Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll delivers

18th & final state of the city address

Remarks celebrate 17 years of achievements that have made Salem the successful community it now is

SALEM, Mass.—As part of the 2023 reorganization of Salem’s City government, Mayor Kim Driscoll offered remarks that highlighted the City’s accomplishments and successes under her administration’s 17 years. At the conclusion of her address, Mayor Driscoll resigned from her position as Salem’s 50th Mayor, in anticipation of her inauguration on January 5, 2023, as Massachusetts’ 73rd Lieutenant Governor.

The full text of her remarks, as prepared, can be found below.

“Good evening, as we start public meetings in this Chamber, I would like to begin by acknowledging that this land is Naumkeag, or fishing place, where generations of Indigenous peoples lived and passed through for centuries. We acknowledge that this is Indigenous land and also acknowledge the Massachusetts Tribe, who continue to honor and hold this land into the present.

In addition to members of the Council, I’d like to recognize other elected and city officials joining us this evening.

My heart is full of pride and appreciation as I stand before you tonight to deliver my final State of the City address. After 17 years of growth and prosperity together, we’ve transformed our nearly 400-year-old city into a vibrant, thriving community, the hub of the North Shore and, in so many respects, the envy of many Massachusetts communities. Together, we've built a city that is poised for an even stronger and more successful future. We professionalized local government, rebuilt city finances, prioritized transparency, encouraged more voices, and engaged more residents across Salem to participate in their government.

All of this is the direct result of intentional actions we have all taken together, city employees, City Council and School Committee members— both current and past—local leaders, business owners, institutional partners,

See Lt. Gov. Driscoll On Page 7

The best books of 2022 and a bonus book too!

By: Terri Schlichenmeyer* Special to TRT

It happens every year. The decorations come down.

The last of the Christmas leftovers have been eaten. Errant bits of ripped wrapping are found and discarded. You have no more holiday candy or cookies, you look around at your empty hands, and you wonder now what?

Now it’s time to settle in and catch up once this long winter ends. For your pleasure, here are the Top Five Bookworm Picks for the Best of 2022...

Fiction

Lovers of fairy tales are in for a big surprise with “The Book Eaters” by Sunyi Dean (Tor, $26.99). It's a dark, dark legend filled with evil dragons that look like men, princesses that are worse than second-class citizens within their realms, and a chase that will chill you. Book lovers will adore this tale, especially if you don't necessarily need a happily-ever-after.

Pick up a copy of “Dot and Ralphie” by Amy Hoffman (University of Wisconsin Press, $16.95) and it doesn't look like much. But aren't you glad you don't judge a book by its cover? This is a sweet tale of two elderly women, partners in life and love, and aging. It's sweet and grumpy and charming, somewhat like a lesbian Honeymooners episode, only better.

Readers who are familiar with the thrillers that James Lee Burke writes will absolutely be stunned by “Every Cloak Rolled in Blood” (Simon & Schuster, $27.00) because in this book, the thrill is secondary to the main plot. Here, retired detective Aaron Broussard has lost his beloved daughter and it's cut him to the core. Fiery, glasssharp grief doesn't stop crime, though, and so he still has crime to solve— whether real, or imagined. Read this book with an open heart and tissues at hand. It may be Burke’s best.

Lovers of clever, clever stories will love “Sign Here” by Claudia Lux (Berkeley, $27.00). It's the tale of Peyote Trip, whose job on the Fifth Floor of Hell is to recruit new souls for eternity. But Pey has a plan to get out of his purgatory, which turns this funny, sharp-witted story into a shady mystery that will make you laugh a lot and squirm even more.

Here’s a book that’s absolutely not for everyone: “Manhunt” by Gretchen Felker-Martin (Macmillan Nightfire, $17.99) is a lesbian feminist dystopian thriller, which sounds like a lot and it is. A virus has hit every corner of the world, making men into wolf-like killing machines and sending the women into hiding. When two young women—one of them, trans—learns that a “healer” might be able to save her from the inevitable, they head out to find the woman but a makeshift band of warrior women get in their way. Again, this isn't a book for every- one but if you're looking for something very, very different, this is it.

BONUS BOOK: “Things Past Telling” by Sheila Williams (Amistad, $25.99) is a novel of the memories of a 112-year-old former slave, who was also a pirate’s woman, a healer, and someone reaching for things her soul needed. It's an adventurous book with the tiniest touch of fantasy and you shouldn't miss it.

