Massachusetts

Damage assessments ongoing after western Massachusetts floods

Published

2 years ago

July 18, 2023

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Damage assessments ongoing after western Massachusetts floods

July 18, 2023

Adam Frenier, New England Public Media

State officials are assessing damage to western Massachusetts farms in the wake of recent heavy rains and flooding.

Jo Comerford, a state senator from Northampton, said the initial number of those impacted is “staggering.”

“Seventy-five farms, about 2,000 acres — we expect that to rise,” Comerford said. “About $10 million in short-term damage with the long-term estimate not yet in.”

Comerford said the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) is providing technical assistance to farmers trying to salvage whatever crops they can. She also said conversations are ongoing about what financial help might look like.

“Our economic development secretary, Yvonne Hao, governor, lieutenant governor, MDAR, are talking about more short-term help, which may look like a no- or low-interest loan,” she said.

Comerford said officials are also considering direct payments to farmers.

The group Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture is also offering up to $25,000 in no-interest emergency loans to farmers.

Over the weekend, U.S Rep. Jim McGovern and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren toured farms in western Massachusetts to meet with growers and assess the damage. On Monday, Gov. Maura Healey was due to visit a farm in Deerfield along with other state officials — her second visit to the region in the past week to survey flood damage.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) on Monday began the process of putting a price tag on flooding-related damage for cities and towns from the last week.

Sara Porter, a spokesperson with MEMA, said the first order of business was helping impacted communities clean up and get started with repairs. With that taken care of, she said damage assessments are underway.

“Those consist of communities with support from our local coordinators compiling all the costs from storm damage as well as personnel, overtime and really any costs associated with the events to try to tally up how much these events might cost,” Porter said.

Porter said the process will help determine what financial assistance cities and towns could be eligible for, to help cover those expenses.

This story is a production of the New England News Collaborative. It was originally published by New England Public Media.

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Massachusetts

Lucas: Ayotte’s shots at Healey over immigration hit mark

Published

5 hours ago

January 16, 2025

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Lucas: Ayotte’s shots at Healey over immigration hit mark

Hardly had Kelly Ayotte, the new governor of New Hampshire unloaded on Massachusetts over its immigration policy, than another illegal immigrant was charged with rape in the Bay State.

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Originally Published: January 16, 2025 at 12:22 AM EST

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Massachusetts

Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day

Published

13 hours ago

January 15, 2025

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Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day

Suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor’s Trial Board disciplinary proceedings will go on to a second day.

Proctor’s trouble publicly began when he testified during the murder trial of Karen Read last summer. During a tense examination by the prosecution and even more intense cross examination, Proctor admitted to inappropriate private texts that he made as the case officer investigating Read.

“She’s a whack job (expletive),” Proctor read from compilations of text messages he sent to friends as he looked at Read’s phone. The last word was a derogatory term for women that he at first tried to spell out before Judge Beverly Cannone told him to read it the way he wrote it.

“Yes she’s a babe. Weird Fall River accent, though. No (butt),” he continued under oath on June 10, 2024.

He also texted them “no nudes so far” as an update on the search through her phone. He also testified that he told his sister that he hoped that Read would kill herself.

On Wednesday, Proctor sat through a full day of trial board proceedings at MSP general headquarters in Framingham. When that concluded in the late afternoon, the board decided to continue for a second day on Feb. 10. Neither Wednesday’s proceeding nor the second day is open to the public.

Proctor was relieved of duty on July 1 of last year, which was the day the Read trial concluded in mistrial. He was suspended without pay a week later. The State Police finished its internal affairs investigation last week and convened the trial board to determine the next step in the disciplinary process.

The trial board makes disciplinary recommendations to the superintendent, who determines the final outcome.

“A State Police Trial Board shall hear cases regarding violations of Rules, Regulations, Policies, Procedures, Orders, or Directives,” states the Department’s Rules and Regulations.

“In the event that the Trial Board finds guilt by a preponderance of the evidence on one or more of the charges, the Trial Board shall consider the evidence presented by the Department prosecutor pertaining to the accused member’s prior offenses/disciplinary history, and shall make recommendations for administrative action,” the rules and regulations state.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision causing the death of O’Keefe, a 16-year Boston Police officer when he died at age 46 on Jan. 29, 2022. Read’s second trial is scheduled to begin April 16.

Originally Published: January 15, 2025 at 6:56 PM EST

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Massachusetts

Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

Published

21 hours ago

January 15, 2025

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Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

Tech startups based in Massachusetts finished 2024 with a buzz of activity in venture capital fundraising.

In the fourth quarter, 191 startups raised a total of $4.1 billion, 20 percent more than startups raised in the same period a year earlier, according to a report from research firm Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. For the full year, local startups raised $15.7 billion, about the same as in 2023.

The stability ended two years of sharp declines from the peak of startup fundraising in 2021. Slowing e-commerce sales, volatility in tech stock prices, and higher interest rates combined to slam the brakes on startup VC activity over the past three years. The 2024 total is less half the $34.7 billion Massachusetts startups raised in 2021.

But local startup investors have expressed optimism that VC backing will continue to pick up in 2025.

The fourth quarter’s activity was led by battery maker Form Energy’s $455 million deal and biotech obesity drugmaker Kailera Therapeutics’ $400 million deal, both in October, and MIT spinoff Liquid AI’s $250 million deal last month. Two more biotech VC deals in October rounded out the top five. Seaport Therapeutics, working on new antidepressants, raised $226 million and Alpha-9 Oncology, developing new treatments for cancer patients, raised $175 million.

Massachusetts ranked third in the country in VC activity in the quarter. Startups based in California raised $49.9 billion and New York-based companies raised $5.3 billion.

Venture capital firms, however, had an even harder time raising money in 2024 compared to earlier years. Massachusetts firms raised $5.9 billion, down 7 percent from 2023 and the lowest total since 2018. That mirrored the national trend, as VC firms across the country raised $76.1 billion, down 22 percent from 2023 and the lowest since 2019.

Only one Massachusetts-based VC firm raised more than $1 billion in 2024, a more common occurrence in prior years, according to the report: Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge raised $2.6 billion in July for its eighth investment fund plus another $1 billion for smaller funds. The firm, founded by biotech entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan, helps develop scientific research for startups in addition to providing funding.

The next largest deals were Cambridge-based Atlas Ventures’ $450 million biotech-focused fund announced last month and Engine Ventures $400 million fund investing in climate tech startups announced in June.

The decline comes as VC firms have had trouble getting a return on their investments, because so few startups have been able to go public. Just six biotech companies based in Massachusetts and no tech companies went public last year.

Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.

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