Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito traded in their workwear for white-and-maroon team jerseys to honor the UMass men’s hockey team’s national championship win.
“It was an enormous joy to watch this team play its way through the playoffs and especially to avenge its defeat from two years ago,” Baker said, speaking alongside coaches and team members outside the State House Tuesday.
The UMass Minutemen beat the Huskies of St. Cloud State University 5-0 in a shutout game on April 10 in Pittsburgh, vindicating their 2019 title loss against the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in the national semifinals.
It’s the UMass men’s hockey team’s first NCAA Division 1 title and the first championship for the UMass Amherst athletic department in more than a decade.
Baker spoke to the "class and character" of head coach Greg Carvel who called a timeout in the final moments of the championship game to make sure his players took a moment to appreciate the significance of their accomplishment.
“We just wanted to build a program that we can be proud of. And I think it’s really important for our university system, but particularly Amherst, to have a championship program — a big state school has something that they can cheer loud about,” Carvel said. “I’m just really proud that we’re able to provide that.”
UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy said, “it’s never lost on me that we in fact are a moral grant institution of Massachusetts and our success, whether in the classroom or in the lab or on ice — it belongs to the people of the commonwealth.”
UMass President Marty Meehan praised the win, calling athletics “the front porch of any university.”
“You need to show excellence in everything that you do — in your research, in your graduation rates, in your retention rates, but athletics is important to demonstrate that you are committed to excellence," Meehan said.
Baker called Massachusetts a “hockey state” but the Minutemen win is the first time a Massachusetts college men’s team has captured the Division 1 college hockey championship since 2012.
“We take enormous pride in the fact that it’s not that unusual for a college hockey team from Massachusetts — sometimes more than one — to end up in the final four in college hockey, men’s and women’s,” Baker said. “Let’s remember that the Northeastern women’s team made it all the way to the final four as well.”
By Rick Sobey, Erin Tiernan on Apr 20, 2021 07:26 pm
The push is on to relax the outdoor mask mandate.
But Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday wouldn’t commit to any time frame as more and more people get the coronavirus vaccine.
When people are not crowded outside, there is “barely any risk at all” to contracting COVID-19, epidemiologists say. But under the Bay State mask mandate, people are supposed to wear a mask at all times in public.
“I really question whether people have to wear them outside while they’re walking, while they’re running and biking,” said Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the division of infectious disease at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “That’s a different risk. There’s barely any risk at all.”
When a family of five goes to the park, they’re supposed to wear masks while gathering together at the park after being maskless inside all day.
“That doesn’t make any sense, and there are a lot of situations like that,” Sax said.
It’s still important to wear masks outside in crowded settings, when there are face-to-face encounters with people in close range, he said. Sax also still strongly supports a mask mandate for indoor activities.
The governor on Tuesday said he’s not ready to make any commitments either way even as public health experts signal it could soon be time to ditch masks outdoors.
“This is obviously something we’re not just talking to local folks about we’ve also been talking to the feds, as well,” Baker said during a press conference.
Some Republican governors have already decided to rescind mask mandates in their state, including in New Hampshire, but Baker said he’d “rather just wait and work through the conversations folks” before committing to any timeframe.
Paul Diego Craney, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said it’s time for Baker to lift the outdoor mask order.
“Those in our most vulnerable populations who want a vaccine now have that protection and with vaccines available to everyone as of Monday, it’s time to start taking steps back to normal,” Craney added.
But epidemiologists say the outdoor mask order shouldn’t be completely lifted because there are close encounters in which masks are still necessary.
“There could be a loosening of mask use outdoors where social distance can be maintained,” said Boston University infectious diseases specialist Davidson Hamer. “But full removal of the order should not happen until we’re in a better place with the number of new cases.”
State officials Tuesday announced nearly $3.6 million in grants that will go toward building, renovating and marketing Massachusetts tourist attractions to help revitalize the economy after a year in which tourism and hospitality were among the industries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism Executive Director Keiko Matsudo Orrall announced $1.58 million in awards to 59 tourism organizations, chambers of commerce and municipalities as part of the newly created Travel and Tourism Recovery Grant Pilot Program.
