Massachusetts
Healey slams Trump, touts utility bill efforts in annual address
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey delivered her third State of the Commonwealth address on Thursday, repeating a familiar refrain from the House rostrum.
“The state of the commonwealth is strong,” said Healey.
The speech quickly turned to President Donald Trump and what’s happening in Washington. Healey condemned the action of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration’s funding cuts while chastising Trump himself.
“We have a president who throws temper tantrums like a 2-year-old — no disrespect to 2-year-olds,” the governor said.
Beyond federal issues, Healey focused on affordability and efforts to address rising utility and housing costs.
Healey’s office announced Thursday that it would use $180 million in state dollars to bring down utility bills.
Gov. Maura Healey announced a plan to help cut costs ahead of her State of the Commonwealth Address. It will impact customers of the state’s five largest utilities.
“In February and March, we’ll cut your electric bills by 25% and your gas bills by 10%,” Healey said in her speech.
The Democratic incumbent’s three Republican gubernatorial challengers — Mike Kennealy, Brian Shortsleeve and Mike Minogue — panned the speech and the governor’s plans.
GOP leaders in both the Senate and House also weighed-in on the 51-minute speech.
“We’re going to give money back in February and March, and then you’re going to pay more in the summer. My electric bill in the summer is higher because of air conditioning, it’s kind of a wash,” said House Minority Leader Brad Jones speaking on Healey’s utility plan.
“There’s no doubt about it that what the federal government does has an impact on us,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr. “But we need to really be looking introspectively.”
Several notable guests were also in attendance, including former Massachusetts Govs. Bill Weld and Michael Dukakis, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Ken Casey, lead singer of the Dropkick Murphys.
Massachusetts
Mass stranding of bottlenose dolphins off Cape Cod said to be largest in Massachusetts history
Rescuers were working to save around 30 bottlenose dolphins that got stranded off the coast of Cape Cod early Monday morning. It is the largest known stranding of bottlenose dolphins off Massachusetts, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
The dolphins had become stranded between First Light and Ellis Landing in Brewster at about 5:30 a.m. when they came in with the tide. A woman noticed the animals and reported it. The IFAW quickly responded to the area, but five to six of the marine mammals died before help arrived.
The IFAW worked throughout the day on Monday to get the mammals away from the shoreline before the next low tide at 5:13 p.m. They said late Monday afternoon that they were still successfully being steered away.
“Our team remains in the area to monitor and herd the animals away from shore,” an IFAW spokesperson said. “We know these events can sometimes repeat in the coming hours and days, but we remain hopeful.”
The organization said it had seen an uptick in bottlenose dolphins becoming stranded off Cape Cod in the last few years.
“Bottlenose dolphins are typically an offshore species,” the spokesperson said.
They asked that anyone who encounters a stranded or distressed marine mammal not get close and never drag or push the animal back into the water.
“Similar to a person involved in a car accident, dolphins can become injured and exhausted during a stranding event,” the IFAW said.
Instead, they recommend calling their IFAW stranding hotline at 508-743-9548.
A man has died following an apparent drowning at a pond in Randolph, Massachusetts, on Sunday.
The Randolph police and fire departments received a 911 call at around 4 p.m. for a swimmer in distress in the water on Pond Street, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office..
Firefighters located the man a short time later, officials added, and he was taken by ambulance to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Kingston Fire Department had said just before 4 p.m. that their dive team was activated for a missing swimmer in Randolph, but that the activation was canceled after the swimmer was located.
Further information is not being released at this time, including the man’s name.
Massachusetts State Police detectives and the Randolph Police Department are investigating.
Firefighters in Lawrence, Massachusetts are working to contain a fire that damaged at least three buildings on Sunday afternoon.
Lawrence Fire Chief Patrick Delaney said they received multiple 911 calls about the buildings on fire at the intersection of Haverhill and Margin Street at about 12:45 p.m.
When firefighters arrived, there were three occupied multi-family buildings with heavy fire.
“Crews did an excellent job once they arrived on scene to make sure we did a primary search of all three buildings, make sure everybody was out,” Chief Delaney said.
No injuries have been reported. It is unclear how many people have been displaced from the three buildings that were on fire.
Chief Delaney said the firefighters were impacted by the hot weather.
“The crews are working extremely hard, they’re taking a lot of heat in all three fire buildings and we’re trying to get crews in here to make sure that they’re safe and give them some relief,” Chief Delaney said.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire. Firefighters from other nearby communities responded for mutual aid.
“We’re at a fourth alarm which brings a lot of resources to our city, but they’re well needed in a fire like this,” Chief Delaney said.
Police are asking residents to avoid the area of Haverhill Street at Margin Street because of the fire.
Lawrence, Massachusetts is a city about 30 miles north of Boston.
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