen by by eyes before they go out there or if I do a watermark that says draft, but if we have something that's incorrect, I don't I think only approved minutes should go up because it was confusion. And we post them when we say that that, you know, as soon as they're approved, but I really believe do not post the draft until they have been approved. Okay. There could be errors that we need and then misinformation might be getting out. So that sounds great. Let's go with that. And then everyone other people feel that why Steve Maureen, I certainly agreed. One thing to keep in mind is that according to the open meeting law, anyone, not just an average, I think anyone can request the minutes in their current form, even a scribble thing or a draft, they're allowed to request it. But the best way to deal with that is just to approve the minutes promptly and upload them properly once they're approved. And I don't think anybody will take advantage of that. I've been using yeah, thank you. The zoom meetings transcript. There were certain things with the the subdivision that I didn't understand. And I went back. So that's another option for people. Moving on to extreme heat. I just wanted to just briefly say we're all aware of this. We had some really hot days two weekends ago. And I just want to make sure that people know we're talking about it. I don't want anyone cut off guard that things got heated up really fast really soon. The town is aware of when we should be or talks about when we should open cooling centers, you know, the heat index over a period of days, that's when we might initiate a cooling center. And that's through Amherst fire department. But also, I think there's pockets of places people can cool down. Typically the libraries air conditioned and that really attracts people. So the other thing is that the graph park splash pad opened, I think it opened a little bit early. Yeah. And I don't know the hours but I know for that that heat those heat hot days, the times were extended to 8pm. So I was really happy about that because in the past, I'm not sure if there was that flexibility, but but we kept them open. So and then a third thing about heating, I was looking through some of our our documents and in 2018 2017, the board granted a variance to one of the residential dwellings here and older building to change the the heating time. So the heating season is something that may come up in the future. And I just wanted to let people know that we're thinking about that as well. And it may come forward to the Board of Health. If it gets really hot in the future, what does that mean to our tenants of some of these bigger older buildings? So I just want to give the heads up that that's on our radar. But I'm pretty sure that when we did that before, we did we did it without a timeline that it was that it was up to the management that they could change the date. I think in for future years as well as last year, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure. No, but thank you because I looked at that and I spoke with somebody and we were trying to decide if it was a specific or broader. But there is the sort of different interpretation of the heating season. And does that actually refer to minimum temperatures that need to be maintained or specific dates? So I bring this forward because I had an email from Joe Comaford and Mindy Dom with a different interpretation. So I just want everyone to know that this is something that people called us about called Mindy and Joe and really got some good action. So I'm not sure I understand the whole concept here. So for for example, you know, as I said, I look out at Clark House and Anne Wayland. And I there's there's different types of housing. But I can tell you that this is my understanding. So it may not be complete. Clark House is a really old heating system. So to convert from heat to air condition, you have to drain the boiler, you have the pipes need to be this and that. And it takes a few days to sort of get things up and going. So this conversion is intense labor intensive. So I mean, that's okay if it's labor intensive. But I think they want to do it as infrequently as possible. So the state housing code has that there is a heating system between June 15 and September 15. So I can't be really specific. But my my thought was that it was sort of a stricter interpretation, like that the heat couldn't get turned off until or the AC couldn't get turned on until June 16. But I think what I'm hearing is the interpretation is is that we just need to maintain these minimum standards between September 16 and June 14. I can send some information out. I get it now.  Yeah, sometimes, you know, it timing isn't always perfect in terms of the seasons in New England, but it's not it's an on off. Yeah, and brought to the brought to us before the issue is climate change and how everything is changing. And even this, you know, it's 95 degrees one day and five days later, it's 40 degrees cooler, you know, it's 52 and how, especially for vulnerable populations. How do we help them not freeze to death or boil to death?  But I want you know, there's some real experts that can tell you this information cold. And, you know, the the folks at the Clark House are really good to work with. So so let me do some more research and I can get back to you. But you know, if we got Ed Smith in here, he could just tell you what's going on, you know, quickly. But I just wanted to, like you said, Nancy, bring up the the concept of extreme heat. And what else will be before us? And the homeless, the people without permanent residence population. Yeah. You know, when it gets extremely hot. I know, was it Craig stores or was the fire department that opened up cooling sections? Well, now it's that parking lot is a building construction site. Do we call what they did to last year, the year before a cooling? They had tents with cooling things? Oh, I don't know. I mean, it might have been the summer of the first summer of COVID. I'm blanking. But it was set up. There was a tent, there was ice water, there were fans, there was spray for people without permanent residence. I think homelessness is so pejorative. So I'm moving to people without permanent residence. And I know Craig stores is undergoing a whole leadership change. So I don't know what's happening with them. But that's a population we'll have to sort of look out for too. It's a really good point. I know we used to give out even just sunblock to them. Going to item F Puffers pond, just a general seasonal overview. Puffers pond is a conservation land, a conservation spot. It's not recreation. It comes, you can find information about Puffers pond under the conservation commission. And I just I'm bringing it to our our knowledge because the water quality testing has resumed for the summer season. So you can go to the Puffers pond web page and you can see the first results of the samples. There's two at Puffers and one at Stanley.  And that's when we sort of intersect with the health department. So that's exciting. Any questions about Puffers? My husband didn't answer. That's my brother. Um, so item G, we've brought it up before we'll bring it up formally. But this is Steve and George's last meeting here on the board of health. And we're just going to miss him. I know I'm really going to miss you, Steve. Did you volunteer to help out a little bit? Yes, I'd be very happy if there's things that come up that I could do. I really would be delighted. Okay. Yeah. Yes, because your your wisdom is very helpful. Yeah. And very instrumental helping us with some some complex, you know, issues. And really, you've done it so gracefully. So thank you. That leads into that there's a board of health vacancy. And it's been posted on the web page. So just want to get the word out for that. I just want to say that I really have enjoyed doing this. You know, I think it's, I have a much greater appreciation for the great work of the health department and the board. I really didn't know that much about it before. And it's very good to have as many people as possible rotate through so that people will appreciate what's going on. So thank you all very much. I really have enjoyed doing it.  