“I really believe that the hardest part is behind us and the greatest days are ahead. … We want to make sure that this year it is showcased more than ever,” Polito said. “These grants certainly will allow us to do that.”
In Boston, the recipients include $20,000 to market the Freedom Trail and its 16 historic sites.
"We are greatly appreciative of the grant as we have suffered more than a 90% decrease in revenue due to the pandemic," said Suzanne Taylor, a member of the Freedom Trail Foundation's Board of Directors.
In Worcester County, Old Sturbridge Village will receive $33,750 for a "Come and Stay" advertising and outreach campaign that will coincide with the museum's upcoming 75th anniversary.
The living museum, which recreates life in rural New England during the 1790s through 1830s, lost nearly 150,000 visitors last year because of the pandemic, said Jim Donahue, its president and CEO.
Polito also announced the opening of the Destination Development Capital Grant Program created in the economic development bill signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in January.
The $2 million competitive grant program will award funds to strengthen the economy through development projects that will construct, expand, restore or renovate tourism destinations and attractions.
"Massachusetts continues to make critical investments that support our small businesses, visitor destinations, downtown districts and rural areas," said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy. "These investments are critical to helping our tourism and hospitality industry rebound from the impacts caused by this public health crisis and will allow our communities to recover as we approach the summer tourism season."
Boston residents have worn face masks in public for nearly a year to stop the spread of coronavirus, and despite some medical opinions that outdoor transmission is rare, they say they don’t plan on going out uncovered anytime soon.
“I personally feel that it’s really important to continue wearing masks, at least until we know that everyone has been vaccinated,” said 19-year-old Aja Webber.
Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, said he expects outdoor mask mandates like the one in Massachusetts to lift in the coming weeks. But even on Tuesday’s 70-degree, sunny day in the Public Garden, locals told the Herald they’re not ready to be barefaced again.
“I’m in a somewhat unique situation in the fact that I have a preexisting condition,” said Alan Rothman, 77. “Of course, I’ve gotten my two shots, but still — there’s always a concern.”
For some Bay Staters, their comfort with the mask mandate is situational.
“I still think it’s a good idea if you’re around a lot of people — if you’re going to an event and there’s a concert, or something. But if you’re by yourself, walking with your family, you can put your mask down,” said Chicopee resident Lisa Martial.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu ended the state’s mask mandate last week, but a move that widespread sounded jarring people in the more populated Boston area.
“I don’t think we’re ready for that. I don’t think anyone should be doing that,” Martial said.
“I can see the younger generation wanting to get rid of their masks, but most of my peers would frown on that,” said Rothman.
But even younger people said at this point, the masks don’t feel like that big of a deal.
“I’ve gotten more accustomed to it at this point, I suppose,” said 25-year-old Daniel Schwartz, who lives in densely packed Beacon Hill. “I have no problem with it.”
So when will Bostonians be ready to pack away their masks? A handful of joggers and walkers around Boston Common went completely mask-free Tuesday afternoon, which is in step with recent recommendations from doctors like Jha. Others told the Herald they want widespread vaccination, and they’ll wait until the experts agree it’s safe for everyone.
Do you think Gov. Charlie Baker should lift the mask mandate? Take our poll online at bostonherald.com today.
Up to 1,000 members of the Massachusetts National Guard have been activated as a precaution in case of "large-scale" protests after Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict.
Public safety officials said there is “no indication of any public safety risk in Massachusetts," but Gov. Charlie Baker has alerted the Guard to be ready.
"The (administration) has been working with our local, state, and federal partners to ensure public safety personnel can be on hand if the need arises," Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Secretary Thomas Turco said.
The Baker administration has enacted similar orders calling up the National Guard in the year since George Floyd’s death and as unrest has swept the nation in the wake of continued police killings, particularly of Black men.
None have required any Guard operations since June 1 following an eruption of violence in Boston over Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis Police.
