A longtime children’s advocate, born in Lawrence and raised in Haverhill, was memorialized by the state Senate yesterday. Monday’s Senate adjournment was in honor of James E. Lister, who died unexpectedly last Nov. 30 from an underlying medical condition complicated by COVID-19. Sen. Joan B. Lovely of Salem (Mass.) offered the motion, which was adopted by the full Senate Monday. Lister, who was 45, worked as executive director of Plummer Youth Promise in Salem for nearly 15 years.
Data suggesting little disparity in rates of parole denied to Blacks and Latinos as compared with white individuals may not tell the whole story. Rep. Andy X. Vargas, co-chair of the Special Commission on Structural Racism in the Massachusetts Parole Process, told participants at an online legislative briefing last week specific information is needed. “Based off these numbers strictly, we can’t say there is a direct disparity in parole. However, we make a concrete distinction between this data and further data that’s needed to highlight the disparities across similar offense types,” he said. Vargas explained what information is needed to draw an accurate conclusion.
A legislative committee is recommending passage of a sweeping internet privacy rights bill. The Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity, chaired by Andover Sen. Barry Finegold and Methuen Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, voted 12-0 to advance the Massachusetts Information Privacy and Security Act originally sponsored by Rep. Andy Vargas and Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem. If passed, the bill would give residents greater control over personal information online and establish standards for how companies can collect, use, retain and sell personal information. Finegold said, “Online privacy and security issues are only going to get more important, and we need to take proactive measures to ensure new technologies are used responsibly. In the absence of federal action, we can enact meaningful reforms in the Commonwealth and help clarify the rules of the road for businesses.”
The Committee was established a year ago and received testimony on data privacy issues at its Oct.
ByChris Van Buskirk and Katie Lannan, State House News Service |
Massachusetts schools this week will be able to sign up to receive at-home rapid COVID-19 tests for weekly use by their students and staff, and those that choose to do so will stop contact tracing and participating in the “test-and-stay” program that allows close contacts to stay in the classroom as long as they test negative for the virus daily. State officials said Tuesday the new option for local school districts will allow school nurses to focus more on symptomatic individuals and general COVID-19 management. Schools will still need to continue participating in symptomatic or pooled testing to take part in the new at-home test program. K-12 students and staff at schools that opt in to the program will receive one packet of two COVID tests each week for use on a day designated by local officials. Local districts can start opting in to the program for staff this week and will start receiving tests for staff during the week of Jan.
Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, who has served two decades, said Wednesday he does not plan to seek re-election later this year. Blodgett, a Peabody Democrat who has run unopposed in every election since he first claimed his seat with 50% of the vote in a 2002 primary, said his decision came after “considerable thought and discussion with my family.”
“It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as the Essex District Attorney for the past 20 years. I will always be indebted to the people of Essex County for their confidence in me,” Blodgett said in a statement. Blodgett made a rare public visit to the area in 2019 when he conducted a press conference with Groveland Police Chief Jeffrey Gillen related to the murder of former Groveland building inspector Patsy Schena. Forty-eight-year-old Leedell Graham of Haverhill was charged with killing the 82-year-old man. At the press conference, Blodgett and Gillen declared Schena’s death a week earlier to be the result of “blunt and sharp force trauma.” Police believe Graham used a lamp from Schena’s Governors Road home to kill him.
Legislators are weighing proposals to allow state government to pick up the student loan payments of anyone serving in law enforcement, part of an effort to recruit more young people into the field. “We are facing a shortage of law enforcement officers in this state, something that a lot of my police chiefs are saying could evolve into a public safety crisis in the near future if we don’t do something about this,” Rep. Lenny Mirra said Tuesday morning. “A lot of people are leaving that field. Very few young people are going into it. And so, we need to really do something about that really quickly.”
Mirra testified before the Public Service Committee on bills offering tuition reimbursement for anyone pursuing a criminal justice degree in Massachusetts and his student loan repayment bill, which he described as a “more effective and more timely way to go.”
Under his bill, the state would cover loan payments for any individual who attains a criminal justice degree or law enforcement certificate from a Massachusetts state college, university or community college, and is currently working in Massachusetts for a law enforcement agency, municipal police department or the State Police.
The legislature is soliciting public comments on a bill that would allow residents to be reimbursed by the state for college courses in police work. Rep. Lenny Mirra’s proposed “Act regarding free tuition for students seeking a degree in criminal justice” is being heard by the Joint Committee on Public Service. The bill permits an individual pursuing a degree in criminal justice or a certificate in law enforcement at any college or university in the state to receive full tuition reimbursement for courses of studies. Besides an online public hearing at 1 p.m., Monday, the public may submit written testimony by email to [email protected] through Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 5 p.m. Those sending in comments are advised to list the bill number, H.2734, in the subject of the email.
COVID-19 booster shots will become mandatory for roughly 93,000 students and staff across the University of Massachusetts campuses. Officials said Tuesday that each of the five UMass schools has rolled out its own requirement for boosters in recent days, and UMass President Marty Meehan said Tuesday his office will also require its 320 employees to get a booster shot as soon as reasonably possible once enough time has passed from their original doses. While the broad mandate is the same for the 75,000 students and 18,000 faculty and staff members in the UMass system, the mechanics will vary across each individual campus. UMass Lowell set a Feb. 28 deadline for currently eligible students and will give newly eligible students 30 days to get a booster shot.