There is one item that I'm thinking about bringing to the board is something that is not a life threatening health situation, but it is well within the board's purview. And it's something that is, you know, I just felt it was sort of personal privilege to do while I'm on the board. And what it is is gas powered so called leaf blowers. These are machines that started off up until, you know, eight or 10 years ago, they were just, you know, for a few weeks in the fall, there would be people blowing leaves around they are now basically the size of shoulder fired anti aircraft missile launchers. They have, I regularly measure the volume at 85 decibels in my yard. They are now used eight months of the year from mid April to mid December. So for the greatest part of the time, they're not blowing any leaves unless you botanically claim a leaf of grass is a leaf, but mostly they're blowing dust, which in my neighborhood is a lot of powdered dog poop. And so these are menace. They are way too noisy. They're not like a construction noise that's unavoidable. They're completely unavoidable. 100 municipalities in America have banned them, including San Francisco and Washington DC. And I see that recently, Lexington Mass has a very thoughtful ban that's phased in that treats commercial versus privately owned differently and so on. So it's something that if there's public support that I'll check on. It's something I might bring to you all sometime soon. Okay. Thank you. Harding agenda. Yeah. I think you'll get a lot of support here. I think we have to have complaints about them frequently. And they pollute too. That type of engine is an alternative, which is electric. That's very available. So they should. Yeah. And I see a huge movement to electric because we have to replace our lawnmower and you really don't see gas lawnmowers. We got a battery powered lawnmower. It works very, very well and it doesn't make much noise and it's very light. So I see movement to that. Hopefully. Okay. I have one more thing. Remote meeting. Yeah. So the extension to the remote meeting provision expires July 15. I want to let people know that I just got information from Joe Comaford. There's a state Senator Brownberger that filed an amendment 1114 to this act hoping to extend the remote meeting provision to December 15, 2023. So we are still good for next month to be remote, but we'll have to report back to you to see what's going on with that. 2023. Fingers crossed will be, you know, the pandemic will be super endemic. And but I think also part of this is that it's really increased participation by residents to keep that going. We've really had a lot of residents say they've gotten involved. They didn't know what was going on in the town. So I don't know how you have felt about it as board members. I've enjoyed the remote. I do miss seeing people in person and sort of it's sort of more of an open banter. But I think this outweighs. I wish financially we could do the hybrid like the town council does. That would be ideal. Yeah, we may be doing that. Nancy, thanks for bringing that up. Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much, everyone. That's it. Public comment. I also have two topics I do want to bring up that and maybe I will bring those up because the public might want to comment on one or two of either either one of them. One is the zero waste composting and curbside pickup. Darcy Dumont has sent an email today and one of the town counselors has requested to put this on the town council agenda. There's an increased number of endorsers. One thing was we have printed it out. Now I can't find it. We made a motion in January. Here it is. We made a motion in January that the board of health supports the zero waste Amherst proposal for a pilot project to include curbside trash, recycling and compostable materials pickup in the basic service and is asking for the input from the town council and the town manager's manager for action on the zero waste Amherst proposal to move forward on the proposal. We made that in January. Has there been any action? Do we need to write a letter to the town council or what to follow up on that? Also, I was looking at old minutes for the next topic I was going to put up. On February 2017, I was not on the board. I was off the board then. At that point, on the topics not anticipated, Julie Federman brought up a topic February 2017 that we should think about prohibiting compostable materials from being placed in the household trash and require curbside recycling for compostables. And that was brought up in February 2017. So it had been brought up to the board back then. I just found that. So I just wanted to bring that forward to see should we put this on for the July review to see if we need to write a letter or what should we do to the town council and the town manager? I can let you know that I told the town manager of what you said and relayed that to him. So they have that information. A letter is your decision. Steve and Maureen, what do you think? Is what we just hear from Darcy about going to town council or being on the agenda. Is that happening? That Shalini, I don't know how to pronounce her name. I'm sorry. Requested for it to be put on the town council agenda, whether it's put on or not. And Darcy's in the panel. Can we ask her? Yep, she has her hand raised. Can you let her in there? OK, OK, Darcy. All right, Darcy, we should be able to talk. Yeah, thank you for bringing this up again. I think that it would be great if the board could underscore what they moved in in January, as far as just encouraging the council to get and the I know that there have been conversations behind the scenes about getting it on the agenda. I'm not sure what the hold up is. Shalini did bring it up at the Monday meeting at midnight or whenever it was the very last moment of the meeting when they asked about future agenda items. That was great that she brought it up and to try to, you know, let other counselors know that this conversation has been going on. But if the board could also encourage and remind them that you had asked for this back in January, that probably would be really helpful because I'm not sure all the counselors are aware of that. And I do know that at least five counselors are very, very interested in the proposal. And of course, you know, the number of organizations that support it. So it's just a question of getting it on the agenda so that it can get referred to probably the town services and outreach committee so that then, you know, if there are issues, they can just be brought up in the committee and they can be fully discussed because there are a lot of people that are interested in discussing them. I remember when we discussed this way back in the January or something, one of the sticking points was that it would require staff time on the part of finance people or others to develop a proposal that was concrete enough to do evaluate. Is that is that I think maybe there were some resistance that the town was very flat out of its staff time and there wasn't a possibility of doing that. But is that part of the still part of the plan to do that at some point? Because that's really kind of independent of the council. Yeah. And I think that's that's the type of issue that if you get something on the agenda and it gets referred to the town services and outreach committee, the first thing they'll do is ask the town manager what he thinks the issues are. And then it can be fully aired about whatever he might see as an issue. If there is, you know, that that staff issue would be one that could that is a startup issue. And so there are two separate questions, you know, how much staff is needed to just get a billing system in place? And then is there any additional staff needed to run the system in the long term? If it's a contract with the hauler? The hauler would be doing most of the work. And so that it's just a question of airing these things publicly in a town services and outreach committee meeting and seeing where it goes. And Steve, I think what happened was at our November meeting the motion was made for the Health Department to create a working group that would review the present regulations for refuse collection and mandatory recycling. And we we we identified who would be in this working group. And then Paul Bachman said, no, we don't have the staff to form this committee. So that that was one thing he said back then, because it was two members of the Board of Health, one member of the public work staff appointed by Guilford Mooring, one sanitarian the member from the sustaining Amherst, the coordinator, two zero waste Amherst members and a town health director as ex officio. And we and that was what Paul said, we don't have the staff to form that committee. And then that committee as as it was written by as it was, yeah. So right, another committee might have a different. Yeah, right. So we couldn't form that committee that the board was recommending. And then our retort to that was the the motion in our January meeting. And do you want me to repeat that