EOPSS spokesman Jake Wark underscored that point saying the number of guardsmen put on standby “reflects the maximum number of personnel who would be available and not necessarily the number deployed.”
State Police Col. Christopher Mason said his force would operate with increased staffing levels in case troopers are called up to assist local police departments.
"We are coordinating with our partner agencies on a multi-layered, scalable plan to protect people's safety, property, and rights of assembly and free speech," Mason said.
State Police and Homeland Security are monitoring the situation.
Jury selection began Tuesday in the fraud and bribery case against a former Massachusetts mayor first elected at the age of 23.
Jasiel Correia is going to trial in Boston’s federal court on allegations that he defrauded investors who backed a smartphone app he created, and while as mayor of Fall River, extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars from marijuana companies.
Correia, now 29, has denied any wrongdoing, insisted the app designed to help businesses connect with consumers was legitimate and blamed the charges on political foes who want to bring him down.
Authorities say before becoming mayor, Correia took money investors gave him for his app called SnoOwl and spent it on things like dating services, luxury hotels, designer clothes and a Mercedes. Correia is also accused of using his position as mayor to solicit bribes from marijuana businesses seeking to operate there.
For months after his arrest, Correia resisted calls to leave office and survived a bizarre election in March 2019 during which he was recalled by voters and re-elected the same night. But he agreed in October 2019 to take a leave of absence after the extortion charges were brought. He was ousted by voters the next month.
Correia faces charges including wire fraud, extortion conspiracy and bribery.
The case will be the first high-profile jury trial to take place in Boston’s federal court since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The judge has scheduled four days for jury selection and opening statements are expected to begin on Monday.
By Boston Herald Wire Services on Apr 20, 2021 05:39 pm
Massachusetts Eye and Ear has agreed to pay $2.7 million to resolve federal fraud allegations, acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Nathaniel Mendell announced Tuesday.
Prosecutors say the Hub hospital, which specializes in eye, ear, nose and throat ailments, improperly billed government health care programs for some office visits, defrauding the country of more than a million dollars.
“When health care providers submit improper claims to Medicare and Medicaid, they do two bad things: they unjustly enrich themselves, and they drain money needed for legitimate patient care,” Mendell said. “This settlement punishes bad billing and helps safeguard government health care programs from fraud, waste and abuse.”
They say the allegations were originally brought in a lawsuit filed by a whistleblower. Mass Eye and Ear said in a statement that it’s “taken corrective actions to address our billing processes.”
Venmo goes crypto
Venmo will allow users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on its app, the company said Tuesday, the latest mainstream financial platform to wade into alternative currency like Bitcoin.
In addition to Bitcoin, Venmo has opened up the platform to Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash — generally considered to be among the mainstream of the digital currencies. Crypto buyers will be able to publish their purchases or sells on the Venmo’s social feed as well.
Bitcoin has attracted massive interest, particularly in the last 18 months. Its price has held steadily above $50,000, and the value of other cryptocurrencies has been on the rise.
Massachusetts health officials reported that nearly 2.1 million people in the state are now fully vaccinated as more than 79,000 coronavirus vaccine doses were given during the most recent day of vax data on Tuesday.
It comes as the state also reported 968 new virus cases and three deaths from the virus.
Overall, 2,095,808 people in Massachusetts have now been fully vaccinated.
The state Department of Public Health’s daily vaccination report showed 5,209,620 total doses have been administered — 3,113,812 people who have received at least one dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, 1,892,492 people who have received both doses of Pfizer or Moderna, and 203,316 people who have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
That’s a daily increase of 79,162 doses. The previous daily vaccinations were 50,856 shots, 69,990 shots, 88,032 shots, 86,934 shots and 95,048 shots.
More than 5.9 million doses have been shipped to the state after a recent shipment of 37,820 doses. More than 87% of doses shipped here have been administered.
