Massachusetts
Massachusetts library will accept unique alternative to overdue book fees: 'People are struggling'
Lost a library book? It doesn’t have to be a cat-tastrophe.
At least not during the month of March in Worcester, Massachusetts.
A library there will scratch certain fees off a book borrower’s record in exchange for a picture of the person’s cat — or any cat, for that matter.
LIBRARY RECEIVES OVERDUE BOOK FROM 47 YEARS AGO, ALONG WITH ANONYMOUS NOTE AND A SURPRISE
The goal is to encourage people to read and visit the library, even if they owe money for a lost or damaged book.
“People are struggling and sometimes choosing between paying for that book that, literally, your dog ate for $30 or buying $30 worth of groceries — those are two very different things,” Jason Homer, executive director of the Worcester Public Library, told Fox News Digital.
It’s all about cats at the Worcester Public Library, as it promotes “March Meowness,” a time when fees for lost books can be paid by sharing cat photos. The library also has a schedule of events for the month, including cat crafts, a screening of the film “Cats,” lectures, story times and more. (Worcester County Public Library)
“And, people do have priorities. So we want to come to them with kindness, with forgiveness and say, ‘Just be part of our community.’”
It’s called the “Feline Fee Forgiveness” program — all part of the library’s month-long “March Meowness” event.
It aims to reduce barriers to returning to the library, regardless of a person’s circumstances.
CATS LEFT AT NORTH CAROLINA SHELTER WITH HEARTBREAKING NOTE: ‘MY MOM CAN’T TAKE CARE OF ME ANYMORE’
And Homer and his staff thought, What better way to welcome people than with soft, cuddly cats?
“A librarian is a book lover, a cardigan lover and a cat lover,” Homer said.
Jason Homer, executive director of the Worcester Public Library, said he believes reading is the “great equalizer” and wants to provide ways for people to settle their lost book fees so they can return to the library. (Worcester County Public Library)
“Our staff has a lot of cats. Some of the staff were in a meeting and they were coming up with ways to bring people back to the library, and they thought, ‘What if we removed as many barriers as possible and told people they could show us a picture of a cat, draw a picture of a cat or just tell us about a cat?’”
SHELTER CAT WHO WENT VIRAL THANKS TO ‘SAD AND DEPRESSED’ PHOTO IS NOW HELPING OTHER CATS GET ADOPTED
In 2020, the library got rid of fines for overdue books. Why? Because so many people, after the COVID lockdown, had misplaced books that were not able to be returned in person.
In Worcester, that time period lasted for a year and a half, Homer said.
“We see literacy, both written literacy and digital literacy, as two of the biggest equalizers.”
“There’s a significant number of studies done by public libraries across the country that have proven we don’t get books back with fines,” Homer said.
“We end up losing people. Realistically, those fines did really nothing for the library, and it wasn’t really a money-generating piece. It was more like a sitting debt that was never paid.”
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Homer said lost library books are a nationwide issue.
“Many communities have this list of kids that have these $30 fees on their cards when they had no control and there was no ill intent,” Homer said.
To remove any potential boundaries people might have in returning to their public libraries, one library director and his team thought it would be a good idea to ask people for photos, drawings or even a chat about cats instead of charging fines for lost books. (iStock)
“There’s no way to really collect that. So we’re moving on. And ultimately the goal here was to find some way to get people to come back to the library — [people who] might be afraid of the feeling that they will get penalized. We would rather work with funders to get the money and not have to punish kids for some things that are out of their control.”
On average, the library collected around $11,000 in fines, Homer said, but it now has a foundation that could cover those fines — as long as the book is eventually returned.
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“When you lose or damage a book beyond lend-ability — say you drop it in the ocean and it’s covered with sand and jellyfish and we can’t take it back and loan it to another person — we do have fees for that,” said Homer.
“Reading is something that helps people elevate themselves and make their lives better.” (iStock)
Still, well-meaning people have accidents and Homer and his team said they don’t want that to get in the way of progress and enlightenment.
“Reading is the best equalizer we have,” Homer said.
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“It is a space where people can learn, grow, experience things. We see literacy, both written literacy and digital literacy, as two of the biggest equalizers that we can afford [for] our community. Reading is something that helps people elevate themselves and make their lives better.”