motion? OK. So so what do you think about writing a letter to the town council saying that we voted on this in January and we. Want to know what what they're doing seems reasonable. It's six months. Or maybe in July to do that, you know, after we see if anything happens right now, I don't know. So Jim, do you want to bring it up again with the town manager? And then if we don't get any feedback in July, send a letter for an update. I think the next step is to you decide if you want to write a letter, I can show him the minutes again if you want. But but I would say that it's it's been discussed. And I think to move it, you know, with any momentum, I think a letter would benefit. OK. So what do what do the members think about sending a letter to the town manager and the town council, noting that we had this motion that we voted on in January. It was brought forth to the town manager and we just want an update. Sure. Steve. Good. Yeah. OK, so I need a motion and then I'll write a letter. You don't. I can make a motion that we should write a letter. To the town council and the town manager. Requesting further information about any actions on the request that we made in January concerning. Curbside compost. Pick up as part of long motion here as part of the routine. Trash hauling contract. Second. Second. Any further discussion is removed in second. OK, so we'll vote on it then. No discussion. Maureen. I. Steve. I. And Nancy. I. OK. I'll look on that letter and have it done by Monday and I'll send it to you, Jen, on Monday. I'll send a copy both of you before that. Great. OK. Then the other topic not anticipated. That I want to bring up is gun violence and gun safety. And the American Public Health Association says it's a public health issue in October of two thousand and fifteen. Julie Marcus and I put gun safety on the board of health agenda. And both of us attended an public health association webinar and did a lot of research February of two thousand and sixteen police chief Scott Livingstone was a guest at the board of health meeting. And when you look at Massachusetts, Massachusetts does a pretty good job with gun safety and we've been very fortunate. We, you know, we we haven't had any horrible things happen yet around here. So our gun laws are OK. The police have safety locks available. All applicants for gun permits are interviewed by the police. This is the information we got in two thousand and sixteen and they give locks at our March six two thousand and sixteen.  Do you wear a bicycle helmet? We felt that you should ask is there a gun in your home and is it safely locked? We also talked about having a kindergarten screening at schools if they're guns and homes and there's free locks available through the police department. But then there was all this discussion. It doesn't have it in the minutes because I was rereading all these minutes. There was pushback because way back in like two thousand and fourteen. I think in Florida, some pediatricians started asking that question and then I don't know if it was the NRA. They got it up in arms and there was some suit. And at one point, you know, eight, ten years ago, pediatricians weren't allowed to ask that question. But now they can, you know, I don't know if they're asking it or not. In April, the board identified mayors against illegal guns, which is every town for gun safety, which was founded by Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Tom Marino out of out of Boston. And we asked the board to ask the select board about joining at our June meeting to join the the mayors against illegal guns. My term expired in June of two thousand and sixteen. So I was no longer on the board. Supposedly, there was going to be an intern that summer doing a gun safety project and there was going to be a report. But I was off the board and couldn't find anything. And then I followed through in the minutes and in October of two thousand and sixteen, gun safety was deferred and I couldn't find it any place else. And if you look at national approaches to the epidemic, the public health approach to gun violence and prevention is to define and monitor the problem, identify the risks and protective factors. The last time we looked at it, we had a lot of protective factors going on. Develop prevention strategies and ensure adoption of effective strategies. I just felt and there was another mass shooting today in Maryland right before the board. Yeah. You know, it's like how many every day's are we having shootings? So I just wanted to bring it forth to see if as a board, do we want to review what's going on? I'm sure people are calling the schools and saying, what are you doing? I'm sure people are calling the schools and saying, what are you doing to keep my kids safe? It's just the amount of death by this gun violence. Last week, it was like there were two hundred and some odd people were not even halfway through the year and two hundred and some odd people have been killed by gun violence in some kind of mass shooting, whether it was three people or six people or the poor kids in in in Texas. But I just wanted to bring it up because it's every day when I see the news, it's just a heartache in and it is a public health issue. And I don't know if if we can do anything, what we want to do. If we just want to review it again and ask chief livingston, what's happening? Can we do anything? I don't know what your thoughts are. I'll be quiet now and you can give me feedback. I do remember the discussions when I joined the board in two thousand six. I think one thing that came and I was left. I remember well, is that it's easy for us as a board to say, teachers must do something, pre-nutrition must do this and that.  Tell you know, advising them, giving them information is one thing. But to try to mandate what people must do when we don't know their scope of their job and everything else is I think people were very reluctant to start making laws like that. You must do such and such. That's that's one thing I remember. So I hope that I agree with that. I think it would be very good to make sure information is available. And of course, encouraging people to do something is fine. But I would be skeptical about starting to tell people what they must do when we don't know all the stuff that they're having to deal with already. Well, I wasn't I'm not saying tell teachers what to do or anything. I'm just saying look at the look at the problem. Yeah. And then identify the risk factors here in our town and the protective factors in our town. And then see if we can develop any preventive strategies with not just the board, but with other people in town and then see if these are are effective. Because also if you look at the health impact pyramid, you know, the bottom may the health impact pyramid on gun violence is look at identifying the socioeconomic economic factors address inequity and structural racism, change the context, second, change the context to make individual default decisions healthy, past universal background, background checks, firearms, licensing, repeal, stand your ground, long lasting, protective interventions are extreme risk. And the top is safe storage campaigns and firearm training courses. I just don't know if you want to put it on the agenda to look at and review it to look at our risk and protective factors in town. It sounds like it's been eight years. It seems reasonable to take another look. I can check in with Earl Miller from Cress. Yeah, I wish he were here because I would have fed in with him because, you know, he's really they're really looking at the bottom of the pyramid of of of where we can help with prevention. And so I'm I'm maybe he can come to our July meeting. And then we can also ask. Chief Livingstone, if he or or representative from the police department, you know, what's happening with them? How are things progressing? Well, because I remember back then it wasn't in the minutes, but I remember him saying, well, we know where every registered gun is in our town and they have locks. And we also have a good idea where every illegal gun in town is.  