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The Boston Globe •

Across Massachusetts, people are rising up against the arrival of migrants. To some, the backlash seems racist. - The Boston Globe

Across the state, a growing chorus of people are rising up against a wave of migrants arriving in their towns, complaining about the staggering costs of caring for them and warning about crime and too much change. To some, the backlash seems racist and ignores the economic contributions migrants can bring to a state grappling with a shrinking birth rate and an exodus of young people fleeing to cheaper locales.

In recordings of public meetings, people directed outrage and insults at migrants.
The Boston Globe •

In Waltham, families of former patients, workers at Fernald demand role in deciding property’s future - The Boston Globe

Reggie Clark is 70, but memories of his childhood years at the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center during the 1960s are painfully clear.

“I don’t think we were respected,” said Clark, who left Fernald in 1969 and now lives in Leominster. “You didn’t have any choices because the nurses that were there . . . told you that you had to do it, or you were put in isolation if you didn’t.”

A decade after the City of Waltham bought the property from the state, the legacy of the Fernald school is at the center of a fraught debate.
The Boston Globe •

Bitter rift erupts in Dedham over rejected bid to expand meal service for migrant families - The Boston Globe

The Rev. Stephen Josoma can’t understand the uproar that has gripped the town — a bitter, raw debate over the preparation of meals for migrant families and other homeless people staying in state emergency shelters.

“It just saddened me, I try to get my head around it,” Josoma said in an interview. “I’m not even sure where it’s coming from.”
The Boston Globe •

Meet the man leading the longest Mass. teachers strike in decades - The Boston Globe

Doesn’t matter if it’s raining or snowing or freezing cold. Mike Zilles — clean-shaven, hair close-cropped, wearing a dark red coat — is oblivious to the weather as he stands outside at union press conferences telling reporters exactly what he thinks about the Newton School Committee’s latest offer to the city’s teachers.

“I have just gotten enraged with these people,” Zilles told reporters Saturday. “They are just unaware of how much harm they are doing.”
The Boston Globe •

‘It is maddening’: Grief, anxiety over rising violence among young people in Lynn - The Boston Globe

The lives of two teens were cut short on Dec. 27 by gunfire, the latest victims in an alarming increase in violence in recent months that has sown grief and raised anxiety just as Lynn is experiencing some measure of renewal. The killings have brought calls for a more urgent response to quell the mayhem that community leaders worry will ensnare more young people.
The Boston Globe •

Unlike peers, MIT’s president spared worst of blowback from antisemitism hearing - The Boston Globe

The president of the University of Pennsylvania, Liz Magill, quickly resigned under public pressure. The fate of Harvard University’s leader, Claudine Gay, hung in the balance for a week until the college’s governing board declared its support.

But at MIT, the board moved decisively to show its support for president Sally Kornbluth, praising her leadership and integrity at the height of a public outcry.
The Boston Globe •

YouTubers film, insult public workers in towns across Mass. for self-declared ‘First Amendment audits’ - The Boston Globe

The Lexington incident, which was viewed around 29,000 times since it was posted about three weeks ago, was but one of many in Massachusetts and around the country where vocal Youtubers have provoked a reaction among public officials, in turn often attracting tens of thousands of views each.

For municipal workers, the stunts add to the rash of hostile behavior many face these days. Critics — including those who have had unintentional starring roles — said the actions are a cynical attempt to provoke people to act out in order to attract attention.
The Boston Globe •

‘This is unjust and wrong’: State program slashes elite golf clubs’ property taxes - The Boston Globe

NEWTON — The Brae Burn Country Club is a gem of a place in springtime, a bucolic, rolling landscape of green, where for a princely sum members can enjoy an oasis of open space at one of the nation’s most storied golf courses.

And like many other private country clubs in Massachusetts, Brae Burn enjoys a generous tax break from a decades-old state program intended to help preserve open land and recreational space.
The Boston Globe •

‘They had guns pointed at us’: Students recall fear, confusion as Harvard University police responded to hoax emergency call - The Boston Globe

A group of Harvard University students said they were ordered from their dorm suite at gunpoint by campus police officers early Monday after the department received a false emergency call.

In separate interviews Monday, four students described the fear of being roused from their sleep by the sounds of heavily armed officers — several wearing helmets and armed with long guns — banging on doors, and being forced from their university residence on DeWolfe Street around 4 a.m.
The Boston Globe •

A Newton couple were ordered to remove their political yard signs. Now they want their names cleared. - The Boston Globe

For years, Newtonville’s Martina Jackson put her politics out for all to see. The longtime Democratic campaigner’s front-yard signs are a “who’s who” display of state and national issues.

But last year, city officials said they received a complaint about the signs, which include messages supporting Black Lives Matter and welcoming immigrants, as well as backing politicians such as Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Ed Markey.

The signs violated a local ordinance and had to go, officials said. If they stayed put, she and her husband, Daniel, faced up to a $300-per-day fine, and a potential criminal court complaint, according to the city’s written order to remove the signs.
The Boston Globe •

‘Walking into the lion’s den’: Cities and towns say they need help as climate change dangers grow - The Boston Globe

Chelsea leaders are not alone in their concerns about a shifting climate. A survey of officials from 111 Massachusetts cities and towns published in November 2021 by the UMass Northeast Center for Coastal Resilience found that virtually all respondents observed climate change impacts in their communities. Most, including in Chelsea, said their communities have conducted vulnerability and risk assessments.
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