Massachusetts
Bear encounters in Massachusetts: what to expect and how to survive
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – Following the South Hadley man who was attacked by a bear in Wyoming, we spoke with bear biologists who told us mother grizzly bears are the most dangerous bears, and luckily here in western Mass we only see black bears. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use caution when going into the woods, no matter what state you’re in.
Some honeymooners opt for a beach vacation, others a European tour, but South Hadley resident Shayne Patrick Burke and his new wife Chloe opted to ring in their marriage with a little nature, and it seems they may have gotten a larger taste of wildlife than they signed up for. During their honeymoon hike, the couple split up and while apart, Shayne was trying to find a particular owl, but what he found was much grislier.
“I was moving. I was just like, just watching my GPS,” Shayne recalled.
When he looked up, he was face to face with a grizzly cub and the mama bear was not far behind.
“She went towards my head, but I kept my hands interlocked like this and just like, protected my arteries and my neck. She bit down and got my left wrist and my right hand. I heard a pop, and at that point in my head I was like, all right, she’s, she’s in my skull.
It turns out it wasn’t his skull but instead a can of bear spray. After a taste of that, the mama bear ran off.”
Western Mass News spoke with bear biologist and founder of Kilham Bear Center in New Hampshire Ben Kilham. He told us this was a case of wrong place at the wrong time.
“He did what he could. They say if a bear attacks, and that one did, with a grizzly bear lay down and cover your neck.”
According to Kilham, mama grizzlies are the most dangerous type of bear there is, and luckily there are no grizzlies anywhere near us here in western Mass or across New England, but we do have black bears. Kilham said large males are the type you want to look out for, but more often than not, they’ll give you a warning called a bluff charge, and that’s why Kilham said it’s very important to understand how bears communicate before stepping into the forest.
“They signal everything that they are up to and they have to because they interact with other bears as strangers so they signal their intention and responded they are quite honestly very easy to read if you have that knowledge.”
While grizzly bear attacks happen several times a year, black bear biologist Dave Wattles told us it is very unlikely to be attacked by a black bear.
“It’s important to know the difference between the temperament and the nature of a black bear and a grizzly bear. A grizzly bear is a much larger, much more inherently much more aggressive animal than the black bear.”
In fact Wattles told us we’re very fortunate here in Massachusetts that we have never had someone seriously injured by a black bear but it is still a possibility. Which is why MassWildlife urges the public not to keep any unsecure food in your yard such as bird feeders, trash or even chickens.
Now, if you do come in contact with a bear, it’s important to talk slowly and stand your ground and never run. If you see the bear before it sees you, keep your distance, make noise so you don’t startle them and back away slowly. As for Burke, Shayne only spent a single night in the hospital, though his recovery will last for months.
Copyright 2024. Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.
Police shot and killed a man who officials say rushed officers with a knife during a call in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said the situation started around 1:40 p.m. when Lexington police received a 911 call from a resident of Mason Street reporting that his son had injured himself with a knife.
Officers from the Lexington Police Department and officers from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), who were already in town for Patriots’ Day events, responded to the call.
Police were able to escort two other residents out of the home, initially leaving a 26-year-old man inside. According to Ryan, while officers were setting up outside, the man ran out of the home and approached officers with a large kitchen knife.
She added that police tried twice to use non-lethal force, but it was not effective in stopping him. The man was shot by a Wilmington police officer who is a member of NEMLEC. The man was pronounced dead on scene and the officer who fired that shot was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
The man’s name has not been released.
Ryan said typically in a call like this where someone was described as harming themselves, officers would first try to separate anyone else to keep them out of danger, which was done, and then standard practice would be to try to wait outside.
“It would be their practice to just wait for the person to come out. In the terrible circumstances of today, he suddenly rushed the officers, still clutching the knife,” Ryan said.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages and more information is expected in time. Ryan said her office will request a formal inquest from the court to review whether any criminal conduct has occurred, which is the standard process.
This happened around the same time as the annual Patriots’ Day Parade, and just hours after a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, which drew large crowds to town.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Massachusetts
‘An impossible choice’: With little federal help to combat rising costs, Head Start looks to Massachusetts for more help – The Boston Globe
In Massachusetts, roughly 1,300 slots for children across Head Start’s 28 agencies have been eliminated in the last three years because federal funding has plateaued over that time, while the cost of running the program continues to rise, according to the Massachusetts Head Start Association. Nationally, Head Start enrollment dropped from 1.1 million kids in 2013 to around 785,000 in 2022, according to research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
“If they didn’t get into a Head Start program, they would be sitting at home,” said Brittany Acosta, a Head Start parent in Dorchester.
