By Abram Neal
Express Staff
On Tuesday morning, April 14, TRIAD held its monthly meeting at the Halifax Police Station. The Guest Speaker was Larry Erickson, Director of Programming for Carver-Halifax TV.
Guest Speaker Larry Erickson, also joined by board member John Shiavone of the non-profit that owns and operates what is currently known as CHAT, or Carver Halifax Access Television, updated the meeting on what is going on with Public Access Television. CHAT broadcasts town board meetings, educational programming and locally produced programming.
Erickson began by giving a brief history of the laws and development of the concept of Public Access Television, going back to 1972. He then went on to describe some of the current challenges with what is going on locally. At this time, there is just one channel being shared by both Carver and Halifax, Channel 13. The new television studio, at 96 North Main Street in North Carver, is being upgraded, and the goal is that each town will have its own Channel 14 and Channel 15.
One question is whether Plympton will join the alliance, which is causing delays in implementation of this plan. Plympton selectman John Henry felt strongly that they needed to bring this for a Town Meeting vote before moving forward.
Mr. Erickson enthusiastically described the possibilities of CHAT, noting that anyone can come in and make a show, learn how to be behind or in front of the camera, or borrow a camera and take it off site. He also described how the town will gain further “access points”, where live television can be broadcast. He put out a call for more programming, especially from Senior Citizens. The phone number for the new studio is 508-866-1019, and the website can be accessed for now at http://www.ccat.cc
Officer Herb Wiltshire, Senior Affairs Officer, presented briefly on phone scams going on in the area. Officer Wiltshire emphasized strongly that there were many scam-artists currently operating, targeting senior citizens in the area. They often seek out personal information so that they can commit identity theft. He stated that there is often not much that the police can do once information is given. Even worse, sometimes people are tricked into sending money via Western Union or another such wire service, and that money simply cannot be gotten back once it is in the hands of thieves. He also suggested not answering unknown phone numbers.
, because once the scam-artist knows it is an active number, they may try to use it again.
In other TRIAD news:
There is a Safety Assurance Program that provides an automatic call checking your or a loved one’s wellbeing everyday available through TRIAD.
There are pouches called “File of Life” available as well through TRIAD that contain all personal and medical information for glove compartment or wallet.