Plus, it’s patriotic.
“We love cats and we want people to share their cats with us, even if they don’t have lost items. It’s just another way to include everyone.”
“What’s more American than a public library?” Homer also said.
“We have a baseball stadium next door and we often joke that we have the two most American things — a public library and baseball — right next door to each other. And so that’s, for us, something that’s equally important.”
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The library has events scheduled during “March Meowness,” including crafts and cat toy-making, story times, lectures, a movie screening of “Cats” and even a de-stress cat petting session.
The library said it will accept photos of “honorary” cats, dogs, raccoons, orcas or capybaras. (Worcester County Public Library)
Homer said the forgiveness fee actually extends way beyond cats.
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The library will accept photos of “honorary” cats, dogs, raccoons, orcas or capybaras.
Avoid pesky late fees this month at the Worcester County Public Library thanks to the “Feline Fee Forgiveness” program during “March Meowness.” (Worcester County Public Library/iStock)
“Any ungovernable animal is good to us,” he said.
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.
The meteor responsible for a loud boom heard in Rhode Island and Massachusetts Saturday afternoon was approximately 5 feet in diameter and weighed more than 12,000 pounds, according to NASA.
The object entered Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 42,000 mph, a NASA spokesperson said. It then traveled through the atmosphere from northwest to southeast for 26 miles before breaking up and producing a meteorite fall into Cape Cod Bay.
The energy released when the object broke up at an altitude of 31 miles is estimated to be equivalent to about 230 tons of TNT, according to NASA.
Professor Ralph Milliken of the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Brown University spoke with NBC 10’s Mike Cerullo. (WJAR)
While it’s not very common to experience a 5-foot-wide meteorite, there is a significant amount of debris from space that reaches Earth.
“The estimates are that we probably have about 5,000 tons of cosmic dust and material and meteorites landing on Earth. The vast majority of that is super tiny stuff, we’re talking things that are smaller than a grain of sand, or the thickness of a human hair,” said Professor Ralph Milliken of the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Brown University. “For something of this size a few feet across, it’s not that common, but a few a year. Most of these would occur over uninhabited areas, over the ocean, and we wouldn’t be able to see them, but they are detected.”
Because of its size, a meteorite with a 5-foot diameter is difficult to track before it enter Earth’s atmosphere.
“It’s virtually impossible to kind of know in advance of this size object coming,” Milliken said.
The area where a meteorite crashed in Cape Cod Bay. (WJAR)
Scientists are, however, able to track much larger space objects. NASA has been developing technology to try to deflect larger objects if needed.
Events like what occurred in New England over the weekend are recorded. Although other fireballs enter Earth’s atmosphere throughout the year, many of them materialize over water and uninhabited areas.
Massachusetts
Winners’ circle: Tracking every 2026 spring high school championship – The Boston Globe
Championship season is upon us, and we’re tracking every title winner in Massachusetts this spring.
From the golf sectionals in late May to championship weekend June 11-14, a four-day stretch in which 31 titlists will be crowned across boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, boys and girls’ tennis, boys’ and girls’ rugby, boys’ volleyball, softball, and baseball, we’ll have you covered.
Find all the dates, brackets, seedings, matchups, and links to our postseason previews here.
Follow us on X @GlobeSchools, Instagram @BGlobeSchools, and Facebook to stay up to date.
Over at Globe.com/Schools you’ll find our daily scoreboard, nightly Takeaways, game coverage, videos, live streams, and our weekly Varsity News newsletter (sign up for free) to keep you in the know.
Division 1: Lexington girls, St. John’s Prep boys
Lexington girls graduate to two-time Division 1 track champions, St. John’s Prep sprints to boys’ title
Division 2: Billerica girls, North Andover boys
Billerica girls unphazed by move up to Division 2, going back-to-back as North Andover boys dominate
Division 3: Canton girls, Walpole boys
Canton girls cap greatest season with first Division 3 track title, Walpole boys win by thinnest margin
Division 4: Duxbury girls, Newburyport boys
Historic win for Duxbury girls, Mohoric paces Newburyport boys to Division 4 outdoor track championship
Division 5: North Reading girls, Weston boys
It’s four in a row for North Reading girls, two straight for Weston boys at Division 5 track championships
Division 6: Ayer Shirley girls, Abington boys
Ayer Shirley girls pick up where they left off, Abington boys twinning at Division 6 track championships
Day 1, Divisions 1, 2, and 5: Lexington boys and girls setting the pace at Division 1 track & field championships
Day 1, Divisions 3, 4, and 6: Canton girls make a strong run to first at Division 3 track championships
South: Walpole | With Tori Adams as its driving force, Walpole scores third straight MIAA South girls’ golf championship
North/Central/West: Hopkinton | Concord-Carlisle’s Sophie Redmond, Hopkinton rule MIAA girls’ golf championship for North/Central/West
With titles for Natick and Peabody and smiles for all, MIAA unified track championship ‘beyond inspiring’
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.
