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Ex-romantic partner of Massachusetts governor says she’s ready to serve on state’s high court

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Ex-romantic partner of Massachusetts governor says she’s ready to serve on state’s high court


BOSTON (AP) — Appeals Court Associate Justice Gabrielle R. Wolohojian, a former romantic partner of Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, testified Wednesday before the Governor’s Council on her nomination to the state’s highest court.

Healey has said her past relationship with Wolohojian shouldn’t deny the state the benefit of having her serve on the state Supreme Judicial Court. The panel didn’t vote on the nomination Wednesday.

Healey defended her decision to nominate Wolohojian, describing her as a remarkable jurist who has displayed “kindness, patience, empathy, humility and an abiding sense of justice” to those who have come before her in court.

“I know that personally,” Healey said. “As I have said in the past a personal relationship, and my personal relationship with Judge Wolohojian, should not deprive the people of Massachusetts of an outstanding SJC justice.”

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Wolohojian said she went through virtually the same process with the Healey administration that she did when she sought a nomination to the SJC under former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker.

“I understand your concern about the optics, but sitting from my chair I have done everything like every other candidate, and I don’t know what else I can do other than do the process that’s been really in place since the Dukakis administration,” she told the council.

Healey has also said she doesn’t think Wolohojian would have to recuse herself from cases involving the administration despite their personal history.

Wolohojian said the decision by judges to recuse themselves is taken on a case-by-case basis.

“Recusal is something that I take very seriously. It’s a two-sided question. There are cases in which you need to recuse yourself and you do so and then there are cases where you don’t recuse yourself,” she said.

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“I have absolutely no interest and never have in sitting on cases I shouldn’t sit on or not sitting on cases I should sit on,” she added.

Wolohojian is the second nomination to the state’s highest court by Healey, the first woman and first open member of the LGBTQ+ community to be elected governor of Massachusetts.

Amy Carnevale, chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, faulted Healey for relying on “a select group of rubber stamp advisors” in making the decision.

“Regardless of whether the judge opts to recuse herself from issues involving the governor or the executive branch, the impropriety of this nomination remains unchanged,” Carnevale said in a statement. “It’s difficult to conceive that the personal relationship didn’t impact the nomination process.”

Wolohojian, 63, would fill the seat vacated by Justice David Lowy. Last year Healey nominated then-state solicitor Elizabeth Dewar to the high court.

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Wolohojian was appointed to the Appeals Court in February 2008 and has authored more than 900 decisions.

Healey and Wolohojian, who met when they both worked at the Boston law firm of Hale & Dorr, had been together for eight years when Healey began her first term as attorney general in 2015, according to a Boston Magazine profile.

Wolohojian and Healey lived together in a rowhouse in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston that also served as a campaign headquarters for Healey. The governor now lives with her current partner, Joanna Lydgate, in Arlington.

The Supreme Judicial Court is Massachusetts’s highest appellate court. The seven justices hear appeals on a range of criminal and civil cases.

Born in New York, and the granddaughter of Armenian immigrants, Justice Wolohojian received a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Rutgers University in 1982; a doctorate in English language and literature from the University of Oxford in 1987; and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1989.

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Massachusetts

We asked, you answered: Your favorite hot chocolate spots in Massachusetts

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We asked, you answered: Your favorite hot chocolate spots in Massachusetts


A cup of cocoa is a sweet treat and hand warmer all in one. And on a cold day in Boston — especially amid the holiday season — there’s nothing better to accompany you through the streets.

We asked WBUR readers and listeners where they like to grab a cup of hot chocolate. (We asked WBUR staffers, too, and you can find out their responses by signing up for one of our newsletters with this link before Dec. 31.)

Responses included chocolatiers, bakeries and cafes in Boston and far beyond it. But there was one clear fan favorite. Here are your top spots, plus a few honorable mentions.

Dark hot chocolate from L.A. Burdick in Harvard Square. (Dina Rudick/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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Your top favorites

L.A. Burdick

Boston, Cambridge and Brookline

More than 50% of respondents said L.A. Burdick was their favorite place to grab hot chocolate in the area. L.A. Burdick’s thick, rich hot chocolate is made with milk and blended with dark, milk, white or spicy dark chocolate. Readers say it’s a decadent, European-style drinking chocolate, almost like drinking a melted chocolate bar.

