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Calls for changes to Bridgewater State Hospital come with dark details

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

Bridgewater State Hospital is more like a prison than a mental health hospital, lawmakers are being told.Members of the Legislature’s Justice Reform Caucus said as it is currently run and managed by contractors for the state Department of Correction, the state hospital is more akin to the jails the department’s crews are trained to operate.“It doesn’t feel like a hospital at all, it feels like a prison,” state Rep. Mary Keefe said.Bridgewater State Hospital houses hundreds of males, all exhibiting severe mental illnesses, many but not all of whom have been convicted of crimes.Legislation offered by state Rep. Ruth Balser, H2985 or An Act transferring Bridgewater State Hospital from the Department of Correction to the Department of Mental Health, would do exactly as its name suggests and transfer Bridgewater from the DOC to DMH, where the staff has expertise in the care of those with mental illness.“This bill is so important because the people who are at Bridgewater State Hospi...

More than 1,200 families entered Massachusetts emergency shelter since August

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

More than 1,200 families have entered Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system nearly two months after Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency, according to data provided by the administration.A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities said there were 6,794 families in the shelter system as of Tuesday morning, 1,244 more than the 5,550 that were in the system on Aug. 7, the day before the emergency declaration.As of Tuesday, 3,604 families were in traditional shelter sites, or locations that are staffed by contracted homeless service providers, and 3,089 were in overflow hotel and motel sites, according to the administration.A surge in newly-arrived migrants coupled with homeless families already seeking housing in Massachusetts have pushed the emergency shelter system to the brink. It has prompted Healey to make repeated calls to the federal government for funding and the expedition of work permits for migrants.And the entrants to the sh...

Boston Chamber urges City Council to fund police intelligence to ‘quell recent violence’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

The business community is urging the City Council to approve millions of dollars in grant funding for the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, saying that the money is needed to “quell recent violence” that has put public safety at a “crisis point.”James Rooney, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, wrote a letter in support of advancing $3.4 million to fund the BRIC, money that has been earmarked by the state for the past four years, but held up by the council.The City Council is expected to vote on funding the intelligence arm of the city’s police department on Wednesday, three weeks after rejecting three $850,000 grants set aside for the BRIC. A fourth $850,000 grant was later filed by the mayor.“The Chamber continues to hear from concerned workers, residents, community leaders, business owners and the broader public about the recent rise in shootings and violent incidents,” Rooney wrote in a letter to the Council. “Funds for appropriate and necessary techn...

New Hampshire trolls Massachusetts in lottery ad: ‘The no-good Massachusetts Tax Shark… stealing all our lottery winnings’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

As the Powerball jackpot continues to spike well above $1 billion, Bay Staters who live near the New Hampshire border may want to consider heading over the state line for a lottery ticket.That’s the message from the New Hampshire Lottery, which in a new ad trolls Massachusetts — warning of the prowling Bay State “Tax Shark” that devours lotto winnings.The 30-second ad features a Massachusetts lottery winner who learns her winnings will be subject to additional state taxes.The ad campaign airing on WMUR-TV, streaming TV and New Hampshire radio stations starts with the excited Massachusetts resident — who’s wearing a Boston shamrock hoodie — looking at a lotto ticket.“I’m a millionaire! Thanks Mass Lottery!” she yells in a classic Boston accent.Then she hears a knock at the door.“Yeah? Who is it?” she asks.“Pizza,” the unknown visitor responds, as ominous Jaws-like music starts.“Nobody ordered a ...

Jack Teixeira leaker case: Court to impound even unclassified documents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

While the case against Jack Teixeira is about the Massachusetts Air National Guard member sharing classified military documents to gaming buddies online, the government will now begin impounding non-classified documents uncovered in the discovery process.“Upon motion of the government and with the assent of the defendant, Jack Teixeira, this court finds that restrictions are necessary to protect the confidentiality of certain information and ORDERS … that the defendant and his counsel, and the government, are hereby bound to the following restrictions with regard to certain of the government’s discovery materials,” the protective order drafted by prosecutors and signed by U.S. District Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy on Tuesday begins.“For the purposes of this order, ‘discovery materials’ means all items produced by the government in discovery labeled ‘SENSITIVE — SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER,’” the order continues.Teixeira, 21, was arrested April 13 at the North Dighton home of o...

