Massachusetts
Deaton: D.C. is breaking great states like Massachusetts
For the city kids who didn’t get to play soccer, tennis, basketball, or track and field at the Melnea Cass Recreational Complex in Roxbury all spring, it’s probably tough to understand that the reason is because a bunch of adults almost 500 miles away can’t get their act together. They’d likely be similarly confused to learn that their fieldhouse became a shelter for dozens of vulnerable kids who came to America because adults in their native countries couldn’t get it right there either.
When I lived in Roxbury while attending law school, after becoming the first in my family to graduate high school and college, I played ball at Washington Park (also known as Malcom X Park), usually the only white guy, and probably with the dads of some of the kids barred from the Cass complex the last few months, before it finally reopened last week.
Before that, I was an inner-city kid myself with limited access to sports facilities, and even fewer avenues out of what was then, and remains, one of the most impoverished and dangerous neighborhoods in America.
So the Cass complex’s conversion to a migrant shelter really hit home.
I recently visited Yuma, Arizona, where I was stationed during my time as a U.S. Marine Judge Advocate, to witness the problem firsthand. The crisis I saw there, which is hurting working families here in Massachusetts, is two-fold: national security and humanitarian.
As much as 50% of the fentanyl tearing apart our communities comes through Yuma, Arizona. Not only is Washington’s inability to solve this crisis hurting those who already live in America, but the migrants being trafficked alongside it are also at risk. Asylum seekers hoping for a better life in the U.S. face a treacherous journey at the hands of the cartels. Women and children are raped or abused by traffickers who don’t care if they survive.
Congressional inability to address the serious problems facing this country is no longer a theoretical exercise or a punchline; it’s harming our kids’ development and quality of life. In Massachusetts, we see other tangible impacts. Governor Maura Healey has projected the emergency shelter program will cost nearly $1 billion next fiscal year, in addition to $700 million already spent this year, while our state’s one-party leaders have implored their counterparts in Washington – like Senator Elizabeth Warren – to address this exploding crisis.
What else could that $1.7 billion be doing in Massachusetts? How about repairing our roads and transit system, in such dangerous disrepair? Or ameliorating the educational crisis? In Boston, our kids aren’t just losing access to the Cass complex; the school district itself is teetering on receivership.
Do you think the rest of the state might benefit from $1.7 billion to help combat an upswing in violent crime? In 2022, the most recent year for which federal data is available, violent crime in Massachusetts rose, while dropping nationwide. Some of the alleged perpetrators made their way into Massachusetts by claiming to be refugees before committing violent crimes. Police departments, diversion programs, substance abuse and recovery efforts – all of these could benefit from precious state funds now being funneled into a problem that Washington created and refuses to fix.
Working families are suffering because of Washington dysfunction, and no amount of press releases, viral videos, or soundbites will fix that. Nor will new taxes from cannabis, gambling, or millionaires.
That’s a big reason I’m running against Senator Warren this year; it’s not just that Washington is broken, it’s that Washington is breaking great states like Massachusetts. Senator Warren voted against the bipartisan border legislation, voting with MAGA Republicans to sink the bill at the cost of her own constituents. Even worse, Senator Warren is talking out of both sides of her mouth on the issue.
This is the problem with Washington politicians – on both sides of the aisle. They become beholden to the special interest groups who exact outlandish policy promises to help them win primaries while red and blue states become even more polarized. It’s a cynical way to run a country, and those who have become a part of it should examine whether they’ve stayed true to their promise to voters.
I am running to be your senator to stand up for the poor and middle class. I have fought for the underdog my entire life, and I’ll do the same in the Senate. This era of gridlock and cynicism has to end.
The kids who run and play ball at the Cass complex don’t deserve to lose another season.
John Deaton is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate and an attorney specializing in representing asbestos victims suffering from mesothelioma.
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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