 This program is brought to you by Cable Franchise V's and generous donations from viewers like you Hello everyone and welcome to the Amherst weekly report Happy August. However, the end of this summer finds you. I hope that you're able to enjoy it I'm Claire Healy and today I'll be talking with you about the news from this past week in Amherst, Massachusetts first off the town of Amherst has received $321,577 from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development in the form of a community development block grant and CARES Act funding Around half of the funding will go to a micro enterprise assistance program that provides $10,000 grants to businesses with five or fewer employees The rest of the funding will go towards organizations that help with housing and food insecurity Those remaining funds will be divided into $90,000 for the food pantry at the Amherst Survival Center $52,000 to family outreach of Amherst and roughly $20,000 for Craig's Doors Resource Center In a town press release, town manager Paul Backelman said he is grateful for the funding Even though the quote needs of our community far outstripped the funds available We spoke with Lev Ben-Azra, the executive director of Amherst Survival Center about how the center's services have changed throughout the pandemic And how this funding will continue to help her serving the Amherst community We have continued to offer a hot lunch and fresh produce and bread from a large tent outside in our parking lot and we have also continued to offer our monthly full grocery shop from our food pantry Which currently has an on-site low contact delivery, a no contact curbside option And then we're also offering no contact grocery delivery What this funding is going to allow us to do is to provide monthly groceries for 3,000 low and moderate income Amherst residents this year So we're serving an additional thousand Amherst residents And it's really going to support us to improve access for those with COVID related health or transportation barriers By offering grocery delivery to between 700 and 1,000 Amherst residents As well as our no contact curbside pickup and the on-site very low contact pickup option But I want community members to know is that we are open that we are here that we have food that we welcome you and that We would love to make sure that you and your family have all of the food that you need to get through this On monday august 3rd amherst town council discussed the adoption of a resolution regarding the holy oak soldiers home As some of you may remember the holy oak soldiers home got attention this past spring for a COVID-19 outbreak that killed at least 76 veterans A gazette article from this past monday august 3rd highlighted a parent re-emergence of the virus within the retirement home After one veteran tested positive the state said it would conduct testing for the whole facility However reports of the gazette alleged that a number of employees remained untested The resolution on monday was presented by steven connor director of central hampshire veteran services With the goal of ultimately making sure the coalition behind his resolution is represented in state decisions regarding the home We are going to be taking resolutions from everybody that we can get them from Provided to this to the governor and to the state legislature to make sure that Our coalition has a voice at the table in the redesign and about the funding of the new soldiers home The resolution states that the lack of staff in space were major contributing factors to the 76 COVID-19 fatalities It also asked that the town council urged governor baker and the legislature To talk to take immediate action to ensure the home has sufficient staff equipment and supplies to provide safe care The town council meeting on monday also proved a plan to consolidate the seven polling stations Into one located at the ampersed regional high school gym At the meeting town clerk chevina martin presented the options available given the state requirements for polling stations And proposed this consolidation plan which she had originally presented in a meeting on july 20th Debate focused around whether or not consolidating the polling stations would limit residents access to voting and disproportionately impact marginalized populations At the end of the meeting the town voted to reconsider the motion on august 10th And this is what amherst town council president lynn greesmer said at the end of the vote It's seven four and six against Hmm worst vote. I think any of us have ever had to take Because there's no good solution Absolutely none In other news a massachusetts COVID-19 travel advisory has updated its regulations for visitors and residents traveling in and out of the state Regulations vary for travelers based on the COVID risk level from the state that they're traveling from Unless travelers meet the specified exemptions or can produce a negative test result from 72 hours prior to their arrival They must quarantine for 14 days If someone entering massachusetts does not follow these guidelines They could face a fine of up to 500 dollars per day So please make sure you read into these guidelines before you travel In some good news for art lovers in the valley the eric carl museum of picture book art is open to the public As of this past saturday august 1st The museum closed its facilities following the rise of COVID-19 A new protocol has been put in place for the museum's reopening in order to comply with public safety guidelines This includes a reduced number of visitors mandatory masks for all visitors over the age five And masks are encouraged between the ages of two and five There is also a six feet social distancing requirement We spoke with the museum's director of education court new wearing about how the museum made the decision to reopening And how the first few days have been going Here's what she had to say Museums were given the go ahead to open earlier in july We felt and I think many other museums felt they needed a little bit more time to get Systems in place and signage and guidelines together and safety protocols So what we ended up doing was having more of a soft opening in the middle of july for our members And that was really helpful for us One just to see them all again. We've really been missing them since we closed in march But also to get their feedback while museums have been closed Residents have been able to enjoy art through the newly painted jersey barriers that protect restaurants outdoor seating in downtown amherst These barriers are now covered in paintings of a variety of themes a number of which include abstract designs bricks Lemons or flowers while others display written messages We spoke with amherst downtown bids executive director gabriel guld who explained how these barriers emerged following restaurants opening outdoor seating Gould said in her interview with us that she and others commissioned around 30 artists to decorate amherst's new outdoor seating areas Here's a clip from the interview on her motivation for the project and her process of getting it finalized A lot of our museums are still closed right now because of the pandemic So we have brought art out front and and really in your face and from many many different artists Many different styles and I just every day that I see that I think how awesome You don't have to necessarily walk into a museum today to see art. You can walk up and down Main streets our businesses have been hugely affected. These are small personally owned businesses You know, it's mom and pops. It's our neighbors. It's our friends And they need our support. So if you feel comfortable Dining outside we have given many many options to do so and the restaurants are taking your health and their health very seriously And the food is fantastic We also spoke to two of the artists about their work. Here's what they had to say I was just I was excited to get the opportunity to have something big of mine Just kind of sitting out in the middle of the town of amherst So I took the opportunity. She was really great about it. She I had a couple questions about what I would do and she just she was just like, oh, just do what makes you feel great So I did and um, it was pretty great Just a bunch of people like me who just got out there and decided to paint what they wanted to paint It brightens town it makes you it when you pass through you see it and you have something to look at And it just it's very it makes the town more vibrant and I think That was a very good move on her part My friends and I started a business and that was actually our first job to paint the jersey barriers So we did one jersey barrier and it was of a black woman with a big afro And it says I can't breathe on her mouth in red with white writing and With like other black shadows behind her We hope that it just sounds like a message as to black lives matter and that It's for like people to understand what's really really going on Behind the movement and that it's not just another piece of artwork and that it actually stands for something more Next this past wednesday the amherst planning board approved both a special permit and a site plan review for amherst media's proposed new facility on main and gray streets The votes were passed six to zero with no abstentions Amherst planning board chair christine gray mullen had this to say about the approval So that's uh six zero zero Mr. Sparkle are you still there? I want to thank you and um amherst media For all your hard work and pleasure working with the town. Thank you very much and chris. Thank you for the history as well great good luck And uh, we're we are very indebted As a town to amherst media they do a lot for the town So i'm pleased for them that they can start to move forward with this because I do think there'll be a lot of benefits for the town as a whole Finally governor baker has officially made juneteenth a state holiday as part of a 1.1 billion dollar supplemental budget Many people have advocated for the passing of this bill for years Dr. Amelkar Shabazz a history professor at mu mass amherst Web Du Bois department of afro-american studies was crucial in getting it passed this summer That wraps up this week's amherst weekly report. Thank you so much for tuning into amherst media I'm claire healy and we hope to see you at the same time next week