I mean, we could have a disgruntled student here now. We could have at the college or the university, we could have anything. I mean, it's just it's just become so pervasive. And I want to make sure, you know, I know back then the university, I don't know about Amherst College, they were all talking, you know, what if we have a shootout, a gun? You know, what will we be doing? So I would like to just get more information to see where the problem is. And as I said, really look at the risk and protective factors, because after our last review, I felt we had quite a few protective factors in town, and I hope we still do. So how would you like to proceed to you and I, Steve? Steve will be gone. You shouldn't say what you should do. I definitely not. Oh, I don't know. The first step really is maybe to get more information from the police department and update and maybe also if we how how Chris is looking at this as as a public health issue and what their role might be in this. You know, I. And also how schools look at it, you know, from their safety procedures, eventually, you know, sort of just kind of recollect some of this information and and and try to see how it stacks up to some of the better models of prevention and education. Yeah, I think you're right about Florida had the law that doctors couldn't ask that question. I don't think Massachusetts ever doesn't, but it made it made people leery because this was way back to 2015, 2016. No, my brother-in-law will practice medicine in Florida and he was appalled. But yes, yes, I think maybe putting it on the agenda so we can gather more data to monitor the problem and and identify the I like the idea of identifying the protective factors that are that are going on and then and also the risk factors, but also getting Mike Morris involved because I'm sure parents are worried about schools after Sandy Hook and Texas and not to mention Florida and Columbine and all the others added up. Not that there isn't room for improvement, but Massachusetts is the second lowest rate of gun death in the country right to Hawaii. Right. But it could be better. And and then really to see how our protective factors are and can we improve any more of those because. OK, what do you think of that, Jen? Yeah, you know, I I think it's a great thing that we should be considering. And I like the idea of figuring out how to do it. Yeah, I didn't mean to sort of do the super surprise. A Darcy called me today in this. So I was just looking back at the gun thing over the past few days because every day when I look at the newspaper here, the news when we're killing in Pennsylvania over the weekend, Philadelphia. It was like, yeah.  You know, we have Alice training here in the town.  Yeah. So I think really for us to just get it again, another overview on the problem and the protective factors and what did what do what did the police and what did the school look at? They see as risk factors that we. And if is there anything we can do to support them? Nancy, can we jump over public comment? Oh, yeah. Yes. And then we were going to go back to public comment because Darcy was going to. I knew Darcy was going to public comment. So we'll go back to public comment. Are there any comments? Any hands? OK. Yes, Darcy. All right, Darcy, unmute and state your name and where you live. Hi, this is Darcy, two months. I live at Pondview Drive. I will not, you know, I'll I'll allow you to just read the public comment that I sent in. I don't want to take any more of your time. I really appreciate your being. You're sending a letter to the time council. I think that will really help things a lot. And just want to thank you for all your work. It's amazing, the array of issues that you consider on a Thursday once a month. Thank you very much. Thanks. Thank you, Darcy. And keep up your good work. Thanks. I don't see any other public comments. Our next meeting is July 14th. And without any other anybody else have a comment? If not, I would like a motion to adjourn. Nancy, can I just ask you there was some consideration to not having an August board of health? Yes. Is that something we want to do? We can always convene if there's something. OK, yeah. And we talked about, and I missed it up here, not having an August meeting. When I was first on the board, we only had like nine meetings a year. Sometimes we didn't have one in December. Generally, there was never one in August. So what did the board think about? Not having an August meeting, but if there was an emergency call meeting sounds reasonable. Steve, I know you're not going to be here, but there's just three of us to there's no need for it. Unless something comes up, it seems like there's no need for an August meeting. So I'll make a motion to not have an August meeting. And if some emergency measures come up that we have to act on, we can always post a meeting and call a meeting. Can I have that seconded? Second. OK. Any further discussion? Nancy, Earl Miller is here. Oh, do you want to invite? Yes, or it's an hour after his scheduled meeting. We can invite him back if it's possible next month. So up to you. Well, let's just vote on this, not having the August meeting. Oh, sorry to sorry to interrupt you. OK, so no August meeting all in in favor of vote. Maureen. I. Steve. I and Nancy I. OK, Earl. Yeah. What do you think is best? I'm so sorry, I can give you the quick version of the spiel. If that would be helpful and then come back for more in depth later. I'm incredibly sorry. Yeah, why don't we have you come back in July? But if you just want to say a few words now. But no, I just want to appreciate, Jennifer, the kind of collaboration we're getting from the health department has been immense. I'll tell you that all the other approaches to this challenge nationally are really kind of public health focused and led. And so us being public safety, it was really important that we have her support. And so I just want you to know the work you do is meaningful to us and be in time for you to have a robust and meaningful role in what we do. Thank you, Earl. I look forward so much to collaborating with you and supporting you and your mission and your new staff. And you're coming to the Bang Center. We're really excited about that. It's a great community. I think we're going to make a real impact. I will see you all in July. Thank you. In July and Earl, we have something for you. We're putting on our agenda. A public health approach to gun violence and prevention. It was on our agenda in 2016. And we're going to be looking at defining and monitoring the problem and identifying risk and protective factors that we have here in Amherst to move forward to if there's any way we can work with other people to develop preventive prevention strategies and adoption of strategies. So if you can add to that discussion in July, anything I can do. I people have, I think, are really hungry for that conversation right now. And I think you're the right. I think it's important that you're the folks leading that discussion. OK, so it is on our agenda that it has become an epidemic. Fortunately, in our discussion early, fortunately, Massachusetts, it has not been a pervasive problem, but we want to keep it that it's not a problem. So which is absolutely linked to gun access. If you look at the suicide rate, you can line that up with a list of access to guns in states. And it's the most common use of guns in this country is suicide. So I think we're in the right place. So that will be on our July agenda. And we'll invite you back to give us an overview of the program crest and how it's progressing now that you're up and running. Thank you so much. OK. And apologies. I'm very sorry this will happen again. OK. I was glad you were able to check in. OK, so before we adjourn, is there anything else? Jen or any other members for the good of. The board. You and if Nancy, you and Marie would like to give me a time tomorrow when I can come by, she can sign the biological safety thing. Do you have the time you'll be home tomorrow? I will. You tell me and I'll make sure I'm here. I get up early or I could even walk by your house. Tell me when you'll be home. I'll definitely come at that time. I just have to run out to go to the grocery store for a couple of things. So you tell me and I'll be here. 8 30 a.m. 8 30 I will be here. OK. I have a kind of crazy day tomorrow. I'm leaving the house at five o'clock in the morning. So it won't be back till Sunday. So I was at your email that you could tell me what. Yeah, we can figure something out Monday. That's good. OK, thanks. And Steve, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to miss you. Thank you for your work. You're very welcome. I really appreciate your knowledge and. Just attention to detail and has helped us immensely. Thank you so much. OK. OK, so may have a motion to adjourn. So move. We have a motion. Can I have it seconded? I'll second. OK. So all in favor, adjournment, Steve. Hi, Maureen. Hi, Nancy. I will thank you all. See you July 14th and we'll take a hiatus in August. Thank you all very much. OK, thanks. Thank you, Nancy Schroeder for doing the minutes. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Nancy.