Bus crash near Venice, Italy, kills at least 21 people, including Ukrainian tourists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

By GIADA ZAMPANO (Associated Press)ROME (AP) — At least 21 people were killed and 18 injured in a fiery bus crash in Mestre, Italy, just across the Venetian Lagoon from old Venice, where firefighters and other emergency responders worked into the night trying to extract bodies and squelch the flames.The bus was carrying foreign tourists, including Ukrainians, according to a Venice official, when it fell from an elevated street Tuesday en route to a camping site near the community of Marghera.“The people in the bus found themselves surrounded by flames, ” said Mauro Luongo, commander of the Venice firefighters team. “The scene we found was terrible. It took about one hour to extract some of the bodies.” Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that the crash scene was “apocalyptic” and declared the city in a state of mourning. Four of the injured were in serious condition following th...

Local leaders react to ousting of Kevin McCarthy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The historic ousting of Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as Speaker of the House on Tuesday produced reactions from local leaders.Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) orchestrated the vote to unseat McCarthy after the California representative averted a government shutdown by putting a stopgap measure on the floor that collected Democratic support. However, hours before the vote, Democrats announced they would not protect McCarthy from infuriated Republicans.The political chaos prompted reactions from Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) and Rep. Mike Levin D-San Juan Capistrano).Jacobs blamed House Republicans for turning "the House into chaos, elevating extremism and the MAGA faction of their party." Scripps Health cutting ties with insurance covering thousands of SD seniors "They intentionally pushed our country toward a historic default of our debt and a federal government shutdown, ignoring the stress and anxiety inflicted on the American people and our economy. They hijacked the biparti...

Kevin McCarthy is out as speaker of the House. Here’s what’s next.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House of Representatives is entering uncharted territory after a far-right effort to remove fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy from the speakership succeeded thanks to support from Democrats. A resolution — titled a motion to vacate — from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., passed Tuesday with the support of eight Republicans and all the Democrats present and voting. The vote made McCarthy the first speaker in history to be removed from office, a bitter humiliation that came after less than nine months on the job. The California Republican told his conference shortly after that he would not run for the job again. It is a stunning outcome in the House that shocked lawmakers of both parties and left them wondering what the future will bring.Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, now the acting speaker, declared the House in recess until both parties can decide on a path forward. There is no obvious successor to lead the House Republican majority now that McCarthy has opted not to ...

Appeal heard in ex-College Street Bar gang rape

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

Two men sentenced to nine years each for the gang sexual assault of a young woman inside a downtown Toronto bar had their appeals heard Tuesday, more than six years after the assault took place.Gavin MacMillan, the owner of the now-shuttered College Street Bar, and his bar manager, Enzo De Jesus Carrasco, were convicted of sexually assaulting and administering a noxious substance to the 24-year-old victim in December 2016.The bar’s surveillance cameras captured most of the hours-long sexual assault that the trial judge described as “prolonged, violent and degrading.” The pair was found guilty in late 2019.While De Jesus Carrasco has remained behind bars throughout, MacMillan has rarely seen the inside of a jail cell.He had been on bail pending his sentence and was granted bail again pending his appeal. On Tuesday morning, he surrendered to a Toronto detention centre, but he is expected to be re-released while awaiting an appeal decision.“Our justice system lo...

New Mexico Attorney General has charged a police officer in the shooting death of a Black man

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:13:59 GMT

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Tuesday announced that a police officer has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black man during a confrontation at a gas station. Las Cruces Police Officer Brad Lunsford was booked on the single charge and released on Tuesday morning, a spokesperson for Torrez said. A voicemail left at the office of Lunsford’s attorney, Jess Lilley, was not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.Lunsford shot Presley Eze, 36, on Aug. 2, 2022, at a Las Cruces gas station after an employee of the business called 911 to report he saw Eze leaving with beer he did not pay for, authorities say.Lunsford was the first officer to arrive. During a scuffle, Eze ended up on the ground on top of a second officer and he placed his hand on that officer’s Taser. Lunsford drew his handgun and shot Eze once on the back left side of his head at point-blank range. Torrez said his office consulted with use-of-...