Tuesday’s 968 new cases follow a recent spike in cases as the more contagious variants spread across the state. The Bay State’s count of estimated active cases is now 33,060 cases, up from 25,397 a few weeks ago.
Tuesday’s three new virus deaths bring the state’s total recorded death toll to 17,484. The seven-day average of daily deaths is now seven, down from 77 daily deaths in late January. Daily deaths are now at the lowest point of the pandemic amid the vax rollout.
Statewide hospitalizations have dropped during the vax rollout but started fluctuating in recent weeks. Hospitalizations on Tuesday ticked up by three patients, bringing the total to 708 patients.
The seven-day average of the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 has declined from 2,347 patients at the start of January to an average of 705 patients now.
Acting Mayor Kim Janey slammed the “lack of leadership” that kept Patrick Rose on the force even after the Boston Police Department’s own investigators substantiated allegations of child molestations against him, as detailed in newly released documents from the 1990s that show Rose losing his gun but keeping his job.
“Based on a review of former officer Rose's internal affairs file conducted by the City's Law Department, it is clear that previous leaders of the police department neglected their duty to protect and serve,” Janey’s office said. “Despite an internal affairs investigation in 1996 that found credible evidence to sustain the allegation against Rose for sexually assaulting a minor, it appears that the police department made no attempt to fire him.”
The files from 1995 show that officers fielded a complaint of indecent assault and battery on a person under 14 against Rose, leading the police to file criminal charges and launch an internal affairs investigations.
The probe continued even after a corresponding criminal case ended because the child did not want to speak further and Rose invoked his 5th Amendment right not to talk to the BPD’s IA investigators.
In June 1996, the complaint was classified as “sustained,” meaning investigators found evidence to support the allegations — and the IA officers sent the finding to then-Commissioner Paul Evans. The department kept Rose on the force but relegated him to administrative desk duty, the documents show, and they took away his gun.
But in October 1997, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association sent a letter to the BPD brass threatening a grievance over the restrictions on Rose’s ability to receive some types of overtime pay. The letter asks for the reason why Rose was sent to desk duty.
The letter was dated Oct. 20, 1997 — and, two days later, Evans sent Superintendent Ann Marie Doherty a note that read, “Please see me on this.” Chronologically, that’s the last of the documents the city released.
Sometime after that, the force restored Rose to normal duty — and, 17 years later, he’d come to lead the BPPA himself, in 2014 ousting the powerful Tommy Nee, the man who’d led the union when it sent the 1997 letter.
The new Corporation Counsel Henry Luthin — the city’s main in-house lawyer — said in a letter that the administration can’t release “much of” the details of the investigation, as it’s about sexual assault claims.
Boston, MA – 9/6/2016 – Union President of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association Patrick M. Rose holds up a memo that he circulated in June of 2016 as he testifies during the body camera hearing at Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, MA, September 6, 2016. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)POOL
Janey declared, “This culture of secrecy cannot be tolerated,” and vowed that her newly appointed head of the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency will review the BPD’s internal affairs policies in the next 45 days.
Rose currently is behind bars on 33 counts stemming from allegations from six people. He maintains his innocence as the cases move forward.
Moments before the jury announced it had reached a verdict in the trial against former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, Gov. Charlie Baker said the state was ready to support cities and towns in case of demonstrations.
“We’ve had lots of conversations over the course of the past several days with our colleagues about this,” Baker said, speaking in Ashburton Park outside the State House on Tuesday. “We’ll continue to monitor of channels that we historically monitor around this stuff.”
Baker did not say specifically if he expected unrest.
“Massachusetts had one bad day all the way through all the activity of last summer — literally tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people peacefully demonstrating here in Massachusetts,” he said.
A day of peaceful protests last May 31 where protesters demanded justice for Floyd’s death and that of others at the hands of police, turned into a night of violence with riots, looting and vandalism. The National Guard was called in during the early morning hours of June 1 to shut down protesters.
Boston’s new mayor — the city’s first woman and first Black person to lead the majority-minority city — on Tuesday said she was working with law enforcement in preparation for possible demonstrations in the wake of the Chauvin verdict.