It’s teachers are drastically underpaid, and there’s a serious need for a rainy day-type fund should the federal government shut down again, the association says. As they’ve done in years past, state lawmakers have offered to provide financial relief, but the Massachusetts Head Start Association’s request for 3 percent above the amount it received last year, an additional $4.6 million to help its staff keep up with the state’s rising cost of living, so far has not been allocated.
Last year, President Trump’s leaked budget proposal revealed he considered eliminating Head Start entirely. Then, in the summer, he cut off Head Start enrollment for immigrants without legal status. And during the fall’s government shutdown, four Head Start centers in Massachusetts closed because they couldn’t access their funding.
Trump’s latest budget proposal shows a fourth year without increasing funding for the program, which was established in the mid-1960s.
Michelle Haimowitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, said the program doesn’t want to eliminate more child slots than it already has, but paying teachers a competitive salary is equally important in order to keep them from leaving for higher paying jobs. Head Start teachers make under $50,000 annually compared to over $85,000 for the average Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
“It’s an impossible choice,” Haimowitz said. “When we reduce the size of our programs, we’re not reducing the size of the need.”
Massachusetts is one of few states that supplements federal funding for Head Start, and last year it increased the program’s state grant from $5 million to $20 million, adding to the $189 million in federal aid it receives in this state.
“We can’t run a program without giving staff a raise for three years,” Haimowitz said. “Our next fight now is not just for survival, but it’s for thriving and growth.”
The Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday released its budget, which doesn’t grant Head Start’s request of a 3 percent boost. But state Representative Christopher Worrell filed an amendment for additional funding. Worrell, whose district covers parts of Dorchester and Roxbury, said he loves Head Start’s embrace of culture, recalling one visit to a center where he could smell staff cooking stew chicken, a traditional Caribbean dish.
“I’ve been to dozens of schools throughout the district, and you don’t get that home-cooked meal,” Worrell said. “[The state is] stepping up and doing the best we can with what we have.”
At the Action for Boston Community Development’s Head Start and Early Head Start center in Dorchester, the children of Classroom 7 arrived one Monday morning and dove into bins of magnetic tiles before their teachers, Paola Polanco and Leolina Rasundar Chinnappa, served breakfast. Acosta dropped off her 4-year-old daughter, Violeta, before reporting to her teaching position at the center, where several other Head Start parents also work.
“It’s important for all Head Start parents to have the opportunity to give their child an experience in a learning environment before they actually start kindergarten,” Acosta said.
Beyond providing early education and care to children of low-income families, from birth to age 5, the program helps them access other resources, including mental health services, SNAP benefits, homelessness assistance, and employment opportunities.
It also serves as daycare for parents who might not be able to afford it, while they’re at work.
Research has shown the importance of preschool in a child’s development with one 2023 study, focused on Boston public preschools, finding that it improves student behavior and increases the likelihood of high school graduation and college enrollment.
For Rickencia Clerveaux and Christopher Mclean, the Dorchester Head Start center is the only place they feel comfortable sending their 3-year-old son, Shontz, who is on the autism spectrum. Shontz’s stimming — repetitive movements that stimulate the senses — has reduced, and his speech has improved since he joined the center in 2024, Clerveaux said.
His parents say he’s also come out of his shell. Mclean now drops his son off and gets a simple “bye” as Shontz joins his classmates, he said.
He and Clerveaux said they appreciate the specialized attention Shontz can receive from teachers, such as when staff identified that Shontz might have hearing issues. His parents were able to follow up with their doctor and get Shontz to have surgery to improve his hearing.
“It’s a safe net for parents,” Clerveaux said. “There’s so many ways that him being here helps him grow better.”
Without Head Start, Clerveaux said a lot of pressure would be put on parents to find care for their children, “knowing that they’re already struggling or not getting the ends to meet.”
“That’s a burden for everybody in the community,” she said. “If there’s no funding, there’s no daycare and parents cannot work.”
Lauren Albano can be reached at lauren.albano@globe.com. Follow her on X @LaurenAlbano_.
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