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Ex-romantic partner of Massachusetts governor says she’s ready to serve on state’s high court

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Ex-romantic partner of Massachusetts governor says she’s ready to serve on state’s high court


BOSTON (AP) — Appeals Court Associate Justice Gabrielle R. Wolohojian, a former romantic partner of Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, testified Wednesday before the Governor’s Council on her nomination to the state’s highest court.

Healey has said her past relationship with Wolohojian shouldn’t deny the state the benefit of having her serve on the state Supreme Judicial Court. The panel didn’t vote on the nomination Wednesday.

Healey defended her decision to nominate Wolohojian, describing her as a remarkable jurist who has displayed “kindness, patience, empathy, humility and an abiding sense of justice” to those who have come before her in court.

“I know that personally,” Healey said. “As I have said in the past a personal relationship, and my personal relationship with Judge Wolohojian, should not deprive the people of Massachusetts of an outstanding SJC justice.”

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Wolohojian said she went through virtually the same process with the Healey administration that she did when she sought a nomination to the SJC under former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker.

“I understand your concern about the optics, but sitting from my chair I have done everything like every other candidate, and I don’t know what else I can do other than do the process that’s been really in place since the Dukakis administration,” she told the council.

Healey has also said she doesn’t think Wolohojian would have to recuse herself from cases involving the administration despite their personal history.

Wolohojian said the decision by judges to recuse themselves is taken on a case-by-case basis.

“Recusal is something that I take very seriously. It’s a two-sided question. There are cases in which you need to recuse yourself and you do so and then there are cases where you don’t recuse yourself,” she said.

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“I have absolutely no interest and never have in sitting on cases I shouldn’t sit on or not sitting on cases I should sit on,” she added.

Wolohojian is the second nomination to the state’s highest court by Healey, the first woman and first open member of the LGBTQ+ community to be elected governor of Massachusetts.

Amy Carnevale, chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, faulted Healey for relying on “a select group of rubber stamp advisors” in making the decision.

“Regardless of whether the judge opts to recuse herself from issues involving the governor or the executive branch, the impropriety of this nomination remains unchanged,” Carnevale said in a statement. “It’s difficult to conceive that the personal relationship didn’t impact the nomination process.”

Wolohojian, 63, would fill the seat vacated by Justice David Lowy. Last year Healey nominated then-state solicitor Elizabeth Dewar to the high court.

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Wolohojian was appointed to the Appeals Court in February 2008 and has authored more than 900 decisions.

Healey and Wolohojian, who met when they both worked at the Boston law firm of Hale & Dorr, had been together for eight years when Healey began her first term as attorney general in 2015, according to a Boston Magazine profile.

Wolohojian and Healey lived together in a rowhouse in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston that also served as a campaign headquarters for Healey. The governor now lives with her current partner, Joanna Lydgate, in Arlington.

The Supreme Judicial Court is Massachusetts’s highest appellate court. The seven justices hear appeals on a range of criminal and civil cases.

Born in New York, and the granddaughter of Armenian immigrants, Justice Wolohojian received a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Rutgers University in 1982; a doctorate in English language and literature from the University of Oxford in 1987; and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1989.

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Massachusetts

A magical holiday village is tucked inside Massachusetts’ most famous candle store

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A magical holiday village is tucked inside Massachusetts’ most famous candle store


Yankee Candle is a staple in the Bay State, famous for its colorful jars full of fragrance and warm light.

And while its candles can essentially be bought from anywhere, the mothership of the iconic candles lies in South Deerfield at Yankee Candle Village.

The flagship store, known for its ginormous collection of Yankee Candle scents and retail goods, is a winter holiday destination for those in New England.

  • This is the most popular candle scent in Massachusetts, according to The Loupe

Leading up to Christmas, the store turns into a complete holiday stop.

Now on prominent display are the brand’s many different winter scents, including such classics as Red Apple Wreath and Balsam & Cedar, and such holiday scents as Christmas Cookie and North Pole Greetings.