“It’s important that we recognize that this is traumatizing for many of us that have seen this over and over and over again,” Janey said, noting she was also working to deploy the city’s trauma team.
Janey encouraged activists to “stay engaged… regardless of the verdict.”
“Even if justice is served in this case it does not mean that the work is over. It is important that we continue to move forward with the racial justice agenda,” Janey said, ticking off the names of Duante Wright and Adam Toledo — two young men of color killed in recent days by police.
As the past year of protests unfolded, it became common practice in Massachusetts for Baker to put the National Guard on standby around times of planned protests. He did not address questions of whether he would do so again or if demonstrations were expected with the Chauvin verdict.
“We’re obviously going to keep talking to our colleagues in local government and if we need to do some things at their request to make sure everybody stays calm and peaceful, we’ll do that,” Baker said. “But I’m incredibly proud of the way the state has dealt with these issues.”
Baker touted his collaboration with the Legislature last session to pass bipartisan police reform legislation, noting Massachusetts is “one of the few states to have actually” done so.
This year’s high school juniors won’t be required to take and pass MCAS to graduate, department of education officials decided Tuesday in the latest set of testing modifications made due to the pandemic.
“I think this is exactly the type of thing that shows students that we’re caring about them,” Jasper Coughlin, the student member on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, said of the new modification that passed with a unanimous vote.
The science MCAS requirement for the class of 2022 had previously been dropped, but English language arts and math testing had remained.
The new measure now completely exempts the class from having to pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System to graduate. Instead, students will now be able to demonstrate competency in a particular subject by completing a relevant course.
Robert Curtin, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education associate commissioner, said in a presentation that students have not had any opportunities to take the MCAS, making it difficult to keep the requirement in place.
“Without this modification, you know, they would never have enough of the required opportunities to take the test, as required, by the time that they were up for graduation,” Curtin said, adding that kids can still take the test this year for scholarship purposes if they choose.
Many Board of Elementary and Secondary Education members commented that it was the right solution given the circumstances, with others, such as Matt Hills, adding that the chances for future modifications are now running thin.
“I would just say I’m running out of room to see where any further modifications or changes to any part of MCAS will make sense to me,” Hills said, but agreed with the latest measure.
However, Darlene Lombos, the board’s labor representative, responding to Hills said she was “on the other end” in wanting to have further discussions about the MCAS and its impact on equity.
When the pandemic hit last year, MCAS testing was waived entirely and DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley and other officials have said a blanket waiver won’t happen again.
But some lawmakers and community groups, along with the Massachusetts Teachers Association, are pushing to cancel the MCAS, saying it is causing undue stress to teachers and students when time and money can be better spent on pandemic recovery.
Citizens for Public Schools, a Boston nonprofit, thanks the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for the move in a statement and added, “Going forward, we should make the change permanent and join the rest of the nation (all but 11 states) that have abandoned this failed and destructive policy.”
Massachusetts is “ground zero” to some of the toughest gun-control laws in the nation, but lawmakers are aiming to crack down on assault weapons manufactured here.
State Rep. Marjorie Decker introduced a bill Tuesday that would ban Smith & Wesson and dozens of other gun manufacturers across the Bay State from producing assault weapons.
“Assault, military-style weapons manufactured right here in Massachusetts have been used to kill and slaughter children and people across the nation from Parkland to Aurora to San Bernadino to Las Vegas and too many other communities,” the Cambridge Democrat said.
John Rosenthal, longtime gun-control advocate and founder of Stop Handgun Violence Now, said a gun from the Springfield gun manufacturer was used in the Columbine, Colo., shooting 22 years ago Tuesday, where 15 people died and 24 were injured.
Smith & Wesson did not respond to questions. It has become one of the largest manufacturers of assault weapons in the nation, boasting big sales gains amid the pandemic.
Jim Wallace, executive director of Gun Owners Action League, criticized the bill as “ignoring the common denominator in all these mass shootings.”