Massachusetts
Meteor Lands In Cape Cod + Bus Crash Kills 5 From MA + Wind Storm Knocks Out Power To Thousands: MA Weekend
MASSACHUSETTS — Residents throughout New England were simultaneously startled as a meteor that landed in Cape Cod caused a sonic boom this past weekend.
Meanwhile, a bus driver is facing charges after five Massachusetts residents died in a crash on a highway in Virginia.
Plus, another State Trooper was caught handling a wrong-way driver situation on Route 1.
Mysterious Boom Heard Across MA Was An Exploding Meteor, Experts Say
The noises were heard around 2:11 p.m. Saturday, with people describing a sudden bang that rattled windows and even shook some homes. The American Meteor Society said that the booms heard were actually caused by a meteor about three feet wide entering the atmosphere near the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Residents as far as Ipswich and Johnston, Rhode Island, reported hearing and feeling the sensations. Meteorologist Nick Stewart shared satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, showing where the meteor entered the atmosphere and combusted while traveling at 75,000 miles per hour above the ocean.
Bus Driver Charged After MA Family Of 4, Worcester Woman Killed In VA Crash
Jing S. Dong, of Staten Island, New York, now faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the collision, which occurred around 2:35 a.m. Friday on southbound I-95 near Quantico. Among those killed were a 45-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, a 13-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy, all from Greenfield, Massachusetts. All were in the Acura, which police said caught fire after the collisions. Police on Saturday evening identified the fifth person killed as Priscilla R. Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, Massachusetts, who was riding in the Suburban struck by the bus.
In total, about 44 people were transported to area hospitals, including three with critical injuries.
State Trooper Hospitalized After Route 1 Wrong-Way Crash In Peabody
State Police said the trooper was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after police acted in coordination to protect traffic and stop the driver, who was traveling southbound on Route 1 North in Peabody. The incident occurred not far from the location on Route 1 where State Trooper Kevin Trainor was killed when his cruiser was hit head-on in a wrong-way crash in Lynnfield last month. The driver in Sunday’s crash was also hospitalized and charged with operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and driving the wrong way on a state highway.
Rapidly Expanding Grocery Chain Has Big Plans For MA
Sprouts Farmers Market is slated to launch up to 40 locations throughout the region in the coming years. Construction has begun for the first Massachusetts spot in Weymouth, which has an opening date of 2028. The Phoenix-based organic grocery chain has more than 480 stores in 25 states.
Saturday’s Meteorite Was ‘Fishy Squisher’ And NASA Knows Where To Find It In Cape Cod Bay
Data from NASA suggest fragments of the meteorite lie in waters from the middle of the bay to about 10 miles northeast of the town of Sandwich. The agency said late Saturday it picked up radar signatures of the fragments from four radar sites, and termed the strike a “fishy squisher.” The meteorite entered Earth’s atmosphere about 40 miles above the Bay State and southern New Hampshire, creating the sonic boom. Water in the bombarded portion of Cape Cod Bay is about 100 feet deep.
35K Without Power As Winter-Like Storm Pummels MA With 55+ MPH Winds
Massachusetts residents throughout the North Shore were without power on Saturday morning as a winter-like storm tore a path of tree damage, downpours, and fierce winds throughout New England. Widespread tree damage was reported across the state, with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reporting 34,228 customers without power as of 11:20 a.m. Wind speeds reached a high of 55 miles per hour. Temperatures dropped into the 40s with wind chills in the 30s as the storm arrived across the Bay State. The unsettled weather will continue through Monday and Tuesday before a warming trend takes hold later in the week.
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