Well, some people are questioning it because they're fools, but There's always somebody's question everybody, but this is a very very interesting Matchup here and the reason why it's interesting is wait is this really I mean this makes sense Is combat playing garrus Never I don't think I've ever seen his garrus. I'm not sure combat was sitting on the player one side Yeah, it makes sense. We have been seeing Rocky and Jackie Briggs for most of the weekend I also feel like Tweety would never pick garrus against a Jackie when he could instead go with a different character I don't like that matchup at all, but I'm also just interested in combat playing garrus now This is interesting because exactly what I just said Tweety wouldn't like this matchup. Let's see how it goes the other way around Yeah, let's see. I mean if you don't like something that's usually some validity to it So possibly Tweety knowing something that combat is overlooking here Especially considering the fact that combat is not a garrus name But right now Tweety making real work of those ribs on a garrus as he is going right into The ribs here of oh nice stop one or down to him. Sorry. Yes. Yeah That stopped at the anti air universal anti air from everyone not you know invulnerable in any way But you have to be on point and ready to go once you see your opponent's feet leave the ground Especially against a great jump in like garruses, but aren't fighting out of the corner come out a pretty heavy lead But once he got cornered, that's just where it ended And it's kind of how it tends to happen against Jackie not too surprising, but just got to stay out of that corner Definitely easier said than done or great down to however wasn't countering anything for that that crushing blow Oh, this is the sand drop there or the teleport here from Kira's going over to the other side No counter hits or not seeing a crushing blow and Tweety ready to press buttons on that wake up Very quick buttons that anti air standing one from Jackie on wake up has happened in almost every single Jackie max that we've seen It's a super common strategy and people need to be ready for Alright, that's an interesting cash out right there now you are gonna get a lot of damage You're gonna be essentially one mix up away, but Jackie doesn't get any okie office a fatal blow so you're only getting to about even life and I The option still there fatal blows still there for combat. So you're pretty pretty scary situation. Yeah, there it is Yeah, I was about to say not only that but you're putting combat in under 30 help and giving him access to that fatal blow But now that both those fatal blows have been casting on no longer going to be a factor here in the final round Once those fatal blows connect they are gone right the entirety of that match That's honestly I mean they both have great fatal blows But there might be a little bit better situation for Jackie just because I mean the fatal blow from Garris is one of the best in The game probably the best I mean it's got great combo ability doesn't scale too hard And the fact that it reaches from that bar is insane You can really use it in so many different situations great interrupt here from Tweety Reacting to the big fist charge from combat. Yeah, that was definitely a knowledge check right there It's plus unblocked, but you can't interrupt it. It's just one of the mix of character has throw counter Alright, if there's gonna be a comeback, I think it needs to start now from combat. Oh wow video s surprise that didn't hit Yeah, so what he's doing there He's putting in one option or putting in one input to cover multiple options there But not sure what happened here combat just decided let's get off of this character. This character is not for me Keep in mind guys. This is still a first to two setting We don't kick in to first to three until that top eight of this tournament So this is do or die for combat here The final character he picks is gonna be the last character you can possibly go to for this set Yeah, and we've seen him use a lot of characters We've seen him use Johnny Cage and Baraka and Raiden and honestly just almost every single character that can rush down We've seen Jax now the thing here is that he just I don't know if he really has like a comfortable choice Against Jackie. I mean, we do know him essentially as Johnny Cage mean right, but Jackie does force Johnny Cage to whiff All right, I like to switch to Baraka Baraka a lot of people tend to kind of like this matchup Just because at the very least if you can get out of the pressure of Jackie You're getting a lot of reward for it is this Baraka's Marauder. Yes Yes, Marauder does do a lot of damage thanks to that variation specific ability The gutted ability or the gutted special move that just pops your opponent up for a full combo And if you get that crushing blow, it's gonna be even more damage close to 50% after the DOT or the damage Damage over time Well, definitely Tweety taking this first lead knocking all the way to the corner goes for just two knees Now Tweety very familiar with Baraka We saw I'm playing a lot of Baraka at this some at a time and you know, of course during the beta We only had five characters pick so Tweety very familiar with what this character is capable of And definitely got a break away there now one more mix-up is going to mean everything now That's essentially how this character works He gets one launch you have to break away or you're gonna die and then he gets one more launch than you essentially But right now it's not looking like it's gonna be an issue The throw is gonna push it to match point for Tweety.  This is going to at least interrupt the momentum, right? It's gonna be a lot of damage. It's gonna be knocked down. It's gonna be like, okay Hold on now. He's got the flag buff. He's got the flag buff here It is active just like the regular flag normally. However, it does go away very quickly Now Tweety just trying to end this right here. He doesn't have to worry about fatal blow anymore He just worry about this last little 70% down nothing here is combat on life support And it connects it Tweety connects it perfectly with that back to the mid that really just stops your opponent and Tweety screaming Yes, you might have not heard it here, but the entire venue did he said it's so loud and so proud Tweety is gonna keep keep going Tweety Dominant form I mean look I


I just make films the way I like. Adhoor graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India in 1965. He went back to Kerala and in the same year was one of the key players in the setting up of a film cooperative in Trivandrum. Adhoor had already written and directed more than 20 plays. He was clear about the kind of films he wanted to make. Suambaram, Adhoor's first film, was a direct product of the film cooperative. Not just in terms of finance but a theme. Suambaram went on to win four national awards. Yet it was a gap of five years before Adhoor found the money to make a second film. Kudiyatam. It is his most lyrical film. With rare, poetic realism, Ellipathayam was also Adhoor's first film in colour. I told myself that I had to use colour very, very carefully because each element of colour had to be to mean something. It had to promote a traumatic purpose. How much of film is cheating? Well, as long as you are driving at the reality, you want to give the impression it is justified. Actually it's not cheating.  It's not really cheating. I wouldn't want to cheat the audience. From the social to the political dimension of change was a small step. Mukhamukham is divided into two parts. The first deals with the period just before the 1957 victory of the Communist Party in the state. When you make a film in Kerala, you have to necessarily have the politics as at least the background of what is going on because unless you show that interaction between political ideology and the lives lived here, you will be making some very untrue statements. My political ideology can be explained as a certain kind of humanism, not beyond that. Adhoor's next quest was that of the psychological. He drew on his memories of childhood adolescence and young adulthood. The profound influences from these three stages of his life in the cultural milieu of Kerala play their part in Anandaram. His films seemed deceptively simple in narrative and structure as each one probes his serious concern, striking universal resonances. Inspired by Gandhi, there is an economy and a simplicity in both his lifestyle and in his work. Women have always been portrayed with strong character in other films, sometimes even stronger than men. There is also a degree of repressed sexuality in the man-woman relationship. I grew up in a single parent situation. There are so many families in Kerala where women take the lead and then bring up their children. They may suffer themselves, but then they see that their children get good education. And in Kerala, particularly households can really stand on its own even when a woman of the house is the head of the family. It is not merely human characters in other films that hold center stage, but the spaces he uses as well. Time and history play an important role in other films. An overtly metaphorical film, Kathapurushan, is a culmination of many of other's lifelong concerns about politics, culture, social status, love and individual freedom. It weaves a historical perspective into the personal. So you become another person, even without the change of present order.  Kodiathu is very well known for that. Structurally, the film is a projection of the past into the present. A present which is continuous. Because the real incident of his having hanged somebody who was innocent, happened in the past. He lives in a romance area. So it is possible for him to imagine each character of the story being narrated, to transverse them into his own people. You give and also you take away things. So you are the sin and also the sinner. This film is about the stories of different women. Here, there is a scene where the four women stand in the stories. That is when the woman sees her own self. Who is that? I am Keshavan. Open the door. What is it? Nothing. It is a scene of the four stories of the four women who are trying to make a special period of time. Here, in the story, there is no connection between the characters and the characters. But it is not. There is a connection between the characters and the characters. Who is that? My father. I just do what I believe in. I don't compare myself with anybody else or anywhere else.


