Boston, MA
City of Boston Hosts Olympic Swimmers, Kicks Off International Water Safety Day Events – Caught In Dot
BOSTON – Tuesday, May 14, 2024 – Today, the City of Boston was joined by Olympic swimmers Cullen Jones and Janelle Atkinson to kick off a series of events to raise awareness of International Water Safety Day, an annual day of recognition to bring global awareness about drowning prevention. The morning reception kicks off two days of events that will include visits to two Boston Public Schools, a technique clinic for youth at the BCYF Flaherty Pool in Roslindale, and a water safety festival and swim lesson at the BCYF Mattahunt Community Center in Mattapan. This series of events is the latest in the City of Boston’s Swim Safe campaign that strives to improve water safety by making swim lessons and water access top priorities.
Learning to swim is one part of Mayor Wu’s Connect, Learn, Explore, her commitment to the city’s youth to ensure they have the resources and opportunities to thrive and explore their passions. This is an important step to make Boston a home for everyone.
“With summer approaching, our children should be able to experience the joy of being in our water and pools, with their families knowing that they are doing so safely,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “I am grateful for our community partners that are emphasizing the importance of water safety to ensure that Boston is the most family-friendly city.”
During the event, Olympic swimmers Cullen Jones and Janelle Atkinson McClave shared their experiences of learning to swim and rising to the highest levels of competitive swimming.
“USA Swimming is proud to help raise awareness of water safety and swimming programs across the country by expanding our community support of International Water Safety Day to four locations,” USA Swimming Managing Director of Sport Development Joel Shinofield said. “As we prepare to name our next Olympic team in June, we are reminded that every athlete starts by first putting their goggles on and learning how to swim.”
Chief of Human Services José F. Massó unveiled a new City-run water safety public information campaign that will be posted on social media, city billboards, and MBTA bus shelters this summer with the goal of encouraging residents, and especially caregivers of young children, to take steps to keep their children safe around water this summer. The City also announced a new round of grant awards totalling $150,000 to support free lessons at the YMCA of Greater Boston, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, West End House, and Dot House Health.
“We want all families in Boston to have a safe, fun summer,” said José F. Massó, Chief of Human Services. “With the help of our partners, we’re spreading the word about water safety and giving residents the tools they need to keep themselves and their kids safe around water this summer.”
The City’s efforts to expand swim lessons is a public health issue. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in children and that the risk of drowning is higher for children of color. Black children are more than twice as likely as white children to die of drowning. For every child who dies of drowning, there are seven non-fatal drownings, which are traumatic and can lead to health issues later in life. Swim Safe Boston seeks to improve water safety in Boston, address the public health threat posed by drowning, and increase access to swimming for Boston families.
“As summer approaches, we are thrilled to partner with the City of Boston and Swim Safe to bring the joy of swimming to every child,” said Jeff Bellows, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Public Affairs at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. “By investing in water safety education, we’re promoting fun and healthy activities, addressing systemic inequities and ensuring all community members have the opportunity to safely enjoy Boston’s pools and beaches.”
Boston Centers for Youth & Families also offer free lessons at their pools. There is currently no charge for membership or programming but visitors need to create a membership at Boston.gov/BCYF-Registration.
“It’s such a unique opportunity and incredible honor to partner with elite swimmers and institutions on Boston’s effort to promote swim safety throughout our city,” said Marta E. Rivera, Commissioner of Boston Centers for Youth & Families. “In a waterfront city like Boston, it’s imperative that all youth have the tools to safely enjoy all that Boston has to offer in the summer- including our pools and beaches.”
“We are incredibly proud to host Olympic swimmers at a number of our schools this week to share their important message about water safety with our kids,” said Superintendent Mary Skipper. “Learning to swim and having access to pools is so important for Boston’s young people, and hearing this message from elite athletes who are spending quality time with our students has a powerful impact. We are proud of our ongoing collaboration with BCYF, City Hall, and others to ensure that our kids can safely enjoy our pools all summer long.”
The Mayor’s commitment to swim access is seen in many neighborhoods across the city. Because of a collaboration between Boston Public Schools, Boston Centers for Youth & Families, the Public Facilities Department, and the Property Management Department, investments of City funding, and improved facilities assessment, the City is on track to have more pools open this year than in previous summers, including the BCYF Clougherty, Draper, Hennigan, Marshall, and Perkins pools. BCYF Marshall Community Center pool opened in fall 2023 and the BCYF Mattahunt opened recently. The Draper, Hennigan, and Perkins are expected to be open this summer as is the Clougherty Pool, which is undergoing a two-year renovation. This fiscal year, Mayor Wu allocated $34.3 million in the FY24-FY28 capital plan for repairing and renovating the city’s pools.
