From the Eagle-Tribune: Haverhill (Mass.) Local President Greg Roberts criticized the city's handling of the EMT certification scandal, warning taxpayers that the Chief Richard Borden’s proposal to suspend 29 firefighters without pay will cost an "astronomical" $600,000 in additional overtime costs.

Disciplinary hearings for the 29 city firefighters accused of lying about receiving their EMT recertification are scheduled to begin this week.

Mayor James Fiorentini acknowledged that the firefighters have apologized for the incident, but defended the fire chief's proposed punishment as being in line with other communities. He even went so far as to say that the firefighters would have been fired if they worked in the private sector.

The Haverhill firefighters are among more than 200 firefighters statewide who have been suspended from working as EMTs by the state for allegedly falsifying records to show that they completed EMT recertification when they did not actually attend the required training. Read the entire article here.