Good morning, Cyber Traders. Happy December 14th, this Friday. How's everybody doing on this kind of warm area? Warm out here in New York. Good to see you, Neil. Grant, good to see you, Ben. Lita, Mary, good to see you. Can't everyone? John, Lita. First of all, I gotta do a quick little shout out really quick and have to thank Andrea for those wonderful cookies again. For some of you don't know who Andrea is, he's one of the probably the top bakers of Canada. Makes one of the best cookies in the world and owns a big bakery, big famous bakery shop up there. And always came back to me and says, Faust, do you think I could stop waking up five o'clock in the morning and stop making cookies and do day trading and stuff like that? And sure enough, he's doing both. But you know what, Ken, you know what's funny, you say that he doesn't have the sugar free, he might, but he had honestly one of the best gluten-free chocolate cookies, I don't know how you make them. Unbelievable. Problem is you gotta eat them within like three days because gluten don't stay soft too long, but you would never even notice it. Best I ever had ever. By the way, a lot of you guys come on site. He's always friendly, always drops them off. But one of the great thank yous and we thank you for that and bon appétit to you too, my Italian friend. All right, in the meantime, guys, big news going on with ALQA. I was getting really nervous this morning. I'm like, if you heard me from the morning chats, I'm like, damn, it's not really nothing really going on this morning. And then, I mean, ALQA was in the morning watch list. It was the first stock that I found eight o'clock this morning and she gapped up pretty nicely from yesterday. And then she started backing off and you could see her right at eight o'clock in the morning, right around here. She wasn't really doing anything. And then even at eight 30, then I said, listen, she breaks his resistance levels and I'll get in now. I guess a lot of us did get in. I chased it. Actually, it was, I got in around that was at eight 50. I think it was no, eight oh one. I got eight oh one. So I'm not up a lot. I'm not up a lot, but money's money. You know what I mean? It was 24, 250,000 shares traded. Now it's already a full hundred. So the stock is moving. Stock looks really strong, by the way. So, you know, don't feel like you're chasing it. Some of you could see here not too long ago, the stock did go away to $6 and we did trade it and back at 16, the stock was a $55 stock. Don't look at the 55. I'm like, oh, maybe we'll go back to the 55. Listen, that is old news, right? So anyway, I know that a lot of us are already in that stock and some of you obviously missed it, but that's okay. You know, I mean, there's always some new ones, but let's talk about what happened yesterday. I wanna go over a few things that some of you guys missed. Some of the winners that we had yesterday was for example, this ADIL. This one did pretty well going up. Had a couple of nasty shakes here and there, but it had a really nice push going into the close. That one did pretty well. QD was another one. Not the prettiest chart if you're looking at it, but it did have some nice pushes right out of the gate. Stock went from 550 all the way up to about 660. That one did pretty well. The XPO, which was awesome. I think that was probably the best trade. A lot of people, I know Steve, Ken, John, Ben, all picked up about 50 cent winners on the short, just constantly shorting it, kept breaking lower lows. Now, this is typical of what you're looking for. The only problem with the XPO is that not a lot of us can afford it.   You gotta be one of the traders that average, you know, 50 cents to a dollar a day here at CTU. So you gotta be like a level three, level four trader. But if you are, I mean, it was pretty easy to pickings on that one.  I mean, went from 52 to 54, then tanked from 54 all the way down to like, was that 48, you know. So you could, and the thing is, you'd have to trade a lot of shares of this stock to make good money on it. But I think this overall was pretty much the best trade out of them all. Now there are a couple of those stocks that are moving. I know everyone's probably looking here on a big watch list and you probably see this BEL trade. But this is a typical buyout.  So looking at it, where to get in. You look at all these iceberg orders. 26,000, 23,000, 10,000. So remember, this stock is a complete scratch, all right? There are a couple of the ones that aren't moving in there. KNG, another one I found this morning. It's not a, it's not a huge, but it did trade 50,000 shares of 10%. Guys, remember, today's a typical Friday, all right? It's not the, a lot of people don't like to come out with news going to the weekends. We had, you know, we just had a report that came out. The super reports that came out at five o'clock. I mean, at 8.30, they were in line.  You know what I mean? The market has been going down a little bit. It came back a little bit so far this morning. But let me tell you, I'm pretty really nervous around that $24 price range, you know, 24,000 on the Dow. So KNG made it, the NBEV, this is why you got to take profits because I know some of you try to do a swing trade on that one, whatever goes up must come down. And sure enough, you can see how that thing just basically tanked over the course of the day. So I don't know if it's on your shortlist, but it looks like it's going lower. WPM is another one that's going to make the list right here. You can see it's got a really nice push. The only issue with this one is along the expensive side, it's got, you know, look at the tier sizes and I'm not too crazy about the iceberg orders on the level three, so that's the other issue.  Remember in phase one here at Cybertrain University, the class that we talk about, most important thing, the most expensive part of the trade is not the ticket charge, okay, is the spread. Remember, we teach you the three T's, tradable, trend and trap. The first T is the most important T of all the three T's. You can't, don't worry about it's going up, don't worry about it, you know how much money you can make. That's all out the door, if you can't even get it. All right, so just always got to remember that. XPO, that stock took a, you know, it started to come back yesterday. Now we know a lot of people did short it, but when you look at it, it started to do a little bit of a rebound. So you can go back into it, you know, for some of us that traded, I mean, stock took a huge hit from, because it was not too long ago, about two months ago, it was 120, went down to 40.  Listen, a lot of people wake up in the morning and didn't realize that their stock got crushed until they checked when it came home last night. And that's what you call bottom fishing. So sometimes people average down. MYOS, another one I found this morning, nice little pop yesterday, you could see that. She's up a little bit, not up a lot. I mean, 9% 42,000 shares traded. Got a couple of iceberg orders there on the matrix. But overall, I think the ALQA is basically our best stock right here. So look at that, we're still making money, guys. All right, I might do the cash register right there. There we go, love that sound. So anyway, that basic, I just said it, if you listened to me earlier, I just said, listen, you know, if it still, it looks like it's still gonna probably go higher and what was that at 290? So if you chased it, listen, just because some of us got it at 280, doesn't mean you can't buy it at 290 and still make money. Cause now it's at 303. Stock looks really strong going into this close. That probably looks like the best out of all of them. So like I said, I was getting nervous. I didn't find that much out there, but seeing the stock having a really strong push going into this open is a really good sign. All right, everybody. Anything I'm missing, I did not call out. Relatorators, anything out there? Big, big level three orders out there on the matrix right there. I think that's it. Now for, listen, for some of us, hopefully a lot of new members here have been enjoying what's been happening. Just sit back and watch. Just remember, just don't judge us on the winners, judge us on the losers. Cause everybody wants to know do people actually lose money at this? And you know, we do lose, but it's how to control them. That's the big one. But we always find new stocks that do come up. And if you missed the ALQA, listen, we'll find, there's always new ones that will come out when the market opens up, all right? Grants is just bring up the APHA trade. Well, I'm typing it wrong window. So the APHA, it's been trending down, Grant. Doesn't look like it's making a rebound yet.  