“The cocoa is of incredibly high quality, and they make it with whole milk, which is very rich and creamy,” said Emily Bono . “They have their own cocoa blends, which are great, but also a variety of single source options that illustrate just how diverse chocolate can be.”

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“In addition to tasting like heaven, we once put a leftover half-cup in the refrigerator overnight, and the next morning it had set into excellent chocolate pudding,” Lori Gayle shared.

Flour Bakery

Ten locations across Boston and Cambridge

Readers say they love the sweet, velvety hot chocolate at Flour Bakery. You can grab a cup of this cocoa all over Boston and Cambridge (they’ll even be popping up on the Common this summer). And for 50 cents extra, Flour will make your hot chocolate “fiery” with a dash of cayenne pepper.

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“The cayenne and chocolate combination is rich, creamy, not too sweet and just a little addictive,” Kalli Catcott shared.

Kakawa Chocolate House

173 Essex St, Salem

Kakawa Chocolate House’s Salem shop is its first and only location in New England. (They’ve got three others in New Mexico.) Cori B. says their authentic sipping chocolate comes with a variety of spices you can add, like cinnamon, ginger, mint and cayenne. Dominique Hayes added that the “wonderful variety” is “all very yummy.”

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Sweetie’s in Roslindale

48 Corinth St., Roslindale

Sweetie’s primarily sells ice cream, but you might want to visit for the hot chocolate, too. Kris Liberman shared its “rich and cream, with a choice of toppings.” There are also dairy and non-dairy options for your drink, and Leah Boylan says Sweetie’s offers imaginative cocoa flavors (think tahini dark chocolate) and tasty add-ins, like flame-broiled marshmallows, ice cream and whipped cream.

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Other honorable mentions…



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State police say Friday’s storm caused 200 crashes across Massachusetts

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State police say Friday’s storm caused 200 crashes across Massachusetts


State police say Friday’s storm caused 200 crashes across Massachusetts – CBS Boston

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State Police say they responded to 200 crashes on Friday across Massachusetts due to the snowstorm.

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Dangerousness hearing held for Taunton man in Fall River after Massachusetts, Rhode Island State Police make trafficking arrest involving Bristol, Plymouth, RI counties

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Dangerousness hearing held for Taunton man in Fall River after Massachusetts, Rhode Island State Police make trafficking arrest involving Bristol, Plymouth, RI counties


A dangerousness hearing was held Friday for a Bristol County man after a drug trafficking investigation led to his arrest.

According to Massachusetts State Police, during May and June of this year, members of the Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team – South initiated an investigation into narcotics trafficking. Intelligence revealed that 33-year-old Jason Hodo of Taunton was distributing trafficking quantities of fentanyl and cocaine in Rhode Island and throughout Plymouth and Bristol Counties in Massachusetts. Investigators completed extensive traditional and covert surveillance, record checks, and intelligence analysis. The investigation led to warrants being sought and granted to search for all controlled substances at all locations related to Hodo.

In June, executing officers followed Hodo in his vehicle after he departed the Rhode Island location and drove to a Taunton gas station. Hodo was detained, searched, and arrested after amounts of fentanyl and cocaine were located. Members then executed the “knock and announce” search warrants without incident at locations in both states.

The searches in Massachusetts led to the seizure of approximately 528 grams of fentanyl, 206 grams of cocaine, and nearly $22,000 from Hodo’s person and vehicle. Hodo was eventually transported to State Police-Middleboro for booking on charges related to Trafficking Class A and Class B Substances.

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A simultaneous search of the Rhode Island location by Rhode Island State Police revealed the following: two firearms loaded with high-capacity magazines, approximately 12 grams of fentanyl, nearly $19,000, several high value bars of gold, jewelry, and a diamond/gold chain with receipt for $103,000.

Previously in Fall River Superior Court, Hodo pled not guilty at his arraignment and was held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Friday.

On Friday, also in Fall River Superior Court, dangerousness was taken under advisement with Hodo still held without bail.

His next scheduled court appearance is a pre-trial conference in February.

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