Thursday, May 16, 2013
The bill is sponsored by Attleboro state Rep. Paul Heroux.
Smoking in the car with the young ones in the backseat, or even the frontseat, could become illegal. Attleboro state Rep. Paul Heroux has introduced a bill that would ban all smoking in a vehicle when children are present. A violation would lead to a $100 fine. Heroux testified about the bill this week before the Joint Committee on Public Health. The bill states: A law enforcement officer may not search or inspect a motor vehicle, its contents, the driver, or a passenger solely because of a violation of this section. For a period of 90 days following the effective date of this act, any law enforcement official who stops a motorist solely because of a violation of this section shall not issue a citation, but shall issue a verbal or written …
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Republican pastor says he will run for office in 2014, likely for the state representative seat currently held by Democrat Paul Heroux. Bailey could decide to make a second try at James Timilty's state Senate seat.
The Jeff Bailey 2014 campaign will begin tonight in Mansfield. State Rep. Shaunna O'Connell (R-Taunton) is hosting a fundraiser tonight in Mansfield for Bailey's campaign committee. The Attleboro pastor unsuccessfully ran against Democratic state Sen. James Timilty last year. This time, he is leaning toward running for the state representative position held by Democrat Paul Heroux. Speaking Monday night during the Attleboro Republican City Committee meeting at the All Saints Anglican Church, Bailey said he would run for state office in 2014. "I'm not committing to anything, but right now I'm kind of leaning toward the state rep. seat," said Bailey, adding, "We'll see what the landscape looks like for state Senate as well." Heroux has been…
Thursday, May 9, 2013
The state representative will speak about the "stigma, unfair treatment and even civil rights violations around people with mental illness or mental health issues."
State Rep. Paul Heroux, whose district includes most of Attleboro, will be in Framingham today to speak about mental illness. The host of the event is Advocates, a nonprofit offering services to the mentally ill. The announcement for the event states: Since the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, mental illness has been front and center on the mind of anyone thinking about public safety in America. Representative Heroux raises important concerns about what this may mean for many people successfully living with mental illness. Too often there is stigma, unfair treatment and even civil rights violations around people with mental illness or mental health issues. Join us for this crucial conversation about civil rights. …
Friday, April 5, 2013
Attleboro's state representative comments on a recent report about crime and punishment in Massachusetts.
A report was released last month by the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, Community Resources for Justice and the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Reform Coalition on prison sentencing and related issues in this state. The report is titled Crime, Cost and Consequences: Is it Time to Get Smart on Crime?" "As the title suggests, the report calls into question Massachusetts' current approach to corrections, which favors long prison stays at the expense of treatment, reentry programming and post-release supervision," an introduction to the report states. "Without a change in course, the report concludes that Massachusetts will spend more than $2 billion over the next decade on corrections policies and practices that provide limited…
Friday, March 29, 2013
Paul Heroux issues a statement about an Attleboro middle schol student being suspended for bringing a butter knife to school.
The decision to suspend a Wamsutta Middle School student for bringing a butter knife on campus to cut her fruit has sparked a debate. State Rep. Paul Heroux, whose district includes most of Attleboro, issued a statement Friday morning saying the incident was a missed opportunity. "When a school administrator doesn't feel that he or she can exercise discretion and common sense in their job when working with children who don't always appreciate the concern of a butter knife in schools, the consequence may be that children learn to be more afraid of the law than to respect the law," Heroux wrote. "This could have been a teachable moment." Heroux said he worked with children for seven years and his fiancée is a fifth-grade school teacher. …
Friday, March 15, 2013
The Attleboro representative will be among the speakers at an event Monday in Foxborough.
Attleboro state Rep. Paul Heroux and other government officials will speak at a gun violence discussion Monday in Foxborough. Hosted by the Foxborough Democratic Town Committee, the session will begin at 7 p.m. at the Foxborough Public Safety Building, which is located at 8 Chestnut St. Among the speakers will be state Rep. David Linsky (D-Natick), who is the sponsor of a bill that calls for further regulations on the licensing, sale and possession of firearms and increasing the tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition. This bill has been assigned to the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, chaired by Sen. James Timilty, whose district includes Attleboro. The event is open to the public.
Friday, February 8, 2013
The freshman legislator says he is pleased with his assignments.
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Friday, February 8
State Rep. Paul Heroux, whose 2nd Bristol District includes most of Attleboro, received his committee assignments this week. The first-term Democratic legislator will serve on the following committees: Heroux wrote in a press release that he was pleased with the assignments. He wrote a brief statement on each of them: "Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Committee is essentially the House bond rating and debt watchdog committee, and I am very pleased to be on this committee. There is good debt and bad debt. Smart investors know that good debt results in an economic return on the investment. Bad debt results in a loss of money. I intend to not be so cavalier with our taxes and debt obligations." "I campaigned on increasing …
Thursday, January 24, 2013
State Rep. Paul Heroux hosts a panel discussion on youth safety.
Gun violence, bullying and mental health were among the topics of a panel discussion Wednesday night hosted by Attleboro state Rep. Paul Heroux at the United Way of Greater Attleboro. These topics were part of a general focus on school mass shootings Heroux, who has a master's degree in criminology and worked for the Massachusetts Department of Correction, said the U.S. Secret Service tried to create a profile to identify school mass shooters, but was unable to do it. "They're finding there really isn't a profile to look for," he said Bullying was a possible motivation for the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, in which two teens killed 12 students and a teacher. Chris Rappold, a karate instructor and bullying expert, said…
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Several of the bills involve the criminal justice system.
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Sunday, January 20
Attleboro state Rep. Paul Heroux issued the following press release: Freshman State Rep. Paul Heroux has filed 14 bills, including, but not limited to: "I campaigned on the promise to try to make sure that we start measuring the programs that tax payers are paying for. I am starting with prison programs. I understand how the Massachusetts prison system can measure its programs at no additional cost to the taxpayer and no additional cost to the department. This is important because we parole inmates based on participation in programs and if these programs don't work, we are putting communities throughout the state at risk. We must know if our prison programs are reducing recidivism or not. I also campaigned on mental health advocacy and …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The event is described as a "a town hall-style meeting on keeping our children safe."
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Wednesday, January 16
Attleboro's new state representative will host a forum next week on Wednesday on how to keep children safe from guns, sex offenders and bullies. Paul Heroux announced the event at the Tuesday night City Council meeting, at which he also introduced himself to the city's governing body for the first time since defeating incumbent George Ross in the November election. A notice from Heroux describes the event as "a town hall-style meeting on keeping our children safe." The notice states, "This is an opportunity to hear from Rep. Paul Heroux about the legislation he has filed as it concerns keeping kids safe, other elected officials' views and to hear from a local panel of experts on ways to keep children safe concerning [guns, sex offenders …
deb of see-attleboro
7:32 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013
Can we start with banning smoking wherever we can? It is a no brainer, IMHO. Even the surgeon general would agree. more ›