Boston, MA
Kraft Group reaches deal with Foxborough on security funding for World Cup games at Gillette Stadium – The Boston Globe
The town’s Select Board had refused to grant the entertainment license that soccer’s governing body, FIFA, needs to stage the World Cup in Foxborough.
The statement, bearing the logos of Boston’s World Cup host committee, Kraft Sports & Entertainment, and the town, said they had reached an “understanding collectively” to “finalize the details” necessary for the town to approve an entertainment license.
The agreement said Foxborough “will not incur any cost or financial burden related to the FIFA World Cup, with Boston Soccer 2026 providing advance funding for security-related capital expenditures and the full extent of deployment that public safety officials have determined is needed to execute the event with Kraft Sports + Entertainment’s backing.”
The town had set a March 17 deadline for the local organizing committee, Boston Soccer 26, FIFA, or the Kraft Group that owns the stadium to front the funds or the Select Board would not issue the necessary entertainment license.
The nearly $8 million was supposed to be delivered as part of a federal grant that was included in last year’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. Massachusetts was allocated $46 million in funding for security needs, with the money originally scheduled to be released by the Department of Homeland Security in late January.
But the money has yet to be disbursed to any of the 11 US cities that are hosting games. (The full tournament, running from mid-June to mid-July, will play in 16 cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico.)
The dispute underscored what business leaders around Greater Boston said was deeper dysfunction and looming financial troubles within the Boston organizing committee, which is now scrambling to pull off the event in less than three months.
Boston Soccer 26 — dominated by allies of Patriots owner Robert Kraft — appears well short of the $170 million goal it said it needed to stage a World Cup that could draw 2 million visitors to Greater Boston. Exactly how short remains a mystery.
But the dispute with Foxborough pushed the local committee to make a rare public disclosure last week: that it had only $2 million in the bank, but anticipates depositing another $30 million soon.
That’s a fraction of what was envisioned by the organizers two years ago, spawning concerns about what the World Cup will actually look like at kickoff on June 13.
Meanwhile, in Foxborough over the last several weeks, a series of increasingly contentious meetings highlighted a David and Goliath dynamic between the five members of the town’s Select Board and a host committee working closely with FIFA, the global soccer organization that projects the quadrennial tournament to to generate $11 billion in revenues.
At the last meeting on March 3, two lawyers representing the host committee conveyed a proposal that, in part, guaranteed the Kraft Group would backstop all costs.
Board members made no effort to hide their disbelief and dismay the host committee lawyers did not arrive with essentially a check for security costs that a town with a population of some 18,000 was not equipped to fund.
“I don’t really think you’re hearing us,” said Select Board chair Bill Yukna.
Select Board member Mark Elfman was more direct.
“I find it hard to believe — I’m sorry — that you don’t know after all the discussions that have gone on over the last couple of months exactly what we want,” he said.
Foxborough Police Chief Michael Grace also dismissed the proposal, calling it a “failed strategy.”
Over the weekend, the Kraft Group issued a terse response to what it saw as the select board’s intransigence: “We are deeply disappointed that the town has seemingly reached a conclusion unilaterally without the platform of a public hearing, which is already scheduled for March 17, and would like to understand what the town requires at this stage to get to ‘yes.’ ”
Then, by Wednesday, all the parties got to “yes.”
“We look forward to moving forward together positively,” the statement concluded, “in our shared goals of providing the highest level of public safety for this historic event and delivering a global experience for our region, which will infuse the Commonwealth and Foxborough with an influx of new visitors and associated economic impact.”
The parties also singled out Massachusetts state Senator Paul Feeney, US Congressman Jake Auchincloss, Governor Maura Healey, and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll for helping to bring about the security plan.
Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.
Boston, MA
Shay Maloney’s overtime goal lifts Boston Fleet to road victory
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Shay Maloney scored 41 seconds into overtime and the Boston Fleet edged the Vancouver Goldeneyes 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Much of the game was a goalie duel, with neither side scoring until the third period.
Haley Winn was first to strike, getting the Fleet on the board early in the final frame with her second goal of the year.
Hannah Miller responded for the Goldeneyes with 3:26 remaining, blasting a one-timer past Boston goalie Aerin Frankel from just inside the blue line. Frankel stopped 25 of the 26 shots she faced, and the Fleet won its sixth straight game.
Kristen Campbell made 25 saves in the Vancouver net.
The win moved the Fleet back into sole possession of first place in the league standings, two points ahead of the Montreal Victoire.
Vancouver was without goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, who is listed as day to day with an upper-body injury. Kimberly Newell served as Campbell’s backup.