“It’s not the gun, it’s the person and they are all suffering from severe mental health issues,” Wallace said, calling for better wraparound mental health services. “Even if you take this particular thing away from them, they’re going to find another way to do harm.”
House and Senate Democrats on Tuesday filed “An Act to Prevent Mass Shootings,” which would bar the manufacturing of assault weapons in the state for consumer sales. The bill would allow continued manufacturing for the military. State law currently prohibits the sale, possession or transfer of assault-style weapons and large-capacity feeding devices with 10 or more rounds for most people.
State Sen. Cynthia Creem, another architect of the bill, pointed to a “loophole” in earlier gun-control efforts that left out manufacturing.
“We often speak proudly of our tough gun laws in Massachusetts including our ban on assault weapons, however, we cannot ignore the fact that assault weapons built in Massachusetts are being exported and used to murder our fellow citizens and law enforcement officers in other states,” Creem said.
The Gun Violence Archive has logged at least 45 mass shootings in the past month.
Lonnie Phillips, whose 24-year-old daughter Jessica died nine years ago after she was shot six times in the deadly Aurora, Colo., theater shooting, made a heartfelt appeal to lawmakers on Tuesday.
She said: “These weapons are made in your state, but they can’t be sold in your state so, in effect, Massachusetts is exporting bloodshed to the rest of the country.”
A former Waltham nursing home employee was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from an elderly resident, Attorney General Maura Healey said Tuesday.
Christina Polcari, the former admissions director at the Meadow Green Nursing Home, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to five counts of forgery and one count each of larceny over $1,200 from a person over 60 years old and embezzlement by fiduciary.
Polcari, 54, of Belmont, faced a maximum of 30 years in prison if she was convicted of all three charges and sentenced consecutively.
But Judge Paul Wilson sentenced her to three years of probation, with the conditions that she have no contact with the victim, witnesses and the Meadow Green facility and staff; refrain from non-familial fiduciary and power of attorney duties; refrain from any licensed social work; refrain from employment in which direct compensation is derived from MassHealth or Medicaid; and refrain from non-familial fiduciary work with disabled people or anyone over 60 years old. Wilson also ordered her to pay $76,000 in restitution to the victim and a $5,000 fine.
In addition to restitution, Healey’s office had recommended a sentence of five years of probation, with house arrest for eight months except for work and medical purposes, and a $20,000 fine, a spokeswoman said.
The AG’s office originally asked for 2 1/2 years in jail, with 18 months to serve and the same probation conditions as the judge’s, the AG’s office said, but prosecutors took the victim's health and safety into consideration to avoid having to take the pre-trial deposition of the victim at the nursing home.
From August 2018 to May 2019, Polcari engaged in a scheme in which she misappropriated more than $230,000 of the elderly resident's money and spent it on personal expenses, including restaurants, repairs to her home and vacations for her and her family, according to prosecutors.
Polcari used a forged signature for promissory notes, letters and checks to try to perpetuate the scheme and cover up the theft, Healey said.
Polcari left her position at Meadow Green in May 2019, when nursing home officials became aware of the scheme, the AG’s Office said. She repaid about $154,000 of the money to the victim before she left, Healey said.
WEST HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — A gunman shot three workers inside a manager’s office at a Long Island grocery store Tuesday, killing one of them, police said.
A manhunt was underway for the gunman, who had also worked at the store, said Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.
The shooting happened around 11 a.m. inside an office upstairs from the shopping floor at the Stop & Shop in West Hempstead, Ryder said. There were about a “couple hundred” shoppers inside the store at the time.
The name of the victims have not been made public. The man who was killed was a 49-year-old store employee, Ryder said. The two wounded were hospitalized and were conscious and alert. Police identified the suspected gunman as Gabriel DeWitt Wilson and gave a date of birth for him indicating he is 31 years old. It was unclear whether he was still employed by the store, Ryder said.
Wilson was wearing all black and carrying a small handgun as he fled westbound on Hempstead Turnpike, Ryder told reporters at a news conference in a nearby parking lot.