And it looks like it's starting to take a big hit. I don't know, I would wait and flow a while. Not really much going on right there, Grant. All right, let's stick what's moving and stay away what's not, all right? All right, everybody, listen, good luck. And remember today is Friday. So what do we do on Fridays? Enjoying, go out and spend some money because if there's nothing, if you made your money early this morning, there's the beauty about what we do. We only trade about an hour, maybe two hours a day. We trade the first hour, the last hour of the close.  That's basically why we do this.  If you did well this morning, do it, you know? But if you wanna come back in the afternoon, you know, you're more than welcome to. We'll be here and we'll be going to the close. Like we always are, every day. All right, guys, good luck, everyone. Happy trading. And by the way, anyone having any ideas before we go? I am taking recommendations to try to find my wife a nice present. So I know it's a typical fur coat, diamond, gold, this and that, I know. But anybody got anything unique? Just private chat to me, share it to me because I'm always opened to get my wife for something nice and for Christmas.  And for all those, you know, and same thing for the women too. Buy a husband something nice, you know, show them what you appreciate. But if anybody has any good stuff, let me know. The Canadian Goose coat, she already has one. I love that thing. We made a lot of money on that stock, right? Was it Goose? We made a lot of money on that stock. That was a great IPO. We traded at 20. Look, it went only 70 bucks. Great trade. All right, everybody, good luck and appreciate it. Happy trading today. See you back at 2.30.


Thank you, Reverend Perkins. The next item of business point of order, Stephen Kerr. Thank you, Presiding Officer. On a point of order yesterday, the Cabinet Secretary for Education announced several significant updates on this year's school exams on Twitter. This morning, substantive changes contained within today's Covid-19 statement were leaked to the media, including STV and the BBC, ahead of its delivery in Parliament. That has become common practice for the SNP Government this session, and I have raised it with you on numerous occasions. Each time I have you say and I quote, all significant and substantive announcements should be made to Parliament. Presiding Officer, what steps can now be taken to end this contempt, and what can be done to insist that the Scottish Government respects your good office and the Scottish Parliament? I thank Mr Kerr for that point of order, and I can advise Mr Kerr that I intend to address this issue before we move to the statement this afternoon. We will continue with topical questions, and the first question today is Colin Smyth. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an explanation of its decision not to proceed with the sale of Glasgow Presswick Airport at the present time. During our period of ownership of Glasgow Presswick Airport, we have sought to do what is right for the business, the taxpayers and the economy of Ayrshire. Glasgow Presswick Airport has developed, as a specialist airport, carving a niche in a very competitive aviation market, and the annual accounts that were laid before Parliament in December show that the business continues in a positive direction, with a profit posted for 2020-21. We were pleased that the recent sale process attracted bids from credible investors and very detailed and extensive work was done by all parties involved. However, following careful consideration of a recommendation by the Presswick board, we took the decision not to proceed with the sale at this time. Our intention for Presswick Airport is still to return it to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity. However, any decision must be informed by what is right for the long-term success of the business and the contribution that it makes to the local economy. The cabinet secretary has just said that the Government rejected bids for the airport. One preferred bidder, but it seems more than one bid. Can the cabinet secretary confirm reports that two bids were received from the preferred bidder for Presswick? Now that this process is an end, it seems that there is no longer a preferred bidder. Can she tell us exactly why those bids were rejected by ministers? Our reports are correct that the second bid was lower than the first bid due to withheld information on the condition of the runway coming to light after the first bid was made. Can the cabinet secretary also tell us before those latest bids were rejected in the nearly 10 years since the Government bought Presswick, has it received and rejected any other bids for the airport? I thank the member for those questions. I know that there is a lot of interest in this, and I think that I am certainly happy to come back to the chamber to answer some of those points more fully. Throughout the sale process, there has been speculation about bids and bidders with a number of companies mentioned. I would stress that much of it has been inaccurate. We will need to continue to respect commercial confidentiality and not comment on the identity of bidders or the substance of the bids, which I hope is something that the member appreciates. That is hugely important to provide confidence in any future sales process, either with previous bidders or with new bidders. I can be very clear that the commercial bids received were assessed against the commercial case and the wider economic case for the region. It is on the basis of independent advice and, following a recommendation by the board, the Presswick board, that we decided that the bid did not, at this point in time, represent the value for the taxpayer that we are looking for. I would certainly welcome a further opportunity, because that vague answer is simply not good enough. There is no preferred bidder for Presswick at the moment, so that the cabinet secretary cannot hide behind the on-going confidential process that, frankly, is no longer on-going. The sale has collapsed. I would ask her to reconsider her answer to my question and tell her specifically why the bids that were on the table were rejected. Given that there is significant investment needed in Presswick to give it a sustainable future, that is no longer going to come from any new owner any time soon. Can the cabinet secretary tell us exactly where the needed investment for Presswick will come from, or is that a case, as it seems, that, a decade after buying Presswick, the Scottish Government still has no plan whatsoever for the future of the airport? There are a lot of questions in there, and I appreciate that you want short answers, but I would like to answer them in detail. In terms of the identity of the bidders, whether there is a live bid or not, we should note and cannot comment on speculation about the identity of bidders. I appreciate that there is a desire for more information on the detail of the bids received and rejected, but it is hugely important that I hope that all members would understand that we need to safeguard the integrity of those commercial discussions, both because we are bound by commercial confidentiality and to avoid undermining any future negotiation with current bidders or previous bidders. I can be clear, as I have already said, that the commercial bids received were considered on the basis of independent advice not to be adequate right now to secure value for the taxpayer, and any return to the private sector needs to be on the right terms. We need to make sure that we are confident that any sale would not only represent that value for the taxpayer but also put the business on a firm footing going forward. The long-term commercial sustainability is important. The business needs to develop and support jobs and the economy. In the most recent sale process, we were not satisfied on the basis of independent advice that those objectives had been met. Given the importance of the growth deal investment in South Asia, primarily focused around Prestwick Airport, can the Scottish