Senator Cindy Friedman

BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker, entering the final year of his first term, pitched the Democrat-controlled Legislature Tuesday on the idea of working with him over the coming months to improve the state’s drug addiction treatment and prevention system in what could quickly become one of the biggest debates of 2018.

Some of the many proposals in the CARE Act, which the governor filed in November, appeared to be slam-dunks with lawmakers, including the education component, while others may require more salesmanship.

PAARI founder John Rosenthal and Sen. Cindy Friedman both questioned why the bill didn’t do more to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for the role they have played in the addiction crisis and make them a partner in funding treatment and recovery.

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Superintendent/Director Timothy Broadrick welcomed more than 30 guests into the machine technology shop at Shawsheen Valley Regional Technical High School on Dec. 19 for the rededication of the shop following a capital investment program with funds provided by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Attendees heard remarks from State Rep. James Miceli, Rep. Kenneth Gordon, Sen. Cindy Friedman, along with Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash. This rededication and ribbon-cutting ceremony brought together supporters from the business community as well as academic partners, along with students, faculty, administrators and members of the Shawsheen School Committee.

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As members of the Billerica faith community gathered for a community brunch on Jan. 15, celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, love was the message.

“Love does something, love creates policies that create growth and human flourishing, love is actualized in concrete actions, love engages the facts of another’s existence, love feeds the hungry person, loves clothes the naked person,” said Reverend Julian Cook, senior pastor of Saint Mark Congregational Church in Roxbury. “Dr. King used to say, ‘love seeks to preserve community.’ It is the only cement that can hold the community together.”

State Sen. Cindy Friedman asked Cook what his priorities would be if he was a legislator. Cook said above all, he would look to address poverty.

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Despite support from a majority of its members, legislation raising the Massachusetts minimum wage from $11 to $15 is ending the same way it began last year – pending before the Democrat-controlled Labor and Workforce Development Committee.

A News Service review determined at least 11 of 17 members of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee, which has had custody of the $15 minimum wage bill throughout 2017, are co-sponsors of the bills. They are committee co-chair Sen. Jason Lewis, vice chair Sen. Patricia Jehlen and Sens. Sal DiDomenico, John Keenan and Cindy Friedman, along with Reps. Elizabeth Malia, Christine Barber, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Steve Ultrino, Gerard Cassidy and Juana Matias.

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“Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington, recently celebrated her 100th day in the Massachusetts State Senate and released a comprehensive list of noteworthy moments since she was sworn into office on July 27, 2017. This summer, Friedman ran in a special election to succeed the late Sen. Ken Donnelly, who passed away from brain cancer in April. She had worked as his chief of staff for nearly a decade.

‘Today marks my 100th day in office,’ Friedman said in an email to constituents. ‘During the campaign, I said that I’d be ‘ready on Day 1’ and I meant it.’

Since the official swearing-in ceremony, Friedman has traveled throughout the 4th Middlesex district meeting with constituents, speaking at community events and discussing important issues impacting Massachusetts. She began her legislative duties at the State House by taking part in several key votes in the Senate to reform the criminal justice system, contain health care costs, reduce property tax rates for seniors, military personnel, people with disabilities, and more.”

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BILLERICA — The massive crane swoops down and grabs the final steel beam covered in signatures — along with an American flag and Christmas tree attached to its top. Officials grin from ear to ear, looking up at another milestone for the $176 million high-school project.

Residents, students, officials and construction workers gathered for the topping off ceremony of the new Billerica Memorial High School on Wednesday. The school, located on the existing site, is set to open in 2019.

Sen. Cindy Friedman, of Arlington, was the late Sen. Ken Donnelly’s chief of staff when they worked to secure funding for this project. She said the new school will provide students with the most up-to-date technology, preparing them for higher education and the workforce. “We must continue to give our students all the support they need to excel, and I know that Billerica is committed to doing this,” Friedman said.

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BILLERICA — Officials pitched it as a “temporary” home for pre-trial detainees. It was the fall of 2012, and officials were announcing a $37 million plan to expand the Middlesex House of Correction in Billerica to house those prisoners from the Cambridge Jail. They continued to stress, however, that the relocation of detainees would only be temporary while officials looked for a 5-acre site to build the Southern Middlesex Justice Center.

Last year, the late Sen. Ken Donnelly and Rep. Marc Lombardo sponsored a resolve to establish a commission to investigate sites for the jail.

Like Lombardo, Sen. Cindy Friedman — who succeeded Donnelly, and was his chief of staff — supports housing detainees at a new site in southern Middlesex County. The state needs to fulfill this commitment, she emphasized. “I’m very much supportive of the project, and would like to see it move forward,” Friedman said.

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