Northeast
Democratic town furious over migrant shelter opening in neighborhood
Residents in a New England town are fuming that they have not been consulted on plans to convert a former state prison into a tax-payer-funded migrant shelter for hundreds of people.
The state is refurbishing Norfolk, Massachusetts’ Bay State Correctional Center, a former minimum-security dorm-like facility, to accommodate migrants and homeless individuals who are currently holed up at Boston’s Logan International Airport and are on the waitlist for an emergency shelter program. The facility is located on the grounds of Massachusetts Correctional Institution (MCI), a medium-security prison.
Norfolk has a population of about 11,500 and voted heavily in favor of President Joe Biden in 2020.
The governor’s office tells Fox News Digital it expects the shelter to be operational next month as a “temporary safety-net site for families experiencing homelessness.” Families who will stay at the site will be subject to the 30-day engagement requirements and a monthly recertification process to demonstrate they are taking action toward getting work permits, jobs and housing.
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Residents and local officials expressed frustration over the sudden news that the state is opening an emergency shelter for migrant families at the former Bay State Correctional Center, pictured. (Google Earth)
But at a tense special Select Board meeting on Wednesday, about 300 residents gathered to raise alarm over the new facility opening in their town and blasted the state for keeping them in the dark about it.
Residents said they want answers about the impact on schools, police and emergency services, pointing out that municipal budgets are already stretched thin.
“Let’s face it, we don’t want it here. We don’t,” resident John Semas said, according to GBH.
“And, it doesn’t make us bad people, it doesn’t make me not compassionate, it doesn’t make me a bad father.” Semas was among a small group of people donning shirts and placards that read “Save Norfolk: No Shelter,” the publication reports.
He blasted Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, who had left for a climate change conference at the Vatican instead of engaging with her electorate.
Healey last summer declared a state of emergency over the surge of migrants into the state and the Bay State has struggled to get a grip on the crisis. The state has previously said that it is obliged to cater to the migrants because of its 1983 sanctuary city law which was passed to deal with the relatively small number of homeless families and pregnant women, although critics have said the law does not apply to migrants who are not U.S. citizens.
In the 2020 presidential election, 4,100 Norfolk residents voted for President Biden compared to 2,570 who voted for former President Trump. Massachusetts is a deep blue state with its nine Congress members and two senators being Democrats.
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Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey was criticized for leaving for a climate change conference at the Vatican instead of engaging with locals. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Select Board Chair Jim Lehan said he initially learned about the shelter plans via social media and was angry that the town did not receive prior notice.
“It’s their building [the state’s] and they don’t need our permission to use it, but it would have been nice to partner at the front end to understand what their plans were,” Lehan said, according to GBH.
It is unclear how many migrants will be sent to the facility, which was decommissioned in 2015.
The state’s emergency assistance director, Scott Rice, says that the facility remains in good condition and has the space to accommodate around 140 families.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Rice said families there will have access to showers and bathrooms on each floor. The facility also has a cafeteria, a gymnasium, a large common room and offices that will be used for case management and administrative activities.
Rice added that play areas for children will be set up along with classroom spaces for adults to learn English and get job training.
The site will be staffed 24/7 by a contracted service provider and families will be provided with transportation on and off site. The razor wire on the fence surrounding the facility will be removed, and the gates will remain open, so families will be free to exit and return as needed, the governor’s office says.
It is unclear how much the entire operation will cost the taxpayer.
Healey’s office says that the administration will hold a community meeting prior to its opening in order to answer questions and connect with community members who want to provide sports, arts and music programming for the children in shelters.
The administration says it has already met with local officials including the Norfolk legislative delegation, the Town Administrator, members of the Select Board, as well as the fire and police chiefs.
The state is refurbishing the Bay State Correctional Center, a former minimum-security dorm-like facility in the town of Norfolk, to accommodate migrants who are currently holed up at Logan Airport. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
At Wednesday’s meeting, resident Lauren Vives said the shelter could bring a financial burden to the town, which only has two elementary schools, one ambulance, a small police and fire department and no grocery store.
“The proposition to increase our town’s population by 4% overnight is preposterous,” Vivas said, according to GBH. She said that the plan shows “a lack of respect” for the town.
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Not everyone was against the shelter. Resident Lucy Bullock-Sieger said it was a good idea to help the migrants and said Norfolk is not a town of fear.
“I can’t imagine being the mom of young children and trying to find a better life,” she said, according to GBH.
Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Healey’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) – The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up an appeal challenging bans on the AR-15 and other semi-automatic firearms, including the ban in Connecticut and in the Chicago area.
Similar bans are in place in about a dozen states. The case is expected to be heard in the fall.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said the state’s assault weapons ban is lawful and that his office is prepared to fight the challenge in court.
“Connecticut’s assault weapon ban is lawful, lifesaving, and broadly supported. The gun lobby has flooded the courts in states across the country to get an assault weapons case up to this Supreme Court. We are prepared for this fight, and we are going to go in with everything we’ve got to keep these weapons of war off our streets, out of our schools, and away from our families,” said Attorney General Tong.
Copyright 2026 WFSB. All rights reserved.
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Massachusetts
Missing Massachusetts cat miraculously found underneath owners’ new bathtub — after disappearing for 30 hours
You’ve got to be kitten me!
A beloved feline went missing for an excruciating 30 hours in Massachusetts, only to be found in the most unlikely of places — a hole underneath a newly installed bathtub in its owners’ bathroom.
The Kirby family was renovating a bathroom in their Needham home last week when their cat, Fluffy, suddenly vanished, NBC10 Boston reported.
Assuming the snow white kitty had sneakily slipped out the front door while the construction was ongoing, the Kirby family began to fear for the worst after it failed to return home later that night.
Fluffy’s worried owners raced to Staples the following morning to print out missing cat posters and engaged a pet retrieval specialist equipped with a German shepherd to scour the Boston suburb for the cat.
Treats were also left out to lure Fluffy home — but the search came up empty.
“I thought I was never going to see him again,” Melissa Kirby told the outlet.
Thirty hours after the puzzling disappearance, things took a bizarre turn.
“I was upstairs crying and I heard a little meow,” she said.
“I thought at that point I was hallucinating.”
Melissa was left stunned when she saw a “little paw sticking out a hole” in the bathroom floor where a new bathtub had been recently installed.
Her husband, Ed Kirby, frantically called an after-hours plumber, who asked if it was an emergency.
“Yes, this is an emergency. It’s not a leak,” he desperately recalled telling the plumber.
“Our cat is trapped under our tub.”
Photos showed Fluffy peeking its little white head up from the hole it was stuck in.
In under an hour, Fluffy was rescued from the hole, unharmed and unbothered, and reunited with his family.
While it was a miracle that Fluffy wasn’t hurt, the Kirby family said they won’t be taking any more chances on their little escape artist — and plan to install an AirTag tracker on him.
“If he ever gets out again or gets trapped under another appliance,” Melissa Kirby said, “we’ll be able to locate him.”
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