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Bavarian Christmas Village, arguably the most festive room in Yankee Candle Village, is Christmas all year. Guests will stroll through an enchanted forest featuring a 25-foot-tall Christmas tree, nutcrackers, winter village displays and even indoor snow that falls every 4 minutes.

  • ‘Disneyland’ Leverett estate of Yankee Candle founder Michael J. Kittredge II for sale at $23 million

But scattered throughout the flagship store are hints of Christmas and a winter wonderland — from the home section filled with holiday kitchen decor to the Toy Shop filled with jolly trinkets.

Santa even pays a visit to the Yankee Candle Village, hosting a storytime with kids every Monday through Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

And if the shopping and holiday joy become overwhelming, the store even has cafes that offer a bite to eat. Guests can also indulge in sweet treats in its candy store or try freshly made fudge.

Yankee Candle Village is located at 25 Greenfield Road in South Deerfield. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

  • Yankee Candle will close 20 stores; parent to lay off 900 employees



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Two stranded dolphins rescued from Massachusetts marsh

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Two stranded dolphins rescued from Massachusetts marsh


It swims in the family.

A mother and calf wandered off the beaten path and got stranded in a Massachusetts marsh, forcing an emergency mammal rescue crew to save the wayward dolphin pair.

On Dec. 8, the Wareham Department of Natural Resources responded to a report of two stranded dolphins in the area of Beaverdam Creek off of the Weweantic River, a 17-mile tributary that drains into Buzzards Bay, which directly connects to the Atlantic Ocean.

When crews arrived, two common dolphins were located alive and active, but partially out of the water stranded in the marsh, according to the Wareham Department of Natural Resources.

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Responding authorities alerted the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Marine Mammal Stranding Response Team, based in Cape Cod.

IFAW team members put the dolphins on stretchers and brought them to safety, where they conducted preliminary tests on the wayward dolphins.

The IFAW team placed the dolphins onto stretchers to bring them to safety. Wareham Department of Natural Resources

“Our teams were easily able to extract the animals and transport them via our custom-built rescue vehicle,” Stacey Hedman, senior director of communications for IFAW, said.

The dolphins were weighed; the smaller of the two weighed approximately 90 lbs, and the larger mammal around 150 lbs.

Upon further analysis, it was revealed that the dolphins were an adult female and a socially-dependent juvenile female, a mother and calf pair.

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The small dolphin weighed 90 lbs, with the larger one coming in at roughly 150 lbs. Wareham Department of Natural Resources
Upon further analysis, it was revealed that the dolphins were an adult female and a socially-dependent juvenile female, a mother and calf pair. IFAW

According to Hedman, IFAW had some concerns over the mother’s decreased responsiveness and abnormal blood work, though it was deemed the pair was healthy enough to release back into the ocean at West Dennis Beach in Dennis, Mass.

“By releasing them into an area with many other dolphins around, this would hopefully increase their chances of socialization and survival. Both animals have satellite tags that are still successfully tracking,” Hedman said.



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Man seriously injured after being thrown from moving vehicle during domestic dispute

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Man seriously injured after being thrown from moving vehicle during domestic dispute


A 19-year-old Massachusetts man was seriously injured after he was thrown from a moving vehicle he had grabbed onto during a domestic dispute Thursday morning.

Duxbury police said they responded to a report of an injured male who might have been struck by a vehicle on Chandler Street around 5:22 a.m. and found a 19-year-old Pembroke man lying in the roadway with serious injuries.

Through interviews with witnesses, officers learned that the man had gone to his ex-girlfriend’s residence on Chandler Street to confront her current boyfriend. An altercation ensued, during which police said the 19-year-old appears to have jumped on the hood of a vehicle and was then thrown from the moving vehicle.

The incident remains under investigation, police said. At this time, they said no charges have been filed.

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