Last week, Revere City Councilor At-Large, Jessica Giannino, submitted signatures the Secretary of State, Bill Galvin’s office. The signatures were later certified, resulting in confirmation that Giannino will officially be on the September ballot for State Representative, 16thSuffolk District. “I’m…
Author: Journal Staff
Gravellese Qualifies for Ballot in State Rep. Race
Joe Gravellese has qualified for the ballot in the Democratic Primary for State Representative in the 16th Suffolk District (Revere, Chelsea, Saugus), turning in his verified signatures at the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office last week. The Primary election will…
House Passes Legislation to Track Data at Long-Term Care, Elder Housing Facilities
On April 21, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo along with his colleagues in the House of Representatives passed legislation to require long-term care and housing facilities to report and track COVID-19 positive cases and mortalities to public health officials during…
MBTA Fare Transformation Program Advances With Approval of Amendment
On Monday, the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board approved a contract amendment regarding the Public Private Partnership agreement involving the T and the consortium Cubic | John Liang – rolling out the new fare collection system that has been…
MVES’ Benefit Event Spring for Independence Raises Over $146k
Mystic Valley Elder Services’ (MVES) annual fundraiser Spring For Independence to help older adults and adults with disabilities was unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event, in its fifteenth year, was to be held on April 4th at…
Plan for Law School Graduates Announced
Special to the Journal The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners (BBE) last week announced a plan for the Massachusetts Bar Examination to proceed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and an expanded opportunity for…
MCU Donates 5,000 N95 Masks to Partners Healthcare
Metro Credit Union, Massachusetts’ largest state-chartered credit union, today announced that it has donated 5,000 N95 masks to Partners HealthCare amid the coronavirus crisis. The masks will be distributed to Partners institutions, which include Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, Brigham…
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Down for the Second Week: More Than 600,000 Have Filed Claims since March 15
Special to the Journal Massachusetts had 80,153 individuals file an initial claim for unemployment insurance from April 12 to April 18. This represented a decrease of 22% over the previous week as most of the workers who have been laid…
MBTA’s RIDE Offering Transit Services to PCAs
The MBTA announced that the RIDE paratransit service will temporarily allow customers to book trips for their personal care attendants (PCAs) in an effort to best support their ADA-eligible customers during the COVID-19 situation. “This change will allow the MBTA…
Lights Out: MassDOT Schedules Tunnel Lighting Maintenance in Ted Williams Tunnel
Special to the Journal The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is announcing that there will be reduced lighting in the Ted Williams Tunnel (TWT) eastbound and westbound in Boston. This essential work began on Sunday, April 26, at 11 p.m.,…
Pioneering Consumer-Worker Organization Demands Massive COVID-19 Testing Production, Universal Testing
Special to the Journal The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer and worker advocacy organization, is demanding that the federal government put its support behind massive COVID-19 test production and, as quickly as is feasible, put in place…
SJC Issues Updated Order Regarding State Court Operations During Pandemic
Special to the Journal The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) on Monday issued an updated order, which will be effective May 4, 2020, regarding the operation of Massachusetts state courts and courthouses during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new order, until…
Police Briefs 04-29-2020
Weekly Crime Report Friday, April 17 0024: Officers responded to a report of a noise disturbance on Thornton St. 0130: Officers responded to a report of a breaking & entering into a building on Bellingham Ave. 0247: Officers responded to…
Allowing the States to Go Bankrupt Is a Really Bad Idea
One of the most glaring shortcomings thus far of the stimulus and disaster packages that have been passed by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the failure to provide assistance to the states. Every state in the…
Guest Op-Ed: For Graduates, a Year to Remember
By Brian Arrigo The Covid-19 pandemic is a thief. It has stolen loved ones from our families, deprived us of our freedom, and ripped away our sense of social assurance. It has caused heartache and devastating financial adversity. But for…
Guest Op-Ed: Thoughts for a Better Future
By Anthony D’ambrosio The COVID-19 crisis has brought American society to a grinding halt. In just a few short weeks, we have lost thousands of lives, businesses have closed, schools have been suspended, and we find ourselves in an incredibly…
Guest Op-Ed: Pathways to Good Jobs: My Plan to Expand Access to Vocational and Technical Education
By Joe Gravellese There are over 3200 students on waiting lists to attend vocational and technical schools in Massachusetts. Each year, students from our district sweat out the admissions process to get into Northeast Metro Tech. This is a policy…
Guest Op-Ed: Fighting for the Frontline
By Maura Healey More than 300,000 health care workers and first responders in Massachusetts have stepped up to the frontlines in the battle against COVID-19. They suit up in scrubs or uniforms, leave the comfort of their homes, and put…
Guest Op-Ed: Jail Should Not Equal Death
By Christopher Westfall COVID-19 has prompted our communities to widely adopt two practices to limit the spread of the virus: handwashing and social distancing. Yet Massachusetts not only discourages these public health precautions for incarcerated people, but also often makes…
Science Matters
By Jack Clarke Either science matters or it doesn’t. Policy makers can’t have it both ways and selectively apply it only when it advances a political agenda. Science should inform and drive public policy not the other way around –…
