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Massachusetts immigrant support group ‘very sad’ over hate and ‘misinformation’: ‘These people are incredible’

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Massachusetts immigrant support group ‘very sad’ over hate and ‘misinformation’: ‘These people are incredible’


A local immigrant support group that helps house newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers is pushing back against the hate and “misinformation,” as volunteers offer to open up their homes to migrants.

There has been a flood of negative and hateful social media posts in reaction to the Immigrant Support Alliance’s event on Monday — during which the Melrose-area volunteers let people know what it’s like to be a host home for a newly arrived immigrant.

Some of those hateful posts about the information session included incorrect references to housing “illegal immigrants.”

“This is the temperature right now, and it’s sad. It’s sad,” said Rabbi Jessica Lowenthal of Melrose’s Temple Beth Shalom, where the information session was being held on Monday.

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“A lot of misinformation is out there,” Lowenthal added. “A lot of people think these are just people coming in undocumented, and they have a lot of feelings about it. They (the migrants) are incredibly vetted by the U.S. through asylum and immigrant channels.”

Paul Belfanti, president of the Immigrant Support Alliance, also said he was “very sad” when he saw those hateful reactions to the event, which was called “Exploring the Host Home Experience.”

“They’re clearly so misinformed,” Belfanti said, later adding, “I’m sure the people who are spewing this bile have never spent time with a newly arrived immigrant. These people are incredible and so resilient and hard-working. They’ve been through so much.”

The Immigrant Support Alliance partners with resettlement agencies to provide food, housing, financial and social support to newly arrived migrants. It takes several months for the migrants to get work authorizations, so they need help in the meantime.

The volunteers will help the migrants with housing, transportation to a medical appointment or the grocery store, practicing English with them, or teaching them computer skills. The housing commitment is typically for three months.

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“We’re just one drop in an enormous bucket,” Belfanti said.

“As soon as they can start working, any financial support starts to diminish over time until they become financially independent, and they can be on their own,” he added.

The information session on Monday included volunteers who have served as hosts to both individuals and families. About 30 people showed up.

“It went really well,” Belfanti said. “A few people said they were genuinely interested in hosting.

“There are a lot of people out there who want to do something,” he added. “They genuinely want to help.”

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Immigrant support groups like these have been around for several years.

Last year amid a growing shelter and migrant crisis, state officials asked Bay State residents to house immigrant families. Elon Musk last week indirectly criticized Gov. Maura Healey’s handling of immigration, saying “now they want your homes too” in a repost of an August news story on the administration’s efforts to find more housing for homeless families.

“They’ve run out of hotel rooms, are kicking kids out of school for illegal housing and now they want your homes too,” Musk said in a social media post.

Massachusetts is not removing students from school to create more shelter space nor are migrants living in state-run shelters considered illegal, as they have been lawfully allowed into the United States by the federal government.

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald

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Migrants get screened and services at the migrant work authorization clinic at Camp Curtis Guild in Reading. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)



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Supermarket chain to open 2 stores in former Christmas Tree Shops, Big Lots locations in Massachusetts

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Supermarket chain to open 2 stores in former Christmas Tree Shops, Big Lots locations in Massachusetts



Two shuttered retailers are set to become supermarkets in southeastern Massachusetts.

Big Y announced Thursday that it’s opening grocery stores in Fairhaven and North Dartmouth. The Fairhaven Plaza location used to be a Big Lots, and the Faunce Corner Center store in North Dartmouth was a Christmas Tree Shops.

“These new stores will allow us to better serve families in the South Coast region,” Big Y VP of real estate and development Mathieu L. D’Amour said in a statement.

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The supermarkets will open sometime in 2027. Hiring details and a grand opening date will be announced in the next few months. Big Y opened new stores in Westboro and Uxbridge earlier this year.

Big box store closures in Massachusetts and around the country in recent years have created opportunities for other retailers to move into vacant storefronts.  

Christmas Tree Shops, the bargain outlet that started on Cape Cod more than 50 years ago, went bankrupt and closed all of its stores in 2023. The old North Dartmouth location is being used temporarily this holiday season as a “Spirit Christmas” pop-up.

Another Christmas Tree Shops in Falmouth has been transformed into an Aldi supermarket. Others have been taken over by Ocean State Job Lot. 

Big Lots closed all of its Massachusetts stores last year amid financial turmoil. Just last month, an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet moved into a former Big Lots location in Fitchburg.

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It hasn’t always worked out for supermarkets that move into old retail stores. The Fresh Market, which moved into an old Bed Bath & Beyond store on Route 9 in Framingham less than a year ago, is already closing

A competing grocery store chain, Trader Joe’s, opened two new stores in Newton and West Roxbury this fall.



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26 MA Restaurants Honored By Michelin Guide, Including City’s 1st Star

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26 MA Restaurants Honored By Michelin Guide, Including City’s 1st Star


BOSTON, MA — It was a major day for Boston’s culinary scene on Tuesday as one of the city’s restaurants was finally awarded a Michelin star.

In total, it appears that 26 restaurants were honored by the Michelin Guide.

311 Omakase in the city’s South End was awarded the star at the Michelin Guide Northeast Cities Ceremony, which was held at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

The Japanese restaurant known for its sushi offerings won the biggest honor of the night, but 26 Boston-area restaurants were also noted at the ceremony.

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According to NBC Boston, Bar Volpe and Fox & The Knife, both in Boston; Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, Pagu and Jahunger in Cambridge and Mahaniyom in Brookline were recognized in the “Bib Gourmand” category, which is awarded for its value for the money spent.

Boston Business Journal shared that a number of other area spots were recognized by the organization for their culinary products, though they were not awarded a star.

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Herring Population Is Booming In Massachusetts | WBZ NewsRadio 1030

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Herring Population Is Booming In Massachusetts | WBZ NewsRadio 1030


ALEWIFE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — It’s a plentiful year for River Herring in Massachusetts.

Daria Santollani is the senior engagement manager at the Mystic Watershed Association, the organization that tracks herring population and migration every year since 2012.

She told WBZ NewsRadio that this year, volunteers reported the highest number of herring passing through the Boston Harbor into the Mystic River, at nearly 815,000.

“It’s just amazing that the largest migration of herring in Massachusetts happens in the most urban watershed,” she said.

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In the past, overfishing depleted the herring population. In 2012, the association reported the herring population was only around 21,052.

“Because of interventions like fish ladders at the Mystic Lake dams, we’re starting to see that population come back,” she said.

By 2019, the herring population had grown to nearly 789,000. However, there was a dramatic dip in 2020 with only around 378,000 herrings reported.

According to the association, the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries attributed the decline to the statewide drought in 2016 that caused lower reproduction of the fish.

Despite that setback, the herring population continued to grow every year since, with more than 550,000 reported in 2021, and jumped to nearly 640,000 in 2024.

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River herrings are not only an important food source for indigenous people but also play an ecologically significant role in both freshwater and marine food webs.

“The Alewife T station is named Alewife because of this fish,” Santollani added.

She credited the hundreds of volunteers who spend every day counting the herrings passing by during migration season.

“From April through June, seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., [each volunteer] going for an hour to count how many herrings they’re seeing passing the dam,” she continued.

WBZ NewsRadio’s Emma Friedman (@EmmaFriedmanWBZ) reports.

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