The Massachusetts House of Representativesapproved a bill on Feb. 16 that would allow undocumented residents to obtain driver’s licenses.The Work and Family Mobility Act, or H.4461,passed with 120 votes in favor of the bill and 36 against.
A team of Tufts students and faculty members is working with Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW), a Cambridge-based grassroots organization that helps communities prepare for climate change-induced severe weather, to survey Chinatown and Roxbury residents on their level of preparedness for extreme weather events. The aim of the survey is to examine how social connectedness within communities can help build climate resilience.
The City of Somerville awarded $2.7 million in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding to various organizations in the area. This funding is funneled annually to organizations that work to preserve historic sites, maintain open spaces, develop outdoor recreation facilities or create affordable housing. Funding recipients include the Elizabeth Peabody House, the Somerville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the Somerville Hispanic Association for Community Development and the Somerville Museum.
The City of Somerville is moving forward with plans to build a new public safety complex at 90 Washington St. in East Somerville after stalling for more than three years. A virtual meeting was held on Feb. 16 to gather input on the project from members of the Somerville community.
As the world enters a second year of the pandemic, immunocompromised people and individuals with disabilities continue to face systemic and social detriments to their health and well-being. While many able-bodied individuals are lowering their risk potentials, people with disabilities often have little choice but to remain vigilant. This is not unfamiliar to residents of Somerville, who have expressed frustration over the difficulties that individuals with disabilities continue to experience even as the pandemic wanes.
Proposed legislation to reform the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program is currently under review in the Massachusetts state legislature by the Joint Committee on Revenue. Bill H.3080, which was filed in February 2021 by State Representative Erika Uyterhoeven of Somerville, would give municipalities the option to opt into a PILOT payment program requiring property tax-exempt organizations with more than $15 million in property holdings, such as Tufts University, to pay the city or town the equivalent of 25% of what their property tax would be were they not tax exempt.
As COVID-19 infection rates start to decline in Massachusetts, Tufts and other Boston-area universities have seen a relaxation of restrictions to academic and social activities.
A group of 20 tenants, organizers and local supporters holding signs reading “Somervillain” and “LaCourt Lies” marched from the Davis Square T stop to the office of Mouhab Rizkallah, owner of LaCourt Realty and The Braces Place in Somerville, on Feb. 3. The protesters, organized by the LaCourt Tenants Union, demanded Rizkallah withdraw his lawsuit against former LaCourt tenant Alona Brosh, whom he has sued for $28,875 of “unpaid rent,” according to a demand letter to LaCourt Realty. Brosh was not present at the protest and did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
For at least three years, concerned Somerville residents have urged city hall to repair and restore damaged walkways in Davis Square. The walkways, which are primarily made of brick, are rife with missing bricks, potholes and uneven ground.
A bill proposed last year in the Massachusetts state legislature would enact a five-year moratorium on the design and construction of prisons and jails in Massachusetts. The bill was reported out favorably from the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight on Jan. 24 and is now being considered by the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, bringing it one step closer to Governor Charlie Baker's desk.
A proposal to amend the Massachusetts constitutionto impose a 4% surtax on earnings above $1 million would raise about $1.3 billion in 2023, the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts’ Tisch College said in a nonpartisan report released on Jan. 13. Massachusetts citizens will vote on the amendment on Nov. 8.
Tufts Children’s Hospital announced at a Jan. 20 press conference that it would convert its 41 pediatric inpatient beds to adult ICU medical and surgery beds in hopes of increasing adult critical care by 20%.
State Representative Erika Uyterhoeven of Somerville recently petitioned Bill H.4208 in a joint committee in the Massachusetts General Court. The bill, one of many recent Tenants’ Opportunity to Purchase Acts, would permit Somerville to create a program where tenants of a property would be given the chance to purchase it jointly before it is put on the market. Uyterhoeven’s petition comes after an earlier version of the bill previously passed through both chambers but was vetoed by Governor Baker.
The Baker-Polito administration announced a series of emergency orders to address waning hospital care capacity onJan. 14, following a surge of COVID-19 cases statewide. The measures focus on reducing unnecessary emergency room visits andincreasing the flexibility of hospital workers who have been subject to staffing shortages, given the rapid escalation of cases.
Somerville residents and visitors will not have to show proof of vaccination to enter businesses in the city — at least for now — a health panel said late last month.
The City of Medford released a statement on Jan. 10 announcing they will begin using body cameras across the police department, beginning tentatively in fall 2022. According to the statement, the city and police department signed a five-year deal with Motorola Solutions, a data communications company, for the cameras to equip Medford's 100-person police department. The contract is reported to have cost $330,000.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has begun testing trains along the Green Line Extension (GLX), which was originally stated to open by the end of 2021 and is now scheduled to open in summer 2022. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, along with Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and former Mayor Joe Curtatone, rode a part of the GLX on Dec. 30, 2021, reflecting the Somerville community's anticipation of the project's completion.
The city of Somerville, one of Tufts’ host communities, was recently recognized as a global leader in the fight against climate change. The Carbon Disclosure Project, a nonprofit, ranked Somerville as just one of 95 cities around the globe working transparently to stave off the effects of climate change in 2021.
While Tufts students were away over the break, local officials were enacting new policies — and reintroducing old ones — to govern vaccination proof and mask use in public settings.
More than 10 public school districts in the Greater Boston area, including Somerville Public Schools, either called snow days or had delayed openings during the week of Jan. 3 in order to catch up on COVID-19 testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) distribution.
