Good Morning Gloucester

Kate representing the 01930 In Cozumel (Get the shirt at Pop Gallery)

At its meeting of March 3, 2016, the Gloucester Board of Health voted unanimously to change the minimum age for the purchase of tobacco and nicotine products in the community from 18 years old to 21. In doing so, Gloucester becomes the 100th community in Massachusetts to raise the age for the purchasing for tobacco and nicotine products.

Discussion regarding the possibility of raising the purchase age began at the Board of Health meeting of November 2015 when Board members asked then Health Director, Noreen Burke, to invite Joyce Redford, director of the North Shore/Cape Ann Tobacco Control Program, to inform the Board on the issue.

Ms. Redford appeared before the Board at their meeting of January 7, 2016 and presented information including other area communities, such as Salem, Saugus, Swampscott, Danvers, and Peabody, had recently raised their purchase age to 21, as had Boston. Nearly 42% of the population in Massachusetts live in communities where the purchase age for tobacco and nicotine delivery products is now 21.

A March 2015 report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies stated that “…the committee concludes that raising the minimum age of legal access to tobacco products in the United States, particularly to ages 21 and 25, will likely lead to a substantial reduction in smoking prevalence. If the MLA (minimum legal age) were raised now, the models projected that by the time today’s teenagers were adults, there would be a 3 percent decrease in prevalence of tobacco use among those adults if the MLA were raised to 19, a 12 percent decrease if raised to 21…”

The Board then set a public hearing for its meeting of February 4, 2016 to discuss changing its tobacco regulation to include raising the minimum purchase age to 21 years, as well as requesting restaurants that have outdoor seating areas where smoking is permissible, post a sign stating whether or not they allow patrons to smoke in those areas.

The 32 businesses holding tobacco permits with the Health Department, as well as restaurants with outdoor seating, were sent a notification of the hearing by mail.

After discussion, review of information and public comment, the Board closed its hearing on the matter and voted on adoption of the proposed changes at its meeting of March 3rd.

“This is an important step in our efforts to prevent teens from starting to smoke,” said Rich Sagall, MD, chair of the Board of Health. “Gloucester is joining many other communities, both in Massachusetts and around the country, in limiting teenagers access to tobacco products.”

Enforcement of the new minimum age limit will begin June 1, 2016. A notice will be sent to all businesses notifying them of the changes in the regulations, with copies being available at the Health Department and the Department’s page of the City website:

http://www.gloucester-ma.gov/index.aspx?nid=183

People might think that Moses went up onto Mount Sinai, met and talked with God for a while, and He gave him the Ten Commandments. In fact, Moses spent forty days and forty nights fasting on the mountain before receiving the inscribed tablets. It took another forty years for him to receive and complete the Torah, the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exedus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), upon which Jewish law is based.

People who do not spend time with God and haven’t heard or don’t realize they have heard His voice find it strange or unbelievable that others do hear Him. God’s voice is at once a quiet and thunderous noise that there is no mistaking when you hear it, but you have to be focused on Him to really hear Him. Just like with another person; if you are talking to someone and their mind is a million miles away on some other matter, they don’t hear you. There is nothing wrong with their ears, but their mind is somewhere else. It is the same with us and God. He loves us more than we can imagine and is always talking to us; we’re just not listening to Him.

Exodus 31:18

“When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.”

To refresh your memory, this is the short form list of the Ten Commandments. In actuality, the laws were not given for us to struggle to try to live up to, which is impossible, but to show us where we in our humanness miss the mark. Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, Love others as much as you love yourself. All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments.” If we truly lived by them, all the others would be automatic. Unfortunately, we can’t, and that is why Jesus came, not to abolish the law, but to the fufill it on our behalf, so that we might be redeemed. Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

1.You shall have no other gods before Me. (In addition to gods or godesses such as Zeus, Jupiter, Venus, Ra, etc., it also refers to worship of living or deceased people, money, possessions, etc. – anything that takes your devotion away from God and places it elsewhere.)
2.You shall not make idols. (An image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed.)
3.You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. (Because of the greatness of the name of God, any use of God’s name that brings dishonor on Him or on His character is taking His name in vain.)
4.Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (One day to rest from work and focus our attention on God.)
5.Honor your father and your mother. (Give respect and place importance on them.)
6.You shall not murder. (Most people think they are good on this one, but many are not. To God, who does not view our actions, but what is in our hearts, many of us have murdered. I know I have killed more than one person in my heart and mind in my lifetime. God defines murder as any thought or feeling of deep-seated hatred or malice against another person. In other words, it is more than just a physical act that constitutes murder to God, who tells us that “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer …” (1 John 3:15). When we harbor hatred in our hearts for another, we have committed the sin of murder in God’s eyes. Disdain towards another person (or people) never has to be demonstrated outwardly because God looks upon the heart for the truth.
7.You shall not commit adultery. (Same as murder, it is what is in the heart, not the action. “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman (or man) with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her (or him) in his (or her) heart.
8.You shall not steal. (This includes the obvious straight out stealing, but also cheating, and things like taking care of personal business on company time.)
9.You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (This includes someone who testifies falsely against another, someone who gossips or causes trouble, and false teachers.)
10.You shall not covet (desire) your neighbor’s wife or husband, his house, land, car, job, boat, money, etc. (updated for today, as most people wouldn’t be coveting someone else’s donkey, ox, man or maid servant in this time, at least not in the US).

E.J. Lefavour

I’ve received emails regarding my Dad’s Paintings and if they are for sale.

Now that the weather is better I will be able to show them to anyone interested in purchasing.

I have many left that are just sitting in the storage unit not being enjoyed.

There are just so many that can hang on my walls.

The sizes of the paintings range between 5″x7″ and up

The price range is $75.00 and up

Also I’m in the market for a used car a trade would be considered.

Here are some photos of some of the paintings that are available.

You can contact me by email

Frontiero@hotmail.com

Izzy before she terrorizes the beach

PaulFrontieroGallery.WordPress.com

I was pointed to this website by a friend in Miami FL. From their site I clipped link and paragraph below about a student art contest.

Not sure anyone ’round here has heard of it but with our heritage with the sea, Ocean Alliance and all the arts you publicize on Rocky Neck seems like there might be some interest from someone-

http://www.fromthebowseat.org/contest.php

“We invite middle and high school students from around the world to participate in the 2016 Ocean Awareness Student Contest! The theme is Making Meaning out of Ocean Pollution, and it challenges you to research, explore, interpret, and say something meaningful about the connections between human activities and the health of our oceans. 

This year, we challenge you to focus on ONE type of ocean pollution and “make meaning” of it through art, poetry, prose, or film.
Best,

Rob Paterson