Government give assurances that any future potential buyer for the airport would be supportive of the Ayrshire growth deal and the spaceport? The member makes an important point that emphasises the comments that I have already made about meeting the objectives that we have set. Of course, any potential future buyer would need to take their own decisions about what is right for the business, but we are clear that the Ayrshire growth deal does provide significant opportunities locally, not just for Prestwick, but for the wider region. We need to do all that we can to encourage any future owner to engage with local growth deal partners. Colin Smyth tried his best to get an answer to this, but the cabinet secretary was having none of it. I ask the cabinet secretary again what was the reason for the bid or bids being turned down? Was it down to the price being offered, investment, jobs or a combination of all three? I think that answering that in a number of different elements. We were pleased that the current sales process attracted a number of significant and credible interest from bidders. We considered those offers carefully from each bidder and a revised offer from the business that remained in consideration. We reached the view, informed by the advice of the Prestwick board and professional advisers, that the sale should not progress further on commercial and broader economic terms. We agree with the Prestwick board—this might go some way to answering the member's questions—that the market conditions are not particularly favourable at this time to maximise enterprise value of the business and the value to the Scottish Government as a shareholder. That conclusion was reached again following independent assessment. The business will continue to develop its commercial and its growth strategy under the Scottish Government ownership. The last point that I would make is that, obviously, the accounts were published in December, and I am sure that they were of great interest to the member. Those annual report and accounts published on 21 December show that diverse revenue streams have helped mitigate the Covid impact on passenger numbers in 2020-21, but there is no question that Covid has had an impact on the aviation sector. An operating profit before exceptional items was £500,000, and the total profit after tax for the year is £12.8 million. The business is progressing. We need to ensure that it is the right bidder at the right time that maximises the economic asset. To ask the Scottish Government how it will assist young people to access the expanded free bus travel scheme. Minister Graham Day. The potential transformational scheme is open for applications yesterday, and there are a range of ways in which people can apply. Those are detailed on the Transport Scotland website. For example, online applications for either a Young Scot national entitlement card or a national entitlement card can be made at getyournec.scot, the improvement services on the online portal. Applications can also be made directly through local councils. I believe that, as of this morning, more than 37,000 applications had been made via the getyournec.scot portal alone. I know that there have been some concerns expressed about the complexity of the online process, but the process in place for the young person's national entitlement card is broadly similar to that for older people. It is also obvious that it is not ideal to be launching the scheme in the current circumstances. Given the situation with the pandemic, we are encouraging only children and young people who travel as essential at this time to apply. As I said in my letter to MSPs last week, we are striking the right balance of enabling children and young people and families who potentially have the most benefit from free bus travel to access it at the earliest opportunity, whilst maintaining plans to fully market the scheme at the right time, potentially helping bus services to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. I thank the minister for that answer and the fact that he wrote to all of us MSPs and MPs last week to update us on the plans. I am certainly going to do what I can to promote the scheme in my constituency. Minister is right that it potentially is a transformational policy. I want to know how the minister will ensure that children and young people who might benefit the most get their entitlement cards as early as possible. I have had some concerns raised with me from parents applying about the complexity of the application process, particularly on the proof of identity that is required. Is the minister concerned that that might limit its success? I welcome the member's positive comments about the scheme and her commitment to promote it, but there are no additional proof of age, personal or address requirements when I apply for a young Scotland NEC with a free bus travel product. The only difference is that parents, guardians or in some cases carers have to apply on behalf of children and young people under the age of 16 if they want an NEC or a young Scotland NEC that is free bus travel product. They have to provide proof of that status in order to protect the children and young people. However, I want to give the reassurance that we are committed to delivering the scheme in a way that is safe for children and young people. There is still confidence in parents and guardians, and we are absolutely determined that the children and young people who might benefit the most from free bus travel do not miss out on it. We will, of course, because we are monitoring the scheme and responding accordingly as we go along. I thank the minister for his reply and what he has just said about monitoring the scheme. I specifically raised the topic, because I want to ask about one particular group of individuals in the application process. Foster carers in my area have been raised for care experience and looked after children, and the fact that they might not have ready access to the birth certificates might have to have that additional process of going to the council's social work departments for access to them, which might complicate or extend the process for them. Obviously, those children and young people cannot be disadvantaged, and we need to make sure that there are no additional barriers for them. Can the minister give some comment on that specifically and how we can make sure that there are not only barriers for care experience to young people? Joy Martin raises a perfectly valid point. I want to offer other re-issues that we are aware of the potential challenges for foster care and kinship care families. Clearly, local authorities, which are corporate parents, are responsibly here to help families access this benefit, and we are working with local authorities to ensure that that is happening. However, I say to members that if there are any issues that emerge involving their constituents, please contact my officer. We will seek to assist. I am very grateful, Presiding Officer. The current Young Scott card has already been calculated and is part of the age standard scheme in Scotland. Why can young people not use that until they receive their new cards so that they can benefit immediately from the free bus travel? Many existing Young Scott card holders are under the age of 16, and therefore need to have a parent guardian or carer to apply for a replacement card with the free bus travel product on their behalf. That is because we are committed to delivering the scheme in a way that is safe for children and young people. For those over the age of 16, local authority partners need to ensure that they are sending a replacement card to the correct address. As details are held, they are not necessarily current, hence the need to apply for an additional card. There are also offline Young Scott NEC replacement processes in place with local councils. However, I get it, Mr Whitfield does not have any specific cases in mind that he should get in touch with me. Colin Beattie How does the Scottish Government's approach to concessionary and free bus travel differ from that of the UK Government? There are some obvious differences in the free national bus travel for the age of 60, and not state pension age would be an example. What we have here is a determination to expand national provision of free bus travel and not shrink it as far as that is possible. That concludes topical questions.