Boston, MA
Boston Police Blotter: Southie pub brawl leads to alleged stabbing
Two people were stabbed following an alleged bar brawl in Southie over the weekend.
According to a police report, officers arrived at Tom English’s around 10:30 p.m., Friday for a report of a fight. When they arrived on the scene, a victim told police that he was sucker punched during a fight and pointed out a person who was the “main aggressor” throughout the incident.
The suspect was pat frisked by police, but the report said they did not find any weapons. “The suspect stated that he was jumped [by the party of the victim,” the report said. “The suspect refused to cooperate any further after repeated attempts by officers to get his version of events.”
Both the suspect and victim declined EMS.
Then about an hour later, three more victims arrived at a nearby police station to report that two of them had been stabbed in the fight at Tom English. One of the unnamed victims said that the fight started after the suspect kept moving coins he put down to play pool. The suspect, according to one of the other victims, told them to meet him outside.
All parties were kicked out by a bouncer and “a large brawl ensued,” the report said. The victims told police that that suspect brandished a knife and the victims said they “fled the scene on foot fearing for their lives.”
In the report, police noted that they saw wounds on two of the victims. EMS was called to treat them.
BPD did not confirm whether the suspect was arrested.
Fireworks call leads to firearm recovery in Mattapan
Reports of fireworks led Boston Police to recover a firearm Monday night in Mattapan.
Officers responded to the area around Callender Street at about 10 p.m. for a call of shots fire, but a supervisor alerted them that individuals were shooting off fireworks.
When police got to the scene, they said they saw a group of people standing near a car that had several packages of fireworks. As officers approached, one man started to sprint towards Blue Hill Ave., throwing a jacket off as he ran, according to BPD.
Multiple officers responded to detain the suspect and a pat frisk of the jacket uncovered a ghost gun with 7 rounds in the magazine, police said.
Kahnari White, 24, of Mattapan was charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm without an FID card, and possession of a large capacity feeding device.
While the foot pursuit and arrest of White unfolded, police said the group standing with the fireworks began to become “hostile and threatening to an officer who remained with them on scene.”
One person allegedly continued to threaten an officer and bumped him on the chest as more officers arrived.
“Multiple de-escalation tactics were attempted, but the suspect continued to threaten officers,” Boston police said in a statement.
Eventually, officers were able to detain Sean Galvez, 40, of Quincy. Galvez was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer.
Both suspects are expected to be arraigned at Dorchester District Court.
Gun recovered after foot chase in Dorchester
A 22-year-old from Dorchester was arrested on gun charges after police said they approached the suspect for drinking in public Monday night.
Officers saw a group on Draper St. drinking publicly around 8:30 p.m., and when they approached them, one individual started to walk away.
“When officers advised the male that he could not be drinking alcohol in public, he fled on foot,” Boston Police said in a statement. “A foot pursuit ensued, and officers stopped the suspect.”
Police recovered a Smith and Wesson M&P Bodyguard .380 with nine rounds in the magazine during a pat frisk and said that the serial number on the gun was defaced.
Denilson Pires was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, and defacing a firearm serial number.
He is expected to be arraigned at Dorchester District Court.
Incident Summary
BPD responded to 252 incidents in the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to the department’s incident log. Those included one robbery, six aggravated assaults, one residential burglary, seven larcenies from a vehicle, 15 miscellaneous larcenies, and five auto thefts.
Arrests
All of the below-named defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
— Francis Haugh, 248 Albany St., Boston. Assault with a dangerous weapon.
— Ismann Nuuh, 421 Old Colony Ave., South Boston. Warrant arrest.
— Michael Buckley, 37 Washington St., Newburyport. Warrant arrest.
— Misty Lottmann, 1 Davis Sq., Somerville. Possession of a Class B drug.
— Michael Nicholls, 39 Boylston St., Boston. Threat to commit a crime.
— Yeson Silvestre, 48-52 Glenville Ave., Brighton. Unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
— Galvester Johnson, 123 Hamilton St., Dorchester. Assault with a dangerous weapon on a person 60 or older.
— Nilton Cardoso, 112 George St., Boston. Uninsured motor vehicle.
— Edgar Aguilar, 29 North St., Newtonville. Possession of a Class C drug.
— Jorge Guillermo Cruz Ortiz, 24 Heard St., Chelsea. Unregistered motor vehicle.
— Askia Lelaind, 47 Chestnut St., Springfield. Larceny under $1,200.
— Tewshawn Hector-Coleman, 111 Woodbine Rd., Stoughton. Warrant.
— Frammy Llaveria, 55 Vallar St., East Boston. Unarmed robbery.
— Eric Hale, 780 Albany St., Boston. Unregistered hawker & peddler ordinance.
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