Video of the aftermath of the shooting showed police cars and ambulances parked in front of the store, officers with long guns and yellow crime scene tape draped across the entrance. Curran said nearby schools have been told not to admit visitors and residents were asked to remain indoors.
West Hempstead is near the New York City-Nassau County border and about 30 miles east of midtown Manhattan.
Stop & Shop President Gordon Reid said in a statement that the company is “shocked and heartbroken by this act of violence” and that the West Hempstead store will remain closed until further notice.
“Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, our associates, customers and the first responders who have responded heroically to this tragic situation,” Reid said. Stop & Shop is a grocery chain in the northeastern U.S. owned by the Dutch company Ahold Delhaize.
Another ride-hail service driver has been arrested in Boston, about a month after a different driver was accused of kidnapping a passenger in the city.
Boston Police on Tuesday said that 25-year-old ride-hailing service driver Sonpreet Singh turned himself in and was arrested on a warrant for indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.
Last Wednesday, an alleged victim entered BPD’s District 14 in Brighton to report that she was indecently assaulted by a ride-hail driver.
Detectives from the Sexual Assault Unit conducted an investigation and were able to identify the driver as Singh and obtain a warrant for the Somerville man.
That incident sparked renewed calls for fingerprint background checks for drivers. A ride-hail bill at the State House would require the Bay State to conduct fingerprint background checks of the state and national criminal history databases.
In recent years, there has been a series of alleged sexual assaults committed by drivers for ride-hailing services in Boston.
In 2016, a driver using a false name was accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger. In 2018, an Uber driver was arrested after he allegedly raped a passenger who had been out celebrating her birthday.
Then in 2019, a ride-hailing service driver allegedly raped a woman in his vehicle on the Esplanade — along Storrow Drive near the Hatch Memorial Shell.
The proposed millionaires tax in Massachusetts would “adversely impact” a significant number of small business owners, ultimately hampering the state’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.
A proposed state constitutional amendment would add a 4% surtax to all annual income above $1 million.
If the surtax passes, it would apply to as many as 13,430 of the state’s pass-through entities — which are often small businesses structured as S corporations, sole proprietorships and partnerships.
“Promoters of the surtax always point to its impact on some nebulous ‘millionaire,’ ” said Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios. “The tax will impact many more people and small businesses, and through them, tens of thousands of employees.”
From 2010 to 2018, the number of pass-through employers in the state grew by 11.3%. By 2018, they accounted for 57.1% of Massachusetts’ private sector workforce.
“The past year has been a historically difficult time for a lot of ‘Main Street’ business owners in Massachusetts,” said Nina Weiss, who wrote the Pioneer report with Greg Sullivan. “This is a time when we should be prioritizing the resilience of the state’s economy and getting people back to work, not raising taxes on small businesses.”
The millionaires tax could also deter future entrepreneurs from starting businesses here, they write in the report.
Lawmakers this session are likely to advance a ballot initiative that would propose a constitutional amendment to impose the surtax.
Proponents of the tax — who call it the “Fair Share Amendment” — say the measure could bolster education and transportation funding by $2 billion.
“The Pioneer Institute’s latest missive rehashes an old argument for why multi-millionaires shouldn’t pay their fair share of state taxes,” Raise Up Massachusetts, the coalition behind the amendment, said in a statement. “It’s either intentionally designed to mislead or the Pioneer Institute is confused. The Fair Share Amendment wouldn’t increase the taxes of any businesses, only a few multi-millionaire business owners.
“The Fair Share Amendment is simple: taxpayers with total income of more than a million dollars in a single year would pay an extra 4 percentage points on their second million, and every million after that,” the coalition added. “Whether their income is from salaries, stocks, bonds or a ‘pass-through entity’ is irrelevant to the current or proposed tax rate. Owners of S-corporations and other pass-through entities would continue to pay income taxes only on their business’s profits, after subtracting all its costs.”
Residents could vote on the ballot question in November 2022.
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