Non-Fiction

You have questions. And “All the Living and the Dead” by Hayley Campbell (St. Martin’s Press, $29.99) has answers. When someone dies, what happens next? A wide variety of things, that's what, and it's someone else's job to see that it's done right. This book is careful not to be (too) gruesome but it is compellingly fascinating.

“Charlie’s Good Tonight” by Paul Sexton (Harper, $27.99) is on this list because it could be the biggest surprise of the year for readers. It's the story of the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, a man who really never wanted fame and often actively shunned the limelight. If you think you know all about the debauchery of your favorite rock & roll band, think again and be totally charmed by one man's life.

There are two business books on this list because they don't at all read like business books; in fact, “Think Like a Horse” by Grant Golliher (Putnam, $28.00) and “Meet Me by the Fountain” by Alexandra Lange (Bloomsbury, $28.00) both seem more like snuggle-up-in-front-of-the-fire kinds of books. Golliher's book is pure cowboy—he was a rancher and worked ex-

AG Healey issues 1st-ever mental health & gender-affirming care resource guide for LGBTQ2IA+ youth

Guide centralizes info. on existing mental health resources for LGBTQ2IA+ care across the state; improves access

BOSTON—Seeking to increase access to critical mental health resources for LGBTQ2IA+ young people across Massachusetts, Attorney General Maura Healey issued her office’s firstever “Mental Health and Gender-Affirming Care Resource Guide for Massachusetts LGBTQ2IA+ Young People and Their Trusted Adults (https://is.gd/3BfgzK) last month.”

The Resource Guide (https://is.gd/3BfgzK), intended for LGBTQ2IA+ young people, their trusted adults, and supportive community members, was developed in connection with a $1 million grant (https://is.gd/pGSWUR) awarded to the AG’s Office by the U.S. Department of Justice for the STOP School Violence and Mental Health Grant Program in 2018. The AG’s Office is utilizing the funding to collaborate with Sandy Hook Promise to implement and expand violence and suicide prevention training programs in middle and high schools across the state. As part of this federal grant, the AG’s Office also created this Resource Guide with the goal of providing information about specialized mental health services available throughout Massachusetts for LGBTQ2IA+ young people, a community who experiences high rates of suicide and mental illness as well as high rates of discrimination and victimization, yet traditionally has had unequal access to health care services. The Resource Guide also aims to acknowledge the roles that intersectionality and social determinants of health play in mental health outcomes of the LGBTQ2IA+ community.

“As dangerous homophobic and transphobic policies are being enacted across the country, it is more important than ever that we support our LGBTQ2IA+ young people and ensure they have access to critical services and resources,” said AG Healey. “In publishing this Resource Guide, it is our hope that we are able to increase the visibility and accessibility of health care providers to our young people, and to better help them navigate through various financial and sociocultural barriers to receive care.”

“There are so many caring professionals and organizations looking to support and affirm LGBTQ2IA+ people in the Commonwealth,” said Dr. Scott Hadland, Chief of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Mass General Hospital. “The LGBTQ2IA+ Mental Health Resource Guide is full of high-quality services, and it will not only save lives, but just as importantly, it will help LGBTQ2IA+ people find affirmation and thrive, all across our state.”

“On behalf of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH), I commend Attorney General Healey and her office for their leadership in developing a Mental Health Resource Guide for LGBTQ2IA+ Youth and

To Services

Their Trusted Adults,” said President and CEO of Mas sachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH), Danna Mauch. “This resource is particularly timely, as we know that LGBTQ2IA+ youth are suffering disproportionately in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This Guide will be a key resource in supporting the Commonwealth’s Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform, in that it will help advance equitable access to culturally competent mental health and substance use services. This resource will remove barriers to care access for LGBTQ2IA+ Youth — a community that has been historically marginalized and is as a consequence at greatest risk for disruption of their mental health and well-being. We look forward to disseminating the Guide through the Network of Care Massachusetts website, and trust it will be a helpful tool for the new Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line call, text, and chat operators.”

“In these challenging times, mental health resources, especially for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults, are critically important in helping young people access the support that they need and deserve,” said Grace Sterling Stowell, Executive Director of BAGLY, Inc. “We applaud outgoing Attorney General and Governor-Elect Maura Healey and her team for developing this much needed and useful resource for all LGBTQ+ youth, and those who provide services for their support.”

“LGBTQ+ youth are the targets of significant and unprecedented attacks resulting in increased need for mental health services and supports,” said Christopher Bellonci, M.D. Senior Policy Advisor, Baker Center for Children and Families.